Author’s Note: There will be no decklists in this article. However, there will be a ton of ideas and concepts that may lead you to create new decks. It is always good to share ideas to keep the juices flowing.
"Woah! I never thought of that!"
That exclamation was said both to me and by me at this past weekend’s Pro Tour Qualifier in New Jersey. It really took me a while to let some of the cool synergies and interactions I was seeing sink in. Likewise, I was able to surprise some people with an interaction that I saw that they didn’t. Sometimes, the easiest tricks are those that have been around in the past but don’t come up as often right now.
For example, I chose to play Mono Red at the Pro Tour Qualifier. I had a 3/3 Stromkirk Noble and a 3/3 Stormblood Berserker. I attacked both straight into his three Soldier tokens from Timely Reinforcements. He choose to triple block my Stormblood Berserker, so I promptly Volt Charged his face and proliferated both of my creatures. While this play was very common a few months ago, I rarely see it come up these days and it took my opponent by surprise.
Volt Charge has the potential to pair up well with quite a few cards in the current Standard format. The first one is one that many people may not think of right away: undying. On Magic Online, I have been trying to experiment with G/R Aggro and attempting to use little cards that people don’t really think about much. Volt Charge is able to play well with Strangleroot Geist and Garruk Relentless. I am still not certain if this makes it better than Brimstone Volley, but my 3/2 Strangleroot Geist getting just a tad bigger to prey on that Wolf token is quite a bit of value. Blessings of Nature may find its way into one of my G/R Aggro lists as well, especially if it has Volt Charge.
Another card I have wanted to try in G/R Aggro (or in decks in general that have red) is Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded. This card is not to be underestimated because drawing a card and discarding a card at random is a very powerful ability (see Desperate Ravings). Also, the -4 ability is really easy to obtain if you play with Volt Charge and/or Tezzeret’s Gambit. If you play turn 2 Tibalt and turn 3 one of those proliferate cards, you can -4 your opponent and likely deal 5-7 damage. Just a little food for thought.
Other sweet cards that I have been experimenting with in my G/R Aggro deck are Jade Mage and Devil’s Play. Jade Mage may not be the most terrific card, but if you play Sword of Feast and Famine this card really pulls its weight. Once Jade Mage makes a token, you have the ability to make your Sword of Feast and Famine act a little bit like Sword of Body and Mind in pumping out more tokens to hold the equipment. Perhaps Azure Mage may see more play if the format changes over the summer; it is just something to keep in the back of your mind. Devil’s Play has tested really well for me in G/R Aggro, but it is likely to get kicked to the curb for none other than Bonfire of the Damned.
While on the topic of G/R Aggro, I want to bring up a situation that I saw this past weekend. A Delver player was trying to race a Wolf Run Ramp player with his flipped Delver of Secrets against a Huntmaster of the Fells with a Wolf token by his side. The Wolf Run player passed the turn without playing a spell, so the Delver player played an end of turn Act of Aggression to prevent the Huntmaster of the Fells from flipping. Could there possibly have been a better play?
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The answer is yes.
The Delver player could have paused on his upkeep. Then, in response to the transform trigger, the Delver player can cast Act of Aggression on the Huntmaster of the Fells. When the transform trigger resolves, the Delver player can Shock both the Wolf Run Ramp player and the Wolf token. Lastly, he can swing with a Ravager of the Fells and his flipped Delver of Secrets. Not too shabby of a play, if I do say so myself.
How about we get to some really cool interactions and cards now?
At the top tables of the Pro Tour Qualifier I attended, I was awestruck by the following sequence of plays:
Turn 2: Treacherous Pit-Dweller
Turn 3: Phyrexian Metamorph
Turn 4: Double Phantasmal Image
For those who don’t know, when your Phyrexian Metamorph or Phantasmal Image dies and it was copying Treacherous Pit-Dweller, it will have its undying trigger go on the stack. Then when it comes back into play, if you have it copy any creature besides Treacherous Pit-Dweller your opponent will not be able to gain control of it. You can even have the Phyrexian Metamorph or Phantasmal Image copy nothing and it will just be a 1/1 (due to the +1/+1 counter from undying).
While this interaction is already cool enough, think about how good Treacherous Pit-Dweller is in the current format! How are Delver decks supposed to deal with this body outside of blocking with a flipped Delver of Secrets? Not too many people run Dismember anymore; in fact, many people are playing Gut Shot instead. This threat really puts a Delver opponent on a huge clock.
Treacherous Pit-Dweller is also very good against G/R Aggro. Many people are playing Pillar of Flame and Galvanic Blast and only a few Brimstone Volleys. If they don’t kill this card with a burn spell, they likely won’t be able to attack you for fear of you blocking or attacking back.
If you attempt to play a deck capable of similar starts, may I suggest playing Vapor Snag and Snapcaster Mage? This way, if your opponent is able to kill the real Treacherous Pit-Dweller and gain control of it when it comes back into play, you can just Vapor Snag it back into your hand. Another alternative is Torpor Orb, but then that really limits the type of cards you can play. However, if you expect a lot of Birthing Pod variants, this may not be a terrible idea to build around. Grafdigger’s Cage can have a similar effect. It will help your deck and stop Strangleroot Geist and Green Sun’s Zeniths from your opponent.
How about we discuss a throwback to planeswalkers past?
One of my good buddies, Ali Mirghahari, came up with a really sweet deck. It is a deck that has Chalice of Life in it. This has spicy written all over it! He also played the obvious Pristine Talisman, Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, and Wurmcoil Engine. Lastly, he decided to play Sorin’s Thirst, Batterskull, and Phyrexian Metamorph. These are all cards that are very metagame dependent, but it could be possible that each of these cards can shine individually.
Sorin’s Thirst is an answer to Delver of Secrets and has the potential to nail a one-drop accelerator (when you are on the play). With so many aggressive decks increasing in popularity (Pod and G/R Aggro), I highly suggest playing cards like Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, and copy effects like Phyrexian Metamorph and Phantasmal Image. Grafdigger’s Cage can also go well in a deck like this as well. All I am trying to say is that even though there are plenty of very powerful, established strategies in the current Standard format, there is still a lot of room for innovation.
Another sweet deck that I had to check out was when I heard that another friend of mine, Asher Hecht, lost to a turn 4 Primal Surge. This person was playing a Mono-Green Wolf Run variant. Instead of playing Rampant Growth, he was playing Copper Myr, Scorned Villager, and Sphere of the Suns. For additional pieces of acceleration, he played Palladium Myr and Shrine of Boundless Growth (now that is commitment!).
He still had Primeval Titan and Wurmcoil Engine, along with both Garruk Relentless and Garruk, Primal Hunter. The card that allowed him to deal a ton of damage in one turn was Craterhoof Behemoth. I think he ran either two or three of these, but with haste and a ton of creatures that produce mana I think this is quite the viable win condition off of Primal Surge. The only non-permanent card is Primal Surge, so it is unlikely that you will whiff on it.
There is a concept that I don’t think people have fully embraced yet. I have a friend that showed me a RUG Miracle Ramp deck that had four Bonfire of the Damned and four Temporal Mastery in it with quite a few planeswalkers. We already had a taste of the miracle from Alexander Haynes’s Pro Tour winning deck. He chose to maximize his chances of hitting miracles by maxing out on Thought Scour and Think Twice. This can be further maximized with cards like Desperate Ravings and Alchemist’s Apprentice (don’t knock it until you have tried it… with Sun Titan!).
Another way that miracles can be taken advantage of is by playing ramp, so that way the miracle cards in your hand aren’t virtual mulligans. The way that a lot of the miracle cards are balanced from a design perspective is to increase the "hard casting cost." For example, Terminus is 4WW while Hallowed Burial is 3WW. This draw back can be mitigated by playing a little bit of mana acceleration. Even just a Sphere of the Suns can go a long way.
The last card that truly surprised me this weekend is Deadeye Navigator. This guy and I are going to be good friends for the next few months as I jam him (and Volt Charge and Tibalt) into every deck that I can. How about we start small?
Deadeye Navigator can be paired with any of the core set Titans. If paired with Primeval Titan, for 1U, you can search your deck for two lands and put them into play tapped. If paired with Frost Titan, for 1U, you can "+1 Tamiyo." The list goes on and on, but I think Inferno Titan and Frost Titan are my favorites.
There is another synergy that I like a lot with Deadeye Navigator with transform cards. For instance, let’s say that you pair your Deadeye Navigator with a Ravager of the Fells. Then, you pass the turn to your opponent, but he just plays a land and passes. At the end of your opponent’s turn, you can pay 1U a few times (rebonding every time) to get some life and Wolf tokens. Then on your turn, your Huntmaster of the Fells will transform into a Ravager of the Fells again. If you wanted to, you could pay 1U to Blink it again, rebond them, and pass the turn. At the beginning of your opponent’s upkeep, it will transform again. This way, you can get a free "double Shock" on each player’s turns!
Man, I really am surprised by how many cool tricks there are out there. I sure hope more people keep on brewing and playing with sweet cards! I know I will.
Thanks for reading,
Jonathan "Watchwolf92" Sukenik