As the Extended season winds down, I’ve picked up a sudden interest in Standard. If I’m testing for an upcoming tournament, I may investigate a “new” format (I haven’t played any Standard since the Extended PTQ season started, though I’ve been reading about it) by running through a gauntlet of its decks to learn how they interact with one another.
When there’s no specific tournament in sight, on the other hand, I opt for the more fun approach: just jump in and build something, then learn how the decks play out by pitting my creation against each of them.
Everyone’s got a convoluted thought process by which they hatch a real deck idea out of nothingness, but most writers (myself included) keep it to ourselves, only writing about our conclusions and not the underlying thought process. There’s a simple reason for that: it’s embarrassing. A crazy idea pops into your head, and within five seconds you realize it’s garbage. You don’t tell anyone about it, because you’re embarrassed that such a stupid notion entered your cranium in the first place – but it’s only through entertaining many, many such crazy ideas that eventually one presents itself which might not be garbage, and then you’re on the road to a deck.
Today’s article is different. Today I sit down with a blank slate, having no idea what kind of deck I am going to build, nor even any planned starting points. From there, I will jump from idea to idea on paper – where I usually do so in my head – until I ended up with something worth building.
Let’s do this.
So I’m browsing some of the Top 8 decklists from Grand Prix: Shizouka and notice a singleton Ajani Goldmane in Kazuya Mitamura’s Reveillark sideboard. Interesting. Ajani costs 2WW. For a control deck, he could be at once a cost-effective finisher and a Pulse of the Fields stand-in… but wait, hang on a sec, it only takes two burn spells to put him out. He won’t actually stop a burn deck once they know I have him and that they should save five points of burn for him. Still, this has put the idea of going control in my head, so let’s run with that for a second.
Speaking of planeswalkers, how do control decks handle Garruk these days? There’s always Cryptic Command and just attacking with a big flyer, but burn handles planeswalkers and helps finish games – just like it does against Ajani.
Molten Disaster lets me play a real control game against the format’s aggro-control deck of choice, Faeries, because for the same converted mana cost as Wrath, I can clear the board without fear of counter. [We’ll let this one go, as Richard is clearly bringing us a “train of thought” article… – Craig, amused.] Red also gives me Pyrohemia, which LSV says (according to Chapin) always beats Faeries, once resolved.
Okay, so I’m a Red control deck now. Possibly U/R. How do I beat Reveillark?
Well, Tolaria West uncounterably transmutes for both Tormod’s Crypt and Academy Ruins. That shuts down the Reveillark infinite recursion, so as long as I can handle the swath of random 2/2 ability dudes, I should be fine.
Tolaria West, you say? Cheap artifacts?
… what about Mishra?
Wait, though. If I play Mishra, I’m roped into U, B, and R. Do I really want to go there? I’m already looking at RRR for Molten Disaster… will I actually be able to play a third color? And if I do, will I really want it to be Black?
Well, let’s think about the burn matchup for a second. If I’m UBR, playing cards like Molten Disaster, I’m pretty much toast unless I can do something stupid like Urborg into Tendrils and get away with it.
… hey, Tolaria West transmutes for Urborg, amiright? It’s a thought.
I certainly don’t want to just play U/B/R Teachings with Mishra – that’s not beating anything right now – but this does beg the question: just how much do I actually want Mishra in a deck like this? If I untap with him and drop, say, a Coalition Relic, I instantly have all the mana in the entire world. A quick run through the list of Artifacts in Standard suggests he might also be strong with Epochrasite (like he was last year), and cute with both Mind Stone and Chromatic Star. But is that enough upside to justify playing him?
Speaking of Star and Stone, I have suddenly arrived at an interesting idea. I’ve always loved cantrip-fueled decks that dig to powerful cards through weight of brute force card drawing. A sketch of a deck is forming in my mind; let me just jot down a sketch of what that deck might look like.
4 Ponder
4 Chromatic Star
4 Thoughtseize
4 Mind Stone
4 Coalition Relic
3 Mishra, Artificer Prodigy
4 Epochrasite
4 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Molten Disaster
2 Pyrohemia
2 Profane Command
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pact of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
That leaves room for a laughable 20 lands. Even if I were to play all those cards, this deck is a joke. What am I actually going to do with Mishra against Faeries? Just run some stupid 4/4 donk out there, nab myself a bonus Epochrasite, and hope they forget that Bitterblossom tokens can chump block while they fly over and destroy me? That works if I have Pyrohemia or Molten Disaster… in which case, I’m probably in fine shape anyway, never mind the fact that the mana on this deck is doomed to failure. No thanks.
Okay, but what do I like about this deck? I like that it plays Molten Disaster (to the exclusion of Damnation, heh – which is entirely silly and unnecessary, looking back) and Tendrils of Corruption.
I suddenly have a new, bizarre idea: what about a U/R Teachings deck that splashes Black through Urborg/Tolaria West only? Teachings into Skred allows Teachings to translate into a relatively mana-efficient removal spell, if the situation calls for it, and otherwise gives me the flexibility to…
… hmm. Cost/benefit on a three-color Snow Land manabase involving Urborg and Tolaria West, when none of the three colors is Green? Doesn’t sound worth it. Okay, scrap that.
Back to just U/R splash Tendrils. No Skred. I still want UU for Tolaria West (for Tormod’s Crypt, if nothing else), RRR for Molten Disaster/Pyrohemia, and I still like the Urborg/Tendrils idea. That should actually pan out just fine as long as I hold off on the Skred.
New question: how do I beat a Tarmogoyf? Man, if only I could be like PChapin and just play that guy as the most efficient control finisher since Psychatog… but now we’re talking about another color, which really doesn’t seem wise at this point.
Well, Goyfs come mainly from G/R Big Mana and B/G Elves. There’s always Void and Shriekmaw to remove them, as long as I’m splashing Black, but neither is really the most appealing option.
Hmm. I’m starting to notice that part of the problem here is that the only Red cards that really help me out in my control stance are Pyrohemia and Molten Disaster. I can’t really get Skred to work, and although Pyrohemia and Molten Disaster will probably be good against Faeries, they don’t seem to be worth such a heavy Red commitment.
I know Crovax is a pretty strong alternate hoser against Faeries, but what good does that do me? There’s no way I’m resolving a six-mana spell against Faeries. I could protect him with Pact of Negation, which I could fetch with Tolaria West to set up his resolution… but how reliably will I really be able to drop him before I’m dead? If only Summoner’s Pact fetched White creatures! Then I could —
… hang on. Summoner’s Pact fetches Cloudthresher, which also conveniently duffs up Faeries. Also, if I were playing a deck with both Summoner’s Pact and Cloudthresher, I could play Tarmogoyf as well, giving me enough finishers right there to play a control game. Thresher is also a six-mana 7/7 with Flash, fitting right into a countermagic-based Blue strategy.
What other Green creatures could I fetch with Summoner’s Pact? A quick search leads to some contenders: Ana Battlemage? Deadwood Treefolk? Chameleon Colossus? Riftsweeper? Humpus Wumpus? Jolrael, Empress of Beasts? Ohran Viper? Quagnoth? Scragnoth? Scryb Ranger? Seedborn Muse? Spectral Force? Spike Feeder? Thelonite Hermit? Troll Ascetic? Verdant Force? Viridian Shaman? Vigor? Wall of Roots? Whirling Dervish? Yavimaya Dryad?
Man, that is a lot of ideas. Some of them are actually okay, too!
Panglacial Wurm is interesting. End step, crack Terramorphic Expanse, tap seven more, Wurm ya. That’s cute, but a control deck with both Tarmogoyf and Cloudthresher probably has enough finishers as it is. I do like Seedborn Muse, though; her ability really mitigates the downside of both casting her in a main phase and the fact that Summoner’s Pact requires an upkeep cost.
Before continuing, I want to figure out my plan against mono-red a bit better. I now have Tarmogoyf on early defense, which is excellent. Am I still going with the Urborg/Tendrils plan? Do I still need to? Is there a good reason I shouldn’t? I’ll keep it on the table, but let’s see what a U/G control deck might look like without it.
23 land (I’ll figure out the specifics later, but Tolaria West will be involved)
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Cryptic Command
4 Careful Consideration
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pact of Negation
1 Summoner’s Pact
1 Ana Battlemage
1 Seedborn Muse
Hrm. Ohran Viper sure does have a big sign on him that says “Cash those otherwise-dead Nameless Inversions in for cold, hard tempo today!” and that’s not an offer I’m interested in presenting. The rest of the slots look surprisingly reasonable for a first draft. I’m concerned that suspending Ancestral on turn 1 may be problematic, what with the Tolaria Wests and Terramorphic Expanses, but I’m willing to give it a shot.
New question: how does this deck beat a Bitterblossom? Cryptic Command isn’t much of an answer by itself, but I have an extra slot to work with thanks to Ohran Viper’s exit.
Related question: how does a Faeries player with Bitterblossom out beat Spectral Force? Who needs Scryb Ranger, anyway? Opponents who play Black permanents voluntarily are tech.
Revised list:
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Cryptic Command
4 Careful Consideration
4 Spectral Force
4 Cloudthresher
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pact of Negation
1 Summoner’s Pact
1 Ana Battlemage
1 Seedborn Muse
This now has all the elements of a sweet deck, but its mana curve is too top-heavy. How can I fix this? Well, Tarmogoyf, Rune Snag, and Search for Tomorrow are all relatively cheap, so none of those will be cut. Ancestral Vision is cheap, but slow; it might be the answer, but I’ll keep looking.
I’m leaning on Spectral Force and Cloudthresher to beat Faeries, so I’d better not cut them – but I could reduce their numbers if need be, as they are both quite expensive. Cryptic Command is also expensive, but likewise unbelievably powerful. Careful Consideration is powerful, but is somewhat redundant given Ancestral Vision; I’ll look more closely at the need for both of those later.
Now for the one-ofs. I’m excited about Seedborn Muse, and Ana Battlemage seems like it has a huge potential for tutorable blowouts given that my opponents will likely hold back on key spells while they search for countermagic bait. It seems unwise to cut Pact of Negation from a countermagic deck with Tolaria West, which leaves Tormod’s Crypt. How useful will that card really be against Reveillark? If I pair it with Academy Ruins, I’m probably in fairly good shape, but how bad a matchup is Reveillark really going to be, honestly? I think the Crypt may be preemptive.
So right now I’m looking at cutting Tormod’s Crypt, and am interested in cutting some number of Ancestrals and Carefuls to fit something a bit more curvaceous. Come to think of it, though, I don’t even know what that curvaceous something would be yet.
The Tolaria West into Academy Ruins thought gave me a tangential idea: what about Bottle Gnomes? It seems like most decks will beat me by racing, as I have lots of fat and card drawing with which to outlast G/R big mana decks, Threshers and Spectral Forces aplenty for Faeries… even against non-burn opponents, the Gnomes seem solid. They’ll be a dinky little clock against Faeries, but they certainly won’t be blocked (except by Clique, I suppose), and could at least put an opponent into range of a couple Spectral Force hits. I’m interested, even though they’ll be essentially useless against Reveillark.
Finally, I am ever so slightly concerned about this deck’s ability to hit its drops on time. Shall we toss in a pair of Mind Stones and see what it looks like?
Let’s say…
+2 Mind Stone
+3 Bottle Gnomes
-4 Careful Consideration
-1 Tormod’s Crypt
Now to choose the 23 lands. We start with:
4 Tolaria West
4 Yavimaya Coast
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urza’s Factory
I’m pretty much positive I want those in my first build. I would be surprised if I didn’t want some Deserts as well, so let’s get a greedy four of those in the mix.
4 Tolaria West
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Desert
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urza’s Factory
Some more Green sources will invariably be involved here… but as Forest, Llanowar Reborn, or Treetop Village? Pendelhaven wouldn’t help much here. The G/R and Elves matchups incline me toward Llanowar Reborn so that my Goyfs win fights, but Treetop is a fantastic beater – again, particularly against Bitterblossom. All in all, I think I’ve included enough to deal with Faeries, so I’m going to nod towards the Goyf mirrors and go with a couple of Llanowars. Not the full four; I can’t afford too many comes-in-tapped lands, and the Tolaria Wests are far more important. Rounding it out with three Islands and four Forests, we have:
4 Tolaria West
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Forest
3 Island
4 Desert
2 Llanowar Reborn
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urza’s Factory
Hmm. That’s eleven Blue sources and ten Green sources. Pretty low, all things considered. I also have a problem where there are only eight cards that can tap for Search for Tomorrow’s required Green mana on turn 1, and only seven for Ancestral’s required Blue.
There are a number of ways I can improve this. One is to trim Deserts. Another is to trim Mind Stones or Searches. I’m torn on Desert; on one hand, it’s very strong against Faeries and Mogg Fanatics, but on the other, it doesn’t do much at all anywhere else. I’ll try trimming to one copy before cutting entirely. I can also turn Llanowar Reborns into Forests to help achieve Search mana on turn 1.
All together now:
4 Tolaria West
4 Yavimaya Coast
7 Forest
5 Island
1 Desert
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urza’s Factory
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Rune Snag
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Mind Stone
3 Bottle Gnomes
4 Cryptic Command
4 Spectral Force
4 Cloudthresher
1 Pact of Negation
1 Summoner’s Pact
1 Ana Battlemage
1 Seedborn Muse
I still have some lingering concerns. I think I want to fit a couple of Vensers in here, but at the same time, Bottle Gnomes looks mighty lonely as the deck’s only three-drop. I think it’s about time I tried this sucker out.
Against, what else, but Faeries? I’ll just do a couple of maindeck games to get a feel for how the deck plays.
Game 1
I lead with Tolaria West, Tarmogoyf, and Bottle Gnomes. My opponent starts with Ancestral and Oona’s Blackguard and Bitterblossom. I sac the Gnomes immediately to pump my Goyf right up to 2/3, then attack. Next turn my opponent drops the elbow with Scion of Oona, but I drop it right back with Cloudthresher, clearing the board and leaving the life totals at 15-13 in my favor, with a Goyf on the table for me and a Bitterblossom for my opponent.
The opponent’s Visions goes off, and the Goyf grows to 3/4. I bash with it, the opponent attempts to intercept with Mistbind Clique, but I have a second Thresh to remove his Bitterblossom token in response, clearing a path for my Goyf.
He’s down to six life and on a Bitter clock when I drop Spectral Force. He Cryptic Commands it, aiming to bounce my Goyf in the process. I can Pact of Negation, but if I do, I lose the game to a second Command that bounces one of my lands. However, if he’s holding Command, he can bounce his own Bitterblossom to stay alive and race me, so there’s not much hope for me if he does. I Pact it. He draws and scoops to the lethal Force plus Goyf, having not topdecked a second Command.
1-0
Game 2
My opponent mulligans once, and is on the play. My opening hand is two Tolaria Wests, two Goyfs, the Pact of Negation, a Thresher, and the one Desert. No Green. Ship it back for Forest, Island, Search, Gnomes, Force, Thresher. Perfectly fine.
He opens with Bitterblossom, while I Search out a Forest and play my miser’s Desert. The Desert doesn’t do much, as he plays Pestermite to tap it right away, and I respond to the ability by clearing him out with Thresher. Next I run out a Spectral Force, and he a Mistbind Clique. Mine is bigger.
He hits me with the Clique, but I knock him to five with Spectral Force, get Tarmogoyf countered by Spellstutter Sprite, and resolve Bottle Gnomes. The Gnomes mean he can’t possibly race without a topdecked Cryptic Command, and when he doesn’t have it, the Force wins.
2-0
Game 3
My opening hand is a one-lander that gets sent back for a two-lander with Tolaria West, Yavimaya Coast, Ancestral, Seedborn Muse, and Cryptic Command. Fairly clunky, but better than six. I lead with Coast and Ancestral, resigning myself to a slow turns 2 and 3 (which, honestly, I would expect even if I led with Tolaria West and could Mind Stone on turn 2).
My opponent also leads with an Ancestral, and I topdeck a Forest to allow for turn 2 Mind Stone anyway.
My Seedborn Muse is hit by Rune Snag, but my opponent misses his fourth land drop. His Ancestral goes off, and when I try to Cryptic Command it, I am met with a second Rune Snag. My Spectral Force is met with a third Rune Snag. His second Ancestral resolves, but by now I have six mana and a Thresher. When he goes for Pestermite on my end step, I flash in the 7/7. I hit him with the Thresher, and he tries to Cryptic Command it back to my hand on my end step. I have a Command of my own to counter it, bouncing his Faerie Conclave. He re-plays it and Pestermites my 7/7 on the attack. I Summoner’s Pact for a second one and play it, putting him at 2 life and facing down two 7/7s. He chumps for a couple of turns, but quickly runs out of creatures and dies.
3-0
Game 4
My opening hand presents an interesting choice. I can lead with Search for Tomorrow, follow with turn 2 Mind Stone, and then hit turn 3 Spectral Force if I topdeck a land (I have Tolaria West for my fifth mana source)… or I can go for turn 1 Ancestral and resign myself to a turn 4 Force. The latter seems safer, so I go for it. I am rewarded when I topdeck a second Ancestral, and can play it and suspend Search on turn 2.
He leads with Ancestral and Oona’s Blackguard, then Scion of Oona. This gives him a threatening force, so I decide to keep my Wrath options open by leaving mana up for Thresher rather than casting Spectral Force on turn 4. I try to Thresh on his end step, but he Commands it (man, why can’t Evoke be Channel?), bouncing my Tolaria West in the process.
I play Spectral Force, but he steals it immediately with Sower of Temptation, and because Command bounced a land, I am one mana short of Transmuting for Summoner’s Pact, Pacting for Thresher, and clearing the board while returning the Spectral Force to my side of the table. Had I been able to do that, I would have won in a blowout. Instead, I was one mana short and had to settle for passing the turn and hoping my Cryptic Command would resolve to tap his team and bounce his Sower. He had double Rune Snag, though, and I lacked a fourth Blue source to Snag back, so the Command was countered and I died immediately.
3-1
Game 5
We both mulligan. I curve out with Forest, Island, Goyf, Gnomes, while he has Ancestral, Bitterblossom, and Rune Snag for my Spectral Force. Along the way, I Transmute Tolaria West for Desert, but once again it is irrelevant. My opponent is stuck on three mana until the Ancestral Resolves, but by then I have six mana, and I throw down a hardcast Cloudthresher to clear out his dorks and pave the way for my Goyf. (I have Pact of Negation backup as well, which is probably what I would have gone for with the Tolaria West had Desert been unavailable.) Bitterblossom is not enough to stem the bleeding, and after I Command his defensive Command that tries to keep him in the game, that’s it.
Final score: 4-1
Hey, I might be on the road to something worthwhile here! Notice how I started with Ajani Goldmane, moved to Molten Disaster, passed by Mishra and Crovax, and ended up at U/G Control. (Y’know, like usual.) I think this deck has potential. Next week, I’ll try and figure out just how much potential – along with a sideboard.
In the meantime, it needs a name. Any ideas?
See you next week.
Richard Feldman
Team :S
[email protected]