Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember,
There was snow,
White snow…
Clearly I remember,
From the windows they were watching,
While we froze down below.
When the futures architectured,
By a carnival of idiots on show,
You’d better lie low…
If you love me,
Won’t you let me know?
…
This marks Week 1 of Hollywood testing for me. Being Week 1, I decided to throw a bunch of baseline decks together and asked around if anyone liked them. Standard is as chaotic as ever. Everyone admits that Faeries has all the right cards to destroy any unprepared opponents, and even the prepared ones are often trumped by the bite-sized burglers. Still, no one likes to play with Faeries, so everyone is making fringe decks that are mildly more amusing to play than the End of Turn Fae.
Fringe decks have historically been weak against finely tuned RG aggro decks, and given the enormous amount of quality burn available, even Faeries will have a hard time dealing with a dedicated RG assault.
Creatures (16)
Lands (24)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
Everyone and their mother knows that RG got a boost in the Moor, but what I haven’t been seeing is people playing with the Demigod in their updated RG decks. He is the perfect solution for the mirrorish matches, as well as being a counter resistant threat against more controlling decks. Sure, it has a weakness to Bitterblossom, but if they have Bitterblossom in play I think I’ve already won? He doesn’t exactly fit the curve, but his late-game presence is still enormous nonetheless. I’d think about running less if he wasn’t so good in multiples.
I’m also not that thrilled about Keldon Marauders and Boggart Ram-Gang, due to their weakness to Firespout and similar Wrath effects that are sure to spike up in utility with all the creature decks running around.
So this is the new evil, the bar line. You’ve gotta beat this decks like this if you want to be a contender.
Creatures (11)
Lands (23)
Spells (26)
- 3 Wrath of God
- 2 Tempest of Light
- 4 Into the North
- 4 Harmonize
- 4 Glittering Wish
- 4 Patrician's Scorn
- 3 Enchanted Evening
- 2 Firespout
Sideboard
Enchanted Evening + Patrician’s Scorn/Tempest of Light = BOOM!
The majority of the forums around the net have some form of this deck. Most started out as a joke, with Spring Cleaning plus Harbringers making the cut in most builds. Needless to say, those versions are trippin’ like a teen girl in a horror movie. Why would you rely on the Clash mechanic for anything? Especially if you have to win to get anything more than a instant speed Vindicate that needed a slight boost from a five-mana enchantment to work.
After browsing around for some better options, Patrician’s Scorn popped up courtesy of Will Lowry (a.k.a. that Sliver-kid from PT: Yokohama who said “like” every like five words in his Deck Tech). I don’t like the infant, mainly because he took me down in the finals of the PTQ that Q’d him, but he has something. From there it became clear that you’d rather clear the board and let a fatty – Epochrasite or Gargs – come in to finish up the opponent before he can recover from the BOOM.
(I’m a little harsh on Lowry, but he’s a buddy of mine now. I used to resent him, but now we joke about him beating me all the time.)
I tried to wrap the Scorn/Enchanted Evening combo around a semi-aggro deck with Mr. Finks, Enforcer, and Tarmogoyf. But the deck was way too F-centric, with Forests – both Karplusan and Snow-covered – Flats, and Firespout all being better F-related options. When building a good Constructed deck it’s extremely important to make sure you don’t use too many of the same syllables, as to keep your opponent off guard. When they know you’re playing an F-centric deck they can readily predict what F-option you’re going to play. When you use the whole alphabet, there’s no telling what you’re gonna throw at them.
Many versions I saw were sporting Idyllic Tutor and an awkward Enchantment-package, which seemed completely underwhelming and unnecessary in the face of Glittering Wish. This is possibly the most impressive application of Glittering Wish in Standard so far. Not only can you go for either piece of the combo, with Fracturing Gust acting as a reasonable Patrician’s Scorn replacement, but you also have access to the ferociously fierce Firespout, which will likely be a format-defining card in Hollywood. Mystic Enforcer and Vexing Shusher round out the Glittering Wish targets, with Guttural Response rarely being needed.
Vexing Shusher in particular is quite exciting. Normally counter decks will always let a Glittering Wish resolve, expecting to counter whatever more expensive target they get. Vexing Shusher completely douses that way of thinking, and you’ll probably manage to trick any foolish or unaware Blue-based mages.
Harmonize may seem a bit out of place, but I found myself wanting a card that would negate some of the disadvantage of running so many singularly “bad” cards in my deck. The fact that this deck will almost always skip from two mana to four strengthens its utility in the deck.
Yurchick complained about the mana, noting that the popular Fulminator Mage and various LD strategies would tear this deck a new one. I disagreed for a few reasons. Yes, the deck is low on Green sources, but after the first you will almost always get another Green source from the mana accelerators, and given the lack of pressure in the majority of the LD decks I’ve seen I’m not too concerned. But the Tarmogoyfs in the sideboard are a nice way to both hold off an army and act as a cheap creature that can be played for a low amount of floated mana post-BOOM.
I also think its worth the risk to run a lower amount of initial Green sources, since Bastion doesn’t count, to fit in Desert and a singleton Mouth of Ronom. Desert’s applications are off the charts right now. It’s one of the few uncounterable hosers to the current best card in Standard: Bitterblossom, as well as being a key player against any Mogg Fanatics, Tattermunge Maniacs, or stupid Faeries that want to peek their head into combat.
…
Was a long and dark December,
When the banks became cathedrals,
And the fog,
Became God.
Priests clutched onto Bibles,
And went out to fit their rifles,
And the cross was held aloft.
Bury me in honor,
When I’m dead and hit the ground,
A love back home unfolds.
I don’t want to be a soldier,
With the captain of some sinking ship,
With snow, far below…
So if you love me,
Why’d you let me go?
…
Creatures (12)
Lands (25)
Spells (23)
- 1 Mirari
- 4 Mind Stone
- 4 Corrupt
- 1 Grim Harvest
- 4 Damnation
- 1 Imp's Mischief
- 3 Bitterblossom
- 1 Mind Shatter
- 4 Beseech the Queen
Sideboard
A Mono-Black control deck with a Beseech the Queen toolbox. Getting to the late game is the key to this deck, and once there you can unlock the door to a host of powerful spells to overwhelm the opponent.
Korlash serves a somewhat different purpose in this deck, compared to his previous appearances. In the current format it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to go the distance with the bulky Legend, so he went to the Wall of Roots School of Defense and learned how to be a quality blocker while providing groundbreaking achievements in the mana advancement department. Epochrasite serves much of the same purpose, as he starts off as a chump caterpillar, but after breaking out of his cocoon becomes a mighty 4/4 butterfly (without the colorful wings). The main route to victory here is either Oona or Corrupting through Mirari.
The Beseech the Queen toolbox has a variety of options, starting with the underrated Imp’s Mischief to direct an Ancestral Vision your way. Mind Shatter is another one of the spicier targets. A very powerful card in a vacuum, Mind Shatter is often discarded due to its poor late game value, so running it as a one-of is the perfect fit. Grim Harvest needs no introduction… however, its utility is heightened immensely after board when you bring in Fulminator Mage and Bottle Gnomes.
Mirari is a card I’ve been all wet over since its first appearance all those years ago. I’ve been secretly trying to find a decent application for it since it was Timeshifted, to no avail… until now. In this deck it really does go a long way at maintaining a constant card advantage over the opponent, much like the singleton Arcanis in my Wizard deck. Copying Corrupt, Beseech the Queen, or even a Grim Harvest is often a crucial game-breaking play that puts you over the edge.
I haven’t worked much on the sideboard, but it’s a good start. Fulminator Mage is an awesome card in both late and early game situations thanks to Grim Harvest, and Extirpate is that token Black card that you have to have in the board.
I’ve seen numerous other Mono-Black “Control” decks using Demigod of Revenge. I tried him, and he’s not as exciting as he looks. His built-in reanimation effect is still powerful nonetheless, and it inspired me to make a more dedicated Demigod deck…
Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with anything remotely playable. Maybe it’s just me, but Demigod is awkward, like when one of your Magic buddies brings his attractive girlfriend to a tournament and you can’t help but stare at her the entire time.
Creatures (17)
- 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
- 3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
- 1 Magus of the Tabernacle
- 4 Vedalken Aethermage
- 3 Venser, Shaper Savant
- 1 Arbiter of Knollridge
- 3 Vendilion Clique
- 1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
Lands (27)
Spells (16)
I’m really bored of talking about this deck, but seeing as I have a “new” version that I’ve tested, I might as well slap it on.
The impact of Shadowmoor on the Wizard deck is pretty huge, resulting in the addition of Wrath effects to counteract the disruptive R/G hybrid cards like Vexing Shusher and Guttural Response. Still, post-board I’m not very concerned. Because when they board their stupid R/G cards in, I’ll board in more Oona and Magus to replace Rune Snag. I’m not so worried about Cryptic Command getting countered, since Teferi stops any Guttural hiccups, and Command is far too good to sideboard out.
The mana is a bit shakier, with 13 colorless lands and 14 natural Blue-producing lands. Fortunately, eight of the thirteen will lead to Blue mana down the line presuming you draw more than one land. Still, Mystic Gate was a huge addition to this deck, enabling a host of White spells like Condemn, Wrath of God, and Austere Command.
Speaking of Oona… she’s insane, and she gives this deck a much needed late game finisher. The best part is that I don’t have to get messy with the red zone anymore. I can sit back and abuse Arbiter until I have enough mana to put up a decent shot at decking them with Oona during an end step via Teferi.
I’m not too sure about the 2 Wrath/ 1 Austere Command, but it’s been working okay so far. You usually don’t need to cast it until later in the game, and Austere Command also has the bonus of being able to keep the important Wizards while wiping out all the small critters on the field.
The sideboard is a bit better than the last one, with Condemn adding a subtly synergistic boost against aggressive decks that wasn’t an option before because of mana issues. Mistmeadow Witch, on the other hand, is a bit out of place. Ideally I’d like to board him in the mirrorish matchup, being an inexpensive creature with a massive ability once you can activate him more than once. He is also the type of creature that is awesome as a one-of because he can protect himself by phasing out at any time. Pithing Needle is there for Rock decks that want to get frisky with Garruk, Treetop Village, and Mutavault, while also doubling down against any random Spinerock Knoll/Storage Land decks. Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender is my humble attempt to squelch all those burn-heavy RG decks that will be running rampant.
…
I took my love down to Violet Hill,
There we sat in the snow,
All that time she was silent still,
So if you love me, won’t you let me know?
If you love me, won’t you let me know?
Sanchez
…
Top 5 Picks
1) Violet Hill – Coldplay
2) Valerie (Acoustic) – Amy Winehouse
3) Lover I Don’t Have To Love – Bright Eyes
4) 1973 (Acoustic) – James Blunt
5) Holy Moly – Talib Kweli