I feel like I’ve been swagger jacked by Patrick Chapin this week. Great minds must think alike, because I had a nearly exact copy of his article written in my head, ready to put finger to key to punch it out. But low and behold, PChappy also decided it was prudent to discuss new Kithkin, GW, Jund, and even had my curve ball list that I planned on unveiling and dominating with at Nationals: Sanity’s Cascade*.
It does help to know that I’m on the right track, though. Kithkin, GW, and Jund are the immediate enemies we have to address before we can step into this new Standard frontier. Kithkin is pretty easy… just take Ceddy’s Kin, cut the Anthems and replace them with Honor of the Pure. Cedric knows the horde of White men better than any other, and his numbers are crisp and decisive. However, I don’t believe all that “Kith trumps Fae” nonsense. The Fae pilot is much more important in that matchup, and despite his boastful claims that Kith can win, I still imagine it as a dog as it was back when I forayed into midget-man land.
Kithkin
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Wizened Cenn
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Path to Exile
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Spectral Procession
3 Ajani Goldmane
2 Mutavault
2 Rustic Clachan
4 Windbrisk Heights
17 Plains
Honor of the Pure is one of those cards that those foolish forum folk will be complaining about banning a couple months from now. I’ve already had my fair share of degenerate double-triple Honor of the Pure draws, and it’s a lot like being a professional NFL player with many accolades from MVP to Super Bowl finalist swaggering around town with a 19-year-old cuddy buddy expecting not to get shot. Actually, it’s nothing like that, but that P is so hot.
I tried several Soldier lists, but they all sucked, and until Kithkin rotates out there is little incentive to swap surnames.
Soldiers
4 Goldmeadow Harrier
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Cloudgoat Ranger
3 Captain of the Watch
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
2 Ajani Goldmane
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Mutavault
2 Rustic Clachan
14 Plains
I’m liking Harrier in this build since the curve is a little lower than most Kithkin decks. He is able to sneak in a bunch of extra damage with the excess mana I have lying around. I couldn’t find room to fit Goldmeadow Stalwart in here, but it’s entirely possible that a White deck with all one-drops could be successful given how many quality contenders there appear to be. Cenn’s Tactician is one that I’m sure most have forgotten about, but his Soldier-pumping ability is much more relevant now than ever before.
Green/White
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Steward of Valeron
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Wilt-leaf Liege
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
3 Path to Exile
3 Ajani Goldmane
3 Honor of the Pure
4 Spectral Procession
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Wooded Bastion
4 Sunpetal Grove
2 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Forest
4 Plains
GW is another potent contender that has a big chance to jump up in power with M10. Honor of the Pure gives them a much more aggressive curve to pair with their already sizable creatures.
The mana is a serious issue with this deck. Despite its quick power, I kept having trouble casting Overrun, so I decided to opt for an Honor version. Noble Hierarch is a bit of a problem in this deck, because of the lack of good fixing available. It leads me to believe that Doran will have a better shot in this metagame, because of how valuable Murmuring Bosk is.
I’m still unsure of Captain of the Watch’s relevance in this format. Cloudgoat Ranger has a number of advantages, and solves the “breakthrough damage” problem that Captain doesn’t. Five is a lot different than six in the early stages of the format, especially with those Red decks running around.
Red/Green
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Rip-Clan Crasher
4 Hell’s Thunder
4 Ball Lightning
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Flame Javelin
4 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Rootbound Crag
16 Mountain
This is a pretty rough, bad, and basic RG list, and is a pretty good example of how Red decks can go wrong. Sure, Bloodbraid is nice, but compared to the Black offerings, Green just doesn’t provide any new lines of attack.
Red/Black
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Outlander
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Ball Lightning
2 Hell’s Thunder
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Flame Javelin
4 Blightning
2 Banefire
4 Aunties Hovel
4 Graven Cairns
4 Dragonskull Summit
12 Mountain
Sideboard
3 Terminate
4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Thoughtseize
1 Banefire
3 Magma Spray
There is a funload of flames being flung around in this flock, and this is the Red aggro deck I expect most to adopt, which unfortunately moves GW’s Lieges up a touch in value. Blighting really punishes any deck not playing Liege, and is a prime way to jump on their critical Cloudgoats/Captains. Goblin Outlander is also looking saucy given how dominant White aggro is expected to be. Banefire goes a long way at solving the potential Faeries and control matchups… However, I don’t expect those two decks to be so prevalent in the first couple weeks.
I’ve been waiting for Banefire to explode, and this may very well be its time. This deck has no such Cascading illusions, providing a quality home for the best Fireball in the history of Magic. It’s just sad Red doesn’t have any quality one- or two-drops to make the Banefire endgame that much more potent.
Jund Cascade
4 Putrid Leech
3 Sygg, River Cutthroat
4 Goblin Outlander
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Jund Charm
1 Volcanic Fallout
3 Blightning
4 Savage Lands
1 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Aunties Hovel
3 Graven Cairns
2 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Twilight Mire
4 Reflecting Pool
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
Sideboard
3 Primal Command
1 Broodmate Dragon
3 Anathemancer
3 Volcanic Fallout
3 Thoughtseize
2 Briarhorn
Ever since Chapin showed me it was cool to do silly things with Sygg, I’ve been fishing for a way to really go balls-to-the-wall with him. A R/B burn deck was my first attempt, but isn’t it usually better to have three-power creatures than one-shot burn spells? Anathemancer won’t be as potent as before, with the loss of all the painlands and manabases leaning to a more basic nature, so I turned to Blightning to fill the void, which should prove very powerful opposite the unfocused aggressive metagame we’re stepping into.
Primal Command is a card I really like to lean on to answer the Red threats, since it also provides a way to tutor up a Dragon to finish them off, and can also be used to rid them of lethal Unearth creatures.
That said, this deck still has the same problems as I faced before: Chameleon Colossus, Mistbind Clique, and opposing Anathemancers. Everything else is easily played around, but those three are a big problem for the mirror, and I just don’t have a better answer than Thoughtseize outside of something techy like Snakeform. I would go back to my old four-color Cascade version with Runed Halo, but I don’t have Wrath anymore… but perhaps Hallowed Burial was better all along anyway.
Briarhorn, which I’ve mentioned before, has a unique role in this format. Not only is he a Plumeveil-esque creature that can replace itself by taking care of one of their critters the turn it comes into play, but it is also a great combat trick that doesn’t hinder you from making your creature drop for the turn. In a format where tokens are fading out and combat is becoming more Limited-like, I anticipate unconventional cards like Briarhorn to surge in value.
This might be my Nationals deck, but I have a feeling true control decks will be much better a week or two from now. I feel a shift away from Tokens coming about prompted by the loss of Glorious Anthem. Bitterblossom and Spectral Procession aren’t exactly best friends anymore, and with all the aggro decks being very well positioned to battle against the hordes of tokens. This puts dedicated control decks in a very comfy position. All we have to do is counter some spells, deal with White creatures, and not get burned out by the Red decks? That’s what it looks like to me, and those are three very easy things to do.
I Nuck If You Buck
3 Plumeveil
1 Nucklavee
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
2 Liliana Vess
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Remove Soul
3 Broken Ambitions
4 Double Negative
4 Cryptic Command
3 Volcanic Fallout
3 Blightning
2 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Banefire
4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Sunken Ruins
4 Cascade Bluffs
3 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Island
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
Sideboard
4 Shriekmaw
4 Fulminator Mage
3 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Thoughtseize
Despite the lack of card draw, this one has been performing fairly well for me, and is another deck I’ve been working on for Nat’s. Games are very fun and decidingly un-interactive. I answer all the spells they play then cast Cruel Ultimatum a few times until they die. Many times I’ll get them Nucklavee locked doing the counter bounce with Cryptic which technically gives me infinite Cruel Ultimatums/Blightning/Banefire. Double Negative is one of my favorite counters going around right now because nothing is more satisfying that using it on an overzealous opponent using his Bloodbraid or Bit Blast thinking he’s about to pull ahead.
I really wanted to include Gargoyle Tower in this one, but I’m just not sure it would work out with Cruel Ultimatum being so central to this deck’s winning strategy.
I’m in love with Plumeveil right now. There just aren’t very many good answers to it, and with so many linear aggro decks running around, this Elemental should make a bit of a comeback into tier 1 Standard. Lightning Bolt performs a similar role in this deck, being the removal spells to take out whatever early threat slipped into play. Not to mention they combo nicely to kill a Putrid Leech. Smart opponents won’t pump when I have Red up, but if I throw a Plumeveil out there to block he obviously has to offer the trade, at which point I Bolt its Golgari butt back to the grave. And Plumeveil blocks Hellspark Elemental, and his stock just went up with his buddy Ball and his harlot Hell’s Thundering down next turn.
Adding discard like Blightning to an essentially counter deck is also a nice synergy. They will usually save their big hits for last, and with so many cheap counters I’m oftentimes able to turn 5/6 Blightning with countermagic up.
The sideboard is aimed to counter the top decks that I’ve discussed. Shriekmaw + Mannequin is a great way to chop down the White-based aggro decks, while Fulminator keeps the Jund and Five-Color Control decks off balance. I don’t see Duress being that big of player in our current format, but as it evolves and the Five-Color Control decks rise to the top, I could see them replacing Negates in the sideboard if they find a proactive route to supplement with. Maybe some Sedraxis Specter action?
New Standard Trends To Take In
– Anathemancer will be less potent
– White based aggro will be very popular and run low on removal
– Tokens will fall from favor due to Honor of the Pure
– True control decks will become reinvigorated
– Red will be dominant in the first month or so (duh!)
– Runed Halo’s stock will rise again
– Hallowed Burial will be Wrath of God
– Lorwyn tribes will still dictate our Standard format
Despite the daunting aggressive nature of the format, I really do anticipate the control decks to come out ahead with the addition of M10 to Standard. There is a gaping hole where the combo decks used to reside, but with Time Warp, Savor the Moment, AND Twincast all available, it definitely feels like there could be some kind of UG mana ramp infinite Time Walk deck aimed to get value out of Garruk, Jace, and possibly Tezzeret.
Thanks for reading…
Kyle
…
* My SA buddies Kyle Larson and Benito showed me their list on Friday, and I immediately knew we had a sleeper on our hands. I’ve been working the deck to be Bant-based to enable a Rhox War Monk / Kitchen Finks creature sideboard to compliment the four-mana Cascade spells.