It’s no doubt that Swans of Bryn Argoll plus Seismic Assault plus Dakmor Salvage is the most powerful combo in modern Standard, but no matter what assortment of mana fixing you have, being able to cast Assault for RRR and Swans for WW is going to be difficult when facing disruption. Not to mention that Fulminator Mage, Thoughtseize, and all the other hand/land disruption spells can wreak havoc on a fragile manabase.
The Enchanted Evening plus Patrician’s Scorn combo is a unique one. Usually most combo decks revolve around casting two or three cards to win the game off an overwhelming effect when the cards are combined. But with Enchanted Scorn, you only have to spend mana on the Enchanted Evening, which can be cast a multitude of ways. Theoretically you don’t even need White, and the combo can be played in a Mono-Blue deck. It can be used in a Mono-White deck, a Blue/White deck, GWR, WR, BW, UW, UG, UB… the options are near endless. You can play this combo in any deck sporting Blue- or White-producing lands.
Which begs the question… what is the optimal color combination?
Do we want Black for its protection from hand disruption, or possibly Beseech the Queen?
Do we want a Mono-Blue permission deck with the combo layered on?
Do we want a GWR deck with multiple combos, like the genius build Chapin discussed on Monday?
Do we want an aggressive creature package with the Scorn as a backup plan?
Do we want a control deck that buys time until the mid-late game where you can effortlessly set up the win?
Do we even want to play with these stupid cards?!
The answers to all those questions are probably no, but seeing as how I spent a good portion of my time thinking, editing, and playing with all these “Scornful” options, I might as well shed some lists.
My first application of the Scorn combo was last week, in a similar version to Chapin’s deck…
Creatures (12)
Lands (24)
Spells (24)
I’ve updated it since, with the inclusion of the underrated multi-role-performer Austere Command. I tried Kitchen Finks last week, but didn’t really acknowledge how good he is. Most of the time he would get offed in response to a Scorn, leaving me dudeless for the post-Scorn period. But his role really isn’t for the post-Scorn; he’s just a dude that will prolong the game until you get your Scorn on against most aggressive decks. I don’t expect him to live past Scorn, but if he does it’s just icing. I also had a series of games where I’d pretend the Wall of Roots from the previous build were Kitchen Finks, and he did a much better job at being a more disruptive blocker and making the game last a bit longer.
I really can’t put into words how good Harmonize and Ancestral Visions are. Drawing cards just feels so good. Hmm, I’ll get back to this in a second.
I’m still at odds with the sideboard. I’m in love with Tabby (Magus of the Tabernacle), and every day I find a new cool use for him. He survives Firespout and Austere Command! Cute. I guess my idea is that with all the Enchanted Evening hype, the combo will most likely only be good for the first game, and a transformational sideboard would be a good path to follow. Sure, it’s not much of a transformation. You really only have seven “combo” pieces, so the sideboard requirements are relatively low given I have a good Wish package as well. Tarmogoyf is quickly turning into one of the best sideboard cards of all time.
I’m naturally more inclined to view Enchanted Evening as a Blue card since, well, all Blue cards are better than White cards. So here are the successful attempts at making Blue-based Enchanted Scorn.
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
Turn 1: Suspend Vision
Turn 2: Wall of Roots
Turn 3: Garruk into Epochrasite
Turn 4: Enchanted Evening, activate Garruk’s Beast ability, cast Patrician’s Scorn with the ability on the stack, blow up everything. Beast comes in and Epochrasite is suspended with Vision on one.
Or…
Turn 4: Search for Tomorrow, or lay another Wall of Roots while bluffing countermagic.
Turn 5: Ancestral Vision resolves, make a Beast, float two mana and Scorn the board, drop a Goyf.
Appealing? Yes.
Practical? Maybe…
I’ve only played around twenty or so games with this deck, winning upwards of 15 . The real surprise factor of this deck is that it produces a combo that is played entirely in White. You come off as a UG control with random Epochrasites, but you function as a heavy-hitting combo deck. The mass amounts of card draw in here function as the Glittering Wish/Idyllic tutor of previous versions, while also giving you a plethora of cards to overwhelm them with Garruks and Goyfs as a Plan B.
Perhaps the most attractive quality of this UG joint is the clean and crisp numbers. All four-ofs. This deck knows what it wants: overwhelming consistency. It doesn’t bother with any obnoxious silver bullets or tutor effects. It just draws cards and plays powerful spells. But maybe this version is a little too one-dimensional for our complicated Standard format.
Creatures (8)
Lands (24)
Spells (28)
- 4 Mind Stone
- 4 Ancestral Vision
- 4 Damnation
- 4 Foresee
- 4 Patrician's Scorn
- 4 Thoughtseize
- 4 Enchanted Evening
Sideboard
I couldn’t find a way to make the BW Scorn deck work, due to mana inconsistencies that led to Coalition Relic and Prismatic Lens. Plus I felt like an idiot with Idyllic Tutor, so I shifted it to UB.
Nihilith! Woo! Remember that guy? Lurking in the shadows until a combo in two different colors comes out that he can bandwagon onto! But really, he’s pretty gassy… but not nearly as gassy as the manabase. Sure, you most likely won’t be able to suspend Vision on turn 1, but who cares? Turn 2 Vision might be better in this deck, since it doesn’t really matter when you draw the cards, and it’s much better to draw them post-Scorn if you already have the pieces.
This version is a bit slower than the previous, using Damnation to lengthen the game where the others look to just combo and be done with it. This deck, however, takes one or two more turns to go off, due to the lower number of threats. Honestly, I’m not sure what other threat this deck could use. Murderous Redcap is a chump, and there aren’t any worthy Blue or Black suspenders. Aeon Chronicler is cool, but far too slow and clunky for what I’m going for here. I need a cheap, big threat, and there just doesn’t seem to be anything that fits the bill. I pondered on Vexing Sphinx, but I think I want something with a bit more longevity in the event the game goes long.
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of base-Black Enchanted Scorn is the lack of Vexing Shusher in the sideboard. But he was easily forgotten once I realized that you can turn into an extremely heavy discard deck post-board opposite controlling decks, and not have to worry about dead cards as the game resets itself so often, which really highlights how mana-light this deck is. I’d like to have at least 30 sources, but have no clue where to squeeze in the other two.
Creatures (8)
Lands (24)
Spells (28)
This was a version I saw being played on MWS a few days ago. All in all, I’m not that impressed. Cryptic Command brings another level of protection, acting as a counter, Time Walk, and card draw all in the same package. As far as I know, this is the first “combo” deck featuring Cryptic Command… I’m impressed, but I feel like he needs some more supporters. Kind of like TMac. I mean really, how embarrassing… seven years making the playoffs and seven years of leaving in the first round. He’s a curse. Kind of like Adam Yurchick. He curses the Midwest with his prescience at each tournament he attends due to his overwhelming odor, foot-long toenails, and pasty white legs that he loves to show off in his vintage Old Navy khaki cargo shorts circa his 11th birthday.
So you’re a UW permission deck that ambushes the opponent the turn you let them resolve a spell. Quite a good idea, in theory. They try and resolve spells the whole game, only to have all their permanents destroyed the turn you let one hit play. Still, it has its flaws. With counters comes lower consistency, due to there being fewer virtual threats and combo pieces.
This is the kind of deck you need to avoid, because its proactive game is so reliant on the opponent’s game. You play by their clock the entire time, unlike the UG or UB decks that had more card draw to counteract the trimmed base.
Creatures (17)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (15)
This is a bit of a twist from the usual GW Scorn decks loafing around. Mana Tithe is an awesome way to disrupt the opponent that caters to the aggressive side of this deck, while also holding true by protecting Enchanted Scorn. And its value resets each time the world blows up, so it doesn’t lose face as the game progresses.
No Epochrasite in this list; he’s too slow. I’d much rather have the option to charge up a land and drop a bunch of dudes with the mana floating. I was bothering with Flagstones for awhile but couldn’t come up with a manabase I liked. It started naturally as a four-of, then I drew it a few times too many so I cut it entirely. The next day I added it back in, apologizing to Flagstones for erupting on him out of frustration. He accepted kindly and made his way back into the deck as a temporary three-of, which soon became two, due to the low number of Plains I could squeeze in. Then poof, he disappeared in the night with nothing more than smeared lipstick on my bedroom pillow.
I had an extra slot in the deck, which I considered making Austere Command, but I gave in and threw an Oversoul in there and haven’t looked back since.
It’s still hard to call this an aggro deck though, since it performs much like the Ghazi-Chord deck with which Katsuhiro Mori won Worlds a couple of years back. They both have a light aggression plan, almost as a front to lure out Wrath effects, but its true power lies in its later drops where it can use all its mana. Garruk enables a lot of the sicker plays in this deck, from Garruk into Goyf to Garruk into Finks. You really can’t lose when casting Garruk. If the opponent decides to make a go at it with the Planeswalker he will have to go through some angry GW dudes, and will likely waste needed damage and a ton of time trying to kill the hairy Wildspeaker. This will just buy you more time to find the combo.
While this deck is still in its early stages it was still extremely successful and fun to play. There was a fair amount of time that I’d actually Glittering Wish for Shield of the Oversoul and land it on a Goyf, Saffi, or Finks, and my opponents would take forever to decide what the hell to do about it, eventually asking for another game in an attempt to avenge such a janky loss. I haven’t landed it on an Oversoul yet, but perhaps in Hollywood…
KithScorn
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Cenn’s Tactician
4 Wizened Cenn
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Kinsbaile Borderguard
4 Glittering Wish
4 Patrician’s Scorn
3 Enchanted Evening
4 Mana Tithe
3 Rustic Clachan
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Brushland
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Reflecting Pool
3 Wooded Bastion
4 Plains
1 Snow-covered Plains
Sideboard:
1 Enchanted Evening
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Billy Nude Pressed Up Against Glass
1 Vexing Shusher
This is taking it a little too far, but it’s actually much better than you would initially give it credit for. For one, Borderguard is just about as good as Epochrasite, considering he won’t be a chump when he first comes in. The real highlight of this deck is that if you don’t get a fast draw, or you are just missing a few points, you can reset the board and drop all the weenies all over again. It’s not quite as winning as the other strategies, but its Plan A is much more potent.
Did I mention how awesome Mana Tithe is when you reset the game?
This deck really isn’t very good, though. It’s neat in theory, but winning actual games is much harder than you’d assume. You’d think you could just get there once with the diluted Kithkin force, but it just never happens. And if they disrupt your combo in the slightest you have to lean back to the flaky Kin, who burn easily when doing manual labor in the sun.
With your mother
On a sandy lawn…
CK Sanch
…
Top 5 Picks
1) Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weakend
2) Hobo Ho – Charles Mingus
3) Red & Purple – The Dodos
4) Couleurs – M83
5) Practice What You Preach – 2Pac