With Standard reborn and Regionals in a couple of weeks, it’s very important to have a good grasp of what decks you can expect to face, and what kind of golden gleaming gangsta glitter they’ve gained.
Most of these decks are stock versions that I’ve been using to test several potential rogue brews for Seattle, like RWB Torrent of Anathemancer and a new Tezzy build (Tezzy is dead… Maelstrom Pulse is too good), and are merely rough drafts for what I expect to see at Regionals. Don’t post up in my forum, spitting something stupid like:
“WTF!?! Jund aggro with no Putrid Leech? What a newbie article, blah blah…”
So now, three Jund lists WITHOUT PUTRID LEECH!* Wanna make something of it?
Jund
Creatures (23)
- 2 Cloudthresher
- 2 Shriekmaw
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 2 Murderous Redcap
- 2 Broodmate Dragon
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 3 Anathemancer
Lands (24)
Spells (14)
Creatures (28)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Goblin Outlander
- 4 Jund Hackblade
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 4 Anathemancer
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Sanchez
Creatures (24)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 4 Demigod of Revenge
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Goblin Outlander
- 4 Anathemancer
Lands (25)
Spells (12)
This is the hot new bad boy on the block, and there are several very good lists out there depending on what type of Jund approach you want to take. Chapin talked about a midrange Jund list on Monday, and I really like the idea of playing more expensive spells with Bloodbraid Elf, like Cloudthresher and Shriekmaw, to better control his Cascade. Lavalanche is one of my favorite cards to come out of the new set, but unfortunately I can’t really make a good shot at hitting a lot of sideboards because of its non-synergies with Cascade.
Adrian Sullivan also preached Jund this week, and I can really get behind the streamlined Red burn mindset of his list. His mana could use a little tweaking to get some more Black sources in there for his early drops, but otherwise a very good starting point and basic Jund list to playtest against. I’d assume many other players came up with Jund list resembling his. However, I definitely expect it to evolve a great deal in the weeks to come. I’d expect it to take on a heavier curve to compliment Broodmate Dragon and to support Anathemancer’s Unearth.
My list is a little more tuned to play against Anathemancer, with 10 basic lands. On the surface, Jund Hackblade looks to be an awesome addition to all the Gruul/Rakdos decks running around, but I’ve honestly grown quite sick of him. He’s pretty useless in a lot of situations and I’d expect a lot of lists to move away from him post Regionals, and the smart ones to lower their numbers or cut him entirely before the tournament. There are so many situations where you set yourself up for a Fog and end up with a stupid 2/1 in play, and when you take away Haste from this guy he’s complete garbage that just sets you up for Fallout. Rip-Clan Crasher fills the slot much more consistently with only a slight power loss. Demigod is the real reason to play my list since it looks like people are moving away from him, and I’m not sure why. Anathemancer does a good job of closing out the game for cheaper mana, but Demigod is so devastating in the creature matches because they come down to who drew the better creatures.
I expect for Jund to be the most played deck at Regionals because it has the biggest collection of new fun cards to play, and it seems to be on the mind of every writer these days, only turning up the volume on the hype. The deck really isn’t as good as people make it out to be, so I’d rather play something that preys on the underdeveloped Jund fools.
Creatures (27)
- 3 Gaddock Teeg
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Qasali Pridemage
- 4 Dauntless Escort
- 4 Bant Sureblade
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (6)
This is the other deck that was reborn with the addition of Reborn. This is what I want my post-Reborn aggro deck to look like. Potent curve, resilience to Wrath effects, and lots of basic lands to stop those comeback games where they draw two Anathemancer and win out of nowhere. Drawing multiple Anathemancer is going to end a lot of games at Regionals, and I want to make sure and be prepared for it in whatever deck I play. I will not lose random games to a freaking Grey Ogre!
The advantage this deck has over Red-based aggro decks is the resilience provided from Qasali Pridemage, Dauntless Escort, and Gaddock Teeg. The nonbasics in this brew are pretty conservative; it’s probably best to go up to four Village, but I really wanted to include Borderposts in here as one-drops #11-12. Nettle Sentinel was in here for the awhile, but this is also the kind of deck that wants to explode and play multiple spells in one turn to ask the opponent “have you got it or not?” Garruk helps in this manner, and Behemoth Sledge puts games away and enables you to hold back some dorks against control decks to wait to over-extend until an Escort shows up. It doesn’t appear so on paper, but this deck really has a swarm mentality. There are so many cheap efficient creatures that you can activate a Windbrisk Heights out of nowhere.
The main sideboard card you have to look out for when battling this deck is Sigil Blessing, and it’s an absolute beating if played during combat in response to a Fallout, and you’ll likely be dead if it’s the last spell cast in any game. I’d also expect them to include some Runed Halo and Pithing Needle in the sideboard to combat Red decks and Planeswalkers.
Creatures (29)
- 2 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 3 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Woolly Thoctar
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 4 Qasali Pridemage
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
Lands (22)
Spells (9)
I had the idea that I wanted to max out at three-four lands and play some mana accelerators to skip all the horrendous two-drops we are forced to play with these days. That’s the one hole in all the Red deck curves: they have play with Outlander, Hackblade, and Crasher to fill the slots ,which is where a good skip-to-three-mana deck could really shine. This isn’t a fully tweaked version, but I think something similar to this could do really well since it won’t have bad two-drops clogging the draws.
That said, the mana is atrocious and Volcanic Fallout is a serious problem, so I don’t see this deck taking off just yet. If there was only a way to make good use of Wild Nacatl to amplify a Ranger of Eos package with Burrenton support. Then we might have a really good Naya deck. Those three-butts have a unique intangible value right now over their piddly two-end friends.
Creatures (26)
- 3 Boartusk Liege
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 3 Tattermunge Maniac
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Rip-Clan Crasher
- 4 Jund Hackblade
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (7)
This is another basic RG shell I’ve been battling with, to get a feel for just how necessary the Black is for Jund decks. This one makes much better use of Hackblade with the inclusion of Maniac to the one-slot, and the little Maniac can continue to contribute later on with Colossal Might, Sarkhan Vol, and Boartusk Liege giving him a little more value.
It sucks playing against Mogg Fanatic with this deck, but otherwise I prefer this curve to most Jund decks that only get Terminate, Maelstrom Pulse, and Anathemancer as Black incentives. I really want Banefire in this deck, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the bad Bloodbraid interactions.
I really like how Sarkhan Vol feels these days. There are some big critters fumbling around, and with so much creature combat happening he seems poised to be an excellent way to turn a race around while providing a little speed bump for the opponent before they can focus on your life total again. If they let him stay around he’ll completely swing the game in your favor between the Fires of Yavimaya effect and the threat of Threaten. The dragons are actually pretty easy to summon in any kind of a standstill.
Creatures (24)
- 3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
- 3 Cloudgoat Ranger
- 3 Goldmeadow Stalwart
- 4 Knight of Meadowgrain
- 4 Wizened Cenn
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 3 Ranger of Eos
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
I was considering playing this at the Dallas PTQ and threw it together the Friday night prior, but ended up staying out too late to wake up in time for the four-hour Dallas drive. Mono White Kithkin are in a very special spot right now, and are poised to make a resurgence given their potent basic nature. Playing Mono White means you still get to play a lot of the best spells right now. Ajani Goldmane, Spectral Procession, and Path to Exile are at the top of the Standard tier right now, and all Kithkin really needs to do is throw together some kind of curve to support the bombastic spells. I really wish I had some better Ranger of Eos targets, but with the rise of Jund you really can’t have too many Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tenders.
Saving Rustic Clachan until turn 4 to play a Wizened Cenn plus Reinforce has been one of the more subtle plays that will help you advance with this deck. Since you only get to play with the powerful White spells it becomes very important to get the absolute most out of your cards opposite aggro decks, and I often find myself taking the control route relying on the card advantage generated from Ranger, Cloudgoat, and Windbrisk to win the game.
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (28)
When looking for plentiful basic land decks, you’re sure to sniff around this one. I hate this deck, but there are so many fools who will follow it to the end. I love playing a lot of Islands, but this just isn’t the deck you want to sleeve up in a room full of Jund. I haven’t seen many decks playing Thought Hemorrhage, so that’s a pretty good sign for this deck.
Billy is very interested in this deck because it resembles the sleeper Ebony Owl Netsuke deck from an olden Standard. I’ve only played with the deck a few matches, and each one I got completely stomped. If you don’t get THE draw with this deck, you’re playing on your heels the whole game, and it makes me feel like I need to get lucky to win. I hate feeling like I lucked out against my opponent rather than controlling the game the entire time and playing at my own pace.
This deck definitely didn’t get much from Alara Reborn, and given the tendency for players to want to play with new cards I don’t see this one taking home any Nationals invites a week and a half from now. You still need to know what kind of game plan your opponent is up to when they play Islands on their first three turns. I also liked the versions with Dominus of Fealty a little more than Stark’s version.
Mind Funeral is a card I could see stretching the mana for, and a buddy of mine (Tortellini) built a deck designed to remove all the lands from the opponent’s deck before casting the stupid Sorcery with like Path to Exile and Earwig Squad. The deck is pretty awkward stupid, but definitely a fresh idea.
Creatures (22)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 2 Ashenmoor Gouger
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 4 Demigod of Revenge
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Hellspark Elemental
Lands (24)
Spells (14)
Another evolution to dodge opposing Anathemancers. I really like the idea of having Volcanic Fallout in an aggro deck where it doesn’t kill any of your creatures and provides an intangible utility opposite Boat Brew and BW Tokens.
I’d expect a lot of Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender to be played next weekend, along with a hearty dose of Kitchen Finks and perhaps Story Circle for the smart few. This is really just my baseline Red deck that I know I’m going to have to beat at some point, and is a very good deck to put whatever contender your testing up against to test the waters. I wouldn’t recommend any Red decks next weekend since you’ll be in for sludging through a lot of hate, but if I was gonna play Red I’d want plenty of Fallout and Banefire to steal a sideboarded game.
Creatures (12)
Lands (24)
Spells (24)
Here’s my take on Five-Color Control in the new Standard. I’ve been testing this list for several days now and I’m really wanting to mix more Runed Halo and Makeshift Mannequin in. Mannequin is a card people have somewhat forgot about, and combined with Mulldrifter, Mancer, and Finks give you a lot of four mana open options alongside Cryptic Command.
Runed Halo has really been doing work for me serving as the cheap removal spell to deal with Figure’s, Thought Hemorrhage, Mistbind Clique, Sanity Grinding (vomit), Cruel Ultimatum, Identity Crisis, as well as completely nullifying Anathemancer. Speaking of, he serves a tad different role in this deck than the Jund decks. I often find myself dropping him turn three or four to get in a little bit of damage, then chump block combined with a Cryptic Command bounce or Makeshift Mannequin to get more damage out of him. There have been games where my only combat damage was from one or two Mulldrifter attacks, and the rest was Anathemancer nonbasic damage.
If he is really as powerful as I think he is going to be, it will be a very good tactic to stop playing lands whenever you get a land away from the top of your curve. For most decks this means to stop playing lands after turn 4, which feels so unnatural and odd, but negating the blowout factor of the Mancer and gagging how strong the opponent is will be a tough measure at Regionals this year.
I often find myself bouncing my Mancer with Cryptic Command when countering a spell, or if they’re tapped out at end of turn. Playing actual Wraths in this deck also really helps me against the Jund decks that have hard times removing Figure and Boggart Ram-Gang.
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (25)
Spells (20)
I’m no Faerie expert, but DJ Kastner sure is. For awhile during the PTQ season I thought tournament results were being over posted because DJ was top 8’ing so damn much with the fearsome Fae. He’s been playing the fliers for a long time, now and I’d trust his most recent list over most.
I definitely think Vendilion Clique should make the cut somewhere, but other than that this has been more stock Faeries list for some time now. I don’t see Faeries going up or down in value with the addition of Alara Reborn. The deck plays the best Blue and Black spells, and can always formulate some new game plan to attack the hate being presented. The point is that experienced Faeries players will do well at whatever tournament they play in, and DJ is a shining example of that. He’s been putting up results across several formats with Fae and has made the slight adjustments needed before each tournament to succeed.
I’d expect Soul Manipulation to make an appearance in some of these lists, giving them even more late game Mistbind Cliques to create a soft upkeep lock. Other than that I’d look for Faeries to take on an Esper manabase to help combat the huge rise in Red based aggro decks that are likely to run rampant at Regionals.
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
My boy Mandee won the Dallas PTQ with this number. I called him on Thursday to hop in his car with James Wise, but apparently they claim to have already been in Dallas (cough*BS*cough), so I got robbed out of a potential qualification. Still, I couldn’t be happier that Mandee is going to participate in his second Pro Tour in Austin later this year since he’s a hard working, devoted, and honest Magic player who only has a road of success in front of him.
The inclusion of Zealous Persecution was huge for him on the weekend given the majority of the field was dominated by similar BW Token lists. He has been playing this token deck for a very long time and if he put his PTQ fate in the hands of Mark of Asylum I wouldn’t doubt that it’s a sleeper card in the BW sideboards. I saw a list somewhere that had Identity Crisis main deck and asked Mandee about it, but he assured me it belongs in the sideboard for now due to the high population of Red decks and mirror matches where Thoughtseize and Tidehollow Sculler are more efficient hand disruption spells.
Although this deck only gained a couple interesting cards from the new set, I believe it will out-perform Boat Brew due to its aforementioned high quality disruption that informs the token player on just how much to extend, when to extend, and the proper time to strike, which is why I don’t see Identity Crisis being all that relevant out of the board. From my experience I was always looking to strip one or two cards then go about my curve, and while extremely potent in certain situations, I don’t see myself waiting until turn six or seven to start my onslaught.
Boat Brew
I don’t have a list I feel comfortable with sharing yet. This deck seems to have taken a big hit with the introduction of the new set. Intimidation Bolt gives the Brew a good sideboard option opposite BW Tokens, and really helps buy time to help grow late game Figures, but I wasn’t having the dominating results opposite Jund and BW token decks that I wanted so I looked to make some changes.
At the beginning of my testing I couldn’t stop building decks with Glory of Warfare since it looked to be backbreaking opposite the token mirrors and dealt more initial damage the turn you played it than Anthem or Ajani. I went through several RBW, RW, and RGW token lists. Bitterblossom, Sculler, Naya Charm, Garruk, and some five-color versions featuring Grixis Charm AND Spectral Procession. All of them had the same problem that Fallout would still be hard to come back from. So I evolved and started including Ranger of Eos packages much the same that Boat Brew operated around with Burrenton Forge Tender, but the deck just felt too underwhelming centered around the enchantment, and I’d rather have an Ajani, Vengeant or Goldmane, to accompany my token producers.
Since my lackluster attempt I haven’t tried to play Boat Brew, but people are finally well prepared for this and BW tokens, and BW got much more help than the brew of boats in Alara Reborn. This leads me to believe there won’t be many boat brewers at Regionals. It’s still a deck that you can expect to play against though and the people you will play will probably have been boat brewers for a good while and want to play a deck they know.
…
With those specific match ups in mind I’ve got two very intriguing decks suited to attack this metagame. A U/W control deck that plays a lot of basic lands, Runed Halo, Borderposts, and lots of Wrath effects. It looks to play the universal control game in a very basic nature, but I’m concerned about late game situations where their more powerful multicolor spells catch up with my narrow card pool. I’m also concerned that I might want to play a more proactive deck in this format since everyone is likely to be building decks from different angles, and it’s hard to cover all the potential ones in such an undefined format.
I’ve also got a RWB deck with 187 creatures topping off at Torrent of Souls combined with the Anathemancer end game. Its main flaw resides in the bane of our current format – Anathemancer – but I believe it to be one of the best ways to abuse the Mancer, combining it with reanimation spells to get even more value out of it.
I don’t want to share them until next week though, since they’d likely get lost in the cluttered maze of deck lists. That’s not actually why I’m not sharing, but it makes a decent enough excuse other than I don’t want to share the tech yet.
I’m honestly not too sure this five-color nature of everything is the right direction we should be heading. Sure, mana bases can be stretched to include the Top 10 spells in the format, but do we really need to? There are so many powerful cards in Standard that two-color decks really aren’t that underpowered compared to their three, four, and five color brethren. RG aggro is just as good as Jund aggro. Likewise, G/W is just as beefy as Naya aggro, and there’s even room for the mono Red and White decks to compete right now.
There are a whole lot of clunky concoctions being played right now, and we all know the story of the bulky bear vs. the rabid rabbit. The grizzly veteran bear, conqueror of many animal skulls, may be the biggest baddest mofo in the ring, but the fast little rabbit with a potent bite can give him whatever illness he travels with, like rabies, clams, or worse off: Swine flu.
My point is that when you’re deck building for Regionals, try to make your decks more conservative rather than stretching for power, test both versions, and see what the power difference feels like. I’ve been finding out more and more that having better spells across more mana doesn’t necessarily mean your deck is more powerful, and I believe that to be one of the keys at succeeding this upcoming year.
Thanks for reading…
Kyle
Top 5 Picks To Spike After Regionals
1) Runed Halo — Best removal in the format.
2) Soul Manipulation — Remove Soul + draw a card!?!**
3) Intimidation Bolt — It’s so rough to fight through Cryptic Command AND Intimidation Bolt.
4) Putrid Leech – “Seriously. A Black 4/4 for 2?” – Sam Black
5) Nimbus Maze?***
…
* I really do like Putrid Leech, and I predict him replacing Jund Hackmage after Regionals or Seattle once the new set hype settles down a bit. Until then I’d like to keep the Hackmage hype up since it’s such an awful card and I love playing against it.
** If only we could make Grixis work to return Anathemancer. Hmm…
*** This whole messed up mana situation has got me thinking about what we are gonna see in the next block. Reflecting Pool and Vivids are about to bounce, so are we going to see Grove of the Burnwillows, River of Tears, Horizon Canopy, or hopefully Nimbus Maze in the next set?