As of this writing, the Seattle Invitational is drawing near the end of day two, and the action doesn’t seem to be slowing down. I was not able to make the
trip from New York, but I was surely watching very closely. The big talk going into this week was various Jeskai Ascendancy decks and various Siege Rhino
decks. This is an excellent spot for Standard as a whole for multiple reasons. You have at least two clear decks to beat, so you know what to keep in mind
when making a deck decision. One of those can function as a combo deck, so the combo enthusiasts have something to go to. Every single clan is good, and
each have their own feel; their own identity. If you want grind things out with mono-good cards, then Abzan is your best bet. If you want big creatures but
faster, then go Temur. Jeskai gives you the tricks and the tempo oriented plan. Mardu is the hard hitting, strongarm style of clan that will make
statements at every point of the game. And Sultai is full of value, using every resource available to maximize it.
Meanwhile, back at home, I had the chance to try out a bunch of different decks to see where I wanted to be for the next few tournaments. Basically, I
don’t think I want to be playing any sort of Monsters deck for a while. It’s really tough to get over the W/U Heroic deck while also trying to get under
the Whip of Erebos decks. On top of that, the grindy Abzan and Mardu Midrange decks put such a squeeze on your 75 to begin with. You want to be aggressive,
but the brick walls are too vast and stiff to break through nowadays, so I’m off of it for now.
I did have the opportunity to jam Tom Ross’ W/U Heroic deck that he talked about last week, and boy, did I have a ton of fun with it! There’s a
lot of complexity and technique behind it, but that makes it even more attractive for me to play. I wish I had the confidence to change some things from
the list, as I tend to be more aggressive in general, but I basically would never do anything Tom wouldn’t do (because he’s that good).
This leaves the question to myself: What do I do?
Maybe I can get grindy again like I did at the beginning of the season with Mardu. The deck can grind with the best of the fair decks, but the grindy decks
aren’t trying to grind fair right now, so I don’t like Butcher of the Horde. Butcher is very good when trying to bridge from the late-early game, through
the mid- to lategame, but the late lategame is where it starts deteriorating in effectiveness, especially with the plethora of Hornet Queens around.
Perhaps we can go as hard on the grindy route as possible, possibly with as few creatures as possible; or maybe no creatures at all in the maindeck.
Planeswalkers (8)
- 1 Liliana Vess
- 2 Chandra, Pyromaster
- 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- 2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
- 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Lands (25)
Spells (27)
There’s a lot going on with this build, and a lot of it is very nuanced. Let’s break it down slowly.
This is about as heavy of a midrange build as you can go with this color combination without compromising your ability to still do what Mardu does. The
goal is to alleviate the pressure from low to the ground threats like Seeker of the Way, Hordeling Outburst, Raise the Alarm, and Goblin Rabblemaster while
also muscling your way through the top end of the format, at the same time using tools that overlap with both ends. Anger of the Gods is the card that
helps you the most when trying to handle said ends, as it’s also effective at handling Hornet Queens, strongly bolstering your game 1s against Whip decks.
Breaking it down further, you’ll see that there are no creatures in the maindeck.
What?
We’re not looking to fight these big or wide decks on the same angle, and all the creatures that Mardu usually plays run right into them. We often get way
too attached to the notion of having to play a bunch of creatures. I don’t fault anyone for it, since creatures are incredibly good nowadays, but it isn’t
essential to every single strategy out there. The same thing applies to raw card advantage. I’ve thought for the longest time that raw card advantage was
great in this format and the previous one. Well, it’s not entirely true.
Card advantage is only really good when your entire deck is redundant or when you’re trying to create a bridge in very slow matchups. Decks like Jeskai
Ascendancy can utilize Treasure Cruise really well because their entire deck is engine, while blue-based control decks can bridge the midgame to the
preferred lategame with Jace’s Ingenuity and Dig Through Time. All of that said, the best form of card advantage is the form that gets your opponent to
zero.
Virtual card advantage, on the other hand, is incredible, and you should be looking for it at every single place you can get it. The format is chock full
of it, and there’s a reason why those cards happen to be the best cards in the format. Siege Rhino is the poster child (animal? thing?) of Standard, not
because it’s a ridiculously undercosted creature that’s great offensively, very sturdy on the ground defensively, and relatively easy to cast in this
format. The three-point life drain very often equates to a card in most situations. This is because the format is mostly about doing multiple things in a
turn as soon as possible. Siege Rhino is the cheapest card in the format that gives you that exact thing, plus much more, by itself.
So, with all of this in mind, we go to the core of the deck:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
:
I’m generally not an advocate of Chandra in decks where you aren’t attacking with large creatures, mostly because its best ability, the first one, is what
you want to be doing as much as possible. The next best role for her is in a heavier midrange role like this, where she supplements your other
planeswalkers, assists your burn spells, and actually has a threatening ultimate–a very threatening one. I’m okay with this role, as the deck
really isn’t about her as much as it is about an entire unit working as one this time around.
2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion, 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, 2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
:
These are your win conditions, and they’re incredibly powerful ones at that. You play this split to allow yourself the option of lifegain against more
aggressive decks, spot removal against more specific threats, and a more well-rounded offensive game. If you want to be more defensive, then playing a
third Elspeth or Sarkhan in place of the single Sorin is recommended, while playing the second Sorin in place of another spell is recommended if you want
to be more offensive.
1 Liliana Vess
:
Having a single Liliana Vess gives your Chandra some huge upside if the game would get extremely long, but you can’t quite shut the door. Against other
non-Whip of Erebos decks, creating a constant discard engine, and subsequently threatening ultimate (you may notice a theme going here) is a great way to
close the game out alone as well. This is an incredibly important piece to any non-reanimator midrange matchup.
4 Crackling Doom, 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Utter End, 4 Hero’s Downfall, 3 Lightning Strike, 1 Magma Jet, 1 Murderous Cut
:
Most heavy midrange Mardu decks are looking to start with four Hero’s Downfall and four Crackling Doom. They are the best unconditional removal spells in
the format, plain and simple. Utter End gets some more attention because of the must-kill non-creature permanents in Jeskai Ascendancy and Whip of Erebos.
Chained to the Rocks is super efficient, albeit high-maintenance. We can’t play too many basic Mountains, but Bloodstained Mire and a couple of Evolving
Wilds will help us barely get the amount of opportunities to grab a Mountain when needed. Lightning Strike and Magma Jet serve a similar purpose when
dealing with the threats it’s assigned to deal with, but the first Magma Jet is slightly better than the fourth Lightning Strike. Since we’re playing 25
lands, the value of scrying goes up by a noticeable amount. Combine that with a downswing in Mantis Riders, and Magma Jet becomes much more attractive. You
don’t want more than one because Chandra helps assist your Lightning Strikes against four toughness creatures like Butcher of the Horde, which is very,
very important. The first Murderous Cut is pretty free, and I wouldn’t fault anyone for playing a second (though I’d rather have a fourth Chained to the
Rocks). This removal suite is very specific, and works very well together, so changing too much can have very clunky results. Adjust with caution.
3 End Hostilities, 3 Anger of the Gods
:
Continuing the theme of having answers that are broad and make multi-for-ones into one-for-ones, Anger of the Gods and End Hostilities are your equalizers.
Faster decks can easily run you over without them, and having access to the best sideboard card in Standard in your maindeck not only gives you a huge
pivot for five mana, but alleviates the strain on your Crackling Dooms. Anger of the Gods has the aforementioned effectiveness of dealing with low to the
ground creatures, but the ability to straight up one-for-one Hornet Queen, the biggest hurdle for previous iterations of Mardu decks, on top of that is
huge. Even against Whip of Erebos decks, End Hostilities gives you enough time to find your key cards if they do have Whip, and your finishers if they
don’t.
1 Read the Bones, 1 Erase, 2 Thoughtseize
:
Thoughtseize is, of course, a busted card, and can steal games before they even start. That said, this isn’t the kind of deck that wants to have too many
in a lot of game 1s. The card also isn’t as good as it used to be a few weeks ago, and you don’t want to wind up stuck with them at an inopportune time.
You still want to be able to stick one sometimes at key points, and it still ties into the “do two things in one turn” strategy. Read the Bones is great in
midrange matchups, and is another incredibly important one of in this shell that helps you sculpt your gameplan accordingly. Erase is an even harder hedge
against Jeskai Ascendancy, Whip of Erebos, W/U Heroic, and many other matchups.
Zero Nomad Outpost
:
The tri-lands have been a staple in this Standard format since Khans of Tarkir was released, understandably so. They’re reliable, they function, and they
give you all of your mana. What could be wrong about it?
Well, here’s a theory, learned and derived from the great mentorship of Brad Nelson.
The more aggressive you are, or the more you need to cast different double-colored spells early, the more tri-lands you need. If you aren’t strapped on
hitting your curve early and/or attacking, then chances are the scrying from temples is much more valuable than a land that may not be of full usage until
turns later. If that’s the case, then scry more! Currently, Mardu is the only color combination that fits this criteria, but even so, I think that jamming
Nomad Outpost in Mardu decks is a sign of laziness or fear, and one should look to be more ambitious when building manabases. Additionally, just mulligan more!
Seriously. Mulligan more!
Why are you so afraid of going down to six or five in a Standard format that corrects mulligans much better than previous Standard formats? Why are you
scared of going down to six or five in a Standard format that allows you to build your deck in a way that minimizes the impact of mulligans? Be more
aggressive with mulligans. They are a play that you make inside the game. Stop treating them like an element outside the game as much, and start treating
them more like a strategic point in the game.
4 Temple of Silence, 4 Temple of Malice, 1 Temple of Triumph
:
The addition of more Temples allows you to make mulligans much easier, and gives you a lot more fluidity with what to set up with and when to set it up.
Without tri-lands getting in your way, you’re much more free to set up your plays accordingly. You’re also much more set up to play these.
2 Evolving Wilds
:
It ain’t pretty. In fact, it’s kind of ugly, but you need a way to make your Chained to the Rocks more consistent while also hitting the colors that your
Temples aren’t hitting. I’d argue that Evolving Wilds is much better in Mardu than Nomad Outpost, but that’s more because of the functionality of this
version, rather than an objective evaluation.
4 Bloodstained Mire, 3 Mountain, 2 Swamp, 1 Plains
:
Bloodstained Mire is a gimme for similar reasons as Evolving Wilds (but much better). The third Mountain is, again, support for Chained to the Rocks, as
well as a way to hit an untapped red source early to land a turn 2 Lightning Strike or Magma Jet when needed. The second Swamp is important for hitting the
second black source on turn 3 when needed, and the single Plains is there for when we need a white source off of Evolving Wilds. I probably wouldn’t touch
this part of the manabase because it’s very important to the functionality of the rest of the deck.
2 Battlefield Forge, 2 Caves of Koilos
:
You can’t have all of your multi-lands enter the battlefield tapped. These allow you to hit your corresponding colors while also not falling behind too
much because of how slow your lands are. There’s a good chance that Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth deserves a slot, but it’d probably be the 26th maindeck land.
It’s pretty close though.
The sideboard looks like a very elaborate amalgamation of random cards, and you wouldn’t be very far off, but like the maindeck, there is a very deep
method to the madness, and each and every card has a specific role.
1 End Hostilities, 1 Anger of the Gods
:
Additional sweepers for the matchups that demand them. Not much more to it other than the fact that you’re going to want to aggressively keep hands and
look for lands with two red in them to support the possibility of drawing Anger down the line.
1 Bile Blight, 1 Utter End, 1 Murderous Cut, 2 Burn Away
:
More additional and assorted removal to choose from. Bile Blight for the smaller threats, Utter End for another catch-all, Murderous Cut for another piece
of unconditional and cheap midgame removal, and Burn Away to simultaneously kill an opposing threat and nerf a graveyard. It can basically kill any
creature, most notably Souls, and is a key card in the post-board matchups.
2 Read the Bones, 2 Thoughtseize
:
These two cards are what you need to slow a game down to a comfortable pace and allow you to get away with running a low number of key sideboard cards,
subsequently broadening your options and adding to the cross-applicable roles of your broader cards.
2 Glare of Heresy
:
Jeskai Ascendancy, Elspeth, Sun’s Champion, and W/U Heroic. Glare of Heresy is clean, effective, and cheap. You can also hit a Siege Rhino, Butcher of the
Horde, Banishing Light, Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and Seeker of the Way, among many, many other cards.
1 Erase
:
Additional enchantment removal for Whip of Erebos and Jeskai Ascendancy.
1 Empty the Pits
:
For when you really, really need to go bigger than your opponent. Empty the Pits is the ultimate lategame finisher against the fair
midrange decks, and it is very much needed when you’re using all of your maindeck finishers as resources to begin with.
I’m going to be working on this deck all week, but I’m also going to be keeping an eye out on the Players’ Championship. I have a lot of really good
friends of mine going, and all of them are incredible players. If you want to see some ridiculously high level Magic among the SCG circuit’s absolute best
competitors, then you really don’t want to miss this weekend!