Magic has been really exciting for the past couple of weeks. Worlds showed us hot new tech for multiple decks (Wildfire Emissary in Boros as an example), brought new decks into the forefront (Panda Connection), and showed that some old favorites may not be the best to play (the complete lack of Solar Flare and traditional IzzeTron decks in the Top 8). During Worlds, StarCityGames.com also ran a big money tournament and showed us that Frank Karsten’s Angel deck might be one of the best in the format, and it revealed that Soggy Pickles and Blink Riders do indeed have some kind of game.
The winner of the StarCityGames.com 1K Open tournament is one that I did not expect… and to be honest, I’d dismissed it. Fader seemed to me like it was a one-hit wonder (much like Solar Pox was, in my mind at least), winning a few State championships and falling off the face of Standard.
I was wrong.
(You can check out Evan Erwin wonderful video articles for more on the tournament. Support this guy. He works really hard and makes some fantastic articles to show off that hard work.)
Can Fader actually compete in this format? It has strong anti-aggro tools and strong anti-control tools (which are also good against Dragonstorm), and a solid late-game plan filled with card advantage from Phyrexian Arena. Does Fader have any holes? Can the strategy of the deck compete in the current Standard metagame?
I think that Fader can be a solid deck choice for the next couple of months of Standard.
Here is the most recent Fader decklist. Justin Perdue played this deck to a first place finish.
Creatures (7)
Lands (24)
Spells (29)
- 4 Wrath of God
- 2 Persecute
- 1 Jester's Cap
- 4 Phyrexian Arena
- 3 Faith's Fetters
- 4 Castigate
- 1 Debtors' Knell
- 4 Orzhov Signet
- 4 Condemn
- 2 Phyrexian Totem
Sideboard
At first glace you have the traditional tools of Black/White control. Wrath of God, huge monsters to end the game, and a lot of quality disruption for the early- to mid-game – be it hand disruption or targeted creature removal. However, I do not agree with all the choices in the deck. Akroma seems like she would be a great finisher, but she is nothing more then an overrated monster. Sacred Mesa looks like it would have a place in this deck. Could the House Guard do more than what it currently does?
Of course, I am now on Winter break from College (3.0 in my first semester back after six years, if anyone cares). I have plenty of time to test while the wife is at work, and I get bored easily. I test a lot right now, and these are my thoughts on the deck. Before I start going off into the matchups, these are the decks that I am currently testing against, as I feel they make up the most of the metagame.
1. Boros (Paulo Vito Damo da Rosa)
2. Dragonstorm (World Champions List)
3. Triscuit Tron
4. Panda Connection (Anderson’s List)
I know four decks does not seem like the ideal testing range in such a wide open format… hear me out for a second. Most of the aggro decks play like Boros. The Gruul deck and Mono-Green Aggro do the same things that Boros does, but they have not put up the same amount of success. Project X has not seen enough play to show me that it can hang out in the format, while decks like Soggy Pickles and Blink Riders – while both solid decks – are ones that I do not think will have a huge impact on the format (although I sincerely hope I am wrong, as both decks are high quality… and cool as hell to boot).
Boros (much like the Gruul and MGA decks) is a matchup you want to see a lot of. You are solid favorite in game 1 to take down the match, based on the power of Wrath of God. If you can take control of the game after a quick Wrath (Turn 3 to 5) you will have a high enough life total to be able to combat the boatload of burn that is hanging out. Fetters is a very important card here, as it lets you Wrath later and negates at least one burn spell in the process. Your ideal hand starts off with a second turn Signet to enable a third turn Wrath (which should kill off two or three men), and then you should empty their hand with Persecute naming Red (obviously, to knock the remaining burn out of their hand). If you can force the Boros deck to over-commit – providing you have the proper answers – it should be a walk.
I’m satisfied with this matchup, but am hesitant to make you any better then a 60 percent pre-board favorite. Post board you are bringing in more removal for the dead draws: Jester’s Cap, Castigate, Debtors’ Knell, and one Persecute come out for the two Circles, the two Darkblasts, and the three Mortify. The post board moves make you less susceptible to burn, and the extra targeted removal means you are not having to rely only on Wrath and Fetters to keep your life total at a manageable level.
The saddest part is the fact that you still will lose games and matches to Boros. They will have those unfair draws… those draws where you Wrath on turn 4, and they follow it up with a Solifuge to the dome and follow that up with six points of burn to the facehole. My testing has shown this to be 60% in your favor for game 1, and 65% for the boarded games.
Fader is not a World Beater… and you must remember that while you playing the deck.
Dragonstorm is another deck where I think you are the favorite, based on the disruption that you have in the maindeck. Multiple Castigates and Persecutes usually spell game over, but without some way to take advantage of those spells then they have a lot of time to redraw into the combo pieces. Castigates almost always take a card drawing spell, and if you are forced to chose between a Dragon and Dragonstorm, I have seen more success in taking the Dragonstorm. This forces them to find the namesake card again and gives you more turns to take advantage of the suddenly slower deck. Persecute should always name Red, given the Rituals in the deck, and the fact that all the win conditions outside of Grozoth (which is a non-factor in the list I am testing) are red. After board you are going to want to bring in the extra Persecute, the extra Jester’s Cap (which, incidentally, should be the first tutor-target you fetch with House Guard.) and all four Blackmails. You should take out the Knell, Akroma, and Condemns (because you do not want to put dragons back on the bottom of their deck). I am undecided on actually bringing in Circles against this deck because of the Gigadrowse factor. It seems to me that Circle may actually be a dead draw against them. Cast your Fetters, go above twenty, and Wrath the board after the Storm goes off. That at least forces them to storm higher (to get all the dragons out) and gives you an auto win in case that does not beat you.
This is another matchup (like Boros) in which I feel you are the heavy favorite on paper. Of course Dragonstorm will steal games where you draw three Wraths and no disruption. My testing results have shown that this is a coin-flip matchup pre-boarding, and post-boarding you are around a 55% to 60% favorite.
You might be noticing a trend here.
Triscuit Tron is a powerful deck from Worlds that can take full advantage of the Urzatron. I see this deck having a shifty matchup with Boros and other aggro decks, but it seems to have really good games against the control decks.
Castigates, Persecutes, and Arena are great in this matchup. Having a quick Totem gives you a fast source of damage, and that is of course one of the nice things about the Totem. I think this is a good match as long as you can take advantage of the discard that you have available.
Sideboarding is not difficult for the match. You will bring in Blackmail, Persecute and Jester’s Cap. You’re going to take out Condemn (no need for it, with so few creatures against you… and maybe an evil Teferi in play), and two Wrath of God (for the aforementioned Teferi). You get more discard this way, and now with two Caps, you have more chances to get rid of the win conditions in the deck.
I like this match both before and after boarding. I would go out and say it’s almost 70% in your favor, but in all likelihood, it is closer to 65%.
Panda Connection is the fresh hotness that has come out of the Dutch masterminds. The Connection has a really good game against aggressive decks, and gets to have some game against Dragonstorm with the discard that it packs. In my opinion, this deck was the most attractive offering to come out of Worlds.
In testing I have treated this deck like any other aggressive deck. In theory it has a better game against control because it gets to knock Wrath of God out of opposing hands… but you have the life gain in Fetters to stay at a nice life total, and Condemn is a pretty nice tool against them. The life gain that this deck can pull off is nothing more than a minor hindrance. Persecute should hit White all the time, as this gets rid of most of the threats they could cast, some of the discard, and the targeted removal that the deck runs. When you have control of the game, you can pretty much win at leisure.
Sideboarding brings in the Darkblast and Mortify. You’re going to be taking out the anti control elements in the deck. Hear me out… you’re taking out Castigates, but leaving in Persecute. Simply put, you want the mass card discard over the targeted discard. It’s better suited for the deck, as they are ill-equipped to recover after the sorcery resolves. In addition to the Castigate, I have been taking out the Debtors’ Knell. Yes the game may go long, but after the amount of disruption, you should have no issue winning with your men alone.
This match is very much in your favor.
In conclusion, Fader is a very powerful deck with what seems like infinite coin-flip matchups. This deck very much rewards proper play skill, and playing correctly. With so many coin-flip matchups though, you may feel better off playing a deck that performs well across the board… in that case, go for something like Boros. Fader is the perfect deck with which to blow off some steam; it’s fun, you get to bash with giant monsters, and play a fair non-permission based style of control. I’d give it a spin at Friday Night Magic, but test it thoroughly before playing it outside of that style of event. The deck does have a pedigree to it, so it should be fine to play until Planar Chaos becomes legal.