This past weekend marked the last PTQs for Austin. Zendikar releases at the end of this month. With the exception of your local FNM and a few big events like the StarCityGames.com $10000 Standard Open Events in Charlotte, Standard with Lorwyn/Shadowmoor is a thing of the past. Gone are the days of Vivid Lands and Reflecting Pool, Spectral Procession and Figure of Destiny, Bitterblossom and Spellstutter Sprite, Cryptic and Primal Commands. Out with the old, and in with the cascade! In a few short weeks we’ll be able to argue about whether Baneslayer Angel or Broodmate Dragon is better in totally different Five-Color Control decks than the ones we’re talking about now!
I’m always excited for the massive upheaval that comes about with the big Standard rotation. It feels like forever that Lorwyn Block cards have dominated Standard, and I haven’t even been playing the entire time they’ve been legal! While it was the promise of all the cool things I could do with Reflecting Pool and the Vivid Lands that got me excited about playing Magic again, they have more than worn out their welcome. I will have to have a talk with Doran and Kitchen Finks about getting the band back together in Extended, though. I’m going to miss those guys.
Last week I talked about my experiences playing Alara Block Constructed at GenCon, and in his article this week Patrick Chapin referenced the results of that event as a preview for what may be the big decks in Standard once Zendikar comes out. Powerful Block Constructed decks have a tendency to be prevalent in Standard just after a rotation, in part because people are familiar with them already, and in part because linear mechanics tend to favor strategies with a larger card pool to draw on — the mechanics in the new set can often take time to become competitive with the established decks. While Alara Block’s major mechanics weren’t as linear as the tribal themes in Lorwyn, we can still expect to see the top contenders from that format to have a significant head start moving into the new Standard.
While we don’t have enough information to speculate on what changes Zendikar might bring, we do have all of M10 to consider. What would Alara Block Constructed look like with M10 in the mix? What are the big cards in M10 to watch out for after the rotation? First, let’s look at the top dogs in the format:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
- 3 Cruel Ultimatum
- 4 Esper Charm
- 4 Traumatic Visions
- 1 Obelisk of Alara
- 4 Maelstrom Pulse
- 3 Bituminous Blast
Sideboard
Creatures (18)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (26)
Spells (14)
Sideboard
I feel like that the Zac Hill/Patrick Chapin Five-Color Cascade deck I played in the Alara Block Champs was the best deck in the format, but the Naya/Jund Cascade deck that brought my fellow BK to the finals is certainly a worthy challenger for the title. Outside of these two strategies, however, I don’t really feel like there were other legitimate contenders in the Alara Block metagame. That doesn’t mean that the second tier decks might not get a huge boost from the addition of M10 and beyond, however, so it’s important to at least recognize them. Jund Aggro, Naya midrange, G/W Aggro, and Esper Aggro are all at the cusp, but it will take a lot for any of them to legitimately compete with the cascade heavy builds. So what does M10 have to offer?
Baneslayer Angel: Well, let’s start at the top. Baneslayer Angel has had a huge impact already in its short time in Standard, and there’s no reason to believe that will end any time soon. The Broodmate versus Baneslayer debate was actually mirrored in Alara Block Constructed as Broodmate versus Enlisted Wurm in Naya/Jund Cascade. The major factor in Broodmate’s favor there was flying, while the argument for Enlisted Wurm revolved around Bituminous Blast — both being able to get huge value out of it as “Enlisted Ultimatum,” as well as not giving your opponent a high value target for their own Blasts. Baneslayer has the upside of both on top of Lifelink and a cheaper mana cost! Granted, Angel is more vulnerable to spot removal like Maelstrom Pulse or Doom Blade, but I have a feeling Bituminous Blast is going to be a bigger deal as we move into the new Standard.
Great Sable Stag: The Great Green Hope was instrumental in toppling Faeries, but now that Bitterblossom’s reign of terror is over, it’s back to the bargain bin, right? I don’t think so. Putrid Leech, Sprouting Thrinax, and Wall of Denial were instrumental in the top Alara Block Constructed decks, not to mention the aforementioned Bituminous Blast, and Great Sable Stag has protection from all of them. “Can’t be countered” may not mean nearly as much anymore, but protection from many of the cards in some of the best decks does.
Jace Beleren: Alara Block Constructed was a decidedly slower format than Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block. Although G/W, Esper, and various Jund Hackblade decks can put on some early pressure, the best decks had only Putrid Leech for early plays. While Plumeveil is no longer around to protect Mr. Beleren from ruffians, Wall of Denial can do much the same duty. I would be shocked to see Jace turn out to be anything but a defining card of the new Standard.
Lilana Vess: Similar to Jace, Lilana is a card that can provide a devastating advantage in slower matchups if not removed immediately. Blightning was a defining card of Alara Block Constructed for its ability to generate card advantage, and Lilana does all that and more. Lilana fits perfectly into both of the top decks already, and while I don’t expect her to have as big an impact as Jace because of her higher cost, I think she’ll be a major player in the new Standard.
Garruk Wildspeaker: Sensing a theme yet? Planeswalkers are especially powerful in less aggressive formats. Even Sarkhan Vol saw play in Alara Block Constructed as a card that could generate an army of threats unanswered. I expect Garruk to play a similar role in churning out Beast tokens — and his untapping land ability is no joke either! When Cascade rules the roost, it’s hard to play effective countermagic, and without Cryptic Command around, I expect to see Garruk power out big spells in addition to creating armies. He and Martial Coup will get along just fine, I wager.
M10 Dual Lands: These aren’t big impact cards, but they will marginally speed up some of the multicolor decks in the format by giving them lands that can come into play untapped, as opposed to the off color tri-lands many decks played in block. Up to this point Rootbound Crag has had the lowest demand of the M10 lands, but I expect that to change when Standard moves into the age of Bloodbraid Elf. Get your R/G and R/B dual lands before they go up in price!
Gargoyle Castle: This new school manland will almost certainly see play in cascade decks, which really want to play high land counts to support their greedy curve. I expect the format to be color intensive enough that these don’t show up in large numbers, but 1-2 in many cascade decks seems likely.
Haunting Echoes: Haunting Echoes will be fighting Thought Hemorrhage for the trump spell spot in control mirrors, and I’m honestly not sure which is better. Thought Hemorrhage is likely more powerful against decks with Cruel Ultimatum for the ability to strip it preemptively, but cascade mirrors may favor the deck-demolishing Haunting Echoes. Echoes seems especially nasty with Blightning and Esper Charm, however, since the discard lets you strip your opponent’s hand of many of their threats and turn their deck into a big pile of lands. We shall see.
Duress: Speaking of discard, Duress will certainly be a major player in the new Standard. With Bloodbraid Elves all over, Duress provides a counterspell-like effect that you can cascade into, and if Blightning is as important in the new format as it was in block, being able to Duress your opponent’s Blightning will do wonders for win percentages. On top of that, Duress is a great answer to many of the best M10 cards that will be finding their way into the format, like the planeswalkers. Duress will never be as ubiquitous as it once was simply because Magic is a more creature focused game now, but it will certainly make its mark on the format.
Sign in Blood: If Blightning was such a big deal, Sign in Blood has to be good, right? A fine card for Jund decks to hit off cascade, the biggest problem for Sign in Blood is the mana cost. In a format without filter lands, getting BB in the early turns while still supporting your other costs could be difficult. I expect that between Duress and Sign that many cascade decks may move to a heavier Black base.
Hypnotic Specter: Here’s another card that suggests heavy Black. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I think Hypnotic Specter is poised for a comeback. Bitterblossom, Plumeveil, and Spectral Procession have kept other fliers in check for the duration of their stay in Standard, but now they’re gone with only Wall of Denial to take their place. Esper Stormblade and Thopter Foundry tokens flew over many a Bloodbraid Elf for my wins in Honolulu, and I would not be surprised if Hypnotic Specter turns out to make an impact in the new Standard.
Llanowar Elf/Birds of Paradise: Block already has Noble Hierarch and Steward of Valeron, but Birds of Paradise in particular gives a deck like the one Conley Woods played a lot more consistency and acceleration. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Ancient Ziggurat/Birds concoctions that run all the best three drops like Conley’s deck did, or additional acceleration in a Naya deck like the one Tom Ross played. It was a serious uphill battle to come back from Noble Hierarch accelerated starts in block, and while neither Birds of Paradise or Llanowar Elf pack the same offensive punch as Hierarch does with Exalted, the 8+ mana creature package promises to be powerful in a format unlikely to have as much cheap mass removal as the Volcanic Fallout-filled Standard that came before it.
Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt is strange. I actually don’t think Lightning Bolt would have been a major player in Alara Block despite its incredible efficiency. It may have gotten the nod over Terminate for the lower mana cost to ace a Putrid Leech on the draw when your opponent pumps it into your single untapped mana, but the inability to kill the bigger creatures in the format is a major liability- especially now that Baneslayer will be around! Maelstrom Pulse is better at killing planeswalkers, so where does Bolt fit? Perhaps it could push the aggressive Naya or Jund decks over the edge, but who knows? It’s strange that the much heralded return of Bolt has had so little an impact so far…
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for this week — just some things to think about until we have more information about Zendikar. I know I’m brewing a new deck with every card that gets spoiled already…
Until next time…
bmk