“So, what kinds of things are you into?”
I have exotic tastes. I like greedy manabases and going…over the top.
“I’m new at this. You’re going to have to teach me.”
The first thing you have to understand is that it all centers around this:
This is what gives you power. It makes you invincible. If you’re going to achieve something today it’s going to be because of this little device.
“I think I’m supposed to be scared, but for some reason I’m fascinated by this.”
You should be. Whips and giants; and the stings of a thousand hornets. They experience all the pain while you reap all the pleasure. Eventually the two
become indivisible.
“I still want more.”
Fine. I’ll show you everything.
…
…
…
The last two weeks while in the limbo between leaving one job and starting another I’ve had a lot of spare time on my hands. Some of it may or may not have
been spent reading harlequin romance novels, but that’s between me and my local book store. Aside from that I’ve been watching a lot of Jean-Claude Van
Damme movies; basically just getting out everything I’ve ever wanted to do before getting back to the 9-5 grind.
Don’t judge me.
The other thing I’ve been doing is playing Magic, and thanks to buddy Glenn Jones and his latest article it was easy to see what kind of deck would
perform well in the current metagame.
In the last few weeks the format has slowed down considerably into a lot of very intricate midrange matches. Decks like my FNM Hero choice Boss Sligh have
been almost completely pushed out because of how poorly-positioned they are (much to my chagrin). These decks do so by creating a very strong presence in
the early game with cards like Siege Rhino, Mantis Rider, or Hordeling Outburst and make sure they’re ready for the long game with platinum hits such as
Dig Through Time, Elspeth, Sun’s Champion, or setting up a string of lethal burn spells.
As I’m sure you’ve figured out, the funny thing about decks like Mardu, Jeskai, or Abzan Midrange is that they’re quite susceptible to a player “going
over” them. For those of you not familiar with the terminology “going over” means playing threats or cards that are inherently more powerful than what your
opponent is doing, but usually come at a much more expensive cost.
There is one archetype out there that is very responsive to all of the format. We’re going to teach you how to control that, and it’s going to be so much
fun.
Whip of Erebos is one of the best cards in Standard right now, and I feel like people grossly underestimate it. This weekend people were given a front-row
seat to just how powerful this legendary artifact can be as it not only Top 8’d Grand Prix San Antonio but also took down the Standard Open in Atlanta.
The Playrooms
The first version of this deck I want to make you aware of is one that Glenn Jones champions. I was able to pilot this deck late last week and every match
felt among the easiest I have played since this format started.
Creatures (24)
- 3 Hornet Queen
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 2 Fleecemane Lion
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 2 Doomwake Giant
- 1 Soul of Innistrad
- 4 Siege Rhino
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
Glenn gave an awesome rundown of the deck so I won’t go too far into detail about it, but one change he told me over Facebook was to cut a Commune With the
Gods and replace it with a Reclamation Sage. The Sage turned out to be fantastic in game 1s, unlocking key permanents from under Banishing Lights or
killing Courser of Kruphix to stop the opponent from generating card advantage.
One change I made was cutting a Glare of Heresy from the board and switching it with an Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. The deck has such a high density of insane
creatures that tutoring up a Siege Rhino or Hornet Queen often made the difference between winning a game and really winning a game. In
hindsight it might have been too ambitious, but after board the deck switched to a more controlling strategy so Ajani seemed reasonable.
Of course, you’re still playing Whip of Erebos, so people trying to play “fair Magic” get trounced.
You see, I found out something that a lot of you probably saw on coverage.
Beating one Hornet Queen? Okay. You can do it.
Beating two Hornet Queens? Sounds a little tougher.
Beating seven Hornet Queens?
Hello and Good Luck!
The next two entries are Sultai-flavored.
Creatures (23)
- 3 Hornet Queen
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 2 Doomwake Giant
- 1 Soul of Innistrad
- 4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
- 1 Sagu Mauler
Lands (23)
Spells (14)
Creatures (27)
- 4 Hornet Queen
- 2 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 3 Doomwake Giant
- 1 Pharika, God of Affliction
- 1 Soul of Innistrad
- 4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Lands (23)
Spells (10)
Sideboard
These two decks are like a coin: part of the same whole, but each side couldn’t be more different.
Albert decided to eschew Commune with the Gods in favor of Hero’s Downfall giving him a lot of reach in the tons of midrange matches he surely expected.
This is something we’ll discuss shortly, as I actually like this approach.
The silver bullets Chord of Calling and Sagu Mauler are a lot safer to play since he’s only running four effects that bin cards off the top. Sagu Mauler is
an absolute beating for decks like Abzan and Mardu to beat considering hexproof and trample aren’t words they’re readily able to deal with. If green-based
devotion decks have taught us anything it’s that you’re never too old to love Chrod’ing into a Hornet Queen.
The only problem with cutting Commune is that Sidisi loses a couple extra ways of being turned on, making it a four mana creature that needs to attack to
be great rather than a cog in the engine provided by Commune and Wayfinder, but in a format full of 2/4’s and 1/1’s, attacking with her doesn’t seem like
something to be too worried about, not to mention attacking is more fuel for the Whip of Erebos.
Whips and chains, baby.
John Farrow showed us that with some tight play, a little luck, and forty thousand Hornet Queens, anything is possible.
His deck is far more “the norm” when directly identifying what cards you should be playing in Sultai Reanimator, and it was on display the entire weekend
as he expertly dispatched of every opponent put in his way.
Farrow’s sideboard is where I think his version makes a lot of headway and places itself firmly in Tier 1 contention.
The trio of Reclamation Sages is a good start, because this card is much better than people give it credit for. If the mirror match (or the Abzan version)
become more popular, this card becomes a premium removal spell for Whip, Doomwake Giant, Courser of Kruphix, and it even attacks! Viridian Shaman eat your
heart out.
Four Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is the truth. The biggest complaint about Ashiok is that Ashiok can’t protect Ashiok the turn Ashiok comes out or that
sometimes Ashiok just “doesn’t do anything.” In this deck that isn’t remotely the case as you have a ton of creatures to play defense for Ashiok. In
midrange matches that means using Ashiok to play your opponent’s creatures. As you saw on the coverage, Ashiok was making it rain Siege Rhinos and
Stormbreath Dragons. That’s some unreal power. It’s about time Ashiok got a day in the sun.
Or moon. I have no idea.
Both of these decks have a lot going on for them, and Albert takes a great approach with it that feels less intuitive but might be correct going forward.
Commune with the Gods has a lot of good going for it, but rarely fits in with the sideboarding plan that these decks have. Game 1, it’s incredible that
Commune can snag any meaningful creature and also Whip of Erebos, but after that it falters. In both cases Sultai will want to board in cards like Negate,
Bile Blight, Ashiok, or even Liliana Vess. These cards don’t flip well with Commune and are often a degradation to the strategy.
That’s why I like what Albert is doing: he replaces Commune with the Gods with the best removal spell in Standard. While he can’t reveal a Whip at will, he
gains better control of the board.
It’s all about control.
Experimentation is Key in a Relationship
With the Season Four Invitational in Seattle approaching quicker than a hiccup, one of the best decks going forward is easily a Whip-based build.
Invitationals tend to be slower formats with less aggro decks in the room. If a bunch of midrange decks are clashing with each other, the player with the
most Rhinos or Hornet Queens is going to rule the day.
If I were attending, I’d battle with Albert’s list with minor changes. I think the Thoughtseize in the main is very good, and my interest would lay
somewhere between adding a Reclamation Sage or two in the front 60 to make sure potential mirror matches are as good as possible. I would also add a third
Doomwake Giant without question. Being able to kill Outburst tokens, Elspeth soldiers, or hornets makes this card far too valuable, and three is the minimum number of them I’d play right now.
It’s that good.
After a weekend of battling with Whip of Erebos, I’m completely convinced it’s one of the best things you can be doing right now. I think one of the
limiting factors of it is that it previously boasted a poor Mono-Red matchup, but that deck is now completely off the grid and doesn’t perform nearly well
enough against most of the field.
A lot of people seemed hesitant to pick up a Whip deck and play with it, but that’s certain to change over the next few weeks. Sometimes you have to
venture outside of your comfort zone in order to obtain the best payoffs.
Creatures (25)
- 3 Hornet Queen
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 3 Doomwake Giant
- 1 Soul of Innistrad
- 2 Reclamation Sage
- 4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Lands (24)
Spells (11)
This is what I’ll be testing with for the next few weeks in order to give some friends attending Seattle the best possible information. Everything about
this list appeals to me, and I think it gives you the hardest edge in the midrange battle going forward, as well as plenty of game against other Whip
decks.
Ashiok and the addition of Negate/Disdainful Stroke help out against the emerging U/B decks out there, and the extra Thoughtseize should help disrupt them.
This matchup I could see being quite difficult. One of the matches I lost this weekend playing Abzan Reanimator was to U/W Control, and even though the
match felt close it was still quite difficult to play around sweepers, Prognostic Sphinx, and Banishing Light combined, although this deck seems worse to
me than U/B Control, so take those results as you will.
The exclusion of Commune just feels better. In conversations with Glenn he expressed he didn’t feel bad about cutting a copy for a Reclamation Sage, so
that leads me to believe it doesn’t hold much importance going forward. It was always “okay” for me to the point where if I didn’t draw it I hardly
noticed, and if I did it just helped me win more. I think it comes down to preference though. In days of old I loved Grizzly Salvage and Mulch, so I might
be undervaluing this card.
Feel free to share your Standard innovations if you have them. The more the merrier, right?
This is one Standard format none of us want to go into blindfolded.
Unless you’re into that kind of thing.