The Regional Championships are mere days away, and every competitive player that would like a shot at the National Championships that isn’t already qualified will be looking to take advantage of a format that is experiencing more upheaval than it has from any set since Morningtide.
Two years ago, I shared my Korlash deck, while acknowledging that U/R Dragonstorm was probably the strongest deck intrinsically. Last year I recommended Faeries, which I did think was the strongest deck. This year, I am sharing my Five-Color Bloodbraid deck, which I think has the potential to be the best choice, although B/W Tokens might be the strongest deck initially.
Today, I am going to talk about 5CB and B/W, as well as R/x Aggro, which I also think is a fine choice for Regionals competitors. I think the field actually offers a variety of reasonable choices. Faeries, G/W, Cruel Control, and Jund Ramp/Rock are all respectable, though probably not Tier 1.
I have never been a big fan of Boat Brew and don’t see its lot in life improving with Alara Reborn, though it might still be good enough. If you do go this route, make sure you are playing 4 Kitchen Finks and consider playing a couple of Murderous Redcaps, while putting down the Ajani Vengeants. This is a terrible time for that guy in Standard. Reveillark itself might be revitalized, but I predict it stays Tier 2 at best, unless it turns out to be the best way to abuse Anathemancer. I don’t buy into Meddling Mage/Reveillark U/W.
I do not claim to understand the format yet, as there is much to understand from the existence of Anathemancer and Bloodbraid Elf to the evolution of Boat Brew and Noble Hierarch decks. My intuition is that Anathemancer and Bloodbraid are the most important cards to understand, as Maelstrom Pulse and Zealous Persecution have already gained mainstream acceptance.
Let’s start with B/W Tokens, which I think is probably going to be one of the default staple decks until the format rotates. Many people were surprised by the suggestion of maindeck Zealous Persecution, but it has already enjoyed tournament success, as the card is not only great in the mirror, it is killer against R/x Aggro and Faeries, plus it provides a nice answer to cards like Volcanic Fallout and Spectral Procession while complimenting the primary strategy of the deck.
Creatures (17)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
I currently recommend a build of B/W that is very near the Texas PTQ winner, from Mandee Peralta. I think he is pretty spot on, although I think it is probably the case that Arcane Sanctum and Caves of Koilos are better than Reflecting Pool. I have followed his lead and placed Identity Crisis in the sideboard, as the format seems to be pushing so far towards aggression that it just doesn’t make as much sense in the maindeck. It is very possible that a third Ajani is appropriate, I just wanted to make sure that I played 4 Kitchen Finks.
There is very little doubt in my mind. No matter what I play in the upcoming events, I will be running 4 Kitchen Finks maindeck. This guy is back, and in a big way. Aside from Red and Jund Aggro making huge strides into Tier 1 because of Anathemancer and Bloodbraid Elf, as well as nice options like Jund Hackblade, etc, I think that Anathemancer in general puts life gain at a premium, while Persist is a strong ability right now on the back of the popularity of Wrath, Terminate, Maelstrom Pulse, and so on.
I believe R/x Aggro will be one of the most popular strategies and it is very respectable. Anathemancer gives the archetype the free wins that it has been missing since the rotation of Magus of the Moon. These free wins really add up over time, and I believe it is extremely important to pay the proper respect to the Red decks.
This does not mean all is lost… As a matter of fact, it’s far from it. First of all, B/W has a strong match-up against R/x to begin with. Spectral Procession has always been the bane of Red Aggro. Besides this, I think that anyone properly motivated can defeat R/x Aggro, for the most part, as the tools are certainly there. All you have to do is keep it real and play the Runed Halos, Forge-Tenders, Celestial Purges, Story Circles, whatever it takes.
Wait… Your deck isn’t White? Hopefully you are playing the mirror. That’s right, if you aren’t playing R/x Aggro, you should probably be playing White. Yeah, that’s a little awkward, but that is how I feel. More on this in a moment.
There is not a clear-cut best build of R/x Aggro yet, but here are a couple of alternatives to consider:
Creatures (28)
- 4 Mogg Fanatic
- 4 Boggart Ram-Gang
- 4 Demigod of Revenge
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Hellspark Elemental
- 4 Bloodbraid Elf
- 4 Anathemancer
Lands (25)
Spells (7)
Sideboard
This build of Red is a pretty straightforward aggressive approach to the archetype. There are a couple of key features and a variety of choices that are made that are much more flexible and to be determined.
I think that the most important features of R/x Aggro right now are:
1. R/x needs 4 Anathemancers as the starting point.
2. Boggart Ram-Gang is one of your best cards.
3. Figure of Destiny still provides free wins if you can support it.
4. Bloodbraid Elf is worth the extra damage you take from opponent’s Anathemancers.
5. Built to be able to compete with Kitchen Finks.
Notice what I did not list here. Jund Hackblade is a powerful card, that much is true, but like Tattermunge Maniac (who he is inevitably married to), he may not be what the format calls for.
Jund Hackblade promises so much, and it well may be worth it, but I do not think it is the auto-include that so many people seem to think it is. Again, I am not against it, I just think it is very debatable at this point. He and his partner-in-crime, Tattermunge Maniac, are all about the nut draw, typically sucking in other situations.
It is very interesting to me to consider if one should just play the Hackblade (instead of Hellspark) but forgo the Maniac. This is much more appealing to me. I think that the dream of Tattermunge Maniac into Hackblade is very probably inherently flawed. I just don’t want to ever get stuck with the Maniac any turn other than turn 1.
That said, it is up to ambitious Red mages to test and determine if they get enough nut draws for the time being to justify the unreliable cards. Personally, I see a lot of Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tenders and Zealous Persecutions and Kitchen Finks on the horizon.
I am suggesting a list with Demigod, which I happen to like a lot right now, but I think this is another area that is still very much open to discussion. Flame Javelin is probably still right on power level, but it is far from the best card in the deck. Magma Spray is certainly not universally accepted, but I think that it is probably worth it right now.
First of all, I wanted to bring my curve down, which is why I didn’t play more of the obvious alternative, Puncture Blast (which is a fine option and should be considered). Second of all, I like Magma Spray against B/W, Red/x Aggro, and Five-Color Bloodbraid decks, which are the only decks I like.
There are so many cards that you can flip to Bloodbraid Elf, I think the small possibility of a miss is not necessarily the end of the world. Magma Spray is not for sure a dead card to flip, and besides, we are talking around an 8% chance of flipping it… And after sideboarding, you will either take it out if it’s bad or keep it in if it is likely to be a good flip.
One of the key takeaways from this list should be the Maelstrom Pulses in the sideboard. I am very interested in such an option for R/x Aggro, as it accomplishes a number of very valuable objectives, and it does so efficiently.
Maelstrom Pulse covers us as far as Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender goes, which is not necessarily a huge factor, but it does matter. This aspect is much more important when you build your deck with Tattermunge Maniacs and Hackblades. Obviously it won’t sweep a board full of them, but it does help, and it has utility against other cards they are likely to play.
For instance, it is a solid answer to Spectral Procession, one that this archetype sorely needs. Obviously it has value against a variety of token cards, but it is also nice to make it dangerous for them to commit too many Glorious Anthems. In addition, Maelstrom Pulse gives you protection against most large creatures that are traditionally a problem for Red, such as Doran the Siege Tower, Wall of Reverence, and Cloudthresher.
The beauty of Maelstrom Pulse is how much space it saves you in the sideboard. On top of helping serve as a sweeper against Tokens, a Terminate against burn-resistant creatures, and so on, it is also an ideal answer to Runed Halo (naming Anathemancer), Story Circle, and more. It is an efficient way to cover all of the bases that you need covered as a Red Mage.
I am not sold on the Slave of Bolas, but I have a soft spot for the miser’s blowout card in the sideboard, and it does seem like a great answer to Reveillark. Besides, if you play one, then they just never know.
I would like to note that Jund decks do not need to be so aggressive. In fact, it may be time for Jund Ramp to make a rise to glory, though I would still build around Bloodbraid and Anathemancer if I were you.
As I said above, I only really like three decks right now, B/W, R/x, and Five-Color Bloodbraid. It is possible that traditional Five-Color and Faeries are all fine, but they seem like worse versions of the above decks. I think that G/W has a real possibility of moving up to the Tier 1, but I am not sold yet. If they do, it will be on the back of Dauntless Escort, which is one of my Top 10 cards from Alara Reborn at this point.
I am becoming more and more convinced that my Five-Color Bloodbraid deck is the direction that I want to be moving in Standard. The 5CB strategy retains the versatility and customizability of Five-Color Control, while adopting to a hostile new format (Anathemancer) and using powerful new weapons (Bloodbraid Elf).
Here is my current 5CB decklist. Watch for my preview article “Next Level Magic” on Thursday. It will contain an excerpt from my e-book that is being released around Memorial Day, as well as my up-to-the-minute final version of 5CB that I would play in Regionals, including a more highly developed sideboard than is listed here.
I have not yet fully fleshed out how I want to sideboard against this field, but I have included a possible sideboard here for those experimenting with this archetype. The most important match-ups to prepare for, in my opinion, are various swarm decks (B/W and G/W), Red Aggro, and Jund Ramp/Rock.
While the first two categories are obvious, the reason I care more about Jund Ramp/Rock than the Five-Color Mirror or Faeries is because, frankly, I think that the mirror and Faeries are very good match-ups for us. I have included some cards against both, no question, as both are good strategies, but Jund Ramp/Rock is important because is probably a somewhat bad match-up for this build and is not an embarrassing deck, unlike most of the decks I would imagine that are built to give us problems.
I can’t wait till my Brother-From-Another-Mother, Manuel Bucher gets a load of this one…
Creatures (20)
Lands (26)
Spells (14)
I laughed when I read Kyle Sanchez latest article, as he and I are on the same page about a number of things, in contrast to some differences in opinion on cards last year. I have been experimenting with a return to the Mannequin engine since the unveiling of Anathemancer, and resisted focusing too heavily on it fearing the lack of synergy with Bloodbraid Elf.
The truth is, though, you don’t need to Mannequin the Elf. There are 4 Finks, 4 Anathemancer, 4 Mulldrifter, 2 Cloudthresher, and 2 Shriekmaws, which is already a far greater selection of targets than the original Quick n’ Toast.
A key push in that direction was the adoption of Runed Halo. Runed Halo is extremely good right now, first as an early control card that is not embarrassing to flip to Bloodbraid Elf, and second as an answer to Anathemancer. It has crossover value against Identity Crisis, Cruel Ultimatum, and Demigod of Revenge, but it does have a price.
First of all, it doesn’t work well with Jace, which is unfortunate, but the format is so hostile for Planeswalkers, I don’t miss him. In addition, you must take care that you don’t get blown out by a Maelstrom Pulse on your Runed Halo. It may turn out that three is too many for this exact reason, but I want to see how much I can get away with before dropping down.
The Mannequin engine really helps make up for the loss of instant speed interaction caused by cutting cards like Terror and Broken Ambitions. The only real problem holding back Mannequin is that it is a four-drop in a deck full of Bloodbraids and Cryptics.
I have moved to Jund Charm over Volcanic Fallout and Pyroclasm, adjusting the manabase accordingly, and I am very happy with the change. I didn’t actually value the damage from Fallout very highly, and the uncounterability is just not important against anyone but Faeries, which my build is solid against on account of the increase in pressure and adoption of Mannequin as well as Bloodbraid.
Jund Charm has a variety of nice interactions in this deck. First of all, it is a far better flip early to a Bloodbraid Elf, as you are likely to already have a Kitchen Finks or Anathemancer in play on which to put two +1/+1 counters. Second of all, it is a very real combat trick that can blow people out, doubly so if you surprise pump a Persisted Kitchen Finks, resetting the counter.
The graveyard ability is also very much appreciated right now. The primary use for us is removing the graveyard of a player who Unearths Anathemancer. Remember, you can wait for them to pay the seven mana then respond with the Jund Charm. The Unearth ability will fizzle, as the card must still be in the graveyard when the ability resolves, as anyone who has ever faced Relic of Progenitus in Limited can tell you.
Having more protection against Anathemancer is vital, as that card is the real deal and a serious problem for a deck like ours. Just adding a couple of Runed Halos is not enough. Look how we have made our deck more aggressive to end the game faster (before more land are played), added more cheap life gain and blockers, use Jund Charms to minimize Unearth, maxed out on Anathemancers ourselves (as well as using Bloodbraid to “tutor” for them), and even sideboard Thought Hemorrhage for the pseudo-mirror (naming Anathemancer, of course). That card is serious business.
In addition to helping alleviate our problems with Anathemancer, it also gives us much appreciated percentage against Reveillark, as well as anyone else who may be utilizing cards like Makeshift Mannequin. All in all, I have been loving the Jund Charms, so much so, that I have actually taken out the Maelstrom Pulses, at least for now.
The Pulses always performed well, but the deck has a metric million three drops. Something has to go and Pulse doesn’t actually do anything we can’t do some other way, other than kill fatties, which are admittedly a bit of a problem for this deck. Runed Halo helps here, though. We don’t need percentage against Planeswalkers and already people are adjusting their decks to account for the existence of the Pulse. It may return, but for now, I didn’t have room and I don’t miss it.
This build doesn’t have Cruel Ultimatum main, but it really isn’t the same deck as Cruel Control. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the card and it will be played much more before its time is done, but this deck is a bit more aggressive, a bit faster, and has some endgames that don’t require the Ultimatum. It could still be a fine addition to the right Bloodbraid deck, but the way I see it right now:
1) Cruel Ultimatum isn’t that good against tokens which is huge right now.
2) Anathemancer is Cruel Ultimatum against many people that Cruel Ultimatum was good against.
3) Cruel Control used plenty of powerful cheap defensive cards that helped ensure that you could survive long enough to Ultimate someone. This build is much more aggressive and must have cards that it can use early.
4) Mannequin helps provide a little bit of the missing late game, as well as the powerful card advantage from Bloodbraid Elf.
I know this build is a far cry from Cruel Control of recent times, but Bloodbraid Elf and Anathemancer change the game, not to mention about 74 other cards in Alara Reborn. Bituminous Blast is a nice card, but I wanted to try bring the curve down a little. Wrath might end up in the maindeck, but I wanted to experiment with the more aggressive versions (I even tried Putrid Leeches yesterday, heh).
I am going to take off in a minute, but first a few words on the sideboard, which is just suggested ideas and not properly tuned.
1) A nice selection of sweepers is a must. Some number of Wraths are required, though the proper mix of Threshers, Fallouts, Infests, Jund Charms, Maelstrom Pulses, Pyroclasms, Scourglasses, Austere Commands, and Zealous Persecutions is very up in the air. I happen to like Zealous Persecution a fair bit, as it has nice features against Tokens, Faeries, and R/x, as well as continuing to help us in combat and giving us more answers to Forge-Tender.
2) I like Forge-Tender myself, as he is a good answer to Anathemancer that you can flip up to a Bloodbraid that doesn’t have the same name as Runed Halo. This is such a good answer to Jund Hackblade decks, and is even a respectable Mannequin target.
3) Plumeveil is a sweet card right now (ironically now that I have it in my sideboard rather than main). I think Faeries should actually be playing it main, as it is so good. It is a nice natural answer to Bloodbraid, Hackblade, and so on. I don’t use it main, as my deck still wants to beat down, although I might move one main… so they never know…
4) The Glen Elendras give me protection against Cruel Ultimatum and Identity Crisis, which is much appreciated considering how tough it is to do this with Bloodbraid Elf intact.
5) Identity Crisis and Cruel Ultimatum are still very powerful threats in medium speed and slow match-ups. I like the different names aspect a lot, plus Identity Crisis is far superior against Lark and Anathemaner, whereas Cruel is far superior against Green creature decks and the rest of the Red decks. Besides, it is far better to draw one of each than two of the same.
6. Thought Hemorrhage is primarily for naming Anathemancer. I am serious about this guy. He is a big deal. Naming Reveillark is sweet too.
I think it is very likely that you will want to have at least ten or more differently-named cards in your board, as there is a lot of value to making it so that your opponent doesn’t know what cards to play around. More than usual, it is important for Five-Color players not to let everyone else at the tournament know their exact decklist.
As I said, I am going to post an updated list Thursday in my “Next Level Magic” preview article, as well as excerpts in my e-book that include adventures with Jon Finkel (including some commentary from him) and some fundamental Magic strategy. Make sure to check it out on the free side of StarCityGames.com, and look for “Next Level Magic” to drop Memorial Day, available here.
“Next Level Magic” is over 250 pages of Magic Strategy, useful / entertaining stories, and useful information for winning. My articles tend to focus more on current decklists and strategies of today, whereas this strategy guide is a much more comprehensive course on raising your game beyond the plateau you are currently on, as well as the best Magic theory as I understand it.
It is designed to be maximally useful to anyone who cares about winning PTQs, and is a project of my own that StarCityGames.com is being kind enough to let me offer here. I am very proud of how it turned out, and I look forward to sharing it with everyone looking to work their way up the tournament scene.
This week’s excerpt should be a lot of fun, plus will include my updated 5CB Quick n’ Toast deck. Check it out!
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”