A new Standard format is finally upon us! “Cheers!” “Jeers!” “Applause!”
Have you realized just how many Standard tournaments we have on the horizon? Just take a look!
StarCityGames.com Standard Open — Atlanta
StarCityGames.com Standard Open — Seattle
National Qualifiers
Pro Tour Qualifiers for Amsterdam
In order to succeed in all of these tournaments, you as a player are going to have to consistently question everything. Is the U/W decklist that won the last PTQ the best list possible? Is it the list to beat that everyone will copy? Will people really play Polymorph?
Not only will you have to question all of the results that will be flooding in, but you will have to constantly keep up with the evolution of the format. Rise of the Eldrazi will be on Magic Online faster than you think, and that is when things will really begin to change. And they will change fast!
Do you have the desire to question everything? Can you keep up with the evolution of the format? If you answer yes to both of these questions, then you have already taken a step in the right direction.
So, let’s take a look at the format as it is right now. There are a lot of questions in the air right now to which no one really has an answer! And that even includes me! Today, I will ask those open ended questions that are up for discussion and hopefully we can come to some solid answers together.
1) Is UW Control Really This Good?
UW Control currently looks to be the deck to beat. Jund had a stranglehold on our format for a very long time, but with good deck design and proper play, UW Control has taken its place as the king of the mountain, with three online PTQ victories for Amsterdam. The Holla twins (nice screen names, boys!) have been laying a path of destruction with UW Control on MTGO that few have ever seen. Even good friend Lucas Siow dismantled a Grand Prix Trial with this decklist:
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (21)
However, with Rise of the Eldrazi, there are plenty of questions you need to ask yourself, as not only a UW pilot but as someone looking to beat UW Control:
a) What Does Wall of Omens Replace?
We all know that Wall of Omens is an excellent card that is going directly into UW Control. The question, of course, is what does it replace? Will UW Control decks cut Spreading Seas to fit in the new Wall of Blossoms? Wall of Omens can blank most of Jund’s creatures and buy you the necessary time to get set up, while Spreading Seas can manascrew Jund early and also buy you the necessary time to get set up. Both do not always do their job, as Wall of Omens dies to a removal spell and Spreading Seas is irrelevant in some matchups.
If Wall of Omens doesn’t replace Spreading Seas, perhaps it replaces the Knight of the White Orchid and Fieldmist Borderpost package? This mana package allows UW Control to ramp up to game-ending Martial Coups and Mind Springs, but does Wall of Omens buy enough time for that game plan to be removed from the deck? Mind Spring and Martial Coup are such powerful cards that perhaps they don’t need to be accelerated into? All good questions without solidified answers.
b) Where Does Gideon Jura Fit In?
Gideon Jura is one of the most powerful cards from Rise of the Eldrazi, and it seems to be a natural fit in UW Control. The big question is: “where does it fit in?!” UW Control is not short on win conditions, with Baneslayer Angel; Jace, the Mind Sculptor; Elspeth, Knight-Errant; Sphinx of Jwar Isle; Martial Coup and Celestial Colonnade all occupying that role rather well. Gideon Jura is another great win condition that also changes the way your opponent plays the game. Does UW Control need this effect? Does it even want this effect? Is this way the way to beat the mirror?
c) What Is The Correct Removal Suite For UW Control?
Path to Exile seems to be an auto include in UW Control because it is a deck that does not care about its drawback. Who cares of the opponent gets an extra land when you’re going to be casting Martial Coup and Mind Spring anyway? The bigger question is: “what is the correct number of mass removal spells versus spot removal spells in this deck?” Day of Judgment and Martial Coup are both extremely powerful cards that UW Control needs to play, but having too many will cause a UW Control player to have to trade one-for-one with its mass removal. Do we want a lot of Martial Coups, fewer Day of Judgments, and more spot removal? How about vice versa?
Oblivion Ring has always been there to take care of non-creature permanents, but how many is too many? We all know that Oblivion Ring is a bit clunky to cast and has a glaring drawback in that it can be dealt with. However, it always seems to be a necessary evil. How many of this necessary evil do we have to play?
Oust is the new spot removal spell from Rise of the Eldrazi, and this is the card that scares me the most as an aggressive player. Oust doesn’t have a drawback from a UW Control deck, and is a card that can really screw up a quick start from an aggressive deck. Elite Vanguard is a card that is meant to be played on turn 1. If you do play it on turn 1 and it gets Ousted, not only will you not be applying sufficient pressure, but you will draw it two turns later when it is probably no longer relevant. That kind of swing in tempo destroys aggressive decks. As of today, I haven’t seen too many UW Control decks sideboarding Oust. Isn’t this effect too powerful not to play?
Those are just the questions that a UW Control deck has to answer. Next, how about everyone’s least favorite deck!
2) Can Jund Find A Way To Beat UW Control?
Jund has been reeling recently, and I’m sure everyone doesn’t seem to mind. But for those who enjoy playing and winning with Jund (shame on you!), what are you going to do to your deck to handle UW Control? They seem to have you beat in every phase of the game:
Early game: Wall of Omens, Spreading Seas, Knight of the White Orchid acceleration to the mid-game, Path to Exile on an annoying threat to make it to the mid-game.
Mid game: Jace, the Mind Sculptor; Elspeth, Knight-Errant; Day of Judgment; Baneslayer Angel.
Late game: Large Martial Coups or Mind Springs to bury the opponent underneath card advantage.
All of these situations are large problems for a Jund deck, and are the reason that UW Control has been dominating the metagame. What can Jund do to stop this? Duress has been legal the whole time, but it doesn’t solve all the problems. Blightning is a very powerful card, but with all the cards UW Control is able to see per game (Wall of Omens; Jace, the Mind Sculptor; Mind Spring), they will be able to make more informed decisions on what to discard, or they can counter the spell with Flashfreeze.
I wouldn’t say Jund is a dead deck. Far from it, in fact. However, it is clear that it needs to adapt to be able to handle the dominance of UW control. How will it do that? Consuming Vapors seems like a great way to deal with all of UW’s end game creatures, but it doesn’t solve the problem of a large Martial Coup resolving. Maelstrom Pulse is an obvious solution to planeswalkers, but there are a lot of permanents that need to be Maelstrom Pulsed. Perhaps something like Vampire Hexmage to handle planeswalkers is what the doctor ordered?
Jund will still clean up on poorly built decks or decks that have the wrong answers to the questions Jund is asking, but I think UW Control is a very real problem for Jund. Not only that, but I don’t think it is a question that Jund can easily answer. Time will tell…
3) Is Polymorph For Real?
Polymorph seems to be the talk of the town nowadays. Rise of the Eldrazi gave the deck a ton of obvious upgrades in See Beyond, Awakening Zone, Deprive, and Growth Spasm. The bigger question is…
“Do I win the game if I resolve a Polymorph?”
Jund has a hard time beating an Iona, Shield of Emeria naming Black, but it isn’t impossible to win if they are ahead on the board or resolve a Siege-Gang Commander. UW Control has numerous outs to a resolved Polymorph with Day of Judgment; Path to Exile; Jace, the Mind Sculptor; and Martial Coup, not to mention they could easily sideboard 1-2 Into the Roil if they deem the deck worth their time.
Yes, mono-colored decks are fairly easy to beat, as Vampires and Mono-Red are drawing dead if a Polymorph resolves early, but those aren’t the decks to beat. UW Control seems like a very poor matchup, and while Jund may be winnable, your matchup against Jund is never as good as it seems.
There are a lot of players who are proponents of a 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria /1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn split in their Polymorph decks, but I don’t buy it. Part of the power of Polymorph is that you know what you are going to Polymorph into. With having one of each target, your deck becomes an adventure and you’re giving up the consistency that your deck sorely needs. I am a fan of two Iona, Shield of Emeria in the maindeck and either Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or the consistently underrated Terastodon in the sideboard as your alternate win condition.
The question we all are wondering is: “Was Isaiah Ley’s 9th place finish at StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Orlando a fluke, or is Polymorph the real deal?”
We will know quite soon, I’m sure.
4) Can Mono-Red Make A Comeback?
Mono-Red got a ton of new tools from Rise of the Eldrazi. Staggershock is a very versatile burn spell, Kargan Dragonlord is a threat that must be answered, and Devastating Summons is a quirky card that can deal a ton of damage in combination with Goblin Bushwhacker. The tools are there for a Mono-Red to come back and snag some wins, but there are plenty of questions that need to be answered:
a) Can Mono-Red Ever Beat Kor Firewalker?
Kor Firewalker is public enemy number one for Mono-Red, and even with all of these great new cards from Rise of the Eldrazi, none of them effectively take care of it. Trying to burn your way through Kor Firewalker isn’t a winning strategy, and splashing black for Deathmark and Doom Blade is extremely inconsistent and brings down the power of your deck. Yes, it gives you outs to Kor Firewalker, but with only eight Black sources in your deck, you aren’t guaranteed to draw one every game. Is there anything a Red mage can do to stop this nightmare threat?
b) Can You Overcome All The Questions UW Control Presents?
Ignoring Kor Firewalker for a second, is there anything Mono-Red can do about Wall of Omens, Spreading Seas, a well-timed Path to Exile, or Baneslayer Angel? The combination of these cards is a scary proposition for anyone piloting choosing to pilot Mono-Red, and things only seem to get worse after sideboard when a UW Control player has access to the aforementioned Kor Firewalker, Flashfreeze, or even Celestial Purge. Game 1 is in the Red deck’s favor, but can it overcome such an uphill battle after sideboard?
I am in no way a master of Red decks, but I felt Patrick Chapin had a great starting point for a new age Red deck:
Creatures (16)
Lands (24)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
This list is very rough, but I think this might be the direction Red decks have to go to earn victories nowadays.
5) How Good Is Open the Vaults?
The deck has some big names behind it in Gerry Thompson and Kyle Boggemes, but is it as good as they say? The UW Control matchup looks to be very good, but Putrid Leech is a very real problem, and Mono Red may be too fast for it to handle.
Not much is known about the deck. GerryT has been having a reasonable amount of success with the deck, but no one has been able to duplicate his results. Is Gerry running good, or are we all playing the deck incorrectly? I suspect the latter.
One thing is for sure: we will know exactly how good the deck is after the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Atlanta this weekend, as GerryT looks to be putting his money where his mouth is.
…
As you can see, Standard is a wide open format with plenty of decisions in both deckbuilding and gameplay. It is a format you are going to have to keep a close eye on if you plan to succeed.
And who knows… maybe Boss Naya will make a comeback. Maybe Time Sieve is the answer to all this UW Control nonsense. Maybe Brad Nelson take on TurboFog is the solution.
Standard looks to be good again. And for that, I am thankful.
Until next week!