Two weeks ago, we got to imagine a new Standard format with a mere eight cards from Return to Ravnica, and it looked like Standard was going to be an interesting format indeed. Now, with 98 cards spoiled (at the time of this writing), things are getting even more heated.
As noted in Ben Bleiweiss‘ The Financial Value of Return to Ravnica series, the strength of the currently spoiled Golgari cards can’t be overstated. Numerous rares that can occupy abstract “Golgari style” decks are pushing $10 (including Lotleth Troll, Abrupt Decay, and Overgrown Tomb), and the supporting cast looks strong indeed. The obvious direction in which we might take these cards—B/G Zombies—has begun appearing in articles on all of the major Magic sites, including StarCityGames.com.
B/R Zombies already has made waves in Standard, and it loses very little with the set rotation. But even with cards like Brimstone Volley remaining in the format, it seems like B/G Zombies might be the way to go.
On Monday, Valeriy Shunkov wrote about a B/G adaptation of Zombies that looks quite powerful.
Creatures (24)
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
While I’m not sure about the extent to which Blood Artist will retain its place in the deck following the loss of the highly synergistic Mortarpod (after all, as Shunkov pointed out, we haven’t seen Golgari Charm yet), the general concept looks aggressive, resilient, and very difficult to beat. And for the record, Blood Artist may yet be a potent antidote to Bonfire of the Damned.
The addition of Rancor is something that several early iterations of the deck missed, and it really puts the aggressive potential of cards like Dreg Mangler on display.
Of course, if we presume that Zombies in some form will be the premier aggressive deck, then we might look for a solution to that strategy among the Innistrad Block Constructed decks from Pro Tour Avacyn Restored. This particular list is one with which I’ve been tinkering for a while after ordering the cards from SCG following the Pro Tour, and, although my take on this list isn’t the same as Shunkov’s, they share a common origin (I think).
When developing my decklist, I started with Ken Yukuhiro’s masterpiece from the Pro Tour itself. It’s a very resilient, clever list, with multiple angles of attack in addition to the key Reanimation features.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Borderland Ranger
- 4 Fiend Hunter
- 3 Falkenrath Aristocrat
- 3 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 4 Griselbrand
- 3 Angel of Glory's Rise
- 4 Cathedral Sanctifier
Lands (23)
Spells (12)
The premise of this initial list is that it includes a Reanimation package (Faithless Looting, Mulch, Unburial Rites, Griselbrand, and Angel of Glory’s Rise) and also a midrange Humans build (Borderland Ranger, Fiend Hunter, and Huntmaster of the Fells), as well as some miscellaneous pieces (Cathedral Sanctifier against aggro and because it’s a Human and Falkenrath Aristocrat because it can get extra value out of creatures prior to Angel of Glory’s Rise and because it can start attacking on turn 3). All of the pieces work well synergistically except Griselbrand.
Not only does Angel of Glory’s Rise serve as a secondary Reanimation spell for Humans, but it also exiles all Zombies in play. If we accept the premise that B/G (or B/R) Zombies will be one of the premier aggro decks in the upcoming iteration of Standard, then we also should assume that this card will be a meaningful role-player in some capacity, likely in a Reanimator shell (but potentially in a control deck).
Importantly, we can design a deck that works more smoothly than Yukuhiro’s list because we have two additional sets and much, much better mana fixing than he did when he designed the initial strategy.
For instance, he had to rely on Faithless Looting to dig two cards through his deck, whereas we have the ability to run Grisly Salvage. At instant speed, Grisly Salvage puts the same number of cards into our graveyard as the initial and flashback copies of Faithless Looting, and it doesn’t require the use of red mana (meaning we can work to streamline our mana base).
Further, we now have access to the shocklands instead of some basic lands and Evolving Wilds, meaning that our draws will be somewhat normalized.
The list on which I’ve been working looks like this:
Creatures (25)
- 2 Borderland Ranger
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 3 Fiend Hunter
- 1 Geist-Honored Monk
- 3 Falkenrath Aristocrat
- 3 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 3 Griselbrand
- 4 Angel of Glory's Rise
- 2 Disciple of Bolas
Lands (23)
Spells (12)
Arbor Elf is an excellent accelerator in this type of deck (far exceeding Avacyn’s Pilgrim) because it can untap any of the green shocklands for added value. Similarly, Disciple of Bolas from M13 can work wonders in this kind of deck, drawing additional cards while providing some much-needed life gain against aggressive decks. Of course, it’s also a Human, so it can enable some pretty fun chains of events later in the game in conjunction with Angel of Glory’s Rise.
Because the deck has access to four colors of mana, there are a variety of ways in which the sideboard might be built depending on how the format evolves. The original list included copies of Blasphemous Act to combat non-Zombie aggressive decks, and this list may want to do the same. However, we may also want to include Stuffy Doll to do our best “Stuffy Red” impression while dodging the inevitable graveyard hate that will appear in the event that this type of deck proves itself.
While we’re thinking in terms of the Human tribe, we might also explore some more aggressive options outside of Golgari that appear to be opening up. Granted, we still are missing a substantial portion of Return to Ravnica, so this type of deck may be more or less effective than it currently appears to be right now.
There are a lot of directions in which we might take the Azorius guild, and owing to an uncounterable Day of Judgment in Supreme Verdict, we might imagine that versions of U/W Miracles will appear in reasonable numbers. My plan, however, is much more aggressive.
First, let’s take a look:
Creatures (28)
- 3 Serra Avenger
- 3 Fiend Hunter
- 4 Champion of the Parish
- 3 Geist of Saint Traft
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 4 Silverblade Paladin
- 4 Knight of Glory
Lands (22)
Spells (10)
The basic principles that made W/U Humans a viable deck in the previous Standard format remain. Champion of the Parish is still one of the strongest one-drops in the format, and it quickly can grow to unmanageable sizes. Knight of Glory is a concession to the format’s newfound love of Zombie/Golgari decks, and I don’t imagine that any white-based aggressive deck will be without four copies as long as Zombies is a “thing” in Standard.
Maindecking Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, especially while running ten spells ourselves, is rather greedy, but the efficiency of the format’s removal and the potential blowout from Bonfire of the Damned, which has kept this kind of deck in check, is too much to ignore. In fact, it bears noting that this deck is very vulnerable to Bonfire—this is one of the reasons that it hasn’t appeared very frequently in recent Standard tournaments.
If Golgari-style decks really become the next big “thing” in Standard, then Bonfire decks will appear less frequently because that card, while absolutely incredible, isn’t great against Zombies and is less effective against the slower decks designed to beat Zombies. If this happens, then aggressive Humans is poised to make a comeback (to tier 2 status at least, if not tier 1).
If we’re willing to go without Geist of Saint Traft, then we can become proactive by switching the blue to red.
Creatures (27)
- 3 Serra Avenger
- 3 Fiend Hunter
- 4 Champion of the Parish
- 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 3 Hellrider
- 2 Restoration Angel
- 4 Silverblade Paladin
- 4 Knight of Glory
- 2 Guttersnipe
Lands (22)
Spells (11)
This version makes our mana significantly worse because we lose a full set of shocklands, but it provides the deck with additional reach (Bonfire of the Damned + Brimstone Volley) in addition to the incredibly greedy inclusion of Guttersnipe. We might also look at finding a place for Ajani, Caller of the Pride, which has yet to find a home in Standard despite its pedigree as a three-mana planeswalker.
As always during spoiler season, these decks are works in progress! However, given the incredibly quickly rising prices for Return to Ravnica booster boxes and singles, there is little doubt that this is the most anticipated Magic set release in a long time, if not in the history of the game. Even with a mere third of the set spoiled, numerous strategies have begun presenting themselves. The StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Cincinnati (October 6th) following the set’s release will be an interesting tournament indeed!