If you played any Standard this past weekend, you’ll probably notice a small change in the format. Namely, the gigantic influx of R/W Aggro, mostly thanks
to Ben Stark’s performance at Grand Prix Memphis. And I have to say, I don’t blame anyone for going that route, because Outpost Siege is a ridiculous Magic
card.
Outpost Siege isn’t anything new, really. We’ve seen it in a few different red decks in Standard over the last month and change, but it hasn’t really made
too much of an impact other than a few copies here or there. It can help you win the long game, which is something that red-based decks haven’t
traditionally been able to do. It can also close the door on an opponent if they are low enough on life and you have enough creatures in play.
But why aren’t people playing four?
Well, the older versions of R/W Aggro were pretty heavy on the top-end of the spectrum. It was difficult to find the middle ground for the deck, as you
wanted some lategame threat that could hammer the opponent if the game ended up going south. After a few Bile Blights, anyone would be wishing for a
Stormbreath Dragon.
The problem with playing Stormbreath Dragon alongside Outpost Siege is that it forces your hand a lot of the time. Whatever card you hit off the Siege is
the card you want to play, right here and right now, because that window closes at the end of turn. But with a higher curve featuring Stormbreath Dragon,
Ashcloud Phoenix, or other big baddies, casting multiple spells a turn with your Outpost Siege gets much more difficult. As a result, people figured out
that playing just a few Outpost Sieges was solid, with a few more in the sideboard to help out against the control decks.
But Ben Stark (rightly) decided that Outpost Siege was better than any other expensive card you could play and wanted it to be his absolute top-end in the
maindeck. This allowed him to play four copies of Outpost Siege, which sent his deck into hyperdrive. Having access to a card as versatile and powerful as
Outpost Siege is a boon for aggressive decks, but building your deck so that you can easily play four…why didn’t we think of this before?!
I think the truth is that we didn’t really know how good Outpost Siege was because it always felt a bit clunky. Well, that’s because it is a bit clunky
when you have other four- and five-drops in your deck. You’ll want to cast Ashcloud Phoenix on an empty board so that you can start attacking. You’ll want
to play a land that enters the battlefield tapped on Turn 4 so that you can cast your Stormbreath Dragon on Turn 5. In a lot of ways, the more expensive
cards in the R/W Aggro decks were just that: expensive. They put a tax on your entire gameplan and often caused you to have a hand full of glacially slow
threats.
So Ben Stark decided it would be best to significantly lower the curve and just board five-drop threats for when he needed to get a little bit bigger. And
I’m hooked.
Creatures (12)
Lands (24)
Spells (24)
As you can see, the maindeck is exactly the same as Ben’s, with my only changes coming in the sideboard. His idea to focus the deck around Outpost Siege is
pure genius, even going so far as to play eight two-drop creatures.
The newest inclusion to the deck:
Again, nothing exactly new, as we’ve seen this crop up from time to time in small numbers. The general consensus is that it is worse than Seeker of the
Way, but what is wrong with playing both? Seeker of the Way is phenomenal in the earlygame, while Soulfire Grand Master is serviceable in both the early
and lategame. Her lifelink is pretty relevant, and her ability to buy back removal spells against the slower creature decks is absurd. In fact, I think
that Soulfire Grand Master might actually be better than Seeker of the Way in this deck, though it is certainly close.
With such a low curve, there is almost always something to do in the early turns of the game. Whether we’re applying pressure to the control decks with
cheap creatures, or just using our burn spells to kill opposing Goblin Rabblemasters and the like, our entire gameplan revolves around stabilizing the
board early on so that we have a window to resolve Outpost Siege, where we bury our opponent in card advantage.
If they end up having the answer for Outpost Siege, it isn’t the end of the world. After all, they’re using their removal or counterspell on an
enchantment, all the while you’re beating them down with your early threats. But if they don’t have an answer, the sheer card quantity is almost impossible
to keep up with regardless of what you’re actually drawing. Most of your spells can just go to the dome, eventually putting their life total to zero. I
have burned many opponents out already from twenty after resolving an Outpost Siege. It isn’t as difficult as you might think!
One thing to note is that Ben was also one of the first people to play four copies of Wild Slash over the full four copies of Lightning Strike. This is a
huge concession for the mirror, as the extra damage matters so much less than the extra mana when you’re trying to cast multiple spells in the same turn
(or just kill a Goblin Rabblemaster after playing two lands that enter the battlefield tapped). Wild Slash is quickly becoming one of my favorite cards in
Standard, and it reminds me so much of how I loved Shock in the last Standard season.
Creatures are getting smaller, and so should our removal.
The manabase is pretty good too, allowing you to cast Chained to the Rocks with ease thanks to Evolving Wilds. If there was ever going to be a Standard
deck that wanted Evolving Wilds, it almost had to feature Chained to the Rocks. It’s almost like a Plateau that enters the battlefield tapped.
Almost.
Having so many basic lands also means you’re going to curve out more often than not. Stumbling in Standard is pretty bad, so more basic lands means more
chances to cast Goblin Rabblemaster on Turn 3 and more chances to curve into Outpost Siege on Turn 4. I have had almost no trouble casting my spells with
the deck as of yet. Even after sideboard with a slightly harsher requirement for white, it’s been reasonable. To me that says a lot about a deck that has
Evolving Wilds as one of its dual lands.
The one thing I didn’t like about Ben Stark’s deck was the sideboard, or at least some of the cards that were in it. I liked the idea of always making
Outpost Siege the best it could be. To me, that is the most attractive part about this deck in the first place. I don’t suspect you’re cutting Outpost
Siege in virtually any matchup after sideboard, so why would you create the problems that the slower versions already had by bringing in a ton of five-drop
threats?
I do love a good dragon as much as the next guy, but this isn’t a Stormbreath Dragon deck. It isn’t a Sarkhan deck either, but I made a small concession so
that I could fit a few into the sideboard because the card is inherently powerful. At times, those lategame creatures will help you win games, but they
aren’t exactly part of the gameplan. The more four- and five-drops you play, the worse your Outpost Siege becomes, which defies the logic behind how the
deck is built to begin with.
On the other hand, Brimaz is a pretty solid threat that dodges a lot of the removal in the format, and he hits right on curve for Outpost Siege. Brimaz has
been exceptional in basically every matchup so far in testing, giving us a way to put a lot of pressure on slower players or just brick wall any aggressive
deck. The fact that it is a white creature is a bit awkward when they’re siding in Glare of Heresy, but maybe that means they won’t hit your Chained to the
Rocks. At the very least, you can hope that bringing in more white cards will overload their Glares, or that you’ll have enough threats to overwhelm their
removal.
When I first saw the deck, three copies of Erase seemed a bit out of place. Honestly, who even plays Doomwake Giant or Whip of Erebos anymore? Without
those in the format, Erase didn’t actually seem all that good…until you realize how ridiculously important Outpost Siege and Chained to the Rocks can be
in the mirror. Unlocking a Soulfire Grand Master late in the game with an Erase on their Chained to the Rocks can kill them on the spot if you have Stoke
the Flames, but you will also have the ability to bring back Goblin Rabblemaster or Brimaz. But the main fight is over Outpost Siege. Neither deck is able
to kill the other quickly, thanks to all the removal, which makes Outpost Siege into the most important card in the deck.
Erase also has applications in other matchups. Plus, Whip decks didn’t suddenly become unplayable, and I expect them to come back in full force with both
Abzan and R/W Aggro being two of the top decks. Perhaps Ben was a bit ahead of his time with this build, but everything is starting to make sense and fall
into place.
It is possible that Mastery of the Unseen isn’t as good as I think it is. But there is a distinct possibility that it will singlehandedly win you some
games you have no business winning. As the games go longer, making two or even three threats a turn is huge against a control deck, even if you don’t have
anything all that exciting to turn face up. That isn’t the important part. Mastery seems pretty absurd against control because they have trouble
interacting with it. It comes down before Dissolve (if they even keep it in their deck), and doesn’t get hit by Disdainful Stroke (also probably not in
their deck). U/B Control has very few answers to the card, as Ugin, the Spirit Dragon doesn’t kill the manifest creatures with his –X ability.
Most versions of U/B Control are playing more Crux of Fate than Perilous Vault. If that continues to be the case, then Mastery of the Unseen could continue
to shine. However, if it begins to trend the other way, then it might not be all that good. Regardless, against other control strategies, it is another
enchantment to distract them from killing your Outpost Sieges, which are just as important in the matchup.
Valorous Stance and Glare of Heresy are usually coming in against the same matchups. Heroic and Siege Rhino decks are both soft to these effects, giving
you access to hard answers to their gigantic creatures. As the game goes long, your removal should be able to take care of most of their creatures, as you
refuel with Outpost Siege. There will be times when the Heroic decks end up getting you pretty good with Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, as it dodges all of your
early removal, but hopefully you’ll draw enough hard removal to kill it through a Gods Willing.
If you’ve never played a deck like this before, I beseech you to try it out. This deck can win both the earlygame and lategame with multiple threats that
shine in both situations. The burn spells give you inevitability with Outpost Siege, while all of your threats can hit pretty hard, regardless of what turn
it is. You are resilient to spot removal with Hordeling Outburst and can fight after a sweeper with all-stars like Goblin Rabblemaster.
There is a lot of nuance to a deck like this, in both sideboarding and playing out the games. Sequencing your spells so that you don’t walk right into your
opponent’s removal spell is important sometimes, but you also don’t mind it so much when you’re curving into Outpost Siege. Having access to so many
instant-speed spells means you don’t have to cast your Goblin Rabblemaster on Turn 3 while they have a ton of open mana. You can save it for when they tap
out for Siege Rhino and hit them with a Chained to the Rocks and Rabblemaster in one turn. Even if they kill the Rabblemaster now, you’ll have a token to
start getting some work done instead of nothing to show for one of your best cards.
One awesome part about this deck is that people stopped playing Sylvan Caryatid. Without Caryatid in the format, Soulfire Grand Master and Seeker of the
Way can attack on the ground without much resistance. This makes a compelling case for other decks to start playing more two-drop creatures, especially
ones that are good both early and late in games.
This deck plays out much less like an aggro deck and much more like a control deck at times. Cards like Soulfire Grand Master and Seeker of the Way are
pretty good at playing defense, while all of your removal can be aggressive or defensive. That’s the nature of burn, and one of the things that makes this
deck so appealing. Outpost Siege can choose Khans or Dragons, depending on your board position, often ending the game on the spot if they are at a low
enough life total. At this point in testing, I’m naming Khans about 75% of the time, and Dragons 25%, but that is much more than I expected when starting
out. Naming Dragons has helped me dominate cluttered boards and ultimately beat control decks that rely on sweepers. Once they’re low enough on life, they
need a way to kill the Outpost Siege before even thinking about interacting with your creatures.
I love that so many threats and removal spells in this format can be defensive or aggressive, giving you a lot of flexibility. Against other aggressive
decks, it is easy to switch gears and become the control player. You’re easily taking over any game when you draw a few removal spells and an Outpost
Siege, let alone a couple copies of Hordeling Outburst.
At this stage, the only true test is figuring out your role against a midrange deck. They’re almost always going to go on the control plan, but what if
they go beatdown with Fleecemane Lion like the boys in Memphis? Lightning Strike is general an easy choice to board out, but how does Fleecemane Lion
change this? Honestly, leaving in Lightning Strike isn’t all that bad. After all, our plan is to burn them out with Outpost Siege most of the time, since
they have so much removal after board.
I assume that most midrange decks will continue to play the control role, though all of them want to lower their curve after sideboard so that they can
interact with your early spells. This is why having some form of top-end is great, and Stormbreath Dragon is usually the go-to. I could be absolutely wrong
about Ben Stark’s version of the deck, as Stormbreath Dragon is phenomenal against Abzan, as usually their only way to kill it is Hero’s Downfall. But
personally, I like the versatility of Sarkhan. I like the fact that Sarkhan doesn’t overextend into Crux of Fate or End Hostilities. I like that Sarkhan
can kill an opposing creature, clearing the way for Brimaz or Goblin Rabblemaster. But I don’t like playing a ton of either card.
This weekend is Grand Prix Miami, and I’m just about ready to gear up for the very long drive. I’m leaning toward this deck for the tournament, since it
just feels so absurd. I haven’t played with a card that felt as good as Outpost Siege in a long while, and it is only a matter of time before it starts to
catch on. You should expect to play against Outpost Siege a good bit in your upcoming tournaments, because the card is busted. I’m surprised it took us
this long to realize it, and now I’m wondering how good it could be in other strategies.
If you aren’t attending Grand Prix Miami, be sure to tune into the coverage. StarCityGames puts on a great show when it comes to Grand Prix, and I’m sure
you all know how good Patrick Sullivan and (my editor) Cedric Phillips are at commentary. Hopefully they pick me for a lot of feature matches ( pleeeease), but more importantly, hopefully I win a lot of them.