Hour of Devastation? More like Hour of Celebration.
Hour of Adulation.
Hour of Admiration?
Excitation?
Salivation?
Whatever hour it is, it’s a good one. Not only is there excitement for the new cards, but we finally have a great Standard format for the first time in a while.
Instead of having to focus on dealing with completely busted combos, we might just have an interesting and diverse new metagame. At least that’s the hope.
Today I’ll paint a picture of what this bold new format looks like. I’ll tell you what I think the top decks are going into the new format and look at some new versions of those decks, taking into account the cards from Hour of Devastation. Thanks to the #SCGINVI we have a lot to work with.
It’s important to keep in mind that, once the clock strikes midnight and Hour of Devastation is released, we’ll have a whopping eight sets in Standard. We already have a lot of powerful cards and decks in Standard, and Hour of Devastation may have a tough time dethroning them. On the other hand, Standard is unsettled at the moment, and adding new cards will only shake it up more.
Let’s dive in, throw down a gauntlet, and unpack the mysteries of Hour of Devastation!
Creatures (25)
- 3 Tireless Tracker
- 4 Longtusk Cub
- 3 Bristling Hydra
- 1 Whirler Virtuoso
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 4 Glorybringer
- 2 Rhonas the Indomitable
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (21)
Spells (12)
Temur variants have remained surprisingly strong despite the banning of Aetherworks Marvel. Temur Energy has settled in as the default midrange deck to beat.
It’s versatile, it’s customizable, it’s consistent, and it’s powerful. It plays different roles and can be pretty much built to beat anything. You can win through tempo or card advantage.
Energy is a lot less necessary now, but you can still sink it into Bristling Hydra, Longtusk Cub, or Whirler Virtuoso.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Tireless Tracker
- 2 Longtusk Cub
- 3 Bristling Hydra
- 1 Whirler Virtuoso
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 4 Glorybringer
- 2 Channeler Initiate
- 1 Rhonas the Indomitable
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (21)
Spells (11)
Hour of Devastation doesn’t add much, which makes sense, considering there aren’t going to be any more Energy cards.
Abrade seems better than Magma Spray or Cut as the secondary default burn spell behind Harnessed Lightning.
At the top-end of the deck, and quite possibly the top of the food chain in Standard, are Chandra, Torch of Defiance; Bristling Hydra; and Glorybringer. All three of these get better without Aetherworks Marvel in the format, and all three were already good anyway.
Bristling Hydra is incredibly tricky to deal with and great against planeswalkers. The list of common answers is fairly short and generally confined to deathtouch, sweepers, or ignoring it in some way by either chumping, going bigger, or going wider.
Creatures (16)
- 1 World Breaker
- 2 Tireless Tracker
- 3 Elder Deep-Fiend
- 1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
- 3 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 2 Glorybringer
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (16)
Spells (26)
- 3 Forest
- 2 Mountain
- 2 Island
- 4 Kozilek's Return
- 4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
- 3 Vessel of Nascency
- 3 Grapple with the Past
- 4 Harnessed Lightning
- 1 Cut
Sideboard
Elder Deep-Fiend is another card that is thriving in the new Standard and proving itself to be an excellent way to go over the top of anyone or push a tempo advantage.
Kozilek’s Return punishes Zombies and complements Elder Deep-Fiend nicely, not only by Returning for five damage but by also buying you time to cast your Elder Deep-Fiend.
What might this strategy look like with Hour of Devastation?
Creatures (16)
- 1 Tireless Tracker
- 3 Elder Deep-Fiend
- 1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
- 3 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 1 Glorybringer
- 3 Champion of Wits
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (16)
Spells (26)
This deck sort of rolls up everything Standard has to offer into one nice little package: energy, delirium, emerge, cycling, and even Clues.
Champion of Wits acts as an emerge enabler, delirium enabler, and just outright amazing card selection and advantage in the late-game when you’re bringing it back using Eternalize.
For more decks like this, Brad Nelson also discussed the power of Champion of Wit in similar strategies.
Creatures (24)
- 4 Relentless Dead
- 4 Diregraf Colossus
- 4 Cryptbreaker
- 4 Metallic Mimic
- 4 Lord of the Accursed
- 4 Dread Wanderer
Lands (24)
- 23 Swamp
- 1 Westvale Abbey
Spells (12)
You don’t have to dig deep to find a solid Zombies deck. It may not be fresh, but it’s damn good. If you want to win Week One of the new Standard format, just play Zombies.
When Zombies aren’t being targeted with mass removal in the maindeck, it’s a tough deck to beat.
There isn’t that much Zombies gains, but there is one card I want to at least try from Hour of Devastation:
Creatures (27)
- 4 Relentless Dead
- 4 Diregraf Colossus
- 4 Cryptbreaker
- 4 Metallic Mimic
- 4 Lord of the Accursed
- 4 Dread Wanderer
- 3 Ammit Eternal
Lands (24)
- 23 Swamp
- 1 Westvale Abbey
Spells (9)
Ammit Eternal is worth testing.
It’s a Zombie, but that’s mostly just an added bonus. Ammit Eternal’s main strength is just that it beats hard and is hard to beat.
It’s not easy casting multiple spells a turn. It’s not easy blocking a 5/5, a 4/4, or even a 3/3 that profitably, and even when you can, you’re still losing three life. Zombies also already has a bunch of removal to help clear the way, and menace too, thanks to Lord of the Accursed.
Creatures (3)
Lands (14)
Spells (43)
Control still hasn’t quite found its way to the top of the metagame, but it’s been lurking for some time, just waiting to pounce.
“Survive until Torrential Gearhulk and Glimmer of Genius win you the game” has been the basic plan for some time now, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
Hour of Devastation has some gifts for control decks as well.
Creatures (4)
Lands (26)
Spells (30)
One of the big decisions for White Control decks going forward is between playing Cast Out and Stasis Snare or instead making space for Hour of Revelation, since you don’t want to be blowing up your own Cast Outs with it.
Hour of Revelation does compete with Torrential Gearhulk as a six-drop (most of the time), but it’s a very powerful effect the deck is otherwise lacking. Completely resetting the battlefield and then casting Torrential Gearhulk is appealing.
Supreme Will might just be one of the best cards in the set.
The nice thing about Supreme Will is that if your opponent is just casting threats, you can just go ahead and Mana Leak them; if not, you can dig deep and find what you need.
Spending three mana for Impulse or three mana for Mana Leak isn’t a great deal, but having the option of either is excellent.
The especially nice thing is that Supreme Will complements Censor so nicely. Supreme Will is a little bit slower and clunky, but Censor is ready to punish those jumping the gun.
It is now a nightmare to wait against control decks, since on turn 2 you can Anticipate, turn 3 you can Supreme Will, and turn 4 you can Glimmer of Genius. Playing against control will likely just mean jamming everything you can and hoping they don’t have the goods.
Creatures (23)
- 1 Tireless Tracker
- 4 Grim Flayer
- 3 Verdurous Gearhulk
- 4 Winding Constrictor
- 3 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
- 4 Walking Ballista
- 4 Dreamstealer
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (21)
Spells (12)
Dreamstealer is a lot better than it looks. Admittedly, it doesn’t look very good.
You must see beyond the scrawny Squire body, and how it’s not especially amazing in the late-game,
into the heart of the card…and dream big.
Hypnotic Specter effects are rare but potentially very powerful.
Menace is really good evasion, and Dreamstealer can even scale up and make an opponent discard more cards if you can pump its power. This version has plenty of ways to incidentally pump Dreamstealer’s power, including Nissa, Voice of Zendikar; Verdurous Gearhulk; Blossoming Defense; and Rishkar, Peema Renegade.
You can also just self-mill Dreamstealer with Grim Flayer.
Dreamstealer just seems like it would be really annoying to play against. You need to leave back two blockers or kill it outright to not risk losing some of your hand.
If you do kill it outright, you played right into Dreamstealer’s hand, since it comes back later, bigger and better.
“Discard four” is no laughing matter, unless you’re the one attacking with a 4/4 Dreamstealer.
Creatures (23)
- 1 Tireless Tracker
- 1 Verdurous Gearhulk
- 4 Longtusk Cub
- 2 Bristling Hydra
- 4 Electrostatic Pummeler
- 3 Winding Constrictor
- 4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
- 4 Dreamstealer
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (21)
Spells (14)
Look at all these must-kill creatures: Dreamstealer, Electrostatic Pummeler, Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, Longtusk Cub.
All are potentially disastrous if not removed on sight. Blossoming Defense just adds to the suspense if you risk letting someone untap with any of these cards.
Live the dream and casually Larger Than Life a Dreamstealer and make your opponent discard five cards on turn 4. Seems amazing.
Creatures (21)
- 4 Catacomb Sifter
- 1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Anointer Priest
- 4 Sacred Cat
- 4 Crested Sunmare
Lands (24)
Spells (15)
Have you herd about my Horse deck? It’s a shoe-in to be the best deck in the format. I’ve only worked on the manedeck to make sure it’s stable first. It’s similar to Sam Black’s Abzan Tokens but with more glue to hold it together.
Crested Sunmare is a solid workhorse when you have some lifegain, and downright unbridled if you have multiples, since they give each other indestructible.
Gate to the Afterlife gains you life for Crested Sunmare and slowly marches towards getting God-Pharaoh’s Gift.
Once you do reach God-Pharaoh’s Gift, just get back a Crested Sunmare with Anointed Procession out and then gain some life. Bam, six indestructible Horses! Win through sheer Horse of Will.
Hour of Conversation
We’ve still only scratched the surface of potential decks, but we’ve covered a nice chunk to start with, although I’m pretty sure there’s even a card called Gideon, Ally of Zendikar still lurking out there.
These are the cards and decks that I’ll be looking at first as I begin testing the new Standard format. Will any of them be good? Maybe, maybe not. Only time and testing will tell. The doomsday clock is about to strike midnight, the Hour of Devastation is about to begin, and I aim to be prepared when it does.