Hello everybody and welcome to the Magic Show. I’m your host Evan Erwin. Today we’re going to cover everything from the Sliver Kids to the Tenth Edition. A new Standard environment is coming your way, and it’s time to learn what’s coming and what’s going.
Title – “My Old Ways” by Dr. Dog
[The following is a transcript of the show.]
The Sliver Bunch (“My Old Ways” continued)
So the Sliver Kids, that is Chris Lachmann and Jacob Van Lunen came, saw, and motherlovin’ conquered that Pro Tour. And you know what the best part is? They didn’t come from a Pro Tour tradition. They don’t draft at Finkel’s house. They’re just two guys who played in a PTQ, figured out a strategy that no self-respecting “Pro” would choose, then they began winning professional tournament games on turn 4.
Turn 4, I say. By Poison, of all the wacky mechanics. Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, only could two "randoms," as they say, make Virulent Sliver the most powerful one-drop in the format. Not to mention Two-Headed Sliver, which is just ridiculous in its namesake format, allowing them to win the finals in just five turns.
Double Virulent Sliver let them win in four turns in the semifinals. Did I mention I edit these matches for Wizards? Not that I’m complaining about four or five turn games, but let’s face it, was this format really expected to be this fast? Wasn’t it about aggro or card advantage?
Instead it’s about… Slivers? Who knew? Certainly none of the pros they demolished with poison counters or a host of Slivers who just gained Shadow. This is how it’s done folks. This is the Magic dream. Brian-David Marshall said it was the American Magic Dream, but no – this is the Magic dream of every PTQ player on the planet. Win a PTQ, break the format, and show em how it’s done. You see the smiles on those guys’ faces? That’s the textbook “I told you so” look.
And there was no pro in the room willing to pick up Virulent Sliver until they came along. Just brilliant.
Xth Marks the Spot (“Lowlife” by Scanners)
Oh boy, here comes Standard, chugging right along.
First, there are some notable cards leaving our fair set. Notably we have the double-shot of both Phyrexian Arena and Persecute leaving. Which is sad, to be sure. Persecute hosed single-color strategies, and from what we’ve seen Lorwyn is a tribal block. So that’s right out.
Phyrexian Arena is another loss for Black control decks everywhere. They replaced it with Graveborn Muse, which can be more powerful, but is infinitely more fragile. Speaking of creature-based replacements, we lost Zombify to the near-equivalent Doomed Necromancer.
This can be both a good and bad thing. Moving toward creature-based abilities makes them more susceptible to removal, but allows far more interactions. For example, Eternal Witness wouldn’t have been as awesome as a Sorcery. Matter of fact, I’m guessing they made Recollect just to show how being able to attack for two and Regrowth is better than just the spell. So watch out for Doomed Necromancers entering the red zone sometime soon.
Wildfire finally got the hell out of there. And the biggest mistake of the past two years, Urzatron. Here’s hoping they never come back, ever, in the coming future of Magic. There was just no need for that kind of mana production in Standard. You Extended players, expect to be battling with those horrid lands for many years to come.
Rewind was replaced with Discombobulate, which is cool I guess, and makes Blue-based control a little less annoying, but the biggest development in Tenth is the return of the uncommon Urza manlands. I can guarantee there will be a Top 8 deck at Nationals which features at least one Treetop Village and/or Faerie Conclave. It’s just bound to happen.
While the other lands are nice and all, and it’s certainly good to have the whole cycle back, Treetop and Conclave really were the standouts. They create tramplers and fliers, something that the others just can’t match. White once again gets the big butt, while Red first strikes for a whole two damage, and Black’s land sucks so bad I don’t even want to create an analogy for it. Needless to say, uncounterable powerful and/or board affecting creature lands will be on Standard tournament tables for the next few years. Get your set ASAP.
It makes me sad that White did not get Isamaru back, but we did get our True Believer. Oh yes, this little guy is going to make things difficult for the next few years, throwing wrenches in Gruul’s burn and is sure to mess up some powerful Lorwyn-powered combo deck.
Meanwhile, Quirion Dryad is back and everyone is freaking out. I personally love this creature and hope it does very well. But there’s an elephant in the room.
Or, rather, there’s a Goyf in the room…
Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Goyf? (“Three Little Pigs” by Green Jelly)
It’s official everybody, Tarmogoyf is the best creature in Standard. It’s the best creature in Block, and it’s going to be the best creature in Extended Zoo. Quite simply, it’s an absolute friggin house. It’s the house – complete with mortgage and bad landscaping – that I wanted Baru, Fist of Krosa to be, but never ended up being.
The question is this: Is there enough graveyard hate/control to keep Tarmogoyf under control? There are times where Griffin Guide – a.k.a. giving Tarmogoyf evasion – is enough to end the game. And if you counter the Griffin Guide, he gets +1/+1 permanently anyway, as you added an Enchantment type to the yard. And if there were no instants in there, you just gave the Tarmogoyf +2/+2 anyway and only took away the evasion.
Quite simply, the metagame has shifted in Block play to Who Gets The Goyf To Stick, which may remind you of a similar metagame influenced by the one and only Umezawa’s Jitte.
Now does that make Tarmogoyf a mistake? Hell, I don’t know. What I do know is that every single deck must be prepared for him. They’re bringing back Terror in tenth and it’s just in time. A two-mana answer for a two-mana powerhouse sounds about right to me.
For those curious, I have not given up on the Mono Black Control deck. Worse, I audibled at the PTQ to a more Control-hating build, featuring three Florestirpate main, and ended up playing only one control deck that I demolished, and three very tough Goyf matches.
So with Goyf firmly on my mind, let’s take a look at my latest Mono Black Control build:
(“Appels + Oranjes” by The Smashing Pumpkins)
Creatures (19)
- 4 Withered Wretch
- 3 Twisted Abomination
- 1 Mirri the Cursed
- 4 Augur of Skulls
- 4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
- 3 Tombstalker
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
Note this is very similar to the build I showed you a few weeks ago, with a notable exception: Withered Wretch is now featured as a four-of in the main. This is because, well, Tarmogoyf is everyone’s new favorite love-child, and while it doesn’t stop the annoyance of Griffin Guide, it does stop him from getting anything beyond +2/+2. Not to mention with all of the main deck Mystic Enforcers you see running around, it’s always nice to keep them off Threshold.
The danger in this list is that Take Possession is pretty damn popular nowadays. With Coalition Relic and Prismatic Lens letting you hit seven mana in as little as four or five turns, dropping that big nasty Korlash could simply mean you just gave them the win.
However, the Wretch can throw a huge dent in Tarmogoyf plans as well as the new Adrian Sullivan-esque Gaea’s Blessing recursion decks, and that is never a bad thing.
The most recent PTQ data comes from Richmond, and features this interesting build from our own Ken Adams:
(“Don’t Make Me A Target” by Spoon)
Creatures (15)
- 4 Lightning Angel
- 4 Desolation Giant
- 1 Bogardan Hellkite
- 2 Aeon Chronicler
- 2 Numot, the Devastator
- 2 Venser, Shaper Savant
Lands (25)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
This spicy little number features the oft-forgotten Desolation Giant as a big F-U to all the Tarmogoyfs and Mystic Enforcers and Wall of Roots and Vesuvan Shapeshifters of the world. Who said that Black has the only Wrath in the format? While this deck lost to Pickles in the finals, it obviously has a ton of game against a large portion of the field. Playing out a Giant and then Busting away the board could be game for many a player.
My next foray into the world of competitive Magic is happening on the weekend of July 21st, when BlueGrassMagic will be hosting their annual Kentucky Open for over $3,000 in cash prizes. This is the biggest tournament happening before Nationals that has tenth edition legal. Better yet, the next day will be a Time Spiral Block PTQ.
So with that said, what Standard decks are going to show up?
Well, Wizards went and reprinted Seismic Assault, and that means Life from the Loam isn’t far behind. Here’s a build I found on the forums, just something to get the juices flowing:
(“Taken For A Ride” by Tally Hall)
Creatures (14)
Lands (22)
Spells (25)
Sideboard
Has Tarmogoyf? Check. Has Armageddon? Check. Has mana fixing and lifegain? You bet. Only in Ravnica Standard could you have a three color deck whose namesake spell costs triple colored mana.
Regardless, this build is something to work on and think about. Be sure to list your ideas on the big decks from Tenth Edition in the forums and feedback. Always fun to hear those.
And that’s another Magic Show everybody. Next week we’ll rundown the decks I’m taking to the Kentucky Open and PTQ, along with a special segment from our own Ben Bleiweiss. You won’t want to miss that.
So until next time, this is Evan Erwin, tapping the cards so you don’t have to.
Video Only Extra: The Pro Tour San Diego Moment of Zen
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
dubya dubya dubya dot misterorange dot com
eerwin +at+ gmail +dot+ com
PS – I loved Transformers. Best dumb fun ever.