There have been so many things happening in the game this week, and we have a lot of ground to cover. The Pro Tour: Amsterdam format has been truly revealed. The new Banned and Restricted list is here, and it greatly impacts Legacy. The M11 spoiler is getting more complete every day. To top it all, Standard continues to evolve slowly but surely, and the PTQ: Amsterdam season is still in full swing.
Let us get started by discussing the biggest news: the massive rotation in the Extended format. This means that the new Extended for Pro Tour: Amsterdam will be a difficult nut to crack, harder than we all expected. The Pro Tour takes place in September, which is before Scars of Mirrodin is released. What this means is that the Time Spiral, Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, Shards of Alara, and Zendikar blocks will be legal. We also get 10th Edition, M10, and M11 to complete the format.
I usually do not rant in this weekly column, but it is time I make a change. I am obviously not a fan of most of the changes that Wizards of the Coast has been making, because it caters to a much different sect of the Magic community. The Standard format has been more attack-phase oriented and less about combo and control decks. The creatures contain more card advantage, and it is such an uphill battle to play something else. The State/Provincial Championships were removed for the Wizards Play Network, which was a lot less fun. The M10 rules change was designed to make Magic more simple for newer players. The shrinkage of the Extended format is basically two Standard formats put together, created because not everyone has been playing for as long as I have.
The point of this rant is not to shun Wizards for trying to make money, because I am well aware that the primary purpose of a business is to turn a profit. These changes have appealed to the masses, and we have been having record turnouts for tournament attendance. All of these things have been great for the game, but I would just like some tournaments back. I am not sure if you all remember, but we used to have a couple more Pro Tours than we have had in the past few years. There were also more Grand Prix tournaments at that time. I understand that the economy is not what it used to be, blah blah blah, but Magic has never been better. If I am going to play a game that caters to a different crowd, I would like Wizards of the Coast to share the wealth. I would just like a light at the end of the tunnel, because with each change I tell myself that it will benefit me in the end. I am not sure if this is already being planned, but I want it to happen soon.
/End Rant.
Let us get back to Extended, and how it is going to be a big Standard format. I was always a fan of Faeries when it was in Standard. The only difference is that we get Jace, the Mind Sculptor as the extra four-drop. It seems like it will be decent, but then you consider the power of Mistbind Clique locking your opponent out of lands. The fun part for those qualified for PT: Amsterdam is that Time Spiral Block will be legal, so you get to play Ancestral Vision in the Faerie deck.
Here is something to get the juices flowing for the new ExStandard format.
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (24)
We also get a spicy Reveillark deck as well as another Five-Color Control deck. I feel like there will be more decks that originated from the Lorwyn block because the cards and decks were so much more powerful. Faeries seem like the most obvious deck, so there will be a good Red deck that will exist to keep it in check.
I am not sure about how good Jund will be, since there are other powerful decks that can actually reward playskill.
My beef with the format is that the Pro Tour will contain Time Spiral Block and the PTQ season will have Scars of Mirrodin instead. I would like to see a PT format be a little more relevant for other tournaments. I feel like this would be better for the game, because more players will be aware of the PT since it will actually impact them. We could remedy this situation by keeping Time Spiral in the format for the PTQ season. I am also not a fan of M11 Draft for the PT, since the expert level expansions have more synergy and have more archetypes. The advanced level sets are designed for newer players, so the PT should have more skill-testing sets to draft. I have been in a ranting mood this week, but it is not because I hate the game. I want the game to flourish, so I have to be critical.
There has been more news this last week, news that has impacted Legacy. Mystic Tutor will be banned, effective July 1st. Grim Monolith and Illusionary Mask have been unbanned. This is sure to change the format, since Mystical Tutor is in two very powerful decks: ANT and Reanimator. The key is not to forget about these two decks, because they are still both very powerful without the Tutor. ANT is capable of winning on turn 1, so it can be done without the help of Mystical Tutor. The biggest question is: what are the four best cards to replace the Tutors? When Grand Prix: Columbus rolls around, be prepared to face ANT and Reanimator at the top tables. They will not get the respect they deserve, so there will be less hate.
Grim Monolith and Illusionary Mask are two very powerful cards that can potentially unlock certain archetypes. White Stax was a Tier 2 deck in Legacy before this Banned and Restricted list, but unlocking a fast mana spell can help it out greatly. White Stax has a good matchup against aggro, and combo has gotten weaker, making it well positioned. I would make sure to have some artifact hate in your sideboard when it is time for GP: Columbus.
Illusionary Mask can make for a good Phyrexian Dreadnought deck, since it was previously playable in Vintage. It will most likely play out like a Fish deck with Dreadnoughts as the win conditions. This card is already expensive, and will only go up from here. This will prevent this type of deck from breaking out to the mainstream.
I think that Merfolk will go down in popularity, and Goblins will go up, because of the untrue notion that ANT will not be good after the banning of Mystical Tutor. Goblins is better at fighting “fair” decks, and both are budget so they will make up a large percentage of the field.
I played a Legacy GPT on Saturday at Time Travelers, running an Enlightened Tutor control deck. It replaced the weekly Standard tournament, and I wanted to play. My plan was to concede to anyone in the finals since I already have three byes. Here is the deck I jammed.
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (22)
Spells (36)
This deck was interesting, and was a lot of fun to play. I feel that it will be a good choice, because it is very good at beating combo decks. In the tournament, I lost round 1 because I arrived 30 minutes late. Round 2 was against Goblins, which I beat because I assembled the Humility/Moat lock in two of the games. The next round was against Goblin Charbelcher combo. Both of my opening hands involved Force of Will and a Blue card, so the match went pretty well. I beat Ad Nauseam Tendrils combo the following rounds because of Counterbalance and Ethersworn Canonist. I drew into Top 8 then faced a Bant deck in the first round. I started with five cards in the third game, but I feel it was a good matchup.
If I had to play the deck again, I would play more anti-aggro cards. A random copy of The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale may be cool, because you don’t have any creatures. It is a very powerful effect for something that does not cost any mana. I could see moving the Humility to the sideboard because the 1/1s are still a threat. The Runed Halo could be a good addition to the maindeck, because it stops creatures as well as protects from Tendrils of Agony.
A third Jace, the Mind Sculptor could be good because I won many games from eventually going ultimate. The Thopter/Sword combo was not impressive, and it only won me a single game in four rounds.
I also need a better plan against Zoo. I have never played against it, but I can see it being a terrible matchup.
Let us now turn our attention to the M11 spoiler. Most of the cards from M10 that see play will also be in M11. The fact that both will be in Standard for a couple months will not have much impact as far as we know right now. Condemn is returning to Standard, which will be good for the control decks of the new format. Baneslayer Angel is making her return, which is great for those of you who traded and arm and a leg for a playset. Foresee saw play in Standard the first time around, but I cannot see it replacing Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The counterspells that we have for the next year include Negate so far. Hopefully we can get a Mana Leak. Aether Adept is probably going to have a place, since Man-O-War was so popular when it was in Standard. It may also be mediocre by today’s standards when it comes to quality creatures. Preordain will probably makes its way in some decks since it will most likely replace Ponder.
Red offers us Fling, which may create a new archetype that involves making a big creature that throws it at the opponent. It does not get countered by a timely Path to Exile, and the counters are pretty weak so it may be well-positioned. The best news for Red is that Lightning Bolt is back for another year.
Green gives us Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves that will see more play after Noble Hierarch rotates out of Standard. Cultivate is going to be in some decks, since Kodama’s Reach was very powerful in its day.
That is pretty much all of the cool cards we have so far from M11. Honestly, I hope the second half of the set is twice as good, because I am not yet impressed.
This is one of the first weeks in a while where there has not been a giant tournament that shakes up the Standard format. I have had some time to test the U/G Turboland deck, and I am impressed. However, it feels like a deck that has a niche in the format and will be good one week and bad the next. It preys on U/W Control and Next Level Bant. Once Turboland gets popular, U/W and NLB get less popular, so it becomes less powerful.
If I played in a tournament this week, I would go back to U/W Control to combat the fast decks that have emerged from the recent popularity of Turboland.
As you can see, there has plenty of news this week. Extended got a nice haircut. Legacy will change due to the Banned and Restricted list for GP: Columbus. M11 has a little over 100 cards spoiled so far, and hopefully the rest will be able to jazz up Standard as well as help ExStandard. The PTQ season is still happening, so hopefully my weekly Standard ramblings will help you get a blue envelope.
Let me know what you think about the article in the forums.
Thanks for reading.
Kyle
[email protected]