Eldritch Moon looks to be one of the most impactful sets in a long time.
The set really has it all when it comes to format changers: powerful planeswalkers, pushed theme cards that help synergy decks, burn spells that can actually go to the face, a huge new colorless finisher, combo cards, a new cost-reduction mechanic… you name it. This of course means that the set will be altering the Standard landscape in a number of ways, and it’s up to us to make sure we don’t fall behind.
Going into #SCGCOL this weekend it is very important to understand questions your deck must be able to answer. You don’t want to find yourself unprepared, and figuring out what to expect is one of the most important parts of attacking a new format.
Can your deck…
…Handle Turn 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar?
All the talk about new Standard has been about how Spell Queller is the end of the world and G/W Tokens is now completely unplayable.
I’m not buying it.
I agree that the influx of powerful flash threats that also often have evasion are all good against Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, but Gideon has been perhaps the most dominant pillar of the format for a while. Yes, these cards are fairly effective against him, but decks will adapt and Gideon will still run away with games when cast turn 4 on the play like he always does.
G/W Tokens has been the best deck in Standard for the last few months, so don’t discount the ability of the best deck to adapt to a new format. Yes, the decks of new Standard may be very good against G/W Tokens pre-rotation, but G/W Tokens get to update and adapt too. Also understand that not everyone is going to have a new brew they are happy to battle with, and a tried and true G/W Tokens deck is a fine choice for #SCGCOL.
Ignore Gideon, Ally of Zendikar at your own peril; he’s not going anywhere.
…Interact at Instant Speed?
An important question for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar players as well as anyone else in the format: can your deck handle having to play at instant speed?
We mentioned Spell Queller and Elder Deep-Fiend in the last section, and those two cards make the timing of your spells very important. Mistbind Clique and the Faeries decks of old would eat sorcery-speed midrange decks alive, and Spell Queller and Elder Deep-Fiend are very similar. This puts a premium on having some instant-speed interaction in your deck, which makes these cards much less impactful.
Collected Company decks already do a very good job of this, but other decks must adapt as well. Updating a card like Ruinous Path to Murder, or a card like Silkwrap to Stasis Snare, will have a huge impact on the effect of cards like Elder Deep-Fiend and Spell Queller. If your opponent sacrifices a creature to tap four of your lands on your upkeep and you just tap those lands to kill the Elder Deep-Fiend with a Murder, that’s not a bad exchange at all.
…Not Be Soft to Flying Attackers?
U/W Spirits is the most hyped deck coming into #SCGCOL, and it’ll be very important to be able to deal with a variety of flying attackers.
Flying was already a very powerful ability in old Standard, as there were a few flash flier decks that were just pile of Welkin Terns with some support spells. If playing Rattlechains and Dimensional Infiltrator as essentially vanilla creatures was a reasonable strategy in old Standard, you can bet that playing Rattlechains alongside a bunch of Spirit synergy cards is going to be a good plan in new Standard.
It’s hard to not talk about Spell Queller is basically all of these points, but this seems to be the spot where it will make its presence felt the hardest. Spell Queller is an absurdly good tempo play, and turning Spellstutter Sprite into a 2/3 that can counter most spells without any help is just absurd.
There are plenty of underutilized answers to fliers in Standard, so if your deck is having trouble with Spirits or fliers in general, you can turn to powerful answers like Aerial Volley or Tears of Valakut. I honestly find it hard to believe that a U/W Spirits deck can beat a resolved Aerial Volley backed up with anything reasonable.
…Handle an Aggressive Start Backed by Burn?
Standard has been lacking an aggressive red deck for a while now, but it is very possible that is about to change. The reason?
Now there are actually some burn spells in the format that can go upstairs!
Incendiary Flow and Collective Defiance join the underplayed Exquisite Firecraft to form a very reasonable burn package that Standard has not seen for a long time. We are used to our life total being safe as long as we can handle what is on the battlefield, but that is no longer the case. If an aggressive red deck is able to get you to about ten life, you’d better have a good plan for ending the game quickly lest you die in a flurry of burn spells.
It’s really very simple; aggressive red decks have an absurd win percentage in new Standard formats, so don’t let them get you.
…Have a Creature Base That Doesn’t Get Murdered By Liliana, the Last Hope?
Despite my initial misgivings, Liliana, the Last Hope seems to be a solid planeswalker.
However, Liliana quickly goes from solid to insane if she is able to outright kill creatures with her +1 ability. This puts a huge target on any one-toughness creatures in the format, making them a liability with Liliana around. Usually planeswalkers have to minus to kill a creature, so being able to bring Liliana up to four loyalty and also pick off a Rattlechains or other small creature is extremely powerful.
Humans already has a number of ways to boost its creatures up past one toughness, but other decks like U/W Spirits or red aggressive decks must find a way around Liliana. If they don’t, the advantage she provides will likely be too much to overcome.
Not every deck with black it in is going to want to play Liliana, but she will be played and you must have a plan for her.
…Prepare for Everything?
Trying to be ready for everything is obviously impossible, but making sure you’re ahead of the curve is not. Make sure whatever deck you bring to #SCGCOL is able to handle these new problems, and also make sure to be on the lookout for other new problems that others maybe haven’t considered yet. This is a new world we are entering; be ready for what may come.
#SCGCOL is only a few days away. Are you ready for it?
Challenge Tuesday
Wait… isn’t it supposed to be Challenge Thursday?
Well normally yes, but as you are reading this I am currently in a car driving to Columbus for #SCGCOL. As such, I decided to do in impromptu Challenge Tuesday on what is normally Constructed Tuesday on my stream.
The winning vote was simple: “Build a deck based around enchantments in Modern,” which was submitted by @ViolettChild.
Creatures (16)
Lands (22)
Spells (22)
The deck was an absolute blast to play and I may even play some more games with it next week on Constructed Tuesday just for fun.
As for next week, my band Teach Me Human has a show on Thursday night, so next week’s Challenge Thursday will be a daytime edition.
The poll will end at noon EST, and Challenge Thursday will begin at 1:00 pm. Remember, this poll is for next Thursday, so make sure you choose wisely!