The format is about Siege Rhino…
Err, the format is about Goblin Rabblemaster…
Err, I mean the format is about Thunderbreak Regent…
Err, I mean the format is about Dig Through Time…
Err, I mean the format is about Dragonlord Ojutai…
Err, I mean the format is about Deathmist Raptor and Den Protector…
Err, I mean the format is about Dromoka’s Command and Favored Hoplite…
Err, I mean the format is about Siege Rhino…
…
Wednesday
, we took a look at the Standard format after this past weekend’s results. While the best performing major archetype of the weekend was a Siege Rhino deck,
we are far from having returned to where we started. People play Abzan Aggro instead of Abzan Control, there are a growing number of variations of blue
control decks, red aggro fluctuates wildly in success, green devotion has been replaced, oddly enough, with decks like Bant Megamorph, and no one really
fully understands Deathmist Raptor and Den Protector yet.
Today, I’d like to take a look at some alternative angles of attack for this weekend’s GP in Toronto and SCG Open in Portland. Our targets?
The Big Three
Esper Dragons and other blue control decks
Abzan Aggro and Megamorph
Red Aggro (both with and without Atarka’s Command)
The Rest of the Story
G/R Dragons
Jeskai Tokens and Aggro
Bant Megamorph
W/U/x Heroic
One of the primary challenges of the format is being able to keep up with how fast red aggro decks are without filling your deck with cards that are
terra-bad against Esper Dragons, a deck that’s pretty hexproof and built tall instead of wide, powerful instead of fast. If you bend over backwards too
much to fight these two extremes, you succumb to the mid-rangey and generally high card quality Abzan decks.
One of my ideas for how to combat this mix of strategies is a token-based approach. This is a Mardu tokens deck Michael Flores and I brewed up that tries to get away with not playing cheap burn, so
as to improve our control matchups.
Creatures (9)
Lands (24)
Spells (27)
With no Wild Slashes or Lightning Strikes, we are much more threat dense against control. Instead, for removal, we rely on Crackling Doom, Mardu Charm,
Valorous Stance, and Stoke the Flames, all of which are much better against control. Crackling Doom, in particular, is just amazing right now and the reason to play Mardu. It kills Ojutai with value while also being good against basically everyone. It is the best removal spell in the format.
While we are short on cheap removal, we are real long on tokens to block with early. The tokens are better than they used to be anyway, as people play less
Bile Blights than they used to, and a lot more Foul-Tongue Invocations. The tokens also make our Outpost Sieges and Butchers of the Horde better, which I
am loving maxing out on.
They are two very powerful cards in their own right, but they are both well-positioned now. Outpost Siege can win a game on its own against Esper Dragons
if you can stick it, which isn’t always that hard. It also helps us play a pseudo-control game against fast aggro decks, where we trade our cards as much
as possible, then take over the game with the Siege.
Butcher of the Horde is particularly strong right now, as it dodges Ultimate Price and Bile Blight, even trumping Bile Blight so well as to make it no
longer a sweeper against our tokens. Foul-Tongue Invocation’s rise in popularity has led to a decrease in Hero’s Downfalls, and the edict is generally not
going to be super effective against a deck with as much token making as ours.
I also just like how much this deck pulls opponents in different directions. The cards that are most effective against Rabblemaster, Butcher, Outpost
Siege, Hordeling Outburst, Stoke the Flames, and Crackling Doom are generally different cards that don’t always have the most overlap.
Given the way the format has gone over the past couple of weeks, I think I’d like even more against red in the sideboard, perhaps two Anger of the Gods
instead of the Glare of Heresy and one of the Twin Bolts. It might be overly ambitious, but I’d also like to get an Elspeth, Sun’s Champion into the
sideboard. I have a feeling she’s going to be particularly good this weekend.
“Would love to see a Mardu Dragon list!” -Bryant Sanchez
Alright, let’s see what we can do. To start with, the best Dragons in these colors are Thunderbreak Regent, Stormbreath Dragon, and Dragonlord Kolaghan, so
I guess we are sort of a mid-rangey aggressive deck. What if we incorporated some of the token/Butcher of the Horde elements of the above with those cards?
Creatures (19)
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 2 Goblin Rabblemaster
- 3 Butcher of the Horde
- 4 Thunderbreak Regent
- 2 Dragonlord Kolaghan
- 4 Orator of Ojutai
Lands (25)
Spells (16)
There are a couple of cute things going on here, but I am concerned about how schizophrenic this list is.
Orator of Ojutai is a nice early defender that is actually quite good against Esper, instead of being dead, since it beats Foul-Tongue Invocation with
value. The problem, of course, is that it is awkward to curve your 0/4 into Goblin Rabblemaster.
When I was trying decks along these lines before Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir, I just kept running into the experience of Thunderbreak Regent and Stormbreath
Dragon being forced to defend because of how slowly I would come out of the gates because of no Elvish Mystic or Sylvan Caryatid. Let me just tell you,
those creatures were not designed to block for you.
I kind of doubt the double red Dragons will enjoy much success without green acceleration; however, another possible way to approach Mardu Dragons is to
splash Crackling Doom into Red Devotion:
Creatures (20)
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 2 Ashcloud Phoenix
- 4 Flamewake Phoenix
- 4 Thunderbreak Regent
- 2 Dragonlord Kolaghan
- 4 Dragon Whisperer
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (26)
Spells (13)
No one has really cracked the code on Red Devotion yet, at least not this time around. Sadly, I don’t think this is the brew to do it. There just isn’t
enough of a reason to be doing all of this. It’s not like these cards matchup better against the format, nor are they inherently more powerful, nor is the
mana better, nor is the synergy so overwhelming as to justify the work.
“I would love it if you could brew up a Jund Dragons list…” -Jeremy Bachard
Well, green mana alongside Thunderbreak Regent and Stormbreath Dragon is a start. It sounds like this is basically a G/R Dragons deck that splashes black
for removal, discard, and Kolaghan.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 1 Ashcloud Phoenix
- 2 Dragonlord Atarka
- 4 Thunderbreak Regent
- 2 Dragonlord Kolaghan
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
This list doesn’t stray much from the basic formula, but the addition of Foul-Tongue Invocation gives us a powerful added dimension against Dragonlord
Ojutai.
While Kolaghan has been the least successful of the Dragonlords, she’s not weak. The challenge has been that she is the third best of the six-cost
Dragonlords, plus she is built for aggression but costs more than most aggressive decks can afford to spend.
“I’d like to see Dimir Dragons… for those of us who don’t have Ojutais.” -Emmett Gore
Let me start with some cold, harsh reality.
There’s just no reason to not play Ojutai in your Blue Dragon deck if you have access to him.
He’s the best one. He really is. If you don’t have access to him and want to play U/B Control, I would play something closer to Adrian Sullivan’s style of
U/B deck.
However, if you have your heart set on Ojutai-less U/B Dragon Control, I would try to brute force people with discard and Dragonlord’s Prerogatives, with
Ashiok as a back-up plan. The discard is particularly effective with Icefall Regent and Dragonlord Silumgar, helping ensure they actually survive.
Creatures (6)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (27)
Spells (25)
Even though everyone’s aiming for control this weekend, the strategy is so good, I think it’s still going to perform reasonably well. There are just so
many people that keep wanting to play whatever collection of cards suits their fancy. Besides, even control’s “bad matchups” are generally somewhat close.
One of the big question marks for control decks is what they are going to do about Deathmist Raptor. The recursion can be hard for reactive decks overly
reliant on removal. While Dragonlords can go over the top of Deathmist Raptor, if the Raptor player can keep the Dragonlords off the table, the control
deck is going to have a lot of trouble doing the same for the Raptors.
While the most common Deathmist Raptor decks right now are Abzan Megamorph and Bant Megamorph, a reader on Wednesday suggested Temur Collected Company as a
possible home:
Creatures (31)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Fanatic of Xenagos
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 3 Heir of the Wilds
- 4 Savage Knuckleblade
- 4 Den Protector
- 4 Deathmist Raptor
- 4 Silumgar Sorcerer
Lands (23)
Spells (6)
Sideboard
With “31” hits, this is far more than are necessary for a Collected Company deck, so I’d only stay this high if there was literally nothing else we wanted.
Temur has access to some amazing fours, however, so we’re probably going to want at least a couple (besides Collected Company).
Of these, Ashcloud Phoenix is probably my favorite. The resiliency and evasion are much appreciated, it’s a great source of ferocious, and it can even
morph to support Deathmist Raptor.
Shaman of the Great Hunt is better with more removal, so that one’s probably out. Thunderbreak Regent isn’t bad, but it isn’t particularly well lined up
against a format looking to hate it out anyway. Polukranos is not particularly called for unless you expect a lot of one-toughness creatures this weekend.
Xenagos is generally a better early part of your curve than at the top.
The other thing this deck needs is a little more removal. I am all about skimping on removal. I really am. It’s just that a single Siege Rhino is going to
be such a nightmare for this build. We don’t even have Boon Satyr to help break through!
Temur Charm isn’t the best card in the world, but in small numbers, it can be okay. Roast is awful to draw against Esper, of course, but it would help
against a lot of decks. Even just getting more Crater’s Claws would help.
Finally, I am skeptical of the Satyr Wayfinders. Yes, they combo well with Silumgar Sorcerer and are great against Edicts, however, this deck is a very
tempo-oriented beatdown deck. Paying two mana for a 1/1 is so slow, and the extra land is often wasted, as we don’t exactly curve high. I’d rather have
Rattleclaw Mystic, which is not only faster, but can trigger our Raptors.
While I am not sure I can get behind the Silumgar Sorcerers, if we’re going to try going that way, I’d like to get some Boon Satyrs in here for more
instant speed action to take advantage of keeping mana up.
My suggested build:
Creatures (29)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 2 Boon Satyr
- 3 Rattleclaw Mystic
- 4 Heir of the Wilds
- 4 Savage Knuckleblade
- 4 Den Protector
- 4 Deathmist Raptor
- 4 Silumgar Sorcerer
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Okay, I didn’t end up playing any more fours maindeck, after all. If we’re going to do the Silumgar Sorcerer thing and up the removal a little, we’re going
to be tight on space. It might be crazy to not play Fanatic of Xenagos, and if so, we can find the room other places. Personally, I think it might just be
crazy to not play Goblin Rabblemaster, but maybe that’s just me.
People talk about Abzan Company, but I think I’d rather play Abzan Aggro or Abzan Megamorph. What about a return to Abzan Control, though? After all, if
Abzan Aggro is one of the two biggest decks, why not brew up an Abzan Control deck that naturally preys on Abzan Aggro since we can tune it to beat Esper
Dragons?
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (20)
The massive popularity of Foul-Tongue Invocation, along with the decline in popularity of Ultimate Price, makes Fleecemane Lion less attractive. There are
even Self-Inflicted Wounds fairly often now!
I’d like to try Satyr Wayfinders, as they are perfect against edict effects, not to mention working well with five-cost sweepers. Besides, I like having
early plays against red that are not dead against Esper. The maindeck Duress is almost this in reverse, amusingly. It’s great against Esper, but not dead
against red early.
I considered Garruk, Apex Predator and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, as well as Hornet Queen and Dragonlord Dromoka, however, I am just in love with Elspeth
right now. I think there will be a big increase in mid-sized creatures for her to kill, and if you can attack your opponent’s hand hard enough, she is
actually an interesting weapon against Ojutai. She’s also surprisingly effective against Bant Heroic. Silumgar, the Drifting Death is on the decline
anyway, which was a major natural predator.
I have moved away from Ultimate Price maindeck, which is just too bad against Abzan Aggro and Esper Dragons. I have also declined to use Murderous Cut,
instead opting for End Hostilities, which I think is higher impact right now. I am also considering a one-one split between End Hostilities and Crux of
Fate, to open up the possibility of Crux on five to meet a Dragonlord Ojutai without losing our Rhino. The only reason I don’t jump at that is how much I
prefer End Hostilities to Crux against G/R Dragons since it also kills their mana creatures.
I think Nissa, Worldwaker has gained a lot of stock this week and is a great angle for attacking control decks, exploiting how many people shave Hero’s
Downfalls and rely on cards like Perilous Vault and Ugin (neither of which hit the lands from Nissa).
Speaking of Ugin, I kind of like being able to go a lot bigger against decks like Bant Megamorph and Abzan Megamorph. The ability to exile Raptors is good,
of course, but I also really value Ugin’s ability to trump their collection of powerful cards, whether Dragonlord Ojutai or Mastery of the Unseen (though
not the manifests) or Elspeth or just a bunch of quality three and four cost creatures.
One final twist in the sideboard is the return of Silence the Believers. I like having extra exile effects right now to help with Deathmist Raptor.
Besides, there are going to be enough slower creature decks that we’re going to be able to hit two creatures a surprising amount of the time.
People have been asking about Abzan with red for Crackling Doom or white for Dragonlord Ojutai. First, an attempt with Crackling Doom:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
The addition of Crackling Doom makes the beatdown of Fleecemane Lion more attractive. The possibility of sideboarding Outpost Siege is also pretty hot.
As for blue, Dragonlord Ojutai kind of pushes us more controlling, I think:
Creatures (15)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (17)
I am super excited to see what this weekend holds, as I suspect the format hasn’t finished evolving yet…
“This isn’t even my final form…” -The Format
Alright, I’m out for this week. If I were to sum up my advice about what to play this week, it would be to play the Den Protector/Deathmist Raptor engine
or to make sure you’ve got at least one of the following cards in your deck:
Wait, what’s that you say? What about playing all of them? What about Abzan with blue and red?
We didn’t say anything, certainly nothing even remotely resembling that nonsense.
Okay, if you insist:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Satyr Wayfinder
- 4 Siege Rhino
- 2 Dragonlord Silumgar
- 2 Dragonlord Atarka
- 4 Dragonlord Ojutai
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
Really? U/R Abzan? We’ve got a different word for that…