Some formats have most of the strategy and decision-making in-game, as opposed to during deckbuilding.
The new Standard, at least thus far, would appear to be a pretty extreme example. The games themselves are extremely nuanced, with many lines of play and ways of lining up your cards. There are lots of options during most turns of the game, and it’s not surprising to see one of the best players in the world (and of all time) come out on top.
Congratulations, Huey! Very well deserved.
As for the format?
Well, sometimes, formats last months before collapsing into a three-deck format.
Sometimes, they at least last weeks.
Sometimes, they’re a three-deck format out of the box.
I guess you could say this weekend’s World Championship featured more than three decks. After all, some of the Temur Energy decks played The Scarab God and some didn’t! Plus, one of the Search for Azcanta Control decks added red to the U/B Control formula.
Yeah, that’s basically it.
The games themselves were pretty good, and certainly fairly skill-intensive. As mentioned above, there were lots of decisions and lots of rewards for practice, and with so few viable strategies, the players who focused on going as deep into the three relevant matchups (and the numerous possible variations of cards available to them) were rewarded the most.
One way to look at the format is that all 24 competitors featured one of these three cards:
Another way is that all 24 competitors featured one of these two cards:
Yeah, yeah, Shota played both. Classic Grixis.
The format is extremely fast and aggressive, brutally punishing players who don’t play cheap removal. And of course, only two colors have good cheap removal. Black has Fatal Push. Red has an embarrassment of riches between Abrade, Lightning Strike, Harnessed Lightning, Shock, and Magma Spray.
Here’s a look at the various “archetypes,” along with their win rates (discounting mirror matches).
|
Archetype |
Metagame% |
Non-Mirror Win% |
|
Ramunap Red |
41.7% |
31.0% |
|
Temur Energy |
37.5% |
63.6% |
|
U/B Control |
16.7% |
63.5% |
|
4.2% |
25.0% |
Yep, Ramunap Red wasn’t very good. Temur Energy and U/B Control were.
I would love to dive deep into all the Ixalan tech from this tournament, but what is there to say?
Search for Azcanta is great. It’s not exactly the most subtle design, but at least it’s something new. It’s a permanent that can be interacted with by enchantment removal, land destruction, and graveyard removal. It’s far more interesting of a card to play with and against than Glimmer of Genius.
Creatures (5)
Lands (20)
Spells (35)
Wrapter prepared for the event with fellow U/B pilots Gerry Thompson and Sam Black, as well as Martin Juza, who eventually settled on Ramunap Red.
This list is a classic example of a “curve counterspell deck.” Rather than use counterspells for key battles, it just tries to curve out with them, since there’s a real shortage of playable two-drops or playable two-cost removal…
…that’s as strong as Censor or Essence Scatter.
What is Josh planning on Countering on Turn 3 with his Disallows?
Anything.
On the one hand, I guess it’s nice that Josh is winning with The Scarab God and Torrential Gearhulk instead of Elixir of Immortality or something. However, this sure is a deck full of cards that make opposing text boxes not matter.
It does feature a couple “new” cards in the form of Hero’s Downfall Vraska’s Contempt and Ghost Quarter Field of Ruin.
Vraska’s Contempt being an instant makes it absolutely excellent with Torrential Gearhulk, and the exiling is especially appreciated in a format of nearly nothing but Hazoret the Fervent and The Scarab God.
As for Field of Ruin, it’s a low-opportunity-cost addition that radically shifts the balance of power away from Ramunap Ruins. What’s more, it’s one of the best ways to destroy opposing copies of Search for Azcanta.
With three cycles of multicolor lands rotating out and just five reprinted allied multicolor lands added, this Standard is largely defined by what’s possible with your manabase.
And right now that’s basically:
- Monocolor decks (with Deserts as “payoff”)
- Allied two-color decks (since they actually get two sets of multicolor lands)
- Energy fueled by Attune with Aether and Aether Hub (getting to play as many colors as they want, but there really aren’t a lot of appealing white cards to splash).
Maybe there’s room in the format for a Spire of Industry deck. We’ll see.
Ixalan also offers some new sideboard options:
This reprint is as obvious of a staple sideboard card as they come. You know those matchups where Fatal Push isn’t good? Those are the ones where you want Duress.
Sideboarding additional angles of attack is crucial to control decks, adding ways of generating a potentially game-winning advantage. Wrapter’s sideboard features two of the new options available in Ixalan.
Arguel’s Blood Fast is the latest in a (very) long line of enchantments that let you pay life to draw cards. And while the Blood Fast doesn’t exactly break any efficiency records in this regard, it does also transform into a source of lifegain, with the added benefit of helping keep your The Scarab Gods in the game (and out of exile) by threatening to sacrifice it in response to any potential Vraska’s Contempts.
Of course, in another light, Arguel’s Blood Fast is sort of a Sylvan Library, in a “paying big chunks of life to draw cards” kind of a way.
As for Treasure Map, well, this card is sweet! I love seeing it here, and expect we’ll see more of it in days to come. It smooths your draws early and then gives you a massive mana advantage that can be turned into a four-for-one over time, if you are so inclined. It’s hard to count on maindeck, as there are just too many Abrades floating around, but I love seeing it in the sideboard.
While not an Ixalan card, Contraband Kingpin has a new lease on life with Thing in the Ice out of the way. When sideboarding against Ramunap Red, Contraband Kingpin is an extremely effective defender (even if the Red deck has eight ways to make it unable to block). While still vulnerable to Chandra and Glorybringer, Contraband Kingpin is too big to kill with a single Abrade or Lightning Strike. Besides, at the end of the day, what you really need against Red are more good plays for two mana or less.
Kelvin Chew was the other U/B player, arriving at a very similar list to Josh, Gerry, and Sam:
Creatures (5)
Lands (26)
Spells (29)
Personally, I can’t get behind cutting a Censor and a Search for Azcanta for two Aether Meltdowns, but it does give him even more of an anti-red lean.
As for the sideboard, we see a similar strategy of using Gifted Aetherborn to punish red decks for taking out their removal. The thing is, players got to see the decklists of their opponents. They know about the Gifted Aetherborns and can keep Abrade for the Torrential Gearhulks anyway.
One final take on U/B/X Search for Azcanta came from certified eccentric Shota Yasooka.
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (20)
Spells (36)
As always, Shota is truly a man after my own heart. That said, the mana in the format is tough enough; I’m kind of surprised to see the red splash in order to replace Vraska’s Contempt with Harnessed Lightning and Abrade. I would love to want to play a Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh, but The Scarab God and Torrential Gearhulk are so versatile and brutally effective…
Ah, yes, this reprint must be how the manabase is tied together. With so many tapped lands, Shota wouldn’t be able to reliably cast Censor on time, so instead, he just skips straight to Opt for one-mana card flow.
In keeping with the theme of suggesting synergy but then getting used without it, Fiery Cannonade is basically a Kozilek’s Return reprint with downside (missing Rigging Team and Captain Lannery Storm…see, being a Pirate does matter!). However, it does require only a single red mana in its casting cost, plus being an instant is obviously great for combating red haste creatures (and for being flashed back with Torrential Gearhulk).
Maybe what seems so strange about this format is just how many “synergies” are alluded to, but without support or reason to actually utilize.
The three strategies are basically just “the fast deck,” “the mid-speed deck,” and “the slow deck.” They aren’t really about synergies (besides, I guess, energy cards only being able to get energy from other cards that say they give you energy). Instead, it’s mostly nuts-and-bolts cards; with so much power and flexibility in the interaction, there’s a lot to discourage players from trying anything fancy. Besides, why would you? Is it really better than The Scarab God?
Why aren’t any of the themes of Ixalan supported? Search for Azcanta is a notable exception, but it’s not even really a theme. It’s just a more efficient card draw engine than most, and it doesn’t really ask much of anything of you.
What are the other cards that showed up?
Ah, yes, Rampaging Ferocidon, one of the five best anti-Felidar Guardian cards in the set!
And while it’s true that no one in the tournament registered a single white card, Rampaging Ferocidon still makes an appearance in the sideboard of Javier Dominguez’s Ramunap Red deck, edging out Elkin Bottle Chandra, Pyromaster Outpost Siege Chandra, Torch of Defiance Vance’s Blasting Cannons.
Creatures (23)
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 3 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
- 4 Hazoret the Fervent
- 4 Ahn-Crop Crasher
- 4 Soul-Scar Mage
- 4 Earthshaker Khenra
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
Yeah, it’s kind of just a collection of red aggressive cards that suggest synergies, most of which are largely unexplored. And why would you? It’s not like any synergies you could build are going to be as good as Hazoret the Fervent, Glorybringer, or The Scarab God.
Yeah, I mean, Soul-Scar Mage “combos” with non-creature spells that deal damage, and this deck features thirteen of those. Synergy with -1/-1 counters, however?
Best not.
What about Bomat Courier? Maybe we’ve got some artifact synergies in here, like Inventor’s Apprentice? Maybe some discard synergies to go along with Hazoret the Fervent?
Best not.
Okay, well, what about Kari Zev, Skyship Raider? She already promised a source of continual sacrifice fodder and double bonuses for pump effects. Now that being a Pirate is good, she’s even bringing that to the table, right?
Best not.
Okay, what about the eternalize synergies? Are we doing anything with Earthshaker Khenra, besides just playing it as “the one efficient enough to play?”
Best not.
Okay, what about exert synergies? I see those going around in Draft. Are we doing anything with Ahn-Crop Crasher besides just using it in the most straightforward way possible?
Best not.
Okay, maybe the creatures aren’t really about any of the specific mechanics, but rather are a diverse mix of game pieces that allow for depth of gameplay. Besides, this is sort of a “haste” theme deck; it’s just that the “haste” payoffs are stronger than other linears (you get to attack with them on the same turn you cast them).
Nevertheless, the removal package offers some opportunity for personalization, customization for combating this narrow and knowable metagame, right? If people are playing too many three-toughness creatures, we could play more Lightning Strikes or Abrades. If people are playing more one-drops, we could play more Shocks.
Oh, um, yeah, I guess the burn spells don’t exactly deal damage in a very wide range of amounts. I guess Harnessed Lightning gives Temur Energy the option of dealing more, but for the most part, you can deal any amount of damage with your burn spells you want, as long as it’s between two and three.
While the highest finishing red aggro deck featured no Ixalan cards in the maindeck aside from Lightning Strike, a couple other lists did manage to sneak some into the maindeck.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 3 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
- 4 Hazoret the Fervent
- 4 Ahn-Crop Crasher
- 4 Soul-Scar Mage
- 4 Earthshaker Khenra
- 2 Rampaging Ferocidon
- 4 Rigging Runner
Lands (8)
Spells (23)
- 15 Mountain
- 2 Shock
- 4 Lightning Strike
- 2 Abrade
In addition to maindecking two of his Rampaging Ferocidons, Martin Juza also ran a playset of Rigging Runner, bringing his Pirate count up to seven.
Of course, he’s not actually playing any of the Pirate “payoffs.” Of course, Martin wasn’t the only red deck packing seven Pirates without any reason.
Okay, here we go! Donald Smith’s Ramunap Red may not have any Pirate payoffs, but Captain Lannery Storm inherently synergizes with Wily Goblin.
Creatures (23)
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 2 Glorybringer
- 3 Hazoret the Fervent
- 3 Soul-Scar Mage
- 4 Earthshaker Khenra
- 3 Captain Lannery Storm
- 4 Wily Goblin
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (7)
Spells (26)
- 16 Mountain
- 3 Shock
- 4 Lightning Strike
- 3 Abrade
That said, despite the occasional +1 damage, it would be pretty hard to keep a straight face and describe Smith’s list as anything other than Ramunap Red. After all, he’s literally playing four Ramunap Ruins and isn’t playing Unlicensed Disintegration, let alone Inventor’s Apprentice (successfully dodging accidentally getting tricked into trying to capitalize on the Treasure he gets for free).
Okay, maybe it’s just the red deck. What about Temur Energy? After all, with access to all of the colors, surely there’s going to be some sweet Ixalan tech in the champ’s list, right?
Creatures (23)
- 4 Longtusk Cub
- 3 Bristling Hydra
- 4 Whirler Virtuoso
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 4 Glorybringer
Lands (22)
Spells (15)
Yeah, Rootbound Crag!
I’m going to go build a Modern deck.