Today, I was going to do an overview of the Top 8 decks from SCG Standard Open: Providence.
I was going to tell you all of the things that I felt were correct and incorrect about each decklist.
I was going to do that.
The reason I did not do that is very simple. As I was penning that article, I realized something.
This article is boring.
If I couldn’t finish writing an overview about the Top 8 decks from SCG Standard Open: Providence without yawning, what the hell makes me think you’re going to read all the way through it without doing the same?
Makes sense right?
So what did I come up with instead?
As someone who hasn’t played a single game with Avacyn Restored, I didn’t feel all that qualified to make bold statements about decklists that I hadn’t played with yet.
Don’t get me wrong.Â
I’m still going to do that.
I mean, it’s me after all.
I just didn’t feel like an entire article of me doing that would be incredibly useful for you.
As such, I’ve done the next best thing.
I’ve interviewed three players who played in the tournament!
First up?
Your SCG Providence Standard Open champion of course!
Name: Dustin Taylor
Hometown: Worcester, MA
Notable accomplishments: Day 2 Pro Tour Dark Ascension, Top 32 Grand Prix Baltimore 2012, Day 2 Grand Prix Kansas City 2011
What deck did you play?
G/R Aggro (list here)
Why did you choose to play G/R Aggro?
“I felt like the deck was very well positioned for the tournament and will be for future tournaments as well. I think G/R Aggro is quite powerful, and most of the popular matchups in the format are winnable.”
What new cards did you play (if any) and how did you like them?
“I played three Wolfir Avenger in my maindeck and one Zealous Conscripts in my sideboard. Wolfir Avenger was amazing for me all weekend, as it really shined in the U/W Delver and control matchups. As for Zealous Conscripts, I played it for the Wolf Run Ramp and control matchups, and it did not disappoint.”
What is your opinion of the new Standard format?
“I like the new Standard format. Previously, I felt like U/W Delver was by far the best deck, but now that Avacyn Restored has rotated in I feel like it’s a very open field. Although the format is still in its very early stages, I expect a lot of different archetypes at the top tables for many future tournaments.”
Would you change anything about your G/R Aggro decklist?
“I would make a few changes. I would cut the Corrosive Gale for another Zealous Conscripts as it really did perform that well for me during the tournament. I’m also considering cutting an Arc Trail from the sideboard for a Bonfire of the Damned, but I haven’t gotten to test that as much as I’d like to.”
What does the future hold for you?
“Hopefully I qualify for Pro Tour Return to Ravnica, but you can expect to see me at the SCG Open Series in my hometown of Worcester, MA.”
The thing I like the most about Dustin’s take on G/R Aggro is that it plays Wolfir Avenger. I felt that Wolfir Avenger would be a natural fit for the G/R Aggro deck, and apparently it did not disappoint Dustin on the way to his trophy.Â
G/R Aggro was already fairly resistant to mass removal effects because of its ability to put a bunch of Strangleroot Geists on the board, but with the addition of Wolfir Avenger, cards like Day of Judgment and Slagstorm are beginning to look downright pathetic.
One slot that I think can be changed in Dustin’s deck is the removal of Acidic Slime. While I’m sure it’s nice to have access to the type of effect that Acidic Slime provides in your maindeck, six mana isn’t a price I’m willing to pay for it (assuming you’re going to Green Sun’s Zenith for it more than you actually draw it because four is greater than one). Let me explain why:
What makes Acidic Slime useful in a deck like Wolf Run Ramp is the fact that you can play Green Sun’s Zenith for it ahead of schedule with regularity not only due to the acceleration of Wolf Run Ramp but due to the fact that the acceleration in that particular deck is extremely difficult to interact with.
The acceleration in G/R Aggro is one-toughness creatures that are killed by cards that normally aren’t very good against you. Take those mass removal cards that I mentioned earlier. Typically, those cards aren’t very good against G/R Aggro because of keywords like undying and regeneration, but when they’re picking off your mana producing creatures, the situations where you have six mana to Green Sun’s Zenith up Acidic Slime are going to be few and far between.
I think that slot is best served as either another Wolfir Avenger to fill out the curve of the deck or with something similar to the effect that Acidic Slime provides but isn’t as expensive, like Beast Within.
Next up?
Your SCG Providence Standard Open Runner Up!
Name: Chris Lachmann
Hometown: Pequannock, NJ
Notable accomplishments: Winning the first Pro Tour I ever attended with my best friend Jacob Van Lunen (Pro Tour San Diego 2007).
What deck did you play?
Wolf Run Ramp (list here)
Why did you choose to play Wolf Run Ramp?
“I believe that it’s clearly the most powerful deck in Standard, and it doesn’t have any awful matchups.”
What new cards did you play (if any) and how did you like them?
“I played three Cavern of Souls in my maindeck. I know it was only one tournament, but I’m pretty sure R&D made a mistake with Cavern of Souls. Either that or they wanted to change tournament Magic since you can no longer rely on countermagic anymore.”
What is your opinion of the new Standard format?
“U/W Delver became much worse since it no longer has a good matchup against Wolf Run Ramp due to Cavern of Souls. Planeswalkers and control decks look to have received some cool new toys, but overall I don’t think that much has changed. I do expect miracles to see a lot more play in the future as people find the best ways to abuse them.”
Would you change anything about your Wolf Run Ramp decklist?
“After playing my finals match against Dustin—aka sitting there watching him smack me around—my decklist needs something to deal with early pressure. I think the best solution would be Pillar of Flame, as it can kill Strangleroot Geist for good, stop Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves from powering out big threats ahead of schedule, and kill Champion of the Parish before it gets out of control.”
I’ve told Chris this already, but I really dislike his decklist. As many of you know, I’m firmly on the Glimmerpost side of things when it comes to Wolf Run Ramp, and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon. If you want to know more about my opinion on Glimmerpost and Wolf Run Ramp in general, you can find that here.
Even though I haven’t been able to play any actual games of Standard with Avacyn Restored, one thing I do have figured out is what my Wolf Run Ramp decklist will look like with the addition of Cavern of Souls. It took me a while to figure out, but this is my decklist moving forward for those interested:
Creatures (13)
- 4 Solemn Simulacrum
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Acidic Slime
- 1 Inferno Titan
- 4 Primeval Titan
- 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
- 1 Huntmaster of the Fells
Lands (17)
Spells (30)
Even though I’m not the biggest fan of Cavern of Souls, I do recognize how much it completely changes the U/W Delver matchup both pre- and post-sideboard. With that being said, it is very difficult to build a maindeck with Cavern of Souls, Glimmerposts, Inkmoth Nexus, Kessig Wolf Run, and enough colored sources to cast our relevant spells. With that deckbuilding restriction in mind, I have found that it’s easiest if you think of Cavern of Souls as an Autumn’s Veil on steroids.Â
In the past, Wolf Run Ramp players were happy to board Autumn’s Veil to trump countermagic.
Now they don’t have to!
Against UW Delver:
-4 Solemn Simulacrum, -2 Devil’s Play, -1 Kessig Wolf Run, -2 Inkmoth Nexus, -1 Beast Within
+3 Cavern of Souls, +1 Naturalize, +1 Ancient Grudge, +1 Whipflare, +1 Thrun, the Last Troll, +1 Viridian Corrupter, +1 Garruk Relentless, +1 Daybreak Ranger
Last up?
A player whose name you’re going to grow accustomed to seeing at the top of the standings in the very near feature:
Name: Ross Merriam
Hometown: Middletown, CT
Notable Accomplishments: 65th at Pro Tour Dark Ascension, Top 16 Grand Prix Providence 2011, Top 64 Grand Prix Montreal 2011, Top 64 Grand Prix Baltimore 2012, Top 16 SCG Invitational: Baltimore 2012
What deck did you play?
U/W Delver (list here)
Why did you choose to play U/W Delver?Â
“I haven’t done a lot of testing with Avacyn Restored, so I defaulted to the deck I had the most experience with from the previous Standard format. U/W Delver is a deck that is full of powerful threats (Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage, Geist of Saint Traft), answers/disruption that are very flexible (Vapor Snag, Mana Leak), and very cheap card manipulation to make sure you find what you need (Ponder, Gitaxian Probe, Thought Scour).
These qualities make U/W Delver impossible to ‘hate out’ in a traditional sense because it’s a highly non-linear deck. Therefore, I feel it will always be a good choice if piloted well. I find this to be especially true in an unexplored format, since people who are drawn to play with new cards will have lists that are not tuned that one can punish very easily.”
What new cards did you play (if any) and how did you like them?
“I played zero Avacyn Restored cards in the Standard tournament. The only card I considered was Restoration Angel, but I felt that the rise of Wolf Run Ramp and aggressive decks necessitated the playing of Dungeon Geists as a larger threat. If/when the metagame shifts back towards countermagic and control decks, I would play Restoration Angel to give U/W Delver more flexibility to interact on the opponent’s turn.
What is your opinion of the new Standard format?
“I very much enjoyed the new format. No deck is dominant, and the results from the tournament, while obviously not conclusive, support that assertion. Those who thought Cavern of Souls would make Wolf Run Ramp too good were far too shortsighted, as there are other ways of dealing with large threats. One of the two ramp decks in the Top 8 eschewed maindeck Cavern of Souls for Glimmerposts, which are excellent against both U/W Delver of Secrets and aggressive decks.Â
As for the rest of the format, I think Avacyn Restored has given aggressive decks more tools, and it will be interesting to see where they go as almost any combination of red, green, and white is viable. Zealous Conscripts is a great high end card that fights Wolf Run Ramp and Gideon Jura out of control decks, so I believe it will be a big part of those decks moving forward.”
Would you change anything about your U/W Delver decklist?
“I think I would cut the Runechanter’s Pike for a Spectral Flight as there are a lot of blockers for Geist of Saint Traft right now (Thrun, the Last Troll, Strangleroot Geist, Huntmaster of the Fells, Wolfir Avenger, Blade Splicer, etc.). Spectral Flight not only lets you go over the top of the aforementioned cards, but it also allows you to make Lingering Souls a poor blocker just like Runechanter’s Pike does.
I’ve always preferred Gitaxian Probe to Thought Scour (as I think anyone who approaches the game analytically should), since I find I can leverage the information more effectively than most. This means Runechanter’s Pike isn’t as desirable.
I moved to two Swords of War and Peace for this particular tournament and they were good, but I could see going to a 1-1 split with Sword of Feast and Famine to combat Zombies and Wolf Run Ramp. I would also consider moving back to four Mana Leaks main instead of the three Mana Leak/one Negate configuration I tried.
I used all of my sideboard cards except for the Corrosive Gale during the tournament (it’s only for Esper Sprits), so if that deck dies down that slot could be something else like a third Timely Reinforcements. Those were very good for me over the weekend as there seemed to be a lot of aggressive decks.”
What does the future hold for you?
“I’ll continue grinding PTQs to try and make it back to the Pro Tour. I’m also qualified for two more SCG Invitationals, so you’ll likely see me more on the SCG Open Series where hopefully my recent success continues.”
I pretty much agree with everything Ross said above. It’s very clear that he has a deep understanding of how U/W Delver works, and of all the U/W Delver decks that did well at SCG Standard Open: Providence, his is the one I like the most going forward.Â
One thing that I want to point out to U/W Delver players who are looking to get a leg-up on Wolf Run Ramp:
Mutagenic Growth is very good against Wolf Run Ramp.
Wolf Run Ramp is a deck full of effects that deal two (Whipflare, Pillar of Flame, Galvanic Blast) or three (Slagstorm) points of damage. I have played countless games against U/W Delver where I would have certainly lost if they had a Mutagenic Growth to save their Geist of Saint Traft or Insectile Aberration from my Whipflare / Slagstorm.Â
Just something to keep in mind when you get sick of drawing those Gut Shots.
Did I mention that Snapcaster Mage blanks the next Whipflare / Slagstorm that we cast as well?
Maybe I shouldn’t have…
Before I go!
I wanted to get the word out about a podcast that I do every Monday evening with a few of my friends on Adam Ragsdale’s stream. Our show is called Gamestate (sweet name amirite?) and myself along with Adam (@aWinnarIsYou), Stephen Flavall (@931243732), and Jarvis Yu (@jkyu06) talk about the happenings in Magic on a weekly basis. It’s a blast to do, and you should join us if you want to have a good time talking about Magic or just like hearing others talk about the game.
Our episode for this Monday should be up by the time you read this. We even had a special guest this week. Perhaps you’ve heard of Gerry Thompson?
To all of my friends attending Pro Tour Avacyn Restored, I wish you the very best of luck (unless you’re paired against Steven Birklid).
Until next time!
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