I can’t find the words to express this level of sadness that overwhelms me. Could it really be gone? Two years together isn’t enough of a foundation to
keep this relationship afloat? I’m spiraling out of control. I don’t know how to contain the frustration. People have told me that all good things must
come to an end, but I just didn’t think this would. How could it? Why is Theros block leaving me?
Theros
block is the main reason for my resurgence in professional Magic. Ever since that beautiful Eater of Worlds showed up, so did my win percentage. It feels
like just yesterday that I was crushing dreams with Flesh//Blood and Ghor-Clan Rampager on that massive 5/5 frame. I was Silver going into Pro Tour Theros,
yet found myself competing in Worlds shortly before Theros Block said goodbye to us. I will never forget what this block did for my career and
will look forward to honoring that by continuing my dominance in this game.
The fall of Theros block marks the rise of a new era in Standard. We now will embark on a journey to the somber world of Zendikar once more to try
and squash these annoying Eldrazi. The story of Zendikar is a testament to why procrastination is futile. We left this world years ago with the Eldrazi
frolicking all over the place to now have to come back for the sake of the Multiverse? Didn’t it seem prudent to deal with these massive monstrosities at
the soonest possible convenience? I’m no Magic scientist, but I feel that letting the Eldrazi survive for a period of time will only exacerbate the issue.
Maybe the planeswalkers didn’t have enough resources to actually defeat them, but I don’t buy that. Whatever issues these ‘walkers were dealing with had to
have been miniscule in comparison to their entire existence being used as Emrakul’s toothpick. I kind of feel that letting the Eldrazi “survive” years ago
was simply a plot device to make Eldrazi babies. Ratings always go up after a birth. I’m on to you, WotC!
Well whatever the reason for why we have to defeat the Eldrazi once again, there simply aren’t but enough pieces of the Battle for Zendikar puzzle
yet to get a good grasp how. The next couple weeks will uncover the true mysteries of the format and you will find me writing and doing set reviews of the
set. For now we must look at what is directly in front of us. This weekend is the Standard Open in Worcester and a Modern Grand Prix in Oklahoma City.
I’ve actually been testing both formats even though I have been on an extended vacation visiting family and friends in North Dakota. It’s been revitalizing
to play some Standard queues without the pressure of an upcoming event. I can’t say the same about Modern since I will be in Oklahoma City trying to best
everyone else in the complex format. The stress might come from the fact that I’m playing Jund even though everyone says it’s terrible. Maybe it is, but
it’s the only deck I know, which makes it the only deck I’ll play. I guess we will see what happens.
My weapon of choice in Standard has been Abzan Control and for good reasons. I simply think it’s the best deck in the format. Sure there are other options
out there, but this one gives you the best chance to do well in an event. The deck is consistent, powerful, forgiving, and resilient. These traits make it
difficult to choose from any of the other decks in the format. There’s even a whole slew of decks to choose from in these last few weeks of the format, but
none better than the best.
Mark Nestico recently wrote a very entertaining article about how everyone says
Abzan Control is the best deck in the format, yet the results don’t prove it. His points were not technically wrong about how the deck can be situational
at times and draw the wrong answers, but that’s just Magic. My theory on why he’s frustrated with the deck stems from the emotional attachment players have
to a deck being called “the best.” Whenever a deck is considered better than the rest, players often will assume the deck just crushes face without ever
drawing poorly. It could also be the way we retain information. We always remember how the deck operates on all cylinders and assume every game should feel
that way. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what brought Mark to write the amusing rant filled article he did, but just because a deck is considered the
best doesn’t mean you will always win whenever you register it.
By the way Mark, The Master of Standard decrees that no Courser of Kruphix shall be cut from Abzan Control at this time.
Abzan Control is just well-positioned right now. I know that sounds weird to hear that the “best” deck in the format is well-positioned, but it truly is.
The bad matchups the deck has are being pushed out of the metagame thanks to Abzan Aggro. For example, Abzan Rally and Elf Rally are both terrible matchups
for Abzan Control but are easily dispatched by the aggressive deck with Anafenza, the Foremost. It’s too difficult to play a deck poorly positioned against
one Abzan deck and not the other right now since both are played in such high numbers. That’s when players hedge and play cards or strategies that are good
against both versions of Abzan. This makes it easier to win games with either version, which makes it easier to keep playing one of the two best decks. The
only choice you have at that point is to play whichever one has the better matchup against the other, and for right now that is Abzan Control.
This isn’t new to Magic. Throughout history, there have been two decks that have a stranglehold on the metagame. Mono-Black and Mono-Blue Devotion was the
last time this happened at this magnitude. There were so many archetypes that one of these decks didn’t want to face, yet the other could easily dispatch
for them. So whenever both of the Devotion decks were played at relatively the same volume, it was almost impossible to metagame correctly. The only deck
that had a good matchup against both was Sphinx’s Revelation Control. This Rock, Paper, Scissors dichotomy caused much heartache for the rest of the
metagame. Bullheaded players who refused to play one of the three often found themselves frustrated and losing. Instead of surrendering to them, many
players kept fighting against the tide and often found themselves watching these decks fight for first place while they sat on the sidelines.
This is exactly what is happening now! Abzan is king. Just embrace it for the next week. Sure we had our fun when G/R Devotion would smack this archetype
across the mouth and say “no!” but that time has tragically come to an end. Abzan just has all the tools to compete against the field. Maybe if we had more
time with this format we could solve all of its problems, but there really isn’t any reason to strive for that conclusion. Just surrender to our Rhino
overlords and play the best deck.
You can argue that there are many other decks capable of winning an event, and you would win that argument. This format is very diverse and complex. The
only reason I’m preaching to play Abzan Control is that it has the highest chance for you to actually hold the trophy. Tournaments are long and grueling.
There will be bad matchups, play mistakes, and variance going back and forth. Abzan Control just has the most resiliency to beat through all of the
variance and the forgiveness to come back from play mistakes. The deck has so many powerful cards that you can throw a couple away before losing!
Even though I say Abzan Control is the best deck in the format, that doesn’t make it true if your list isn’t built correctly. Any deck can win a tournament
built perfectly, but no deck can win if it looks like a stock deck from three weeks ago. Too much of the Worlds tech is flooding into the mainstream
tournaments, which is a big no-no for thousand person events. Here’s the list I would play if I were heading up north to Worcester this weekend.
Creatures (15)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (27)
Spells (15)
I’ve decided to revolutionize the archetype by making small changes to it. The first change was adding the 27th land. I have seen too many games were I
stumble on mana and lose, whereas I rarely am out of any game I draw too many lands. In actuality, this deck is constantly mana hungry since so many of the
spells are expensive and generate more cards, making it very difficult to flood out of a game. Speaking of expensive cards that generate card advantage,
the fourth Den Protector has found its way into the maindeck due to how popular Abzan has been getting in the past couple weeks.
It sounds weird saying that Abzan is gaining in popularity, but if you take a close look at Magic Online results, you will see that Abzan-based decks make
up well over half of the 3-1 and 4-0 finishing decks. Abzan Control and Abzan Aggro might actually be more dominating at this time than Mono-Black or
Mono-Blue Devotion ever were last year. Scary, isn’t it?
The one thing about this list that I’m not sold on is Tragic Arrogance. The card is good at what it does, but everyone is doing it. The hipster in me wants
to just take them out of the deck since most of the decks that fold to it have gone extinct, but like I said earlier, a thousand-person event has its own
form of variance. Just because G/R Devotion and Abzan Constellation aren’t being played in real life doesn’t mean they won’t show up in Worcester. Just
take a look at the
Standard Open at the Season Three Invitational
. G/R Devotion was everywhere even though every Azban deck came prepared.
I wouldn’t go anywhere with an Abzan Control deck right now without three Drown in Sorrow and Fleecemane Lions in the sideboard. Mono-Red Aggro is still
played to some degree and is preying on those not respecting it. Goblins is also being played along with Elf Rally, which makes it a great sideboard card
for the time being.
I was never really impressed with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes or Sorin, Solemn Visitor when we played them at Worlds, which made them easy cuts when I started
working on this deck this past week. I understand when they could be good, but they are too situational in the mirror for my tastes. I am much happier with
a Read the Bones and the fourth Den Protector.
The most important card in the 75 has got to be Glare of Heresy. The reason why I like my Abzan Aggro matchup so much is that I have access to two of these
in my 75. This card is practically a two mana Vindicate against the deck, which is exactly what we needed to swing the matchup. When this new version of
Abzan Aggro was spoiled, everyone said how the deck crushed Abzan Control. I didn’t know the answer myself, but I quickly realized that it might have
before Abzan Control wised up and brought some firepower of their own. I wouldn’t want to go into a tournament without Glare of Heresy right now and would
probably suggest playing Abzan Aggro if playing this card wasn’t an option.
This deck might be boring, mainstream, and easy to pilot, but it wins. People play this game for many reasons, but I have never heard of a single person
that plays just to lose. I don’t get why someone would be stubborn and lose than to just succumb to playing the best cards in the best deck and try to win
it. This is also a good time to try the deck out if you haven’t yet. I would find it shocking if you have never played Abzan Control in any tournament over
the past year, but do yourself a favor and at least give it one chance before there isn’t one.
Who knows! You might actually like it!