As you may know, I had a good start at #SCGINDY with Bant Aggro, going 10-1 in the first eleven rounds, but lost three rounds in a row after that to R/W decks and finished in fourteenth place at 11-4. Even though the deck was ported over from last Standard season, it was still filled with powerful cards that had the best late-game thanks to Tireless Tracker and Tamiyo, Field Researcher.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Reflector Mage
- 4 Sylvan Advocate
- 4 Tireless Tracker
- 4 Spell Queller
- 1 Selfless Spirit
- 4 Verdurous Gearhulk
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (26)
Spells (5)
The Good
The manabase was exceptional, especially compared to Bant Company decks from last season. Cutting down on the number of Battle lands and Shadow lands for Aether Hub and Botanical Sanctum meant that I was almost always able to have a two-drop, three-drop, four-drop curve without stumbling. Bant Aggro has some of the most powerful cards in the format, which is one of the benefits to having a three-color deck, and being able to cast them consistently on-curve was a huge advantage.
Servant of the Conduit was a nice supplement to the manabase as well and acted as a Birds of Paradise that wasn’t embarrassing in combat. Bant Aggro pulls ahead of the opponent when it can cast multiple spells a turn, and playing a turn 2 Servant of the Conduit is the best way to get to that advantage. Even if my opponent used a removal spell on my turn 2 Servant of the Conduit, which happened often, I was still left with two Energy to use for my Aether Hubs as well as one less removal spell in my opponent’s hand for my better late-game creatures such as Sylvan Advocate, Tireless Tracker, and Spell Queller.
I have been asked many times if I would play fewer Tamiyo, Field Researcher going forward, but Tamiyo was undeniably the best card in the deck and is the reason to play Bant instead of just G/W. I would absolutely recommend playing four and would also never side out more than one against any matchup, play or draw. Sure, drawing all three against R/W Humans in Game 3 when you’re on the draw is not ideal, like I did in my feature match in Round 12 of #SCGINDY, but the first Tamiyo you draw is so good that it is worth taking the chance. She is the best answer to Vehicles in the maindeck by being able to tap them down and keep them tapped, and therefore having a second Tamiyo isn’t the worst as you can minus the first one twice before playing the second. I also drew close to 75 extra cards from Tamiyo, Field Researcher throughout the entirety of the rounds at #SCGINDY, and that isn’t an exaggeration.
The other benefit to playing blue instead of plain G/W besides Tamiyo, Field Researcher lies with the counterspells from the sideboard, most notably Ceremonious Rejection. Ceremonious Rejection can counter a wide variety of threats such as the different Vehicles; Aetherworks Marvel; Elder Deep-Fiend; Emrakul, the Promised End; and many more in the current format for the low cost of one blue mana. I could easily see flipping the Negate and Ceremonious Rejection numbers in the sideboard and being completely happy with it.
The Bad
I was essentially playing with an eleven-card sideboard, as two cards representing four slots did nothing for me. I cast each of these cards exactly once and I was promptly killed on the next turn each time. In theory, Noose Constrictor was a good answer to Smuggler’s Copter as a blocker that can grow to be larger than the Vehicle. In practice, however, especially with Veteran Motorist and Depala, Pilot Exemplar growing the Copter, this was not a solid plan and I did not sideboard in Noose Constrictor against R/W Vehicles.
Arborback Stomper was similarly disappointing, as Verdurous Gearhulk was just better at stabilizing my battlefield by giving counters to my creatures, especially those with flying. I didn’t want to have an excess amount of five-drops in my deck and ended up hardly sideboarding in the Arborback Stompers at all. I would just recommend replacing all four of these cards with Blessed Alliance, as the versatility of the instant can help you at all stages of the game against these aggressive decks.
Overall, at #SCGINDY Bant Aggro felt very well-positioned against the field as a whole, as various Control, Energy, and Emerge decks were quite easy to beat. My three losses in a row Day 2 to R/W all went to three games and were the result of having an incompetent sideboard plan, twelve three-drop creatures, and four five-drop creatures in the maindeck. This made wonder if Bant Aggro was actually the best Bant deck, as maybe lowering the curve is the way to go.
Creatures (23)
- 3 Reflector Mage
- 3 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Tireless Tracker
- 4 Lambholt Pacifist
- 1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- 1 Heron's Grace Champion
- 3 Verdurous Gearhulk
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (16)
Spells (17)
If lowering the curve is the way to go, then Bant Humans is the natural successor to Bant Aggro. Smuggler’s Copter has proven to be one hell of a Magic card, and Bant Humans welcomes the trusty Vehicle with open arms. There are plenty of good Crew targets for the Copter, from Thraben Inspector to a 3/3 Lambholt Pacifist that can’t attack to a Thalia’s Lieutenant that just entered the battlefield and pumped the rest of your Humans. Still no Duskwatch Recruiter, though, as the 2/2 body is too small in this Standard format and there is no longer enough time to use the activated ability.
There is a greater than zero chance that the manabase I have here is not correct, as removing Servant of the Conduit from the deck definitely hurts the effectiveness of Aether Hub. I haven’t had too many problems with it yet, though, which is why I’m still using it, but I could be convinced that a more traditional Battle land and Shadow land manabase would be better for the deck. I still love all of the untapped lands, though.
Heron’s Grace Champion is the real prize for going with Bant Humans over Bant Aggro, though, and the Champion can really do it all against any red aggressive deck. There isn’t much blocking to do in Standard these days, which makes almost all of the games you play against other aggressive decks just a damage race to see who can win first. Before, you could still win races when you had a Tamiyo, Field Researcher slowing down your opponent or a Verdurous Gearhulk pushing through extra damage, but with Heron’s Grace Champion, even races where you are far behind can become quite easy to win. Perfect on offense, perfect on defense, Heron’s Grace Champion is the real deal in an aggressive format and is the main reason why I would recommend Bant Humans going forward over Bant Aggro.
When you are sideboarding in the three additional Heron’s Grace Champions against a red aggro deck, like R/W Vehicles for example, you need to make sure you keep a critical mass of Human creatures in your deck. With this in mind, my sideboard plan against R/W Vehicles is as follows:
In:
Out:
The Smuggler’s Copters come out in this matchup because they don’t pair well with Heron’s Grace Champion and they are oftentimes smaller than our opponent’s Smuggler’s Copters. Quarantine Field can oftentimes remove multiple sticky permanents from our opponent’s battlefield, and it and Appetite for the Unnatural are the only two cards in the deck that can remove a Skysovereign, Counsel’s Flagship, which can be a difficult card to beat. Being able to play a full set of Heron’s Grace Champion has turned this matchup from something I dreaded to play against with Bant Aggro to one I actively want to play against with Bant Humans.
Donovan Lachney was the only person in Day 2 of #SCGINDY to be playing Thalia’s Lieutenant and I don’t think it was a coincidence that he was the only player to start 9-0. And 10-0. And 11-0. And 12-0. With Languish out of the format, I think there is plenty of room for various Humans decks to make a resurgence this weekend at both the Pro Tour and #SCGRegionals. You could build a Mono-White Humans deck with a low land count a la Tom Ross, splash a little red for some burn spells and a creature-land, or splash green for the Heron’s Grace Champion to beat the red aggressive decks.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Expedition Envoy
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Lambholt Pacifist
- 4 Town Gossipmonger
- 3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- 2 Verdurous Gearhulk
Lands (11)
Spells (24)
If the format is about speed, then why not play the fastest deck in the format with the help of twelve one-drops, Thalia’s Lieutenant, and Always Watching? This is an example of a G/W version of Humans that is a little slower than Mono-White but has access to Heron’s Grace Champion. Playing a five-drop in a 23-land aggro deck is ambitious, but Verdurous Gearhulk is a compelling enough reason to go that route. I could see some number of Smuggler’s Copters being added to the deck instead, though.
Kozilek’s Return is currently the sweeper of choice in Standard, and the maindeck has the ability to go bigger than the powerful instant, thanks to Always Watching, Thalia’s Lieutenant, and Verdurous Gearhulk. After sideboarding, Repel the Abominable is a fantastic answer to Kozilek’s Return that can save your creatures and allow them to punch in the last points of damage.
Creatures (23)
Spells (37)
Creatures (22)
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Hanweir Garrison
- 3 Selfless Spirit
- 3 Pia Nalaar
- 4 Inventor's Apprentice
Lands (24)
Spells (14)
Here’s a couple examples of some Mono-White or R/W Humans decks for this weekend, and I think Humans decks are a strong choice for #SCGRegionals no matter which way you decide to build it.
My Bold Pro Tour Kaladesh Predictions
Now, I wanted to preface these predictions by saying that I’m not qualified for the Pro Tour and am not on any Pro Tour teams, so these are just my living-room-couch predictions of what we will see at the Pro Tour. Maybe they will be right, maybe they will be wrong, but either way it’s going to be fun to watch the action unfold this weekend.
1. There will be zero copies of R/W Vehicles in the Top 8.
2. There will be at least one Thalia’s Lieutenant deck in the Top 8.
3. Torrential Gearhulk will be the breakout card from Kaladesh.
4. Day 1 breakout cards will include Aetherworks Marvel and Electrostatic Pummeler.
5. Graveyard decks, both delirium- and emerge-based, will be very successful.
6. There will be twenty or fewer copies of Smuggler’s Copter in the Top 8.
7. Cataclysmic Gearhulk will be the only Gearhulk not to see camera time.
8. The Pro Tour-winning deck has blue for the first time since Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch.
Comments from Last Week
I’m finishing my article this week by highlighting some of the comments from my last article, “The Linear Decks I’d Consider For #SCGINDY,” where I talked about straightforward decks with good manabases that I would recommend for Week 1 Standard. If you would like to be featured in next week’s Comments from Last Week section, then leave a question or comment below and be sure to come back next week to see if you made the cut!
Is there no mention of Distended Mindbender? I’ve been updating my (G/B Delirium) list with a sideboard plan of Mindbender plus Filigree Familiar for control decks. The idea is that they are punished either way, giving me advantage if they kill it or getting Mindbendered if they don’t, although I have a much more midrange style deck, only running two Liliana, the Last Hope and one each of Nissa, Vital Force and Ob Nixilis Reignited. Thoughts?
– Forrest Winstead
I’m honestly not a big fan of this plan, Forrest, as I would rather just play threats that generate card advantage instead. Sure, Filigree Familiar replaces itself when it dies, but if that happens, the Distended Mindbender in your hand can be a dead card. What if you draw the Distended Mindbender but never draw a Filigree Familiar? What if you cast the Distended Mindbender, but by the time you do, your opponent has no cards in hand but still draws the removal after and the ability did nothing? I would rather have cards like Tireless Tracker; Nissa, Vital Force; or Ob Nixilis Reignited that will gain card advantage and grind my opponent out no matter the situation.
Very solid looking lists, I want to test them all out. I really like how you included Smuggler’s Copter in the U/W Spirits list. A lot of people seem skeptical about it but I think R/W Vehicles will be viable when Kaladesh is released and that’s what I’m going to build.
– Mansford Welton Masters IV
Well, Mansford, you hit the nail right on the head, as R/W Vehicles was certainly the dominating deck of #SCGINDY! I hope you have it put together and are enjoying the deck.
Just like everyone else, I can’t wait to watch the Pro Tour this weekend, and I’ll also be battling at #SCGRegionals in Plano, TX, trying to climb the leaderboard and get to the Players’ Championship. See you there!