I could tell you what I’m playing at #SCGINDY, but I’m not sure. Instead, I’ll show you the decks I’ve been testing with and against in order to prepare. You don’t need to play against every single one of these decks, but if you have enough time, it might be worth it.
This is my favorite, but only because I’ve been working on it since the beginning.
Creatures (16)
Lands (23)
Spells (21)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
It’s fast, efficient, and makes good use out of several new cards and the new synergies. Twelve burn spells, Key to the City, and Pia Nalaar finish games, even on clogged battlefields. If you’re looking to test against a red deck, start here.
After playing more removal spells, I didn’t try returning to Fleetwheel Cruiser, which was a mistake. Maybe three is too many, but they hit hard as long as you can clear the way, and Key to the City also helps with that.
These sideboards are going to be raw, and this one is no exception. Ideally, Transgress the Mind isn’t something I’d sideboard in my aggressive red deck, but I wanted some help against Emerge decks and potentially something like Aetherworks Marvel. Blue and green have excellent sideboard options for dealing with artifacts and combo decks, but R/B is lacking.
I’ve been through Gatherer a couple times already, mostly looking for sideboard cards, and have basically come up short. Here are some other options.
It ain’t pretty.
Creatures (32)
- 4 Catacomb Sifter
- 3 Brood Monitor
- 1 Zulaport Cutthroat
- 4 Reflector Mage
- 4 Eldrazi Displacer
- 4 Duskwatch Recruiter
- 4 Loam Dryad
- 2 Selfless Spirit
- 2 Angel of Invention
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
Lands (24)
Spells (4)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
It was one of the most powerful decks until people figured out how to build their G/W Tokens decks correctly. Collected Company was a big loss, but the deck still functions as intended.
Overall, I’m not very scared of this deck. The mana isn’t great, the deck is a little clunky, and you don’t do anything very impressive on the first few turns. That said, if the format is midrange, this deck can definitely take over. The sideboard options are particularly great for those matchups too. When a deck gets under this deck, there’s basically no coming back.
Eldritch Evolution proved to be mostly a bust due to a lack of good two- and four-mana creatures to sacrifice. Additionally, it wasn’t something you actually needed. Finding Noxious Gearhulk in the mid-game was excellent, but that’s not necessary either. If you have Eldrazi Displacer and a six-drop, it could be anything and you’d probably be fine.
Selfless Spirit could be anything, but I haven’t been happy with the other two-drops either. As it turns out, Elvish Visionary is a great enabler. Angel of Invention, on the other hand, has been pretty nice. It doesn’t line up well against Smuggler’s Copter either way, but having a cheaper token generator or a big lifelinking flying creature to race with is nice. It gives you options.
Creatures (20)
- 4 Pilgrim's Eye
- 2 Emrakul, the Promised End
- 4 Wretched Gryff
- 2 Elder Deep-Fiend
- 2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
- 4 Primal Druid
- 2 Filigree Familiar
Lands (22)
Spells (18)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
If it weren’t for Bant Company, this would have been the best deck last season. Therefore, it’s what you should expect to be the best deck for the first week of Kaladesh Standard.
Maybe Lumbering Falls, Matter Reshaper, and a heavier beatdown aspect is a better version, but I prefer this one. It’s powerful, consistent, and has more Emrakul, the Promised Ends. I was never a big fan of the decks that only played a single Emrakul to Traverse the Ulvenwald for, as you want to naturally draw them (or mill into them with Grapple with the Past). Granted, this deck only has two copies, so it’s not that big of a difference, but that could be rectified.
Contingency Plan has been solid. Crop Sigil is a fine replacement if you strongly dislike playing with “bad” cards, although Crop Sigil isn’t a peach either.
I like the sideboard Galvanic Bombardments, which means you need some additional red sources in the manabase. Maybe there are too many fastlands now, but we’ll see. The sideboard Verdurous Gearhulk is me trying to beat Lost Legacy, but that probably won’t work against a black deck with a bunch of removal.
This deck is great and you can hardly go wrong with it.
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)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
Pound for pound, it has the most powerful cards. Assuming there’s a way around the red matchup (lower curve, maybe Human-centric), then this deck is great. It has one of the best planeswalkers and is in the best colors for disruption in the format.
The more I play, the more skeptical I become of Essence Flux, at least in this deck. I just want to kill people, so I’m looking for extra things to do with one or two mana. My decks are steadily getting infiltrated by Lambholt Pacifists, so don’t be surprised if I’m recommending them maindeck in a week or two.
With Collected Company gone, there is no default version. I wouldn’t be surprised if the deck above is way off what ends up being optimal.
Creatures (13)
- 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
- 4 Sylvan Advocate
- 4 Tireless Tracker
- 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
- 2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
- 1 Noxious Gearhulk
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (24)
Spells (19)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
Languish is a huge loss, but spot removal plus green brick walls kind of make up for it. If people are playing Smuggler’s Copter and Verdurous Gearhulk, Languish might fall flat anyway. I wouldn’t mind being focused on establishing Ishkanah, Grafwidow to stabilize instead of using a sweeper anyway.
Either way, it’s a Rock deck, but a good Rock deck. Your cards are powerful, you can ignore most of the less powerful cards in the format because of your powerful end game, and you can close games relatively quickly.
So far, not many people have been playing with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, and that’s a mistake. If people are playing silly red decks with a pile of three-damage burn spells, Kalitas seems like the natural counter.
I also think there’s an aggressive delirium deck out there that beats people down with Gnarlwood Dryad, Grim Flayer, Smuggler’s Copter, and Mindwrack Demon. If you’re unhappy without Languish, consider being proactive instead.
A Note on Jund Delirium
I tried building this deck and it looked really bad. Without Languish to keep things under control, it didn’t seem like it would be able to survive. If Languish would line up poorly against vehicles and Scrapheap Scrounger, then playing more red removal might be a place you would go anyway. However, if that’s the case, I’d still rather be Temur unless Distended Mindbender were somehow awesome enough to be basically splashing for.
I have no idea how this deck is supposed to look. It probably involves shifting into more of a B/R Midrange deck.
Creatures (6)
Lands (22)
Spells (32)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
The gist is that this deck attempts to push the new mechanic as far as it can go. Maybe this deck is really good. I’ll get around to it at some point, but haven’t yet. It looks like there’s potential, though.
You need to get Energy, find Aetherworks Marvel, and then find something big off the Marvel. Some amount of the time, that isn’t going to work out for any number of reasons. However, with the amount of filtering we have, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up more consistent than you might otherwise think.
The trick is to find cards that are playable that aren’t just Ulamogs and Emrakuls, because then your deck is going to have some very inconsistent draws. Part the Waterveil and Nissa’s Renewal are cards that you don’t mind finding off Aetherworks Marvel and are castable themselves, so I think they solve some of the issues.
Another route you could take is playing Crush of Tentacles, although I’m not sure if it’s a combo with the various Puzzleknots. Regardless, it might be worth trying it as a way to buy some time to set up. Another option is using more self-mill, Traverse the Ulvenwald, and a singleton Mortuary Mire to ensure your Aetherworks Marvel hits a big threat. Glint-Nest Crane and Ishkanah, Grafwidow are two things to think about.
Either way, the backup plan of ramping into some giant monsters isn’t a bad one.
Creatures (7)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (22)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
I live next to Todd Anderson, and nobody told him Pyromancer’s Goggles rotated.
Really, though, I think Todd has a newfound affinity for these sorts of decks, and that’s reasonable. It actually works out quite well, since it wasn’t the first place my mind went. Refurbish happens to work well with both Gearhulks, and there are several nice cards that ask you to deposit things in your graveyard. It seems like this deck is supposed to exist.
Should you not draw Refurbish, you can still cast your Gearhulks in a timely manner, which is key if this Solar Flare-esque strategy is going to exist. Red removal, especially Galvanic Bombardment and Lightning Axe, look excellent right now. Using those to buy time unless you can start dropping Gearhulks and Chandra, Flamecaller is probably a good plan.
Creatures (18)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
Like Aetherworks Marvel, Ghirapur Orrery looks like a card that is capable of powerful things. Michael Majors threw together a pile of cards that work quite well together.
Ghirapur Orrery and Lupine Prototype both want you to be hellbent and Noose Constrictor gets you there. If you have some giant monsters, then Key to the City looks pretty nice. Glint-Nest Crane finds your pieces. Tireless Tracker likes making additional land drops (even if cracking your Clues offsets the Orrery trigger).
If you’re trying to break parity, a timely bounce spell will ensure they’ll have a card in their hand once their turn rolls around. We already have some discard enablers, so Just the Wind makes more sense than Unsubstantiate. Noose Constrictor into Cultivator’s Caravan curves well with Just the Wind also. Part the Waterveil just seems like a nice draw in the mid-game.
There’s a lot of stuff going on, but you have the capability for going over the top of many decks and killing people out of nowhere.
Other Outliers
W/R Aggro
I’ve been focused on other red decks, so I haven’t even begun to work on Artificer decks. If R/B weren’t panning out, W/R is where I would go next, but that hasn’t happened. If only there were more time.
Ramp
Similarly to W/R Aggro, I haven’t had enough time to actually work on ramp decks. Aetherworks Marvel also seems like it could end up being a better ramp deck anyway. Given that the ceiling is higher there, that’s where I’d start.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Reflector Mage
- 3 Archangel Avacyn
- 4 Rattlechains
- 4 Spell Queller
- 4 Selfless Spirit
- 4 Mausoleum Wanderer
- 4 Nebelgast Herald
Lands (24)
Spells (9)
Why it’s in the gauntlet:
It performed well last season, didn’t lose much from the deck itself, but did lose some good matchups potentially. If you can’t prey on G/W Tokens anymore, then what’s the point? I assume this is more of a metagame deck than it is a true powerhouse, and that’s okay. Those decks need to exist.
For now, get some reps in and see if this deck matches up well against any new decks that might make a significant portion of the metagame.
***
The gauntlet is large, and it’s unlikely that you actually get to test everything. Just knowing what’s out there should give you a good idea of what to target and how to do so, especially once you start honing in on those last sideboard slots.
As always, I would expect Week 1 to be that odd combination of aggression and holdovers from last season. Temur Emerge and R/B Aggro are my picks, but I think it would be sweet if Aetherworks Marvel or Bone Saw took down #SCGINDY.