| |
| Author |
Message |
Rate this article!
| 5 (Best) |
| [ 2 ] 50% |
| |
| 4 |
| [ 1 ] 25% |
| |
| 3 |
| [ 1 ] 25% |
| |
| 2 |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
| 1 (Worst) |
| [ 0 ] 0% |
| |
Total Votes : 4 |
|
| Felipe Musco |
![]() Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 4:29 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 2434
Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
|
--- description ---
The Future is now!
--- end description ---
And I’m back yet another time, with a fresh new set for us to delve into! Again, I’m gonna lay down some Standard decklists, to better illustrate the possibilities opened by the new set, after the usual card-evaluation section. They are not all supposed to be tier 1 (because believe me, there will be quite a number of them), but hey, if you check my UB build from “Breaking Planar Chaos” and take a look at how popular Dralnu became, well, you never know (I got close enough, for a first attempt at it, just chose the wrong theme). This is going to be a fairly large article (again), so I warn you guys in advance to make good use of the Table of Contents and the Find Tool (ctrl+F) to get to the points of your particular interest, or to help you get back to where you stopped reading, in case you choose to split the reading. So without further delay, here it is, my always trustworthy Table of Contents!
1. Introduction
2. The New Cards
2.1. White
2.2. Black
2.3. Red
2.4. Blue
2.5. Green
2.6. Golden
2.7. Artifact
2.8. Lands
3. Decklists
3.1. Monochromatic Decks
3.1.1. White Weenie
3.1.2. Monogreen Beats
3.1.3. Monoblue Aggro
3.1.4. Red Doll
3.1.5. Monored Combo
3.1.6. Monoblack Discard
3.2. Multi-colored Builds
3.2.1. RW Milling
3.2.2. RUw Combo
3.2.3. RG Haste
3.2.4. BW Control
4. Block Decks
4.1. “Monoblack” Discard
4.2. GW Weenie
4.3. RG Pandemonium
5. Conclusion
1. Introduction
Ok, so the Future has finally arrived, and with it, a whole new branch of cards, strategies, well, Magic! And from what we can see, Magic’s future is a crazy and unpredictable one! Poisonous creatures, morphing lands, morphing artifacts and morphing enchantments, Planeswalkers (it IS mentioned in a card after all), tribal enchantments, enchantment creatures, enchanting cards in graveyards, textless spells on a regular set, keywords that we always wanted to see, keywords we never saw coming, cycles, cycles and more cycles. All in all, a really great set, and one to shake the foundations of both Standard and Block play, with a few elements able to make the ground rumble all the way to Vintage and Legacy! New combinations, new strategies, new possibilities, new combos! But we’ll get to that in a second.
Ok, in this land of possibilities, let’s see what you’ll want to get your hands on as quickly as possible, and what might fool you appearing to be good, but not being quite so. Also, let’s check what IS good, but only situationally good (like, in a Limited tournament).
2. The New Cards
As usual, I’d like to remind all of you that these are MY cards of choice, so if I missed something you think should be mentioned, feel free to post about it! New ideas and brainstorming are what make us learn more, and learn faster!
2.1. White
Angel of Salvation – Also called “the anti-Hellkite” for being a kind of mirror to Bogardan Hellkite’s come-into-play ability, the Angel itself is a pretty lame creature at that cost (I’d much rather play an Akroma, Angel of Wrath). However, his Convoke ability makes him a real staple in Limited (and I should know, I opened one at the FS Pre-Release and it played REALLY well in my GW token-machine deck, when it showed up that is), so he’s a fine choice for “bomb”. He could find a home in Glare decks, though, with all those saprolings... Too bad Glare is about to die anyway. At least, NOW we have another use for the saproling tokens!
Aven Mindcensor – Mindcensor is not that great of a card in Limited, but he can certainly try to find a home in Extended, with all those Cranial Extractions and Gifts Ungiven. Surely, he dies quickly, but playing him in response to an opponent tapping out for one such spell is a really good wrench in their plans. Also, in aggro decks, when facing control/combo builds that need to search libraries, he’ll either cripple them immensely, or force them to waste removal on him rather than your other bigger threats.
Bound in Silence – Ok, it’s an overcosted Pacifism, I’ll give you that. Then why should it get any mention? First of all, it’s a BLOCK Pacifism. Then, take a closer look at the subtype. It’s a REBEL Aura, which means all those cards with “put a rebel card with converted mana cost X or less into play” CAN search for THIS rebel card! Cool huh? Makes for a really cool Draft tool, since Rebels are often overlooked, and WB Rebels is a solid archetype in the format, although an underdrafted one. Did I mention Ramosian Revivalist can “revive” THIS from the graveyard, too? Ouch! Painful Rebels!
Dust of Moments – A really cool splash card for the UR Suspend archetype. Also, it’s really powerful to HOSE strategies like this. Not a superb card, but one you’ll most certainly find a use for in your Limited sideboard some times. Also, if you can fix your colors easily, you can match it with Jhoira for really devastating effects.
Even the Odds – Not that great of a card, but perhaps Glare decks can find room for 1-2 of these, since at the slightest sign of problem (say, you have 3 creatures out and they play their fourth) it’ll mean you’ll outnumber them greatly for a low cost, and at instant speed. It also makes Gaze of Justice a less horrible spell, although it’s still in the “horrible” category.
Imperial Mask – Ivory Mask for Block format, but at the same time so much more than that! It’s a TEAM Ivory Mask, making it for a really cool asset (even as a one-of) in 2HG decks! I mean, when it’s all about ONE game, you can certainly find room for ONE card that accomplishes so much, like making your team bullet-proof against discard and burn.
Intervention Pact – A dud. If it prvented ALL damge, it would be cool, but as it is, it won’t save you from a lethal Dragonstorm, as you’d not only need a bit of life-gaining/damage-prevention, but ALSO Wrathing the board the following turn, so I’d rather stick with Luminesce as my card of choice against D-Storm.
Judge Unworthy – A really good removal, since it’s cheap, splashable, in a color that usually has no good removal (I know there’s Wrath of God, but I meant in Block, and in terms of spot-removal) AND it smoothes your draws a little. Too bad it’s too situational, which may hinder it, as Sunlance is still a better choice for White Weenie decks in most metas, since there’s a dire need to kill things like Fortune Thief.
Knight of Sursi – Not a great card, but still a good first-drop (suspension actually) for White Weenie, although Shade of Trokair is still better. Perhaps 1-2 could find a home, though, since Sulfur Elementals are running rampant in the format, rendering Icatian Javelineer next to useless, and hindering Soltari Priest badly.
Lost Auramancers – The coolest thing about this card is that it’s a 3/3 for 4 mana (which is good for white), and that it can also fetch “for free” a Lucent Liminid once it fizzles, as most players won’t realize this interaction and just assume you’re playing a biggie, not caring about the enchantment searching effect a lot. That being said, this costs too much, and so does Liminid, so keep it in Limited only.
Marshaling Cry – Another amazing card for Block, since Glorious Anthem is not around (but Gaea’s Anthem is, mind this for block tournaments!). Also, it makes Spectral Force that much easier to abuse, since if you want to keep swinging with it, you can just use this card to give it vigilance (I opened these two, too, really amazing in Limited!). Having Cycling AND Flashback makes it a really handy spell, too, letting you cycle through your deck and still getting the effect at least once.
Oriss, Samite Guardian – Since he can save himself from some forms of removal, he’s ok to have around. However, he’s really great for his Grandeur effect, since you can actually bring the Orim’s Chant combo to Standard (with much less power, of course), if you can keep recurrying enough copies of him, which could be accomplished in a GW deck by making use of Reclaim, Recollect and Evolution Charm (heck, even Gaea’s Blessing “kind” of accomplishes that, too). The combo will not be a total lockdown, but it’ll surely slow down an opponent enough for you to wrap things up with a bomb.
Ramosian Revivalist – Not only he’s a limitless reanimator (until someone kills him, that is) for Rebel decks, he can recur Bound in Silence! How annoying can Rebels get?
Seht’s Tiger – Really cool card! Decent body for its cost, AND a bizarre effect, since it gives YOU protection, meaning you can dodge spells like Castigate, Demonfire, and even save yourself from a lethal weenie rush. I don’t see this getting played a lot, though, as it’s kinda costly, and for his cost I’d rather just go and play Ivory Mask, as it’s less vulnerable.
Spirit en-Dal – Now THIS card is just SO powerful in the right hands! Why? Well, just picture what you could accomplish by, say, having a Barbed Shocker down with one of these in hand? Ouch! And with Wheel of Fate refilling hands all over the place, you can mill someone pretty fast, specially in Limited (I actually saw a guy pulling this off in a game in the Pre-Release, with just the Wheel and Shocker, and it’s not pretty. Making the Shocker “unblockable” is just that much uglier). It can also make for all kinds of fun interactions, like giving shadow to, say, Phage the Untouchable?
2.2. Black
Augur of Skulls – Solid creature. Cheap, regenerates, AND has a really good ability! I’ll definitely be adding these to my Black Rack deck! Also, this guy makes Block Rack a menace! Turn one, Funeral Charm. Turn two, play Augur of Skulls. Turn three, sacrifice him during the upkeep, play Stupor. There, that’s like, 5 cards gone in three turns!
Bitter Ordeal – Another really cool card! Gravestorm is not something that hard to achieve, and with a RB deck with, say, Greater Gargadon, it’s possible to remove, like, 10-12 cards at ONCE with a single casting of it! Bye bye, D-Storm! Not to mention in limited, after one of those full swings, you can cast one of these to almost completely nullify an opponent’s deck, by sucking him dry of bombs or even lands!
Bridge From Below – Can combo out with Nether Traitor and anything that lets you sac a creature (like Basal Sliver with Hivestone out) for one big Bitter Ordeal or Consume Spirit. Just make sure you go off the turn it comes down. Also, it can be PRETTY GOOD in a deck full of Dredgers, packing Narcomoeba, Dread Return and such spells, making the old GB Dredge a much faster (and deadlier) archetype, by turning it into UBG, abusing Magus of the Bazaar to fill the grave with Dredge cards. Flame-kin Zealot makes for a finisher, turning the deck into more of a combo deck.
Fleshwrither – Right now, I’d rather just transmute a Dimir House Guard on turn three to find ANY spell for turn four than use this guy to find my creature of choice on turn five. However, you can use BOTH engines to pump out Korlash AND have a few copies of him in your hand to Grandeur, greatly thinning your deck AND making him a monster. Also, this can pump out a seriously threatening Consume Spirit, too. However, Fleshwrither is REALLY good in Limited, specially in a sense that he lets you put a creature into play even if you can’t pay for them (different color(s)), and he has a decent enough body.
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade – Amazing finisher for monoblack (heck even multi-colored decks, since Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth was made!), not to mention his Grandeur ability is SWEET, thinning your deck AND making himself bigger all at once! If you can keep recurring copies of him from your graveyard (and that’s SOOOO hard to do in black... right?  ), he’ll be a monster in no time, and your deck will also run that much more smoother! He’s so amazing, playing ONE at turn 4 and discarding, say, 2 copies from hand allows for a HARDCAST Avatar of Woe on turn five, in MONOBLACK! How crazy is that? IF you can lay down another land, you can hardcast Plague Wind! How long ever since you saw someone do that?
Magus of the Abyss – Decent body, and has a lot of synergy with cards like Festering Goblin, Skirk Ridge Exhumer, Kher Keep, heck, even Stuffy Doll! Just stick one of the latter two onto the table, and you’ll clear a path in no time! Oh, yeah, his “cousin” Mindslicer makes for a fine sidekick, too, specially if you happen to be playing with something like Bottled Cloister or Ignorant Bliss.
Minions’ Murmurs – Although a really good card-drawing spell for block, this can certainly get out of hand, and Bx aggro is not a really popular archetype, so I’d rather steer clear of it for now, using Phyrexian Arena or Dark Confidant in Standard, and just pack green or blue for block card-drawing.
Nihilith – Another cool card. Surely, it’s nothing impressive, but Black Rack lacks turn-two plays, and suspending him on turn two will mean he’ll be coming down in no time to swing past every defense! We’ll definitely be seeing him below, in the decklists section.
Oblivion Crown – Giving black Wild Mongrel’s ability (ok, part of it) with so much RB Madness cards available is just BEGGING to see a card get abused! SOO good with Reckless Wurm and Fiery Temper!
Pooling Venom – This is not an amazing card, it’s not. However, if someone can crack up a way to have A BUNCH of mana available QUICKLY, I can see a UB Tron deck playing this and Cloudstone Curio! Activate the ability, and play an aura with Flash with it’s trigger still on the stack, returning the aura to your hand. Reality Acid could also fit in the mixture, too, making for one annoying (and different) LD deck.
Shimian Specter – Now this card is tricky. I don’t think it’ll be widely played, since it’s so vulnerable and slow, but if someone can crack one of these up on the table, things will get really ugly. However, then again, by the time he gets to swing for the first time (usually around turn 4-5), your opponent’s hand will be almost empty anyway...
Snake Cult Initiation – Yeah, I know, Poison sucks. But THIS card here doesn’t, and with the amount of creatures with shadow black has nowadays, things can get really out of hand with one of these out!
Tombstalker – This guy is just SOOO easy to play for a cheap cost, it’s not funny! And a 5/5 flier with only POSITIVE aspects in BLACK that comes down THAT cheaply is nothing to sneeze at! Did I mention he empties your graveyard so things like Extirpate won’t bother you?
Yixlid Jailer – Kind of like Aven Mindcensor. In the right formats, he’ll be KILLER, but right now, he’s mainly good against Dralnu, and that’s it. Also, not even THAT good anymore, since the most recent list for Dralnu du Louvre does not even use Dralnu maindecked anymore, only one copy in the sideboard.
2.3. Red
Arc Blade – One of those annoying spells. If you can find room for it in, say, an RG deck, it’ll most definitely pay off, since it can enable a topdecked 3/3 Mauler from an empty board. Nothing huge, but definitely fun.
Emblem of the Warmind – And now Empty the Warrens has become that much more deadly in Block. Just save two lousy mana, storm up, and raze everything! Empty the Warrens combo for Block play! Oh, yeah, you can also enchant Djinn Illuminatus, and play infinite copies of hasty giants with Pact of the Titan.
Fatal Attraction – Ok, it’s really cool to play one of these on a Stuffy Doll. However, it’s that much more fun to play one on an opponent’s Dralnu, Lich Lord! Not a really great card, but can make for a fun Stuffy Doll deck (and OF COURSE, we’ll have a new one later for you).
Gathan Raiders – What makes Gathan Raiders so good? Screw his color, just morph him up! Every aggro deck can benefit from a 3-mana 5/5 (aggro decks tend to hellbent a little easier than other decks)! Discarding a card? Sure thing, for instance, GW decks tend to draw those late Icatian Javelineers and/or Llanowar Elves anyway, not to mention useless lands...
Ghostfire – Another really neat card, since Soltari Priest was getting so popular. Too bad Sulfur Elemental is that much better. Also, I know this card is colorless, not red, but well, you’d USUALLY play it in red decks, so I’m grouping it together with red cards.
Grinning Ignus – A really good storm enabler. With a few red mana to spare, you can keep replaying him (since his ability pays for him again, you’ll only need the mana to return him to your hand), then a few Rites and Songs, and Empty the Warrens (with Emblem of the Warmind or Surge of Zeal, out of block) / Storm Entity / Ignite Memories for the win.
Haze of Rage – Read above. Add this to the Empty the Warrens part. Shuffle up for the next game.
Magus of the Moon – Why did Blood Moon stayed in the Sideboard of RG decks? Because it was an enchantment. This says everything. However, remember how easier it is to deal with creatures than with enchantments, nowadays.
Molten Disaster – REALLY good sweeper, although I don’t know wether it’s possible to find a use for it right now. Perhaps prior to that huge Empty the Warrens we’ve been talking about...
Pact of the Titan – Not that great on it’s own, it becomes AMAZING with Djinn Illuminatus down, if you have either Emblem of the Warmind, Surge of Zeal, Pandemonium or Angel’s Grace. It’s automatic GG.
Riddle of Lightning – Suddenly, Heroes Remembered does not seem that bad anymore, does it? Not to mention Greater Gargadon can make for a pretty big burn to the face, too.
Rift Elemental – This guy is also SO broken, it’s not even funny. You can unsuspend anything you might want to (triggering, say, one heck of a storm count in a turn) WHILE beating!
Shah of Naar Isle – Now, I’m not sure about the interaction of this guy and Thick-Skinned Goblin, but if you can really dodge paying for his Echo, he’s a sure bullet! If not, well, still good enough in most LD decks as a one-of, maybe a two-of.
Sparkspitter – Amazing with Primal Forcemage! One card and one mana for a 6/4 trampling dude? Count me in!
Storm Entity – Already mentioned above, with all the rites and suspend cards, and 0-mana pacts, this can be one heck of a finisher.
Tarox Bladewing – Not only he’s really cost-efficient, you can pump him with, say, Brute Force or Fatal Frenzy BEFORE using Grandeur. Do I need to say more?
Thunderblade Charge – For those aggro decks that tend to run out of gas, this is a good option. However, a well-built RG aggro deck will most likely have enough gas to make this card too expensive. Can make for a fine addition to mono-red in Block, though.
2.4. Blue
Arcanum Wings – Ok, this one sucks. However, imagine an opening of Flying Men, Arcanum Wings, and then aura-swapping it for, say, Shape of the Wiitigo or Wurmweaver Coil, or Verdant Embrace. NOW it looks good, huh? Still not good enough for competitive play, though.
Delay – One of the coolest new cards, since blue was in dire need of a cheap hard counter. Also, Remand will need a replacement, and this is it. Surely, it does not draw you a card, but then again, it’s amazing in a control mirror, since suspending a counterspell is, essentially, getting rid of it, much better than returning it to your opponent’s hand, to haunt you again later. It’s also really good against any X spell (when it unsuspends, X will be 0) and discard spell, since in a UW deck you could Delay a Haunting Hymn and, say, find Ivory Mask (ouch, this would hurt!). Also, Delay gives you enough time to find a REAL answer to what you countered, actually being better than Remand in the long term. When you play Remand on a potentially threatening spell, you return it to your opponent’s hand and draw a card. Then, on your turn, you draw another card, so Remand basically gives you 2 draws to find a suitable answer, and that is only provided your opponent can’t just replay the spell the same turn. Delay, on the other hand, will give you 3 draws to find an answer, regardless of how much mana your opponent has. So, if you play Remand just to draw a card, not caring which spell you countered, then keep it. If you play Remand as a cheap hard counter, to give you time to find an answer to a potentially threatening spell, then Delay is your spell of choice.
Foresee – Could most likely replace Careful Consideration (unless you have some use for the discard part of the effect), and perhaps even Tidings, as while not giving you that much cards in hand, it digs through your deck more than any of those, if you need to find just that one card to win/survive. However, Consideration is still better for the card advantage it provides, not to mention it’s an instant, allowing for a cool interaction with Mystical Teachings.
Logic Knot – Another cool counter! Not a 4-of since it’s mostly useless early on, but can find a home in a lot of counter-happy decks! Delve makes it even sweeter in these Extirpate-filled days, making sure no one will Extirpate your precious spells out of your graveyard.
Magus of the Future - Deceitful card. Surely, you can find a use for him as a 1-of in most decks, specially those with a lot of scry effects or shuffling effects. However, he costs an awful lot of colored mana, making him hard to cast outside of heavy blue decks, and let’s face it, for his cost, Teferi has a better body and an unbeatable ability!
Nix – In a meta full of suspended cards and 0-mana pacts, this is a cool one-of to have in a deck. If you use Delay, then you can even use more copies of it.
Pact of Negation – One of the most powerful spells on the set, it’ll affect decks all the way to Vintage and Legacy, where you usually go off quickly or die trying. A lot of people may argue it’ll cost you a lot of mana in your next turn, to which I reply “What next turn?”. There only IS a next turn if you DON’T win on this one. That’s why this card belongs in combo decks, rather than control ones. With combo decks, you either go off, or you lose, so who cares WHAT made you lose?
Second Wind – Really good with Spectral force, too, although I’m not sure it’s that necessary. A good card in Limited, though, acting as a blue “removal”, in a sense that it practically nullifies a creature.
Spellweaver Volute – This card may be great, or it may be a complete disappointment. In Extended, you can make a fast deck with card-drawing spells like Compulsive Research and Thirst For Knowledge, discarding Searing Winds to enchant with Volute, making for a quick win. Outside of Extended, I don’t think this card is going anywhere right now.
Whip-Spine Drake – Although this card IS blue, I don’t think you’ll find it anywhere outside of white decks, even those WITHOUT blue. I’d rather play a morph on turn three and unmorph a 3/3 flier for 3 on turn four than hardcast it on turn five.
2.5. Green
Baru, Fist of Krosa – Really good for Monogreen Aggro, too bad he just costs too much. For his cost, I’d rather go and play Spectral Force. Giant in Limited, though, even if you can’t use his Grandeur ability (and you most likely won’t be able to, in Limited).
Centaur Omenreader – With Grinning Ignus, you can add an awful lot of mana at once for a huge Squall Line, Disintegrate or Molten Disaster, usually lethal in Limited if you can pull it off. Sweet thing he’s also a Snow-Creature, it means we’ll be seeing more of those in the future!
Force of Savagery – And suddenly Green Weenie is a possibility again! If you’re using Gaea’s Anthems anyway, why not play an 9/1 trampler for 3 mana, right? Too bad he’s that much disruptable, being sussceptive to enchantment removal, and most forms of creature removal. Looks pretty good in a deck featuring Pandemonium, though.
Imperiosaur – Not quite Calciderm, but for a Green Weenie, it’s the next best thing... At least fits nicely in the curve.
Llanowar Augur – Cool card if you can find room for it in your aggro deck, it’s a pretty solid one-drop (heck, it stops a Stomping Ground-powered Kird Ape!), and has a pretty good ability for when it becomes useless in a match.
Llanowar Mentor – If not kept in check, this guy can do A LOT of damage, by generating all those pesky Llanowar Elves. Doubling Season him out, and you’ll get all the mana you could possibly want! However, he’s kinda slow into REALLY accelerating, so I don’t see him as a top tier card right now.
Magus of the Vineyard – Ok, his ability can be a HUGE drawback when someone opens with Plains, Savannah Lions and you just help them follow with Plains, Calciderm! However, relegated to the sideboard (or in a deck made to make better use of his ability), he can be AMAZING, by pumping out a turn-two Pandemonium, or Groundbreaker (WITH Might of Old Krosa), AND, against some control matches, those green mana will end up burning the opponent early on, giving you another edge in the damage race until they wrath the board.
Quagnoth – In RG Block, Quagnoth is a really good finisher, the one RG usually lacks. It bursts through removal, counterspells, discard, well, in Block, it laughs on the face of anything short of a Damnation, making it REALLY good to not use at least ONE, even if at the sideboard.
Riftsweeper – Another good addition to that Green Weenie of ours, really tech! Take out those Shades of Trokair, Lotus Blooms and Ancestral Visions, before they spell trouble! Also, with Signets falling out of flavor, makes for a better two-drop on Gruul, over Tin-Street Hooligan, since it helps in bad match-ups, like when facing suspended Aeon Chronicler, or Lotus Bloom (in D-Storm).
Sporoloth Ancient – If you follow a Sporesower Thallid with one of these in a Fungus deck, your opponent’s will be in a lot of trouble! Picture the amount of tokens you’ll make!
Sprout Swarm – Another game-breaking card for Limited, but kind of useless in Constructed (there’re more powerful choices, although you COULD squeeze ONE in a deck, because, well, it’s THAT powerful). You can create a never-ending army, growing larger and larger each time (or at least until Subterranean Shambler comes to spoil the party...).
Summoner’s Pact – Another one of the most powerful spells in the set. I say to this the same thing I say about Pact of Negation. Worried about the next turn? Find Timbermare or Groundbreaker, and just go and win on this turn!
Virulent Sliver – Ok, ok, so Poison sucks, right? Well, playing one of these on turn one and two more on turn two makes for 3 poison counters with one swing (each instance of poisonous 1 trigger separately). Then with a Shadow Sliver coming down, it’s, like, 9 more? Hum... Looks playable to me!
2.6. Golden
Glittering Wish – This card is not really good in the Standard meta right now, although it CAN find a home in some decks (it’s AMAZING, for instance, in Project X). However, in Extended, where color-fixing is made SO much easier with enough money and the right lands, this card is SOOOO broken I can’t even start to describe it! You can get ANY type of card for TWO MANA, provided the card is golden? Looks like a fine deal to me!
Jhoira of the Ghitu – Surely, she’s vulnerable. However, if you can stick one down, she gives you SO MUCH advantage, it’s worth it! How powerful suspending Aeon Chronicler or Detritivore for 4 turns by spending 2 mana is? Also, if you play her on turn three, you can do both on turn four, gaining enough card advantage to not care anymore if she bites the bullet! She also makes cards like Greater Gargadon and even Heroes Remembered much more playable (not that the Gargadon needs to be made more playable anyway)! Oh, did I mention you can suspend anything at instant speed with her?
Sliver Legion – Slivers tend to not be that good, I know. However, if you can open with a lousy sliver on turn one and a Gemhide sliver on turn two, you can pump out a 7/7 creature on turn THREE! Hah! Take that, Gruul!
2.7. Artifact
Akroma’s Memorial – A true bomb in Limited, I don’t see this card getting used a lot in Standard. But who knows? Perhaps some freakish deck piloted by a japanese will arise, using this card to all it’s potential!
Cloud Key – This card is just begging to be abused, too! I’m still not sure as to where this card would shine in Standard, but in Extended, if you can play Cloud Key naming Artifact with 2 Sensei’s Divining Top, you just got yourself an infinite storm count! Tap a Top, draw a card, it’ll return to the top of your library. Play/tap the other one, draw the previous one, they’ll switch places. Lather, rinse, repeat. Then, just cast your choice of Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Ignite Memories, Brain Freeze or Tendrils of Corruption for the win!
Veilstone Amulet – Can make for some interesting interactions in a deck like my Monogreen Beats I suggested back when Planar Chaos came out. Also, pretty good for Aura decks, always getting 2-for-1’ed, or worse.
2.8. Lands
Dakmor Salvage – I don’t think this card deserves a slot even in Dredge decks, as it’s Dredge count is too low, and if you flip it up with Fa’adiyah Seer, it won’t get discarded. Suboptimal to me.
Dryad Arbor – Most people get psyched about seeing a Land Creature, but in reality, it provides no acceleration, it actually delays your mana development, AND any stupid removal will cripple your mana base. It’s good in small dosis, with something like Yavimaya Dryad to pull it from the deck, or in Weenie decks where mana development is not that important anyway.
Graven Cairns – Good fixer, with a really small drawback (having no colored mana if you play it on turn one), really good land!
Grove of the Burnwillows – Giving an opponent life kind of defeats the purpose of an aggro deck. However, you can totally offset this drawback by playing a really solid 2-mana creature: Kavu Predator! It gets bigger at the same rate the land gives life to the opponent, AND it has innate trampling, totally offsetting the drawback! Will look pretty cool in Block format!
Horizon Canopy – It’s essentially better than Brushland (even though it hurts you more, since it doesn’t have the option of adding colorless mana), since you can sac it to draw a card when you no longer need it. Once Crucible of Worlds returns to Standard, it’ll be INFINITELY better! You can make a draw engine out of a GW aggro deck! How neat is that?
Keldon Megaliths – Good for limited play, not sure it’ll be any good outside of it. Definitely better than using Ghostflame to deal with Soltari Priest, though! Also, it’s a poor man’s Desert, in the right deck.
Llanowar Reborn – If you can bear with the “come into play tapped” drawback, it’s a really sweet land, pumping another creature “for free”. Also, notice that, should the land become itself a creature for any reason, the +1/+1 counter will be active!
New Benalia – Another really cool land if you can take the drawback. Scry 1 may help out a lot more in long-term play than that one extra mana. That being said, I’d still never play it as a four-of, and in White Weenie I’d rather stick with the Snow-Engine.
Nimbus Maze – Sweet card! If you can open with a turn one Hallowed Fountain, you’ve just got 4 more duals in your deck, drawback-free!
River of Tears – I’ve heard a lot of complaints about this land, but in Extended, it REALLY shines! On turn one, you can play Duress (you played a land, right?), or, on your opponent’s turn, you can play, say, a Force Spike! All that with NO drawback! What’s not to love about this one? Then, it’s just about timing the lands you play!
Tolaria West – I don’t know wether this land will find a home in a combo deck (being able to fecth Pacts, the suspend-only cards from TS, Lands, etc), but right now, it’s less than impressive, to say the least, unless the Djinn-Pact deck becomes really popular.
Zoetic Cavern – AMAZING in Limited, perhaps good in Block. It could most likely fit into Pickes decks, as a diversion, a bait. After all, after being locked down one game, the moment you see a Morph the next game, you’ll start worrying.
Ok, so that’s it for the new cards, the ones with the most potential or most deceitful, at least, IMHO. Now, let’s move on to check more closely what the new set can bring us in terms of Constructed decks!
3. Decklists
As before, these decks are all meant for Standard format play, and merely illustrative. Not all of them are supposed to be tier 1 decks, but they ARE meant to be competitive enough to, say, a FNM.
3.1. Monochromatic Decks
3.1.1. White Weenie
21 Lands:
17 Plains
4 Scrying Sheets
31 Creatures:
4 Savannah Lions
4 Soltari Priest
4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
3 Serra Avenger
4 Calciderm
4 Shade of Trokair
4 Icatian Javelineers
2 Knight of Sursi
2 Benalish Commander
8 Enchantments:
4 Glorious Anthem
4 Griffin Guide
Sideboard:
2 Jotun Grunt
4 Sunlance
4 Mana Tithe
3 Ronom Unicorn
2 Fortify
Not a lot of innovation for the archetype with Future Sight, except for the good first-drop in the Sulfur Elemental infested meta, Knight of Sursi, both tough AND evasive. After I first started working on it, I was amused to see how someone broke through the same idea about the same time, on the other side of the globe! That’s what’s so fun about Magic!
The idea is fairly simple, play cheap creatures, and beat up. Scrying Sheets and the Snow Lands provide a little acceleration, much needed for the deck, and Griffin Guide provides you with both evasion, larger creatures AND something to work on if your opponent clears the board, in the form of Griffin tokens. A lot of people have been arguing as to wether or not Glorious Anthem is good enough, since it’s actually kinda slow, but the abundance of Sulfur Elementals and lack of enchantment-removal in the meta makes it well worth the trouble, not to mention the great synergy late game with Benalish Commander, which will pop out bigger and bigger tokens.
Sideboard provides you with a few nice tricks, like Fortify for aggro matches, as well as being a nice replacement for Icatian Javelineers and/or Soltari Priest (a 2/1 for 1 mana is still good enough, so Savannah Lions should almost always stay maindecked). Against graveyard-based decks, Jotun Grunt packs one heck of a punch, and against enchantments, like the ones in MonoGreen Aggro, Ronom Unicorn is a quite good answer. Sunlance is here against Fortune Thief, something WW has no way of dealing with, but it’s ALSO a pretty good card against Gruul, since it outright kills Kird Ape, Scab-Clan Mauler, elephant tokens, etc. In my meta, tempo is an important issue, so I went with 4 Mana Tithe in my sideboard. However, if you can spare some time, and if you’re facing a lot of decks with mass removal like Sulfurous Blast or Wildifre, you can try a swap for 2 Bathe in Light (also good to force in those last points of damage, could even replace Fortify depending on your meta) and 2 Sacred Mesa, which can outright win games on its own (but dies to Sulfur Elemental, unless you have an Anthem out). It’s a pretty fast and furious deck, and also a cheap one, so it might prove to be quite a good invesment for the upcoming regionals, catching people off guard.
3.1.2. Green Beats
20 Lands:
19 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
22 Creatures:
4 Magus of the Vineyard
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Groundbreaker
3 Timbermare
3 Silhana Ledgewalker
10 Instants:
4 Might of Old Krosa
2 Giant Growth
2 Stonewood Invocation
2 Avoid Fate
4 Enchantments:
4 Greater Good
4 Artifacts:
4 Howling Mine
Sideboard:
2 Summoner’s Pact
2 Avoid Fate
2 Krosan Grip
2 Primal Forcemage
4 Leyline of Lifeforce
3 Tormod’s Crypt
This deck is quite innovative, and quite fun. The idea is to get a big creature out with the help of accelerators, pump it, beat for a lot, and then sacrifice it to Greater Good to restock your hand. To do this, the main beaters either have haste, a form of evasion and/or a better form of shroud, meaning YOU can target them. Magus of the Vineyard makes for a FANTASTIC addition to the deck, allowing a turn-two Greater Good, or Silhana + Howling Mine, or even a 10/5 Groundbreaker (with Might of Old Krosa), and the best part, he’ll keep accelerating! And, if you DON’T need his mana anymore and want to bother the opponent by depriving HIM of it, just go ahead and sac him to Greater Good, you can take the card loss for sure. Also, Avoid Fate ensures your creatures won’t die to an in response destroy or damage spell, because you’ll be pumping them during YOUR turn, so anything they might try CAN be countered by Avoid Fate, for ONE mana! Also, notice you can pump OTHER creatures as well to force some damage, like beating for nine on turn 2 with Llanowar Elves, Might of Old Krosa and Might of Old Krosa. That’s another reason to use Birds of Paradise, too, due to their innate evasion.
Sideboard has even MORE neat tricks, with a full anti-counter package in the form of Leyline of Lifeforce, and Primal Forcemage “replacing” some of the pumps, by pumping your hasty creatures. Tormod’s Crypt and Krosan Grip are our old favorites, and Avoid Fate is an obvious add, in case we need 4 copies. The final addition from FS is Sumoner’s Pact. Why? Well, it’s simple! You can search out a Magus of the Vineyard on turn 2 and still pay for the upkeep cost (don’t recommend it, though, if they Shock the Magus you lose), for one, but the greatest thing is: you can just go and search a Timbermare or Groundbreaker, because it sometimes can mean you won’t NEED another turn, and even if you DO need, usually, the card advantage alone will be enough to make it worth it. Also, against counter-happy opponents, you can fool them into countering the pact while you have a creature and some pumps in hand to beat them down. A fine choice for a rogue deck, I believe.
3.1.3. Monoblue Aggro
21 Lands:
18 Island
3 Zoetic Cavern
23 Creatures:
4 Drifter il-Dal
4 Flying Men
4 Coral Trickster
4 Dream Stalker
2 Viscerid Deepwalker
2 Riftwing Cloudskate
3 Spiketail Drakeling
12 Instants:
4 Remand
4 Psionic Blast
4 Boomerang
4 Enchantments:
4 Unstable Mutation
Sideboard:
2 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Mystic Speculation
4 Mana Leak
2 Evacuation
2 Cancel
2 Logic Knot
This is another bizarre creation, but it can be quite fun. A first turn Flying Men followed by double Unstable Mutation is kewl, not to mention both Cloudskate and Dream Stalker can return Unstable Mutation to your hand (and so does Boomerang) and let the critter go. Zoetic Cavern provides more creatures for the deck, in case it needs them, and Deepwalker provides a larger beater, with the Drakeling giving you evasion AND some control power, making the opponent play around him and buying you some important time. Psionic Blast acts as both removal, and as a finisher if you need it to.
Sideboard gives you some nice tools, with a full pack of counters and the great deck-organizer Mystic Speculation (if you’re going aggro, you won’t need open mana in your opponent’s turn most of the time anyway), letting you switch your roles into fine-tuned aggro (search for what you need and hack away), aggro-control and even control (board in Evacuation, cast it prior to unsuspending Deepwalker, alongside Psionic Blasts to the dome to lower their life points, and swing for the win).
3.1.4. Red Doll
22 Lands:
4 Scrying Sheets
18 Snow-Covered Mountain
10 Creatures:
4 Stuffy Doll
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Firemaw Kavu
7 Sorceries:
4 Rite of Flame
1 Molten Disaster
2 Rough//Tumble
8 Instants:
4 Seething Song
4 Sulfurous Blast
5 Enchantments:
2 Pyrohemia
3 Fatal Attraction
8 Artifacts:
4 Howling Mine
4 Coldsteel Heart
Sideboard:
4 Sulfur Elemental
2 Djinn Illuminatus
4 Dead//Gone
2 Arc Blade
3 Demonfire
This deck’s idea is pretty simple, and it’s very similar to my other one revolving around Sutffy Doll, Furnace of Rath and Lightning Axe. However, this one is more control-ish, and less combo-ish. The main star of the deck is still Stuffy Doll, and the core of the deck is still made to ramp up to a turn 2-3 Doll, however, this deck can keep the game flowing with some control tools like Sulfurous Blast, Molten Disaster and/or Pyrohemia (which are ALSO great with Stuffy down), while Firemaw Kavu can take out larger creatures or deal damage through our little, indestructible artifact. Once Doll is down, you can keep the pace of the game flowing to your liking keeping the board under control, as mentioned, and just sticking Fatal Attraction on it. Lack of enchantment-removal maindecked in most (actually, pretty much all) top tier decks means it’s likely to stick, and it’ll be pretty painful to your opponent, taking 5 a turn (1 from pinging end of turn, 4 more during the upkeep). Howling Mines and the Snow-Engine will help keeping your hand size up, although if your meta demands it, you can cut the Snow-Engine for Deserts and/or Keldon Megaliths.
Sideboard is pretty straightforward, with Sulfur Elemental to hose down Boros, and to set a clock against most controls (specially those reliant on counterspells), while Djinn Illuminatus is not only a solid beater, but a MONSTER with spells like Dead, Rite of Flame (to sink, say, in Pyrohemia or Demonfire), and Arc Blade is a really fun spell, since you can keep damaging Stuffy over and over again, and every once in a while point it at a creature, too, helping keep control of larger creatures by combining it with Sulfurous Blast or Pyrohemia activations, for instance. This deck is a fun choice for those who tend not to play a lot against combo decks, or very fast Gruul decks, which can pose a SERIOUS threat due to the self-imposed damage.
3.1.5. Monored Combo
24 Lands:
20 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Scrying Sheets
7 Creatures:
3 Grinning Ignus
2 Storm Entity
2 Greater Gargadon
14 Sorceries:
4 Rite of Flame
3 Haze of Rage
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Ignite Memories
7 Instants:
4 Seething Song
3 Surge of Zeal
8 Artifacts:
4 Howling Mine
4 Coldsteel Heart
Sideboard:
4 Sulfurous Blast
4 Molten Disaster
4 Sulfur Elemental
2 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Greater Gargadon
This deck is just plain straight crazy, and more meant for casual play (although by adding black, this deck can DEFINITELY become more competitive, with Dark Confidant filling your hand fast, just remember to cut stuff like Gargadon), but it’s cool to watch when it goes off. Just keep drawing cards like crazy, and then go off in a tantrum casting as many mana rituals as you can, ending up with a huge Empty the Warrens + Surge of Zeal to go beating, then Haze of Rage to pump the hasty beaters, and if you can spare the mana, Ignite Memories to seal the deal. Notice that you can also sac all those tokens to bring Gargadons into play, too, if you want, to seal the deal the following turn, if you fail to win in one shot. Sideboard provides all the control elements seen in the previous deck, plus Bogardan Hellkite as a big beater if that’s what you need, as well as another Gargadon.
3.1.6. Monoblack Discard
20 Lands:
19 Swamp
1 Urza’s Factory
14 Creatures:
4 Mindlash Sliver
4 Dark Confidant
3 Ravenous Rats
3 Augur of Skulls
14 Sorceries:
4 Stupor
3 Cry of Contrition
4 Smallpox
3 Call to the Netherworld
7 Instants:
1 Sudden Death
2 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Funeral Charm
5 Artifacts:
4 The Rack
1 Phyrexian Totem
Sideboard:
2 Sudden Death
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Extirpate
4 Damnation
4 Brain Pry
This deck is straightforward as it may seem, and it’s already widely used, with just a few variants from each version. This is my take on it, after FS. Play you early kill/discard creatures, and keep beating down with them, while keeping the opponent’s hand size under control with discard spells. Call to the Netherworld is really great in this deck, letting you get back staples like Augur of Skulls or Ravenous Rats, or even Mindslash Sliver AFTER sacrificing itself to unleash his effect! Sideboard let’s you diversify a little on the take, by turning the deck into a more control-ish build in case you play against fast aggros, and it has silver bullets against pretty much anything. Sudden Death is very good against MGA and decks using and abusing Teferi and/or Stuffy Doll. Damnation needs as much explanation as Extirpate. Brain Pry has the power to just outright kill Dragonstorm or control decks, if you nail a centerpiece and then hit it with Extirpate. Ghost Quarter, against Tron and such, is basically GG. Just blow one Tron piece up, and Extirpate it. There, done deal. This deck is pretty fun, and not hard to play with, cool to introduce newer players to competitive play. As I said before, this deck is already running rampant, but since you “saw it first” here at CC (at least, back then, nobody even talked about monoblack), on my older articles (and another one by a fellow board member who vanished later on), I decided to keep it updated. My first take was a pure control build, but I’ve found this one to be more effective.
3.2. Multi-colored Builds
3.2.1. RW Milling
23 Lands:
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Plains
4 Mountain
4 Safe Haven
15 Creatures:
4 Barbed Shocker
3 Spirit en-Dal
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Magus of the Moat
3 Whitemane Lion
12 Sorceries:
4 Wheel of Fate
4 Wrath of God
4 Rite of Flame
6 Instants:
3 Ignorant Bliss
3 Timecrafting
4 Artifacts:
4 Howling Mine
Sideboard:
4 Stone Rain
4 Cryoclasm
2 Faith’s Fetters
2 Disenchant
3 Tormod’s Crypt
This deck is fun! The main goal is to accelerate into early suspended Wheel of Fates or into early cast Howling Mines. Then, drawing all those extra cards, use Wrath of God to keep control of the match, and then start to run out the Barbed Shocker combo. Swing, discard their entire hand, forecast Spirit en-Dal to give him shadow, swing again, and so on, so forth. In case they DO have Shadow creatures to block, stack damage, and play Whitemane Lion. Same goes for when you need to Wrath the board. Also, the deck has a “silver bullet” against fast aggros until you can cripple them enough, in Magus of the Moat (keep in mind Barbed Shocker can’t attack with one down), which can be saved from removal by the Lion (or taken out of Shocker’s way). Ignorant Bliss lets you have one heck of a big hand when played in response to a Wheel of Fate (splashing black to play Olbivion Crown could be cool), and can protect you against discard spells trying to nail the spirit. Timecrafting both slows down suspend players, as speeds up your Wheels. Once a Whell unsuspends, you can start milling around five-six a turn easily!
Sideboard is pretty straightforward, Tormod’s Crypt against grave-happy decks, otherwise you’ll be just helping them. Fetters in case you need the life, or a permanent is bothering you too much with its abilities, Disenchant to kill key artifacts or enchantments, and an LD package against control match-ups, also useful to cripple the multi-color player, since he’ll be losing quite some lands once the mini-combo kicks in.
3.2.2. RUw Combo
22 Lands:
1 Tolaria West
4 Steam Vents
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Shivan Reef
2 Adarkar Wastes
3 Battlefield Forge
4 Creatures:
4 Djinn Illuminatus
11 Sorceries:
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Rite of Flame
3 Foresee
17 Instants:
4 Angel’s Grace
4 Pact of the Titan
4 Telling Time
2 Seething Song
3 Pact of Negation
2 Enchantments:
1 Emblem of the Warmind
1 Pandemonium
4 Artifacts:
4 Lotus Bloom
Sideboard:
1 Resurrection
2 Compulsive Research
1 Pandemonium
1 Emblem of the Warmind
4 Wrath of God
3 Riddle of Lightning
3 Greater Gargadon
Much like White Weenie, this deck’s strategy has been recently cracked by a fellow player as well, although I play it slightly different than he did. The goal is simple. Draw as many cards as you can and accelerate in the mana curve quick with the rituals to land Djinn Illuminatus on the table. Then, pick a kill condition of your choice, replicating Pact of the Titan as many times as you want, be it at the end of your opponent’s turn (then, just play Angel’s Grace during your upkeep to overrule the “you lose the game” clause and smash for the win), or at your own (land Pandemonium on the table and deal infinite damage, or play Emblem of the Warmind and swing with hasty giants). Of course, since the strategy has already been cracked, the moment your opponent sees the Djinn, he’s gonna try and take it out. That’s why Pact of Negation is ALSO in here, you can cast infinite copies of it in response to a kill spell, so no number of counters in the world will be able to stop it, while also protecting the combo itself, too. If you take a closer look at my draw spells of choice, I went with cards that dig through the deck rather than drawing them directly into hand, since this is mainly a combo deck, so all you need is to find the pieces as soon as possible. Foresee is a MAJOR addition, in a sense that it digs down SIX cards at once if you are in dire need of a specific piece. Also, this deck CAN take different routes, like opening with Pact (the more, the merrier) and Angel’s Grace the following turn (I actually suspended Ancestral Vision off a dual on the first turn, passed, played Pact eot and Angel’s Grace during the upkeep, talk about sweet!) to take the beatdown route, since a 4/4 on turn 1 is not too shabby at all.
Sideboard let’s you take different paths, like adding in another Pandemonium if landing an enchantment is easier than an aura in your match-up and another Emblem if the mana’s running tight and you need to go off faster, going for the reanimate strategy (removal-heavy opponent) with Compulsive Research and Ressurrection, and even try to take control of a match with a set of Wrath of God. Then, there’s a second, “hidden” combo in the form of Greater Gargadon (a decent turn-one play on itself when you pack FOUR Wraths) and Riddle of Lightning, which with all the top manipulation Foresee and Telling Time give you (not to mention the Riddle itself), can be directed at the dome for 7-9 (by flipping over a Djinn or Gargadon, which will be ALSO a good card to have in hand anyway).
3.2.3. RG Haste
21 Lands:
4 Stomping Ground
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Forest
1 Pendelhaven
1 Mountain
3 Fungal Reaches
24 Creatures:
4 Primal Forcemage
4 Sparkspitter
4 Groundbreaker
4 Uktabi Drake
4 Timbermare
4 Magus of the Vineyard
6 Sorceries:
4 Rift Bolt
2 Summoner’s Pact
4 Instants:
4 Char
4 Enchantments:
4 Greater Good
1 Artifacts:
1 Akroma’s Memorial
Sideboard:
4 Pandemonium
3 Force of Savagery
1 Summoner’s Pact
3 Reclaim
4 Birds of Paradise
The main goal of the deck is landing Primal Forcemage down as soon as possible, so as to land heavy blows with our hasty creatures, then just sac them to Greater Good (with their enhanced power) to restock your hand for the next swing. Magus of the Vineyard does a TREMENDOUS great job at doing this, since landing a Magus down on turn 1 (assuming your opponent takes NO burn whatsoever from the green mana they’ll be getting “for free”), you can play a forest on turn 2, play Primal Forcemage AND follow it with Uktabi Drake, to swing for 5. Then, the next turn, even with no third land drop, you can unleash Timbermare for 8 more. Sparkspitter is VERY good since you’ll be stocking up your hand, thus having a lot of useless lands to discard, and seriously, having a 6/4 trampling guy for one mana and a card IS a sweet deal. Fungal Reaches is here mainly as an outlet for the extra mana from Magus, since in aggro match-ups you may take some damage, and if you also take burn, you could be in serious problems. If you can ramp up enough on the mana curve, or if a match takes too long, landing down Akroma’s Memorial will finish it for sure. Char and Rift Bolt are here to try and stauch the bleeding until you can swing the game in your favor, and Summoner’s Pact is here to find just the perfect creature for the board position you’re in. Once this deck gets going, it kills VERY fast.
As a side note, I was gonna make a RG Pandemonium deck, but since a lot of the cards were similar to the ones here, I decided to go with a switchboard (great against control decks, and against “rocks” style decks) for it. Birds provide acceleration so you can at least TRY to drop Pandemonium AND a creature down. Again, Magus is amazing, since you can play Pandemonium on turn 2, taking very little damage from it, while dealing a whole lot next turn. Reclaim is here against hosers, or to reutilize good creatures should you run out of them, and Force of Savagery, well, it’s 8 damage for 3 mana with Pandemonium down, so what’s to complain, right? Both of these strategies are kind of “rogue-ish”, and kill VERY fast, not to mention a lot of opponents wouldn’t see them coming until it was too late (even if he DOES kill your Primal Forcemage, you’ll already have swung for quite some damage, or at least have a Greater Good down to restock your hand), so you might give them a try.
3.2.4. BW Control
22 Lands:
4 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Gemstone Mine
2 Orzhov Basilica
4 Godless Shrine
6 Swamp
3 Plains
4 Creatures:
3 Angel of Despair
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
18 Sorceries:
4 Blackmail
4 Castigate
4 Brain Pry
2 Wrath of God
2 Damnation
2 Diabolic Tutor
6 Instants:
3 Hide//Seek
3 Extirpate
5 Enchantments:
3 Phyrexian Arena
2 Faith’s Fetters
5 Artifacts:
2 Phyrexian Totem
3 Orzhov Signet
Sideboard:
1 Hide//Seek
2 Persecute
3 Ivory Mask
2 Faith’s Fetters
1 Wrath of God
1 Damnation
2 Pull from Eternity
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Phyrexian Totem
This deck is also called “Project M” (with M standing for Musco), and is a creation by me that’s been evolving ever since it was first conceived, and one I’m most proud of. This deck has amazing control power, and although I took out the Dimir House Guard search engine and Debtors’ Knell, which led me to make the deck in the first place, it’s better suited for today’s Standard metagame. You can cripple opponent’s early game with Blackmail, Castigate (amazing against Dredge cards and Flashback cards) and Brain Pry (which can also serve as acceleration, in case you miss). Then, you can cripple control decks with a fast Phyrexian Totem, Extirpate (if they pack counters) and Angel of Despair. Against aggro, you have Fetters, Wrath, Damnation and Akroma. Diabolic Tutor can fetch whatever card you may need for the time being (even a land, to ramp up the curve), and the creatures were handpicked to kill both aggro (evasive, big, and defensive in some sense) and control (hard to deal with and destructive when they arrive). Also, resolving a single Seek against D-Storm is enough to take control of the game, since you can cripple their hand with your other discard spells, makign it hard for them to achieve a higher storm count. If you can Brain Pry a D-Storm and Extirpate it, it can be GG on turn 3.
Sideboard has a lot of useful tools, like Ivory Mask against the burn side of aggro decks and against discard; another Totem to make for a faster clock, more copies of Wrath, Damnation and Fetters against fast aggros, Ghost Quarter against Trons and such and Pull from Eternity as a cool “bullet”, alongside the other Hide//Seek. Aside from being great against D-storm (taking out suspended Lotus Blooms), Pull can also act as a one-mana counter against an eventual Rift Bolt, and deal with Aeon Chronicler, strategies abusing Jhoira, Greater Gargadon, Detritivore, etc. Then, if you Castigate or Seek something you want COMPLETELY out of the game (like, say, Dragonstorm), you can Pull it to the graveyard, to then proceed Extirpating it. Picture this: Land, go. Land, go, end of your turn Seek D-Storm. Pull from Eternity on D-Storm, Extirpate, GG by turn three with a 9-life buffer. Cool, huh?
4. Block Decks
Ok, with a full Block released, and Block Season coming soon, I decided to lay down a couple cool Block decklists for those of you thinking about attending a Block Constructed PTQ or GP. These builds were inspired by the builds found in Pro Tour Yokohama, but are all my own work, except for the “engine” found in Monogreen Aggro that I “imported” into my Weenie deck, which’ve been known for quite some time, and even seen being put in practice in tournaments.
4.1. Monoblack Discard
22 Lands:
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Urza’s Factory
18 Swamp
15 Creatures:
4 Augur of Skulls
4 Nihilith
3 Tombstalker
4 Street Wraith
8 Sorceries:
4 Stupor
4 Smallpox
10 Instants:
4 Funeral Charm
1 Sudden Death
3 Extirpate
2 Tendrils of Corruption
5 Artifacts:
1 Phyrexian Totem
4 The Rack
Sideboard:
4 Damnation
2 Bitter Ordeal
2 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Sudden Death
3 Dodecapod
1 Phyrexian Totem
This deck is straightforward as it seems, just discard as much cards from your opponent as you can (and then take them away with Extirpate!) while keeping control of the board, and just land some big beaters to wrap things up. Street Wraith accelerates your deck (as possible as it is, anyway), Tombstalker and Nihilith (suspended) both come fast and furious, and Phyrexian Totem is just mean most of the time. Sideboard has Dodecapod, great in the mirror, Damnation stops weenies and other aggressive decks which discard alone can’t take care of, and Bitter Ordeal is AMAZING in longer matches, specially after a well applied Smallpox (can achieve a Gravestorm of 3-4, making 4-5 copies), letting you thin down your opponent’s deck, removing whatever you may think could be dangerous for your deck. The other cards are just to enhance a given aspect if you need it, like Tendrils for when you need life or Sudden Death for when you NEED to kill Teferi (), or even another Totem to wrap things up against slower decks.
4.2. GW Weenie
20 Lands:
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Plains
6 Forest
30 Creatures:
4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
2 Shade of Trokair
2 Knight of the Sursi
4 Mire Boa
3 Hedge Troll
3 Soltari Priest
2 Serra Avenger
4 Calciderm
3 Magus of the Vineyard
1 Spectral Force
2 Icatian Javelineers
3 Sorceries:
3 Harmonize
1 Instants:
1 Sprout Swarm
6 Enchantments:
4 Gaea’s Anthem
2 Griffin Guide
Sideboard:
2 Riftsweeper
2 Dodecapod
2 Scryb Ranger
3 Spectral Force
4 Sunlance
2 Marshaling Cry
This deck avoids the pain of facing Sulfur Elemental by simply adding Gaea’s Anthem to the table, thus effectively countering the Elemental’s prejudicial ability. Then, it proceeds to bash away with very fast and very strong creatures (Mire Boa in an environment full of Urborg is AMAZING), that pound from every direction, either with flying, flanking, trampling or landwalking. The deck has both power to start beating, and to keep up late game with Harmonize to refill your hand, with Magus of the Vineyard helping pump out fast beats, Horizon Canopy letting you draw more cards when you no longer need a painland around, and the game-breaking Sprout Swarm, which can outright win a game on its own (specially with, say, 2 Anthems out?). Spectral Force may seem dangerous, but as an 8/8 trampler (possibly more) for 5 mana (really fast to drop with Magus), I just couldn’t help using it.
Sideboard contains a bit of strategically chosen cards, with Riftsweeper to get rid of Greater Gargadons, Aeon Chroniclers and whatever people start suspending with Jhoira WHILE having a decent body attached, AND able to re-shuffle a card someone took out from YOUR deck back. Dodecapod is REALLY good in the match-up against control, since discard IS part of the strategy usually taken. Sunlance helps you take out stuff like the annoying Keldon Marauders and Fortune Thieves, and the rest is a switchboard to Scryb and Force, but with a twist. Rather than just going only with Scryb Ranger, it also packs Marshaling Cry, which essentially helps Spectral Force as much as the Ranger, being less vulnerable to removal (since they’d have to take out the Forces), AND being able to be used more than once, or cycled for speed to be used from the graveayard once for a full blow. Also, notice it’s GREAT in a mirror match against other aggros and weenies, since your creatures are (or will be) big enough to sustain some attacks, and you’ll be giving them vigilance, allowing for a “free” swing.
4.3. RG Pandemonium
22 Lands:
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Terramorphic Expanse
9 Forest
5 Mountain
18 Creatures:
4 Magus of the Vineyard
4 Spectral Force
3 Force of Savagery
4 Groundbreaker
3 Timbermare
9 Sorceries:
3 Harmonize
4 Rift Bolt
2 Sudden Shock
7 Instants:
2 Sulfurous Blast
2 Avoid Fate
3 Ghostfire
4 Enchantments:
4 Pandemonium
Sideboard:
1 Quagnoth
2 Dodecapod
4 Primal Forcemage
4 Sparkspitter
4 Scryb Ranger
This one is ALSO pretty straightforward. The idea is to open with Magus of the Vineyard, and ramp up to a turn two Pandemonium. If it’s not possible, then cast turn two Harmonize to try and find Pandemonium as soon as possible. Then, things go on a really straight line, with cheap and big creatures to deal a lot of damage through Pandemonium when they come into play, and then swinging for another lot. It can kill REALLY fast, and you can protect your best creatures to swing again with a well cast Avoid Fate, or clear the board of weenies with Sulfurous Blast if things start to look ugly. There’s also some cheap removal to keep control of other creatures or to try and force in the last points of damage needed. Sideboard has Quagnoth against both control and discard, Dodecapod against Discard (which ALSO has great synergy with Pandemonium, mind you), a switchboard to make your deck a little faster, like Primal Forcemage and Sparkspitter, and it also has Scryb Ranger to go for the Scryb and Force strategy, if it fits the match-up.
5. Conclusion
Future Sight is not a game-breaking set, since it’s the third of a block (and, usually, the game-breaking set will be the first one, since it’ll rotate an older set entirely), but it surely adds some VERY powerful cards to the pool (seriously, how amazing is Pact of Negation anyway? I still can’t believe how good it is) enabling different strategies to take place, in my opinion, more than PC did. Definitely look forward for the Block tournaments, those will be quite some fun with a lot of different decks, since it’s a block in which you can try a whole bunch of combinations, even withouth all the multi-color sinergy Ravnica offered, but with a whole new array of strategies (heck, even POISON is possible!). Thanks for reading, and until then, bask in the glory of the seers, those who live the future now!  |
| Last edited by Felipe Musco on Tue May 15, 2007 5:11 pm; edited 1 time in totalI don't like YOU. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Anvar |
![]() Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 4:53 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 251
Location:
|
Really excellent article. I’m glad you take the time to write in such detail for Magic the Gathering, and I suspect that I will be coming back to this article for some time to come.
One small caveat: You didn’t write about my favourite card - Magus of the Future. Oh well, another time.
Still, you get a 5 from me.
Anvar |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Felipe Musco |
![]() Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 5:08 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 2434
Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
|
| I’ll add him up, but mind you, as one of the deceitful cards! Thanks for the comments! |
| I don't like YOU. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| physcosick |
![]() Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 1:36 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Posts: 229
Location:
|
I can see that you spent a long time to write this article and you thought a lot about it. I did read some of it and you said somethings I didn’t know...
I even saw something that I said to you in an AIM:
"On turn one, you can play Duress (you played a land, right?), or, on your opponent’s turn, you can play, say, a Force Spike!" and even tho it wasnt word for word... I can;t hate an article has has some kind of my thinking lying withing.
However, I got really bored really quick. It’s just the lists... lists of cards stating facts that we all know.
But you have deck lists... ok... i have some problems with your deck lists and their playability and some of your card choices. But I think that would be easier to discuss on AIM... if you want to for some reason.
I’m just getting tired of the same ol’ thing. I’m not sure how many times you have done these for new sets but I would like to see you get away from this setup and go with a new approach. |
Physco's Like List: Felipe Musco, Elflvr, yerkamig, theOmnipotentOne, AgentDrake
Physco's Ban List:
NBarden |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Felipe Musco |
![]() Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 2:28 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 2434
Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
|
I must say, even I got bored this time, and it’s about time I changed style. I’ll want to discuss the decks, for sure, as I’m still strating to playtest some of them, and they most certainly CAN be better. About style, I’ve decided on a new approach for when lorwyn comes out, and next month’s one, well, you already knows what it’s going to be, since it’s been a while since any good ones on the subject came out, right?
Glad you liked the article and actually learned a few things, if even you (a very experienced player) can get something out of it, then it was worth writing! Ok, as soon as I can we’ll talk tech!  |
| I don't like YOU. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| mr.otto |
![]() Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 7:52 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 31
Location:
|
I really liked your deck ideas, even if they might only work in casual rooms. I think that the card by card breakdown might have been too much (just like in my draft article  ) But showing how the cards interact with the cards in std now was a good read. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Felipe Musco |
![]() Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 10:18 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 18 May 2006
Posts: 2434
Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
|
| Thanks! I might but down on the card-list things from now on, and focus on just new, neat decklists. If I think an interaction is good enough to get mention, then I can probably build a deck around it. Also, I might leave a few card interactions, mostly for limited play, to better aid the players in making smart playes in Release events or so. |
| I don't like YOU. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| omnipotentnoel |
![]() Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 8:23 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 04 Mar 2007
Posts: 5
Location:
|
| Your article while useful was just a list of cards and some explanations of how they could be good. And a set of ok deck lists. You should probally stick with just refining the decklists and maby mentioning some good cards that people might not notice at first glance. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| mojo |
![]() Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 11:08 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 09 Aug 2006
Posts: 32
Location: your mom
|
| The article was well written and you put alot of effot and thought but i agree with its just a list of cards with some obvious facts but well written and deserves a 4. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Cobra |
![]() Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 2:22 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 1202
Location: Austin, TX, USA
|
Congratulations to Felipe Musco, who takes second place and $25 store credit in the May 2007 Magic: The Gathering Strategy Article Contest! 
First place ($50 credit), for the record, goes to physcosick, whose article on the "Type 4" format was accidentally deleted by an overzealous administrator. 
June’s contest will be the last one with prize support, so if you’re working on a masterpiece, be sure to submit it before June 30! |
| http://cobracards.com -- Web's best deals on Trading Card Games. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
All times are UTC - 4
|
|
Forum index » Magic: The Gathering » MTG Strategy Article Contest
