Mardu Walker Control (KLD Standard)

Standard Zaueski

SCORE: 40 | 53 COMMENTS | 7178 VIEWS | IN 9 FOLDERS


_Delta_ says... #1

I think I like this one the most, then Grixis, then Jeskai.

September 8, 2016 5:02 p.m.

DanLane says... #2

Mainboarding obliteration?

September 8, 2016 6:43 p.m.

Zaueski says... #3

Its actually Lost Legacy but yes

September 8, 2016 7:51 p.m.

multimedia says... #4

Zaueski, wow that's a lot of Planeswalkers, haha +1

Filigree Familiar could be nice defensive creature, gain 2 life and draw a card, for your strategy you get him back with Liliana, the Last Hope -2 ability and since he is colorless it's easier to cast him with Chandra's +1 create mana ability. You have so many double color requirements , and for your Walkers I think 26x land would be better as well as including Evolving Wilds to better fix your colors for the mid game to late game which your deck is aiming for.

Consider using at least one Gearhulk maindeck either Cataclysmic Gearhulk or Noxious Gearhulk to at least have a target for Nahiri, the Harbinger's ultimate.

Good luck with your deck.

September 11, 2016 9:12 p.m.

Zaueski says... #5

multimedia: I've been considering going up to 24 lands, but I wouldn't do 26. I can't rely on always having a walker out for card draw and getting that many lands off the top would be bad. I'm still testing the consistency of my colors before I go and add in Evolving Wilds. Also, I've found that people play in terror of Nahiri, the Harbinger's ultimate in game one, then they see I don't care about the ultimate and it is a million times easier to reach the ultimate for Cataclysmic Gearhulk in game 2. That may still change but so far shes only there for card draw and control. Filigree Familiar seems pretty good, but I'm not sure if I have a spot for him yet.

September 11, 2016 9:35 p.m.

EmblemMan says... #7

You will need to add lands at LEAST 25 if not 26 you have no hard card draw its all built in your walkers and the top end ones that you will never be able to cast if you cant draw a good mix of lands and spells. Plus as a control deck you will want to be able to play multiple spells in a turn like a walker and removal or 2 removal etc. I dont really know how I feel about Kambal in a control shell he just doesnt seem to do enough but that is up to you. Lost legacy just is not good main deck neither was infinite obliteration unless you are going into a larger tournament and know what you will play against even then you would only want like 1 at most. Incendiary flow is probably just worse than Grasp of Darkness but that is only if you think you can handle the double black. I also just would not bother with things like Processor Assault playing worse cards to try to exile things and then play a Roast just isnt good enough you are better off just main decking some Ruinous Path. I would also cut down 1 Anguished Unmaking you have some slow life gain which is nice but 3 damage is a lot and having 3 of them can just kill you against aggressive decks.

September 12, 2016 10:23 a.m.

Zaueski says... #8

EmblemMan:

  1. Roast is rotating out, so it isn't an option. Processor Assault is something that I'm testing at the moment because of how much exile based removal I have and being able to hit 5 toughness creatures which is generally the top end of standard.

  2. 25 and 26 lands, according to hypergeometric distribution says that you will get mana flooded way too often. Unless, you have a mathematical reason for going up to that much I'm not doing that. Next.

  3. What aggressive decks? This is standard, home of the midrange grind. Anguished Unmaking is the best method of removing enemy planeswalkers, so its a necessary evil.


What do you guys think about the red gearhulk Combustible Gearhulk? I'm thinking I'll put it into the sideboard instead of Burn from Within but I may try to find a spot in the main for it.

September 13, 2016 12:41 p.m.

divinagon says... #9

I'd probably have Kambal, Consul of Allocation in the sideboard, still at three, and swap him w/ Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. I'd also maindeck the Ruinous Paths and sideboard the Lost Legacy and drop the Legacys down to 2. As for the Combustible Gearhulk I'd definitely find a spot for it to target w/ Nahiri, The Harbringer. It's just too good to be ignored, and it would be a great attacker.

September 13, 2016 12:55 p.m.

GoodEYEsn1pr says... #10

Oath of chandra is an upgrade over incendiary flow and i would find space for oath of liliana.

September 13, 2016 4:12 p.m.

GoodEYEsn1pr says... #11

also radiant flames in the side board

September 13, 2016 4:14 p.m.

Homura_Akemi says... #12

Excellent deck +1! Creamed my Torch of Rebellion while playtesting them.

September 13, 2016 9:12 p.m.

spacetear says... #13

I don't have any advice (sorry!), but you get my +1 for your well-thought defense of this list from the commenters above and the fact that Mardu rarely gets any love in Standard. Best of luck in testing.

September 15, 2016 7:52 p.m.

MenacingBunny says... #14

Do you think Oath of Gideon can make a two of in here? That extra loyalty is very strong with Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.

September 15, 2016 9:54 p.m.

EmblemMan says... #15

Alright sorry it took so long to reply, I did not say to play roast I was saying you are playing unnecessary exile effects to get UP TO a roast which is not good enough for the effort you have to put into it. I cannot mathematically defend the land numbers but I still stand by it because you will still want a small excess of land to be able to cast multiple spells in a turn especially since all of your non land cards are powerful and you just want to curve out but that is up to you. Also evaluating standard saying that it is the home to grindy mid range decks and saying there are no aggressive decks is a false interpretation of the format. Half of the standard time span was dominated by mono white and bant humans which is the more aggressive version of bant company and is easily defined as an aggro deck.

Finally, it looks like you took some of the advice and that is good the deck looks a lot better the only thing I want to add is you should probably play some maindeck Fumigate because you play basically 0 creatures and the main way your deck loses is people going wide because basically everything in your deck is just spot removal. OR you could play Radiant Flames which someone else mentioned which would probably be better but I just think fumigate is a much better come back card if you wipe and play sorin afterward. Another card to consider but definitely not with that many main deck Anguished Unmaking is Painful Truths. Without things like Read the Bones in standard card draw is actually pretty limited. Card advantage is not but card draw is and I think painful truths will see a small come back if 3 color decks become popular.

Anyway the deck looks a lot better and hopefully it continues to evolve because I think mardu has a lot of potential.

September 15, 2016 10:14 p.m.

MeatMancer says... #16

While I think this deck is amazing and will most likely do very well I feel that it also emphasizes something which is a problem with the game at the moment. Planeswalkers are just so overwhelmingly powerful. Most of the time they are presenting an immediate threat and most are able to protect themselves in some way. I personally love to play control and midrange and I feel that the meta for those archetypes have come to rely on planeswalkers so much because of how reliable and full of value they are generally. They also tend to be really expensive which is my real quarrel with them but I think that we need to go into a block, a whole standard rotation even, with no planeswalkers. Force the players to rely on cards which don't have to be a mythic rarity (or the $ rarity) to make decks that are competitive and fun to pilot. Magic to me was always about having variety and rng which combine into a fun experience in which the top dollar deck has a chance to be beaten by little Timmy's first blue black control deck (another story for another time). I want to go to a standard which doesn't rely solely on having boatloads of spending money to win FMN every week. I love it when homebrews top at any event, decks like UG Crush which are gimmicky and used cards which were really inexpensive to create a fun yet competitive deck.

September 15, 2016 10:39 p.m.

Zaueski says... #17

I added in Radiant Flames to the mainboard. I don't think I can run any maindeck Fumigates because of its cost being prohibitively high. Anguished Unmaking is already sapping my life as you pointed out EmblemMan so I don't think I can afford Painful Truths against potential aggro match ups.

I'm really liking the form that this deck is starting to take and my changes will be fewer and fewer from here on in as it begins to morph into its completed form.

September 15, 2016 11:46 p.m.

I love it....Mardu love is always good...I love it +1

September 17, 2016 1:25 p.m.

First off you have a total of 5 Radiant Flames in your deck. Second I do agree with going up to 25 lands. As a B/W Control player, I had 24 and it wasn't consistent enough, plus you have a 3rd color in here and 25 has been the perfect number for me. Thirdly, you really should consider having one Fumigate in the main. I understand your hesitancy, but without Languish and with Radiant Flames not catching everything, you need some way to catch all when you need to catch up.Fourth, aggro is probably going to eat this deck alive with a decent draw. You only have sorcery speed removal for turn 2 and are not playing Grasp of Darkness, and Radiant Flames may not be the answer with so many cheap pump spells this set has to offer. You have a total of 15 potentially coming into play tapped lands so you may be unable to cast things on curve as well, which is an aggro players wettest dream. AUTHORITY OF THE CONSULS is a fantastic card that stymies creature based decks and allows you to have a bit more time for your own setup without potentially getting hit early and often and gains you much needed life. Blessed Alliance is an underrated card that is a great turn 2 removal with the potential for lifegain later on. I also think you only need to run 2 Anguished Unmaking and 2 Ruinous Path and possibly replace them with 2 Murder. Path is great but also is sorcery speed.All in all I really like this deck but feel you may have to play too much of catchup with all the potential tap lands and very little early removal. All of these are merely suggestions of course, and you can do with them what you will, but I feel a bit more tweaking will make this deck that much better. +1

September 17, 2016 1:36 p.m.

Zaueski says... #20

rochdalekilla9, I really like the Authority of the Consul idea, that card had completely slipped my mind. I definitely agree that I should try to find room for at least 3 copies of it. And thanks for the Radiant Flames catch, I'll fix that.

Everyone keeps saying to maindeck Fumigate so let me explain why I haven't yet. With Collected Company and Languish rotating, heavy creature horde decks won't be as popular and the ones that are popular will be comfortable with keeping their toughness low because there isn't Languish. The death of CoCo means that the only other premier horde deck is zombies which all cap their toughness at about 3. Also G/W Tokens may try to get a comeback as well but Flames is still a sweeper to them. The only aggro deck that looks like it is beginning to form from Kaladesh is R/W Vehicles. And most of the creatures proper I've seen all have less than 3 toughness. This wide aggro deck that everyone is so worried about doesn't exist anymore in the mainstream so on the off chance that someone cracked the formula it'll be a fringe deck and maindecking cards for fringe instances is bad. If the meta shapes up and shows me that I'm dead wrong then I'll change it then. As for now though my removal suite and Authority of the Consul should be more than enough.

September 17, 2016 2:12 p.m.

beckerr says... #21

I would suggest cutting the numbers on a few of your planeswalkers for room for other things. From what I saw you had no early game really. From my experience with playing b/w control/super friends I would go with 26 lands. You need some card draw in the main deck. Painful truth seems decent.

September 18, 2016 6:27 p.m.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/inner-voice-of-reason-the-perfection-of-removal/ check out my version. I do like this one as well.

September 19, 2016 12:03 a.m.

hamiam says... #23

Awesome +1

September 22, 2016 11:57 p.m.

divinagon says... #24

Not at the moment. Fragmentize is great and is much better than Natural State even if it's a sorcery, and you can't use the latter anyways.

September 23, 2016 11:04 a.m.

Lockphs says... #25

My buddy has a similar deck, since the begging of shadows, through play testing I have 3 things

  1. Oath of lili is nasty for your wallet number

  2. Dark-dwellers and recursion, nuff said

  3. New Chandra sucks in this type of deck, I've seen it, better to have more removal or the dark-dwellers

September 24, 2016 9:43 a.m.

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