Making things difficult for our opponent. Whenever possible. Then getting #value.
Mostly we want to get our opponents to have to pay "taxes" to attack us or to cast spells, and then make their threats useless with our sweet removal package.
What makes this deck powerful is the synergy of the parts, not the individual cards.
The basic shell is the Archangel of Tithes +
Vryn Wingmare
package. Their spells cost more, their creatures can't attack or block as easily... it REALLY slows them down. In multiples, they can shut down some decks completely, and allow a slow grind to victory.
The two-drops:
Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit - A lot of your dudes are small. She buffs your smallest guy, ensuring that your always can make threats bigger and badder. Buffing wingmare right off the bat is excellent value.
Knight of the White Orchid - We win by going wide most games. Knight allows us to sandbag a land drop early to play two threats the next turn instead. He's a ridiculous beater, especially on the draw, and first strike means he won't die as easily during combat.
Consul's Lieutenant
- Efficient and great early beater. Gets immediate buffs from Anafenza, much like Wingmare does, however first strike often makes him better because he can trade up. The renown ability is icing on the cake, especially when you are swinging for lethal in the late game.
Hidden Dragonslayer
- Makes for some sweet surprise tech, and kills all the big dudes in the format. Additionally, being able to flip and buff itself for 2 mana makes him the cheapest removal spell in the format when we have Wingmare out.
Utility, and Winning the game:
Reflector Mage - the main reason we're running blue. Since adding the blue splash this deck has gotten WAY better. Gets rid of tokens, can be played pre-combat to push damage through, and can sometimes time-walk someone if they've only got one card in hand. I'd argue he's one of the best cards in standard.
Dispel - Just today (2/20/16) I made the choice to run a one-of Dispel in the mainboard, and twice it won me the game. the Rally/Collected Company deck is, IMO, the deck to beat in Standard, so having one very, very strong answer to those back-breaking cards that's still flexible enough to get rid of other things is very valuable. I might test with 2 mb next week, however I'm never going to run less than 1.
Wingmate Roc - We win by attacking, simple as that. Because we fold easier to some of the red-heavy decks in the format, lifegain is relevant, and it allows us to put six power on the board on two evasive bodies.
Linvala, the Preserver
- She's like Timely Reinforcements, stapled onto a big flying beater. I've been having troubles when this deck gets behind, and Linvala really helps shore this up.
Removal:
Celestial Flare
,
Gideon's Reproach
, Immolating Glare,
Silkwrap
. In a format that mainly relies on combat damage to win, it's fine that removal requires a creature to be attacking or blocking. Because of this, the best removal in Standard is, IMO, in white, and a mix of all these spells is the most flexible to do it.
I think here it's important to not the reason I'm NOT playing Stasis Snare, and that's because it costs 3. When your Wingmare oppression is happening, one mana counts for a lot. Our removal package is a small bit less flexible, but I personally feel okay with making this concession, though I may test a one-of Sunken Hollow and a Murderous Cut.
Sideboard:
Arashin Cleric comes in for matchups like red decks where we can get burned out or lose quickly. 3 toughness isn't bad, either.
Hallowed Moonlight is another fantastic card against the Rally/Collected Company decks of the format.
Kytheon, Hero of Akros
is something I'm on the fence about. I bring him in for games where I expect it to get grindy, which this deck already does really well. They used to be in the mainboard, however I found them to be not all that useful in genearl. I've also been bringing him in for matchups where I have many bad cards to take out, but not enough good ones to put in (weak sauce excuse, I know).
Mizzium Meddler
is excellent in this build. We want to bring him into removal-heavy matchups, or to bring a surprise blocker and trigger bolster. Our counterspells are for the haymaker spells, so having a flash 1/4 body is really useful. He also serves to save your most important creatures from removal, or to live through much of the best removal in the format, such as
Wild Slash
.
Radiant Purge
does a lot against Anafenza of the Foremost decks, Rhino, etc.
Similarly,
Surge of Righteousness
helps us to shore up the removal package, and gains us life. Red/black decks drain a lot of life in Standard, so gaining 2 while killing a threat is a good plan, imo.
Valorous Stance - kills big stuff, protects the important stuff.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!
UPDATES!!!!
Now that Frontier is a casual format (M15-present Standard-Legal sets), I figured I'd update this list for shits and giggles. It was a ton of fun to pilot, and will get tons of new weapons.
