Arena Flash

Standard Arena Competitive Control GU (Simic) Midrange

Yams

Creature (23)

• 4x Brazen Borrower
• 4x Brineborn Cutthroat
• 4x Frilled Mystic
• 4x Nightpack Ambusher
• 3x Spectral Sailor
• 4x Wildborn Preserver

Land (24)

• 4x Breeding Pool
• 2x Castle Vantress
• 3x Fabled Passage
• 5x Forest
• 7x Island
• 3x Temple of Mystery

Instant (13)

• 3x Anticipate
• 2x Essence Capture
• 2x Negate
• 2x Quench
• 4x Sinister Sabotage

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The general goal of this deck is to either play a disruptive game against aggressive decks, acquiring two-for-ones from Frilled Mystic and growing Brineborn Cutthroat to nullify its threats until a Nightpack Ambusher can finish the game. Against control decks, Brineborn Cutthroat and Brazen Borrower are used more aggressively to close the game quickly.

The Cards

Lands Show

Basics and shock lands are a given, so I will only explain the more provocative decisions that I have made.

1-3x Castle Vantress

Between 4x Breeding Pool , 7x Island , and 3x Fabled Passage that could fetch islands, two copies of Castle Vantress may be comfortably added. I haven't activated it often, but this comes at virtually no cost, and can provide an edge in longer games to help break parity. A third theoretically could be added, but given the marginal benefit and that there are already six taplands for color fixing, I don't want to risk reducing my island count any further. It also creates some redundancy of Spectral Sailor without being vulnerable to removal.

2-3x Fabled Passage

Although I at first was hesitant to take this over Thornwood Falls due to the fact that you need to commit to a single color with Fabled Passage , it has grown on me. Having the land come in untapped on T4 is a big deal since that's when you want to get out your Frilled Mystic or Nightpack Ambusher , or double-spell with something smaller. I played with two for the win-every-card, but my ideal decklist will go up to 3.

3-4x Temple of Mystery

This is really what's left for color fixing now that Hinterland Harbor has rotated out of standard. You'll want about 10 dual lands in total, and between being able to pivot between colors turn-to-turn with all the double-color costs is very helpful, and this deck is very reliant on its curve, so the scry 1 is not negligible. A full playset could work, but I think if you're going with 3 Fabled Passage you could afford to cut a temple to help reduce the number of taplands you deal with in early plays.

0-2x Mystic Sanctuary

Originally I was very down on Mystic Sanctuary since it has some inherent power but didn't fit well with the deck. Now that the deck includes Fabled Passage , there is a lot more opportunity for islands to be on the battlefield. I currently don't have any since it requires a specific set of circumstances to work, but setting up a counterspell for your next topdeck with a land drop in the late game can really help keep your opponent out of the game.

Creatures Show

2-4x Spectral Sailor

This will seldom be a 1-drop, and I would discourage you from playing this in T1 because a 1/1 flier is barely worth a card and will most likely trade with any removal. I do like this on T3 since, barring instant-speed removal, it will at least threaten to cantrip after you untap. It can also become a threat very quickly if you resolve an Essence Capture while this is out. Since this is constructed, Spectral Sailor will likely die quickly to removal, so prioritize its ability when you don't need to answer any immediate threats, and enjoy that it draws removal away from your own actual threats. I've cut back on this a little due to crowding and since Castle Vantress duplicates its effect to some degree, but even now it can still be good for a large Wildborn Preserver activation.

4x Brineborn Cutthroat

This creature does a great job of deterring attackers since Anticipate and multiples of these can create combat tricks and clock in a beating. Unless your opponent is playing an important spell (such as a Growth Spiral in a Field of the Dead deck), prioritize getting this out first since it accumulates value very quickly as you double-spell on later turns.

4x Wildborn Preserver

This addition does a great job of helping the deck gain a higher threat count, since it has previously been over-reliant on Nightpack Ambusher . This can grow far more quickly than Brineborn Cutthroat and helps ensure you make the most out of your mana, but it has the drawback of being mana intensive. Whereas the cutthroat grows naturally as you curve out, you need to work a little behind curve to take advantage of this. Fortunately, it is not uncommon to have a couple of extra lands with Frilled Mystic or to drop your Brazen Borrower later due to the adventure. This also has reach, shoring up the deck's previous weakness to airborne threats.

3-4x Brazen Borrower

This is an all-star that beats out Faerie Duelist and offers a good replacement for Merfolk Trickster . The adventure on it covers this deck's inability to address resolved threats by forcing the opponent to recast into a counterspell, and the 3/1 body can both create a solid clock and stop flying threats, which were another weakness of this deck. The inability to block ground creatures is not very important since this deck has multiple creatures that can go tall or wide to do that job. Add on Essence Capture and this creates a fast clock.

I would also like to emphasize that you do not need to cast the Adventure. I know it can be tempting to maximize value by casting both ends, but sometimes you're against a deck like Field of the Dead that doesn't have many targets for the adventure, so you're best just beating down with a 3/1 flier as quickly as you can.

4x Nightpack Ambusher

This card will win you the game if it isn't answered. On an empty board, this creates a 3-turn clock and generates massive card advantage. The ability to leave 3/3 bodies at every end step also opens you up to a lot of aggressive attacks since a token alone is enough to deter attackers. In multiples this creature can be brutal; I would recommend resolving this as soon as your opponent passes to end-of-turn while you have the mana up.

4x Frilled Mystic

This is not as flashy as Nightpack Ambusher , but it generates immediate value and puts a stop to midrange strategies. Hard counters are very good in this deck, and the 3/2 body will most likely trade for something, and even if you need to chump block, you still likely got value from countering a spell. Like with Brazen Borrower , I would like to note that you are open to just drop this in and eat a 1/1 attacker or trade for an x/3 in very aggressive matchups since you will win 1-for-1 trades versus aggro decks, and stabilizing is more important than generating card advantage.

Spells Show

0-2x Unsummon

I've become very down on this after a few matches. Brazen Borrower typically gets the job done, and typically creating a threat such as Wildborn Preserver is a better answer than bouncing a creature. You may include this if you wish, but you really don't need Unsummon when you can pay 2 mana instead to get a 3/1 flier on the back end.

0-3x Anticipate

This spell is simple: it gives you card selection. If you're stuck on three lands and need a forest for Nightpack Ambusher , you can grab that. If you just need a threat or Brineborn Cutthroat , you get that. It's a very versatile spell you can use at EOT if your opponent doesn't play anything worth countering or if you need to dig for an answer in the late game.

0-4x Once Upon a Time

This spell can be used to replace Anticipate and a land (you can afford to drop a land since having this early lets you dig for one and curve out). The pros for this are that it digs deeper and basically guarantees that you get a T2 Wildborn Preserver or Brineborn Cutthroat due to its free casting clause. The downside is that you cannot grab a counterspell with this. I've found that this deck is light enough on counterspells that it is worthwhile to use Anticipate so that you can grab a counter in a pinch when you have 4 mana up. However, I think you can create a build with Once Upon a Time

0-2x Quench

I'm not a huge fan of Quench , but it's a necessary card for game 1, especially in a BO1 world. You cannot guarantee that you'll have the right answer for a given matchup, so this provides Sinister Sabotage 5 & 6 while being slightly cheaper. This is a rough topdeck later in the game, but fortunately most late games tend to involve tapping out Dance in the Manse or Hydroid Krasis , so control decks are surprisingly susceptible to soft counters such as this one.

2-3x Negate

This spell is pretty straightforward: stop removal, planeswalkers, and impactful artifacts/enchantments. Adventures make me willing to push up my Negate count because even mono-color aggro includes some creatures such as Murderous Rider that come with an adventure to counter. Note that if you counter an Adventure spell, the creature goes to the graveyard, so the back end cannot be cast, making Negate very good with Eldraine.

2-3x Essence Capture

This is color intensive, but very worthwhile. With big Teferi rotating out along with checklands, I expect few creatureless decks in this Standard. Even Field of the Dead decks run Arboreal Grazer and Golos, Tireless Pilgrim . Additionally, the +1/+1 counter turns our flying creatures into big threats.

4x Sinister Sabotage

This card is your go-to hard counter. It comes down on T3, gives some ability to manipulate your topdeck, and on T5+ still leaves mana for a minor spell. It's also important that this fills the 3-drop slot since this deck is heavy on 2- and 4-drops, so it can be awkward to have an odd number of lands without Wildborn Preserver .

0-1x No Escape

This is worth mentioning since Essence Capture is color-intensive, but the scry is less useful than the counter, and the extra mana is prohibitive. I would like to be able to double-spell on T5, which requires a good number of 2-drops. This is an option though.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 20 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.58
Tokens	Human 2/2 G, On an Adventure, Wolf 2/2 G