Assault Formation 4-0'd a MTGO Daily
Standard forum
Posted on April 6, 2015, 5:39 p.m. by JWiley129
Now Daily Events aren't the top competition in the world, but this deck went 4-0 in a Daily Event.
Either A.) This pilot got insanely lucky, B) this deck is good, or C) it's just a weird deck.
I like it though I'm personally brewing a simic splashing black assault formation build. There's enough ways in those colors to dig for your threats and pieces I feel.
April 6, 2015 6:10 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #5
ChiefBell care to elaborate?
I honestly think this deck is trash and had a great pilot who got lucky. The mainboard is devoid of interaction and the linear strategy is far from powerful. Trying to go over the top with Rally the Ancestors and Purphoros, God of the Forge seems laughable. The sideboard makes very little sense. Chalk this one up to variance.
April 6, 2015 6:57 p.m.
Pretty much everything you said. Being able to go 4-0 in any event whilst running absolutely no interaction is just..... well it sounds like a horribly dull format.
April 6, 2015 7 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #7
ChiefBell this is very much an outlier and not a representation of the format as a whole in any way. Most decks have been heavy on the interaction and light on threats recently. We just got a big set and the aggressive strategies are starting to flesh themselves out, the reactive strategies are still figuring out what is important and how to trade cards efficiently. This list certainly capitalized on that fact. Standard is far from dull at the moment in my opinion.
April 6, 2015 7:29 p.m.
ChiefBell - Some would argue that Modern is a format which rewards non-interactive decks. And since Modern is your baby, it feels like complaining about a deck's lack of interactivity is a little hypocritical. Also Rasta_Viking29 is correct, the control and midrange decks still haven't figured out what the right threats are yet, so they don't know what the right answers are. This deck is certainly cute, but hardly representative of a larger metagame.
April 6, 2015 8:29 p.m.
What? All of the top modern decks contain interaction, even heavy aggro decks like affinity contain interaction. The only one I can think of that doesn't is bloom titan. I don't think having 1 mana exile spells can be indicative of a format that rewards non interactive decks.
April 7, 2015 3:27 a.m.
ChiefBell - This is clearly off topic, but: Infect wants to ignore your opponent and count to 10; Burn ignores your opponent and counts to 20 in multiples of 3; Bloom titan is super non-interactive; and that's three of the top decks with little to no interaction. The main interactive decks are Abzan and Twin because of Thoughtseize and twin's counterspells.
April 7, 2015 3:32 a.m.
I'll stop derailing but I would just mention I said 'top' decks. Infect isn't. Burn DOES interact. Fairly often uses bolt as removal for lifegain engines and holds up Skullcrack. Sideboards in Destructive Revelry too. But you're correct regarding bloom.
The specific thing that irritates me about standard is just the general lack of any impetus to run removal. There aren't any fast or semi-fast combo decks that force you to play removal or insta lose. It doesn't strike me as that healthy because it seems as if the format slows down - with no pressure to keep things fast and streamlined.
April 7, 2015 4:21 a.m.
Affinity is very much non-interactive.
It just empties it's hand, and swings fast and heavy with threats that are hard to get around...
In fact, it's all about not interacting. - Etched Champion to avoid all colors, Cranial Plating so it doesn't have to care which creature you block... it just moves the plating, Arcbound Ravager for the same thing... anything you try to kill, it just turns into +1/+1 tokens and moves them onto whichever creature you aren't blocking.
The only interaction it has are a few cards it pulls in from the sideboards.
April 7, 2015 7:53 a.m.
Depends on how many Galvanic Blast they run but it really is a deck that can, and will, interact when absolutely necessary. The point is - it has a safety net. The linked deck above doesn't. I feel it's really important to have a playset of cards that just enable you to interact if you really have to.
Obviously a lot of aggro decks avoid interaction whenever possible, and that's what makes the above even worse. It's not even aggro. It's not a fast deck. It's actually pretty slow. And it STILL doesn't have interaction.
April 7, 2015 7:58 a.m.
2x Abzan Charm
1x Crux of Fate
1x End Hostilities
4x Thoughtsieze
1x Dromoka's Command
9 cards in the sideboard that are very interactive.
That's more than most Affinity decks run in their sideboard. (a lot more)
And as far as the number of 'Galvanic Blast' they run...
Some run none at all.
April 7, 2015 8:19 a.m.
alexthegreat38 says... #15
@ChiefBell: It personally strikes me as very healthy that there aren't any decks that force Standard players to play removal or insta-lose. Modern has more combo decks for obvious reasons of card selection, which keeps the annoying possibility of "insta-losing" always present. I don't think it's unhealthy that most Standard decks are pretty much fair decks (except the ones that run Siege Rhino, LOL).
April 7, 2015 8:26 a.m.
It is yeh but they're all packed in that sideboard. I'd like to whip em out and get them in that main board. Just to be ready for whatever happens. Conceding a game because you just can't interact is really irritating. It's also not the most sensible way to play in many cases.
Some affinity decks run none at all, but more do. I could probably find some abzan decks that don't run taz but just because of that I wouldn't say 'this deck doesn't run taz'. Lots of things happen in magic and it's possible to run decks a variety of ways, for that reason it's usually worth looking at the current average or standardised version. Pointing to the exceptions is usually not that useful. What do you think?
notALLaffinitydecks
April 7, 2015 8:38 a.m.
alexthegreat38: I don't really believe that a healthy format is one where you don't have to be wary of what the opponent is doing. A meta that keeps you guessing and on your toes seems lot more healthy (ie. diverse, with different archetypes well represented) where one where you don't have to bother mainboarding any interaction because meh, "what could the opponent possibly do"?
April 7, 2015 8:45 a.m.
While I do agree that the deck may be better with a few of those spells in the mainboard, I think you have just argued against yourself. (I also agree that it doesn't seem like that great of a deck, I think it did as well as it did mainly due to it being a 'rogue' deck.)
"Pointing to the exceptions is usually not that useful." - would lead me to believe you feel people should look at the deck concept, and not just this specific list, in order to view the potential of the deck. - However, you have not bothered to mention what you think of the deck concept, just that you do not like the lack of interaction. (and that some decks doing well in Standard without interaction is a part of why you don't like Standard)
My intent for pointing out some Affinity decks that do not use any interaction is to show that not every deck requires interaction, including the ones you think do require it.
I also find it interesting that you use Affinity as an example of a deck that runs interaction, even though it sometimes doesn't, and generally has only 2-3 interactive spells.... and then you use Bloom as an example of a deck that doesn't, even though I have not seen a single deck list which does not run Slaughter Pact and at least 3x Tolaria West to fetch it if needed.
April 7, 2015 9:04 a.m.
I wasn't pointing to it (affinity) specifically, sorry for that unclearness. I was saying 'here's an example of a deck you would expect to run absolutely no removal - but it does'. I'm not familiar with Bloom but I'm guessing it runs pact due to Hive Mind combo which is common backup.
April 7, 2015 9:45 a.m.
Actually, it's quite the opposite... it runs Hive Mind because of the prevalence of Pact spells.
It started off running Summoner's Pact so it could search for Primeval Titan... then included Tolaria West for the ability to search for lands and the Summoner's Pact... then it added Pact of Negation to help protect the combo, and Slaughter Pact in case of 'must answer' creatures. - It was a natural flow to add Hive Mind as an alternative win condition after so many Pacts were in the deck.
April 7, 2015 10:07 a.m.
So are you saying it went:
Pact spells -> might as well add hive mind
Not
Hive mind -> might as well add more pact spells
?
Because it seems suprising to go for Pact of Negation before you went for like Mana Leak or a more conventional option (assuming this is BEFORE the addition of hive mind).
April 7, 2015 10:18 a.m.
Also I'm not sure the above linked deck has an archetype so I couldn't really compare it to anything specific? Doran in modern is kinda similar (it also runs removal though!) haha.
April 7, 2015 11:09 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #23
I like standard when a new block is introduced. Once the second set of a block becomes introduced, I've gotten tired of it as the innovation and uniqueness aren't there anymore. It's the same few decks over and over. So play as much as one can at the very beginning, then just wait till the next block comes out.
April 7, 2015 11:17 a.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #24
To address the main topic, this is certainly a prime example of a "linear deck" (which oftentimes lack interaction). As such, it's going to have the advantage most of the time in game one, but it's very easy to sideboard against.
The pilot was obviously lucky to not run into Enchantment hate, which can happen in a 4-round tournament. If a linear deck doesn't have to play against cards that hose it, then it absolutely has a good chance to run the table. However, it wouldn't be so fortunate to sidestep its weaknesses in a bigger event with more rounds like a GP.
TheRedMage says... #2
That's pretty cool.
The Purphoros, God of the Forge/Rally the Ancestors package seems like the pinnacle of cuteness (and an unnecessary 4th color) in a deck that is already pretty cute. Would probably cut those and play some copies of Courser of Kruphix, maybe some Nyx-Fleece Rams. Yeah, 5/5 for
seems decent.
April 6, 2015 5:47 p.m.