Is aggro always ideal entering a new standard format?
Standard forum
Posted on May 1, 2013, 1:04 a.m. by E_raw94
With DGM hitting standard soon I was wondering if going aggro was a great way to attack the new standard format. I was told DGM was supposed to slow things down, but I also heard that going aggro is almost always favorable when a new set comes out. Any thoughts or cards in DGM to suggest?
The Doctor says... #3
I'm not even changing my deck in the slightest when DGM comes out. People are going to be experimenting. Why experiment the first day when you have something that you know is strong?
May 1, 2013 2:09 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #4
I second what Demarge said. This is just a small set, so people will more-or-less just be tweaking the decks they have. Some new decks will come about, but a lot of the good ol' boys will still be around. Pure aggro won't have an advantage until rotation when control has to figure out how to rebuild.
Control decks are built around shutting down an entire metagame, and playing for the long haul. It takes a long time to refine that type of deck, so aggro often takes over early in a block's life cycle, before the people building control decks know exactly what to hate against.
May 1, 2013 2:15 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #5
That being said, some of the best decks in Standard right now are pretty heavy on the aggro. Naya Blitz can have some extremely explosive starts.
May 1, 2013 2:15 a.m.
Keep in mind that this is a small set, mostly with cards that are narrowed in effects and/or colors.
May 1, 2013 2:17 a.m.
Ahh i see now. I guess it'll depend on the meta at my place. But thanks for the input, i look forward to polishing my deck for future FNM's!
May 1, 2013 2:47 a.m.
detentionsphere says... #8
This is mostly only true for post-rotation metas, eg when RTR came out. SInce there is a small card pool and peole will have to exeriment, a fast, consistent aggro deck punishes those people. This is not as true for new sets as established decks may only change a little.
May 1, 2013 2:48 a.m.
Are the same types of decks dominating FNM's right now? Or does it also depend on the metagame in my area? And what types, such as Naya and what not? Sorry, i'm really curious and getting kinda competitive recently.
May 1, 2013 3:05 a.m.
KrazyCaley says... #10
@E_raw94 - It's a pretty healthy meta. Aggro, mostly Naya Blitz and Gruul, are the dominant archetypes, but Drownyard and/or Superfriends control has a large chunk, as does Junk Rites and Jund. Lot of good rogue decks around too.
May 1, 2013 8:25 a.m.
Our lgs is full of rogue decks. I've seen from white aggro to red black control. But my friend just built the aristocrats, I'm currently running Esper control, and most of the people here run rg aggro, or some form of control.
May 1, 2013 10:24 a.m.
As for the dgm release, I'll be adding in Pilfered Plans and the new promo plains. And as for Ral zarek, I suggest trading him right away if you pull him because his price will probably settle around the 12 dollar mark.
May 1, 2013 10:26 a.m.
Because Ral Zarek isn't that good. Even his abilities in a vacuum aren't that good, and that's why he'll just be some mediocre Planeswalker at best, like Chandra, the Firebrand .
May 1, 2013 2:29 p.m.
He's a casual and limited bomb, but he probably won't make it into constructed because of the meta. We'll see what happens when Liliana, Sorin, and Tamiyo rotate out. Until then, trade him off.
May 1, 2013 7:36 p.m.
ShadowLand says... #16
In a standard format, unless we get a good PW with M14, which by all accounts looks to be another Chandra almost certainly, than in my opinion, Vraska is going to be the best one out there as far as real playability. And even she isn't that great. Gideon is good if you are playing a very specific type of play, but all around, not that great either. I might say that Domri and Vraska might seem some friends time together in decks as well, as Domri hits pretty hard as well.
May 1, 2013 9:15 p.m.
Domri Rade is the best PW in the RTR block, by far. He's not insanely powerful, but his low cost and turn-to-turn utility makes him strong.
May 1, 2013 11:08 p.m.
hiddengibbons says... #19
A new set coming out doesn't radically change the format, it simply offers more effective/efficient cards to replace ones people are already using. However, it also depends on the deck you play too. If you play an extremely versatile deck, you probably only switch a few cards and keep playing it. If some sort of hate card comes in that potentially wrecks you, it might be time to consider playing something else. I think also the deck to play when a new set gets released depends on your local meta too. When a block rotates out is when the format sees changes. It is my belief that the best thing to play after a rotation is Burn. Its a good way to sort of see how the land lays and what people are playing while simultaneously being a contender. Burn decks have suffered recently due to Rhox Faithmender , Thragtusk , and Blind Obedience . I'll probably play a burn deck when the Innistrad and M13 stuff rotates out, assuming they don't reprint Thrag and Rhox.
Demarge says... #2
Technically adding more sets will only change existing archetypes a bit and might add one or two new ones, it isn't until standard rotates that there will be a new standard, but usually it is easiest to be playing aggro at that time.
May 1, 2013 1:55 a.m.