Returning to Standard
Standard forum
Posted on Oct. 15, 2014, 3:51 p.m. by CanadianShinobi
I've been playing Modern for little over a year now, and to be frank, I'm a little bored. Competitive play is beyond my reach right now, so I figured I'd move back to Standard to change it up. If anyone could provide me with some insight into some of the decks that are currently being played I'd appreciate it. Budget isn't a big concern.
I'm typically a control player, but I also enjoy games of attrition, so Azban might be an option.
CommanderOfBolas says... #3
Abzan has a lot of options right now. There are aggro decks and midrange decks (some of which are a bit more controlly) in those colors. Other popular decks right now are Jeskai Wins (basically a burn deck with Mantis Rider , Goblin Rabblemaster , and Seeker of the Way )
U/B Control: There are a few variants of this deck. Some run Ashiok as a wincon, some use Prognostic Sphinx , and some use Perilous Vault as a board sweeper. They are generally 1 for 1 decks that use Jace's Ingenuity and Dig Through Time to refill.
Jeskai Ascendancy combo: This deck relies on the ascendency, Sylvan Caryatid , Retraction Helix , Altar of the Brood , and a 0 drop artifact to mill the opponent infinitely. It isn't hugely stable, but has the potential to combo on turn 3.
These are probably the most popular decks, but as you can imagine, there are plenty of other decks out there
October 15, 2014 4:04 p.m.
Siege Rhino is the future.
Just kidding. Well, partially. Out of the top 8, 3 were abzan, 3 were jeskai, one was combo and one was UB control. In the top 4, 3 were abzan and 1 was jeskai. The winner of the PT was Abzan midrange.
Basically, Abzan seems really powerful. It's got a lot of reach and powerhouse cards like Siege Rhino , Hero's Downfall , Elspeth, Sun's Champion , Wingmate Roc , Abzan Charm , etc.
Jeskai tempo/wins/burn uses cards like Seeker of the Way , Mantis Rider , Jeskai Charm , Stoke the Flames , Goblin Rabblemaster , Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker , etc.
Control doesn't seem to be doing too well, but the list in the top 8 was UB using 1-for-1 spells to get to the late game, often using Perilous Vault , AEtherspouts , Prognostic Sphinx , Pearl Lake Ancient , Jace's Ingenuity , Dig Through Time besides its kill spells/counterspells (like Disdainful Stroke ).
There is the Jeskai Ascendancy combo deck floating around. In Standard it's not amazing but still poses a threat and can do a turn 3 win I believe. If you see Burning Anger , Kiora's Follower , Dragon Mantle , Retraction Helix , that's probably the deck.
There are plenty of other decks but those were at the top 8.
October 15, 2014 4:09 p.m.
Most of the Jeskai Tempo players from Pro-tour Khans had a transformation sideboard into a control deck. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBW_m7m-Grw)
If you reverse that, why not consider building a white/blue/red control deck? You can use Keranos, God of Storms , Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and Elspeth, Sun's Champion as win conditions, while Dig Through Time provides card advantage.
These colors have a lot of good anwers against a variety of threats (Devouring Light , Disdainful Stroke , Reprisal , End Hostilities , Dissolve , Lightning Strike , Banishing Light ...) which ones to choose, depends solely on your tastes.
If you're willing to go deeper into blue, you will probably drop Chandra in favor for something like Jace's Ingenuity , because she's bad with countermagic.
If you're more interested in Chandra, Pyromaster granting you ressources, enchantments like Banishing Light , Suspension Field and Chained to the Rocks are prefered.
October 15, 2014 4:15 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #6
Well, I think I'm going to run with Sultai Control. It has a nice feel to it. I was considering Jeskai Tempo, but I have a playset of Polluted Delta that I really want to use. Hopefully something comes of it and it doesn't get squashed once the next set comes along.
October 15, 2014 10:39 p.m.
Why do you run green? Sultai Charm , Sidisi, Brood Tyrant , Sultai Ascendancy ? I guess Sylvan Caryatid ?
October 15, 2014 11:55 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #8
@ Goody Green provides a few more options as far as I can tell. Courser of Kruphix is a brilliant card to have on hand for one. Sultai Charm is extremely versatile and while I'm not a fan of Sylvan Caryatid it does do a good job for being a wall or a mana dork.
nighthawk101 says... #2
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/standard/full#paper
I personally use MTGGoldfish for metagame information.
Taking a look, we've got...
-Jeskai Tempo
-G/x devotion mostly B and R
-RDW, as always
-Abzan midrange and aggro
-B/U/x control mostly W G or no splash
October 15, 2014 4:04 p.m.