The State of Standard #3
Standard forum
Posted on Dec. 19, 2013, 11:11 a.m. by Wabbbit
Ok guys, I'm back. Finally. I've been brainstorming for ideas for this episode, honestly haha. I figure the best way to go into the new year is with a recap! Lets jump in!
The 2013-2014 Standard Recap
GRAND PRIX GUADALAJARA
Can you believe that at the beginning of this season we had a deck like THIS win a grand prix?
Andres Martinez's Reanimator
Remember the good ol' days when decks blinked Thragtusk with a Restoration Angel ? Or reanimated Angels? This was way before Theros, so Innistrad was still in rotation and Junk Reanimator was the deck to beat. Any standard player should remember the horror that was Thragtusk . Every single deck played him and control was in the pits. Everything was aggro. In fact, every single deck in the top 8 of grand prix Guadalajara was either midrange or aggro. This was when Voice of Resurgence was $60. Now, we never see him.
At this time, we had tons of Midrange/Aggro variants. The Aristocrats, Naya Blitz, Gruul Blitz, Naya Midrange, Junk Reanimator. No control in site.
GRAND PRIX MIAMI
Winner: Jund Midrange.
A yes, Jund wasn't only a powerhouse in modern. Oh no, it left its mark on standard as well. Basically every jund deck just runs the best cards in the colors, which is basically what this build try's to do. Play some removal and then just win with busted creatures. Oh, and it featured one of the best spells in the format at that time: Bonfire of the Damned . This card was amazing when you played with it, and terrible when you played against it.
This pro tour also saw the birth of a new archetype, which reached the top 8: Junk Aristocrats. Not the usual Chavest variant, this build wanted Voice of Resurgence as an added bonus. Control also made an appearance in the form of UWR Flash, a powerful deck that was able to put control on the board. Not only that, but we saw Bant Auras. At a later date this deck will make a huge splash.
GRAND PRIX CALGARY
Winner: UWR Flash featuring Snapcaster Mage , Sphinx's Revelation , Restoration Angel , Augur of Bolas .
Control was back on the scene in the last grand prix, and this time has taken all the glory, rising to the top in Calgary. The deck that won was surprising, as it didn't feature the usual Flash staple of Thundermaw Hellkite in the mainboard. We did see it in the sideboard. It doesn't seem to have a clear way to win other then bashing with the Angel. An interesting deck.
More gruul, jund, golgari, and Auras was seen. But the break out deck that we thought we would see more of was Mono-Red Burn running Burning Earth as its killer. With the amount of multicolor running around, you would expect this card to be a format warping card. But no, as this was the first and last time this deck was seen on the top 8 stage.
GRAND PRIX WARSAW
Winner: Gruul Blitz featuring Thundermaw Hellkite , Flinthoof Boar , Hellrider , Domri Rade , Ghor-Clan Rampager , Strangleroot Geist .
Gruul had been consistently placing highly, and this was the payoff for that consistency. The deck is stacked with powerful cards, as it tries to win as fast as possible. I don't see how many control decks could have kept up. This was a loaded deck.
Not a single control deck could take a top 8 slot, which is odd because of the outbreak in the last grand prix. Multiple jund and aura decks were seen, and a lone Chavest Aristocrats pulled a top spot. Naya also made an appearance, nabbing a spot.
GRAND PRIX KITAKYUSHU
Winner: Bant Auras featuring Ethereal Armor , Geist of Saint Traft , Invisible Stalker , Unflinching Courage , Rancor .
Finally! Finally auras was able to pull it off. After placing in the top 8 in every single grand prix this season, finally Bant Auras finished the deal. We could see it coming, with two in the top 8 in Calgary. It was destined to happen.
Besides the champion, this was an interesting grand prix. We saw more gruul, naya, auras, and....wait, what?! NO. It can't be.....Delver of Secrets Flip ?? Noooooooooo! We thought he was dead. But no. Delver is back for more, and the chosen build is Azorius Delver. Running Geist and the like, it was a strong deck. We also saw an interesting Junk Tokens deck, a good twist on the usual reanimator variant.
PRO TOUR THEROS
Winner: Mono-Blue Devotion featuring.....I think you know.
I must admit that when I saw the winner of Pro Tour Theros, I thought that I wasn't looking at standard. I checked multiple times to make sure that it was the standard format and not some weird other thing. I checked and rechecked to make sure what my eyes were telling me was true: Mono-Blue Devotion just won Pro Tour Theros?! What happened to jund and auras and naya and gruul and flash andandand! They had been wiped clear of the map, I couldn't believe that such a huge change had occurred. The format was unrecognizable. I didn't know what happened, one moment we have a top 8 full of three color decks and then BAM! All mono colored. We saw a lot of the decks that we now know are the best of the best: mono-blue devotion, mono-black devotion, esper control, mono-red devotion, and orzhov. This was a crazy pro tour.
And that leads us to the current situation, which is far less fun to look back on, as it's still fresh in our minds. We had mono-black, mono-blue, and orzhov be crowned champions.
Movers & Shakers: Longterm
so lets take a look at the movers and shakers from the start of pro tour theros, besides the cards that rotated, obviously.
Losers:
Voice of Resurgence . Wow, has this card plummeted. Sitting at a nice $60 a pop, he has now fallen to $30-$40. Now only seen in very few builds, voice isn't what he once was.
Unflinching Courage /Ethereal Armor . With the death of their host deck, these powerful auras have disappeared off the face of the map. People have forgotten that these cards are still pretty powerful.
Angel of Serenity . There are still reanimation spells out there, but this lady hasn't seen any graveyards lately. Well, at least not in competitive magic. She used to be the number one target for reanimation spells, but now she has fallen out of any and every deck.
Winners: these are the cards that are so good that not even a rotation can keep them out of the best of the best.
Sphinx's Revelation . Still goin strong, still goin strong.
Domri Rade . Although not in quite as many decks, Domri is still a threat.
Burning-Tree Emissary . Similar to domri, Brooke may not be being played as much, but you better watch out for her.
Those are the main ones that I can think of right now, haha.
Challenge Results!
I have made my decision that I will select TWO decks out of the ones submitted and I will playtest them against each other. Whichever deck wins will get points and whichever decks unown card makes the largest impact will get points. So keep in mind that even the loser could win, although that is a small chance. Now, to announce the winners! I had lots of good decks submitted, but I ended up going with these two:
The Whisperer in Darkness
Congrats! I really liked the usage of Codex Shredder in this deck, as being able to keep casting the same spell over and over is just awesome in control. It's like another copy of any card in your deck. Awesome idea.
And its opponent will be
The New Meta
BeatAll may not have won the first challenge, but his deck will be a contestant in the second! I have always loved Haunted Plate Mail , and he brought up some great points about it in his comment. Great work.
And now, the game!
K = The Whisperer
B = The New Meta
K wins the roll and keeps an opening hand of 2x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver , 1x Far / Away , 1x Insipiration, 1x Codex Shredder , 1x Island , 1x Temple of Deceit .
B keeps an opener of 2x Pack Rat , 1x Ratchet Bomb , 1x Prognastic Sphinx, 1x Dimir Guildgate , 1x Temple of Deceit , 1x Swamp .
K1 casts Temple of Deceit , revealing a Watery Grave and leaving it on top. Passes.
B1 draws Thoughtseize and plays Temple of Deceit revealing a Mutavault and leaving it on top. Passes.
K2 draws Watery Grave and casts it tapped. Then K plays Codex Shredder and mills B for one. Passes.
B2 draws Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and casts a Swamp . B then taps out for a Pack Rat and passes.
K3 draws Island and plays it. Then K taps out for an Ashiok. K uses Ashiok's +2, milling B three. K then activates the Shredder, Milling B one. Passes.
B3 draws Hero's Downfall and casts Dimir Guildgate tapped. B then casts the second Pack Rat and attacks K for two (K 18, B 20). Passes.
K4 draws Island and plays it, then activates the Shredder and Ashiok, milling B four. Passes.
B4 draws Island and plays it, then casts Thoughtseize (K 18, B 18). K casts Far / Away in response, making B sac a rat. B makes K discard Ashiok, then casts Hero's Downfall on the other Ashiok. Passes after attacking K for one (K 17, B 18).
K5 draws Hero's Downfall and plays Island . K then uses Codex Shredder to mill B for one. Passes.
B5 draws Haunted Plate Mail and plays it, then attacks K for one with the rat (K 16, B 18). EOT K casts Inspiration , drawing Far / Away and Island .
K6 draws Hero's Downfall and plays Island . K then mills B for one. Passes.
B6 draws Divination and equips the Mail to Pack Rat . In response, K casts Far / Away , making B sac the rat. B passes.
K7 draws Island and sacs the Codex Shredder to get an Ashiok back. K passes.
B7 draws Divination and animates Haunted Plate Mail . B attacks and hits (K 12, B 18). B then casts his Ashiok and uses the +2 to mill K for three. Passes.
K8 draws Griptide and casts Hero's Downfall on B's Ashiok. Passes.
B8 draws Mutavault and plays it. B then animates the Mail and attacks. K Griptide 's it. B then casts Prognastic Sphinx.
K9 draws Island and casts Ashiok, milling B three. Passes.
B9 draws an Ashiok and plays it, milling K three. B then casts Ratchet Bomb and ticks it up to one. B swings with the Sphinx and hits (K9, B 18). B sees Watery Grave , Island , and Pack Rat from Sphinx. B puts all but the rat on bottom. Passes.
K10 draws Psychic Strike and kills B's Ashiok with a Hero's Downfall . K then mills B three. Passes.
B10 draws Watery Grave , plays it tapped, ticks Ratchet Bomb up to two, and animates Mutavault . B swings all out and hits (K 4, B 18). B sees Thoughtseize , Swamp , and Island from Sphinx. B puts all but the Thoughtseize on bottom. B then casts Divination , drawing Thoughtseize and Pack Rat . Passes.
K11 draws Codex Shredder and plays it. K then uses Ashiok's -X to fetch a Pack Rat from B's exiled zone. K then activates the Pack Rat once, discarding Psychich Strike and getting a token. K passes after milling B for one with the Shredder.
B11 draws a Swamp and plays it. B then casts Pack Rat and gets a token, discarding Watery Grave . B then attacks with the Sphinx and hits (K1, B 18). B sees Syncopate , Devour Flesh , and Ratchet Bomb . B keeps them in that order and passes after ticking Ratchet Bomb up to three.
K12 draws Codex Shredder , and then sacs Codex Shredder , returning Far / Away to his hand. K passes after using Ashiok's +2 on B.
B12 draws Island and plays it. B then animates Mutavault and swings all out. K casts Far / Away targeting the Sphinx, and B discards in response. K is now facing down two 2/2 Pack Rat s and an animated Mutavault with only two Pack Rat s as blockers. K concedes.
Welp, Caley simply didn't have enough removal to combat all the creatures, and Prognastic Sphinx is a pain. Caley drew stale draws, lots of lands. Just kind of puttered out, ran out of cards and resources. BeatAll was able to pound in for some nice hits with the Plate Mail. Lets evaluate the uknown cards and their impact:
K's Codex Shredder was, as advertised, very helpful. It was able to recur an Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver that actually STAYED on the field! Woohoo! The milling aspect didn't do too much, but it was still helpful.
B's Haunted Plate Mail didn't make an appearance until later in the game, but when it did, it had to be answered. It didn't even need to be animated to deal tons of damage. It wasn't a game changer, but it did swing for a big four damage.
Overall, I would say Codex Shredder did a bit more in this game, but a little bit isn't enough to overcome a loss. Congrats to BeatAll, you have won yourself a feature token! I'll try to gift it to you, haha.
Next Challenge!
My challenge to T/O is to: Make a deck around a card that USED to be used a bunch before Innistrad rotated, but is now almost never seen. Examples are Voice of Resurgence , Angel of Serenity , Unflinching Courage , Cartel Aristocrat and so on. It doesn't have to be the main card, just make sure that you have a card like that in the deck. Or, just create a deck that was used more during Innistrad/Ravnica standard, but isn't seen much anymore. Examples are jund, auras, reanimator and so on. Have fun!
P.S. I won't be creating another article for a little while, so if you enter in the challenge sit tight. I'll probably start back up when BNG spoilers start coming thick and fast. It will be a wait.
I have, but he hasn't answered. I kept the players waiting for the challenge results for way too long, so I just wanted to get this one out there. And I'm not sure I have enough ideas. Here's what I posted on his wall:
"The thing about turning my The State of Standard into an article is that I'm just not sure I have enough ideas. The reason I created the first one was because I had ideas for things to discuss, now I'm just not sure. A big part of my discussion is the Grand Prix's, but even with that I'm not so sure I could fill an article. I'm hoping BNG spoiler season will help me out, previewing cards and their impact on standard. If you think it's worth it, I'll give it a shot. I just can't guarantee that I'll be able to churn out articles".
December 19, 2013 11:19 a.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #4
Daxos and his Trusted Armadillo
December 19, 2013 11:44 a.m.
DjinnjerVitis says... #5
try out my The Ender's Game deck.....its an old favorite (that saw play for a limited time in standard; i mean very limited) but its decent in the current format.
December 19, 2013 11:49 a.m.
My Quick! To the Bantmobile! deck runs fairly well and wins a decent amount of matches, with Unflinching Courage as one of the two most important Auras in the deck.
December 19, 2013 11:53 a.m.
gnarlicide says... #7
JFC.
Old standard fave in this one... Rakdos Keyrune and Rakdos's Return ... although the second one might be played more everywhere else. I just havent seen it lately.
December 19, 2013 2:08 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #8
Shouldn't Codex Shredder be used to "tutor" your own deck? Milling yourself the one each turn until you get to something you want seems like the better use for the card unless you're trying to screw with your opponent's scry'd cards. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I used it for in my Trading Post deck.
By the way, here's one that even KrazyCaley would like:
Rock, Paper, Grixis!!
December 19, 2013 3:29 p.m.
@harrydemon117 Codex Shredder depends on what you're trying to do with your deck. While normally I would agree, Caley's deck is a mill deck and paying 1 mana turn 1 to mill your opponent 1 card every turn for the rest of the game can really add up. As a bonus, when it gets to the late-game, it can recur one of your cards that you used earlier on. Back when theros was released, I tried out codex shredder as a 2-of in my deck, and although it was a blast watching mono-blue's scries just die every turn, "scry 1... leave it on top?" me - "mill 1." it just didn't have enough of an impact to justify leaving it in.
December 19, 2013 7:34 p.m.
KrazyCaley says... #10
@buffy Sorry, didn't see your post in time; usually gotta give me a day or so to notice a wall post (and alas, probably longer than that to actually get you set up). In the future, just e-mail me at [email protected]
December 19, 2013 8:01 p.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #11
Well, three colored decks that aren't Esper aren't doing so well in Standard events, especially Grixis ones, so I'll just resubmit deck-large: I Hate Creatures. Which Is Why You Don't Have Any
December 19, 2013 8:11 p.m.
@KrazyCaley: no problem! I would normally have been more patient and waited, but I had already taken so long to get it up, I just wanted to post it. How should I format it? Could I just write it up in the forums and paste it into an email and send it to you?
December 19, 2013 9:20 p.m.
Necromancer Aristocrat
Putting Cartel Aristocrat to use with Xathrid Necromancer and a few other creatures that have the Heroic ability for extra effect.
December 20, 2013 1:38 a.m.
Ultimaodin says... #14
six sided enchantments
Not technically built around Voice and Unflinching Courage but is a damn effective deck. It's not a fast deck but will win most games. (until your meta realises how good Gideon and Planar Cleansing are)
December 20, 2013 3:35 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #15
@BeatAll:
I understand it is a mill deck, however the 1 card per turn doesn't add up that quickly. Yes it might help out when you "are rolling" out the mill, but if you drop it turn one doesn't it stand to reason that since you are a control deck that gaining any advantage you can is vital? It allows you to "cycle" through to cards so on turn 5 you can return the one you need to hand in order to answer what your opponent does OR return a win con back to hand. It doesn't "draw" a card per se, but it allows you to "see" more cards and any information you obtain before making decisions is crucial for a control deck IMO.
Against aggro you are only milling out 4-5 cards before they kill you. (IF they kill you on turns 4-5). Playing for the "long game" here and increasing your outs in case they don't kill you early seems like the better play here doesn't it?
December 20, 2013 9:26 a.m.
Ultimaodin says... #16
Can I just say one thing, Codex Shredder is great for grave tutoring but it's also fantastic along side Death's Approach . The fact there isn't a Death's Approach in that deck makes me sad. How can you play mill and notenjoy a 1CMC kill spell, even if it is sorcery speed. It kills gods as well. Also Inspiration ? What, no Pilfered Plans ? Pilfered Plans is the best mill card in standard (in my personal opinion)
December 20, 2013 9:59 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #17
I can see your point about each of those cards, but here's where they seem to falter:
Death's Approach is good vs aggro decks as they will usually run 22+ creatures in the deck and chances are you will mill them a decent amount. However, vs midrange decks (like mono black), they run an average of 16-17 creatures which is MUCH LESS of a chance of hitting enough to take out the gods (which would require a minimum of 5 for Thassa, God of the Sea let alone the others who have higher toughness) A better removal spell for them is Devour Flesh as it makes them sacrifice the creature no matter WHAT its stats are. It can be a pain sometimes to force them to sac that instead of another creature, but Devour Flesh has proven itself time and again.
Pilfered Plans = Divination on steroids. It looks like a good card for this deck, however it is a Dimir control deck at heart and having access to an instant speed drawing card seems better in case you want to leave mana up for removal/counters spell
Hope this helps!
December 20, 2013 11:11 a.m.
Ultimaodin says... #18
harrydemon117 - How will devour flesh work? They aren't going to sac the god and if there are no other creatures then the god has no devotion and thus not a creature. Devour Flesh wouldn't work against removing a god unless the player decides the god isn't useful to them, in which case there is something severely wrong with their build as 9/10 times even when not a creature the gods are typically very useful.
Also Pilfered Plans having one less mana cost makes it easier to leave 2 mana open to play a counter spell as well. I just don't think paying an extra mana to make divination an instant speed isn't really worth it. when you can pay one less and also mill your opponent for 2. Then again any deck running Mind Grind I find hard to consider to be control rather than mill
December 20, 2013 12:12 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #19
Devour flesh works on gods, even if they are not creatures. Because of the card type. The same rule applies to playing anything that "destroys target enchantment" on Boon Satyr when it's on the battlefield as a creature.
December 20, 2013 1:38 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #20
If you read my comment all the way, you'll see that I mention that "it's a pain to FORCE them to sacrifice the god rather another creature".
If they have just enough devotion to make the god a creature, Devour Flesh makes them sac a creature and thus removing the devotion for the god and it ceases becoming a creature (removes from combat). If their god is the only creature they sacrifice it so it's a win - win
December 20, 2013 1:56 p.m.
@gnarlicide - That's inaccurate because gods specifically say they are NOT creatures if devotion is less than 5.
Take Thassa, God of the Sea .
Thassa is considered a creature in all zones except the battlefield if devotion is less than 5.
December 20, 2013 5:19 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #23
BeatAll hmm. I figured it would work the same as enchantment removal killing a creature that is also an enchantment, even though it is in the zone as a creature.
I also thought the interaction was reversed in such cases as Fade into Antiquity
against a god.
I learned something today!
December 20, 2013 6:19 p.m.
Ultimaodin says... #24
gnarlicide - the difference her is the god's specify the fact they aren't a creature if their devotion isn't met; however, a God is always considered an Enchantment so Fade into Antiquity will always work. This is why many mono green decks run a couple Fade into Antiquity Main Board because it works on Enchantment creatures as well, so it becomes a very handy green removal spell.
harrydemon117 - I honestly just cannot see a situation where somebody would drop their god over another creature unless the other creature is damn amazing. The only instance that comes to mind for me is if I had something like 2 Kalonian Hydra's and Nylea on the field. Since Kalonian has trample I wouldn't need Nylea's power-up. If I had two Kalonian's on the field though I'm pretty certain you'd be a little more concerned with killing them. That's why I cannot see Devour Flesh working, since the only time they'd toss the god is when they have a bigger larger threat on board and then wouldn't you want them to sac that instead? In this situation a regular kill spell seems better than giving them life. Don't get me wrong, Devour Flesh is great for going up against Hexproof decks but against God I can't see it ever hitting the desired target. If a God isn't a creature it still hands out a power up and generally has some kind of board change ability such as Thassa's give unblockable, Heliod's Enchantment Creatures etc...
Also Heliod's ability to cast Enchantment creatures is awesome. Couple it with Ethereal Armour and Sphere of Safety and your opponent is going to have one hell of a hard time. Why does nobody else play this Synergy? (still waiting for hexproof bestow creature)
December 20, 2013 11:26 p.m.
Jrjersey01 says... #25
This is my deck highlighting Unflinching Courage and Ethereal Armor
Enchanted evening with giant lions
I worked for a while on the description and I would like some help.Thanks!
December 21, 2013 8:42 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #26
Again, i said you cannot force them to do it. a real time scenario I can think of them doing it is this:
Monoblack... has 2 Underworld Connections and Erebos, God of the Dead on the field. It forces them to sac HIm.
all other instances the devo decks will have JUST ENOUGH devotion to "animate" their god. Take this case for example:
Monoblue... has Nightveil Specter , Cloudfin Raptor , and Thassa, God of the Sea out.
You cat Devour Flesh targeting your opponent. no matter which creature he sacs benefits you.
Sacs Nightveil Specter or Cloudfin Raptor and their blue devotion falls below 5 and Thassa, God of the Sea is no longer a creature....only take a hit from the other creature that wasn't sac'd.
IF they sac Thassa, God of the Sea it's a huge bonus for you, but it's unlikely that they will.
Usually the strategies against the "gods" are either to exile them, make them sac them somehow, or else take away their devotion by removing their other creatures/permanents that add to it
Epochalyptik says... #2
If you haven't already, you can talk to KrazyCaley about getting these turned into an actual article series.
December 19, 2013 11:17 a.m.