Friday, May 13, 2011

8 Standard decks to consider for the new format

We both know why you guys are here.  It's time for some decklists.


The most obvious place to start is with Caw-Blade, so here's my most recent list updated for the new set



















The obvious additions here are Batterskull and Sword of War and Peace, which are both absurdly powerful when searched up with a Stoneforge Mystic.  The only other change to the maindeck is the addition of 2 extra Into the Roil, which serves as an answer to opposing Swords, as well as the Splinter Twin combo.  While I can understand why people would suggest cutting Mortarpod from the deck, I'm pretty sure its wrong to do so, as the 'pod is too valuable to cut.
The sideboard contains 2 Day of Judgement, as I've consistently been impressed with the card out of the board and wanted to add the 2nd one.  Kor Firewalker was completely cut from the deck as I've not only found it to be unnecessary in beating red decks, but now mono-red decks have gained additional ways to kill Firewalkers.  Even before New Phyrexia, I felt favored against mono-red even in games where I didn't draw a Firewalker, but now with Sword of War and Peace and Batterskull to tutor up things get even better for you.

Right now, the only real reasons I can see for not wanting to play this deck are its lack of ways to deal with Sword of War and Peace or Deceiver Exarch/Splinter Twin.  However, I don't really feel like either of these should really be a huge concern.  First off, getting hit with a Sword may be a pretty big hit, but its not the end of the world.  Having your own Sword of War and Peace is actually a perfect answer to theirs, since opposing swords pretty much negate each other's triggered abilities.  The only real issue with the R/W sword is its ability to kill planeswalkers, since its pretty much impossible to keep a Jace in play if your opponent has multiple guys they can suit up, and of course it will lead to a lot more one sided games, but its far from the end of the world for Caw-Blade decks.
The Splinter Twin Combo is more of an issue, since it immediately wins the game once assembled.  However, I haven't actually seen a list for the deck that I've felt is really good enough to really be competitive across the board.  The shell is simply a 2 card combo costing 7 mana total, and while there exist good draw spells to search for combo pieces there are no real tutors for either piece.  Combining the Splinter Twin combo with some other strategy is a good way to up your consistency, but Pyromancer's Ascension is a fairly questionable option there, and various UR control decks have never looked good at all.
Even Caw-Blade still has answers in the form of Counterspells and Into the Roil, plus Celestial Purge out of the Board, and until I'm proven otherwise I'm not going to panic about the existence of this new combo.

The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to play aggressively with this deck.  Squeezing in a few extra hits with Hawks can often be the difference between winning and falling a few points short.  Sometimes it is correct to ignore opposing planeswalkers and just go for the dome.  Now that the deck has access to Sword of War and Peace, killing opponents quickly is even easier.


For those of you who want to, splashing another color in Caw-Blade is a reasonable option, and the clear choice there is black




















For a while, the black splash was considered to be the best option for Caw-Blade.  Eventually, however, people figured out that the changes to the mana base were not worth the slight increase in power that the deck gained from having access to better removal and discard spells.  Now that Sword of War and Peace exists, the black removal spells get a lot better, meaning that its possible that this version is superior, but for now I'm somewhat skeptical.  Creeping Tar Pit is very good, but you become extremely vulnerable to opposing Tectonic Edges since the majority of your blue sources are in the form of non-basics.
As for the list itself, the only major standout is my choice of Dismember for the black removal spell instead of Doom Blade or Go for the Throat.  At a cost of 1B + 2 life, Dismember kills things that Doom Blade or Go for the Throat cannot, and the fact that it can be cast for 1 mana puts it over the top in my mind.  The fact that it cannot kill Titans may prove to be a hindrance if Inferno Titans start popping back up (which they shouldn't since they just lose to Sword of War and Peace), so for now I don't think that's enough of an issue to worry about.


While discussing Stoneforge Mystic decks, I'd like to mention one with little less Jace and a little more spice.




















The obvious "build around me" card here is Puresteel Paladin, which from what I've seen is downright insane. This deck has a full 12 equipment, of which 7 cost 1 or 2 mana, allowing the Paladin to draw you plenty of extra cards very quickly.  Given that you also draw when putting something in with Stoneforge Mystic, its pretty tough to run out of gas with this deck.  The metalcraft on the Paladin and Dispatch can be activated fairly consistently, though I wouldn't say its guaranteed (part of the reason why Mox Opal is absent), and when it does happen things get wild pretty quickly.  Mortarpod, Batterskull, and Argentum Armor all become absolutely insane when they can equip for free, and Dispatch becomes the best removal spell of all time.
Hammer of Ruin is an excellent way to break the Stoneforge Mystic mirror, and its possible that additional copies can be boarded in place of some of the Divine Offering/Kor Sanctifiers.
I also want to find a way to fit some number of Kemba, Kha Regent into the deck, if only because cats are awesome.

This is not a strategy I would quickly dismiss, as it is capable of some completely broken draws, and unlike the Quest for the Holy Relic decks this deck can actually do something without needing a specific card to function.


Next on our list is the funky new combo everyone's talking about.
















Honestly, as I stated above, I don't actually think this deck is very good.  Admittedly, the combo is very powerful and will result in plenty of quick kills in the upcoming weeks, but I just don't feel like it can be assembled consistently enough to make a viable deck.
This list is close to what I'd start with if you wanted to be all-in on the combo.  Spellskite is surprisingly good at protecting the Exarch and can block reasonably well.  Its possible that See Beyond or Sea Gate Oracle could have a place, cutting the Burst Lightnings or possibly some of the Spellskite, to provide additional draw power, but neither of those cards is particularly powerful and I don't think that this is a format where you can durdle around trying to find combo pieces while your opponent is actually doing things.


Adding black gives you some additional protection for the combo, as well as Liliana Vess as an actual way to tutor, and might be worth looking at.

















This deck plays much more like a UB control deck, with the added discard spells and a lot of removal.  Here though, the question is whether the Exarch/Twin combo is actually a good enough win condition to be worth playing red.  Is this 2 card combo really better than just playing a Grave Titan?

Speaking of which:


















I find it very surprising that no one is really talking about this deck.  Prior to the addition of Sword of Feast and Famine, this was the deck to beat in the format, and as a true control deck UB has the tools to deal with every one of the major threats in the format.  Grave Titan is still one of the best creatures in the format at actually attacking for the win, since it can kill in 2 swings and brings along friends to kill a Jace if needed.  The 8 planeswalkers in the maindeck may seem excessive, but both Jace Beleren and Liliana have looked good enough to me to be worth playing more than 1.  More spot removal may be correct, since Black Sun's Zenith isn't really that great, but other than that I'm ok with the numbers in the maindeck.

Due to this deck's strengths vs. pretty much everything except UW Caw-Blade, its possible UB control can make a resurgence if Caw drops off in popularity.



And now for something completely different.


















This deck, aka "all the best 2 drops", is set up to abuse the power of Chancellor of the Tangle allowing you to play a 2 drop on turn 1.  Lotus Cobra, Fauna Shaman, and Stoneforge Mystic are already difficult enough to beat if they enter play on turn 2, and throwing them down a turn earlier is not even close to fair.  From there, you can either be attacking with Sword-wielding guys on turn 3, bringing back Vengevines for the rest of the game, or simply casting a bunch of green and white monsters and bashing your opponent's face in.  Overwhelming Stampede is pretty good at ending the game, and is fairly necessary in order to beat decks with Titans, and Gideon Jura out of the board is a pretty good answer to opposing Gideons (though its possible Beast Within is also acceptable for this purpose).  Other than that the plan is pretty simple: Attack!


The close things out, we have an old favorite that gains quite a bit from the new set:
















This deck has 8 ways to kill a Kor Firewalker between the maindeck and sideboard, and unlike Perilous Myr, they are actually cards that are acceptable at doing other things.  Shrine of Burning Rage is actually one of the better burn spells in the deck, being able to present a fairly threatening clock even while being a sub-par late game topdeck.  While the Shrine does cost 5 mana total to use, if it's doing an uncounterable 5+ damage to the face its probably worth it.  Dismember comes in out of the board to kill pretty much anything except a Titan (which it can make a 1/1), and 4 life is a very small price to pay for that effect.  Other than that, nothing much has changed, you still get to throw a bunch of burn spells at their dome and hope its enough.
Batterskull and Sword of War and Peace are probably impossible to beat for mono-red if they get active, but this deck actually has enough removal to prevent anyone from untapping with a Stoneforge Mystic in play.  Lastly, if enough UW players cut Mortarpod from their deck, Cunning Sparkmage may be a good addition to gun down Squadron Hawks, but the 0/1 is pretty vulnerable otherwise.
The Goblin Guide test is still as difficult to pass as ever, and its still a reasonable choice if you want to burn some faces off.



I definitely hope that the new options from New Phyrexia lead to Standard becoming significantly more diverse, and there are certainly plenty of options to explore.  In addition to the above lists, various Lotus Cobra ramp decks, Elf aggro decks, and even UG aggro decks have had small amounts of success previously, and are potentially right on the edge of becoming powerhouses within the new format.

There's always plenty of room to innovate in a new format, and now is as good a time as ever to break things wide open.  There's only a couple days before the new cards become legal, and it's starting to get rather exciting.
Posted by Matt McCullough at 4:25 PM
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No Porcelain Legionnaire in the white weenie?! Blasphemy.

May 11, 2011 at 6:24 PM
Matt McCullough said...

The deck already has a lot of 2 drops, and while the 3/1 is good I don't think there's enough room.
Its possible Memnite isn't good enough, but I'd rather add some other cheap artifact creature such as Signal Pest or Hex Parasite.

May 12, 2011 at 1:52 PM

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