Standard

The One Big Tournament With Fun Involved

In the past three weeks, I’ve written about a couple of Standard decks and keep hoping that one will stick or will scream out to me but there seems to be nothing I want to play. There are even more decks after the ones I mentioned and yet still none of the decks really call to me based on viability or roguish factor or charm.

This left me at 12:00 on Friday morning, the time that my article is supposed to be posted and still without having written an article, which while I can take a week off I’m not a fan of it.

Luckily, KYT came through for me, shipping me Flores’ list for a counter burn variant similar to what KYT posted last year and I posted two weeks ago but with some significant differences. And thank you Mike Flores because that will be the deck I’m playing at Champs/States/Provincials/Whatever else it may be called but any deck tech will need to wait till next week.

For this week’s article I decided to do a brief analysis of each deck and what cards you should be looking to play to hate decks or just so that you are not unprepared for these decks. Generally people are not like me and are aware of what decks they will be playing weeks before and spend lots of time testing, thus last minute deck ideas aren’t particularly helpful.

Solar Flare

While [Card]Unburial Rites[/Card] is a decent reanimation spell it isn’t a great one. To compensate, Solar Flare is more of a control deck, with Flashback utility cards working towards an end game. Graveyard hate is the first option though beware, not all Solar Flare decks are constructed the same. The best graveyard hate currently available is [Card]Surgical Extraction[/Card], it can remove every card except basics, yes even their non-basics can be removed, and it also removes additional copies, meaning you do not need to worry about the same card. Since Extraction can be paid with life, there is no need for any other graveyard hate and more to the point the other hate isn’t quick enough to deal with the cards you want to remove.

Solar Flare doubles as a pseudo control deck, which means removal and counter spells to go along with fatties and end of game threats. Many decks already have suitable strategies against control, if you don’t you need to get one or you are in trouble, but generally it is the end of game threats that people are unable to deal with. As a control deck, cards like [Card]Oblivion Ring[/Card] and [Card]Day of Judgment[/Card] do the trick but the task is more difficult for aggro decks. The latest card I’ve been seeing is [Card]Bramblecrush[/Card] to allow for employing a land destruction strategy, as Solar Flare’s mana is a little sketchy which is why I think [Card]Beast Within[/Card] is still the better option. It destroys everything, especially creatures which is relevant as 3/3 tokens are more manageable to deal with than 6/6 Titans. Whatever you do though, do not play [Card]Dismember[/Card], it doesn’t hit the stuff Aggro decks have trouble removing and it aids your opponent’s job of killing you.

Wolf Run – The Red Version

There are two versions of the deck and this is the version with red spells, the other is Valakut 2.0. States generally breaks down into two categories, Aggro and Control decks, since there is no established metagame, people either want to win as quickly as possible or are timid and want to prevent losing as quickly as possible. In control decks you’ll be wanting mass removal whether it be [Card]Day of Judgment[/Card] or [Card]Black Sun’s Zenith[/Card]. Your sideboard should feature [Card]Flashfreeze[/Card] as it becomes a hard counter as opposed to [Card]Mana Leak[/Card]. [Card]Celestial Purge[/Card] is another option to consider though be wary as there are not many high value targets, some decks play [Card]Koth of the Hammer[/Card] but otherwise you’ll probably want mass removal instead. And you may have forgotten about him but [Card]Spellskite[/Card] is still a pretty decent card capable of blocking, surviving slagstorms and taking a bullet when you most need it.

As for aggro strategies, [Card]Slagstorm[/Card] is your go to removal spell but your board should also be packing additional cards like Beast Within and [Card]Arc Trail[/Card]. The token is irrelevant when trampling over dudes, yes [Card]Kessig Wolf Run[/Card] grants trample and you want to be holding back your burns spells to wipe your opponent’s board of creatures. Another note is [Card]Ancient Grudge[/Card] is good in this matchup as they will be playing [Card]Shrine of Burning Rage[/Card] which most players only leave mana up for when it gets to four or five counters even though a shrine destroyed now or later is still a destroyed shrine. On the flip side, if you have access to white [Card]Divine Offering[/Card] may not have flashback but it does grant life gain and is useful in other matchups.

One last card I need to mention is [Card]Ghost Quarter[/Card]. While in Ravnica block it provided higher value hitting a bounce or shock land, in testing it feels very lackluster. It is certainly better against the Red version when targeting [Card]Kessig Wolf Run[/Card] though a competent pilot will only be activating the land for lethal or if they have truly run out of gas, making the Quarter lose even more value. Also if you are playing control and scared, [Card]Mental Misstep[/Card] is a card and this is one of the few formats it is not banned!

Wolf Run – The Green (Valakut) Version

Personally I’m not a fan of this deck and that is because it seems very easy to hate on. All of this deck’s threats are on the high end of the curve meaning playing safe and holding up counter magic can usually make it there in game one. Most mass removal becomes one for one spells, though [Card]Oblivion Ring[/Card] is a consideration for dealing with a resolved Garruk, either version, as generally control has ways of dealing with the Walker or the Tokens but not both in the same turn. Post Board becomes tricky as many players will audible for the Ponza configuration in which they will board in [Card]Beast Within[/Card] and [Card]Bramblecrush[/Card] to take out every land you have. For this reason, make sure your starting hand either has counter magic or some gas as they will be going for your throat and without adequate hate or spells to stop them, the game will be over quickly.

Overrun! Aggro strategies need to be looking to push the tempo as quickly as possible with creatures so that they will be able to end the game with your burn spells. The only mass removal they have is [Card]Slagstorm[/Card] making it the only card aggro strategies need to worry about and without that card you have a clear path to victory as it won’t be before that hit five mana that they begin casting fatties. Make sure to use [Card]Geistflame[/Card] or other removal on early mana dorks as this will slow down their clock by a turn, though make sure your priority is bashing face early.

U/W & U/B Control

Many of the lists I’ve seen are slow and clunky. They also bear a remarkable resemblance to the control decks of the same colors from this time last year at champs, though without [Card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/Card], which is why I was a proponent for the quicker more token versions in my previous article. None the less the message remains the same as last year, do not lose value. Due to their sluggishness these decks will focus more heavily on mass removal spells rather than one for one spells. This is especially true for aggro which needs to watch out for massive board sweepers and overextending into them. As for more control decks, it may seem boring but playing land go is the correct way to go waiting for your opponent to make a mistake or having enough mana and backup to force through your plan.

Most of these decks will be having win conditions in the form of Titans and [Card]Gideon Jura[/Card]s, thus green destruction spells are again relevant against Gideon. As for the fatties, if you’ve saved up your burn spells now is the time to unleash them as they attain maximum value, either through morbid on [Card]Brimstone Volley[/Card] or for killing a pesky Titan allowing the board to crash through. And always remember to [Card]Ancient Grudge[/Card] the [Card]Wurmcoil Engine[/Card], six life makes your life much more difficult than three life most of the time. As for control decks, bring in more counters and more one for one cards like O-Ring, getting rid of your mass removal in the process. These games will be won on the card advantage front with one for one spells representing better value due to their lower casting cost. Also Black has [Card]Curse of Death’s Hold[/Card] which can be backbreaking coming down a turn after a mass removal spell.

[Card]Burning Vengeance[/Card]

The most realistic comparison we can make with this deck is to [Card]Pyromancer Ascension[/Card]. Lucky for us, the card advantage engine of Pyromancer is missing making this an easier scenario. While it is possible to win without the enchantment it is very hard and for decks that may run [Card]Past in Flames[/Card] or less Flashback cards it becomes pretty much impossible. In White you have [Card]Celestial Purge[/Card] which works wonders while Blue/Black has the devastating combo of any non-[Card]Dissipate[/Card] counter spell and [Card]Surgical Extraction[/Card] effectively ending the game. I hear [Card]Memoricide[/Card] is still a card which is also quite relevant. As for the Green/Red strategies, be wary as to whether or not this will be relevant in your metagame. Most people will be loading up on [Card]Ancient Grudge[/Card] as the Flashback is a positive, while [Card]Naturalize[/Card] is still a card and if you are confident you won’t need to be doing a lot of Flashing-Back with the Grudge, Naturalize is the way to go. Other positive is it gets rid of [Card]Tempered Steel[/Card] which seems better than killing two [Card]Memnite[/Card]s.

[Card]Tempered Steel[/Card]

Speaking of which, this is still a deck. So are [Card]Puresteel Paladin[/Card] decks and while many compare the two, the hate can be different. Unless this is a huge part of your metagame leave the [Card]Creeping Corrosion[/Card]s at home and bring along [Card]Naturalize[/Card] instead as without the enchantment, the creatures are lacking in bite. On the flip side, without creatures the enchantment is worthless so mass removal also works wonders and since there is no secondary plan such as burn spells or Planeswalkers you can wipe the board all day long. The only mistake you don’t want to make is dying to [Card]Inkmoth Nexus[/Card] though so if you are playing burn spells, keep them up, playing control, this is the place where [Card]Ghost Quarter[/Card] can really shine.

Puresteel

Really?

Oh you are serious. If you are facing off against this your success rate is very high unless you’re playing [Card]Tempered Steel[/Card], in which case really?

Kidding aside Puresteel is the one relevant spell in the deck generally, though the better versions play [Card]Hero of Bladehold[/Card]. Most lists do not play mass removal as they rely on creatures to get by, so Aggro decks, Unleash Hell! Your creatures will be the same size if not bigger and quicker so fight at reducing their life as much as possible and hold back burn spells or removal for the Hero and Paladin which should secure you a victory. If you are playing control, save removal for the key creatures as [Card]Flayer Husk[/Card] shouldn’t really be a problem and fatties like [Card]Gideon Jura[/Card] or Titans will lead you to victory. If you really aren’t a fan of equipment and Flayer Husks, [Card]Stony Silence[/Card] is available and it does simultaneously hate on the next deck.

[Card]Birthing Pod[/Card]

I still have yet to see a deck that convinces me it overcomes the loss of [Card]Sea Gate Oracle[/Card] and anyone who says the card wasn’t that important is lying to themselves. That being said there is plenty of hate available. Most Pod decks, when optimally built should focus around Pod, which is where you want dedicated hate cards, otherwise most of the cards you will play should already be able to deal with creatures and such. White offers [Card]Divine Offering[/Card] and [Card]Stony Silence[/Card] which will generally slow the deck down as it does not have the same secondary card manipulation of previous versions. Sorry to beat a dead horse but [Card]Ancient Grudge[/Card] is fantastic in this matchup as it kills two Pods with on Grudge. If you can slow the deck down early, most of the early creatures are fodder for bigger late game creatures so you provide yourself with a definitive edge. And similar to [Card]Burning Vengeance[/Card] decks, [Card]Surgical Extraction[/Card] on a Pod is backbreaking.

That is the list of the eight main archetypes I believe. It is possible I forgot some and there are many other decks which exist as that is the draw of States/Champs/Provincials, this is the first big tournament of the new standard for many which means there is lots of experimenting and crazy brews going on in hopes of breaking the format.

I hope my break down was in some way helpful though we can agree that many will already be aware of most of the things I discussed, though it never hurts to review. I encourage everyone to attend and have fun as it is the one tournament where you do not need to take yourself overly seriously. It also offers the most variety of any standard tournament and a unique and pretty nice play mat. While I like the one I got for Top 8ing last year, I think this year’s is even nicer which is even more reason to attend and hope to do well.

With that, everyone should attend, if able, this weekend as it is a good time to have Fun playing Magic!

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