Standard

Gatecrash – Over/Under

This time of year is great for both brewers and those looking to port their old decks in to the new format. As we prepare to be flooded with card ratings and set reviews, I thought I’d offer my perspective on some of the hot topics going around.

My impressions on the Limited format will have to wait until I get some drafts in, but in the meantime I wanted to pull out my negativity hat and try to damper some of the enthusiasm around me. There is way too much nonsense going on! I don’t write about constructed much, but I play it enough, so why not? Keep in mind my views are only in relation to Standard, since that is both the format for the PT and the format that gets the most interest (due to FNMs and whatnot).

OVERRATED (i.e. almost everything):

[card]Master Biomancer[/card]

[card]Master Biomancer[/card] is definitely an interesting card, but I think he will only be playable if the format shifts away from Wraths. This guy wants you to play more creatures, so you’ll likely play a couple of cheap accelerants then drop him in play, and then he only does any real worthwhile work once you’ve played 2 or 3 creatures afterwards. That means you need about 5 creatures on the table before he’s better than just playing another solid 4 drop, meaning if your opponent feels like he is supremely against what is going on, all your work (and cards) are gone. Oh and he also does nothing against spot removal if he’s killed the turn he comes into play (barring you play him as a 5 or 6 drop and play another dude without passing).

[card]Boros Charm[/card]

It’s good, but that’s it. I just don’t see many situations where you would want to draw more than one of these unless you are playing all-in burn. This is the card I’m most at odds with the general community’s opinion, so I sure hope I’m right.

The fact that it has 3 modes does mean it’s more powerful than it looks, but 2 of those modes are basically the same. If a RW creature goes unblocked, how often is giving double strike going to do more than 4 damage? And if your creature is blocked, how often is double strike going to be functionally different than indestructability (I understand it means you can trade up, but then you are in a 1 for 2 situation, and as an aggro deck that’s not where you want to be).

Even the indestructability isn’t THAT great, since leaving RW up for multiple turns kind of telegraphs what you have, and it doesn’t even stop all the Wraths in the format ([card]Terminus[/card]). The RW(X) decks I’ve been brewing have been running the charm as a 1 or 2 of, and I think that’s likely where it will end up.

[card]Prime Speaker Zegana[/card]

This creature has great potential upside, and you can see the dollar signs in people’s eyes when they picture the best case scenario. However there are two things holding him back that lead to his downfall. The first is that his worst case scenario is pretty awkward. A 2 mana elvish visionary may be fringe playable but a 6 mana one is not. [card]Thragtusk[/card]’s existence helps you have a juicy body for post-wrath, but even throughout the course of a game, your creatures are not in the deck to sit around looking pretty for your 6 drop to arrive. Those beasts, elves , humans and other assorted monsters will be attacking, blocking and eating up wraths, charms and fiery death in the course of the game, and if you just happen to draw the speaker at the wrong time it can be very awkward.

The second problem is that his ability only lends itself to one type of deck – a creature-filled midrange-controlly type of thing. Now it may be that these types of decks are good in the new format, but if something like flash, or a draw-go style control deck become popular it would eat this alive. Zegana is ideal in a stalled board state but doesn’t help much when you are behind unless you are lucky enough to still have another big creature, and then manage to survive by just adding a fat body for a turn so you can making use of all your extra cards…except most of those cards are likely creatures, aren’t they?

[card]Duskmantle Seer[/card]

The great thing about [card]Dark Seer[/card] was that he was always a major threat. Sure, if the controller was at 5 life or less it would be a sweat, but he was very very good at pulling you ahead. He was typically used in decks with a low curve (although the RB deck sporting Gargadons and Hit/Runs was a little crazy), or as a great way for combo decks to fight through control. He also fit in to any black deck. [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] MIGHT have been good if it was RB, but even then it is fighting for places with [card]Falkenrath Aristocrat[/card], and might lose out. The fact that it is blue makes for a very odd card, because you do not want to sit back and counter spells and draw cards and play control when you have a clock set on yourself. Another problem with this guy is that he costs 4, so playing multiple copies of him is already increasing your average mana curve and causing him to hurt you more in the long term. There’s no [card]Sensei’s Divining Top[/card] in this format.

[card]Obzedat, Ghost Council[/card]

This card is sweet. It is almost unkillable and provides very good reach. However, those traits are only true if you are not behind. If you are behind, he is still OK, but very unexciting, and loses all of his main attributes. The lovely thing about [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card] was that it completely stopped your opponent’s attacks. Almost no matter what they had out, it was not profitable for them to attack. With Obzedat, if he’s being used as intended, he doesn’t even affect your opponent’s attack! Now this wouldn’t be as big of a deal if he didn’t have 4 coloured mana symbols in his cost. This card is getting a ton of hype, but seems more like he doesn’t necessarily fit in to decks, but will instead require a lot of work to have a deck built around him (which doesn’t completely rule him out, just look at Delver).

UNDERRATED:

[card]Ghor-Clan Rampager[/card]

A 4/4 trampler for 4 mana is hardly something to get excited about. In fact it would actually be stone unplayable when you compare it to other creatures of its cost. But I think the Rampager is only going to be played as a creature about a quarter or the time, if not less. 2 mana +4/+4 and trample is great in a format clogged with midrange. It means if you just play bears for the first 3 turns and your opponent accelerates out a turn 4 [card]Thragtusk[/card] (basically the worst case scenario), you can still swing! The fact that it is uncounterable is a bonus, the real pull is just the ability to swing.

In any aggro deck, your one and two drops get in a few hits, then sit around and do nothing until they are ready for a suicide swing for the last few points. With Rampager in hand, there is almost never a situation when you cannot just push in with every creature, which becomes even more absurd if you have something like a [card]Hellrider[/card] in play. The exception to this is playing against a UW type of deck sporting [card]Azorius Charm[/card]s or Wraths, in which case your 4/4 trampler makes for the perfect follow up play to get by Angels and Geists and Augurs. Versatility is the key here, but I think this guy will give aggro decks a reason to drop Huntmaster from their list and finish games much quicker.

[card]Aurelia’s Fury[/card]

On one hand, I look at this and see a worse [card]Profane Command[/card]. On the other hand, [card]Profane Command[/card] was somehow supposed to beat Faeries, and would be absolutely insane if it were printed right now. I really like the decisions you get to make with this card. If the game is anywhere close to even, you can likely just kill them, since if they have no creatures, it is a [card]Fireball[/card], if they have one creature it is a kill spell, and if they have multiple creatures it is a [card]Falter[/card]. There will also be the odd time that you play this on them for one to stop them from Wrathing you, but even then, it likely means that you have won the game because of its effect. At its absolute worst, it’s a [card]Rolling Thunder[/card]. Just think about that.

[card]Domri Rade[/card]

Why isn’t anyone talking about this card? It’s a 3 mana planeswalker! It’s obviously not as good as some of the other walkers, but when you consider that Liliana is close to being a format staple across multiple formats, you have to at least compare the two of them. Liliana had a plus ability that was rarely card advantage, usually card parity, and sometimes unusable because it was card disadvantage. It had a minus ability that killed off a guy, and an ultimate that provided you with a big edge but didn’t really end the game.

Ol’ Dominic over here has a plus ability that you will always use, provides utility even when he misses (only you see the top card), has a minus ability that kills a dude, and an ultimate that will provide you with a big edge without ending the game. Now obviously I’m using a selective lens here since Domri is nowhere near as good as Liliana against combo decks and Hexproof beaters but the fact that almost no one talks about him puts him in my undervalued list. He won’t get played a ton but I do expect him to see play. I mean, have you SEEN the creatures they are printing these days?

Time will tell how wrong I am, but making predictions is half the game. If you disagree with me on any of these, or want to hear my thoughts on any other cards, feel free to respond in the comments and I will get back to you. In the meantime, the Pro Tour is coming up, and as you might be able to tell from this list, I’d like to work on some red decks first. Naya, Jund, Gruul and Boros have some interesting stuff to offer, the only problem is there’s not enough time!

Marc Anderson

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