The Gatecrash release is nearly upon us! In Part 1, I focused mostly on aggressive Gruul and Boros decks with the cards that were spoiled so far. Now that the entirety of Gatecrash has been spoiled, it’s time to dive into the rest of the cards that might impact Magic the Gathering Standard and sketch up some potential decklists.

Duskmantle Seer

I was really excited when [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] was spoiled; it feels almost as powerful as [card]Dark Confidant[/card] but carries a much more resilient body that doesn’t die to [card]Searing Spear[/card], [card]Ultimate Price[/card], [card]Abrupt Decay[/card], [card]Selesnya Charm[/card], or [card]Victim of Night[/card]. It forces you to build around it, and it’s tough to tell if there is even enough support in current Standard for a [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] deck to be successful. There is already a lot of competition at the four-drop slot, so is [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] desired over cards like [card]Restoration Angel[/card]; [card]Jace, Architect of Thought[/card]; [card]Falkenrath Aristocrat[/card]; or [card]Olivia Voldaren[/card]?

My first inclination was that you want [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] in an aggro-control deck. If you come out of the gates with early aggression, your opponent will already be at a low enough life total by the time you play Seer that its trigger alone could threaten to kill them. Even if they are able to thwart your early aggression, counterspells and tempo plays like [card]Unsummon[/card] and [card]Azorius Charm[/card] will make sure that they can’t make good use of the extra cards they get from Seer.

[deck title=”Esper Delver by Alex Bianchi”]
[Creatures]
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Duskmantle Seer
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
2 Runechanter’s Pike
[/Artifacts]
[Spells]
4 Thought Scour
1 Tragic Slip
3 Unsummon
3 Azorius Charm
3 Dimir Charm
1 Feeling of Dread
1 Ultimate Price
2 Dissipate
4 Lingering Souls
1 Syncopate
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Vault of the Archangel
[/Lands]
[/deck]

This type of deck has a lot of synergy but feels like a wishful throwback to the glory days of Delver, [card]Ponder[/card], and Phyrexian-mana spells. Maybe Esper isn’t the right direction. Green provides [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card], [card]Quirion Dryad[/card], and [card]Simic Charm[/card], while Red offers [card]Stromkirk Noble[/card], [card]Counterflux[/card], and burn spells. All of these might be worth exploring with the flexibility that all 10 shocklands provide.

Vampires and Zombies have been partnering up for a while now, and [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] could also potentially serve as a curve-topper in a Blue/Black Zombie deck:

[deck title=”U/B Zombies by Alex Bianchi”]
[Creatures]
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Gravecrawler
4 Blood Artist
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Diregraf Captain
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Duskmantle Seer
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Appetite for Brains
2 Sign in Blood
2 Ultimate Price
2 Victim of Night
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
11 Swamp
4 Cavern of Souls
[/lands]
[/deck]

This looks like a much better home for [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card]. Its trigger is especially threatening to your opponent’s life total here, where a solid curve of creatures can put the pressure on. [card]Blood Artist[/card] makes combat difficult for other creature decks and can result in huge life swings to put [card]Duskmantle Seer[/card] in “reveal [card]Thragtusk[/card], and you die” range, while gaining you some life back.

Prime Speaker Zegana

[card]Prime Speaker Zegana[/card] is a card that has been getting some press, drawing some comparisons to [card]Garruk, Primal Hunter[/card]. It requires a little work, but she can draw you cards and create a relevant body all in one turn, unlike the much slower Garruk.

[deck title=”Blue Naya by Alex Bianchi”]
[Creatures]
4 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
4 Borderland Ranger
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
3 Prime Speaker Zegana
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
2 Domri Rade
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Farseek
3 Bonfire of the Damned
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
2 Hinterland Harbor
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Forest
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Kessig Wolf Run
[/Lands]
[/deck]

We’ve seen Naya Midrange decks splashing blue for [card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/card], and Zegana can refill your hand the same way that Revelation does. Being a creature gives her synergy with cards like [card]Cavern of Souls[/card], [card]Domri Rade[/card], [card]Restoration Angel[/card], [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card], and [card]Garruk, Primal Hunter[/card]. And, of course, she can bring the beats.

Hexproof

Gatecrash also introduces a few potential upgrades for the Bant Hexproof deck piloted by Jon Stern that took Grand Prix Atlantic City by storm.

[deck title=”Bant Auras by Alex Bianchi”]
[Creatures]
4 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
2 Arbor Elf
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Silverblade Paladin
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Abundant Growth
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Rancor
2 Simic Charm
4 Spectral Flight
2 Gift of Orzhova
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Temple Garden
4 Breeding Pool
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Sunpetal Grove
3 Hinterland Harbor
3 Forest
3 Cavern of Souls
[/Lands]
[/deck]

The numbers are a bit arbitrary, but this list is your standard Auras deck with a couple of experimental additions. [card]Breeding Pool[/card] is an auto-inclusion, giving the deck another dual land that can cast [card]Avacyn’s Pilgrim[/card] on turn one. It’s being a [card]Forest[/card] also opens up [card]Arbor Elf[/card] as a possibility, which is another mana creature that accelerates out and protects [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] from [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card], while also giving you more consistent opening hands. [card]Simic Charm[/card] is better than [card]Selesnya Charm[/card] at saving your creatures from both targeted and non-targeted removal and can also pump a double-striker for six extra damage. [card]Gift of Orzhova[/card] is a more evasive [card]Armadillo Cloak[/card] that makes your Geist even better, and the lifelink can completely swing a race in your favor.

Other cards that I haven’t mentioned include [card]Boros Charm[/card]; [card]Obzedat, Ghost Council[/card]; [card]Frontline Medic[/card], [card]Blind Obedience[/card], [card]Aurelia’s Fury[/card], and [card]Skullcrack[/card]; all of these will surely have some amount of impact on Standard. And the soft spot that I have for [card]Seismic Assault[/card] makes me want to attempt a [card]Borborygmos Enraged[/card] deck…

Until next week, happy brewing, and good luck at any release events you may be attending!

Alex Bianchi
Gemmanite on Twitter and MTGO