Welcome to What We'd Play! With the Standard portion of Grand Prix Richmond just a day away, many are unsure what they'd play in such a high-profile tournament. That's where we come in and let you know what we'd play this weekend and why we'd play it. Hopefully this last-minute advice aids in your decision making! Be sure to vote for who you agree with in the poll at the end!
Todd Anderson - B/U Midrange
Creatures (14)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
B/U Midrange has been a deck very close to my heart for months now. With the emergence of Goblin Chainwhirler, Glint-Sleeve Siphoner took a pretty big hit. But without a doubt, it is still one of the best cards in the archetype, and it singlehandedly dominates games unlike many cards before it. A midrange or control strategy having such a powerful two-drop opens up a lot of avenues of play, different angles of attack, and punishes players for not having a removal spell on time.
Aside from Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, I just really like the B/U Midrange deck against all forms of Red/X decks, as your slew of cheap removal combined with The Scarab God is very difficult for them to beat. And if they try to go bigger after sideboard, that just plays right into your gameplan. They can't beat The Scarab God without a lot of work, and you have a ton of ways to interact with their more problematic permanents.
The only deck I'm scared of is one featuring Vine Mare, but even then we're coming correct with Doomfall, as well as a nice clip of Essence Scatter. Of course, they can still run you over, but I like our chances against the rest of the field. Trust Emma Handy.
Todd Stevens - Grixis Midrange
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (26)
Spells (22)
Even though B/U Midrange is the much more popular deck in Standard these days, I still prefer to go Grixis even though I'm only playing five red cards. Magma Spray is crucial with the format filled with Scrapheap Scounger and Champion of Wits, Abrade gives the deck a clean answer to God-Pharaoh's Gift and Aetherflux Reservoir, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager is an insanely powerful card, and Sweltering Suns and Hour of Devastation help out against the green and red decks.
Most people point to the manabase of Grixis Midrange being inconsistent as the reason they prefer B/U Midrange, but from what I've seen that statement mostly comes from people who try to play Aether Hub in their deck. I haven't had much trouble with the manabase I've been playing, especially with the only non-black double colored spells either being in the sideboard or costing six mana. Glint-Sleeve Siphoner is wonderful against the control decks of the format but pretty lousy everywhere else, making it a sideboard card only for me, especially without Aether Hub.
Ari Lax - R/B Aggro
Creatures (23)
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 4 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 2 Glorybringer
- 4 Goblin Chainwhirler
- 3 Rekindling Phoenix
- 1 Soul-Scar Mage
- 1 Hazoret the Fervent
- 2 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
- 2 Pia Nalaar
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (9)
I assure you: If you don't play R/B Aggro, your matchup against it is worse than you think. It's just ahead against everything except maybe Bant Nexus, and even that is questionable and fixable. Not playing R/B Aggro is just admitting you don't want the best chance of winning the event. My only tip is to play a million copies of Doomfall as people seem to think The Scarab God is game over and blanks are better than playing ten or so of the best individual cards in the format together.
Don't play Hour of Glory. That card sucks.
Owen Turtenwald - R/B Aggro
Creatures (24)
- 4 Bomat Courier
- 4 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 2 Glorybringer
- 4 Goblin Chainwhirler
- 2 Rekindling Phoenix
- 2 Soul-Scar Mage
- 2 Hazoret the Fervent
- 2 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
- 2 Pia Nalaar
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
- 1 Abrade
- 3 Chandra's Defeat
- 3 Magma Spray
- 1 Doomfall
- 4 Duress
- 2 Insult
- 1 Swamp
Sideboard
This decklist won Grand Prix Los Angeles a short time ago in the hands of Logan Nettles. Logan has been a teammate of mine many times in the past and that's me putting my stamp of approval on him as a player and deckbuilder. He's one of the best out there today. Seeing him win with "stock" R/B Aggro was a treat to watch, and a breakout finish at a premier level event was a long time coming for him. I love the look of the list too, with the exception of a basic land in the sideboard. If it ain't broke don't fix it, and with Worlds only a few weeks away, a few more matches of practice with my lovely R/B Aggro deck can't hurt. I've already locked in this exact list for Grand Prix Richmond should I face the misfortune of missing Day Two of the Legacy GP first.
Cedric Phillips - Mono-Green Aggro
Creatures (27)
- 4 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 3 Greenbelt Rampager
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Steel Leaf Champion
- 3 Thorn Lieutenant
- 3 Thrashing Brontodon
- 3 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
- 3 Rhonas the Indomitable
Lands (24)
Spells (9)
I'll keep this short and sweet, as this isn't nearly as cool as my Humans deck in Legacy. With B/U Midrange picking up in popularity and Mono-Red Flame of Keld winning a Grand Prix recently, it's clear that players are focusing on beating the decks that Mono-Green Aggro has difficulty with: Bant Nexus and U/W Control. The idea here is to play against the first two decks, hope to fade the other two (though Sorcerous Spyglass helps there immensely), and run good against R/B Aggro since that matchup is closer than it appears.
Does Mono-Green Aggro leave you with the ability to outplay your opponent? Not really. But your good matchups are very good, and those decks appear to be incredibly popular, so lets cross some fingers and hope to get the right pairings, shall we?
We shall!
About What We'd Play
The SCG Series that asks players what they'd take to an upcoming big event.