Howdy, y'all! This week the SCG Tour® is kickin' off its boots in the Lone Star State. I ain't horsin' around, boys and girls, the trail ends in Dallas this weekend! The format's Standard, and I don't know if you've heard the rumors 'round the watering hole, but I know a thing or two about this format. That's right, the sheriff's here to tell you what you should and shouldn't play this weekend as we rank the ten most popular decks in Standard. Shoot, I should be clearer. We ain't talkin' 'bout no Ranked Play. We're slingin' paper!
And now that I've offended a large portion of my readers, let's talk about the decks!
Decks #10-#6: What I wouldn't play or suggest others play.
#10: Izzet Drakes
Creatures (12)
Lands (21)
Spells (27)
Even though the strategy took second and third in the Magic Online MCQ this weekend, I'm still just not a fan of Izzet Drakes. I don't win when I play with it and I don't lose when I play against it.
I'm aware that's not a good enough answer, so let's try to articulate things a little better.
I believe Izzet Drakes is easily beaten by most strategies in the format if you know what you're doing. Clearly it does have some good matchups out there, but for the most part the deck's just not explosive enough against Nexus of Fate strategies or resilient enough against removal-heavy strategies.
Take the Sultai Midrange matchup, for example. Izzet Drakes is favored in Game 1 and for a little while it was also favored after sideboard, but not once I realized I should just have every removal spell and card advantage spell I had access to. Cards like Assassin's Trophy weren't good against Arclight Phoenix builds, but they're serviceable against this iteration of the strategy thanks to it having zero real mana sinks.
Pteramander is a really good card for this deck, but the additional power it provides also has made the strategy more exploitable to those who know how to exploit it. Maybe not enough have learned how to exactly do that, but for me this deck choice is a really bad idea.
About Brad Nelson
2010 Player of the Year Brad Nelson started his Pro Tour career as FffreaK on Magic Online and quickly catapulted to the top of international Magic success. He won GP DC, the 2014 Star City Games Players' Championship, and was 2nd at PT Amsterdam. He conquered Grand Prix Omaha in 2017 without dropping a single match, one week after winning the SCG Tour event in Baltimore. He now lives in Roanoke, Virginia, producing top-notch video and article content.
