I was checking my e-mail on Monday night, casually looking for one of those spicy e-mails or a Facebook update when, to my great surprise, I found a
message from “The Innovator,” Mr. Patrick Chapin, telling me that the subject for this week’s article would be “What are the most
important players in the current Standard format and what is a deck you would recommend for next week?”
Drops of sweat started running down my forehead and other places I won’t mention here, while I quickly grabbed a Snickers bar and started biting on it
furiously.
What are the most important players in the current Standard format? Well, for me they’re the pillars of the format (the cards we build our whole decks
around) and the cards that make our decks good and synergistic. This means that, in order to figure out what the most important players in Standard
are, we have to figure out what the top decks in Standard are:
Creatures (13)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (27)
Spells (16)
Sideboard
The Pillar:
Explore – Explore is the knot that ties it all together (I’ve always wanted to use this metaphor). At worst, it replaces itself, but at its best,
it provides mana acceleration and card advantage (Halimar Depths) or a threat (Raging Ravine).
The Engine behind the deck:
Lotus Cobra – Explore – Oracle of Mul Daya
The Players:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor (capable of doing broken things in this deck by providing you a huge amount of card and board advantage, helping you get the
full value of your fetchlands, setting up some amazing Oracle of Mul Daya – Explore – Lotus Cobra turns and bouncing your own Goblin
Ruinblasters to destroy one more of your opponent’s lands) and Frost Titan.
I feel like Frost Titan is a bit like Vinnie from Jersey Shore. In the first season, Vinnie went unnoticed, telling a joke here and there,
making out with a few cute girls but no bombshells. Now, in season two, Vinnie stepped up his game, showing Paulie and The Situation who’s the real
Guido in the house.
In this deck, Frost Titan is the finisher of choice because he beats the other Titans and can lock down the necessary mana for your opponent’s to cast
his finishers, a great ability to have in a format dominated by ramp decks and in conjunction with Goblin Ruinblaster.
The Tech:
Volition Reins
Most Valuable Player:
Lotus Cobra – R/U/G is the deck that uses Cobra to its max value, being able to cast a third-turn Jace, the Mind Sculptor or Goblin Ruinblaster
or even a fourth-turn Frost Titan.
Creatures (5)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (24)
The Pillar:
Trinket Mage – The ambitious idea of building a U/B Control deck that can both use and abuse Creeping Tar Pit, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Frost
Titan has always been in every deckbuilder’s mind since the Shards of Alara block rotated out, but it was Trinket Mage that made it all possible
because of its ability to search for Brittle Effigy, Everflowing Chalice, and Elixir of Immortality, artifacts with effects that usually blue and black
have no access to and also filling the three-drop slot with a 2/2 body that can both attack or block profitably.
The Players:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Mana Leak, Tectonic Edge, and Frost Titan.
The Tech:
Elixir of Immortality – Elixir can be fetched by Trinket Mage and it gives U/B Control a way to gain life and to shuffle back in the deck all the
countermagic that has already been used.
MVP:
Creeping Tar Pit – A great weapon to have in the control mirrors, it deals the last points of damage while keeping counter mana up and without
committing another creature to the board, and three is both the number of Creeping Tar Pit’s power and the number of Jace, TMS counters he has when he
comes into to play and his Brainstorm ability is used. A fact to keep in mind.
Creatures (13)
Lands (27)
Spells (21)
Creatures (17)
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 4 Joraga Treespeaker
- 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- 4 Overgrown Battlement
- 1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- 4 Primeval Titan
- 2 Wurmcoil Engine
Lands (14)
Spells (29)
Sideboard
The Pillar:
Primeval Titan – The reason to go green in Standard. The Titan is already a pretty huge threat on its own, but its ability to search for Valakuts
in the first deck and for Eldrazi Temples/Eyes of Ugin in the second one and accelerating Eldrazi puts him way over the top. He can also search for
Khalni Garden (which provides a blocker), Mystifying Maze (a way to deal with your opponent’s biggest creature), and Tectonic Edge (great against the
mirror and control), making him one of the best cards in Standard to build around.
The Players:
Valakut, Wurmcoil Engine, the Eldrazi.
The Tech:
Genesis Wave
MVP:
Summoning Trap – A great way to “cheat” a fatty into play, once again, particularly good in a format dominated by ramp and control
strategies. Just hitting a Primeval Titan or an Acidic Slime at the end of your opponent’s turn or before the blocker’s step of your opponent’s attack
swings the game in your favor. It does miss occasionally, but its ability to swing the game in your favor out of nowhere makes it the MVP in these
decks.
Creatures (20)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (11)
Sideboard
The Pillar:
Kargan Dragonlord – The biggest threat in the red deck, a card that is decent on turn 2 but has the potential to take over the middle or late
game by getting bigger and having evasion.
The Players:
Koth of the Hammer, Lightning Bolt, and Goblin Guide.
MVP:
Molten-Tail Masticore – The card that makes the red deck a Tier 1 competitor. It’s a powerful finisher, it provides an answer to the scary threat
that Kor Firewalker is, and also makes use of all the extra Mountains and small creatures that are a lot less effective in the mid to late game.
Creatures (36)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Elvish Archdruid
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 4 Joraga Warcaller
- 4 Joraga Treespeaker
- 4 Fauna Shaman
- 4 Sylvan Ranger
- 4 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
- 4 Copperhorn Scout
Lands (12)
Spells (12)
Sideboard
The Pillar:
Eldrazi Monument – The perfect Overrun effect. It pumps, gives evasion and indestructibility to every single one of your creatures at a very low
drawback.
The Players:
Fauna Shaman, Joraga Warcaller, Elvish Archdruid, and Ezuri, Renegade Leader.
The Tech:
Swamp (Memoricide, a tool against the combo and control decks, + Doom Blade, a tool against the big threats from the ramp decks and the cheap creatures
from Mono-Red)
MVP:
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood – A very cheap way to pump all your small creatures, and it also has a nice synergy with Joraga Warcaller.
Creatures (20)
- 4 Goblin Chieftain
- 4 Goblin Bushwhacker
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 4 Memnite
- 1 Molten-Tail Masticore
- 3 Spikeshot Elder
Lands (19)
Spells (21)
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 1 Trusty Machete
- 1 Basilisk Collar
- 1 Devastating Summons
- 1 Forked Bolt
- 2 Mox Opal
- 1 Chimeric Mass
- 2 Galvanic Blast
- 4 Kuldotha Rebirth
- 1 Infiltration Lens
- 3 Panic Spellbomb
Sideboard
Creatures (32)
- 4 Ornithopter
- 4 Kor Duelist
- 4 Kor Outfitter
- 4 Kor Skyfisher
- 4 Stoneforge Mystic
- 4 Squadron Hawk
- 4 Memnite
- 4 Glint Hawk
Lands (20)
- 12 Plains
- 4 Arid Mesa
- 4 Marsh Flats
Spells (8)
The Pillar:
Memnite – Memnite scares me because it breaks the rules. A 1/1 artifact for zero mana is something never seen before, and, besides easily helping
to achieve metalcraft, the synergy between Memnite–Glint Hawk-Quest or Memnite–Kuldotha Rebirth and then using Memnite to feed Masticore’s ability just
shows some of its potential.
The Players:
Mox Opal, Kuldotha Rebirth, Goblin Bushwhacker, Glint Hawk, Quest for the Holy Relic.
The Tech:
Spikeshot Elder + Basilisk Collar and Argentum Armor in the second deck.
MVP:
Goblin Chieftain because it’s the first deck’s Plan B. There are going to be some games in which you can win on turn 2 or 3 by metalcrafting, get your
side of the battlefield crowded with Goblins, and win with a big Bushwhacker turn and a Bolt or a Galvanic Blast, but there are also going to be some
games when you have to grind it out and just play it like if you were any other Goblins deck. The same is valid for the second deck’s MVP, Stoneforge
Mystic; he’s also a solid Plan B when the Memnite–Glint Hawk-Quest interaction doesn’t work out.
U/W Control, Fauna Shaman brews, and Pyromancer Ascension combo are all decks to consider and to have in your gauntlet, but they’re not the top decks
in the current Standard format, so, with all of this information in mind, what would be a deck I’d recommend for next week?
Considering R/U/G, U/B Control, Valakut, Eldrazi-Green Ramp decks, Elves, Mono-Red, and Memnite decks as the main decks to beat in this format, the
deck I’d recommend has to have a way to deal with the ramp strategies and with both their big creatures and the small creatures from Mono-Red, Elves,
and the Memnite decks, while also being able to beat the Jaces and Frost Titans from the control and R/U/G decks. A deck like this:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 2 Kor Skyfisher
- 4 Plated Geopede
- 4 Steppe Lynx
- 3 Stoneforge Mystic
- 4 Squadron Hawk
- 3 Spikeshot Elder
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
With a few changes:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 3 Goblin Ruinblaster
- 2 Kor Skyfisher
- 4 Plated Geopede
- 4 Steppe Lynx
- 3 Stoneforge Mystic
- 1 Sun Titan
- 3 Spikeshot Elder
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
I believe Basilisk Collar should be in the main, since there are three copies of Stoneforge Mystic in the deck and only two different targets, and it
has a great synergy with both Spikeshot Elder and Cunning Sparkmage after sideboard.
The Ruinblasters should also be in the main because the top decks are either ramp or control decks, and Boros has a very mediocre mid to late game, the
reason why Sun Titan is also in the deck. The Titan reconstructs after a Pyroclasm effect, brings back Journey to Nowhere form the graveyard, pumps
Plated Geopede or Steppe Lynx by getting a land/fetchland with its ability, and it can return Kor Skyfisher or Stoneforge Mystic to get more value from
them.
Oxidda Scrapmelter is in the sideboard due to the increasing popularity of Eldrazi Monument and Mimic Vat decks, chosen instead of Manic Vandal because
of the 3/3 body, relevant due to the many Pyroclasm effects everyone runs, and the 3R casting cost due to Consume the Meek.
This is the deck I’d recommend.
Thank you for reading and don’t forget to vote for me.
André Mateus
e-mail: [email protected]
Sapomann on MTGO