[SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE ARTICLE!]

Become a StarCityGames.com Premium Member and receive exclusive access to top-level strategies, new decklists and entertaining reports from many of the best players and writers that the game has to offer! This includes "The Innovator" & Worlds finalist Patrick Chapin, 2010 Player of the Year Brad Nelson, Classic Theorist Mike Flores, Hall of Famer Brian Kibler, GP and SCG Invitational Champion Gerry Thompson, StarCityGames.com Director of Sales Ben Bleiweiss ...and many, many more!

PLUS! StarCityGames.com Premium members now have an EXCLUSIVE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER sent just to them with the latest tech, exclusive content and exclusive deals along with unprecedented access into America's largest Magic: the Gathering sales database, and can view lists of StarCityGames.com's top-selling items - broken down by category, format legality, and rarity - in real time! When it comes to trading, increased knowledge equals increased profits - and increased knowledge is just one click away for our Premium members!

A StarCityGames.com Premium Membership gives you exclusive access to the best Magic: the Gathering content available and is an amazing bargain for just pennies a day! When you're ready to start getting more out of this game, click here to join StarCityGames.com Premium today!

If you are a valid StarCityGames.com Premium member and still cannot view the article, please consult this FAQ.

The entire spoiler is out, and a Prerelease is right over the horizon. Exciting times are to be had by all. Nothing is more exciting than thinking about how this set is going to shake up Constructed, and there is no way 158 beautiful new cards won't impact Standard. Will the new Sorin fill in the shoes of Elspeth, Knight-Errant? What's going to happen to control? Can U/W Delver hold onto its title as the best deck? Let's find out.

The biggest thing on everyone's mind has to be Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. Lord of Innistrad is a pretty big title after all.

I for one do not really think he deserves such a title. Lord of an entire world makes me think this card could fit into any archetype and be amazing. Jace, the Mind Sculptor did just that, and he never was called “Lord of Zendikar.” Elspeth, Knight-Errant never got this title either. What makes Sorin so different?

The reason Sorin, Lord of Innistrad shouldn't have this name is that he will not be good as a standalone planeswalker. Sure, he has the ability to protect himself but not from the threats that are on his own planet. The threats being played all fly. His Vampires sure look stupid when all they can do is watch countless Spirits and deformed Insects fly over and destroy their beloved master. He is not fast enough on his own to be able to take down a player before they can summon massive Titans. He needs help. The good thing is he can get the help that he needs.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is actually the most aggressive planeswalker to ever be printed. Koth of the Hammer can't even compete with this guy in that category. His emblem ability is out-of-this-world insane. So far, every emblem in the game is so game breaking that I have never witnessed a player lose a game with one. This must not be the case with Sorin, since Wizards would not have printed him otherwise, but I really find it difficult to see how this won't still be true.

Obviously Wizards wants B/W Tokens to be the next best thing, given how many token cards they've forced down our throats in this set. Sorin puts this archetype over the top because of how powerful giving your current and future teams +1/+0 is. Games will be over quickly if you don't handle Sorin.

This is the part where I show you guys a B/W Tokens decklist…if I actually had a good one. The problem is I don't really know the formula for a deck like this just yet. Obviously cards like Gather the Townsfolk, Lingering Souls, Intangible Virtue, Honor of the Pure, and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad make the cut. This only fills up 20 slots of the deck though.

The initial problem I have with decks like this is trying to figure out how they come back from an opponent's fast start, multiple Ratchet Bombs, or just plain bigger dudes. Obviously the deck is powerful when it has a perfect curve with the right number of anthems and creatures. What happens when it doesn't?

You need some spells in the deck that don't rely on anthems to be threatening. Elspeth Tirel initially seemed like a good fit but is weak if you're behind. Geist-Honored Monk could be that spell, but who knows if it's good enough on its own post mass removal? Should this deck just play a straightforward role and attack all the time? Or should it have some way to deal with other permanents? Is Timely Reinforcements a maindeck card? These are the questions you'll want to answer when testing this deck, before taking it to an event.

Black-White Tokens is really the only deck we know for sure is going to be a main player in the new format. That means we have to look back at what is already being played and see how things change.

The biggest question is whether U/W Delver decks are going to stay on top.

I feel that they will take a very big hit with the new set coming out. Lingering Souls feels like a very big problem. Not only is it good against the deck, but U/W Delver will be affected by the additional hate targeting all of the tokens coming into the format. We have already seen this in almost full effect, but it can only get worse.

The good news for U/W Delver is that Curse of Death's Hold will be seeing significantly less play. This card has been very good at dealing with most of the decks so far, but control decks will have to look for other things, since this card gets trumped so easily by the anthems that will start seeing play.

Control decks also will have a tough time figuring out the correct spells to play in the beginning. This means that the format will get a bit more aggressive while carrying more hate towards aggressive decks. U/W Delver might have a difficult time dealing with all of the new, added pressure in the format. You lose the ability to continuously out-tempo your opponent when they are more focused on the early game as well as casting cards like Lingering Souls. I don't know if Geist of Saint Traft will be powerful enough to defeat all of the enemies sprouting up.

The good news is that Sword of War and Peace is only going to get more powerful, since all of the tokens being produced in the format are white. This piece of equipment has never been more powerful. U/W Delver is suited to not only wield this spell but has great tools to deal with it.

The toughest question I have been trying to figure out is where to take control decks. I feel that there are plenty of tools to make a great control deck, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out the mix. There are so many things to consider before even trying to make a decklist.

The most important thing to think about is how to deal with aggressive decks never running out of gas. We are already familiar with this because of Midnight Haunting plus Snapcaster Mage, Moorland Haunt, and Primeval Titan searching for Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus. One-for-one removal is at an all-time low, since the aggressive decks will always come out ahead on cards. Oblivion Ring is the only one that makes the cut, since there is the chance of having to dealing with pesky planeswalkers and other rings.

Tempo is also something that has to be considered because of U/W Delver. This deck can set up very difficult board situations to get out of when backed up with countermagic. This means that you have to have enough early removal to reliably draw it and have it affect the game before they can set up these soft locks.

These are the most important things to consider before going into deck construction, but there is just one more thing to think about. Other control decks will be out there as well. Sure, you want to have enough tools main and sideboard to deal with the horde of aggressive decks, but you must keep in mind that most of these spells are terrible against control decks. Finding the perfect mix is important, which is the tricky part. You can try to dedicate most of this to a sideboard, but they are also sideboarding in good spells. If they have the advantage in game one, they will probably continue to have it in the other games.

I feel the first thing we can throw away is Liliana of the Veil. She has seen some spotted play all season but will be very weak when dealing with more cards that generate multiple tokens. This is the world we live in, which keeps her very weak.

U/B is going to take a big hit when Dark Ascension comes out. These 1/1 creatures will be getting more bonuses, making it very difficult to deal with them using Curse of Death's Hold. Ratchet Bomb is still an amazing answer they can use, but there are not many reasons to just play these colors. Mana is getting better with Evolving Wilds coming back, which makes it way easier to play three-color decks.

I might be wrong about U/B not being a powerful deck—just on the back of Surgical Extraction. I think this card is going to become very powerful. More flashback cards are being introduced alongside the new ability undying. I feel that undying is a Constructed playable ability that will have some impact on the format.

Even though I feel that U/B Control will not be a big deck, it does not mean blue and black will not be the base colors in control decks. Esper and Grixis are the two front-runners for control archetypes. The extra color gives you a wider variety of both threats and removal spells. Grixis gives you Whipflare, Desperate Ravings, Inferno Titan, and Olivia Voldaren. White gives you access to Day of Judgment, Unburial Rites, Sun Titan, Elesh Norn, and Timely Reinforcements. All of these cards can be very important when trying to deal with all of the random decks running around.

Timely Reinforcements will lose power against most of the field. Making three tokens and gaining six life is not what it used to be. Creatures are coming out faster and bigger than ever, and this card is becoming more of an answer to Mono Red than a catchall. This card could be worth it if aggressive black decks actually make a run at being good.

Choosing threats is becoming very important. Sun Titan was the go-to guy and still might be, depending on whether bringing back Ratchet Bomb is going to be the best thing he can do. Ratchet Bomb is exactly what you want against B/W Tokens but loses muster against U/W Illusions. I'd prefer Elesh Norn or cheaper creatures in that matchup.

The problem with these two guys is that they are not that amazing against other control decks. A deck full of removal spells, Mana Leaks, some card advantage, Elesh Norn, and Sun Titan will have a difficult time dealing with any other control deck if they just have better finishers like Nephalia Drownyard or Zeniths.

Dark Ascension did not bring much to the table for Standard, but it did give us just enough to have a much bigger format. B/W Tokens is the middle ground we needed in this format to release us from the reign of U/W Illusions. I am sorry for not bringing any decklists this week, but I would rather bring valuable information over weak decks. I wish you guys good luck with the brews!

The Prerelease is this weekend. This is the first chance all of us get to see Dark Ascension cards. Even though most of you have been to your fair share of Prereleases, it does not mean this won't be another player's first. Prereleases are a great chance for new players to get to see what tournament Magic is all about. This is why I ask all of you to represent the game we love so much the best you can. These new players will probably be very nervous about playing in an event, and we don't want rude play to ruin their first glimpse. Have fun, be nice, and open the Lord of Innistrad!