There is nothing quite like brewing with a new set. This week, I want to start working with two very exciting cards from M13, two cards that change the way the color black works in Standard.
Before we jump in, we would do well to arm ourselves with the most recent and up-to-date information available. The SCG Open in St. Louis, this weekend, gave the tournament scene its first major taste of M13 Standard. As always, the Standard Open on Saturday was heavily based on momentum and what decks people already had built. That said, M13’s first event has already shaken things up a bit and suggests the game is changing.
Both Trading Post and Disciple of Bolas have really caught my eye, so I want to go straight into the brewing. As such, let’s just take a quick look at particularly relevant decks from the Open to get an idea of what new M13 action the rest of the world has adapted.
To start with, the champ, Caleb Durward, has updated Naya Pod:
Creatures (32)
- 1 Solemn Simulacrum
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 3 Elvish Visionary
- 2 Borderland Ranger
- 1 Wurmcoil Engine
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
- 4 Blade Splicer
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 1 Geist-Honored Monk
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 2 Huntmaster of the Fells
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 1 Zealous Conscripts
- 1 Thragtusk
Lands (16)
Spells (12)
Despite fierce competition at the five spot, Thragtusk is an easy include. He is the exact creature you want to sacrifice to go find Wurmcoil Engine. Inferno Titan is totally awesome, but the number of maindeck Zealous Conscripts would make him a risky alternative.
Elvish Visionary is so much easier to cast than Strangleroot Geist, here. We aren’t really beating down so much as we are a midrange deck, so trading the aggressive body for a little more card draw can help make up for the downgrade in raw power.
As a note, once you go down the path of moving away from Strangleroot Geist, you are less likely to want Thundermaw Hellkite. There is incredible competition at the five spot, but if you were actually oriented in an aggressive direction, he would gain a lot of utility.
The addition of Thragtusk and Elvish Visionary has made Pod decks the early big winners. In addition to a Naya Pod winner, Bant Pod also made it to the top 8 on the strength of the same additions:
Creatures (32)
- 1 Solemn Simulacrum
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 2 Elvish Visionary
- 2 Acidic Slime
- 2 Borderland Ranger
- 1 Sun Titan
- 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
- 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
- 3 Blade Splicer
- 1 Stonehorn Dignitary
- 2 Phantasmal Image
- 1 Fiend Hunter
- 3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 1 Daybreak Ranger
- 1 Strangleroot Geist
- 3 Restoration Angel
- 1 Deadeye Navigator
- 2 Thragtusk
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (23)
Spells (4)
In addition to Pod, Thragtusk showed up in basically every green deck with Restoration Angel or Green Sun’s Zenith (such as Naya Aggro, G/W, and Mono-Green). For example, here is the list Austin Fritz top 8’ed with:
Creatures (22)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Blade Splicer
- 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 4 Restoration Angel
- 2 Thragtusk
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (10)
Spells (27)
Green-White Aggro is back, but this is a very different G/W deck than the token decks of old. The addition of Rancor and a Sword package changes the focus from swarms of creatures getting pumped to tons of creatures—and each one is a potentially lethal threat.
Thragtusk—like Strangleroot Geist and Blade Splicer—is just a better rate than you can normally get. Restoration Angel, on the other hand, has incredible synergies with basically everything (which is going to be true its entire Standard life, like so many Jace, the Mind Sculptors…).
It sure didn’t take long for Ajani, Caller of the Pride to crack the top 8. While Austin only uses a single copy, there is no way to know if that was due to card availability (mythics can be hard to acquire day 1), if he just hadn’t tested it yet, or if he actually just believes one is the right number (all of which are totally reasonable possibilities).
Little Ajani definitely continues to support the “make every creature a lethal threat” plan. For reference, if you jump an Avacyn’s Pilgrim with Rancor and Sword of War and Peace against an opponent with three cards in hand and two Delver of Secrets, you are still dealing at least 12 damage to them…
Bant Pod, Naya Pod, Naya Aggro, and G/W: you’d almost think this is really just further evidence that Restoration Angel is the best creature in Standard. Snapcaster Mage? Both of the Snapcaster Mage decks in the top 8 had the full suit of Restoration Angels.
So, what about an actual Mono-Green Aggro deck? The only list in the top 8 to not play Restoration Angel, Michael Alakayleh’s Mono-Green Aggro is probably the sort of deck an awful lot of people expected to pop up when they saw Rancor had been reprinted:
Creatures (23)
- 3 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Viridian Corrupter
- 4 Dungrove Elder
- 4 Strangleroot Geist
- 3 Predator Ooze
- 1 Wolfir Silverheart
- 2 Ulvenwald Tracker
- 1 Thragtusk
Lands (24)
- 24 Forest
Spells (13)
While not quite as fast as Mono-Green decks of old, Michael’s deck shares a bit in common with the old stupid green decks, and more recently, the mono-green aggro decks that have revolved around Green Sun’s Zenith and Strangleroot Geist.
The use of Rancor and Thragtusk is no surprise, by now, but what is interesting is the use of Revenge of the Hunted. Drawing this early can just win the game outright, serving as a one-mana Plague. Even if you end up having to use it later, it is not that expensive and can still single-handedly turn the tide of a game. That it works as creature removal is particularly valuable in a Mono-Green deck that mostly has to rely on Phyrexian mana cards and slow situational removal out of the board.
Adam Prosak played what might have been the most talked-about deck of the weekend, U/W Delver. U/W Delver? Wait, I thought he played Mono-U Wizards?
Creatures (16)
Lands (18)
Spells (26)
- 2 Mana Leak
- 4 Ponder
- 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
- 2 Mutagenic Growth
- 2 Mental Misstep
- 1 Sword of War and Peace
- 4 Gitaxian Probe
- 4 Vapor Snag
- 2 Gut Shot
- 4 Thought Scour
Sideboard
Look, I get that U/W Delver doesn’t make for headlines as good as Mono-U Wizards does, but let’s keep this legit. You can’t just play Seachrome Coast, Glacial Fortress, Moorland Haunt, Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage, Phantasmal Image, Restoration Angel, Ponder, Thought Scour, Gitaxian Probe, Mana Leak, Vapor Snag, Gut Shot, Mental Misstep, Mutagenic Growth, Sword of War and Peace, Sword of Feast and Famine, and Augur of Bolas, and call yourself a Mono-U Wizards deck.
Have you never seen a U/W Delver list before? Moving Restoration Angel to the sideboard to make room for maindeck Talrand, Sky Summoner doesn’t make you not a Delver deck anymore. That changes nothing (and probably isn’t even right, seeing as Restoration Angel is the best creature in the format).
Anyway, if you’ve ever liked Bloodline Keeper, you’d probably love Talrand, Sky Summoner, since it is like he has haste. If you have ever met someone who likes Talrand’s Invocation better than Talrand himself, just smile and be the bigger person. Talrand is so good, he might actually be able to compete with Restoration Angel.
As for Augur of Bolas—look, this one is a gimme. Augur of Bolas is just awesome in decks with lots of spells. We are going to be seeing a lot more of this guy.
Ok, so far Thragtusk, Rancor, Elvish Visionary, Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Augur of Bolas, and Talrand, Sky Summoner have all cracked the top 8, but there are tons of other cards looking for the right home. Today, I’d like to try brewing with a couple of the coolest build-around-me’s that I didn’t discuss last week.
These two cards are both very powerful in the right deck, but both work fairly differently from previous cards, making them a bit harder to crack. Of course, that just makes them that much more satisfying…
First, one of the most fun designs in M13, Trading Post. A number of people have remarked how they wished Trading Post was better, as it looks so fun that they’d love to be able to actually run it. I have to admit, while I saw some potential in it, when I first saw Trading Post, I didn’t realize how good it actually was. After all, it looks like an awful lot of durdling. What is it you are even really doing?
However, resource conversion cards are always good ones to keep an eye on. Anthony Eason’s innovative Trading Post Black deck got my wheel turning, despite an unimpressive showing in St. Louis:
Creatures (9)
Lands (25)
Spells (26)
There are a couple of very cool things going on here, though there is enough that I don’t like that I would rather start from scratch than just rework Eason’s deck.
The main thing I like about Eason’s deck is just how well it showcases Trading Post. What Eason realized was that Trading Post pushes you down a heavy artifact path, since you can sacrifice creatures to recur artifacts and sacrifice artifacts to draw cards. The other elements of the Trading Post are actually very open-ended, since you can discard any card to get life, and whenever you don’t have a creature, you can pay a life to get one.
This means—even with nothing else going on—you can effectively draw a card every other turn, just using the Trading Post to make a creature on their end step, then sacrificing it to get back an artifact (preferably after blocking). A well-built Trading Post deck should generally have artifacts in the graveyard, since you are going to want to include plenty that are worth sacrificing.
Wurmcoil Engine is probably the best big artifact in Standard. If you have one on the battlefield, it is generally very hard for most people to beat you. If you have Trading Post, even if they kill it, you just sacrifice your deathtouch Wurm to get back the original and keep going!
Having good artifacts to sacrifice is also very important, since if you have an artifact that is currently a blank in play, it is like Trading Post was a one-to-activate Jayemdae Tome. Now, what if you had an artifact you wanted to Trade away…
Creatures (7)
Lands (24)
Spells (29)
The first thing I want to try is Ichor Wellspring with Trading Post, as it is actually a draw three, when traded away. I considered Mycosynth Wellspring, but the diminishing returns on the value of Swamps after six in this deck made it worth less than just using more Nihil Spellbombs (which are also excellent to trade away, since you can still pay a black to draw an extra card).
Mutilate in the maindeck of a mono-black deck and Duress in the sideboard of any black deck at all is nothing out of the ordinary. Damnation has generally been better than Wrath of God the same way Harmonize has been better than Concentrate. Black appreciates it more. Mutilate is certainly not Damnation, but it isn’t that far off in a mono-black deck.
It’s a little tough to justify Duress maindeck at the moment, as there are just too many Pod decks without many targets. If only we had Inquisition of Kozilek…
While sketching out this decklist, it quickly became apparent that there was no need to be mono-black. You get Mutilate and…
…well, Mutilate.
You know what other strategy likes playing with a lot of artifacts?
Creatures (5)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (21)
Spells (27)
Now, we are actually getting paid pretty handsomely for such a heavy indulgence in artifacts. Getting to take advantage of both Grafdigger’s Cage and Torpor Orb makes us pretty hateful (though there is a very real risk that there is just too much “do-nothing” going on here). At least you can sacrifice them in matchups where they are not relevant to draw extra cards (or turn them into 5/5s).
Tezzeret has always had natural strengths against control, and Trading Post only increases this advantage. This does mean we are going to want to keep an eye on our aggressive matchups, but even there, we have some hidden strengths. For instance, it is much harder for people to burn you out when you can discard cards to gain four life.
Bloodline Keeper has long been a deadly threat in Tezzeret ever since Shouta pronounced it the replacement for Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
Fun Fact: While I was the first to top 8 with Tezzeret, Shouta—whom I actually beat in Paris when he was on Caw-Blade—was the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th, 19th, and 24th player to top 8 with Tezzeret.
Bloodline Keeper isn’t just a victory condition that can take over games; it is also an excellent source of trade-fodder (so you don’t have to waste your time with Goats).
I am not sure what the best home for Trading Post is; however, I have definitely come around on the card. It is somewhat vulnerable to Ancient Grudge. However, if you play a bunch, you can use the next one you get to get back the first one, so that even if they flashback the Grudge, you still have one, which can keep the whole thing going. Buried Ruin is another reasonable option for helping fuel a deck that has many artifacts as most Trading Post decks will have.
Another possible direction to explore with Trading Post includes some kind of Mindslaver lock deck (which could be fused with Tezzeret and/or Treasure Mage). Alternatively, you could put some Trading Posts in a Grand Architect deck, ensuring a constant supply of Wurmcoil Engines. Still another possibility is to use Trading Post as a sacrifice outlet in a deck that temporarily steals creatures (with Zealous Conscripts, and maybe Act of Aggression, Act of Treason, and/or Mark of Mutiny).
The other card I wanted to touch on today gives black something it has always been very hungry for, card draw. That card is Disciple of Bolas.
Disciple of Bolas is easy to gloss over, as it works so differently from previous cards. In fact, it wasn’t until the third time I read it that I realized it made you gain life, not lose life.
A 2/1 for four is obviously awful without a great ability, and there is no way we’d play a 2/1 for four that drew a card and gained one life. Drawing two cards and gaining two life, while requiring a sacrifice, could be reasonable, particularly if the creature you sacrificed was something like Solemn Simulacrum.
It is not until we to get three or more cards and life that things start to get interesting. While we are losing a creature, we are gaining a 2/1 body, which is something. Would you pay 3B to draw three and gain three? Now you are talking. Doesn’t this mean downgrading your three-power creature to a 2/1?
Not if it has undying.
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (22)
Disciple of Bolas sacrificing Geralf’s Messenger is a pretty big game, increasing your clock by three damage a turn, while making them lose two life, you gain three life, and you draw three cards. Demonic Taskmaster might be too cute, but drawing four cards (or five with Cathedral of War!) is a ton. Drawing cards has always been the deciding factor for Mono-Black Control. Necropotence and Skeletal Scrying are two particularly famous card drawers that elevated Mono-Black to tier 1 when they were legal.
Lashwrithe is very cool with Disciple of Bolas, since you can play defense the first few turns, then drop a Lashwrithe on turn four. Turn five, sacrifice it to draw five cards and then move the Lashwrithe over to your Disciple to make a threat that attacks for eight next turn!
Another cool feature of Lashwrithe is its ability to make any one of your creatures live through a Mutilate, no matter the size. Learning these interactions and how to best take advantage of them is going to be key to elevating Mono-Black up to high-level tournament play (yeah, for realz!).
It is important to remember that sacrificing creatures to Bolas is like taxation to pay for wars and bailouts; they are such good ideas, they are mandatory at gunpoint. That said, you can sacrifice your first Disciple to a second one (this time drawing eight cards, or whatever). Even if you don’t have a Lashwrithe going, it’s not like you wouldn’t rather have two more cards and two more life than another 2/1 dork.
Another possible way to abuse Disciple of Bolas is with Phylactery Lich. Are you telling me you wouldn’t like to draw five cards and gain five life?
The Lich is kind of a killer anyway, if you can support both triple black and enough artifacts to reliably have one in play when you summon him. Ichor Wellspring is a very appealing artifact to lead with, since even if things go bad, you get paid.
What if you used Phylactery Lich (and Disciple of Bolas) in a Trading Post deck? Disciple of Bolas makes an excellent creature to sacrifice to your Trading Post, and the Lich can totally take over a game if you drop him on turn three. I know it sounds a little over the top, but sometimes games stall out and you want to sacrifice your Wurmcoil Engine to draw six cards (then trade for it back, by sacrificing the Disciple).
Another possible use of Disciple of Bolas is to sacrifice Thragtusk to it. You gain ten life, draw five cards, and get five power worth of creatures out of the deal. That is pretty insane.
I don’t know what the future holds, but Disciple of Bolas, Trading Post, Mutilate, Sign in Blood, Duress, and Liliana of the Dark Realms are all painting a picture. Haters are gonna hate, no question, but this is a recipe for Mono-Black to actually make it. Black already has the removal, and Phyrexian Obliterator, Bloodline Keeper, Geralf’s Messenger, Gravecrawler, Grave Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, and Lashwrithe already ensured plenty of top-notch creatures to win with. Answers to planeswalkers? Despise, Ratchet Bomb, plenty of creatures. Sweepers? Mutilate, Black Sun’s Zenith, and Ratchet Bomb, not to mention Barter in Blood and Life’s Finale.
All it was really missing was card draw. Disciple of Bolas, Trading Post, and Sign in Blood combine to give black a powerful new dimension that it hasn’t had in years.
Alright, game on!
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”