The New Face of Standard
- Thread starter Encaen
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It seems my local meta is being dominated by Golgari-type decks, everyone is looking for 4 [mtg_card=Lotleth Troll]s (including me), I played a couple of matches against some GB and GBR decks, and they can be brutal if you get the right cards (Lotleth Troll + [mtg_card=Slitherhead] + [mtg_card=Rancor]).
I also played against an Azorius deck similar to the Bant Control you posted, but with black instead of green to use [mtg_card=Sorin, Lord of Innistrad] and take advantage of flashbacks like [mtg_card=Lingering Souls]. I almost won that one
(using a very cheap BW Exalted deck).
I'm trying to build a Golgari deck too, with cards like Lotleth Troll, Sliterhead, [mtg_card=Corpsejack Menace], [mtg_card=Splinterfright] and others alike.
I also played against an Azorius deck similar to the Bant Control you posted, but with black instead of green to use [mtg_card=Sorin, Lord of Innistrad] and take advantage of flashbacks like [mtg_card=Lingering Souls]. I almost won that one
(using a very cheap BW Exalted deck).I'm trying to build a Golgari deck too, with cards like Lotleth Troll, Sliterhead, [mtg_card=Corpsejack Menace], [mtg_card=Splinterfright] and others alike.
Unfortunately, I don't think any of my three decks really stand a chance against any of the local or national meta game, even if I got to update them with the Ravenica cards. All three of them were pretty much gutted by the swapping out of Scars and M12, so I'm kind of stuck.
Honestly? I don't follow the metagame. Never have. I just build whatever kind of deck I feel like, though often on Cockatrice more than using actual copies since I can't just spend money on cards at the drop of a hat.
Currently ruling the roost in my Cockatrice decks is a Bant deck similar to Duels 2013's Talrand deck, featuring heavy doses of green for things like Parallel Lives and splashing white for Trostani, Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage and a couple of other RTR Selesnya additions. Wouldn't be legal in Standard due to Primeval Titan and old lands like [mtg_card=Savannah].
Currently ruling the roost in my Cockatrice decks is a Bant deck similar to Duels 2013's Talrand deck, featuring heavy doses of green for things like Parallel Lives and splashing white for Trostani, Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage and a couple of other RTR Selesnya additions. Wouldn't be legal in Standard due to Primeval Titan and old lands like [mtg_card=Savannah].
One thing I've found interesting was the more direct response that some of the aggro decks are taking against the popular control. I've seen [mtg_card=Curse of Echoes] and [mtg_card=Angel of Glory's Rise] being added to sideboards among the U/W human aggro decks.
I don't know about the Curse (which is fun in its own right) but Glory's Rise has a lovely little infinite combo with [mtg_card=Fiend Hunter] and anything that lets you sack a creature with an added benefit, usually [mtg_card=Falkenrath Aristocrat]. Additional supports for this combo: [mtg_card=Huntmaster of the Fells] for infinite Wolf tokens and life (though opening a vulnerability to a pair of [mtg_card=Rakdos Charm]s), [mtg_card=Healer of the Pride] for infinite life without needing four colors, and [mtg_card=Zealous Conscripts] for dirty infinite thievery (and more counters for your Aristocrat/s).Slycne said:
StarCityGames posted an article [http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/25049-Infinite-Everything-In-Standard-With-Angel-Frites.html] about this little "infinite everything" combo and an intriguing four-color Reanimator deck to play it in. I'm considering trying something like this in my [mtg_card=Kaalia of the Vast] Commander deck... though I can't use Huntmaster with her as my general.
I do okay with my Azorius Tempo deck. It's built similar to the Azorius Aggro, but with more blue for Dungeon Geists, detention spheres, o-rings, arrests, and fiend hunters. I also use [mtg_card=Cackling Counterpart] as a way to give any creature I have in play Flash for another copy. Sphinx's Revelation is big for card draw. I might take out some of the geists for Tamiyo, because she can do either the same thing, or something better. My deck has a tendency to have to double lock a creature to allow me to deal damage, but Tamiyo won't help with that.
Right now I'm using Azorius spirits aggro/control and it seems to work decent. I use [mtg_card=Midnight Haunting] and [mtg_card=Lingering Souls] for the main token production. To buff my tokens I have [mtg_card=Drogskol Captain], [mtg_card=Favorable Winds] and [mtg_card=Intangible Virtue]. For tech stuff, I run 3 [mtg_card=Detention Sphere] and 2 [mtg_card=Oblivion Ring], a couple [mtg_card=sleep], and 4 [mtg_card=Cyclonic Rift]. I also use 3 [mtg_card=Snapcaster Mages] to get Haunting's, sleep, or rifts back. There's also a splash of black in there with [mtg_card=Drowned Catacomb] for the Souls' flashback and a single [mtg_card=Vault of the Archangel]. Finally, I use 2 [mtg_card=Angel of Serenity] just because they're really good.
Oh, and I don't have sweepers main boarded at the moment (other than an overloaded rift of course), but there's 3 [mtg_card=Terminus] in the sideboard, and I may main deck a [mtg_card=Supreme Verdict] or 2.
EDIT: Derp, I could just link the deck instead of going on about it.
http://essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=948752 <-the decklist
EDIT 2: Oh yeah, this is the 2nd incarnation of this deck. I took the first to an FNM and went 1-4, but all my losses were close games going 1-2, so it wasn't bad at all. I'll be taking this version to this week's tournament and seeing how it does. If it fails, I'm probably gonna be doing Rakdos Aggro, or maybe check out that Selesnya Midrange deck.
Oh, and I don't have sweepers main boarded at the moment (other than an overloaded rift of course), but there's 3 [mtg_card=Terminus] in the sideboard, and I may main deck a [mtg_card=Supreme Verdict] or 2.
EDIT: Derp, I could just link the deck instead of going on about it.
http://essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=948752 <-the decklist
EDIT 2: Oh yeah, this is the 2nd incarnation of this deck. I took the first to an FNM and went 1-4, but all my losses were close games going 1-2, so it wasn't bad at all. I'll be taking this version to this week's tournament and seeing how it does. If it fails, I'm probably gonna be doing Rakdos Aggro, or maybe check out that Selesnya Midrange deck.
I decided on building a GW Selesnya deck which takes advantage of cloudshift and Restoration angel to flicker and populate Armada Wurms and Thragtusks (Thragtuski?). It's a bunch of fun, but I don't think it's strong enough to compete with.
Captchya: Win hands down..... I hope so, but I doubt it.
Captchya: Win hands down..... I hope so, but I doubt it.
I just put together my own take on a Selesnya deck last night, though I'm using Populate instead of flicker for token production. It's going to be a bit slower going than my BW tokens deck, I expect, but it should be fun to play, even if it's not super competitive.Braedan said:
You may be right about the competitiveness of a token/flicker deck, but I can say with confidence that there are few things quite as fun as repeatedly flickering Thragtusk!
I'm running a more aggro version of the Selesnya deck because I wasn't able to get the Thragtusks in my area (because they're in 99% of all standard decks and are $20 rares). Strangleroot Geists, maindeck Thalia, and a pair of sublime archangels are in their place (as well as Restoration Angel because really, what the hell are you blinking besides Thragtusk?).
Deck is soft to Olivia in Jund decks and to getting 3 terminuses miracled on you in the same game. Apart from that it's pretty solid, especially postboard (though I don't have my RIPs yet.)
Deck is soft to Olivia in Jund decks and to getting 3 terminuses miracled on you in the same game. Apart from that it's pretty solid, especially postboard (though I don't have my RIPs yet.)
Been a while since I've been to an official tournament, though I still go to in-home tournaments over at a friend's house. Most of our decks are using cards that have been cycled out (one guy still has a beast of an Eldrazi deck, for instance) so really I can't discuss current "legal" builds.
But I do have a question about an argument that I got into recently.
Suppose the controller of a Serra Ascendant has 29 life and attacks with it. The defending player blocks it with a 2/2...what happens to the Ascendant? The 1 damage of Lifelink gives its controller 30, at which point the Ascendant's ability kicks in giving it +5/+5 and Flying...but at the same time, it was already dealt lethal damage when it was still a 1/1. So does it die? Or does it instantly become a 6/6 Flyer with 2 damage against it for the turn? I say that it should be dead, but a buddy of mine says that it gets to live. His argument is that the ability kicks in the moment he gets 30 life, my argument is that even so, since the combat damage happened at the same time, he gets that life as the Ascendant is dead and on its way to the graveyard.
But I do have a question about an argument that I got into recently.
Suppose the controller of a Serra Ascendant has 29 life and attacks with it. The defending player blocks it with a 2/2...what happens to the Ascendant? The 1 damage of Lifelink gives its controller 30, at which point the Ascendant's ability kicks in giving it +5/+5 and Flying...but at the same time, it was already dealt lethal damage when it was still a 1/1. So does it die? Or does it instantly become a 6/6 Flyer with 2 damage against it for the turn? I say that it should be dead, but a buddy of mine says that it gets to live. His argument is that the ability kicks in the moment he gets 30 life, my argument is that even so, since the combat damage happened at the same time, he gets that life as the Ascendant is dead and on its way to the graveyard.
I beleive state-based actions kill Serra Ascendant before it's ability goes on the stack. Although let me double check the rulings for lifelink, damage, static and triggered abilities.RJ 17 said:
Edit
Nope, I was wrong. So what happens is that each creature hits each other for 2 and 1 respectively. All damage is done simultaneously and Lifelink happens as a static ability so you gain 1 raising you to 30. This then engages Serra Ascendants static ability, but this all happens before state-based actions scoop creatures off to the graveyard. So the 2/2 lives with one damage still assigned to it and Serra Ascendant is a 6/6 with 2 damage assigned to it.
Basically the hinge is that damage doesn't actually "kill" the creature, a state-based action check looks for any creatures with more damage than their toughness and Serra Ascendant's ability isn't a triggered ability based on receiving priority and adding it to the stack.
Counter Olivia with either [mtg_card=arrest] or [mtg_card=pithing needle]. If you have a way to prevent an acidic slime from entering play, even better.deth2munkies said:
Oh I'm well aware that they exist, but I'm running Oblivion Ring over Arrest to deal with Planeswalkers, I've just been testing whether or not to side it in for Jund as it's really bad against pretty much everything else in their deck.vxicepickxv said:
I'm currently running a G/U self mill deck, though I have yet to test it out in completed form.
There is a standard casual tourney being held today, but regrettably I won't be able to participate. Hopefully I will see how it does within a week or so.
There is a standard casual tourney being held today, but regrettably I won't be able to participate. Hopefully I will see how it does within a week or so.