This is not very good. |
I'm sure some of you popped open better promos than I did. Actually, I imagine most of you who didn't open Fevered Visions did. But were these balling new rares and mythics standard allstars, or are they going to be tossed into the bulk bin right after you're done unsleeving them?
We're going to look at what cards we feel have the chance to drive some new archetypes in standard. Some of these are controversial, which feels really stupid to say about a trading card game, but I've come to accept that my priorities in life aren't exactly where they should be. On the other hand, some of these are obviously strong cards and it would be surprising if they didn't see any play.
Hmm, nope, can't see any reason to ever run this. |
And still others have a potential power level that's like Goku's after training in that spaceship thing, but may not have the support crew to help them out. These ideas aren't ranked in any order of power, and you can consider this more of a blob of stuff rather than a numbered list. The last card isn't necessarily better than the first. I may obnoxiously say which I think is best, but I am a biased P.O.S. so feel free to ignore that part.
I'm also not going to talk about cards that are going to see widespread sideboard play, but not much maindeck. For example, there's no denying that Dual Shot could be a huge play in the right matchups, but no one is going to mainboard four copies just in case the opponent is running a bunch of one toughness dudes. Besides, no one wants a common to be remembered as the most played card of a set.
Yeah, that'd be a stupid set if a common was the most played pro tour card. |
I'm also not going to talk about dual lands. Actually, you know what, I will. I give all the rare duals first place because they'll see more play than the other cards. There, that's out of the way.
So let's check it out! If you aren't sure what you want to be playing in standard this time around, maybe one of these cards will tickle your pickle in just the right way, and you'll finally get that constructed inspiration you need.
Is Red/Green here to beat some face?
He will stand on stuff and scream until you put him in your deck. |
Wolf, bolt, wolf, bolt... |
In my head-canon this is Tibalt in his final form. |
Duskwatch Recruiter is another one featured above that could make the cut. A two drop bear that can be a mana-sink for card advantage later is a good play at most points in the game. His flipside making dudes cheaper is nice, and will be a nice side to be on after you activate his ability once or twice and have a hand full of tasty fatfats. Duskwatch's biggest problem is the slot he's in - is the two drop already too crowded? We have Sylvan Advocate, Deathcap Cultivator, Hangarback Walker, Makindi Sliderunner, Abbot of Keral Keep, and probably a bunch of other great cards that I can't remember clogging up that spot.
Oh, and let's not forget that Collected Company is great here as well. Thank you everyone for popularizing the name Coco-pups, cause that's perfect. And speaking of pups...
Maybe you're more a fan of gimmicky combos:
Similar to Sponges, wolves reproduce by budding. |
Silverfur and a buttload of werewolves would be a lot of fun with pump spells. The new Rush of Adrenaline to shoot through damage, Titan's Strength to... well, shoot through damage, and whatever other pumps we have available. Sure, that sounds great, but if only we had some other insane-but-not-efficient card to throw in there...
Zada and a board with Silverfur a few pups is enough to take Rush of Adrenaline from "boring pump spell" to "oh jesus, how much damage goes through?"
You'll get 2/2 wolves equal to the number of wolves on the field, and everything already on the field gets +2/+1 and gets trompley. The new Rabid Bite + Zada and a field of wolves is also one of the sexiest two cost removal combos I can think of.
Do I think this deck is going to be tier 1? No. Do I think this deck is going to surprise-murder a couple of tier 1 decks at FNM? Oh god yes.
Sorry, I'm more of the kind of guy that doesn't want any friends after a game:
Oh, yeah, this will do. |
You'll get 2/2 wolves equal to the number of wolves on the field, and everything already on the field gets +2/+1 and gets trompley. The new Rabid Bite + Zada and a field of wolves is also one of the sexiest two cost removal combos I can think of.
Do I think this deck is going to be tier 1? No. Do I think this deck is going to surprise-murder a couple of tier 1 decks at FNM? Oh god yes.
Sorry, I'm more of the kind of guy that doesn't want any friends after a game:
Jace, Unraveler of Playgroups. |
For the low buy-in of $100 per card, you too can play blue! |
Well, fuck. |
There's also a good chance that Esper control stays dominant. We still have Ojutai in standard, after all. Sorin and Anguished Unmaking are amazing cards from the new set that push Esper with the Jace crew as well. Sorin's plus is a great win condition; it draws you a ton of cards and conveniently shoots their face for a bunch. Personally I'm a fan of Grixis, because casting Fiery Tempers and Avacy's Judgements off of toddler Jace sounds too good to pass up, but we'll see what flavor ends up winning as time goes on.
Woah, woah. All of these decks sound like I need to think. I prefer to turn sideways indiscriminately:
Yeah, I got you. |
Literally built to turn sideways ASAP. |
Turn 1 Mountain and Falkenrath.
Turn 2 Swamp, swing, and Heir.
Turn 3, land, madness in Olivia to flip Heir, swing.
Seems dumb. Then you can play another Heir, Gorger, or Olivia's Bloodsworn with a madness'd Fiery Temper to give it haste and a counter. Or just madness in an Heir to give your Bloodsworn haste and a counter. So many choices! Just do it, man. It sounds like it'll feel fuckin' gooood, and I wish I had the 4x Kalitas that this deck will inevitably need as well.
Man, I still dunno. Multiple colors confuse me:
Still technically multiple colors, but whatever. Shut up. |
Cue music by The Police. |
Thraben Inspector and Kideon are the one drops. Thraben can get you a card later, or right on turn two if you fucked up and have nothing else to do. Kideon is obviously just strong, and if you can get him to flip early, his walker side is good threat that can double as defense.
I have to include both images of this card, because unlike Jace, we haven't had him shoved at us every game for half a year. |
Its vulnerabilities are similar to any other agro deck, in that early boardwipes hurt, and later game there's a chance to run out of steam. Luckily Shadows was good to us once again!
Spooky ghost lady will keep you safe. |
I dunno, all of those decks look like they could actually be good. How about a pile of cardboard garbage:
Ok, now we're getting closer to my price range. |
BROTHER, IT IS TIME. |
Groundskeeper makes Molten Vortex a very repeatable three mana for two damage. Sure, that's not the fastest two card combo, but it's good fun. If you're playing against a low-toughness deck, quite often you can just murder everything as it hits the field, then reclaim your lands as you see fit when you want to kill them. These two need a bit of support, but it isn't a ton, and it makes for a dirt cheap deck.
Along with our two main pieces you'll want to run a bit of draw. Tormenting Voice is top tier in this deck. Once you already have a Molten Vortex, the others are junk unless they have enchantment removal. Being able to toss it to grab two more cards (probably land) is big. Magmatic Insight helps in the exact opposite scenario - you have too much land but don't have a Groundskeeper or Vortex.
I also like to include a playset of Jaddi Offshoot. They can block early drops and can grab you a few points of life, which can keep you in the game long enough to burn everything out. Alternatively (or in addition to) you can run Pulse of Murasa, which will gain you life and also bring back fallen Groundskeepers. Toss Reclaim in the board to bring back whatever you most need, and we've got a crappy brew.
But Dan, that's only like 16 cards. What are the rest? BRUH, IT'S NOTHING BUT LANDS. For real. Throw in four Game Trails, four Cinder Glades, four Drownyard Temples, and then just fill in the rest with Forests and Mountains. That should put you around 40 or so land. Mulligan until you have at least a Vortex, and begin the pummeling. Will this be tier 1? Haha, absolutely not. Will it randomly win FNM? Man, again, probably not. But if you do use this deck to beat someone playing a tiered deck, you are guaranteed to at least extract some salt.
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What do yall think? What other sick decks have you thought of?
This is of course not an exhaustive list, and I'm sure I totally glanced over some huge new archetypes that are going to see play. I definitely skipped over U/W Flash-control with Spirits. I plan on writing another article about it soon, as that's the standard deck I plan to fail with this time around. Either way, Innistrad gave us some cool new tools to play with, and hopefully it'll create a fun, diverse, and new standard for us. Or we could just get repetitively destroyed by Jace. But you know, it's better than Siege Rhino.
Like what you read? Want to share your dope homebrew ideas? Think there's a new rhino in town? Let us know by dropping a comment below, or sending a message using the form on the sidebar!
Haha I like your articles- always good for a laugh. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks, we try :D
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