Jordan Levitan

A New Brew for a New You (or a New Standard Format)

A new brew, a new you.

With Magic 2015 fully spoiled, there are some exciting cards that will immediately impact standard. Will the Soul “Titan” cycle be good enough? Will everyone underestimate Liliana Vess for a second time? Will Chandra, Pyromaster shine in its second term? These questions and more I hope to answer with some prospective brews to try with the addition of M15. Refer to Mythicspoiler.com for any M15 cards that can’t be seen here.

Standard has defined itself with Jund(RGb) Monsters, mono black variants, blue/white and Esper(UWb) control, mono blue, mono red, and more fringe midrange variants that are often Naya(RGW) and Junk(BGW). This is a fairly diverse format, especially for those who have witnessed the dark ages of Caw-Blade and such. It could be argued that mono black has choked the format out pretty handily however. But I digress…

Wait…what was that? Deck lists? Ah, right. On to the deck lists! (All lists are untested)

Touching on two existing decks today with “new” cards being added in, and first up is the ever popular Jund Monsters.(New means not yet standard legal, reprints are new for all intents and purposes)

[deck title= Jund Monsters]
[Creatures]
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Soul of Shandalar
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Ultimate Price
1 Rakdos’ Return
3 Domri Rade
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
[/Spells]
[Land]
4 Stomping Ground
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Malice
2 Mutavault
1 Mana Confluence
4 Forest
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
4 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Putrefy
1 Liliana Vess
1 Rakdos’ Return
2 Doom Blade
1 Golgari Charm
1 Gruul Charm
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
The main deck Soul and sideboard Liliana are the only cards not currently legal that will be once M15 releases. The list looks fairly stock and the numbers would lead us to believe it is. Since the goal is to drop a turn four or five [card]Soul of Shandalar[/card] or [card]Rakdos’ Return [/card] their entire hand quickly, many of the optimal mana producing cards are played in full sets. The mana producers will fuel our X cost spells and abilities as well. [card]Liliana Vess[/card] is in the slot [card]Vraska, the Unseen[/card] takes up for right now. Liliana is a more imminent threat to your control opponents and does not die to [card]Mutavault[/card] in one fell swoop. Our new six drop also allows us some much needed reach. On to the next one.

[deck title= Junk Midrange]
[Creatures]
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
2 Soul of Theros
2 Polukranos, World Eater
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
2 banishing Light
2 Underworld Connections
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Golgari Charm
4 Hero’s Downfall
2 Ultimate Price
2 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Land]
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Godless Shrine
4 Temple of Malady
3 Temple of Silence
3 Temple of Plenty
3 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Mana confluence
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
4 Mistcutter Hydra
2 sin Collector
1 Underworld Connections
2 Bile Blight
2 Devour Flesh
1 Liliana Vess
2 Soul of Innistrad
1 Thoughtseize
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The [card]Soul of Theros[/card] and [card]Soul of Innistrad[/card] are interchangeable in this build. The white soul is a strong proactive gameplan to overtake the board with Elspeth tokens and then use the activated ability or the Elspeth ultimate to close out your opponent’s chance of winning. The black soul is powerful against heavy removal strategies. The recursion of your best men after you exhaust your opponent’s resources can be backbreaking.

The last list is a bit of a new idea that one of the newer spoilers inspired. While I don’t know if the new Avacyn is what the deck needs, it is definitely a fun and powerful card in some situations.

[deck title= White Devotion]
[Creatures]
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Precinct Captain
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Banisher Priest
4 Eidolon of Countless Battles
2 Angel of Serenity
3 Heliod, God of the Sun
2 Soul of Theros
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
3 Brave the elements
4 Banishing Light
1 Spear of Heliod
4 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
[/Spells]
[Land]
15 Plains
1 Temple of Triumph
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Enlightenment
3 Mutavault
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
3 Boros Reckoner
1 Acolyte’s Reward
2 Last Breath
2 Reprisal
1 Deicide
2 Blind Obedience
1 Celestial Archon
1 Banisher Priest
1 Rest in Peace
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

 

This deck could be awesome, or flat out bad. The new Avacyn that inspired the idea could belong in the deck, but for now I think the list looks solid. [card]Mass Calcify[/card] would be a nice addition to the deck as well as we have exemplified with everyone’s favorite one sided board wiping blowout [card]Bonfire of the Damned[/card]. Once the new core set is released I will be trying these decks out, and I hope you will too! I like casting fatties, so I’m hopeful that the new mythic avatars will prove their worth.

All Standard Wanted was a New RUG, Man

In very recent tournaments, there has been a Red/Blue/Green (RUG) Monsters deck seeing some success. I believe the deck was popularized by Sam Black. My friend and I have been playing and tuning a different type of RUG deck lately: RUG Midrange. I’ll be showing this deck to you, along with what card choices can likely change as well as sideboard plans against the common matchups. This deck is fun to play and can make for some pretty commanding board positions. This deck is not quite polished enough for your next large tournament, but let’s see if we can get it there. Without further ado:

[deck title=RUG Midrange]
[Creatures]
*4 Sylvan Caryatid
*2 Kiora’s Follower
*2 Scavenging Ooze
*4 Courser of Kruphix
*3 Master Biomancer
*3 Polukranos, World Eater
*4 Stormbreath Dragon
*1 Prime speaker Zegana
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*4 Mizzium Mortars
*2 Divination
*2 Turn // Burn
*2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
*3 Xenagos, the Reveler
[/Spells]
[Lands]
*4 Stomping Ground
*4 Breeding Pool
*2 Steam Vents
*4 Temple of Mystery
*4 Temple of Abandon
*3 Forest
*2 Island
*1 Mountain
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
*2 Pithing Needle
*1 Chandra, Pyromaster
*2 Flames of the Firebrand
*1 Shock
*1 Unravel the Aether
*3 Mistcutter Hydra
*1 Scavenging Ooze
*2 Cyclonic Rift
*2 Negate
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

Card Choices

I’ll admit there are some unorthodox card choices in this list, but testing these is the best way to see if an underplayed card shines in the metagame. The ability to play [card]Kiora’s Follower[/card] is helpful, since it lets us get a little bit tricky by untapping creatures during combat. [card]Kiora’s Follower[/card] also works well with cards donning the inspired keyword. Similar synergies that have been overlooked may have been passed up because of the prevalence of [card]Thoughtseize[/card] and how it skews the viability of synergistic decks against decks that run individually powerful cards.

Currently, [card]Master Biomancer[/card] plays out well enough and can steal games fast enough that it is worth playing, even though it is not an individually powerful card. Notable cards that our pet four-drop plays nice with are [card]Xenagos, the Reveler[/card] and [card]Prime Speaker Zegana[/card], since drawing extra cards off of a giant monster and making large haste creatures for free are both proactive winning strategies. We found that the deck needed more card advantage sources, and [card]Prime Speaker Zegana[/card] seemed too good to pass up. [card]Divination[/card] is also in the deck to provide more consistent early-game velocity, which is especially helpful given  the three-drop slot is a bit light.

Sideboarding

Rather than giving you a card-by-card guide against popular decks, I prefer to list the cards in the sideboard and how they can help you increase your chances of winning in your post-sideboard games. I like the philosophy of sideboarding against cards rather than decks, since it often allows your choices to be more accurate. The cards you cut when sideboarding are heavily based on the cards you see and what you expect based on that, so I’ll leave that to all of you.

[card]Pithing Needle[/card] is necessary against [card]Aetherling[/card] and is helpful when trying to fight [card]Underworld Connections[/card] as well. This means you want it against blue control and likely Mono-Black Devotion, along with the other black variants.

[card]Chandra, Pyromaster[/card] is a solid source of card advantage that is also generally useful against [card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/card] and [card]Underworld Connections[/card]. Keeping up with these decks is a strong strategy since your cards are generally more powerful than theirs on a one-for-one basis. [card]Lifebane Zombie[/card] will likely be in the Connections decks, so we might want more than one of these in the board.

[card]Flames of the Firebrand[/card] and [card]Shock[/card] are there to kill those pesky tiny creatures that try to kill us before we get our plan of an early 5/5 going. [card] Scavenging Ooze[/card]  is strong here, too. We want the fourth Ooze against the Golgari graveyard deck that has been popping up lately.

[card]Unravel the Aether[/card] is self-explanatory, as is [card]Mistcutter Hydra[/card].

[card]Cyclonic Rift[/card] is a house against other creature decks, especially large creatures, since you are undoing their mana investments from multiple turns. This often wins the game when overloaded. Think of it as a [card]Bonfire of the Damned[/card] that doesn’t [card]Fireball[/card] them. Remember that card?

[card]Negate[/card] provides some insurance against large spells like [card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/card] and [card]Rakdos’s Return[/card]. The chance to counter an opponent’s entire turn definitely worth these slots in the board.

Cards We Can Consider

There are a lot of powerful cards in Standard, but we can’t play them all. Some honorable mentions of cards I’d like to play include [card]Domri Rade[/card], [card]Izzet Charm[/card], [card]Boon Satyr[/card], and [card]Nylea, God of the Hunt[/card]. [card]Prophet of Kruphix[/card] deserves a shot, too. Some of these cards would require us to build the deck differently, or push us in a direction that might not be best, but all are powerful enough in their own right to warrant some testing.

Let me know what you think. I encourage you to try this deck because it is definitely capable of powerful hands. Having multiple [card]Master Biomancer[/card] in play is very satisfying. Saying, “Dragon, 10 you?” sure does feel nice.

If you have comments or questions about the deck, please share below!

What’s Your Style?

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

–Thomas Jefferson

Never give up your personal preference, but being aware of your Magic: The Gathering play style is important. This is what Thomas Jefferson was trying to say, obviously. Everybody has a preferred style when playing, deck building, or choosing an established archetype. How one’s play style impacts a deck choice takes a different form based on your level of understanding and objective in finding said deck. Few people that I know can pick up a deck and stick with it for a long enough time that the local playgroup knows them for it. The inability to stick with one deck may be because there is no deck that represents a player’s style, or they don’t know their styles themselves. At this point, I fully expect anyone reading to have at least raised an eyebrow at what I am trying to accomplish. I hope you’ll stick with me while I try to help you identify your style as a deck builder or Magic player, and perhaps even improve your tournament results! The examples given will generally use the Standard format, but these concepts apply in all formats.

Show Us What You Mean

To start with an example to show you all what I am talking about, I will share my particular style and what I think it means when it comes to deck choice or construction. The inspiration for this sort of abstract article was me noticing my thought process when I consider playing a certain deck that has done well or received praise from a player I respect. I generally dislike decks with a very low threat count, minimal removal, or no real late game plan. This means that I don’t enjoy control decks, most combo decks, or hyper aggressive decks. While it seems like I am limited to midrange decks on the surface, this is not the case. There are a lot of different styles that I enjoy, like tapout control or certain combo decks like [card]Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle[/card] combo or [card]Birthing Pod[/card] variants that also have a plan B. It’s a hard thing to explain, but I think this is the best way. I feel that most players have an identifiable style like I do.

The style that I identify myself with helps me find decks I enjoy and pilot without punting to silly mistakes.  One way to figure out your style is to think about decks you played for extended periods of time or enjoyed in the past.  My list of decks would include Naya [card]Birthing pod[/card] in Scars of Mirrodin Standard, Valakut combo in Zendikar standard, Jund Monsters and Black White Midrange currently, and Naya Midrange whenever I can otherwise.  You might also venture a guess that I play Big Zoo in Modern. While it’s true that I am not limited to only midrange decks, I would classify myself as a midrange player at heart.

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork for determining your style, or at least getting an idea of it, I’ll describe in broad terms some of the other styles of play. Maybe one applies to you, or maybe you are just a whirling dervish of random decks. This is an experiment for me too, after all.

AGGRO STYLE – [card]Goblin Guide[/card] Me to Victory

The aggressive style is largely represented by a very low curve, a high amount of reach, and playing Mountains or mono color for consistency with draws. Players who claim an aggressive style don’t want to waste any time letting opponents set up their own plans. Getting off the ground quickly and moving one’s game plan in to stage two while one’s opponent is still developing mana in stage one can put an opponent too far behind to keep up for the rest of the game. This allows your reach to clean up the game nicely.  This strategy also has other unique merits. If you frequently play an Island or a tapped [card]Hallowed Fountain[/card] on turn one, you’ve probably never seen the bathroom or concession stand at a tournament. But there are many a 15-minute matches to be had when you play aggressive decks. It’s a whole new world, I know. Another merit of aggressive decks in large tournaments is that they generally require less abstract and critical thinking than control decks or even combo. This can help to keep you sane in a twelve- or fifteen-round tournament.

MIDRANGE STYLE – [card]Thragtusk[/card], I Hardly Knew Ye

The explanation of this style is easily summed up by anyone who played a deck with four [card]Thragtusk[/card], but it is otherwise still pretty straight forward. I already did a bit of explanation in my examples earlier, but this style often comes down to an attrition matchup with your opponent. The strength in this style of deck is that you often get to choose whether you are the control or beatdown role. The flexibility is what I feel draws players to this style, but it comes with a price. Most accurately, this price is described by the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none.” My philosophy behind why this is a viable strategy is that you needn’t be the master of your chosen path to victory, only better than your opponent.

CONTROL STYLE – Only Seven More Months of [card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/card]

Control decks in general are only trying to survive until the late game while staying at parity or ahead. Since there are many cantrips and cards with minimal effect in these decks, it is easy to pinpoint your win conditions. Having a clear and focused plan is an attractive feature of this style of deck. The popularity of this slow kind of deck comes from its ability to leave your opponent with many dead cards. Leaving your opponents with less actively useful cards can help you make your land drop each turn until you get to your [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card], [card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/card], [card]Sun Titan[/card], [card]Grave Titan[/card], or [card]Flying Men[/card]. Holy nostalgia, batman! Besides being a consistent card advantage machine, I have to admit the feeling of holding a  [card]Counterspell[/card] or  [card]Azorius Charm[/card] to effectively time walk your opponent is pretty sweet.

COMBO STYLE – C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

This type of deck is much more difficult to describe effectively than the rest. The obvious idea behind a combo deck is to create an unwinnable scenario for your opponent, or just to kill him outright. The most popular combo decks in Modern are [card]Splinter Twin[/card], Valakut combo, and the infinite combos that exist in [/card]Birthing Pod[/card] variants that either gain you infinite life or deal lethal to your opponent on the spot. This is attractive to players because of the ability to win with nearly no interaction with your opponent. The uninteractive style of these decks can be a frustrating and new experience for inexperienced players. The intangible pressure that a deck like  [card]Splinter Twin[/card] creates when its pilot has open mana might even stop you from tapping your own for fear of dying as soon as you give him the opportunity. Combo decks fight on a much different axis than control or creature-based decks, so they generally have positive matchups before sideboards are involved. Storm is a deck that casts upwards of twenty spells in a single turn in order to use the storm mechanic to copy  [card]Grapeshot[/card] or [card]Empty the Warrens[/card] for the kill. This completely unique path to victory is difficult for many decks to fight, and I have definitely played and enjoyed this alternative approach.

Them’s the Basics

Even if you dislike a deck or a style, you can learn how to better play against it by trying it yourself! I am always comfortable with trying something I might not regularly play to improve and refine my style. This is a leap for me in terms of topic, so I hope it was enjoyable. Let me know in the comments.

Going Bigger and Attacking the Format

After introducing my Naya Midrange deck, I promised to go over changes I felt were optimal and that is exactly what we are going to do today. First, we’ll explore what changes I made for a local grand prix trial for GP Richmond. Afterward, we’ll get to how we can go bigger and effectively dismantle the format with a deck of this style.

The main changes that came out of my previous experience are the addition of one maindeck [card]Ajani Vengeant[/card] at the cost of the third [card]Domri Rade[/card], as well as the addition of a second [card]Kitchen Finks[/card] in the sideboard in the place of the now-maindecked Ajani. You’ll also notice there are no more [card]Bonfire of the Damned[/card] in the board. The card was mostly just not good enough in any situation and has been replaced by two copies of [card]Rest in Peace[/card]. This card can be pretty suboptimal with some of our cards, like [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card] and [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], so maybe it is also incorrect, but mise.  All of these changes were options I considered in the first place, but were ultimately made because I know that the expected metagame in my area is heavier on aggressive strategies than average. For reference, the list I played looked like this:

[deck title=Naya Midrange]
[Creatures]
*4 Noble Hierarch
*2 Birds of Paradise
*2 Qasali Pridemage
*2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
*3 Tarmogoyf
*3 Voice of Resurgence
*2 Scavenging Ooze
*1 Kitchen Finks
*4 Loxodon Smiter
*4 Knight of the Reliquary
*1 Thundermaw Hellkite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*4 Lightning Bolt
*3 Path to Exile
*2 Domri Rade
*1 Ajani Vengeant
[/Spells]
[Land]
*3 Forest
*1 Plains
*4 Arid Mesa
*4 Verdant Catacombs
*2 Misty Rainforest
*2 Temple Garden
*2 Stomping Ground
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Kessig Wolf-Run
*1 Horizon Canopy
*1 Stirring Wildwood
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
*2 Choke
*1 Qasali Pridemage
*1 Ajani Vengeant
*2 Blood Moon
*2 Aven Mindcensor
*2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
*2 Stony Silence
*1 Kitchen Finks
*2 Rest in Peace
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

I played against Jund in every round except one, where I played against UWR Flash.  Being that most of games were wars of attrition, I began to notice one huge problem: card advantage. Who actually needs to draw cards? We do. We don’t need the velocity that blue decks do, but we do need to keep up. Unfortunately, [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] was out In full force, as I expected. It becomes obvious that the easiest ways to improve on the strategy we already have is to implement some more card advantage and threat diversity. Diversifying our threats can be tricky when we have to accommodate our [card]Domri Rade[/card]s, but it doesn’t need to be.

Going Bigger

A popular term that people use when describing a powerful game plan is to “go big” or to go “over the top.” This is a tried and true strategy that we can implement to make up for our lack of card advantage spells. If our cards are more powerful, we don’t need as many of them. We need to capitalize on our advantages in order to be successful. This is absolutely imperative, and this is a list that might do this effectively.

[deck title=Naya Midrange]
[Creatures]
*4 Noble Hierarch
*3 Birds of Paradise
*2 Qasali Pridemage
*2 Voice of Resurgence
*2 Scavenging Ooze
*2 Kitchen Finks
*4 Loxodon Smiter
*3 Knight of the Reliquary
*3 Restoration Angel
*2 Thundermaw Hellkite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
*4 Lightning Bolt
*3 Path to Exile
*2 Domri Rade
*1 Ajani Vengeant
[/Spells]
[Land]
*3 Forest
*1 Plains
*4 Arid Mesa
*4 Verdant Catacombs
*2 Misty Rainforest
*2 Temple Garden
*2 Stomping Ground
*2 Sacred Foundry
*1 Kessig Wolf-Run
*1 Horizon Canopy
*1 Stirring Wildwood
[/Land]
[Sideboard]
*2 Choke
*1 Qasali Pridemage
*1 Ajani Vengeant
*2 Blood Moon
*2 Voice of Resurgence
*2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
*2 Stony Silence
*2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
*1 Rule of Law
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

I like this list. I like it a lot. At my heart, I am a midrange player who has a secret love affair with Valakut. [card]Restoration Angel[/card] might seem slightly out of place, but it can be a huge tempo boost against [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] and other spot removal. When you are playing such large threats, that tempo boost can put the game away rather quickly.

Previously, I could only justify a single [card]Thundermaw Hellkite[/card], but adding another [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] and another [card]Sacred Foundry[/card] lets us play another. I always want to draw it and the game-breaking effect it has is found nearly nowhere else in the format. I won’t turn this article in to a “why Thundermaw Hellkite is good” piece, since I believe Patrick Chapin already covered that before M13 was even released. The most important part of “Deathwing” (for all you WoW people) that isn’t the obvious 1/1 spirit (or faerie!) token disintegration, but the fact that it taps other flying creatures that don’t die. This lets all of our other creatures attack in most cases. I think this is the direction we want to move first.

Attacking the Format

Earlier I said that I leaned toward some life gain and defense in order to more easily combat aggressive strategies. I feel this was the correct choice, but I didn’t end up facing any of those decks. It is possible that I was wrong, but it is hard to know for sure. This new list solves some of our [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] problem, giving us more dangerous threats and allowing our opponents less time to react. The more resilient build should have success where the smaller build failed.

The larger threats in this new bulid may also require two-card answers or other suboptimals play from our opponents, which is what we want. Staying on the offensive and keeping your opponent on his heels is important, but knowing when to hold back and play defense is just the same. Another small tweak that I think would help us against the field in general is the fourth [card]Path to Exile[/card]. I feel like I always want it, but if we do add it, what to cut is controversial. Cutting a creature puts more pressure on Domri and our threat density, while cutting a spell is difficult since they all seem necessary. [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] is in an odd spot, since it kills all the things we generally don’t care about because of their small size. This is, of course, with the exceptions of [card]Pestermite[/card] and [card]Dark Confidant[/card].

Sideboarding

The sideboard is still strong against the format. This is how I generally board unless I see something spicy or plan on next-leveling somehow:

2 [card]Choke[/card]: Any time you see [card]Steam Vents[/card] or [card]Hallowed Fountain[/card], you probably want this. For best results, cast when your opponent is tapped out. Bring in against: Twin, UW(r) Flash, Delver.

1 [card]Qasali Pridemage[/card]: Versatile card that serves as a strong coverall and does well against [card]Birthing Pod[/card] and [card]Spreading Seas[/card]. We have two maindeck copies for a reason.  Exalted is also not irrelevant.

1 [card]Ajani Vengeant[/card]: This could be mainboard in some iterations. Add this against control, Jund, or any non-combo deck. I often cut a Pridemage for this.

2 [card]Blood Moon[/card]: I like this against UWR Control or Flash, as well as the UWR Twin variant. It’s straightforward and exists in the main of a breakout deck from Pro Tour Born of the Gods. Prepare to next level in game three, since opponents play around it if you do show it during game two. Do not forget that Tron is still hiding in the field.

2 [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card]: Straightforward protection that helps our lack of permission and disruption. Bring in against Control, Flash, anyone who is trying to play on your turn. Make them suffer for their insolence.

2 [card]Linvala, Keeper of Silence[/card]: Protection from [card]Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker[/card], [card]Viscera Seer[/card], [card]Grim Lavamancer[/card], [card]Spellskite[/card], and anything else you see like this. Remember to board against  opponent’s cards, not decks. Board this in with your best judgment. I believe in you.

2 [card]Stony Silence[/card]: This is our silver bullet for Affinity. It’s also useful against Pod. Linvala may come in with this. Don’t forget it makes swords seem pretty dull (get it?).

2 [card]Thalia, Guardian of Thraben[/card]:  This card is cringeworthy for your Storm and control opponents. It’s a pet card of mine. Feel free to replace these with your own pet card, or indulge me and play them yourself. I promise they are good. HINT: Cut noncreatures for these, since you often also want [card]Choke[/card] in the same matchups.

1 [card]Rule of Law[/card]: This slot could be anything, but this card felt right as extra protection from combo. We probably want a, “Destroy target [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card]” card most.

Until Next Time

I hope this was a helpful insight into Modern, and I also hope to have more success than I did with the previous build. I’d like to write all about a big win soon! Please make any suggestions or ask questions in the comments or on Twitter, @InkwellLevitan. Until next time, where we’ll change it up again.

Praise Helix

JL

Nobles, Nacatls, and How I Learned to Love Loxodon Smiter

Just like everyone else, I have been busy trying to craft a Modern deck reflecting the DCI Banned & Restricted List changes that you are all likely aware of by now. Previously,  I had been playing with a Naya-plus-[card]Deathrite Shaman[/card] build (a la Brian Kibler) that I liked very much, but with this update I decided it was time to build a deck on my own.

I decided that I needed to either get on the [card]Wild Nacatl[/card] train, or stick with my guns and run a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] deck similar to what I was running before the B&R update. I felt that the one-drop I chose here defined the style of deck I would end up with. After hours of deckbuilding, theorycrafting, and playtesting, it became clear that my hypothesis of 4/4 creatures being brick walls against Nacatl and company held true. I felt that a lot of the field would try to employ the big cat (not to be confused with [card]Brimaz, King of Oreskos[/card]), making the midrange route even better.  I had a GPT to play in, so this deck came about between the time of the (un)bannings and the Saturday that followed. The deck performed better than expected, and helped me to what should have been a 5-1 finish, but ended up being a 4-2 finish for 14th place. This list takes full advantage of diverse threats that the current metagame just isn’t prepared to deal with efficiently, and the deck is also proactive as possible. I’ll walk through the significant card choices and how they performed. Although nothing here is revolutionary, I feel it is well positioned for your next Modern tournament!

[Deck title=Naya Midrange by Jordan Levitan]
[creatures]
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Tarmogoyf
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
[/creatures]
[Spells]
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Domri Rade
[/spells]
[Lands]
3 Forest
1 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Kessig Wolf-Run
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Stirring Wildwood
[/lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Choke
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Blood Moon
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Stony Silence
2 Bonfire of the Damned
[/sideboard]
[/deck]

Overperformers

[card]Stomping Ground[/card], [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card], [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]

It may seem odd to put [card]Stomping Ground[/card] in this category, but it really does a lot for you. When you fetch on turn one, you almost always want it because of your turn-one green requirement on top of [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]. You are likely to have a [card]Noble Hierarch[/card] if you have a one-drop, so we don’t need to worry about [card]Path to Exile[/card] mana since Hierarch produces white (but not red). This may also be a sign we need more copies of [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] and potentially fewer [card]Noble Hierarch[/card]s.

[card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] lived up to its $30 price tag all day. I played against a fair assortment of the expected metagame in the tournament, with the exception of Tron (which isn’t that good anymore, anyway). Against my blue opponents, Voice caused their counterspells and instant speed interaction to be extremely inefficient, especially [card]Remand[/card]. I did play against one UWR opponent, but he wasn’t packing any [card]Pillar of Flame[/card]. This was fortunate for me, since I feel it is the best answer to Voice would run some sideboard copies myself if the card were more popular.

And now I come to what ended up being the most powerful card in the deck: [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]. Each and every time I cast this monster, he evoked a long, drawn-out sigh from my opponents. Perfect. In each matchup, the card performed beyond expectations. My control opponents who commonly held up counterspell mana for my follow up to a Bird or Hierarch were sorely disappointed when Mr. Cannot-Be-Countered came down. He requires a [card]Path to Exile[/card], getting you a two-for-one. The rate on Smiter is incredible because blue decks rely on card advantage to win. Not to mention that this is all a huge tempo swing, which is also very important element against blue decks. When matched against Jund, Smiter shined when [card]Liliana of the Veil[/card] came down, or when fighting early [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s, [card]Dark Confidant[/card]s, and [card]Wild Nacatl[/card]s (Yes, I played against Nacatl Jund).

It seems obvious that having the largest creature on the board is favorable, but it remains a relatively unpopular strategy. The combo matchup is much more reliant on your opponent’s draw, but Elephant Man still does his job, which is serving as a five-turn clock that comes down on turn two or three. Really, it’s more like a four-turn clock if left unchecked, since we often Bolt ourselves with our lands in Modern. It also helps that you have the rest of your hand putting pressure on them. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we absolutely trounced any form of Zoo that let us untap with [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]. Being able to play another formidable blocker or a removal spell lets you take over the board, and with it, the game. It turns out a 4/4 for three is very good right now. I was proud of myself for predicting this as a deck builder and as a player. Small victories, right?

smiter

Underperformers

[card]Domri Rade[/card], [card]Tarmogoyf[/card], [card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card]

It’s kind of surprising that in a deck with nearly 30 creatures, [card]Domri Rade[/card] just did not shine. I have some theories on why. If my board is developed enough to use Domri’s -2 ability, then I already have my opponent in “[card]The Abyss[/card]” anyway. These [card]unexpected results[/card] could also be a product of well…my results. Domri often got countered or immediately [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]ed. I don’t really think he is a bad card in this deck, but I would like to try him again to be sure.

[card]Tarmogoyf[/card] underperforming has a mostly straightforward explanation. What am I putting in my graveyard besides lands and the occasional instant? [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] was often only a 1/2 or a 2/3. While not bad, we can surely do better in Naya colors. There are two main reasons [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] is so dominant in Jund. The big reason is that it is an attrition deck, so it is trading cards one for one, and this means lots of cards in the graveyard. Often overlooked but still important is that Jund has sorcery spells that it wants to cast proactively. This Naya deck does neither of those things. It is possible that there is another card we want instead of this particular lhurgoyf.

[card]Kessig Wolf Run[/card] was in the deck to take advantage of [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card]. Knight had new life breathed into it with the banning of [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card], so I figured he was worthy of the role I gave him in the deck as a four-of. Wolf Run never ended up making an appearance. The fact is that you are usually dumping more than enough lands in the graveyard through fetches and activating the Knight’s ability is often a tempo loss you cannot afford. While it is possible Wolf Run is necessary to win board stalls or mirror matches, it is definitely a possibility that we want another utility land or one that produces colors. If we did go with more mana dorks, we could easily play a [card]Gavony Township[/card] or two.

Next time, I’ll go over the changes I am considering making to the deck, as well as a discussion of sideboard strategy and possible changes. Suggestions and questions are always welcome, so feel free to comment below, or you can contact me on Facebook or Twitter @InkwellLevitan. Hope I could help!

JL