I know last week I was all over this whole let’s keep talking about control, in Theros. Yea, I’m over that. Today I’ve got two decks for you time bandits. I want Young Pyromancer to be a card in the new standard. I think the first two weeks of standard will shape the format’s sideboards for weeks three and four… or something like that. Here’s the point. You’ll have about 2 weeks to play a broken Pyromancer before Illness in the Ranks kills your dreams. Ok their my dreams, and I don’t really believe that two people can dream the same dream and interact with each other, even if I told a couple of girls in high school that I also had interesting dreams about their cat’s inherent psychic ability. BUT THAT’S NEITHER HERE OR THERE. If last Standard was any indication of this one, decks and sideboards will come in cycles. So I think the second cycle will very much depend on whether or not particular archetypes take the cake in States.
Why States?
It’s simple, most of us are pissing with the plebs when it comes to our magic experience. That is to say we play other players at our respective level. This means that while the pros are setting the standards with their decks in the larger events, the grinders and wannabes (I’m a wannabe) will be bringing their tweaks and brews to states. These are the folks we’ll be playing on our road to FNM and PTQ domination. Last year JUNK took the first big tourney then American Control. RDW and Zombies dominated States, because those deck beat the pro made tier 1 decks. and the meta bobbed and weaved from aggro to control to midrange and settled in the end at mid range with Jund and American being the decks at the end.
Enough Theory Show Us the Decks
First thing I think Reanimator still has a place in standard. Ashen Rider and Angel of Serenity are a pretty sweet couple of ladies that seems like great targets to bring in from the graveyard. Our necromancy is hindered now since Unburial Rites has rotated. Our reanimator spells now are Obzedat’s Aid and Rescue from the Underworld. RftW had me a little wary at first as you need a creature to sac, not that reanimator was ever short on mana dorks, but I was timid until I took a closer look at the card. The loss of the creature is part of the cost! Sweet! That means that your opponent can’t remove the dork in response to the casting of the spell. He’s gone the spell is cast. NOW STAY WITH ME HERE. Lets go late into the game. You have an Ashen Rider in play and AoS in the graveyard. The Rider goes to the underworld to Rescue the Angel, You kill an opponent’s thing and then again when it comes back. Thats a lot of value on top of the Angel of Serenity‘s trigger. Sylvan Caryatid helps you deal with fixing and add Elvish Mystic for a little help on ramp and creatures to sac. Mulch is out but we get Drown in Filth to help on removal, and Grisly Salvage/Deathrite Shaman remain in standard. This won’t be the exact list that takes the hearts and minds of nercomancers in post rotation but the pieces are there. Looking at my list I have one giant critique. If Rescue from the Underworld or Obzedat’s Aid hits the graveyard off Grisly Salvage or Drown in Filth there’s no way to cast it from there. I’m not sure there’s any answer for this problem. We can ramp into a turn 4 target with some luck, but the true power of this deck is its late game vs other mid-range decks. this won’t be the deck’s final 60, but it’ll be close to this.
Junk Reanimator
| Lands (25) 2 Swamp 4 Godless Shrine 3 Plains 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Temple of Silence 4 Forest 4 Temple Garden Creatures (17) 3 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Deathrite Shaman 2 Ashen Rider 3 Angel of Serenity 3 Loxodon Smiter 2 Elvish Mystic Spells (18) 3 Obzedat’s Aid 3 Abrupt Decay 4 Drown in Filth 4 Grisly Salvage 4 Rescue from the Underworld |
So if Reanimator is a deck, then we’ll need a Tempo deck to foil it. Something to bounce the monsters they call from beyond and cheap counter magic to slow them down. Here’s a shell that Young Pyromancer can really excel in. Quicken, lets us cycle into our spells, and surprise our opponents with some bonkers end of turn plays. Divination becomes playable once it hands us 3 cards and two elemental tokens at end of turn. Mizzium Skin can help protect our Pyromancer and stop Electrikery from ruining our day. Spellheart Chimera is (as Kadar Brock put it) Runetrample Pike on a stick. Other plays include Stymied Hopes (aka standard Daze) Voyages End and Magma Jet for Scry goodness. Finally, Dynacharge means business and really ties the room together. It could be that we’re missing Nivix Cyclops in the deck but being as artful dodge is out of the format I feel much safer with the Chimera. As far as reach goes Porphourus, God of the Forge does a nice little grapeshot impression. As long as we can get those instants running with Young Pyromancer an abundance of blockers doesn’t seem like such a problem.
Izzet Pyromancer
| Lands: (22) 2 Izzet Guildgate 4 Steam Vents 8 Mountain 8 Island Creatures: (10) 2 Purphoros, God of the Forge 4 Young Pyromancer 4 Spellheart Chimera Spells: (28) 4 Mizzium Skin 4 Stymied Hopes 4 Dynacharge 4 Divination 4 Voyage’s End 4 Quicken 4 Molten Birth |
Post rotation is always a weird time for decks. I often forget how much I love brewing until it comes around. I expect G/Wx aggro to be good out of the gates. RDWs is a no brainer. If I could figure out how to make the Reanimator deck come together I’d play it at States in a heart beat. Chaining Angel of Serenity and Ashen Riders together seems like a totally awesome, and very durdly thing to aspire to. Good luck at your prerelease. I think I’m choosing red, the free rare looks good and red’s commons combined with what I feel is a format 1.5 turns slower than M14 have me leaning that way.
Zac Clark, Durdle Magus