We’re heading into week 3 of post rotation Standard. Right now Red Deck Wins, Azorius Control and Esper Control seem like the decks to beat. It’s rare that I’m a front runner when it comes to winning popular decks but I have to say I really like Esper Control right now. It’s a lot of fun and the win conditions are clear without taking forever to win with. Here’s my current build:
Esper Control
| Lands: (26) 4 Godless Shrine 4 Watery Grave 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Plains 5 Island 1 Azorius Guildgate 1 Swamp 2 Temple of Deceit 3 Temple of Silence Creatures: (3) 3 Prognostic Sphinx Spells: (31) 3 Supreme Verdict 4 Azorius Charm 2 Far // Away 3 Detention Sphere 3 Syncopate 1 Blind Obedience 2 Dissolve 2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion 2 Thoughtseize 1 Hero’s Downfall 3 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver 2 Jace, Architect of Thought 3 Sphinx’s Revelation | Sideboard: (15) 3 Notion Thief 3 Returned Phalanx 2 Swan Song 2 Glare of Heresy 2 Jace, Memory Adept 1 Supreme Verdict 1 Gideon, Champion of Justice 1 Aetherling |
I’m on the Prognostic Sphinx plan now as far as creatures are concerned. There’s so many reasons why this card is the new kill card for blue decks.
1) It comes down two turns faster than Ætherling. Seriously you probably won’t cast this guy on turn 5 but you can commit a lot less mana to if once its in play.
2) It blocks some really important cards and lives. Stormbreath Dragon and Blood Baron can’t get around the sphinx. Even Boros Reckoner can’t swing into it without dying. Chances are you’ll just pitch a card in response to the retribution effect and Prognostic Sphinx lives.
3) Filtering out your deck with a Scry 3 is borderline broken. That’s a really deep dig. This allows you to set up Jace, Sphinx’s Revelation, even Azorius Charm to amazing effect.
Enough about the Sphinx. I love the guy. You know it already. I’ve gone up to 3 Ashiok. If the competition is going to play Dreadbore then I’m running even more walkers. Turn 3 Ashiok is really strong. Followed by a Supreme Verdict and you’re on the way to the market. Much like Voice of Resurgence this card attacks two separate strategies. It pounds creature decks by making them focus on him. And control decks must respect him or risk losing their hands and graveyards. With Whip of Erebus becoming so popular this is not nothing. The greatest thing about Ashiok is that he doesn’t die the turn you ultimate. And all those cards you just removed, he can resurrect. It’s a no brainer at this point Ashiok is game breaking if kept alive.
Right, so then I have a couple of one ofs that get a sidelong glance when they come down. Blind Obedience is positioned well in the meta right now. Between, Ash Zealots and Whip of Erebus, Obzedat, Stormbreath Dragon, you name it… There’s a lot of haste creatures out there the life gain per game is around 5-6 which helps out a lot in those aggro matches. Staying alive until I get to Sphinx’s Revelation mana is important.
Hero’s Downfall is important because without a ton of creatures, I have nightmares about opposing Planeswalkers. Hero’s Downfall lets me free up a Detention Sphere to deal with creatures in multiple or the odd enchantment/artifact that’s giving me a head ache.
The board is pretty straight forward. There’s a control hate section and an aggro hate section. A couple of Glare of Hersey for Voice of Resurgence. Notion Thief is really great right now as UW deck pack so many draw spells it’s likely to brick a few Divinations and, as long as you don’t attack until its safe, Azorius Charms too. Gideon does great work with Jace, Architect of Thought gumming up the board. If left alive he starts to become too big to ignore. Returned Phalanx is a slightly better Yoked Ox, able to kill most early attackers. This dissuades opponent from attacking in until they deal with it. If it gets Lightning Striked that’s still 3 less damage at your face. It’s all about getting to wrath mana, any road blocks are fine. Sometimes I’m apt to bring it in against other control decks and go on the early beat down plan. This leads to blow outs with Notion Thief as they Sphinx’s Revelation for something to deal with a 3/3 without wasting cards.
Overall though, I think Jace, Memory Adept can go. He feeds Whip and Underworld Cerberus. He dies to Stormbreath Dragon and Azorius Charm can’t save him. Right now. I think I’ll lay off the mill plan and just establish a dominant board state with the Legion of Doom.
That takes care of Esper.
Next is Junk Midrange
Junk Midrange
| Creatures (23) 4 Elvish Mystic 3 Loxodon Smiter 2 Scavenging Ooze 2 Sin Collector 2 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Voice of Resurgence 3 Obzedat, Ghost Council 3 Boon Saytr Planeswalkers (2) (2) 2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion | Lands (24) (24) 5 Forest 1 Plains 2 Swamp 4 Godless Shrine 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Temple Garden 4 Temple of Silence Spells (12) (11) 3 Abrupt Decay 2 Advent of the Wurm 2 Doom Blade 2 Hero’s Downfall 2 Whip of Erebos Sideboard (15) 2 Shadowborn Demon 1 Sin Collector 2 Underworld Connections 3 Unflinching Courage 1 Doom Blade 2 Golgari Charm 1 Hero’s Downfall 3 Thoughtseize |
On Sunday Richard Tan blew me out of the water with this deck. It attacks control on all the right angles. Start with Loxodon Smiter just bricking counter magic and aggro decks. Then Voice does the same thing. Sin Collector eats my hand and Advent of the Wurm avoids a wrath for at least one turn, not to mention its a great play right after I wrath. Abrupt Decays kill Detention Spheres (which free his Voices). And Boon Saytr just does it all. Pump spell, wrath insurance pseudo haste that gets around Blind Obedience.
We played 5-6 games and it was a blow out each time. Elspeth, Whip and Ghost Dad are just icing on the cake here. He was unimpressed with the Elvish Mystics. I could see Lotleth Troll coming in to mess with Control and Aggro decks as well. The more cards I have to exile the worse my deck becomes.
The sideboard looks solid with Golgari Charm and Underworld Connections being just the thing to battle control. Unflinching Courage for other Midrange and Aggro decks. This deck will likely become more defined of over the next few weeks. I expect to see more of it just based on its resilience to aggro decks and its attack plan versus control.
Other decks in the meta are RDWs and BWR. BWR runs Whip, Blood Baron and Ghost Dad, and generally runs 4-6 spells that out right kill Planeswalkers you’ll need to either exhaust his kills spells or counter them. If an Esper player can ultimate Ashiok that can really put the game in your favor. The hardest card to deal with in their deck is Obzedat. A good player knows to not attack with it. If they can Whip it from the Graveyard you need to kill it then. It will remain Exiled that way. Otherwise, it’s going to come back constantly. If you can Detention Sphere the Whip that’s your best bet. After board Notion Thief their Read the Bones and Swan Song their Rakdos’s Returns. Rakdos’s Return is the single worst thing that deck can do. Keep an eye on he number of cards in your hand and the amount of mana the BRW player has. Tapping out to kill a blood Baron on turn 5 with a wrath is a huge mistake as that’s when RR is most likely to be the follow up play. The deck plays Magma Jets and Warleader’s Helix, so beware of reach. It’s a really interesting match up but if you’re aware of a couple of interactions you can come out on top.
Beating RDWs is all about making that turn 4 wrath. And hopefully winning the coin flip.
If I played TCGplayer States this week. I’d go rogue. Where’s the America I loved so much? What happened to that tempo midrange sweetness that tasted like apple pie and fireworks? Well it’s gone for certain. No more Augur of Bolas, Snapcaster Mage or Restoration Angel. It’s time for a new team to settle in their places
American Midrange
| Lands: (25) 2 Izzet Guildgate 4 Temple of Triumph 1 Azorius Guildgate 3 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 5 Island 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Plains Creatures: (10) 2 Prognostic Sphinx 2 Stormbreath Dragon 3 Boros Reckoner 3 Frostburn Weird Spells: (25) 2 Magma Jet 2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion 1 Steam Augury 2 Dissolve 1 Counterflux 1 Izzet Charm 2 Warleader’s Helix 2 Anger of the Gods 1 Ral Zarek 3 Azorius Charm 2 Supreme Verdict 3 Sphinx’s Revelation 3 Syncopate | Sideboard: (15) 3 Catch // Release 3 Mizzium Mortars 2 Swan Song 2 Supreme Verdict 3 Peak Explosion 2 Chained to the Rocks |
Frostburn Weird matches up in the meta really well. Bricking early attackers and threatening slower control based decks. Boros Reckoner, is still quite a power house. Between these 6 cards and your suite of cheap removal in Azorius/Izzet Charm and Magma Jet, aggro shouldn’t be a problem. I started with two Jace, Architect of Thought, but decided against it in order to play a more aggressive build. Elspeth does solid work as a finisher, I’m trying to not rely heavily on Planeswalkers as Hero’s Downfall, Dreadbore and Detention Sphere are seeing increased play. Ral Zarek works as a way to clear out a blocker or burn to the face so he’s worth a spot. I’m running 2 Anger of the Gods to hedge against G/W Aggro and a pair of Supreme Verdict to rest anything else I’m having trouble with. Finally Prognostic Sphinx and Stormbreath Dragon are batting clean-up. Both are solid resilient creatures that can spell doom if they aren’t dealt with immediately. The board is not really well thought out, but the Catch//Release are for sure includes. So many Planeswalkers threatening to ultimate, it seems like a great time to take them and get some free emblems. Peak Explosions are for decks like Boros or RWB that run Chained to the Rocks. And your Chained to the Rocks are for opposing Gods like Erebus that make your life difficult.
I wish I was going to TCGplayer States this weekend. I think that it’s gonna be a dangerous place to play Planeswalkers and Sphinx’s Revelations but I sure would like to get a crack at it. My current Esper build is softer to Aggro but its really strong versus other U/x control decks and I’ve shored up my game versus midrange decks. What’s your plan this weekend? I think Sunday I’m gonna head to Montasy for a little Legacy. Went 3-1 with Merfolk on Monday and I’m itching to drown some more folks.
Zac Clark, Durdle Magus
Developments in Durdling is a Hipsters of the Coast column about the Playing control in a midrange world. Focused on Standard with occasional asides to Legacy and Modern, it is a commentary of the current trends in Constructed magic and a place that Zac Clark vents about weekly defeats.