I couldn’t sleep last night. Or the night before last. While I’ve been lying down early enough to get those long, solid nights of rest I enjoy and which keep me fresh, this entire week has not been kind to me after dark. Often I find myself out of bed in the middle of the night, sitting at the table or on the couch. I’ll be on my phone, or simply drinking a glass of water. Either way it’s the constant thinking that keeps me up. My brain running at high speed combing over the game-changing news unveiled to the Magic community this week. All I keep thinking about is Khans of Tarkir.
Since my last article where I outlined the source material for my delve into Standard, i’ve been hungry for more spoilers, hitting the refresh button every ten or so minutes on my phone each day. Each night, my sleep disrupted by a mind on overdrive, I glow in the dark, reviewing each card again, and again, feeding a mind starved for a new constructed landscape, both clear and unknown.
I’ve never been so inspired to simply play around. I feel as though a giant weight were lifted from me, with an imminent rotation, and where a window to a brewer’s paradise is seen through the spoilers of a new set, I find myself unwavering. Since coming back to the game I haven’t been exactly here: that moment when a plethora of new and powerful cards have stimulated this creativity in me. After all, I’ve always been a netdecker.
I was never the guy to brew and bring rogue decks to tournaments. I figured it was easier to copy, paste, and win. Well, winning was always the part I struggled with as a teenager. I had too much confidence in my decks inherent ability to win games and never enough confidence in my ability to play said decks well enough to get there. That’s probably why I took down the JSS tournament with Dream Halls combo. The deck didn’t care what the opponent was doing, it just had to cast Dream Halls; then I won each game against the goldfish.
When Theros entered the scene, I simply ran to my LGS and bought mono-blue devotion. I figured, hey, it won a Pro Tour, it’s gotta be the best deck. I did poorly with it. Then I build mono-black devotion. I also did poorly with it. Shortly afterwards I put standard down. It bored me. Formats should inspire you to play them; if you’re not excited to be showing up to play not only your deck but to pit it against the field, then you have no business being in the room, or something is inherently wrong with the format.
Enter Khans of Tarkir. With RTR phasing out, it leaves us with only a few solid answers to what the powerful cards in the Theros/M15 landscape are; my last article showed my intention to build from the Courser of Kruphix / Sylvan Caryatid engine, which until proven wrong I will continue to hold course.
So what cards in the set have me going right now?
Abzan Charm is a total hit, and my frontrunner for best charm in the charm cycle. The card is so versatile! It’s three modes each provide strong plays when you are behind (exiling your opponents big dude), at parity (draw 2, lose 2), or ahead (put counters on your dudes)! Bravo! We can absolutely use this card in a midrange deck; it’s practically tailor-made for such a strategy.
Siege Rhino is awesome. Luis Scott Vargas wrote a spotlight article on the new beast last week, and rightfully so. The rhino has everything going for it. It’s Erhnam Djinn with pure upside! Sure it’s a little harder to cast, but we are all brewing tri-color decks now anyways, right? Coming down on turn three off Caryatid is exciting for me. He is also a solid card against red decks, which will no doubt be among the first builds out of the war gate. His 5 butt doesn’t fold to Stoke the Flames, and draining for three is very relevant against a deck trying to 20 you as fast as possible. Oh, and trample is sweet when the opponent is trying to chump block with 1/1’s.
Here’s the current build i’m about ready to sleeve up.
Abzan Midrange
| CREATURES (23) 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Courser of Krupix 4 Fleecemane Lion 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 2 Anafenza, the Foremost 2 Polukranos, World Eater 4 Siege Rhino SPELLS (13) 3 Abzan Charm 4 Hero’s Downfall 3 Silence the Believers 2 Utter End 1 See the Unwritten LANDS (24) 4 Windswept Heath 3 Caves of Koilos 4 Llanowar Wastes 4 Temple of Plenty 4 Temple of Malady 3 Forest 1 Plains 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth SIDEBOARD (15) 3 Thoughtseize 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor 2 Feast of Dreams 3 Drown in Sorrow 3 Abzan Ascendancy 2 Bile Blight |
Finally, the wild card. See the Unwritten is a card that needs testing to assess it’s actual power level. But it’s got me going, probably more than any other card in Khans. Right now, it’s a one-of in my Abzan midrange deck. With enough ferocious enablers, it’s sure to hit a relevant percentage of the time for two guys. But finding the best way to maximize the value of See the Unwritten has me pondering not only midrange decks. What if we try out a graveyard strategy?
I was inspired by Gerard Fabiano’s list he posted to Star City Games recently. I like the attempt to get value out of See the Unwritten with Delve and Whip of Erebos. I also like the four main decked Ashen Riders. I’ve tried to construct a deck that has more than one way to put milled creatures back in your hand.
Abzan Graveyards
| CREATURES (27) 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Courser of Krupix 3 Nyx Weaver 1 Pharika, God of Affliction 4 Ashen Rider 3 Necropolis Fiend 4 Satyr Wayfinder 4 Siege Rhino SPELLS (9) 2 Whip of Erebos 4 See the Unwritten 3 Commune with the Gods LANDS (24) 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Windswept Heath 4 Temple of Malady 4 Temple of Plenty 4 Llanowar Wastes 3 Caves of Koilos 2 Forest 2 Plains |
Nyx Weaver provides me with some defensive security, as well as a self-mill engine, and the ability to ‘crack’ it to get back a card in the ‘yard. This deck is far from complete, and doesn’t even have a sideboard considered. It’s mostly for me about testing the interactions of the deck in order to maximize the potential power provided by See the Unwritten. Other thoughts I had were to include Necromancer’s Stockpile in the deck, which seems cute, as you can pitch fatties into your graveyard and then whip them back, all while increasing the decks velocity. But it might be too cute.
Some other cards I’ve been pondering are Jace, the Living Guildpact and Sagu Mauler. There’s got to be a Sultai Delve/Mill deck in Khans somewhere, but I haven’t found a build that looks competitive yet. I’m still working on it, but for now my Sultai list is still a pure control strategy.
Sultai Control
| CREATURES (13) 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Courser of Kruphix 3 Prognostic Sphinx 2 Necropolis Fiend SPELLS (22) 4 Kiora, the Crashing Wave 2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver 4 Hero’s Downfall 3 Silence the Believers 2 Sultai Charm 2 Negate 2 Bile Blight 3 Drown in Sorrow LANDS (25) 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 4 Llanowar Wastes 4 Yavimaya Coast 4 Polluted Delta 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Temple of Malady 3 Swamp 1 Island SIDEBOARD (15) 2 Stain the Mind 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver 1 Negate 1 Sultai Charm 3 Thoughtseize 1 Drown in Sorrow 1 Bile Blight 3 Unravel the Aether 2 Gainsay |
I want to believe Necropolis Fiend is a rocking finisher, so I will try it in the initial build. That being said, the deck still feels like a well oiled machine. I’m excited to see where a dedicated control list can go from here.
Anyway, that’s it for this week. I will be travelling to Montreal this coming weekend and will not have a chance to play at the pre-release. When I get back I can start testing out my theories and see what else people have been mashing up. There’s been talk at my LGS of people putting together Temur Tempo. That should be a fun one to see. Overall, I couldn’t be more excited to get the cards together and get this machine rolling. Maybe then I can get some sleep.
After a ten-year lapse from Magic, where his favorite combo was Tradewind Rider with Stasis, Derek is back to learn the new-border variant of the game. While less frustrating cards have been printed, he now has to get used to planeswalkers, and people rolling dice when he resolves Hymn to Tourach. He qualified for the Junior Super Series in 1999 at Pro Tour New York, then used his collection to finance his college education. Years later, he works in the fashion industry as a stylist, consultant, and sometime-matchmaker for brands. He loves all things black leather, and is out to journal his level-ups with hopes of playing at the highest competitive level of the game. You can reach him at derek.gallen@gmail.com.