Heading into SCG Syracuse this weekend, the Standard metagame is struggling to adapt to the dominance of Teferi, Time Raveler. Most of Team Nova will avoid playing Teferi in Syracuse, instead deciding to attack a metagame that is shifting to defeat him..
Ally Warfield
Ally Warfield's Standard Izzet Phoenix
| Creatures (11) 4 Arclight Phoenix 3 Crackling Drake 1 Augur of Bolas 3 Goblin Electromancer Spells (26) 4 Chart a Course 3 Finale of Promise 2 Discovery // Dispersal 2 Tormenting Voice 4 Opt 3 Lava Coil 4 Shock 1 Beacon Bolt 3 Radical Idea Planeswalkers (2) 2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer | Lands (21) 6 Mountain 7 Island 4 Sulfur Falls 4 Steam Vents Sideboard (15) 2 Negate 2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun 3 Narset, Parter of Veils 2 Entrancing Melody 1 Lava Coil 2 Spell Pierce 1 Beacon Bolt 2 Fiery Cannonade |
I have switched my deck around many times this week and am still not 100% confident in my choice.
Izzet Phoenix has made me cry the least in my testing sessions, and I think the deck is currently harshly underrated. This is a deck that has had several iterations and made it through numerous Standard formats, ranging from “okay” to a powerhouse at any given time. This speaks to the power level of the card Arclight Phoenix, even in Standard. The deck fell out of favor when Simic Nexus was the best deck in Standard, however now with the addition of War of the Spark, Izzet Phoenix is fighting again with the top decks, winning numerous online events as well as a handful of MCQs.
Speaking of War of the Spark, the new set brought some new toys to Izzet Phoenix, namely Finale of Promise. This card is absurd in the deck because you only need to play that card to flash back an instant and a sorcery from your graveyard, which is three spells to trigger Arclight Phoenix’s ability. A key thing to note however, is that you cannot resolve the spells targeted with Finale of Promise if your opponent has a Teferi, Time Raveler in play. Another great addition to the deck is Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. Having alternate threats is very important in this deck, and Saheeli is exceptionally good against the creature-centric spot removal I expect to see at SCG Syracuse.
Looking at the sideboard, I definitely want some amount of Narset, Parter of Veils. She was severely underrated in Week 1 of War of the Spark Standard, and I know she is going to be a continued presence in Standard from here on out. Shutting off draw spells in Esper Control, Nexus decks, and even the mirror is a huge factor in how these matches play out. The rest of the sideboard is tailored around the expectation of seeing a lot of midrange and control, while still respecting aggro strategies with Fiery Cannonade and an extra Lava Coil.
Overall, I think Izzet Phoenix is a good choice this weekend. I switched from Esper Midrange because I believe it has a huge target on its back for Syracuse. I’ve been winning and losing a lot with every deck, and nothing feels above and beyond anything else. This was the deck that has brought me the most success and that I have enjoyed playing the most, so this is likely what you’ll see me on this weekend.
Brad Carpenter
Brad Carpenter's Standard Izzet Pheonix
| Creatures (13) 4 Arclight Phoenix 3 Augur of Bolas 3 Crackling Drake 3 Goblin Electromancer Spells (26) 1 Beacon Bolt 4 Chart a Course 3 Finale of Promise 2 Lava Coil 2 Tormenting Voice 1 Discovery // Dispersal 1 Lightning Strike 4 Opt 3 Radical Idea 4 Shock 1 Spell Pierce | Lands (21) 7 Island 6 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 4 Sulfur Falls Sideboard (15) 1 Augur of Bolas 2 Lava Coil 1 Spell Pierce 1 Commence the Endgame 3 Fiery Cannonade 3 Legion Warboss 1 Negate 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun 1 Search for Azcanta 1 Shivan Fire |
I’m going to be honest, I have no idea if this deck is good. What I do know is that this isn’t as bad as the other decks I have played in my attempts to find something for SCG Syracuse. This is the Izzet Phoenix list that won the Magic Online MCQ this past weekend and it’s where I’m starting next with 72 hours until I need to submit my list.
The main reasons that I’m leaning towards this deck are that I already have a pretty big preference towards Phoenix strategies, it’s winning a lot (both MTGO MCQs and an IRL MCQ), and every deck I’ve played so far seems to have a pretty big weakness to it. Finale of Promise might be the card that has taken this deck to another level. I played ton of Phoenix before War of the Spark and one of its worst matchups, Esper Control, appears to have become significantly better with the set’s addition. You also now have access to Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, which isn’t in this list, but could easily be added for extra insurance versus Esper Control. I also believe that Phoenix has a pretty reasonable Mono-Red matchup, which puts this deck over the top as my front runner.
Matthew Dilks
Matthew Dilks's Standard Esper Knights
| Creatures (12) 2 Hostage Taker 2 Knight of Grace 4 Knight of Malice 4 Thief of Sanity Spells (10) 4 Thought Erasure 2 Cast Down 1 Despark 1 Spell Pierce 2 Mortify Enchantments (8) 4 History of Benalia 3 Oath of Kaya 1 The Eldest Reborn Planeswalkers (5) 2 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord 3 Teferi, Time Raveler | Lands (25) 3 Drowned Catacomb 4 Glacial Fortress 4 Godless Shrine 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Isolated Chapel 2 Plains 4 Watery Grave Sideboard (15) 1 Despark 2 Spell pierce 3 Duress 2 Enter the God-Eternals 1 Oath of Kaya 2 Moment of Craving 2 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 The Eldest Reborn 1 Time Wipe |
I believe that the current Standard format is completely warped by the power level of Teferi, Time Ravler. The best way to combat this is to have a consistent game plan that plays to the board and operates close to optimally at sorcery speed, while avoiding many of the cards Harlan wrote about this week. This line of play mitigates the power of your opponent’s Teferi and increases the power level of your own.
The problem with Hero of Precinct One in Esper Midrange is that it is easily punished on the draw by an opposing Teferi. Knight of Malice is the answer to that line of play and helps lower the curve and is a sticky threat, along with the rest of the Knight package. I think taking the most powerful cards from the Esper Midrange shell and adding the Knight package is the best way to capitalize on Teferi’s popularity going into this weekend.
Chad Harney
Esper Hero. Esper Hero. Esper Hero.
That’s all I hear people talking about for this weekend at Syracuse. So here’s a quick history lesson: Shock, a card first printed in Stronghold in 1998, deals 2 damage to any target for the low cost of 1 Red mana. This card was actually reprinted in Core Set 2019. That makes it Standard legal—and we get to play 4 of them in Izzet Phoenix. If I could quickly direct your eyes to Hero of Precinct One and Thief of Sanity, you’ll notice that both of these cards have a measly 2 toughness. People are actually main decking flying bears in 2019.
Chad Harney's Standard Izzet Phoenix
| Creatures (13) 2 Augur of Bolas 3 Goblin Electromancer 4 Arclight Phoenix 4 Crackling Drake Planeswalkers (1) 1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer Spells (25) 4 Opt 4 Shock 4 Chart a Course 2 Finale of Promise 2 Lava Coil 1 Lightning Strike 3 Radical Idea 2 Tormenting Voice 1 Beacon Bolt 2 Discovery // Dispersal | Lands (21) 1 Blood Crypt 7 Island 5 Mountain 4 Steam Vents 4 Sulfur Falls Sideboard (15) 1 Spell Pierce 1 Augur of Bolas 2 Lava Coil 1 Negate 2 Fiery Cannonade 3 Legion Warboss 2 Narset, Parter of Veils 1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer 1 Commence the Endgame 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun |
All joking aside, I believe Esper Hero will be a popular choice this weekend and Phoenix has a pretty decent matchup against it. I also believe Nexus will be at an all time low until people figure out how to deal with Teferi, Time Raveler. Esper can be tough for Phoenix, but you have the tools to put yourself in a good spot post-board.
Drake Sasser
Drake Sasser's Standard Mono-Red
| Creatures (20) 4 Runaway Steam-Kin 4 Viashino Pyromancer 4 Ghitu Lavarunner 4 Goblin Chainwhirler 4 Fanatical Firebrand Spells (18) 2 Skewer the Critics 4 Light Up the Stage 4 Shock 4 Wizard’s Lightning 4 Lightning Strike Enchantments (2) 2 Experimental Frenzy Planeswalkers (1) 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan | Lands (19) 19 Mountain Sideboard (15) 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan 2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator 3 Risk Factor 4 Lava Coil 2 Rekindling Phoenix 2 Dire Fleet Daredevil 1 Mountain |
At SCG Syracuse I will be playing the only deck with good mana in Standard right now.
During the break week, I spent a large amount of time testing and tuning Nova Bant but could not escape the fact that the mana in the deck was not good at all. I tried various other Standard decks that had a lot of hype around them, such as Esper Hero and Grixis, but in both cases the deck was either underpowered or had mana issues in every game I played. I still believe Nexus to be one of the most powerful decks in Standard but, as we saw in Richmond, the deck can certainly be hated out and I don’t expect that to die down for many weeks. At the end of the day, I tried my hardest to play any of the other sweet looking decks in standard but kept coming back to Mono-Red.
Mono-Red is proactive, consistent, has literal perfect mana, and performed incredibly well at SCG Richmond. The format has adjusted slightly but I don’t see Mono-Red getting hated out in Syracuse.
Drake Sasser's Standard Mono-Red
| Creatures (20) 4 Runaway Steam-Kin 4 Viashino Pyromancer 4 Ghitu Lavarunner 4 Goblin Chainwhirler 4 Fanatical Firebrand Spells (18) 2 Skewer the Critics 4 Light Up the Stage 4 Shock 4 Wizard’s Lightning 4 Lightning Strike Enchantments (2) 2 Experimental Frenzy Planeswalkers (1) 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan | Lands (19) 19 Mountain Sideboard (15) 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan 2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator 3 Risk Factor 4 Lava Coil 2 Rekindling Phoenix 2 Dire Fleet Daredevil 1 Mountain |
Harlan Firer
Harlan Firer's Standard Mono-Red
| Creatures (20) 4 Fanatical Firebrand 4 Ghitu Lavarunner 4 Runaway Steam-Kin 4 Viashino Pyromancer 4 Goblin Chainwhirler Planeswalkers (3) 3 Chandra, Fire Artisan Spells (16) 4 Shock 4 Lightning Strike 4 Light Up the Stage 4 Wizard’s Lightning Enchantments (1) 1 Experimental Frenzy | Lands (20) 20 Mountain Sideboard (15) 4 Lava Coil 3 Legion Warboss 3 Risk Factor 2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator 1 Experimental Frenzy 2 Rekindling Phoenix |
Some of you may be wondering why I’m not playing Bant Midrange this weekend for SCG Syracuse. I’m not playing it because of Teferi, Time Raveler decks are dominant right now and playing at instant-speed is impossible. Teferi has warped the metagame into what feels like nothing but bad matchups for Bant, most of which happen to be good matchups for Mono-Red.
Playing Red comes with the added benefit of beating up on everyone who picked up Bant other the last couple weeks. Red excels at getting underneath the Teferi, Time Raveler decks and thanks to Chandra, Fire Artisan and Experimental Frenzy you can compete in the longer post-board games. With Wildgrowth Walker and friends on the decline in this Teferi-heavy meta, Mono-Red feels like a safe choice going into the penultimate Open of the season.