This Friday dawns the beginning of Fate Reforged. This set, more than the middle sets of other recent blocks has me drooling over the amazing cards Fate Reforged will bring. I believe the set to be so powerful that instead of just spraying Febreeze on the format which has been the middle sets job in the past, it will stem new decks that will send plenty of time at the top tables. I don’t believe this set will shake up the game as much as rotation does but I think it is the closest that we will see from a middle set for years to come. That being said, there are plenty of decks that will receive some new toys including the deck that I have sleeved up for Friday that can be found in Nick’s recent article.
Today I have two lists that I would like to share with you as interesting decks you could play going forward: Mono Red Devotion and BR Dragons. Both of these decks haven’t spent much time if any in the limelight but with the addition of Fate Reforged I believe now is going to be their time to shine. I’ll start with the Mono Red decklist:
4x Mardu Scout
4x Hammerhand
20x Mountain
The sideboard for this deck actually has quite a bit of versatility and can be built for whatever your expected meta may be. If you are in a Whip heavy area, Burn Away is a fine card to make sure you get rid of any value in the graveyard. If your opponent is on the all wrath and removal plan there are even a plethora of burn spells available to you giving you the option to completely change the way your red deck operates (Lightning Strike, Wild Slash, Stoke the Flames, Collateral Damage, Etc.)
One thing that may come as a big surprise is the nonexistent Goblin Rabblemaster in the main deck. I left him on the side purely due to his unexciting interaction with Fanatic of Mogis. Going in to Fate Reforged we don’t have anything like a Boros Reckoner to capitalize on the existence of devotion which means there isn't a lot of wiggle room for creatures with less than two devotion. Ordinarily jamming cards into a deck just to half fill a hole a deck has is incorrect. That isn't the case with this deck though as we have both Flamewake Phoenix and Prophetic Flamespeaker to fill the holes which are phenomenal in the three spot for this deck. Flamewake Phoenix is an easy way to push some damage and can be recurred fairly easy in this deck between Fanatic of Mogis, Ashcloud Phoenix or any creature as long as you have a Titan’s Strength.
This deck also has the potential of the same fast starts of the current iteration of mono red. Start with a Monastery Swiftspear into Titan’s Strength and it’s off to the races. I also have included Hammerhand in the deck as a four of not only to allow for a ton of damage to be pushed through with the +1/+1 and target creature can’t block this turn but for the devotion that it provides to Fanatic of Mogis.
Overall, I think Mono Red Devotion has a lot of potential and it could play a very key role in the development of the new world of Standard even if it isn’t quite as exciting as the next deck I would like to share with you. A running joke we have is that if Will Lotz of Team Roguet3ch can go a minimum of 4-1 with four copies of Crucible of Fire in his deck, he’ll make $20 off of Matt Petro. While this deck may not play the insane tribal enchantment the deck sure does have some sweet dragons. Without blabbering too much, I give you Team RogueT3ch’s BR Dragons:
4x Thoughtseize
4x Crux of Fate
8x Mountain
8x Swamp
Before I go in to the fine details I must be honest, there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity for us to discuss the sideboard plan for this deck. A lot of that stems from uncertainty as to where the meta-game will shift. Most of the sideboard will include more specialized removal be it Magma Jet, Anger of the Gods, or Drown in Sorrow. The main board already plays out very effectively in controlling the board until you draw any one of your creatures. which has the potential to instantly take over a game. This deck doesn’t have the counter-spells to be considered hard control but the one sided wrath effects on top of extremely efficient removal is more than enough to win games. The main reason behind playing this deck would easily be Crux of Fate. This card pretty much reads “Wrath your opponents board” with few exceptions. Facing down Stormbreath Dragon with this card may seem awkward but when combined with four copies of Hero’s Downfall and three Murderous Cut’s the deck is very well positioned to always get the one sided wrath effect. This feels very much like a control deck only with faster access to the mid game and rarely needing to go the late in order to close out a game.
That’s all for this week be sure to check out the video that should be out either today or tomorrow and if you are interested in winning the KTK Bloodstained Mire and Polluted Delta on MTGO be sure to subscribe before 2/14/15 (be sure to set your subscriptions to public or I won’t know who to get these to)
Thanks for the read I’d love to hear how everyone’s week of standard went with the addition of Fate Reforged!! Let us know below!
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