Hey everyone, Josh here with WizardDen.com's team RogueT3ch here with a few lists for Origins Standard. The first will be a deck that was very close to my heart last season, and the second is an Abzan list that finally focuses away from the strength of Siege Rhino(though he does make an appearance). I hope one of these decks will lead you to a new found appreciation of our current standard and a ton of wins during opening weekend.
Before we dive in I also wanted to take a moment to let everyone know I will be joining Christian Rasmussen on RogueDeckbuilder.com, delivering content over there as well. Kevin has a pretty awesome website with a few pretty cool contests so be sure to check them out for some additional content from a few non-local writers and some awesome video content as well. I look forward to joining RogueDeckbuilder.com and bringing you all even more content!!! Back on task though, let's take a look at a few lists from Origins.
I would like to start with the deck that I am most excited about with the release of Origins. Anyone who played magic against me prior to the most recent rotation may remember a much happier Josh. I was tossing whatever may be on top of my library to Pack Rat and laughing all the way because of it. I had a rough time finding something that gave me that same joy in Khans Standard, trying out Temur, RG, GW Devotion and several other decks before taking my own advice "If you aren't casting Siege Rhino you're doing it wrong." I've been casting the Rhino for nearly a month now and have been putting up impressive numbers with the deck. Enough about the victories of yesterday though as standard is just coming to it's Origins.
Mono Black is a deck that has existed in people's hearts for many years. People search for the right pieces every time a rotation occurs and even when a new set drops. This may be the set that brings the powerhouse back to fruition, however, as we gain cards like Despoiler of Souls and Erebos's Titan. Two cards that, conveniently, are negotiating a partnership with everyone's favorite travelling insurance salesman, Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Gary is poised to make a comeback with Origin's and I think this may be the deck to do it.
Mono Black Midrange
4x Despoiler of Souls
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
4x Erebos's Titan
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4x Herald of Torment
2x Liliana, Heretical Healer
2x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2x Soul of Innistrad
2x Whip of Erebos
3x Bile Blight
4x Hero's Downfall
2x Ultimate Price
2x Thoughtsieze
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2x Radiant Fountain
20x Swamp
1x Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth
Sideboard
2x Thoughtsieze
2x Duress
2x Drown in Sorrow
2x Languish
1x Bile Blight
3x Self-Inflicted Wound
3x Infinite Obliteration
I really like the way this deck plays out as there are a lot of ways to win in a stall. Languish is a card that will see play and has the potential to hurt our devotion but it does not remove Erebos's Titan and can even turn on the Indestructible clause if you opponent casts this sweeper. Similar to the devotion deck of last season all of the cards are powerful enough to win the game without the help of Gary, though the games are still much more enjoyable when he's around to close things out. Despoiler of Souls is a great early game that will generally trade up only to come back to the battlefield as the game progresses, he even adds two devotion for our Gray Merchant triggers, which is great. Liliana is a card that may not have a home in this deck as there are few ways to expolit her ability... Get it?? Exploit?? Sidisi is great at flipping a Lili and if ever in a pinch, you can save her from a removal spell by removing one of your own creatures with a Bile Blight or any other removal spell really. I doubt this approach will be very effective and recommend just letting Lili eat the removal spell (unless flipping the planeswalker can get you a lethal Gray Merchant from your graveyard). Herald of Torment gives us evasion and is generally a great draw in the mid/late game, which is what this is geared for.
While I am very excited to try this deck out I do have one big concern with it. Underworld Connections was the main engine that made the deck of yesteryear the powerhouse that it was. We are missing this key card in the current iteration of the deck. Erebos, God of the Dead, will try to help us draw more cards but it is hard to justify running one of more of the Legendary Creature in our deck due to to both the legendary rule, and his sometimes hard to maintain investment of two mana and two life for one card. Underworld Connections may not even be as powerful if it were around to party as there are cards like Dromoka's Command that seem to be everywhere in Standard. The two devotion we lose from this enchantment will usually be negated by the Herald of Torment, or Liliana and won't be something we'll find we are in the market for, as there is a significant amount of devotion in the deck we have now. I believe the lack of this card may be the decks derailing point, yet still, this Mono Black Midrange deck has the potential to win games consistently on multiple fronts.
The next deck I would like to talk about is an old face with some makeup on: Abzan Enchantments. The headliner of this deck is, of course, the new heavyweight: Starfield of Nyx. Wizards did a perfect job of pressing this card by giving it a converted mana cost of five with no double white in the casting cost. An effect this powerful is very likely to see play and I think that new decks such as the one I'm about to show can spawn from it as well. Let's take a look at what the Starfield of Nyx deck may look like.
Abzan Enchantments
4x Courser of Kruphix
4x Eidolon of Blossoms
4x Nyx-Fleece Ram
3x Doomwake Giant
3x Siege Rhino
4x Commune with the Gods
3x Sigil of the Empty Throne
1x Plea for Guidance
3x Banishing Light
3x Dromoka's Command
4x Starfield of Nyx
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
3x Temple of Malady
4x Temple of Plenty
1x Temple of Silence
4x Windswept Heath
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Llanowar Wastes
1x Caves of Koilos
3x Plains
2x Forest
Sideboard
3x Brain Maggot
2x Citadel Siege
4x Thoughtsieze
2x Whip of Erebos
2x Ultimate Price
2x Self-Inflicted Wound
This deck capitalizes on the power of Sigil of the Empty Throne as well as Starfield of Nyx to fuel our very powerful Enchantment package. Siege Rhino is just a nasty card and an auto include if you are in Abzan colors . I was disappointed at the lack of a Fiend Hunter type card in this set but having access to a 3/3 with that effect is just better, thank you Starfield of Nyx! With nearly every card that isn't a land being an enchantment, casting Starfield of Nyx can sometimes just end the game.
Plea for Guidance may seem too cute for the deck, and it may prove to be, I still want to try it out as there is the opportunity to tutor up a huge followup turn that is perfect for any situation. We have access to Dromoka's Command to hedge a bit against the mirror by fighting one of our larger creatures to their weaker and having them sac an enchantment. We are actually pretty strong against an opposing Dromoka's Command as if the modes chosen are fight we can sac the fight target and only give a 1 for 1 to our opponent.
The sideboard may need a little bit of tuning but I am very excited to try out Citadel Siege and Whip of Erebos. Citadel as a 4/4 that either buffs a guy on my team every turn or taps down a defender is very exciting and may be relevant depending on where the format shifts after Origins releases. Whip of Erebos allows us to transition into, well, a traditional Whip deck. We are able to get value on our Doomwake Giants and Eidolon of Blossoms as well as gain some life throughout the game, which will be great at helping us get to Sigil of the Empty Throne or Starfield of Nyx.
Overall, I think the Abzan deck carries a lot of game going into Origins and I won't be surprised to see a few lists similar to the one above in the top 16 of this weekends SCG event. I also think Mono Black is poised to make a strong comeback and I will be thrilled to see at least one copy in the top 16 this weekend in Chicago. I personally will be sleeving up the mono black list for now so be prepared to meet my friend Gary, fresh back from his latest year long adventure.
-Josh
RogueT3ch
No comments:
Post a Comment