Vivid Williams: Standardized Testing

I'd like to start this article off by apologizing for the lack of content on my part from last month. A lot of time has been taken up from not only school, but work and my social life as well. With that said, words do not describe how excited I am to play in Theros Standard! With just two weeks of the format, there have been multiple decks seeing some kind of success. States/Provincials was this past weekend (not to be confused with TCG Player Fall States) and I attended the Florida States. Although the tournament only had 29 players, it still gave me a sufficient enough sample size to potentially figure out what deck I'm going to set myself on for the next couple of weeks.

Going into the event, I knew I wanted to play some kind of pro-active deck that didn't just fold to the aggressive Red Deck Wins and G/W decks that are usually popular at the beginning of rotation. This led me to the deck I had been working on at the end of Innistrad-Return to Ravnica Standard, Mythic Midrange (B/W/R). This deck is capable of doing a lot of powerful things going on from creature/Planeswalker removal, to hand disruption, to the amazing interaction between Whip of Erebos and Obzedat, Ghost Council. I ended up going 2-3 in the tournament, losing to the mirror, Naya Midrange (#nicklocastro), and RDW in the final round. Looking back, I felt like I tried to make both the aggro and control match too favorable for Game 1 which led to awkward draws against both. For anyone trying to play Midrange or Control, I'd suggest hedging your Game 1 against Control and focus Games 2 and 3 against aggro.

What should you play in the upcoming weeks? The format is so open right now that I don't think there's a 'best deck' or even a deck to beat. I really like the midrange decks that have been floating around as they can switch gears and be a role player as either a control deck or an aggro deck. G/W Aggro is amazing as it can dump its opening hand and have bigger creatures than RDW and other aggro decks. I'm also super interested in seeing how Mark Nestico's U/W Waves deck does in the upcoming weeks.

Creatures (13):
2x Frostburn Weird
4x Master of the Waves
4x Omen Speaker
3x Thassa, God of the Sea

Spells (22):
2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
4x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Jace, Memory Adept
3x Detention Sphere
4x Azorius Charm
1x Cyclonic Rift
3x Sphinx's Revelation
4x Supreme Verdict

Lands (25):
8x Island
5x Plains
4x Azorius Guildgate
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Mutavualt

One of Nestico's buddies took this list to states in Oregon and won. It seems like an interesting and somewhat under the radar kind of deck that I would expect a lot of people to jump on board with. It kind of reminds me of a tempo deck, that can set up for some back breaking kills or just slowly grind their oponent out. Master of Waves having Protection from Red gives a lot of incentive to play him against RDW. A lot of the removal in Standard is Red outside of Doom Blade, Hero's Downfall.

Me personally? I'm gonna stick to the B/W/R deck I've grown accustomed to playing or try out some interation of G/W or Naya Midrange. Slamming fatties on the table and beating face has always been fun for me, so I figure why not stick to what I like. All of these lists also do reasonably well against all of the popular archetypes which is a major plus side. The format is super open right now, and even with the Pro Tour coming up this weekend, i still feel like there are infinite possibilities for someone who wants to take down their local FNM or even a 5k.

In my last article, I did some quick hits on cards that I thought would gain a lot of value post rotation. Blood Baron shot up from $8 to $20 and Jace, Architect of Thought went up to a ridiculous $26!! I don't mean to say 'I told you so' but let's face it, I told you so! As far as what to keep an eye on now, Kalonian Hydra's price has steadily dropped into the upper teens. If he becomes a $10-15 card, I'd suggest picking up a few copies. Master of Waves is also another card that hasn't received much attention aside from Mark Nestico and friends. This card is around $5 right now and $20 for a playset of Mythic playables seems pretty good to me. Garruk, Caller of Beasts has also been on the decline as of late. Everyone is so focused on Red and Blue that Green isn't getting any love. If you can get a couple of copies or even a set for a good price, I'd say go for it! It's also a good time to buy into the Theros dual lands while they're still in print. Having all of the dual lands for your decks while they're cheap ensures you can play almost any deck you want in the format.

That's all I have for you guys today! I'm not sure when I'll have time to sit down and write another aticle, but I"ll try to push them out as often as possible. I'll also answer any questions on decks or card choices anybody has, just message me on Facebook or hit me up at CCG when I'm there. 'Til next time, Casual Net!

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-Robert Williams