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

In the Deck Box: Arcum Dagsson

Happy Thursday, CNG! Wow, has it really been over a year since the last Into the Deck Box? Yeesh. Well, I haven't had the chance to do one yet (and Theros hasn't been sufficiently spoiled for me to rate new cards), so today's article will be about my first Commander, Arcum Dagsson.

SEE DECK!

Let's start with his stats. 3U for a 2/2 means I'm obviously not interested in dealing 21 Commander damage, so he must have a pretty strong ability. 'T: Target artifact creature's controller sacrifices it. That player may search his or her library for a noncreature artifact, put it on the battlefield, then shuffle his or her library' What a mouthful! In short, Arcum targets an artifact creature to Tinker into a noncreature artifact.

Goodbye, Ornithopter and hello Darksteel Forge! I built Arcum as a toolbox-style combo deck, playing answers to just about every threat in the game, while simultaneously having a range of my own threats that interact in powerful, but not immediately degenerate ways. I phrase it like that because most combos are inherently degenerate, but I generally chose to exclude the piece that obviously completes the combo (ex: Darksteel Forge + Nevinyrral's Disk + Mycosynthe Lattice).

The deck started off as a Myr tribal deck (as evidenced by ten Myr-themed cards within) featuring Hanna, Ship's Navigator as the Commander, but Stephen convinced me that Arcum's power level was too high to ignore and I made the switch. This deck is both an exercise and display of effect-availability across colors because most of my answers are colorless due to Blue's weakness to resolved threats. Creatures can be removed by Brittle Effigy and Lux Cannon, some life drain can be prevented by Witchbane Orb, and reanimation can be nipped at the bud by Tormod's Crypt.

There are artifacts I tutor for almost every game such as Myr Turbine to produce more fodder or Spine of Ish Sah to remove troublesome Aura Shards or Planeswalkers, but I usually prefer playing to the cards in my hand. Although I could tutor out the Darksteel Forge every game, it is much more satisfying to instead look at the Myr Battlesphere in my hand and find the Crystal Shard or Coat of Arms, or find Voltaic Key for my Lux Cannon, or use Liquimetal Coating to turn Arcum into an Avatar of Woe with amusing side-effects. The point of a singleton format like Commander is variance, so I try to prevent the deck from becoming stale for myself and my friends and instead search for a victory I have not yet used.

As far as actual combos/interactions go:

• Silver Myr + Arcum Dagsson: turn 3 General with sac fodder on board. Not really a combo, but strong start to a game. 
• Darksteel Forge + Nev Disk: one-sided Planar Cleansing (completed by Liquimetal Coating for Planeswalkers). 
• Voltaic Key + Lux Cannon: Vindicate every other Untap step.
• Etched Champion + Batterskull: 6/6 Lifelink, Vigilance, 'psued-unblockable' pain-train.
• Myr Turbine + Coat of Arms: aggro route, often complemented by Myr Battlesphere off of Turbine's second ability. 
• Inkwell Leviathan + Sculpting Steel + Phyrexian Metamorph: what's better than a 7/11 Shroud, Trample, Islandwalk? Three of them!
• Planar Portal + Caged Sun: Tapping Islands for UU helps feed the mana-hungry portal. 
• Darksteel Citadel + Mana Vault + Mox Opal: turn 1 Arcum. Hasn't actually happened yet, but I cross my fingers every game. 
• Spine of Ish Sah + Sculpting Steel + Krark-Clan Ironworks + Etherium Sculptor + Shimmer Myr: Free, Instant-speed, recurrable Vindicate. Basically ends games that have gone on longer than three hours.

Although the deck runs about as smoothly as I could ask, there are a few cards I might replace. Beguiler of Wills works well with Myr Battlesphere, but Vedalken Shackles are better in a vacuum. Witchbane Orb prevents Drain Life and infinite combos, but is often a dead draw. I'm trying Crystal Shard right now to protect Arcum or punish tap-outs, but it isn't doing as much work as I would have liked. These cards are mostly metagame choices that switch out often. Cards I've considered adding are the aforementioned Vedalken Shackles (for game-changers like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite), but non-bos with Unwinding Clock), Brainstorm (for those awkward times when you draw the tutorable answer), and Epochrasite (returning Arcum target).

As far as Theros is concerned, the only card I'm genuinely interested in is Curse of the Swine. Blue has trouble spot-removing creatures as it is, and once you throw indestructibility or recursion into the mix, I really only have Brittle Effigy (which exiles itself). Curse of the Swine allows me to answer a number of Avacyn-buffed beaters from Kaalia of the Vast and lets me go over High Market for all but one creature in Karador, Ghost Chieftain. The Bacon leftovers can easily be cleaned up by an Evacuation or Steel Hellkite. Devotion, on the other hand has no place here. Although the mechanic works best in a mono-colored deck, Arcum only has thirteen Blue permanents and Phyrexian Metamorph barely counts. That aside, I'm hopeful that the rest of the set will bring more goodies.

I hope you enjoyed this Into the Deck Box and feel free to ask any questions, make suggestions, etc. Next month, once the set drops like a fat beat, I'll bring you the Top 8 Commander cards from Theros. Until next time, folks!

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-Javier Remy