New Deck Musings

So MTGSalvation.com just completed their Unofficial Zendikar Spoiler and I wanted to take some time to muse about the upcoming set and is impact on Standard.  And while I don’t think that Standard is super relevant to most people right now with the current PTQ season being limited and the next one Extended, I think  most people enjoy Standard and run it alot on MTGO and at FNMs.

I think that overall the set is going to be very good for Standard play (not to mention Extended). It has a lot of potential to kick out the jams. There are a lot of duds, though, that are just overcosted creatures with little impact on a game. Allies for instance, just seem weak.  They all seem to cost 3-5 mana and their “super-special” allied ability is just putting a +1/+1 counter on themselves.  Scute Mob just seems better than every Ally I’ve seen.

For instance, Turntimber Ranger seems good, at 3GG (total of 5 converted mana cost) you get a 3/3 ranger and a 2/2 wolf. Not bad. But compare that to Broodmate Dragon,  for a total cmc of 6 you get two 4/4 dragons. That’s 8 power for 6 mana compared to 5 power for 5 mana. Pretty obvious to see which card would make the cut in a constructed deck. “But Broodmate Dragon is THREE colors!” you say… Well how about Terra Stomper? 3GGG (cmc=6) for an 8/8 trampler… Still 8 power of dude for 6 mana compared to 5 power for 5 mana.  And yes, I love the Terra Stomper but wish it were more true to Force of Nature’s flavor and spectacular art. Also it doesn’t cost 2GGGG!

So allies are a bust and I think most of the impact cards for Standard are fairly obvious. Here’s a short-list of what I think is going to be playable (all of the cards can be found here: http://mtgsalvation.com/zendikar-spoiler.html):

Brave the Elements
Conquerer’s Pledge
Day of Judgment
Devout Lightcaster
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Luminarch Ascension
Archive Trap
Ior Ruin Expedition
Living Tsunami
Mindbreak Trap
Spell Pierce
Trapmaker’s Snare
Bloodchief Ascension
Bloodghast
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Grim Discovery
Malakir Bloodwitch
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Quest for the Gravelord
Vampire Hexmage
Vampire Lacerator
Burst Lightning
Goblin Guide
Hellkite Charger
Plated Geopede
Warren Instigator
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Harrow
Lotus Cobra
Oracle of Mul Daya
Rampaging Baloths
River Boa
Scute Mob
Summoning Trap
Vines of Vastwood
Khalni Gem
Trailblazer’s Boots
**All the enemy fetchlands, obv**
Crypt of Agadeem
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Teetering Peaks
Turntimber Grove
Valakut the Molten Pinnacle

Now, truthfully I don’t think all of those cards will make an *impact* on Standard (think Baneslayer or Great Sable Stag), but they will pop up in decklists for sure. The real IMPACT cards are as follows:

Day of Judgment.
 This card is just plain ‘ole Wrath. The only playable cards that circumvent the regeneration clause in the new Standard are CUdgel Troll and River Boa. Neither will see much play, except possibly the Boa in sideboards. Wrath has been good since Alpha, so I doubt this will be any worse. Sure it’s slightly worse but nobody will notice til they print an amazing regenerator.

Luminarch Ascension.
 A card you must deal with ASAP. Vampire Hexmage is a great counter to this card’s effectiveness, but aside from that, this puppy is golden. Stall your aggro opponent with a couple fog effects or damage prevention, then plop out a Day of Judgement and some Paths or something to keep the critters at bay and BAM! unlimited angelic goodness. yum.

Mindbreak Trap.
 Pretty much the best counterspell in the set along with Spell Pierce (which is good, but not amazing). It really shines when your opponent plays a “cascade ultimatum” like Bit Blast into Bloodbraid into Stag. Exile all 3, thank you very much!

Bloodchief Ascension.
 Lots of hype around this one, but the jury’s still deliberating. Unsure.

Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
 Just seems good. Lightning Bolt to your opponent just for playing a land? seems good indeed.

Warren Instigator.
 Probably going to make some small revival of Goblins. My guess is these decks will pop up and he will be a $20+mythic, then those decks will lose and he’ll go for around $10-15.

Lotus Cobra.
 This card is good. Time will tell. I’ll most likely be running it in some deck or another. Not Tarmogoyf.

Scute Mob.
 Also not Tarmogoyf. Pretty good, but not that good. I doubt another Tarmo-like creature will ever be printed. This guy is cute and gets largely out of hand pretty quick.

Summoning Trap.
 Let’s summon us up some 7/7 Iona action and really screw our opponents!

Enemy Fetchlands.
 Yeah, they will be in almost every deck. Especially in Extended.

Emeria, the Sky Ruin.
 White Weenie’s late game awesomesauce. Could be great in a controllish mono-white deck too if one is possible.

Well, that’s all I have time for for now. We’ll see if the set can live up to the hype surrounding it. I think it can and I sure hope sealed ZEN is fun!

Vampires: the New Black?

The future of black is in question. When M10 was released, many heralded the return of mono-black control. M10 gave us Duress, Consume Spirit, Doom Blade, Haunting Echoes, Mind Shatter, Sign in Blood and Tendrils of Corruption. Alara block, however, gave us almost entirely gold cards which obviously don’t fit in with MBC. Unlike Alara, the fabulous Zendikar promises to bring lots of mono-black goodies. Sadly, most of them are “aggressively costed” vampires. This leads me to believe that the new mono-black deck will be an aggro deck with Vampires instead of a control deck focused on lots of swamps.

I would debate whether or not the Zendikar vamps are “sparkly” as some have claimed. I just watched Twilight to see what all the sparkly fuss was about and I don’t see a whole lot of correlation between the kickass tribal vampires of Zendikar and the pale emo-wusses of that movie. Let’s take a look at some vampire action first.

Bloodghast is a definite inclusion in any Vampire deck. A 2/1 for BB is okay, but when he keeps coming back, it’s even better. And if you get them below 10 life, it’s got haste!

Gatekeeper of Malakir is awesome as well. If you have no other turn 2 play he comes down as a grizzly bear, but his real benefit is the kicker. Making them sacrifice a creature for 3 mana is slightly overcosted, but when you tack on a 2/2 body… it’s pretty darn good, like a mini-flametongue kavu.

Quest for the Gravelord is a card that many are overlooking, but is a great turn 1 play. Drop this then play out your Vampires. They die to Volcanic Fallout? No problem, slap a 5/5 zombie into play.

Sorin Markov… meh. He’s very expensive for what he does and if using his second ability is something profitable on turn 6, you’re not getting enough damage through. Mindslaver was always good, though, and he will see play somewhere.

Soul Stair Expedition is a card I like quite a bit. Much like the Gravelord Quest, it’s insurance against removal. Perhaps a sideboard card for Day of Judgement and similar “wipe” cards, I don’t like this one as much as the Gravelord, but it’s no slouch either. I guess time and testing will reveal which is better.

Vampire Lacerator. Yes please. 2/2s for B are great. I don’t think a Vampire deck is going to mind losing 1 life a turn if it’s hitting you for 2. Think Bitterblossom. Yeah, you’re losing a life each turn, but you’re inflicting more pain than you receive. Great card.

Vampire Nighthawk. Very meh. Probably not going to make the cut in any vampire deck, but you never know!
Blood Tribute is an interesting card, losing half their life is certainly good, depending on how much they have at the time, of course.

M10 also gave us some vampires, the best being Vampire Nocturnus. Child of Night might also see play, but I doubt it with all the 1 and 2 mana vamps coming out of Zendikar.

Here’s a decklist I quickly cooked up using the vampire clan:

4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nocturnus
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Child of Night
 20
3 Quest for the Gravelord
4 Doom Blade
3 Blade of the Bloodchief
4 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
 18
20 Swamp
2 Crypt of Agadeem
 22

And that’s with only seeing 80 cards of the set, I wonder what else is in store for us! We’ll see as things come out, but for now you can definitely plan on seeing Vampires in Standard in some incarnation.  Along with Goblins, most likely. And… Baloths? /ponder