Standard: The Rock

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Howdy readers who Break imprisons in his basement. I am Frozen Phoenix (some of you may know, some of you may not. Not sure which you’d prefer), and though it’s been at least a month in the making, I’ve finally gotten around to writing an article for this blog. What you all get to learn about from me, and you can thank me later for it, is the classic Green/Black Midrange deck, The Rock.

First: What is The Rock?

Originally, The Rock was a Green/Black deck back from the past, based around two notable cards.  Phyrexian Plaguelord (The Rock) and his millions (of Squirrels), brought in from Deranged Hermit.  What is The Rock nowadays? Quite moved on from that idea, The Rock is a BG Midrange deck that focuses just on grinding out card advantage through efficiency. Efficient Lifegain, card draw, removal, just all around good stuff, much like Jund was last Standard (though with a potentially more consistent mana base). With rotation, Thragtusk, Mutilate, and Disciple of Bolas said goodbye, leaving some voids. However, with Theros brought plenty of goodies, and now we reach how the current deck exists.

Second: What Rock are we on? 

Theros has brought with it a very powerful mechanic: Devotion. Look at any Top 8 of any SCG Open or Grand Prix for Standard and you can see some cards that care about it. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, the Gods, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, you name it. And that leaves you with multiple places you can go to when building the deck.  You can go with a base Black, heavy devotion build. This build runs Gray Merchants,  Nightveil Specters, and really only has Green for pieces of removal such as Abrupt Decay or Golgari Charm, with the few strong cards such as Scavenging Ooze thrown in there as well. Or you can go a more balanced G/B list, which runs more green cards such as Sylvan Caraytid or Polukranos, World Eater. This current article is on the latter.

Third: My Rock

This is the deck I ran at my last FNM and though it is not my current build, it is the build I have played the most with.

Creatures: 15

4x Desecration Demon

3x Reaper of the Wilds

2x Polukranos, World Eater

2x Scavenging Ooze

4x Sylvan Caryatid

Enchantments : 6

2x Whip of Erebos

3x Underworld Connections

1x Bow of Nylea

Instants & Sorceries: 13

2x Thoughtseize

2x Abrupt Decay

2x Putrefy

3x Hero’s Downfall

2x Golgari Charm

2x Devour Flesh

Planeswalkers: 2

2x Vraska the Unseen

Land: 24

4x Overgrown Tomb

4x Golgari Guildgate

9x Swamp

7x Forest

Sideboard: 15

2x Witchstalker

2x Duress

1x Devour Flesh

3x Lifebane Zombie

2x Golgari Charm

2x Doom Blade

2x Dark Betrayal

1x Pithing Needle

The idea of the deck is honestly straight forward. Your victory is through attrition.  But this wouldn’t really be a good article if that was all I said, so we’ll break it down from there.

Creature Base:

4x Desecration Demon: This guy is nuts now. Last Standard, you were ever so disappointed to pull this in your pack, and I don’t blame you. Lingering Souls, all the Undying… he was just too weak.  However, now those days are gone and this 6/6 for 4 is much harder to deal with.  He will place your opponent under so much pressure, fast.

3x Reaper of the Wilds: Three may be the wrong number for this guy (and personally I have reduced the count to 2 in my current build), but Reaper is quite a mighty foe.  Between the amount of removal, Desecration Demon and Polukranos, and yes, Reaper itself, you should be scrying an awful lot.  That means cycling through your deck like crazy (especially with Underworld Connections.  More on that later). Deathtouch for 1 and Hexproof for 2 are not bad either.  Depending on the match-up however, this guy -can-  be 6 mana to play, wanting to leave up hexproof.

2x Polukranos, World Eater: I bashed this guy the moment he was spoiled. Do I regret it? Ehh, not really. However, he is very powerful. A 5/5 for 4 is frightening, especially amongst your other 2 threats.  Even more so when this threat can come down on Turn 3 thanks to Sylvan Carytid.  Late game, he’s a very large mana sink that gets chump blockers out of the way. However, Legendary and all, we don’t want multiples, so 2 is the magic number for him.

2x Scavenging Ooze: Arguably the best 2 drop in Standard. Graveyard strategies may be mostly a thing of the past, but Standard is still a heavy creature format. That means creatures dying, and the Ooze having something to feed off of.  It gains life, it gets bigger, and can eventually be just as large as a Desecration Demon. However, 2 Oozes don’t work well together, so we don’t necessarily want them repeatedly. 2 is again, the magic number.

4x Sylvan Carytid: Four may be too many, but this card is the new “Farseek.”  Sort of.  It dies to boardwipes, but this thing also has an advantage over Farseek.  It can block.  Hexproof and 3 toughness means that quite a few aggressive creatures can’t get through it (between Cackler, Ash Zealot, Burning-Tree Emmisary, and even Firefist Striker, who can’t target it with Battalion).  Four may be too many, but I do recommend this card in your build at least as a 3 of.

Enchantments:

3x Underworld Connections: If Reaper of the Wilds isn’t already cycling you through your deck, this card should be. Underworld Connections can just be insane. Often times if control lets it resolve, they’re in for trouble, as now you can continue racing them in the Card Advantage War. However, you do need to be careful on how much life you’re spending. Luckily, we have…

2x Whip of Erebos: This card is the nuts. The 4 mana Unearth effect is very powerful(even though a bit of a nonbo with Scavenging Ooze and to an extent Desecration Demon). And amazingly, there is text on the card other than that.  Lifelink to all your guys is huge when every creature bar Sylvan Carytid has the ability to at least have 4 power.  Being able to jump yourself up to 40 life off of just 3 attacks never felt so good.  However, like Polukranos, it is Legendary, and like Ooze, redundant in multiples, so 2 is once again the sweet spot.

1x Bow of Nylea: I wish I had room for a second. This card can be so powerful. Repeatable life gain, the ability to recycle cards from your graveyard (though less useful, it does stop you from being milled out), making your creatures even stronger, and of course the bit of flying hate.

Sorceries and Instants:

2x Abrupt Decay: There are quite a few permanents in Standard that this card hits.  Though it is stronger in Legacy and Modern, this card is still quite powerful as a removal spell.  Detention Sphere, Boros Reckoner, Nightveil Specter, opposing Underworld Connections, as well as Hammer of Purphorus and just miscellaneous small creatures can all be straight up removed by this card. That’s mighty.

2x Putrefy: Kills creatures. Kills artifacts (though the only relevant ones being the God weapons, however Bident and Whip are not hit by Abrupt Decay, leaving this card with that helpful aid.)

3x Hero’s Downfall: The day Black can now deal with Planeswalkers has come. "Murderbore", as this card as this card has been named is such a helpful tool in this deck. The ability to actually deal with opposing planeswalkers outside of combat is amazing, even more so at instant speed.  Three to four of for sure.

2x Devour Flesh: This is one of the only ways The Rock can deal with things such as Blood Baron of Vizkopa. It also has the notable benefit of being able to target yourself and gain 5 life off of your Polukranos or Reaper or even more off of Ooze or Demon (or even just 3 from Carytid).

2x Thoughtseize: Welcome the return of one of the greatest discard spells of all time. You don’t always Turn 1 Thoughtseize, in fact there are times I’ve sat on a Thoughtseize for a whole game and never had the need or desire to cast it (though that may just be error on my part).  But this card is such a powerful element to this deck that I wish I had more than 2 to run.  Ideally, you want at least 3 somewhere in your 75, maybe even 4.

2x Golgari Charm: This card can do everything. Ok, maybe not everything, but it’s pretty close.  This thing has a mode that can be relevant in every single match-up.  It counters Supreme Verdict, destroys every weapon, Detention Sphere, Underworld Connections, Assmemble the Legion…just so much value.  You want these in your 75.  No matter what.

Planeswalkers:

2x Vraska the Unseen: Our political assassin from Rav has her strong suits. Though her +1 is most of the time irrelevant, being able to nuke any nonland permanent the turn she comes down is quite powerful, especially when mixed in with the ability to potentially win games with the ultimate.  You don’t have to run her, but I do like her in the deck, even if you only run 1 somewhere in the 75.

Lands:

Basic land package. More Swamps than Forests due to more double black cards. Mutavault, though a good card, I feel dilutes the mana base too much with this current build.  In a more Black base deck, I would be behind a few Mutavaults however.

Sideboard:

Various hate cards. No Mistcutter Hydras was a personal meta-choice that should be changed if you don’t know what your meta is going to look like. Witchstalker may seem a slight bit out of place, however the card can do work. It is resilient against aggressive decks, especially alongside Sylvan Carytid. It’s also not bad against control decks. Only other notable thing could be that Doom Blades could be mainboarded, potentially over the Golgari Charms in the main.

Other Notable Considerations:

Boon Satyr is a consideration for the deck as a 4/2 instant speed creature is quite a surprise for opponents, especially when you can throw it on any of your other creatures (4/5 Sylvan Carytid anyone?  No?  Ok.)  Ratchet Bombs and Gaze of Granite can also be considered as sweeper effects, even though neither are the most optimal.  Lotleth Troll can be used as a cheap defensive, yet also aggressive creature if you aren’t a fan of Witchstalker.

Conclusion: End Of The Rock

The Rock is a powerful deck to run.  It may not be the “best” deck in Standard right now, but one can argue for its viability  The deck is just a blast to play, it has so many inner workings and is just efficient.  So if you’re looking for a fun deck to play or you want a “control” deck for this Standard that is closer to a midrange deck, give The Rock a try.

-Frozen Phoenix

Green Devotion

 I know it's been a long time coming, but here it is. Today I'll be talking about devotion to Green, splashing Red. Here's the list I've been using and one that won the SCGO: Seattle.

9 Forest
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Mountain
4 Voyaging Satyr
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Arbor Colossus
2 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Mistcutter Hydra
4 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
3 Domri Rade
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
SB: 1 Domri Rade
SB: 3 Mistcutter Hydra
SB: 1 Chandra, Pyromaster
SB: 3 Burning Earth
SB: 2 Wasteland Viper
SB: 2 Nylea's Disciple
SB: 3 Mizzium Mortars

 The deck works as a synergistic/combo strategy by having massive devotion to green and activating Nykthos to essentially cast everything in the deck. We have four outlets for the large amount of mana from Nykthos, those being Polukranos, World Eater's Monstrosity, and Mistcutter Hydra. The singleton in the mainboard is for that reason alone, being a highly efficient mana sink. Arbor Colossus is also included in the main to increase our devotion by 3, while being a massive beater.

 

 The deck has resilience to a lot of removal by running Domri Rade, and the very powerful Garruk, Caller of Beasts. Lead the Stampede every turn is quite hated and feared by control, or even removal-heavy midrange decks. Another card that gives reach post-wrath is Scavenging Ooze, eating up your own graveyard for life and value in the form of +1/+1 counters.

 Another quirk with this deck is Xenagos, the Reveler. His main role is to provide mana through his Gaea's Cradle-esque +1 ability, making massive mana, and allowing you to put out your hand in a single turn or two.  Xenagos also helps out against aggro strats by putting out 2/2 blockers, and their haste does work when trying to alpha strike an opponent. Some versions of this deck use Reverent Hunter, but it has been excluded from this list as it's a little too clunky, and doesn't do quite enough on it's own. In fact, it's an overkill card in the situations where it is useful, and when you topdeck it post-wrath, you have a rare Grey Ogre. Not really the best, and beaters and monsters are preferred more.

 The rest of the deck is quite straightforward, as is playing the deck. Voyaging Satyr untaps Nykthos, and ramps into your best creatures, all the while adding more dorks and threats to the board. It's a very aggressive midrange strategy with quick wins, and has some degenerate board positions at times.

 The sideboard is a little more interesting, and helps against a lot of matchups. Domri, Mistcutters, and Chandra help out against control, as Chandra's 0 is card advantage in red, quite useful, while Domri fills your hand while still increasing in loyalty, and Mistcutter's "cannot be countered" clause is quite strong in those matchups. Chandra also helps against RDW decks, killing their Firedrinker Satyrs. Mizzium Mortars helps out against Blood Baron of Vizkopa, who has become a veritable bane of the standard format as it stands now. Nylea's Disciple works wonders against RDW and quicker midrange decks, netting you a lot of life occasionally.

 Overall, what you have here is a big mana, resilient, card-advantage based midrange, and sideboarding gives you a lot of range against most of the other top decks in standard right now.

Well, that's it for today, and as always, have fun playing Magic!

Cheers,

Brick

Draft Run-Through!

Hi everyone!!! I'm here with a new kind of article! A report of a draft (from cockatrice), with all the pics and the most important choice explanations. Of course, the goal is to discuss about picks in the comments, tell me what you think of my choices and what you've had done. Keep in mind that i make mistakes often, and the goal is to learn to evaluate cards and signals better. Feel free to criticise me in the comments!

Ok, let's start!

Pack 1:

My choice: Rage of Purphoros.
The right choice here is Heliod's Emissary. Rage is a good removal spell, but emissary is an awesome card, both as an aggro card and as a finisher on a flying creature. My best drafting advice: when you draft, don't listen to rock music. Triad of Fates is a pretty mediocre card, it doesn't do much and it forces you to go two colors from the first pick. Anyway, i had good luck later in the draft, and Rage ended being very useful.

My choice: Cavern Lampad.

This is one of the worst packs I've seen in a lot of time. Colossus of Akros is too slow in most decks, there's no good removal, and all the creatures are vanilla or directly bad. Lampad isn't awesome, but it's good as a finisher with big creatures.

My choice: Pharika's Mender.

There were a lot of good red cards here, but Mender is a great card for any deck that can splash it, providing card advantage on a huge body. This pick could bring me to RGx Monsters, or 5 color green, but Mender is definitelly worth a try.

My choice: Time to Feed.

It was this, or Ill-Tempered Cyclops. In the last pack, i passed a lot of good red cards, and i prefered to pick the green removal and wait to see if they wheeled back (spoiler: They did!).

My choice: Artisan's Sorrow.

Sorrow is a versatile card, and you always want to have one in your side. Two-Headed Cerberus is a good card for aggro decks, but the double red cost is a bit too restrictive, and I still was unsure if i was gonna have to fight for red in the second pack.

My choice: Polis Crusher.

When i recieved this pack, i couldn't believe what i was seeing. Crusher is p1p1-worthy, and seeing him in Pick 6 is the clearest signal you can get that nobody else is playing RG.

My choice: Pheres-Band Centaurs.

It's not an awesome card, but they are solid blockers, and they are a good side card against aggro decks.

My choice: Two-Headed Cerberus.

My choice: Wild Celebrants.

The card is mediocre, but getting it now is still a good signal.

My choice: Titan's Strength.

My choice: Borderland Minotaur.

This pack was the definitive clue that Red was totally open. Three playable red commons! I picked Borderland because at that point I seemed to have a slow curve, and it's better than Skullcleaver against aggro.

   

         



Pack 2:

My choice: Vulpine Goliath

A plain and big beater, from a pack that didn't have much. Titan of Eternal Fire, while being rare, is a vanilla creature, and the trample from the fox makes it better. Blue has some good cards too, and it's something to keep an eye at.

My choice: Polis Crusher.

TWO!!! Not only one, but TWO!!! This guy is one of the greatest cards in Theros limited, it skips a lot of blockers, is a big beater, and monstrified it's just insane. Definitelly, RG is our best option.

My choice: Purphoros's Emissary.

A good evasive creature, and also an awesome finisher. There were other good options like Feral Invocation, but the Emissary is simply the best one.

My choice: Burnished Hart.

I had a dilemma here. Nemesis is a rare-worthy card, and i should have probably picked it, but i had a very high curve with expensive drops, and Hart is the best Ramp/Fixing card in the format. This is one of those picks that i'd like to discuss in the comments.

My choice: Karametra's Acolyte.

I was tempted to pick Griptide here, and either cut a very good card from an opponent's deck or have a splashable option. Acolyte lets you have 6 or 7 mana on turn 5, which isn't bad, and i'm not a fan of having random Heroic creatures that are bad on their own (and at that moment I only had one possible enabler).

My choice: Minotaur Skullcleaver.

A good early drop for our curve, which is very slow right now. When you already have a lot of high-impact 4-drops, you need cards that put pressure earlier, so you can finish quick, or ramp, to get to play the monsters before. I'm not getting passed any ramp, so I guess I'll have to go for a more midrange-ish strategy.

My choice: Opaline Unicorn.

This looks like a mistake, and it might be a mistake, but I already had a lot of 4-drops, and I wasn't sure if i would want to splash Black. 

 My choice: Pheres-Band Centaurs.

My choice: Titan of Eternal Fire. 

Red is totally open, from both sides.

My choice: Arena Athlete.

 My choice: Boulderfall.

 My choice: Breaching Hippocamp.

Pack 3:

My choice: Reaper of the Wilds.

A great rare, it's a 4/5 on turn 4 (or 3), that's resilient to removal, trades with giant bombs, and gives card advantage. This and Mender are definitelly worth a splash for black in any deck.

My choice: Rage of Purphoros.

Decent removal, out of a mediocre pack on our colors. There weren't many other options, and I didn't want to go heavily on the black splash, or splash another color (blue).

My choice: Deathbellow Raider.

There were different choices in this pack. I still needed early drops, and Minotaur puts a lot of early pressure. Spearpoint is a decent choice too, and I didn't want another 4-drop. Getting passed two Thassa's Emissarys is a signal too, and it's a perfectly splahable card, but the deck needs more cheap creatures.

My choice: Voyaging Satyr.

Satyr is an awesome creature. It filters mana, and it jumps from turn 2 to turn 4. It's specially good when our 3 best cards cost 4, and they have higher impact on the early game.

My choice: Satyr Hedonist.

There were many options here. Leafcrown Dryad is a very solid creature, and the Scorpion is great in the early game, but Hedonist offers a lot of ramp, which is really necessary when looking at the deck's curve, and I wanted to have at least one copy of it. I'm still not sure of this one.

My choice: Nemesis of Mortals.

Another awesome card getting passed late. Playing this turn 3 thanks to Satyr Hedonist is one of the strongest plays in the format. This is a rare-quality bomb.

My choice: Read the Bones.

The best option in the pack in my opinion, having random heroes without enablers is usually bad, and I prefer the utility and card advantage from Read the Bones than Mogis's Marauder, which would just be a bear with the possibility to give fear to one creature.

My choice: Ill-Tempered Cyclops.

Oh my god. The whole pack was playable! And there were 4 good cards! Cyclops is the most solid of them, but Fanatic of Mogis is a very nice surprise finisher. I don't think we have enough Minotaurs to make Warcaller good.

My choice: Satyr Hedonist.

My choice: Spark Jolt.

My choice: Borderland Minotaur.

My choice: Spearpoint Ordead.

My choice: Titan's Strength.

THE DECK:

And the side:

For the final deck, I decided to keep the black splash only for Mender and Reaper. I had a bunch of playable cards that were left in the side. The think I like from the deck is that the curve got very midrange-ish, and during the tournament it was easy to open with some cheap guys, and finish putting a lot of pressure during turns 4-6 (well, i like that and the 3 awesome rares). I think this draft was an obvious example where you can see perfectly which colors are open, and get those cards. The first pick was probably a mistake, and I'd like to hear your oppinions about the article and my choices.

I hope you enjoyed it!
Have fun drafting!

-Beusapu