Jeskai Fires Does Away with the “Fancy”

Now that Oko, Thief of Crowns has been banned in Standard, Jeskai decks with Fires of Invention have positioned themselves among the top strategies. These decks have been present since Throne of Eldraine debuted… But were overshadowed by Simic and Sultai Oko decks.

The new-ish technology for Jeskai Fires?

Sphinx of Foresight.

This strategy is simply no longer interested in “fancy” Silver Bullet Magic around Fae of Wishes. It’s all about using Sphinx of Foresight for greater consistency + maximizing the likelihood of getting Fires of Invention on the battlefield as quickly as possible (ideally turn four).

This deck is like two different decks: It’s optimized to drop Melokus and Keigas assuming Fires of Invention is on the battlefield… But it’s a clunky control deck without Fires.

Conventiently for Fires players, “enchantment” is a tricky permanent to remove once on the battlefield. Which brings us to…

Casualties of War Might be the Best Top End in Cat Food Decks

Cat Food seems to have survived as a possible archetype choice. Oko was a great source of Food… But it turns out that Witch’s Oven has a lot of things it can do still.

Cauldron Familiar and Gilded Goose still open up the Cat Food decks, but they are divided as to what they should be doing deeper in a game… Everything from Garruk, Cursed Huntsman to Liliana, Dreadhorde General.

… But can we recommend 4x Casualties of War?

First off, Casualties of War is simply the most devastating card for the mirror. Artifact. Creature. Enchantment. Land. Planeswalker.

Most Cat Food decks play all those kinds of permanents. Witch’s Oven is a great artifact to blow up… But if you have to settle for a Food token, that might not be that bad… At least as long as you can nab some of the other stuff.

There are no shortage of creatures. Massacre Girl cost the opponent five mana, and some maniacs are even summoning Feasting Troll King! Trail of Crumbs is an ideal enchantment to destroy; but like we intimated before, Fires of Invention (not in the mirror, presumably) has a singular position in this format, and Casualties of War can help you destroy that with value.

Everyone’s got lands. Lots of folks have Planeswalkers. Punish them, any and all!

Also in this Podcast: Why You Should Play 4x Gadwick, the Wizened

… And in a variety of color combinations!

Find out why now:

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We all knew Oko, Thief of Crowns had to Go

Standard was not, in many players’ estimations, in a healthy place.

Oko — along with some of his buddies, many of which are still legal — ushered in an era of unprecedented dominance. Six of the eight decks playing the single elimination rounds at Mythic Championship VI were Oko decks; and all eight were on Once Upon a Time.

There were alternatives to banning the best Planeswalker in recent memory, though. Unfortunately, any effort to keep Oko alive would have necessitated banning an enormous swath of [probably] innocent bystanders.

“A lot of innocent Planeswalkers and Geese would have to be sacrificed,” says Mike.

Here he’s talking about Gilded Goose and Nissa, Who Shakes the World. Nissa’s main offense is just being green. Arguably not even in the best [pre-bans] deck.

Once Upon a Time and Veil of Summer ate the Ban Hammer too

Veil of Summer was even more ubiquitous than Oko! Almost all the Oko decks played it (or even played four), and non-Oko decks also did. For example, Gruul beatdown or Gruul Adventures decks.

Where to go next? one of the big jokes is that losing four copies of Once Upon a Time means that you might have to add as many as four lands to your deck!

You’ll just have to listen to this week’s podcast to find out!

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To Begin With, Mythic Championship VI was “the most lopsided, the most homogeneous, Pro Tour in history”

Right before coverage started, Pro Tour Historian Emeritus Brian David-Marshall called up Mike.

He asked: “What was the percentage of Rebel decks at ‘Pro Tour Rebels’?”

“Pro Tour Rebels” was of course Pro Tour New York 2000… The first and last song of Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero in Masques Block; famous for an overwhelming representation by one archetype (the aforementioned “Rebels”)… Despite being won by a Mono-Blue Rising Waters deck.

Forty-three percent.

To give you a frame of reference, Mythic Championship VI featured…

• Over 70% Oko, Thief of Crowns,
• Nearly that many Gilded Goose, and
• A whopping 75.76% Once Upon a Time!

The top decks were Simic Food, Sultai Food, and Bant Food. Differences among them were not super pronounced; but if you weren’t one of them… You mostly got trounced. For its part, Simic was first, second, and third in this tournament when the dust settled!

All eight decks in the Top 8 — including one dissenting Golgari build and one Selesnya — packed not only Once Upon a Time but Veil of Summer.

Mythic Championship VI was, as Patrick says, “the most lopsided, most homogeneous, Pro Tour in history.”

Despite the Best Mythic Championship VI Decks Being Known, the Format Managed to Break!

Now despite the convergence around the core Food strategy, largely topping up on Nissa, Who Shakes the World and Hydroid Krasis, a dissenting Food — rather Cat Food — deck emerged and distinguished itself.

Somehow, amidst a Caw-Blade like line in the sand at this Pro Tour, Sultai Sacrifice managed to perform even better than its cousins. Trading in a Cauldron Familiar + Witch’s Oven for the default top end, Sultai Sacrifice performed even better than the three main Food decks against other Food decks… And absolutely murdered everyone else.

Playing an important event this weekend? Patrick heartily recommends Sultai Sacrifice!

In Other News, Veil of Summer was Banned in Pioneer This Week…

Basically, we think this is great.

Permission was already terrible in Pioneer; and Veil of Summer made it even worse. It also sets a great precedent for Standard…

What’s Next for Standard After Mythic Championship VI?

Clearly, if we are looking for any kind of a playable, balanced, format at all, Oko, Thief of Crowns has got to go.

The question is… Will anything else?

There are a lot of heavily played cards in Standard… But most of them don’t deserve a ban. Gilded Goose is just a fun creature; banning it would make Standard worse. Nissa, Who Shakes the World is a perfectly balanced, fair — if powerful — card… That just happens to be in the same colors as these broken Throne of Eldraine spells. Wicked Wolf? Come on!

The cards that have to be banned are Oko, and…

Once Upon a Time is an option. Michael doesn’t think this is going to happen in Standard, but maybe Once Upon a Time will become a thing of the past in Pioneer.

Veil of Summer, though? It’s already been banned in Pioneer. Why not Standard? The rate on Veil of Summer is just too good. It’s a permission spell, and an anti-permission spell. It’s a cantrip Dispel… But more flexible. You can just burn it to draw a card! Perhaps least civil of all, think about the poor Thought Erasure people. Oftentimes they have to play Thought Erasure to fix their hands… And then Veil happens?

Exactly.

We won’t know entirely what will be banned in Standard until next week; but it sure is fun to speculate. Listen now (but make sure to check back next week!):

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