Monthly Archives: March 2020

Hottest Standard Tech from #mtgtogether

#mtgtogether gives us a window to this weekend’s Arena “Grand Prix”

In light of what’s going on in “the real world” (and the wide scale cancellations of large paper Magic tournaments) CFB Events are trying — for the first time — to run a Grand Prix on Magic: The Gathering Arena.

The simple rules…

  • CFB Events runs multiple flights per day
  • Anyone going 5-1 or better (generally 5-1 or 6-0) qualifies for the Grand Prix this weekend

What was amazing and inspiring to us?

There is all kinds of legitimate great new tech popping up as a result of #mtgtogether!

To date there hasn’t been one reliable repository for the performing lists; so we thought we’d curate some of the Tweets from qualifying players and discuss their deck lists in this week’s episode.

Ral’s Outburst in Temur Reclamation…

… is not even the craziest thing about this qualifying list!

What’s even crazier?

This is a Wilderness Reclamation deck… Crossed with Draw-Go? In addition to two copies of Thassa’s Intervention, the miser’s Aether Gust, and a couple of Negates… Temur Reclamation now packs four — count ’em four — Mystical Disputes in the main!

Pair that with a legitimate transformational sideboard bringing in the Full Four copies of Nightpack Ambusher and you have a meaningfully different look at the archetype.

Who needs Storm’s Wrath or Nissa, Who Shakes the World? Am I right?

Bonecrusher Giant in <strike>Simic</strike> Temur Flash

Here’s another Temur innovation:

Two-thirds Simic Flash… One-third Temur Reclamation?

This deck has a lot of what made Simic Flash the first time around — including Spectral Sailor — but added sweet red cards like Bonecrusher Giant and Expansion // Explosion. And Wilderness Reclamation!

We see the Nightpack Ambushers main deck here… But very low permission (relative to past Simic Flash decks). But who doesn’t love Wilderness Reclamation powering up those Sailors?

And Matt Sperling’s near-perfect Bant List

Mike’s friend Roman Fusco took down an #mtgtogether event 6-0 packing what might be the mathematically perfect Bant list:

Notably:

  • Two copies of Arboreal Grazer
  • Zero copies of Knight of Autumn
  • Four (!) copies of Elspeth Conquers Death (4!) [as it is the best]

Mike would have liked a second Dream Trawler; but Patrick thinks that’s a mere security blanket. The pair agree that Bant is the best deck in Standard, and the list that Sperling came up with (and Roman qualified with) is very — very — close to what they would both play right now.

And Finally… Cavalier of Thorns in Sultai!

Mike has been really low on Sultai, at least relative to the availability of Bant in Standard. His main reason? Not only does it not play Dream Trawler, it couldn’t historically stop it, really.

But Yuta Takahashi’s Cavalier of Thorns has enormous toughness that is difficult (though admittedly not impossible) for Dream Trawler to get through; and with Reach, it can kill Dream Trawler in combat.

And of course, Cavalier of Thorns can help power up the Escape routes on Uro and Polukranos!

Patrick’s favorite feature? Cutting Agonizing Remorse for the last two copies of Growth Spiral. Mike heartily agrees. This is a substantial improvement on the Sultai archetype.

But wait! There’s more!

  • Rakdos sacrifice with no copies of Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger
  • Rakdos sacrifice that really — really — hates the graveyard
  • Whether Erebos’s Intervention is even playable
  • Even more Temur

Let’s get #mtgtogether now!

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Let’s Talk About Phoenix of Ash in Mono-Red

Phoenix of Ash was not a popular inclusion in the Worlds Red Decks…

But… Phoenix of Ash Roars Back to Win Grand Prix Lyon

So what happened here?

Phoenix of Ash was a medium-popular card in the pre-Worlds Red Decks. Yet it did not crack the starting sixty of a single deck in Hawaii (by our count there was a single copy in a single sideboard).

And to be fair, for a tournament where Azorius Control ended up on top, Phoenix of Ash is only pretty good.

Aether Gust, Devout Decree, Glass Casket… and even Cerulean Drake saw play at the two at Worlds; all those cards are faster than Phoenix of Ash and all of them foil its natural card advantage in some way.

But Phoenix of Ash is hitting not only sideboards but main decks nowadays… How did it get better?

Phoenix of Ash… Flies?

Believe it or not, “flying” is one of the main things that Phoenix of Ash has going for it. At the time of Grand Prix Lyon, one of the most popular decks in Standard was Temur Adventures… And for a deck with 8+ flying creatures itself, Temur Adventures is embarrassingly bad at defending itself in the air.

But flying is the only thing going for the 2/2.

  • It’s “firebreathing”-type ability allows Phoenix of Ash to not only mow down certain blockers, it scales very well with Embercleave.
  • The card is a great way to set up Spectacle for Light Up the Stage
  • It reinforces both the Red Deck’s haste sub-theme and its two-for-one sub-theme.

We might even play more!

But wait! There’s more!

  • Why Mike likes Bant the best in Standard
  • How Patrick convinced Mike to play Knight of Autumn (you know, like everyone else already does)
  • What’s wrong with the structure of Sultai Ramp (spoilers! we’d run more copies of Growth Spiral)
  • … And more!

Give it a listen now:

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Underworld Breach Decks Break Modern AND Legacy!

Underworld Breach is already famous for its performance in Pioneer… But what it can do in Modern and especially Legacy is nothing short of format-snapping. Make that formats-snapping!

Underworld Breach + Grinding Station is a Hell of a “Plan A”

Here’s a version of the Underworld Breach / Grinding Station strategy by Patrick; based on a build advocated by Pascal Maynard:

You’ll notice that Maynard’s deck looks a lot like… “a real deck” with far less fancy than we might have looked at last week. The presence of cards like Teferi, Time Raveler can bounce hate cards like Leyline of the Void to help win through resistance.

Everything You’d Ever Wanted to Do with a Muddle the Mixture

One of the key additions of this build is Muddle the Mixture. 

Muddle the Mixture can get two mana spells like — you guessed it — Grinding Station OR Underworld Breach! This can help set up your combo… Or in a pinch, protect it.

But that’s not all!

Did you see the one-of Dance of the Manse?

Not just a Standard playmate to Doom Foretold any more, Dance of the Manse is a cool backup in this build. If your opponent has answered both your Grinding Station and Underworld Breach, searing up Dance of the Manse [with Muddle the Mixture] can get you back on track… All at once!

Some additional novel ways to win…

Breach, Galvanic Blast you three times… That’s twelve!

Cards like Galvanic Blast are cheap to re-buy with Underworld Breach (I guess, assuming you have enough red mana), and can kill the opponent the good old fashioned way, seemingly out of nowhere. How much did they Shock themselves with fetchlands? Don’t miss that angle of attack.

Hall of Heliod’s Generosity

Hall of Heliod’s Generosity is another weird way to win. More often you can force the opponent to have an answer to Underworld Breach over and over and over again… But in certain unusual games, you can deck the opponent if they don’t manage to kill you first. Again, make sure you know your ways to win! (Or in this case, kind of just not lose.)

Mystic Sanctuary

The one copy of Mystic Sanctuary is a cool little wrinkle as well. Not only can you re-find your solo Dance of the Manse (and maybe in a situation where you can actually make a team of giant 4/4 creatures!) but buying back that sideboard Timely Reinforcements is sure to ruin Mike’s day [you know, if you happen to be playing against him.]

Underworld Breach is Even More Broken in Legacy!

Brain Freeze largely replaces Grinding Station in this strategy.

While this deck can honestly still be optimized (probably via the addition of black mana for Infernal Tutor), the concept is very strong. Brain Freeze itself can get the deck moving… And it’s important to note that any subsequent Brain Freezes you play out of your graveyard will fire off Storm copies.

The ability to buy back Lion’s Eye Diamond for essentially no mana (but three cards) makes the Brain Freeze pairing truly outstanding… And the de-emphasis of Grinding Station for a card that can also kill the opponent makes the deck itself more streamlined.

There are a lot of possibilities still for Legacy Underworld Breach decks! And Patrick’s description of what is right around the corner has Mike ready to hang up his Basic Mountains in that format.

Get ready to share all this week’s excitement (and gear up for Modern Regionals) right now!

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