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By: kriskurse, Christian Gage Downs
Apr 30 2014 12:00pm
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I don't know about you guys, but I am super excited for the upcoming set release. We get new cards; New decks can come out of the works and dominate; Standard will change for once. What was a fringe deck before, might have the tools it needs to win for a week or two. 

There are tons of cards spoiled that peak my interest. Some more than others, but others I saw making sweet, sweet synergy with existing standard cards. Today, we look at the first brew I will be working on for standard once Journey into Nyx is released. 

This deck includes my god of choice for this set. Kruphix, God of Horizons.

God of Defiance

God of Defiance
 

Creatures
2 Aetherling
3 Zhur-Taa Ancient
3 Kruphix, God of Horizons
8 cards

Other Spells
4 Opportunity
3 Clan Defiance
4 Dissolve
3 Syncopate
2 Font of Fortune
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Cyclonic Rift
4 Turn // Burn
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
25 cards

Lands
1 Temple of Abandon
3 Temple of Mystery
4 Breeding Pool
4 Stomping Ground
4 Steam Vents
3 Island
4 Temple of Epiphany
23 cards
 
Clan Defiance

 

 

To be honest, without any playtesting at all this list isn't completely finished. Without proper testing, who knows what cards would work better than others. I plan on building this for a few FNMs after Journey releases, and give it a proper testing. 

My initial thought was the build it with a control shell as to be able to control the board long enough to get off my game plan. The deck is built around Kruphix, and floating a ton of colorless mana in order to cast more spells each turn, or go for the win with a Clan Defiance large enough to both surprise your opponent and kill them at once. Sounds like fun right? That's exactly why I want to give it a try. I'm all for the "fireball for game" plan. Now let's look at some of my card choices.

Control Shell Cards: 

Competitively, I've been playing UW Control at local events grinding my way through a bit of a dry patch with work. To be honest, I'm loving the deck and hoping that this new set won't completely snuff it out for me and cause me to have to give it up. Playing that deck gave me a few great ideas for a control shell to add to this. 

The main idea for the UW deck is to have enough gas to push through all your opponents threats until you can chain Sphinx's Revelations and hit an elixir to do it all over again. Sometimes it doesn't need to go that far, but it is an important part of the longer games. Doing this, I found every control deck needs a way to control the board long enough to get their game plan online.

While playing UW, I came to realize how important cards like Sphinx's Revelation and Divination were to making the deck consistent. Control needs to draw cards, and have answers to every threat your opponent might have. Obviously I can't run Rev because of a lack of white, so I decided on 4 copies of Opportunity instead. You end up netting more cards for less at 6 mana, but at the cost of gaining life. That might prove to be the nail in the coffin for me as I playtest this over the next few weeks.

In addition to (Opportunity for draw), I added a new spicy card from a new cycle born straight from Journey into Nyx. The font cycle is a cycle of enchantments with activated abilities that allow certain things to happen. Can you guess what the blue one does? You probably guessed right. It draws cards. Honestly, I'd probably almost always replace Divination with this new card, because it allows you to net cards at instant speed. 

Turn // Burn

I needed a solid removal spell. And like every other card in this deck, it is all trial from here. It could be the breadwinner card in most situations, but at the same time it might not even make an impact at all. My first thought to a removal spell in RUG colors was Turn // Burn. Sure it's a split 5 drop, but it kills almost every creature that it is able to target. Obzedat, Blood Baron, Stormbreath Dragon, Desecration Demon and more. Not only that, but if you really needed to deal a bit of extra damage Turn can do just that. Usually 2 damage isn't a huge game winner. It can also turn off a few key cards in standard right now. For instance, you can't turn and burn a Master of Waves, but you can turn it into a 0/1 weird with no abilities. Can you say bye bye elementals? It also effectively kills God cards.

Board Wipes:

What does a control deck need just as much as draw power? A way to take out the board. I included 2 ways to do that. but at different scales. The first of the two is Mizzium Mortars. Against most decks, 4 damage to everything is just enough to wipe out everything. Ideally, this is the option that fixes a board state better. Dead creatures are better than creatures in hand almost any day. 

The alternative is what I included more of. Cyclonic Rift can be a game changer. With the ability to return everything they control back to their hand at the end of turn, it can cause a huge blowout that your opponent can do almost nothing about. That can also give you a pseudo time walk in some instances, because sometimes an Overloaded Cyclonic Rift is all that stands between you and losing the game. Sometimes you just need one more turn to float some mana, so that you can Clan Defiance for the win. Alternatively, Zhur-Taa Ancient has a huge head, so a rightly timed Rift can leave him unblocked and dealing 7 damage. 

The Creatures: 

Zhur-Taa Ancient is a fringe card in this deck to say the least. It has a huge head, but the ability is what we are looking at. Since this deck is centered around Fireballing someone to death, we need to be able to float tons of mana and just plow someone in the face. With the ability to double the amount of mana you can float each turn, it shortens the time between a Clan Defiance for 5 and one for 20. The downside is obvious, however. It doubles your opponents mana too. 

Aetherling is obviously Superman in disguise, right? I mean, once he resolves he is almost indestructible. This inclusion comes from needing an alternative win condition, and what better than one of the best creatures and clocks in standard? A viable powerhouse for any role you may need him for, he can take over the game and turn it around fast. 

Sideboarding Plans:

I don't have a straight forward plan for a sideboard yet. I know what this deck will have a problem with, and I would adjust accordingly. 

For control decks I would need some way to deal with enchantments, even more so with the addition of Banishing Light. My removal of choice would probably be either Unravel the Aether or Destructive Revelry. Unravel is probably better in most situations, because of the ability to get rid of Gods and some creatures, whereas Revelry only destroys and can't take down these Gods.

Secondly. Mistcutter Hydra is an almost absolute inclusion in the sideboard. We are dealing with tons and tons of mana, so against any deck running Blue a potential 15/15+ Hydra is something to fear. Normal Mistcutters are a bother. Imagine one that can end the game on its own. 

Lastly, we would need a way to fight Mono Blue a little, and other control decks even more. That being said, I'd probably put a few copies of either Gainsay or Negate in the sideboard to fight in the counter war. You obviously will have more threats than most of the other control decks, so sometimes being able to counter fight can help you stick a threat long enough to take over the game. 

Thanks for checking out this week's One Man's Trash! If you have any input on cards you think would work better and why, hit me up in the comment section or through one of my other social sites. I love to hear from you guys and sometimes the community suggestions I get make a huge difference in the changes process of building these decks. Join me next week as we look at a deck I'm working on using my second favorite Journey card, Bearer of the Heavens!

 

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MTG Username: kriskurse

kriskurse@gmail.com