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By: ricklongo, Rick Longo
Nov 09 2012 1:08pm
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I have hinted before at how excited I was about Return to Ravnica, and how excruciating the wait to get it online was. What I don't think I have mentioned, though, is how I got my Magic fix in that period: by brewing for Block Constructed!

I think I literally made a decklist or tweaked an existing one every single day, from the set's paper release to the online prerelease events. I had two main preconceived notions about what the format would look like:

1) RTR Block is a pretty harsh environment for aggro decks. I believe I got this one right, especially since Rakdos Aggro, which got a lot of incredibly efficient unleash beaters for the early game, is currently nowhere to be seen. The main cause for this is Centaur Healer. That card can undo a LOT of early game action by your opponents, since most games it will be akin to a three-mana removal spell that gains you six life (three by entering the battlefield, three by successfully blocking threats such as Gore-House Chainwalker). The existence of other excellent controllish options like Trostani, Selesnya's Voice and plenty of mass removal only worsens the situation. In fact, those factors together are such an oppressive force against aggro that, in the end, I decided to relegate the Healers to the sideboard in my lists that ran him. With the lack of aggro and the efficient removal options, I just didn't need them in the maindeck.

2) Counterspells aren't going to be very good. Here I think I couldn't be more wrong, which seems kinda obvious when you look at the paragraph above. I think I ended up too caught up on the uncounterability of many of the format's more formidable cards, and overlooked the plethora of must-counter cards (Angel of Serenity, Rakdos's Return, Sphinx's Revelation) that were bound to see a lot of play.

These observations led me to the final tuned decklist I chose to run in my quest to grind daily events. Here it is:

 

Selesnya/Azorius Control
a Return to Ravnica Block Constructed deck by Rick Longo
Creatures
3 Lyev Skyknight
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Armada Wurm
3 Angel of Serenity
11 cards

Other Spells
3 Azorius Keyrune
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
3 Azorius Charm
3 Cancel
3 Syncopate
2 Sphinx's Revelation
24 cards
 
Lands
4 Island
3 Forest
2 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple Garden
4 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Azorius Guildgate
25 cards

Sideboard
3 Dispel
4 Centaur Healer
1 Detention Sphere
2 Dramatic Rescue
2 Keening Apparition
3 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
15 cards
 
Sphinx's Revelation

 

So what does that list look like in action? I'm glad you asked.

ROUND 1

 

ROUND 2

 

ROUND 3

 

ROUND 4

 

So there we go. We didn't face any Selesnya Midrange decks, which are very popular and one of our best matchups, but we still managed to put up a good result, which is encouraging. Looking back at the games, I think the decision to maindeck counterspells (something that took me a long while to finally do) definitely paid off, and at this point I don't think they're going anywhere. Like I said, there are way too many must-counter threats, and we definitely need the upper hand against those in game 1 to have a shot.

I hope you enjoyed this, and I'm very eager to hear what you all think of my deck and the general Block metagame as it stands right now. Let me know in the comments, and see you soon.

3 Comments

Really enjoyed this article! by olaw at Fri, 11/09/2012 - 17:06
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5

Really enjoyed this article! I enjoyed your videos and think you commentate on the game well. I've been interested in playing Block Constructed but it seems a bit too Mythic-centric for my tastes. Do you know if there are any good budget decks in Block?

Good work on the article!

Block constructed is usually by ricklongo at Sat, 11/10/2012 - 11:27
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Block constructed is usually very budget-friendly, but this time around the must-answer mythics and the shocklands skew the overall price up. I think your best bet at a budget option would be something like Selesnya, which traditionally uses only Armada Wurms and Trostanis as mythics.

And of course, thanks for the compliments! :)

I learned a lot from these by JakeHicks at Sat, 11/30/2013 - 03:01
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I learned a lot from these techniques. Good thing i saw this one. - Charles Brennan