Hello everybody. The new set is only days away from the online Magic community and so is our newest format; the ZEN Block Constructed. And just like ALA Block, this new format will be the one format that I will be playing heavily for the next months.
Since the day I had my chance to see all the cards of Zendikar, I was toying with some rough ideas for this new format. By only looking at cards, I saw one dominant deck and only one other that could possibly match it. The first one was obviously Mono Black Vampires and the other deck was a deck that is being fueled by Lotus Cobra and Harrow, wins with the amazing green monsters such as Rampaging Baloths and repels the opponent's threats with the removal of White.
But I had my chance to play the new cards of the new set before its online release and I saw that that there were some other equally viable possibilities; even better ones than those two. And in this article as well as in the next one, I will be talking about those decks. In this first one I will present you some monocolored decks. And next week in Part II, I will be sharing with you some multicolor deck options.
So without further delay, let us start with the first deck.
DECK #1
Mono Blue Control
This deck...
...doesn't exist!
Mono Blue simply doesn't exist. Blue even as a splash doesn't work. Unfortunately Zendikar has only four colors and Blue is not one of them. It has a few very interesting cards but none of them are useable in ZEN Block.
But there are two cards I want to talk about briefly and the first one is Summoner's Bane.
The card itself is horrible and it's totally unplayable but the flavor text is VERY interesting. Please read it. Do you see it?
And the second card I want to mention is Archmage Ascension. This is such a bad card! I wonder who will use this. I mean come on now, if you are still in need of a tutor after drawing twelve(!) cards, then I'm sorry to be blunt but something's definitely not right with your deck.
Vampires.dec is so easy to build, so easy to play and so easy to win with. I mean, what more do you need? Vampires have excellent removal. They have excellent weenies. They have a lot of utility creatures. They have fatties. They even have a planeswalker!
This is a very straightforward deck and it is also one of my favorites. The thing I like the most about this deck is its ability to keep its path always clear. Feast of Blood, Disfigure, Hideous End and Gatekeeper of Malakir are actually there for this job. By the way I'm sure you noticed that I play with two Feast of Blood and two Hideous End in the maindeck instead of playing four of one of them. The reason should be clear actually; against other Vampire decks Hideous End is useless. Therefore I start with two copies of each and in the second game I side in the other two copies of either one of them.
This is such a bad card... that is until you read its Landfall text. I mean, it costs to cast and is a 2/1 that can't even block. Grizzly Bears on the other hand can be played for , it is a 2/2 and can block. Bloodghast also has one "haste" text which makes it a little bit better than Grizzly Bears but still it can't block!
As I said, these all are true until you come to its Landfall text. This all of a sudden turns it into a Rare card as well as a superb one.
And a tip: While this Vampire is on the table, try always to have a fetchland in play and do not crack it unless you definitely need to. At some point of the game, your Vampires will force your opponent to play his Day of Judgment. And when he does, you crack the fetchland at the end of his turn and bring this one back. Now that's definitely not something you can do with Grizzly Bears.
And that's pretty much everything about the Vampires in ZEN Block. As I said at the beginning, this is a deck that is very easy to build. And looking at the list, I also see that it is relatively cheaper than other decks that have Lotus Cobra and tons of fetchlands. And that is another reason why you will be facing this deck a lot in your ZEN Block tournament matches.
And now from one straightforward deck, I move onto another one.
DECK #3
Mono Red Goblins
To be honest, I was never a Pyromancer. I don't have the least of sympathy for fire mages. Fire is chaos and I don't like chaos. And besides, Goblins are stupid and dwarves are stubborn. And as you can guess, Red was always my least favorite color. But I fear that Zendikar might change this fact!
By just looking at the Red cards of Zendikar, I clearly saw that Red was going to be a heavily played color in ZEN Block. I was amazed by some cards such as Pyromancer Ascension, Chandra Ablaze and Obsidian Fireheart. But actual playtesting showed me something else; something totally different.
Dear readers, I know what I'm saying: Forget those shiny cards of Red. Forget all those expensive Rares and Mythic Rares. The true masters of Zendikar are actually the Goblins... them but also an Insect. And some Elementals. And fire. Lots of fire.
At first glance all those Goblins I use in deck may look aweful to you. I mean, how exciting could Goblin Bushwhacker be, right? Or what is so special about Goblin Shortcutter? A lot dear readers, a lot.
The Goblins of Zendikar are almost impossible to stop. The game starts and Goblin Guide starts attacking. Then Plated Geopede comes down and the next turn Teetering Peaks gives it a +2/+0 and makes it a 5/3 first striker. The next turn Arid Mesa comes down and turns the angry Insect into a 5/5 first striker and also the same turn Goblin Shortcutter joins the party and avoids that pesky Vampire Hexmage from blocking!
One other way is to play first the Goblin Guide and attacks, then to play the Expedition and play enough lands and crack it. The same turn you do that, you can also play Elemental Appeal (I know because I did that). And you end the game on turn four. Simple as that. Two attacks with Goblin Guide, one Burst Lightning and two 7/1s end the game on turn four. And if there's a blocker on the way, it can only delay the inevitable one turn more.
And a funny memory: In one game I swiftly brought my opponent down to nine life mainly with my burn spells. I had only one Goblin Guide in front of me at that time and during his turn, my opponent played his sixth land and tapped them and played his Rampaging Baloths. Ouch! A 6/6 trampler and my tiny 2/2 Goblin.
But what did I do? I played my Mark of Mutiny and boom! I dealt nine damage in one turn and the game ended.
It seems that being a Pyromancer is fun after all!
But now let's take a break from being a fire mage and travel to the jungles of Zendikar.
Sadly I saw that in reality things are a little bit different.
Even though Lotus Cobra gets killed on sight, it is still true that a Mono Green deck can generate mana like crazy. By the way, I think that Lotus Cobra is really an unfortunate creature. I rarely saw it live more than a few turns. Everybody either burns it with Lightning Bolt or exiles it with Path to Exile or Terminates it on sight. Some even make it the main course in a Feast of Blood.
But let me tell you that I also had a few games in which my cobra somehow managed to live another turn. And let me also tell you that a turn three Enlisted Wurm revealing a Baneslayer Angel is really as good as people keep saying. So yes, the legend is true. You know:
This really happened to me. And I can tell you this much: It's freakin' AWESOME!
Anyway, back to topic. What were we talking about? Oh yes, Mono Green in ZEN Block.
What seems to be Mono Green's strongest point is unfortunately its weakest one; its love for its fatties. Playing those big monsters, even with the help of Lotus Cobra, takes time. And time is scarce in ZEN Block.
You just read above about my turn four finishes with the Goblins. And Vampires are no less. They might not be that fast but they don't allow much to live on the other side of the table. They have tons of removal and it's very hard even for Rampaging Baloths to survive against the Vampires.
And then we have Mono White which I will talk about below. If we are talking about removal then White is the master of it! If you think surviving against the removal of Vampires is hard, then you haven't played against Mono White yet.
But maybe I'm doing things wrong. Of course that might be the case. So maybe first you should look at the deck below and then decide.
This is the deck. This is what I tried and partially failed. What problems do you see if you see any? I would really like to read what you think of this and how it could be a better deck.
Most of the cards in deck are self-explanatory but I will briefly talk about two of them; River Boa and Turntimber Basilisk.
At first these two cards may seem odd to you but playtesting showed me that they are actually the best creatures in the deck.
First of all they solve the biggest problem: How to survive until the real beasts hit the table? Even though River Boa's Islandwalk ability is totally useless in ZEN Block, its ability to regenerate itself is really priceless. Apart from flyers, it can block any creature and survive, and thus it buys you time. Also please note that it is the one and only creature that doesn't die to Day of Judgment.
And then comes Turntimber Basilisk. What I truly dislike about any Mono Green deck is its lack of removal. This creature is my removal. The deck already takes advantage of Landfall and this one fits perfectly into the whole theme. It's also another creature I can play during early turns and as I said, it is actually any Mono Green deck's dream; a removal on a stick!
And that wraps up my first experiences with Mono Green.
In theory Green looks very impressive. It has some of the best cards in the format, some real scary monsters and can reach to some ridiculous amount of mana very fast. But when compared to the other options available, I can't see a reason why to play a Mono Green deck in ZEN Block. But as I said above, maybe I'm doing things wrong. You will decide about that.
And now that I'm finished with Green, I can move onto the last monocolor deck of this article.
DECK #5
Mono White Angels
As usual, I saved the best for the last and finally we reached to my favorite deck in ZEN Block. Actually in my last week's article I give you a hint about Mono White. I told you that even though White doesn't have that many great cards for Standard, the color is awesome in Block. And now you will understand why.
Now how should I start? Should I start with how I win? Or should I start with the cards that help me to stay alive? Or maybe I should start by talking about the general theme of the deck.
Well, I can't really decide so I give you the decklist right away.
And now, please allow me to explain why this above is my baby and why it is so special.
First of all this is a very greedy deck in terms of the mana requirements of the cards I play. And that problem I solve by playing twenty six lands as well as Kor Cartographer. This Kor Scout my not be Harrow but she is the best option for a Mono White deck. And you will understand soon why I play her over Khalni Gem.
Having said gem, maybe first I must talk about how I survive until I play my gems. And that I do with Journey to Nowhere, Day of Judgment and Pitfall Trap. By the way, I have a few words about traps in general: Many make the mistake of judging these traps by looking only at their trap cost. But they do forget that these cards can also be played normally by paying their normal mana costs. And this is what I like about Pitfall Trap; it's affordable in every way.
Of course it is great to remove that lone attacker for a mere . But if two creatures are attacking, you can still pay which is totally acceptable, and remove one of those attackers. What's not to like about it?
So during early turns I only build my mana base and stay alive with my removal spells and play my Luminarch Ascension if I have any in hand. And then after clearing the board with a Day of Judgment, I start playing my own threats.
Conqueror's Pledge is one of my biggest threats. Those tiny 1/1 Kor Soldier creatures may not look like much but don't forget that there are six of them! And then I play my World Queller. What a fantastic name by the way. And it really quells worlds. It removes everything and anything. You sacrifice a 1/1 token and the opponent sadly(!) sacrifices his lone Ob Nixilis, the Fallen. How sad!
And please note that World Queller says "may". Meaning that using its game text is up to you. It isn't obligatory. Which makes it even a better card. But the real trick of this deck is to name creature with it, sacrifice Kor Cartographer and bring her back with Emeria, the Sky Ruin. It's a fantastic combo and a loop. And let's not forget that every time you do that, you also get a Plains. Marvelous!
"Kor have no concept of exploration. They return to homelands forgotten."
And what do I do with all that White mana? Well for starters every time I play a land, my Emeria Angel gives me a 1/1 Bird token. Secondly, the more lands I have the more Angel tokens I can create with my Luminarch Ascension. Then I can play my Conqueror's Pledge with its Kicker cost. But the best thing I can do with all that mana is to play Iona, Shield of Emeria. Last week I talked about how to cheat her into the game. This deck doesn't need to cheat; it has the power (and the mana) to simply hard cast her. Amazing.
And that was all about this final deck of the article.
WRAP UP
So these were the monocolor decks I've been playing lately. Which one is my favorite? It is clearly the last Mono White Angels deck. But I have to admit that the Goblins are also very dangerous. Actually I'm torn between those two decks.
Vampires are also great and they also have access to life gain which is very important against the bloodthirsty Goblins. But my personal playtesting tells me that they will me my third option. Mono White almost always wins against them and Goblins cause a lot of trouble too. But of course playing a monocolor deck is not the only option in ZEN Block. Which actually brings me to...
NEXT WEEK ON ROGUE PLAY
Dawn of a New Era Part II
Next week I will explore the multicolor deck possibilities in ZEN Block. I will talk about a deck with lots of removal and life gain that can also win with Felidar Sovereign as an alternative. Then I will talk about another favorite of mine which is a deck and has the best cards of both colors. Finally I will show you a three color deck that is all about Landfall and wins with the mighty Ob Nixilis, the Fallen (most of the time).
I am also working on a deck that uses both Plated Geopede and Steppe Lynx together, and if I can finish it until next week, you'll have that one too.
I'm looking forward to Zendikar Constructed as well :)
I liked your article. I wish though that when I moused over the card names that they would pop up. It really helps when learning new cards.
I look forward to Part 2 :)
1- The last Mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. I decided to main deck 4x Kor Sanctifiers and removed 4x Conqueror's Pledge. Playtesting showed that Kor Sanctifiers is definately main deck material. And the sideboard now has 4x Landbind Ritual + 3x Conqueror's Pledge. I removed Arrow Volley Trap from the deck completely.
2- I said that blue even as a splash doesn't work. It isn't true. It works. In fact, you will see how well it works in part II. I apologize for this mistake.
I believe that you're flat-out wrong about blue, and expect Sphinx of Jwarr Isle to be one of the defining creatures of the format. Not in mono-U (which I agree, is not going to be competitive), but probably as the finisher in either W/U or maybe G/U.
Things in zendikar which deal with Sphinx;
Day of Judgment
Gatekeeper of Malakir (sometimes)
World Queller (Sometimes)
Vampire Nighthawk (deals with it in the sense that it can't attack until nighthawk is dead)
you had to get in 3 minutes before me, didn't you?!?
Well, anyway, I think any blue showing up competitively will be largely on the back of sphinx and/or into the roil. I'm not completely convinced that the 4 mana counterspell which makes an elemental is unplayable either. I mean, mystic snake has been on the fringes of constructed play in the past. (and yes, i know this is a bit worse than snake, but it also doesn't require green.
What you say would be true if only the card would have said "Counter target spell". But it says "Counter target creature spell". It is very narrow. It will not see play in ZEN Block Constructed. I have no idea about ZEN Limited though.
Archmage Acension only takes 3 turns to come online in Standard if you have Howling Mine or Font of Mythos in play. But yes, for Zen block, it is horrible.
Just to clarify, you'd still need 12 cards (as author pointed out) but not necessarily 6 turns since you can play your Instant draw spells (like Esper Charm) during your opponent's turn and then use Howling/Font of Mythos on your turn to draw 2 or more cards. Bringing best possible scenario to 3 of your turns (plus 3 of your opponent's turns) for the Archmage Ascension to come online.
Interesting Article. Since I don't play paper magic anymore, Zendikar Block really wasn't on my radar, but this article gives me a couple of things to think about.
I do have to comment that it seems a bit weird to try to make a mono-green deck when so many of green's bombs (such as Harrow and Lotus Cobra) enable splashing colors.
Also, if the format is as fast as you say, does 4 Emeria, the Sky Ruins in the Angel deck really make sense?
Hi Markus. It is true that Mono Green is weird in ZEN Block and as I said in the article I saw that after testing Mono Green in ZEN Block. It just doesn't make sense. I tried and saw that myself.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a fantastic card but only works in Mono White Control decks. Mono White Kor decks don't need it because they would prefer ending the game before they play their 7th Plains.
But the Control version on the other hand, likes to play Emeria simply because it likes longer games in which it can cast its Iona. And as I said in the article, naming "creature" with World Queller and bringing back the sacrificed Kor Cartographer the next turn with the land is also a very nice loop.
I question the quantity more than the quality of the card. I can easily see 2 in a deck without any concern.
However with 4 you are increasing the chance that you will draw multiple Emerias and not enough Plains to trigger them, and you are increasing the chance you will have multiple "enters the battlefield tapped" lands in your first couple of turns, which may prevent you from playing a key spell in the first couple of critical turns of the game.
I can just think of nightmare situations where you have 2-3 Emerias in your opening hand.
Maybe, and just maybe, 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin could also work. 2 is too few because with 26x lands and 4x Kor Cartographers, you never miss a land drop and reach to 7 Plains easily. And when you do, Emeria should be there.
I never tried 3 copies and play 4 since the beginning and never had problems. But now that you mentioned it, maybe I should try 3 and see if it's working or not.
I like the decks a lot, but just throwing 4 of 9 different cards into a list and then some lands doesn't make a deck. Like your mono white list used 4 world quellers 4 emeria angel and 4 conquerors pledge. Thats the top of your curve a lot of the time, especially in an aggressive of a format as zen block looks to be.
Try for a little more diversity... throwing 4 of every good card into a deck seems like lazy deck building.
Not trying to troll, but when I see that it just makes me less inclined to believe these deck lists are the right built.
well judging by the fact that zendikar is not even released yet they are obviously just examples of ideas and actually using 4x of a card is generally considered to be good deckbuilding. Its offers consistency to the deck. Im sure after testing some numbers maybe be tweaked a little but 4x is generally how good deckbuilding starts. Unless of course your one of those people that prefer a buncg of 1 and 2 ofs with no amount of consistency in games whatsoever.
No offense was taken and thank you for your comments. As I said above, the mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. Yes, 4x Conqueror's Pledge were too much. And they are replaced with 4x Kor Sanctifiers.
4x something is not wrong especially in a format where there is only 1 (ONE) set to choose from. Diversity is good and having main deck answers to different situations is also good but the format is not that diverse at the moment. Maybe after Worldwake it would be.
4x Emeria Angel is a must, 4x World Queller is also a must as I want to have them as soon as possible. Oh and by the way, these aren't rough ideas, these are tested decks. Not very heavily and throughoutly perhaps but some is always better than none.
Kind of surprised Kor Hookmaster doesn't make the cut for your mono white deck it's a pseudo-fog shut down opponents biggest creature for one turn making it a pretty fog effect for your deck. Matter of fact I'd say if your going to use Luminarch Ascension more fog such as Silence might make more since especially against red, and blue decks.
deck that is being fueled by 
21 Comments
I'm looking forward to Zendikar Constructed as well :)
I liked your article. I wish though that when I moused over the card names that they would pop up. It really helps when learning new cards.
I look forward to Part 2 :)
Decided to register :)
I really like how you have done your deck lists thay look very smart and tidy.
Thanks for the comments guys. Two things:
1- The last Mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. I decided to main deck 4x Kor Sanctifiers and removed 4x Conqueror's Pledge. Playtesting showed that Kor Sanctifiers is definately main deck material. And the sideboard now has 4x Landbind Ritual + 3x Conqueror's Pledge. I removed Arrow Volley Trap from the deck completely.
2- I said that blue even as a splash doesn't work. It isn't true. It works. In fact, you will see how well it works in part II. I apologize for this mistake.
LE
I believe that you're flat-out wrong about blue, and expect Sphinx of Jwarr Isle to be one of the defining creatures of the format. Not in mono-U (which I agree, is not going to be competitive), but probably as the finisher in either W/U or maybe G/U.
Things in zendikar which deal with Sphinx;
Day of Judgment
Gatekeeper of Malakir (sometimes)
World Queller (Sometimes)
Vampire Nighthawk (deals with it in the sense that it can't attack until nighthawk is dead)
I just said it was a mistake and next week I will show why it was a mistake. Blue as a second color works very well.
LE
you had to get in 3 minutes before me, didn't you?!?
Well, anyway, I think any blue showing up competitively will be largely on the back of sphinx and/or into the roil. I'm not completely convinced that the 4 mana counterspell which makes an elemental is unplayable either. I mean, mystic snake has been on the fringes of constructed play in the past. (and yes, i know this is a bit worse than snake, but it also doesn't require green.
What you say would be true if only the card would have said "Counter target spell". But it says "Counter target creature spell". It is very narrow. It will not see play in ZEN Block Constructed. I have no idea about ZEN Limited though.
LE
Archmage Acension only takes 3 turns to come online in Standard if you have Howling Mine or Font of Mythos in play. But yes, for Zen block, it is horrible.
Yes, my comment was for ZEN Block.
LE
Just to clarify, you'd still need 12 cards (as author pointed out) but not necessarily 6 turns since you can play your Instant draw spells (like Esper Charm) during your opponent's turn and then use Howling/Font of Mythos on your turn to draw 2 or more cards. Bringing best possible scenario to 3 of your turns (plus 3 of your opponent's turns) for the Archmage Ascension to come online.
Interesting Article. Since I don't play paper magic anymore, Zendikar Block really wasn't on my radar, but this article gives me a couple of things to think about.
I do have to comment that it seems a bit weird to try to make a mono-green deck when so many of green's bombs (such as Harrow and Lotus Cobra) enable splashing colors.
Also, if the format is as fast as you say, does 4 Emeria, the Sky Ruins in the Angel deck really make sense?
Hi Markus. It is true that Mono Green is weird in ZEN Block and as I said in the article I saw that after testing Mono Green in ZEN Block. It just doesn't make sense. I tried and saw that myself.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a fantastic card but only works in Mono White Control decks. Mono White Kor decks don't need it because they would prefer ending the game before they play their 7th Plains.
But the Control version on the other hand, likes to play Emeria simply because it likes longer games in which it can cast its Iona. And as I said in the article, naming "creature" with World Queller and bringing back the sacrificed Kor Cartographer the next turn with the land is also a very nice loop.
LE
It makes me long for extended, where I'll be able to execute your loop, but with yosei in place of kortographer. That's going to feel good!
I question the quantity more than the quality of the card. I can easily see 2 in a deck without any concern.
However with 4 you are increasing the chance that you will draw multiple Emerias and not enough Plains to trigger them, and you are increasing the chance you will have multiple "enters the battlefield tapped" lands in your first couple of turns, which may prevent you from playing a key spell in the first couple of critical turns of the game.
I can just think of nightmare situations where you have 2-3 Emerias in your opening hand.
Oh sorry I misunderstood.
Maybe, and just maybe, 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin could also work. 2 is too few because with 26x lands and 4x Kor Cartographers, you never miss a land drop and reach to 7 Plains easily. And when you do, Emeria should be there.
I never tried 3 copies and play 4 since the beginning and never had problems. But now that you mentioned it, maybe I should try 3 and see if it's working or not.
Thanks for the suggestion.
LE
wu control will be the best deck.
12 islands
12 plains
4 sphinx
4 day of judgment
4 pitfall trap
4 iona
4 luminarch ascension
4 spihinx of lost truths
4into the roil
4 summoners bane
4worldqueller
I like the decks a lot, but just throwing 4 of 9 different cards into a list and then some lands doesn't make a deck. Like your mono white list used 4 world quellers 4 emeria angel and 4 conquerors pledge. Thats the top of your curve a lot of the time, especially in an aggressive of a format as zen block looks to be.
Try for a little more diversity... throwing 4 of every good card into a deck seems like lazy deck building.
Not trying to troll, but when I see that it just makes me less inclined to believe these deck lists are the right built.
well judging by the fact that zendikar is not even released yet they are obviously just examples of ideas and actually using 4x of a card is generally considered to be good deckbuilding. Its offers consistency to the deck. Im sure after testing some numbers maybe be tweaked a little but 4x is generally how good deckbuilding starts. Unless of course your one of those people that prefer a buncg of 1 and 2 ofs with no amount of consistency in games whatsoever.
No offense was taken and thank you for your comments. As I said above, the mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. Yes, 4x Conqueror's Pledge were too much. And they are replaced with 4x Kor Sanctifiers.
4x something is not wrong especially in a format where there is only 1 (ONE) set to choose from. Diversity is good and having main deck answers to different situations is also good but the format is not that diverse at the moment. Maybe after Worldwake it would be.
4x Emeria Angel is a must, 4x World Queller is also a must as I want to have them as soon as possible. Oh and by the way, these aren't rough ideas, these are tested decks. Not very heavily and throughoutly perhaps but some is always better than none.
Thanks again for taking time and commenting.
LE
Kind of surprised Kor Hookmaster doesn't make the cut for your mono white deck it's a pseudo-fog shut down opponents biggest creature for one turn making it a pretty fog effect for your deck. Matter of fact I'd say if your going to use Luminarch Ascension more fog such as Silence might make more since especially against red, and blue decks.