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By: Westane, Jeff Torres
Jan 31 2011 10:03am
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Just a Lowly, Lowly Cook

Since October of last year I've been reveling in what's quickly become my favorite online format - Block Constructed. You'll find no $100 Jace, the Mind Sculptors here, no titanic land-grabbers, no vengeful vines, and no bane-slaying angels. Instead, you'll find a friendlier format, with a low financial entry point and obscene brokenness happening around you. You'll find aggro decks, control decks and midrange decks. Combo's still dead, but what else if new? Yes, these last four months have been all kinds of fun... But the fun is fading.

It's fading slowly, and with precision timing, as the next set in the block is just around the corner.These last two weeks of the spoiler season have been an interesting and exciting time. It seems to me that while MBS will be nearly 100 cards smaller than SOM, the overall power level is extremely high, yet I believe it succeeds in maintaining balance. This set will go a long way in supplementing existing Block decks, enabling others, and more than likely pushing others into a Tier 1 position. This week, I'd like to run over some of my personal speculations regarding this new set's impact on the current Block format, however inaccurate they may be.


UW Control - Back in Control!

 Despite having recently picked this deck up for tournament play again, I still have some reservations about it in its current form. I was never a big fan of how this deck handled the late game, with Sunblast Angel being our best option, and only form of pseudo board-sweeps. MBS is giving this deck what, as a permission control player, I think it needs. I don't see the early game changing too much, but the late game is where we can potentially shine. Currently, while surviving until turn six was never a major issue, there wasn't a whole lot we could actually do on that turn outside of an angelic crap shoot. Phyrexian Rebirth allows us not only the ability to retake the board position, but immediately turn it to our favor.

In fact, we'll have the option to take an almost creatureless approach to this deck come February. I imagine the creature base will look something like 4x Indomitable Archangel and 3x-4x Glimmerpoint Stag, and possibly a couple Relic-Wardens in the sideboard. Beyond that though I think this deck will be able to win off the backs of Elspeth Tirel and Venser, the Sojourner in conjunction with end-of-turn Zeniths. While Blue Sun's Zenith is no Jace's Ingenuity it's the best thing we have, and you won't hear me complain about having a (Stoke of Genius) in hand. Then there's White Sun's Zenith, giving us our new Decree of Justice which is unarguably fantastic.

Finally we have Consecrated Sphinx, and I'm not entirely sure where to place him yet. On one hand he's a legitimate six-mana bomb, with a relevant effect for a control deck, and a sizable body. On the other, I'm having trouble both finding room and validating him as being any better than any other cards in that mana bracket. On the third hand (you don't wanna know) he's going directly into that Commander deck I'm building!


UB Control - Finally!

Oh my, I've been waiting forever to build this kind of deck in this format! When Tezzeret 2.0 was spoiled I immediately became excited, then confused, then underwhelmed, then frustrated, then hungry, then tired, then groggy... Eventually my emotions found their way to inspired. When it came down to it, no matter how narrow he may be, Tezzeret is a 4cc planeswalker who can create win conditions and supply card advantage, and that's enough for me. The next step was figuring out what kind of deck he belongs in. My first line of thought was a UB Grand Architect deck. While he does fit absolutely perfectly there, the idea just didn't really click with me. Next was a UB control deck that used Architect and the new Treasure Mage to play a slower game ending in huge creatures. That still seemed too scattered. Finally, I ended up in a place I never thought I would - Metalcraft Permission.

I'm sure there's a 101 good ways to use Tezzeret, but I've decided to build a low-curve heavy control deck. We have freebies like Mox Opal, Chimeric Mass and possibly Memnite, who can all enable cards like Stoic Rebuttal and, well, Stoic Rebuttal. The metalcraft keyword isn't so much the key as is having effective fodder for Tezzeret's -1. Turning a 0/0 Chimeric Mass or a depleted Tumble Magnet into a 5/5 beater is a fair bit of value. Until you can get Tezzeret online, there's a mess of prevention and removal this deck has access to. I don't know if Fuel For The Cause is good enough, but the new Doom Blade certainty is. I know it doesn't handle artifacts and that we're on Mirrodin but I think you'll get enough value out of the card to make it worth while. If not, Grasp of Darkness is still around. Lastly we have Black Sun's Zenith, and I can think of no better reset button than that.

Once he is up and active, winning should only be a question of when.


Architect Aggro

Is Mitotic Manipulation good enough? I don't know, but if there's any deck I'd want to test it in, it's this one. Treasure Mage on the other hand is just fantastic here. The biggest issue I run into playing this deck is its uncanny ability to run out of steam, and it does it like a pro. Mitotic Manipulation was a possible solution, at worst acting as a 1UU Rampant Growth, but Treasure Mage is just what the deck needed. Now we can easily find our Contagion Engines, Steel Hellkites, Wurmcoil Engines and Myr Battlespheres, and can even tweak the deck to play as more of a toolbox style. It would be nice to slip in those 1-0f's from the sideboard and know you can reliable find them. As far as new artifacts go I didn't see much, though Shimmer Myr is something I'd love to have in the deck. I don't know that he's warranted, but he's definitely on the list. Additionally, I could easily see Thopter Assembly replacing Precursor Golem, as the risk seems less... risky.


Koth Red

Special mention goes to Galvanoth who I feel may very well have some impact on the format. Burn The Impure is the card I'm most excited about, and it will immediately be replacing my playset of Galvanic Blasts in the deck. Sorry, but as it stands I just think Incinerate is better than Shock. Slagstorm will also be huge in a format that up til now hasn't had to worry about sweepers of any fashion. Beyond that it's unclear to me how the deck will evolve. The new dragon is a good one, but can 7 mana be hit often enough to warrant it? Hero of Oxid Ridge is a great card as well, but a certain planeswalker already occupies the 4-slot.

On the other hand, I could also see this deck taking a more aggressive turn. Cutting the mana myr in favor of Battle Cry cards like Signal Pest and Goblin Warcaller, allowing for a much lower curve and making Koth's +1 all the more deadly. We may even go so far as to see multiple variants of Koth Red showing up with competitive lists!


Infect

Infect is rapidly going from a boring casual deck to what may very well be top tier. As it stands, the most competitive version of Infect is mono black. I think MBS will change that with cards like Lead the Stampede. This card is absolutely amazing, and not just in infect. It's possible that Green Sun's Zenith may find a place here, but I don't think it's quite at home in this deck. Beyond that it's really the same old song and dance with a few new notes. These small adjustments, however, may just be enough to push the deck over the top. Oh yeah... Inkmoth Nexus.

I'll take the time now to say I really feel aggro will struggle come February. Between Black Sun's Zenith, Slagstorm, Phyrexian Rebirth, Creeping Corrosion and Massacre Wurm all being in the format and all being playable, creature based strategies will require just a touch more thought. The reason I high hopes for Infect is because it's able to see it's strategy through, even with little to no creatures, and the creatures it does use don't even need to stick around to do their damage.


GB Midrange

The last deck I bring to you today is still only conceptual to say the least, but I think the potential is there. The original build was with Jund colors, since the mana wasn't so hard to manage. However, red was eventually cut since it didn't seem quite relevant enough to be worth compromising the mana base over. Thune is an amazing card, and Glissa's exceptional for her mana cost. I think if ever there was a deck that could make good use of the green zenith, it would be a rock-style deck with a subtle toolbox theme. We don't have any great discard, but green's getting some decent new additions in the set, and black's removal is better than ever.

I'm sure we're going to see bajillions of new decks creep out of the woodwork soon, especially midrange ones. In fact, I've been tinkering with a Mono White Control build which is been fun, and may even see play. MBS has definitely lived up to my expectations, and I'm anxiously awaiting to see how the metagame shifts as a result!

Until next time!

-Jeff Torres

19 Comments

Well at least he gave me 5 by Westane at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 13:12
Westane's picture

Well at least he gave me 5 fireballs!

a review!!!!! by blau at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 13:15
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4

oh man a spammer got through the system. This article should only have 1 comment. See now this is a slightly useful review in that it talks about new cards in relation to the format they will be affecting. However, where's the decklists man? I don't play block, but want to get into it. I don't know what the decks are, so having a decklist here would have been helpful. Way to drop the ball. :P But seriously, I'd like some decks.

Well I'm going to be honest by Westane at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 13:28
Westane's picture

Well I'm going to be honest with you, and frankly, mean. Until PureMTGO finds a better card linking source like Gatherer or MagicCardInfo... you're not getting decklists for sets that aren't online yet :)

That said I understand why they MTGOTraders, but, I'll forever stand by my argument.

I am excited about trying U/B by lumbydan at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 15:21
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I am excited about trying U/B infect control, red aggro, white weenie, and Mono Black Infect. It will be fun times for a couple months.

Also I must say that this website has the most and best block articles that I can find. Keep up the good work all.

I think the biggest shake-up by ArchGenius at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 15:36
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5

I think the biggest shake-up of the format is going to come from Burn the Impure and Slagstorm, which means that Grand Architect will no longer be safe against red, which means that the Architect decks will no longer have a great match-up against mono-red.

This means that another deck will have to be built that can beat Koth mono-red. Phyrexian Crusader might be a part of that deck.

I also like Tezzeret's -1 ability with infect artifact creatures.

I didn't want to risk posting by Westane at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 15:40
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I didn't want to risk posting misinformation so I didn't touch on it. Would an artifact targeted with Tez' -1 still retain its abilities, or just be a vanilla 5/5?

Tezz only alters the P/T. The by Lord Erman at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 15:45
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Tezz only alters the P/T. The rest remains the same.

LE

I'm conflicted after finding by Westane at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 15:46
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I'm conflicted after finding this card ruling going undisputed:

Cards do what they say they do. No more, no less. Tezzeret says "Target artifact becomes a 5/5 artifact creature." He doesn't say "Target artifact becomes a 5/5 artifact creature and loses all abilities." So the animated Inkmoth Nexus is going to have flying and infect until end of turn (since that's when the effect that gives it flying and infect wears off). It will continue being a 5/5 (since Tezzeret's effect doesn't wear off at end of turn).

If you activate Inkmoth Nexus' ability again it will be a 1/1 with flying and infect until end of turn (since the effect making it 1/1 will have a more recent timestamp than the one making it 5/5), going back to 5/5 without flying or infect when Inkmoth Nexus' ability wears off.

If you make the Nexus a 5/5 by Raddman at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 18:37
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If you make the Nexus a 5/5 guy using Tezz, doesn't he stay a 5/5 everytime he is activited much like the Affinity land used to do with ravager?

Tezz says it makes them 5/5 forever not just till end of turn or am I misunderstanding?

I'm pretty sure the nexus will stay a 5/5 dude everytime it's activated.

You are correct. 5/5 for ever by gimlicolby at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 18:38
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You are correct. 5/5 for ever

The original point was that by grandpoobah at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 19:01
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The original point was that it will lose flying and infect at EOT. If you reactivate the ability to give it flying and infect, you will also reset it to 1/1 until EOT. Presumably, at EOT, it will revert to 5/5.

Yeah, I'm just not 101% on by Westane at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 18:59
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Yeah, I'm just not 101% on the interaction, so I didn't want to right about it without testing it first, which I'll be able to start doing in a couple weeks.

hey westane...how bananas is by gimlicolby at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 20:57
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hey westane...how bananas is inkmouth nexus in SOM block. I love this card. Will get 4 during prerelase

Let's keep in mind that Nexus by TheRegularGangster at Mon, 01/31/2011 - 22:55
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Let's keep in mind that Nexus dies to everything red, so doing the Tez ability vs mountains will always be a risky proposition. You do always have darksteel axe though, which will prove pretty broken with Tez - even though it doesnt have infect.

The block shakeup will be significant. It remains to be seen what this set will do to standard. I fear this expansion will have an extremely limited effect on Extended and beyond.

it also drops tez himself to by StealthBadger at Tue, 02/01/2011 - 06:50
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it also drops tez himself to a nice burnable 2-loyalty.

Liked that first draft for a by Kumagoro42 at Tue, 02/01/2011 - 00:09
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5

Liked that first draft for a BG Midrange deck, something I would like to try and build. I think we need some more personality there, though. Something that defines the deck better. Also, Thrun and Glissa are both awesome, but 8 legendary slots are surely too much, aren't they?
Also, I'm looking forward to hear some opinions about Praetor's Counsel (a.k.a. the bonus Mythic green got). I can't decide if it will be the most amazing and Eternal-affecting SOM card (I agree with TheRegularGangster about the little effect SOM block will have on Eternal formats: SOM is fun, but surely it's no Mirrodin), or just completely bogus.

Well I never said I'd play 4 by Westane at Tue, 02/01/2011 - 01:16
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Well I never said I'd play 4 of each :P

Indeed. What I was saying is by Kumagoro42 at Tue, 02/01/2011 - 10:33
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Indeed. What I was saying is that those two big stars can't cover 8 slots for us, so we'll have to figure out something else.
No thoughts about Praetor's Counsel?