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By: Plainswalker83, Plainswalker83
Jul 01 2015 12:00pm
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There was another open in Baltimore this past weekend and while there were many brews and interesting deck choices, a pillar is what took home the trophy. Here is Andrew Boswell's list.

He played a streamlined and aggressive build and it paid off greatly for him. He even defeated RG Devotion in the finals. There are a few things I love about the list.  First I love that Brimaz, King of Oreskos is seeing play again. He is still a powerful card and I have been wanting to use him in Standard for a while now. More on him later... I also like that he is using Herald of Torment as a way to gain reach and push through even more damage. He cut out 3 mana removal spells and is relying solely on Dromoka's Command, Ultimate Price, and Valorous Stance to get the job done and apparently they worked out quite well. It seems like he was really ready for big green decks with the Hunt the Hunters and Self-Inflicted Wounds. He was really ready for the meta and his preparation paid off.

What if you want to play this deck but want to be a bit less all in and pack a few more answers? I have been playing a list both in paper and on MTGO that I have been really enjoying.

The core is pretty much the same and I also wanted to have more than the usual 2 Warden of the First Tree. They just have been very impressive in testing. I have Tasigur, The Golden Fang in the main board pretty much serving as another big threat and occasionally I can activate his ability getting back some key removal or a Siege Rhino.  I also like having the Hero's Downfalls and Abzan Charms in the deck because although 3 mana for removal isn't where you always want to be, sometimes there are creatures that you just need to answer.

The fun thing with this deck is that you can mess with it any way you want and it can still be a great choice and a lot of fun to play. Also since we are approaching the tail end of the Standard season the prices aren't that bad either. Most of the expensive cards besides Thoughtseize are the lands.

Another deck that I think can be a lot of fun to take into the end of the season is something that will actually improve with the addition of Origins.


Pure and undefiled deck creation. 20 lands and a bunch of 4 ofs.This deck seemed catch a lot of players unawares and really performed well this past weekend. The best part is that when Origins comes in this deck gains a very valuable card..

                                                                                       Goblin Piledriver

Together with Goblin Rabblemaster the Pildriver will really wreak havoc. I think the biggest flaw of Goblin Piledriver is his lack of trample but cards like (Temur Battlerage) easily make up for that. Tis a shame that Goblin Legionnaire is no longer legal. Other than that this deck can be a cheap deck to play until rotation.

Decks that I would recommend moving forward would be Abzan (any flavor but I am a fan of Aggro for now), GR (both Devotion and Dragons), and any other aggressive strategy like Mono Red. GW Collected Company is still strong as is the Bant Megamorph deck and Jeskai Aggro made a resurgence as well. That is a lot to choose from and I would suggest once again that you play what you like and what you are comfortable with.

Now for the fun part, I am sure we have all been checking out the spoilers for Origins. My attention has been drawn mainly to 1 color though. If you know anything about me (or can just read my MTGO name) I have an affinity for Plains. It seems that Wizards R&D have heard my laments and complaints and decided it is time for White Weenie in Standard again. First I saw this guy....

                                                                             

So a 2/1 for 1 (which is already perfect for WW) that turns into one of my favorite planeswalkers. That was enough to get the juices flowing so I started working on a list. Then more and more spoilers came in. Our own manager posted a spoiler here. Knight of the White Orchid or Land Tax Knight has been a card I loved for years and always went into any aggressive modern aggro decks that I tried to build, usually paired with Champion of the Parish and Student of Warfare.  Then I got to thinking ok now what else can I throw in this deck. Well R&D must have been thinking the same thing because I scoured the spoilers some more and found these 2.

                                                                       

A "fixed" Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and a "fixed" Stoneforge Mystic. Now I know that these are nowhere near the power level of their predecessors but they can have a home in Standard. Relic Seeker does not really fetch too much in Standard but even something like Trusty Sidearm or even Godsend would be interesting. Vryn Wingmare on the other hand makes all of the sweepers come down a turn later giving you time to keep up the beats and get your opponent very low very quickly.

The last card that I was really interested in is this:

                                                                                                

I like this card for a few different reasons. First off 4 for a 3/5 flyer is not too shabby. This angel will not go down to Stoke the Flames, Anger of the Gods, Drown in Sorrow, or the new 4 mana sweeper they spoiled for black in Languish which gives -4-4 to all creatures. Then you read the text. Yes that's right, when your angel in untapped and your opponent attacks you they pay 1 for each attacking creature. That alone will make it very hard for Mono Red to punch through damage. Then there is more. When the angel attacks your opponent can't block unless they pay 1 for each blocker. That could lead to some pretty sweet alpha strikes with you totally smashing your opponent.

I am pretty excited for White Weenie to make a comeback, this current card pool has a ton of support for it as well. Remember earlier when I mentioned Brimaz, King of Oreskos? Well he fits in nicely here. There are a ton of other 2/1's for 1 in the forms of Soldier of the Pantheon, Loyal Pegasus, or even Dragon Hunter.There are also some good token makers available. We have Raise the Alarm, Secure the Wastes, and Launch the Fleet. If only there was an anthem effect legal in standard as well. Oh wait, Spear of Heliod is still legal and will be for a few more months and I would rather use that than use Hall of Triumph There is a lot of options and me and another one of my buddies will be running through them all and trying to build the best list available. (I already have my Gideons on hold). I would love to hear your ideas as well. Are there cards that you can't wait to play in Standard? Do you want to build tribal? Or are you looking to add to an existing archetype. Let me know in the comments, until next time!

3 Comments

Brimaz by MichelleWong at Wed, 07/01/2015 - 15:12
MichelleWong's picture
5

I loved this article.

I am also a fan of Brimaz, because he is excellent value for 3 mana. Sure, he is not at the same high power level of the Fleecemain Lion in terms of tempo and resilience. I also don't encourage more than 2 copies of Brimaz in a deck (not 3 like many people play), because Brimaz is not so amazing that he is worth the risk of holding 2 copies of him in the hand and being held to ransom by something like a Thunderbreak Regent or Stormbreath Dragon. Brimaz is a solid answer to Goblin Rabblemaster, Warden of the First Tree, and to a lesser extent Fleecemain Lion and Rakshasha Deathdealer.

I am happy that the Mother of Runes will NOT be appearing in Origins. I really hate that tea-sipping bitch with a vengeance, I'm sorry to say that, but sometimes we must face the truth with these types of women who run around providing protection from colors.

If you wrote an article that by Procrastination at Wed, 07/01/2015 - 20:08
Procrastination's picture

If you wrote an article that consisted of nothing but that second paragraph about Mother of Runes, I'd give that article 5 stars every time.

why the hate? :) by Plainswalker83 at Fri, 07/03/2015 - 13:47
Plainswalker83's picture

What did Mother of Runes ever do to you :) I have been playing with that card for almost my whole magic career. I think it is a very fair card :) Thanks for the comments though guys always appreciate it.