Hey guys, remember UW Control from the last Ravnica standard? The one with Supreme Verdict and Sphinx's Rev? Let me let you in on a little secret about that deck: Azorius Charm was secretly a key component to its success. It's back. Another key component? Mana Leak. Also back.
Believe you me, this card will define Standard. I still have nightmares about trying to play aggro in that environment.
I haven't even read the back half yet.
Edit: Oh great, it has a wincon attached for no extra cost. Yeah, this card might look unassuming, but it's one of the best cards for Standard spoiled so far.
You know what else were key components to that deck's success? Supreme Verdict and Sphinx's Revelation. Azorius Charm was a solid role player in that deck, but it wasn't the glue that held the deck together. U/W Control circa 2012-2013 had crazy late-gate inevitability because Sphinx's Revelation had this neat ability to combo into itself, giving the Control player all the tools he could ever need to fully take over the game.
It also had important spells like Snapcaster Mage, Jace, Architect of Thought, Detention Sphere, etc.
And Mana Leak was never in the same Standard environment as RTR. The last time Mana Leak was in Standard was when it got a reprint in M12, which rotated out when RTR was released.
Aggro did fine in that format; I fondly remember Naya Blitz killing people on turn 4 quite reliably. You also had aggro decks inspired by Boros Reckoner, and Falkenrath Aristocrat was a nice curve-topper for the B/R-based aggro decks.
Granted, I still think Warrant//Warden will be good for Standard. This card has the flexibility of helping U/W stabilize against early threats while also being a Serra Angel later on when the deck needs to try closing out the game. Plus, we still have Teferi doing his Teferi thing.
TL;DR: U/W Control will probably still be good, but it won't be a recreation of RTR's iteration of the deck because all of the most important cards are gone.
The problem with defining this format by what is "fun" is that everyone seems to define fun as what they don't lose to. If you keep losing to easily answered cards, that means you should improve your deck. If you don't want to improve your deck, then you should come to peace with the idea that you are going to lose because you chose to not interact with better strategies.
Lavinia's packing a knuckle duster! So, the Azorius words are Dep and War. War!? Did they mix up tickets with Boros or something?
Remember she is a renegade now
No kidding! What, next she's going to brandish a switchblade?
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
Warrant // Warden is easily 4x in any Azorius deck, whether it's aggro or control. Never dead against any matchup.
I'm building Esper Skies (tempo deck), and this card is going to be awesome as tempo and as finisher:
The Azorius split cards Depose // Deploy and Warrant // Warden are amazing. Early they can be tempo, and later they create tokens to finish the game. So they count as creatures, but also fill the grave for Pteramander. Furthermore, they can be flashbacked with Mission Briefing--it's absolutely sick. Recast Deploy to gain more Thopters and gain huge amounts life; or recast Warden for another 4/4 flying vigilant.
This aint your girlfriends meta! This is a man's meta! TURBO META.
You know what else were key components to that deck's success?
Supreme Verdict and Sphinx's Revelation.
Azorius Charm was a solid role player in that deck, but it wasn't the glue that held the deck together. U/W Control circa 2012-2013 had crazy late-gate inevitability because Sphinx's Revelation had this neat ability to combo into itself, giving the Control player all the tools he could ever need to fully take over the game.
It also had important spells like Snapcaster Mage, Jace, Architect of Thought, Detention Sphere, etc.
And Mana Leak was never in the same Standard environment as RTR. The last time Mana Leak was in Standard was when it got a reprint in M12, which rotated out when RTR was released.
Aggro did fine in that format; I fondly remember Naya Blitz killing people on turn 4 quite reliably. You also had aggro decks inspired by Boros Reckoner, and Falkenrath Aristocrat was a nice curve-topper for the B/R-based aggro decks.
Granted, I still think Warrant//Warden will be good for Standard. This card has the flexibility of helping U/W stabilize against early threats while also being a Serra Angel later on when the deck needs to try closing out the game. Plus, we still have Teferi doing his Teferi thing.
TL;DR: U/W Control will probably still be good, but it won't be a recreation of RTR's iteration of the deck because all of the most important cards are gone.
No kidding! What, next she's going to brandish a switchblade?
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
I'm building Esper Skies (tempo deck), and this card is going to be awesome as tempo and as finisher:
........................