After seeing all the talk about Invisible Stalker being the replacement for Squadron Hawk I've been think about what the deck is going to look at post rotation. First we need to look at what we are losing and what can replace them.
Squadron Hawk
Invisible Stalker looks to be the hivemind's popular vote that this is the next level of the deck.
Celestial Colonnade
Seeing as Inkmoth Nexus is the only man land we'll have left I think the deck is going to up the count to a full playset, but most already run three so we have three land slots left open.
Tectonic Edge
Ghost Quarters doesn't really fill out the same slot as it doesn't trade one for one with the non-basic in the standard format as they will have basics to just fetch up with its use. Still the disruption is still there as the other player will lose a dual land and even have to give you a tell as to which color they need more.
Spell Pierce
I would say we could just run Mental Misstep main deck or hope for at least a functional reprint in the next set. If we do end up with Mental Misstep main it would be an easy card to side out in bad matches for more focused hate. I think we need to wait and see what comes out in the spoilers for the replacement here.
Preordain
Let's face it everyone is going to wish this card was reprinted once we go back to using Ponder. Sure we can dig one more with it, but shuffle effects make this read "Sorry you can't find what you need. Would you like to try to top deck it?"
Into the Roil
Either way we are going to lose the card draw but depending on the meta we have a choice of either Disperse or if it artifact heavy then we can run Steel Sabotage.
Some decks just don't survive when a full set rotates. I for one, do not foresee Caw-Blade being a viable deck post-rotation. It's losing to many valuable components to stay together. And you know something, that's good. Standard needs to keep moving forward. Caw-blade had its time in the spotlight, it's time for new decks to emerge.
This isn't to say that we've seen the last of the swords. I think "blade" decks might find a home, however... can it really be caw-blade without the "Caw"?
Caw-blade is going to lose its spark with the loss of many cards. I think a Blue/White version of caw will appear but won't be as powerful. I do believe that tribal will use the swords. Maybe Were-Blade?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Lathia: Spam again. I swear its contagious.
iRebel: The person who develops the SPAM vaccine will be a billionaire, I swear it..
Spammer: Deck = BAD
iRebel: SPAM = BAD
EDH UThada Adel AcquisitorU GB Savara, Queen of the Golgori BG GR Ulasht, the Hate Seed RG
I swear I first read it as Wingbonger...something tells me that "As Long as Wingbonger is paired with another creature, both creatures have weed." wouldn't be as good. Seems solid for limited.
After seeing all the talk about Invisible Stalker being the replacement for Squadron Hawk I've been think about what the deck is going to look at post rotation. First we need to look at what we are losing and what can replace them.
Squadron Hawk
Invisible Stalker looks to be the hivemind's popular vote that this is the next level of the deck.
Thoughts?
Invisible Stalker doesn't come remotely close to replacing the Hawk. You could mull to 5, and if you had a Hawk in hand, you were easily back in the game. The same cannot be said for Stalker.
With no "Caw" it won't be "Caw-Blade" anymore. There may still be a very good U/W control deck to be built, but with no Squadron Hawk it will be a very different kind of deck.
U also forgot they lose Jace Beleren and I would argue that swords will get worse after rotation as the meta game will force more artifact removal since our card pool will be 60% Scars Block. Caw Blade is going to die once rotation hits nothing can stop that. Will there be another U/W midranged/control deck maybe but can't say for sure.
And really the cards ive seen so far don't impress me. Invisible Stalker far too weak without a sword and Mindshrieker doesn't look that good to me. I mean sure its got that neat pump effect but u can't control it u have to leave up mana instead of curving out. Not to mention unlike Squad Hawk, it dies in a one for one trade
The point is after we see the full card list start thinking of some original decks because 3 of the 5 most popular decks right now wont be possible. Caw blade dead, Valakut dead and Splinter twin dead.
Okay so let's add more to what the deck is losing.
Squadron Hawk
With this gone we lose the name of the deck because it will no longer have any birds that don't even make a caw sound. Also the deck loses the ability to bounce back from having to go to six or five cards. It also loses the ability to chump block turns 2-5 with ease.
Invisible Stalker
Has protection from removal and can't be blocked. This blanks all of reds answers and about half of blacks. Downside is that you don't get four of them and you are wide open to attacks until it has a sword to change the game back into your favor.
Speaking of the swords. Do people think that the Feast and Famine is going to stay the go to sword?
Feast and Famine gives us ramp and card advantage.
War and Peace helps us get ahead on life in the race. Without the squadron of hawks to block would this sword replace the void that not having the extra blockers?
Body and Mind now gets some room to play now that the anti-mill eldrazi lords are out of the standard card pool. As stated above this could lead to a werewolf-blade deck and with the scars and m10 duals would this deck use the established white half of caw-blade's control cards? Also, could Body and Mind replace the fetch ablity of the hawks with token wolves.
I'm fully willing to admit that the Caw-Go core of the deck is going to be gone, but the control shell and the blades are still here along with the Hero-blade token makers package. Hero of the Meek could even replace the Blade Splicers and just draw off the tokens made by Hero of Bladehold if we keep to having Feast and Famine in the deck to let us draw two on turn five plus.
Caw blade dead, Valakut dead and Splinter twin dead.
This. Basically. Literally. Just look at the naming of the decks, they need those specific cards for them to work.
Now, the most viable thing to do is to tinker ideas that would/might fit the next meta. This is because, we already have Tempered Steel ready, and as well as WW/Puresteel. Plus, as someone mentioned, artifact removal is the best route for now.
Most of those decks rely on artifacts quite heavily, and can also add artifact removal very easily. I think the best deck will be one with no/few artifacts to make your opponents spells useless while packing some removal of its own.
UW will stick around, but Caw-Blade will be dead. No Celestial Colonnade, no Squadron Hawks, no Spell Pierce means that the very core of the deck is gone.
From the ashes a new UW shell will form. It will likely sub in Invisible Stalkers for Hawks, An extra Inkmoth (for 4 total), and potentially something from Innistrad if blue gets tossed a bone. I can see potential in Mentor via the Hero of Blade Hold, but that seems a little too win-more to me.
I think, if anything, a possible u/w blade deck will survive, but it won't be the caw-blade style we've come to know in pre-innistrad standard. There are a few possible u/w control-friendly cards, and there is still the rest of the set to wait for.
Here's a list I have written down for now, given what we know about the set so far:
This list is an attempt to play a similar tempo game to that of caw-blade, but it's missing the engine of efficient card draw engines such as squadron hawks and jace beleren. After rotation, cawblade loses celestial colonnade, squadron hawks, preordain, spell pierce, into the roil and jace beleren, which were components of the basic shell of the deck. Given these losses, there are a few cards in innistrad that can either substitute or change the direction of the deck.
Early to Mid-game Threats: Invisible Stalker Vs. Mindshrieker Squadron hawks were good because of its effective cost as a creature and its tutor ability. Post-rotation, mindshrieker is a likely candidate to be another sword carrier, but it cannot fully replicate squadron hawk's previous role. I personally see mindshrieker as a better sword carrier overall instead of invisible stalker because one of squadron hawk's best functions was to lure out removal.
Invisible stalker's hexproof is likely more of a curse than it is a blessing when it comes to standard play. Yes, this card can blank removal and can let you get away with a sword equip. What does it do on its own that helps you win or change the pace of the game? You need the sword for this card to really be scary. Even then, the sword can be targeted. Even though squadron hawks could be targeted by removal, at least it did something relevant by resolving. Equipping a sword is basically paying two mana for making your opponent discard (they'd be using removal on your hawk or sword). It didn't necessarily need the sword to make an impact on the game, though. Invisible stalker, while I really like its flavor, is really just a run of the mill 1/1 dude until you add stuff to him.
Mindshrieker, on the other hand, is still an evasive 1/1 dude, but it doesn't have the same reliance as invisible stalker. When you compare this to squadron hawk, it's really just a blue version of hawk without the tutor. With or without the sword, this creature will demand removal from its chance to pump and/or its chance to hit relevant resources off your opponent's deck. If your opponent is not running snapcaster mage, their flashback cards give your mana leak more value because they have to pay more for their spells. The mill ability of this card seems expensive early game, but late game, you can do it once or twice at opportune times of the game with counter/reactive spell backup and turn it into a threat and/or bait before you drop something better like hero of bladehold or gideon. I don't consider this guy as a finisher, but it has the potential to be a mid-game threat as a sword wielder and as a creature with a deadly ability.
A New Engine -- Tiago Chan's Invitational Card: Snapcaster Mage
As I mentioned earlier, cawblade is losing a lot of its best spells, but in exchange, Innistrad is giving the deck snapcaster mage, which essentially has a lot of ways to help you recycle your usable spells. At first glance, one may think this is one of those "cute" cards. I had to convince myself to realize its potential.
The deck runs 19 instants/sorceries, which is almost 1/3 of the entire deck. Snapcaster mage essentially twincasts those spells with a different time restriction. For example, if you counter a spell with mana leak early in the game, snapcaster mage can let you do it again when you have at least 2UU later in the game. If you have five lands (at least 2UUU out, you could cast snapcaster mage on a ponder in your graveyard to help filter out your upcoming draws, leaving you with enough mana to present mana leak, whether or not you have it. This is just the basic use of this card.
Snapcaster mage also has synergy with other parts of the deck. Imagine recurring this card with sun titan. Granted, you won't be able to do anything productive with snapcaster mage when sun titan enters the battlefield when you tap out for 6, but on the swinging turns, snapcaster mage is making your graveyard an extension of your hand for a short period of time.
Snapcaster mage also has synergy with phantasmal image. The image costs the exact same amount of mana as the mage, but its only limitation is that it has to be played during your turn. Still, copying the mage is another option that you have when using image. Later, when it dies, you could recur it with sun titan, copying snapcaster mage for more flashback shenanigans (if making it a titan isn't fun enough already :tongue:).
While snapcaster mage has a powerful effect, it's not a card you would run more than 2-3 of unless your deck is solely based on instants and sorceries. For now, I'm going to test 2 in the maindeck once I get them because it's not necessary to have many of them, but it does provide the deck another engine to make it powerful.
Conclusions
Although the deck is no longer cawblade, it may have the potential to be a strong deck in the upcoming Innistrad metagame for standard. It's only losing part of its shell as some of it can be slightly substituted (i.e. disperse can take into the roil's place). The other decks that will exist are still unknown, and there is still an entire set to be revealed as I write this, so there's no definite answer yet. However, this is still the time to be brainstorming ideas in preparation for what may come. These are just my views on u/w blade options based on what we know so far. I've always played a u/w control archetype since I got back into magic around lorwyn-shards of alara standard, so I will continue to pursue this archetype until it is proven to be completely weak against the metagame.
I think Venser U/W will do very well after caw is gone and might be a very good way to go. Cards like Blade Splicer can still be blinked well, plus Phantasmal for good advantage and threats while Sun Titan can recur them. Even the new Snapcaster mage can be blinked and i think he will be a very good card in a control deck, the fact that Venser can make him reusable can lead to some good reuse of instants (Like Gitaxian probe, which may see more play in U/W now that preordain is rotating, or even Visions of Beyond if the graveyard theme becomes prominent to the point it could reliably get 3 cards late game). Because you would already be running Sun Titans for Splicers/Images/ Tumbles/(even swords if you want) you can even get him back just for an extra beater/blocker or flashback reuse if you don't have Venser out. Imaging him would allow you to reuse a sorcery mana and basicly act as a 2nd mage without the flash incase of a needed clutch ponder or day etc incase he stays on the field too long. But yeah the fact Snapcaster can also make Vensers ultimate even more powerful by exiling cards with sorcery and instant reuse makes him even more win.
Long story short though i think CawBlade will die (For real this time) and more traditional U/W control lists will come up as well as Venser Decks(which already started seeing play prior to Neo-Cawblade)
Edit:
@ Lenny i like the idea and good points, but i feel Gitaxian probe will work much better then Divination in that list for the simple fact of Snapcaster mage being able to reuse it with Venser,Sun Titan or image, drawing 1 card for 1 mana is solid but being able to check out your opponents hand is awesome and a huge advantage and the fact he can abuse it well is great (Being able to have to option to pay the 2 life instead of mana can be very useful as well, for example you could Gitaxian first turn then snapcaster turn 2 for Gitaxian again) I Like Disperse there, replaces Into the roil somewhat in its utility. I am not sold on Mind shrieker, or even invisible stalker for that matter, shrieker is too mana intensive and random to use his ability to good use and Stalker is kinda useless without a sword i feel and neither gives you what Squawks did and that is CA, i like Blade splicer over those two because it gives pseudo CA and two bodies for swords and is a threat/ solid defender even with out them. I feel that sword is a must have using those two creatures to be a viable threat while even in caw blade now they aren't really that needed to win, plus splicer owns Hero of Oxid Ridge which is seeing a lot of play now due to timely plus it can be abused with Phantasmal or Venser and having Venser make ALL your guys unblockable is the best evasion for a sword to get through albeit expensive.
Squadron Hawk
Invisible Stalker looks to be the hivemind's popular vote that this is the next level of the deck.
Celestial Colonnade
Seeing as Inkmoth Nexus is the only man land we'll have left I think the deck is going to up the count to a full playset, but most already run three so we have three land slots left open.
Tectonic Edge
Ghost Quarters doesn't really fill out the same slot as it doesn't trade one for one with the non-basic in the standard format as they will have basics to just fetch up with its use. Still the disruption is still there as the other player will lose a dual land and even have to give you a tell as to which color they need more.
Spell Pierce
I would say we could just run Mental Misstep main deck or hope for at least a functional reprint in the next set. If we do end up with Mental Misstep main it would be an easy card to side out in bad matches for more focused hate. I think we need to wait and see what comes out in the spoilers for the replacement here.
Preordain
Let's face it everyone is going to wish this card was reprinted once we go back to using Ponder. Sure we can dig one more with it, but shuffle effects make this read "Sorry you can't find what you need. Would you like to try to top deck it?"
Into the Roil
Either way we are going to lose the card draw but depending on the meta we have a choice of either Disperse or if it artifact heavy then we can run Steel Sabotage.
Thoughts?
Hey Trolls, I write magic articles. If you want something to bash on check them out here. http://www.examiner.com/user-jeffrey-carmichael
This isn't to say that we've seen the last of the swords. I think "blade" decks might find a home, however... can it really be caw-blade without the "Caw"?
:symg::symu::symb: Vorosh
:symw::symu::symg: Phelddagrif
:symw::symu::symg: Jenara
:symu::symu::symu: Azami
:symb::symu::symb:DePietro
:symg::symb::symg:Savra
UThada Adel AcquisitorU
GB Savara, Queen of the Golgori BG
GR Ulasht, the Hate Seed RG
RIP Mike McArtor. The Mothership won't be the same.
Legacy
GG Aggro Elves GG
Invisible Stalker doesn't come remotely close to replacing the Hawk. You could mull to 5, and if you had a Hawk in hand, you were easily back in the game. The same cannot be said for Stalker.
Check out http://www.mtgbrodeals.com/author/john-murphy/ for my EDH articles!
And really the cards ive seen so far don't impress me. Invisible Stalker far too weak without a sword and Mindshrieker doesn't look that good to me. I mean sure its got that neat pump effect but u can't control it u have to leave up mana instead of curving out. Not to mention unlike Squad Hawk, it dies in a one for one trade
The point is after we see the full card list start thinking of some original decks because 3 of the 5 most popular decks right now wont be possible. Caw blade dead, Valakut dead and Splinter twin dead.
I do believe a more traditional Draw Go will develop post rotation, Day of Judgement, Gideon, Timely Reinforcements are all still game.
Squadron Hawk
With this gone we lose the name of the deck because it will no longer have any birds that don't even make a caw sound. Also the deck loses the ability to bounce back from having to go to six or five cards. It also loses the ability to chump block turns 2-5 with ease.
Invisible Stalker
Has protection from removal and can't be blocked. This blanks all of reds answers and about half of blacks. Downside is that you don't get four of them and you are wide open to attacks until it has a sword to change the game back into your favor.
Speaking of the swords. Do people think that the Feast and Famine is going to stay the go to sword?
Feast and Famine gives us ramp and card advantage.
War and Peace helps us get ahead on life in the race. Without the squadron of hawks to block would this sword replace the void that not having the extra blockers?
Body and Mind now gets some room to play now that the anti-mill eldrazi lords are out of the standard card pool. As stated above this could lead to a werewolf-blade deck and with the scars and m10 duals would this deck use the established white half of caw-blade's control cards? Also, could Body and Mind replace the fetch ablity of the hawks with token wolves.
I'm fully willing to admit that the Caw-Go core of the deck is going to be gone, but the control shell and the blades are still here along with the Hero-blade token makers package. Hero of the Meek could even replace the Blade Splicers and just draw off the tokens made by Hero of Bladehold if we keep to having Feast and Famine in the deck to let us draw two on turn five plus.
Hey Trolls, I write magic articles. If you want something to bash on check them out here. http://www.examiner.com/user-jeffrey-carmichael
This. Basically. Literally. Just look at the naming of the decks, they need those specific cards for them to work.
Now, the most viable thing to do is to tinker ideas that would/might fit the next meta. This is because, we already have Tempered Steel ready, and as well as WW/Puresteel. Plus, as someone mentioned, artifact removal is the best route for now.
Why not?
Tempered Steel will still see play.
WW/Puresteel will see play.
Pod will see play.
Kuldotha Red will see play.
Most of those decks rely on artifacts quite heavily, and can also add artifact removal very easily. I think the best deck will be one with no/few artifacts to make your opponents spells useless while packing some removal of its own.
[[b]B]DCI Level 2 Judge[/B][/b]From the ashes a new UW shell will form. It will likely sub in Invisible Stalkers for Hawks, An extra Inkmoth (for 4 total), and potentially something from Innistrad if blue gets tossed a bone. I can see potential in Mentor via the Hero of Blade Hold, but that seems a little too win-more to me.
Zomblade.
Here's a list I have written down for now, given what we know about the set so far:
4 Mindshrieker
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Phantasmal Image
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Sun Titan
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Gideon Jura
2 Day of Judgment
2 Dismember
3 Disperse
2 Divination
4 Mana Leak
2 Cancel
4 Ponder
2 Oblivion Ring
Artifacts (2)
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
Lands (26)
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Seachrome Coast
7 Plains
7 Island
4 Inkmoth Nexus
This list is an attempt to play a similar tempo game to that of caw-blade, but it's missing the engine of efficient card draw engines such as squadron hawks and jace beleren. After rotation, cawblade loses celestial colonnade, squadron hawks, preordain, spell pierce, into the roil and jace beleren, which were components of the basic shell of the deck. Given these losses, there are a few cards in innistrad that can either substitute or change the direction of the deck.
Early to Mid-game Threats: Invisible Stalker Vs. Mindshrieker
Squadron hawks were good because of its effective cost as a creature and its tutor ability. Post-rotation, mindshrieker is a likely candidate to be another sword carrier, but it cannot fully replicate squadron hawk's previous role. I personally see mindshrieker as a better sword carrier overall instead of invisible stalker because one of squadron hawk's best functions was to lure out removal.
Invisible stalker's hexproof is likely more of a curse than it is a blessing when it comes to standard play. Yes, this card can blank removal and can let you get away with a sword equip. What does it do on its own that helps you win or change the pace of the game? You need the sword for this card to really be scary. Even then, the sword can be targeted. Even though squadron hawks could be targeted by removal, at least it did something relevant by resolving. Equipping a sword is basically paying two mana for making your opponent discard (they'd be using removal on your hawk or sword). It didn't necessarily need the sword to make an impact on the game, though. Invisible stalker, while I really like its flavor, is really just a run of the mill 1/1 dude until you add stuff to him.
Mindshrieker, on the other hand, is still an evasive 1/1 dude, but it doesn't have the same reliance as invisible stalker. When you compare this to squadron hawk, it's really just a blue version of hawk without the tutor. With or without the sword, this creature will demand removal from its chance to pump and/or its chance to hit relevant resources off your opponent's deck. If your opponent is not running snapcaster mage, their flashback cards give your mana leak more value because they have to pay more for their spells. The mill ability of this card seems expensive early game, but late game, you can do it once or twice at opportune times of the game with counter/reactive spell backup and turn it into a threat and/or bait before you drop something better like hero of bladehold or gideon. I don't consider this guy as a finisher, but it has the potential to be a mid-game threat as a sword wielder and as a creature with a deadly ability.
A New Engine -- Tiago Chan's Invitational Card: Snapcaster Mage
As I mentioned earlier, cawblade is losing a lot of its best spells, but in exchange, Innistrad is giving the deck snapcaster mage, which essentially has a lot of ways to help you recycle your usable spells. At first glance, one may think this is one of those "cute" cards. I had to convince myself to realize its potential.
The deck runs 19 instants/sorceries, which is almost 1/3 of the entire deck. Snapcaster mage essentially twincasts those spells with a different time restriction. For example, if you counter a spell with mana leak early in the game, snapcaster mage can let you do it again when you have at least 2UU later in the game. If you have five lands (at least 2UUU out, you could cast snapcaster mage on a ponder in your graveyard to help filter out your upcoming draws, leaving you with enough mana to present mana leak, whether or not you have it. This is just the basic use of this card.
Snapcaster mage also has synergy with other parts of the deck. Imagine recurring this card with sun titan. Granted, you won't be able to do anything productive with snapcaster mage when sun titan enters the battlefield when you tap out for 6, but on the swinging turns, snapcaster mage is making your graveyard an extension of your hand for a short period of time.
Snapcaster mage also has synergy with phantasmal image. The image costs the exact same amount of mana as the mage, but its only limitation is that it has to be played during your turn. Still, copying the mage is another option that you have when using image. Later, when it dies, you could recur it with sun titan, copying snapcaster mage for more flashback shenanigans (if making it a titan isn't fun enough already :tongue:).
While snapcaster mage has a powerful effect, it's not a card you would run more than 2-3 of unless your deck is solely based on instants and sorceries. For now, I'm going to test 2 in the maindeck once I get them because it's not necessary to have many of them, but it does provide the deck another engine to make it powerful.
Conclusions
Although the deck is no longer cawblade, it may have the potential to be a strong deck in the upcoming Innistrad metagame for standard. It's only losing part of its shell as some of it can be slightly substituted (i.e. disperse can take into the roil's place). The other decks that will exist are still unknown, and there is still an entire set to be revealed as I write this, so there's no definite answer yet. However, this is still the time to be brainstorming ideas in preparation for what may come. These are just my views on u/w blade options based on what we know so far. I've always played a u/w control archetype since I got back into magic around lorwyn-shards of alara standard, so I will continue to pursue this archetype until it is proven to be completely weak against the metagame.
MTG Rules Advisor
Standard
UW UW Control
B MBC (developing)
Legacy
WUG Bant
Long story short though i think CawBlade will die (For real this time) and more traditional U/W control lists will come up as well as Venser Decks(which already started seeing play prior to Neo-Cawblade)
Edit:
@ Lenny i like the idea and good points, but i feel Gitaxian probe will work much better then Divination in that list for the simple fact of Snapcaster mage being able to reuse it with Venser,Sun Titan or image, drawing 1 card for 1 mana is solid but being able to check out your opponents hand is awesome and a huge advantage and the fact he can abuse it well is great (Being able to have to option to pay the 2 life instead of mana can be very useful as well, for example you could Gitaxian first turn then snapcaster turn 2 for Gitaxian again) I Like Disperse there, replaces Into the roil somewhat in its utility. I am not sold on Mind shrieker, or even invisible stalker for that matter, shrieker is too mana intensive and random to use his ability to good use and Stalker is kinda useless without a sword i feel and neither gives you what Squawks did and that is CA, i like Blade splicer over those two because it gives pseudo CA and two bodies for swords and is a threat/ solid defender even with out them. I feel that sword is a must have using those two creatures to be a viable threat while even in caw blade now they aren't really that needed to win, plus splicer owns Hero of Oxid Ridge which is seeing a lot of play now due to timely plus it can be abused with Phantasmal or Venser and having Venser make ALL your guys unblockable is the best evasion for a sword to get through albeit expensive.
Standard:
BWU Esper Superfriends BWU
UR UR Delver UR
GRW Naya POD GRW
Modern:
UR Storm UR
Melira POD (In progress)
EDH :
RBW Kaalia Of The Vast RBW