I didn't attend a prerelease, but I've been enjoying playing Arena. If anyone got a promo code from their prerelease pack, and you aren't going to use it, I'd be grateful if you shared it with me.
Here is a first version of Sultai Midrange that I've put together for the new standard. It seems that G/B midrange may be very popular due to Assassin's Trophy, but I want to play Sultai to have access to counterspells (mostly in the sideboard), and potentially some U/B creatures. My main concern is whether or not the manabase can support a deck like this without having access to Breeding Pool yet. It is important to have untapped green mana on turn 1, but you also need to have a sufficient number of blue sources.
There are a lot of options in the 3-drop slot. Those include cards like: Jadelight Ranger, Thrashing Brontodon, Midnight Reaper, Thief of Sanity, Ochran Assassin, and Deathgorge Scavenger. I think that main deck Deathgorge Scavenger may be very good in the new standard, due to the high number of graveyard themed cards that are being introduced. I want to try out Thief of Sanity, but it is another blue card that may have to wait for Breeding Pool before it can reliably be cast on turn 3.
I also want to try out some number of Chamber Sentry. It seems like it has potential in a 3 colour deck. With treasure tokens, it is even possible to use the recursion ability later in the game.
I am not sure whether this should be a Llanowar Elves deck or not, since it is less like the existing mono-G stompy decks. An alternative could be to play Adventurous Impulse in the 1-drop slot. This would help more with colour fixing.
As for the 3 copies of Treasure Map, it is one of my pet cards and I try to put it in almost any standard deck I make. I do think it works well in a midrange deck like this, though.
What are you thoughts on Sultai Midrange for GRN standard?
I've been playing a dinosaurs version of mono red on MTGO, and it's been doing pretty well. It runs Charging Monstrosaur and Burning Sun's Avatar. It uses Wily Goblin and Captain Lannery Storm to ramp into big threats. Both of these cards have been good. If the opponent is holding up a removal spell on turn 2, you can play Wily Goblin as your 2-drop and then they are forced to either do nothing or waste their removal on a 1/1 that already made a treasure for you. Captain Lannery Storm reminds me a lot of Goblin Rabblemaster sometimes, since she is a 3-drop 2/2 with haste that creates a token for you the turn she is played. This deck is good early and good late, being able to run both 1-drops and 6-drops. This deck is also nice because it is budget-friendly. It does not run Hazoret, Chandra, or Glorybringer. So far in friendly leagues on MTGO I have gone 4-1, 4-1, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2, and 5-0.
I know what I'm splashing red for. Go fiery cannonade and lightning rig Runner. They don't have an avacyn for idestructable, but the scarab god does a good impression. Really liking the way this deck is shaping up.
Both of those seem like completely horrible wastes of deck slots and mana
Oh, it's when you cast a pirate. Nevermind on the Lightning-Rig Crew, that's a complete fail on design. I was thinking if it was based on coming into play it would be free damage when bouncing things around and also block well. I'm still perplexed by people using Ruin Raider. It does two things that I wouldn't want to happen when playing tempo:
1) It reveals the card to the opponent, which is why I'm a little leery on Deadeye Tracker.
2) It's literally punching me in the face each turn I attack, and it probably will do 2-3 damage each time, maybe even 4 damage, and it's not even a "may" clause.
Based on this reasoning, do you also think Dark Confidant is bad? Also it would be figuratively punching you in the face, not literally
Instead of Crook of Condemnation you can run Scavenger Grounds. Also I think that Shock might be better in this deck than Lightning Strike. The G/R version doesn't really have a 1-drop other than Commune with Dinosaurs, and it always wants to have a ramp spell on turn 2. That means if you are against an aggressive deck you'll likely have to wait until turn 3 to play a lightning strike. You could also run Magma Spray, but I think Shock is more main deckable.
Well, we knew early on dinosaurs were gonna pushed in XLN. We just didn't know how hard. Now we kinda have an idea. As has been stated, many people see dinosaurs going in two directions: RW aggro and RG Ramp. I personally would like to see Naya dino deck going far combining the best synergies between the to. Here is my first (but not last) crack at the deck:
First off, I see a lot of people are running some graveyards hate land cards like Scavenger Grounds in your builds. Personally, I think this is a waste of time. Mono Black Zombies got neutered hard with SOI rotating out. And Mardu Vehicles won't be what it used to be without Gideon and Avacyn. So I think the correct response while the meta is developing is to go "all in" instead of weakening your manabases. What I mean is, concentrate on one powerful strategy, then fine tune your deck as the meta develops.
That being said, I went with a midrange/aggro strat. In many cases, I can get 4-5CMC big bodied dinos out as early as Turn 3. I'm also running a lot of card draw in place of removal MB so that I don't have to go into "topdeck mode" quite as much. With the Enrage mechanic, cards like Samut, the Tested becomes a powerful team player, and each of her abilities becomes useful. Huatli, Warrior Poet acts as backup, creating board stall, lifegain, and, when we're ready, a game ending alpha strike. My removal is reserved for the SB once I know what I'm up against. It's designed primarily to break the mirror, but should do well against other aggro, midrange, and tempo strats. Control is another story. I don't know how strong it will be, but I think our dino CMC reduction cards may allow us to out CA them.
God Pharaoh's gift decks are the reason to include graveyard hate, not zombies or vehicles.
Here's my adjusted list after some more playtesting. I think Hashep Oasis is a good include because compliments Carnage Tyrant pretty well. I tried out Pillar of Origins, but frequently ran in to situations where I wanted to use it for mana, but not to cast a Dinosaur. I'm trying Servant of the Conduit in its place now. I chose Servant over Channeler Initiate because the 2/2 body is much better than an 0/1 in the early game, and I figure that the 2 energy it provides might be enough to get all the ramping I need out of it.
I've continued to run into mirror matches where neither player can profitably attack, and it drags out into a long board stall, so I upped Key to the City from 1 to 2 in the sideboard. In a recent match the board was stalled for so long that I was able to ultimate both a Chandra and a Samut, and there was nothing my opponent could do about it. Also Samut continues to be an all-star for me in this deck.
I was thinking maybe Invigorated Rampage could be a good option. It can force a creature past one or two Ripjaw Raptors. It also gives trample at instant speed, so it makes it harder for decks to try and go wide. You can punish opponents for trying to chump block your giant dinos with 1/1 tokens.
In playesting, I've noticed that there tends to be a lot board stalls (whether in the mirror or other match-ups too). I'm looking for something that can be a mirror breaker or go way over the top. Right now the only thing I'm coming up with possibly using Key to the City to make your creatures unblockable.
is it possible we should look into Dinosaur Stampede in some number?
Dinosaur Stampede is interesting and might work. I think the main thing causing stalls is Ripjaw Raptor, because of its 5 toughness and everyone's reluctance to deal damage to it. Even if you get a turn 4 or 5 Regisaur Alpha, you still can't attack into a Ripjaw Raptor. You basically need to have a 6-drop, or a Savage Stomp before you can attack. With Dinosaur Stampede, if your opponent blocks they are going to lose their creatures, and if they don't block then then will just end up taking a big chunk of damage that will likely swing the game in your favour.
One thing I like about Key to the City is that you can run it mainboard if you want, since it isn't a dead card in any match-up.
In playesting, I've noticed that there tends to be a lot board stalls (whether in the mirror or other match-ups too). I'm looking for something that can be a mirror breaker or go way over the top. Right now the only thing I'm coming up with possibly using Key to the City to make your creatures unblockable.
Does Dovin Baan stand a chance in this deck? It's a card that I am curious about after rotation. It seems like control could potentially get a lot better, and for all the hate that Dovin gets, I still think he's pretty good.
I think either G/R or R/W is that way to go for dinosaurs. I'm not sure if the mana base for 3 colours is consistent enough. Here is the list I've been trying so far. I haven't really been a fan of Otepec Huntmaster. It seems awkward a lot of the time because it doesn't provide coloured mana and it also doesn't help you play non-dinosaur spells. I still want to play more than 4 mana creatures, so I'm playing Channeler Initiate in its place, because it's pretty much unconditional ramp (until you run out of -1/-1 counters), and it's also a beater later in the game. Samut the Tested has been good. The -2 to trigger your own enrage seems to be a real thing, and also giving double-strike to your large dinosaurs works well. I've been considering playing some number of Savage Stomp in the main deck, but it's hard to main a card that usually does nothing against control decks.
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Merfolk Branchwalker
4x Thorn Lieutenant
3x Deathgorge Scavenger
2x Thrashing Brontodon
2x Ravenous Chupacabra
3x Doom Whisperer
1x Carnage Tyrant
2x Assassin's Trophy
2x Cast Down
3x Vraska's Contempt
1x Status//Statue
Planeswalker (3)
1x Vivien Reid
2x Vraska, Relic Seeker
8x Forest
4x Overgrown Tomb
7x Swamp
4x Woodland Cemetery
Sorcery (2)
2x Adventurous Impulse
Artifact (3)
3x Treasure Map
Some of the cards are rotating, so you'll have to replace those, but there are some pretty good mono B cards in GRN. Midnight Reaper seems like it would be a nice one to include. The rotating cards are Dread Wanderer, Scrapheap Scrounger, Lord of the Accursed, Fatal Push, Liliana's Mastery, Desert of the Glorified, Ifnir Deadlands. Some in the sideboard rotate too.
3x Deathgorge Scavenger
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Merfolk Branchwalker
2x Midnight Reaper
2x Thief of Sanity
4x Thorn Lieutenant
2x Thrashing Brontodon
2x Doom Whisperer
1x Drowned Catacomb
6x Forest
2x Hinterland Harbor
4x Overgrown Tomb
2x Swamp
4x Watery Grave
4x Woodland Cemetery
3x Assassin's Trophy
2x Cast Down
1x Syncopate
1x status // statue
3x Vraska's Contempt
Planeswalker (3)
1x Vivien Reid
2x Vraska, Relic Seeker
3x Treasure Map
Here is a first version of Sultai Midrange that I've put together for the new standard. It seems that G/B midrange may be very popular due to Assassin's Trophy, but I want to play Sultai to have access to counterspells (mostly in the sideboard), and potentially some U/B creatures. My main concern is whether or not the manabase can support a deck like this without having access to Breeding Pool yet. It is important to have untapped green mana on turn 1, but you also need to have a sufficient number of blue sources.
There are a lot of options in the 3-drop slot. Those include cards like: Jadelight Ranger, Thrashing Brontodon, Midnight Reaper, Thief of Sanity, Ochran Assassin, and Deathgorge Scavenger. I think that main deck Deathgorge Scavenger may be very good in the new standard, due to the high number of graveyard themed cards that are being introduced. I want to try out Thief of Sanity, but it is another blue card that may have to wait for Breeding Pool before it can reliably be cast on turn 3.
I also want to try out some number of Chamber Sentry. It seems like it has potential in a 3 colour deck. With treasure tokens, it is even possible to use the recursion ability later in the game.
I am not sure whether this should be a Llanowar Elves deck or not, since it is less like the existing mono-G stompy decks. An alternative could be to play Adventurous Impulse in the 1-drop slot. This would help more with colour fixing.
Some other cards to consider are: Kraul Harpooner, Pelt Collector, Nullhide Ferox, Etrata, the Silencer, Thought Erasure, Kitesail Freebooter, Underrealm Lich, and Hostage Taker.
As for the 3 copies of Treasure Map, it is one of my pet cards and I try to put it in almost any standard deck I make. I do think it works well in a midrange deck like this, though.
What are you thoughts on Sultai Midrange for GRN standard?
4x Bomat Courier
3x Burning Sun's Avatar
3x Captain Lannery Storm
4x Charging Monstrosaur
4x Earthshaker Khenra
2x Pia Nalaar
4x Rampaging Ferocidon
4x Wily Goblin
17x Mountain
4x Ramunap Ruins
4x Sunscorched Desert
Instant (7)
4x Lightning Strike
3x Shock
3x Abrade
2x Chandra's Defeat
1x Destructive Tampering
1x Key to the City
3x Nest Robber
2x Puncturing Blow
2x Sand Strangler
1x Shock
Based on this reasoning, do you also think Dark Confidant is bad? Also it would be figuratively punching you in the face, not literally
God Pharaoh's gift decks are the reason to include graveyard hate, not zombies or vehicles.
I've continued to run into mirror matches where neither player can profitably attack, and it drags out into a long board stall, so I upped Key to the City from 1 to 2 in the sideboard. In a recent match the board was stalled for so long that I was able to ultimate both a Chandra and a Samut, and there was nothing my opponent could do about it. Also Samut continues to be an all-star for me in this deck.
3 Servant of the Conduit
3 Carnage Tyrant
4 Drover of the Mighty
4 Ranging Raptors
4 Regisaur Alpha
4 Ripjaw Raptor
// 5 Instant
3 Lightning Strike
2 Invigorated Rampage
// 23 Land
9 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Sheltered Thicket
2 Hashep Oasis
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Samut, the Tested
// 6 Sorcery
4 Commune with Dinosaurs
2 Savage Stomp
// 2 Artifact
2 Key to the City
4 Abrade
2 Magma Spray
// 2 Land
2 Scavenger Grounds
// 4 Sorcery
2 Sweltering Suns
2 Savage Stomp
Dinosaur Stampede is interesting and might work. I think the main thing causing stalls is Ripjaw Raptor, because of its 5 toughness and everyone's reluctance to deal damage to it. Even if you get a turn 4 or 5 Regisaur Alpha, you still can't attack into a Ripjaw Raptor. You basically need to have a 6-drop, or a Savage Stomp before you can attack. With Dinosaur Stampede, if your opponent blocks they are going to lose their creatures, and if they don't block then then will just end up taking a big chunk of damage that will likely swing the game in your favour.
One thing I like about Key to the City is that you can run it mainboard if you want, since it isn't a dead card in any match-up.
1x Burning Sun's Avatar
3x Carnage Tyrant
4x Channeler Initiate
4x Drover of the Mighty
4x Ranging Raptors
4x Regisaur Alpha
4x Ripjaw Raptor
5x Mountain
4x Rootbound Crag
4x Sheltered Thicket
3x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2x Samut, the Tested
4x Commune with Dinosaurs