I went 2-2 last night with my Blue Abzan list. I decided to take a slightly tweaked version of my sideboard based on both TBuzzsaw's input and a bit of a gut feeling.
I lost my first two rounds thanks to mana flood and not drawing any interaction. It was super odd, but that's the way it goes I suppose.
The next two rounds I crushed it, winning both decisively. At this point I'm not sure if I'd make any changes to the main board. The deck feels really powerful since going Abzan based.
As for the changes: Dispel was a great addition to the sideboard and came in almost every game. It was just simply a great tempo play and took care of anything I needed to be concerned about.
Naturalize was added in last minute just to have an answer to enchantments. This probably should be Dromoka's command, but it is what I had to work with. Came across a Hardened Scales build last night, so I was very happy to at least have something.
I played a version of the Abzan Megamorph deck at FNM in a 21-player, five round tournament and won, going 5-0 (2-0, 2-0, 2-0, 2-1, 2-0).
The deck was incomplete as silkwraps and 2 x Gideon had not arrived in the post and I was forced to play a motley assortment of not enough fetch lands (4 x heath, 1 x foothills, 1 x polluted delta and a bloodstained mire) supporting tango lands and manlands in order to reduce but not minimise the number of CITP tapped lands. So, this was not an optimal build.
Across all five matches, some themes emerged:
I played against one mid-range and four aggro decks, three of which utilised allies, rally, prowess and/or reknown. In each case, the aggro opponent sought to establish a superior creature-based presence in the first three or four turns and overwhelm me. I never faced red or blue. Accomplished control players were present, but kept losing to aggro decks, sometimes piloted by less experienced opponents.
In each match, the longer the game went, the greater my chances of winning became. This was down to the recursion effects from the megamorph suite and the late game bombs of 2 x wingmate roc and 2 x nissa. 3 x Shambling Vents were useful contributors but never really became game changers, except when I had planar outburst played against me and they could stall and chip away until I could recurse megamorphs.
My one game loss occurred against a mono-white horde when I could not present an adequate defence in the early turns.
No one had exile effect cards for my hangarback walkers or megamorph creatures except the mid-range opponent who made the mistake of wasting abzan charms against my rhinos.
Forced to play 2 x Sorin and 1 x Gideon main deck, I found Sorin's lifelink and +1/+0 more useful than any other Planeswalker ability owing to how often I was forced into the early defensive role. Now thinking about sticking with this mix and a second gideon in the sideboard for slower match-ups.
Anafenza's value remains solid. I was playing two copies main deck and she seriously stalled the aggro decks she faced, coming down on turn three as a 4/4. In aggressive mode, her synergy with the other creatures, especially face-up den protector and walker is splendid.
Opponents actually groaned when I played a warden on turn 1, which wasn't often enough as I only had two main deck and a third in the side. In future, once I've fixed the mana with more fetch lands, I'll play four in the 75.
When sideboarding, I actually found myself routinely taking out a copy of rhino, a roc (sometimes both)in order to bring in more cheap removal and the third warden. Didn't face any red or true control so hand disruption, the dragonlord and surge of righteousness never entered the 60. Tragic Arrogance was super impactive, particularly in the second game of the final match in which, I was at 11 life and the opposition on 4 but threatening to overrun, it took out an archangel of tithes, a seeker of the ways and a monastery mentor to leave a solitary monk token facing my (suddenly unblockable) 3/2 den protector and a thopter token. Attack for exactly lethal damage, the match and the tournament followed.
2 x Nissa were useful mana fixing and did flip once, but also attracted more removal spells than proportionate to the threat she actually presented. Given that den protector can bring her back from the graveyard after the seven land threshold has been reached, I'd say she continues to justify her place.
Firstly I got to quickly put this together bout 10 mins before the FNM due to getting the kolaghan's commands. I played against Landfall aggro (a temur battle rage vareint), a void winnower eldrazi control deck, jeskai token/control, and then a jank deck.
Here are the main points I have noticed (and yes I know there is some stuff to fix, some low drop and sideboard issues)
- Kolaghan's Command is stupidly good in this deck. It gives such a huge leg up on the jace stuff that it isn't funny. Also opponent end step playing or responding to some of the white removal and nuking your own hangarback walker is amazing, and won 3 games that night. (one game I end step T5 blew up my 12 counter hangar back and needless to say that won the game with ease). The hand disruption and spot damage came in handy against control as well (I killed an ugin this way). IMHO the splash of red to gain access to this card fills a major hole in the previous abzan stratagem and gives it a ton of flexibility.
-splashing a slight splash color. It is beyond easy, we already run most of the detches already and can play 1 or 2 tangolands and be perfectly fine.
-Woodland Wanderer is amazing to drop it one T4 with it being a 6/6 or 7/7, but it almost immeadiatly ate removal. Good purpose but might swap them for anafenza's after all and toss them in the side
-I have sung the praises of hardened scales before, but it is truly amazing. T1 scales, t2 hangarback, t3 kolg com or managorger is brutal
-managorger hydra is something that jeskai is having a very hard time dealing with. If he gets pumping they really can only hope for a slim answer. with scales his clock speeds up immeansly
- I want more Dromoka's command but also want the other removal. I am not sure what the ultimate balance should be.
-Planar outburst is great, and using it on its awaken has won several games for me already
-languish is still amazing with rhino, and with aggro being a bit favored right now it is a great counter (and GW really does not like it either)
______________________________
Spots that I need some other insight with
- aggro is still my worst match-up, and shoring that up is still a chief concern
- Sideboard needs help, but I am still unsure what is the best focus for disruption.
I've been testing and trying to figure out how best to do this list - from 4 color to 5 color to pure abzan and eventually I think this is the list that's giving me the best chance at game day.
I'm not convinced that transgress the mind is the correct maindeck card, but being able to exile things jace likes to flash back like ojutai's command, bring to light and [card]dig thru time[/spoiler] has me keeping it there. duress or despise could be slotted in if circumstances change. Stasis Snare is also a question mark opposed to silkwrap, but flash I think is more than worth the extra mana.
Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Despite being mana screwed during both the standard and modern section of the $1k today, I still managed to play over a dozen games against GW Megamorph, Dark Jeskai, Abzan Aristocrats, and Naya Ramp on the side for fun.
GW Megamorph:
Anafenza blows them away. The fact that I kept utilizing Den Protector to bring back my black removals was back breaking to them. Never dropped a game out of five games I played, two games with maindeck and three sideboarded.
Dark Jeskai:
Won 2 out of 3. The first game I was stuck on three lands but with a hand full of answers with Warden and an Anafenza. Silkwraps and Commands took care of him. Game two I flooded. Game three was a lot closer where I was facing down two Mantis Riders, but Sorin really help even the game. Crackling Doom was seen twice, but eventually I got Dromoka out followed by two Commands with a Den Protector swung the favor to me.
Aristocrats:
Played two games. Long story short, Ana hit the board turn 3 both games, but only once did she eat removal. However it was followed up with Den Protector to bring her back in that game.
Naya Ramp:
This was the one I feared, but I still got 2 out of 3. I flooded out the first game but lucky for me a Warden was left unchecked and even trumped Dromoka. The whole time I was waiting for a removal for it but it never came. Carefully played Charms took care of Atarka and a second Dromoka. Game two I was not as lucky as he was hitting his removals against my creatures while curving Dromoka into Atarka. Game three I put some pressure with Warden > Ana > Rhino. Ana was the only one left standing but a Transgress the Mind took care of a Dromoka about to come down. Meanwhile a Den Protector flips and gets it back to take the Ugin. Stripping his hands of win cons while Anafenza and two Den Protectors put a beating.
- Anafenza needs to be back in the 60, can't stress that enough.
- Silkwrap is a mainboard card for sure.
- Sorin in the main really helps in the Jeskai match ups. I love Gideon but the style of the aggro deck prefers Sorin.
- The removal package in the 75 is just about perfect for the current meta. Of course things might change again by next week.
hello friend i am friendly of bant megamorph player to give of advice to brother in abzan of colors.
playing against anafenza feels like losing the breakup, you try to do your thing and you think it's all cool and then she shows up and just hoses everything you're doing and you're just like "well... *****"
like i honestly have to skew my removal suite massively toward dealing with her postboard (full set of silkwraps, as many stances as i'm packing, take out dromoka's command) and sometimes you still just have to bite the bullet and let a raptor be exiled to trade with her. den protector looping her back is devastating. i miss glare of heresy ;_;
i'm surprised people were even cutting her... do not do this. exile is SO RELEVANT against SO MANY THINGS IN STANDARD right now and she is the best source of it in the format, bar none. not to mention that curving into her with heir of the wilds (I'M SO SORRY I TALKED ***** ABOUT U) feels like getting beat down by the last format's lion -> ana curve... except worse b/c you can't just put a big dude on the "lion" thanks to deathtouch. sure, it gets drastically worse if they have removal for ana right away, but let's be real, we're not going to have it.
It seems like what most folks were running minus the two drops. Without good two mana removal, this deck feels like a lot of its draws are just not resulting in turn two plays, but maybe that's fine in this format going forward.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
One of these day I have to get myself organizized.
So I’m planning on running a variant of Abzan Control based on Bradley’s Carpenter’s deck from SCG Indianapolis for game day, only with a couple of changes:
However I have a couple of questions towards developing the sideboard and about deck construction in general:
Is Anafenza only for aggro or midrange decks? Or does it not feel out of place in a control deck? The reason why I ask is because I might consider replacing Tasigur and maybe some Nissas for Anafenza.
I am also considering running a few Hangarback Walkers in place of the Tasigur replacement. How many should I be running at least for a control deck? All 4? Or will two be a good enough number? Another possible candidate is Ob Nixilis. How has he worked out in general? I don't have a full set of Hangarback Walkers or Deathmist Raptors, so the megamorph combo is currently out of the question right now.
In the original sideboard, I can understand the purposes for having Arashin Cleric, Utter End, Duress, Painful Truths, and Transgress the Mind in the sideboard and when these generally go in. However, I don’t really understand what matchups Greenwarden of Murasa and Hidden Dragonslayer were for. Were they specifically for the Eldrazi matchups? Or were they for some other purposes?
For dealing with GW Megamorph decks, what are the best sideboard cards for this matchup? So far, I’ve heard of Silkwrap and Self-Inflicted Wound, but are there any other cards that I should be aware of?
What decks is Surge of Righteousness good towards besides Atarka Red? Or is Atarka Red the only deck that Surge of Righteousness is good against?
So I’m planning on running a variant of Abzan Control based on Bradley’s Carpenter’s deck from SCG Indianapolis for game day, only with a couple of changes:
However I have a couple of questions towards developing the sideboard and about deck construction in general:
Is Anafenza only for aggro or midrange decks? Or does it not feel out of place in a control deck? The reason why I ask is because I might consider replacing Tasigur and maybe some Nissas for Anafenza.
I am also considering running a few Hangarback Walkers in place of the Tasigur replacement. How many should I be running at least for a control deck? All 4? Or will two be a good enough number? Another possible candidate is Ob Nixilis. How has he worked out in general? I don't have a full set of Hangarback Walkers or Deathmist Raptors, so the megamorph combo is currently out of the question right now.
In the original sideboard, I can understand the purposes for having Arashin Cleric, Utter End, Duress, Painful Truths, and Transgress the Mind in the sideboard and when these generally go in. However, I don’t really understand what matchups Greenwarden of Murasa and Hidden Dragonslayer were for. Were they specifically for the Eldrazi matchups? Or were they for some other purposes?
For dealing with GW Megamorph decks, what are the best sideboard cards for this matchup? So far, I’ve heard of Silkwrap and Self-Inflicted Wound, but are there any other cards that I should be aware of?
What decks is Surge of Righteousness good towards besides Atarka Red? Or is Atarka Red the only deck that Surge of Righteousness is good against?
Thanks to anyone who responds to these questions.
1. Anafenza is more aggro. I wouldn't bother with control.
2. Hangarback is a great card for early blockers but isn't 100% necessary in control, but it does help with the curve. Ob Nix is a good card, but I personally think is a one of in the side at the moment.
3. Greenwarden isn't that great IMO. It was used for grindy matches but you have Den Protector already. Dragonslayer was good for its namekeep: dragon decks. An added bonus was its lifelink against red/aggro.
4. Complete Disregard is another great card against Megamorph. Utter End and Ugin also.
5. Surge also beats dragon decks, along with Dark Jeskai's Mantis Rider and Tasigur (or their dragons if they go that route).
Thanks for the replies. So after initial visualizing of the deck, I made a couple of other adjustments and established a tentative sideboard for the deck.
Below are the tentative sideboard plans for a number of the deck types in the meta:
Atarka Red:
-2 Silkwrap
-3 Ruinous Path
-1 Tasigur
+3 Surge of Righteousness
+2 Hidden Dragonslayer
+1 Ob Nixilis, Reignited
Dark Jeskai:
-2 Silkwrap
-2 Despise
+2 Duress
+2 Utter End
I am not sure if Languish should stay in the maindeck, but it seems to deal with the majority of their creatures except Tasigur.
Jeskai Tokens:
-2 Ultimate Price
-2 Despise
-2 Silkwrap
+2 Utter End
+2 Duress
+2 Virulent Plague
Green-White Megamorph:
-1 Tasigur
-2 Ultimate Price
-3 Languish
+2 Utter End
+2 Transgress the Mind
+1 Silkwrap
+1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
Abzan Aggro/Control:
-1 Tasigur
-2 Ultimate Price
-3 Languish
+2 Utter End
+1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
+1 Silkwrap
+2 Transgress the Mind
Esper Dragons:
-2 Silkwrap
-3 Languish
-2 Ultimate Price
+2 Hidden Dragonslayer
+2 Duress
+2 Transgress the Mind
+1 Utter End
This will be a tricky matchup, especially if they manage to place a Silumgar, the Drifiing Death on the field.
Any comments towards the above sideboard strategies, especially any gaping holes towards any other decks that I might have missed, are highly appreciated.
Just decided to buy back into standard. Went 4-0 twice with a heavy control variant of abzan until all of Atarka red/landfall decks started hitting and Aristocutthroat decks. Ugin and Dromoka came out in favor of stuff like Sorin and Silkwrap to deal with those stupid decks. Im liking this aggro variant right now. Sorin comes in against about anything and should probably be mainboard. Dromoka, transgress and ob are great in the mirror or against control like most have said. Im swapping in bloodstained mires to go red if the meta switches to esper dragons for crackling dooms. Im still undecided on whether or not to mainboard wingmate rocs. I will if the meta goes back to Abzan vs Abzan.
I'm not going to be back home until Wednesday evening, and I'm not really wanting to do a major update to the first post until I get back. Just giving everyone a heads up that it'll get done at some point soon.
It's good to see Abzan do well at the PT. The two big takeaways that I had after seeing Takimura pilot the deck is:
1) the mana base needed some work; Sandsteppe Citadel wasn't the right solution in the early post-rotation builds and
2) The old Abzan creature base is still great.
I've got all the pieces for an Abzan deck, and all of the pieces for an Atarka Red deck, but I think I'm going to play G/W Megamorph for a while since I have all of the pieces for that too (most of them are the same as Abzan). Over the course of this standard season at my local FNMs, I'll probably switch between Abzan and G/W MM so I don't get too predictable. Going to sit on my Atarka Red deck until Oath comes out to see what burn spells come out... I'd much rather play a red deck that is more burn based - combo red seems too one-dimensional.
While Abzan took home the prize, G/W Megamorph had the best constructed record. It was interesting seeing the tournament play out and abzan "sneak" through fairly unnoticed. I still think there is plenty to experiment with, but the "aggro" builds seem to be top of the heap overall. I was hoping to peak at some of the Blue Abzan lists, but it appears they didn't fair well enough in constructed to warrant a published decklist yet.
I think he talked about it in the Quarter Finals vs Martin Muller, but that is the only one time they actually talked to him about the SB specifically. IIRC, the semis and the finals were just showing what he had available with the commentators speculating on what would or wouldn't be good to bring in.
yes, I watched that but he didn't mention the transgress the mind and the matchup for that.
You're going to have to be more specific about what matchups you want to know how to sideboard for. And without perfect knowledge, the most that could be offered to you would be assumptions.
I've been looking at these PT lists and struggling to come up with the right configuration of mana sources. The balance between fetches, battlelands, and basics is tricky. Currently, I think running four Shambling Vents is fine; there was one list with Citadel in that slot, but I don't think our colors are that difficult enough to necessitate that and Vents is rather good as a beater.
4 Shambling Vents
In terms of battlelands, I think the minimum is an Sunken Hollow, Smoldering Marsh, and two Canopy Vista. And anymore like Prairie Stream or Cinder Glade are dictated by the fetches that you choose to run.
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
2 Canopy Vistas
Fetches are tricky. With a Stream and a Hollow, Polluted Delta would be able to grab everything but Green and Strand could grab green, black, or white. With a Marsh, Hollow, and Vista, then Foothills can grab white, black, or green and possibly a red splash that I'm not convinced is necessary. Etc on the other fetches. Currently, I'm looking at a less blue emphasis, because I want to be able to fetch green since Shambling Vents is making black and white.
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
The Bloodstained Mire operates as a source of black and a source of green off of a single Cinder Glade, but fails to find White. But it enables me to fetch basic swamp. Unsure if that is right and ultimately depends on if I stick with the fourth Gideon or not.
1 Cinder Glade
1 Swamp
2 Plains
2 Forest
The PT manabases aren't super clear as to how they are better than this configuration that I currently am hoping to run. I tried doing the math, but it surpassed my abilities to be all too precise about it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
One of these day I have to get myself organizized.
yes, I watched that but he didn't mention the transgress the mind and the matchup for that.
You're going to have to be more specific about what matchups you want to know how to sideboard for. And without perfect knowledge, the most that could be offered to you would be assumptions.
I've been looking at these PT lists and struggling to come up with the right configuration of mana sources. The balance between fetches, battlelands, and basics is tricky. Currently, I think running four Shambling Vents is fine; there was one list with Citadel in that slot, but I don't think our colors are that difficult enough to necessitate that and Vents is rather good as a beater.
4 Shambling Vents
In terms of battlelands, I think the minimum is an Sunken Hollow, Smoldering Marsh, and two Canopy Vista. And anymore like Prairie Stream or Cinder Glade are dictated by the fetches that you choose to run.
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
2 Canopy Vistas
Fetches are tricky. With a Stream and a Hollow, Polluted Delta would be able to grab everything but Green and Strand could grab green, black, or white. With a Marsh, Hollow, and Vista, then Foothills can grab white, black, or green and possibly a red splash that I'm not convinced is necessary. Etc on the other fetches. Currently, I'm looking at a less blue emphasis, because I want to be able to fetch green since Shambling Vents is making black and white.
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
The Bloodstained Mire operates as a source of black and a source of green off of a single Cinder Glade, but fails to find White. But it enables me to fetch basic swamp. Unsure if that is right and ultimately depends on if I stick with the fourth Gideon or not.
1 Cinder Glade
1 Swamp
2 Plains
2 Forest
The PT manabases aren't super clear as to how they are better than this configuration that I currently am hoping to run. I tried doing the math, but it surpassed my abilities to be all too precise about it.
I was running 12 fetches before the PT but is using bloodstained mire (similar to your logic for the black source only because im running 2 ruinous path) and my experience fetching basic swamp is not helpful since most of the fixing is making sure we have 2 white sources for wingmate and Gideon. I think the manabase of Takimura (since he doesn't have ruinous) should be the best so far.
Game 1 Dean vs. Takimura, Dean has an Abzan Charm. He's flooding out (barely) and Takimura has been missing land drops and it's clear that he has gas just sitting in his hand. When Takimura gets his 4th land for Rhino, he smashes one. Dean has an option, he can Abzan Charm it now and bash through with his ground crew (ally + Anafenza), he can do it later, or he can draw two right now. He doesn't draw two or charm the Rhino yet, but untaps and sees what he draws (another land, I think). Then he bashes, obviously holding up Abzan Charm. Takimura double blocks and, valuing the Abzan Charm Dean lets his ally get eaten. Takimura then bashes in with Rhino and Warden at Dean's Gideon and Dean fires off the Abzan Charm at the Rhino. Takimura then plays the second Rhino as Dean has 0 cards in hand. Dean is functionally done at this point.
Anyway, what do you think would've happened if when Takimura played his first Rhino, Dean had just drawn two with his Abzan Charm? Would he have been able to finish the game? Would the results be the same? Interested to hear your thoughts.
I lost my first two rounds thanks to mana flood and not drawing any interaction. It was super odd, but that's the way it goes I suppose.
The next two rounds I crushed it, winning both decisively. At this point I'm not sure if I'd make any changes to the main board. The deck feels really powerful since going Abzan based.
As for the changes:
Dispel was a great addition to the sideboard and came in almost every game. It was just simply a great tempo play and took care of anything I needed to be concerned about.
Naturalize was added in last minute just to have an answer to enchantments. This probably should be Dromoka's command, but it is what I had to work with. Came across a Hardened Scales build last night, so I was very happy to at least have something.
The deck was incomplete as silkwraps and 2 x Gideon had not arrived in the post and I was forced to play a motley assortment of not enough fetch lands (4 x heath, 1 x foothills, 1 x polluted delta and a bloodstained mire) supporting tango lands and manlands in order to reduce but not minimise the number of CITP tapped lands. So, this was not an optimal build.
Across all five matches, some themes emerged:
I played against one mid-range and four aggro decks, three of which utilised allies, rally, prowess and/or reknown. In each case, the aggro opponent sought to establish a superior creature-based presence in the first three or four turns and overwhelm me. I never faced red or blue. Accomplished control players were present, but kept losing to aggro decks, sometimes piloted by less experienced opponents.
In each match, the longer the game went, the greater my chances of winning became. This was down to the recursion effects from the megamorph suite and the late game bombs of 2 x wingmate roc and 2 x nissa. 3 x Shambling Vents were useful contributors but never really became game changers, except when I had planar outburst played against me and they could stall and chip away until I could recurse megamorphs.
My one game loss occurred against a mono-white horde when I could not present an adequate defence in the early turns.
No one had exile effect cards for my hangarback walkers or megamorph creatures except the mid-range opponent who made the mistake of wasting abzan charms against my rhinos.
Forced to play 2 x Sorin and 1 x Gideon main deck, I found Sorin's lifelink and +1/+0 more useful than any other Planeswalker ability owing to how often I was forced into the early defensive role. Now thinking about sticking with this mix and a second gideon in the sideboard for slower match-ups.
Anafenza's value remains solid. I was playing two copies main deck and she seriously stalled the aggro decks she faced, coming down on turn three as a 4/4. In aggressive mode, her synergy with the other creatures, especially face-up den protector and walker is splendid.
Opponents actually groaned when I played a warden on turn 1, which wasn't often enough as I only had two main deck and a third in the side. In future, once I've fixed the mana with more fetch lands, I'll play four in the 75.
When sideboarding, I actually found myself routinely taking out a copy of rhino, a roc (sometimes both)in order to bring in more cheap removal and the third warden. Didn't face any red or true control so hand disruption, the dragonlord and surge of righteousness never entered the 60. Tragic Arrogance was super impactive, particularly in the second game of the final match in which, I was at 11 life and the opposition on 4 but threatening to overrun, it took out an archangel of tithes, a seeker of the ways and a monastery mentor to leave a solitary monk token facing my (suddenly unblockable) 3/2 den protector and a thopter token. Attack for exactly lethal damage, the match and the tournament followed.
2 x Nissa were useful mana fixing and did flip once, but also attracted more removal spells than proportionate to the threat she actually presented. Given that den protector can bring her back from the graveyard after the seven land threshold has been reached, I'd say she continues to justify her place.
2 Woodland Wanderer
4 Hangarback Walker
3 Den Protector
4 Managorger Hydra
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Elvish Visionary
4 Siege Rhino
Spells
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Dromoka's Command
4 Kolaghan's Command
4 Hardened Scales
1 Languish
1 Planar Outburst
1 Ruinous Path
1 Shambling Vents
2 Llanowar Wastes
3 Caves of Kolios
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Cinder Glade
1 Canopy Vista
4 Forest
2 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
3 Blisterpod
1 Transgress the Mind
1 Duress
1 Stasis Snare
1 Dramoka's Command
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
2 Planar Outburst
1 Languish
2 Abzan Charm
Firstly I got to quickly put this together bout 10 mins before the FNM due to getting the kolaghan's commands. I played against Landfall aggro (a temur battle rage vareint), a void winnower eldrazi control deck, jeskai token/control, and then a jank deck.
Here are the main points I have noticed (and yes I know there is some stuff to fix, some low drop and sideboard issues)
- Kolaghan's Command is stupidly good in this deck. It gives such a huge leg up on the jace stuff that it isn't funny. Also opponent end step playing or responding to some of the white removal and nuking your own hangarback walker is amazing, and won 3 games that night. (one game I end step T5 blew up my 12 counter hangar back and needless to say that won the game with ease). The hand disruption and spot damage came in handy against control as well (I killed an ugin this way). IMHO the splash of red to gain access to this card fills a major hole in the previous abzan stratagem and gives it a ton of flexibility.
-splashing a slight splash color. It is beyond easy, we already run most of the detches already and can play 1 or 2 tangolands and be perfectly fine.
-Woodland Wanderer is amazing to drop it one T4 with it being a 6/6 or 7/7, but it almost immeadiatly ate removal. Good purpose but might swap them for anafenza's after all and toss them in the side
-I have sung the praises of hardened scales before, but it is truly amazing. T1 scales, t2 hangarback, t3 kolg com or managorger is brutal
-managorger hydra is something that jeskai is having a very hard time dealing with. If he gets pumping they really can only hope for a slim answer. with scales his clock speeds up immeansly
- I want more Dromoka's command but also want the other removal. I am not sure what the ultimate balance should be.
-Planar outburst is great, and using it on its awaken has won several games for me already
-languish is still amazing with rhino, and with aggro being a bit favored right now it is a great counter (and GW really does not like it either)
______________________________
Spots that I need some other insight with
- aggro is still my worst match-up, and shoring that up is still a chief concern
- Sideboard needs help, but I am still unsure what is the best focus for disruption.
3 Hangarback Walker
3 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Siege Rhino
1 Wingmate Roc
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
Spells (18)
2 Dromoka's Command
4 Transgress the Mind
3 Ruinous Path
4 Abzan Charm
2 Utter End
2 Languish
1 Murderous Cut
4 Windswept Heath
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Caves of Koilos
1 Shambling Vents
3 Canopy Vista
4 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Forest
3 Duress
3 Stasis Snare
2 Infinite Obliteration
2 Rakshasa Deathdealer
2 Ultimate Price
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Ruinous Path
1 End Hostilities
I'm not convinced that transgress the mind is the correct maindeck card, but being able to exile things jace likes to flash back like ojutai's command, bring to light and [card]dig thru time[/spoiler] has me keeping it there. duress or despise could be slotted in if circumstances change. Stasis Snare is also a question mark opposed to silkwrap, but flash I think is more than worth the extra mana.
Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
GW Megamorph:
Anafenza blows them away. The fact that I kept utilizing Den Protector to bring back my black removals was back breaking to them. Never dropped a game out of five games I played, two games with maindeck and three sideboarded.
Dark Jeskai:
Won 2 out of 3. The first game I was stuck on three lands but with a hand full of answers with Warden and an Anafenza. Silkwraps and Commands took care of him. Game two I flooded. Game three was a lot closer where I was facing down two Mantis Riders, but Sorin really help even the game. Crackling Doom was seen twice, but eventually I got Dromoka out followed by two Commands with a Den Protector swung the favor to me.
Aristocrats:
Played two games. Long story short, Ana hit the board turn 3 both games, but only once did she eat removal. However it was followed up with Den Protector to bring her back in that game.
Naya Ramp:
This was the one I feared, but I still got 2 out of 3. I flooded out the first game but lucky for me a Warden was left unchecked and even trumped Dromoka. The whole time I was waiting for a removal for it but it never came. Carefully played Charms took care of Atarka and a second Dromoka. Game two I was not as lucky as he was hitting his removals against my creatures while curving Dromoka into Atarka. Game three I put some pressure with Warden > Ana > Rhino. Ana was the only one left standing but a Transgress the Mind took care of a Dromoka about to come down. Meanwhile a Den Protector flips and gets it back to take the Ugin. Stripping his hands of win cons while Anafenza and two Den Protectors put a beating.
- Anafenza needs to be back in the 60, can't stress that enough.
- Silkwrap is a mainboard card for sure.
- Sorin in the main really helps in the Jeskai match ups. I love Gideon but the style of the aggro deck prefers Sorin.
- The removal package in the 75 is just about perfect for the current meta. Of course things might change again by next week.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
playing against anafenza feels like losing the breakup, you try to do your thing and you think it's all cool and then she shows up and just hoses everything you're doing and you're just like "well... *****"
like i honestly have to skew my removal suite massively toward dealing with her postboard (full set of silkwraps, as many stances as i'm packing, take out dromoka's command) and sometimes you still just have to bite the bullet and let a raptor be exiled to trade with her. den protector looping her back is devastating. i miss glare of heresy ;_;
i'm surprised people were even cutting her... do not do this. exile is SO RELEVANT against SO MANY THINGS IN STANDARD right now and she is the best source of it in the format, bar none. not to mention that curving into her with heir of the wilds (I'M SO SORRY I TALKED ***** ABOUT U) feels like getting beat down by the last format's lion -> ana curve... except worse b/c you can't just put a big dude on the "lion" thanks to deathtouch. sure, it gets drastically worse if they have removal for ana right away, but let's be real, we're not going to have it.
so yes play anafenza she is good and hard to beat
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB
4 Flooded Strand
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Shambling Vents
2 Canopy Vista
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
2 Llanowar Wastes
2 Plains
2 Forest
3 Hangarback Walker
4 Den Protector
4 Anafenza the Foremost
4 Siege Rhino
2 Wingmate Roc
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Abzan Charm
4 Dromoka's Command
1 Murderous Cut
1 Wingmate Roc
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3 Duress
2 Transgress the Mind
3 Silkwrap
1 Self-Inflicted Wound
2 Ultimate Price
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
It seems like what most folks were running minus the two drops. Without good two mana removal, this deck feels like a lot of its draws are just not resulting in turn two plays, but maybe that's fine in this format going forward.
-1 Gilt-Leaf Winnower
-1 Utter End
-1 Despise
+2 Silkwrap
+1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
So the maindeck looks like this:
1 Canopy Vista
4 Shambling Vent
4 Ruinous Path
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Languish
4 Den Protector
4 Siege Rhino
4 Abzan Charm
2 Silkwrap
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Scoured Barrens
2 Ultimate Price
2 Despise
3 Windswept Heath
3 Swamp
3 Forest
2 Plains
3 Llanowar Wastes
3 Caves of Koilos
However I have a couple of questions towards developing the sideboard and about deck construction in general:
Is Anafenza only for aggro or midrange decks? Or does it not feel out of place in a control deck? The reason why I ask is because I might consider replacing Tasigur and maybe some Nissas for Anafenza.
I am also considering running a few Hangarback Walkers in place of the Tasigur replacement. How many should I be running at least for a control deck? All 4? Or will two be a good enough number? Another possible candidate is Ob Nixilis. How has he worked out in general? I don't have a full set of Hangarback Walkers or Deathmist Raptors, so the megamorph combo is currently out of the question right now.
In the original sideboard, I can understand the purposes for having Arashin Cleric, Utter End, Duress, Painful Truths, and Transgress the Mind in the sideboard and when these generally go in. However, I don’t really understand what matchups Greenwarden of Murasa and Hidden Dragonslayer were for. Were they specifically for the Eldrazi matchups? Or were they for some other purposes?
For dealing with GW Megamorph decks, what are the best sideboard cards for this matchup? So far, I’ve heard of Silkwrap and Self-Inflicted Wound, but are there any other cards that I should be aware of?
What decks is Surge of Righteousness good towards besides Atarka Red? Or is Atarka Red the only deck that Surge of Righteousness is good against?
Thanks to anyone who responds to these questions.
1. Anafenza is more aggro. I wouldn't bother with control.
2. Hangarback is a great card for early blockers but isn't 100% necessary in control, but it does help with the curve. Ob Nix is a good card, but I personally think is a one of in the side at the moment.
3. Greenwarden isn't that great IMO. It was used for grindy matches but you have Den Protector already. Dragonslayer was good for its namekeep: dragon decks. An added bonus was its lifelink against red/aggro.
4. Complete Disregard is another great card against Megamorph. Utter End and Ugin also.
5. Surge also beats dragon decks, along with Dark Jeskai's Mantis Rider and Tasigur (or their dragons if they go that route).
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
4 Den Protector
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
4 Siege Rhino
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Enchantments:
2 Silkwrap
Instants:
4 Abzan Charm
2 Ultimate Price
Land:
1 Canopy Vista
3 Caves of Koilios
3 Forest
3 Llanowar Wastes
2 Plains
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Scoured Barrens
4 Shambling Vent
3 Swamp
3 Windswept Heath
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Sorceries:
3 Despise
3 Languish
3 Ruinous Path
2 Hidden Dragonslayer
1 Silkwrap
2 Virulent Plague
3 Surge of Righteousness
2 Utter End
1 Ob Nixilis Reiginited
2 Duress
2 Transgress the Mind
Below are the tentative sideboard plans for a number of the deck types in the meta:
Atarka Red:
-2 Silkwrap
-3 Ruinous Path
-1 Tasigur
+3 Surge of Righteousness
+2 Hidden Dragonslayer
+1 Ob Nixilis, Reignited
Dark Jeskai:
-2 Silkwrap
-2 Despise
+2 Duress
+2 Utter End
I am not sure if Languish should stay in the maindeck, but it seems to deal with the majority of their creatures except Tasigur.
Jeskai Tokens:
-2 Ultimate Price
-2 Despise
-2 Silkwrap
+2 Utter End
+2 Duress
+2 Virulent Plague
Green-White Megamorph:
-1 Tasigur
-2 Ultimate Price
-3 Languish
+2 Utter End
+2 Transgress the Mind
+1 Silkwrap
+1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
Abzan Aggro/Control:
-1 Tasigur
-2 Ultimate Price
-3 Languish
+2 Utter End
+1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
+1 Silkwrap
+2 Transgress the Mind
Esper Dragons:
-2 Silkwrap
-3 Languish
-2 Ultimate Price
+2 Hidden Dragonslayer
+2 Duress
+2 Transgress the Mind
+1 Utter End
This will be a tricky matchup, especially if they manage to place a Silumgar, the Drifiing Death on the field.
Any comments towards the above sideboard strategies, especially any gaping holes towards any other decks that I might have missed, are highly appreciated.
1x Bloodstained Mire
2x Canopy Vista
3x Flooded Strand
2x Forest
2x Llanowar Wastes
2x Plains
4x Shambling Vent
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Sunken Hollow
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Anafenza, the Foremost
4x Den Protector
3x Hangarback Walker
4x Siege Rhino
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Warden of the First Tree
Instant (7)
4x Abzan Charm
3x Dromoka's Command
Enchantment (3)
3x Silkwrap
Planeswalker (4)
4x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Dragonlord Dromoka
2x Ob Nixilis Reignited
3x Self-Inflicted Wound
2x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3x Surge of Righteousness
3x Transgress the Mind
Just decided to buy back into standard. Went 4-0 twice with a heavy control variant of abzan until all of Atarka red/landfall decks started hitting and Aristocutthroat decks. Ugin and Dromoka came out in favor of stuff like Sorin and Silkwrap to deal with those stupid decks. Im liking this aggro variant right now. Sorin comes in against about anything and should probably be mainboard. Dromoka, transgress and ob are great in the mirror or against control like most have said. Im swapping in bloodstained mires to go red if the meta switches to esper dragons for crackling dooms. Im still undecided on whether or not to mainboard wingmate rocs. I will if the meta goes back to Abzan vs Abzan.
Abzan vs Jeskai finals happening now.
Sad to say...
I've got all the pieces for an Abzan deck, and all of the pieces for an Atarka Red deck, but I think I'm going to play G/W Megamorph for a while since I have all of the pieces for that too (most of them are the same as Abzan). Over the course of this standard season at my local FNMs, I'll probably switch between Abzan and G/W MM so I don't get too predictable. Going to sit on my Atarka Red deck until Oath comes out to see what burn spells come out... I'd much rather play a red deck that is more burn based - combo red seems too one-dimensional.
I've been looking at these PT lists and struggling to come up with the right configuration of mana sources. The balance between fetches, battlelands, and basics is tricky. Currently, I think running four Shambling Vents is fine; there was one list with Citadel in that slot, but I don't think our colors are that difficult enough to necessitate that and Vents is rather good as a beater.
4 Shambling Vents
In terms of battlelands, I think the minimum is an Sunken Hollow, Smoldering Marsh, and two Canopy Vista. And anymore like Prairie Stream or Cinder Glade are dictated by the fetches that you choose to run.
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
2 Canopy Vistas
Fetches are tricky. With a Stream and a Hollow, Polluted Delta would be able to grab everything but Green and Strand could grab green, black, or white. With a Marsh, Hollow, and Vista, then Foothills can grab white, black, or green and possibly a red splash that I'm not convinced is necessary. Etc on the other fetches. Currently, I'm looking at a less blue emphasis, because I want to be able to fetch green since Shambling Vents is making black and white.
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
The Bloodstained Mire operates as a source of black and a source of green off of a single Cinder Glade, but fails to find White. But it enables me to fetch basic swamp. Unsure if that is right and ultimately depends on if I stick with the fourth Gideon or not.
1 Cinder Glade
1 Swamp
2 Plains
2 Forest
The PT manabases aren't super clear as to how they are better than this configuration that I currently am hoping to run. I tried doing the math, but it surpassed my abilities to be all too precise about it.
I was running 12 fetches before the PT but is using bloodstained mire (similar to your logic for the black source only because im running 2 ruinous path) and my experience fetching basic swamp is not helpful since most of the fixing is making sure we have 2 white sources for wingmate and Gideon. I think the manabase of Takimura (since he doesn't have ruinous) should be the best so far.
Game 1 Dean vs. Takimura, Dean has an Abzan Charm. He's flooding out (barely) and Takimura has been missing land drops and it's clear that he has gas just sitting in his hand. When Takimura gets his 4th land for Rhino, he smashes one. Dean has an option, he can Abzan Charm it now and bash through with his ground crew (ally + Anafenza), he can do it later, or he can draw two right now. He doesn't draw two or charm the Rhino yet, but untaps and sees what he draws (another land, I think). Then he bashes, obviously holding up Abzan Charm. Takimura double blocks and, valuing the Abzan Charm Dean lets his ally get eaten. Takimura then bashes in with Rhino and Warden at Dean's Gideon and Dean fires off the Abzan Charm at the Rhino. Takimura then plays the second Rhino as Dean has 0 cards in hand. Dean is functionally done at this point.
Anyway, what do you think would've happened if when Takimura played his first Rhino, Dean had just drawn two with his Abzan Charm? Would he have been able to finish the game? Would the results be the same? Interested to hear your thoughts.
I was actually backstage preparing sideboard notes for Paul's potential finals opponent, so I didn't even really get to see him play.
FWiW, I am fairly convinced that the Pantheon Jeskai deck is heavily favored vs all the abzan variants.
">Helping to Invent Thopter/Depths in Old Ext
Creator of the Magic Humor Videos:
The Vintage Metagame The Original