I have to officially say I am loving this standard season.
So many decks being played, in different archetypes, and at least at the FNM level people are not scared of trying out new things.
I played at a standard event today with out 28 to 30 people, and the normal decks people see (GW aggro. GW midrange, Bant control, Bant midrange, esper control, Mono Red, Zombies, U/R tempo, and American Tempo) were all represented. But what really amazed me were some of the brews people were playing, that actually did pretty well.
The only deck to go 4-0 was an American Control deck who's win con was Milling with Jace memory adept and Nephalia Drownyard. The deck had some cards I have not seen played really often in this meta. The deck played
Another deck that went 3-1 was I kid you not a Touch of the Eternal/Sphere of Safety Deck, with the decks ONLY wincon was Nephalia Drownyard.
Deck had Touch of the Eternal, Abundant Growths, Mana Blooms, Sphere of Safety, D spheres, O rings. I watched the deck play two games and both games, multiple spheres were on the field, Touch of the Eternal on the field, 8 enchantments and 21 permanents. It literally locked out a Mono Red Deck (stabalizing at 3 life with mono red player not being able to draw a burn spell for 4 turns before a Witchbane Orb hit the field) and locked our an American Tempo deck top decking a second sphere of safety the turn before his opponent was going to swing with a piked up restoration angel for about 24 dmg.
I went 3-1 with a Mono Red Deck (losing to the mono red player that was locked out vs the Sphere of safety deck in the second round).
Does anyone else agree with me about this standard season.
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I disagree. The meta isn't fast enough (and zombies isn't a fun deck to play as). I wish tempered steel was still an archetype /crysinhiscorneroftemperedsteelsadness
THOUGH!!!!! The meta just has these ridiculous decks that make me very happy. So, wizards, you succeeded on one end
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I disagree. The meta isn't fast enough (and zombies isn't a fun deck to play as). I wish tempered steel was still an archetype /crysinhiscorneroftemperedsteelsadness
THOUGH!!!!! The meta just has these ridiculous decks that make me very happy. So, wizards, you succeeded on one end
The Meta is plenty fast enough. G/W humans can hill pretty damn fast, so could Mono Red. What makes the meta awesome is that there are decks that are great at mitigating those decks powers, but decks that are designed to beat fast aggro are getting beat by other decks.
Sphinx's Revelation is a good card without a doubt, but it is not a card that I hate playing against. Especially when I can reverbarate it. Let the red player gain life, and refuel with gas all for the cheap price of 2 red. Yes please.
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Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
Love is Emphatic, cards need to be played
Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
Yea, those are MTG Bars. What can I say, I am a dork
The Meta is plenty fast enough. G/W humans can hill pretty damn fast, so could Mono Red. What makes the meta awesome is that there are decks that are great at mitigating those decks powers, but decks that are designed to beat fast aggro are getting beat by other decks.
Sphinx's Revelation is a good card without a doubt, but it is not a card that I hate playing against. Especially when I can reverbarate it. Let the red player gain life, and refuel with gas all for the cheap price of 2 red. Yes please.
Id like to know what standard you play in.....
Sphinx is insane.
Reverberate is cool but its not really an option for most
The Meta is plenty fast enough. G/W humans can hill pretty damn fast, so could Mono Red. What makes the meta awesome is that there are decks that are great at mitigating those decks powers, but decks that are designed to beat fast aggro are getting beat by other decks.
Sphinx's Revelation is a good card without a doubt, but it is not a card that I hate playing against. Especially when I can reverbarate it. Let the red player gain life, and refuel with gas all for the cheap price of 2 red. Yes please.
I play Jund and my son plays somethingdifferentallthetimebutwithSphinxinitalways. I can tell you it is almost impossible to beat him before side boarding. Not always a ton of fun.
I hate how control is basically dead outside of UW (hurr sphinx rev)
Yeah, and I hate how Sligh aggro is basically dead outside of RB I don't even agree with you, if Grixis or Jund is more of your liking, then you can just slaughter game the revelations
Yeah, and I hate how Sligh aggro is basically dead outside of RB I don't even agree with you, if Grixis or Jund is more of your liking, then you can just slaughter game the revelations
Because mbc or UR was never a thing. But no you either splash to deal with Sphinx or you splash to run it. Hurr
Because mbc or UR was never a thing. But no you either splash to deal with Sphinx or you splash to run it. Hurr
MBC has only been a deck once anyway? And UR control was never really anything either, so what is the complaint again? That good cards are good? There's always going to be good cards. This season has good cards for all archetypes, so I'm not seeing why this is even close to being bad. Sure, SR is great, but so is Bonfire, Aristocrat, Tusk, Unburial Rites, etc.
just ground him for playing it
all fooling aside if you encounter such a card in your 'meta' constantly and you lose vs it isn't it viable to MB your solution cards?
or he could just not play jund if he thinks sphinx's revelation is not that fun to play against.
The three decks I have played this standard season has always done well and none of the decks played sphinx's revelation. One was a deck that was wall mill deck and the only reason why I stopped playing that deck was because it was terrible vs fast aggro decks.
Then again, I always tend to build my decks with beating durdle decks in mind.
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Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
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Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
Yea, those are MTG Bars. What can I say, I am a dork
MBC has only been a deck once anyway? And UR control was never really anything either, so what is the complaint again? That good cards are good? There's always going to be good cards. This season has good cards for all archetypes, so I'm not seeing why this is even close to being bad. Sure, SR is great, but so is Bonfire, Aristocrat, Tusk, Unburial Rites, etc.
What? MBC got Mut back, it got one of the best control planeswalkers in Lili, it got underworld connections(not arena good but still decent), as well as insane finishers that can't be countered because of caverns. The only reason it's not playble is because it completely folds in a control matchup again SR, because they bury you under pure card advantage(snapcaster has a hand here) while you ping yourself trying to keep up.
I think UR is decent. Not T1 but still decent and playable. Of course you need to splash for 1. resto 2. SR, then you basically end up with american control anyway.
I like having a lot of options, but magic needs a Dark Knight as Todd Anderson put it. It needs a deck to rally against, and we do not have that right now.
Quote from Todd Anderson »
There is no Delver. There is no Faeries. There is no dominant deck that has an inherent weakness that can easily be exploited. There are no "metagame" decks that live or die by their matchups. There is nothing for us to rally against.
There is no Dark Knight.
For those of you who haven't seen The Dark Knight (the one with Heath Ledger as the Joker), please skip this paragraph, as I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. In The Dark Knight, Batman comes to a realization during his battle with Harvey Dent. He knows that in death Harvey Dent can symbolize something far greater than anything Batman could accomplish by fighting crime. Harvey Dent was an icon for justice, and Batman became the enemy so that the people would have something to rally against.
"...he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight."
The reason I believe it is important to have something like Jund or Faeries is that it keeps the duel aspect of the game alive, it also gives the SB much more purpose.
I love having a ton of options like we have now, but I hate just flat out losing to nut draws and not having enough SB space to combat nut draws from so many angles. I am a competitive player and I want to win, I love losing, but I love losing when I can actually criticize my play rather than having to chalk it up to a loss from the nuts.
In summary, we have an open one, a healthy one is debatable.
The problem is that skill also loses. Or as Pepsi put it, one can invest in a good deck and have their soul crushed with it the next week. Or that there are only 15 cards in the SB and loads of decks to tech against with that limited space. Or that there is no way to combat nut draws on the extreme that they do happen.
There is a place for a meta like this and that is the kitchen table and FNM. This meta lacks direction and a foundation. It is chaos at larger events which is why I have been ducking them this season.
Well I was going to make this joke myself but someone beat me to it
Everyone who thinks this standard is varied and good/healthy is wrong because wizards hates control, wizards hates blue, counterspells are unplayable and it takes no skill to play any deck these days
It takes skill to Counter everything your opponent casts?, I don't think so.
Trust me, there are plenty of decks you could play that take more skill than that.
And no, I don't play aggro so don't try to insult me
Countering everything is a bit of an exaggeration. But with SCM in the format I think counters need the shaft... Until you add Cavern of Souls to the mix.
counterspells are actually very underwhelming in the current standard format. Anything playing Cavern of Souls, which is basically everything just rolls you.
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Countering everything is a bit of an exaggeration. But with SCM in the format I think counters need the shaft... Until you add Cavern of Souls to the mix.
Its not that far from the truth though, blue players usually just toss a bunch of counterspells in their sideboard and they're good to go. That shows how powerful the mechanic is. If they had to print something like Cavern of Souls to fight it, then its pretty obvious.
Take away Cavern of Souls and even with the counterspells we have in standard right now they'd be running rampant. Its a good thing aggro exists otherwise this'd be a borefest.
I like having a lot of options, but magic needs a Dark Knight as Todd Anderson put it. It needs a deck to rally against, and we do not have that right now.
The reason I believe it is important to have something like Jund or Faeries is that it keeps the duel aspect of the game alive, it also gives the SB much more purpose.
I love having a ton of options like we have now, but I hate just flat out losing to nut draws and not having enough SB space to combat nut draws from so many angles. I am a competitive player and I want to win, I love losing, but I love losing when I can actually criticize my play rather than having to chalk it up to a loss from the nuts.
In summary, we have an open one, a healthy one is debatable.
I actually completely sympathize with this post. I tend to enjoy having a "Best Deck" in standard. Basically there are different skills being tested. Tier 1 metagames(best deck environments) reward metagaming a lot more. Tier 2 where all the cards are even in powerlevel like we have now(yes there are exceptions like Sphinx's revelation) simply require fundamentally sound decks which is one reason why we have an infestation of thragtusks.
I'm not saying one is better then the other or that this metagame is unhealthy, I'm just saying I like having a nemesis deck. I loved playing with and against delver last season because there were very well defined goals and objectives in deck building and metagaming.
LP, I'm checking your article out as well. Behind all of your swag is the brain of one of the most intelligent Magic players I've ever known. I guess that's one more thing for you to add to the wall of ego that is your Sally sig.
I can go with that. LK, you are the Mace Windu of red mages...cool, tempered logic in deliberation, but capable of just flat kicking tail when the situation warrants it.
One thing I enjoyed last season was watching the Delver deck evolve throughout the months to adapt to the metagame. You had the standard Resto/Pike build, then Hero of Bladehold and Talrand started to see play replacing Angel, and then finally Mirran Crusader to combat BR Zombies.
I hated the delver deck, but I was happy it was a popular deck bc i crushed it with brithing pod, which was the most fun standard deck! But I do like a format as well where you have a handfull of defined top decks.
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So many decks being played, in different archetypes, and at least at the FNM level people are not scared of trying out new things.
I played at a standard event today with out 28 to 30 people, and the normal decks people see (GW aggro. GW midrange, Bant control, Bant midrange, esper control, Mono Red, Zombies, U/R tempo, and American Tempo) were all represented. But what really amazed me were some of the brews people were playing, that actually did pretty well.
The only deck to go 4-0 was an American Control deck who's win con was Milling with Jace memory adept and Nephalia Drownyard. The deck had some cards I have not seen played really often in this meta. The deck played
Curse of Echoes
Staff of Nin
[CARD]Elixir of Immortality
[/CARD]
along with the usual suspects of D sphers, Sphinx's revelation, pillar of flames, Azorius Charms.
Another deck that went 3-1 was I kid you not a Touch of the Eternal/Sphere of Safety Deck, with the decks ONLY wincon was Nephalia Drownyard.
Deck had Touch of the Eternal, Abundant Growths, Mana Blooms, Sphere of Safety, D spheres, O rings. I watched the deck play two games and both games, multiple spheres were on the field, Touch of the Eternal on the field, 8 enchantments and 21 permanents. It literally locked out a Mono Red Deck (stabalizing at 3 life with mono red player not being able to draw a burn spell for 4 turns before a Witchbane Orb hit the field) and locked our an American Tempo deck top decking a second sphere of safety the turn before his opponent was going to swing with a piked up restoration angel for about 24 dmg.
Other cards I saw tonight
Riot Ringleader, Kruin Strikers and Thatcher's Revolts in a Rakdos deck
A mono green Champion of Lambholt deck.
I went 3-1 with a Mono Red Deck (losing to the mono red player that was locked out vs the Sphere of safety deck in the second round).
Does anyone else agree with me about this standard season.
Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
Love is Emphatic, cards need to be played
Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
THOUGH!!!!! The meta just has these ridiculous decks that make me very happy. So, wizards, you succeeded on one end
Legacy:WDeath and TaxesW W45-L16-D11 8 Top 8s 15th Scg Oakland
Current Kiln Fiend Count: 153 Please message me if you want to trade me or give me some.
Commission Rezombied to alter some cards, he's awesome!
I still wish sphinx wasn't printed though!
I hate that card more than anything.....
The Meta is plenty fast enough. G/W humans can hill pretty damn fast, so could Mono Red. What makes the meta awesome is that there are decks that are great at mitigating those decks powers, but decks that are designed to beat fast aggro are getting beat by other decks.
Sphinx's Revelation is a good card without a doubt, but it is not a card that I hate playing against. Especially when I can reverbarate it. Let the red player gain life, and refuel with gas all for the cheap price of 2 red. Yes please.
Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
Love is Emphatic, cards need to be played
Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
Id like to know what standard you play in.....
Sphinx is insane.
Reverberate is cool but its not really an option for most
I play Jund and my son plays somethingdifferentallthetimebutwithSphinxinitalways. I can tell you it is almost impossible to beat him before side boarding. Not always a ton of fun.
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Yeah, and I hate how Sligh aggro is basically dead outside of RB I don't even agree with you, if Grixis or Jund is more of your liking, then you can just slaughter game the revelations
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Because mbc or UR was never a thing. But no you either splash to deal with Sphinx or you splash to run it. Hurr
MBC has only been a deck once anyway? And UR control was never really anything either, so what is the complaint again? That good cards are good? There's always going to be good cards. This season has good cards for all archetypes, so I'm not seeing why this is even close to being bad. Sure, SR is great, but so is Bonfire, Aristocrat, Tusk, Unburial Rites, etc.
or he could just not play jund if he thinks sphinx's revelation is not that fun to play against.
The three decks I have played this standard season has always done well and none of the decks played sphinx's revelation. One was a deck that was wall mill deck and the only reason why I stopped playing that deck was because it was terrible vs fast aggro decks.
Then again, I always tend to build my decks with beating durdle decks in mind.
Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
Love is Emphatic, cards need to be played
Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
What? MBC got Mut back, it got one of the best control planeswalkers in Lili, it got underworld connections(not arena good but still decent), as well as insane finishers that can't be countered because of caverns. The only reason it's not playble is because it completely folds in a control matchup again SR, because they bury you under pure card advantage(snapcaster has a hand here) while you ping yourself trying to keep up.
I think UR is decent. Not T1 but still decent and playable. Of course you need to splash for 1. resto 2. SR, then you basically end up with american control anyway.
The reason I believe it is important to have something like Jund or Faeries is that it keeps the duel aspect of the game alive, it also gives the SB much more purpose.
I love having a ton of options like we have now, but I hate just flat out losing to nut draws and not having enough SB space to combat nut draws from so many angles. I am a competitive player and I want to win, I love losing, but I love losing when I can actually criticize my play rather than having to chalk it up to a loss from the nuts.
In summary, we have an open one, a healthy one is debatable.
Current Decks
Standard : Bant FlashUWG
Modern : Jund RBGW
Legacy : JundRBG
Players are having fun, players are playing games, and skill wins the day. What's the problem?
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].
There is a place for a meta like this and that is the kitchen table and FNM. This meta lacks direction and a foundation. It is chaos at larger events which is why I have been ducking them this season.
It takes skill to Counter everything your opponent casts?, I don't think so.
Trust me, there are plenty of decks you could play that take more skill than that.
And no, I don't play aggro so don't try to insult me
Current Decks
Standard : Bant FlashUWG
Modern : Jund RBGW
Legacy : JundRBG
Its not that far from the truth though, blue players usually just toss a bunch of counterspells in their sideboard and they're good to go. That shows how powerful the mechanic is. If they had to print something like Cavern of Souls to fight it, then its pretty obvious.
Take away Cavern of Souls and even with the counterspells we have in standard right now they'd be running rampant. Its a good thing aggro exists otherwise this'd be a borefest.
I actually completely sympathize with this post. I tend to enjoy having a "Best Deck" in standard. Basically there are different skills being tested. Tier 1 metagames(best deck environments) reward metagaming a lot more. Tier 2 where all the cards are even in powerlevel like we have now(yes there are exceptions like Sphinx's revelation) simply require fundamentally sound decks which is one reason why we have an infestation of thragtusks.
I'm not saying one is better then the other or that this metagame is unhealthy, I'm just saying I like having a nemesis deck. I loved playing with and against delver last season because there were very well defined goals and objectives in deck building and metagaming.
Current Decks
Standard : Bant FlashUWG
Modern : Jund RBGW
Legacy : JundRBG