So this is my first foray into standard in a VERY long time. But I've been reading a lot of StarCity and ChannelFireball articles and I'm actually kinda excited for where standard could go. GW Tokens reminds me of the dominance that Faeries had or Jund had when I last played standard, so naturally I want to find a deck that competes with the top tier decks while not being them (oh, Cruel Control, I miss you). Anyways, like most of you, I think that UW Spirits has the synergy and subtle power level to compete. I'll start with a basic strategy of how I think the two dominant decks should be handled and then move to the list I've theory-tested.
Clearly the 3 main contenders for winning any Standard tourney are: Humans (Boros, mono-White, and Bant CoCo), Bant CoCo, and GW tokens. And of those, CoCo decks and GW Tokens are the coruplent oppressors of the format, winning way too many tournaments or Top 8's to be healthy for the format. After reading and seeing each of these decks play out, there seems to be one thing that gives Boros and mono-White Humans, the under-dog Aggro decks, the edge over GW Tokens. And that is speed and tempo. Tokens doesn't start going until T2, but then they start throwing down creatures and tokens to gum up the battlefield (Sylvan Advocate and Duskwatch Recruiter). Humans answers this by going bigger than what Tokens puts onto the field with Always Watching and Gryff's Boon, giving the deck both reach and vigilance to win the tempo game. We also know that GW Tokens is weak to flyers, a la the success of a few UR Flyer and UR Dragons lists I've seen floating around. These two decks rely primarily on speed and tempo, putting a few flash flyers into play (Rattlechains and Dimensionl Infiltrator) and then doming them with some burn spells or tempo-ing the game with some counterspells. Either way, both successful strategies depend on tempo and speed to go bigger than Tokens and CoC0 a turn faster than they can.
UW Spirits is poised to be the best of both worlds. I'll give my list and then explain card choices:
The goal for this deck is to basically be a true-aggro control deck as much as possible, and I believe the card choices support this. I'll break them down.
Spell Queller - truly this card is a godsend to the format. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is just too good right now, and in conjunction with Collected Company, Spell Queller is a significant reprieve for the tyrannical hold that Tokens and CoCo decks have on the Standard format. Of course, it's also going to slide into Bant CoCo since it answers almost ever relevant threat that exists in the format save Archangel Avacyn. Gideon, Nissa, Hangarback Walker, Dromoka's Command, Sylvan Advocate, the list goes on of relevant spells in those decks, and this flash 2/3 Spirit answers those spells while also putting a very relevant body onto the table at instant speed. It also hits two very important cards that would overpower this deck normally in Collected COmpany and Languish. This card is probably going to shape the format just as Archangel Avacyn does. This Spirit and the spell it exiles will also be protected by Rattlechains and Selfless Spirit, making it a very relevant tempo spell that is likely to permanently answer whatever spell your opponent tried to cast.
Rattlechains - blanks spot removal and makes all your other Spirits have flash. The hexproof protection at instant speed is what makes the card, making Declaration in Stone and Dromoka's Command not as good while again also putting a flying body into play at 2 CMC. It's like Scion of Oona of old without the buff.
Nebelgast Herald - Standard is currently a format dominated by the combat step. If you can successfully control that, than the game is yours. Nebelgast does this very nicely by itself, but what is even cooler is that when ANY Spirit ETB you tap down another thing. This means that each additional Spirit will not only bring its own effect onto the table but also a tap effect for the creature that they were trying to attack with. Since almost all the creatures in here have Flash, the combat step will almost always be in your favor with this chained Spirit. Another 2/1 flyer will soar over the clogged up ground and kill your opponent over time.
Mausoleum Wanderer - another excellent card that is fantastically positioned. The natural comparison is Cursecatcher in Merfolk only it has its own pump effect stapled in. Collected Company suddenly looks A LOT worse with this guy on the field, especially since the pump effect (which regulates its counter ability) is dependent on Spirits entering the battlefield. All of our Spirits either have flash or become flash-able, so this variable counter X ability can become a straight Miscalculation for one of the most dominant spells in the format. Dromoka's Command also gets a lot worse with the Wanderer. And since it sits at 1 CMC, it's not a tempo loss at all.
Bygone Bishop - basically the card advantage machine for the deck. Since we're pretty much playing at instant speed and all of the creatures save Elder Deep-Fiend have a CMC less than 3, we are going to have a PILE of Clues. Why not EOT crack them during your opponent's end step? The card advantage that this guy can generate will ensure that the deck never runs out of tempo and things to do while, again, also being a relevant flying body.
Selfless Spirit - again makes the combat step difficult for your opponents. It protects against a transformed Archangel Avacyn in addition to protecting your team from damage, which is going to be relevant for the damage based sweepers and removal spells that are sure to become prevalent in the format. However, it's not quite as good to see as some of the other spells, but it holds its own.
Elder Deep-Fiend - ugh, I can hear the awful sound of Mistbind Clique in my mind whenever I look at this card. Imagine this common scenario with me for moment: T1 Mausoleum Wanderer. T2 Rattlechains, attack for 1 or 2 damage. T3 Instant speedNebelgast Herald tap down their would-be attacker, attack again. Upkeep of their T4, Emerge Elder Deep-Fiend with the Herald, tap down their lands and a ground pounder. Play Always Watching, start kicking in some teeth. This is basically the top of the curve for the deck at CMC 4 with its emerge cost being the only way it should be played, barring late-game interactions. There are at least 12 dudes in the deck at CMC 3 to sac for the on-time Emerge cost, and once this guy hits the field it will be a short clock in conjunction with all the other tempo spells that are in play.
Stoneforge Masterwork - this card could easily be Ojutai's Command. I think either card would be excellent, I just like this this equipment is cheap at 1 CMC and rewards the tribal build going on. It makes even a Mausoleum Wanderer a threat in the late game and indirectly rewards playing dudes at instant speed as well. Its Equip cost is low and its power boost to close a game faster is high, so I like it here.
Always Watching - this card is what makes Humans so much better than it should be. The fact that it gives Vigilance to the team is too good to ignore, meaning that we play a tempo offense while also simultaneously blocking at crucial points in the game. The power boost also makes the game shorter for your opponent, as suddenly those Mausoleum Wanderers and Selfless Spirits become scarier. As an aggro-control deck, you're not trying to dominate every combat step. Just the few that matter, and this card enables the tempo plan very nicely.
Declaration in Stone - well, it's a catch-all removal spell that exiles multiple copies of a card. Sounds good to me.
Westvale Abbey - since this deck operates at instant speed and has a massive density of creatures, this gives some late game reach to an opponent that is in the low life totals past T5-T6. You can probably make tokens at instant speed, and with the fairly generic mana costs of the deck (no card has more than 2 colors in the CMC), it's possible to run more of this card to no significant detriment to ensure more of a late-game presence to finish off those last points of damage.
Overall, this deck with almost all flying creatures (Elder Deep-Fiend really should have evasion of some sort.. I mean, the thing looks hella freaky. Who would want to block that besides Gideon??) will ignore the ground gumming up that seems to occur in every other game with enough disruption to destabilize opponents long enough to kill them dead. GW Tokens and its reliance on PW is punished by the inherent nature of UW Spirits creature base. There is enough disruption and tempo to beat out Humans in all of its flavors, as well as Bant CoCo in its flavors as well. In a format where mid-range decks are trying to go bigger than their mirror-matches, I think this deck is in a prime position to prey on the format.
And let's not talk about the control match-up. This deck plays better than a control deck because it operates at instant speed better than BW Control, Grixis Control, or whatever control you want. They'll basically be dead probably by T5 or T6, barring a metric ton of spot removal and timely wraths. I'm excited to see where this deck goes, and I would start buying up the cards needed right now to make this deck if I anticipated being able to go to an FNM or tourney of some kind. With a new baby, that's not going to happen for me anytime soon, so I truly hope that this list and discussion will bring home some wins for others.
I must have overlooked Nebelgast Herald in the spoiler. It does seems good. I like the idea of Elder Deep-Fiend, as tapping 4 things is a big game and can also get you some easy quick wins. With your list I'd just be a bit concerned about the 3-drop slot being clogged up and only having 11 threats to play before turn 3. I'd like to add the 4th selfless soul and add some other 2-drop as well. I don't think we need the equipment here but I dunno, might be worth testing.
Even if rattlechains can give topplegeist flash I don't think that warrants an inclusion. I played the old faerie deck, and pestermite wasn't in it. And your 1-drop was ancestral vision, and after that rotated, thoughtseize.
I don't see why there'd be any objection to running goblin dark-dwellers. The fact that it gives the opponent a use for their removal is trumped by the card advantage (and card selection with a big graveyard) it provides. It furthers your game plan by rebuying a draw spell, removal, or even a harmless offering that was discarded to tormenting voice earlier in the game. GDD is all upside it seems.
Seems like pact would kill you too often without playing white cards. I was thinking something similar to zununefreet's, but with more planeswalkers and oath of chandra and oath of gideon. The oaths provide extra fodder for angelic purge, protect your pacts from dromoka's command, and improve your planeswalkers (nahiri, ob nixilis, chandra, sorin). I think 1 harmless offering is the way to go, with dark petition and digging (pact, read the bones, planeswalkers) to find it.
I have seen a huge increase of players organizing their lands in the front of all other permanents (see Paulo). This seems to be happening on camera (PTDGM and SCG) and in my local shop. I know they do this to put their opponents on tilt and it works. I have to spend more time trying to analyze my opponents board state since it's a layout I don't see often.
I remember PV saying in an article once that the reason he plays his lands on top are because that's just the way he's always played. He's not trying to mess with his opponents, and I imagine most people who do it aren't trying to either.
Change the mulligan rule, at least for limited. Losing a card each time is too high of a cost, and many players have gotten so used to it they don't care anymore, when they should.
I always take cards worth more than $5 no matter what my deck looks like. It just makes no sense to pass money cards when you're playing to win prizes of no more than 7-8 packs for 1st place. If you expect people to pass cards worth $10 or more because they're not in those colors, you're kidding yourself.
Perhaps, it did not, in your mind, but, it certainly did, in my mind.
Indeed it seems that the above sentence would be more readable, and even more correctly written, with no commas at all.
This reminds me of the SATs, where in the reading section of the test they would have you choose the most correctly written version of a sentence, and usually the more wordy ones or the ones with more commas were the wrong answers.
I must have overlooked Nebelgast Herald in the spoiler. It does seems good. I like the idea of Elder Deep-Fiend, as tapping 4 things is a big game and can also get you some easy quick wins. With your list I'd just be a bit concerned about the 3-drop slot being clogged up and only having 11 threats to play before turn 3. I'd like to add the 4th selfless soul and add some other 2-drop as well. I don't think we need the equipment here but I dunno, might be worth testing.
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
3 Bygone Bishop
2 Ojutai's Command
And there are plenty of good options to finish the deck:
Thraben Inspector
Essence Flux
Dimensional Infiltrator
Knight of the White Orchid
Unsubstantiate
Harbinger of the Tides
Eldrazi Skyspawner
Always Watching
Reflector Mage
Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Collective Effort
Thunderclap Wyvern
Gisela, the Broken Blade
going bigger with dragon package - Silumgar's Scorn/Dragonlord Ojutai/Icefall Regent
Clash of Wills
Spell Shrivel
Void Shatter
SB options:
Vryn Wingmare
Stratus Dancer
Silumgar Sorcerer
Whirler Rogue
Archangel of Tithes
I don't think Topplegeist is good enough to make the cut.
I remember PV saying in an article once that the reason he plays his lands on top are because that's just the way he's always played. He's not trying to mess with his opponents, and I imagine most people who do it aren't trying to either.
Indeed it seems that the above sentence would be more readable, and even more correctly written, with no commas at all.
This reminds me of the SATs, where in the reading section of the test they would have you choose the most correctly written version of a sentence, and usually the more wordy ones or the ones with more commas were the wrong answers.