We all know the feeling on rotation: 'What the hell do I do now?!'
I've got that feeling from innistrad, and I actually quite like this time in deck building in standard, because the new set is still making an impact and there are no set 'Win always' decks like the Jund of Innistrad-RTR.
I'm going to write about Mid-range, aggro and control, the best brew will get a feature in the podcasts, more to come about podcasts and videos later!
So this article is going to chat about how you start your new deck and why you would choose that new deck, and let's just say this time that Meta doesn't matter as much right now, because its your deck and I'm a hard subscriber to you'll play better with a weaker deck you know than with a better deck you don't.
On Wednesday we touched on the 'Control or Aggro' however the featured deck this week is a Mardu Midrange deck, which is my actual deck. There were a number of decks posted up on the last article which was great, but some that I looked out seemed really jumbled and I wanted to aim this one at at that by looking at the core values, so without further ado, lets get to it!
Aggro:
Aggro is superficially the most simple deck in standard, however when you get your opponent down to 5, then it becomes one of the most complex plans in the game, especially in a standard heavily populated by Courser of Kruphix, Wingmate Roc and Sorin, Solemn Visitor to name a few. So let's say the game is in thirds, 1-5, 5-10 and 10-whenever the game ends. Aggro is most powerful in the first third of the game, and seeks to end the game within that first third, so your aim is to make your deck do that quick as possible, like the mono-red deck from last week. It's very good if you can have an extra dynamic to get around those early blockers or to kill them, burn/buffs/pump or recursion can be that final dynamic you need. Red is the traditional aggro colour, however Abzan has grabbed reliability and made it its own, slowing the deck down but adding extra dynamics to allow it to push into the midgame. Whoever can do the best aggro brew (in my opinion) will get a feature in the podcast,
Midrange:
Midrange decks are the current beasts of standard, they dominate the midgame, but recently they've been pushing into the early game, but with the addition of Ugin, they simply stomp everywhere. Midrange is all about choosing your poison and seeing if you got cyanide for you or your opponent. Midrange is a collection of the best cards in those colours, that also may have some synergy, for example Seeker of the Way and the amount of removal here, or soulfire grand master and any burn. Concentrate on playing the best cards in your colours with some powerful disruption backing you up, you just need to get an edge with a 2 for 1 or a well timed removal spell could be the winning or losing. Midrange plays some of the best cards in standard, and I would suggest this play style for those getting competitive because of the power level, again with the brewing challenge, I'm looking forward to it!
Control:
Control seeks to take it slow, be the reactive deck and then dominate with a bomb. Currently control is weaker right now the only main one is U/B control, however control can perform still if it is able to stunt early growth. Control uses board sweepers to keep everything clear whilst keeping its hand full with lots of draw spells so that it can keep going. If you like being reactive and having total control of the late game. I wouldn't suggest this currently, but hey I've never been one for control. Brewing competition on again!
Now its up to you guys to pick your poison for FNM and beyond!
A quick note on content, I'll hopefully be beginning some videos and pod casts on youtube so keep an eye out for notes on when they will be, hope you enjoyed guys and keeeeeeeeep brainstorming!