Nostalgia is a powerful force in Magic the Gathering. Mechanics and themes have been revisited countless times, from the nostalgia-themed block of Time Spiral to the recent return to the plane of Mirrodin. However, the one realm in which players fall victim to nostalgia the most is in deck building. Every competitive constructed season has a memorable top tier, and particular decks that players found they enjoyed, or feared, the most.
During the Innistrad spoiler season, we saw hints slipping through the gaps, card by card suggesting the return of the fabled Solar Flare. Rising to dominance during the Nationals’ season in the summer of 2006, Solar Flare was a control deck that dominated the format through force, utilizing the strongest cards available to counter the rock-paper-scissors format of Gruul-Heartbeat-Tron. Starting out as a reanimator deck at the hands of Team Japan, Solar Flare developed through intensive play on MTGO before leading Paul Cheon to victory at US Nationals that year.
In order to gain an understanding of Solar Flare, let’s use Paul Cheon’s Nationals winning list as a point of reference:
Paul Cheons Solar Flare
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60 cards, 15 sideboard
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4 Azorius Chancery
1 Eiganjo Castle
3 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
2 Orzhov Basilica
1 Plains
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
2 Swamp
2 Tendo Ice Bridge
1 Underground River
1 Watery Grave
23 lands
3 Court Hussar
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
2 Yosei, the Morning Star
3 Angel of Despair
11 creatures
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4 Azorius Signet
2 Dimir Signet
4 Remand
4 Compulsive Research
3 Mortify
2 Persecute
4 Wrath of God
3 Zombify
26 other spells
Sideboard
2 Persecute
4 Castigate
3 Condemn
2 Cranial Extraction
4 Descendant of Kiyomaro
15 sideboard cards
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Back to the Beginning
Before even contemplating the translation of the deck over to the present Standard format, we need to gain a feel for the workings of the original Solar Flare at its peak. During the Kamigawa-Ravnica Standard format a solid, balanced metagame was established following the release of Guildpact at Pro Tour Honolulu. Though GWB Rock was expected to dominate the format going into the event, it failed to deliver the good whilst an incredible all-star top 8 formed the basis of the format’s future. RG Gruul and RGW Zoo pushed aggressively with under-costed early animals backed up by burn, BW Hand in Hand gave solid protection knights a jitte and hit the hand to maintain an element of control, and Tron aimed to draw and counter its way into landing a game-changing win condition. Owling Mine and Heartbeat rounded out the top 8 as the unexpectedly reliable combo decks. Owling Mine died down as control established itself, and BW Hand in Hand faded out of the top tier as red-based aggro pushed ahead.
Gruul, Zoo and Tron formed the format, with the difficult to wield combo of Heartbeat existing as a minor presence throughout the regional season. The arrival of Dissension gave players the ability to play any colour combination with minimal difficulty, proving to be the final piece of the puzzle for Solar Flare to rise. With aggro very much dominant, a powerful removal suite and the surprisingly solid defence provided by Court Hussar allowed Flare to establish control and swing the game with a variety of win conditions that aggro would find difficult to handle. Unlike most recent control decks, the format would not allow Tron to operate reactively at all times, and with Signets and draw spells being vital at sorcery speed powerful hate was possible through Remand and Persecute.
Truly inspirational deck naming! |
The ability to revive fallen win conditions with Zombify seems cute, but discarding an Angel of Despair to Compulsive Research and following up with a turn 4 Zombify proved to be far more brutal than anyone could have imagined at the time. As the format evolved, the variety of monsters altered slightly back and forth, and similarly Castigate and Condemn frequently found themselves in main decks, with Wrath of God and Zombify often finding their numbers cut respectively. But regardless, Solar Flare remained, proving to be a swiss army knife in answering the card pool available whilst maintaining the favour of the players. This dominance was not like those seen by Affinity, Faeries or Caw-Blade. This was a deck that players felt passionately about, providing interesting, memorable games whilst playing exciting cards and powerful technology.
Initial Innistrad Impact
When Innistrad arrived, you couldn’t read an article about Magic without hearing the name Solar Flare. The community seemed passionately determined to revive this strategy, but as initial results started to flood in players became gradually less convinced, even going so far as to claim that the deck isn’t a real contender. How could players take such a violent turn against the deck they all claimed passion for mere weeks before?
The answer lies in understanding the past, and the truth of the nature of Solar Flare. In approaching a revival of a deck from Magic’s extensive history, players naturally look for cards that replicate the effect of those once played. The eerie parallel is easily made, and frequently it proves true, but right now it simply cannot be done. Sure, Liliana of the Veil can act as a discard outlet akin to Compulsive Research, but aside from that the cards are vastly different. And take Forbidden Alchemy into consideration for a moment. That card is undeniably powerful, but how can you compare it to anything in the 2006 Solar Flare deck, let alone the card pool available at that time?
In attempting to replicate the feel of the deck, illogical plays can frequently be seen. Discarding Unburial Rites makes it a Zombify, but late in the game you’re essentially losing a win condition by making that play. Despite its roots as a reanimator deck, Solar Flare is not at its best when played with that single goal in mind. The aim of the strategy is advantage whilst maintaining tempo, with Wrath of God and Persecute stopping opponents dead more often than a reanimated monstrosity. Day of Judgment is increasingly crucial in Standard today, but Persecute has no parallel and would likely be a weaker card today with Flashback and Snapcaster Mage proving to be very popular.
Evolution and Renewal
It is worth making a point at this stage that Solar Flare is far from a dead deck in Standard. Despite the decline in the last couple of weeks the deck continues to perform admirably, particularly in the hands of strong players such as AJ Sacher. Grand Prix Hiroshima is due to enter its second day as I finish writing this article, and yet again it appears that Solar Flare is making a strong presence that’ll hopefully lead to top 8 presence. But why is it that only the few are succeeding?
In working towards a modern Solar Flare, three vital factors need to be focused improved upon. Solar Flare is in no way a deck that has a perfect build that anyone and everyone can play. Most dominant decks, such as Caw-Blade, simply evolve in their use of new technology to improve the mirror match. Solar Flare is as far from that kind of deck as you can get, and requires good, old fashioned work to keep it operating effectively.
1. Mana Base
A quick glance at Paul Cheon’s mana base may seem overwhelming if unfamiliar with the Kamigawa-Ravnica Standard format, but a closer look will reveal the elegant balance present. Blue unsurprisingly comes as the priority, with Remand, Compulsive Research and Court Hussar most frequently being cast before any other non-Signet spell. Turn 4 Wrath of God or Persecute are the true focus of the deck, with Wrath of God on turn 3 being very realistic due to Signets and a minor lean towards white over black.
Playing for the early game... |
...or aiming for the late game? |
Though Signets are no longer around, it is possible to run cards like Sphere of the Suns, but to do so would be to try and replicate the past whilst ignoring logic as the power level of the cards are vastly different. Today we have to maintain a careful balance between Shards lands, Core duals and basics. Having been spoilt for options with powerful first turn spells such as Preordain and Inquisition of Kozilek, players are frequently too reckless in their inclusion of Scars lands, whilst not respecting the advantages presented by later plays of the Core duals. Once a solid core to the deck is established, a well-tweaked mana base is key to finding openings for powerful technology, such as Mikokoro and Miren in Cheon’s list.
2. Win Conditions
The original exciting aspect of Solar Flare, inspiring its primordial form as a reanimator deck, was to use and abuse Angel of Despair. In Paul Cheon’s build we can see the Angels supported by a cast of legends from Kamigawa, covering various different aspects of the game. The general idea is to gain advantage upon entering the battlefield or on leaving it. It is this idea that we can and should carry forward to today. Though we lack the incredibly power to Vindicate that the Angel had, Sun Titan has taken up the role of being the primary win condition in today’s Solar Flare. Sun Titan results in a very different approach to the choice of win conditions, and alongside the Flashback keyword on Unburial Rites, inevitably means we no longer need to be so heavy in our use of high-end cards.
Technology remains a powerful force, and the Sun Titan focus should not prevent the inclusion of interesting and effective boss creatures. Wurmcoil Engine remains a favourite answer to aggro, and very much like Kokusho it remains advantageous following a desperate sweep of the board or removal from the opponent. Though Titans have made 6 cost boss creatures most desirable for control, Solar Flare can very respectively play a variety of interesting, less conventional creatures to advantage. Rune-Scarred Demon, Sheoldred and Elesh Norn are powerful in their respective ways, and should all be considered seriously for the future of the deck. Elesh Norn has received a good amount of respect recently, making the important transition from sideboard to main deck, and I expect further experiments to be carried out by the more daring players in the near future.
Sunblast Angel and Massacre Wurm present interesting anti-aggro alternatives to Wurmcoil Engine in a format that is finally finding Dismember to be unfavourable as a splashable removal spell. Grave Titan and Bloodline Keeper on the other hand are very reminiscent of Meloku (and Skeletal Vampire from later versions) in being able to control the board and eventually seize the win, whilst also being black can allow them to seize upon unprepared players wielding little more than Doom Blades. A wide variety of potential win conditions exist for players to diversify in the face of the increasing play of Surgical Extraction, Momoricide, and Sever the Bloodline.
3. Format Focus
At the end of the day Solar Flare is just a control deck, and like any control deck it requires a metagame to work against. Though it may appear to be a very proactive deck in playing cards like Liliana of the Veil and Unburial Rites, it remains a deck that aims for the late game. Becoming obsessed with the Rites plan turns the deck into an unstable reanimator deck, which is far from where you want to be. In 2006, Solar Flare was poised to beat aggressive strategies and tap-out control, whilst siding in to answer combo. As today’s standard format begins to stabilize it seems to be a fairly similar state of affairs. Token decks appear to be seizing dominion of the aggro sector, whilst UB control takes the role of playing the typical counterspells and bombs.
However, the big star of SCG Opens and recent GP’s has undoubtedly been Wolf Run Ramp. Though comparable to both Tron and Heartbeat back in 2006, the deck is far easier to compare to the ominous fiend of the last two years: Valakut. Ramp as a strategy is very linear, but resolving key spells like Primeval Titan and Garruk, Primal Hunter drives the deck towards its end game before you’ve completed setting up your own. These strategies drove players away from Solar Flare with near immediate effect, but the question remains why that was the case. Solar Flare contains potential answers to all of the threats posed by Ramp, but clearly requires a lot of tweaking and testing to beat the simple elegance of the near-mono-coloured Ramp decks. WIth consistency as its focus, Ramp has earned a great deal of respect for its strategy but very little opposition beyond the obvious increase in aggressive decks in the metagame.
Solar Flare is perfectly poised to answer the current metagame. Increasing counterspells to include a number of copies of Dissipate will strengthen the UB and Ramp match-ups, whilst bumping up the number of Day of Judgment and variety of win conditions such as Elesh Norn aids in the fight against aggro. In the sideboard it is possible to bring balance to these numbers whilst managing specific hate with testing to precision. Flashfreeze is undoubtedly powerful, but how are Revoke Existence and Timely Reinforcement in your metagame? Curse of Death’s Hold seems perfectly poised to help manage tokens, alongside the previously mentioned Sever the Bloodline. Ratchet Bomb and Ghost Quarter have seen consistent play in sideboards since the start of the format, but is it time that they made the transition to the main? The bomb is incredible against tokens, and Ghost Quarter is solid against Ramp, and let’s not forget that both are absolutely incredible in those match-ups when paired with Sun Titan!
Fear the Flare
The aim of this article is to drive players to find the answers to the problems with which they are presented. Solar Flare is simply the name that stuck with the control deck with the minor reanimation strategy that rose to power in arguably the most popular Standard format in history. The name is applicable, and the essence remains. Solar Flare should always be the control deck that seeks to answer the format at hand...with reanimation always the opportunistic option to seize an easy win!