Following my last article looking at the state of the metagame following M12, I intend to use this article to focus on the decks gaining slightly less attention right now, but with strong potential to break into the top tier. With the right player and a perfected build, these decks provide the perfect opportunity to break through an unprepared metagame that is unprepared for the strategy. So let’s take a look!
Another summer, and Pyromancer Ascension jumps back into the spotlight. Despite lacking Time Warp for an overpowering end game, Pyro has been given an incredible push towards the top tier with the reprinting of Ponder. With a sickening access to three powerful one mana tools to dig with, the vital move of finding the Ascension early should be simple. With an early, active Ascension, Pyro plays out its combo with well timed burn spells and copies, backed by multiplying counterspells.
Combo decks all seem to gain during the core set overlap seasons in the summer, but whilst Valakut and Twin aggressively push their combo through early, Pyro has the advantage of playing the long game. Resolving an Ascension is usually easier than successfully landing a Primeval Titan or a Deceiver Exarch, and each and every other vital spell is cheap enough to drive through any defence. Much like with Twin, the ability to bring in alternate win conditions from the sideboard allows Pyro to play a true and traditional control game, working towards a Titan or similar whist the opponent is burning through resources in order to prevent an Ascension landing, let alone becoming active.
An increasingly popular strategy right now is the hybrid deck PyroTwin. Taking the speed of the Twin combo and supporting it with the inevitability of Pyro, many are placing their bets on this deck following in the footsteps of Dark Depths Turbo. For those of you who don’t remember, Gerry T successfully broke the extended format apart during the Spring of 2010 with his fusion of the Vampire Hexmage + Dark Depths combo and the Sword of the Meek + Thopter Foundry combo. I cannot see PyroTwin reaching the dominance of DDT simply due to the colours in use, as DDT relied heavily on its disruptive discard. No number of Gitaxian Probes will remove an answer from the opponents hand, but perhaps careful counterspell choices will allow Pyro to reach the top tier as a part of this powerful hybrid.
Birthing Pod is a challenge that has been tackled by deckbuilders with increasing intensity since its release in New Phyrexia. At Pro Tour Nagoya we first caught a glimpse of the potential of the Pod, but with the diverse variety of bullets to build into in Standard we are bound to see a wide range of different decks built with the artifact in mind. While initial lists seemed to follow a straight-forward pattern of creatures ramping up to various Titans and Praetors at the top of the curve, but with the dominance of combo in Standard the tutoring ability of Birthing Pod enables the Splinter Twin combo to be included without affecting the smooth curve of the midrange deck.
The sheer flexibility of Birthing Pod decks is obviously reminiscent of Fauna Shaman’s impact in Naya and Bant decks prior to the last rotation, with singleton bullets now easier than ever to dig into. During the current PTQ season it is perfectly plausible to metagame carefully and maindeck a variety of powerful hate cards. Alas, for Nationals it is far harder to metagame, particularly in the UK due to the lack of good communication between gaming communities. Should the top decks reach a state of relative stability, a reliable but personalized list with proven bullets in the sideboard could succeed against the very narrow decks currently dominant.
Architect has been hyped since its release, and despite multiple attempts to break the card it took a long time for it to find its home in this deck. Unfortunately, the deck was easily forgotten as Caw-Blade seized control of the format. There are many powerful interactions in the deck, but the simple ability to ramp into game winning power artifacts like Mindslaver makes the strategy worth considering once more. A variety of tools are worth considering in modern builds, especially potential effective use of Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. It is M12 though has given us a true gem to work with in Buried Ruin. Replicating Academy Ruins in a less overpowering manner, Buried Ruin allows deadly recycling of the the powerful win conditions, and allows utter control with Mindslaver to dominate the opponents turns for far longer than is necessary to win. Solemn Simulacrum is also a powerful new (old) tool for this kind of deck, working perfectly to keep the tempo in building into the late game.
The weakness of mono-coloured control decks in recent times has been sideboarding, as the colour pie has made splashing for a second colour a necessity to survive. However, Scars of Mirrodin block has brought a powerful array of artifacts to effectively replicate the effects of the solutions once splashed for. Ratchet Bomb provides a powerful sweeper right now, with Tempered Steel and Red Deck Wins being priced low and in large numbers. Batterskull changes the game quite dramatically in providing a non-white deck with access to a powerful Baneslayer Angel effect against aggro, with the insane ability to act as a near unstoppable win condition against control. At the cost of Trinket Mage it is easily conceivable that Torpor Orb will fill out a chunk of the sideboard to ease the combo match-ups whilst Flashfreeze fill the final slots in being the most useful answer to the largest range of threats.
The initial form of the Eldrazi deck ran very similarly to Valakut by abusing Primeval Titan to dig for the vital land, in this case Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin. It feels strange to see a list without Primeval Titan, but Japanese Nationals brought the Eldrazi back into play utilizing the new tool Quicksilver Amulet. This wonderful piece of artifice allows you to drop an Eldrazi at the end of the opponent’s turn, before swinging in for the win with Annihilator making short work of the board. Green unsurprisingly allows for solid acceleration into both the Amulet and a variety of costly monstrosities, with a total of 15 options for acceleration on turn 2. Wurmcoil Engine and Overgrown Battlement provides a solid wall to defend against aggro, whilst Summoning Trap proves to be a potent threat against the current widespread use of Mana Leak.
Eldrazi appear to be well positioned to use raw power against decks that can have their tempo disrupted harshly when forced to change their role in the game. Though Primeval Titan didn’t make a showing in the limelight stealing list from Japan Nationals, it is important to be equally prepared for the Titan as well as the Amulet. Green provides a solid array of sideboard options as has been noted with Valakut, but the intensity of green mana makes Garruk, Primal Hunter a tempting tool to put to use. This seems to be an idea worth testing, as our new Garruk is undoubtedly a powerful weapon seeking a home, and every green deck can do with extra draw.
Anything Missing?
It should be pretty clear that a certain colour combination has been missing throughout my most recent articles. Fear not, it has not been ignored, as I will be covering my favourite colour combination in my next article. Stay tuned!
The Fringe Decks
| //Pyromancer Ascension | |
|---|---|
| 4 | Scalding Tarn |
| 4 | Halimar Depths |
| 8 | Island |
| 8 | Mountain |
| 4 | Pyromancer Ascension |
| 4 | Gitaxian Probe |
| 4 | Ponder |
| 4 | Preordain |
| 4 | Lightning Bolt |
| 4 | Burst Lightning |
| 4 | Into the Roil |
| 4 | Mana Leak |
| 2 | Tezzeret's Gambit |
| 2 | Call to Mind |
Display Deck StatisticsAnother summer, and Pyromancer Ascension jumps back into the spotlight. Despite lacking Time Warp for an overpowering end game, Pyro has been given an incredible push towards the top tier with the reprinting of Ponder. With a sickening access to three powerful one mana tools to dig with, the vital move of finding the Ascension early should be simple. With an early, active Ascension, Pyro plays out its combo with well timed burn spells and copies, backed by multiplying counterspells.
Combo decks all seem to gain during the core set overlap seasons in the summer, but whilst Valakut and Twin aggressively push their combo through early, Pyro has the advantage of playing the long game. Resolving an Ascension is usually easier than successfully landing a Primeval Titan or a Deceiver Exarch, and each and every other vital spell is cheap enough to drive through any defence. Much like with Twin, the ability to bring in alternate win conditions from the sideboard allows Pyro to play a true and traditional control game, working towards a Titan or similar whist the opponent is burning through resources in order to prevent an Ascension landing, let alone becoming active.
An increasingly popular strategy right now is the hybrid deck PyroTwin. Taking the speed of the Twin combo and supporting it with the inevitability of Pyro, many are placing their bets on this deck following in the footsteps of Dark Depths Turbo. For those of you who don’t remember, Gerry T successfully broke the extended format apart during the Spring of 2010 with his fusion of the Vampire Hexmage + Dark Depths combo and the Sword of the Meek + Thopter Foundry combo. I cannot see PyroTwin reaching the dominance of DDT simply due to the colours in use, as DDT relied heavily on its disruptive discard. No number of Gitaxian Probes will remove an answer from the opponents hand, but perhaps careful counterspell choices will allow Pyro to reach the top tier as a part of this powerful hybrid.
Birthing Pod is a challenge that has been tackled by deckbuilders with increasing intensity since its release in New Phyrexia. At Pro Tour Nagoya we first caught a glimpse of the potential of the Pod, but with the diverse variety of bullets to build into in Standard we are bound to see a wide range of different decks built with the artifact in mind. While initial lists seemed to follow a straight-forward pattern of creatures ramping up to various Titans and Praetors at the top of the curve, but with the dominance of combo in Standard the tutoring ability of Birthing Pod enables the Splinter Twin combo to be included without affecting the smooth curve of the midrange deck.
The sheer flexibility of Birthing Pod decks is obviously reminiscent of Fauna Shaman’s impact in Naya and Bant decks prior to the last rotation, with singleton bullets now easier than ever to dig into. During the current PTQ season it is perfectly plausible to metagame carefully and maindeck a variety of powerful hate cards. Alas, for Nationals it is far harder to metagame, particularly in the UK due to the lack of good communication between gaming communities. Should the top decks reach a state of relative stability, a reliable but personalized list with proven bullets in the sideboard could succeed against the very narrow decks currently dominant.
Architect has been hyped since its release, and despite multiple attempts to break the card it took a long time for it to find its home in this deck. Unfortunately, the deck was easily forgotten as Caw-Blade seized control of the format. There are many powerful interactions in the deck, but the simple ability to ramp into game winning power artifacts like Mindslaver makes the strategy worth considering once more. A variety of tools are worth considering in modern builds, especially potential effective use of Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. It is M12 though has given us a true gem to work with in Buried Ruin. Replicating Academy Ruins in a less overpowering manner, Buried Ruin allows deadly recycling of the the powerful win conditions, and allows utter control with Mindslaver to dominate the opponents turns for far longer than is necessary to win. Solemn Simulacrum is also a powerful new (old) tool for this kind of deck, working perfectly to keep the tempo in building into the late game.
The weakness of mono-coloured control decks in recent times has been sideboarding, as the colour pie has made splashing for a second colour a necessity to survive. However, Scars of Mirrodin block has brought a powerful array of artifacts to effectively replicate the effects of the solutions once splashed for. Ratchet Bomb provides a powerful sweeper right now, with Tempered Steel and Red Deck Wins being priced low and in large numbers. Batterskull changes the game quite dramatically in providing a non-white deck with access to a powerful Baneslayer Angel effect against aggro, with the insane ability to act as a near unstoppable win condition against control. At the cost of Trinket Mage it is easily conceivable that Torpor Orb will fill out a chunk of the sideboard to ease the combo match-ups whilst Flashfreeze fill the final slots in being the most useful answer to the largest range of threats.
The initial form of the Eldrazi deck ran very similarly to Valakut by abusing Primeval Titan to dig for the vital land, in this case Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin. It feels strange to see a list without Primeval Titan, but Japanese Nationals brought the Eldrazi back into play utilizing the new tool Quicksilver Amulet. This wonderful piece of artifice allows you to drop an Eldrazi at the end of the opponent’s turn, before swinging in for the win with Annihilator making short work of the board. Green unsurprisingly allows for solid acceleration into both the Amulet and a variety of costly monstrosities, with a total of 15 options for acceleration on turn 2. Wurmcoil Engine and Overgrown Battlement provides a solid wall to defend against aggro, whilst Summoning Trap proves to be a potent threat against the current widespread use of Mana Leak.
Eldrazi appear to be well positioned to use raw power against decks that can have their tempo disrupted harshly when forced to change their role in the game. Though Primeval Titan didn’t make a showing in the limelight stealing list from Japan Nationals, it is important to be equally prepared for the Titan as well as the Amulet. Green provides a solid array of sideboard options as has been noted with Valakut, but the intensity of green mana makes Garruk, Primal Hunter a tempting tool to put to use. This seems to be an idea worth testing, as our new Garruk is undoubtedly a powerful weapon seeking a home, and every green deck can do with extra draw.
Anything Missing?
So, 
&
?
&?It should be pretty clear that a certain colour combination has been missing throughout my most recent articles. Fear not, it has not been ignored, as I will be covering my favourite colour combination in my next article. Stay tuned!
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