Field of the Dead Banned means THIS deck could shine?

October 21st, 2019 is a day that will go down in Magic The Gathering history. Yesterday was the day we've been waiting for now for quite some time. Some with baited breaths and open arms, others with snarls of disgust. Yesterday marked the "Not an Emergency" emergency banning of Field of the Dead. When the B&R announcement got pushed up early, we knew something was coming. Though rumors of other cards swirled around, it was pretty clear to most that Field was getting the ban. Whether or not that was warranted is a whole other discussion that you'll find hundreds of opinions on in the MTG community.

But we're not here today to talk about that. Field is gone. It's done. What we can do however, is prepare for the new meta. With such an impactful card gone, what is to come now? Many believe that Oko, Thief of Crowns is going to run rampant. To their credit, it probably will. There's no denying that the card is extremely powerful. Whether it's the low mana cost, the high loyalty, or the never ending value on offense and defense it provides, the card is nuts. Is it beatable though? You're darn tootin' it is!

DECKS WE KNOW

How we go about that and this new meta requires a few schools of thought. (No, not like the school of thought about what kind of bear is best. I see you Office fans.) First let's look at what we know is good currently. Simic Food had a huge showing in the Mythic Championship. Oko, Gilded Goose, Nissa, Who Shakes the World ran wild. The deck was wonderful at using it's early resources to consistently ramp up and get out big threats like Oko on turn two, and Nissa on turn 3. That kind of pressure is hard to avoid. Early Oko makes many aggro decks crumble. Nissa allows you to go big so things like Hydroid Krasis chain together to provide immense value that's hard to beat.

Simic strategies aren't all that's here. We can't skip over Gruul Aggro which won the Championship in the hands of Javier Dominguez.  Embercleave was the real MVP here allowing huge amounts of damage to get pushed through. Mardu Knights also looked good and had a big showing at the MCV, busting out the gates with big damage and doing absolutely awful things like equipping Embercleaves on Rotting Regisaurs. These decks looked to go over Field decks with trample damage while still putting a clock on other aggresive strategies. 

DECKS THAT CAN MAKE IT POST BAN

There are two decks that stick out to me however, that get a big boost from Field of the Dead being banned. The first of which is Esper Control/Esper Stax. I list both of these because I think both are viable. If any control mages are out there, I guarantee today is a glorious day for you, as Field has made traditional control shells unplayable.  Control decks like to go big and long (gross) and no other deck could do that like Field of the Dead decks did. Boardwipes be damned, it was a feel bad to wipe a board just to see the other side make a few landdrops and have you dead yet again. Don't be surprised to see some variant of Esper make it back into the spotlight here. But that's not my main pick here. One deck that I think can really have some fun here.....Simic Flash.

 

Simic Flash - POST Field of the Dead ban

Simic Flash has a lot of tools to beat any new Esper Deck that pops up, and seems to have a great matchup against the Oko style decks. With cards like Mystical Dispute almost being maindeckable now, and already played cards like Quench in the main give this the early interaction to trip these decks up. While cards like Nissa are scary, five mana spells are a flash decks dream to see. Same goes for the Esper decks. Playing today, I got paired against four different Esper lists and they're just not built to handle Simic Flash. Teferi,  Time Raveler still ruins these decks, but when doesn't it ever though? As it stands now though, you're alloted the tools to counter things that need kept off the board, and you still get a clock with cards like Wildborn Preserver and Nightpack Ambusher that allow you to close a game. Above is MY version of Simic Flash. Is it the best? Who knows. Will it be great in the new meta? Who knows, it doesn't even start until Thursday. All I do know is, early games with it have felt nice and I'm looking forward to being THAT guy and rolling with Simic Flash. You can too.

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HAPPY BREWING FRIENDS!!