Edit, 20/02:
World’s XXVI alongside the Arena mini-event with the Champion’s Decklists showed that the current meta is really forged by Fires of Invention, hacked down fast by Embercleave and controlled by Azorius colours variants; a fact that was evident even before, but now these decklists became more refined and their spell components broadly known.
The Bo1 list is working well against these lists as far as I have tested and noticed, unless they get a God Draw in which case every deck would have a problem winning against them. With access to the sideboard for Bo3 we get a better chance to board interaction. And overall the deck is still performing well for me in the ladder against the rest of the non-championship decklists.
As I mentioned on my last update, I am still testing whether or not some high curve spells can be replaced with lower curve ones, to accelerate board control. I haven’t made any changes in the list this time but after taking a good look on the Championship’s lists I eagerly test and furthermore recommend to anyone willing to make some changes to:
Remove 1x Hydroid Krasis, 1x Dream Trawler and 1x Growth Spiral for any combination of up to three copies of Thirst for Meaning and/or Mystical Dispute; or any other card that you might find fitting for the style/mana curve.
Thirst for Meaning can accelerate our draws and put some extra cards in the graveyard to abuse for our Uro’s Escape cast. Mystical Dispute can come extra handy in games against Blue, or frankly any deck as a cheap counter with ease of colour requirements. Both are exceptionally strong cards, with the latter making an appearance to all Blue focused sideboards anyway.
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"It came to me in a dream, and I forgot it in another dream!"
-Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Futurama
Hello there!
After the release of Theros Beyond Death the Meta got reinvigorated, with many new decklists being at least viable and decent on their win percentage statline and enjoyment side -uuuuntil someone breaks it again that be; but until then let's have some decision-making fun! The current archetype I'm working on here is focused on Ramp and Survival through board control.
Let's dive in:
This card is practically a staple for Control with access to Blue mana for a while now and for a good reason. For a common it is pushed being cast in instant speed, controlling the top of our deck and providing a solid card draw. On the bonus side, it can become a mini shield against Stax strategies and more consistently be sacrificed to fill an extra graveyard slot for Uro’s Escape casting cost.
100% draw chance at instant speed costing 2 cmc, with possible Ramp up; it mainly fixes the dual lands problem by bringing them in the battlefield during an opponent's turn ignoring their Tap or Shock cost, smoothing tempo plays and preventing exchanging health total for mana fixing. Necessary card to Ramp up fast and keep the flow steady.
2x Glass Casket
As Control, we need early turn interactions with our opponent’s side of the board, mostly against Aggro and Midrange whose speed forges the Meta; against Control mirrors we want to Ramp up fast to push them as soon as possible, forcing them to focus their resources against our weakest cards while we use the minimum amount and power for our own answers. Glass Casket, as Banishing Light, offers an extra shield for our health pool by exiling the < 3cmc creature it targets, denying strong early turn plays like Anax, Midnight Reaper or a late game Krasis.
Big Jellyfish that draws cards and boosts our health total back up, evasive with Flying and Trample and a sturdy blocker; in a Ramp deck, an absolutely must-have. Maybe one less could make a difference during early turn draws, but that's up for testing and personal preference. Its on cast draw and life-gain ability is especially strong against Counter-Happy or Board Wipe decks, providing extra gas for our hand to continuously push for trades.
2 cmc instant bounce spell early that can turn into a 3 Power attacker with Flash later. The concept behind this double-sided inclusion is to slow down early game plays and have an evasive hitter to ride against planeswalkers or health totals, making a strong push or trades later in the game.
In Azorius colours its either Counter-focused card picks or Enchantment-based removals for the majority of the meta, in lieu of Black in the deck; personally, with the dominance of baby-Tefer and the strong Enchantments that are played around, alongside the need of the deck to tap out on mana for ramping on early turns I am leaning towards the enchantment side. It also proved to be a worthy inclusion against the massive strength of Anax, Hardened in the Forge whose death trigger is by itself practically for Red a shield against mass removal.
2x Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
Turn 3 Growth Spiral on steroids, albeit in Sorcery speed; gaining 3 life on cast/attack and having the ability to recast this card from graveyard for its Escape cost later makes Uro an absolutely amazing inclusion. The Simic Titan also offers an extra fix for the Tap and Shock lands disadvantages.
Aaah, baby Teferi, we meet again. No comments, really; if you are playing Azorius colours this card is an auto-inclusion until proved otherwise. Oko, Thief of Crowns might be banned, Teferi is still with us. Against Control don’t be afraid to use him to target our own card advantage machines, unless another situation arises; it’s a battle for Value, and he provides it consistently. Be smart against Counter decks on when to play or sacrifice him to force a play out of them, he single-handedly shuts them down.
PS: Don’t get confused by his high-power level, overextending and trying to bounce an opposing Planeswalker as your game-finishing play; in the end his only drawback is that he can’t target them.
One mana less than Time Wipe and 2 Colorless instead of the 2 Black of Kaya's Wrath. Against Gruul or other decks that cast 4 Power creatures this card might have a minor drawback (which is intended wince WotC doesn’t want to go back to overpowered Wrath of God effects); wiping the board clear to survive one more round though, offers a solid chance to stabilize which is a huge and needed upside in the current meta, as most aggressive decks are going all in, emptying their hand by turn 4-5.
The Eldest Reborn, tuned down to match its new place in the overall nerfed White color. This card can get rid of many threats in Saga I, Gods especially with ease, and provide cover against removals on Saga II, practically causing the opponents to tap out if they want to get rid of something on curve. On Saga III it resurrects a creature or a planeswalker from OUR graveyard with an extra +1/+1 or a loyalty counter respectively. Decent, fair and hard-worker against Aggro/Midrange, Strong against Control.
3x Nissa, Who Shakes the World
You're playing Green; (most probably) include her. You're playing Ramp; absolutely include her. This card has the same power level as baby-Teferi or Oko; if she resolves and is not answered immediately, the game escalates quickly. She is not just a strong meta card, instead the whole metagame warps around her since her release and from the moment she hits the board.
Now that's a card that was a pleasant surprise to play with and against. It's a perfect Control finisher tool: Flying for Evasion, Lifelink to keep us alive, high Defence stat to keep itself alive along with Hexproof if needed and on top of this pile of text it also grows bigger whenever we draw a card AND it draws us cards. I had Agent of Treachery as a high-end finisher for ramp, I gladly shift and test these Sphinxes with the inclusion of White; they've rarely disappointed thus far.
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Sideboard: Options for Bo3
As I mentioned on an earlier update of my list, the current version of the deck is doing really decent work for me in the Arena for Bo1. It shows more promising work for the Bo3 mode and here are some choices based on my personal ideas and plays alongside keeping an eye on how the Meta evolves.
Sideboarding will offer possible answers to heavy impact problems like Questing Beast, Anax, Hardened in the Forge, Thought Erasure and Counter-Everything strategies; you still need to draw them and the proper window opportunity to cast them but sideboarding offers at least more options against weak matchups. Don't forget though that if you sideboard for answers the opponent also sideboards in solutions for you, so you have to go on by playing some mind games and possibly predicting their most likely picks.
Onwards:
Exile Red/Black Creature/Planeswalker; cherry on top, Scry 1. Exiling is pretty strong at the current time in the Meta, especially against cards that can in some way refill the board like Anax, Hardened in the Forge, Midnight Reaper a.o. or others that are strong individuals in these target colors. 2-of is doing nicely so far, could easily go up 1 slot if the need arises.
3x Aether Gust
Choose Red/Green SPELL or permanent and its CONTROLLER chooses whether it will be put on top or bottom of their library. Easily noticed the pattern against Red spells in this sideboard, mainly for Gruul Klothys, God of Destiny, Questing Beast a.o. and Mono-Red matchups; both these archetypes are extremely important in the Meta because they are fast aggros and we need fast answers for them after Game 1.
2x Dovin's Veto
This card has proved to be most consistent in terms of opportunities and reasons to be casted, both defensively and offensively; most of the time it counters a drawing, mass removal or a Teferi spell and during late game it can be a strong shield against finishers or mass removal played against our own Dream Trawler. Overall, a very strong card on its own.
A few extra counters, focused for Counter matchups with Control or Flash mainly for their ease of casting on the right moment; the opponent will be expecting them, try to bait their counters out if you can. After all, the best way to get something you need to resolve on the battlefield is to walk straight into their counter beforehand, make them use it; the more it sits in their hand it means that the more time you spend not casting your game winning cards, and they get the needed space to gather more resources. Force their counter, play cheap things and push against Counter-Happy strategies; they have difficulty answering easily/cheap resolved spells.
I've found that these guys still perform exceptionally well against Aggro and Midrange; unless there is a disturbance in the Fo...in the Meta, I'm leaning towards the sturdy wall that they provide.
The stompy dino can single-handedly win you the game against heavy Control or Counter strategies. Apart of their uncounterable premise, they have extremely high attack and defence stats. Resolve them and let them do what they do best; go wild.
These are my picks at the moment, based on my experience and how I see the Meta evolving. Some noteworthy inclusions that I am still considering and looking for an opportunity to play are:
Previous MainDeck Version/Current Changes (13/2):
Omen of the Sea x4 --> x3
Dovin’s Veto x2 --> Glass Casket x2
Growth Spiral x4 --> -
Banishing Light x2 --> -
Teferi, Time Raveler x4 --> -
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath x2 --> -
Shatter the Sky x4 --> -
Elspeth Conquers Death x2 --> -
Nissa, Who Shakes the orld x3 --> -
Time Wipe x2 --> Brazen Borrower x3
Dream Trawler x2 --> -
Hydroid Krasis x3 --> -
Plains x1, Island x1 --> Castle Ardenvale x1, Castle Vantress x1
A couple of cards on the higher end of the curve (cmc: 5+) could be replaced with others on the lower side (cmc: < 3) to further improve tempo play and consistency; that’s what I’m going to be testing over the next days, while keeping an eye on how World’s Championship XXVI will impact the meta.
Until then, have fun with your games!
6 comments
Creature (10) | |||
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$1.04€1.100.06 | |||
$4.00€5.680.87 | |||
$0.49€0.270.02 | |||
$4.008.86 | |||
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (17) | |||
$0.30€0.270.03 | |||
$0.74€0.660.02 | |||
$0.35€0.230.02 | |||
$0.22€0.130.03 | |||
$0.20€0.110.03 | |||
$0.20€0.150.03 | |||
Land (26) | |||
3
Forest
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$0.22€0.020.04 | ||
$0.34€0.200.02 | |||
$0.31€0.310.02 | |||
$5.54€4.180.15 | |||
$10.04€9.740.24 | |||
$16.43€15.090.17 | |||
$8.25€9.460.17 | |||
1
Plains
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$0.20€0.150.03 | ||
2
Island
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$0.15€0.020.03 | ||
$0.47€0.480.02 | |||
$0.52€0.600.02 | |||
Planeswalker (7) | |||
$3.75€2.440.02 | |||
$3.95€5.305.39 |
$0.250.02 | |||
$0.39€0.210.02 | |||
$0.27€0.220.04 | |||
$0.20€0.140.03 | |||
$0.40€0.430.18 | |||
$3.06€1.860.04 |
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-TTT
Bo3 Sideboard will come soon enough. The Meta has pretty much shifted around enough and settled down -at least until the first Mythics Championship- so i will release the SB that i'm working on pretty soon.
Have fun!