20-9 SIMIC FLASH (STANDARD GOLD)

After playing the Yorion Bant and Sultai decks on the standard ladder, I was finding the aggro to be overwhelming.  Also, with the 80 card decks, it felt like I was not pulling the answers that I needed when I needed them.  Having a million Omen of the Sea feels silly when you also have to sift through 38 lands.  When you're scrying for an answer that you only have 4 of, scry 2 doesn't feel as good.  While the decks didn't do that terribley, I felt like if I didn't get an Agent of Treachery on board, then the opponents would easily dispatch all my threats, or a quick aggro deck would just get underneath me and I wouldn't be able to find my sweepers or cheap removal.  It could be that I just haven't played enough (or am not a good enough player) to pilot these decks well, but I was a bit dissappointed with their performance.  Probably the way to go is Lukka (or regular) [Fires of Invention]] right now.  It's pretty unstoppable once fires is on-board.  Unfortunately, I am missing a lot of the rare peices and boros mana-base, so I'm looking for something else.

Which lead me here: good ol' Simic Flash!

I was excited to play dimir or sultai flash when Ikoria was spoiled, but after watching some videos I think they seem too slow.  Slitherwisp sounded like a killer addition, but you won't cast it on-curve as a threat as you're almost always countering a T3 play.  I think there might be a version of this deck that plays a lot of cheap threats like Spectral Sailor that would allow you to go wide with a slitherwisp resolved, but the Dirge Bat and Cunning Nightbonder seemed to just land you a bit behind other decks.  So I gave up, took my new Octopus and Sharks and went Simic!

Right now I'm 20-9 as I work through gold on the ladder.  Deck is 17-7 on B01 Ladder, 2-2 off-ladder.  I think I was testing some changes off-ladder, but 50/50 evens out my win ratio. It's also undefeated on B03, but only 1-0, so take my sideboard with a grain of salt.

That being said, I played an Azorious Yorion deck for the B03.  I dropped game 1 due to mana-scumming, then came back with my Wilderness reclamations to take game 2, then switched back to the original aggro with value counters for game 3.  Anyways, let's work through the curve:

MAIN DECK

Great 1-drop to get you started.  Perfect mutate fodder as a 1/1 flyer.  Late game if you find you're stuck with an empty hand, he can draw you cards.  This guy helps out with our poker bluffs as well; if you leave UUGG open the opponent might try to play around a fake Frilled Mystic and let you net an extra card. 

If you can get him down T1 and you have nothing to Quench or Negate on your opponents T2 and they don't leave mana open, then mutating your Sea-Dasher Octopus always feels like a high-value play.  By T3, you've gotten in for 3 damage and drawn a card before forcing your opponent to burn some removal on a 2/2 that you only invested 3 mana into.  Finding ways to use mana efficiently is what this deck is about.  This deck makes me want a suite of sailors in anything playing U.

I'm always going back and forth on the ratio of these two cards.  It feels like 4 total is correct, and I've been working with 3 Quench lately as Aggro decks seem to be more popular.  This deck needs to be able to counter a T3 Teferi.  Later in the game you can maybe cycle a big shark in or bounce it with Brazen Borrower but T3 and +1 Teferi will likely stop us dead. 

Keep an eye on the meta.  If everyone starts playing Jeskai or Bant Yori lists, you might want to go 2 Aether Gust and 4 Mystical Dispute main deck.  That black Obosh deck is the only reason to go more global with the 2 mana counters.

Value 2-drops that you can build on throughout the game.  Wildborn Preserver is a great place to dump your extra mana if you end up casting a cuthroat or sailor on your opponents endstep with mana open.  Brineborn Cutthroat is a threat that can really spiral out of control when you get it going.  They can also both act as blocker removl.  Flashing in another creature to pump either of these guys during opponents combat for a clean block, or punishing opponents by countering something on their first main-phase and eliminating an opening to attack feels great.  These creatures are this deck's bread and butter.

Sinister Sabatoge

With (4) 2-mana counters in Quench and Negate, and a full suite of your board-swing Frilled Mystic counters, just having two of the Sinister Sabatoge feels right.  A total of 10 counterspells in the deck, with an ephasis on countering early blockers or threats to let us get damage in is the way to go.  These are available to hit those must-counter late game threats and make sure you're not flooding on land.

Eventually, you're going to be missing a counter and something is going to stick onto the board that you need to be gone.  Or, your opponent will tap out and you can just bounce his threat and place an evasive 3/1 for your attak.  Brazen Borrower is another big tempo-swing card which can catch opponents off-guard.  This is also one of the only ways we can deal with Teferi or Fires if it gets past our counters.  Maybe adding a Gemrazer to the sideboard would make sense as we have the creatures to mutate onto, but I think I would rather just Aether Gust it right after an opponent's draw. 

Every creature in the deck is capable of hosting our mutate creatures.  The plan for Sea-Dasher Octopus is to mutate this onto a Spectral Sailor, draw an extra card and ping for two each turn.  You want to play this on an end-step after your opponent tried to play aorund counters.  Being a 2/2 flyer it isn't critical for opponents to use removal on, but it's either card advantage and a clock, or we get to draw out their removal and give our larger threats more of a chance.  If you're down on cards, flash this onto anything with flying, even the typhoon shark tokens work.

Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath definitely seems out of place here, but I am convinced having at least a couple in the main-deck is worth it.  There have been more than a few games where being able to bring a 6/6 out of the graveyard for UUGG just gets you over the top.  It's that 'extra card in-hand' value you get from escape and adventure (and companion, now?) cards that gives you something to do even when you're out of gas.  Plus, lifegain can be necessary in this met, and he's drawing us cards.  It doesn't feel great to tap out for him on T3, but he tends to be a reliable backup plan if your opponent has managed to eliminate your other threats or taken control of the board.

Do I need to write these up?  Nightpack Ambusher just wins games.  If you can counter some removal and keep him on-board for a couple turns, you're flying.  Frilled Mystic is a great tempo-swing card that can put you way ahead.  The 3/2 body tends to be able to sac-block and kill the early threats that get through your counters as well. 

I tried Voracious Greatshark, but I find that I need to be countering spells or enchantments more than creatures and artifacts by the time I can spend 5 mana on a single card.  There just seems to be better things we can do in this slot, like the next card.

I love this card.  This has won me more games coming way out of left field than I would have ever expected from an uncommon.  This card is just so versatile in this deck.  Beyond the obvious 'pump a sailor to 4/3 and remove a blocker for your ground creatures,' I've found some fun ways to wreck an opponent's board with this.  The best game winning play is flash-mutating onto a Brineborn Cutthroat during an opponent's attack, pushing it from a 2/1 or a 3/2 to a 5/4 or 6/5, bouncing a blocker or activated ability creature, then using it to kill a 3/3 or 4/4 attacker and swing in big on your turn.  in tight match against Dimir Flash, I used this to bounce a Cunning Nightbonder so I could Quench a Dirge Bat that was about to take control of the sky and eliminate a Nighpack Ambusher on the ground.  This has been a super valuable card, and the body tends to be able to take your attack over the top for lethal when your opponent isn't expecting it.

You really have to think about when you're getting the most value casting this card and what lines you're leaving open or closing for your opponent.  Do you want to use it as a combat trick on their combat phase?  Do you want to spend your open mana and clear a blocker on their endstep?  Do you want to just mutate this onto whatever creature they don't block with?  Focus on closing out the game; this card has won a few games for me.

We all know this is good by now.  Another great Teferi answer.  The cycling creates an uncounterable, evasive, mana-sink (pumpable) flash creature.  I find that it almost always makes sense to cycle this, as you don't want the game to go on long enough to be hard-casting and protecting this enchantment.  Even a 1/1 flyer for 3 or a 2/2 for 4 when you have nothing else to do sometimes makes sense for a chance to hit a land drop and getting another flyer on-board.  Cycling is no joke, I see why everyone was so pumped for it's return.  Makes me think about switching Sinister Sabatoge for Neutralize, but I feel like the hard counter and draw-fixing is better in this deck.  If we're spending turn 2 cycling for a land drop we're in trouble; the deck was built to have much more dangerous early plays.

SIDEBOARD

Pretty wierd sideboard here.  Mostly due to the fact that I don't have Shifting Ceratops and don't think it's worth the wildcards. 

Basically, you have your standard 'value color-specific counterspell' suite in Mystical Dispute and Aether Gust.  I generally use this to swap in lieu of my counterspells in the deck without changing the spell to creature ratio.

I find that playing any deck with a lot of hard black removal spells or hand-hate can turn into a long-game where you can't overcome an onslaught of late-game planeswalker threats.  So, we can totally switch gears to become this odd Wilderness Reclamation counterspell machine.  Here, we're looking to get loads of value from Spectral Sailor by drawing cards before we untap lands on our endstep.  Having Spectral Sailor, Nightpack Ambusher, and Wilderness Reclamation on-board is tough to beat.  We'll dump some creatures to add counters as-well.  The goal is to just protect your sailor and wolf engine until you can swing in for lethal.  Add another Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath for more lifegain and graveyard recursion threat, and Questing Beast as a hasty Teferi or Narset murder.

OVERVIEW

Remember, this is not the fastest deck.  It's not getting under the midrange builds, but countering or bouncing their key 4 and 5 drops for a few turns while you take what looks like a safe life total to zero.  Against aggro, you're swinging in over the top and using your flash creatures as combat tricks to keep control of the board.  This deck can win against control, but you've gotta be lucky with what opponents draw; they can out-counter you initially, and you may find yourself with no cards in hand and no resources on-board.  This is where you might swap in Wilderness Reclamation and your Mystical Dispute to win counter-battles.

Just to clarify, I generally play this deck as B01.  I generally play B01 because I can play for 15-30 minutes, where B03 always feels like you need at least an hour carved out with no distractions.  That being said, these games go fairly quickly.  You're winning or losing in a reasonable amount of time, and unlike mono-red or these Obosh aggro decks, you have a lot of capability to interact with opponents in a versatile manner.  The cards are designed for B03 games, and the beauty of Magic is being able to swap things in from your sideboard to give you an advantage on decks you weren't built to deal with.  This deck is built as a generalist with the color-hate sideboard cards.  If you take game 1, you should able to at least get lucky with draws on 2 or 3.

If you love control, but don't have an hour to play every game.  Or if you are tired of getting outpaced by these quick aggro decks, Flash is the way to go.  It's control with a mission.  Instead of waiting until you're 40 cards into your deck when you finally get to cast your threat that still has a 5-turn clock, just play your game winners on turns 2 and 3 and control the next few turns.  This deck has really helped me to figure out what I should or shouldn't be countering.  Sometimes the all-out control decks give me an itchy trigger finger because I don't know I'm going to draw that sweeper, even though it is probable.  This deck lets you play your hand more than your deck, so have fun!