Standard

Under the Radar – The Letter ‘V’

V for Vendetta

“Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villian by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. (he carves a “V” into a sign) The only verdict is vengence; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.”

How good is Dark Ascension?

Very!

Standard right now is really diverse and fantastic.  All the decks have a predator that are themselves viable choices, and that’s important.

There are a couple of characteristics of the Standard environment that I’d like to call your attention to right now.  Notably, there tend to be two kinds of deck archetype right now:

A).  Deck A doesn’t play sweepers.  Deck A doesn’t play much pinpoint removal (maybe one or two different slots, potentially [card]Vapor Snag[/card]).  By getting ahead on board somehow (this method varies) and applying minimal disruption, this deck uses its evasion or inevitability to close out games.

B).  Deck B does play sweepers.  Deck B does play a large amount of pinpoint removal and also tends to use [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card] to get extra value from it.  Their plan is to use counterspells, removal, and sweepers to keep the board mostly clear, then land a trump and kill you with it.

I’d also like to note that ‘Deck A’ decks are much, much more common in Standard right now.  ‘Deck B’ decks run opposite from ‘Deck A’ because that is who they have in their cross-hairs, that’s who they’re trying to beat.

Another observation: The paradigm of the counterspell has shifted.

Back in the day, the counterspell was the deck’s engine.  Whatever you play, and pay lots of mana for, I can counter with 1-4, perhaps while gaining card advantage.  ([card]Dismiss[/card])  I’ve talked before about Informational Asymmetry.  One form this takes during a game is when both players have each played a card and paid mana.  One of the players got to see which card the other played before they made a decision, and if that card was an instant they could resolve their spell first.  Ultimately that information has value which the second player gained. A perfect example of the Informational Asymmetry gained by playing instants can be seen here: Randy Buehler’s Draw-Go deck.

[Deck Title=Draw-Go]
[Creatures]
1 Rainbow Efreet
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Counterspell
4 Dismiss
2 Dissipate
3 Forbid
4 Force Spike
4 Impulse
3 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
4 Nevinyrral’s Disk
4 Whispers of the Muse
[/Spells]
[Lands]
18 Island
4 Quicksand
4 Stalking Stones
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Capsize
1 Grindstone
4 Hydroblast
4 Sea Sprite
4 Wasteland
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

According to Buehler, the deck’s title came from Andrew Cuneo trying to explain (rather frustratedly) to a friend how to play the deck correctly.  “Just draw a card and say go.  Don’t even think about playing anything on your turn.”

– By the way, people playing this deck back then likely would have killed their own grandmothers*  for the ability to play a card like [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card].

Decks as purely reactionary as this are not very viable in Standard.  Wizards R&D have been slowly discouraging this archetype for a while now, by printing fewer amazing counterspells, and more amazing ‘hosers’**.  Even blue gets a 3/2 flying for 1 mana!  ([card]Delver of Secrets[/card], you’re the worst offender, but we haven’t forgotten about you, [card]Thrun, the Last Troll[/card])  You can certainly play these kinds of decks, and win with them, but every game is an uphill battle, in a format packed with cards designed to be good against these counterspells.  The deck is stacked against you, so to speak.

At this point, if counterspells are so bad, why play them?  Deck A has a very good reason to play them – to protect their early threats from bad things happening to them, and to protect their early lead.  This is what makes Delver decks so backbreaking, sometimes.  Not to mention their not-so-secret weapon: [card]Vapor Snag[/card].  The definition of a tempo-oriented card, it steals games and ruins people’s fun time.

What if we turned their weapon against them?

You know what would be terrible to return to your opponent’s hand?  A ‘value’ creature.  What I mean by this is a creature who enters the battlefield, and provides value (an effect of some sort worth paying mana for) immediately.  V is for Vapor Snag Dagger

Also, non-green decks have very few answers for [card]Oblivion Ring[/card].  The card plays almost like a [card]Vindicate[/card] right now, since that permanent tends to be  gone forever.  V is for Vindicate

Standard is also a format that doesn’t have a lot of good card draw.  I have a lot of love for [card]Forbidden Alchemy[/card] (seriously, that card is sweet) but it’s a bit much to ask for you to spend 3 mana for card selection, a card-neutral proposition.  The decks that are very successful right now employ a large amount of “Deck Velocity”.  V is for Velocity

[card]Moorland Haunt[/card] is a strong, strong card.  It means that if you have already killed something, it’ll be back for more, ready to punish you.  V is for Vengeance

Most decks in Standard know exactly what they’re supposed to beat.  They have highly specific threats and answers.  Why not change up the strategy?  Throw some curveballs!  When your opponent is not ready for what you’re presenting, you have the advantage.  V is for Variegated

Value creatures are strong.  They minimize the effectiveness of opposing removal.  Since your card provided you some value, and they spent a card dealing with it, you are ahead.  V is for Value

Who can save us?  Who can tie together all these strategic observations and form the centerpiece of a deck designed to enhance the strengths of this strategy and prey on the observed weaknesses?

V is for Venser.

[Deck Title=Johnathan Bentley – Flying V]

[Creatures]
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Blade Splicer
2 Aether Adept
4 Dungeon Geists
3 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Tower Geist
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Sphere of the Suns
1 Mortarpod
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Day of Judgment
2 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Gideon Jura
1 Batterskull
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Evolving Wilds
7 Plains
3 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Loyal Cathar
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Grand Abolisher
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Inquisitor Exarch
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Stonehorn Dignitary
1 Glimmerpoint Stag
2 Spellskite
1 Karn Liberated
[/Sideboard]
[/Deck]

This deck still needs some work, but this is what I’ve been playing with for a little bit now.

Some Reasons for Specific Card Choices

  • [card]Blade Splicer[/card]

[card]Blade Splicer[/card] and I go way back.  But seriously, it’s 4 power for 3 mana!  It is also works very well with [card]Sun Titan[/card] and [card]Venser, the Sojourner[/card], not to mention [card]Phantasmal Image[/card].  The Golem token blocks really well, even after the Splicer has died.  I would run no fewer than 4 in this deck.

  • [card]Dungeon Geists[/card]

This is another amazing card, and a good reason to play the deck.  You can run it out on turn 3 or 4 and tap down an early nuisance (and block other earlier nuissances) and then later in the game you can use Phantasmal Image to copy it or Venser to reset it, targeting a new threat.  There are very few played flying creatures in Standard that are bigger than the Geists.  This also needs to be as a 4-of, at least in the main.

  • [card]Sphere of the Suns[/card] and [card]Solemn Simulacrum[/card]

These are very important inclusions.  To avoid being a durdle-y deck that does nothing and dies to the fast decks, this deck plays ramp.  I’m not playing the full four Solemns right now, since they’re mediocre against Delver (in versions playing many [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]s I actually like him a lot).  This also means I can keep up with the Ramp decks on mana and that usually makes the match-up go pretty well.

Also, and this doesn’t come up that often, [card]Solemn Simulacrum[/card] has first strike while [card]Blade Splicer[/card] is in play.

  • [card]Venser, the Sojourner[/card]

So ultimately, why play Venser?  The Standard Planeswalker who sees the least amount of play, he sits in the corner, waiting for his day.  I think that’s today!

A format where [card]Vapor Snag[/card] is deadly tells us one thing – there’s not a lot of real removal being played.  Obviously every deck plays some, that’s natural.  But far less is being played now than before.  Remember when everyone thought [card]Dismember[/card] had ruined Standard until [card]Dismember[/card] would rotate out?

Nowadays, most decks play 5-8 removal  spells, but even then they’re not that great because of Hexproof.  I would like to go on record stating how little I like the combination of Hexproof and the cycle of Swords ([card]Sword of War and Peace[/card], and his brothers), but it is by no means oppressive or unbeatable.

The key to playing Venser, and to playing him well, is knowing these 2 things:

1) Control decks don’t have a good way to meaningfully threaten Venser.

A lot of what they can do, in the early game, involves dealing 2 damage a turn, which Venser can happily absorb (damage delivered courtesy of [card]Snapcaster Mage[/card], who gets blocked by everything).  When you play Venser into an open board, he is still probably a must-counter threat (unless they happen to have Oblivion Ring).  To deal with it they will have to tap themselves out most likely, and then you can answer their threat and be very close to the Ultimate ability (the -8 ability that creates the emblem).  I don’t think a control deck can win through the ultimate.

2) Against midrange-y creature decks, the real ultimate ability is the -1 ability.

Typically you can win the game the turn after you play Sun Titan, or a similar big threat like Elesh Norn.  At that point, your opponent probably thinks he or she has one or two more turns to draw an answer.  One -1 activation later, now they don’t.  In addition, once Venser hits 7 loyalty (potentially the turn after he enters the battlefield), suddenly opponents tend to get somewhat frightened, and start attacking Venser.  This preserves your life total, so you can draw into late game trumps while blocking favourably.

  • [card]Oblivion Ring[/card]

“I’m in pretty good shape if I draw an Oblivion Ring” – me, most turns of the game

This card is nuts.  Obviously there are matchups where you board them out, but they’re almost always a live draw.  They are one of the few amazing answers to opposing planeswalkers.  Also, you can reset them with Venser when a better target becomes available.

  • [card]Evolving Wilds[/card]

This is the perfect land to draw in the opening hand, since it basically guarantees the ability to have WW(2 white sources, for those not familiar with the terminology) on turn 2.  This isn’t super important in the main deck, but is very important out of the sideboard to play these cards: [card]Grand Abolisher[/card], [card]Leonin Relic-Warder[/card] (relevant against Tempered Steel, such as the deck exists) and [card]Inquisitor Exarch[/card] (Better than you think.  Would you want to Vapor Snag this from the other side of the table, if you’re trying to race?  The answer is probably yes in many situations, but it’s not a comfortable choice.)  Not to mention late game life gain from Venser and [card]Sun Titan[/card] are surprisingly strong).  Any turn after turn 3, there’s usually a way to use all your mana, and still get an [card]Evolving Wilds[/card] activation off.  Sometimes it’s the only target to return with [card]Sun Titan[/card], but this is actually a good thing, as you ramp and thin your deck, essentially for free.

  • [card]Ghost Quarter[/card]

Every [card]Sun Titan[/card] deck should run at least 2.  I could only find room for 2 in an already fragile mana base.

  • [card]Day of Judgment[/card]

On the face of it, this card doesn’t make sense in this deck.  Isn’t this deck trying to land a board presence?  Yes and no.  This card is rarely dead, and is your escape valve against the faster decks.  You make them commit as much to the board as possible, and then kill everything.  Typically you will have more gas in your hand than they do, so winning should be elementary at that point.  One of my opponents actually suggested this to me inadvertently, during a game, he said “Okay, that’s the best I can do, I’m just dead if you have [card]Day of Judgment[/card]”.  And he was right, it’s quite good in many situations, especially against Hexproof creatures.  (I didn’t have it but won anyway, [card]Dungeon Geists[/card] is a strong card, etc.)

  • Sideboard in General

The fact that the sideboard is filled with 1-ofs and 2-ofs should illustrate that Standard is incredibly diverse right now; a complete sideboarding plan would take a separate article for itself.

———————–

Let’s run it through the Simple Seven, shall we?  For reference, the questions are:

What is this deck’s plan against Aggro?
What is this deck’s plan against Combo?
What is this deck’s plan against Control?
How does this deck fare against the best deck?
How does this deck fare against the most likely deck to be played?
What does this deck offer that isn’t being done better in an existing deck?
What is the plan against the Red Deck?

Vs. Aggro?

Block early and often, whenever possible.  Again, since the majority of the creatures are value creatures, if you trade 1-for-1 but your creature has already provided extra value, you should be able to use that to get ahead.  Blocking puts creature cards in the graveyard for [card]Moorland Haunt[/card] and [card]Sun Titan[/card] in the mid-to-late game.  Get to the late game and drop a trump, then win.

Vs. Combo?

Not very present in Standard, but you can maybe count [card]Havengul Lich[/card] or [card]Birthing Pod[/card], not to mention that the Frites deck is really just a Reanimator combo deck.  Against them it becomes important to save your [card]Oblivion Ring[/card]s for the engine (Pod or Lich) or the game ending threat ([card]Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite[/card].  Assuming you do that, and board correctly, it should be pretty easy.  If the board stalls, Venser’s -1 ability allows you to win quickly.

Vs. Control?

Mostly addressed out of the sideboard.  Here’s a suggested board plan for something like a UB Control opponent:

+ 3 Grand Abolisher
+ 2 Loyal Cathar
+ 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
+ 1 Karn Liberated
+ 1 Inquisitor Exarch

– 4 Dungeon Geists
– 2 Aether Adept
– 1 Mortarpod
– 1 Oblivion Ring

After board you plan a much different game, you become more of an aggro-control deck, and you are the beatdown.

Vs. the Best Deck?

Ah, the eternal question.  What is the best deck, in a vacuum?  Ramp won the Pro Tour, but isn’t as good going forward.  The Ramp match-up is quite good, though.  The real answer to this question is the Delver deck that plays Swords is probably the best in the abstract, since its main predators (UW Humans packing lots of hate, or Esper Spirits) seem to be on the down-swing, especially due to every deck having an answer in [card]Corrosive Gale[/card] that doesn’t hurt Delver nearly as much as Sprits.  Against Delver, the key is to lower the curve after board, don’t keep slow hands with no fliers, and land a 2 drop they have trouble with.  Ideally you can find [card]Ghost Quarter[/card] to kill off their [card]Moorland Haunt[/card]s, although you have your own copies to trade tokens in the air.  Their best card against you is [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card], because a lot of your creatures are white.  Save [card]Oblivion Ring[/card]s for Swords.  [card]Day of Judgment[/card] turns out to be alright in this matchup, I wouldn’t cut it, although depending on the Delver build that might be correct.  If Delver is heavy in your meta, definitely find room for 2 Divine Offering in the sideboard, since [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card] is basically the only card you care about.

Vs. the most likely deck to be played?

Right now all I keep seeing are these new graveyard based decks (Splinterfright, Frites) as well as Ramp being played.  The match-ups tend to be favourable, although if Frites gets a really good draw you need to have an O-Ring available (or a [card]Phantasmal Image[/card] if it’s a Legendary threat like [card]Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite[/card].  These decks tend to not play much real removal, so you may be able to [card]Stonehorn Dignitary[/card] lock them out of the combat step.  The only threat from ramp are the [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card]es.  I have not lost a game to ramp through regular damage (darn you Inkmoth!).

What does this deck offer that isn’t being done better by an existing deck?

This deck plays so many value creatures along with an awesome planeswalker that gains you more value.  This deck attacks from an angle people aren’t expecting and each turn gives you so many options that as long as you pick the right one every time you should win, given average draws on both sides of the table.

Vs. the Red Deck?

[card]Spellskite[/card] + [card]Sun Titan[/card] tends to be a hard lock.  There are many ways to neutralize the [card]Shrine of Burning Rage[/card]s and [card]Chandra’s Phoenix[/card]es that give the deck such inevitability, including resetting Shrine with [card]Glimmerpoint Stag[/card] or [card]Leonin Relic-Warder[/card].  Again, Shrine is the only real threat, so make sure you board accordingly – hate out those Shrines!

————————–

V for Viable?

I think so.  With a little bit more tuning, this deck would be able to attack specific expected decks, if the metagame focuses a little more.  As is, it has a large number of very strong match-ups and a couple of shaky match-ups, that I would estimate to be no worse than 40/60.   I change a couple of cards for every event – for example I’m probably going to add a [card]Day of Judgment[/card] to the sideboard.  I think I’m maybe 4-7 cards away from my ideal 75, so if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears!

Until next time!

Vafrously*** yours,

Johnathan

fightingmongoose on Magic Online

JohnMBent on Twitter

*Not literally.

**I mean these hosers:

[card]Grand Abolisher[/card], [card]Thalia, Guardian of Thraben[/card], [card]Thrun, the Last Troll[/card], [card]Autumn’s Veil[/card], [card]Combust[/card], etc.

not these hosers:

Bob and Doug McKenzie

***No recorded use as a word.  But if Vafrous is an adjective, the adverb form would have to be Vafrously, following standard etymology rules, using the morpheme ‘-ly‘.

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