New Phyrexia in Standard – I'm Infected, Are You? (4 Decklists)

Hey guys, I apologize for my long absence from the site. To be honest, I just really haven’t had much interest in Magic since my awful showing in Paris specifically and, more generally, since the rising dominance of Caw-Blade in Standard; I find the format all a little stale for my taste.

New Phyrexia is probably one of my most anticipated sets ever. Even during the Ravager, Faerie and Jund-dominated Standard environments, I always found a deck that wasn’t the top deck, that was still competitive and that I was also happy to play. I just feel Caw-Blade is too dominating these days, with the Starcitygames Opens and GPs proving this theory. Hell, people are talking about banning [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card] they’re so unhappy! I just couldn’t wait for new cards to play with and am excited once again to share my take on things to come!

I guess I’ll start off by talking a little about some new cards which will help out the current meta game.

First off, I think [card]Tempered Stee[/card]l in Standard is now a deck, for reals this time…

DECKLIST GO!

[deck title=Standard Steel]
[Creatures]
4 Memnite
2 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Hex Parasite
4 Steel Overseer
4 Stoneforge Mystic
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
4 Tempered Steel
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
3 Dispatch
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
4 Glint Hawk Idol
3 Mox Opal
[/Artifacts]
[Equipment]
1 Mortarpod
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Bonehoard
1 Batterskull
[/Equipment]
[Basic Land]
11 Plains
[/Basic Land]
[Non-Basic Land]
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Inkmoth Nexus
[/Non-Basic Land]
[/Deck]

I’ve really been liking this list so far. It has one of the fastest starts in Standard plus the added mid-to-late game help of [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card]. The deck also has quite the resilience to sweepers between [card]Inkmoth Nexus[/card] and [card]Glint Hawk Idol[/card] on top of all of the Equipment cards. Let us take a look at some of the new cards in this list:

[card]Batterskull[/card] 5
Artifact – Equipment
Living weapon
Equipped creature gets +4/+4 and has vigilance and lifelink.
3: Return Batterskull to its owner’s hand.
Equip 5

With [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card] in the format, [card]Batterskull[/card] has got to be one of the most retarded equipments since [card]Umezawa’s Jitte[/card]. Putting a 4/4 Lifelink Vigilance into play on turn 3 is pretty powerful and might just make [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card] unplayable until [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card] rotates. Scary thought…

[card]Hex Parasite[/card] 1
Artifact Creature – Insect
(B/I)X: Remove up to X counters from target permanent. For each counter removed this way, Hex Parasite gets +1/+0 until end of turn
1/1

Right now [card]Tumble Magnet[/card] and [card]Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/card] are at their peak of play thanks to Caw-Blade and [card]Hex Parasite[/card] is one of the best new answers to both those cards. [card]Hex Parasite[/card]’s ability doesn’t only cost colourless mana and deal with problem cards, it also fits well in the deck due to it’s aggressive nature and the fact that it is an artifact for [card]Steel Overseer[/card] and [card]Tempered Steel[/card]. Quite the perfect fit if you ask me!

[card]Sword of War and Peace[/card] 3
Artifact – Equipment
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from red and from white.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, Sword of War and Peace deals damage to that player equal to the number of cards in his or her hand and you gain 1 life for each card in your hand.
Equip 2

The next new card is [card]Sword of War and Peace[/card]. I cut [card]Sword of Feast and Famine[/card] cause it didn’t really do anything for this deck. I’d rather have the SoWP as it helps with racing and protecting your guys and also deals some hard damage which helps deal with annoying Planeswalkers like [card]Gideon Jura[/card] which you could easily deal 8 damage to the turn it comes into play. I would consider adding a 2nd to the sideboard if not a second to the maindeck as it helps get past Hawks etc.

[card]Dispatch[/card] W
Instant
Tap target creature.
Metalcraft – If you control three or more artifacts, exile that creature.

Last card to get added to the list is [card]Dispatch[/card]. In this deck it’s basically [card]Path to Exile[/card] on crack. Worse comes to worse, it taps a Sword bearing critter or a Titan before combat, but most of the time it’s just the stone cold nuts. Originally this card was [card]Tumble Magnet[/card] but I wanted something to help both the early game and late game without really having to commit too much mana into it. However, if the deck needs another land, I’d cut 1 Dispatch over anything else first.

NEXT!!!…

[deck title=Pyro Twins]
[Enchantments]
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Splinter Twin
[/Enchantments]
[Creatures]
4 Deceiver Exarch
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Spell Pierce
3 Into the Roil
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
4 Preordain
4 See Beyond
1 Call to Mind
3 Foresee
[/Sorceries]
[Basic Lands]
9 Island
7 Mountain
[/Basic Lands]
[Non-Basic Lands]
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Halimar Depths
[/Non-Basic Lands]
[/Deck]

For those of you who do not have Starcitygames premium, here ya go. This deck is new, this deck is real, and this deck is an extremely powerful addition to the current Standard format. Either the deck is in complete control of the game with an active [card]Pyromancer Ascension[/card] by turn 4-5, or it has the [card]Splinter Twin[/card]/[card]Deceiver Exarch[/card] combo which out right kills you on turn 4. If you haven’t seen the new [card]Pestermite[/card] here ya go:

[card]Deceiver Exarch[/card] 2U
Creature – Cleric
Flash
When Deceiver Exarch enters the battlefield, choose one – Untap target permanent you control; or tap target permanent an opponent controls.
1/4

Sure you can counter their spells and remove their creature, but what makes the deck so powerful is that [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] allows the combo player access to valuable information to help set up the combo of which you do not have the answer for. Here’s [card]Gitaxian Probe[/card]:

[card]Gitaxian Probe[/card] (U/I)
Sorcery
Look at target player’s hand.
Draw a card.

Plus, the card is free, helps trigger [card]Pyromancer Ascension[/card] and replaces itself. So good… so excited to play some combo yo! Since Patrick Chapin discussed this deck in more detail already in his recent SCG article, I’m going to skip to the next list:

MORE COMBO! (yay)

[deck title=Mass Polymorph]
[Sorceries]
4 Mass Polymorph
4 Preordain
1 See Beyond
4 Explore
3 Growth Spasm
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
4 Mana Leak
1 Negate
3 Beast Within
[/Instants]
[Enchantments]
1 Awakening Zone
[/Enchantments]
[Creatures]
1 Emrakul, Aeon of Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Urabrask, the Hidden
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
4 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Karn Liberated
[/Planeswalkers]
[Basic Lands]
7 Island
4 Forest
[Non-Basic Lands]
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Khalni Garden
2 Halimar Depths
[/Non-Basic Lands]
[/Deck]

This list is less of a crazy fast combo but can still win on turn 5 given the right draw.

[card]Urabrask, the Hidden[/card] 3RR
Legendary Creature – Praetor
Creatures you control have Haste.
Creatures your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped.
4/4

This guy makes this deck potentially viable for me again. Being able to give your [card]Emrakul, the Aeon’s Torn[/card] haste is such a powerful effect I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give the deck some attention.

Another card which fits very nicely is [card]Beast Within[/card]:

[card]Beast Within[/card] 2G
Instant
Destroy target permanent. Its controller puts a 3/3 green Best creature token onto the battlefield.

The other reason this deck was having a hard time competing was the presence of sooo many Jaces running around. Now Jace dies and the deck’s happy again, lol. [card]Beast Within[/card] also counts as a creature, so if you need a guy, a back up plan could be just killing something of yours for the win.

I can also see this card seeing lots of play in green ramp lists as [card]Overgrown Battlement[/card] just negates the 3/3.

The last new card in here is [card]Karn Liberated[/card]:

[card]Karn Liberated[/card] 7
Planeswalker – Karn
+4: Target player exiles a card from his or her hand.
-3: Exile target permanent.
-14: Restart the game, leaving in exile all non-Aura permanent cards exiled with Karn Liberated. Then put those cards onto the battlefield under your control.
6

I wanted to give this deck a couple different angles to attack from, so I gave it a Planeswalker package which helps fill the card quality density as well as help set the main combo up. With all the acceleration, Karn is a very powerful threat and will be an extremely hard card to deal with.

Overall the deck’s a lot of fun to goldfish and I can’t wait to start testing it to see if it’s actually viable or just one of my awful pet decks!

Now, I’d just like to give two cards specific mention:

[card]Torpor Orb[/card] 2
Artifact
Creatures entering the battlefield don’t cause abilities to trigger.

This card shuts off everything at the moment: [card]Squadron Hawk[/card]s, [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card]s, Titans, [card]Deceiver Exarch[/card], [card]Avenger of Zendikar[/card], [card]Obsinate Baloth[/card] etc. It might be a good fit in a Tezzeret list to make use of the potential dead draw. Either way, this card will at least see some serious sideboard play. Love it.

[card]Dismember[/card] 1(B/I)(B/I)
Instant
Target creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn.

RDW finally has a colourless way to deal with both Baneslayer and most importantly, [card]Kor Firewalker[/card]. WOW…2 in 1, eh? Seems pretty intense… All you red mages out there can finally rest those [card]Perilous Myr[/card]s aside and make room for some real quality. This card is so amazing you’ve all probably had enough of me explaining how good it is already. Enough said.

Lastly I’d like to thank KYT for not kicking me off the team due to my inactivity, but I’ll probably be a lot more vocal with the new set out. I have high hopes for Standard and I think things will be a lot more fun and open for new innovations thanks to it.

Just to finish here’s the Legacy list I’ve been testing forever on MODO and am in love with. This is what I’d play if I were to attend GP Providence:

[deck title=Legacy Elves]
[Creatures]
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Priest of Titania
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Champion
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Sylvan Messenger
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Terastodon
1 Progenitus
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
4 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Natural Order
[/Sorceries]
[Non-Basic Lands]
1 Dryad Arbor
[/Non-Basic Lands]
[Basic Lands]
17 Forest
[/Non-Basic Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Dauntless Escort
1 Gaddock Teeg
4 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Winter Orb
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Krosan Grip
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

The list is a lot of fun. If you were a Goblin player in the past, this is such an incredibly powerful upgrade. Most decks nowadays aren’t quite prepared for a swarm of Elves which are backed by having eight tutors to either refill your hand, deal with problem permanents or just go get the mighty [card]Progenitus[/card]. Usually I just win with beating the crap out of my opponents with my 12 Lords, but having multiple back up plans which are all insane helps as well.

That’s it for me boys,

DONE!…

I’ll be back sooner or later with something fun for your thoughts but in the mean time, take care and have fun with the new set!

Players keep doing what you all do best and Wizards, thanks for staying on top of all your pleasant little “mistakes.”

Noah Long
Team Manadeprived