Not too long ago, I made the trip to Somerset to play in the SCG Open Series. For most tournaments, I am an advocate of “playing what you know”-choosing the Constructed deck that you feel the most comfortable with, the one that you’ve played the most games with. This time, I ran a much different strategy of registering a deck based entirely on theory, with zero games played.

I started with this list from States:

[deck title=BUG Control – Michael Belfatto]
[Creatures]
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Nightveil Specter
1 Reaper of the Wilds
1 Prophet of Kruphix
2 Aetherling
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
2 Thoughtseize
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Bile Blight
2 Devour Flesh
1 Ultimate Price
3 Hero’s Downfall
2 Syncopate
2 Sphinx’s Revelation
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Mana Confluence
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Breeding Pool
2 Watery Grave
4 Temple of Mystery
3 Temple of Malady
2 Island
2 Swamp
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Dispel
2 Thoughtseize
2 Bile Blight
2 Golgari Charm
2 Negate
2 Ultimate Price
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Hero’s Downfall
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

This deck was sure to be sweet. The changes I initially wanted to make were to cut an [card]Aetherling[/card] for a [card]Primeval Bounty[/card] to diversify the win conditions, cut a [card]Syncopate[/card] for a [card]Psychic Strike[/card] that would be more effective in the late-game, and build a sideboard geared to beat Burn and Brave Naya.

I admit that I was a little scared at the idea of having four [card]Mana Confluence[/card] against aggressive decks, but I had good, early blockers and not many clunky, expensive spells. I felt that Burn and Brave Naya would be popular on the weekend and would require very dedicated sideboard slots for me to feel comfortable about those matchups. I think the best card for beating those two decks right now is [card]Nylea’s Disciple[/card], given that you have the Green core of [card]Sylvan Caryatid[/card] and [card]Courser of Kruphix[/card].

My theorycrafting led me to this list, which I registered on Saturday morning:

[deck title=BUG Control – Alex Bianchi]
[Creatures]
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Nightveil Specter
1 Aetherling
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
2 Thoughtseize
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Bile Blight
2 Devour Flesh
1 Ultimate Price
3 Hero’s Downfall
1 Psychic Strike
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Syncopate
2 Sphinx’s Revelation
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Mana Confluence
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Breeding Pool
2 Watery Grave
4 Temple of Mystery
2 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Malady
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Island
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
2 Dispel
2 Thoughtseize
2 Golgari Charm
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Drown in Sorrow
2 Notion Thief
3 Nylea’s Disciple
1 Silence the Believers
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

Going in, I didn’t expect to have a great tournament performance with this deck, but knew it was going to be a blast to play. I was hoping for some surprised looks on peoples’ faces, at the very least.

The first thing I learned was how great it is to be able to maximize [card]Nightveil Specter[/card]’s ability. Having eight sources of any color mana meant that I could start casting cards like [card]Elspeth, Sun’s Champion[/card], much sooner than a normal [card]Nightveil Specter[/card] deck could.

I found it a little difficult to actually close out games by attacking with my small array of two-power creatures. [card]Aetherling[/card] is the ultimate closer, but I didn’t want to play multiples and risk ever drawing a second copy. [card]Primeval Bounty[/card] impressed me a lot, and it was definitely correct to maindeck it.

The planeswalkers are technically also win conditions, but since there are only four of them total, they are crucial sources of card advantage that need to be cashed in before getting [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card]ed. Kiora is at least able to make an emblem very quickly if you see that the way is clear, and Jace’s +1 can be extremely effective versus Burn, where he has enough loyalty to be out of range of burn spells or trade with multiple spells.

I ended the tournament at 6-3-1, facing six midrange decks, two control decks, one Burn deck, and one Red Devotion deck. I lost my match against the Burn opponent (who ended up going undefeated in the Swiss), but I don’t think that was totally conclusive. [card]Nylea’s Disciple[/card] was just as good as I imagined. Chris Van Meter ran three copies himself in the sideboard of his Jund Monsters list, which I’m sure must have helped him on the way to the finals of the tournament.

The anti-control sideboard plan went smoothly. I was able to go 2-0 in the tournament versus control decks, tempo-ing them out with [card]Nightveil Specter[/card] while leaving up mana for protection spells. Where the sideboard could use help is in the midrange matchups, where I felt like I needed a card advantage engine like [card]Vraska the Unseen[/card], [card]Underworld Connections[/card], or [card]Erebos, God of the Dead[/card].

As for maindeck changes, I would cut the two [card]Devour Fleshe[/card]s for the fourth [card]Hero’s Downfall[/card] and maybe another [card]Bile Blight[/card]. They aren’t able to gain you that much life without [card]Desecration Demon[/card] in the deck, and [card]Blood Baron of Vizkopa[/card] can be stopped by Kiora and AEtherling.

The Drawing Board

There is plenty of space left to explore in Standard. I’m not sure how many other decks I’ll be able to get to, but I’ve considered exploring a bunch of ideas:

– UWR Control is a given for me, knowing the types of decks I like to play. I took Saito’s list for a spin last week, and I think it has a lot of potential if the flex slots are tuned for the correct field.

– I’m still struggling to find out if [card]Heliod, God of the Sun[/card], and White Devotion can actually be good. [card]Dictate of Heliod[/card] helps keep this dream alive.

– I feel like Black Aggro or BR Aggro falls short of being good enough, but I want this deck to be good in Standard before it loses [card]Mutavault[/card].

– I watched my friend Jeff playing what appeared to be a GB Constellation deck with some Dredge elements, and it looked awesome. [card]Strength from the Fallen[/card] is the sleeper card that connects these two strategies together.

I’ll be doing Standard preparation for the SCG Invitational in Columbus, and may also be hitting up SCG Providence one week prior. The Mana Deprived Super Series has its own stop in Montreal coming up, which, sadly, I won’t be able to attend. I’m excited to see what innovations people come up with in the next few weeks, and I think there’s definite reward for looking to gain an edge in Standard these days.