The Magic 2014 Release is almost here, and the full card list has finally been revealed after weeks and weeks of spoilers and image leaks. Are you psyched for M14? I’m here to tell you why you should be at least a little excited.

A new Core Set release usually means a few things for Standard. Like with any new set, there will be brand new, powerful cards that will see rampant play in Standard and might even transcend to eternal formats – though, these types of cards are normally few and far between in Core Sets. The best examples of these types of cards from the last Core Set, M13, are Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite. Sometimes, these cards do not become apparent until after the fall rotation, when the Standard card pool suddenly shrinks.

Secondly, the summer period of Standard is the time of year when the card pool is at its largest. This means that Wizards might be allowing us to do some crazy, unusual, or powerful things in Standard for a very small window of time. Even if the Standard metagame doesn’t change much for the next few months, now is the absolute best time to go deep with some crazy brews.

Imposing Sovereign sticks out as an efficient creature (two-power two-drop) with a sweet ability attached to it. It cripples all of the prevalent haste creatures in the format, which includes Flinthoof Boar, Hellrider, Thundermaw Hellkite, and Falkenrath Aristocrat. It also delays your opponents’ blocks by a turn, which is crucial when they are trying to stabilize with a Huntmaster of the Fells or Thragtusk. It takes away a lot of the effectiveness of flash creatures like Restoration Angel and Snapcaster Mage.

Brave the Elements is restrictive in a deckbuilding sense, but much more flexible in use than cards like Faith’s Shield or Ranger’s Guile. This type of effect combats two of the Aggro deck’s biggest challenges: Azorius Charm and Bonfire of the Damned. It makes it tempting to go into a primarily White-based strategy just to gain access to this card.

[deck title=G/W Beats]
[Creatures]
4 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
4 Dryad Militant
3 Imposing Sovereign
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Silverblade Paladin
4 Sublime Archangel
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Brave the Elements
4 Rancor
2 Selesnya Charm
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
8 Forest
5 Plains
2 Gavony Township
[/Lands]
[/deck]

I’ve seen Green/White decks popping up since Voice of Resurgence and Craig Wescoe’s Block Constructed Pro Tour win with the archetype, but maybe it’s time to take this deck seriously now that it has Brave the Elements. The deck is capable of some hard-hitting draws, and the addition of Imposing Sovereign and Brave the Elements helps force through those hard hits. It can also play defense well against the other Aggro decks’ smaller, Red creatures. This only improves after sideboarding, with Unflinching Courage and the new Fiendslayer Paladin.

Elvish Mystic might not be the most exciting card. I mean, it’s basically just Llanowar Elves, right? The fact is that it will be a Standard staple for a year to come, especially once Arbor Elf has rotated. Some decks might favor Elvish Mystic over Arbor Elf because of the latter’s Forest requirement. And some decks want all of the Elves. What if this mostly-forgotten tribe looks to make a small comeback in Standard, like it did last summer with the Elf Wave deck?

[deck title=”Elves”]
[Creatures]
4 Arbor Elf
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Master Biomancer
4 Thragtusk
3 Craterhoof Behemoth
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
3 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]
4 Tracker’s Instincts
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Breeding Pool
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Hinterland Harbor
6 Forest
2 Island
2 Cavern of Souls
[/Lands]
[/deck]

This is a basic Elves concept that can ramp into a fast Craterhoof Behemoth, or, alternatively, just win with an army enhanced by Elvish Archdruid and Master Biomancer. I always liked Tracker’s Instincts in the Peddler deck to help smooth out your draws, turn on Deathrite Shaman, and provide some card advantage. Here, it can find a crucial Elvish Archdruid or Craterhoof Behemoth when you need it. Another option is Primal Surge, which costs a ton and can only be run as a one-of or two-of, but will likely win you the game on the spot.

I like the idea of using Garruk, Caller of Beasts as a ritual for Craterhoof Behemoth, which only saves two mana, but leaves behind a Lead the Stampede-ing Planeswalker. This is the most realistic use of the new Garruk that I can think of, and he fits quite well into this deck.

Ah, the old standbys Shock and Doom Blade have returned, and are begging to be flashed back for the short time we have remaining with Snapcaster Mage in Standard. Doom Blade will likely have some immediate impact in Standard as a two-mana instant that is easier to cast than Victim of Night. Unfortunately, it’s not perfect, since creatures like Olivia Voldaren, Obzedat, Ghost Council, Rakdos Cackler, and Skirsdag High Priest are an issue. Shock is currently outclassed by Pillar of Flame, but Pillar is on the verge of rotation. I’m mostly looking for a cheap way to punish people who like to Bloodrush Ghor-Clan Rampager on Burning-Tree Emissary, and these two reprints do just that.

[deck title=”Grixis Singleton Control”]
[Creatures]
1 Augur of Bolas
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 AEtherling
1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Ral Zarek
1 Jace, Memory Adept
[/Planeswalkers]
[Artifacts]
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Gilded Lotus
[/Artifacts]
[Spells]
1 Pillar of Flame
1 Shock
1 Tragic Slip
1 Desperate Ravings
1 Doom Blade
1 Dreadbore
1 Essence Scatter
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Searing Spear
1 Think Twice
1 Dissipate
1 Divination
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Tribute to Hunger
1 Barter in Blood
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Turn // Burn
1 Far // Away
1 Syncopate
1 Rakdos’s Return
1 Bonfire of the Damned
[/Spells]
[Lands]
4 Watery Grave
4 Steam Vents
2 Blood Crypt
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Desolate Lighthouse
[/Lands]
[Sideboard]
1 Appetite for Brains
1 Duress
1 Electrickery
1 Negate
1 Counterflux
1 Fettergeist
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Lifebane Zombie
1 Domestication
1 Evil Twin
1 Notion Thief
1 Slaughter Games
1 Curse of Death’s Hold
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
[Sideboard]
[/deck]

There are plenty of reasonable Control decks that one could play, but the sheer depth of spells in Grixis colors has me wanting to try a “Singleton Challenge” (with dual lands as an exception, so that you can actually cast the spells). This deck is mostly just fun and hilarious to me, but there are benefits to playing one-ofs. Card selection is important for a Control deck to have, and you take advantage of this with cards like Forbidden Alchemy, Augur of Bolas, Snapcaster Mage, and Jace, Architect of Thought. Having all one-of’s also makes it near impossible for your opponent to predict your next move, and you’ll never get blown out by Slaughter Games or Detention Sphere!

And if you feel the need to go even deeper, you could multiply these card numbers by four and play Battle of Wits in Standard for the last time until who knows when. The deck even gets Diabolic Tutor!

Other cards that stand out as decent sideboard options: Celestial Flare, Domestication, Tidebinder Mage, Lifebane Zombie, Burning Earth, Mindsparker, Scavenging Ooze, Witchstalker.

Cards that could see play, possibly with post-rotation upside: Archangel of Thune, Banisher Priest, Chandra’s Phoenix, Young Pyromancer, Gladecover Scout, Kalonian Hydra, Ratchet Bomb, Mutavault.

Happy brewing with M14,

Alex Bianchi
Gemmanite on Twitter and MTGO
Stream at twitch.tv/gemmanite