It seems like we were just busting packs to find shocklands yesterday, but fall has arrived and with it, our annual excursion into another dank corner of the multiverse! Theros, like Innistrad, is dripping with flavor from its “top-down” design. And, like Innistrad, it may take a while for the best cards to make their way to the top of the pile. But never fret, I have pored over the card gallery without rest, letting my little inner brewer go wild.
Theros has a lot of interesting things going for it. Scry is a fantastic ability to bring back for serious exploration. It isn’t overtly powerful: it doesn’t contribute to board presence, it doesn’t increase your hand size, and it doesn’t really provide you with additional options. What it does is streamline decks and raise the overall consistency. Patrick Chapin and Gerry T should have a field day tuning decks for this format.
While monstrosity and heroic are extremely flavorful abilities for a set based on Ancient Greek mythology, they’re going to be tough to evaluate. Right now, I’d give the nod to monstrosity as the better of the two. The ability may end up being largely overcosted, but at least you don’t require a second card (of a specific type) to get the benefit. I think I’ll need to play with these cards a bit more to get the feel for these abilities.
Cards We Need to Reconsider with Theros:
[card]Vraska the Unseen [/card]: Now that Acidic Slime has been flushed, this looks to be the best multi-permanent answer in the field. The ability to use it repeatedly makes Vraska one of my primary testing targets post rotation. Cards like [card]Scavenging Ooze[/card] and [card]Desecration Demon[/card] will still be around to push us towards a BG build, and this seems to slot in as a multifaceted way to deal with problematic permanents.
[card]Merciless Eviction[/card]: I’m not one to do serious speculation on Magic cards (my idea of speculating is making sure I have a playset both on MTGO and IRL), but if I were a gambling man, I would take a very, very hard look at this card after rotation. With the gods of Theros being indestructible enchantments, being able to exile them becomes very important. Add in the card’s having enough versatility to still be relevant when the gods aren’t on the board, and Eviction seems like pure win. Asking us to pay six mana is a steep price for a sweeper, one that many Magic sets and blocks have not been able to pay in constructed, but it may be a necessity in Theros.
[card]Blood Baron of Vizkopa[/card] versus [card]Obzedat, Ghost Council[/card]: The poor conflicted souls of Orzhova have been playing “Who’s the better five drop?” for months, and it may not get answered any time soon. Personally, I think Obzedat is more powerful and harder to remove (as I expect Mizzium Mortars to be the most played removal spell post-rotation). Blood Baron may be the better card overall, even with its weakness to the best removal spell in the format ([card]Mizzium Mortars[/card]), especially if GW or RW is the best aggro deck.
[card]Nightveil Specter[/card]: Since it saw some play in block, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this guy (and the other three-colored cards, especially resident all-star, [card]Boros Reckoner[/card]) pop up a bit more as a devotion enabler.
[card]Domri Rade[/card]: The moment I saw scry was being reprinted, I started thinking of Domri decks. The inherent weakness in Domri is his inconsistency and his requiring a high creature count. Scry makes up for both weaknesses. Whereas I would have been hesitant to play [card]Searing Spear[/card] in a Domri deck, I don’t have nearly as many qualms about running [card]Magma Jet[/card]. And, the fact that your R/G dual can also scry makes Domri one of the most intriguing cards going forward. I think he will have a three-way race with [card]Jace, Architect of Thought[/card] and [card]Chandra Pyromaster[/card] (I still think she’s only marginally playable) for the title of “Best Planeswalker in Standard.“
[card]Wear // Tear[/card]: If you are playing white, you will want some number of these in your sideboard. The Equipment of the Gods are powerful enough to be format defining (especially the Hammer and the Whip), and this may be the best answer to them in the format.
[card]Young Pyromancer[/card]: I know, you know, everyone knows. Purphoros and Pyromancer go together like vinyl and love, but it may not yet be the time. The deck really needs some cheap card drawing spells to fire off, and I don’t see those in Standard at this point. Should we get [card]Opt[/card] or [card]Serum Visions[/card], I will be on this like Chris Lansdell on bad puns. Until then, let it simmer on the fire. Some things take time to burn.
Now, let’s take a look at Theros.
Disclaimer: Look, I’m just not going to review every card. I’m just not. I’ll leave that herculean task to the likes of Conley Woods, Chris Lansdell, and LSV, those who have been driven to insane levels of punnery just to make it through another set review without jumping off a high building at the thought of finding relevance in yet another another vanilla five-drop. If you REALLY need me to affirm that [card]Yoked Ox[/card] is either 1) the most broken card since Jace started sculpting minds, or 2) not worth its weight in toilet paper (hint: most cards fall somewhere in this spectrum), then consider yourself affirmed. These are the cards that jumped up and violently assaulted my inner brewer.
Theros Rares:
[card]Agent of the Fates[/card]: The heroic ability on this card is so powerful; I’ll be keeping an eye on every instant and sorcery card printed while he’s in Standard. Right now, [card]God’s Willing[/card] and [card]Hidden Strings[/card] have me itching to give him a try.
[card]Anger of the Gods[/card]: One of my favorites, and one of the most important cards in the set. I preordered a set of these as soon as it was spoiled, and this is one of the main reasons I’m leaning towards UR for my control brews. Three damage is extremely relevant, and the exile ability gives red a much needed way to fight [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card]. In Modern, this is a fantastic way to fight Melira Pod, giving you the two best modes of [card]Jund Charm[/card]. I am very high on this card.
[card]Arbor Colossus[/card]: I dismissed this card at first, but every time I ran my eyes over it on the spoiler list, I paused. After a week, I began to come around. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is constructed playable. [card]Desecration Demon[/card] has been making a name for itself late in this Standard season, and a lot of people have their eye on it for the post rotation format. Arbor Colossus outclasses it. A 6/6 with reach is a formidable wall. Curving any green creature into [card]Nylea, God of the Hunt[/card] into this is huge, and I wouldn’t doubt we’ll be seeing it soon (and in Block Constructed).
[card]Boon Satyr[/card]: If bestow is going to make its way into constructed magic, this Is my pick for the card to carry the mantle. As a 4/2 with flash, Boon Satyr is good enough to see occasional constructed play (think [card]Wolfir Avenger[/card]). Casting this for its bestow cost at instant speed will end a ton of games next season.
[card]Bow of Nylea[/card]: I was lucky enough to play against this at the Theros prerelease, and it’s as incrementally valuable as you’d expect. I expect the Bow to the be the [card]Trading Post[/card] of the set: a situationally powerful card that pops up from time to time in winning decklists and has dedicated fans throwing it into every deck they build.
[card]Chained to the Rocks[/card]: One of the most flavorful cards Wizards has ever designed. I can’t wait to cast this on a god, especially Porphuros for maximum Vorthos cool-points. Someone with talent in the maths, please come up with a spreadsheet for the number of Mountains my deck will need to play this card, (e.g. eight Mountains if you want to play one copy, 12 for two copies, etc). I wouldn’t doubt this card will be better in Modern than Standard.
[card]Daxos of Meletis[/card]: I have played [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card]. You, sir, are no Geist of Saint Traft. The unblockability of the card is intersting, but its dying to pretty much every removal spell in the format means he’s typically not going to be worth it. He’s probably not as good as [card]Augury Adept[/card], and I don’t remember that seeing play. I think he’s still being looked at with Gesit blinders. Also, the art looks like Kevin Corrigan.
[card]Fabled Hero[/card]: Spoiled by the best MTG site in universe, Fabled Hero really misses Rancor. Should we get a cheap “give this trample” spell in the next two sets, this will get much better. As is, it is definitely a card to keep in your Brew Binder.
[card]Firedrinker Satyr[/card]: Just gonna say that this guy isn’t good enough in a format that has so many two mana 3/3s. Feel free to prove me wrong (you probably won’t).
[card]Fleecemane Lion[/card]: Is this our allusion to the Golden Fleece? This is a fantastic card, being relevant early (a 3/3 for two is still good enough) and late (once Monstrous, very few decks can deal with this). Woe to you if this kitty comes after your cheeseburger. While it fights with [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] for deck spots, I think the best answer will ultimately be to run both. This is another card that I immediately purchased once it was spoiled.
[card]Hammer of Purphoros[/card]: Wizards finally prints a pretty good [card]Fires of Yavimaya[/card] variant… and then they go and make it legendary. Decks that play Hammer will want to see it on the board as soon as possible, but the legendary drawback will probably keep them from running the full four. It’s an interesting tension. I still think this will see lots of play, but man, I wish it had been in the format with Séance.
Thus ends part one of my Theros review. However, you know I can’t leave you without my first crack at brewing for the format.
[deck title=Travis Hall – Simic to Win It]
[Lands]
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Breeding Pool
9 Forest
7 Island
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Experiment One
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Gyre Sage
3 Boon Satyr
2 Vorel of the Hull Clade
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
2 Renegade Krasis
3 Master Biomancer
2 Nylea, God of the Hunt
3 Kalonian Hydra
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
1 Aetherling
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Voyage’s End
2 Simic Charm
[/Spells]
[/deck]
I tried building evolve decks off and on after Dragon’s Maze was released. One of the biggest weaknesses of the deck was getting through with your gigantic fatties. Nylea and Thassa solve that problem quite nicely. While this deck does suffer from some of the “if I don’t curve out, I probably die horribly” issues inherent in a deck focusing on evolve, when it comes together, it REALLY comes together. Boon Satyr is a perfect fit for a deck looking to make fatties (and he’s great for triggering evolve) while remaining aggressive.
If you like my suggestions, you can follow me on Twitter: @travishall456. I throw around random observations and deck ideas every day. You can also hear me on the Horde of Notions podcast each week, discussing deck ideas for FNM level events and the PTQ grinders.
Travis Hall is a resident Mana D rogue deck brewer with an unhealthy addiction to Heartless Summoning and Birthing Pod.