Standard

What I’m Playing in the Arena Open

While I’ve been having my fun jamming different decks in Arena’s Standard 2022 queues, I’ve taken the past week to buckle down to prepare for this weekend’s Standard Arena Open. I for one love the Arena Open. Arena Opens are online Grand-Prix style events, ranging in different formats, that usually occur once per set release. I honestly would play an Arena Open every other weekend or once a month if possible. I’ve day 2’d the last two Opens I’ve played, winning a nice $1000 cash prize in the Kaldheim sealed open earlier this year. While I’ve been primarily playing ranked Limited and Standard 2022, it was time to give Standard once last hurrah before rotation in the fall. Without further ado, here’s what I’m playing in this weekend’s Standard Arena Open:

[sd_deck deck=”-vOMfCPdK”]

[sd_deck deck=”VGdhBm6zI”]

While Sultai Ultimatum has been a top contender over the past few Standard set releases, I’m choosing to go in a somewhat different route. This deck originates from MTGO grinder, _Batutinha_’s success in a Standard challenge a few months back. After some tuning, and playtesting I decided to play the deck in a few events. I went 5-1 in a Standard Metagame Challenge run on Arena, and 4-1 in the Standard seat at a local paper team constructed event. Funny enough, I didn’t play against Sultai Ultimatum in any of these events, and while that matchup may be unfavorable the reason to play this deck lies elsewhere. 

Enter: “The Beatdown Destroyer”

After reuniting in person with my sensei, Michael Flores (former host of Ancestral Recall for all you dedicated listeners out there), at a prerelease at my old stomping ground, The Uncommons in the West Village, we talked a bit about this Sultai list. “That’s what we used to call a beatdown destroyer,” Mike said. A deck that you know, aims to destroy beatdown strategies. Looking at this build of Sultai it’s easy to see why this counts as one: Four Elder Gargaroth, a suite of instant-speed removal, a nice collection of wraths, and Koma, Cosmos Serpent to close the game out. The deck is designed to put roadblocks in front of your opponent, while utilizing card draw and removal spells to claw ahead. 

Here are a few reasons why you should consider this over Sultai Ultimatum for this weekend’s Arena Open:

  1. Like I said, “Beatdown Destroyer” – If you’re planning on playing in a Best of One queue for the Arena Open like I am, I want to take advantage of the metagame. In Best of One you’re way more likely to play against aggressive strategies, such as Mono White, Gruul Aggro, and Naya Winota, to name a few contenders. On average you’ll face less decks like Sultai Ultimatum and Izzet Dragons, decks that play far worse losing the die roll. Sultai Beatdown Destroyer on the other hand has a swath of removal spells to climb through the early game, with the occasional huge road block of either an early Polukranos or Elder Gargaroth to push the pressure right back on your opponent. 
  2. Sultai Ultimatum is on the downtick – Looking at this winrate matrix, courtesy of @MTGData, some recent Standard results show an uptick in decks like Naya Winota and Gruul Magda, and a declining success rate of Sultai Ultimatum. While Sultai Ultimatum is a strong deck that has put up results, most recently in the last SCG Tour online qualifier weekend, overall it’s fallen slightly to the wayside while other aggressive decks have started to take over the format. Sultai Beatdown Destroyer can solve some of the problems that Sultai Ultimatum faces. 
  3. Efficiency and Speed – One issue I always came across when testing Sultai Ultimatum online, especially in Best of One queues, was that I kept losing a turn or so before I was ready to cast an Emergent Ultimatum. While Sultai Ultimatum does have access to two wraths, it can be tricky for the deck to cast enough removal in the set up turns of the game. To reach seven mana, the deck needs to take turns off casting cards like Wolfwillow Haven and Cultivate. Binding of the Old Gods is a nice two-in-one combo of removal and ramp/fixing, but I think it’s sometimes difficult for Sultai Ultimatum to match the speed of the current format. 

Make no mistake, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms has had a definite impact on Standard. When choosing a deck for any tournament, it’s worthwhile to know your enemies. Let’s take a look at the deck that won this past weekend’s 5K SCG Tour Qualifier.

[sd_deck deck=”m71cXjAuj”]

Naya Winota is one of the decks impacted by the release of AFR. While Winota strategies have barely made a dent in Standard since Ikoria’s release, this deck proves to be a major contender of the format with the addition of Prosperous Innkeeper and Minsc, Beloved Ranger, with two decks in the top 8 of last weekend’s SCG Tour Online 5K Qualifier. The decks assembles a team of non-human creatures in the early game, and with one Winota, can easily end a game in only a matter of turns. 

One great aspect about Sultai decks in general is your ability to customize to match the current meta. I can easily see cutting Eliminate from the deck for Power Word Kill. Power Word Kill is another answer for Winota, and while it doesn’t target Goldspan Dragon, Goldspan Dragon, or Inferno of the Star Mounts, neither does Eliminate. Eliminate does kill Faceless Haven, which most aggressive decks are packing, as well as potential rogue Book of Exalted Deeds decks – maybe a 2-2 split would suffice. Baleful Mastery is another card I’ve been considering over a Heartless Act because it’s a clean answer to Koma, Cosmos Serpent, which is a cornerstone threat in various Temur Strategies.

While you may be on the fence on whether to play Best of One or Best of Three this weekend, I have a couple notes for you either way.

If you plan to play Best of One…

I’m always a huge fan of playing Best of One in Arena Opens, regardless of the format. While I would rather play a Best of Three format, with three losses to give in Bo1, as opposed to just one loss in Bo3, you get to avoid bad luck as much as possible. Signing up for Bo3 is just asking to get bodied by a bad matchup. While you lose more to die rolls in Bo1, you’ll only have to win a few more matches with more losses to give than Bo3. 

While you don’t get to sideboard you still GET a sideboard. I’ve been caught between two different Learn cards, and for now I’m rolling with Divide by Zero for tempo, but Cram Session is a respectable option. The Learn cards are certainly not the most powerful, but I like their utility a bit more than other ‘wish’ cards like Fae of Wishes. A Lesson sideboard gives you option to ways to mitigate mana screw in Environmental Sciences, and a win condition in Mascot Exhibition. Containment Breach is another option that’s a cheap-ish answer to some of the new Class enchantments from AFR as well as other important artifacts and enchantments like Embercleave and Maul of the Skyclaves. Finally, Teachings of the Archaics gives you a Divination plus to pull you ahead if needed. 

If you plan to play Best of Three…

In Best of One you’ll have a swathe of removal spells, roadblock threats, and wraths to shut down aggressive strategies like Gruul and Winota, while also taking advantage of Arena’s hand smoother and access to seven lessons of your choosing. However, if you’re intent on playing some Traditional Standard to maximize your skill level, you’re in luck. Here’s a cheatsheet for you:

VS Sultai Ultimatum/Izzet Dragons

In: 1 Duress, 2 Agonizing Remorse, 1 Negate, 2 Test of Talents, 2 Go Blank, 1 Shark Typhoon, 1 Soul Shatter

Out: 4 Eliminate, 2 Extinction Event, 2 Shadow’s Verdict, 1 Elder Gargaroth, 1 Polukranos, Unchained

VS Gruul/Mono White/Winota

In: 1 Pestilent Haze, 1 Soul Shatter, 1 Kaervek, the Spiteful, 1 Shadow’s Verdict, 1 Extinction Event

Out: 3 Mystical Dispute, 1 Negate, 1 Disdainful Stroke

VS Jeskai Cycling 

In: 1 Duress, 2 Agonizing Remorse, 1 Negate, 2 Test of Talents, 2 Go Blank, 1 Pestilent Haze, 1 Shadows Verdict, 1 Kaervek, the Spiteful

Out: 3 Mystical Dispute, 1 Pelakka Predation, 1 Mazemind Tome, 1 Koma, Cosmos Serpent, 1 Wolfwillow Haven, 1 Heartless Act, 2 Binding of the Old Gods, 1 Disdainful Stroke,

VS Temur

In: 2 Agonizing Remorse, 1 Shark Typhoon, 1 Soul Shatter, 1 Duress, 1 Negate

Out: 1 Mazemind Tome, 1 Elspeth’s Nightmare, 1 Shadow’s Verdict, 1 Woflwillow Haven, 1 Jwari Disruption, 1 other

VS Rakdos Sacrifice

In: 2 Agonizing Remorse, 2 Go Blank, 1 Extinction Event, 1 Shadows Verdict, 1 Soul Shatter

Out: 3 Mystical Dispute, 1 Negate, 1 Disdainful Stroke, 1 Pelakka Predation

I’m looking forward to crushing some aggro decks beneath the feet of my Gargaroth army this weekend. If you’ve been itching to play Sultai Ultimatum but don’t want to lose by turn six, I can’t recommend Sultai “Beatdown Destroyer” enough. While you may still be deciding to play Best of One or Best of Three, just know you have the ability to customize your removal package and sideboard, whether it be seven cards or fifteen, to target the decks you think will be the major contenders. I hope you clinch that 2K! As always, thanks for reading.

@roman_fusco