This standard started out exactly how many of us expected once we heard of the banning of Copy Cat. You could probably have guessed our top 3 decks but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to test against them this week.
This week we got to see a standard where Mardu Vehicles once again ruled. This has to be the deck you take into consideration when building right now. Putting up the best results by a significant margin does have some to do with people already had the cards. But they had the cards because the deck is great.
Temur Aetherworks
William Heise
15th Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 4/29/2017
Standard
Creatures (16)
4 Rogue Refiner
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Whirler Virtuoso
4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Planeswalkers (3)
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
Lands (22)
4 Forest
2 Island
2 Mountain
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
1 Evolving Wilds
2 Lumbering Falls
1 Sheltered Thicket
2 Spirebluff Canal
Spells (19)
4 Woodweaver’s Puzzleknot
2 Bounty of the Luxa
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Aetherworks Marvel
4 Attune with Aether
1 Baral’s Expertise
Sideboard
2 Bristling Hydra
1 Manglehorn
4 Tireless Tracker
1 World Breaker
2 Aether Meltdown
3 Negate
2 Release the Gremlins
Marvel had a little bit of a resurgence this weekend. The deck is clearly very powerful and had a few different versions of the deck at the top tables. One thing to remember is you have to have a plan for this deck if you are going to durddle or this deck with punish you. Make sure to playtest against this one as many players will gravitate toward it.
3. Green Black Delirium
B/G Delirium
Brennan DeCandio
5th Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 4/29/2017
Standard
Creatures (15)
1 Noxious Gearhulk
3 Walking Ballista
4 Grim Flayer
1 Manglehorn
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
Planeswalkers (4)
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
Lands (23)
6 Forest
8 Swamp
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Hissing Quagmire
Spells (18)
4 Vessel of Nascency
3 Fatal Push
3 Grasp of Darkness
2 To the Slaughter
2 Never
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
Sideboard
1 Manglehorn
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Appetite for the Unnatural
1 Scarab Feast
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Liliana, Death’s Majesty
2 Lost Legacy
2 Never
2 Yahenni’s Expertise
Black Green is back in a new old fashion way as they say. Reverting back to a more Midrange control deck we have a real player in our midst. The deck can really grind games and you will need to be able to beat it as this is an old favorite of a lot of players who are ready to see it come back.
Jeskai Control
Emma Handy
32nd Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 4/29/2017
Standard
Creatures (4)
4 Torrential Gearhulk
Lands (27)
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Aether Hub
3 Inspiring Vantage
4 Irrigated Farmland
2 Port Town
2 Prairie Stream
2 Spirebluff Canal
3 Wandering Fumarole
Spells (29)
1 Cast Out
3 Censor
2 Disallow
2 Essence Scatter
1 Forsake the Worldly
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Immolating Glare
2 Magma Spray
1 Negate
2 Pull from Tomorrow
3 Void Shatter
2 Fumigate
Sideboard
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Cast Out
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Forsake the Worldly
2 Negate
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Fumigate
2 Radiant Flames
People will likely all have different builds for this deck but there is a few things that will stay the same. Gearhulk, Draw Spells, Couterspells, and Sweepers.
This deck will likely take time for the perfect build to emerge but once it does it could be smooth sailing for the deck. You want to have a plan in at least your sideboard for this strategy and others like it. People love draw go and this deck is as close as it gets right now.
That is it for this week. I want to thank my patrons who make this series possible. I am excited to give you guys a quick look at what to playtest against each week and a quick place to go for all the lists you’ll need to proxy in one spot.
Spencer Howland
@spencer13h
Constructed Criticism
