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3 Cards I like from New Phyrexia
So you’re ready to see the end of Caw-Blade right? Looking forward to the day when a
quick Stoneforge Mystic doesn’t get in the way of dealing with Jace, then Gideon, then Sun
Titan?
Not so sure I can tell you that story just yet. I’m not sold on any card or set of cards adding
enough ammunition to the card pool to say a deck as solid as Caw Blade will just scoop
up its cards and go home. Reason number 1:
If Caw Blade is looking to get a little bigger, here you go:
Ouch. So on turn 3 the Caw-Blade player now has the option to instantly place a 4/4,
Vigilant, Lifelinking beat-stick onto the battlefield? Man, the hits just keep coming. While
many Caw-Blade players have been using Sylvok Lifestaff and Mortapod to combat some
of the more aggressive strategies in standard, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw
Batterskull as a one of in public enemy number 1. I’m not going to discuss in detail the
issues behind Caw-Blade and its standard dominance (yes, it is by far the best deck in
standard), but the ability to drop a giant life gaining monster onto the battlefield so quickly
will only make it more difficult for aggressive strategies.
Hint: you have to kill the Stoneforge Mystic. Turn 3, this guy is a problem. Turn 5 or 6 at
sorcery speed, not as good as Baneslayer Angel. I predict this card finding its way into
the sideboard of some decks and being a real winner against aggressive strategies.
Information is power. Sorry, Gitaxian Probe will also give any deck with blue (and any
combo deck that can afford 2 life) more staying power in the standard format. It doesn’t
cost you mana early, it tells you when to hold up counter magic or when to use removal
spells, it tells you when the coast is clear to play something through the counter magic
mana currently untapped as a bluff – and it doesn’t even cost you a card. Simply, this card
is much like Preordain. It will have different uses, and any color can actually use it, but
combo decks and control decks will have much to gain from the added information and
deck streamlining.
Expect to see this in Pyromancer’s Ascension decks and Valakut (yes, Valakut)
It’s still going to take some serious work to put a hurting on the best deck in standard.
Okay, so that was a little bit of bad news. How about a few card selections that don’t find
their way into the default best deck?
Well, hello beautiful! I’m not going to bore you with the obvious. This card does things in
Green that Green Mages just don’t get to do @ 3 mana and instant speed. 3/3? Who
cares! My creatures will be bigger anyway. You want to talk about a few ways to beatdown
and deal with problems like Baneslayer and Gideon? Lands, equipment, etc? This card
will do it all.
What if you curve out on the play, Beast Within, Goblin Ruinblaster, Acidic Slime – you
could deny your opponent all of his lands for the first few turns (maybe you even ramped
with a T1 Birds of Paradise) and just have to deal with a 3/3. You are in the tempo driver’s
seat here, not your opponent. 1 Lightning Bolt and you opponent is literally left with no
way to play additional spells against your board presence. The ability to kill both Jace and
Gideon will give aggressive decks options they haven’t had since the last rotation.
So you’re ready to see the end of Caw-Blade right? Looking forward to the day when a
quick Stoneforge Mystic doesn’t get in the way of dealing with Jace, then Gideon, then Sun
Titan?
Not so sure I can tell you that story just yet. I’m not sold on any card or set of cards adding
enough ammunition to the card pool to say a deck as solid as Caw Blade will just scoop
up its cards and go home. Reason number 1:
If Caw Blade is looking to get a little bigger, here you go:
Ouch. So on turn 3 the Caw-Blade player now has the option to instantly place a 4/4,
Vigilant, Lifelinking beat-stick onto the battlefield? Man, the hits just keep coming. While
many Caw-Blade players have been using Sylvok Lifestaff and Mortapod to combat some
of the more aggressive strategies in standard, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw
Batterskull as a one of in public enemy number 1. I’m not going to discuss in detail the
issues behind Caw-Blade and its standard dominance (yes, it is by far the best deck in
standard), but the ability to drop a giant life gaining monster onto the battlefield so quickly
will only make it more difficult for aggressive strategies.
Hint: you have to kill the Stoneforge Mystic. Turn 3, this guy is a problem. Turn 5 or 6 at
sorcery speed, not as good as Baneslayer Angel. I predict this card finding its way into
the sideboard of some decks and being a real winner against aggressive strategies.
Information is power. Sorry, Gitaxian Probe will also give any deck with blue (and any
combo deck that can afford 2 life) more staying power in the standard format. It doesn’t
cost you mana early, it tells you when to hold up counter magic or when to use removal
spells, it tells you when the coast is clear to play something through the counter magic
mana currently untapped as a bluff – and it doesn’t even cost you a card. Simply, this card
is much like Preordain. It will have different uses, and any color can actually use it, but
combo decks and control decks will have much to gain from the added information and
deck streamlining.
Expect to see this in Pyromancer’s Ascension decks and Valakut (yes, Valakut)
It’s still going to take some serious work to put a hurting on the best deck in standard.
Okay, so that was a little bit of bad news. How about a few card selections that don’t find
their way into the default best deck?
Well, hello beautiful! I’m not going to bore you with the obvious. This card does things in
Green that Green Mages just don’t get to do @ 3 mana and instant speed. 3/3? Who
cares! My creatures will be bigger anyway. You want to talk about a few ways to beatdown
and deal with problems like Baneslayer and Gideon? Lands, equipment, etc? This card
will do it all.
What if you curve out on the play, Beast Within, Goblin Ruinblaster, Acidic Slime – you
could deny your opponent all of his lands for the first few turns (maybe you even ramped
with a T1 Birds of Paradise) and just have to deal with a 3/3. You are in the tempo driver’s
seat here, not your opponent. 1 Lightning Bolt and you opponent is literally left with no
way to play additional spells against your board presence. The ability to kill both Jace and
Gideon will give aggressive decks options they haven’t had since the last rotation.
