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Thread: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

  1. #1

    Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    *** JULY 2022 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic 2020

    (*) Kaladesh
    (*) Aether Revolt

    (*) Mirrodin
    (*) Darksteel
    (*) Fifth Dawn

    Banned cards: Ancient Den, Great Furnace, Seat of the Synod, Skullclamp, Tree of Tales, Vault of Whispers

    *** ORIGINAL POST & PREVIOUS ROTATIONS BELOW THIS LINE ***
    I thought it'd be fun to have a thread for building and sharing Random Standard decks, and possibly for coordinating some friendly competition if there's enough interest.

    Each month I'll randomly generate a Random Standard card pool and update this thread with it. You're invited to theorize, share decks, challenge others, or contribute however you want. Because this is a Legacy site and we all like old cards, my algorithm has a bias towards older sets, as follows: Whenever I roll for a set or block, I roll the die twice and pick the older option. (For the February 2021 pool I happened to roll especially old sets, but on average it won't be like that.)

    I'll decide on bans and announce the banned cards in each format rotation. Ante cards and dexterity cards are always banned.

    *** FEBRUARY 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic 2015

    (*) Homelands

    (*) Ice Age
    (*) Alliances

    (*) Mercadian Masques
    (*) Nemesis
    (*) Prophecy

    Banned list:
    (*) Demonic Consultation
    (*) Necropotence
    (*) Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero

    *** MARCH 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    10th Edition

    Mirrodin
    Darksteel
    Fifth Dawn

    Zendikar
    Worldwake
    Rise of the Eldrazi

    BANNED:
    (*) Six cards with type “Artifact Land”:
    > Ancient Den
    > Seat of the Synod
    > Vault of Whispers
    > Great Furnace
    > Tree of Tales
    > Darksteel Citadel
    (*) Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    (*) Skullclamp
    (*) Stoneforge Mystic

    *** APRIL 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic 2011 (M11)

    (*) Mirage
    (*) Visions
    (*) Weatherlight

    (*) Odyssey
    (*) Torment
    (*) Judgment

    Banned cards: Entomb, Vampiric Tutor

    *** MAY 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Sixth Edition

    (*) Ravnica: City of Guilds
    (*) Guildpact
    (*) Dissension

    (*) Return to Ravnica
    (*) Gatecrash
    (*) NOT Dragon's Maze (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned: Flash, Vampiric Tutor

    *** JUNE 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Fifth Edition

    (*) Champions of Kamigawa
    (*) Betrayers of Kamigawa
    (*) Saviors of Kamigawa

    (*) Mercadian Masques
    (*) Nemesis
    (*) NOT Prophecy (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned: Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero, Necropotence, Umezawa's Jitte

    *** JULY 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Fourth Edition

    (*) Fallen Empires

    (*) Odyssey
    (*) Torment
    (*) Judgment

    (*) Mirrodin
    (*) NOT Darksteel (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)
    (*) NOT Fifth Dawn (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned cards: Balance, Channel, Entomb, Mana Vault, Mind Twist, Strip Mine; six cards with the Artifact Land card type (Darksteel Citadel, Ancient Den, Seat of the Synod, Vault of Whispers, Great Furnace, Tree of Tales)

    *** AUGUST 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Tenth Edition

    (*) Urza's Saga
    (*) Urza's Legacy
    (*) Urza's Destiny

    (*) Time Spiral (including Timeshifted cards)
    (*) NOT Planar Chaos (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)
    (*) NOT Future Sight (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned are the following cards:
    Gaea's Cradle
    Grim Monolith
    Fluctuator
    Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
    Tinker
    Time Spiral
    Tolarian Academy
    Yawgmoth's Bargain
    Yawgmoth's Will

    *** SEPTEMBER 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Classic Sixth Edition

    (*) Onslaught
    (*) Legions
    (*) Scourge

    (*) Theros (the original one)
    (*) Born of the Gods
    (*) NOT Journey into Nyx (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned cards:
    Flash
    Vampiric Tutor

    *** OCTOBER 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic Origins

    (*) Battle for Zendikar
    (*) Oath of the Gatewatch

    (*) Champions of Kamigawa
    (*) Betrayers of Kamigawa
    (*) NOT Saviors of Kamigawa (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned: Umezawa's Jitte

    *** NOVEMBER 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Seventh Edition

    (*) Mercadian Masques
    (*) Nemesis
    (*) Prophecy

    (*) Return to Ravnica
    (*) Gatecrash
    (*) NOT Dragon’s Maze (in this randomly generated timeline, it has not yet been released)

    Banned: Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero

    *** DECEMBER 2021 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Revised Edition

    (*) Urza's Saga
    (*) Urza's Legacy
    (*) Urza's Destiny

    (*) Mirage
    (*) Visions
    (*) Weatherlight

    Banned cards:
    Balance
    Channel
    Demonic Tutor​
    Gaea's Cradle
    Grim Monolith
    Fluctuator
    Mana Vault
    Mind Twist
    Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
    Sol Ring
    Tinker
    Time Spiral
    Tolarian Academy
    Vampiric Tutor
    Wheel of Fortune
    Yawgmoth's Bargain
    Yawgmoth's Will

    *** JANUARY 2022 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Tenth Edition

    (*) Ice Age
    (*) Homelands
    (*) Alliances

    (*) Odyssey
    (*) Torment
    (*) Judgment

    Banned cards:
    Demonic Consultation
    Necropotence

    *** FEBRUARY 2022 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic 2012

    (*) Tempest
    (*) Stronghold
    (*) Exodus

    (*) Amonkhet
    (*) Hour of Devastation

    *** MARCH 2022 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic 2011

    (*) Innistrad
    (*) Dark Ascension
    (*) Avacyn Restored

    (*) Strixhaven

    (*) Return to Ravnica

    *** APRIL 2022 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Revised Edition

    (*) Mercadian Masques
    (*) Nemesis
    (*) Prophecy

    (*) Onslaught
    (*) Legions
    (*) Scourge

    Banned:
    Ancestral Recall
    Balance
    Black Lotus
    Channel
    Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
    Mana Vault
    Mind Twist
    Mox Emerald
    Mox Jet
    Mox Pearl
    Mox Ruby
    Mox Sapphire
    Sol Ring
    Time Vault
    Time Walk
    Timetwister

    *** MAY 2022 RANDOM STANDARD @ THE SOURCE ***

    (*) Magic 2012

    (*) Khans of Tarkir
    (*) Fate Reforged
    (*) Dragons of Tarkir

    (*) Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

    (*) Streets of New Capenna
    Last edited by BirdsOfParadise; 07-21-2022 at 07:54 PM.

  2. #2

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    I guess Counter-Rebels would be something like this. Would it be tier 0 in a world without Necropotence? I based it on this list:
    https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9171&d=252469&f=ST

    My Random Standard version loses FoF and wrath effects but gains FoW and StP.


    4 Adarkar Wastes
    4 Evolving Wilds
    9 Island
    7 Plains
    [2 more lands]

    4 Force of Will

    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ramosian Sergeant
    4 Swords to Plowshares

    3 Defiant Falcon

    2 Memory Lapse
    3 Counterspell

    3 Defiant Vanguard

    1 Ramosian Commander

    1 Ramosian Sky Marshal

    1 Jhovall Queen
    [4 more spells --- likely blue for FoW]

  3. #3
    The green Ancestral
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Hey. Cool deck-building challenge. Here's my entry for those sets:

    4 Sulferous Springs
    4 Evolving Wilds
    3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    6 Mountain
    4 Swamp
    1 Lake of the Dead

    3 Barbed Sextant
    1 Rogue's Gloves
    4 Sign in Blood
    4 Incinerate
    4 Lightning Strike
    2 Lava Flow
    2 Stoke the Flames
    2 Circle of Flame
    4 Knight of Stromgald
    4 Goblin Rabblemaster
    4 Necrogen Scudder
    2 Chandra, Pyromaster
    2 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled

  4. #4

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Cool, ESG! Rabblemaster is a nasty threat. Any red deck can sideboard Brutal Suppression if rebels are a thing.

    Idea: First Response plus painlands = two 1/1s every turn cycle. Painlands have almost no deckbuilding cost. Is a 4-mana enchantment that makes two 1/1s per turn good?

  5. #5
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    I think Rebels would be dead without Lin Sivvi. She's the main reason to play Rebels.

    Instead, for the memes, I submit Pirate Stompy


    //Lands: 22
    4 Rishadan Port
    4 Saprazzan Skerry
    2 Sandstone Needle
    12 Snow-Covered Island

    //Spells: 16
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Portent
    4 Daze

    //Prison: 9
    2 Overburden
    3 Rhystic Study
    4 Parallax Tide

    //Creatures: 14
    4 Illusory Angel
    2 Rishadan Airship
    2 Giant Oyster
    3 Rishadan Footpad
    3 Rishadan Brigand


    Basically early game you try to catch them tapped out with Daze and Pirates. Then later you manascrew them with Parallax Tide so they still get disrupted by Daze and Pirates.

    Edit: Illusory Angel seems like an insane clock next to 8 cantrips
    Rhystic Study is probably a better 3-mana tax than Cutpurse, and Overburden should do a better job than Tangle Wire of handling decks that just try to ramp out a lot of lands. Overburden also lets you reuse the depletion lands for value.

    Another option is to splash white for Parallax Wave to both control enemy creatures and blink Pirates for value.
    Last edited by FTW; 02-04-2021 at 05:30 AM.

  6. #6
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by BirdsOfParadise View Post
    Idea: First Response plus painlands = two 1/1s every turn cycle. Painlands have almost no deckbuilding cost. Is a 4-mana enchantment that makes two 1/1s per turn good?
    The best ways I could think of to abuse tokens were Death Pit Offering and Hecatomb.
    Either a 3/3 engine or Hecatomb should be insane card advantage once online.

    It may not be good for more than memes, but there are at least ways to tutor and accelerate into it to help lose to the FoW decks.

    HAXatomb


    //Lands: 24
    4 Remote Farm
    4 Caves of Koilos
    4 Evolving Wilds
    3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    1 Snow-Covered Plains
    8 Snow-Covered Swamp

    //Spells: 16
    4 Dark Ritual
    4 Swords to Plowshares
    2 Vendetta
    4 Sign in Blood
    2 Unmask

    //Planeswalkers: 2
    2 Liliana Vess

    //Creatures: 8
    4 Divining Witch
    4 Sengir Autocrat

    //Enchantments: 10
    3 Hecatomb
    3 Death Pit Offering
    4 First Response

    //Rough Sideboard: 15
    3 Massacre
    2 Unmask
    2 Parallax Nexus
    2 Seal of Cleansing
    2 Disenchant
    3 Tormod's Crypt


    Dark Ritual lets you play a 4 mana enchantment on turn 2
    Remote Farm lets you play a 4 mana enchantment on turn 3 and another on turn 4

    This format secretly has both Demonic Consultations and only 1 of them is banned. Liliana can also do a Vamp Tutor impersonation.

    Urborg makes all your lands into Swamps for Hecatomb madness.

    Turn 2 Dark Ritual + Sengir Autocrat allows turn 3 Hecatomb

    Death Pit makes First Response make 3/3s and turns Autocrat into 10-power for 4 mana (4/4 + three 2/3s).

    Unmask and Divining Witch's pitch costs let you play around the drawback of having dead Hecatombs in hand early game.

  7. #7

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    >>> Pirates
    I've only ever played a handful games of Random Standard. It was several years ago, and Masques was in that pool too. The Pirate deck just wrecked me.

    I wonder if one could fit red in there for Goblin Rabblemaster. It would weaken the Dazes (since you'd need 4x Shivan Reef), but it's such a good threat when the opponent is tripping over their own feet trying not to tap out.

    >>> BW token nonsense
    Nice :-)

  8. #8
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Quote Originally Posted by BirdsOfParadise View Post
    >>> Pirates
    I've only ever played a handful games of Random Standard. It was several years ago, and Masques was in that pool too. The Pirate deck just wrecked me.

    I wonder if one could fit red in there for Goblin Rabblemaster. It would weaken the Dazes (since you'd need 4x Shivan Reef), but it's such a good threat when the opponent is tripping over their own feet trying not to tap out.
    Good idea. I never even considered splashing because of Daze, but blue does lack the kind of pressure that Goblin Rabblemaster makes. You can even tap tokens to Tangle Wire to avoid attacking into a blocker.

    With 4x Sandstone Needle (instead of Remote Farm) and 4x Evolving Wilds + 1 Mountain, that's already 9 red sources while only reducing the manabase by 1 effective copy of "Island". Then there's probably room for 2 Shivan Reef (11 red sources) without hurting Daze too badly. 12 ways to get Island should do it. Thwart and Foil would have to go, but they're probably not needed with FoW in the format.

    Otherwise blue has Rishadan Airship and Troublesome Spirit from the original block strategy as evasive clocks, but they're worse than Rabblemaster. Illusory Angel is a real beater but wants more 1-mana cantrips (Portent) to enable it.

  9. #9

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    I played my Counter-Rebels list against FTW's updated Illusory Angel version of Mono-U Pirates, solitaire-style with open hands. (For Counter-Rebels, the two open lands slots became Thawing Glaciers and the four open spell slots became Accumulated Knowledge.)

    From the Pirate perspective, I couldn't put together any sequences of disruption that the Counter-Rebels deck couldn't play around by taking it really slow, hitting land drops, and casting nothing early on. There's no rush. The only clock from Pirates is the Illusory Angels and the Rishadan Brigands, so Counter-Rebels could save FoW/Memory Lapse/Counterspell/StP for those cards in particular. Counter-Rebels could wait out Tangle Wire and Parallax Tide. The result was 4-0 Counter-Rebels.

    Of course, Pirates may have suffered more from playing solitaire-style with open hands. Part of the challenge of facing that deck is that you never know when Daze or Rishadan Cutpurse is around the corner. Being able to play around taxing effects with perfect information is unrealistic. Counter-Rebels doesn't seem like it would fare too badly by taking ultra-cautious lines and saving all resources for the flying threats, though.

    Random thoughts:
    (*) Thawing Glaciers can be sacrificed to a pirate after being activated to fetch a land in response to the pirate being cast. This works because Thawing Glaciers asks to go back to your hand at EOT, not at the moment it's activated. (If you have an untapped Plains and untapped Glaciers T2 and Pirates goes for Rishadan Footpad, just fetch an Island, sac Glaciers, and carry on like nothing happened.)
    (*) Jeweled Amulet could be good in the pirate deck? The Skerry lands were often too many. Amulet might allow some of the same openings (T2 Cutpurse with Daze backup) without having to play so many taplands.
    (*) Rishadan Port for pirates?
    (*) Hoodwink for pirates? Edit: You don't always want to be hitting 6 mana with Pirates, but when you do, Tide + Hoodwink is a one-sided Armageddon that still leaves you with a Tide in your hand.
    (*) There could be a big slow blue deck with Merchant Scroll and Accumulated Knowledge.
    Last edited by BirdsOfParadise; 02-02-2021 at 05:10 PM.

  10. #10
    Hymn-Slinging Mod
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    This is what I thought BYOS always should have been. Not necessarily random, but that sets get picked then everyone works from those.
    "The Ancients teach us that if we can but last, we shall prevail."
    Kaysa, Elder Druid of the Juniper Order

  11. #11
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Interesting test. Thanks for playing it out and posting it.

    Open hand does bias things a bit, yeah, because you have perfect information to play around taxes instead of being surprised by them.

    I think Counter-Rebel is also favored in that matchup because once you get a recruiter on the board, you don't have to cast spells. You can just hold up mana until EOT and then recruit creatures, so you always have mana open to pay taxes and can't be countered. That's something most decks can't do. Thawing Glaciers is also huge tech to ramp past where taxes can hurt.

    I was thinking about Quickling to recycle the Pirates and add another flying clock, but Hoodwink might also be good because of the threat of permanently exiling 5 lands or reusing a Tangle Wire. There's also Spiketail Hatchling or Spiketail Drakeling to get in more flying damage while also threatening more taxes.

    Port is a good idea. I didn't want to go too low on Islands. If there's no red splash for Rabblemaster then maybe Ports could replace some of the Sandstone Needles.

  12. #12

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    A couple more lists I've been trying.

    URW Midrange

    2 Jeweled Amulet

    1 Battle Squadron
    3 Chasm Skulker
    4 Goblin Rabblemaster
    2 Moggcatcher

    3 First Response

    4 Accumulated Knowledge
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Force of Will
    1 Memory Lapse
    1 Misdirection
    4 Swords to Plowshares

    2 Merchant Scroll
    2 Portent

    2 Adarkar Wastes
    1 Battlefield Forge
    3 Evolving Wilds
    5 Island
    4 Mountain
    1 Plains
    4 Shivan Reef
    3 Thawing Glaciers


    Elves

    4 Elvish Mystic
    4 Fyndhorn Elves
    4 Sunblade Elf
    4 Reclamation Sage
    4 Skyshroud Poacher
    2 Fyndhorn Elder
    2 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
    3 Kaysa

    4 Swords to Plowshares

    4 Tangle Wire
    3 Obelisk of Urd

    4 Brushland
    4 Evolving Wilds
    13 Forest
    1 Plains


    Overall scores in my solitaire testing.
    Counter-Rebels 4-0 Pirates
    Counter-Rebels 2-0 BW Tokens
    Counter-Rebels 1-0 URW Midrange
    Elves 1-0 URW Midrange
    Elves 1-0 Pirates
    URW Midrange 1-0 Pirates
    Same disclaimer as before about how solitaire testing with open hands makes Daze worse and tax-pirates worse.

    Rebels are good, Thawing Glaciers is good, Tangle Wire is iffy when you don't have real pressure, Kaysa is good in Elves, Obelisk of Urd is good in Elves. A 3/3 is huge in this format.

    (The Elf deck should either cut Yisan or run a 2-drop for Yisan to fetch.)

  13. #13
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Hmm the other problem with monoblue is just lack of creature removal to answer early threats that land on the board. Giant Oyster? Serrated Arrows? Otherwise a simple Ramosian Sergeant lets you play around taxes and counters for the rest of the game.

    Adding another color for removal and non-Pirate creatures seems better.

    Just regular UW tempo looks pretty strong


    //Lands: 21
    4 Adarkar Wastes
    4 Evolving Wilds
    4 Rishadan Port
    1 Snow-Covered Plains
    8 Snow-Covered Island

    //Spells: 21
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Portent
    4 Swords to Plowshares
    4 Daze
    1 Misdirection

    //Creatures: 18
    4 Spiketail Hatchling
    4 Dauntless River Marshal
    2 Avenger en-Dal
    4 Chasm Skulker
    4 Illusory Angel

    //Sideboard:
    4 Phyrexian Revoker
    4 Hydroblast
    3 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Disenchant
    1 Misdirection


    This still applies taxes but has less bad lands than Pirates and better clocks.
    Daze + Hatchling should do more work with Port + 2-mana 3/2 and 3-mana fatties to provide pressure.

    Tangle Wire does seem a lot better in a deck like Elves. Pirates probably wants Rhystic Study or Overburden instead, as it can't generate enough permanents to tap to Tangle Wire itself.


    For a more controlling UW build


    //Lands: 23
    4 Adarkar Wastes
    4 Evolving Wilds
    2 Thawing Glaciers
    3 Snow-Covered Plains
    10 Snow-Covered Island

    //Spells: 27
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Swords to Plowshares
    4 Counterspell
    4 Accumulated Knowledge
    3 Merchant Scroll
    1 Polymorphist's Jest
    1 Misdirection
    1 Aetherspouts
    1 Dominate

    //Artifact: 1
    1 Perilous Vault

    //Enchantment: 2
    2 First Response

    //Creatures: 7
    4 Chasm Skulker
    1 Haunted Plate Mail
    2 Mageta the Lion

    //Sideboard:
    4 Hydroblast
    2 Order of the Sacred Torch
    2 Negate
    2 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Disenchant
    2 Submerge


    I managed to squeeze in First Response as a control win condition that survives Mageta the Lion, like Plate Mail does.

    Maybe I am overrating Chasm Skulker but it seems good with the card draw. Brainstorm gives it +3/+3 for 1 mana.

    Edit: This has a lot of overlap with the UWR list you posted above. I think the board control package is probably better for UW than splashing for the Goblin package. Mageta is very powerful if you can defend her with FoW.
    Last edited by FTW; 02-05-2021 at 11:20 AM.

  14. #14

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Seems sweet. Yes to Giant Oyster.

    I was also thinking of pairing pirates with green for mana dorks. If they tap out, Rishadan Cutpurse. If they don't tap out (playing inefficiently), Thermokarst. Then Stunted Growth.

  15. #15
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Green for ramp and LD could be good. Black would also have Rain of Tears and the one from Ice Age, plus it has removal.

    In general it looks like UW is the best strategy, Rebels or not, because you can pretty much play Legacy Xerox while other decks are working with underpowered creatures and combos. The spells are some of the best spells in the game. UW control looks like the old Extended UW control (Force, Brainstorm, Counterspell, Swords, AK, wrath effects) competing in a Standard format that includes Homelands and Prophecy.

    I started thinking about whether nonblue strategies could really compete. Elves is a good one, but UW should be able to handle it just by running some board wipes.

    I've been brewing this monoblack Pox deck. This would be amazing with Hymn or Smallpox, but might still be OK just off the back of Withering Wisps.



    //Lands: 25
    3 Thawing Glaciers
    20 Snow-Covered Swamp
    2 Lake of the Dead

    //Spells: 21
    4 Unmask
    3 Vendetta
    2 Vicious Hunger
    4 Sign in Blood
    3 Mind Rot
    3 Soul Burn
    2 Pox

    //Planeswalkers: 2
    2 Liliana Vess

    //Enchantments: 4
    4 Withering Wisps

    //Threats: 8
    4 Chimeric Idol
    3 Haunted Plate Mail
    1 Nether Spirit

    //Sideboard:
    3 Massacre
    3 Stain the Mind
    2 Snuff Out
    1 Pox
    1 Mind Rot
    4 Rain of Tears


    The tech here is that the creatures can all "hide" from board wipes, including Pox and Wisps. Then you can animate Idol/Mail for free after wiping the board to prevent the Wisps trigger on either player's turn, an old Pestilence trick.
    Last edited by FTW; 02-05-2021 at 10:46 AM.

  16. #16

    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    I have been adjusting Elves so that it can stand up to that nasty Pox list (on a good day, at least). Instead of a white splash for Swords to Plowshares, we're mono-green for a mana denial plan. Ramp decks are notorious for drawing inconsistently, so now if we draw badly, we can still try to block the opponent's development until we draw something good.

    Elves

    4 Elvish Mystic
    4 Fyndhorn Elves
    4 Elvish Spirit Guide
    4 Reclamation Sage
    4 Skyshroud Poacher
    3 Kaysa

    4 Tangle Wire
    3 Icy Manipulator
    3 Obelisk of Urd

    4 Thermokarst

    2 Nissa, Worldwaker

    4 Rishadan Port
    4 Dust Bowl
    13 Forest


    Elves can overcome Pox in three ways:
    (*) Total mana lockdown
    (*) Race to get big stats on the board (Kaysa, Obelisk)
    (*) Hit hard with Nissa, Worldwaker

    ...and of course it's quite easy to lose to Pox, especially when Pox draws Withering Wisps, which makes it an uphill struggle. I haven't tested the new Elves against other decks, but I imagine that either Pox or UW control is the hardest matchup.

    Edit: FTW, I know you're trying to balance life gain against life loss, but Vendetta is *so much better* than Vicious Hunger.
    Edit: Contagion? I guess you're not hurting for cheap removal. There's also Snuff Out. Or maybe you are hurting for cheap removal.... it hurts... hahah.

  17. #17
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    I like to see Obelisk of Urd in there. That was a card I was going to suggest for the Rebels deck until I determined it was more of a control deck than a tribal deck. I don't know if Dust Bowl has enough targets in the format to be worth it, but Port and Thermokarst are certainly good.

  18. #18
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    The mana denial plan looks good. Both Tangle Wire and Port fit very well. 4 Dust Bowl may be excessive. You also need turn 1 green source really badly.

    Quote Originally Posted by BirdsOfParadise View Post
    Edit: FTW, I know you're trying to balance life gain against life loss, but Vendetta is *so much better* than Vicious Hunger.
    Edit: Contagion? I guess you're not hurting for cheap removal. There's also Snuff Out. Or maybe you are hurting for cheap removal.... it hurts... hahah.
    The removal slots were hard. Lifeloss is the problem. Withering Wisps can deal you a lot of damage over the game, as can Pox and Sign in Blood.

    I started with just Snuff Out and 4x Pox. Then I realized the format is mostly small creatures, with very few X/4s or bigger, so Vendetta would usually cost less life. Then I had 4x Vendetta. But I was still worried about life loss.

    Vicious Hunger is the only playable black lifegain that costs less than 5 mana. Because the format has such small creatures, it still kills a lot: mana elves, rebels, pirates, faeries, pump knights, Rabblemaster, Chasm Skulker before it grows, Revoker @ Wisps. It costs 1 more than Vendetta but gives +2 life instead of -2 life when killing weenies. It can also hit black creatures, which most other black removal in the format can't. Contagion doesn't kill anything Vicious Hunger can't.

    I would love to play more Vendettas and more Poxes but the deck needs to not kill itself. I need to test it and see just how suicidal it is. Maybe it can afford a bit more.

    Edit: Zuran Orb, of course. It also helps control manage land size to optimize Pox and is fueled by Glaciers.
    Last edited by FTW; 02-05-2021 at 11:34 AM.

  19. #19
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    Winter's Chill is an interesting blue trick that could help tax decks handle creatures (much stronger without open hands though).

    I just realized Gush is legal. There must be some kind of monoblue Miracle Gro deck with Chasm Skulker, Gush, and Foil.

    Ensoul Artifact is also in M15 with Darksteel Citadel and Ornithopter. I think I finally found my monoblue tempo deck.


    //Creatures: 14
    4 Ornithopter
    2 Phyrexian Revoker
    4 Chasm Skulker
    4 Illusory Angel

    //Auras: 4
    4 Ensoul Artifact

    //Spells: 23
    4 Force of Will
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Portent
    4 Daze
    3 Gush
    2 Foil
    2 Withdraw

    //Lands: 18
    4 Darksteel Citadel
    14 Island

    //Sideboard: 15
    2 Phyrexian Revoker
    2 Mystic Remora
    3 Hydroblast
    3 Submerge
    3 Counterspell


    Ornithopter and Gush also both allow T3 Angel.
    So this deck has the Xerox package plus 2-mana 5/5 and 3-mana 4/4 flying, protected by 10 free counters.

    I like this better than the brew I had earlier with bad white creatures, though I wish there was a way to fit in Swords to Plowshares or more maindeck Revokers. Withdraw or some other kind of unsummon effect may be good enough board interaction for this proactive beatdown deck.

  20. #20
    The green Ancestral
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    Re: Random Standard @ The Source 2021

    @FTW: This looks like a strong deck. I think Jeweled Amulet would be an upgrade to Ornithopter. It would speed up dumping out your three-drops, which should be potent backed up by free counters.

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