Mtg - Standard Thread

i'm running a UR Prowess meme deck. It's great against control, sucks against aggro, meh against midrange

Super good tech against Sand Strangler and any deck using the Deserts in their manabase

I cheat it out with Baral's Expertise

I play this is in Bant Superfriends, but because of Oath of Nissa, I can play any colour walker. 4 of these, 2 on and 2 off is real good.

>what is arabian nights

lol

>sucks against aggro

Bin it. Same reason I'm binning ramp, at least for now.

>Press F to pay respects to G/R ramp

I bought into Grixis Control because I was the one idiot who played Cruel Control in modern. Is it going to be the bogeyman of the format or am I going to get raped by Gideon all over again?

An expansion?

>built U/W monument because it looked like a fun rush deck
>Raped my way to first on Friday and Saturday
Jesus why is this deck so fucking lethal?

>Make a race of Jackals that more or less shares a soul between twins
>Don't make the first two-person planeswalker card

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with WotC? Also why no Planeswalker's Guide to Amonkhet?

I really want to try building a reanimator deck, but cannot decide how to go about it. I'm leaning toward Esper so that I have access to Cast Out, Champion of Wits, Refurbish, Scarab God, and possibly Torrential, but I'm still iffy on the idea. Any tips on how to approach this? Also, is God Pharaoh's Gift just a meme right now, because I'm seeing an odd number of people trying to make it work on Xmage this last week.

turbofog, just know everyone will hate you for playing it you piece of shit.

hey are you me, I too want esper reanimator. I was actually just looking at the ixalan spoilers to try and see what would work with it.

>see jackal pups, raging goblins and hammerhands in the format
>almond status: activated
>play red sligh
>5-0 fnms
>people salt the fuck out
>'you shouldnt play that its not a real deck'
>fast forward
>still playing sligh
>'oh is that tom ross' list?'
fuck every magic player that isn't me.

why aren't planeswalkers used more?

are they used more in other formats?

Someone won a MTGO PTQ last weekend using UW Gift. Angel of Invention has spiked up in price now because turn 4 Baneslayer Angel is pretty stupid.

So heading into the upcoming PT here are the viable decks you should see:

RDW
WU Monument
URx Control
Mardu
Zombies
Temur Energy
GR Pummeler
GB Energy
2-4 Color Emerge
3-4 Color Delirium
GR Ramp
Eldrazi Midrange
WU Reanimator

So much better than the last PT when everyone expected 6 Mardu decks to top 8 but we ended up getting nothing but Marvel and Zombies.

Abrade is probably the best card in HoD. It sees Standard, Modern, and Legacy play (sideboard in the latter two formats). Pick up your playsets before it jumps up to $5.

Why not blazing volley instead of tempering? It could also work against the mirror

It's nice that we're finally getting a fresh new meta in a few months, but still having to fucking deal with the dumb uninteractable bullshit that is energy for another half year is fucking awful. RG pummeler is the dumbest fucking aggro deck I've seen in ages.

>Was playing Grixis Control during the last few sets
>Took a long break during most of Amonkhet
>See the Meta now

Fuck. Guess I gotta order some cards and enjoy a good Control block.

I've been playing around with Sultai reanimator for the last few hours, and I think I'm in love. Ever Aftering Razaketh and just tutoring it back every turn is some funny shit.

I've played this with moderate success and had lots of fun. What changes could I make now that Hour of Devastation is out? Grind // Dust seems strictly better than Splendid Agony, Channeler Initiate can even produce white mana to cast the other half of the card. Overall I enjoyed playing the fast, low CMC creatures, but have been tempted to try something heavier, like Decimator Beetle. The new Obelisk Spider also seems like a viable addition.

Thoughts?

Forgot to add that I substituted a couple of Foul Orchards for Grasping Dunes for some synergy with Hapatra and the nest. Worked pretty well, actually.

i made an esper version of that deck, designed to go off at turn 4 either though milling/discarding god gift then refurbishing or though self mill cards like that keldesh 1 drop blue and mill/cycle card or has the option just to mill away a bunch of cards to fill up to get a gate to the afterlife activation. It isn't as cool or explosive as your version but is built for consistency

whats the mana dork for with such a low curve, id add in something fun like lifelink demon croc instead, he stems the bleeding with 8 health swings against red deck wins

The dork and Exemplar let you pump out a bunch of scarabs, at least that's the reasoning I assume that user's working with.

>how will you fare?
I owned the entirety of U/W Monument before it became a deck, then threw it together.

I've played a total of three games with it, one of which lost to blue red control.

I think I'm fucked.

This is what I've been trying so far. Not completely sure on the sideboard yet, but I really do like being able to literally pull Torrential out of my ass for surprise Disallows with Raza. It's been more consistent than I expected so far, but there's clearly room for improvement.

What do you sideboard? I am in the same boat as you but dont really have any problems with U/R control. Though my sideboard runs more control than most monument decks.

Have you considered pic related for some draw speed?

I think it's just extra copies of Metallic rebuke. I honestly don't have it with me at the moment.

I have four pic related in mine for dealing with control match ups since the local meta is full of them. Right now the only spell that they have that annoys me is Hour of Devastation because of that pesky "lose indestructable" as it makes my selfless spirits worth less. Dusk/Dawn means that I can rebuild quick though.

>Hour of Devastation
Wouldn't Negate fix that issue, instead of Dispel?

I also run two negates in sideboard. HoD really isnt that much of a problem since Dawn//Dusk makes shit come back so quickly.

Dispel makes it easy to ensure you get your shit out. Metallic Rebuke and Negate are for protecting them once they come out basically.

Yeah, I suppose I'd rather drop Monument turn 4 with a dispel in hand rather than let it get countered on turn 3.

It's because they give no shits about board clears and have multiple finishers
>planeswalkers are consistently the best cards in the format
>but why aren't they used more
MaRo please

energy and that faggot blue whale is awful

Dont mind me. It's just that I have been energy free since turn three!

my side for my deck is
bontu last recogning x3
fragmentize x3
censor x3
fatal push x4
transgress the mind x2

i sideboard fatal push because my gaming format where i live is pushing away from key 2 drops and instead going for 3 drop bombs

How is a planeswalker supposed to survive against white weenies (with a bunch of flyers), heart of Kiran or rdw?

You can pretty much only drop them after a boardwipe against these decks

(personal opinion) i wish planeswalkers weren't in mtg. they kind of warp the game around them. they either take over the game and start dicking over the opponent big time (no fun) or get killed right away by some shit like flyers as said (not fun) so it seems to me the OP ones like Gideon and Chandra kill the fuck out of everything and then the meme ones don't ever see any play and get instantly raped. Kind of shit design IMO. bolas is at least ok design because he is 8 mana with 3 colors, so giving him rapey abilities seems fair. but with a CMC of 4 or something i feel planeswalkers are undercosted but idk. maybe if they were cheaper but functioned more as creatures? if their abilities were all very slight? who knows. either way i aint paying $20x4 for a playset of some walker

Atraxa superfriends is a thing where i live in my standard format
>gidion oot
>sorin
>tamio
>ajani
run preium removal and torrent elemental then build your wall

>the only planeswalkers that see play are the ones that can boardwipe or immediately kill creatures on entry
>most planeswalkers don't even see standard play
>"planeswalkers are too good"

Ive been running a Similar list mostly for casual play.
I think Hapatra is good enough and draws enough hate that having 4 of her is worth it.
Im not sure if hapatras Mark is worth it but I will admit that I havnt tried it much. I would consider swapping out Blisterpod/Bone Splinters entirely, and I prefer Greatmaw/baleful ammit over Croc.
And there is the obvious improvment of using blooming marsh
As far as HOU changes:
Throw in some Ifnir Deadlands To replace those deserts you said you had.
Ammit Eternal is a Powerhouse if not dealt with and even if your opponet deals with it it can give you multiple snakes/scarabs making it annoying to deal with cleanly.
Banewhip Punisher isnt great but in this deck it offers a lot, functioning as a token generator, a body and a removal spell.
Grind//Dust is Much better then Agony, running both isnt the worst but if you only run one, run grind//dust (especially when channeler can give mana for dust)

Obelisk Spider is somthing I really want to try but havn't found a place for in my current build.
Lethal sting is a good Budget replacement for bone Splinters.Key to the city for Hapatra/Ammit Eternal can can rude

There is also some merit into Going red for Scorpion god "the rock" johnson + a few other good stuff in the color (soul -scar might be good in this scenerio, but im not sure if you really want to rely on having red mana turn one, but a sweltering suns+soulscar+Nest will give an insane scarab producing combo)

>Atraxa
>standard

in an aggressive deck is unsummon just better than unsubstantiate?
I'm trying to put together jeskai flyers with fevered visions since there's a lot of monument in my meta and I want to use my spell quellers as much as I can before they rotate out.
Is it better to use some number of goldnight castigators and glorybringers or just stick to the 2/1s? I know fevered visions pushes me toward dumping my hand so I can get value faster, but monument doesn't like dealing with fat flyers

Ammit Eternal is the bomb the deck lacked and Obelisk Spider is bonkers. A straight improvement over Decimator Beetle.

Since you are on a budget, as I can understand, I will avoid the obvious improvements (Fatal Push and Blooming Marsh) and center around HOUR additions.

Grind to Dust can replace Splendid Agony. Is much better but lacks of Instant speed. I am finding a lot of weenie strategies in my LGS so the instant speed is not necessary and Grind//Dust is much better. However, in the strange case you really need those -1/-1 as instant speed, just sit on those Splendid Agony.

Hapatra attracts a lot of hate. Have 4 of her. She will die A LOT.

You could replace Hapatra's Mark for Blossoming Defense or Heroic Intervention. I find Blossoming Defense quite better because it doubles as protection AND a combat trick. You won't remove such amounts of -1/-1 counters to make that card worth it and, besides, Channeler and Exemplar usually wants the counters anyways.

To sum up, I would remove the Blisterpods, the Splendid Agonies and the Hapatra's Marks and replace them for a calibrated number of Eternal Ammits, Obelisk Spiders, Grind//Dust, Heroic Interventions and Blossoming Defenses.

Right now, the list I am piloting is >pic related . I am not using any Blossoming Defense because people at my LGS prefer just to try to sweep my board instead of removing Hapatra, in the meantime, Yahenni's Expertise and Dissenter's Deliverance are a MUST against weenie decks. And don't forget replace your Bone Splinters for Never//Return when facing Superfriends decks. It will make them cry, I tell you.

you dont actually run the card atraxa, just seems catchier than saying g/w/b/u and it does feel as soul crushing as fighting the pheraxian

This seems like a fun deck, I might build it. How much white do you need for the Grind//Dust?

wanted to build a esper aggro or Monmouth deck but im still confused about which one to go?

esper aggro sort of hinges on bfz gideon which is rotating out soon so keep that in mind.
i have no idea what monmouth is tho

Actually, nothing. Just use your mana dorks (Channeler Initiates). Or you could just jam some Aether Hubs or two green/white lands if you don't want to rely upon the channelers.

It isn't the most meta of the decks but, if you like interactions, it is a lot of fun, indeed. It can beat easily RG Pummeler and BG Energy. If you get a fast start, UW monument will be crying too. The worst match-up, however, will be against control, since they just have to negate your nest of scarabs or chain sweep after sweep. Against them, it is better just to rely on keeping Hapatra alive, keep those Heroic Intervention like a sacred treasure and land the nest when he (maybe) taps out after trying to sweep.

How would key to the city fare in this deck, considering you have hapatra and ammit eternal?

Ever play against a superfriends deck? Especially before Hour of Devastation came out? It's horse shit. Enjoy not being able to attack EVER if there's a Gideon of the Trials and Dovan out, because unless you're going really fucking wide, those two can just uptick all day long and weaken your biggest creatures. Whatever ones don't get tagged will get blocked by tokens, or advocates, or whatever else. This isn't including things like having to whittle down your opponent's life to 0 AND deal with a Gideon because a (NON-INTRACTABLE) Emblem is on the field that reads he can't lose while a Gideon is on board AND somehow try to keep all the other walkers in check from just comboing their ults. It's just not fucking possible to split that many resources and manage that much up until Hour came out, and even then you still need to draw into it.

And you want MORE of these fagbags to be ran? Go fuck yourself.

Even with Hour, planeswalker hate is utter shit. We have the cycle of color specific hate spells for the gatewatch, and two 1BB sorceries. Hour of Devastation itself is pretty much the only good answer to walkers, and any superfriends deck will be running multiple counters or Gearhulks, so good fucking luck if you're on the draw.

If they've got gearhulks in a superfriends deck, then they aren't doing a thing most other turns. That's an incredibly tall mana curse.

Burn/Aggro usually does a good job keeping planeswalker-heavy decks in check, so I don't think it'll be much of a problem with both monored and gideon vehicles floating around.

Trying to build a rotation-proof RDW, what are some good 1 drops to replace the 2/1 vampire? Also is Lathnu Hellion good? How about Combat Celebrant? Does Burning-Fist Minotaur have a chance?

In my experience, it is horrible. Hapatra, actually, doesn't need to connect any attack to get her value of any use. I usually just try to spread the counters the wider, the better. In addition, the discard hurts you a lot, specially since you don't have any means of draw engine. And, even when your nests are deployed, you want to still have cards in hand in order to make them produce tokens. I have been pondering to include in the deck Driven//Despair, but I don't know what to cut or if it would worth it.

>specially since you don't have any means of draw engine

Key is the draw engine. It would work better in a build running four Ammit Eternals, but even on it's own it easily outvalues it's own discard.

Lathnu Hellion can be decent if you've got the energy to keep it around. Otherwise it gets chumped twice then dies.
Soul-scar Mage is probably a decent enough replacement for the vampire, at least if you're running a version of the deck that's a little more burn-oriented.
Flameblade Adept is another option if you're also running 4 bomats and 3-4 Bloodrage Brawlers.
Combat Celebrant is a trap. Generally speaking, your creatures are going to be dropping like flies, and if they're not, you're going to win anyways. He's either useless (you get to untap your bomat courier and attack with it again, on t4! Yay!) or win-more.

As things stand now, I think the vampire is better if you're on the play whereas the flameblade adept is better on the draw.

Thanks, i was also thinking of using Consuming Fervor and Invigorated Rampage, are they good?
As for removal/burn is there anything good a part from Abrade, Shock and Magma Spray to run post rotation? Maybe Trial of Zeal to reuse with cartouches?

the trials are limited only cards. There's no way any number of red trial and 4 red cartouches don't end up being the worst 5-8 cards in your deck by a wide margin unless youre running a real shitheap

im using it without bfz gideon (aomnkat gideon) and tezzert also

The B trial is pretty good. Maybe not in the current monument meta tho.

Harnessed Lightning. Even without an energy sub-theme, it's a Lightning Strike at worst, and variable so you can build up the energy for bigger threats.

Abrade is really good right now with all the monument or god pharo's gift decks.

This, it's mostly great for ammit, but works well with hapatra if needed. I'd also reccomend using archfiend of ifnir if you do end up using it. Especially in matchups that are heavy on small creatures tokens. (Also lots of scarabs/snakes)

Why worry about rotation? Gorger is like ten cents. Use him until he rotates

The only reason RDW lists are over 100 is because of Chandra's in the sideboard. The ones that rotate like Gorger and Incendiary Flow are cheap

>opponent plays "sacrifice creature" card
>i have one creature
>drop a "make indestructible" instant on my dude
>dies anyway

fuck your faggot game tbqh

It's an 'user learns that Black is the most powerful colour' episode.

underrated?

Not really underrated. Everyone understands the power Yahenni has, it's just not currently in anything particular right now.

Currently I'm waiting for a return of aristocrats, though.

Sacrifice and negative toughness get around indestructible. Welcome to black.

what's the best way to get rich; fatal push or bitcoin?

>negative toughness

what? no, that wouldn't be fair. I disagree

I like Invigorated Rampage. I run two in my deck at the moment. Post-rotation I may run four.

Trial of Zeal/Cartouche combo has the potential to keep the deck firing in mid to late game, but more often than not there are just other things you want to be playing. I could see it being okay if you went with a burn-heavy variant that ran like 18-20 creatures instead of the usual 24-26, however.

One of the interesting things is, at least at the moment, there are many variations on the monored deck floating around. I think it winds up coming down to what matchups you're expecting to play and tinkering your main-board plan to match.

My deck is just about done, the only thing I'm missing are the Chandras. Kind of annoying as I traded some I opened in draft packs/prizes a long while ago when she was around $40, then nearly bought a playset when she was at her lowest, and now she's back to $30 and climbing. Fuck me.

Not that it matters, though, there isn't a single LGS near me that's firing standard events. One store got all their showdown packs and just fucking cracked them all and put up the singles because they know the event will never fire.

Unless you're playing Blue or Commander, you're not allowed to disagree with rules.

It's also worth noting that Borderland Marauder is actually in standard right now. Seems like a good fit for most mono-red decks.

Gabriel nassif has been testing a gb aristocrats deck on his stream, it looks pretty funny

Would be even better if it was immune to -1-1 counters as well.
I kind of want to chuck this in a commander deck when somebody else is using deserts.

who /notplayinguntilixilan/ here?

How will Ixalan make things better?

I get not reprinting camel on account of none of the deserts deal damage to creatures but why the fuck was this not in hour of devastation.

Because no one lived in the Amonkhet desert until the aftermath (pun intended) of HoD events

The current meta seems pretty good, what's wrong with it?

tappedout.net/mtg-decks/26-07-17-rdw-standard/
Here's what i came up with, thoughts?

Drop the Flameblade Adepts for Soul-Scar Mages. You don't have enough discard outlets to get consistent value out of Flameblade, so Soul-Scar's prowess will get you a lot more damage. Working Bomat Courier in would help too, since being able to refill your hand is a boon for a red aggro deck.

What should I meme with on Game Day? I want to go Grixis Control but I hesitate between 8 Thermo-alchemist (5-8 being Firebrand Archer) or the Torments cycle

I like that card. Is 2 ENOUGH?

Enough for what?

2BB is the mana cost of the common if the cycle, Torment of Venom
>Put three -1/-1 counters on target creature. Its controller loses 3 life unless he or she sacrifices another nonland permanent or discards a card.
Which one is better for 2BB depends on the situation

What caused Champion of Wits to spike? Was there a massive buyout?