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Battling with Bant, or how I learned to love lifelink: A Starcity Games 5k Tournament Report *13th* Part 1: Building a Better Bant
I hate Standard right now, or people's apparent view of Standard. People have accepted that Jund is just simply better than everything else (it's not) and that Standard is a format defined by the fact that people can cast Blighting into Bloodbraid into Blightning and it requires little to no skill at all.
Wrong. Please try again. Standard is not even remotely closed to unskilled. Not even close actually. Jund is the top dog for sure; it is the deck with the most wins, and more than likely the deck that will win every major standard event until cascade dies a horrible death as Shards block rotates. The problem with Standard is that we are all very lazy. We don't try enough. We accept that Jund is the best deck and play it, thus mitigating wins to Jund very easily.
The laziness issue of Standard is created by two things: Cascade remains the only reliable card advantage tool in the format, and that creatures are defining the format instead of spells. Sure, the concept of creatures over spells is something that has clearly been happening for a while now, but I think right now it is at its peak as the two best card advantage spells have legs (Ranger of Eos and Bloodbraid Elf). The format is thusly defined by how well you can handle your opponents' threats.
The issue of Cascade is one I could talk a lot about, but at its core the problem is that two spells for the cost of one is just too damn good. Even if it is random, it's still too powerful effect when the best effect left to gain cards over your opponent is a 1U sorcery that draws you maybe 1.8 cards on average. The real problem is that there is no way to really fix it. But there is a way to fight it.
I came to the realization that the best way to fight the Jund menace in this format is to build your deck in way that taxes their resources maximally while not distorting your draws or mana. Sure, this is probably the vaguest description of how to win a game of Magic in every format ever, but it's how you do it in this format that sets it apart from others. My realization came that the best way to tax Jund's resources is to outclass their creatures on your turn and ignoring their threats overall. You will never beat Jund when trading removal for removal. You just can't. Their creatures are armies in a can (Siege-Gang, Thrinax, Broodmate, Master) and thus don't care about your one-for-one removal. It also means that mass removal isn't very effective either, since they can play out one threat at a time, and sit on it while beating down and removing your guys. Eventually you'll have to blow your Day of Judgment, and then they will just play another army spell, and walk all over you again.
Rhox War Monk, and it really isn't close. Let's think about it. He's at an efficient mana cost (especially when put into frame against the one-drop accelerators in the format), has a 4 butt (which is HUGE in this format. Not the butt, but the fact that he has it.) and when coupled with exalted will usually push 99.9999% of creatures into the "chump mode".
And let's not forget the queen. If Rhox War Monk isn't the best creature in standard, I think we all can agree that Baneslayer Angel takes the crown. No card in standard besides her can completely change the game state like she does, especially if she reaches an untap step. She can win unwinnable games all on her own.
So clearly I started my ideas for my 5k deck at this:
This plan never deviated. I started my testing with decks that revolved around those two cards and ways of defending them (Vines of the Vastwood, Negate, etc.). It's from this that I realized that protecting these two wasn't enough. You will eventually run out of ways of protecting your threats. From this I came up with my overriding principle in Bant:
Make every creature count. All of them. And play more of them. A lot more of them.
From there I came up with this decklist:
[cardlist]4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Rhox War Monk
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Dauntless Escort
3 Rafiq of the Many
4 Baneslayer Angel
1 Sphin of Jwar Isle
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Stirring Wildwood
3 Celestial Colonade
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacombs
3 Forest
3 Island
2 Plains
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sejeri Steppe
1 Halimar Depths
Sideboard
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Sphin of Jwar Isle
3 Negate
3 Bant Charm
2 Day of Judgement
1 Dauntless Escort
3 Vapor Snare[/cardlist]
Let's review the card choices individually
4x Noble Hierarch, 2x Birds of Paradise
The one drop accelerators are some of the most important cards you have in your deck. The games you have a one-drop accelerator and it doesn't immediately die are one's you win more often than not. The ability to go turn 2 Rhox War Monk into turn 3 Elspeth is just absurd.
This is probably the card most likely called into question in this list, but I am a firm believer that if your decks contains a fair number of green and white mana, it should have 4 Pridemage in the starting lineup. One of the overarching principles of this deck when I built it was for every creature in the deck be a threat within itself. Pridemage fulfills this condition dutifully while also being used to answer two important cards right now: Oblivion Ring and Basilisk Collar. Oblivion Ring has become the fallback removal spell of the moment, and the ability to return your creature OR beat for 3 by itself is rather spectacular. One of the most threatening things for this deck is Collar with a Sparkmage, or really just Collar itself and Pridemage represents the ability to have outs maindeck. As a splash bonus, being able to blow up Everflowing Chalice is also rather sweet.
All-star. Does everything. And with the recent rise of Red Deck Wins, also represents a frequent game win on turn 2 off of a one-drop accelerator.
Knight represents your chief card advantage engine in the deck, if obliquely so. It turns otherwise dead resources into threats (I more often than not will trade in my basics for man-lands) while growing itself. It also can, when left unchecked, greatly thin your library of lands while continuing to grow your threat greatly. Also, the counter spell effect of Sejiri Steppe is amazing, and I remain tempted to play more copies of the card. Not to mention that you can also win top-deck wars by cashing in for the singleton Halimar Depths and shaping your turns. Knight is one of the most versatile cards in the deck, and by far the most skill testing.
This slot went through the most changes. It was originally 2 copies of Great Sable Stag, but it didn't really answer the problems the deck had at all, since it was just a vanilla threat at best. I then experimented with Master of the Wild Hunt to improve my curve, but it also felt underwhelming. I ultimately settled on Dauntless Escort as it fulfilled my two rules for the deck, it was a threat that also did something relevant for a multitude of matches.
Rafiq is a weird card in the deck. It's by far my least favorite card in the deck, and I boarded it out a lot because it's so damn flimsy as a creature. But it does one thing very well - It steals games like nobody's business. The trick to using Rafiq is to not look at it as a creature but as a one shot spell. You want to setup a turn in which you can just deal a giant burst of damage with him, as he inevitably will die the next turn. It's why I categorize him as a threat that does something else, as I see him as a spell first and a creature second.
Worst card in the deck. Really sucks. Don't play it...
Another interesting card choice. This slot I agonized over the most. It was a fight between Thornling, Sphinx or Rampaging Baloths. Each card offered its upsides, as Baloths is unbeatable if left unchecked or with an active Knight and Thornling is versatile while being nigh invulnerable. I chose Sphinx ultimately because it's another evasive threat, and is also invulnerable. It also eats Broodmates and their tokens for breakfast. It also represents a fun trick with Knight, since you can see your draw and ship it twice if needed with a searched fetchland.
2x Elspeth and 2x Jace
My outlook on the use of planeswalkers in the deck is that they do one of two things: they either go unchecked and win the game on their own, or they suck up a ton of damage or spells. Both are excellent reasons to play them, and Jace and Elspeth are the two best planeswalkers. Not even close. Elspeth turns your guys into evasive threats or pops out dudes when necessary. Jace on the other hand does everything. It bounces blockers, it digs into your deck, or versus the slower control deck, controls their draws. They are two of my favorite cards in the deck, and are two of the biggest reasons you win your matches.
I still question the use of this card in the deck, but I ended with a 2 of slot in the main and just couldn't come to a decision. I chose Ring because it remains very versatile. I can now say from my 5k experience it was the correct decision and I stand by it. It goes from an LD spell against UW(Borderposts or Chalices), a Planeswalker killer(especially satisfying when you remove their Jace/Elspeth and play yours) and creature kill. It does what you need it to.
6 Manlands
I started with the full amount of both Wildwood and Colonnade. I realized that hands that contained only Manlands and M10 Duals REALLLY sucked. I backed off on the amounts of both to make my turns more curveish while still playing free threats.
It's a counterspell sometimes and a falter at other times. Versatility at its finest.
Halimar Depths won me quite a few games, especially when in my opening hand. It's also fantastic when you and your opponent are in topdeck mode and you have an active Knight. It's nice being able to set up your draws, and this card does that with no drawback really.
In the next article, I'll go through all of my matchups and discuss how I board for all the major decks. I highly recommend giving this build of Bant a try. Sometimes the best answer to a format is to attack. And this deck does it really, really well.
