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Main » Articles » 5 Decks You Can't Miss This Week

5 Decks You Can't Miss This Week

Carlos Gutierrez
Posted on August 30, 2013
 Reddit

The Theros previews have started rolling in, but that doesn't mean we're done with Magic 2014. This week we've got five decks ranging from Standard to Legacy featuring all manner of Magic 2014 goodness, featuring everything from Scavenging Ooze to Slivers. Let's go ahead and get started!

We've seen all kinds of flavors of Junk decks throughout this Standard. Reanimator decks with Angel of Serenity: token decks with Lingering Souls and Collective Blessing, and Cartel Aristocrat decks with Voice of Resurgence. We haven't see a control deck, though. That's what Yiyi built for this Daily Event; a Black-Green rock deck that goes white for cards like Voice of Resurgence and Loxodon Smiter. Let's take a look at his Junk midrange deck.

GBW Value - Standard | Yiyi, 3-1 Standard Daily Event

This deck looks very similar to the Junk Reanimator decks we've been seeing recently, with both Shadowborn Demon and Disciple of Bolas. The difference is that Yiyi has eschewed the Mulches and Unburial Rites for Voice of Resurgence and additional removal. You have much of the same plan, but you give up your ability to go over the top with Angel of Serenity and Unburial Rites for a stronger game against aggressive decks, since you have more early drops.

The thing that I like about this deck is that you have way more removal and early creatures against the Hellrider decks of the format. Gruul aggro of various flavors is very popular right now, and having your deck built this way gives you a much stronger early game. You even have more instant-speed removal for Thundermaw Hellkite!

The thing that I miss about the Grisly Salvage/Mulch engine is that you get to see more cards; that makes your singletons and sideboard cards more impactful. Archangel of Thune and Shadowborn Demon are cards that you want to be able to find consistently, and you can't do that without a way to filter through your deck.

Blood Artist is a card that cycles in and out of favor in various Cartel Aristocrat decks or Zombie decks. But every few months we see someone trying to break it as a combo piece in an Immortal Servitude deck. Let's take a look at vcravalanche's most recent attempt at breaking this awesome deck:

[Cardlist Title= Immortal Servitude - Standard | vcravalanche, 3-1 Standard Daily Event]

The last few times we've seen this deck, it's been a Junk deck. I really like the extra dimension that Snapcaster Mage gives this deck; primarily the ability to flashback Grisly Salvage to stack your graveyard for Immortal Servitude. It's also worth noting that you can dump Servitude into your graveyard and Snapcaster Mage it back, so now Grisly Salvage sets up both pieces of your combo.

So what exactly is your combo? All you want to do is find a couple of Blood Artists and creatures to sacrifice. Alchemist's Apprentice sacrifices itself while digging for Immortal Servitude, while Bloodthrone Vampire lets you sacrifice other creatures like Ravenous Rats and Elvish Visionary. All you want to do is chain cantrips into Immortal Servitude and drain your opponent out with Blood Artist.

I'm honestly a little surprised that Forbidden Alchemy makes the cut over more efficient cards like Tracker's Instinct or Mulch. It may also be worth considering Nightshade Peddler, just so that you can trade off your utility creatures in the early game. Your biggest issue is going to be with aggressive decks that can run you over early, and Peddler would go a long way towards shutting down aggressive starts. Your Tragic Slips and Abrupt Decays can only do so much work, after all.

Recently we've seen a Modern format dominated by UWR Cryptic Command decks. The efficiency o Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, and Snacaster Mage is pretty hard to argue with, as far as control engines go. But how do you get an edge in control mirrors? Fizzeler seems to think it's by changing your third color. Let's take a look at his most recent take on Esper Control from this Magic Online Daily Event.

Esper Control - Modern | Fizzeler, 3-1 Modern Daily Event

This deck looks to pick up a huge edge in control mirrors without giving up too much of its game against the aggressive decks of the format. Some of the technology is obvious, like Mystic Teachings for Sphinx's Revelation or Esper Charm as an engine in the mid game. Others are much more subtle, like Calciform Pools over Celestial Colonnade to help win the battle over Sphinx's Revelation.

But just because this deck is trying to get an edge in control mirrors doesn't mean you have to give up your game against aggro. Jace, Architect of Thought does a great job of shutting down decks like Affinity while also letting you grind out games against control decks. Disfigure does a pretty good impression of Lightning Bolt, and your discard is awesome against the combo decks of the format.

The most awesome thing about this deck is the sideboard. You get access to cards like Lingering Souls and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir that completely change the texture of matchups. You have hate cards like Stony Silence and Rest in Peace and even Teachings into Tempest of Light or Extirpate. You ability to build an incredible sideboard for whatever metagame you expect to face is really what pushes this deck over the top. If you can build it correctly, this is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

One of the most exciting things that Magic 2014 brought with it was the return of Slivers to modern Magic. The biggest question since then has been whether or not they will be viable in various constructed formats. Caleb Durward has been working on a five-color Sliver deck for Legacy, and that's the deck that Jillypuff took to a 3-1 finish in this Legacy Daily Event. Let's take a look:

[Cardlist Title= Slivers - Legacy| Jillypuff, 3-1 Legacy Daily Event]

This deck does a number of really awesome things in Legacy. The combination of Galerider Sliver, Striking Sliver, and Syphon Sliver make it very difficult for traditional tempo decks to race you. You have Crystalline Sliver and various lords to shut off removal and buff your Phantasmal Images, as well as Cavern of Souls and Aether Vial making your spells uncounterable. This all adds up to an enormous, keyword-dense army that applies a clock as fast as any other deck in the format.

The real trouble is that your combo matchup is absolutely abysmal. You have zero interactive elements in your maindeck, which is why over half the sideboard is devoted to combo hate of several varieties. Only two copies of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben seems a little weird, when it's a strong enough threat against combo that Goblins splashes white just for her. Gaddock Teeg seems particularly weak in the current metagame, while both Thalia and Meddling Mage are absolutely incredible. If you're not expecting combo, however, this deck is all upside and may be an awesome choice.

Our Commander deck this week is a Commander classic. KResh the Bloodbraided has been a very popular Commander for strategies of all kinds since Shards of Alara. Jund has always been a very popular color combination, and Kresh is uniquely suited for Commander since it provides powerful threats, flexible answers, and plenty of card advantage engines to keep you going well into the late game. This particular deck by Justice1337 focuses on presenting a huge threat and preventing other decks from reaching a point where they can reasonably fight back. Let's take a look at his Kresh midrange deck:

Kresh Midrange - Commander | Jusice1337

This is exactly the kind of deck that I like to play most. You have powerful, creature-based engines in Birthing Pod, Greater Good, and Disciple of Bolas, combined with incredible threats like Rune-Scarred Demon. All of this backed up with the ramp, removal, and utility creatures available in Jund make for a very powerful combination of effects.

The thing that distinguishes this list from other Kresh lists is the suite of Wildfire effects. These effects can garner a little bit of hate, they are land destruction, after all. The thing is, when you ramp into giant creatures and then deny other players the resources they need to fight back, you tend to win games.

No matter how many Kresh lists I see, I never get over how cute the interaction between Kresh and evoke is. Justice1337 is playing Ingot Chewer, but other lists play Shriekmaw and Spitebellows as ways to pump Kresh while generating value. These effects were always important so you could apply a clock, but are even more relevant now that we have effects like Momentous Fall and Disciple of Bolas.

One thing is for sure: Kresh has always been the archetypical general for Jund in Commander, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

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TAGS articles, standard, current events, deck lists, legacy, decks, commander, modern, carlos gutierrez, 5 decks

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