With the massive changes to the Standard card pool, it’s to be expected that there will be a significant shift in the metagame. You wouldn’t necessary expect it to become faster, though. Well, as a frequent writer of Magic articles, I try to stay a little bit aware of the Magic talk on our beloved Interwebs, and I’ve been hearing a lot of discussion about G/W and Zombies in Standard. What I’ve been hearing about decks like G/W, W/U, and Bant is that Zombie decks are just too fast for them—even with all the help G/W has received from Return to Ravnica.

This is why Zombies are so exciting right now. They were already a tier-one(ish) aggressive, creature-based deck, and the change in the format has given them more than it’s taken away, especially if you’re willing to add green. That being said, I don’t think things are as bad for G/W as many Twitter and Facebook “experts” make it out to be. I think part of the problem is that too many G/W players aren’t being realistic about the curve and tempo of the new environment. G/W has some delicious options at 6 mana: Armada Wurm and Collective Blessing. I blew people away at the prerelease with my Selesnya deck that featured Collective Blessing, and I didn’t even come close to losing a game in which I played it. I spent quite a bit of time this week fantasizing about the great Standard decks I could build with it.

Unfortunately, 6 mana is a little too high a cost right now. It doesn’t matter how powerful a card is if you don’t get to cast it. Until someone makes a deck that checks Zombies and slows the metagame down, you need to focus on your own speed.

While I chose Selesnya at the prerelease, by far the most popular deck at the one I attended in Boston was Golgari. I joined the second of four scheduled flights (third if you count midnight madness), and they already had to ask some of the Golgari players to choose other guilds due to running out of Golgari decks. I’m guessing a big part of the reason that Golgari is so popular in Limited and Zombies are so popular in Standard is Lotleth Troll. I recently had one of my Facebook friends post a status asking what the big deal about this card is. He went on to say that to him, it just seemed bad. Well, let’s discuss . . . 

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! You can discard a creature card to give him a +1/+1 counter. NOW WHAT WOULD YOU PAY? Ever heard of Wild Mongrel? I’ve heard that’s a good card. Sure, it’s much more restrictive by forcing you to discard creatures and not excess lands or flashback spells. The +1/+1 is permanent, however. Oh yeah, and did I mention he regenerates? In a traditional Zombie deck, he’s Gravecrawler’s best friend. First, you get to discard the ’Crawler to give him a counter before then casting it from your ’yard. Second, he’s so hard to kill that he’ll usually stick around to ensure your ’Crawler a friend to lead him back from the grave. You should also try imagining him in a deck that wants to put creatures directly into the graveyard from your hand, such as a reanimator deck using Rise from the Grave and/or Unburial Rites.

Here’s my take on Zombies:

"Zombie Rock"

• Creatures (29)
• 1 Bloodthrone Vampire
• 4 Blood Artist
• 4 Diregraf Ghoul
• 4 Dreg Mangler
• 4 Gravecrawler
• 4 Lotleth Troll
• 4 Quirion Dryad
• 4 Rakdos Cackler

• Spells (8)
• 4 Abrupt Decay
• 4 Rancor

• Lands (23)
• 11 Swamp
• 4 Forest
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Woodland Cemetery

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The other concern of creature-swarm decks is mass creature removal such as Day of Judgment and Bonfire of the Damned. Fortunately, ’Crawlers and Trolls are very resistant to mass removal, while Rancors go back to your hand, and Manglers can be scavenged. In addition, the deck is fast enough that sometimes, mass removal will just be too painful with Blood Artists in play. In case you’re wondering about the one Vampire, I think that by itself, it’s a bit weak, and having two in play is redundant. Drawing one in the late game can be amazing, though. The Vampire loves ’Crawlers, and this is especially true if you have a Blood Artist or Dryad in play.

This is my take on GW:

"G/W Aggro"

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Arbor Elf
• 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 4 Centaur Healer
• 4 Loxodon Smiter
• 4 Restoration Angel
• 4 Strangleroot Geist

• Spells (12)
• 4 Selesnya Charm
• 4 Call of the Conclave
• 4 Rancor

• Lands (24)
• 11 Forest
• 3 Plains
• 2 Gavony Township
• 4 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Temple Garden

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I’ve chosen to go with a super-low-curve, hyper-aggressive version, but Oblivion Ring and Thragtusk all scream to be played in a deck like this and perhaps should be. I suggest that you just keep testing slightly different versions until you find one that gives you satisfactory results against Zombies. I believe that will involve a quick explosion of creatures that are bigger than most Zombies, some life-gaining, and few if any cards that cost more than 4 mana.

The most important takeaway here is that the new Standard is surprisingly fast considering how relatively small the card pool is right now. That doesn’t mean that as we add more sets, the format will become faster of course. Perhaps the new sets will add great control cards, such as cheap permission and awesome mass-removal spells. For the most part, that wouldn’t go with recent development trends from Wizards of the Coast, though. The trend is to constantly make better creatures—just look at Loxodon Smiter. Boy, that guy has a weight problem; even other Elephants are appalled by how big he is. Oh, and did I mention he also has abilities that punish permission and hand destruction? Yeah, like I’ve been saying: Wizards wants Standard tournaments decided by creatures more than by spells. So whatever you decide to do in your next Standard tournament, you better be ready for fast, aggressive creature decks.