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Main » Articles » Reforging Standard

Reforging Standard

Hallie Santo
Posted on January 21, 2015
 Reddit

This past Monday, I made my fourth appearance on Gathering Magic’s own The Deck Tease podcast to discuss Fate Reforged spoilers with Erin Campbell. Erin and I end each spoiler episode by discussing our favorite cards in each color, and while we usually try to predict which cards will make the greatest impact on Standard and Modern (her formats of choice), I decided to shake things up by name-dropping some of my favorite Limited cards in the set. My mind was set on taking down some prereleases, of course, but I also wanted to save my Standard predictions for this column!

As I had mentioned on the podcast, I finally hit my stride this past Standard season, cashing at a handful of local events. I usually attribute my tournament successes to meticulous testing and practice, but this time, that wasn’t the case. Earlier in the year, Mono-Black, Mono-Blue, and Esper Control reigned as the pillars of Standard, but nowadays, the metagame shifts ever so slightly each week, making it difficult to play the same list on two consecutive weekends. I expect the format to continue oscillating once Fate Reforged becomes Standard-legal—there are some truly impressive cards in this set, but not all the dozen-or-so viable Standard decks will benefit equally. Today, I’d like to discuss the fates of the decks I’ve enjoyed playing most this past season.

Mardu Midrange ? Khans of Tarkir Standard | Hallie Santo, StarCityGames Super IQ Top 8 (11/23/14)

I spent most of this past fall grinding Khans of Tarkir 8—4 Drafts on Magic Online, and before I knew it, the StarCityGames Seattle Open was less than a month away. I rarely miss an Open, so I needed to learn the Standard format and choose a deck as quickly as possible. An upcoming Invitational Qualifier at a local store seemed to be the perfect place to test the waters, so I scrambled to build a deck and find some friends to carpool with. I eventually went with Mardu Midrange since I naturally gravitate toward decks that can switch roles (e.g. beatdown or control) depending on the matchup. Mardu could beat down with copies of Seeker of the Way and Goblin Rabblemaster backed by efficient removal or transform into a control deck post-board and win the long game with Planeswalkers—all that, plus an edict that deals 2 damage to my opponent? I was sold.

Crackling Doom
I have a history of making poor metagame predictions for major tournaments, but by some fluke, I happened to choose a well-positioned deck for this particular IQ. Most of the field was on W/U Heroic and Mono-Red Aggro, two excellent matchups for my deck; after seven rounds, I found myself competing in my first Top 8, along with two other Mardu players. (My unfamiliarity with my deck finally proved my undoing in the quarterfinals, when I faced one of the other Mardu mages.) Mardu had become the bogeyman of the format almost overnight: The weekend after the IQ, Mardu took top honors at Grand Prix San Antonio, and it was the most popular deck among SCG Atlanta Top 8’ers. By early December, the format had readjusted, and the skies were abuzz with hornets intent on taking down Butcher of the Horde and Wingmate Roc. Abzan Whip, the only deck I’d lost to in the Swiss, became one of the most dominant decks in Standard, rendering Mardu nearly obsolete.

If Mardu has any hope of regaining its former glory, it’s with Brutal Hordechief. In a world full of Hornet Queens, Hordechief’s ability to control combat and drain opponents could prove invaluable. I am a bit concerned, however, that its 3 toughness could be too big a liability—in a world full of Bile Blights, and potentially Anger of the Gods, I’d prefer that my 4-drops have 4 toughness and flying. Here’s a list that I’ll be trying out in my testing gauntlet:

Mardu ? Fate Reforged Standard | Hallie Santo



Once Mardu fell out of favor, I had a decision to make: Should I start playing a Whip deck or find a deck that has a better matchup against them? I chose the latter after hearing good things about Abzan Aggro. Here’s a list that I played in a $4K at a new store that recently opened in my area.

Abzan Aggro ? Khans of Tarkir Standard | Hallie Santo, Mox Boarding House $4K Top 32 (12/20/14)

“Abzan Aggro” is a bit of a misnomer. This is a midrange deck with a slightly lower curve than the Abzan decks we saw a few months ago; its threats and answers are individually strong, and it has a decent matchup against most opposing Standard decks. In the early rounds of the $4K, I defeated R/G Aggro, B/G Constellation, Temur Midrange, and Sidisi Whip, mostly thanks to my removal suite and comprehensive sideboard. Abzan decks that can survive the early game and go big with Planeswalkers were tough to deal with, however. I fell short of Top 8 this time, but I still managed to cash, and I had a great time playing this powerful deck.

Valorous Stance
Small sets don’t always have new toys for everyone, and I don’t think the Abzan Midrange decks stand to gain much from Fate Reforged—which is not to say they’ll disappear. If you’d like to see your Abzan deck endure the next several months of Standard, however, it may just take some minor tweaking. A deck like this seems to be a great home for Valorous Stance, as blanking opposing removal and clearing large creatures out of the way both seem equally relevant here. My original sideboard was tuned to deal with enchantments, from Whip of Erebos to Jeskai Ascendancy to Doomwake Giant, but Abzan may need to look for other options if Red Devotion becomes as prevalent as some are predicting. Erase, Deicide, Unravel the Aether, and Abzan Advantage are all great pieces of anti-Purphoros tech.



Once the holidays passed and Fate Reforged spoilers started circulating, I spent less time playing the current Standard format and more time speculating about the format to come. I had also started to shift my focus to Legacy at that point, and there weren’t many big Standard tournaments left to go to before prerelease weekend. I went to a couple Friday Night Magic events with friends and brought along R/W Tokens, a deck that I’d read about and wanted to try. I made some adjustments to make the deck more aggressive (Goblin Rabblemasters in place of the more conventional Heliod's Pilgrims) and dodge hate (a full set of Stormbreath Dragons in the ’board), and I ended up going undefeated in two consecutive FNMs.

R/W Tokens ? Khans of Tarkir Standard | Hallie Santo

Now that tools like Monastery Mentor and Soulfire Grand Master are available to us, I’m excited to explore the potential of tokens and burn spells. Mentor’s token-generating ability rivals Young Pyromancer’s, and this card might very well become a force to reckon with in non-rotating formats. Grand Master, meanwhile, packs plenty of punch for a 2/2; if Standard becomes more aggressive, its ability to fashion Lightning Strikes into Lightning Helixes might popularize Burn again. I’ll leave you with a rough draft of a list I’ll be testing this week that incorporates both of these powerful cards. Until next time, happy release weekend!

Jeskai Tokens (Test Deck) ? Fate Reforged Standard | Hallie Santo

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TAGS articles, standard, constructed, analysis, decklist, brewing, brew, hallie santo, fate reforged

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