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Main » Articles » Aether Revolt Standard: Week 1

Aether Revolt Standard: Week 1

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on January 26, 2017
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

I was planning on attending the SCG Open in Columbus like I always do for the first week of new Standard. Since three of the most powerful cards in Standard were banned as well as a new set being released it was going to be a whole new world. Unfortunately, I had purchased tickets to see Phantom of the Opera a while back and it happened to fall on the same weekend.

And what a weekend I missed! There have already been countless articles highlighting the top decks so I’ll share my thoughts on the metagame as a whole and where I think it is headed. In addition, I have some ideas on some cool decks we didn’t get to see last weekend.

Before I go over all of that I’ll show the decklist I would have registered:

U/R Dynavolt Tower ? Aether Revolt Standard | Kyle Boggemes

Why this deck?

Dynavolt Tower

This list was created fellow Ann Arbor teammates, Andrew Elenbogen and Brian Demars. I proposed this strategy initially because Dynavolt Tower seems very well-positioned. Since everyone is focused on the infinite cat combo I want to take a completely different route to victory. Why try to run win conditions into Shocks that are sure to be everywhere?

Dynavolt Tower gets to effortlessly play cards like Shock to interact with infinite cats. I can also use the namesake artifact to deal 3 damage to Saheeli Rai to prevent my opponent from ever comboing off.

Torrential Gearhulk is a great win condition because flashing back spells means additional energy for Dynavolt Tower and counters removed from Thing in the Ice.

What’s different than the traditional Dynavolt Tower list?

Scatter to the Winds
Scatter to the Winds is my additional counter because I have a lot of 1-for-1s and I need to generate some card advantage. Void Shatter is a powerful card, but exiling is less relevant thanks to Emrakul getting banned. A 7/4 Wandering Fumarole is no joke as the game comes to a close.

Baral, Chief of Compliance was tested and my team found it to be underwhelming in this strategy. This is because it’s a bad late-game topdeck and looting away lands is less helpful when you want to hit at least six lands for Torrential Gearhulk.

Confiscation Coup in the sideboard is good against midrange and aggressive decks. Many decks that try to attack you will attempt to raise their curve after board so I need to grind harder in games 2 and 3. I can steal large creatures thanks to all of the ways the deck can accrue energy.

Fevered Visions is great against slower decks as is Dragonmaster Outcast. There aren’t many decks that can support visions so I want to play it when I can. How do you play draw-go when this enchantment is in play? The format is currently littered with Gearhulk Blue decks so I like its position.

Incendiary Flow is well-positioned at the moment because I think B/G Winding Constrictor will be strong. It can remove Scrapheap Scrounger from the game or go after Planeswalkers like Nissa, Voice of Zendikar.

Brian Demars played the deck at the Open and didn’t make day 2. It has trouble with W/G Tokens and that’s a problem in the short run. There will be times where the metagame will be less hostile for U/R decks, but I wouldn’t play this at a tournament in the future.

Overall Metagame Picture

Walking Ballista
The question on everyone’s mind was if CopyCat was playable and it looked very good on camera to me. I saw a lot of level 1 creatures that are good versus the combo such as Walking Ballista and Thalia, Heretic Cathar but they walked right into removal. I think attacking their hand is the way to disrupt the combo. The ancillary Planeswalkers like Nahiri, the Harbinger and Chandra, Torch of Defiance looked very impressive to me. Chandra gives you two Red mana in order to combo out of nowhere on turn five. Nahiri is able to exile Stasis Snare that probably removed your Felidar Guardian and can also ultimate to find your combo.

Sweepers looked impressive to me as Smuggler's Copter got the axe. Isn’t it crazy how when you destroy all creatures it actually kills most of the creatures? This bodes well for the CopyCat Control decks. I witnessed many players playing scared since they may die on the following turn when they commit a threat to the battlefield. It’s possible to hold back creatures to play around Fumigate, but it takes multiple turns to get back a threatening battlefield to hold up mana to interact with the combo.

Reflector Mage leaving has changed the way we evaluate creatures, but we need to adapt to the new threat — Saheeli Combo. Even though we don’t get blown out by a bounce creature it’s possible to die on the following turn. This is a natural balance in a competitive Constructed format; there will be powerful effects that push most cards out of the playable pool. Mindwrack Demon certainly got a boost in the new format due to Reflector Mage being banned and 4 power is the magic number to kill Saheeli Rai.

I was happy to see B/G Delirium win the tournament because it’s a strategy I like to play. Mindwrack Demon puts pressure on Saheeli Rai. I can also kill Saheeli Rai with Ruinous Path and To the Slaughter. If I had a tournament tomorrow I would register Brennan DeCandio’s 60:

B/G Delirium ? Aether Revolt Standard | Brennan DeCandio

I began testing a B/G Tokens list that had a similar idea, but this version is much better. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar is an obvious card to add, but I was unimpressed and Brennan thought the same thing.

Grim Flayer is still great because you can kill your own Walking Ballista at any point to add two card types to the graveyard for delirium. The same can be said for Mindwrack Demon and not taking four damage.

I like moving Ishkanah, Grafwidow to the sideboard because tapping out for a 5-drop that doesn’t immediately do damage in Saheeli’s world is dangerous. Mardu Vehicles still does exist and I like having the option to board in a more defensive bomb I can find from Traverse the Ulvenwald.

The maindeck is great, but I would make some changes to the sideboard to account for the results at the Columbus Open:

B/G Delirium Sideboard Changes ? Aether Revolt Standard | Kyle Boggemes

Natural Obsolescence is to kill Metalwork Colossus; a matchup Brennan described as less than ideal. A third Fatal Push is good against Mardu Vehicles and the mirror; I made room by cutting the third Yahenni's Expertise. Mindwrack Demon is good against aggro decks so I don’t want too many 4-drops. This is the reason I cut the Kalitas from the board as well.

I felt there were too many 3-drops to board in against Saheeli Combo so I trimmed a Lost Legacy for Transgress the Mind. They can still grind you out so I don’t want three extract effects even if it’s great in the matchup.

This is likely the most powerful deck to come out of the SCG Open; expect to face it often this weekend.

Jeskai Saheeli

Daniel Fournier had a cool list of Jeskai that managed to crack the top 8 of the SCG Open.

Jeskai Saheeli ? Aether Revolt Standard | Daniel Fournier, Top 8 SCG Open Columbus

Revolutionary Rebuff is a horrible Magic card; let’s just get that out of the way first. I hate the card so much. It’s a testament to how much people despise having their spells countered. It still happens to perform a key function in this deck- interact on turn two. I want to cast Saheeli on turn three and Felidar Guardian on turn four. It might be able to act as a Negate in the mid game, too. The opponent will begin the mid-game playing scared and leaving up removal spells. Once they have the mana to cast removal spells and also play threats they will. This means tapping out for interaction so the rebuff is better in the combo deck.

Jeskai Saheeli isn’t the best deck in the format, but it’s certainly powerful. I had my doubts it could stand up to the hate, but it managed to emerge from week one as a playable strategy.

4 Color Saheeli

My roommate, Tyler Hill, made the top 8 of the Open with 4 Color Saheeli. He also took advantage of Oath of Jace. I think this card is fantastic with Felidar Guardian and curves perfectly when you’re looking for Saheeli. Despite all of the card advantage in the deck there are games where you just don’t assemble the combo. Oath of Jace digs deep between the draw three and the scry trigger to increase consistency.

I briefly worked with Tyler on the list he used to top 8. It looks like a hot mess, but there’s a ton of great stuff going on:

4-Color Saheeli ? Aether Revolt Standard | Tyler Hill, Top 8 SCG Open Columbus

Nissa, Vital Force
Terrarion was a card I didn’t see in the rough draft. I don’t think the card is perfect, but I can cast it a turn earlier than Prophetic Prism. Blinking out the prism is less relevant in this version because there are so many oaths that will be in play already. It’s nice that it’s an artifact that goes to the graveyard for delirium. I’m not sold that either one of these spells are necessary, but at least consider Terrarion for the 4-Color Saheeli shell.

Nissa, Vital Force was my contribution to the deck. It’s a defensive Planeswalker that plays well with your oaths. The -3 ability can return Saheeli and Felidar Guardian to your hand to assist in comboing. The 5/5 haste can surprise your opponent in the mirror match to pressure Planeswalkers. It’s also another threat to find from Oath of Nissa. I found the biggest issue with the deck is the ability to flood; this is natural when you’re trying to consistently get four different colors of mana.

Narnam Renegade is just an early spell to soak up damage against Mardu Vehicles. The revolt will trigger if you blink it out with Felidar Guardian. I would like to see a maindeck Ishkanah because I’m building toward the combo end game.

It appears the level 1 metagame will be B/G Delirium versus various flavors of Saheeli Combo. There will also be a smattering of Mardu Vehicles because Shock can keep the combo in check. Could it be the rock-paper-scissors metagame we saw in the previous Standard still hold? Delirium-Vehicles-Combo? Time will tell.

Where To Go from Here?

Grixis Control

“There is always a greater power.”

I think Grixis Control can be great in the new Standard metagame thanks to powerful spells to cast off of Baral, like Dark Intimations. I was bummed to see Baral underperform in U/R Dynavolt Tower and I want to make him work.

Grixis Control ? Aether Revolt Standard | Kyle Boggemes

Dark Intimations
Dark Intimations is the payoff for adding the third color to a traditional U/R control deck. I have inevitability with Dragonmaster Outcast and Torrential Gearhulk being bought back with my removal spell. Baral’s looting effect is cool because I can discard late game creatures and re-buy them with Dark Intimations in the mid game.

Chandra is a powerful Planeswalker that can also be re-bought with Dark Intimations. I can ramp out large spells like Torrential Gearhulk and Dark Intimations with the +1 mana ability or I can kill Felidar Guardian. I think Chandra is better given that Smuggler's Copter was keeping her from greatness.

Transgress the Mind combos well with Baral as I can cast it on turn three with Disallow backup. I want to proactively stop the Saheeli combo because I will have to tap out for some of my late game effects. I can loot Transgress the Mind away in the late game by countering a spell with Baral in play. It’s also a spell I can cast off Chandra’s +1.

I think the biggest issue with current control decks is the inability to gain traction. Card advantage is nice, but most decks can do better than turning one card in hand into two. Chandra, Dragonmaster Outcast, and Dark Intimations are able to interact with the board and snowball out of control.

W/B Midrange

Since Reflector Mage got the axe I can see a return of Gisela, the Broken Blade. I can play powerful spells that take over the game by themselves. The secondary color can ensure I don’t die to the Saheeli combo. White removal spells are good at exiling Metalwork Colossus that may make a resurgence in the near future.

W/B Midrange ? Aether Revolt Standard | Kyle Boggemes

Transgress the Mind will make sure the coast is clear when it’s time to tap out for a big threat against Saheeli Combo. Gisela, Thalia's Lancers, and Bruna, the Fading Light are late game threats that couldn’t shine in the world of Emrakul, the Promised End, but have a chance.

It’s important to commit threats to the battlefield early such as Thraben Inspector and Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim to hold off the hoard of creatures from Mardu Vehicles and also hold up mana in the mid game to break up the Saheeli Combo. I like this deck has a little bit of early spells to cast as well as a great late game. The original versions of this deck were so clunky because of Thalia's Lancers.

Closing Thoughts

It seems the bans as well as the release of Aether Revolt have done their job in week one. There are plenty of new options for how you want to win the late game. I’m sure the Pro Tour will consolidate the number of possible finishers. We also have the new beginnings of a metagame: Mardu Vehicles, Saheeli Combo, and B/G Delirium. There are plenty of cool decks I highlighted that have a shot of displacing the winning decks. Only one thing is clear to me at this point- we have only scratched the surface.

Thanks for reading,

Kyle

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TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, deck list, kyle boggemes, scg open columbus

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