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Main » Articles » Standard for the Pro Tour

Standard for the Pro Tour

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on August 4, 2016
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

The Pro Tour in Sydney is starting tomorrow so there are sure to be some exciting developments for Standard. We had the SCG in Baltimore last weekend that shook up the format and the dust has no signs of settling.

SCG Baltimore Retrospective

Bant Company once again littered the Top 8, so it still has a target on its head. There isn’t a deck that crushes Collected Company, but you can design your deck with the pesky instant in mind. I saw plenty of feature matches that didn’t include Bant Company, but let’s be honest. It’s everywhere. Plenty of cool decks showed up, but the efficiency and consistency of Bant Company is not to be ignored.

G/W Tokens also made a resurgence in Baltimore. I like how Osyp Lebedowicz maindecked so many copies of Tragic Arrogance to fight Bant Company. Spell Queller’s evasion would pressure Planeswalkers, but the 5-mana sorcery is unable to be countered easily. G/W Tokens also gets to effortlessly play many copies of Archangel Avacyn which is great against Bant Company. Of course, not every deck cares about Tragic Arrogance so it’s important to find a balance to fighting CoCo as well as the rest of the field. This was the second most popular deck in day two so I would start to prepare for it. I can’t see Tokens being the best deck anymore, but it starts to win when people ignore it.

G/U “My Tentacle Romance” was clearly the coolest deck to come out of the tournament. It was crushing Bant Company on camera left and right, but most of their draws weren’t amazing. I don’t know if this deck is good enough to make a splash at the Pro Tour, but it’s a great example of how playing from left field can get you a lot of wins. The way unique decks are allowed to win is when the top tier decks focus too hard on beating each other. If it is decided that U/G crushes Bant Company then I can just ratchet up the number of Negates to four in my sideboard. Stratus Dancer also counters Crush of Tentacles and can be recast as a morph to counter future crushes.

I do want to say the deck looked impressive and had more staying power than I initially expected. Noose Constrictor was a great way to fight Bant Company, as it can be powerful against Dromoka's Command. Who would have thought Wild Mongrel would be good in Standard?

I’m proud of the SCG players for identifying the key way to fight Bant Company, load your deck with sweepers that don’t get countered by Spell Queller. Tragic Arrogance and Crush of Tentacles broke out this weekend. Maybe there are times where you want to flash in a Spell Queller and not counter anything so the opposing board won’t be as scary after a sweeper.

Predictions for the Pro Tour

Elder Deep-Fiend and Distended Mindbender will be part of a breakout deck. At the moment we know these are powerful cards, but there are too many directions they can be pulled. Do I play a control deck? How about playing a critical mass of creatures to sacrifice for emerge? Can I even consider Eldrazi Skyspawner in the face of Liliana, the Last Hope? How far do I need to push the synergies? Maybe I can sacrifice normal creatures because the advantage gained from these creatures is so high. Plenty of these questions will likely be answered this weekend.

As Bant Company comes into the event with a target on its head, I think these powerful Emerge creatures will be paired with Kozilek's Return. It’s clear from the SCG Columbus data that the U/R Emerge deck wasn’t consistent enough, but there are plenty of other ways to build. What about pairing Distended Mindbender with Kozilek's Return? That way I have aggro and control decks covered. Can I splash Kozilek's Return off of some pain lands? That might be reasonable because the rest of the Red cards aren’t too exciting. I think Emerge has only scratched the surface outside of some smart teams working on it for the Pro Tour. I know that Elder Deep-Fiend + Kozilek's Return scared the hell out of me when I was testing for SCG Columbus, so it has a place in the metagame.

Bant Company will still be the scariest deck in the room to play against. It’s such a strong deck and mulligans extremely well; this is traditionally a recipe for success over a large event. I have never lost a game where I have mulliganed to five cards with Bant Company in a tournament; that’s absurd. Despite its strength, it will underperform because everyone will jump on-board the Bant-wagon and be less prepared. The most popular deck coming into the Pro Tour often disappoints because people who don’t prepare gravitate toward the “best deck.”

Humans will underperform because Max McVety, Tom Ross, and Todd Anderson won’t be present.

B/W Control will feature lots of Planeswalkers instead of the Brisela, Voice of Nightmares package. Maybe there will be a time where Reflector Mage and Spell Queller won’t rule the day, but the Pro Tour is not the time or place. Liliana, the Last Hope is very good and Black control will be a good deck despite it being weak to Bant Company. I’ve seen it argued that Swamps are the way to fight Bant Company and I disagree. I can flip a switch in my Bant list and beat Black control by playing 3 Negate and 2 Ojutai's Command. Black control doesn’t have the same luxury as Bant Company is so dynamic.

What Would I Play at Pro Tour: Eldritch Moon?

I may be watching the Pro Tour from the sidelines for the first time in a couple of years, but I still had an invite. It’s weird not being there, and I want to practice as though I’m going in order to help the rest of Team Ann Arbor win. In this case, it’s only Andrew Elenbogen attending as the rest of the crew deferred their invite to the next Pro Tour.

Of course, I would register Bant Company if I were going. I got 23rd at the last Pro Tour and 4th at SCG Columbus with Bant Company so why would I stop now?

Here’s my list:

Bant Company ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Kyle Boggemes

This deck isn’t revolutionary, but I do intend on having a good Game 1 against the mirror. I’m going to try playing a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy over a Tireless Tracker in the main deck to provide card advantage in the mirror without having to walk into Reflector Mage.

The Stratus Dancers in the board is a concession to the Tragic Arrogance sideboard plan that is becoming very popular in the mirror. I don’t want a CoCo miss in Negate, but I’m all right having a 2/1 flyer that they will think is Den Protector. I decided against playing Tragic Arrogance in the board because it becomes much weaker when your opponent expects it.

A big mistake I saw players make at SCG Baltimore is cutting Ojutai's Command from the sideboard. It counters Ishkanah, Grafwidow which is currently the most annoying threat for Company to fight. If the Black decks are going to beat you then the spider will play a huge role. It’s also a way to return Duskwatch Recruiter in the late game to generate mass amounts of card advantage.

W/B Control

I think creatureless W/B Control will perform well at the Pro Tour. It doesn’t crush Bant Company, but has a strong game against an open field.

W/B Control ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Kyle Boggemes

This build is based off of Sam Jakimovski’s top 64 deck from SCG Columbus. I think this is the optimal way to build W/B in this Standard format. The Angel version is very clunky compared to a streamlined control deck that ignores creature removal.

Typically, this deck plays Planar Outburst, but I think it’s embarrassing versus Selfless Spirit and Archangel Avacyn. I need to again be careful and not play too much hate against CoCo and forget the rest of the field. It’s tempting to maindeck a bunch of Hallowed Moonlights, but I don’t think it’s good enough against other decks.

My initial thought about Black control was that Liliana made me play creatures to return with the -2, but a pseudo-removal spell with a great ultimate is good enough. Grasp of Darkness and Languish team up with Liliana’s +1 to take down 5 toughness creatures.

Gilt-Leaf Winnower is quite good in this Standard field, which makes me happy. I loved the idea of playing this card previously, but things didn’t line it properly.

It kills:

Remember that the Winnower only kills non-elf creatures, so it can’t kill Sylvan Advocate or opposing Winnowers. It also plays well with Liliana, the Last Hope; it’s a creature to return and the -2/-1 can make any creature a target that had even power and toughness. Expect to see more of this creature in the future.

B/G Delirium

Robert Wright played a sweet B/G Delirium deck at SCG Baltimore. I think this is a smart way to build the deck; use Gnarlwood Dryad as a cheap threat to rebuy with Liliana. It looks as though B/G is a great shell to build around Ishkanah.

B/G Delirium ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Kyle Boggemes

I have a soft spot for Deathmist Raptor + Den Protector in a format full of grindy Green decks. It’s another way to push the graveyard theme; Grim Flayer can mill raptors into the graveyard and then bring back multiples with Den Protector.

Grim Flayer looks weird in a world of 2/3s such as Reflector Mage, Spell Queller, and Sylvan Advocate, but it’s not that bad. Since Black gives you plenty of removal spells that shrink toughness it’s an all right Standard card. Liliana, the Last Hope can give a ? -2/-1 which allows the 2/2 to damage the opponent. With that being said, I would rather not fight the tide of Reflector Mage and just play cards that ignore it. Maybe there will be a better time for Grim Flayer in the future. If you’re hellbent on attacking with Grim Flayer this might be another good list for Gilt-Leaf Winnower.

This deck has game versus Collected Company, but it can only be so good. A timely Collected Company can create a large amount of tempo that puts a ceiling on playing fair with creatures. I think this is a solid FNM deck, but if I wanted to win I would play Company or a more controlling Black deck.

This is another Black deck that is taking advantage of the new Standard bomb, Ishkanah. Everyone who plays it says it’s better than they expected.

Standard TLDR

  • Bant Company is still the best deck in the format

  • Ishkanah, Grafwidow is the new tier 1 threat for control and midrange decks.

  • The best way to fight Collected Company is to attack from a weird angle; it’s hard to overpower them. My Tentacle Romance (U/G Crush) was proof that weird stuff can win.

  • Expect an Elder Deep-Fiend deck make a splash at the Pro Tour this weekend.

  • G/W Tokens is powerful, but not format-defining; watch out for it.

Modern Update

A lot of focus in recent articles have been about Standard and how Bant Company is threatening our freedom to play fun decks, but I wanted to share my latest Bushwacker Zoo list before I go.

Bushwhacker Zoo ? Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I tried to cut Dryad Arbor from the deck, but Tyler Hill played Zoo and had a bad experience without it. Typically, my lists have a Simian Spirit Guide as the 18th mana source, but I’m trying a version with 19 lands. I had some great nut draws, but playing the extra land will improve my consistency.

Flinthoof Boar is getting the nod over some Vexing Devils and the fourth Atarka's Command because I need more stable threats versus U/R/x Snapcaster Mage decks. I get to move down to two Tarmogoyfs in the sideboard as a result. Since I have more threats I can get rid of Witchstalker in the sideboard, but leave Strangleroot Geist for Grixis Control.

Mutagenic Growth is a free spell to help Reckless Bushwacker come down for 2 mana. The reason it goes into this particular version is because Flinthoof Boar makes my list more interested in hand-to-hand combat. The original version of this deck was focused on killing on turn three with a ton of 4-damage spells, but an honest 3/3 could use some help.

I moved two Forked Bolts to the main deck because more fair creatures slows my deck down and I want additional interaction. Forked Bolt can take the opponent by surprise Game 1, and I want it in most creature matchups. It can only be so bad because it deals 2 damage to the opponent against combo and control decks. This is why I don’t like to maindeck Path to Exile; when it’s bad it doesn’t do any damage.

The key thing I’m trying is to play 2 Vexing Devil and the last Atarka's Command in the board. This looks weird, but my plan against combo decks is to win as fast as possible. Those decks don’t block so it’s often 5-6 damage to the face which is all I want. This is a good plan against Tron, Ad Nauseum, and Scapeshift.

Grand Prix Indianapolis is coming up in a few weeks, so Modern is on my mind in addition to the Pro Tour. Since Pro Tour Sydney marks the end of the professional season I’m going to be on the prowl for pro points once again. My goal is to get at least Silver next year as well as hit the 150 pro point mark (currently 124) to vote players into the Hall of Fame.

That’s all I have for this week. Be sure to watch the Pro Tour coverage that starts tomorrow. I think there will be a lot of sweet decks based around Eldritch Moon cards; Standard will get a facelift as the world’s finest attempt to take their opponents by surprise.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

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TAGS articles, pro tour, standard, list, metagame, constructed, analysis, deck lists, modern, kyle boggemes, eldritch moon, bant company, pro tour eldritch moon, u/g crush, w/b control, b/g delirium

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