Battle!

WTF is a Battle?

No idea. But I predict Atraxa, Grand Unifier will be putting one into the hand of a dastardly villain near you in the coming months. With the format still so young, Atraxa has nevertheless been putting a variety of other types of cards into its controllers' greedy mitts, despite a stubby tenure so far.

The new enemy: Atraxa Reanimator

Atraxa Reanimator | ONE Standard | BMartinez, 2nd Place MTGO Standard Challenge 2/12/23

• Creatures (7)
• 3 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 4 Sanctuary Warden

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Nahiri, the Unforgiving
• 2 The Wandering Emperor

• Instants (12)
• 4 Abrade
• 4 Big Score
• 4 Cathartic Pyre

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Invoke Justice

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Portal to Phyrexia

• Lands (25)
• 7 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Shattered Sanctum
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 3 Haunted Ridge
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Jetmir's Garden
• 4 Sundown Pass

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Farewell
• 2 The Wandering Emperor
• 4 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 2 Depopulate
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse
• 1 Archangel of Wrath
• 2 Brotherhood's End

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Atraxa Reanimator has trappings of some previous decks topping up on Invoke Justice, but this one's particulars are built with specifically Atraxa, Grand Unifier in mind. There are seven types of Magic: The Gathering cards (outside of the still-mythical Battle), and BMartinez made sure to play at least some cards of each type in order to maximize the get when Atraxa hits the battlefield.

Consider...

• Artifact - Portal to Phyrexia
• Creature - Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• Enchantment - The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
• Instant - Big Score, Cathartic Pyre
• Land - "..."
• Planeswalker - Nahiri, the Unforgiving
• Sorcery - All tied together with Invoke Justice

I listed Portal to Phyrexia because it is in fact the only artifact whatsoever that BMartinez played main deck. At a minimum it is a very powerful, super high impact, card that can immediately warp the arc of a game. In this case it can also be a second-order reanimation payoff... But that'll take a turn or two, and is not strictly required. The other six types listed, on the other hand, synergize with one of the deck's two main themes more directly.

Sanctuary Warden is of course just a great big creature that you will be happy to cast for six... But I'm sure you can find something fun to do after loading up with a few extra +1/+1 counters from Invoke Justice.

But it's "only" a pretty big, pretty great, payoff.

Whereas, Sanctuary Warden's pair in Atraxa laces together wanting to play each of these seven card types, and helps to inform most of those specific choices.

The enchantments are clearly just super good cards that you will find in a variety of decks... Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki in particular. The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration was a medium-popular inclusion in Mono-White Control early in The Brothers' War Standard, but was largely replaced in the Plains-finding category by Ambitious Farmhand // Seasoned Cathar and in the cheap re-buy category by Serra Paragon.

In this deck, though, these cards have particular purpose. You see, you actually want to be able to discard Atraxa during their respective second stages!

At seven mana across four colors (none of which is Red, this deck's actual secondary color), Atraxa is a tough cast. Not impossible... But not easy, either. [Remember, you need to be able to lace together for Invoke Justice]. Getting Atraxa into the graveyard actually makes life easier, because you won't then have to pay retail.

At the same time, Chapter Two on Fable of the Mirror-Breaker can dig you up to two cards closer to the critical Invoke Justice while doing the business of discarding Atraxa.

Big Score does the important work of making Treasures. Treasures can of course tap for any color of mana (might I interest you in Black, Blue, and Green?) should you need to actually try to cast Atraxa. Cathartic Pyre is an embarrassing - but not wholly implausible - point removal card.

... But both these cards have the same function as superstar Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. They can discard Atraxa while digging closer to Invoke Justice.

Let's be honest: A deck like this was always going to play The Wandering Emperor. It's a good threat that is cheaper than Invoke Justice; and can quasi-two-spell to draw out an opposing permission card before an untap into Invoke Justice. The Wandering Emperor is not a bad target for Invoke Justice in a pinch (especially if you already have a Samurai). Nahiri is along for the ride because she has that ever-important ability to discard Atraxa while digging closer to the pivotal sorcery.

On power level, this deck far, far exceeds what a more conventional Mono-White Control build might be bringing to the battlefield. The decks have a similar high end on creatures with Sanctuary Warden... It's just that Atraxa Reanimator's are 9/9 and draw six extra cards.

While the deck is clearly built to be able to cast (or otherwise resolve) the clumsy-but-wildly-card advantageous Grand Unifier... The crazy thing is that reanimating the Phyrexian Angel isn't even the most powerful thing that this deck can do.

That title probably goes to Portal to Phyrexia. A triple-Edict the turn it comes down, Portal to Phyrexia is a decent stand-in for a missing Depopulate-type sweeper effect. You get it at five mana here because of Invoke Justice, of course. As a bonus, since you used your reanimation spell getting the Portal into play; the normally nine-mana artifact can thank you by getting Atraxa in play in lieu of the straighter-line Invoke Justice.

You must imagine the nice people in Renton, WA wanted us to all play this way because they made Atraxa, Grand Unifier trigger when entering the battlefield, rather than as a cast trigger. "Cheat me down," the Angel seems to yell. Not even one week in, and players like BMARTINEZ are already obliging.

... Same As the Old Boss

Atraxa Reanimator looks to be the most exciting new deck enabled by the new set... But BMartinez with the Grand Unifier did not actually win last week's Standard Challenge.

First place went to...

U/W Soldiers | ONE Standard | sMann2.0, 1st Place MTGO Standard Challenge 2/12/23

• Creatures (36)
• 2 Dennick, Pious Apprentice // Dennick, Pious Apparition
• 2 Siege Veteran
• 2 Skrelv, Defector Mite
• 3 Harbin, Vanguard Aviator
• 3 Yotian Frontliner
• 4 Brutal Cathar // Moonrage Brute
• 4 Recruitment Officer
• 4 Resolute Reinforcements
• 4 Skystrike Officer
• 4 Valiant Veteran
• 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

• Lands (24)
• 3 Plains
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 3 Mishra's Foundry
• 4 Adarkar Wastes
• 4 Fortified Beachhead
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Secluded Courtyard

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 4 Lantern Flare
• 4 Destroy Evil
• 2 Protect the Negotiators
• 2 Loran of the Third Path

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No... no... no... SMANN2.0 did not play "no" new cards.

This winning build played a pair of 2023's answer to Mother of Runes. So... 73/75 old cards only.

At some point thinking Magicians kind of has to ask themselves if Blue-White Soldiers is simply where winners want to be!

I've found it frustrating to play against Soldiers with a variety of decks, but most notably with Mono-White Control after I shifted away from early builds with a lot of Depopulate in the main deck. The 3x Depopulate builds had a slight edge against Soldiers... But it's probably fair to say that early Soldiers might not have been as good as it eventually became as it evolved with The Brothers' War.

Later, moving more toward an eye for other Mono-White Control decks... Soldiers became one of the most challenging opponents. Winning usually went hand-in-hand with drawing a lot of Lay Down Arms. And you've probably already noticed that BMartinez's sorcery suite did not include Lay Down Arms.

So, Atraxa Reanimator lacks the ability to interact on one mana... But a combination of Abrade and Cathartic Pyre do make up for that somewhat. I'd ultimately say that, head's up, one deck is knee deep in the muck of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben while the Soldiers deck is 36 creatures, none of whom are taxed by her.

Put another way, Portal to Phyrexia sure is powerful! But you might already be dead if you were planning to get it on the battlefield for... Let me see here... six.

Soldiers has been a stacked team for months; an effective spoiler for the best deck as well as a lousy with incentives in the abstract. But there might be a very specific reason the deck has gotten as good as it has with the rise of Atraxa Reanimator...

Dennick has always been an effective little soldier. At 2/3 for only two mana, Dennick has been above rate, especially given his combination of lifelink and built-in card advantage. But that's not all!

Cards in graveyards can't be the targets of spells or abilities.

The entire structure of the Atarka Reanimator deck is about getting a key threat - probably Atraxa, but maybe Portal to Phyrexia - into the graveyard for an Invoke Justice payoff. And to be fair, Dennick doesn't have an opinion about getting things into the graveyard.

... It's getting things out of the graveyard that he has a problem with!

So, discarding two cards with Cathartic Pyre is just card disadvantage. When you get to accelerate with The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration that's really cool! But just discarding a big threat? That gets really awkward really quickly if you can't Invoke Justice.

Under its current configuration, Reanimator doesn't do much to improve the Soldiers matchup. If it were me, I would side a lot of faster removal to slow the opponent down. I don't need to have every big thing! One big thing is enough when the opponent is mostly measly 1/1 and 2/2 guys.

On the other hand, Soldiers seems extremely well equipped to eviscerate a deck like Reanimator in Games 2-3. Disdainful Stroke! Protect the Negotiators! You don't need to counter everything. When Soldiers, prioritize getting something on the battlefield, and then use your light permission to hold a lead. Alternately, stop the big spell (Invoke Justice or a hard-cast 6- or 7-drop). The opponent is typically spending 3-4 turns just on setup. You Time Walk all those turns with a single Counterspell.

Way less flashy than a 7/7 Serra Angel / Baneslayer Angel hybrid that also draws seven cards and almost assuredly guarantees your next land drop... But even more effective than last set.

Depressing, or just sayin' something?

LOVE

MIKE