They say the stars hold many things, but do they hold the next big deck in Standard?

Lately, there seems to be quite a large number of constellation decks popping up, and I think that’s fantastic. Seeing those kinds of decks in action gives hope for them possibly breaking out as a new tournament-capable deck.

It seems it’s been a long time coming, but B/R/G (Jund) Monsters has finally solidified itself as a top-tier deck. Maybe a constellation deck can fall into the same position one day.

At the StarCityGames Open in Indianapolis, Brian Braun-Duin piloted this deck to a sixty-fourth-place finish.

Junk Constellation ? Journey into Nyx Standard | Brian Braun-Duin, 64th at SCG Indianapolis

• Creatures (19)
• 3 Brain Maggot
• 4 Courser of Kruphix
• 4 Doomwake Giant
• 4 Eidolon of Blossoms
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

• Spells (15)
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 3 Hero's Downfall
• 2 Underworld Connections
• 4 Banishing Light
• 4 Mana Bloom

• Lands (24)
• 2 Forest
• 2 Swamp
• 2 Mutavault
• 3 Godless Shrine
• 3 Temple Garden
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Temple of Malady
• 4 Temple of Plenty

Buy This Deck

There are a lot of things I love about this deck. Eidolon of Blossoms is among my favorite cards from Journey into Nyx, and its power level is definitely real—black and green are some of the strongest colors you can have in Standard right now, especially combined—and it draws cards.

And, boy, can this deck draw cards.

I’ve seen it in action plenty of times, not just with Brian Braun-Duin piloting it, but with other pilots on YouTube and with other pro players, and I’ve even goofed around with the Eidolon idea a bit for myself, although not with the same list.

On the opposite end, there are a couple things I would change if I had to remake the deck:

Junk Constellation ? Journey into Nyx Standard | Michael Yee

• Creatures (18)
• 3 Brain Maggot
• 3 Doomwake Giant
• 4 Courser of Kruphix
• 4 Eidolon of Blossoms
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
• 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

• Spells (14)
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 2 Fated Intervention
• 3 Hero's Downfall
• 2 Banishing Light
• 2 Underworld Connections
• 3 Mana Bloom

• Lands (24)
• 1 Swamp
• 4 Forest
• 3 Godless Shrine
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Temple Garden
• 4 Temple of Malady
• 4 Temple of Plenty

Buy This Deck

I’m happy with the majority of Brian’s list, so I didn’t change too much, but I do feel some other cards can add a lot of raw power to the deck, and that raw power is what I think the original deck lacked.

I took out the Mutavaults to create a more secure mana base. Because the cards I added in are slightly more mana-intensive, I would rather have the security of not missing colors early on. I also took out a land in the process to bring it back down to its original twenty-four. In one of Brian’s latest articles, he mentioned he lost two games due to missing lands and that he felt the deck could benefit from an additional one. However, I feel Brian had a slightly results-oriented thinking when making that decision. Playing twenty-five lands with four Sylvan Caryatids and four copies of Courser of Kruphix gives me the feeling flooding out is a bigger problem, and playing twenty-four lands seems more reasonable to me.

Fated Intervention is the main attraction I’ve added. It does a ton of work with Eidolon of Blossoms, but even by itself, it gives you quite a bit of value all wrapped up in a nice, instant-speed package.

While Eidolon of Blossoms is on the board, Fated Intervention essentially says, “Put 6 power on the board, and while you’re at it, scry 2 then draw two.” It has to be on your turn to gain the scry effect, but for what you get out of it, that’s not a bad deal. Even if it’s not on your turn, it can still have its moments as a trick.

Let’s say Doomwake Giant is on the field instead. How about all your opponent’s creatures get -2/-2 while you progress your board. The important thing here is the instant speed on Intervention. You’re able to play it as a massive combat trick while Doomwake Giant is on board, and if you happen to have both Doomwake Giant and Eidolon of Blossoms online, welcome to value town. The two Centaur tokens are also additional targets for our Ajani to target with his +1 counters ability. Fated Intervention combined with constellation makes it such a versatile card, and I’m a big fan of it.

The Johnny in me wanted to try something a bit different, so I wanted to experiment with a different color combination.

B/U/G Constellation ? Journey into Nyx Standard | Michael Yee

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Doomwake Giant
• 2 Whitewater Naiads
• 4 Courser of Kruphix
• 4 Eidolon of Blossoms
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid
• 2 Pharika, God of Affliction

• Spells (18)
• 2 Far // Away
• 2 Fated Intervention
• 3 Abrupt Decay
• 3 Hero's Downfall
• 2 Underworld Connections
• 3 Mana Bloom
• 3 Oath of the Ancient Wood

• Lands (24)
• 1 Swamp
• 3 Forest
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Temple of Malady
• 4 Temple of Mystery
• 4 Watery Grave

Buy This Deck

I’ll be honest in saying that this deck probably won’t do well in a tournament. But if you want a different take on constellation decks for Friday Night Magic or casual play, I think this is right up your alley! There are some pretty interesting synergies in the deck, and I actually think it has some alright matchups against decks aggressive decks.

Oath of the Ancient Wood is a cool spell in these constellation decks. You can bring it out early enough to start generating value, and since one of the largest problems I had with the original deck was the power level of your early drops, Oath helps to alleviate that a bit. It can grow your Coursers, Eidolons, and the like over the course of the game without you needing to pay anything extra. It’s an investment card, but when your deck is full of enchantments, it’s not too difficult to gain value out of it.

Pharika, God of Affliction is a bit of a test card. We’re not running any self-mill cards, but we do have cards such as Courser and Eidolon of Blossoms that are high-priority targets for removal. They’re going to die, and being able to turn them into nice roadblocks against other creatures is something that could be useful. The Snakes she produces are enchantments as well, so any constellation cards on the field at the time will benefit from the Snakes. The main thing is that we have enough ways to bring her online as a creature, so having an extra way to beat down is helpful.

The inclusion of Far // Away is a nice addition as well. The halves are quite versatile by themselves, but combined, we have a potent removal spell on our hands. Not much to say other than it is a nice removal spell to have.

Constellation decks have potential, and I think they’re still quite early in their lifetimes. While green is the premier choice right now, I’m sure more people will start experimenting with other colors for constellation-based decks.

Who knows—maybe the stars will hold the answer!

- Michael Y.