In League with Morgan: Standard W/U Humans

Posted on May 4, 2016

I really like Reflector Mage—like, a lot. One of the homes it seems very good in is a more aggressive shell, so I took a Mono-White Humans list and added Reflector Mage and Archangel Avacyn, trimming the 1-drop slot on the way. The goal was to be able to pressure my opponent while having a literal killer top end, and for the most part, I think the deck succeeded.

Deck Tech

W/U Humans ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Morgan Wentworth

Lands (22)
14 Plains
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream

Round 1 vs. G/U Collected Company

This is the first time I have played with Kytheon, Hero of Akros since Magic Origins came out, and it was a lot of fun. The awkward thing is I can’t attack with a Kytheon and a Gideon, Battle-Forged and one other creature without losing one of my cards. The ability for my opponent to have surprise attackers or blockers starting on turn two was pretty scary, and there were a few times during the match when playing into a counterspell like Silumgar Sorcerer was hard to avoid. However, our creatures tended to be bigger as the game went on.

Round 2 vs. Mono-White Humans

Our opponent was definitely able to take advantage of the white deck’s ability to put creatures on the board quickly. Transforming Avacyn would not have helped much at some points in the game, as the “white weenie” deck does a good job of getting its creatures out of range of the 3 damage quickly, too. We lean really hard on Tragic Arrogance in this matchup, and Bygone Bishop from our opponent meant that even that may have left our opponent with a lot more gas in hand.

Round 3 vs. B/R Vampires

Archangel Avacyn shined in this matchup. We drew removal at key times and were generally able to out-efficient our opponent.

Round 4 vs. B/G Aristocrats

If there were a matchup in which I would love more Silkwraps, it’s this one. Apart from some points, when I got it stuck in my head that Zulaport Cutthroat drained for 2 each time a creature died, the matchup felt good, especially with Archangel of Tithes keeping a large board at bay.

Round 5 vs. W/B Control

Dragonlord Ojutai with Always Watching was, as expected, a house in this matchup. The ability for any of our creatures to be threats is really good against a deck that packs as much one-for-one removal as W/B does.

I am not sure Archangel Avacyn is what this deck wants to be doing. She is much harder to transform in W/U Humans than, for example, in G/W tokens, so the utility is lowered in this deck. Adding more top end, it turns out, is unnecessary. Thalia's Lieutenant, Always Watching, and Archangel of Tithes are all the top end I need. Cutting Avacyn and a land or two and adding more low-drops would make matchups in which having a threat-light opener—such as against W/B control—less of an issue and allow us to maximize on the impact of cards like Thalia's Lieutenant.

One thing I do want to try out is Bygone Bishop. Having another flyer seems very good in matchups in which the ground becomes clogged with 2/3s on both sides. Since I am lowering my curve, I am taking out a land and adding one more creature as well. In the sideboard, Felidar Cub seems worse than Silkwrap against the Cryptolith Rite deck because I normally want to take care of Nantuko Husk or Zulaport Cutthroat, rather than the Rites.

-2 Archangel Avacyn, -1 Plains, -1 Felidar Cub

+2 Bygone Bishop, +1 Expedition Envoy, +1 Silkwrap