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Foundations Standard has proven to be a pretty interesting format. While there are certainly dominant decks in the format, such as Golgari, Dimir, and Mono-Red, there's still a lot of room to brew and experiment with different cards and deck styles. As for me, I've definitely struggled a bit finding footing in Standard. This is due to the fact that a lot of the decks are either Aggro decks or Aggro-Midrange decks. There are slower decks for sure, like Mono-White Control, and Combo decks, like Temur Otters.
Overall, what I'm missing is a spell-based deck. I really love Control decks, or just decks that win by not having to attack or combo off. It's hard to build a deck like this in Standard mostly because the Aggro and Aggro-Midrange decks have so much reach. Mono-Red has incredibly fast draws and a lot of resilience in cards like Manifold Mouse and Heartfire Hero. You can even get locked out of the game by a lone Screaming Nemesis if you're not careful. This makes it hard for decks that want to survive into the long-game hard to play in the format.
It's also hard to beat how efficient Aggro-Midrange decks are like Golgari and Dimir, on the fact that they have cards that can snowball out of control fast, like Unholy Annex and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. These decks have a swath of diverse threats that are hard to remove with just one-for-one removal. While I struggled for a bit to find a deck that I thought could deal with this sort of meta, I came to the conclusion that instead of playing a traditional Control deck like Azorius Control was out of the question. Instead, I looked to go bigger than the other Midrange decks in the format, while still having game against Combo and Aggro.
Enter: Thundertrap Trainer
Thundertrap Trainer is a card that's been on my mind ever since its release back in Bloomburrow. Initially, I wanted to build a deck that relied on Thundertrap Trainer and Starfall Invocation. At a first glance, I thought these two cards would be a match made in heaven. I liked that you could play Thundertrap early on in the game to find a Starfall Invocation, then cast it with its Bargain cost to get back your Thundertrap to find a way to pull ahead further, like a Farsight Ritual. However, I kept running into a lot of issues.
First of all, a deck like Azorius Control wants to keep mana open, so you have the option of representing multiple instants, like Deduce, No More Lies, and Get Lost. Second, I often found Thundertrap Trainer getting sucked into Temporary Lockdown, or acting as a chump blocker or removal target, making Starfall Invocation a much much worse Sunfall. I don't think the cards are there in Azorius to make Thundertrap a shining star. However, after some brewing, I found much better uses for our little otter friend.
Dimir Thundertrap | FDN Standard | Roman Fusco
- Creatures (4)
- 4 Thundertrap Trainer
- Planeswalkers (3)
- 1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
- 2 Jace, the Perfected Mind
- Instants (16)
- 1 Negate
- 1 The End
- 2 Blot Out
- 3 Anoint with Affliction
- 3 Cut Down
- 3 Three Steps Ahead
- 3 Go for the Throat
- Sorceries (5)
- 2 Deadly Cover-Up
- 3 Duress
- Enchantments (5)
- 1 Virtue of Persistence
- 4 Unholy Annex
- Artifacts (1)
- 1 Dissection Tools
It's kind of hard to describe what archetype this deck falls under. It's not a traditional Control deck by any means, even though it does have a counterspell, card draw, and a "destroy all creatures" effect. It's also not anything like the creature Midrange decks of the format, since the only actual creature cards in the maindeck are Thundertrap Trainers. It's sort of a weird hybrid of the two, which I think makes sense if you want to go in the direction of playing a Control-style deck in Standard that isn't Mono-White. Traditional Control decks just don't have the late-game finishers that can close out games. Instead, this deck can close out games in a number of ways, but you can do it with just one Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber.
The inspiration for this deck came from a conversation I was having with a friend. I wanted to try a deck that had a variety of interactive spells that also had Duress maindeck. Reflecting on my findings with Azorius Thundertrap my mind immediately went to Thundertrap Trainer. While I knew I couldn't play a traditional Control deck I picked out the best Black and Blue spells I could find, with Unholy Annex being my clear way of winning games and providing card advantage. While this list has gone under many iterations, I think this is around where I want to be, so let's talk about individual card choices. Keep in mind that your maindeck and sideboard options can change pretty drastically if you're expecting a certain meta. Jace, the Perfected Mind is your way to win the Mono-White matchup, and can close out games against Azorius Occulus. However, if your meta is lacking those decks I might relegate him to the sideboard in favor of some more flexible options.
The Removal Package
I knew while making this list that I wanted access to a number of removal spells that exile instead of straight up destroying creatures. The reason for this is that there are just so many annoying creatures in Standard that don't die quietly. Cards like Enduring Curiosity, Enduring Innocence, Enduring Vitality, Mosswood Dreadknight, and Heartfire Hero are all incredibly annoying to kill cleanly. This is why I opted to play not only Anoint with Affliction, but cards like Blot Out, The End and Deadly Cover-Up. Cut Down and Go for the Throat are must-haves to begin with, but you can seriously damage a Temur Otters' or Azorius Occulus' gameplan by exiling all their Valley Floodcallers or Abhorrent Occuluses in Game 1. This was also the reason I wanted to play Deadly Cover-Up, since if it catches an Enduring creature or a Haughty Djinn, you can remove a pretty significant amount of threats from your opponent's deck.
The Demon Package
While I knew I wanted to have Unholy Annex maindeck, I also wanted ways to not die to an Annex in case my opponent destroyed my Demon token. While I have Duress and Three Steps Ahead to clear the path for my tokens, they can still end up dying in a number of ways. Thundertrap Trainer acts as a buffer in this instance, since it can find other Annexes, especially if you cast it with the Offspring cost. While I'm currently only playing one Soulstone Sanctuary, I've considered a second copy for this reason. I've also had Sheoldred, the Apocalypse maindeck at various points in this deck's creation to offset Unholy Annex. Dissection Tools is the other way to gain life in this deck, and Mono-Red becomes practically un-loseable if you're able to stick a Tools onto a Demon token, granted they can't Screaming Nemesis lock you.
The Flex Slots
Speaking of flex cards, let's go over the flex spots in the deck: Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Jace, the Perfected Mind, Negate, Dissection Tools, and Virtue of Persistence. Kaito is just a card I'm testing out, I like that it can be Ninjutsu'd in and rebuy your Thundertrap Trainers for later value. Negate has been pretty fine, all things considered - it's a nice way to protect your Demon tokens on turn seven after unlocking Ritual Chamber. Again, Dissection Tools is more of a concession to Mono-Red, but it greatly ups your chances of winning if you can stick it onto a Demon token against any Aggro deck. I also like that Thundertrap Trainer, Offspring tokens, and 1/1 Fish tokens from Fountainport also give you fodder for the equip cost.
Jace, the Perfected Mind is still hard for me to cut from this deck. I really don't want to lose to Mono-White Control, or any other grindy matchup for that matter, and I don't think you can lose with Jace maindeck. This also might mean if your games are so good against Mono-White with Jace post-board anyway, you can concede Game 1s so you have a better matchup against decks like Mono-Red.
Another card that I've highly considered in this deck is This Town Ain't Big Enough. My initial thought with this card is that it can not only rebuy Thundertrap Trainer, but it can reset your Unholy Annex if you're in danger of losing the game to life loss, or you just need a new Demon token. However, it's a bit clunky and too many things need to line up for this card to be impactful, so I ended up cutting it. While Kaito, Bane of Nightmares has been all right in testing, I do think this slot could be dedicated to Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. I've even thought about trying a singular Stormchaser's Talent, mainly for the chance to rebuy Deadly Cover-Up, or resurrect Jace.
The Lands
While there's not too much to talk about with the lands, I do want to talk about how many lands to play. I think one way I've lost games in this deck is keeping a two-lander, missing my third land drop, and finding my turn two Thundertrap Trainer puts 3-4 lands on the bottom of my library. Initially, I only played one copy of Undercity Sewers, but now I'm at the full four. This is mainly to smooth out hands that are either too light or too heavy on lands, while also having utility with Unholy Annex and Deadly Cover-Up.
I think you also want some amount of Demolition Field and Fountainport, but due to wanting at least one Soulstone Sanctuary I don't think you can play more copies of those cards. I think if I were to play another land in the deck I'd want another Restless Reef, or a colorless utility land, like Mirrex or Fountainport.
The Sideboard
Based on the fact that this is a Thundertrap Trainer decklist, you can get away with playing more one-ofs in your 75. The sideboard is sort of a collection of "silver bullets" for a variety of matchups and situations, with a few cards in multiples for the Red matchup. I'll just go over them one by one!
Cut Down - Mono-Red
Duress - Otters, Mono-White Control, Up the Beanstalk decks, Reanimator decks
Negate - Otters, Up the Beanstalk decks
Moment of Craving - Mono-Red
Sheoldred's Edict - Dimir Midrange (specifically vs Kaito, Bane of Nightmares), Oculus
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse - Mono-Red, Dimir Midrange
Malicious Eclipse - Mono-Red, Convoke decks
Render Inert - Golgari Midrange (specifically vs Archfiend of the Dross)
The End - Oculus, Otters, Mono-White Control, Domain
Deadly Cover-Up - Convoke, Oculus, Otters, Domain, Mono-White Control
Dissection Tools - Mono-Red, Convoke
Breach the Multiverse - Domain, Golgari Midrange
Phyrexian Fleshgorger - Mono-Red
As I mentioned before, these numbers can wax or wane depending on your local metagame. I think the hardest puzzle has been how to sideboard correctly against Temur Otters. While I think it's imperative to board in cards like Duress and Negate for their spells, as well as The End and Deadly Cover-Up for their important creatures, I'm not sure if you want to be the beatdown in this matchup. I know it's hard to be the beatdown as a Midrange-Control deck, but it may be correct to board in Sheoldred, Dissection Tools, and Phyrexian Fleshgorger, so you can take advantage of your opponent after buying time with Duress.
I really enjoy that cards like The End and Deadly Cover-Up can greatly impact your opponent's gameplan in a number of matchups. Against Otters you can remove their Valley Floodcallers or Enduring Vitalities to put them severely behind. Against Simic Crabs you can get rid of all their Tolarian Terrors or Eddymurk Crabs, effectively eliminating half their deck's main threats with one spell. Same goes for Azorius Oculus, their deck can turn to a lot of air once you remove four Haughty Djinns or Abhorrent Oculuses.
Overall, this is a deck that I've not only spent a lot of time crafting, but a deck I still need to work on perfecting. It might not be my end all be all deck for this period of Standard, but it's one that I'm greatly enjoying that has not only a lot of intricate decisions, but a lot of interesting play patterns to it. I think there's a great benefit in going rogue and having a plan for decks that might not necessarily have an idea of what you're doing after one game of Magic. I think if playing Control decks or spell-based reactive decks is your style, this is a deck I'd highly suggest in the current meta. It has play against practically everything, and you can tune it to adapt to your local meta.
Thanks for reading!
-Roman Fusco
