Getting Ready a New Fate

Posted on January 9, 2015

So, here we are, approaching another set release, that fun point in Standard when you know what you are playing is probably going to drastically change, but you still have to focus on the current format. Next week, I am going to take my first shot at approaching the spoiler from a player’s perspective. I have been studying the current format online for the past number of months. Since my recent Pro Tour Qualifier ventures, I have also gained a better grasp on what the competitive scene abroad is looking like. I am still going to have some form of bias given most of my experience this season has been with Heroic, but I do know what the format contains as a whole, so that should help in predicting the future of Standard.

This week, I want to close out strong with where we currently are and cover a deck that has popped up these past few weeks. I am also going to post where my version of W/U is going into the new format, and then after I talk about the new cards next week, I will either choose to move forward and update the list or finally switch into something new.

The primary focus this week is a deck my buddy Raymond Perez played to Top 8 this past weekend at the PTQ we both attended. Christian Calcano ran nearly an identical seventy-five to Top 8 the Grand Prix in Manila this weekend as well.

Abzan Again ? Khans of Tarkir Standard | Raymond Perez, PTQ Holland, Ohio Top 8

Though this deck has many of the same players we have been seeing for months, it takes on a much more diverse approach to the format. This deck has a great aggressive draw with the addition of Anafenza, the Foremost, who also helps shore up some of the more aggressive matches that the more midrange versions have struggled with—such as Mono-Red and W/U Heroic.

We still see remnants of the Whip of Erebos deck contained within this shell, as bringing back a Siege Rhino or Hornet Queen can still just close out games, but the deck does not revolve around the graveyard as the previous iterations, such as Sidisi Whip, have.

Dropping a number of cards that were once four-ofs allows these extra spots, and though it may take some of the consistency out of the deck, from what I have seen, it makes up for that with the alternative game plans. The board can bring you back to a more classic Abzan shell, allowing you to bring in the copies you cut from the main in the matches in which you need them. In addition to the already strong array of cards, it can be difficult to peg exactly what this deck is doing, as in Game 1, you may see the Whip and Satyr Wayfinders and assume after board that you need Drown in Sorrow, which, overall, are not great against the build. This can really impact your Games 2 and 3, allowing you an even larger edge over your opponent.

I do not see a ton of financial relevance for now both due to the new set releasing, making it unlikely we will see too many spikes based on current meta before then—but also because most of the cards in this deck have already had their heydays. This week, as with the past few, really allows us to take a look at just how diverse the meta can be while—even weeks before the set—we are seeing innovation.

The important factors we can take away from both this list, and the format as a whole, are what we can expect to continue seeing play moving forward. For now, it would be impossible to predict the upcoming metagame, but as we see a diverse set of decks running many of the same cards now, it only makes sense that at least a few of those decks will survive—and in many cases be strengthened—by Fate Reforged. That means if you do not have your Siege Rhinos or Hero's Downfalls, now it would be best to pick them up in the coming weeks while your new cards will have a premium from presale pricing. This is not to say you have to go pick up everything, but note what style of deck you would ideally like to play, and begin gathering cards for that now.

The weeks leading up to the new set can be a great time to move in on old cards, but it can also be a great time to move some of the ones that have been collecting dust in your binder. With each new relevant card spoiled, new deck ideas are formed. Sure, those decks may contain a number of cards form the new set that we cannot get our hands on, but there is also a good chance fifty percent or more of the nonlands will be from cards already in the Standard pool. If you have these cards now, it can be very easy to move them as people begin to put their new ideas together in the first few weeks. Much of this comes from gauging your locally community and just talking to individuals to see what from the spoiler excites them.

Once you have a strong grasp on what people are looking at from the new set, you can extrapolate the cards they will need to fill the rest of the deck out. Having these ready to trade during the prerelease and in the weeks that follow can open up the people you can trade with, and also you will probably see many of these cards increase in price, even if just slightly, strictly from the hype, so you can often even receive premiums from what you got into them at.

I am very much looking forward to theory-crafting next week, and it really has drawn most of my attention already from the current environment, but as I have one more PTQ left this season before I can truly move on, I figured I would look over my current build of Heroic one last time.

W/U Heroic ? Khans of Tarkir Standard | Ryan Bushard

I made a few small tweaks, such as adding a second Treasure Cruise in place of a Gods Willing. This was mostly just a numbers game, and I realized with the extra card-draw that I rarely did not have a protection spell, which is great, but there were many times in matches in which they are less relevant when I had too many and no way to draw anything else. Treasure Cruise is surprisingly easy to cast in multiples in this deck with the addition of the two one-color fetches and the increased number of Ordeals compared to the more midrange lists.

The board is still tuned for the Magic Online metagame, which is something I will be shifting after the new set releases and I continue to play more in person. I played against one mirror match this past weekend that boarded into Wavecrash Triton, and I must say I was a huge fan. Not only is this card great in the mirror match for tapping the opponent’s one large guy, it can also prove to be a pain to get past, as it is the only nonwhite card in the deck, making the opponent’s Gods Willing much worse. Though there are fewer of these in after board, it can still be a great way to steal games in the mirror, and there are too many cards you want to board out to get rid of all of them, so it certainly comes up frequently enough to note. The guy can also carry an Ordeal just fine, but if I am making that switch, I also believe I want to bring Stratus Walk back into the mix, even if just out of the board. That is all a work in progress and may be for nothing if I choose to switch decks, but for now, this is where I am at going into the coming weekend.

I look forward to finally seeing the full spoiler on Sunday—or before—and beginning to assemble the pieces of the coming Standard, but for now, I depart for another week to get my grind back on. If you have any ideas about the coming environment, I encourage you to share them in the comment section or through Twitter. I am certainly going to miss some of the new cards and the interactions they may have, so if I do not spot something the first time around, please bring it to my attention so I can evaluate the financial implications moving forward. Until next week, enjoy the last little bit of what I believe has been one of the best Standard environments in years, and check back in next week for some Fate Reforged action!

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand