I was so excited this week to have a chance to talk about all of the innovation and deck-designing that went into this Pro Tour. While not all was a bust, there seems to be a very safe play to Standard right now, and that showed heavily at the Pro Tour, as people played decks they were already comfortable with, hoping to gain an edge through repetition of testing rather than through bringing something people did not expect. While this may seem extremely boring at first—and, as I have heard many groan, it seems that Abzan and Jeskai will be the flavor of the year—I am here this week to argue exactly that point.

The lack in innovation at the Pro Tour tells me the highest level of player believes that there is nothing exceptionally broken in this format. If anything, that seems to be a great step forward compared to the last time we visited Zendikar, and it’s a change I am extremely happy with. If nothing is broken and the mana is great, I believe—rather than identifying this format as stale or just a repeat of last year, as many I have seen—we should be looking at this as an opportunity to play almost anything. Nearly every tribe from Tarkir has a deck to represent it, and many two-, three-, and four-color combinations have also seen play. Though Megamorph seems to be a heavy favorite, along with Dark Jeskai and Abzan, we are still seeing decks from all over the spectrum show up in results.

This week, I want to talk about a few of those results and revise a list I found from States as something I’ll move forward with in Standard. Of course, all of the usual suspects were also present in force. These are just a few of the lists that caught my eye while looking over results. I am not sure exactly how many people played in each event or what they played against, so some may have weaknesses I have not seen, but overall, they seem to be fine stepping points if you are looking to do things a little different this season.

W/U Starfield ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Jeremy Dahlin

• Creatures (4)
• 4 Knight of the White Orchid

• Spells (32)
• 3 Negate
• 2 End Hostilities
• 3 Starfield of Nyx
• 4 Citadel Siege
• 4 Monastery Siege
• 4 Quarantine Field
• 4 Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 4 Silkwrap
• 4 Stasis Snare

• Lands (24)
• 8 Plains
• 1 Tranquil Cove
• 2 Shambling Vent
• 2 Sunken Hollow
• 3 Blighted Cataract
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Prairie Stream

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 2 Narset Transcendent
• 4 Surge of Righteousness
• 2 Arashin Cleric
• 4 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 End Hostilities
• 1 Negate

Buy This Deck

I have a huge fascination with Starfield of Nyx, and this deck does appear to be a very exciting control deck that can turn on the juice quickly with Sigil of the Empty Throne to quickly close the game. One way around Dromoka's Command is to maximize the number of enchantments you play, and this deck certainly achieves that. I see a rough red-deck matchup, but any midrange deck should prove to be easy enough. Removing cards from the game rather than putting them in the graveyard is huge against the current metagame, and this deck does that well.

Quarantine Field is an interesting addition, as it does not interact with the Starfield, but it does allow you to remove multiple problematic permanents your other removal may not be able to deal with. The card is slow, but this is not the only deck it is showing up in, and at bulk mythic, this may be a fine card of which to pick up a play set now.

W/B Eldrazi ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Alexander Brown

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Ruin Processor
• 3 Blight Herder
• 3 Wasteland Strangler
• 4 Oblivion Sower
• 3 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Ob Nixilis Reignited

• Spells (20)
• 2 Titan's Presence
• 3 Utter End
• 2 Planar Outburst
• 4 Read the Bones
• 1 Quarantine Field
• 4 Silkwrap
• 4 Stasis Snare

• Lands (24)
• 5 Swamp
• 6 Plains
• 1 Sanctum of Ugin
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Scoured Barrens
• 4 Shambling Vent

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Transgress the Mind
• 1 Ruinous Path
• 1 Conduit of Ruin
• 2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 3 Infinite Obliteration
• 2 Radiant Purge
• 3 Arashin Cleric
• 2 Duress

Buy This Deck

Though there is a Quarantine Field in the list, that is hardly one of the cards to focus on from this deck—instead, it’s finally a new spin on putting Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger into play. I am a huge fan of the interaction between all of the Oblivion Ring variants and the Eldrazi, making them permanent removal and easy sacrifices to a Dromoka's Command when needed. The deck seems a little slow given the mana, but the removal package combined with the value from cards like Blight Herder and Oblivion Sower does make it a formidable force for any deck looking to go into the late game. Ulamog’s triggering as soon as he is cast also means you have additional removal for the late game against control, making the already-difficult battle that much harder for those opponents. I am excited to see where this shell could go and what a third color could do for the synergy as well as the mana base—it’s a shell I will probably revisit in the coming weeks as we dive deeper into this format.

While both of these decks do seem great and could certainly be decks I would pick up for a Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier, I am more excited about the new direction Temur has been able to take since the mana boost. The tribe of savages has been relatively silent the first few weeks, suppressed by the more elegant win conditions such as Siege Rhino and Mantis Rider. With States this past weekend, it seems some more interesting lists have come forward with a strategy I was attempting to make work last year and am happy to revisit now. The two most interesting lists both make use of Temur to gain value and speed while pumping out efficiently costed creatures to crash into the red zone.

Temur Aggro ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Clark Maxwell

• Creatures (25)
• 1 Den Protector
• 4 Frost Walker
• 4 Heir of the Wilds
• 4 Rattleclaw Mystic
• 4 Savage Knuckleblade
• 4 Woodland Wanderer
• 1 Surrak Dragonclaw
• 1 Yasova Dragonclaw
• 2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

• Spells (10)
• 3 Stubborn Denial
• 3 Wild Slash
• 4 Crater's Claws

• Lands (24)
• 3 Forest
• 3 Mountain
• 2 Cinder Glade
• 2 Lumbering Falls
• 3 Shivan Reef
• 3 Yavimaya Coast
• 4 Frontier Bivouac
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Radiant Flames
• 2 Rending Volley
• 1 Stratus Dancer
• 1 Den Protector
• 2 Roast
• 1 Stubborn Denial
• 3 Feed the Clan
• 3 Disdainful Stroke

Buy This Deck

Five-Color Temur Ascendency ? Battle for Zendikar Standard | Jason McMillan

• Creatures (22)
• 2 Hooting Mandrills
• 3 Rattleclaw Mystic
• 4 Frost Walker
• 4 Savage Knuckleblade
• 4 Skyrider Elf
• 4 Woodland Wanderer
• 1 Dragonlord Ojutai

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Sarkhan Unbroken

• Spells (13)
• 2 Murderous Cut
• 4 Stubborn Denial
• 4 Crater's Claws
• 3 Temur Ascendancy

• Lands (24)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 3 Bloodstained Mire
• 3 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Windswept Heath
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Bring to Light
• 3 Radiant Flames
• 1 Seismic Elemental
• 1 Chandra's Ignition
• 1 Gilt-Leaf Winnower
• 1 Wild Slash
• 1 Siege Rhino
• 1 Crackling Doom
• 1 Jeskai Charm
• 1 Sultai Charm
• 1 Ultimate Price

Buy This Deck

Though these decks do have similar baselines for setting up the early game, they diverge from there on how to close out the game. I am not sure which list I like more, but since I am attempting to create my own shell to work from, I can take the best of both and see where we land. Some cards overlap heavily and are probably staples of the deck. Though I do want to put some further innovation into this, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel.

4 Savage Knuckleblade

Well, how can you pass up on all of that text on one already efficiently costed body? You cannot, and though I imagine Siege Rhino will still rule the day, I don't like these being at bulk. Almost every other card in this cycle of three-colored powerhouses has spiked recently, and this seems to be a fine way to spend a few dollars before a play set hits $10 or more in the coming months.

4 Frost Walker

I fell in love with this card on release, and I even tried to make it work in Heroic for a while, but the card does have a home here next to Temur Ascendancy, so I finally have a reasonable argument for playing this should-be Illusion.

3–4 Rattleclaw Mystic

This may not be the Birds of Paradise we all want, but we eventually have to face the fact that 1-mana ramp creatures can create unhealthy environments, and at 2 mana, we can still have great ramp with a little extra utility.

3–4 Stubborn Denial

As you have probably guessed by now, I want to jam this into every seventy-five I run right now, and though I tried to stay away from this combination last week, I believe it seems the most logical to gain the extra value from this card, so it will certainly be making the cut.

3–4 Crater's Claw

Probably one of the best burn spells left in the format, this can give you early removal or late-game reach, and both of those factors probably make it unavoidable to play. I have not played much of this card, and though I have seen its power level, I have been on decks that usually end the game well before this becomes a viable finisher, so some practice will be needed to learn to play it most efficiently and to learn its place in each matchup.

Much like Crater's Claw, this entire shell is something I have really only toyed with and never truly pursued, but it seems that if I am to find an aggro deck with a Heroic feel, this is the place to be. I am going to give this weekend to testing on Magic Online, as I have a relatively quiet and peaceful schedule, and in that time, I will be taking the above shell and building various versions of each deck until I have settled on a starting point. I hope to see the list include some number of Dragons if possible to open up Draconic Roar as an option, but much as I discussed last week, the Dragon-matters factor plays less of a role now that the bar for 2-mana removal has dropped, meaning the list may only need four to six Dragons.

If you have any other lists along these lines that have been putting up good results for you, feel free to post them so I can further grasp what exactly people are pushing Temur to do in the current metagame. Until next week, enjoy Standard, and remember it is a great time to be playing Standard; though it may seem that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar are stifling the Top 8 recently, do not be deterred, as there are other options. So go out there and play!

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand