This article is intended to advance the RPI Magic Club’s understanding of Standard. I will attempt to teach a “casual” player the steps they need to take in order to regularly place well in tournaments. I will cover some basic deckbuilding ideas and my own ideas on how to be successful. Since budget is usually a concern to beginning tournament players, many points will be addressed from a financial perspective. I will try to use many examples from current Standard, as well as my own experience. Lastly, I will highlight some tools and strategies that I have found useful in furthering my own abilities as a Magic player.
Why do people build standard decks? Standard is by far the most popular constructed format in Magic, and it is also the easiest to get started with. Since it only contains the two most recent blocks, many players will have cards just from drafting. This means that even if you have not drafted the sets yourself, you may be able to trade for the cards you need more easily than you would be able to trade for obscure old cards.
You may be wondering why people would want to play Standard when they have to put down so much money to build a deck. However, it can be a smart move even if looked at from a purely mathematical standpoint. Instead of paying $10-15 for a draft every week, a Standard player usually pays a much smaller entry fee. And since you’re only paying for prize instead of prize and three booster packs, it’s much easier to recover the entry fee in value of cards. A smart investment would be a Standard deck that uses cards that can be played for a lengthy amount of time. The best investment would be a deck that is good enough to recover most or all of the deck’s cost in tournament prizes over a period of months, essentially letting you “go infinite” by accumulating a collection with a large enough value to keep playing future formats.
So now you’re convinced that you want to play Standard, and you need to choose which 75 cards to sleeve up. The first thing many players will do is put together a deck using all of their favorite cards, whatever those may be. Depending on the experience level, this deck may exhibit different concepts proficiently, such as a good manabase and a mana curve. However, it is a simple fact that with the wealth of information available to Magic players, most decks will not be good enough to compete. At this point it is worth evaluating one’s own intentions. For me, the goal is to do as well as possible in each tournament, but also to enjoy playing. This usually means playing a proven strategy (“netdeck”) that suits my play style.
Some players value creativity and originality above all else when it comes to deck construction. This is perfectly acceptable, but it also needs to be understood that it will almost never be possible to create a completely original deck that is better than what is already out there. There are thousands of Magic players grinding games in tournaments each day, and there are only so many combinations of cards that can be played in Standard. Usually, there will be a core of cards in each strategy that are just plain better than everything else available; after that, it is about making card choices that you personally understand and suit your play style.
Another complaint is that players just want to play their favorite strategy. For example, maybe you really enjoy your White Weenie deck. However, it may just be that you enjoy playing aggressive strategies, and your time would best be spent finding the most streamlined aggro deck in color(s) that you like. Perhaps your love for your mill deck means you like playing alternate win condition (combo) decks. It is important to decide what it is you want to do, and then play the best version of that deck.
OK, enough theory and asides; let’s get to some examples! I will attempt to break down several proven decks that exist in Standard today, and provide a few thoughts on each. Common decklists can be found online (such as at
sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/index.php?exp=std) ; I will only be including the cards that will require money to obtain. The prices are for the playset, based on current ebay prices.
Aggressive StrategiesAggressive strategies are usually the go-to strategy for the beginning player. This is both because they tend to be less expensive, and they tend to be less punishing of mistakes. That said, there are plenty of very good aggressive choices.
Mono Red:4 Goblin Guide ($20)
4 Koth of the Hammer ($100)
This deck is very cheap to build. Goblin Guide is an auto-include in aggressive red strategies, so he should be the first purchase. Other than that, the only real expensive card is Koth of the Hammer. Koth is definitely great, but not necessary in this strategy. Good replacements could include Goblin Chieftain, Furnace Scamp, and Dismember. The sideboard can consist of cards such as Mark of Mutiny, Flame Slash, Arc Trail, Manic Vandal, and Perilous Myr, all of which are inexpensive. Going forward, this deck looks to be an excellent choice, since Grim Lavamancer and Incinerate are being reprinted in M12. Incinerate is an easy addition; Lavamancer, will probably run another $16-20 or so for a playset (but will be well worth it!).
Vampires4 Kalastria Highborn ($20)
4 Bloodghast ($30)
Vampires is traditionally played with a red splash, using many of the same burn cards found in Mono Red. This requires the use of some dual lands:
4 Blackcleave Cliffs ($9)
4 Lavaclaw Reaches ($8)
4 Dragonskull Summit ($5)
Total: $72
This deck has been a decent strategy since the Vampires were printed. Now might not be an excellent time to invest in this particular deck, since the strategy rotates soon without getting anything amazing in the meantime.
The Mono Black version of this deck can be played, perhaps with discard instead of burn, to beat more control-filled metagames.
White Weenie (Tempered Steel/Quest for the Holy Relic)There are a variety of strategies available to White Weenie. One focus involves using cards such as Glint Hawk,
cost artifact creatures, and Kor Skyfisher to trigger a Quest for the Holy Relic quickly, getting Argentum Armor. This strategy may have taken a hit with the banning of Stoneforge Mystic. Another option is to play cheap artifact creatures with Tempered Steel. This strategy was the #1 deck in the Block format at the Pro Tour, so it is probably a good investment for the future. It may have some game now, and it will stay around longer.
4 Tempered Steel ($14)
4 Hero of Bladehold ($20)
4 Inkmoth Nexus ($36)
Blade Splicer ($1 each)
Inkmoth Nexus probably seems disproportionately high compared to what it does for the deck. It may be possible to omit them to start with, but they definitely do nothing but improve the deck, so it would be best to pick them up if given the chance.
Elves4 Elvish Archdruid ($6)
4 Joraga Treespeaker ($6)
4 Fauna Shaman ($17)
4 Vengevine ($70)
4 Ezuri, Renegade Leader ($3)
4 Joraga Warcaller ($10)
2 Green Sun’s Zenith ($9)
The Fauna Shaman/Vengevine package adds a lot of cost to the deck. It is possible to build Elves without Vengevine, since the main goal is to overload on mana and swarm the board. Ezuri is the key to this deck, since it helps against this strategy’s biggest weakness: sweepers (Day of Judgment, Pyroclasm, Slagstorm), as well as sinking all the extra mana into Overruns. It is also possible to build this deck with just Fauna Shaman and a couple Vengevines, since all 4 are rarely needed, and Fauna Shaman is still good at finding Ezuri and Archdruid.
Mono Blue Aggro (Grand Architect)This one is a Magic Club special. It is not necessarily a “proven” archetype, but Alan (and myself, to lesser extent) have had great success with it. It is also pretty cheap to build, despite revolving around some colorless Mythics!
4 Grand Architect ($6)
2-4 Wurmcoil Engine ($6 each)
3-4 Molten-Tail Masticore ($2.5 each) <- surprisingly low, right!?
4 Phyrexian Metamorph ($18)
A lot of the choices in this deck are “optional”, since there isn’t necessarily a “correct” build yet, but the rest can consist of inexpensive cards.
Birthing Pod:I just wanted to mention this archetype as viable. I don’t know of a conventional decklist, but the most common denominator seems to be Blade Splicer. I think that W, U, and G are the colors best positioned to take advantage of this card. Venser, the Sojourner might also fit well in a deck with all enters-the-battlefield effect creatures, but he’s about $11 a pop.
Combo Strategies:There are a few combo strategies that are (extremely) viable in today’s Standard. This is not always the case, but many players jump on this type of deck whenever it exists.
Valakut:4 Primeval Titan ($80)
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle ($4)
4 Green Sun’s Zenith ($18)
1 Avenger of Zendikar ($7
The main obstacle is the Primeval Titans, which is the backbone of the deck. The Green Sun’s Zeniths can be substituted for Summoning Traps (better against blue). The rest of the deck is cheap common ramp spells. This is one of the few times when a big stupid ramp deck is extremely potent.
Splinter Twin:4 Splinter Twin ($24)
(Optional) Jace Beleren ($8 each)
2-4 Spellskite ($8 each)
This deck is actually very reasonably priced now that Jace, the Mind Sculptor is banned. Splinter Twin is obviously necessary, and a set of Deceiver Exarchs might be about 2 bucks if you don’t have them. Spellskite is very good at stopping your opponents from messing up your combo, so they are important. Jace’s Ingenuity can be used instead of Jace Beleren (arguably instant speed is much more important in this deck, so you can play tons of counterspells in addition to Exarch). Another good option to consider is adding ~2 finishers as an alternate win condition, such as 1 each of Wurmcoil Engine, Consecrated Sphinx, Inferno Titan, or Frost Titan (~$6-8 each).
This deck can be altered by adding black for discard spells. The discard spells are inexpensive, but the lands would require some effort.
Pyromancer Ascension:I mention this deck only because Ponder is being reprinted in M12. Until the fall rotation with the new set, both Preordain and Ponder will be legal in Standard (as well as Gitaxian Probe). With 4 copies of Pyromancer Ascension ($9) and a plethora of cheap (both mana and $) red and blue spells, this deck can draw a ton of cards before burning an opponent out from 20.
It is also possible to splice this deck with Splinter Twin, possibly putting one combo in the sideboard and bringing it in against opponents with lots of hate for your strategy.
Control:Control decks refer to decks that are primarily reactive. They look to deal with every threat that the opponent presents, gain some card advantage, and then win the game with an expensive finisher that mops up the helpless opponent. They look to make the game longer, which could be a problem if you can’t play well at a fast enough rate to finish a match in 50 minutes. Most well-constructed control decks will not have this problem.
Since Worldwake was released, control was synonymous with expensive, since all control decks had to start with 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Now that he’s banned, the barrier is a little lower, but it’s still probably the highest, since control these days tends to rely on planeswalkers, dual lands, and flashy mythic finishers. Still, if you wish to play control here is what you probably need to do:
U/W Control:4 Celestial Colonnade ($15)
4 Glacial Fortress ($6)
4 Seachrome Coast ($11)
U/B Control:4 Creeping Tar Pit ($24)
4 Darkslick Shores ($20)
4 Drowned Catacomb ($7)
When building a control deck, it is important to keep tweaking every week. The goal is to build a deck that beats what you think your opponents’ will be bringing to the table. If you expect people to be playing Splinter Twin combo, you will want cards like Dismember and Into the Roil. If you expect aggro decks, you might want cards like Day of Judgment or Kor Firewalker.
Blue is probably going to include Preordain and then some sources of card advantage, such as Jace Beleren or Jace’s Ingenuity. Black’s strength is discard spells (Duress, Inquisition of Kozilek) and proactive removal (Dismember, Go for the Throat), while white is good at defending against aggressive decks (Condemn, Day of Judgment, Wall of Omens). U/B will probably finish with a mix of Grave Titan, Karn Liberated, and Consecrated Sphinx, while U/W will probably want to use Venser, the Sojourner or Gideon Jura in addition to Consecrated Sphinx.
I hope that this summary was useful. I think that I touched on all of the major players. As you can see, there are a variety of ways to take each archetype. There are certainly other possibilities, such as Mono-Red Control (Kuldotha Phoenix/Everflowing Chalice/Inferno Titan/Koth), but there is also enough wiggle room in the proven archetypes that you should never feel constricted. The archetypes I presented above all have the ability to win a tournament, provided that you use the tweakable slots wisely (and bring your A game!).
Before closing, I promised that I would share some tips to becoming a better player. Building a good deck can only get you so far. Knowing what to expect within your matches can help as well. Part of this obviously comes from experiences, just by playing in tournaments week after week. Playtesting is also important when trying to decide upon those last few slots, as well as forming ideas for a sideboard. But another way to get this experience is by reading strategy articles. Starcitygames.com puts out really good articles. Unfortunately, the better half of the articles aren’t free and require a subscription (~$30/year). Channelfireball.com and Tcgplayer.com offer free strategy articles. Whenever you read an article about Standard, you get a bit more insight into the current format, as well as a bit on how the author thinks and approaches the game.
My last piece of advice is to simply ask for help! If you bring your Standard deck to a club meeting or FNM, there will be many players willing to offer advice. Most good players will have a pretty solid grasp on what types of decks people are playing, so they will be able to offer good suggestions on how to tweak your deck. If they suggest cards that are out of your price range, ask for alternatives, or try to trade for those cards. The worst thing you can do is not ask! I hope that I have proven that it doesn't take an ungodly amount of money to start enjoying Constructed Magic.
TL;DR: Fuck you.
-Mike Schuller
