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After seeing the Magic Online Championships, you can make a very strong argument that we are in a two deck format. There is Mardu and there is Four-Color Saheeli and not much else matters. But, I think there is still a little brewing left to be done. My pet deck has been doing fairly well for me and it is a very well rounded W/G Midrange deck. It plays many of the great cards Mardu has access to, like Heart of Kiran, Walking Ballista, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. But we also get to play cards like Oath of Nissa, Sylvan Advocate, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, and Archangel Avacyn, which synergize a bit better and are more flexible. They can play offense and defense. Toolcraft Exemplar and Scrapheap Scrounger, while being amazing cards, only have one mode and really can't play defense at all. This W/G Deck can run people over like Mardu does, (though not as consistently), but it can also play a long game and go bigger. If you think the way to beat Mardu is by being half a step bigger, then instead of sideboarding Archangel Avacyn, how about you just play a deck she is good in?
Time Stamps
00:04:43 - Match 1: Temur Tower
00:21:39 - Match 2: 4-Color Saheeli
00:46:09 - Match 3: Jeskai Saheeli
01:14:34 - Match 4: Black-Red Zombies
01:33:30 - Match 5: Black-Green Energy
W/G Midrange ? Aether Revolt Standard | Andrew Boswell
- Creatures (20)
- 2 Archangel Avacyn
- 3 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
- 3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- 4 Sylvan Advocate
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Walking Ballista
- Planeswalkers (5)
- 1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
- 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
- Enchantments (6)
- 2 Stasis Snare
- 4 Oath of Nissa
- Artifacts (4)
- 4 Heart of Kiran
- Lands (25)
- 8 Plains
- 9 Forest
- 4 Canopy Vista
- 4 Fortified Village
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Blossoming Defense
- 2 Natural State
- 1 Stasis Snare
- 3 Fumigate
- 2 Lambholt Pacifist
- 4 Tireless Tracker
- 1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
- 1 Archangel Avacyn
I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised to go 5-0 in this sample set. Trying to brew in this format is really tough and I honestly don't know how good this deck is, but I have been lucky enough to have some hot streaks with it and that keeps me motivated to work on it. I think it is a good deck and I have even encouraged my friends to try it. The cards are all solid and scale well into the late game but you can just run someone over if they are missing a 2-drop. The lack of removal looks like a weakness at first, but Walking Ballista and Thalia, Heretic Cathar interact with the Saheeli Combo . . . and you can trade with everything else in combat if you have to. Pushing a deck to play as little removal as possible is honestly a huge advantage that is over looked and a great topic for a longer article. To sum it up, why kill your opponent's creature, when you can play a bigger one that makes their's irrelevant? W/G creatures are good at this, and it is a key strength that this deck leverages. B/G Midrange does this, and was the assumed natural predator of Mardu after the Pro Tour, but B/G's game plan isn't as well rounded. It can't attack in the air or play cards like Thalia, so it can get bogged down on the ground. For a deck that is mostly creatures, W/G Midrange has a ton of flexibility and play to it, so you can wiggle out of bad spots and go for the win.
Until next week, GLHF friends. May you smite thy enemies with a Golden Axe!
— Andrew Boswell
