There were lots of cool Block Constructed decks at Pro Tour: Nagoya, and checking out the deck lists that were there gave me some ideas for Standard. I was especially inspired by the deck played by my friend and fellow Pro Tour Hall of Famer Rob Dougherty. He played a mono-White equipment deck featuring Puresteel Paladin that’s super-powerful in Block and seems to have good potential for Standard. As usual, I also decided to work on a new Red deck as well:

[cardlist]

[Spells]

4 Artillerize

4 Burst Lightning

4 Galvanic Blast

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Volt Charge

2 Forked Bolt

4 Ichor Wellspring

4 Mycosynth Wellspring

4 Necrogen Censer

4 Shrine of Burning Rage

[/Spells]

[Lands]

22 Mountain

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

There were a couple different Red archetypes that did well in Nagoya. The first used cards like Artillerize and Kuldotha Rebirth to sacrifice cards like Wellsprings and Spellbombs. The second was more controlling and burn-oriented, trying to get their opponents in range of a Shrine of Burning Rage or a Red Sun's Zenith. I like both of these archetypes, and I tried to take inspiration from both. The biggest change I’ve made is going creatureless. This has the advantage of making cards like Condemn and Dismember dead against me.

Like any good deck, I’ve tried to develop lots of strong internal synergies:

Artillerize – I have sixteen cards I can potentially sacrifice to Artillerize, and in the case of the eight Wellsprings, I’m actively excited to sacrifice them.

Volt Charge – In addition to Volt Charge just increasing the amount of good instant burn in the deck, its Proliferate goes well with both Shrine of Burning Rage and Necrogen Censer.

Galvanic Blast – A 1-mana instant burn spell is good even at 2 damage, but with sixteen artifacts, I will frequently be able to get 4 damage for 1 mana, which is awesome.

Necrogen Censer – I used to have Staggershock here, which is obviously good with Shrine of Burning Rage. I went with the Censer instead, mainly to improve Galvanic Blast and Artillerize. Assuming I already have enough burn for opposing small creatures, this does at least as much damage as a Staggershock, while also benefiting from Volt Charge.

Shrine of Burning Rage – The big finisher in this deck. Another artifact to go with Galvanic Blast, it also can be sacrificed to Artillerize in an emergency. Great with Volt Charge, it also benefits from the fourteen 1-mana Red spells.

Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring – When you’re playing an aggressive deck without creatures or lots of search and card-draw, it’s important not to mana-flood. Yet it’s also critical for this deck not to miss its first few land drops. Between being monocolored with a low curve and playing with eight Wellsprings, I can get away with playing only twenty-two land. In addition to helping smooth out my draws, the Wellsprings have good synergy with Galvanic Blast and Artillerize.

In the case of the other deck I worked on this week, it draws direct inspiration from a specific deck.

"Robert Dougherty’s PT deck"

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Indomitable Archangel
• 4 Glint Hawk
• 4 Puresteel Paladin
• 4 Kemba, Kha Regent

• Spells (24)
• 3 Dispatch
• 4 Accorder's Shield
• 4 Darksteel Axe
• 4 Flayer Husk
• 4 Mortarpod
• 4 Sylvok Lifestaff
• 1 Mox Opal

• Lands (22)
• 19 Plains
• 3 Inkmoth Nexus

Buy This Deck Export text format

After hearing stories from my best friend Rob about how awesome his Block deck was and the amazing things it did, I was intrigued. I decided that Puresteel Paladin and Dispatch have the potential to be exciting in a Standard deck:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Glint Hawk

4 Puresteel Paladin

4 Squadron Hawk

4 Stoneforge Mystic

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Dispatch

1 Spidersilk Net

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Sword of War and Peace

2 Mortarpod

4 Accorder's Shield

4 Adventuring Gear

4 Flayer Husk

1 Mox Opal

[/Spells]

[Lands]

14 Plains

4 Arid Mesa

4 Marsh Flats

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Of course, changing it to a Standard deck gives me some powerful options. The most obvious is being able to include the Stoneforge Mystic/Squadron Hawk package that seems to be dominating Standard right now. It not only shows up in the dominant control deck, Caw-Blade, but it also appears in one of the best aggressive decks, Boros. In addition, it gives me some more equipment options. In this case, I’ve upgraded most of my 1-drop equipment by replacing them with four copies of Adventuring Gear. One of the great things about adding Mystics is that now I can have lots of single copies of various equipment. I’ve added one of each of the two Swords that are dominating Standard and a Spidersilk Net, which gives me another 0-mana equipment, as well as another option for dealing with opposing flyers. The other big change I made based on the format change is adding Marsh Flats and Arid Mesas.

Since I’m playing a mana-tight deck in a format full of Tectonic Edges, I removed the Inkmoth Nexuses. By adding the Flats and Mesas, I’ve both powered up the Adventuring Gear and helped reduce mana-flood.

The big things I’ve accomplished with the format change are lowering the mana curve and increasing the amount of card advantage. In order to gain a speed advantage against Standard control decks and to keep up with Standard aggro decks, I’ve lowered the mana curve by removing Indomitable Archangels and Kembas. Yet thanks to the increased card advantage, I haven’t lowered the power level of the deck. If I play a Kemba or Archangel and it immediately gets killed, it’s at best a one-for-one. If I play a Mystic or a Squadron Hawk, it gives me card advantage immediately. The Squadron Hawks are a perfect addition to this deck because they represent four cheap flyers for one card. With the amount of equipment in this deck, I can make each one into a flying supercreature that needs to be dealt with. The Mystics are also amazing because they allow me to search for the equipment that’s perfect for whatever the situation is. In addition, they represent four more artifacts for helping me get Metalcraft for my Dispatches.

The key card in Rob’s deck is Puresteel Paladin, and it’s the primary inspiration for my Standard version. Once you get one into play, the deck can go off. Every 0-cost equipment you play draws you a card for free. 1-mana equipment and usually Glint Hawks will also draw you cards, for 1 mana each. If needed, a Mystic can draw you a card for 2 mana, by fetching you a 0-mana equipment. If you’re worried about removal, you can save a Paladin in your hand until you have enough mana and cheap equipment saved up to draw a bunch of cards in just one turn. Between Squadron Hawks, Stoneforge Mystics, and Puresteel Paladins, you should always have a handful of gas.

These cards should make your mana smoother, too. On the one hand, you’re only playing twenty-two lands and one Mox Opal, with eight of your lands being fetch lands. This way, with luck, you won’t get mana-flooded. On the other hand, the Squadron Hawks and Mystics help thin spells out of your deck, which should help prevent you from mana-stalling. Obviously, drawing cards with Puresteel Paladin should help make sure you have plenty of both land and spells.

Flayer Husks and Mortarpod are extremely cool in this deck. One the one hand, they are equipment, so they draw you cards for Puresteel Paladin when they come into play. On the other hand, they include Germ tokens, so if you’re lacking creatures, you can use all of your equipment to make a Germ into a supercreature. The Accorder's Shields are great, because not only are they 0-cost equipment, which is great with both Glint Hawks and Paladins, but they can help you make a supercreature that will be able to both kill your opponent and protect your life total, thanks to Vigilance.

The Dispatches and the Mortarpods are the creature removal in this deck. If you have Metalcraft, Dispatch is the best spot removal in Magic. A 1-mana instant that exiles is the best you’re going to get. Six removal spells isn’t many, but the format is a little creature-light at the moment. In addition, you can search for a Mortarpod with a Mystic, and the card-draw of Paladins can help you dig for Dispatches when you need them. Mortarpod also makes a great finisher. With a Paladin in play and Metalcraft, you can just keep moving it from Germ to Hawk and so forth, shooting your opponent to death.

One of the biggest lessons to be learned here is to consider other formats when seeking inspiration for Standard deck ideas. Block Constructed is especially helpful, since all the cards used in Block are available to you when building Standard decks. It can sometimes be helpful to look at a smaller pool of cards for ideas, since a larger pool can be overwhelming—even distracting—with so many options. The smaller pool cuts out the “noise” of so many options and usually makes it easier to find synergies that are purposely built into a given block by Wizards of the Coast.