It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a deck that can play an instant-speed, tempo-oriented strategy in Standard. The last one that was a real player was Faeries back in Lorwyn Standard. Eldritch Moon may well have given the Spirits deck all the necessary tools to compete with the rest of the format. Let’s take a look at Frank Karsten’s take on a promising new archetype:

Blue-White Flash ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Frank Karsten

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Nebelgast Herald
• 2 Thunderclap Wyvern
• 4 Archangel Avacyn
• 4 Dimensional Infiltrator
• 4 Rattlechains
• 4 Spell Queller

• Spells (15)
• 1 Unsubstantiate
• 2 Essence Flux
• 4 Clash of Wills
• 4 Stasis Snare
• 4 Ojutai's Command

• Lands (23)
• 7 Island
• 6 Plains
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Port Town
• 4 Prairie Stream

Buy This Deck

This deck is all about Spell Queller. Suddenly, this deck has the ability to curve out with flash creatures, counterspells, and removal, with Spell Queller to function as a huge swing in tempo to help you turn the corner. It starts on turn two, where you have both Rattlechains and Dimensional Infiltrator to begin the beatdown or Clash of Wills. At three mana, you have access to Spell Queller, Nebelgast Herald, and Stasis Snare. Nebelgast Herald and Stasis Snare function as ways to turn a race in your favor, while Spell Queller is just an absurd tempo play.

At four mana, you gain access to Thunderclap Wyvern as a way to turn the corner, similar to Scion of Oona. Alternatively, you have Ojutai's Command, which is absolutely absurd in this deck. Ojutai's Command allows you to counter expensive creatures, gain life in a race, stay ahead on cards, or buy back powerful spirits like Rattlechains to counter removal spells and apply further pressure.

At the top of the curve, there’s Archangel Avacyn, which is incredible on both offense and defense. The best thing about Archangel Avacyn is that the density of flash spells in this deck masks whether you have Archangel Avacyn, Ojutai's Command, or some other tricky flash card. This means that your opponents are more likely to play into at least one of the effects that you happen to have. This ability to leave up mana and still play both offense and defense, frequently with cards that generate further value like Rattlechains or Spell Queller, is a huge strength in a midrangey format.

This is one of the strategies that gains the most from the new set, and I’m excited to see what this new deck is capable of in the next couple of weeks. Only time will tell if this format is too fast for this style of Flash deck to get out ahead, since it’s not going to do as well playing from behind. I don’t know if this will be a new big player in the format, but I certainly hope so.