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Main » Articles » Know Thy Enemy: Five Stunning Shifts in Standard

Know Thy Enemy: Five Stunning Shifts in Standard

Michael Flores
Posted on August 6, 2019
 Reddit

The Standard metagame with Core Set 2020 sure hasn't slowed down!

In the first weeks we saw the birth of new archetypes like Simic Flash and Simic Omniscience (as well as the first inklings of a revitalized Mono-Blue Tempo).

Brineborn Cutthroat

... And then, like it often does at the start of a new season, Mono-Red reminded us that you can never count it out entirely. It did so with a 3-drop reprint that never saw much play the first time around. And then that was that; never to be seen again!

Why?

As Feather, the Redeemed got its 2-drop house in order; and Orzhov started to realize it was hitting a critical mass of Vampires-themed murderers, an all-new archetype in the hands of one of the greatest players of all time shattered the top tables under the weight of its many lands... And many more 2/2 creature tokens.

That was two weeks ago, and I am kind of shocked to say that Scapeshift isn't just "another deck" at this point... It doesn't even seem to be a remarkably important one. The top two decks of the MTGO MCQ were Boros Feather and Orzhov Vampires. Both had been around since the first week of Core Set 2020 Standard... And to be 100% fair, neither was an all-new archetype anyway.

So what went on here?

Before we answer that question, I'll ask you to

0. Just Imagine

Alpha, the first Magic: The Gathering set, was famous for its boon cycle. Each color received an instant speed card that showed off three of something that the color was famous for.

Ancestral Recall
Dark Ritual

Lightning Bolt
Giant Growth
Healing Salve

Ancestral Recall drew three cards. It is widely considered the single best card in the history of Magic: The Gathering, and remains Restricted in like the only format where it is legal.

Dark Ritual produced three mana and has had a... Let us say inconsistent relationship with the Banned and Restricted List over the years. A personal relationship with one ex-Research and Development member assures me that it will not likely ever be reprinted in a Standard Legal set, as it was an auto-include in beatdown decks, various fast combo decks, and perhaps its most iconic role as the producer of first turn Necropotence. No Ancestral Recall maybe, but not far behind.

Speaking of being reprinted, when I got the official reveal for Lightning Bolt back in 2009 I just didn't believe they would do it. It was too good! We had built an entire subset of Magic theory around Shock, and the world was widely happy with playing Tarfire at the time [side note: some maniacs still play Tarfire over Lightning Bolt in Modern]. If this card didn't exist, I would probably never win any games of Modern, actually.

Where Lightning Bolt produced three damage... So did Giant Growth, kind of. 3 power, 3 toughness. In a way Giant Growth is better than Lightning Bolt (due to its potential defensive flexibility) but it's playable in far fewer decks. Good enough sometimes... But doesn't have Lightning Bolt's ability to contribute to everything from Jeskai Control to good old Sligh.

Finally, we have Healing Salve. Healing Salve is like Lightning Bolt in that it can do one thing or the other. Dark Ritual always makes bbb. That's awesome, but that's all it does. Lightning Bolt mostly kills creatures in a control deck; and sometimes kills creatures (and sometimes finishes off players) in a beatdown deck. I mean how awesome is Lightning Bolt? Can you imagine if they made a card that let you do both?

Uh, MichaelJ, you might say. They did. It's called Searning Blaze and it's won countless high level Modern - and for that matter LEGACY - events.

Oh yeah! Searing Blaze!

I mean if they were going to give you that functionality, they'd have to put multiple restrictions on the card and double its mana cost or something. What would they have to do to make Healing Salve good enough.

We finally have the answer:

Naya Feather | Core Set 2020 Standard | sepomon, 5-0 Magic Online Standard League

Sepomon's Naya Feather deck features Healing Grace; a card that combines the essential functions of both halves of Healing Salve, but at the original cost. I'm not sure what I think about this card long-term, but I can certainly imagine being blown out by it.

First of all, you can just gain three life if you really have to; you don't actually need to be protecting anything. That might be small consolation to the admittedly reasonable Healing Salve deniers... But it's in the range. If you're actually actively defending against some damage source, this is essentially six life for one mana, which is an unreal ratio... Even before you consider that you could be trading with one or more cards at the time you play Healing Grace.

Will it be important?

Persistent as a tool in Standard?

I'm not sure. But if the metagame is about damage and creature combat, I can imagine it being very useful. This is especially true in the Feather deck, where you can potentially get multiple re-buys thanks to the namesake Legendary Angel. It is also something you should be aware exists; it's the kind of thing that can be fringe one day but then in every other deck list a week later.

Speaking of Feather decks...

1. What a Time to be Adanto Vanguard!

Remember Adanto Vanguard? Nice 2-drop. Brad Nelson made the finals of a Grand Prix with it about a year ago? Super unclear if it was the best / right 2-drop for, um, "decks" and could be competing with everything from a Knight to a Tocatli Honor Guard?

Forget all that.

Adanto Vanguard is not only the 2-drop of choice, it's the 2-drop of choice in multiple archetypes. It also happened to be a four-of in each of the top two decks of this week's MTGO MCQ.

Boros Feather | Core Set 2020 Standard | Schiaveto, 1st Place Magic Online Standard MCQ

Do you know how good Adanto Vanguard is? It's the only 2-drop in Schiaveto's deck that isn't on-theme for Feather. Dreadhorde Arcanist and Tenth District Legionnaire are all cool combos but the Vanguard doesn't even start out with a third toughness -- not even a second toughness - for Reckless Rage.

But what it does offer, it offers in spades.

There are a ton of three toughness creatures that other players will invest three or even four mana in. Adanto Vanguard can attack fearlessly into Elite Vanguard or Hostage Taker; and take on Tomebound Lich two different ways.

But the extra power on offense isn't all. Adanto Vanguard is also exploiting moves elsewhere in the metagame. The MTGO MCQ had one Mono-Red deck in it; between the two sets of 5-0 League decks in the month of August so far - thirteen and fourteen 5-0 decks respectively - there was only one Mono-Red. Eight Goblin Chainwhirlers out of a possible 124 is impossibly low [for a Standard where Goblin Chainwhirler is legal].

THAT IS AWESOME FOR ADANTO VANGUARD.

The Vanguard was terrible against the Chainwhirler. Like, either you paid life while still getting pinged for one (now five) or you let the Vanguard go. Then it was awful in combat. You could attack into the Chainwhirler but you'd have to make your Vanguard indestructible (more ouches) just to try to get past the natural first strike. And if they had a Shock or Lightning Strike? THE WORST!

But with so few Chainwhirlers, Adanto Vanguard can thrive in multiple decks; but based on the trophy - and more importantly, Blue Envelope - win... Largely in Boros.

This was a head scratcher for me.

The last rounds of Swiss in Denver were Scapeshift decks knocking Boros Feather decks out of Top 8 contention. What happened?

Was there a massive proliferation in Ashiok, Dream Render decks, as I had predicted?

Spoilers: There was NOT a massive proliferation of Ashiok, Dream Render decks.

2. Alpine Moon - I Suppose That Works

Look back at SCHIAVETO's MCQ-winning deck list. See anything new? How about in the sideboard?

Alpine Moon is anti-Scapeshift tech that has been picked up not only by Boros, but archetypes as far afield as Jeskai Control and the [again, very rare] Mono-Red Beatdown.

Alpine Moon has a massive thing going for it: It's cheap.

Not only is it cheap in the abstract, it's an enchantment. So if you're mostly aiming for creature beatdown, you might not have an answer for it in your deck. And even if you do, you might just get killed before you put it all together.

Sorry, Field of the Dead

3. Blood Sun - That Works, Too

Boros Feather | Core Set 2020 Standard | DutertePH, 5-0 Magic Online Standard League

Blood Sun has the all important "draw a card" clause, and is much farther-reaching than Alpine Moon. For example, it can also cripple a Scapeshift opponent who is reliant on Evolving Wilds. These people totally exist (due to the wide variety of different Scapeshift builds); it's also more hilarious when playing against Teferi, Time Raveler. On the other hand, three is a lot more than one; especially in a beatdown deck with no key 1-drop offense.

In any case, the sudden appearance of both Alpine Moon and Blood Sun in a Standard where they were both legal for some months but never really played before should tell us something. The world is at least acknowledging the power and influence of the Scapeshift deck, limiting its free wins if nothing else.

4. Legion's End is Basically Perfect

The other deck in the MCQ Finals was Em_TeeGee with Orzhov Vampires

Orzhov Vampires | Core Set 2020 Standard | Em_TeeGee, 2nd Place Magic Online Standard MCQ

What's up with Vampires?

Why play this archetype anyway?

Remember what we said about Adanto Vanguard up top? Everything that is true about that card in Boros is basically equally true in Orzhov... Except it's also a Vampire. That means it gets buffed by Legion Lieutenant, and makes both Sanctum Seeker and Champion of Dusk look even better.

Speaking of which...

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

You'd think the combination of a bw deck and a sweet bw Sorin in Standard would make for an unprecedented showcase of the four-mana racer, but it's the three-mana Sorin from Core Set 2020 that makes this deck. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is essentially there to fast-track Sanctum Seeker (a savings of one mana) or Champion of Dusk (a savings of two) without the loss of a card. In the latter case, this three-mana spell acts all Dark Ritual-y except you don't actually give up a card. See. Way. Above. It's awesome at all that and basically makes the deck. Everything you do on top of the mana boost is gravy, and with the insane concentration of Vampires in this deck, really, really, thick and flavorful gravy.

Orzhov Vampires has a very subtle anti-Scapeshift tool that you might not have noticed. It's close to perfect.

Legion's End

This card kills their 2/2 tokens.

That's it.

But remember they might have put a lot of effort (not to mention chump-blocking) into making one set of 2/2 tokens. You might be clearing the path to kill them to death (especially if you have a Sanctum Seeker), and it doesn't even matter if they have one Field of the Dead or two.

And it's cheap. Never discount how much value you get in a card with this much potential impact being so cheap. It's a one-sided Cry of the Carnarium that costs 33% less and is also one-sided.

If you're not killing Scapeshift tokens the card will probably more than pull its weight. Imagine playing against a creature-poor deck with Hero of Precinct One. You get a lot of leverage in a matchup like that. Not only is there the possibility of taking out multiple cards with one, but the opponent has paid a steep deck-building cost that will now show no return. Not to mention the flexibility in being able to shoot at the Hero, or its tokens (or maybe some other tokens, depending on build).

I was really shocked, at least initially, to see the card as a four-of - and main deck - in Esper Control:

Esper Superfriends| Core Set 2020 Standard | jtl005, 5-0 Magic Online Standard League

Here is a strategy with its pick of removal cards; a deck with four Kaya's Wrath AND four Oath of Kaya AND a Cleansing Nova already that is buying into not just Legion's End; but four of them. It's just a great, super high leverage, solution to the boogeyman's end game that can also perform just fine against a good chunk of the Red Deck.

The "exile" bit is also quite relevant. Doomed Dissenter is played; Raptor Hatchling moreso. It will beat Gutterbones and Adanto Vanguard; it doesn't care how big a Pteramander or Wildgrowth Walker has gotten. LOL Growth-Chamber Guardian.

But 2/2 tokens are among its most important prey; not just from Scapeshift, but Finale of Glory

5. Bant Ramp Loves Finale of Glory

On that note, I found this last bit an important shift in card choices.

Bant Ramp | Core Set 2020 Standard | Erratacorrige, 5-0 Magic Online Standard League

Used to be Bant Ramp used all that mana to cast a big Mass Manipulation.

This version doesn't even play Mass Manipulation any more, shifting all its sorcery-x into Finale of Glory. I'm not sure I'd play completely recklessly into Bant with, say, a Planeswalker deck... But the tension is real. This deck, which has literally doubled the average Finale of Glory count simply does a different thing at the top of its mana than we've seen previously. I've certainly been stalled by the card when playing Mono-Red, and I assume it's a par-tay when you have both Planeswalkers online. End of turn uncounterable army?

The shifts?

They are stunning.

LOVE

MIKE

TAGS articles, standard, theory, constructed, analysis, decklist, michael flores, core set 2020 standard, 08062019

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