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Main » Articles » The Construction Zone - Standard Besieged

The Construction Zone - Standard Besieged

Darwin Kastle
Posted on February 9, 2011
 Reddit

Now that we know what's contained in Mirrodin Besieged, it's time to figure out ways to use it well in Standard. Are there cards that will have an impact on the decks that are currently dominant? Will some tier-two decks rise to tier one? Will whole new archetypes become powerful? What does the inclusion of MB mean to Pro Tour Paris?

White

"Tempered White"

Ardent Recruit – In a deck with enough cheap artifacts, it's basically a 3/3 for 1. While not good enough to build an entire deck around, if you have an aggressive White deck based around artifacts, it should receive consideration.

Master's Call – Being able to play creatures at instant speed is pretty good in general. Being able to create multiple artifact creatures for 3 mana can be quite powerful. First, it's two-thirds of Metalcraft. Second, with a Tempered Steel in play, it's two 3/3's for 3 at instant speed. Great follow-up to a turn-two Steel Overseer. Also goes well with Piston Sledge.

Piston Sledge – Being able to immediately and permanently give a creature +3/+1 for 3 mana is strong. While the reequip cost is harsh, it's nice to have the option should your first target die. It's another way to make cards like Ornithopter meaningful if you don't draw Steel Overseer or Tempered Steel. Also, in non-Red, non-Green aggressive decks, it's good to have damage that your opponent might not see coming when doing calculations on his or her turn.

"White Control"

White Sun's Zenith – It's a great finisher in a control deck and not terrible as a game-ender for an aggressive deck. Zenith is especially nice against other control decks because it's a major threat at instant speed. Making a swarm of 2/2's that get to attack before a Day of Judgment can be played is great for overwhelming damage once you've built up your mana.

While I call this deck a "control" deck, it's built pretty aggressively because of the need to kill Planeswalkers and to put pressure on ramp decks. Blue/White control also gets a bunch of cards in MB that should be given consideration:

Blue Sun's Zenith – In control-on-control, card advantage is key. Drawing a bunch of cards during your opponent's turn could be the game-breaker. While not, strictly speaking, better than Jace's Ingenuity, its flexibility may make it a better call.

Consecrated Sphinx – Like most 6-mana creatures, the biggest hurdle may be getting it to resolve in a format filled with Mana Leak. If you do, your opponent will often have to wait until his or her turn to deal with it, and by then you'll have at least drawn two cards from it. If your opponent lets you untap and you're playing with permission, the game is probably over.

Neurok Commando – It's great against Planeswalkers and decks without many blockers. However, it's also fine against cards like Kiln Fiend because it's a blocker that can't be burned out of the way or made unable to block. It can also be a good fit for Blue/Black or Blue/Red deck with lots of spot removal for getting rid of blockers.

Blue/Black control also might be in for a facelift. The addition of Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas to the format suggests building a whole new deck based around it:

"Tezzeret Control"

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas – Having a bunch of them in your deck allows you to play with a bunch of different situationally powerful artifacts in small quantities. Normally, you will hit with the first ability, because you're looking at five cards, and better than one in four cards in your deck are artifacts. In addition, cards like Jace and Preordain can be used to set your deck up for it, not to mention to help get you to Tezzeret in the first place. When the time seems right, you can start using its other two abilities to go on the offensive.

Shimmer Myr – Perhaps I'm getting too cute putting one of these into the deck, but being able to play all of your artifacts at instant speed seems quite powerful, especially against control decks.

Black Mimic Vat decks get a boost from the return of Phyrexian Rager:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

3 Bloodghast

2 Nantuko Shade

4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

4 Liliana's Specter

4 Phyrexian Rager

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Mire's Toll

4 Sign in Blood

3 Mimic Vat

3 Mind Sludge

4 Everflowing Chalice

[/Spells]

[Lands]

25 Swamp

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Phyrexian Rager is a solid addition to this deck for a few reasons: It adds pressure or a blocker to the board, while not reducing the gas in your hand. It's a good fit with Mimic Vat, giving you a card and an attacker/blocker whenever you make one. Like any cheap cantrip, it can help you avoid mana flood and Mana Screw.

Red

Kuldotha Red got a big boost from MB, as evidenced by the deck played by Chris Anderson in Indianapolis this past weekend:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Goblin Bushwhacker

4 Goblin Guide

4 Goblin Wardriver

4 Memnite

4 Ornithopter

4 Signal Pest

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

3 Chimeric Mass

2 Devastating Summons

3 Forked Bolt

4 Kuldotha Rebirth

1 Lightning Bolt

3 Mox Opal

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Contested War Zone

16 Mountain

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Goblin Wardriver – A 2/2 for 2 is okay in this deck, but the exciting part is the massive damage that can be achieved by Battle Cry in this deck through the combination of Rebirth and super-cheap creatures, never mind if you happen to get Bushwhacker/Summons after playing him!

Signal Pest – A versatile fit in this deck. It can be an artifact to sacrifice to Rebirth, or it can give and receive Battle Cry. A good fit in a fast swarm deck.

Contested War Zone – This is a good addition to a mono-color aggressive swarm deck. If you don't need the colorless mana it provides, it's another way to pump your swarm more and finish your opponent more quickly.

Ben Robinson also was a top finisher in Indy this weekend, and he showed off new tech for Boros:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Goblin Guide

2 Hero of Oxid Ridge

2 Mirran Crusader

4 Plated Geopede

4 Squadron Hawk

4 Steppe Lynx

3 Stoneforge Mystic

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

2 Adventuring Gear

2 Arc Trail

2 Journey to Nowhere

1 Koth of the Hammer

3 Lightning Bolt

1 Sword of Body and Mind

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Arid Mesa

4 Marsh Flats

5 Mountain

5 Plains

4 Scalding Tarn

3 Terramorphic Expanse

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Hero of Oxid Ridge – One of my favorite new cards in MB, it provides 4-power haste for 4 mana, which is pretty good to start with. The combination of Battle Cry and its last ability make it a strong game-ender. Battle Cry is good with any creature, but in this deck, the Squadron Hawks are especially grateful. The ability that prevents creatures with power 1 or less from blocking can also be really useful in this format filled with potential victims: Wall of Omens, Elves, Stone Forge Mystic, Seagate Oracle and several different types of token creatures, just to give you an idea.

Mirran Crusader – This guy is mainly a metagame call; a 2/2 for 3 isn't great. The hope is that having protection from Black and Green will be exciting. Protection from Black is good against MBC, Infect, and U/B Control. Protection from Green is good against Elves and ramp decks.

Sword of Feast and Famine – Well, if the Crusader is exciting in your metagame, the Sword should be even more so. If you get to hit your opponent with it the turn you play it, it returns you the mana you paid, which can lead you to a pretty explosive turn.

Not surprisingly, Valakut Ramp still made it to the finals in Indy:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

2 Avenger of Zendikar

4 Lotus Cobra

2 Oracle of Mul Daya

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Primeval Titan

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Explore

4 Green Sun's Zenith

4 Harrow

4 Khalni Heart Expedition

[/Spells]

[Lands]

5 Forest

4 Misty Rainforest

11 Mountain

2 Raging Ravine

2 Terramorphic Expanse

4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

The interesting part was the replacement of Summoning Trap with Green Sun's Zenith. It appears all of the Zeniths may be worth a look in constructed (the Black one was also in a deck that did well in Indy). Green Sun's Zenith lacks many of the cool things about Summoning Trap: instant speed, cheap cost for expensive creatures, and the trap cost. However, the Zenith does other things that may make it a better choice: It should never whiff, it can be used early for cheap creatures like Lotus Cobra or Overgrown Battlement, and in the late game, you can choose any creature from your deck, depending on your needs. Green Sun's Zenith also can backstop your Fauna Shaman in a Vengevine deck. Now you have eight ways to search for creatures:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Fauna Shaman

4 Phyrexian Rager

4 Bloodghast

4 Vengevine

4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Lotus Cobra

1 Skinrender

1 Molten-Tail Masticore

1 Bloodhusk Ritualist

1 Thrun, the Last Troll

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Green Sun's Zenith

[/Spells]

[Lands]

4 Verdant Catacombs

10 Forest

10 Swamp

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

These are just a few of the possibilities created by adding Mirrodin Besieged to Standard. I don't really expect the upcoming Pro Tour in Paris to be dominated by new cards or new decks, but I'm eager to find out. The addition of a bunch of new Infect creatures are sure to bring poison decks out of the woodwork. Perhaps Metalcraft will become viable; maybe people will build decks around Glissa. I just hope that the additional 150 cards help shake up what has become a somewhat stale Standard environment.

TAGS articles, standard, spike, constructed, mirrodin besieged

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