Sneak Attack on Standard

Over the course of the last few weeks since M11 has been standard legal, the metagame has taken some interesting turns. G/* Ramp looks to be one of the favorites; whether it be the Valakut version or just plain UG stomp, this deck is definitely recognized as a powerhouse in the current meta. 

 Another powerful contender of the current meta represents the control aspect of things. UW Control definitely has proven time and time again that it’s certainly got the stuff to be a champ. There are several variations on this deck but the shell remains the same. Regardless of the build, Jace, the Mind Sculptor throws this deck into tier one for sure.

Pyromancer’s Ascension is probably the most talked about rogue deck out there right now. This deck started to gain momentum thanks to some early top finishes right after M11 was released, but got the most publicity thanks to Guillaume Matignon who piloted it to 2^nd place in the French Nationals. It has since gained some, in my opinion, well deserved hype from Mike Flores, Patrick Chapin, and even WoTC in their Building on a Budget section. This deck revolves around being able to quickly gaining advantage by the numerous cantrips in the early game, all the while setting up with Pyromancer Ascension and Call to Mind to start taking extra turns via Time Warp. While some believe this deck to be easily disrupted, i.e. by taking out their opponent’s Ascension, others feel this deck may just be the real deal. 

Patrick Chapin actually made reference to it in his recent article on Star City Games. He had some words of wisdom passed down from Mike Flores on how to improve the overall deck that seemed pretty much right on target. Due to the issues with Halimar Depths being a great target for Ruinblaster and Tectonic Edge, switching these out for basic lands does seem like a good idea. With the early cantrips available via Ponder and Preordain, I too doubt you’d feel much pain from cutting the 3 Halimars. The other tech he mentioned in the article was to swap out Kiln Fiend for Echo Mage. As more and more decks adjust their sideboard to combat this type of deck, so too will you see an increase in hate for enchantment/artifacts in the sideboard. Echo Mage does give you a few options post sideboard and will act as Pyromancer Ascensions 5-8. Additional changes to the deck have also been discussed in forum entries on MTG Salvation by cutting Treasure Hunt for Foresee. The argument was that sometimes added land isn’t always the best way to burn through your deck, and Foresee gives you the extra reach by hard card advantage late game during the control match-up.

This deck is fairly fast, and has a decent matchup against most of the field. Another thing going for it, like all rogue decks, is the current meta has yet to adjust to it fully. With the building cost being so low on this deck and the draw to run a combo style deck in an unrefined meta, expect to see this deck at a tournament or national near you.

A deck very similar to Pyromancer’s Ascension is Turbo Trap. Like the previous deck, Turbo Trap is very cheap to build. It runs due to numerous draw effects from Howling Mine, Font of Mythos, and the new hotness Temple Bell. Once the opponent has drawn three cards that turn, Runeflare Trap is active and death can be close at hand. This deck does seem to run a little slower than Pyromancer Ascension builds due to having to wait a turn before the effects of Mine and the lot, but is still a strong deck that can win out of now where. Previous builds of this deck were able to do 30-120 points of damage in a single turn given enough time, and with the inclusion of Temple Bell that clock just got faster. 

Also out of the French Nationals, Polymorph made a showing in the top 8. This deck got a lot of publicity following the release of Rise of Eldrazi; however, recently it has gone under the radar. 

The biggest weakness to this deck is the way Polymorph targets. If the creature it’s targeting gets burned/destroyed prior to resolution you are forced to set back up again with a new target. The inclusion of more counter magic helps with this to protect the combo to ensure you resolve your spell and protect your morphed creature afterwards. More counter magic is available via the sideboard, but this particular build also includes Mass Polymorph. One thing to note however, make sure if you do sub in Mass Polymorph that you side out one of your Emrakuls for an Iona to avoid the Legend Rule coming into play. 

With green being the color to play, a deck that has been around in some fashion before has started to shift colors with some great results online. Summoning Trap has picked up a lot of speed with some surprising results. Originally this deck used white as its main color, but the release of Primeval Titan has made more sense for this deck to go green. This deck runs much like a midrange deck at first by building up and stalling with Overgrown Battlement and Obstinate Baloth buying time. With the mana from Overgrown Battlement, Rampant Growth, and Everflowing Chalice when added with the power of Summoning Trap allows for a very sharp increase in power the longer the game goes. With the inclusion of Destructive Force decks in the wild, Primeval Titan allows you to recuperate as well as providing you with a body that can withstand the force. 

 Sometimes, the most fun decks can be those that just hit to the face of your opponent. The UG Overrun deck does very well at that. The basis of this deck is to flood the field with little guys and maintain your board presence. Once you have enough committed to the field, you can run over your opponent and their defenses with an Eldrazi Monument or Overrun.

These decks aren’t exactly considered top tier by any means, which is actually one of their strengths. Now is a great time to go against the grain, as few know how to deal with the unexpected variables. Take advantage of the unknown and enjoy yourself while the meta defines itself.