Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

[AGar]

ALL OF THE BOXES.

[InflatablePie]

probably getting allied 5 in Huey (Khans) and enemy 5 in Louie (third set). which also implies allied painland reprints for M16.

also, Courser of Kruphix - even better with fetchlands.

I can see Naya/Jund being a thing even with wedges being pushed. Courser & Caryatid will be played a ton in any green deck, with Courser you want to run a good chunk of fetchlands (since I doubt Ob Nixilis will be played THAT much).

RG is already a deck in Block with Courser, Caryatid, Stormbreath (possibly Sarkhan now), Xenagos. White gives Elspeth and Banishing Light, Black gives Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall. Naya would be way easier on the mana since RG/GW fetches allow for t1 Mystic -> t2 Courser*, plus you get Elspeth which I think will still be good post-rotation; keep in mind Temur's mechanic is "stuff with 4+ power = things" and Temur is RG/GU, so even if a Jund version or Temur version of RGx midrange pops up, a Naya version could 'check' it. Although Sarkhan does dodge Elspeth and Stormbreath is pro-White, so I dunno. It all depends on what good tri-color/GU stuff is printed in Khans.

*I know Mana Confluence and painlands are a thing, but if you're running Gx Courser builds, you're probably wanting to go Jund/Abzan/Sultai for access to Black and Thoughtseize, combined with enough painland taps and that's a lot of life even with Courser, especially if Naya's manabase is taking considerably less damage

I'm actually super-excited for rotation. Shame I missed the boat on Xenagos when he was $5 though

[InflatablePie]

also:

new Sorin
2BW 4 loyalty
+1 - until

your next turn

, creatures you control have +1/0 and Lifelink
-2 - spawn a 2/2 black Vampire w/ flying
-6 - emblem w/ "beginning of each opponent's upkeep, they sac a creature"

second set name is "Fate Reforged"

and lore stuff:

apparently Ugin dies somewhere in Temur territory, Sorin's off looking for him because of the whole Eldrazi problem on Zendikar, Sorin finds his corpse, Ugin was killed by Bolas apparently, we know the block involves time travel... tl;dr Eldrazi?!

[kdowns]

Also thinking about it. Onslaught Reprints, will that make Zendikar Fetch's cheaper since we will have all 10 fetches in modern?

[bv310]

It'll probably bring down Fetch prices, but cause basically every other Modern card to rise

[Natirasha]

probably getting allied 5 in Huey (Khans) and enemy 5 in Louie (third set). which also implies allied painland reprints for M16.

Back during M15 previews, they said that the mana fixing wasn't good enough for enemy-colored decks in Khans, so they printed the pains as a stop-gap measure for that. I sincerely doubt we'll be seeing allied pains OR enemy fetches. If anything, I'm kinda betting on enemy fastlands in Louie and maybe the allied checks one last time for M16(because it's the last core set!).

I really really really want a good UB control deck this standard. Like, above all else, I just want to sit there behind a wall of counter+kill spells and win with whatever the new Tombstalker is.

But, alas, they're making the UB clan focused on stupid mill shenanigans stuff. I mean, its not unexpected because UB=mill and GB=mill, but ugh. I hate that White is now the control color.

Really, I just want a new BUG commander. Damia gets hate, Vorosh is boring, and Mimeoplasm is niche. But we got some shitty worse-than-mimeoplasm thing instead.

Oh yeah this set is looking really cool though.

[bv310]

I've already decided my big goal for the new set is to cast Sarkhan as many times as humanly possible. I really like his card design, and I've gotten into a weird Red kick lately.

[Thestatusquo]

So, my buddy took down the WMCQ this weekend, so if you're watching the world magic cup later make sure to root for Andrew Baeckstrom. Good guy. Well deserved. He went 14-0-3 in the swiss on the weekend to top 8 both the PTQ and the WMCQ. Hell of a run.

[bv310]

That's fucking awesome. Still not going to turn me from rooting for Team Canada, but I'll watch for his name.

[Glork]

Guess I shoulda sold my playset of Deltas a couple of months ago.

[InflatablePie]

probably getting allied 5 in Huey (Khans) and enemy 5 in Louie (third set). which also implies allied painland reprints for M16.

Back during M15 previews, they said that the mana fixing wasn't good enough for enemy-colored decks in Khans, so they printed the pains as a stop-gap measure for that. I sincerely doubt we'll be seeing allied pains OR enemy fetches. If anything, I'm kinda betting on enemy fastlands in Louie and maybe the allied checks one last time for M16(because it's the last core set!).

Block isn't pro-tour supported any more, but IIRC MaRo said they want to keep land cycles as full cycles for block constructed reasons. since the block is large-small-large, with Khans and Fate rotating out while leaving Louie (Dragons of Tarkir)/M16 once the new rotation kicks in, plus time travel flavor reasons in-block, plus the want for enemy fetch reprints, having all ten fetches in the block makes sense. then you add allied pains for super-standard + weird rotation reasons.

m16 release = all fetches, all pains
fall rotation (Khans/Fate/Dragons/M16/"Blood") = all fetches, allied pains (enemy fastlands in Blood for standard?)
spring rotation ("Tears" release) = Dragons/M16/"Blood"/"Sweat"/"Tears" = enemy fetches, allied pains (enemy fastlands in Blood = allied fastlands in Tears?)

enemy fastlands

would

be good for

bitcoin

Modern, and people are thinking non-fetch&shock lands (i.e. fastlands, manlands) and other staples are going to rise with the enemy fetches lowering barrier of entry, so having a plan to reprint fastlands if they spike combined with introducing the enemy pairs makes sense.

or

they disregard their 'reprint all of a land cycle' comment since Block isn't a pro tour format any more, reprint enemy fetches in MMA2 and use that for Landfall in MMA2 limited or something, idk.

[Thestatusquo]

Guess I shoulda sold my playset of Deltas a couple of months ago.

Nah. Just use this time to pick up 50 more at 10$ each and they will again be 60$+ in two years.

[Natirasha]

If we use TSeize as a precedent, your Deltas are safe. They'll lose ~$20 or so, prob, but people will want to style on others with onslaught fetches.

[Natirasha]

Also I'm like 80% sure next block is return to Zendikar, so it makes more sense to reprint enemy fetches there.

[Thestatusquo]

I'm actually getting fairly excited for this set.

[hasdgfas]

I'm actually getting fairly excited for this set.

Me too. I have some

terrible

ideas for Standard decks that I plan to take to FNMs to get crushed, and Limited looks great. Lots of things that play nice together.

[bv310]

I'm really excited for this Standard season

[chamber]

Anything that means standard actually changes.

[Thestatusquo]

Anything that means standard actually changes.

[InflatablePie]

probably playing Mono-B Aggro for the first few weeks for consistency's sake, then I can netdeck whatever I have cards for.

4x Gnarled Scarhide
4x Bloodsoaked Hero [B - 2/1 - Can't block; if in GY and you attack w/ creature that turn, pay 1B to return to battlefield)
4x Pain Seer
4x Spiteful Returned
4x Herald of Torment
3x Mogis' Marauder
3x Grim Haruspex (2B - 3/2 - Morph (B) - whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, draw a card)

4x Thoughtseize
2x Boon of Erebos
2x Bile Blight
3x Hero's Downfall
1x Hall of Triumph

22x Swamp*

SB:
2x Despise
4x Master of the Feast
1x Whip of Erebos
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
3x Dark Betrayal
2x Brain Maggot
2x ??? [1 Boon/1 Marauder/1 Downfall/1 Hall/etc]

could do some tweaking, depends on what's left to spoil and what the new meta looks like, but that's my initial list

*may test 2+ scrylands out, even if I'm not playing a second color

[Natirasha]

This set looks interesting, but has that fatal flaw Theros had where all it's relevant creatures are really just Big Dumb Vanilla beaters. I'm not -surprised- because Theros is the most poorly designed block since, like, Homelands, and simply doesn't play well when you add interesting mechanics in any format with it, but I digress.

Also, from what has been spoiled, they were terrified of Delve as a value mechanic and there is not going to be a BUG control deck because of that(this also goes back to UB being the two colors that interact the worst with Theros' mechanics, which hamstrung both this set and RTR). I'm just going to say(and eat my words in a month probably), but this dream of a BUG self-mill deck I see some people parroting simply doesn't exist. It's actually losing most of the cards that made it playable in the first place(Salvage, Jarad, Lotleth, Dreg Mangler). It really makes me mad, too, because Sidisi could have been anything cool for commander, but, nope, selfmill dude who dies to a passing breeze. Narset is a fantastic design, but Sidisi? Gimmicks. I hate it. I mean, I get Damia is good and all but she's soooo boring.

(I'm really mad that my favorite color combo got fisted so hard in case you can't tell, although reverse-genesis wave is an amazing card)

I have a few ideas that I'm kicking around, though, for standard.

1. Mono Black Devotion
Mono Black, strangely enough, doesn't lose really anything in rotation--Underworld Connections was already out of the door with M15. Demon/Pack Rat are gone, but I believe they are replaceable. It actually gained an important card in Despise, which is truly a ridiculous card in this format where the only reliable spells are creatures and planeswalkers. I think it will be less 'mono black', but still rely on a mono black core. I think, ultimately, I'll start with a WBG shell, because then I get to play eight copies of Grey Merchant and Grey Merchant is the best magic card ever??? Also, Grey Merchant 5-8 are 4/5 Tramplers. 4x Despise 4x Thoughtseize 4x Downfall 2x Murderous Cut 2x Bile Blight 4x Sign in Blood is where I'd start for an actual list. Rest assured, even if this deck sucks with just Khans, I have this very sinking feeling we haven't seen the end of Grey Merchant, sooooooo.

2. Esper Control
This is pretty much the same deck as last season, except with a worse Wrath and pretty much no card advantage.The upside, of course, is that the creatures this standard don't actually kill you when they enter the battlefield this standard, making Wrath better than in ISD/RTR or RTR/THS. Elspeth is probably the main win condition for this deck, and Master Impersonator does some serious work in being every other good card in the format. He's even tech in the mirror! T6 they tap out for Elspeth, you copy Elspeth and then Hero's Downfall their Elspeth!

the value

. In what is the most awkward move for a format ever, shard decks have the best fixing with fetches vs the wedges they are pushing. What this does allow the deck to do is actually run a fair number(like four!) of delve spells to get even more #value. Empty the Pits is a very good Magic card for this format, because there are no non-creature answers in the format, and this deck can actually pump out some good XX numbers without going into gimmick lose-to-sideboard-Tormod's Crypt territory. Fetchlands are strong, go figure. Elspeth is still stronger, though, I guess. I hate Elspeth.

3. Mardu Midrange
Ultimately, I think this deck is slightly stronger than Abzan because it's more proactive. Crackling Doom is a serious beast of a card, for one. It's the best version of Blightning since Blightning, for one. This deck gets to play black and white removal, the best wrath effect(Anger of the Gods) plus Red's suite of sick-ass win conditions. Sarkhan, Sorin, Stormbreath, and Wingmate Roc! And, of course, our lady Elspeth. What would we ever do without her? Of my three decks, this is probably the strongest in terms of sheer card quality.

This is all in addition to the obvious RG/u Monsters/Walkers decks, BG Courser/Downfall decks, and Red whatever beats that will forever be popular. If I was speculating on two cards this standard, they would be Polis Crusher, Wingmate Roc(this card is really solid), and Ashcloud Phoenix(In case anyone is wondering, yes, you should be running this as your top end in red aggro--it's very good). ProgSphinx will get hype then fail to be good because it dies to Wrath and doesn't block worth a damn. Reaper of the Wilds is wo'rse than 8 Grey Merchants, and generally matches up poorly to a format dominated by flyers and things that are able to one-for-one it(how the fuck do we live in a day when a 4/5 for 4 is behind the curve on power?).

In other news, like 30 cards just got spoiled and I know one of them was grey merchants 9-12 so there's that. Grey Merchant of Asphodel, everyone.

[Thestatusquo]

What? Mono Black devotion lost like 70% of the deck...

4 Desecration Demon GONE
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Nightveil Specter GONE
4 Pack Rat GONE
Lands (25)


4 Mutavault GONE
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Spells (19)

4 Underworld Connections GONE
2 Bile Blight
4 Devour Flesh GONE
4 Hero's Downfall
1 Whip of Erebos
4 Thoughtseize
Sideboard

4 Lifebane Zombie GONE
1 Bile Blight
3 Doom Blade GONE
1 Ultimate Price GONE
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Liliana Vess
1 Drown in Sorrow

The deck retains 20 cards from its 75. 20.

Mono black devotion is not a deck anymore. There might be mono black decks, but they will not be this one.

There will not be an esper control deck without a four mana wrath. I spent a significant part of last standard playing UW control. Those decks CANNOT win without a 4 mana wrath of god. They just will never beat the aggressive decks. There is no pay off. You can't convert your card advantage into a favorable board position later if there is no later.

Furthermore, they also lose sphinx's rev. The two main reasons to play that kind of deck are gone. Elspeth is just as good (if not better) in a midrange shell than it is in a blue control sell. There is no reason to play esper control.

Courser of Kruphix is going to be the best card in standard, and its not even going to be particularly close. If you're not playing courser in the upcoming format then you're doing it wrong.

[Shanba]

Yep, Mono B despite only really appearing in RTR-THS was primarily a RTR deck. Even stuff like Gary gets a lot worse with its best enablers gone - what BBB or even 1BB permanents do you want to play?

U/W control in all its various shells (esper, UWR, Bant) that its had since RTR is fuelled by the UW cards from RTR block - Azorius charm, D Sphere, Verdict, Rev, Jace, even if not all of those are played as much as they were. Losing some quality filler hurts but losing the spine of the deck in the rev/verdict combo makes it fairly inappropriate, imo, to refer to any deck that follows as the same.

Mono U is the one that is interesting to me, because it loses the good filler but keeps the payoff cards of Master of Waves and Thassa, but on the spoilers so far there doesnt look to be anything to play the role of basically any of the existing creature base. I mean, losing stuff like cloudfin raptor and replacing it with hypnotic siren, fine, but tidebinder mage for mindreaver is not exciting and there is literally no replacement for nightveil specter. There's still a bunch of spoilers to come, but Mono U was not a deck in block constructed and without serious help it will not be a deck in standard post rotation either, imo.

It's actually astonishing how few of the decks are built on a core of Theros cards. Burn? Nope. G/W aggro? Nope. Devotion of any flavour? Arguably to some extent, but in practice largely nope. The B/G graveyard deck is possibly the closest, and even that is losing important enabler grisly salvage and Jarad. Theros was a shitty and boring block though with a surprisingly low power level so I guess that's not surprising. Still with three sets to Khans 1 I suspect that it will feature a bit more heavily post rotation.

Which means beyond courser/caryatid midrange decks that are something of a known quantity (and even those could morph dramatically), the new format could have a very different feel to it from the old one.

Block was dominated by Naya midrangey decks with elspeth and courser, but decks like Mono B aggro were around as well, and that deck in particular got some nice goodies (that 2/1 gravecrawler impersonator is nutty). A mono red aggressive deck likely exists post rotation with rabblemaster and miniature friends, and that deck also got some potential cards. I'm looking at a junk shell for a midrange deck, with a play all the good cards philosophy - elvish mystic, thoughtseize, courser, caryatid, elspeth, hero's downfall - and then a lot of maybe good cards filling in the edges like (fleecemane lion/boon satyr if more beatdownny, end hostilities potentially, abzan charm potentially, maybe duneblast if you wanna be ambitious, maybe bile blight if the mana holds up).

Abzan ascendancy is my favourite card in the set, however, and I will do anything I can to make it work <.>

[Thestatusquo]

My favorite card thus far is the enchantment that taps a creature every time you play a spell. But I also don't really think it will work.

[Shanba]

Tempo cards are not my jam at all, so that thing didn't really stick out to me.