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This Space For Rent

Going Forward with Standard

With Mirrored Hearts - May 9, 2014

Magic the gathering                                                            Pojo.com Writer

Contact Info:

·          Pojo PM

·          Shinobi1735@gmail.com

Introduction

So this is my first article for site so let’s get this out of the way first

So hi my name is John Cutchins and I’m more of graphic designer then a writer but My passion is competitive Magic the Gathering, I have Been playing since Coldsnap and I am here to share my Competition and Knowledge with you guys.

I wish to say thanks for pojo for letting me share my knowledge with you guys.

The Finals

Big 2 decks of the format: 

Magic is a lot like Basket Ball

In basketball the Finals are more like a grandfather clock, with each pendulum swing you can hear the tempo and know precisely what time goes by, well same goes for competitive magic its more about tempo and not overextending then the big defense of the opposing team, people who wear themselves out early are no good for team cause they get sloppy, Magic is lost more times due to yourself then your opponent, You have to keep a tempo and think about the most optimal play,  If you can reach them to zero life do it but not at the point it makes you venerable in case he lives.  This is what we call overextending and will lose you more games than win you them.   

So to the point?

Learn from yourself and keep the tempo going. 

Now To the Decks

So let’s start with Mono black its current list with changes from the original Andrew Tenjum.  This guy piloted it with excellence.   The list below is his with a few changes, I will explain change.

Mono Black with Green Splash 

Creatures x17                                            

4 Packrat

4 Nightveil Spector

4 Desecration Demon

4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

1 Vraska, The Unseen

Spells x14

4 Thoughtseize

3 Hero's Downfall

3 Abrupt Decay

2 Devour Flesh

2 Bile Blight

Enchantment x4

4 Underworld Connections 

Land x 25

4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
2 Golgari Guildgate
4 Mutavault
11 Swamp 

Side Deck x15

4 Duress
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
2 Pharika's Cure
2 Golgari Charm
1 Doom Blade
1 Dark Betrayal

That’s a lot of power in a 75 board, but the changes from 4 Lifebane Zombie to 4 NightVeil Specter is An easy choice since Tenjum Expected more aggro as much of us including I did, was taken surprise.  It seems more midrange decks and Control Decks were more present and more what people wanted to play besides BBD and CVM playing jund most players stuck to Sphinx rev decks and Mono black.

So how do we move forward with this deck and why the changes to this setup?

Well too quick and to the point its best to explain how to conquer the other 4 before so you get an Idea how these changes work. 

·        Sphinx Control decks 

This is how you set up.

Out

-2 Pack Rat

-2 bile blight

-2 devour

-1 gray merchant

-1 Demon 

In

+2 Erebos

+2 Golgari Charm

+4 Duress 

Notes about this setup

The mono black got easier to deal with sphinx decks cause we main deck answers to detention sphere and banishing light in the form of abrupt decay. Which is vital game 1,              

However game 2 is where it’s at, we lose a few cards but gain answers to supreme verdicts and ways to take their elspeths and revelations in the form of erebos stopping life gain and the charms regenerating your creatures, or enchantment kill, you also have 8 answers in the way of hand destruction.

Final Notes

Don’t overextend and keep a fresh tempo, don’t worry too much about what they take and focus more on tempo the quicker the game goes more you have time for game 2. 

·        Mono Black

Out

-4 Desecration Demon

-1 Gray Merchant

In

+1 Golgari Charm

+2 erebos

+1 Dark Betrayal

Notes about this setup

Game 1 is all about the packrat and connections, same creature kill for stuff that matters, for example:

·         Bile blight for packrats and activated Mutavault’s

·         Hero’s downfall for demons and Nightveils if necessary.

·         Devour for random blood baron if they splash white  

Tempo matters just like the revelation decks.  Keep it going with a plan and keep on plan until you know when it’s time to switch, people who doubt themselves usually lose this match.   But don’t fret too much game 2 you have many weapons in your arsenal. 

Game 2 you have Erebos that is easy to turn on as well as won’t get their life total out of your reach, remember game 2 is a lot like game 1 tempo and using creature kill where it matters such as turning devotion off, we also get 1 enchantment kill/regenerate and a 1 cost creature kill.  So game 2 is mostly about keeping things in check a lot like Revelation decks, try not to overextend and you will be well on your way to victory. 

Final Notes

Try to keep calm this is a frustrating match, the best thing is to focus on 1 aspect of the game and then slowly branch to your goal, Try not to worry too much, but instead focus on a task.   This will keep you in the game much longer and most likely win you the game. 

·        Jund Monsters

This Is by far our hardest matchup and the main reason is the popularity has died down a bit, so it’s hard to see this deck being in top 3 but it barely made it as I still play a lot in PTQs,  What to say more than this is about what to kill more then what plan for damage.           

             Out

-2 bile Blight

-4 nightveil

In

+1 Doom Blade

+2 Golgari Charm

+3 Lifebane Zombie

Notes about this setup

This set up helps elevate the pain of dealing with monsters, game one your best hope is kill storm breath and domri’s  which you can do with abrupt decay, hero’s downfall which are important not to waste.  If they can’t kill your specters you will be able to nab good cards.   

Now game 2 Golgari charms can regenerate when they mizzium mortars you, also it can kill courser of Kruphix and lifebane hits reaper and Polukranos, doom blade is just extra creature kill atm. Again this is about knowing what to kill not necessary about tempo. 

Final Notes

Focus on what to kill that matters not the little stuff, try to remember they have mizzium so packrat plan might not be favorable, but a demon always is.  

Esper Control

So This Is what a typical Revelation Deck with changes for the new meta!

So how is this different and prepared for the next metagame, well first you might notice less detention spheres that’s because it’s an easy target for the enchantment hate.  So why have them at all?  Its cause we need some answers until we draw creature kill or another answer, we are the controlling game after all. The other main points is hero’s downfall which is seen cause Atheros is becoming popular as people are finding midrange lists/aggro lists like Patrick Chaplin’s list from Dublin.  Also this deck since it cut mutavault can handle the hero’s downfalls 

Ok so how does this deck handle the best 3 decks in the format? 

·         Let’s start with the mirror

Out

-1 devour

-1 Hero’s Downfall

-1 Banishing Light

-2 Detention Spheres

-2 supreme Verdicts

             In

             +1 Negate

           +2 Dispel

           +3 Nightveil Specter

Notes about this setup

Knowing what to do against an Esper deck is a lot of times figuring if may or may side creatures in.   The main reason I sided blood barons and verdicts out is if they have some creatures there’s still 2 verdicts but the big gain is if they don’t think were siding creatures in that means their thinking of siding detention spheres and banishing light out so our nightveil’s will do some work and get some cool cards.  Thoughtsieze helps us with the hiccups and keeps tempo while they lose tempo. Negates hits Elspeth and Jace which both hurts tempo. 

Final Notes

Remember that game one you will have a advantage cause of the downfalls and blood barons, but if their smart their figure game 2 and this is why you side this way cause it furthers the cause for them to half to deal with stuff. This should be like a chess game play it slow and confident. 

·         Mono Black, Splash of green.

This is the fun match since abrupt decay is so popular at the moment, so how do we deal with one of the best decks out there? 

Easy follow the game plan and don’t dissolve everything under the sun. Let’s start with the side board plan.

Out

-1 Banishing Light

-2 Detention Sphere

-1 Devour

-2 hero’s Downfall

             In

               +2 Negate

             +4 Nightveil Specter 

Notes about this setup

Now to why I chose this particular sideboard,  The fact is game 1 we should win if played right, abrupt decay hurts us but I do believe were easily winning 70% of game 1, game 2 is a different suggestion, most time we would not add creatures, but think of this if you will.   Nightveil adds another card that must be taken care of,  and game 2 is when they side most of their creature kill out, leaving hero’s downfall in place, which is fine cause they can either hit out Planes walkers or Nightveil and both give us major advantage, and negate saves us from that as well.  I will caution Mutavault though can hurt us. But creatures add a defense against that. 

Final Notes

This game is all about tempo remember if they kill a nightveil its not the end of the world as you still have Ætherling and Elspeth, also remember to verdict when fields up as you have less kills game 2 but you have more tempo control.  

·         Jund Monsters

This matchup is hard do to the fact they also use abrupt decay and also have miscutters in the side, but is very much doable, since we have hero’s downfalls and devour.  So let’s get this started. 

 Out

             -2 detention spheres

             -1 Banishing light

             -2 Blood Baron

             -1 devour flesh

 In

+3 Doom Blade

+2 Negates

+1 thoughtseize

Notes about this setup

This game is about leaving mana opened and countering the planeswalkers for same reason as most games detention sphere and banishing light are not that great against this deck, in most cases you want creatures off field and negates help with the planeswalkers while thoughtseize can secure a game if you hit a sire of insanity or a ruric thar. This is more cutting through their creatures until they run out of gas and then you win. 

Final Notes

Keep creatures off until you get an opening and you have the win.
 

Final Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope the lists I provided you with gave you a great sense of Direction and I hope this wasn’t too boring.  I will be adding more pics to my next one to break up the monotony, I wish you guys the best of luck with all your endeavors in magic.

So I read this whole article and what else is there left?

Well I thank you for reading and I hope for some of you to send me questions or deck lists to evaluate and write wonderful articles about, My information is at top of the article and always can be reached via pm.  I am going to lead the final statement of the article with some helpful Notes. 

Helpful Notes

Remember it’s a game also, I find more times than your lose a match if you dwell on a loss too much. 

Bring pen and paper to tournaments, Dice may be good for counters but can easily be knocked over and a judge get called. 

Remember to focus on one direction at first. 

Competitive Magic involves play testing, good friends and people who do want to help you so listen carefully.  

My last helpful note is this, we all can be as great as any pro, every magic player is bad at first and always tries to improve, learn from their misplays, and this is how people become great 

Disclaimer,

Wizards of the coasts owns all property of magic the gathering, and all of its trademarks, this article is written to make players better and is in no way associated with wizards of the coast.