Tag: starcitygames-knoxville

comments
Eric Jeffrey Seltzer - May 18, 2014

Naya Aggro by Jamie Arnold (2nd at SCG Knoxville Standard on May 10th ...

Ghor-Clan Rampager - Naya Aggro

Naya Aggro by Jamie Arnold

2nd Place at StarCityGames Standard Open on 5/10/2014
 
An interesting Aggro deck was able to power its way into the finals of the SCG Standard tourney last weekend, although it fell just short to another Aggro deck Boros Burn. As with most Naya decks it is able to take advantage of very some of the most efficient creatures available.  This deck is exactly as it is advertised, Aggro !!! With a huge concentration of beatdown creatures it works to rapidly close the gap from 20 to zero as quickly as possible and has the tool to do it.

 

The deck works on a very strong a linear path up the mana curve from one to three in an effort to clog the board with beaters. We start it off with Dryad Militant and Soldier of the Pantheon that both unchecked can start to swipe chunks off the opponents life total. Next are the Selesnya two drops with Voice of Resurgence which is amazing against control decks or removal in general and Fleecemane Lion which given the chance will turn into a Monstrous beast which opponents will be having fits to try and remove. Then we have continued profit in three drops from Boros Reckoner which can attack into small blockers and still push through damage or act as a brick wall against attackers and Loxodon Smiter which is basically a great 4/4 for three with some added value. The sole four drop creature in the deck is Ghor-Clan Rampager but it will most often be used for its Bloodrush ability to pump an attacking creature to push through extra damage to finish off the opponent. Moving over to the spells in the deck we start first with the ever useful Brave the Elements which with almost every creature being White, Ghor-Clan Rampager is the only exception, will be a key tool enabling alpha strike pushes past defenses to destroy the opponent or a way to ensure your creatures survive to fight through removal or as blockers against a flurry of attackers. The deck also sports two different charms with multiple useful modes to take advantage of. Selesnya Charm is capable of either giving a creature a boost with Trample to push for a kill, can exile a large creature as long as it has power of 5 or more, or is able to put a 2/2 Knight token onto the battlefield which is also White to take advantage of Brave the Elements as well. The other charm is Boros Charm which can be used as direct damage to scorch your enemy, is able to save all your permanents from destruction in a pinch, or will grant Double Strike to one of your creatures if you need it to deal a final blow to take you on a path to victory. The deck also takes advantage of the new mana fixing land Mana Confluence in order to smoothly run a three color manabase using a bare minimum of into play tapped lands.

The sheer power of this deck is sure to keep it performing for the next couple of months in Standard until Magic 2015 brings a new shake-up. Naya has often been the best in terms of value for creatures and this deck continues to prove that fact. Unless there is a major shift in the meta I don’t see why this deck won’t continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

Eric J Seltzer

@ejseltzer on Twitter

Email: ejseltzer@hotmail.com

comments
Eric Jeffrey Seltzer - May 14, 2014

UR Delver Legacy by Andrew Schneider (1st at SCG Knoxville on May 11t...

Champion’s Deck

Grim Lavamancer - UR Delver Legacy

UR Delver Legacy by Andrew Schneider

1st Place at StarCityGames Legacy Open on 5/11/2014
This is one of my favorite decks in legacy as it plays a very straightforward package of death and disruption in a counter/burn style package using my favorite guild color combo Izzet. UR Delver Legacy deck combines an extremely low mana curve using some of the most efficient and best spells with a marriage of the best elements of Blue in counter and draw power. It is destructive and decisive in obliterating its opponents and can seal the deal in a fast’n’furious fashion.

We start off with the namesake of the deck or what I like to call The Flying Lightning Bolt in Delver of Secrets which is supported by 28 ways to flip, and should always be close to 50/50 on a blind flip if deployed on turn one to really lay down the beats. That is coupled with beatdown king Goblin Guide as a second option for a great first turn play to start laying down the beats. Given the plethora of instants and sorceries in the deck we also have Snapcaster Mage to rebuy a key spell that you’ve already used and then work on laying down the beats. As you can see this deck is truly a weapon of mass destruction. Support player Grim Lavamancer can either help clear the way for your army or throw additional fire in their face and will often find the graveyard stocked with any of the many spells or fetchlands. The deck has a stockade of burn with full sets both of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning which at one Red mana for three damage are amazing, and easily reused by a Snapcaster. There is also a one of Forked Bolt which can clear two defenders or a dude and to the dome, and a pair of Price of Progress which in Legacy will mostly net either six or eight damage quite often sealing the deal. The counter suite is modest but necessary including format staple Force of Will to keep combo decks in check and Spell Pierce. We round it out with some draw power from Brainstorm, Ponder and Gitaxian Probe to ensure a steady stream of low cost threats continue flowing to your hand.

This deck never ceases to amaze me with its shear brilliance and simplicity. An incredibly powerful package of spells is woven together to provide the pilot with a simple yet deadly implement of annihilation ready to take on all comers. While it is truly an Aggro deck in its heart there is just enough countermagic to keep the unfair decks honest. And while there are several flavors of Delver decks to choose from this one is definitely a great choice given its consistency and will be a top contender for years to come.
Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
Email: ejseltzer@hotmail.com
comments
Eric Jeffrey Seltzer - May 12, 2014

Boros Burn standard by Tyler Winn (1st at SCG Knoxville Standard Open ...

Champion’s Deck

 

Chandra's Phoenix_Buy-a-box Promo - Boros Burn standard

Boros Burn by Tyler Winn

1st Place at StarCityGames Standard Open on 5/10/2014

Here’s a spicy little Aggro number that while by no means any sort of new concept is quite a sight for sore eyes. It’s nice to see that the Mono-Black Devotion (or more accurately now Golgari Devotion since rotation) was not able to reach the summit, although it did put three decks into the top 8. This is a powerful and fast deck which is highly capable of coming from out of nowhere and beating down the opponent in the blink of an eye.

 

The main focus of Boros burn is to throw burn spells at the opponents face in a fast and furious fashion. To that end we find 22 of the decks spells able to spew lightning to the dome, and additional burn from the decks removal. The varieties of burn come based off of how much damage they will do and land in three varieties doing either two, three or four damage. The starting point of the deck comes with our basic burn at one cost in Shock which is just a straight-up two point blast, but also with two points of burn we have Magma Jet which for its cost of two will also Scry 2 for the deck as some of its only ‘draw’ ability. Then we have three point burn both costing two with Lightning Strike and Skullcrack, but Skullcrack while not being able to target creature has the added value of shutting down lifegain AND damage prevention for the turn which can foil plans of many decks to try and recover from an initial onslaught. And finally we get to the four point burn spells with Boros Charm which will primarily be wasted of its other abilities to blast opponents to an early grave and Warleader’s Helix that will rebuild your life total if you have been under pressure already in the game. As a compliment to all of these burn spells the deck runs Chandra’s Phoenix that will no doubt be returned to hand anytime it has found its way into the graveyard. The other maindeck creature is Eidolon of the Great Revel which may seem like an odd choice seeing that this deck is packed with so many cheap spells but when you drop him you should be far enough ahead and using your burn is either an equal loss on life or you deal those crucial points extra. As the manabase allows for it there’s also a full set of Mutavault which often are those last points needed to seal the deal. For removal the deck is able to use any of the many burn spells of course but also includes Chained to the Rocks and Searing Blood which itself does double as a burn spell when you are able to rid the board of the intended target. For draw the deck has some Scry from both Magma Jet and Temple of Triumph, but also actual drawing from Wild Guess which can easily cycle unwanted lands later in the game. You’ll also notice that the deck eshews Boros Guildgate in favor of Mana Confluence in order to avoid any additional into play tapped lands which go directly against the speed of this deck.

 

So there we have another great contender to battle for control in this post Journey into Nyx metagame. It is well positioned to be the Standard format staple Aggro deck going forward. I would be very surprised if some style of this deck is unable to reach into the top 16 of the major tourneys going forward. I would be very confident to sleeve this up any weekend and expect to compete for the win.

Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on twitter