Metagaming in the dark for Standard post-Barcelona

Right now Standard is an exciting place to explore. With Cascade Swans going from rogue to “the deck to beat” it is certainly changing the way we look at “good decks”. Remember when playing Windbrisk Heights was pretty much the most broken thing you could do in the format? Well those decks can’t really beat Swans.

I remember when I felt the format shifting to aggro and that Thoughtseize was becoming a sub-par card. Well, now Thoughtseize and Tidehollow Sculler keep BW Tokens in the game. Other token variants without those cards should pretty much disappear. Then again the ones that are ready for Swans won’t be winning a mirror match against BW that wasn’t prepared for Swans.

You should be seeing Pithing Needle as the most popular played sideboard card. Swans should probably ship a Maelstrom Pulse to the main to get ready for the horde of hate that will be lurking in the darkness of the opponent’s deck in this post-Barcelona metagame.

There are so many different decks out there right now that I can only imagine what will emerge from this card pool. Red decks are dying, along with things that don’t have disruption to stop Swans. 

I imagine Double Negative being seriously considered for the colors of a deck. Perhaps UBR with right kind of sweepers, control and disruption. Thoughtseize, Double Negative, Cryptic Command, Volcanic Fallout, Magma Spray blah blah blah. 

Magma Spray is becoming one of my favorite removal cards right now. Hitting Murderous Redcap, Kitchen Finks, Tidehollow Sculler and Knight of the White Orchid for BW tokens. Those other aggro decks carry Jund Hackblade, Tattermunge Maniac, Anathemancer, Figure of Destiny, Noble Hierarch, Llanowar Elves, Bramblewood Paragon, Imperious Perfect, Steward of Valeron, Qasali Pridemage. Faeries lose their Mutavault, Sower of Temptation, Scion of Oona, and Vendilion Clique. All of this also helps Putrid Leech’s case as becoming an astounding 2nd turn creature. Puncture Blast is also looking good for getting rid of the Leech and those Persisters. It also knocks a Treetop Village and Wren’s Run Vanquisher off the ground and Cloudgoat Ranger out of the sky. 

This is how I rate the current decks.

1. Swans. It is easy to play and fun. It wins games even through the hate and the current decks just can’t compete against it. Grinding has a little bit of a chance if it hits well enough because it can stop them from going online with Seismic Assault effectively. Then again Swans has Primal Command.

2. BW tokens. Everyone likes it, and it can easily adapt to become a 50/50 win against Swans with Seize and Sculler with Pithing Needle in there.

3. Faeries. They are coming back because R/x aggro decks have been on a constant decline since the beginning of the season. They are the Fae. Without red violently scaring them, they have nothing to hold them back anymore.

4. Planeswalker Control. A 5 color control deck that cuts Cruel Ultimatum and helps the mana base. It can also wield Double Negative, which at its worse is a 3 mana counterspell, which is nothing to scoff at. It has lots of control to beat Swans and is very innovative with Obelisk of Alara.

Seattle is literally so wide open for possibilities right now, Tier 2 decks that no one is expecting can turn around and smack you down.

Backing up a couple weekends, I was at regionals in Pittsburgh finishing with a top 16 seat. I played very well that day, had food to keep me going, and passed up more play testing the night before for sleep which is what I would recommend to any person seriously considering doing well at a tournament.

I was only running 2 Ajani Goldmane, when I should have played a 3rd. Also, 4 Zealous Persecution in the main instead of only 3. I knew I was going to play token decks all day long. 6 of the 8 rounds I went against were token based games. Ajani and Persecution were my all-stars. I knew they would be, should have went with my gut. I could have easily cut Marshflitters for those additions.

Something that kind of deterred me from lingering on that tournament’s results were that almost all of those lists are irrelevant right now. The entire metagame has shifted in such a way after Barcelona that the Regionals in the states seem like years ago. I am excited for what happens after Seattle.

I can see the top 8 now. Faeries with hate for Swans. B/G Elves with hate for Swans. Tokens with serious disruption for Swans. Also some rogue deck that preys on the new focus of Swans. We shall see.

Dillon