With Pro Tour Magic Origins just a few days away I am getting very excited to see what the pros will make of this new standard format. Star City Games has had two standard tournaments since the release of Magic Origins which have introduced some interesting changes in the metagame. Let’s take a look at some of the new decks and take some guesses at what the pros will bring out of their testing boot camps.
Rally decks:
In both the Chicago and the Richmond Open, there were decks that utilized Rally the Ancestors to exciting, combo filled goodness. Matthew Tickal brought a Five Color Rally deck to Chicago. Though he only placed 34th, the deck was awesome to watch. Ray Tuatic won the Richmond Open with an Abzan Rally deck. The plan of both decks is to fill their graveyard with three or less casting cost creatures, bring them all back with Rally the Ancestors, then use Mogis’s Marauder to give Nantuko Husk intimidate and haste. The excess creatures are sacrificed to pump Nantuko Husk into a big threat that hopefully can not be blocked. The Nantuko Husk can then sacrifice himself to be back in the graveyard for the next rally. Like most combo decks, this deck will be weak against decks that are ready for them, whether it be hate cards like Hallowed Moonlight or decks that happen to have black or artifact creatures.
Artifact control decks:
Speaking of artifact creatures, there is a control deck that is making great use of them. A blue white version was seen in the top 8 of Chicago and a blue black version was seen in the top 16 of Richmond. Both use Darksteel Citadel and Hangarback Walker to turn on Thopter Spy Network and get their Bitterblossom on. Both decks rely on planeswalkers for a more consistent win condition, but chipping away with 1/1 fliers is not totally out of the question.
Constellation decks:
Abzan constellation is an updated version of the old green black version. John Taylor piloted it to an 8th place finish in Richmond. Herald of the Pantheon makes all but two of the other main deck spells cheaper. The new cards white offers to the deck are Sigil of the Empty Throne , Starfield of Nyx, and Banishing Light. The enchantment density of this deck is very impressive. Not many decks can run 25 enchantments.
Parting thoughts:
We will probably see a good amount of Green Devotion decks and conventional Abzan decks which both did well in Chicago and Richmond. Jeskai and Blue White Heroic will probably make a strong showing too. I am hoping to see either a goblins deck use Goblin Piledriver or a white deck make use of Archangel of Tithes. And fingers crossed that some brewer shows up in the feature match area with a Demonic Pact or Pyromancer’s Goggles deck! Thanks for reading and happy watching!