4 Sylvan Caryatid<\/a>
4 Courser of Kruphix<\/a>
3 Scavenging Ooze<\/a>
2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa<\/a>
2 Archangel of Thune<\/a>
1 Lifebane Zombie<\/a>
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council<\/a>
Spells (11)<\/span>
4 Advent of the Wurm<\/a>
4 Hero’s Downfall<\/a>
3 Abrupt Decay<\/a>
Enchantments (4)<\/span>
2 Underworld Connections<\/a>
2 Banishing Light<\/a>
Plainswalkers (3)<\/span>
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes<\/a>
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion<\/a>
<\/td>
4 Temple of Plenty<\/a>
4 Overgrown Tomb<\/a>
4 Temple of Silence<\/a>
3 Godless Shrine<\/a>
3 Temple of Malady<\/a>
3 Temple Garden<\/a>
2 Forest<\/a>
1 Swamp<\/a>
1 Mana Confluence<\/a>
Sideboard (15)<\/span>
1 Underworld Connection<\/a>
2 Lifebane Zombie<\/a>
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council<\/a>
2 Bile Blight<\/a>
2 Golgari Charm<\/a>
2 Putrefy<\/a>
1 Erebos, God of the Dead<\/a>
2 Thoughtseize<\/a>
2 Sin Collector<\/a>
Ah, finally a golgari based deck doing work in Standard. \u00a0Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord<\/a> has been sad for so long! \u00a0Unfortunately, this man is not apart of the deck we’re looking at, but that’s a whole different story. \u00a0With the addition of Temple of Malady, G\/B now has it’s much needed scry land, and there was no doubt some very powerful cards in this color combination that people have not been playing for this reason alone. \u00a0In fact, a good mana base is the most important thing in a deck, and a big reason to play this list. \u00a0Not only does it have a good mana base, it has an exceptional one!<\/p>\n White Sources: 19 (4 Plenty, 4 Silence, 3 Shrine, 3 Garden, 1 Confluence, 4 Caryatid)<\/p>\n Black Sources: 20 (4 Tomb, 4 Silence, 3 Shrine, 3 Malady, 1 Confluence, 1 Swamp, 4 Caryatid)<\/p>\n Green Sources: 21 (4 Plenty, 4 Tomb, 3 Malady, 3 Garden, 2 Forest, 1 Confluence, 4 Caryatid)<\/p>\n Certainly this is a great starting place, but what if I told you it got better? Well it does, enter: Courser of Kruphix<\/a>. \u00a0This guy has already made an impact in standard, finding his main home in G\/R Monsters up until this point; however, I think this deck is Courser’s real home. \u00a0Courser pairs exceptionally well with a lot of cards in our list, lets take a look at all of the ways we can take advantage of gaining a life, seeing the top card of our decks, and playing lands.<\/p>\n Figure 1: Gaining life: Archangel of Thune<\/a> Mana Confluence<\/a> Underworld Connections<\/a><\/p>\n Courser’s ability to gain life off of playing lands lends us large advantages and will often cause our opponents to want our big-behind-ed friend dead, and dead fast. \u00a0Courser provides 4 Additional Outlets to Archangel, giving us some ridiculous anthem sequences when in combination with scavenging ooze. \u00a0This ability also lets us play Mana Confluence essentially for free, providing great fixing for a deck that wants to play some many cards with double different colored sources in their cmc. \u00a0It also lets us use underworld connections for free at times, which changes underworld connections text to read: “Land gains Tap, draw 2”<\/p>\n Figure 2: seeing the top of our library: Ajani, Mentor of Heroes<\/a> Underworld Connections<\/a><\/p>\n I already hinted about how powerful courser is in combination with underworld connections, but lets take a look at the new kid on the block: Ajani.<\/p>\n One reason this guy is so great in this list is because of Courser of Kruphix. \u00a0Sure, courser only lets you see the top card, not the next 3; however, these 2 in combination are perfect for a mid-range strategy. \u00a0Against control decks, you can either make any of your guys a threat, or gain card advantage and filtering. \u00a0Against aggro decks, you can make insurmountable walls or gain 100 life! \u00a0Ajani is extremely flexible and having both of his abilities be a + is a very strong trait.<\/p>\n Figure 3:\u00a0http:\/\/wiki.mtgsalvation.com\/article\/Scry<\/p>\n I’m not sure if I’ve hammered this home yet enough or not, but here goes. \u00a0Courser works very well with scry lands. \u00a0Playing a land from the top of your deck is essentially drawing a card, then being able to scry your next card if you so choose, is also like .5 card advantage. \u00a0This interaction helps smooth your draws and dig for whatever answer you may need, which is perfect for mid-range.<\/p>\n I think that Banishing Light<\/a> might just be self explanatory, \u00a0so lets move onto the next interesting card in this list: Advent of the Wurm<\/a> \u00a0This is an extremely interesting choice of a 4 drop, let’s consider some Pro’s\/Con’s when compared to some alternatives at this slot:<\/p>\n Pro’s: Instant Speed, Essentially removal in some cases, Get’s around Lifebane Zombie<\/p>\n Con’s: Ajani can’t find this man, weak to dsphere\/bounce<\/p>\n Alternatives: Polukranos, World Eater<\/a> Desecration Demon<\/a> Reaper of the Wilds<\/a><\/p>\n This is certainly a highly contested spot, and we have no shortage of good options here. \u00a0I think the #1 reason to play this card over the others is the instant speed. \u00a0You’re able to sequence some unique interactions by having access to a 5\/5 at instant speed. \u00a0You can bluff opponents from attack, force a counter spell, or even sneak him in to kill on the swing back.<\/p>\n If you’re like me, you might be sleeving this guy up for your next standard event, lets take a look at the sideboard plan.<\/p>\n vs U\/W Control<\/p>\n Our plan vs Control is a sweet one, increase the power of our cards, diversify threats, attack their resources, land a resilient threat. \u00a0We are the tempo deck.<\/p>\n Out: 4 Sylvan Caryatid<\/a> 3 Scavenging Ooze<\/a> 2 Courser of Kruphix<\/a> 2 Archangel of Thune<\/a><\/p>\n In: 1 Underworld Connections<\/a> 1 Obzedat, Ghost Council<\/a> 2 Golgari Charm<\/a> 2 Thoughtseize<\/a> 2 Sin Collector<\/a> 1 Erebos, God of the Dead<\/a> 2 Lifebane Zombie<\/a><\/p>\n vs Aggro<\/p>\n Our plan is to stay alive here, the longer the game goes, the better. We are the control deck.<\/p>\n Out: 1 Obzedat, Ghost Council<\/a>, 2 Underworld Connections<\/a>, 1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion<\/a><\/p>\n In: 2 Bile Blight<\/a>, 2 Putrefy<\/a><\/p>\n vs G\/R Monsters<\/p>\n Stay alive, deny resources, kill their threats. \u00a0We are the control deck.<\/p>\n Out: 2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa<\/a>, 2 Underworld Connections<\/a>, 2 Sylvan Caryatid<\/a><\/p>\n In: 2 Lifebane Zombie<\/a>, 2 Putrefy<\/a>, 2 Thoughtseize<\/a><\/p>\n vs \u00a0B Devotion<\/p>\n Deny resources, trade efficiently, card advantage. \u00a0We are the control deck.<\/p>\n Out: 4 Sylvan Caryatid<\/a>, 1 Lifebane Zombie<\/a>, 2 Archangel of Thune<\/a>, 2 Scavenging Ooze<\/a><\/p>\n In: 2 Thoughtseize<\/a>, 2 Bile Blight<\/a>, 2 Sin Collector<\/a>, 1 Obzedat, Ghost Council<\/a>, 1 Erebos, God of the Dead<\/a>, 1 Underworld Connections<\/a><\/p>\n vs U Devotion<\/p>\n Kill creatures, stay alive, deny resources. \u00a0We are the control deck.<\/p>\n Out: 1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion<\/a>, 2 Underworld Connections<\/a>, 1 Lifebane Zombie<\/a>, 4 Sylvan Caryatid<\/a><\/p>\n In: 2 Bile Blight<\/a>, 2 Golgari Charm<\/a>, 2 Putrefy<\/a>, 2 Thoughtseize<\/a><\/p>\n Interestingly enough, these are not the only lines available for sideboard strategies, being in 3 colors gives us access to a lot of answers and as always the sideboard should be built around suring up matchups and answering the meta-game. \u00a0One example might be how in these instances we happen to the the control player a majority of the time, we could alternatively take a more aggressive stance with sideboarding and try to become the aggro decks at time. We have lines available to be able to play cards like mistcutter hydra<\/a>, vraska the unseen<\/a>, and Selsnya Charm<\/a>, Voice of Resurgence<\/a> So I really think it’s up to interpretation.<\/p>\n While I think I’m definitely the type of player who enjoys a good stuff deck that has a lot of game in a lot of matchups, there is another deck that I am very heavily considering right now that\u00a0I want to take a look at…<\/p>\n U\/W\/R Control<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n