I don’t play in a majorly developed metagame. This is ok with me, as it allows me to play cards that I want to play with for fun without really risking a lot. In my metagame, I usually have to watch out for atypical Bant or Esper varients, with Standard mainstays 5-Color Control and BW Tokens nary making a peep. So it is a real concern for my decks to have answers to some interesting cards.

sphinx

Now, I don’t allow this to greatly mar my deck design, but it does change my metagame slots. Keep this in mind when I post my decklists; I’m not JUST looking at the top decks when I design my sideboards and maindeck.

The reason I mention Sphinx of the Steel Wind is not necessarily that somebody mised one into play and trounced me; the deck that this was found resident was a deck built around Master Transmuter which when allowed to sit around with untapped blue mana can be a very powerful tool, fueling cards like Magister Sphinx and Sphinx Summoner.

harbingereldertimber

The same sort of situation arose a while back when I was just getting back into Standard. I played my usual intro deck, something with a lot of red cards that burn or blow up stuff to get a feel for what the scene was like. Treefolk Aggro made an appearance and trounced the field. Red has a hard time dealing with indestructible stuff being played for free. Leaf-Crowned Elder is the lynchpin of the deck, but learning that is difficult when you are new to the field. I’ll also note that this same deck went to Cogcon and took first in the pre-Reborn Standard event toppling Faeries and 5c Control in the process.

angelwallrhino

So interesting decks do show up and play, and I have to keep an open mind when designing my own deck. After reading Louis Scott-Vargus’s latest article condemning Midrange strategies, I looked at my Bant deck in a different light. Now, I don’t think anyone should just outright drop a particular strategy, since the keys to success lie in preserving your options.

noblesquirek nigget

Bant needed to pick a direction; it played a clunky aggro game and an even more unweildy control game. My wife’s original idea for the deck was to get Wall of Reverence into play and follow up with Stoic Angel, all the while keeping the game out of reach for aggro decks behind lifegain and the Angel’s anti-swarm ability. Against Control, you get out early exalted creatures and beat in. The problem arose when you started drawing walls against control and beaters against aggro; you were outclassed.

I’ve decided I’m going to try and focus on the control route, albeit a non-traditional control route. I don’t have Cryptic Commands, so those of you looking for phenominal cosmic power will only find an itty-bitty living space. I am basing this on the idea that aggro will be dominating my meta and the few control decks I run into can be sideboarded effectively. Seeing one of my innovations gaining notoriety has given a little more confidence. The sideboard may see tweaks here and there, but the idea is to hide behind walls while my evasive attackers get pumped from exalted utility creatures.

Let’s do this!