Kyle Boggemes
7/10/2012 10:50:00 AM
Hey All!

M13 has been fully spoiled and the set looks awesome! I'm going to go over some of the decklists I think will be strong for the next two weeks to get your creative juices flowing. Rather than stuffing too many decks into the same article, I'll give you some breathing room and break it up into two parts. It will also give me some more time to see what other writers and players come up with since it's going to be the topic of many articles.


My favorite time in the Standard cycle is when we have two advanced core sets legal because it gives us so much opportunity. It might seem silly, but I love the options to nit-pick over what slots I want. Each core set essentially has the same spells, but they have a slight variation on cards already in the format which gives me additional room to brew.

Murder, Go for the Throat, or Doom Blade?

Farseek or Sphere of the Suns?

Sublime Archangel or Hero of Bladehold?

Divination or Divination?

Duress or Distress?

You get the point. We have plenty of options to toy around with until Return to Ravnica is released.

Something to note about M13 is the reduction in power level. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited for this set, but it's nothing compared to M12.

Ponder vs. Index
Mana Leak vs. Essence Scatter
Titans vs. not Titans
Day of Judgment vs. Planar Cleansing
Phantasmal Image vs. Clone

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing because everyone has to play with weaker cards once M12 rotates along with the Scars block. This was most evident when Champions of Kamigawa came in to balance out the over-powered nature of the Mirrodin block.

Let's begin shall we?


Get ‘Er Dunnnnnnnnngrove

Get 'er Dungrove by Kyle Boggemes Main Deck Sideboard 1 Bellowing Tanglewurm 3 Birds of Paradise 4 Dungrove Elder 4 Llanowar Elves 2 Phyrexian Metamorph 4 Strangleroot Geist 1 Thragtusk 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 3 Viridian Emissary 1 Yeva, Nature's Herald Creatures [24] 2 Dismember 4 Green Sun's Zenith 4 Rancor 3 Sword of War and Peace Spells [13] 23 Forest Lands [23] Deck Total [60] View a Sample Hand! Solitaire this Deck! Click for full deck stats & notes!

Rancor changes some card choices and will take some time to get a feel for it. I didn't play Magic during Urza block and haven't had much experience Rancor. So far the card is as powerful as people say it is which is nice for the green mages. It seems as though it's easy to be green for once.

Things I changed because of Rancor:

1) Nothing but Sword of War and Peace - Sword of Feast and Famine has protection from green which takes all the fun out of smashing with Rancor. I would prefer the red/white sword to hit for a damage because the land untapping ability is weaker with mana dorks. The fact that Rancor wants to kill the opponent as soon as possible also makes me want triggers that Deal Damage.

Something else about Rancor to keep in mind is that you don't want to go overboard with creature pumps. I originally began with four Sword of War and Peace, but eight enhancement spells is too much of a good thing. To compensate for Rancor, I switched a sword for a Phyrexian Metamorph to copy Dungrove Elder or opposing swords (or my own).

Rancor makes your deck more aggressive than usual which leads me to my next change.

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Yeva, Nature's Herald

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2) Viridian Emissary over Rampant Growth - Rancor wants a target and I don't mind throwing away this 2/1 or my recurring enchantment. What better way to say “kill my Viridian Emissary” than to slap a threatening enchantment on it?

So Rancor made some fundamental changes to the deck - it's more aggro than midrange. What other changes did I make because of M13?

Arbor Elf over Birds of Paradise - I originally began with Arbor Elf because I want to Deal Damage faster, but the evasion from Birds of Paradise is too good to pass up. Since I have Dismember and Phyrexian Metamorph, it's nice to have access to blue and black mana.

Yeva, Nature's Herald - I really like this card and I can see myself playing more than one copy. Don't underestimate flash because Restoration Angel and Snapcaster Mage are two of the best creatures in the format. Something the past has taught us is that aggressively costed creatures that have flash are very good.

Thragtusk - He got plenty of hype in the spoiler season and for good reason. I would likely include more copies of this guy in the sideboard against decks that want to race or 1 for 1 you with removal. Green has so many different things to do at 5 mana so it's tough to decide what cards are worth more slots. I was struggling between maindecking this and Acidic Slime and they both might be worth playing.

It might seem natural to add a bunch of one-ofs to a deck with four Green Sun's Zenith, but when I go through my game plan, I typically want to search for a small selection of creatures. Dungrove Elder is so powerful in this deck that I will search for it when I can get 4 and 5 drops.

Rancor needs a home and Get ‘er Dungrove seems like the perfect spot.

It just so happens that Magic-League.com had their first tournament featuring M13 cards last week. A certain Dungrove Elder took the top spot and had a similar idea.

Get 'er Dungrove by Kabelis Finished 1st Place at Magic-League M13 Trial Tournament - 7/3/12 Main Deck Sideboard 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Dungrove Elder 3 Llanowar Elves 2 Phyrexian Metamorph 3 Skinshifter 2 Strangleroot Geist 3 Ulvenwald Tracker 1 Wolfir Silverheart Creatures [22] 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter Planeswalkers [1] 2 Dismember 4 Green Sun's Zenith 1 Mutagenic Growth 3 Rancor 1 Ranger's Path 3 Sword of Feast and Famine Spells [14] 23 Forest Lands [23] Deck Total [60] 2 Act of Aggression 1 Batterskull 1 Bellowing Tanglewurm 1 Crushing Vines 1 Dismember 1 Primeval Titan 1 Stingerfling Spider 2 Thragtusk 4 Torpor Orb 1 Wolfir Silverheart Sideboard [15] View a Sample Hand! Solitaire this Deck! Click for full deck stats & notes!

I don't like all of these pump spells with Sword of Feast and Famine. Ulvenwald Tracker is an interesting tutor target, but I don't want to play three copies. I also think Kabelis underrated the power of Bellowing Tanglewurm - a fatal mistake. On the other hand, he did win the tournament so who am I to judge?

Another direction to take Rancor is infect where it essentially deals four damage. This is exactly what redcell did and managed a top 3 finish at the same magic-league tournament.

Monogreen Infect by redcell Finished 3rd - 4th Place at Magic-League M13 Trial Tournament - 7/3/12 Main Deck Sideboard 4 Blight Mamba 4 Glistener Elf 4 Ichorclaw Myr Creatures [12] 3 Apostle's Blessing 3 Gut Shot 3 Livewire Lash 4 Mutagenic Growth 4 Rancor 3 Ranger's Guile 3 Titanic Growth 4 Wild Defiance Spells [27] 17 Forest 4 Inkmoth Nexus Lands [21] Deck Total [60] 1 Apostle's Blessing 2 Corrosive Gale 3 Hunger of the Howlpack 4 Mental Misstep 3 Naturalize 1 Putrefax 1 Rot Wolf Sideboard [15] View a Sample Hand! Solitaire this Deck! Click for full deck stats & notes!

Although Rancor is not for everyone please consult with your doctor to see if it's right for you. A mid-range deck such as Birthing Pod would rather skip on Rancor and play large amounts of creatures that aren't great at attacking early, but have great abilities.

This infect deck got a great upgrade in Rancor and it will perhaps be a force to be reckoned with in the new Standard. I felt it was close to being powerful in pre-M13 Standard, but Rancor can put it over the top.

UW Delver

Although M13 didn't provide us with a cool cantrip (I wonder why), we still got a fun new card for blue decks - Augur of Bolas. He may seem underwhelming at first glance, but it's my favorite card from the new set. This guy is very similar to Snapcaster Mage except the card you cast is from the top of your deck rather than your graveyard. I am more than willing to accept a powered-down version of Snapcaster Mage if it means I get to play more than four.

UW Delver by Kyle Boggemes Main Deck Sideboard 2 Augur of Bolas 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Geist of Saint Traft 3 Restoration Angel 4 Snapcaster Mage Creatures [17] 4 Gitaxian Probe 2 Gut Shot 4 Mana Leak 4 Ponder 2 Runechanter's Pike 4 Thought Scour 4 Vapor Snag Spells [24] 4 Glacial Fortress 8 Island 2 Moorland Haunt 1 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast Lands [19] Deck Total [60] View a Sample Hand! Solitaire this Deck! Click for full deck stats & notes!

This deck doesn't offer too much from M13, but it should illustrate the best way to incorporate Augur into Delver. The traditional Delver decks play upwards of 22 lands, 2 equipments, and a minimum of 12 creatures (Delver, Snapcaster, and Restoration Angel). That leaves us with 24 instants and sorceries if we don't even count Augur hmself which gives us a minimum of 23 instants and sorceries. Augur is interesting because as you play more copies in your deck, the lower your chances of hitting an instant or sorcery.

I want Runechanter's Pike in the list with Augur because it gives you an incentive to play tons of cantrips and less lands. Who wants 22 lands when you can cut them for more cards that you want to see with augur's ability? it also gives you a reason to have the 1/3 body in your deck aside from chump blocking.

One of Augur's creature types are also important - Wizard. You might say the merfolk type is important, but the tribe doesn't promote playing tons of instants and sorceries. The legacy Merfolk lists play AEther Vial which implies you have a ton of creatures (at least 20).

The wizard creature type changes the dynamic of Cavern of Souls if you play it. When you name wizard, you're able to cast Delver of Secrets, Augur of Bolas, and Snapcaster Mage. The problem with this is that you want as few lands as possible and adding cavern will probably mean you're cutting Moorland Haunt.

Enough about Delver Aggro decks, Augur of Bolas can go into other blue decks. One of my other favorite cards from M13 is a dear friend of mine-Rewind.

UW Midrange by Kyle Boggemes Main Deck Sideboard 4 Augur of Bolas 3 Phantasmal Image 4 Restoration Angel 4 Snapcaster Mage Creatures [15] 3 Gitaxian Probe 2 Gut Shot 2 Mana Leak 4 Ponder 4 Rewind 2 Sword of Feast and Famine 4 Thought Scour 4 Vapor Snag Spells [25] 4 Glacial Fortress 9 Island 2 Moorland Haunt 1 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast Lands [20] Deck Total [60] View a Sample Hand! Solitaire this Deck! Click for full deck stats & notes!

This deck looks so fun I want to play it in a tournament right now. There's a lot going on with this deck so let's get right down to business.

4 Augur of Bolas - This guy is so good with Restoration Angel that I want enough instants and sorceries to hit a majority of the time. I could play twenty targets for him, but that's cutting it close. Playing less than twenty would be foolish because that's less than a third of your deck and you're looking at the top 3 for a card to add to your hand.

You might be noticing a trend with my auger decks - low land counts. Blue has more cantrips in Standard than ever before (if my memory serves me well) and we need to take advantage of that. I would love to add Sun Titan or Consecrated Sphinx to this deck, but the extra spaces are reserved to more instants and sorceries. If you play decks like this, be sure to have a counter open for Geist of Saint Traft because Phantasmal Image is one of the few ways to stop it.

It may seem like I'm really trying to force Augur into decks when it might not be that good, but I'm fairly confident it's the real deal. I have fond memories of Court Hussar in Standard (it was in every deck I played) and this guy may be better because he can be blinked (blunk?) successfully.

The other new card I'm interested in playing is Rewind. Was WOTC aware that Rewind creates one of the best turn 4 combos in Standard? Restoration Angel was already insane, but they made it so much better by having it come into play and counter a spell on the same turn (and blink Augur).

Not only does Restoration Angel come into play turn 4 as well as cast another powerful spell, but Augur of Bolas gives you more strong comes into play abilities to abuse. My original list had four Blade Splicers, but they were very unimpressive. It's no way to stop a Geist of Saint Traft and I barely cast it when I had to chance to leave up other spells. I couldn't leave myself completely vulnerable to Geist so I added Phantasmal Images in their place to keep Mage-Blade honest. Image also created great turns where I would copy Restoration Angel which would blink Snapcaster Mage or Augur of Bolas.

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Restoration Angel

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Sam Black is credited with creating the Delverless Delver deck (UW Midrange), but it had later evolved into Esper Midrange. Why would I cut the black and go backwards with Vapor Snag? The reason I did this is because the third color makes you play additional lands to not get color screwed. Blue and White would allow me to play as few lands as possible to get the most for my augurs. Rewind is another late game spell that replaces the heavy-hitters because I don't want to tap out often.

Augur is a very good card if you dedicate your entire deck to it. Many control decks (especially white ones) want to play Oblivion Ring and that just won't cut it.

I began with four Mana Leak and four Rewind, but it was too many counters versus a field of Cavern of Souls. Don't get me wrong, Mana Leak is great, but Rewind creates the large tempo swings and I needed to make room. My idea turn two play is Augur of Bolas anyway so leak is weaker in this particular list. My blue decks often begin with four Gitaxian Probe before adding Thought Scour, but it got much better with Rewind. I know fantasy land is nice, but you don't always have Restoration Angel to cast afterward. An alternative use of your mana after a Rewind is casting Thought Scour and flashing it back with Snapcaster Mage. Thought Scour also provides you with a one-mana cantrip to cast after Restoration Angel blinks out Snapcaster Mage.

You need an equipment in this deck to give Augur of Bolas something to do in the mid-game (aside from blinking out). I like Sword of Feast and Famine because this deck doesn't try to kill as quickly as most blue decks. It would be crazy to not play one of these two swords (War and Peace or Feast and Famine) in a deck that focuses on casting Restoration Angel.

The third deck in the top 3 of that same Magic-League tournament was Delverless Delver. Let's see what he/she did differently:

UW Midrange by nikkeitea Finished 2nd Place at Magic-League M13 Trial Tournament - 7/3/12 Main Deck Sideboard 4 Blade Splicer 2 Phantasmal Image 4 Restoration Angel 4 Snapcaster Mage 1 Sun Titan Creatures [15] 2 Gideon Jura 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage Planeswalkers [3] 1 Batterskull 2 Day of Judgment 4 Gitaxian Probe 1 Gut Shot 3 Mana Leak 4 Ponder 4 Vapor Snag Spells [19] 1 Cavern of Souls 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Glacial Fortress 8 Island 4 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast Lands [23] Deck Total [60] 1 Batterskull 2 Celestial Purge 1 Consecrated Sphinx 1 Day of Judgment 3 Hero of Bladehold 3 Mental Misstep 1 Negate 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage 2 Timely Reinforcements Sideboard [15] View a Sample Hand! Solitaire this Deck! Click for full deck stats & notes!

This deck doesn't tell us much about the new cards since the pilot declined to play any of them!

I spent a fair amount of time dealing with blue decks because they're my favorite. Rancor is likely one of the reasons to make me jump ship, but Rewind and Augur of Bolas are so tempting. Next week I will spend my time on the non-blue colors because each one got some goodies in M13.

If you want me to write about a specific card you don't feel is getting the attention it deserves, let me know in the comments (don't worry, I'll have a Gilded Lotus deck next time!).

That's all for this week; thanks for reading!

-Kyle