Return to Forgotten Planes
Features
SnowMage87
3 December 2010
1178 views
3 December 2010
1178 views
Tiers of Standard Meta
Discuss Tier 1
Discuss Tier 2
Sample Deck List
We have returned to Mirrodin and it has changed the Standard as we knew it. This Standard is as wide open as I can remember it has ever been. I can think of 11 Competitive decks right now in Standard. Today we are going to take a look at these decks and how it is a brave new world.
First we start with a ranking of the 11 decks that you will be trying to beat you face in. Now I am not sure how every decks falls from 1-12 but they are 2 tiers so we will break it down to that.
Goblins
R/U/G Control
U/B Control
Tier 2
U/W Control
Elves
Quest WW
Boros Aggro
Eldrazi Ramp
Valakut Ramp
Vampires
Pyromancer Ascension
First we look at Red Deck Wins. This is not last formats RDW this time its all about the Goblin love. Kuldotha Rebirth is the power house of the deck and plays very well with Goblin Bushwhacker and Goblin Chieftain. Now with that said this deck can win with out drawing Rebirth at all. As for sac bait for the Rebirth we got Basilisk Collar, Chimeric Mass, Panic Spellbomb, Trusty Machete, Mox Opal, and Memnite. Which all are cheap and helps in its on way. You got a few Equipment some creatures and Spellbomb can make a guy useless in combat and draw you a card. This is the fastest deck in the format and because of that and the control filled Meta that takes 3-4 turns to set up makes it one of the best decks.
Next we take a look at R/U/B Control. Now this decks has ramp, counters, draw, it can even blow up lands and has every control players new best friend, Frost Titan. I think everyone knows by now just how great Jace, the Mind Sculptor is so we will not go into that. Like most control decks Jace and Frost Titan is this deck win cons. But this deck has ramp like Lotus Cobra, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Explore just help this deck get there faster while it slows you down. Goblin Ruinblaster really is a great way to slow the other guy deck time for you to drop your win card.
Now we are going to take a look at a deck that really was based off W/U control but after Scars hit just really does a better job at it, so I am talking about U/B Control. I really like this deck with Mimic Vat. Stealing or reusing power guys for only 3 mana just seems good to me. The creature line up in this deck really can be so different depending on who is playing it. But I will give you a run down of what can be played. Abyssal Persecutor, Grave Titan, Sea Gate Oracle, Frost Titan, Trinket Mage, and Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Black just has flat out better spot removal then white right now and is why this deck is so sound.
So now that we are going to look at Tier 2. Now this is what I mean when I say that this format is just wide open. Now some of these decks are around because they were big players in last format oh that they give you a good match up vs one of the top decks now.
U/W has lost Oblivion Ring a great answer for many thing but the biggest being Planeswalkers. It also lost Path to Exile a lot better answer then Condemn flat out. Now this deck can still win and does but it has a harder time. But being able to run so many good Planeswalker is why this deck is still getting the job done. Gideon Jura and Jace, the Mind Sculptor is still the deck win cards and it also has Frost Titan too.
Eldrazi Ramp and Valakut Ramp both have falling because of so many good control decks running around. To try to be a top deck something is going to happen that makes control match up better. Which I don't see much that either deck could do top do this so best bet is hope next set gives these decks something to revive them.
Pyromancer Ascension lost Time Warp which many thought would kill the deck but Mana Leak helping to holding off other decks to be able to combo out. I think this deck can still stick around until Ascension leaves but maybe there will be a card in the next set or two to bring it back to the top.
Vampires, Elves, Quest WW, Boros Aggro all try to be faster the control and sometime they can be which is why all these decks see play. The format write now just seems to be more about control the aggro so for know these deck just have to try to stay faster then control.
Boros Aggro Sample
Legacy
502 VIEWS
Vampire Sample
Modern
376 VIEWS
Quest WW Sample
Legacy
632 VIEWS
Valakut Ramp Sample
Modern
440 VIEWS
Eldrazi Ramp Sample
Modern
429 VIEWS
Pyromancer Ascension Sample
Legacy
414 VIEWS
Elves Sample
Modern
358 VIEWS
U/W Control Sample
Legacy
361 VIEWS
U/B Control Sample
Legacy
315 VIEWS
R/U/G Control Sample
Legacy
328 VIEWS
Goblins RDW Sample
Modern
531 VIEWS
I love playing this Standard and really cant wait to see how things play out in the next few months and as we move along this block.
Can we see that u/b deck you were talking about?
@Crossclimber most RUG decks are running 4x vengevines and have the Trinket Mage /Memnite combo ready to yank him out of the graveyard.
December 3, 2010 2:51 a.m.
jacelightning says... #3
I think valakut should have been included in the tier 1 decks. I know it's completely noninteractive with the opponent, but it still has a pretty powerful interaction and combos off to consistently kill people.
Also as far as red decks go Kuldotha is just one deck, but the Big Red strategy with Koth, Masticores, etc. is also seeing some play but is quite clearly tier 2 in the format unless you catch your metagame by surprise.
December 3, 2010 7:26 a.m.
typos are my fault. let me know what they are I will go back in and fix them, sorry
December 3, 2010 11:10 a.m.
ok fixed up some of the editing and some of the decks that could not be seen before are there now. Sorry for the inconvenience.
December 3, 2010 11:15 a.m.
SnowMage87 says... #6
Hey Squire, every time it says r/u/b it need to be r/u/g, my bad lol, at least it was right on the sample deck list, thanks
December 3, 2010 1:04 p.m.
SnowMage87 says... #7
@Crossclimber you make some good points but when I look and try to figure out whats best what tier what deck should be in, I look at results of Tournaments because its all I really can do. I wish there was more Tournaments to look at but I work with what I got and everything I see points to them 3 being the best deck because they win or top 8. But I do see what you are talking about maybe Worlds will define the Meta better
December 3, 2010 1:13 p.m.
zerotimestatechamp says... #8
I wasn't going to say anything but this paragraph was too distracting:
Vampires, Elves, Quest WW, Boros Aggro all try to be faster the control and sometime(s) they can be which is why all these decks see play(runon sentence). The format write(right) now just seems to be more about control the(than) aggro so for know(now) these deck just have to try to stay faster then control.
December 3, 2010 10:58 p.m.
Hey, ramp decks are really powerful against control decks, considering control has no good targets for their counters as both ramp creatures and ramp spells are either a countered, and then there is no answer to their titan, or they get to a large number of mana, and the control player just has to hope they can stabilize. Aggro is the deck that is good against ramp as the ramp has nothing but lightning bolt to stop them. Both ramp decks are tier one. And in many cases U/W can be better then U/B depending on the metagame, day of judgement is still day of judgement. Also there is a W/G quest deck that is supposedly much more powerful than the WW counterpart.
December 4, 2010 1:51 p.m.
I also find some of your decklists to be unorthodox. I have never seen U/W running luminarch m/b for example.
December 4, 2010 1:54 p.m.
SnowMage87 says... #11
Kurt Speiss Top 8 StarCityGames Standard Open in Boston with that deck list that where I got it. Luminarch Ascension main is new but it seems the work
December 4, 2010 3:06 p.m.
i find it hard to believe that a vampire deck that didn't have a single Doom Blade in it.
or Captivating Vampire but oh well it was just a sample.
question though, who are those people in the descriptions of the decks? are those well known users of the deck type?
December 4, 2010 6:20 p.m.
SnowMage87 says... #14
@Legendinc that vamp deck was more rush and yes if there is a name then it mean that peeson top 16 with that decklist
@Leafs_suck I wish infect was better, I love playing it I go 3-1 every time I play it at FNM
December 5, 2010 10:23 p.m.
Valakut is still definately the most played deck out there right now. It's tier 1 for sure.
December 6, 2010 12:49 p.m.
i bet you anything once Mirrodin Besieged comes out, Infect will break top 5 if not top 10 FNM deck styles.
December 6, 2010 1:39 p.m.
I wouldn't be surprised.
WIZARDS! GIVE US OUR INFECT 1 DROP! DON'T MAKE IT SUCK!
crossclimber says... #1
This is a good overview of things but I was hoping for more. What exactly is your criteria for Tier 1 and Tier 2? Why play certain decks? What are the good and bad match-ups for each deck. If my meta is aggro heavy should I play UW, UB, Ramp or just go aggro too? Which deck do you play most often and why?
One of the most exciting things about this format is that the line between Tier 1 and 2 is very blurry right now and any of the decks you've listed have a chance at winning these days.
A few other notes. In your tier 1 decks it should be RUG (with green not Black as the 3rd color) (several other typos that I'm surprised editing didn't catch...). I'm pretty sure Valakut, and Eldrazi green are both tier 1 decks and I'm pretty sure UW Control never left that spot. Kuldotha Red is borderline tier 1 and I'm pretty sure Boros is faster and more versatile so it should be above Kuldotha Red. Sadly I think the line of Tier 1 and Tier two decks can almost be said "Decks playing Jace 2.0 and Primeval Titan = Tier 1, Every other deck = Tier 2"
Another interesting thing to note is the almost complete lack of Vengevine (only played in Elves), a card which dominated standard less than 6 months ago and is still Standard legal!
December 3, 2010 12:21 a.m.