Top Ten Popular Standard Cards You Hate To Play Against (But Love To Use)

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Deco_y

5 April 2012

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Helllllooooooooo Tappedout!

Generally the decks that get the most attention on the site, online, and otherwise are standard decks. Standard, along with other formats, have their staple cards that everyone uses. They're cards that you see all too often because they're:

A.) That good.
B.) They frustrate your opponents just as much as they make you squeal with joy.

Here are the best 10 examples of Jekyll & Hyde.

Inkmoth Nexus

How many times have you seen Acidic Slime come down and wipe out your Inkmoth Nexus or Seachrome Coast? I'm betting more then you'd like to see. With Delver, Zombie and Wolf Ramp decks getting the vast majority of the attention nowadays, Mr. (Sl)Mime has seen a decrease in play in competitive decks but it still doesn't get any less annoying in your friend's casual ramp deck. I've had him kill my Steel Hellkite more often then Snookie gets made fun of, and I just hate this card with a passion.

Why would you wanna play it? It can nuke any specialty land or a pesky artifact. With curses and cards like Call to the Kindred out there, it has only gotten more useful for sideboards.

Just the second(but most powerful) 3 CMC Planeswalker made, Miss Vess stormed back into fine standard form with the release of Innistrad and saw her price get to the $50 range in her prime. Not only does she support the traditional black themes of discard and sacrifice permenents, but at that convenient mana cost of 3, Sun Titan once again had a wonderful new weapon, and along with Unburial Rites, gave many players the motivation to build a deck around them. Having Lily pop up multiple times in a game should explain itself as to why it can be annoying, having to sacrifice multiple creatures or losing valuable cards out of your hand can lose you the game.

Why would you wanna play it? The ability to shorten your opponent's bench and clear out a valuable creature T3, such as a Grand Architect, can really turn a game around.

Now, I debated giving this slot to Geist of Saint Traft due to his current relevance in the meta but I decided to give it to Hero of Anorexia, I mean, Bladehold. The reasons? Giving two separate tokens that it buffs along with any other attacker you're sending your opponent's way, having a bigger body, and fitting well in a color that supports the ever loving shiz out of tokens. Besides, spirits will be getting some love on this list yet.

Anyways, playing against Bladehold is frustrating. The odds of your opponent having several damaging creatures such as Mirran Crusader and Champion of the Parish on the board, or a bunch of tokens from Lingering Souls are very good and to with Bladehold's boost, it can be difficult to deal with.

Why would you wanna play it? It can put up the extra damage you need to overrun your opponent and help get you more tokens on the field to benefit from Intangible Virtue.

Along with Ponder, Delver of Secrets  ^Flip has been a favorite 1 drop of blue 'walkers since Innistrad's release. The ability for a potential 3/2 flyer on turn 2 in huge. Most of the time you'll be showing them a Thought Scour, Think Twice, or a counter spell, which they more or less know is coming anyways. Have to chump it or waste removal on a 1 mana creature is a big advantage and unless you haven't noticed, blue likes to take advantage of you. Also, seeing Delver means there's a good chance of seeing a Runechanter's Pike. Great.

Why would you wanna play it? A 3/2 flyer ready to attack on turn 2 is a good way to put pressure on your opponent and put 'em on a clock. Control the rest of the game and you're giving yourself an excellent chance to win.

Quite possibly my favorite standard card to use right now(with Grand Architect right there as well), Dungeon Geists is a 3/3 flyer that taps balls out of that nasty Phyrexian Obliterator or creatures that benefit from attacking such as Predator Ooze. When that Ooze is yours, what a fother mucking piss off. Odds of them having a Drogskol Captain right there with him? Fairly high. Dammit.

Why would you wanna play it? Dungeon has an added bonus of being a strong control card while also having a very very useful body to go along with it. It has proven to be a powerful card used by the pros, and for good reason.

How powerful are these swords? They, along with Batterskull, got Stoneforge Mystic banned from standard along with He Who Shall Not Be Named. They were the Cher to Squadron Hawk's Sonny. With the rotation of Zendikar, it's home deck was destroyed but hope remained. B&M doesn't see much play anymore, but F&F and W&P still see play, especially War and Peace. It currently sells for $45 at my shop and is a 1-of in my spirit-of-innistrad deck(Who needs feature tokens? J/K. Support the site guys!). Each sword has a relevant ability, whether is be making wolves, untapping lands or dealing damage where it hurts. Above all else, protection from 2 colors. Pretty damn solid.

Why would you wanna play them? Because if you're looking for some equipment, you won't find much better.

I can just see it. WotC's Scars of Mirrodin design team sitting around a table in the early morning with a deadline looming. They've been given a mandate: Create the singular artifact the artifact heavy SOM block will be known for years from now. Struggling to create a balanced, creative card, they unite is saying "eff it", and created Wurmcoil Engine. A 6/6 body with two relevant keywords for 6 colorless mana, meaning that any deck can use it. Control decks, ramp decks, reanimator decks, pretty much anything. What? That's not enough? How about when it dies it splits into a 3/3 wurm with lifelink and a 3/3 wurm with deathtouch? It can be buffed by Tempered Steel, cheated with Grand Architect on turn 3, or ramped into. Nothing screams frustration like seeing a Wurmcoil come down on your opponent's field. It more than earns it's 4.6 rating on Gatherer.

Why would you wanna play it? WHY WOULDN'T YOU? Maybe if you're butt hurt from getting owned by it. At least you can Mana Leak it...

Although Dissipate has stolen a bit of Leaker's thunder in the current standard, Mana Leak is still the go to counter spell for blue mages. The ability to safely(?) counter any spell your opponent can cast turn 2 or 3 and also when they tap out for only 2 mana is a great resource. It's also a popular target of another card that will be showing up later in the list. Your opponent play a Liliana? Leak it. Inferno Titan? Leak it. Birthing Pod? Leak it. There is nothing worse then wanting to play that card vital to your combo when your opponent has 2 mana open. It can single handidly prevent you from playing near anything in your hand, and we hate it.

Why would you wanna play it? "Yeahhhhhhhh, I'm gonna Mana Leak that." is pretty satisfying to say. If you're splashing blue, you're putting one or more of these in your deck.

Remember back in the day when kill spells were only black? Yea, those were grand days.

Hey, remember when the safe toughness for a viable mid game drop was 4? Not 6? Yea, those were grand days too.

When Dismember hit the scene, it shattered the stereotypes. With the help of phyrexian mana, it changed what many players would consider standard viable and gave every color a means to wipe nearly every 5 or less drop off the map. For an example, Phyrexian Obliterator is considered a very strong card for 4 mana. A white weenie deck can rid itself of that curse paying 4 life and a mana. IS NOTHING SAFE WIZARDS?

Why would you wanna play it? If you're running a color that normally doesn't have access to removal, like say green, Beast Within not withstanding, it gives your deck access to that extra weapon that can seriously hurt your opponent that you wouldn't normally have. Nothing is safe until that mofo rotates out.

Here's a question for you! Whats worse than seeing any threat on this list? Seeing it again. Snapcaster Mage essentially makes any non permenent in your graveyard a Commander general. Just pay 2 extra mana and recast. It justifies it's hefty $25 cost by giving your deck extreme flexibility and with flash, can give you that instant speed you crave. Just an excellent card and if my opponent flashes back just one more Mana Leak, I'ma smack a bitch.

Why would you wanna play it? It can be the difference between letting that Primeval Titan hit the table or not, or bringing back that sorcery essential to your combo. For two. Mana. If you can afford them, get them.

This of course is just my personal opinion, if you guys disagree, sound off in the comments! Till next time.