I’ve been to two GP’s, and I spent a week in bed rest since my last Revising Standard article. In that same time two GP’s were in the Standard format and just over the weekend we had a Star City Open. Now, that the dust has settled we can look back at Honolulu and compare the top 8 deck lists.
| Place | Honolulu | Baltimore | Lille |
| 1st | Wolf Run Ramp | U/W Delver Blade | Zombies |
| 2nd | Wolf Run Ramp | U/B control | U/W Delver |
| 3rd | Delver Spirits | G/R Aggro | R/G Aggro |
| 4th | Wolf Run Ramp | Zombies | B/W tokens |
| 5th | Delver Spirits | U/W Humans | U/W Delver |
| 6th | U/W Delver | GWR Burial | R/G Aggro |
| 7th | U/W Humans | U/B Control | Wolf Run Ramp |
| 8th | Naya Birthing Pod | U/B Control | R/G Aggro |
It certainly looks like dark Ascension has changed the playing field. When we look at the table above we clearly see that Wolf Run was the best deck to play a month and a half ago. That is no longer the case, although it is still a viable deck with the right player and luck. While control decks seem to have peaked in Baltimore it appears they lost some of their grace in Lille. And check out Zombie, the underdog deck, at least in our area, rose to the top. That is right very few believed it was more than a joke.
What caused these changes? For many of these decks it was just the introduction of new cards and tuning the machine. With that being said today we are going to take a look at Zombies, and the potential of U/W Mill.
The differences in the two zombie decks from Baltimore and Lille are this. The first place deck from Lille ran only one Sword of War and Peace over 2 feast and famine. It also dropped the High Priests all together for Liliana of the Veil. And it shifted the Mortarpods from 4 to three. These changes allow for an increase of Tragic Slip and Geth’s Verdict by one, for a total of four each. The Lille sideboard has a larger selection of control based cards.
What did these changes do for the deck? Why War and Peace over Feast and Famine? Why drop the High Priest for Liliana, is she that sexy?
Swapping the swords, in my opinion is the right thing to do. Plus it gives the equipped creature Protection from White. Which in the current environment is a wrecking ball. It destroys Black White Tokens and nearly severs the limbs of Blue White Control.
The addition of Liliana of the veil over the High Priest is also a good choice. I like Liliana more because she offers more control. I also think she takes more skill to play so that means you a re a better player. Back to control, by offering hand destruction you force your opponent into situations they may not want to be in.
From looking at the deck lists from grinders it appears that the Sword of War and Peace was a better choice in Lillie because the red decks surfaced more than in Baltimore.
Moving on to my blue/white/Black Mill.
This is a deck that I am working on. I have play tested it a few times now and I like it. The only problem I have is that the deck needs to be play tested against good players. While my children have played Magic they are not at the same experience level I am at yet. Here is the deck list
Creatures
4 Sheikgest
3 Geralf’s Mindcrusher
2 Dungeon Geists
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Massacre Wurm
Spells
2 Black Sun’s Zenith
1 Blue Sun’s Zenith
4 Day of Judgement
4 Chill of Forboding
4 Surgical Extraction
3 Mental Misstep
3 Mana Leak
3 Increasing Confusion
Planeswalkers
2 Venser, the Sojourner
Land
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Glacial Fortress
6 Islands
6 Swamps
2 Plains
I have played about 15 games with it and I like the concept. It currently sits at 66 cards. I think that will be an easy fix though. In the games I have played the Mana Leaks and the Missteps have not been beneficial, so they will be moved to the side board for now. I am hoping to play the deck at FNM this week so I will let you know how that goes. If anyone has any thoughts about improving the design of the deck I would love to hear your comments. I m sold on the idea and I will be playing it win or loose.
I still have to work on the board. I am leaning towards heavy control. I think my worst match will be Zombies or U/W controll.
Related articles
- Revising Standard Dark Ascension Filters in Part 1 (gamer-goggles.com)
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