Hello and welcome to the fourth installment in the Mastering Standard article series!
In this article, I’ve teamed up with a friend of mine – Adriaan Van Adrichem to present some great new lists (including the updated wall list)! Adriaan has made sure I staple his name and these decks together ever since the “extended elf combo deck was stolen from him”, so all credit for these lists go to him!
Before we begin, let me just say that in my previous article, I accidentally wrote Entomb instead of Disentomb! But it is our duty as always to bring you all the tech – and Entomb in standard is certainly that!
Anyway, this first list was originally titled in a manner not friendly for your average church going family, so I’ll rename it Jackie Chan, because he always gets the first strike (I think he even made a movie about it). As you might have worked out, its a first strike based deck – but it runs very differently then you might first (strike) think when you see the list:
// Lands
12 Plains
4 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Marsh Flats
4 Arid Mesa
// Creatures
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Steppe Lynx
4 White Knight
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Ethersworn Canonist
// Spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Brave the Elements
4 Honor of the Pure
// Sideboard
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 4 Celestial Purge
SB: 4 Journey to Nowhere
SB: 4 Martial Coup
As Adriaan made sure I say, although this list seems like an aggro deck – it runs much more like a control one. In his own words:
“Basically your game plan is to get out two or three blockers and keep them out using brave – playing more as they die. You need enough first strike power to take down anything that might get in your way. Emeria helps you recover from your own Day of Judgement’s and any removal they might have. Until your guys are 4/4 or bigger you don’t want to swing because if you start losing guys you’re in trouble since their creatures are usually bigger then yours. When you get your BS out, start swinging like mad. All out! The Baneslayer’s life gain will keep you alive. Since you have been playing the control role all game, your life should be higher then theirs and when they hit, per se, a cruel you won’t take so much of a hit and recover with Emeria.”
This deck has great results against Jund – as Ethersworn Canonist completely shuts down their cascade and White Knight shuts down Bituminous Blast, Pulse, Leech and Thrinax, while Brave the Elements has a general great game against everyone. Remember, if they simply say “Double Bolt”, your BtE’s “counter” both as they put them both on the stack. However, a professional – or anyone who has an understanding of the game would wait for each to resolve (or not resolve) first. This deck also maintains a very good matchup against Eldrazi Green.
Next article we’ll take a look at some of Adriaan’s other decks – but for now, as promised, we’ll take a look at more recent lists of the Wall deck!
At the forums, there have been many helpers with this deck. To name a few:
Lathia
Joncaputo
Cloviz
Peterjohn
They have all tested this deck very much, and have there only different lists. Thanks to them for the help!
First of all, this deck has made many changes. We’ve opted for some counter, Deft Duelist over Kraken Hatchling and Ajani Goldmane. All these add a new aspect to the decks game – counter stops those bombs and Cruel Ultimatums against control which is really vital. We generally can take care of their creatures by blocking, but big spells are hard to deal with – say Day of Judgement.
Deft Duelist has simply proven more effective then Kraken Hatchling as it can kill as well as block. For a similar reason, has been added Ajani Goldmane. It gives our walls a “killer touch”, giving them not only extra toughness, but more importantly extra power. This allows us to actually kill some of their attackers. And if we really need to, it gains us some life/provides us with a massive avatar beater. I’ll give you some lists to ponder, but this first list is Lathia’s. He’s put some really hard work in to this deck, including taking it to an undefeated tournament! Congratulations to him, and here’s his list:
9 island
9 plains
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3 Baneslayer Angel
4 Deft Duelist
4 Wall of Frost
4 Wall of Denial
4 Wall of Reverence
3 Luminarch Ascension
3 Ajani Goldmane
3 Path to Exile
3 Cancel
3 Negate
I thought I’d just give a shout out to him, and his list. Please note that due to budget restraints, he actually ran Battlegrace Angel over Baneslayer and still won! The following is my preferred list:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sejiri Refuge
8 Plains
8 Island
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Sphinx of the Jwar Isle
4 Wall of Denial
4 Deft Duelist
4 Wall of Reverence
3 Wall of Frost
4 Path to Exile
4 Negate
3 Luminarch Ascension
2 Ajani Goldmane
Be sure to drop a comment below on any of the above lists or anything else. Also, send me an email at
! If you want me to review your list, feel free – I might even post it on the next article! But you can email me about anything, and I’ll reply to all!
That’s it for this article guys! Hope you enjoyed the deck lists. Before Worldwake’s Prerelease I’ll get back to you with an article detailing some more of Adriaan’s innovative lists – and then after the pre-release I’ll hit you with some interesting ideas I have for the new cards. 3/4s of the way in to the spoilers and I’m already bursting with them!
Regards,
Daniel.