Sphinxter
Click the arrow to download the above deck in .txt formatMy baby… again! I played the precursor to this list in the same Weekend Challenge that I referenced for the past two lists to a quarterfinals finish. I could have made the semis, but a sad misclick (Etherwrought Page… and even after playing it, I still barely know what the card does!) sent a Rite of Replication to my bin with ten mana waiting (oops..). Luckily, I lost to this site’s own Andrea Fonseca (or Dust_ as you see him on MTGO). Way to go team MTGO Academy- twin Top 8s!
This deck has a lot of the same tricks as Star-Spangled Slaughter above, but I am playing a TON of critters (eleven to be exact). Platinum Angel and Sphinx of Jwar Isle joined the main after the event. I sided then in almost every match; there is just something inherently unfair about not being able to lose the game or be targeted by removal. The critical mass of huge, ability-endowed flyers allow you to put any deck that stumbles on a clock, including a Control mirror sitting on Negate or Countersquall mana. Oh yeah, and many of the creatures have unfair abilities tagged on to them (like reanimation or the ability to off creatures en masse)!
Another big difference was in the mana; this Esper list eschews double Black cards for consistency. Even then I only have seven Black cards and many of them are late game cards. A big problem with Standard Singleton is the mana, and this deck helps to overcome the awfulness of a traditional three color deck.
I also have increased arsenal of counter-magic. I lost Double Negative but gained Spell Pierce, Soul Manipulation, Offering to Asha and Punish Ignorance. Saying, “No,” is probably the greatest luxury one can afford themselves in Standard Singleton, and Esper does it more than almost any other deck in the format. Life is good!
I moved Scourglass and Planar Cleansing to the sideboard in an effort to end the game instead of prolonging it. Also, Obelisk of Alara came in over the afore mentioned White Scepter. I tweaked the mana base to get a second Red source to use the end game ability of the Obelisk.
The sideboard fills out with some life gain, some Disenchant effects and a lil anti-Control suite of (Scepter of Insight, Brainbite, and Tidehollow Sculler). I also have Open the Vaults to punish Blightnings, etc., and recover post-Wraths.
What It All Means
While Standard Singleton isn’t complicated or full of depth, there are some ways to solidify an advantage. My decks this month aim to draw more cards and/or reliably cast any card that I draw. Nothing really to add beyond what platipus10 has already covered! I do think that Standard Singleton’s narrow cardpool allows for more tuning- so let’s get the discussion going below to help tune these lists!
Cheers!
ChrisKool/Chris Kuehl
For anyone interested in playing control in Standard Singleton, I would highly suggest the Star-Spangled Slaughter list in this article. I played against this deck in the finals of the January 2nd premiere event, and my Jund deck absolutely felt helpless against it. Judging by his record, I would presume many other opponents had similar experiences during the tournament
StasisFreak, I am 3-0 in 2-mans with the deck. It feels really solid- the only thing I’m not sold on is Intimidation Bolt! It should be noted that every 2-man has been a Control deck of some sort.
Nice article and fun analysis. I’m not sure your token deck will be the best response to defeat the jund festival in each top8, but I am sure it will be a difficult deck to defeat.
P.S.: Are you a teacher? Where is your school? Can i go to your class? xD xD xD
Oh oh pick me I want to be in your class too
I had the same experience a couple months back in the 2-mans. I think I played about 6 of them and 5 were control and 1 was a naya deck.