Hello there!
Recently I've been playing a lot more block than I ever did for a couple of different reasons:
1st- I do not own Elspeth, Knight-Errant so playing Standard UW is difficult and I'm sick and tired of playing Red Deck Wins against the world.
2nd- In block there isn't a big disparity in power level between all the decks (Even if one could argue that UGR plays the most powerful cards).
3rd- It has been a lot of fun playing it!
The Block Constructed metagame, currently features something like 12 competitive archetypes, with the distinction between Tier 1 and Tier 2 a lot more nebulous than in T2 (Even if some argue that UGR is Tier 1, the rest not!).
Starting with the "best" deck, Jace, The Mind Sculptor play's the all star role, and when backed up with Lotus Cobra,Oracle of Mul Daya and Sphinx of Lost Truths it leads to some serious library manipulation.The deck aims at playing a 4cc spell on his third turn either ramping it up with Lotus Cobra,Nest Invader or Explore. Oracle of Mul Daya and Jace, The Mind Sculptor can fill your battlefield with lands until you can drop a backbreaking Avenger of Zendikar or refill and restart with Sphinx of Lost Truths. Raging Ravine is another threat of the deck that allied up with some creatures and Burst Lightning can kill you relatively fast. Some versions play Comet Storm for an additional finisher. One of the best ways to maim their plans is to mana denial them , either killing Lotus Cobra or Oracle of Mul Daya or using some Land Destruction, that's the best reason why the Ld Red Deck was created and its really good, it has a very good matchup vs UGR.
As explained before, this is a very decent deck even if it looks like a pile at first sight. There aren't any unwinnable matchups and there are a lot of good ones.
Boros is another one of those examples of decks that belong in Block Constructed. All of the cards have some synergy with each other and the deck really takes advantage of the Landfall mechanic. Stoneforge Mystic and Emeria Angel also provide some reach to the deck after the initial steam has been contained since any creature with an Adventuring Gear and 14 fetchlands in the deck becomes lethal. Not all of the lists use Gideon Jura but from my experience its probably the 2nd best card in Zendikar Block since besides All is Dust people can't deal with it. The sideboard if pretty powerful featuring some weapons to deal with almost every deck. Refraction Trap has been surprising me more and more, it can deal a number of things like countering removal straight up or fishing up some wins. One of the mistakes I've seen people do more against boros is not killing Steppe Lynx and Plated Geopede with Burst Lightning on their turns, making then an awkward pause when Boros untaps and drops a fetchland, making it then impossible to kill and rendering the Burst Lightning semi-useless.
The other Block "bad boy". Much like his older T2 brother the deck is aiming at crippling the opponent's strategy with counters and creature removal and then winning either with a Planeswalker or some bad-ass fliers. There isn't much I can tell about how the deck plays since its pretty obvious and the decisions come out every game in a different way.
Whit hall of famer Zvi making the deck you knew it had to be good! Eldrazi Green wins from nowhere relying on some fast creatures and some powerful permanents like Beastmaster Ascension and Eldrazi Monument. Vengevine as always is just a pain in the a**! Even a Kozilek's Predator is a powerful threat with a Beastmaster or a Monument in play. Wolfbriar Elemental can also provide additional steam after a Day of Judgment.
Vampires as been covered extensively in this site and its not the point of the article. Yes, its still a good deck but nowhere near the power it was in Zendikar or Zendikar + Worldwake. Its just not good enough and it cant beat a decent UW player.
With Kor Firewalker lurking in almost every sideboard the deck really loses much in the current meta. It also doesn't win that much without Kor Firewalker. I've been beating it even with Ld Red that has 0 to none sideboard against this deck besides the occasional Tuktuk the Explorer.
Probably the most boring deck in the history of magic (Stasis included). But its still present in the metagame. But as I said its not the point of the article.
This is more like it! Goliat2 brought us a different way of playing Jace, The Mind Sculptor, pairing it up with Red removal and some powerful finishers. The lack of nonbasic lands make it impervious to Goblin Ruinblaster and undermines the Ld strategy (4xGoblin Ruinblaster and 4xTectonic Edge. 4x Everflowing Chalice also help out in that matter besides ramping up some kicked Sphinx of Lost Truths and game ending Comet Storm. Sphinx of Jwar Isle was not featured in the original list but another mtgo avid and all star Brazilian player has been using it to some good results. The deck doesn't have any unwinnable matchups neither and it can deal with almost anything that gets throw at it.
As I know myself, I have to confess that this is the reason I wrote this article. I just have an unholy passion for rogue decks and this one is pretty rogue! Mono White Control has always been the laughing matter of the most skilled players in a bunch of formats and if you just give a first look at this list you can do it too, but the deck is actually pretty good. Besides posting consecutive 4-0 and 3-1 finishes in the recent Daily Events, its just fun! The deck features 12 mythics, but besides Gideon Jura its not that expensive. Transcendent Master looks bad at first but give it a try and you'd be surprised. If you can protect it at first it goes outside of Flame Slash ranger pretty fast besides being immune to Burst Lightning and Staggershock.And if you can put it at the ultimate level only UW or W/U based decks can deal with it. Admonition Angel takes advantage of the lack of big removal in the format and when paired up with creature control and some draw it can go the distance. Besides Wall of Omens every creature in this deck is a threat that has to be handled quickly before it spins out of control. Everflowing Chalice and Survival Cache help out to smooth your draws and prepare the mid/end-game where this deck really shines.
Well, this is it for today and I'll try to add some recorded Daily Event with the deck in my next article,
Until then,
Andrea Fonseca
