Monthly Archives: April 2020

The First Week of Standard with Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Companions from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths are Taking Over Every Format

The Companion mechanic is extraordinarily powerful. While the deck building cost to use a particular companion can vary, the combination of consistency and the so-called “eighth card” cannot be exaggerated.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den seems to be the best companion on rate so far, and has already successfully crushed large events in Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Legacy.

We’re sure Lurrus will be even better in Standard.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Rakdos Sacrifice

Lurrus of the Dream-Den from
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Companions are so good it isn’t even clear which ones should go in which established archetypes! There are at least four Companions that might make sense in Rakdos Sacrifice, but two have risen to the top so far.

The Lurrus build of Rakdos Sacrifice forces some hard cuts. Woe Strider, Midnight Reaper, and the iconic Mayhem Devil all cost too much. Look for the Lurrus build to play a lot of two mana haste attackers like Dreadhorde Butcher or Robber of the Rich instead.

Perhaps more importantly, this build can [still] use Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger. Because Kroxa is technically only two mana, it is not only eligible to be played, but can work a two-man game with Lurrus itself.

Other notable additions from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths include Whisper Squad and Serrated Scorpion.

Whisper Squad starts on one but fills many additional, important, roles. If you do nothing else on turn two, you can activate the Whisper Squad to Squadron Hawk up another copy. It’s also a great “virtual three drop” for a deck that can’t play any real three drops… Kind of like a Wood Elves for Whisper Squads. And of course, if you have a ton of mana already on the battlefield, it can become a one-card army on the quick.

Serrated Scorpion is a great card to start with in this strategy, and awesome to sacrifice (even through combat) and re-buy with Lurrus. Patrick believes this card will inspire a Rakdos Burn deck in Modern.

Obosh, the Preypiercer in Rakdos Sacrifice

Obosh, the Preypiercer from
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Competing for the allegiance of the resilient and resurgent Rakdos archetype is Obosh, the Preypiercer.

Obviously more expensive than Lurrus, Obosh offers immediate payoff the turn it hits the battlefield, but a harsh deck building cost.

No even costed cards means no Priest of the Forgotten Gods (making it a little harder to summon a five drop). The fact that three mana cards are available to this build (unlike the Lurrus one) makes the curve quite a bit higher. That is something to watch out for as these builds settle.

Gyruda, Doom of Depths Delivers a Whole-New Archetype

Gyruda, Doom of Depths from
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Here’s the thing: Lots of good mana acceleration is even-costed. Growth Spiral, Paradise Druid, new stuff.

If you get to six, you can pretty much always cast Gyruda… Because it’s a Companion and that’s how Companions work. You never have to draw it!

When you play Gyruda in this new deck / world / disaster for the opponent look for cards like Spark Double and Charming Prince to keep the party going. Your expectation will usually be to attack for lethal if you’re given the opportunity to untap.

Believe it or not… There is even more Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths in this week’s podcast!

Check it out:

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We’re Bananas for Kogla, the Titan Ape

Kogla, the Titan Ape

Kogla, the Titan Ape is Our Kind of Desert Twister

Mike has been joking forever how much we like six mana Desert Twisters.

  • Ugin, the Ineffable provides a Desert Twister-like effect (at least against colored permanents) that will leave you a one loyalty Planeswalker.
  • Garruk, Cursed Huntsman does you one better… two different ways! Still for six mana, you get to destroy a permanent (as long as it’s a creature) AND draw a card AND are even left with one more loyalty than Ugin!
  • Casualties of War is like five Desert Twisters! (at least as long as your opponent cooperates by playing enough permanents) Fail state? Regular-old Desert Twister.

Kogla, the Titan Ape fights a creature when it enters the battlefield. As long as that creature has toughness of seven — seven! — or less, Kogla will destroy it. Even if Kogla doesn’t survive, that’s six mana to destroy a key permanent.

Desert.

Twister.

… But it’s so much more! Like, whenever the opponent’s creature isn’t big enough to win, you get to keep a sweet 7/6.

THAT ALSO HAS OTHER ABILITIES!

Don’t be surprised to see Kogla, the Titan Ape in powered formats.

Because it destroys an artifact or enchantment every time it swings, Kogla might see play in formats where people play powerful artifacts and enchantments.

Might that be surprising to see? Maybe a little bit. But don’t sleep on how useful this Legendary Ape might be. Not only does it provide potential card advantage, a 7/6 is a pretty fast way to win.

They even gave it an activated ability for Zirda, the Dawnwalker

Kogla even has an activated ability!

If a huge body… and a sick fight ability… and a persistent nuisance for expensive permanents weren’t good enough…

You can even play Kogla with Zirda!

But that’s not all!

  • Since you will often be playing Kogla with Nissa, Who Shakes the World already in play, you’ll often have 1G open to defend it.
  • Besides which… There is no shortage of humans you might want to return to your hand. Examples include everything from Charming Prince (which works coming or going) to Agent of Treachery

Lots and lots of other cards, brewing ideas, and good fun from Ikoria: Lair of the Behemoths, of course. Give Kogla, the Titan Ape a little love now:

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Lurrus of the Dream-Den Sure is Good with Black Lotus

Lurrus of the Dream-Den
is one exciting Companion!

Go with us here… Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Vintage

Imagine for a moment you look at your opening hand and see a Black Lotus.

You know… Basically the best ever

So the way Companion works is that if you can cast the Lurrus… You can cast the Lurrus. You don’t have to draw it; it’s just there waiting for you.

Thus, if you have a Black Lotus in your opening hand, you can simply play it, sacrifice it for BBB (or WWW if you please) and make yourself a Cat Nightmare.

Is a 3/2 Lifelink that impressive on the first turn in Vintage? It’s certainly not “bad” per se… I mean it’s probably better than the odd Slash Panther… But that’s not the point.

Why? Because of this clause:

During each of your turns, you may cast one permanent spell with converted mana cost 2 or less from your graveyard.

What’s in your graveyard? A Black Lotus! So you can immediately re-play the iconic artifact. And not just that, starting on turn two, presuming you make your land drop, you will have access to at least eight mana.

  • Land #1 (1)
  • Land #2 (2)
  • Sacrifice Black Lotus (5)
  • Re-play and Black Lotus with your Legendary Cat Nightmare; sacrifice it (8)

Boom!

Also you can get in for the 23-17 advantage. hash tag lifelink

Lurrus of the Dream-Den in Modern

Now obviously this is not a card most players think about for Vintage, first.

Not surprisingly, Mike’s mind went straight to his favorite: The Modern Red Deck. Though he has recently switched allegiance to Mono-Red, Mike was the innovator of not playing Wild Nacatl, the early advancer of Inspiring Vantage, and even dipped his toe in the Bump in the Night waters. Lurrus can obviously work in the sideboard of either a Boros or a Rakdos Red Deck.

What makes this card so compelling is that it requires very little compromise in terms of main deck design. Not “no” compromise, maybe… But little. Look at Mike’s most recent build of Mono-Red:

This deck has three mana cards like Light Up the Stage, Skewer the Critics, and Rift Bolt… But not only are they all essentially one mana spells… They are all non-permanent spells! Besides a lone Bonecrusher Giant main deck, all the other permanents are one mana. Even when Mike would bring in Eidolon of the Great Revel, that card would happily fit the Companion cost of Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

But Lurrus [in Modern, that is…We saw how different it would be in Vintage] is more than a virtual eighth card in a Red Deck’s opener, that might save it from mana flood, or buy some life points in a fiery mirror. There is that “each of your turns” line. What do you think about this?

Queue permanent spell with converted mana cost 2 or less.

Seal of Fire isn’t quite Black Lotus… But it’s not a bad get from your graveyard, turn after turn after turn.

A Boros Burn deck isn’t the only way to exploit Lurrus; just the most obvious out the gate.

Tons and Tons more from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Little Lurrus isn’t even quite a “behemoth” … But it’s a pretty good illustration of Ikoria mechanic Companion.

We talk tons of Mutate, where you might want to stick your odd Brokkos, Apex of Forever, and why you don’t want to go too tall, whatever the incentives in this week’s podcast! Check it out now:

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How Cavalier of Thorns Makes Sultai Escape

Cavalier of Thorns… Is There Anything it Can’t Do?

If qualifying Mike for the Players Tour wasn’t enough…

As with last week’s qualifying events, Cavalier of Thorns really stepped up to help Mark Jacobson win the first MagicFest Online Weekly Championship!

In Sultai Escape, Cavalier of Thorns both highlights the deck’s strengths… And helps to shore up its weaknesses.

Cavalier of Thorns as Engine

The Elemental Knight will put four (and in rare cases five) cards into your graveyard, directly from your library when it enters the battlefield. One of those four cards might be…

Polukranos, Unchained

… or better yet…

Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

Putting one of those cards directly into the graveyard is like drawing an extra card. The Escape mechanic allows you to play either Polukranos or Uro out of the graveyard; and in Uro’s case it’s even better than drawing the card normally.

This is on top of (probably) getting an extra land; and on top of the expected re-buy later on in the game.

If you “whiff” on either Escape creature; rest assured that the four cards you’re putting directly into the graveyard can help you to pay for Escape some time in the future. So Cavalier of Thorns is always doing something nice for your development.

Cavalier of Thorns in Context

Mike in particular has always been a Bant > Sultai guy.

Both decks have similar advantages… Growth Spiral to get out of the gate; Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath as the persistent powerhouse; Hydroid Krasis to take huge advantage of all that extra mana.

Teferi, Time Raveler and Narset, Parter of Veils are two of the strongest Planeswalkers in Standard; both are game-altering and easy on the mana… At least one is a four-of in Bant while neither sees much (if any) play in Sultai. But that’s not the main reason for the aforementioned Bant bias. It’s really just about this creature:

Dream Trawler

Dream Trawler is difficult to counter for Sultai, and thanks to its floating Hexproof ability… Notoriously difficult to remove. It isn’t just that Bant had Dream Trawler and Sultai didn’t… It’s so tough for Sultai to deal with one.

Well… That was before the days of Cavalier of Thorns.

Today, the six toughness Elemental Knight WITH REACH can guard a Sultai mage’s life total against Dream Trawler; and in the case that the Dream Trawler accumulates sufficient power to trade… Cavalier of Thorns can redeploy one of Sultai Escape’s other mighty threats.

The world has changed.

Or, at least, this matchup.

Sultai ended up on top… So now what?

More from…

  • Rakdos Sacrifice… and Rakdos Sacrifice
  • Four-color Nicol Bolas
  • Azorius Blink
  • Temur Adventures

… And more!

Check out this week’s Standard recap now:

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