Get Ready for Stoneforge Mystic

This week, Ian Duke announced many, many changes to the Banned & Restricted lists. Three tournament-competitive formats all had their B&R lists changed simultaneously:

Standard:

  • Rampaging Ferocidon: unbanned

Modern:

Vintage:

  • Karn, the Great Creator: restricted.
  • Mystic Forge: restricted.
  • Mental Misstep: restricted
  • Golgari Grave-Troll: restricted
  • Fastbond: unrestricted.

Rampaging Ferocidon is back in Standard!

Rampaging Ferocidon

The second-best red 3/3 for three may be the first un-ban in Standard history!

If you don’t remember it, the Ixalan dinosaur had an extraordinarily short initial career in Standard; was banned; and now has only a few weeks to play before rotation. We speculate there are two reasons for this:

  1. It’s a great foil to Field of the Dead strategies. This card really punishes decks that want to put a lot of creatures in play [at the same time], and can exploit a lead you’ve already got. And of course…
  2. “This is a silly, silly card to be banned.” -Patrick

To the surprise of no one, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis and Faithless Looting got banned

Hogaak’s performance in Modern since its [very recent] printing in Modern Horizons has been spectacular. In three Grand Prix events in August, Hogaak…

  • Dominated! Hogaak took 5/8 of the Top 8, with the win
  • Regressed to “only” 3/8 of the Top 8, with “only” second place as its top performance
  • Once again owned 5/8 of the Top 8 with the second place mage from the last Grand Prix jumping to first.

Wow!

This creature (and sidekick Faithless Looting) both more than deserved their forcible ejections from Modern. This card was not only a four-of alongside Hogaak basically everywhere Hogaak performed, it was a four-of in Dredge, Izzet Phoenix, and even some Mono-Red Aggro decks!

Patrick’s hot take? Dredge will remain Tier One.

The “good” news? Hogaak will live on in Legacy.

Speaking of which…

Stoneforge Mystic is poised to be the Next Big Thing in Modern

Stoneforge Mystic

Michael and Patrick speculate wildly about what will happen given the premiere of one of Legacy’s proudest two-drops in Modern…

  • Will we see the emergence of a Modern Caw-Blade? Stoneforge Mystic and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are like peanut butter and chocolate
  • How about a “Tom Martell”-style U/W? More controlling with Lingering Souls?
  • Can Stoneforge Mystic take the Goblin Engineer role next to Urza, Lord High Artificer? A Sword of the Meek is still a Sword!
  • Which Sword should Stoneforge Mystic find? Patrick makes the case for Sword of Feast and Famine… Alongside Tasigur, the Golden Fang (Esper)
  • How about Manriki-Gusari? Talk about a way to win the mirror!

Vintage and More!

What are you waiting for? Give “Get Ready for Stoneforge Mystic” a listen now!

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Combo off with Kethis, the Hidden Hand

Meet Kethis, the Hidden Hand

Kethis, the Hidden Hand is the center of Standar’s most exciting strategy
  • Effect of Card: Legendary spells you cast cost (1) less to cast. Exile two legendary cards from your graveyard: Until end of turn, each legendary card in your graveyard gains “You may play this card from your graveyard.”
  • Converted Mana Cost: 3
  • Type: Legendary Creature – Elf Advisor
  • Sets: Core Set 2020

Okay… There is a ton to unpack here. Kethis, the Hidden Hand is, first and foremost, a nice creature. For three mana (albeit of three different colors) it provides a 3/4 body. Not insane by itself, but no slouch, and more than big enough to defend the battlefield while you’re setting the game up.

More importantly come the Hidden Hand’s two lines of text:

  1. The first makes Legendary spells — including not only creatures by Planeswalkers and big endgame stuff like Urza’s Ruinous Blast cheaper.
  2. The second is a kind of card drawing engine, provided you have sufficient Legendary cards and a way to stock your graveyard.

Diligent Excavator + Kethis, the Hidden Hand

By itself, Kethis, the Hidden Hand might have been able to drive a serviceable midrange deck. After all, its power and toughness are full-on “okay” for its casting cost, and if you have enough Legendary cards… It can do some good grinding.

But combined with Diligent Excavator and Mox Amber, this Elf Advisor can weave some legen — wait for it — dary game states.

Diligent Excavator sets up Kethis.

Unassuming in the abstract, Diligent Excavator makes for an extremely cost-efficient source of self-Mill. If you have this card in play, you can Mill yourself for zero — zero mana — using a [Legendary] Mox Amber. Go ahead and tap that Mox for a mana.

When you play another one, you will not only Mill yourself again, but the Legend Rule will put your original Mox Amber into the graveyard; you know, where you can cast it again using the Hidden Hand’s shenanigans.

Between these cards and a discount on Oath of Kaya, the Standard Kethis Combo deck can play for a Storm-like recurring Fireball plan, grind the opponent out with card advantage, or mold a plan to the other mage’s specific configuration.

Sure, there are ways to nerf the graveyard, but this deck plays Teferi, Time Raveler to bounce a Leyline of the Void, and conventional disruption like Duress is a little blunted (most of the combo pieces being creatures); as is creature removal (stuff like Cast Down is rather poor against all the Legends).

In sum: Awesome!

Stay Tuned for…

The best of the rest. We talk everything from Grixis Control to innovations in Golos for Field of the Dead. Standard is so dynamic nowadays! Enjoy!

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What Makes Bomberman Our Favorite Legacy Deck?

Modern Horizons in… Legacy?

Modern Horizons didn’t stop at just terraforming, you know, the Modern landscape with its Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis decks. Legacy is just staring to feel the impacts of this powerful new set.

Wrenn and Six is an amazing addition to Temur Delver. You thought Wrenn and Six plus Wooded Foothills was cute? Try Wrenn and Six plus Wasteland.

Wasteland

Wasteland puts itself into the graveyard, which is convenient for Wrenn and Six card advantage.

If you have these two cards working, the opponent will have to draw a land a turn just to keep pace. But of course an opponent who is drawing land every turn is kind of likely to fall behind, anyway. This new combo makes Temur Delver and Lands more powerful than ever.

What kind of world do we live in where there is an all-new Mono-Blue Urza, Lord High Artificer deck and it doesn’t come close to being our favorite.

Meet Bomberman.

Key Bomberman Combinations

Auriok Salvagers and Lion’s Eye Diamond make infinite mana.

With Auriok Salvagers on the battlefield you can play Lion’s Eye Diamond and sacrifice it for WWW.

1W of that WWW is used to retrieve the Lion’s Eye Diamond from the graveyard, netting the Bomberman one mana. You can do this over and over again, making any amount of mana.

So what do you do with all that white?

Walking Ballista
A Walking Ballista of literally any size is at Bomberman’s fingertips.
Monastery Mentor
How do you feel about any number of 1/1 Monk tokens… And any number of prowess triggers?

Bomberman can do this super quick, too!

Imagine this were your opening hand:

  1. City of Traitors
  2. Mox Opal
  3. Lotus Petal
  4. Lion’s Eye Diamond
  5. Auriok Salvagers
  6. [something]
  7. [something else]

You can play out City of Traitors, Mox Opal, Lotus Petal, and Lion’s Eye Diamond. The latter three cards (in total) give you metalcraft, allowing you to cast the Auriok Salvagers by sacrificing the Lotus Petal. So yeah, the Mox is “off” for at least a second, and Lotus Petal is gone to the graveyard.

But hey! You have an Auriok Salvagers. Now just sacrifice the Lion’s Eye Diamond and go off for infinite mana like we discussed, above. You’ll have to discard your last two cards, but if one is a Walking Ballista, no problem! You can get that back. Even a simple Mishra’s Bauble can draw you a lot of your deck, provided you piggyback off of the preceding infinite mana engine.

But yeah. First turn infinite mana. AND numerous backup plans.

Hear all about the recent developments in Legacy here:

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Why Leyline of the Void is the Most Popular Card in Modern

Leyline of the Void

Leyline of the Void was the most played card of Mythic Championship IV

Many decks played four copies of Leyline of the Void… Even if they couldn’t normally tap for black mana.

The winning “Mono-Green” Tron deck only has basic Forest for color-producing lands… But still ran the full play set. On the one hand, it can actually cast Leyline with Chromatic Star and Chromatic Sphere… On the other hand, “Plan A” is to drop the Leyline for free on turn zero.

There is some risk to the potential reward to playing a card you can’t cast… But there was a big enough problem at Mythic Championship IV to warrant so many.

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis

Hogaak is a Real Problem in Modern

Almost immediately after it was printed, we asked if Hogaak should be banned.

With a Mythic Championship in the books… We’re even more certain!

There was only one Hogaak deck in the Top 8, but the card / deck(s) / strategy did remarkably well anyway. “Hogaak” was the most popular pure archetype in the tournament (at about twice the popularity of Izzet Phoenix)… And “Hogaak Dredge” was essentially the top performer on Modern record. (Remember: mixed format Mythic Championship Top 8s are heavily influenced by Limited records).

Of all the decks that went 8-2 or better, more than half played the Modern Horizons monster! More than half!

It’s crazy to think, but Hogaak was a top performer even with Leyline of the Void as the most popular card in the tournament… And that doesn’t even consider the popularity of alternatives like Nihil Spellbomb, Tormod’s Crypt, or Surgical Extraction.

The heavy anti-graveyard attitude of this Modern tournament looks to have been instrumental in holding down the former best archetype. It used to be industry standard to bring in Rest in Peace against Phoenix. Now folks have all four Leyline of the Voids… and might have two or three main deck!

The combination of open deck lists and so many anti-graveyard hate cards — not to mention the London Mulligan — made for some unusual incentives.

And again… Hogaak still performed great.

Where Does Modern Go from Here?

We predict “Tree of Tales”-level bannings. Tree of Tales never hurt anyone; all it ever did was cast the Oxidize that helped contain the Affinity menace… But Tree of Tales was close enough to the actual villains of the format that it got swept up in the bans.

So who should get the veritable Lightning Axe?

Faithless Looting – Is this card the real problem? It’s not just played in Hogaak and Hogaak Dredge, but Izzet Phoenix, Mono-Red Phoenix, and more.

Ancient Stirrings – If you’re going to ban Faithless Looting, it’s tough to justify keeping Ancient Stirrings… Especially given the winner of this Mythic Championship. Alongside the London Mulligan, Ancient Stirrings makes assembling turn three Tron just a little too consistent.

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis – Hogaak itself, because we fear that just cutting Faithless Looting wouldn’t be enough!

… Izzet Phoenix would be a key winner with such changes; but this might just be setting up a domination of Urza-Thopter-Sword. Is the answer Mox Opal?

Lots to unpack this week.

We hit on Jund, Phoenix variants, and how much of a problem Wrenn and Six will be. Check it out!

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All the Ways to Play (and beat) Field of the Dead

Field of the Dead from Core Set 2020 defines the best decks in Standard

Scapeshift into Field of the Dead

Scapeshift is a longtime combo enabler. In Modern, it is liable to stack so many triggers from Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle some players have broken the sixty card rule just to cram more Mountains into their decks.

Some enterprising beatdown mages have cast Scapeshift with Steppe Lynx in play to get a ton of short-term buffs. Short, maybe; but you don’t need that many +2/+2 triggers if you’re just going to kill the other guy RIGHT NOW THIS TURN.

Now in Standard with Core Set 2020, Scapeshift combines with Field of the Dead to make a ton of 2/2 Zombie tokens. With any seven lands you can reliably Scapeshift into a two-turn clock. With eight you can get two copies of Field of the Dead and produce over thirty power!

Field of the Dead: Plan B

If for some reason your opponent neutralizes your Scapeshifts (maybe with an Unmoored Ego) you aren’t dead-dead.

I mean, they probably should have named “Field of the Dead” … But that doesn’t work so well if you already played a Field of the Dead. In this case, at some point (provided you have the minimum number of different lands in play) you can make a 2/2 Zombie every turn.

That might not be the best-sounding plan, but the Scapeshift deck is not apt to run out of lands any time soon. It’s real card advantage, and might be inevitable. Otherwise? Leverage your lands into Hydroid Krasis and cross your fingers.

Some Great Ways to Beat Field of the Dead

If no one is allowed to update their decks, Scapeshift with Field of the Dead is the best deck in the format by a wide margin; Bant Scapeshift in particular. There are other viable Scapeshift decks, but Bant’s ability to combo off at the end of the opponent’s turn (or just guarantee that Scapeshift resolves) with Teferi, Time Raveler puts it ahead of other aspiring lists.

But… We are allowed to update our lists! Here are some ideas for how to best Scapeshift (and where to play them):

  • Deputy of Detention – If you’re looking to play White Weenie, we recommend splashing blue for Deputy of Detention instead of red (or no second color). This card deals with as many 2/2 Zombies… As the opponent has on the battlefield.
  • Unmoored Ego – If you can resolve this card before the opponent successfully casts Scapeshift you can prevent the combo kill. If you can cast it and name Field of the Dead itself (instead of Scapeshift), the opponent will be in a truly desperate situation.
  • Ashiok, Dream Render – Our favorite answer! Ashiok prevents the opponent from successfully using Circuitous Route and its cousins to get ahead on resources (let alone a game-winning Scapeshift).
  • Simic Nexus – The Wilderness Reclamation strategy is just faster than Scapeshift. If you’re behind the 2/2 Zombie tokens, you can always Root Snare to buy more time.

Tons more in the podcast proper! Give “All the Ways to Play (and beat) Field of the Dead” now!

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Chandra’s Spitfire and Key Changes to Mono-Red

It’s All About Chandra’s Spitfire

Chandra’s Spitfire gives Mono-Red a whole new endgame.

Aaron Barich took down the first big Standard event of Core Set 2020 Standard with… Mono-Red Aggro!

But Aaron’s Mono-Red was a whole new flavor. While related to previous incarnations of the deck, the Barich build featured four copies of Chandra’s Spitfire. What a weird three drop, you might muse to yourself: But this isn’t just a creature that you might play… It’s a dramatically different direction for Mono-Red that preserves most of what made the deck good before, but adds a Pyromancer’s Ascension-like end game.

Aaron’s build chooses Ember Hauler over Viashino Pyromancer, and consequently, Skewer the Critics over Wizard’s Lightning. While Viashino Pyromancer kind of always burns for two (and Ember Hauler only sometimes burns for two), the ability to choose when you do this for buffing Chandra’s Spitfire or setting up Skewer the Critics is a big deal in this more strategic build.

Of note: Both Runaway Steam-Kin and Chandra’s Spitfire are Elementals. As such, they don’t die to the sweeping [-3] of Chandra, Awakened Inferno.

Ember Hauler versus Viashino Pyromancer

Ember Hauler costs RR instead of R1… Which isn’t an issue in a deck with literally 20 basic Mountains.

The ability to deal two damage to a creature is of course an upgrade over Viashino Pyromancer’s 187 ability.

The downside, of course, is that Viashino Pyromancer always hits, and “hits” even if it would die in combat or to removal. That’s not necessarily true for Ember Hauler. Under Sixth Edition rules, Ember Hauler would have had the benefit of “damage on the stack” … But those rules haven’t been in play for years. If Ember Hauler is going to trade with something in combat, it will not also be able to deal its extra two.

There are pros and cons to both two drops. Ember Hauler is a little better with Skewer the Critics and Chandra’s Spitfire. Viashino Pyromancer is a little better at loading up damage against Planeswalkers.

The tiebreaker?

2/2 versus 2/1!

The second toughness on Ember Hauler, combined with the presence of the three-toughness Spitfire, makes Aaron’s Red Deck a bit more resilient against other people’s Goblin Chainwhirlers.

And that’s not a small thing if Mono-Red is once again Standard’s early leader…

But Don’t Sleep on Cerulean Drake…

Cerulean Drake is absolutely incredible against Mono-Red.

It’s like a Sea Sprite — and Sea Sprite was a legendary sideboard card against Deadguy Red “back in the day” — but has an additional ability!

Cerulean Drake’s most important function in the modern age is being able to wear a Curious Obsession. Decks that only have red removal (like Mono-Red, but probably not only Mono-Red) will probably just lose to that two-card combo.

But Cerulean Drake can be played in more than just Mono-Blue Tempo! This card seems like an outstanding sideboard card for Esper Control. Not only will it buy you a ton of time and life against the hated Mono-Red deck… It’s outstanding for Planeswalker defense!

Putting it All Together…

Patrick thinks the Mono-Red deck may want to be splashing green in the longer term.

Cindervines is one of the best sideboard cards in the format; and a great tool if Wilderness Reclamation decks return to popularity.

But maybe more importantly? Kraul Harpooner to knock Cerulean Drake out of the sky!

For more sick tech like this, listen up to this week’s podcast now!

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We are ALL ABOUT this New Nightpack Ambusher Deck

Meet Nightpack Ambusher from M20:


2GG
Creature – Wolf
Flash
Other Wolves and Werewolves you control get +1/+1.
At the beginning of your end step, if you didn’t cast a spell this turn, create a 2/2 green Wolf creature token.
4/4

It’s all about the Risen Ree… Err… Breeding Pool

The new Standard is chock full of awesome new Breeding Pool decks. Big mana ramp is giving our old buddy Hydrod Krasis new life.

Risen Reef is appearing in a variety of Temur Elementals decks, slapping palms with two different types of M20 Chandra, going wide, and going tall.

There is an unbelievable new Simic Deck with an infinite combo driven by Drawn from Dreams. Imagine having four permanents in play and then free-playing Omniscience (and everything else you might want to do right after). Mike thought this was going to be his favorite deck — or at least Simic deck — of the week.

That is, until Patrick introduced him to Nightpack Ambusher.

Nightpack Ambusher in Simic Flash

We’ve seen Azorius Flash decks for years… But URZA2109 gave us a sweet new Simic deck… That plays almost entirely on the opponent’s turn!

Check out this lineup:

  • Brineborn Cutthroat – Flash… And a ton of upside based on your other 16 flash guys (and permission)
  • Frilled Mystic – Flash… That utterly destroys last season’s crop of “big spell” decks
  • Merfolk Trickster – Flash (and flashy)
  • Spectral Sailor – Flash; flashy on one… and really flashy on five (Whispers of the Muse, anyone?)

The unbelievable beauty of Nightpack Ambusher in this deck is that you almost never cast anything on your own turn. The only card in the entire main deck that plays main phase is Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer. That means that — unless something is going waaaaay wrong — you are making a 3/3 Wolf every turn.

With 10 permission spells (and 3 Unsummons for those Frilled Mystics) this is a tough setup to beat once you get the big Wolf down.

Shifting Ceratops Ain’t no Slouch, Neither

URZA2109 put together a heck of a sideboard. All these cards are great; but the Core Set 2020 additions are super great!

There are already four Shifting Ceratops to kill Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to death (with haste); we just think a fourth Aether Gust might make sense… To counter other players’ Shifting Ceratops 😉

There were a ton of new Core Set 2020 decks revealed this week, from B/W Vampires to Jund Dinosaurs. Check them all out now!

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Goblin Engineer in All the New Modern Stuff

Goblin Engineer

Goblin Engineer

Creature – Goblin

When Goblin Engineer enters the battlefield, you may search your library for an artifact card, put it in your graveyard, then shuffle your library.

{R}, {T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Return target artifact card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.

1/2

Goblin Engineer in Grixis Urza

… Mike initially thought (from the deck title) that this was a newfangled color combination for the classic Modern UrzaTron shell… Turns out it’s an all-new infinite combo deck!

The “Grixis” part just refers to some black mana to activate Nihil Spellbomb or hard-cast your Leyline of the Void after sideboarding.

Here, Goblin Engineer does a Stoneforge Mystic Impression, when you… Get your Sword of the Meek!

Sword of the Meek

In fact, Goblin Engineer puts the Sword right where you want it… In the graveyard! If you naturally draw a Thopter Foundry you have a soft lock already.

Adding Urza, Lord High Artificer to an Already Established Combination…

… Makes it “boundless” according to Patrick.

Urza, Lord High Artificer

Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek can already make lots of tokens and life points based on how many times you can produce one mana. Urza’s ability to turn every incoming 1/1 token into a blue-producing Llanowar Elves means you can make… lots.

This is to say nothing of the Construct that comes in and gets buffed for all the artifacts you have.

Not only are there multiple different flavors of Urza, Lord High Artificer decks emerging in Modern… There are distinct new Goblin Engineer ones, too!

Example: Goblin Engineer in Rakdos Prison

What if you use your Goblin Engineer to get essentially just Ensnaring Bridge and Nihil Spellbomb.

Did you notice that Nihil Spellbomb can pay you back for being sacrificed to Goblin Engineer if you have a spare black mana? Mondo combo or what?

Combine with Karn, the Great Creator and you have an all-new Modern deck!

Don’t look now, but Karn might just search up a Snare Thopter. Yes, that Snare Thopter. Not quite a Slash Panther; or kind of a Bloodbraid Elf without the Cascade, Snare Thopter is… Certainly a creature you could potentially get with your Karn.

There are so many things going in on Modern due to War of the Spark and Modern Horizons we couldn’t really write about all of them here… But we probably talked about most of them. Was all that Hogaak worry overblown? Is Izzet Phoenix still a top contender? Is Mike’s beloved Burn still viable at all?

Find out in this week’s podcast:

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Marauding Raptor is Probably the Best Card in Your Deck

Marauding Raptor

Marauding Raptor is probably the best card in your deck.

We’ll get to that in a second; but how about some other hits from the upcoming M20?

Brought Back from Core Set 2020 Has Some Awesome implications for Modern

Brought Back

How about with fetchlands?

  1. Start with, say an Arid Mesa.
  2. Follow up with, I dunno, a Windswept Heath.
  3. Then crack them both! You can go and get basic Plains or some kind of Sacred Foundry action… Whatever. Cast Brought Back!

You’ll have four lands in play on turn two. Four!

While this is kind of color-bending-ly good, Patrick points out that it essentially costs three mana because you forego your first turn mana tap to set it up turn two.

How about good old Mulldrifter?

You know how you can cast Mulldrifter for five mana, get a 2/2 flying creature, and draw two cards?

In our hypothetical you play your fifth land (and crack it); then evoke Mulldrifter for three mana. You draw two cards and put your flying fish in the graveyard. Now cast Brought Back.

… You’ll not only get the 2/2 body back, but the land you played and cracked. The outcome on this sequence is two additional drawn cards (and a free Ramp) over the five-drop cast.

Colossus Hammer Will Create an All-New Archetype

Check out Colossus Hammer:

Colossus Hammer

This card is super cheap… But has a prohibitive equip cost. However, if you just neutralize that equip cost, you can give a creature +10/+10!

Here is Patrick’s proposed sequence:

  1. Kor Duelist (1/1 double strike for W)
  2. Sigarda’s Aid (W) + Colossus Hammer!

You’ll pay a total of three mana for a double striking 11/11 creature… Lethal (in most cases) on turn two.

Big game, right? Big and quick.

But sure… How About When Marauding Raptor is the Best Card in Your Deck?

This creature is quite impressive.

The obvious follow-up is Ripjaw Raptor. You can play it for three (perfect curve out from your two drop), buff your Ripjaw Raptor, and draw a card! Rawr.

But Raptor Hatchling is also great.

Raptor Hatchling is already a great card for defensive decks in Standard. In With Marauding Raptor, though? For only R — one mana — you get +4/+0 to your Marauding Raptor and a 3/3 Dinosaur! Being able to cast multiple Raptor Hatchlings [specifically] in one turn will provide enormous amounts of power.

We’ll just skip the Polyraptor “combo” for now.

Tons more in the cast. Give it a listen?

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Cards We’d Actually Want to Play from Core Set 2020

Wow! Core Set 2020 (M20) spoilers sure have been hitting rapid fire! It seems like just a few weeks ago that we were talking Modern Horizons… And it barely feels like the concrete has hardened on War of the Spark Standard.

But M20 is here, and while there are a ton of “interesting” cards (we’re looking at you, Atemsis, All-Seeing), there are more than a few that we want to jam into our decks and brew with. Following are a handful of these future Staples and combo pieces.

Corpse Knight from Core Set 2020 May Revitalize an Archetype

Corpse Knight

The Skinny: This card is great types. Zombie and Knight are both relevant text in Standard. Might Corpse Knight help bring back B/W Knights alongside Knight of Grace, Knight of Malice, or History of Benalia?

Maybe.

But this creature gets even more interesting when you treat it not just as a synergistic two-drop… But a Fireball!

What about Corpse Knight into March of the Multitudes? What if you have two copies of Corpse Knight in play?

Not bad, huh? We’re just getting started on the creature-combo Fireballs.

Pair Dread Presence from Core Set 2020 with Scapeshift for an instant kill

Dread Presence

“Necro!”
-Patrick

Yes, yes. Dread Presence has a little Necropotence to it; a little Phyrexian Arena, more like. And it has a little Sorin’s Thirst.

You can play Dread Presence as a five drop and turn it into either a cantrip or a Nekrataal of sorts. I guess that would be fine… But it might also be wasting the potential of this card.

How about you play Dread Presence with seven lands in play? Drop the eighth for two, and then Scapeshift the lot of them for another sixteen.

Can you manage two more points?

The only thing “bad” about this combo is that you’re playing a Hill Giant. Yes, yes. You’re playing a 3/3 creature for four mana.

It doesn’t take much to make Chandra’s Regulator from Core Set 2020 worth playing

Chandra's Regulator

First and foremost, this card is priced to move. It’s cheap to drop, and will usually get down before you play your first Chandra Planeswalker. Assuming you tap out for her, you’re not gong to get any Chandra’s Regulator benefit initially… But this artifact’s effect will put you way ahead after only one or two double-ups.

Can you imagine making RRRR for 1? How about double emblems?

The other ability on Chandra’s Regulator is also eminently relevant, and might help to produce an all-new Mono-Red archetype. Stay tuned.

As a matter of fact, just listen up now!

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