RIW’s Standard RCQ on March 1 is quickly approaching and Aetherdrift is now on the scene to give the format a shakeup.
While the set isn’t highly impactful there are some role players to tweak the format. I’m happy with minor upgrades because Standard was already in a great place.
Pro Tour Aetherdrift also took place last weekend which will have a big impact on the metagame. Domain Control dominated the tournament, but each deck is able to adapt now that it’s being targeted.
Today I’m going to talk about the decks to expect at RIW’s RCQ this weekend and what I would play.
There were also plenty of high finishing decks outside of the Top 8 of Pro Tour Aetherdrift that were played in small numbers. Today I’m going to focus on the major players, but there’s no shortage of sweet brews in Standard.
The Domain Control deck got an upgrade from Aetherdrift in Ride’s End and Zur is still one of the strongest creatures in Standard when combined with the Overlords.
Matt Nass went on a tear at Pro Tour Aetherdrift as he played a polished set of spells and cut Cavern of Souls to update the manabase. He was not only able to go over the top of Esper Pixie, but had just enough white interaction to stay alive against red aggro. This may appear innocuous, but can provide just enough arbitrage to capitalize on a professional tournament that is won by inches.
We entered Pro Tour Aetherdrift as a rock-paper-scissors metagame of Esper Pixie, Gruul Aggro, and Domain Control, but the dominance of Domain will cause the format to speed up. Aetherdrift didn’t upend the format, but simply cleaning up Domain Control made everyone rethink Standard.
Here’s Matt Nass’s Pro Tour Aetherdrift winning list:
I’d expect to face a variety of Stormchaser’s Talent decks as it’s still one of the strongest combos in the format with This Town Ain’t Big Enough.
These decks are clearly beatable, but make sure to get some practice against them ahead of time as walking into a trick can be the difference between a win and a loss.
Here’s the list Vinicius Karam piloted to an 8-2 finish at Pro Tour Aetherdrift:
The deck is all about getting value from permanents with abilities that trigger on entering and also has a deceptively quick clock with evasive creatures.
Esper Pixie was the best deck before Pro Tour Aetherdrift, but it had disappointing results as far as putting players into the top 8. I still expect to see it on the RCQ circuit in the short run because it’s difficult to quickly pivot for paper tournaments.
The Pro Tour did a great job showcasing the reason to play Esper Pixie- to prey on Gruul Aggro. This will still be one of the best decks moving forward as I expect the red decks to trade off resilience for speed to capitalize on the popularity of Domain Control.
Aetherdrift gives the Esper Pixie deck a slight boost with Momentum Breaker as it’s a repeatable edict effect that has a fail case of discarding cards. Obstinate Baloth gets an upgrade as there are more avenues to cheat it onto the battlefield.
Grim Bauble is another slight upgrade to deal with small creatures. Both of the Aetherdrift additions take away room for instants and sorceries which does make Stormchaser’s Talent less effective. Level 2 targets This Town Ain’t Big Enough a large percentage of the time.
Other Stormchaser’s Talent decks include Temur Otters, Dimir, and Simic Terror. Each deck leans heavily on This Town Ain’t Big Enough while the parallel cores provide a distinct style of play. If you enjoy the Otter decks there’s enough customization to improve your Domain Control matchup at the expense of Gruul Aggro. Tweaking those percentages against the two decks on polar ends of the spectrum is what Standard metagaming is all about.
Mono Red and Gruul aggro continue to thrive as the mouse subtheme is perhaps one of the most powerful aggressive packages in the history of the game. Gruul has more resilience at the expense of speed which is a tradeoff in a format where Domain Control lines up well.
It may appear innocuous, but Heartfire Hero into Innkeeper’s Talent is well worth the second color. As a Golgari player I am most afraid of the Gruul matchup because they can recoup cards after early removal. Blocking is also a nightmare against Gruul due to Monstrous Rage.
Here’s Yuchen Liu’s top 4 list from Pro Tour Aetherdrift:
Azorius Oculus was once a metagame deck built to capitalize on the popularity of Nowhere to Run, but ended up being too much of a glass cannon. There were a couple Monastery Mentors in the sideboard to juke in post board games, but wasn’t enough to hang at the Pro Tour.
Jeskai Oculus looks more like a solid deck with the opportunity to cheat in a fast Abhorrent Oculus as another angle of attack.
Here’s the list Kenta Harane used to top 8 Pro Tour Aetherdrift:
Adding red to your nimble reanimator deck provides access to Fear of Missing Out and Inti. The deck is now able to play to the board while dumping Oculus into the graveyard making the deck harder to shut out in games two and three.
Profit’s Eidetic Memory looks strange at first glance, but it triggers at the beginning of every combat making it a combo with Fear of Missing Out. This is a busted combo.
While Golgari is not the best deck, it does offer a shell with tools to take down a targeted metagame. I plan to continue to play Golgari in Standard RCQs as my specific list is tuned to hang with Gruul, Esper Pixie, and Domain Control.
Here’s the list I’ll be playing in upcoming RCQs:
Debris Beetle is an upgrade from Sheoldred, the Apocalypse because the ability triggering on entering makes it less vulnerable to This Town Ain’t Big Enough.
The crew 2 isn’t much of a drawback as Golgari Midrange is full of creatures and even Mishra’s Foundry can drive. Foundry’s primary upside is to play it on the third turn to threaten a Kaito that stuns your creature. This is a fairly narrow application so the additional crew provides enough justification to confidently play two.
A 6/6 trample can end the game quickly after a Siege Rhino trigger so I’m bullish on this card.
Wastewood Verge is an upgrade to all but one Forest to respect Demolition Field. It casts Llanowar Elves on the first turn and can add extra black in the mid game to cast multiple removal spells. A minor upgrade.
I’ve favored three Llanowar Elves as my list has more early interaction in the form of Duress and Harvester of Misery. I will board out Elves in matchups where I lean on sweepers or the opponent will repeatedly cast Nowhere to Run.
I’m now playing four Cut Down in the maindeck because it’s strong against Gruul, Esper, and Domain Control. It kills Zur as well as your own Mosswood Dreadknight when it’s going to be exiled. Freeing up sideboard slots is valuable as Golgari has some heavy hitters.
Tranquill Frillback is also strong against the big three decks as well as all of the fringe graveyard strategies I expect to face in an RCQ.
A third Nissa, Ascended Animist helps against Domain Control as I expect to face it multiple times on the road to a trophy.
Aetherdrift provides some upgrades to many of the existing archetypes while keeping the previous metagame intact for now. We once again have a great metagame with plenty of decks powerful enough to take down a tournament.
The decks aren’t incredibly expensive with many of the flagship purchases having Pioneer and Modern applications. I even cut Sheodred from Golgari Midrange for a two dollar card in Debris Beetle.
RIW’s Standard RCQ is on March 1. The last RIW RCQ featured some of the strongest players in the state so it’s a great avenue to step up your game. You can also check out the live coverage on in case you can’t join. https://www.twitch.tv/riwhobbies
