His and Her Planeswalkers
So I spent most of the weekend making proxies and testing Khans spoilers in various Superfriends decks with my girlfriend and her brother-in-law. Here's what I think the two best decks we came up with were:
Abzan Amigos Fantastico
Creatures(17):
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- 2 Genesis Hydra
Planeswalkers(10):
- 2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
- 2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
- 3 Nissa Worldwaker
- 3 Elspeth Sun's Champion
Spells(9):
- 3 Thoughtseize
- 4 Banishing Light
- 2 Hero's Downfall
Land(24):
- 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
- 2 Mana Confluence
- 4 Windswept Heath
- 3 Temple of Plenty
- 1 Temple of Silence
- 4 Llanowar Wastes
- 4 Caves of Koilos
- 4 Forest
- 1 Plains
My deck is more about using disruption and removal to establish a more oppressive board state. Being able toe Genesis Hydra into Elspeth or Banishing Light is huge. Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall are concessions to cards that the GW base are weak to, like sweepers and Stormbreath Dragon.
Sorin and Ajani are performing at a much higher level than I was expecting, and they turn the early dorks into real pressure. Ajani often felt like the best card in my deck when I could protect it, and Sorin pulled me out of a lot of seemingly unwinnable situations my turning moderate creatures like Nissa lands into massive life swings.
As for cards I tested that didn't make it, Not being able to cast Utter End turn two on the draw off a Mystic really hurts since the faster ramp decks can hit cards like stormbreath or nissa on turn three. Garruk was fun, but he was just worse than an extra Elspeth and having a hard cap of six on Genesis Hydra is just much safer.
Lastly, it only happens in about 1/20 games, but turn two Brimaz off a Mana Confluence is just huge. The only card in the format that can stop this play without Elvish Mystic is Chained to the Rocks, which will probably see less play without Shocks.
G/R Rush Walkers:
Creatures(24):
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Generator Servant
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 3 Genesis Hydra
Planeswalkers(10):
- 4x Xenagos the Reveler
- 4x Nissa Worldwaker
- 2x Chandra Pyromaster
Spells(3):
Land(23):
- 4x Temple of Abandon
- 4x Wooded Foothills
- 1x Mana Confluence
- 7 Mountain
- 7 Forest
Her deck was really straighforward but really consistent. All this deck wants to do is drop bombs on turn three, Genesis Hydra to do it again, then close out the game with monstroused Stormbreaths or
massive burn from Crater's Claw. It's really fast, surprisingly resilient and just frustrating to deal with. There's nothing like casting an 11/11 genesis Hydra of off Generator Servant and grabbing the Nylea to give it Haste and Trample.
As for cards we cut, we tried both Goblin Rabblemaster and Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker. Rabblemaster was insane on turn two and a bit underwhelming everywhere else so we cut it in favor of better bombs. You need to tap out to cast Sarkhan on turn three, so it's too hard to get value off of him early enough to want him. We just kept cutting copies until it ran 0. Honestly, Sarkhan feels like playing Hearthstone.
Couple tips and tricks for the new standard:
- Don't forget that you can bile blight your own Sylvan Caryatids. Killing two of your opponent's or even one when they miss a land drop is huge.
- Instant-speed planeswalker removal is crucial for a lot of decks. By letting Genesis Hydra's cascade resolve then killing the planeswalker in response to the Hydra lets you kill it before they can get their free value. Genesis Hydra is the third best green card after Courser and Elvish Mystic, so be ready to see it everywhere.