Counters and Counters
Resiliency and consistency helps decks fight back while behind.
Lotleth Troll (left) illustrated by Vincent Proce; Sphinx's Revelation (right) illustrated by Slawomir Maniak
Congratulations to Galacticdragonlord and TimJressel for going 3-0 in matches this past week. Through their personal insights, they have each made a few changes to existing lists that significantly alter many of their interaction points in favor of resilience. Let’s see what’s new with Golgari Counters and Azorius Control.
Golgari Counters - galacticdragonlord
Lotleth Troll illustrated by Vincent Proce
Galacticdragonlord’s changes aim to rebuild from removal more easily, and to more consistently push the final points of damage through. To rebuild, card draw has been added and the creature count has increased. To push damage through and close the game, more evasion has been added to the deck.
Resource Resurgence
Two copies of Fatal Push and one copy of Abrupt Decay were removed from the deck in favor of two Nature’s Resurgence and an Implement of Ferocity. Instead of looking to slow the opponent’s plan with removal for a smaller game, this Golgari Counters deck is looking to amass more resources. The deck is focused around +1/+1 synergies gained from keeping multiple permanents on the battlefield, so having more cards allows Golgari Counters’ threats to grow time and time again. Taking out some removal also means that opponents are likely to draw fewer cards from Nature’s Resurgence themselves. This surge of cards allows the deck to cycle its hand with Lotleth Troll. It also lets the deck nonchalantly recover from a board wipe.
To further support Nature’s Resurgence, the deck has added two copies of Yahenni, Undying Partisan over two Elven Rite. Yahenni, Undying Partisan works similarly to Lotleth Troll, manually tossing creatures into the graveyard for value before turning them into other cards.
With slightly fewer enablers for +1/+1 counters, three Corpsejack Menace and one Maulfist Revolutionary have been removed in favor of three Desecration Demon and one Dryad Militant. After dealing a lot of damage quickly through the ground, Golgari Counters can now take to the sky with Desecration Demon to deal the final points of damage. Corpsejack Menace’s absence means that the high-rolling combo potential with Winding Constrictor doesn’t happen anymore, but there is slightly more consistency in closing the game by flying over the top of a gummed-up board with Desecration Demon. The Dryad Militant just acts as an aggressive one-drop, keeping to the plan of curving out.
Azorius Control - TimJressel
Sphinx's Revelation illustrated by Slawomir Maniak
TimJressel’s changes focus on getting out of the early game and mid-game more consistently. More efficient early interaction gets it out of the early game. An altered mana base helps it get past the mid-game.
More Mana
Two copies of Mana Leak have been added, replacing Cyclonic Rift and Change of Heart. While the expensive versions of the latter spells can severely delay an opponent in the mid-to-late game, Azorius Control has been having more trouble getting there as decks become more tuned and low to the ground. A single bounce from a Cyclonic Rift or Change of Heart can pause creatures for a turn or two, but Mana Leak can deal with them forever. Having more cheap interaction on the stack especially improves Azorius Control’s matchup in the mirror match and against Armageddon decks.
We continue to see respect for Armageddon with the addition of Oboro, Palace in the Clouds. In the circumstance where the extra Mana Leak didn’t work, returning Oboro to hand helps Azorius Control rebuild more consistently. Svyelunite Temple more often lets Azorius Control hold up Counterspell after deploying its sorcery-speed removal in the mid-game, making sure it can deal with the board while still keeping its guard up. These land changes make the snow package a bit weaker. To maintain appropriate support for both colors and not have too many tapped lands, the Scrying Sheets has been replace by the Oboro and one Boreal Shelf has been replaced by an Adarkar Wastes.
A Deckbuilding Boon
Boon Reflection illustrated by Terese Nielsen & Ron Spencer
With Golgari Counters setting contingency plans and Azorius Control taking more preventative measures, Golgari is rejuvenated and Azorius stays healthy. As Season 8 of Fantasy Standard matures into its later half, consistency and/or resilience proves its worth and lists strengthen as they become more refined. While not having as many landslide victories, decks are more likely to break parity and even turn around losing games into advantaged ones because they are more critically planning for being behind. The back and forth dance of these games is one of the greatest boons of Magic: The Gathering, and it makes me excited to return to Fantasy Standard week after week.
