Top Standard Decks for the First Week of Conflux
February 10, 2009 by Mark Ian
Filed under Magic The Gathering
Hey all. Looking at the recent online tournaments at Magic League and the Standard decks posted at Deckcheck.net, I’ve decided to give you an update on the top Standard decks people are playing just after Conflux entered the scene.
1. Boatbrew/RW Cruise/RW Lark
The first deck I’ll present to you is the deck that has made debut last Worlds 2008 and has gained popularity until today. It’s not surprising that this is the deck of choice of most of the players that got in the top 8 of Magic League’s Standard Masters tournament last February 8. The deck have card advantage written all over it. Here’s a list.
Maindeck
3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Incinerate
4 Spectral Procession
3 Path to Exile1 Mogg Fanatic
3 Reveillark
1 Flamekin Harbinger
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Figure of Destiny
1 Voracious Dragon
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Knight of Meadowgrain1 Rustic Clachan
2 Mountain
3 Plains
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Rugged Prairie
2 MutavaultSideboard
2 Stillmoon Cavalier
3 Ajani Goldmane
2 Banefire
4 Celestial Purge
4 Volcanic Fallout
The Conflux cards that were added to the list are Path to Exile, Volcanic Fallout and Celestial Purge.
2. BR Blightning
This deck maybe is the reason why Faeries are a no-show on the top finishers. The addition of Volcanic Fallout made the already bad match up worst. Here’s a sample list. This is what I actually want to based on my current build.
Maindeck
4 Flame Javelin
4 Blightning
4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Incinerate
4 Magma Spray4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Demigod of Revenge4 Graven Cairns
4 Sulfurous Springs
3 Reflecting Pool
5 Mountain
4 Auntie’s Hovel
4 Ghitu EncampmentSideboard
3 Vexing Shusher
4 Shriekmaw
4 Stillmoon Cavalier
4 Thoughtseize
The list is more of a control type, having only sixteen creatures, Volcanic Fallout main board and Thoughtseize on the side.
3. Five Color Control
5CC players are the happiest to welcome Conflux because of the new cards options they could experiment and add to their list. I’m talking about Path to Exile, Martial Coup, Volcanic Fallout, Obelisk of Alara, Nicol Bolas and the like. The elder dragon planeswalker actually showed up in this list made by manachuel, which got into the top 4 of the Feb. 5 trial tournament at Magic League. See below.
Maindeck
3 Volcanic Fallout
2 Martial Coup
4 Path to Exile
2 Obelisk of Alara
3 Wrath of God
4 Cryptic Command
3 Esper Charm
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker4 Mulldrifter
3 Vexing Shusher
2 Ajani Vengeant
3 Rhox War Monk1 Underground River
1 Yavimaya Coast
4 Vivid Grove
4 Vivid Creek
1 Flooded Grove
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
4 Vivid Meadow
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Mystic Gate
1 Sunken RuinsSideboard
1 Pyroclasm
1 Volcanic Fallout
3 Celestial Purge
1 Vexing Shusher
4 Firespout
4 Wispmare
1 Wrath of God
4. Bant Aggro
The deck abuses the power of the three color mana of the Bant shard, using power creatures like Rhox War Monk, the legendary Rafiq of the Many, Jhessian Infiltrators, Kitchen Finks and Wilt-leaf Liege. It also utilizes permission spells Cryptic Command, Broken Ambitions and Bant Charms. I got a sample list below from the Daily deck list at the official site.
Maindeck
4 Jhessian Infiltrator
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Rafiq of the Many
4 Rhox War Monk
4 Shorecrasher Mimic
3 Wilt-Leaf Liege4 Bant Charm
4 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
2 Snakeform1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Brushland
3 Flooded Grove
3 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Seaside Citadel
3 Treetop Village
3 Wooded Bastion
2 Yavimaya CoastSideboard
3 Cloudthresher
2 Condemn
3 Flashfreeze
3 Negate
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Stoic Angel
With regards to Conflux, I’m guessing the addition of Noble Hierarch, Path to Exile and Celestial Purge to the list.
5. BW Tokens
The dark side version of Boat Brew (I think), this deck uses card advantage via token producing spells (ie Spectral Procession) and permanents (Bitterblossom), and hand disruption. Here’s the decklist.
Maindeck
4 Bitterblossom
4 Glorious Anthem
4 Thoughtseize
4 Spectral Procession
2 Ajani Goldmane
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Terror4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Cloudgoat Ranger4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Fetid Heath
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Windbrisk Heights
2 Mutavault
2 Plains
1 SwampSideboard
2 Mind Shatter
1 Mirrorweave
4 Wispmare
3 Wrath of God
1 Ajani Goldmane
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
Possible Conflux cards for the deck are Path to Exile and Martial Coup.
So far these are the top decks I’ve noticed for this week. I think Conflux is still young on the format and players are still on the trial and testing stage of what new cards to add or splash to their list. Will the Faeries come back on top? Let’s just wait and see.
Thanks for reading and until next time. 
hey mark,
i’ve been reading your blog for quite a long time but it is the first time i am posting a comment.as we can see there will be 5 dominant decks after conflux 5cc w/r kithkins monored and w/b tokens.i am playing for the last 3 months a cruel control deck(my built!!!) and i haven’t lost but 2 times and only from monored.i think(fortunately or unfortunately) this wiil be the deck to beat for the next months.banefire martial (s)coop path to exile volcanic fallout celestial purge are the most powerfull and playable cards for t2.as we can see all of them are white and red.so a deck which can master these 2 colours and possibly some others will easily be number 1 for standar in the next months.thats all my thoughts i would like to hear also what you believe.
cheers from greece
panos
Hi Panos, thanks for reading.
Yes I agree that 5CC will be the next top deck with lots of goodies Conflux has provided. Your 2 loss against mono red I think is just pure luck on the opponent. I’ve been playing RDW myself (black-red version) and I only win against 5CC if they’re mana screwed.
Let’s not forget the Faes. Even though these two red cards (Fallout and Banefire) will be a big hindrance for them, I think they would still come up with a strategy to deal with this.
hey mark
you are right about the faes but you forget 2 cards:the small archer(he doesn’t die from peppersmoke only agony warp and terror and if my opponent uses these 2 powerfull removals for him ok be my guest!!!) and celestial purge(permanently remove blossom from the game with only 2 easy mana(1w) omg wtf is this card!!!).the only significant threat is mistbind clique which is manageble with 1 card:runed halo!!!she can’t target you and this means she cannot tap your lands.but i don’t expect anyone to play fae from now on
just my thoughts
Yes, Scattershot Archer and Celestial Purge are bane of the Faes too. I like your strategy on the Runed Halo. 5CC is definitely a bad matchup for them now.
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