Magic 2014 Coreset will be prereleased this coming weekend and with the full set now revealed, we take a look at what probable cards that are Standard hopefuls. My choices, aside from the popular reprints of Mutavault and Scavenging Ooze, are the new cards that we can check and explore. Starting this week, I’ll take on discussing post-M14 Standard decks and metagame. My deck archetype for the week is a distant cousin of the popular Bant Hexproof, with a little taste of Magic 2014. Here is a detailed discussion of the deck.

First, the decklist I’ll call Ajani’s Aura:

2 Elite Inquisitor
2 Precint Captain
4 Fencing Ace
2 Knight of Glory
2 Nearheath Pilgrim
4 Silverblade Paladin
3 Ajani’s Chosen
19 Creatures

1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
2 Abundant Growth
2 Brave the Elements
4 Ethereal Armor
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Rancor
2 Selesnya Charm
3 Unflinching Courage
19 Spells

3 Forest
8 Plains
1 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Gavony Township
22 Lands

The M14 cards utilized are Ajani’s Chosen and the reprinted Brave the Elements. Ajani’s Chosen works well with the 14 auras in the deck, in addition the recurring Rancor, letting you generate threats if your early assault got answered. Brave the Elements is obviously much better than Faith’s Shield, protecting your horde from Bonfire or Mortars, and letting you an alpha strike with various double striking critters or a pride of cats.

The choice of two-drops is varied on first strikers, life gainers and Exalted. Fencing Ace is obviously the best in the group to be enchanted, but there are other creature options accessible. Elite Inquisitor’s bonus protection can be beneficial on certain matchups, also with Knight of Glory. Silverblade Paladin is your option for a fast clock coupled with pumps from Rancor and the armor.

The only one drop of the deck is either an Abundant Growth or a tapped Temple Garden. Maybe Dryad Militant will be included on the board but it’s more important that you hit your two drops more often. The rest of the deck strategy is pretty much basic, and adjustments will just depend on the sideboard.

I hope you’d try out this deck strategy once M14 becomes Standard-legal. Most would say that M14 is a weak set compared to the previous core sets (which I also agree) but I think it is another set with card techs waiting to be discovered and that will eventually shape up Standard.

Until then, and thanks for reading.