As Team Iloilo prepare for Dark Ascension to come in Standard, we had been brewing deck archetypes for the upcoming and expected changes in the format. The metagame is still (up to now) open for deck tech ideas, as Conley Woods has proved in GP Orlando. That means there are card combinations still waiting to be utilized and formed into a deck archetype.

As for me, I am sticking with the upgrades of the tokens deck and hoping for a comeback of Black Red Aggro. It is quite obvious that I am a Black Red fan and I miss Vampires which has rotated out last October 2011.

I’ve seen some potential cards in Dark Ascension for support to these two colors and these are my favorites so far:

Gravecrawler – this is my favorite one drop so far from the set and it gets awesome with the recurring ability as long as you have an undead dude.

Falkenrath Aristocrat – I’ve got unsure thoughts of this Mythic vampire. I mean she’s a good evasive critter, but the problem is the one toughness. Eventhough she can get Indestructibility in a turn, the popularity of Gut Shot makes it most of the time a difficult situation.

Geralf’s Messenger – Zombie deck right now has big potential to be an archetype in Standard. This card can play a major role for that. It may be fitted in blue black though as Dark Ascension also previewed a Zombie lord in blue-black multicolor.

As for the initial decklist, here it is:

Black Red Aggro by Mark Ian Alloso
Maindeck
2 Chandra’s Phoenix
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Gravecrawler
3 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Diregraf Ghoul

2 Arc Trail
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
3 Incinerate
2 Sword of War and Peace

4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Swamp
11 Mountain

The core components are still focused on the one-drops with the current fifteen count in the deck. It is more of a red-based type coz I think the aggressiveness of Red is better than that of Black and can end games pretty early because of burn.

The auto inclusion of Sword of War and Peace is needed in the deck as the protection from the two colors is very favorable in the current meta. Sure Vapor Snag is popular but would they waste it on a one-mana cost critter? I doubt they would.

Anyhow, this list is still needing playtesting and probably I am hoping that there is more card support for these colors as Dark Ascension spoilers are being completed by the end of this week. I heard a rumor that the list will be complete by tomorrow. We’ll update you on that just in case.

Until next time and thanks for reading.