Now that the complete Fate Reforged Card spoiler is up in the mothership site, we are now to evaluate the probable Standard-worthy cards in the set. Let me start with Red as I am planning to revive the Red Devotion deck that was a powerhouse archetype back in Theros Standard.

Here are my current Red FRF card choices:

The pseudo Lightning Bolt instant, Flamewake Phoenix and Mardu Scout are so far the best cards to add in the Red Devo deck. Flamewake Phoenix is more of Temur or Red Green archetype but I think it would still work with Ashcloud Phoenix and Sarkhan planeswalker. Break Through the Line is more suited for a Rabble Red type of deck along with Goblin Heelcutter whereas Outpost Siege is a good alternative for Chandra Pyromaster as it don’t die to creature attacks.

My other notable Red cards from Fate Reforged are Humble Defector, Mob Rule, Lightning Shrieker, Shaman of the Great Hunt and Wild Slash. If ever I will build a Red Devotion deck now, it will look like this:

4 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Mardu Scout
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Stormbreath Dragon

1 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

1 Hammer of Purphoros

18 Mountain
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Temple of Abandon

To wrap things up, the deck has a good potential in the meta of three-color archetypes wherein you would just overpower them with fast & cheap critters while they fix their mana and finish them off with a Fanatic of Mogis burn in the dome. We’ll check for any deck updates on this one in a few weeks so just stay tuned.

Thanks for reading and until next post.

So here I am, thinking on another Standard deck to brew on a boring night. I decided to browse through the Khans of Tarkir spoiler list for ideas and came upon the card named Abzan Ascendancy. I initially thought of a Convoke tokens list that the enchantment can pump, but its second ability will be pretty much useless. Since the clan’s mechanic is Outlast, I scoured and sorted creatures from the clan’s colors with that ability.

After a few minutes, the list is now composed of mostly White Outlast critters and a few of them from the Green pile. So the deck’s core colors will be White and Green with Black splash for ascendancy and maybe Abzan Charm. A few deck statistics analysis and choosing the right creature while discarding unnecessary ones, here is the first version of the deck, Abzan Outlast:

Creatures
4 Abzan Falconer
4 Ainok Bond-Kin
4 Elvish Mystic
4 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Soul of Theros
4 Sunblade Elf
3 Voyaging Satyr
3 Wingmate Roc

Spells
4 Abzan Ascendancy
4 Abzan Charm
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

Lands
3 Sandsteppe Citadel
3 Temple of Plenty
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Plains
2 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Windswept Heath

There were only two Outlast creatures that made into the list: Abzan Falconer and Ainok Bond-Kin. That is because their ability is the only relevant type in most of the combat situations. First Strike gets you advantage against most blockers and Flying for bypassing late game threats. The rest are mana creatures that you’d need to ramp into your sentinels or rocs as wells as mana dump for Sunblade Elf’s pump (+1/+1) ability.

The sleeper card in the list is High Sentinels of Arashin, a four drop flyer that gets big coming into play as a follow up for Abzan Ascendancy plus it’s is a late game pump source which also triggers Outlast’s static ability as well.

Soul of Theros is the deck’s top of the curve and can give your team a huge swing once you have untapped into it. It is also a 6/6 threat on its own and can even be used from the graveyard if ever it is killed.

Aside from the ascendancy, your other +1/+1 counter sources are the Abzan Charms and the lone planeswalker in the deck Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. I was thinking of having Dictate of Heliod in his spot but then he can provide gas by digging into your relevant creatures and filtering redundant cards.

This is still an experimental build so I won’t expect it to perform well against the current Tier 1 decks in Standard, though I will still be testing it on Magic Workstation and maybe I will post some match results soon so stay tuned for that.

That’s about it for Abzan Outlast deck tech, thanks for reading and until next post.

The recent results in Grand Prix Santiago saw the success of the Temur decks in the Standard metagame. The proof was three of the archetype got into the Top 8 of the event though none of them got the trophy. Nevertheless, it just elevated the status of the deck among the ranks of archetypes in Standard.

Here are the three Temur decks that gained the Top 8 success in Grand Prix Santiago.

Temur Midrange by Pedro Carvalho
Standard

Maindeck
3 Elvish Mystic
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Boon Satyr
4 Savage Knuckleblade
4 Ashcloud Phoenix
3 Polukranos, World Eater

4 Crater’s Claws
3 Lightning Strike
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Temur Charm

4 Frontier Bivouac
3 Mana Confluence
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Temple of Epiphany
1 Temple of Mystery
3 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Yavimaya Coast
1 Shivan Reef

Sideboard
1 Lightning Strike
1 Temur Charm
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Stubborn Denial
3 Hunt the Hunter
2 Magma Spray
1 Arc Lightning
1 Barrage of Boulders
1 Back to Nature

Temur Midrange by David Sologuren
Standard

Maindeck
4 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
3 Elvish Mystic
4 Boon Satyr
4 Savage Knuckleblade

4 Crater’s Claws
3 Lightning Strike
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Temur Charm

4 Wooded Foothills
2 Mountain
3 Forest
3 Mana Confluence
4 Frontier Bivouac
4 Yavimaya Coast
2 Temple of Epiphany
1 Shivan Reef

Sideboard
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Hornet Nest
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Hunt the Hunter
2 Back to Nature
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Magma Spray

Temur Midrange by Fernando Barros
Standard

Maindeck
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Elvish Mystic
1 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Savage Knuckleblade
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Boon Satyr

3 Lightning Strike
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Temur Charm
2 Crater’s Claws

4 Wooded Foothills
3 Frontier Bivouac
3 Forest
2 Mountain
3 Shivan Reef
4 Yavimaya Coast
2 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Mystery

Sideboard
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Hornet Nest
2 Magma Spray
1 Surrak Dragonclaw
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Back to Nature
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Stubborn Denial