We have a new Standard format upon us and it's time to get our hands dirty.  The first event using the new format is going to be SCG Atlanta.  I have the fortune of being able to attend this event.  That means I need to find a deck.  Picking the right deck can be difficult, though.



I recently read a great article by Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa on ChannelFireball about picking a good deck.  If you have not read it, I strongly recommend you do.  And then watch the MagicTV that Luis Scott-Vargas and Andrew Cooperfauss did discussing the article.  One of the things that PV mentions in his article is to play a deck with good cards.  Also, play a deck that gets free wins.  According to LSV in the article discussion video, the current card to get free wins with is Geist of Saint Traft.  So, for Atlanta, I will be playing the Saintly spirit.  Now, the question becomes how to play him.

Geist is no stranger to the Standard format.  He has been seeing play consistently since the Delver days.  He is essentially 6 points of hexproof power for three mana.  That is incredible value.  The only real trick is making sure he survives combat.  There are several ways to approach this and that is what are we going to look at today:  a breakdown of the different ways to play Geist and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

It's pretty clear that will be a white/blue deck.  Otherwise, we would not be playing Geist.  In the world of Ravnica, and its ten shocklands, it seems almost folly to not play three colors.  Let us look at what our third color should be.

Green

Bant has been a very popular home for Geist in the last few months.  Bant midrange has definitely had some success this season because it combines the power of Geist and Thragtusk.  Throw in Restoration Angel, and things get ridiculous.

There are several advantages to the Green path.  Now, with the addition of Breeding Pool, Arbor Elf makes the threat of a turn two Geist very real.  Here is a rough list to use as a starting point.

4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Thragtusk
4 Restoration Angel
2 Master Biomancer
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
3 Azorius Charm
3 Simic Charm
1 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Syncopate
2 Spell Rupture
3 Think Twice
4 Arbor Elf
4 Breeding Pool
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Gavony Township
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Temple Garden
2 Hinterland Harbor
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains

We see the familiar curve of Geist, Restoration Angel, and Thragtusk, but Gatecrash has brought us some new toys to play with.  Master Biomancer seems really good with Geist.  Now the Angel swings for 6 every turn.  Not to mention the value it adds with Restoration Angel.

Another heavy hitter from Gatecrash is Prime Speaker Zegana.  Since we already have Breeding Pools and Thragtusks, it seems only natural to play her here.  She allows you to have a very strong late game.  And she also combos well with the Biomancer.

The spell selection is designed to facilitate the midrange plan.  Syncopates and Azorious Charm help keep early threats at bay.  Think Twice gives you something else to do with your mana when you don't need to play anything else.  Simic Charm seems very good in this deck.  It gets rid of a blocker and also pumps your Geist.  And will also protect your other creatures from targeted removal.

I also decided to try Spell Rupture.  I have discussed this card with a friend in conjunction with Thragtusk and Restoration Angel.  It could almost be the second coming of Mana Leak in this deck.  In the late game, after you have resolved your threat, it will make sure you opponent cannot do anything about said threat.

While green does give us some excellent creatures, it does not give us great removal.  Most of our removal is of the tempo variety, just keeping the creatures out of the way long enough for us to attack.  We are mostly focused on surviving long enough to reach the mid game and start dropping bomb after bomb.

This deck is definitely full of powerful cards and some version of this is sure to pop up in the next few weeks.  However, it's not the only option we have if we want to play Geist.

Red

This following deck has done well in a couple of events over at Magic-League.  They have been using Gatecrash since Friday and have posted some results, so I definitely recommend looking there if you would other deck ideas.

     4 Sulfur Falls
     4 Hallowed Fountain
     3 Clifftop Retreat
     1 Desolate Lighthouse
     4 Steam Vents
     2 Island
     4 Glacial Fortress
     1 Moorland Haunt
     1 Mountain
     1 Plains
     4 Restoration Angel
     4 Snapcaster Mage
     4 Geist of Saint Traft
     2 Thundermaw Hellkite
     2 Dissipate
     3 Pillar of Flame
     3 Searing Spear
     1 Izzet Charm
     3 Azorius Charm
     1 Essence Scatter
     2 Sphinx's Revelation
     1 Rewind
     2 Syncopate
     1 Supreme Verdict
     2 Unsummon
SB: 1 Essence Scatter
SB: 2 Supreme Verdict
SB: 1 Burning Oil
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 2 Dispel
SB: 3 Izzet Staticaster
SB: 2 Augur of Bolas
SB: 2 Elixir of Immortality

Red gives the advantage of better removal.  Both Pillar of Flame and Searing Spear are excellent at removing problematic blockers.  And Snapcaster allows you to rebuy them for additional reach.  It also gives you an end game threat in Thundermaw Hellkite.

I'm not sure I agree with the lack of Boros Charm.  This card seems insane.  Making all of your permanents indestructible is a great way to make sure your creatures survive.  He even plays a Supreme Verdict in the main.  And the 4 damage to the dome should not be discounted either.  It will allow you to end games even if your opponent does sweep your board.

This deck does have the advantage of being faster than the green version, but not without cost.  The green version has a much better endgame.  This deck only has two copies of Thundermaw Hellkite if the game goes long.

I do like that this deck can easily board into a control deck.  It allows us flexibility in our game plan, depending on what we are playing against.  At this point, I'm leaning more toward this type of build than the green one above for Atlanta.

Black

Ah Esper, how I have missed thee.  The release of Godless Shrine and Water Grave give us a third option for our Geist decks.  This is an option I am all too eager to explore, as Esper has always been one of my favorite color combinations.  Let us take a look at what an Esper Geist list might look like.

3 Restoration Angel
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Dungeon Geists
4 Drogskol Captain
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
4 Azorius Charm
3 Orzhov Charm
2 Devour Flesh
3 Blind Obedience
2 Ultimate Price
4 Lingering Souls
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Watery Grave
2 Godless Shrine
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Drowned Catacomb
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Island
1 Plains

As you can see, this deck looks a little different than the two above.  Gatecrash was kind enough to provide us another powerhouse spirit so I thought I would see how they play together.  Obzedat is basically this decks version of Thragtusk or Thundermaw Hellkite.  He is a five mana creature that puts that ends the game.

With the spirit plan, I choose to play Dungeon Geist as well.  It is an excellent answer for Thragtusks and Falkenrath Aristocrats.  Drogskol Captain helps protect our other spirits.  The Ghost Council is hard enough to kill as it is, but Drogskol Captain makes it nearly impossible.  Restoration Angel is for the times you do not have a Captain.  The abundance of spirits allows us to easily play Cavern of Souls.  Since Geist and Obzedat are so hard to deal with in play, people will be looking to use counter magic to stop them.  Cavern shuts that plan down completely.

Blind Obedience is another card I've been interested in trying.  This seems like a really good fit for the deck.  It helps keep hasty attackers at bay, but it also prevents blocking.  With Blnd Obedience out, your opponent can never top deck a blocker for your Giest or Council.  It also allows us to sneak in a few points of damage with extort. It will also bolster our life total if we have our Orzhov Charms become costly.

I'm a big fan of Orzhov Charm up to this point.  The ability to kill any creature is not something to take lightly, even if it does come with a price.  It fills out our removal suite quite nicely.  And let's not discount the rescue portion, either.  Nothing is going to frustrate your opponent more than saving your Geist or Council once your opponent finally finds a way to deal with them.

I'm not sure yet which list I'm going to play, yet.  I'm sure each deck has its merits.  See you next week where we will take a look at the first hard results of the new Standard format, and hopefully it will be name at the top of the list.

Eddie Walker