Charred ash floats hypnotically through the air, resembling a peaceful snow on a cool winter morning. Slowly, melodically, the mild tremor rumbles throughout the quiet world, as if gently waking it to life. The fauna begins to frantically scramble from the base of the mountain, eager to escape the impending plight of the land. At first, the locals are unaware, but the ground seizes. Shouts raise above the hungry growl of nature, alerting the masses to the disaster looming. Beyond the chaotic cries of the general public, the Church of Orzhov works towards a means to bring the disaster to an end. It is a dark end. It is a dreadful end, but it is an effective end nonetheless. Mount Gatecrash has erupted, and the only way to appease the gods, is to offer up a human sacrifice to the volcano.



Pro Tour Gatecrash is in the books, and Tom Martell stands taller than usual with the winning list, The Aristocrats. A deck designed by Sam Black for team SCG, it takes full advantage of the "sacrifice a creature" text of Cartel Aristocrat and Innistrad Supergirl, Falkenrath Aristocrat. The Aristocrats is a synergistic amalgam that also happens to be an aggressive deck that can somewhat interact with Boros Reckoner. I will not say evenly, as nothing really interacts with Boros Reckoner evenly, but it shifts the paradigm from completely slanted in Boros Reckoner's favor, to slightly elevated ground for Boros Reckoner. Also, The Aristocrats plays Boros Reckoner because the card is insanity.

So, let us take a gander at the deck that brought home the trophy:

Main

Creatures

4 Doomed Traveler
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Knight of Infamy
4 Cartel Aristocrat
2 Silverblade Paladin
4 Boros Reckoner
1 Restoration Angel
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
2 Zealous Conscripts

Sorcery

2 Lingering Souls

Instant

4 Orzhov Charm

Land

3 Plains
4 Blood Crypt
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Vault of the Archangel

Sideboard

3 Tragic Slip
1 Skirsdag High Priest
2 Rest in Peace
1 Mentor of the Meek
2 Lingering Souls
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
2 Blasphemous Act

Oros, the Avenger is proud. The god-dragon of Mount Gatecrash's appetite has been sated, and the denizens can return to scratching out their meager existence, and place their paralyzing fear on hold for another day. He will hunger again soon enough, and the Church will spring to action... probably. After all, they do take their cue from famous Beatlejuice impressionist, Obzedat, Ghost Council who are known for their legendary sloth, and undeadness, as noted on the flavor text of Merciless Eviction.

"I once saw the Obzedat moved to action. Since that day, I've been thankful that they're mainly lazy, and dead." - Aurelia, to Gideon Jura

I am not sure if this is THE deck. In fact, I am more inclined to believe that it is not. Standard is a wonderland of variety, and it seems to me that The Aristocrats is more a product of a predicted metagame than an actual powerhouse of Standard. That said, the deck is brimming with excellent cards. Between Boros Reckoner, Restoration Angel, Champion of the Parish, and Silverblade Paladin, The Aristocrats presents a formidable array of cards to fight. Red and white have proven to be the color pillars of the Standard format, and the remaining three colors all pair well with them due to how good the core red and white tournament staples are. Naya decks consisting of red, white, and green consistently post winning results by taking advantage of the blistering speed that green offers with Avacyn's Pilgrim, Gyre Sage, Burning Tree Emissary, Flinthoof Boar, and Loxodon Hierarch. Blue contributes phenomenal late game in the form of Snapcaster Mage and Sphinx's Revelation, and offers a touch more consistency with Thought Scour and Think Twice.



Team SCG opted to utilize black as their third color for access to sacrifice outlets with Cartel Aristocrat, and Falkenrath Aristocrat, with the vampire being one of the top high end finishers in Standard. From there, black allows the deck to play one of the premier removal spells of the format in Orzhov Charm. The Aristocrats takes advantage of every mode, which bodes well for the deck. I anticipate seeing more of this charm in the future, as it is a reliable way to answer Boros Reckoner. The life loss is tough, but having a one-for-one answer to Boros Reckoner is going to be the new gold standard of Standard. In the same vein, Tragic Slip is at maximum effectiveness in a deck with so many sacrifice outlets. I am curious why Brimstone Volley did not make the cut, but I suspect it has to do with room, and the Wizard Minotaur of doom. Lingering Souls presents effective fodder and fills the curve of the deck. It is also a potent card against decks that are unable to handle the air force it represents. When combined with Falkenrath Aristocrat, it can create difficult board scenarios for the Supreme Verdict decks, and it provides insurance against the most common answers of Devour Flesh and Liliana of the Veil. Black also offers Skirsdag High Priest for the midrange matches. While lackluster in most racing scenarios, if the opponent is on the Thragtusk plan, multiple 5/5 flying demons seem like a good way to counteract that angle of defense. In a continuing hedge against midrange and Supreme Verdict strategies, Obzedat, Ghost Council haunts the sideboard I will attest to the power of this card, as it is incredibly frustrating to play against, because it makes racing difficult, and hits like Bane in the Gotham City sewer system. Finally, black offers Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. This is another card against control, and could even help against non-Reckoner aggressive strategies.

So, with all of that in mind, the next obvious question is, what is the evolution of Standard from here. If the format maintains a status quo of Boros Reckoner on Boros Reckoner fights, then it stands to reason that we must negotiate against that line of attack with extreme prejudice. I stand firm that Abrupt Decay is excellent against the format right now. It is unimpressive against Jund and Reanimator, but if Boros Reckoner is on the menu, then we will feed him to the worms. I want to stay away from cards like Ultimate Price, as, while it presents an excellent answer to Restoration Angel, Hellrider, and Thundermaw Hellkite, it is a borderline mulligan against aggressive Burning Tree Emissary and Boros Reckoner draws, which is not where point removal needs to be in the format. Now, with the limited tools we have available against the bevy of threats being presented, might I suggest the following:

Main

Creatures

4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
2 Yeva, Nature's Herald
4 Thragtusk
3 Prime Speaker Zegana

Instant

3 Thought Scour
3 Unsummon
1 Golgari Charm
1 Simic Charm
2 Devour Flesh
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Dissipate
2 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Mystic Genesis

Land

1 Island
1 Forest
1 Swamp
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Watery Grave
3 Breeding Pool
3 Drowned Catacomb
3 Woodland Cemetery
2 Hinterland Harbor
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Alchemist's Refuge

Sideboard

1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Dispel
1 Memory's Journey
1 Golgari Charm
2 Negate
1 Murder
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Silklash Spider
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Jace, Memory Adapt

Okay, so I have a bit of an obsession with BUG, but hear me out. I played a similar list to the one I posted last week at the SCG Classic in Memphis, TN, and got curb-stomped for my efforts. However, the tournament was extremely educational from a deck building perspective. I was able to tweak the list to address some weaknesses that became painfully obvious. As a point of reference, here is last week's proposed list:

Main

Creature

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thragtusk
2 Prime Speaker Zegana

Instant

1 Tragic Slip
2 Dispel
4 Thought Scour
2 Simic Charm
2 Dimir Charm
3 Devour Flesh
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Dissipate
1 Mystic Genesis

Artifact

1 Runechanter's Pike

Planeswalker

1 Garruk, Primal Hunter

Land

3 Island
1 Forest
1 Swamp
4 Breeding Pool
4 Watery Grave
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Alchemist's Refuge

Board

2 Cremate
3 Duress
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Ultimate Price
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Jace, Memory Adapt

First and foremost, the original incarnation was too "all in" on the Snapcaster Mage plan. That is not a poor plan, but it is a tough plan to get behind when Snapcaster Mage shows his face infrequently. Prime Speaker draws a metric truckload of cards, but she costs six mana. This is not a deck relying on Azorius Charm and Think Twice to cycle through the deck quickly, and maximize the effectiveness of Snapcaster Mage. So, the deck needed to be streamlined a bit. Snapcaster Mage has been reduced to three copies. It is still an outrageous tempo play, and gives the deck irreplaceable versatility. Yet, we need to be sure that the deck is not being cute. All the initial variety was just way too cute.

In addition, Master Biomancer, while incredible, is not right for this deck. He belongs in an Arbor Elf deck, not the reactionary machine we are attempting to run here. Please do not discount the Master Biomancer, though. When games played out to where I could cast him, the card was nigh unbeatable for aggressive and midrange strategies. Do not sleep on this card. It is incredible, and the only real issue with it in current Standard is the power level of Boros Reckoner, not the lack of power of Master Biomancer.

Runchanter's Pike was unimpressive, and I changed it out for Rancor in Memphis. While not a bad card, Rancor never really did anything in the deck. There was never a massive swing or a need to punch damage through a stalled board. Either the deck was humming along and keeping threats from the other side few and far between, or there was seven power worth of creatures in play on turn two. In the former case, being able to smash in for two more damage was rarely needed. In the latter case, there is never a moment to cast Rancor (or any random creature enhancement) without losing a noticeable amount of tempo. While only one mana, the card was effectively a mulligan in aggressive matches, and unnecessary in midrange or control matches.

Dispel is reduced to sideboard duty. While spectacular against Sphinx's Revelation, it far from stellar the rest of the time. Even countering a random charm here and there, it is not worth it for the number of times that Dispel sits in an opening hand and does nothing in face of an aggressive rush. Countering a big spell with Dispel creates moments of pure joy, but most of the time it does nothing. I do not want to play a do nothing. Virtual mulligans are basically a hipster hangout, and I will not cater to their party.

Garruk, Primal Hunter was removed from the deck for mana purposes, both colored and converted. While five mana is not a lot for this deck to reach, those turns typically are reserved for Snapcaster Mage, Thragtusk, and the occasional Mystic Genesis. The Beastmaster is still a fantastic card, and may warrant inclusion in the board as a way to bridge into Prime Speaker Zegana against control and midrange. The deck is card hungry by design, so the minus three ability on Garruk, Primal Hunter goes a long way towards increasing resources. The ability to make creatures to trigger Prime Speaker Zegana is great as well. However, I am going to load up against aggro first and foremost. Sadly, Garruk, Primal Hunter is below average against a Boros Reckoner world.

Simic Charm was reduced to a one of to continue to allow Snapcaster Mage shenanigans, but not because it was not useful. Usually, Simic Charm was a valuable card, and it pulled it's weight admirably. Even with this information available, the attempt to streamline the deck resulted in cards being cut. I did not want to completely remove Simic Charm though, and the times where the card shows up it is never unusable.

The mana base has been altered radically. I would like to take a moment to offer up my sincerest apologies to anyone that tried to play with the original mana base. It was an affront to all things holy and good. It did not take me too many games to realize that the deck is hungry for black mana. It turns out that not actually playing enough sources of black mana equates to a lot of staring at Abrupt Decay and Vampire Nighthawk, and then lamenting at how awesome they are against aggressive decks. I, personally, did not enjoy staring at my efficient answers to the problem cards of the format, so I have, hopefully, rectified that glaring problem. Similarly, a land was added to help insure getting to five and six lands which is where this BUG iteration really starts to sing.



Lastly, we have come to Dimir Charm. Oh sweet, sweet Dimir Charm let us ruminate for a moment. Dimir Charm seemed incredibly good in theory. It counters Bonfire of the Damned. It destroys Huntmaster of the Fells, Ash Zealot, Burning Tree Emissary, and even a mana bug on the play. Even the worst mode of Dimir Charm can help out in a pinch by keeping the top of the deck live, or putting the opponent on a dead draw. It all sounds phenomenal, and if the card actually did any of the things stated, it would be pretty decent. As it stands however, Dimir Charm actually reads as such:

Dimir Charm - UB

Dimir Charm must be cast when drawn.
Choose one - Try to counter a relevant sorcery, but instead glare angrily at Dimir Charm while your opponent only casts instants; or Destroy target creature with power 2 or less that has already completely wrecked you and return it to play as a 3/3 Sodomite; or look at the top three cards of target player's library, if you target an opponent', Dimir Charm targets you instead, and you place all copies of Dimir Charm in the world on top of your deck.

That may not be completely right, but it feels close. I can not spout enough vitriol towards Dimir Charm. Well, maybe I can. Let me give it a whirl. The card is worthless. It is less than worthless. Worthlessness is to Bill Gates as Dimir Charm is to Dimir Charm. Dimir Charm actually lowers the bar of expectation so much, that the human mind can not conceivably reach the depths of frivolity that it represents. Kim Kardashian should be considered a necessity to progressing the human race rather than playing Dimir Charm. The printing of Dimir Charm has actually catapulted the Earth closer towards the zombie apocalypse, Ironically, it can do nothing about this oncoming apocalyptic Hellscape, as Dimir Charm would then create a fourth mode that exacerbates the eventual eradication of all life on the planet. Dimir Charm only ever successfully destroyed one thing with a power of 2 or less, and it was John Lennon. Dimir Charm gave Hitler elocution lessons. Dimir Charm bought Joseph Goebbels an Easy Bake oven. Dimir Charm told Rosa Parks to get to the back of the bus. Dimir Charm signed Justin Bieber to a record deal. Thanks for everything Dimir Charm.

Alright, with that out of the way, let us look at the changes to the BUG list. It is imperative to interact early and often in Standard. The aggressive decks in the format dictate deck construction. If a deck does not have a plan for combating an early creature rush, then I would not anticipate a lot of wins from that deck. The first four turns of Standard can unfold with frightening speed, and not being able to meaningfully interact is akin to setting oneself up for failure. So, let us take a moment to discuss the upgrades.



Unsummon has weaseled into the deck, and has been an excellent utility card. It stems the tide of an early creature rush and allows for a re-buy on Thragtusk against aggressive decks. When fighting against control, multiple resolutions of Prime Speaker Zegana can lock up a game quickly, or keep pace with Sphinx's Revelation. Being able to flashback Unsummon with Snapcaster Mage can often lead to a massive amount of tempo advantage that allows the game to reach BUG's formidable late game.

Next, we have Forbidden Alchemy. Where has this card been my whole life? I should have been playing Forbidden Alchemy from the start. It is slow and durdles, but the ability to dig four cards deep, feed Deathrite Shaman, and flashback later on is exactly what this BUG deck wants to do. I am avoiding more than two, since the card does not directly effect the board, and so far that number feels right.



Golgari Charm has been added to directly address Lingering Souls. While locking up the ground is what BUG does best, the skies are mostly clear for takeoff. Lingering Souls generates an enormous amount of evasive pressure for BUG to deal with, and concurrently makes Devour Flesh and Liliana of the Veil much worse. Luckily, Golgari Charm is rushing to the rescue, and it has the added dimension of being excellent against Supreme Verdict decks. Being able to regenerate the team, or dispose of an inconvenient Detention Sphere on top of handling Lingering Souls convinced me that this was the right answer to a true problem card.



Now, for the real spicy technology; Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. What can I say? I have always loved the fatties. Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord allows the BUG deck to have something that it normally would severely lack. He allows for reach. The ability to pick up Prime Speaker Zegana and chuck her at the opponent is handy. It also allows for ground stalls to completely favor BUG when he is in play. It does not take many five or six point drains to end a game. Being able to recur at any time also allows for Thought Scour and Forbidden Alchemy to grab the important cards, with no fear of losing a definite end game strategy. Then, as a cherry on top, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord is green, so he plays well with Yeva, Nature's Herald.

The sideboard is mostly similar, but the lessons of the playground encouraged me to alter it slightly. Ultimate Price has been removed entirely in favor of a guaranteed catchall, Murder. Silklash Spider has been drafted to the roster as assistance against Thundermaw Hellkite and Lingering Souls. Jace, Memory Adept has been shaved to one and Psychic Spiral has been added to offer redundancy with Snapcaster Mage. Continuing the assault on control, Liliana of the Veil was added to help against Geist of Saint Traft and Sphinx's Revelation decks. She can also come in against aggressive strategies as a slow Tribute to Hunger type of effect. The anti-reanimate strategy has changed from Cremate to Memory's Journey and Tormod's Crypt. Memory's Journey allows for BUG to counter an Unburial Rites, or recycle good hate cards, such as Tormod's Crypt. The deck certainly wanted a total graveyard cash out spell, and a second Tomod's Crypt may be needed. Honestly, it will depend entirely on the evolution of the metagame.

That does it for this week. I will be practicing fully with BUG in preparation for the SCG Classic in Louisville on March 2. I have a desire to compete in a SCG Invitational this year, and I would absolutely love for it to be in Atlanta, where Scott Tompkins, Eddie Walker and Matt Norton will be representing The Phyrexian Arena. I can not, in good conscience, leave all the accolades to just them.

As always, thank you for reading.

Jeremy Skelton