June Set Roulette is here and the tournament is tomorrow! I can play once again this month and I’m looking to keep my Top 8 streak alive. This month’s format has been a real head scratcher for me:
- Magic 2011
- Theros Beyond Death
- Onslaught
- Visions
- Coldsnap
- Exodus
It’s worth noting that, every single card you try to build a deck with at first glance is probably banned. Here’s the gigantic ban list this month:
Dark Depths
Preordain
Rite of Flame
Summer Bloom
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath
Goblin Recruiter
Mystical Tutor
Oath of Druids
Survival of the Fittest
Underworld Breach
Vampiric Tutor
Recurring Nightmare
Mind Over Matter
I said head scratcher because the format is extremely shallow. With all the bans, we’re left with very little and I was unable to make more than a handful of decks that looked playable on paper. Imagine what it’s like in practice if even in theory not much seems good.
I keep feeling like I missed something, that I’m not seeing the great decks. I’m going to have to trust myself though. With that said, let’s get into the decklists I believe are at the very least, ‘’playable’’.
Blue/White Control
This is level zero. Not only because the deck builds itself, but also because it has been proven in a very recent Standard format, where the deck was essentially the same as this 75.
You could touch black if you think Doom Blade is important to have over Condemn. Ashiok, Nightmare Muse and Grave Titan are both great cards to have too, but ultimately I think Elspeth Conquers Death and Dream Trawler are better and so I rather have the more stable mana base.
I would not be surprised if Blue/White/Black control variants ended up being the most played archetypes tomorrow.
Selesnya Enchantress
Another deck that kind of builds itself. Green/White Constellation was never good enough for Standard, but with Enchantress’s Presence in the mix, we get a very good reason to try. One thing all Set Roulette veterans can all agree on is that Planeswalkers are usually quite good in these environments. Older sets are not equipped to deal with Planeswalkers and snowballing effects are much rarer to find.
Enters Calix, Destiny’s Hand. Never saw play anywhere really, but it has been phenomenal in this format! This deck has impressed me altogether and is very likely what I’ll be playing tomorrow.
Soul Sisters
In the line of decks that build themselves, Mono White Soul Sisters. If you’re expecting Mono Red, which is amongst the decks I consider playable, then you want to play this. I think this deck is solid because it covers many angles and is not just a dumb aggro deck. On the other hand, it doesn't play the role of any of those angles very well, which is what is scaring me away from it.
Also, these are the decks I misunderstand the most usually, so don’t necessarily take my words too seriously.
Mono Red
There are a few variants we could choose here, I decided to be midrange instead of aggro, because having to play Bloodcrazed Goblin is not something I’m willing to subject myself to. Reverberate + Fireblast is the combo kill we’re trying to accomplish in the late game when we draw with Ox of Agonas.
The idea is to chip damages here and there, but we have the ability to kill creatures and not instantly lose to a deck killing our early creatures or gaining a bunch of life like Soul Sisters above.
I’m still quite unimpressed and would not play it myself, but if you’re a red deck kind of person, be my guest!
Rakdos Aristocrats
Probably the better aggressive strategy alternative if you’re in the market to beat down. I’m worried that it’s too weak if you’re not playing against other creature decks though. Which I expect from Blue/White/Black control variants.
Turbo Titan
This one is hot. If you’re feeling lucky, this one's for you. Turn 1 mana dork, turn 2 Culling the Weak casts Grave Titan or Primeval Titan and that’s easily the most powerful thing you can be doing in this format.
The deck is surprisingly consistent at doing that between Culling the Weak and Natural Order, but it is also very one-dimensional. Extremely weak to Mana Leak. Maybe there’s a way to build the deck to be better against Mana Leak, but I’ve decided I was not going to play it. Clearly though, if you’re looking for fun and maybe some wins, register that one!
Jund
It’s as Jundy as Jund could ever be. It doesn't really need an explanation. We’re trying to do a little bit of everything, cast some of the best cards in the format, disrupt our opponents and be efficient while doing it.
I’m torn between playing this and Selesnya Enchantress. In the end I will probably register the one that has the best matchup against the Blue/White/Black Control variants, but I’m unsure which one that is as I’m writing this.
If I somehow knew that Esper would be the most popular variant of control decks, I’d play Jund because Dwarven Blastminer sounds absurd.
I think Acidic Slime is amazing in this format, there are not a lot of aggro decks and enchantments are everywhere. Grave Titan is a top end I don’t mind too much getting removed by Elspeth Conquers Death, which I think is important to have in mind for this format, ECD might be the most registered card.
Some other ideas I toyed around with but never actually built a 60 card deck include:
- Blue Devotion Combo with Thassa’s Oracle, Nyx Lotus, Future Sight, Flooded Shoreline.
- Elves with Biorhythm
This is it! I’m extremely curious about which decks will be registered tomorrow, really just to know if I missed something important or not.
See you tomorrow.
Author: Pascal Maynard
