Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor has finally concluded as Seth Manfield emerged victorious once again. He was playing none other than Rakdos Vampires, a deck that had little to no recognition before the tournament. Unsurprisingly, as the best players in the world competed for glory and cash, all eyes have been on the Pioneer format.
Interestingly, though, Pioneer wasn’t the only format to see a unique breakout shell win a massive tournament. See, at MagicCon Chicago, there were other large events going on that didn’t garner quite as much attention. One of them was a massive $75k Standard Open event featuring over 500 players.
In this tournament, it wasn’t a well-established archetype like Boros Convoke or Esper midrange that ended up winning everything. Instead, it was a 68-card masterpiece with a rather convoluted infinite combo available! Before we go over exactly how the combo works, it’s essential to go over the core pieces of the deck and how they fit together.
Synergy and Ramp Work in Tandem
On the surface, this deck looks like it has a ton of different things going on. However, most cards in the deck help further this deck’s gameplan in some way. The entire core of the deck revolves around a specific group of Lands from Streets of New Capenna, such as Riveteers Outlook, that allow you to search your library for basic Lands to put into play.
Rather than tapping for mana themselves, these Lands get sacrificed when they enter the battlefield and simply help fix your mana by providing some basic Land selection. For most decks, these Lands are generally worse than other dual Lands available in Standard. After all, not only do you end up with a Land that just taps for a single color of mana, but it also enters the battlefield tapped. This is a big cost, but the fact that these Lands go to the graveyard automatically is extremely important in letting this deck function.
Both
Aftermath Analyst
Aftermath Analyst
When this creature enters, mill three cards. (Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.)
{3}{G}, Sacrifice this creature: Return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
and
Splendid Reclamation
Splendid Reclamation
Return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
become excellent ramp cards in conjunction with these Lands. Getting to bring back a slew of Lands that naturally go to the graveyard is quite strong. You even gain a bunch of life in the process, which is a nice boon for a deck that is trying to buy enough time to execute the combo.
Additionally,
Nissa, Resurgent Animist
Nissa, Resurgent Animist
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, add one mana of any color. Then if this is the second time this ability has resolved this turn, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Elf or Elemental card. Put that card into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
works perfectly with these Lands. When you play Riveteers Outlook, for instance, you will net a mana from Nissa. You then net another mana when the basic Land you search for with Outlook enters the battlefield. Now, even though you have only played one Land from hand, you have the opportunity to reveal cards from the top of your library until you hit an Elf or Elemental to put into hand.
Add in Aftermath Analyst’s ability to return a bunch of Lands to play at once and you can end up with a boatload of mana to work with. Notably, Aftermath Analyst is an Elf, so finding it during the course of the game isn’t too tricky.
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Value and Interaction
Given the incredible mana advantage this deck is capable of having access to, it’s imperative to address two potential limiting factors that could otherwise hold this deck back. First, you need a strong way to help you stay alive and stabilize. Obviously, the life gain from your Lands helps to some extent, but you still need a way to keep the board clear against aggressive decks like Boros Convoke. As such, this deck makes use of a good mix of cheap removal and board wipes.
Cut Down
Cut Down
Destroy target creature with total power and toughness 5 or less.
and
Go for the Throat
Go for the Throat
Destroy target nonartifact creature.
help keep problematic Creatures from taking over the game. Meanwhile,
Path of Peril
Path of Peril
Cleave {4}{W}{B} (You may cast this spell for its cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in square brackets.)
Destroy all creatures [with mana value 2 or less].
and
Terror Tide
Terror Tide
Fathomless descent — All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of permanent cards in your graveyard.
help immensely against go wide strategies.
The second limiting factor beyond the need to interact is the need to have ways to utilize your massive mana advantage. Right off the bat, no card helps more in this regard than
Memory Deluge
Memory Deluge
Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the amount of mana spent to cast this spell. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Flashback {5}{U}{U} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
. Memory Deluge is a decent four-mana card that can help you find your board wipes and ways to return Lands to play, but its Flashback ability is very useful in a deck like this.
In addition to Deluge,
Slogurk, the Overslime
Slogurk, the Overslime
Trample
Whenever a land card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, put a +1/+1 counter on Slogurk.
Remove three +1/+1 counters from Slogurk: Return it to its owner's hand.
When Slogurk leaves the battlefield, return up to three target land cards from your graveyard to your hand.
can completely take over the game. It’s not uncommon to mill a ton of Lands at once with
Jace, the Perfected Mind
Jace, the Perfected Mind
Compleated ({U/P} can be paid with {U} or 2 life. If life was paid, this planeswalker enters with two fewer loyalty counters.)
+1: Until your next turn, up to one target creature gets -3/-0.
−2: Target player mills three cards. Then if a graveyard has twenty or more cards in it, you draw three cards. Otherwise, you draw a card.
−X: Target player mills three times X cards.
and simply whack the opponent for a ton of damage. Even using Aftermath Analyst to bring back a ton of New Capenna sacrifice Lands can help grow Slogurk immensely. You can even remove three +1/+1 counters from Slogurk to return it along with three Lands from your graveyard to hand, keeping the value flowing and protecting your large Creature. In this deck, though, Slogurk is more than just a value engine.
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From Value to Combo
In order to execute the combo in full, you need a lot of Lands that will naturally go to the graveyard when you return them to play with Aftermath Analyst. Clearly, this includes the New Capenna sacrifice Lands, but it also includes the legendary Channel Lands, like
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
{T}: Add {B}.
Channel — {3}{B}, Discard this card: Mill three cards, then return a creature or planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, since you can use the legend rule to ensure you only keep one copy in play.
The reason this is so important is that the combo revolves around looping Aftermath Analyst with Nissa in play using Takenuma, so you need a consistent stash of Lands in your graveyard at all times. In order to execute the combo, you will need a copy of Slogurk, Nissa, and Aftermath Analyst in play, as well as a copy of Takenuma in hand.
First, sacrifice Aftermath Analyst to return a bunch of Lands from your graveyard to play. Each time a Land enters the battlefield, you will net one mana from Nissa. Each time a Land goes to your graveyard from the battlefield, Slogurk will get a +1/+1 counter. If you can net enough mana from Nissa this way, going infinite from here is easy.
From there, discard Takenuma via Channel to return Aftermath Analyst to your hand. Then, remove counters from Slogurk to return it to hand. This will trigger Slogurk, letting you bring back Takenuma from your graveyard to your hand. Now, play Slogurk and Aftermath Analyst again, milling three more cards when Aftermath Analyst enters the battlefield. Sacrifice Aftermath Analyst once again, generating more mana off of Nissa, and repeat these steps.
The end result here is that you will have infinite mana to work with and will have milled the entire rest of your deck. Now, you can return Slogurk to your hand again, bringing back three copies of Takenuma. Channel one of them to get back
Jace, the Perfected Mind
Jace, the Perfected Mind
Compleated ({U/P} can be paid with {U} or 2 life. If life was paid, this planeswalker enters with two fewer loyalty counters.)
+1: Until your next turn, up to one target creature gets -3/-0.
−2: Target player mills three cards. Then if a graveyard has twenty or more cards in it, you draw three cards. Otherwise, you draw a card.
−X: Target player mills three times X cards.
, then maximize its -X ability to mill the opponent. Between Slogurk and the copies of Takenuma, you can simply keep returning Jace and milling the opponent until they have no cards in deck, forcing them to lose via decking when you pass the turn.
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Strengths and Weaknesses
The combo is an excellent feature for this deck to have, especially because most players going into the $75k Standard Open had no idea about its existence. Still, this deck can win off of Slogurk beats or resolving
Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Flying, vigilance, deathtouch, lifelink
When Atraxa enters, reveal the top ten cards of your library. For each card type, you may put a card of that type from among the revealed cards into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. (Artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, and sorcery are card types.)
without needing to go through all of the loops described above. The fact is, this deck has so much inevitability in the late game if you have time to do your thing.
However, even against fast archetypes like Boros Convoke, this deck comes equipped with plenty of board wipes to keep the opponent in check. This deck has a solid gameplan against every top tier deck in Standard, making it very threatening. The only matchup that can be a bit concerning would be mono-red aggro given its solid mix of efficient Hasty Creatures and burn spells.
Urabrask’s Forge
Urabrask’s Forge
At the beginning of combat on your turn, put an oil counter on this artifact, then create an X/1 red Phyrexian Horror creature token with trample and haste, where X is the number of oil counters on this artifact. Sacrifice that token at the beginning of the next end step.
also plays well around board wipes and spot removal.
If this archetype has any weakness beyond that, it could be that it relies on playing lots of cards from its graveyard. As such,
Unlicensed Hearse
Unlicensed Hearse
{T}: Exile up to two target cards from a single graveyard.
Unlicensed Hearse's power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards exiled with it.
Crew 2
could be worth considering moving forward. It messes with Aftermath Analyst, Slogurk, and even Memory Deluge. That being said, it’s not like the masterful brewer behind this deck didn’t have answers. The sideboard is filled with discard spells and
Boseiju, Who Endures
Boseiju, Who Endures
{T}: Add {G}.
Channel — {1}{G}, Discard this card: Destroy target artifact, enchantment, or nonbasic land an opponent controls. That player may search their library for a land card with a basic land type, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
. This deck is truly a sight to behold. It’s no wonder it had such a great showing this weekend.
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