When Jumpstart: Historic Horizons released on Magic Arena, we talked about a potentially broken 2 card combo deck with Vesperlark
VesperlarkFlying
When this creature leaves the battlefield, return target creature card with power 1 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Evoke {1}{W} (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters.) and Davriel’s Withering
Davriel’s WitheringTarget creature an opponent controls perpetually gets -1/-2.. The deck had a pretty big problem in that it really folded hard to Graveyard hate, and that it needed to play a lot of smaller combo creatures to win. Well, with the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, the deck is no longer a meme, dare I say, it might need a banning.
The Key
The key to the deck going from a meme to a true threat in the format is The Meathook Massacre
The Meathook MassacreWhen The Meathook Massacre enters, each creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.
Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, you gain 1 life.. This brand new Legendary Enchantment enables the deck to turn into a control deck. This alleviates the problems the deck faced. It doesn’t just fold to Rest in Peace
Rest in PeaceWhen this enchantment enters, exile all graveyards.
If a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead. or Grafdigger’s Cage
Grafdigger’s CageCreature cards in graveyards and libraries can't enter the battlefield.
Players can't cast spells from graveyards or libraries., and the only creature in the deck is Vesperlark.
The Deck
This deck comes to us from Caleb Durward. He played this to a 3rd place finish in Stream League 6 this past weekend, and the deck was nuts. The deck played as a Black White control deck, utilizing Thoughtsieze and Inquisition of Kozilek to disrupt our opponent’s hand. It has a great removal suite with Portable Hole
Portable HoleWhen this artifact enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls with mana value 2 or less until this artifact leaves the battlefield., Fatal Push
Fatal PushDestroy target creature if it has mana value 2 or less.
Revolt — Destroy that creature if it has mana value 4 or less instead if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn., Fateful Absence
Fateful AbsenceDestroy target creature or planeswalker. Its controller investigates. (They create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card."), Davriel’s Withering, and Vanishing Verse.
The Meathook Massacre also can act as a board wipe in addition to a combo piece. Mazemind Tome
Mazemind Tome{T}, Put a page counter on this artifact: Scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom.)
{2}, {T}, Put a page counter on this artifact: Draw a card.
When there are four or more page counters on this artifact, exile it. If you do, you gain 4 life. and Wishclaw Talisman
Wishclaw TalismanThis artifact enters with three wish counters on it.
{1}, {T}, Remove a wish counter from this artifact: Search your library for a card, put it into your hand, then shuffle. An opponent gains control of this artifact. Activate only during your turn. round the deck out as our card advantage engine. Wishclaw lets us dig up a missing combo piece if we’re ready to go off, or any other situational card needed.
READ MORE: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Gave Standard A New BROKEN Combo
The Sideboard
The sideboard offers some more removal such as Fracture
FractureDestroy target artifact, enchantment, or planeswalker. to deal with Rest in Peace or Cage, Power-Word Kill deals with nearly all the popular creatures in the format, and Wrath of God
Wrath of GodDestroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated. is a blanket board wipe. Leyline of the Void
Leyline of the VoidIf this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
If a card would be put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead. is one sided graveyard hate, which is needed in this meta, and Phyrexian Arena gives us some consistent card draw.
READ MORE: This is the Best Deck to Climb Magic Arena Ladder In Standard
Does the deck need a banning? Well, that remains to be seen. I think that the deck is doing some incredibly powerful stuff, and it almost feels like a spiritual successor to Splinter Twin
Splinter TwinEnchant creature
Enchanted creature has "{T}: Create a token that's a copy of this creature, except it has haste. Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step.". The deck isn’t unbeatable, but it’s very strong if piloted correctly. Is that a problem? Well it’s possible that if this deck takes off in popularity, it could wreak havoc on the format.
Normally I’d say to a strategy like this there is counter play, but the deck packs all the answers needed to win through hate, so it’s very hard to say. I will say this deck is masterfully crafted, and watching the deck being piloted on stream, and having playing against Caleb in the top 8 of Stream League 6, Caleb piloted the deck incredibly well.
What are your thoughts? Is this deck too powerful to have in the format? Definitely give this a try and let us know in the comments how it felt for you!
