Searching for Standard Ravnica Allegiance Decks to Grind the Ranked Ladder With
Ravnica Allegiance comes with a host of powerful new cards. What’s a good way to get a feel for them? I decided to try the Best-of-1 Constructed League on Arena, where one plays until 7 wins or 3 losses. It’s a quick and fun way to get some testing in, with the added thrill of winning prizes!
Here are some of the decks I tried, and the lessons I learned.
Blue-Green Climb
Certain cards stir passions in my daughter’s soul: Simic Ascendancy, Lich’s Mastery, Chance for Glory … and Hadana’s Climb. Growth-Chamber Guardian and Incubation Druid are both natural targets for counters, and can fuel explosive starts or create opportunities for a conclusive finish with a huge Hydroid Krasis. Or so the theory goes…
I used a decklist by oafmcnamara from the 5-0 Standard MTGO lists:
Note that I decided to save some Rare Wild Cards by using two Simic Guildgates instead of a full playset of Breeding Pool and Hinterland Harbor . This choice did not affect any of my games.
Game 1 (versus Boros Aggro w/ Ajani’s Pridemate)
My opponent paired an early Ajani’s Welcome with Ajani’s Pridemate - a combination that threatened to end the game quickly, if not for an Incongruity that mutated the Pridemate into a much more manageable Frog-Lizard. The game stalled from there, but a topdecked Hydroid Krasis gave me a 6/6 flyer and drew me a Hadana’s Climb that won me the game in short order.
Win (1-0)
Game 2 (versus Selesnya Lifegain)
An early Dawn of Hope from my opponent promised a long and grindy game. Fortunately for me I played a turn 2 Growth-Chamber Guardian that created an army of duplicates that attacked turn after turn after turn. Finally Vivien Reid destroyed both the Dawn of Hope and my opponent’s hopes for a victory.
Win (2-0)
Game 3 (versus UG Hadana’s Climb)
Sadly for me, the mirror match couldn’t be an exact mirror. My opponent went first and curved Llanowar Elves into Jadelight Ranger into Hadana’s Climb. “Wow,” I thought as I conceded, “my deck sure can have some busted starts!”
Loss (2-1)
Game 4 (versus BW Lifegain)
This game was long. My opponent played a variety of lifegain and removal spells that ground the game to a halt. However their impatience may have gotten the better of them, as they made a series of bad attacks that let me eat their creatures just by blocking - no tricks required. A late Hydroid Krasis refilled my hand, giving me the resources I needed to win.
Win (3-1)
Game 5 (versus Mono Red)
My opponent threw a multitude of burn spells at me early and cast two Light Up the Stage to burn me some more. Luckily I survived until turn 5… which gave me the chance to cast the Wildgrowth Walker I had been saving, in conjunction with a Jadelight Ranger that gave me 6 life. That was enough to stabilize the situation and grant me the victory.
Win (4-1)
Game 6 (versus Mono Red)
This game played out similarly to Game 5, only my opponent played Experimental Frenzy instead of Light Up the Stage. The turn after that they puked out roughly a zillion cards off the top of their deck. I lost shortly afterwards.
Loss (4-2)
Game 7 (versus Selesnya Lifegain)
Ajani’s Pridemate reared its head again, except this time I didn’t find an Incongruity to deal with it. After taking a few hits, my life total was dangerously low. So when my opponent attacked next, I threw all of my creatures in front of the Pridemate, hoping that my opponent would have no combat trick to blow me out… and my prayers were answered! That bought me enough time to cast a massive Hydroid Krasis that drew me the cards needed for a victory.
Win (5-2)
Game 8 (versus Gates)
This was my first experience playing against the Gates deck, and boy was I impressed. Gates Ablaze blew away my early board, Gatebreaker Ram pounded in damage, and a Ravager Wurm ate my last blocker. This game was not close.
Loss (5-3)
UG Climb did not impress me. It felt like a weak aggressive deck (I only had one quick win) paired with a far more powerful win condition: Hydroid Krasis. Moving the deck more firmly towards either aggro or midrange would be better, and result in gameplay that feels more consistent.
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Four-Color Gates
Losing to a Gates deck inspired me to try the deck for myself. This time I was able to take advantage of the recent SCG Indy Open Standard tournament, and I found a deck list piloted by Mason Clark that placed 20th!
Game 1 (versus ??)
I played a land. My opponent burned through his rope and lost. Still counts though!
Win (1-0)
Game 2 (versus Golgari Midrange)
I think Golgari Midrange is a good matchup for Gates, since our long game is much better than theirs. It also helps when a Golgari player doesn’t play more than three lands, which is what happened this game. A Circuitous Route into Gates Ablaze was all that was required to wipe their board and prompt a concession.
Win (2-0)
Game 3 (versus Mono Red)
My opening hand was slow, but I’m not sure much could have helped me after my opponent cast three Skewer the Critics at my face on their third turn. Believe it or not, I lost pretty quickly after that.
Loss (2-1)
Game 4 (versus BW Lifegain)
Do you know what grows faster than a pair of Ajani’s Pridemates? A Gatebreaker Ram! That, plus a Gate Colossus was easily enough to stall the game until I drew into Mass Manipulation, stole the Pridemates, and claimed the win.
Win (3-1)
Game 5 (versus Mono Red)
Once again my Mono Red opponent had an aggressive start. This time this aggressive start involved a Runaway Steam-Kin that grew into a 4/4 - an unfortunate size, since I had a Gates Ablaze in hand but only three Gates in play. A flurry of Steam-Kin powered spells later and I was dead.
Loss (3-2)
Game 6 (versus Mono Red)
Another Mono Red opponent, another billion burn spells at my face. Fortunately I survived long enough to start counter-attacking - and then my opponent cast Experimental Frenzy. Thankfully they whiffed on the Frenzy for two turns, finding only land and another Experimental Frenzy, and I snuck out a win.
Win (4-2)
Game 7 (versus Mono White)
Four-color decks run the risk of never drawing a needed land, and that’s exactly what happened this game. My early Gatebreaker Ram was exiled by a Conclave Tribunal, and my opponent quickly grew an army of attackers. “That’s okay,” I thought. “I have a Gates Ablaze in hand!” Sadly the game ended with me having three of the board wipe in hand… and no red mana source to cast it.
Loss (4-3)
Yuck. I barely won more games than I lost, and one of my wins came from my opponent disconnecting. Still, the deck did feel powerful and I realized that all my losses came against aggro decks. So I decided to try again - only I cut the Mass Manipulations in favor of Gatebreaker Rams. With that one adjustment I cleared a league with a 7-2 record, beating several aggro decks along the way. The lesson? It’s important to tweak your deck with your likely opponents in mind!
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Azorius Aggro
The last deck I tried was the hot new update to Mono White: Azorius Aggro, which splashes Blue for Deputy of Detention. Here’s a minorly modified version of the list, which Max Magnuson took to a 3rd place finish at the SCG Indy Open!
I’m not going to list out the games, as they were not that interesting: play creatures, smash. But I will say that the deck is very effective. I cleared the league with a easy 7-2, with one of my losses due to a sketchy one-land keep, and the other feeling like a coin flip loss to another aggro deck. Azorius Aggro isn’t the wildest deck out there. However it is a good option to grind your way up the Constructed Ladder!
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