Welcome and thank-you for checking out my new EDH project celebrating my favourite period of Standard Constructed Magic: The Gathering!
So what is the The Standard Nostalgia Project? Well my EDH playgroup often laments me for playing non-themed, no holds barred combo or control decks at the table, and I often have no defence for their complaints haha! So this year I thought I would make a change and build a couple of decks with a thematic or nostalgic backing.
My favourite era playing Standard was between June 2015 and January 2017 - Theros to Kaladesh era in particular, prior to the banning of Smuggler's Copter and Aetherworks Marvel. During that time, I loved Standard and was lucky enough to enjoy my most successful performances, including my first GP day two, two PPTQ wins, my best RPTQ finish to date and a rather spikey Game Day winning streak.
Theros block, Khans Block, Origins, BFZ block, Shadows Over Innistrad block, and Kaladesh produced some of my favourite constructed cards of all time, the like of Collected Company, Rally the Ancestors, Zulaport Cutthroat, Cryptolith Rite and more come to mind! So I have created this grand amalgamation of all the archetypes I played and enjoyed during that time and created this EDH deck. The deck includes some of my absolute favourites, top performers, format staples and some additional EDH playables to help with the consistency.
And yes, I know, I know, I might be cheating by using both Ayli and Sidisi as my Commanders, but it was the only way I could fit in the 4-Colour nature of some of the decks included over the years. Ayli is a well-rounded sacrifice outlet for the deck providing some life when required, as well a potential removal stick. Whilst Sidisi is both a win condition that is hard to miss on its trigger with 45 creatures int he deck, and also acts as an enabler to fill the yard for Rally/Return.
So which decks are mixed in within this what looks like a bad Extended Singleton deck (LOL) I hear you ask - In chronological order:
-Abzan Rally (Theros->FRF)
-My first PPTQ win was with Abzan Combo Rally the Ancestors, winning through the reanimation of 2 Mogis' Marauders, a Gary trigger and Merciless Executioner dropping the one creature that could have blocked. I had spice in the board in the form of Dictate of Erebos to fight off the Siege Rhino midrange decks, as well as Athreos in the main to combat control. From the moment Rally was printed I was stubborn and never put the card down for its duration in Standard.
-Key Cards Included: Rally the Ancestors, Mogis's Marauder, Satyr Wayfinder, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Athreos God of Passage, Nyx Weaver.
-4-Colour Rally (KTK->OTG)
-Probably my favourite Standard deck of all time, and gifting me my second PPTQ win thanks to the likes of Nantuko Husk, Zulaport Cutthroat, Collected Company, Catacomb Sifter and the legend that is Sidisi's Faithful. I managed to win game 3 of the final against Atarka Red on a mulligan to 4 on the play, keeping a hand of 2 Arashin Cleric and 2 lands, drawing perfectly into Catacomb Sifter into Coco, and the rest was history. The deck, with the new addition of Reflector Mage, also brought me my best RPTQ finish in the top 24 :)
-Key Cards Included: Rally the Ancestors, Catacomb Sifter, Sidisi's Faithful, Reflector Mage, Arashin Cleric, Jace Vryn's Prodigy, Nantuko Husk.
-BG Aristocrats (DTK->SOI)
-For those who know me well, you'll know that I love nothing better than playing Aristocrats strategies, draining people out all day long! The Shadows Over Innistrad Game Day weekend was a good one, I had won the store championships at my LGS in Woking, before taking down the Game Day and picking up a booster box. The next day, I upped and drove down to the south coast to pick up a high-value trade and jumped in on the local Game Day. I walked away with a clean sweep and took home a second box for my troubles :P
-Key Cards Included: Collected Company, Zulaport Cutthroat, Nantuko Husk, Blisterpod, Westvale Abbey, Liliana Heretical Healer, Duskwatch Recruiter.
-Bant/4-Colour Rites (DTK->SOI):
-After much testing and discussing my deck choice, I chose to bring Bant Cryptolith Rites to GP Manchester, looking to break my awful luck of lost win-and-wins at GPs. I played two copies of Archangel Avacyn main and never lost a Rites mirror. I went 8-1, only losing horribly to RG ramp and I had finally cracked day 2! The second day saw me play 4 ramp variants and my first taste of Mono U Prison to miss out on Pro Points, but the deck was great fun to play and I eventually ended up moving into the 4-Colour variant for the rest of the season.
-Key Cards Included: Cryptolith Rites, Collected Company, Loam Dryad, Archangel Avacyn, Brood Monitor, Eldrazi Displacer.
-GB 'Dredge' (BFZ-KAL):
-After following suit and playing what was one of the top decks in the format for the year and half previous, I put my brewing hat back on with the help of one of the local top-tier players and joined the Standard 'Dredge' bandwagon. The deck utilised the strong synergy between Prized Amalgam and Haunted Dead, whilst playing powerful standalone cards like Smuggler's Copter and Cryptbreaker. I absolutely adored this deck and frequently took down the UW Flash menace! Despite my love for the deck it was the most frustrating times in Standard, making 10 top 8s from 12 starts without a win that season, including 2 finals, before concluding my hell of a season with a 5-0 to 5-4 missed win-and-in at GP Madrid 2017.
-Key Cards Included: Cryptbreaker, Smuggler's Copter, Haunted Dead, Prized Amalgam, Voldaren Pariah, Sinister Concoction.
Despite a slightly disappointing end to a successful and by far the most enjoyable Standard period I had played since starting in the early 00s, I wanted to celebrate that time and remember that, success or no success, competitive MTG is still and always will be so much fun!
I hope you enjoy the deck - Please comment with your thoughts, suggestions, and your favourite Standard format!
The deck, in short, is an Extended Rally the Ancestors deck that can win in a variety of ways akin to the Rally, CoCo, Rites and Aristocrats strategies of their day.
Win Conditions:
-Rally the Ancestors / Return to the Ranks: Reanimating a mass graveyard to drain out all your opponents with Zulaport Cutthroat, 'Gary' or a flipped Pious Evangel, or gear up for a huge attack with the help of haste-enabler Mogis's Marauder!
-Brood Monitor + Eldrazi Displacer + Cutthroat / Evangel: The classic 4-Colour Rites infinite combo from back in the day. Make Monitor, sacrifice its tokens to blink it with Displacer, drain for three, rinse and repeat.
-Tokens: Between the likes of Sifter of Skulls, Abzan Ascendancy, Ulvenwald Mysteries and the creatures of the deck, tokens can sneak in for the win.
-Shaman of Forgotten Ways: No one ever sees a big old Biorhythm coming!
Suggestions and comments are always welcome!