*Beep Beep!*
Welcome back everyone! It’s that time of the year again, everyone is excited for the results/standings of the Pro Tour!
The Copy Cat
Pro Tour Aether Revolt has been quite interesting so far, many have thought a few decks will rise to the stop spot...such as:
The latest addition to Standard, the Cat Lady combo featured a similar resemblance to the original Spinter Twin combo. Though Saheeli Jeskai was the most played deck in Standard before the Pro Tour and many had expected it to be the most played deck in the entire competition, the deck took many by surprise. It was actively bad throughout the competition, It started off poorly, putting just 36% of its players into day two (more than 25% below average), and it followed this up by performing below average at every point on day two as well. Things are looking better for players who called for a preemptive ban of the combo as the set was released, as the results clearly shows that the combo isn’t as dreadful or format-warping as many have predicted.
This also proves a theory in which, Jeskai Saheeli suffered the same fate as the original Splinter Twin combo back in Standard, being a deck with strong combo potential but not viable in Standard.
On to the main event...
No not the actual vehicles you see here, but the popular subtype of Vehicles in Standard that we know of. But today, the main point of this article is breaking down how a once Control-dominated Standard changed completely within the introduction of Aether Revolt.
Nobody expected Control to go over the top in Pro Tour Kaladesh. With the final 2 decks being Grixis and Jeskai Control. With Shoota Yasooka, a Control pioneer winning with the Grixis build over Carlos Romao.
One Pro Tour ago, Standard looked like a format with full of promising decks. Aetherworks, Energy, Vehicles and Delirium. However, many were shocked to see the least popular of archetypes, being Control. Had made the final 2 places in the Top 8 and one of those decks had won the entire competition.
However with the introduction of new cards in Aether Revolt, many had expected Control to have more tools to utilize, Aetherworks was stripped of it’s power level due to the Emrakul ban and a nasty Splinter Twin piece was posing a threat to the entire format. Vehicles did seemed like the underdog, it was a popular and powerful back in Kaladesh, but not as good when compared to some other archetypes. Aether Revolt however, brought in “showroom automobiles”.
The new engines showed Vehicles were meant to steamroll over everyone at Pro Tour Aether Revolt.
Pro Tour Aether Revolt caught everyone by surprise, Saheeli Jeskai failed to impress despite the hype, and Control was somewhat non-existent. The Top 8 had 6 out of 8 decks that were Vehicles. It was clear that the Smuggler’s Copter ban did not weaken Vehicles as a whole, but somehow made it much stronger than before. Both Heart of Kiran and Aethersphere Harvester pushed Vehicles to an absurd amount of power in Standard. With Harvester being a versatile blocker with value and a cheap crew cost, and many claiming Heart of Kiran as the “balanced” version of Smuggler’s Copter. The deck functioned as a quick aggro deck with low-costed creatures that benefited strongly with artifact synergy, had cards like Gideon and Thalia to slow down opponents, it also featured strong damage instants such as Unlicensed Integration and old school Shock. It changed the deck to a reminiscent Affinity, low cost creatures backed up by speedy play and solid artifacts.
Onto the unhealthy part...
Many players have complained about Vehicles not receiving enough support in Kaladesh, however, with the banning of Smuggler’s Copter. Many thought Wizards were pushing Vehicles back as it felt it was too strong with Copter. How wrong they were! The power level of Vehicles now is definitely unquestionable, having 6 out of 8 decks in the Pro Tour clearly reminds me of Modern, during the dreadful Eldrazi Winter which demolished the format altogether. Wizards did banned Copter for a good reason, but the ban has clearly not affected Vehicles in any major way, instead, Wizards are printing stronger cards for Vehicles in Aether Revolt. It feels that Wizards was trying to fix the Vehicle problem but eventually screwed it up in the end.
Not Eldrazi everywhere is quite the blessing.
But Standard right now does seem very competitive after this meta-game check, almost all of the top tier decks are very close in terms of power level, each having it’s own unique strengths and weaknesses. Even if Vehicles fill the largest part of the meta-game due to the Pro Tour standings, there are many other decks that could fill that spot in other upcoming competitions. This is a case where I felt Wizards printed certain cards to see how Vehicles would perform in the competitive environment, it did over-impressed everyone, but looking at the other decks, many of them still stand a solid chance when up against vehicles.
Still, I feel this does come with an upside and a downside. Aether Revolt has clearly given a good amount of powerful cards in Standard, but Vehicles was way too dominant in the Pro Tour. It was there for everyone to see in awe, however, there are many other decks outside of Vehicles that are doing well in Online Leagues, Opens as well as tourneys at LGS’s. The set has hyped up Vehicles as a whole but has increased the overall power level of Standard as well.
Would Wizards actually ban a key piece of Vehicles again?
Honestly, I’m pretty unsure about this topic. It has been talked a lot just after the Pro Tour ended - but really though? Just 2 months after the Copter ban, another ban for Vehicles? I’m not saying it’s possible but Wizards have never been that aggressive with Standard bannings, this is due to the assurance that Standard should and never will have format-warping cards printed in it. Yet Wizards had to make 3 bans a few months back. The idea of frequent bannings in Standard over a couple of results is just plain crazy, my take on it is that Wizards should never ban Standard cards at all. But when thinking of doing so, compare the power level of that card/deck to a good example during Zendikar block’s Caw Blade - which eventually led to Stoneforge Mystic and Jace the Mind Sculptor banned.
Conclusion
It’s been a busy week for Standard thus far, as many still continue this hot topic of the results. But not to worry or be disheartened, this is just proof of Standard’s power and how the future sets could bring new exciting additions to the format. Well until next time, I’ll see you in the next article. Thanks for reading and do be sure to catch the next article. *Flies away in Smuggler’s Copter*
*Or you could drive away in a Fleetwheel Cruiser*
