This Monday I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the Wizards-sponsored Early Access event for Core Set 2020. Being able to play a bunch of cool new Standard decks and try out new cards made the event a lot of fun.
After playing with the cards for about five hours, I have some thoughts on cards that surprised me.
My friend John Ramos submitted a Big Red deck to me that included three copies of Chandra’s Regulator. The card looks very average in power level, but in a deck like Big Red the card filtering does real work. The Regulator helps smooth your mana draws, either discarding extra lands or digging for more.
Big Red Meme Engine
| Creatures (4) 4 Chandra's Embercat Spells (18) 3 Chandra's Regulator 4 Chandra's Triumph 4 Shock 4 Lava Coil 3 Lightning Strike Planeswalkers (13) 4 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame 4 Chandra, Fire Artisan 3 Sarkhan the Masterless 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno | Lands (25) 25 Mountain |
Everyone knows this is good, but the other ability is actually quite cool. Copying any Chandra activated ability for one mana provides massive card advantage. The deck played ten copies of Chandras, and all had relevant abilities to copy. Chandra, Acolyte of Flame applies a serious clock when she makes four tokens, and the Snapcaster Mage impersonation with double flashback can really swing games. Chandra, Awakened Inferno’s emblem ability is good by itself, but being able to double up can be devastating.
Chandra’s Embercat really surprised me because it is so versatile. Mana dorks turn out to be good, even if they onlypay for Elementals or Chandra planeswalkers. The Embercat did good work in the Big Red dck above, and the 2/2 body protects it from Goblin Chainwhirler.
Temur Elementals, by Sean Boyle
| Creatures (30) 4 Paradise Druid 4 Chandra's Embercat 3 Omnath, Locus of the Roil 2 Living Twister 4 Overgrowth Elemental 2 Cavalier of Flame 4 Creeping Trailblazer 4 Rekindling Phoenix 3 Vine Mare Planeswalkers (4) 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno 2 Nissa, Who Shakes the World Spells (1) 1 Sylvan Awakening | Lands (25) 4 Steam Vents 4 Stomping Grounds 4 Breeding Pool 4 Rootbound Crag 2 Hinterland Harbor 2 Sulfur Falls 3 Forest 2 Mountain |
If you want to make full use of Chandra’s Embercat, Temur or at least RG splash blue Elementals is definitely a deck. The best shell will take time to develop, but the acceleration of Embercat is really important. A turn-three Omnath, Locus of the Roil fits the curve perfectly, and the Shock is well-timed to kill something relevant.
Pretty sure I found my pet card of the set with Leyline of Abundance. I absolutely loved playing with this card—it’s a powerhouse. This new Leyline can power explosive starts in your opening hand alongside Llanowar Elves on turn one. In the Early Access event and off stream I was casting Nissa, Who Shakes the World very consistently on turn three and even sometimes on turn two.
Leyline of Abundance also does something new and special: the static ability stacks in multiples, similar to Amulet of Vigor in Modern. That is a good place to be. Plus Leyline of Abundance can be your win condition pumping all your mana creatures.
Dork Fish
| Creatures (26) 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Paradise Druid 4 Incubation Druid 1 Druid of the Cowl 4 Cavalier of Thorns 4 Voracious Hydra 4 Hydroid Krasis 1 Pelakka Wurm Spells (7) 3 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger 4 Leyline of Abundance Planeswalkers (4) 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World | Lands (23) 4 Hinterland Harbor 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Breeding Pool 11 Forest Sideboard (15) 2 Disdainful Stroke 4 Nullhide Ferox 3 Negate 1 Pelakka Wurm 2 Carnage Tyrant 3 Crushing Canopy |
With thirteen mana dorks in the deck, eight mana isn’t hard to achieve by turn four or five. At that point, the second ability of Leyline of Abundance comes alive. The blue splash brings Hydroid Krasis and some scry lands. This was certainly my favorite list from the Early Access event, and something I will continue to explore in Standard.
What are some decks you are considering playing now that Core Set 2020 has joined Standard? Any that you have already enjoyed testing out?
Zack is a SCG grinder with one ultimate goal: getting to the Players Championship. Based out of NYC, you can find him in other cities every weekend trying to hit that goal. When he isn’t traveling he streams. Follow his journey on Twitter!