Breaking Block: Spoiling the Party with Ponza

This article was originally posted at TheStarkingtonPost.com. Thanks to Bill Stark for the exposure and the opportunity to bring the post back home. If you don’t know, Bill’s site is one of the best sources on line for news stories and editorial content about Magic.

Just had a quick deck idea I wanted to roll around before I got back to following up the previous post. If you read the title of this entry on your way here, you already probably figured out that I’m going to explore a Block Ponza variant. The efficacy of a deck like this depends in part on how much the format slows down and how much (blanked here) mass removal is going to be floating around. That said there’s plenty of excellent burn available, and even a red Wrath (Chain Reaction), providing a Big Red deck with plenty of options.

The Deep End of the Pool – The Reality of an Eldrazi Endgame

Tonight I spent some time testing the UW control list from the previous post and learned the following:

The slowest, longest long-game axis of the Standard format will not be defined by manlands crashing through on empty boards after control has been established, but by this 6-8 card package: 4 Eldrazi Temple, 1 Eye of Ugin, 1 Ulamog/Kozilek/Emrakul. It’s possible that an extra Eye become necessary as the format adopts the package. It’s possible that you want 2 of the Eldrazi overlords. It’s also probable that the 15-drop becomes the finisher of choice as Path to Exile returns to vogue as the best answer for this Eye powered onslaught.