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May 3, 2012 -- 9:02PM, zpikduM wrote:

I'm back. Can anyone inform me about the current state of standard? I have no ____________ clue whats going on.

Just before Avacyn Restored was released the top decks were:

Tier 1 =
UW Delver of Secrets (in both the Geist of Saint Traft + Runechanter's Pike/Sword of War and Peace; and Drogskol Captain+Lingering Souls builds).

RG Ramp (Ramp into Primeval Titan for Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus, supported by sweepers and Huntmaster of the Fells),

Tier 1.5 =
RG Aggro (Strangleroot Geist and Manadorks into Huntmaster of the Fells and Hellrider, with Sword of War and Peace plus burn)

UWB Planeswalkers (Tap-out Control deck with Lingering Souls, Liliana of the Veil, Gideon Jura and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad).

Zombies (Aggro deck with Gravecrawlers, Geralf's Messenger, and a bunch of synergy. Available in blue splash for Diregraf Captain and Phantasmal Image, or mono black for Lashwrithe)

FRITES (Reanimator combo deck, uses Mulch+Faithless Looting+Tracker's Instincts to fill the graveyard with Lingering Souls, Elesh Norn, Wurmcoils or Inferno Titan and Unburial Rites to reanimate them. Mana dorks also ramp out said fatties by hardcasting).

Tier 2 = 

Naya Pod (Similar base as GR Aggro, but far less spells, and adds Thalia, Blade Splicer, and Birthing Pod)

BW Tokens (Lingering Souls + Sorin + Intangible Virtue + etc.)

GW Tokens (As above, substituting Garruk for Sorin and adding Gavony Township)

W/x Humans (Typically WU, running Moorland Haunt, Champion of the Parish, etc.)

UB Control (Permission-based control with Curse of Death's Grip, typically with Nephalia Drownyard as win)

That basically sums up the metagame pre-AVR. Now AVR is out, there are a few changes.


Cavern of Souls:
- Human and Zombie tribal decks become a bit more popular with an extra dualland and uncounterability.
- RG Ramp decks run 2-3 of them to make their Titans uncounterable.
- Permission based control is no longer relevant, as half their answers are dead in Aggro matchups and they can't stop Primeval Titan resolving.

Miracles:
- Mostly unplayable, but Terminus and Entreat the Angels appear in the tap-out Esper decks.
- Bonfire of the Damned played heavily in Aggro SB for mirror matches and tokens.
- Thunderous Wrath and Temporal Mastery see some inital play, but fade away as they're difficult to use effectively in Standard.

Favourable Winds:
- The Spirit Delver decks were less popular, because of Corrosive Gale; Favourable Winds might tip the balance back towards the Spirit builds rather than the GoST/Equip builds.

Vexing Devil:
- Despite being awful, this has caused a spike in the popularity of RDW for a while.

Tibalt, the Fiend Blooded:
- Lots of experimentation with this two-mana Planeswalker. No sure home for him at the moment.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage:
- Automatic inclusion in the Esper tapout Planeswalker Control decks. Read the ultimate twice, because it's a lot better than it looks at first glance.

Restoration Angel:
- Picked as one of the best cards in the set, but noone has placed it anywhere ridiculous yet.

Legendary Creatures:
- Griselbrand is an automatic inclusion in FRITES, and some combo decks like Heartless Summoning are attempting to use him.
- Bruna is completely unplayable.
- Avacyn and Gisela are both being tried in FRITES, but neither are particularly good in the format.
- Sigarda will see play in Bant/Naya Aggro or Pod decks, and possibly in FRITES as defense against Liliana of the Veil

Barter in Blood:
- Still doesn't make MBC viable. 

May 3, 2012 -- 9:41PM, zpikduM wrote:

So after all this time, Wolf Run isn't dead yet?

The last pro-tour was a RG Ramp mirror match. And then they printed a card that hated out it's only terrible matchup, and pretended they were trying to hate out Delver.

Wolf Run isn't going away for as long as Development want the game to be about crashing big monsters into each other.