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I enjoyed the article.  It's an interesting commentary on how formats do (and don't!) shift with the addition of one more set to the environment.  I particularly like the note about how a deck that used to be good can become good again.  A few years back, after Worlds, I decided that I liked the mono-Red Dragonstorm deck that had done well there, and since it seemed relatively cheap, I picked up the cards.  I didn't play Standard, though, so didn't think any more about it.  Meanwhile, it fell out of favor in competitive play.

A few months later, the City Championships series of store tournaments was in full swing, and I qualified for my store championship based on Limited success.  However, the store championship tournament was Standard, and I needed a deck.  I thought, "Well, I do have these cards for Dragonstorm , I guess I could build that."  I brought my Dragonstorm deck to the tournament, and behold!  Apparently the metagame had shifted to Green/Red ramp, against which combo-burn was very well suited.  After I beat them, my opponents congratulated me on my choice of deck for the event, and I made the finals and qualified for the City Championship tournament.

Why does no one make any ramp decks? Somberwald sage is the most blisteringly fast ramp EVER!!!! My prediction: the winning deck will be something like this:

11 Forests
8 Mountains
7 plains

4 Avacyn's pilgrim
4 Somberwald Sage
3 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
3 Sigarda, host of Herons
4 Tyrant of discord
4 Craterhoof behemoth
3 Avacyn, Angel of Hope

4 Abundant Growth
3 Rush of Blood
2 revenge of the Hunted

With a perfect draw, this deck is making seven-drops hit the field on turn 3. I dare any deck on earth to go toe to toe with Gisela on turn 3 and win without sweeping their own board, particularly if Avacyn follows right behind. add sigarda and your team is absolutely unkillable. No deck should face this blistering ramp and live to tell about it.

Possible Sideboard:
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Avacyn, Angel of hope
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Predator Ooze
2 Revenge of the Hunted
2 Naturalize

Just some alternative threats going here. If your turn three play is a huntmaster and a Predator Ooze, you are in good shape.

May 11, 2012 -- 3:52PM, rulesinquisitor wrote:

May 11, 2012 -- 2:49PM, gruulsmash wrote:

Why does no one make any ramp decks?

They do, it's called Wolf Run Ramp. Pretty consistant turn 4 Primeval Titan fetching Inkmoth Nexus and the deck's namesake . No god hand or flimsy creatures necessary.

I don't think you guys are building for the same format.

May 12, 2012 -- 3:44PM, Strange_Adams wrote:

May 11, 2012 -- 2:49PM, gruulsmash wrote:

Why does no one make any ramp decks? Somberwald sage is the most blisteringly fast ramp EVER!!!! My prediction: the winning deck will be something like this:

11 Forests
8 Mountains
7 plains

4 Avacyn's pilgrim
4 Somberwald Sage
3 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
3 Sigarda, host of Herons
4 Tyrant of discord
4 Craterhoof behemoth
3 Avacyn, Angel of Hope

4 Abundant Growth
3 Rush of Blood
2 revenge of the Hunted

With a perfect draw, this deck is making seven-drops hit the field on turn 3. I dare any deck on earth to go toe to toe with Gisela on turn 3 and win without sweeping their own board, particularly if Avacyn follows right behind. add sigarda and your team is absolutely unkillable. No deck should face this blistering ramp and live to tell about it.

Possible Sideboard:
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Avacyn, Angel of hope
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Predator Ooze
2 Revenge of the Hunted
2 Naturalize

Just some alternative threats going here. If your turn three play is a huntmaster and a Predator Ooze, you are in good shape.

You have seventeen cards that won't even come out if your Somberwald Sage doesn't make it onto the field, or dies.
Rush of Blood won't see play in any deck ever. Even if it does, it's completely pointless in this deck.
If you don't get a perfect draw, you're all kinds of screwed. Even if you get a perfect draw, the aggro decks this format boasts can race you. Aggro control will simply shut you down post-board.
The deck you have just proposed would get trashed in seconds. Good luck to you, though. Build it if you want. 

This is me proposing an untested idea on my couch. Still, what is there to complain about in this deck? Flimsy creatures? Maybe. But Control can't kill us fast enough, and aggro is too preocuppied with their own casting to handle the sage yet. Once Gisela or anyone else is on the board, they are dead in a few turns. Reanimator "should" be fragile, yet lots of people play reanimator. Angels aren't humans you know, stromkirk noble can't fool em. If you want, main deck the huntmaster, add vessels of endless rest, do whatever you think would be better. And rulesinquisitor: thats standard, and i'm well aware of it. And what do you guys think mulligans are for anyway?