WUR Standman Lands

Today’s brew is both fun to play and fun to say. Despite being quite slow, it’s a different sort of draw-and-go; ‘cause when you get the lock, opponents’ can only talk. But hey, if you’re tired of reading this rhyme, then let’s jump right in to deck time: WUR Standman Lands.

Today we are focusing on a bit of a different take of an old genre. I changed the name of the deck because 1. I wanted to and 2. its style of play, which combines aspects of both UR and UW Landstill to form something different from either. Like most control builds, this deck focuses on stopping the opponent from playing their game before beating them down slowly. Sound familiar doesn’t it? Want me to elaborate? Let’s dive right in!

Most decks that play Standstill tend to use it as a semi lock/control piece, and Standman is no different; seeing it more as a sort of secondary form of control. Along with its lesser known brother, Hesitation, the two act as more of a deterrent for your opponent than anything else. How? There are actually a couple of ways it does this.. while Standstill provides the opponent with a choice of seeing who cracks first, they almost always do so because of the manland threats that we provide. I could elaborate on this, but I think the card is pretty self-explanatory to be honest, so I’m going to focus more on the inclusion of its brother.

Hesitation provides the same control role as Standstill, but it also stalls them in other ways: since they know they need to wait on their mana to get a second spell through. It can also act as a pseudo Time Walk as they have to waste mana on a spell when it’s inopportune just to get rid of Hesitation. Lastly, Hesitation can be used as a sort of free counter spell, because untapping your lands with it on the board frees up your mana for other things, the main one being manland activations.

So if Standstill and Hesitation are merely alternate forms of control, then how does this deck seek to lock out the opponent long-term? The answer lies in the deck’s White enchantment: Humility. Because of the way Humility works with manlands, you are able to get a serious advantage in combat, resulting in the majority of your creatures staying their ‘normal’ size while your opponents’ do not.

Why Frenetic Efreet? Good question.

Other than the Humility lock and the manlands, the rest of the deck mainly focuses on stopping your opponent from producing any threats. Swords to Plowshares acts as removal for the bigger creatures, while Lightning Bolt and Fire // Ice act as the ever flexible removal/direct damage sources that they are. Also..

Alright, alright - why Frenetic Efreet. In all honesty, I had actually debated going down to 1 copy, and even removing it outright from the deck, because of Humility (without it, I’d consider playing 4 of them). I decided to leave 2 in because they act as great blockers, add some more offense to the deck and because they evade your own Pyroclasm(s). But of course, I suggest you try both and see what best fits your play-style. As always, Happy Brewing!

WUR Standman Lands

Land

4 Tundra

3 Volcanic Island

4 Mishra’s Factory

3 Faerie Conclave

4 Wasteland

7 Fetch lands

Total: 25

2 Frenetic Efreet

Total: 2

Spells

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Standstill

1 Hesitation

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

4 Counterspell

4 Lightning Bolt

3 Fire // Ice

3 Humility

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Pyroclasm

Total: 33

4 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Pyroclasm

2 Pyroblast

4 Stifle

3 Disenchant

1 Chain of Vapor