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
