Bant Mass Polymorph: Scars of Mirrodin Standard

We all know how Valakut Ramp has turned into the new Jund deck. Valakut has posted very good results against a lot of the decks in the format and has such a strong ability to "go over the top" of other decks that it is the clear deck to beat. So, I was thinking if you could play a bigger threat at the same or similar speed as Valakut then you put pressure on them to finish you off as soon as possible. Essentially, if they don't get the perfect hand you will win. Aggro decks have tried to accomplish this by spamming creatures early game or using landfall effects to hit for massive damage. But Pyroclasm has been a real problem for these decks. Top players like Gerry T have started to run Pyroclasm main deck. Yes, you can play around Pyroclasm so that you constantly have threats. Doing so however, causes you to have play slower whereas Valakut's strategy is unchanged. They have kept the same inevitability while slowing you down. Any aggro player knows this is bad. This is not to say that aggro can't beat Valakut because it definitely can. Especially when B/R Vamps is packing Mark of Mutiny you can lose a game out of no where. But Valakut wins more consistently.

So, what do I have to contend against Valakut? Something you probably didn't see coming: Bant Mass Polymorph.

Here's the List:

Creatures: 3

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

1 Ulamog, the Infinte Gyre

Spells: 31

3 Preordain

3 Oust

4 Explore

4 Mana Leak

4 Growth Spasm

3 Cultivate

4 See Beyond

3 Awakening Zone

4 Mass Polymorph

Lands: 26

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Khalni Garden

3 Terramorphic Expanse

2 Tectonic Edge

4 Plains

5 Islands

4 Forests

Sideboard:

3 Condem

2 Journey to Nowhere

2 Spell Pierce

2 Negate

3 Ratchet Bomb

3 Jace Beleren

My friend Ryan over at Casual MTG Creations also put up a Mass Polymorph deck (after I mentioned it to him) if you would like to check out his build. His mana base is more consistent, but his deck lacks removal and runs creatures that produce Eldrazi spawn like Nest Invader. I refained from doing this because I don't want to Polymorph into them. But, he also included Beastmaster Ascension to make up for this. I have not yet fully tested this deck and I am sure it will need changes. I just don't know what yet. It might be that the deck is still too slow to compete against Valakut and that mana base is too inconsistent. But I hope those things can be worked worked out.

Ryan: Mimic Vat in the House

Jund is back to be the deck to beat (at least I think) in this new Mimic Vat configuration. Ryan, here is my list which I adapted from yours:

4x Bloodbraid Elf

2x Kitchen Finks

4x Putrid Leech

3x Fulminator Mage

4x Shriekmaw

3x Skinrender

1x Grave Titan

2x Bituminous Blast

4x Maelstrom Pulse

2x Blightning

3x Terminate

3x Mimic Vat

25x Lands

First off, I decided to wait on which lands to include in the deck. I’m not sure what the main deck list will look like and for now while it is undergoing so many changes I thought it might be best to wait. Also, there is my lack of experience with the extended lands. Some notable changes I made were the inclusion of Kitchen Finks and Blightning. I included Kitchen Finks because (I’m not sure if this is how persist will work with Mimic Vat though) I think you can gain 4 life in some circumstances when you bring back a Kitchen Finks.

For example, Kitchen Finks is on board and chump blocks a creature and dies. It’s persist ability goes on the stack. In response you activate the Mimic Vat. The Vat ability resolves before the persist ability. Now, you bring back Kitchen Finks with no counters during your declare blockers step. Kitchen Finks enters the battle, you gain 2 life, blocks and dies, hits the graveyard and comes back so you gain another 2 life. At the end of turn the Finks, is exiled due to the Mimic Vat.

The possible 4 life, but guaranteed 2 life might not be enough to warrant the inclusion of the Finks. However, it does give Jund a way to prolong itself into the late game if need be (out last Faeries when they have Bitterblossom active and you don’t have a pulse for it), or counteract the Putrid Leech activations.

Blightning I thought was too powerful not to include. I cut the mournwelk because it felt too slow and couldn’t be cascaded into. Blightning accomplishes the discard and deals damage which if need be can be redirected to a Planeswalker. I decreased the upper end of the curve to ensure that the deck doesn’t lose any tempo by cutting 1 Grave Titan and Bituminous Blast. I would not mind going back up to 2 Grave Titan and maybe another Bituminous Blast but I would need to actually test to find out. I also cut 1 Mimic Vat because 4 seemed to many. You can still win without it and having an opening hand with more than 1 might make it unkeepable and you really don’t want to have to mulligan with Jund. If the Finks is not worth it, I could see those card slots being used to up the Grave Titan, Bituminous Blast, Blightning, or Lightning Bolt count (not that my list includes Lightning Bolt in the main, which might be a problem).

Fulminator Mage is really powerful in this deck, but only if you have Mimic Vat. Its power level drops considerably if you don’t have the Mimic Vat so I reduced his count to 3. Skinrender, while not full out removal offers a great Mimic Vat target, is a good tempo card, hits black creatures, and is a decent body. For these reasons I upped its count by one. So, that’s all I have really for changes. I agree with your assessment on the Lands that reflecting pool, raging ravine, the eventide lands, maybe the scars lands in some number, and fetches, all will probably be included in some number and configuration but testing will also play a big role for that.

I really am looking forward to getting the pieces together for this deck as I think it will be an Extender contender even if it is not the top deck. I also think the sideboard Volcanic Fallouts, Great Stable Stag, and maybe a Bituminous Blast and a Blightning or two for the faerie and control match ups respectively, will give the deck at least a 50% win percentage against most decks. Scapeshift I think will be the hardest opponent and may warrant the inclusion of a 4th Fulminator Mage from the board. Lightning Bolt or smother may also be other creature removal and direct damage options to look at.

What do you think of the changes? Did I miss anything? Let me know.

-Mark