The decks to beat… and how to beat them

By Tom Vandevelde

In this article series, I take an in-depth look at what I consider the decks that shape the current League Standard metagame (Khans of Tarkir block, Magic Origins and Battle for Zendikar), the strategy they hope to deploy, and how one might dismantle that strategy. These articles should provide valuable information on how to build your deck and sideboard in function of these defining players in the metagame.

ARISTOCRATS

THE DECK AND ITS STRATEGY

‘Aristocrats’ is the common denominator for decks that use seemingly underpowered creatures (Doomed Traveler, Sultai Emissary) alongside powerful sacrifice-engines (Nantuko Husk, Falkenrath Aristocrat) and -effects (Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, Smothering Abomination) in order to synergize their opponents to oblivion. The original version of this deck appeared around Innistrad block, and even won a Pro Tour in the capable hands of Tom Martell. Its name is derived from the creatures it contains: Blood Artist, Falkenrath Aristocrats and Cartel Aristocrat are, well, aristocrats, after all! Since then, similar decks in Modern and the current Standard format have held on to that title, although you might occasionally hear people referring to them as ‘Sacrifice’ decks as well.

In the current Standard, the deck is enabled by the presence of ‘engine cards’ such as Nantuko Husk and Zulaport Cutthroat, but also Smothering Abomination, Liliana, Heretic Healer and Evolutionary Leap, alongside more than decent sacrificial fodder such as Hangarback Walker, Bloodsoaked Champion, Sultai Emissary, Carrier Thrall and Blisterpod. Although you could easily argue the 3- or 4-colour Rally the Ancestors deck that took down second place at GP Brussels is an Aristocrats deck, that deck revolves more around Rally the Ancestors than it does around pure synergy, so I am going to leave it out of this discussion. In the current Standard, then, there are two true Aristocrats variants that see play, a UB version played to success by (among others) Christian Calcano at Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar, and a GB version championed by Magic Hall of Fame member Gabriel Nassif. The UB version relies on mini-combos such as Whirler Rogue + Nantuko Husk, or Sidisi’s Faithful + flipped Liliana to push through large amounts of damage, while the GB version is intent on grinding out its opponent through the sheer card advantage generated by Collected Company, Evolutionary Leap and Smothering Abomination alongside cards like Catacomb Sifter.

Both strategies port fairly well to the League Standard format, and having tried them both, I feel that they are both very viable decks. I played the GB version to a 3-1 finish at the first post-Battle for Zendikar League Standard Event, while Stijn Bogaert did the same with a slightly different list (a little less grindy, and more intent on going wide with cards like Eyeless Watcher), before taking down the League Standard event at GP Brussels, going 4-0. Myself, I decided to audible to the UB version for the GP Brussels event, and even though I finished with a disappointing 2-2 record, I in fact felt like the UB deck was the more powerful configuration by far. Let us look at two sample decklists:

GB Aristocrats

Creatures (27)

4 Blisterpod

1 Carrier Thrall (U)

1 Hangarback Walker (R)

4 Sultai Emissary

4 Zulaport Cutthroat (U)

3 Rot Shambler (U)

4 Nantuko Husk

1 Grim Haruspex (R)

4 Catacomb Sifter (U)

1 Smothering Abomination (R)

Other (10)

3 Duress

3 Bone Splinters

3 Murderous Cut (U)

1 Evolutionary Leap (R)

Land (23)

4 Jungle Hollow

2 Mortuary Mire

2 Evolving Wilds

7 Swamp

8 Forest

UB Aristocrats

Creatures (30)

3 Sidisi’s Faithful

1 Bloodsoaked Champion (R)

3 Carrier Thrall (U)

4 Zulaport Cutthroat (U)

4 Sultai Emissary

4 Nantuko Husk

1 Grim Haruspex (R)

1 Liliana, Heretic Healer (R)

4 Eldrazi Skyspawner

4 Whirler Rogue (U)

1 Smothering Abominationn (R)

Other (7)

3 Bone Splinters

3 Murderous Cut (U)

1 Vampiric Rites (U)

Land (23)

4 Dismal Backwater

4 Evolving Wilds

1 Mortuary Mire

7 Swamp

7 Island

Like their Standard brethren, the UB deck focuses on the Nantuko Husk + Whirler Rogue kill, while the GB deck is (just a little bit) more grindy, with Catacomb Sifter and (in a rare slot) Evolutionary Leap, and some more efficient sacrificial fodder such as Blisterpod. Having played and compared the two versions fairly extensively, I feel like Sidisi’s Faithful + Whirler Rogue is just more powerful in the deck than Catacomb Sifter + Blisterpod. In addition, the blue deck’s sideboard is a little bit better, because of Negate, which I consider one of the best sideboard cards in the current League Standard format. All in all, I would highly recommend the UB version for anyone looking for a great all-round deck. I would even go as far as to say that it is the best deck in the format, if it weren’t that its two worst match-ups are two of the other best decks in the format (spoiler alert), namely UR Tutelage and GR Landfall. In a broad field, however, I feel like there is no deck as well-rounded as UB Aristocrats. There are a number of other Nantuko Husk shells that seem reasonable, including a BW Allies/Aristocrats mash-up, or a BR version that takes advantage of stuff like Humble Defector and Act of Treason, but I feel like they are all less consistent (and powerful) than the blue and green versions described above. If you want to know more about these alternatives, check out Niels Viaene’s excellent article on the topic here.

For the purpose of this exercise, then, I will focus especially on the versions I consider best. In fact, I will only touch upon the GB version from time to time, because both decks play out similarly, with the exception that the blue version is much harder to play against because of Whirler Rogue allowing Nantuko Husk to become unblockable at a moment’s notice.

HOW TO BEAT IT

Most decks have some blatant weakness to be exploited, and the key in beating them lies in finding that weakness. The Aristocrats decks, however, pride themselves on having reasonable match-ups across the board. They can keep themselves alive against aggro decks by blocking away their creatures, which then get replaced by Eldrazi Scions or Manifests, which then in turn do their blocking duty. Throw in some Zulaport Cutthroat triggers, and it becomes awfully difficult to finish them off. The same plan works against control decks, which eventually have to spend their removal on the dorky creatures lest they be killed by multiple 1/1’s. These creatures leave behind other creatures however, and eventually the control players find themselves overwhelmed. As such, the Aristocrats decks grind out their aggressive and controllish opponents alike. Against midrange decks, their plan is often to suddenly kill their opponents out of nowhere with a Whirler Rogue, tapping two thopter tokens to give a Husk unblockable, attacking in unimpeded and then sacrificing their entire board to the Husk, dealing 10-12 damage and finishing things off with Zulaport Cutthroat triggers. (This is of course not a possibility for the GB deck, which instead hopes to outgrind their midrangy opponents, a tougher task indeed.)

But if these decks have no glaring weaknesses, it is impossible to beat them? Luckily, it isn’t.

One key to the match-up lies in the size of the creatures. The Aristocrats deck plays all kinds of dorky 1/1’s and 2/2’s, all of which easily get outclassed by bigger creatures, so the key is to pressure them with multiple bigger creatures and removal for their key cards (Husk, Cutthroat, sometimes Whirler Rogue) until they have to chump away their entire board and eventually lose. A deck that is especially good at this is GR Landfall, because its creatures are much bigger (and sometimes have trample, like Makindi Sliderunner), and it will continually threaten the Become Immense + Temur Battle Rage combo, so that the Aristocrats player cannot tap out to improve their board position. This is very difficult for the Aristocrats player to deal with and they usually get overrun if they cannot find sufficient amounts of removal.

Another possible angle of attack is to change the axis on which the game is played. Aristocrat decks are banking on grinding out their opponents through their creatures, blocking and double blocking to stay alive. But what if their creatures do not matter? The Bant Flyers deck does not care about these silly ground creatures, so as long as it takes care not to get comboed out by a quick Nantuko Husk + Whirler Rogue, they can just take to the skies and race the Aristocrats player’s smaller creatures. (This threat, incidentally, is what makes the blue version more potent than the green version in several match-ups.) Alternatively, you can take creatures out of the equation entirely: the UR Tutelage deck blanks an enormous amount of cards in the Aristocrats deck, and just needs to make sure to mill them before they get killed. Because the Aristocrats decks cannot usually put quick pressure, this is pretty easy most of the time.

To beat the GB version, there is one more alternative: play a creature deck with bigger creatures, preferably with trample. It does not even need to be that quick, it just needs to put enough pressure to put the Aristocrats player on the back foot. This strategy is a liability against the blue version however, which will be able to kill you quickly if you tap out for a big creature by playing Whirler Rogue and ‘comboing’ off.

In the matchup in general, one final pointer is to try and kill their engine cards above all else. Remove Nantuko Husk whenever you can, and do the same with Zulaport Cutthroat. Their deck hinges on these synergy cards, so removing them will make the match-up a lot easier for you. What you never want to try to do against the Aristocrats decks is to try and win by outgrinding them. This will not work, and you should not try it. Spot removal is very bad against the deck, and they will usually be able to keep up with you card advantage wise.

THE BEST CARDS AGAINST THEM

If you want some tech: probably the best single card against these decks is Dampening Pulse. It turns all of their creatures into 0 power chump blockers, and they will only be able to win through a Nantuko Husk or Zulaport Cutthroat triggers at that point. Dampening Pulse is not a card that sees play very often however, so let me try to explain what other cards you might use to harass them. Sweepers (Rising Miasma, Seismic Rupture, Boiling Earth, Arc Lightning) are decent, but not as great as one might expect. While they do help to contain the board a little, many of their creatures will leave behind another creature in the form of a Scion or a Manifest, and Husk can outgrow the sweeper by sacrificing one of the creatures that would have died anyway. Sweepers are still better than spot removal, however. Better than sweepers, as explained, are bigger creatures (preferably with trample) that put pressure early.

Also important in the match-up, especially when playing the UB variant, is to have non-conditional instant-speed removal for the pumped Nantuko Husk. Murderous Cut and Stasis Snare, then, are excellent. Also reasonable, but a little bit less good, is the sorcery speed Silkwrap, which at least takes care of their two most terrifying cards: Husk and Cutthroat. Not good in this match-up (or at least, not against Husk) are cards like Reave Soul and Complete Disregard, because they can just make their Husk bigger in response, fizzling your removal spell.

Potentially even more horrible in the match-up are one-toughness creatures. These always get two-for-one’d by the Aristocrats player’s value creatures such as Blisterpod and Sultai Emissary. Do not play them if you expect to face a lot of Aristocrats decks.

THE BEST DECKS AGAINST THEM

The best decks to play against Aristocrats are the decks that either pressure them so much that they cannot grind their way out, such as GR Landfall, or, alternatively, decks that try to outrace them without having to take their creatures into account, such as UR Tutelage and Bant Flyers (esp. against the GB version, because the UB version can actually outrace the Bant Flyers deck). UR Tutelage not only has this advantage going for it, but also has maindeck sweepers (Seismic Rupture) and good answers to Husk (Send to Sleep, Roast), so this is a nightmare match-up for the Aristocrats deck, especially pre-board.

Decks not to play against an Aristocrats-studded field are slow control decks, because they just get out valued, and aggressive decks with low-toughness creatures (which trade with the Aristocrat player’s value creatures, leaving yourself two-for-one’d).

TIPS AND TRICKS

I will repeat myself: do not try to outgrind them. You must race. Understand this about the match-up, and try to play it in this way, even if that is not what your deck is supposed to be doing.

If you are playing against the UB version and they have a Husk on board, be very careful about tapping out, even if you have enough blockers back. If you do and they play Whirler Rogue, it might be all over.

On a related note, always be aware of how much damage they can deal you next turn by getting through with a Husk, or by sacrificing creatures to finish you off with a Zulaport Cutthroat. When doing this math in a long game, it can often be correct to try to keep track of how much a sudden second Cutthroat would change the equation. Two Cutthroats is very hard to deal with anyway, but it cannot hurt to try and play around it. If you can, of course. If you can’t, just ignore that possibility and make it easier for yourself.

In many ways, playing against the UB Aristocrats deck is much like playing against the GR Landfall deck. Bluffing a removal spell can often be correct, as good players will not often play into removal. Sacrificing their entire board to a Husk just to see it killed is backbreaking, so they will be hesitant to do so.

This is a corner case, but it happens sometimes: if they have Manifested something with Sultai Emissary, be aware that this can be an extra Cutthroat, a suddenly flipped Husk end of turn, or an extra two creatures (if it is another Emissary, a Blisterpod or a Carrier Thrall).

Know that they can bring in Duress (and Negate, in the blue version) after sideboard. In some match-ups (where they need to race, for instance against Tutelage or Bant Flyers), they can bring in Swarm Surge to increase their clock.

Kill their synergy cards on first sight and do not care about the Sultai Emissaries, Carrier Thralls and the like. They are very underwhelming when they are not paired with Husk, Cutthroat or one of the rares (Liliana, Smothering Abomination).

When don’t have unconditional removal spells, but you do have something like a Fiery Impulse or a Complete Disregard, remember that you are not necessarily dead on the spot against a Whirler Rogue. You can let the Whirler Rogue resolve, and with the enters the battlefield trigger on the stack, kill their Rogue before the thopter tokens enter play. This means they cannot tap the thopters to the Rogue to make a Husk unblockable.

I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at the Aristocrats match-up. Next time, I will be telling you how to beat UR Tutelage!

Until then,

Tom

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Tom Vandevelde has been playing Magic since Tempest, and competitively since Time Spiral. Deckbuilding is his favorite part of the game, which has led to him taking an interest in less conventional formats like League Standard. Alongside his teammates on Team Wrecking Ball he is shooting for the Pro Tour, but you will just as often find him playing Pauper, Pack Wars or Mental Magic, or helping out newer players. You will often find Tom streaming on twitch.tv/wreckingballmtg, where you can actually challenge him to League Standard matches in between rounds! Be sure to come hang out and ask questions!