Standard Ponza

Hello Everyone!

It feels like I haven't been around the blog all week, but that's thanks to me getting a cold but not realizing it until I was falling asleep during work because I was so physically exhausted from.... nothing. I almost never get sick (I can't remember being sick for the past year, maybe 2) and it's suprising how draining it is. I got home from work today and just lay down for 3 hours, but now I'm bumping my Jesus beats (right now: "Our God" by The Cross Movement) while writing this.

So during my lunch break at work today, Mike and Brendan from Toys showed up and we naturally started talking about new deck ideas. Mike is working on a UB Tezzeret List that runs Frost Titan, Grave Titan, AND Wurmcoil Engine. He is also running Memnites, which didn't make sense at first, but seing as they can be made 5/5s with Tezzeret that can be defended, although I still wouldn't do it.

("New Shalom" Lecrae)

Brendan had mentioned to me previously that he made a RG Ponza list, but when I first heard it just didn't make sense to me. After all, Conley Woods did that using Chandra Ablaze as a way to Ultimate and completely destroy the opponent's mana base, and Conley is still made fun of that deck to this day. I don't have Conley's list, and I'm not too inspired to search for it, but there are some very significant cards from M11 and Scars block that Conley didn't have access to (he made the deck for the ZEN block Pro Tour). Notably: Inferno Titan, Destructive Force, Melting Terrain, Pyroclasm, and Lightning Bolt.

("Children of the Light" Lecrae)

But wait! Stone Rain and Pillage cost 3, and Melting Terrain costs 4! Yes, that is true, and it is incredibly relevant. Especially in the current Standard Meta, which offers many decks that like to play tons of early spells, every mana matters, and turn 4 could just be too late. This is where green comes in. Just like Valakut wins through mountains but only works because of the green, this decks goes from meh to pretty hot once we add the green ramp. All we need to do is get to 4 mana on turn 3. Lotus Cobra? Explore? Yeah, those work.

("Superstar" Trip Lee)

Maybe it's because this deck needs to work like a well-oiled machine, or maybe it's because I'm sick, but I need to lay this out in text:

LD:
Acidic Slime
Roiling Terrain
Melt Terrain
Tectonic Edge

Ramp:
Lotus Cobra
Explore
Nest Invader

Finishers:
Inferno Titan

Removal:
Lightning Bolt
Pyroclasm

Now one thing I noticed is how Pyroclasm hits both our Lotus Cobra and Acidic Slime. I think that card might wind up being a sideboard card to use against the beatdown decks, as obciously it does next to nothing against Valakut and Caw-Blade (once their equipped only LB works, but that's what we wanted anyways).

("Funky Jesus Music" TobyMac)

One card that I was thinking about was Destructive Force. That card has been seen in Standard Past as a finisher for UR Control and RUG Control, but has since been labeled as beeing too slow, however in this deck it could be exactly what we are looking for to put the nail in the coffin. Of course at the same time it sucks to have it in hand when you don't have a Titan in play, so maybe it would be a nice 1-of.

Here is how the list looks light now:

4x Lotus Cobra
4x Acidic Slime
4x Inferno Titan
4x Nest Invader

4x Explore
4x Roiling Terrain
4x Melt Terrain
1x Destructive Force
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Nature's Claim

4x Tectonic Edge
4x Copperline Gorge
4x Rootbound Crag
3x Raging Ravine
3x Mountain
3x Forest
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Misty Rainforest

("No Plan B" Manafest)

The only odd card in the deck at first is the 2 Nature's Claim. Like I have mentioned before, almost every single deck plays artifacts, and the only exception is really Valakut, Vampires, and Elves. However, all of those run Enchantments if they don't run artifacts like Khalni Heart Expedition or Dark Tutalege so the Nature's Claim isn't ever completely dead (ok, maybe against elves it is... but who plays elves besides Matt Nass?)

So that is all for today, like I said I'm feeling sick, so I can hardly think. Hey Brendan, how did I do analyzing the deck? Considering I have never seen the list, only talked about it, this feels like a decent place to start.

If you aren't a fan of the Hip-Hop I have been linking to throughout this post, I will leave you with some Christian Hardcore Metal =D ("The World Is A Thorn" Demon Hunter)

^^This is what I put on when I offer my opponent my other headphone during a match^^

Anyways, that is all from me for today, until next time, stay classy!