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Standard Rogue: From Warp World to Mass Polymorph

I found the rumor season for M11 a bit sad, as it revealed that Warp World would not be included for next year. This once again leaves me without a deck concept to move forward with. I turn in desperation to the clear replacement to Warp World, the new blue spell Mass Polymorph.

The concept seems pretty clear. By controlling the creatures in the deck, I can hit specific targets and effects off the Mass Polymorph. In looking at my Warp World deck, the first thing that jumps out is I need to add blue to the mana base, which means I should probably drop a color. Since Mass Polymorph only effects creatures, and not lands, my prior win condition (Ob Nix) is pretty much out, so I have little need for black. The lack of land fall triggers also removes the need for most of card advantage tricks. In fact the only thing resembling a win condition from the original deck, is the Hellkites.

Getting all four Hellkites out in one hit for a win condition is pretty tough, because I have to cheat out 4 token creatures to do it. In preliminary testing, I find that I'm having to use a turn to get my 4th creature, when I really want to be going into a Mass Polymorph. I worry that extra turn will cost the deck games. I pulled the deck back off the shelf, when I stumbled across an article by Dave Meeson. His use of Magister Sphinx is just the tech I needed. By  stacking the triggers properly you can get the same effect from a Magister Sphinx, and 2 Hellkites.

With any combo deck, you have to look at what you have left if things go wrong. In this case, what happens if you can't hit all 3 creatures when you go off? The worst one to lose is the sphinx, but even then you have dealt 10 damage, and have 2 5/5 fliers ready to go. Not a bad place to be in! The forum hivemind for the article also recommended See Beyond, as a way to dimish the likely hood of hitting your worst case, and improving card draw and selection. Based on these sources, and my own prior work, I developed the following list.

1 Magister Sphinx
2 Bogardan Hellkite

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 See Beyond
4 Spawning Breath
1 Banefire
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Growth Spasm
4 Mass Polymorph
4 Preordain

4 Forest
5 Island
3 Mountain
2 Rootbound Crag
4 Halimar Depths
4 Khalni Garden
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
Best part about this deck, is because of my existing collection, it is super budget friendly. I only need a sphinx, and 2 Mass Polymorphs for a grand total under $4. Hooray for fun budget decks!

Comments

Gurei said…
I too was saddened by the news of Warp World leaving Standard.

As for the Mass Polymorph deck, do you have any idea for what you'll be using after Magister Sphinx and the Hellkites rotate out alongside Warp?
The_Magi said…
Unfortunately no good ideas. The leader right now is to put in the Eldrazi Mythic trinity, but honestly it just doesn't seem fun. I'd like to find a Haste driven solution to slam the win home, but I doubt I'll find anything this elegant. Maybe Scars will bring the answer?

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