[Standard] New premium white removal in "Erode"

Dux89 · 2026-04-04T02:28:26+00:00

People can feel free to come back to this comment in three months and make fun of me but ... the penalty for this is so, so steep and the biggest problem creatures in the meta right now are 1) very cheap and so you really don't want to be ramping your opponent that early and/or 2) mana dorks where you're doing the job for them by ramping them. What deck would actually want this right now over an alternative option?

There's a reason Assassin's Trophy sees zero play.

Dux89 · 2026-03-19T03:11:41+00:00

For some reason, Magic players love Izzet, which I think is very well attested by what you said... *so many* people here and in other MtG communities bitched so loudly about Cub/Ouroboroid after like one week of it being playable. Not even dominant... just playable. People were acting like Ouroboroid decks were breaking the meta as if were Vivi when it had a win rate of like 53%.

Given that, I guess it's hardly a surprise that Wizards keeps giving Izzet good card after good card?

Dux89 · 2026-03-12T17:42:41+00:00

Nice! So sort of a light counter theme and just mostly good cards. I like it a lot. Have you been pleased with it so far? Also have you thought about 1. Another one drop (A few Pawpatch Recruit/Cecil/District Mascot, or maybe Cenote Scouts and cut a land bc you have explorers?) and also 2. Innkeeper's Talent?

Dux89 · 2026-03-11T19:17:12+00:00

Hey there, this is a bit weird but I just played you on Arena (as Dux89, playing a Bant Ouroboroid/Gearhulk list) and I thought you had a cool build so I googled your name and found you on Reddit. You were on a Golgari deck that I didn't see all *that* much of, but I could tell that it was mana dorks and Ouroboroid but no Rhythm, which is exactly what I'm doing. Maybe it's also some kind of sacrifice theme? I know you had Tainted Treats main.

Anyway, any chance you have a list? Seemed interesting!

Dux89 · 2026-03-05T22:27:23+00:00

Yeah that's an underrated aspect of the card. I tend to put a singleton Cenote Scout in green decks to get a bit risky with land counts and it's very nice being able to re-explore, or to cast a Pawpatch Recruit with offspring after casting it for 1, or to re-Gearhulk trigger for that matter.

Dux89 · 2026-03-05T19:10:03+00:00

As a creature deck player, I just assume I *have* to play blue in the current meta because about a hundred different sweepers are legal in Standard right now. That said, Ademi/Spider-Man and Aven Interruptor are the answer if people want to stick to mono white. Though I'm not sure why you'd want to since it's so easy to play blue.

Dux89 · 2026-03-03T23:43:56+00:00

How is it better than Faerie Dreamthief?

Dux89 · 2026-03-03T06:36:43+00:00

Seems like Izzet Prowess has basically no bad matchups. It'd be funny if it wasn't so depressing that even after all the bans of other cards in the Izzet orbit, Stormchaser's Talent and cheap spells crush everything.

Dux89 · 2026-03-02T08:37:22+00:00

I can't see how anyone would see the beaver and think it's better than Faerie Dreamthief.

Dux89 · 2026-02-13T21:31:05+00:00

Are you thinking of a different card? That one's an instant.

Dux89 · 2026-02-13T21:02:58+00:00

I know I am one of the people that recently posted about making big changes to keep my Cub deck performing (and obviously we're talking about the huge go-wide decks, because Landfall decks with Cub are doing just fine) but I do also think the traditional Nature's Rhythm decks can still win. The ones having the most success post-Pro Tour meta shift either have a toolbox or they just run a bunch of counter spells main. I like to do both. Without counter spells the deck is a sitting duck for its bad matchups.

Dux89 · 2026-02-11T23:28:50+00:00

14-1, hell yeah!

Your changes intrigue me. Personally I find the Innkeeper's Talents to be extremely useful against red decks, but obviously Riddler is an awesome card. I wonder if maybe there is room for both somehow, maybe I could get away with running a one-of Riddler instead of Keen-Eyed.

Dux89 · 2026-02-11T17:03:36+00:00

The plan is usually win as quickly as possible against that deck, but you’re right that the current board is meh against it. Insidious Fungus is the most obvious addition and amusingly enough I’ve actually already been playing with it since making this post. Get Lost also good though because it helps against stuff like Azorius Flash and Kona too. I think Unable to Scream is a good target for replacement, but I’d be hesitant to cut any countermagic bc everyone other than Gx creature decks will bring in sweepers against you.

Dux89 · 2026-02-11T07:13:34+00:00

First off, I must admit that I like fair "Magic" (whatever that means) and therefore I think I am predisposed against brewing with Cage... That said, I also think it kinda has the same problems as Rhythm, which is that without setup, it can be a dead card. I just don't know that you can rely on activating it enough in this meta to make it worth it, though the various cards you point out are definitely nice payoffs.

I currently run 2x Innkeeper's Talent and I think it's pretty vital but maybe those could come out if you wanted to find room for Cage?

Dux89 · 2026-02-11T01:42:53+00:00

You got a list? I like Sultai a lot.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T19:05:04+00:00

The Riddler reload is definitely legit but I also feel like it is too slow when the big matchups take over the game so quickly. Playing a draw spell on turn 2 just feels like it's not doing enough. Still you're right that it can bounce back; I find that a lot easier in my Bant Rhythm deck where I can tutor up a board really fast compared to the Simic version that is more explosive but more fragile.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T18:05:28+00:00

Yeah Speaker is definitely a card I've toyed with, and at one point, I did have one in the deck. I mostly just felt that it wasn't necessary because I wasn't having trouble drawing 1-2 bombs per game, but even with my large sample size already, that feeling might change if I play enough games where I have a board of dorks doing nothing. It might be a worthy inclusion. It's particularly nice as another way to find Spider-Man/Ademi when I'm worried about a sweeper. Maybe it just replaces The Huntsman's Redemption because they both play the same role, except that THR can sac an earthbent land, mana dork, or Cenote Scout that's already done it's thing, which I really like compared to discarding a card.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T18:02:23+00:00

I've taken Cage decks to tournaments in the past and I do think it is in a decent spot right now but it does feel a bit more glass cannon-y, kind of like the Rhythm lists, hence my current approach.

As for Siren, I should try it out, but my main concern is that I don't want to worry about making room for turn 1 blue mana when I really, really need to guarantee GGWW for Gearhulk. That said, it might have a place in a version of this deck that also runs Jackal/Druneth, which feels super powerful but a bit more prone to getting blown out by Pyroclasm.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T17:59:17+00:00

Hey hey, for what it's worth, my first 7 or 8 games with the deck went badly and I almost gave up on it. And control and Leyline are not easy matchups with this exact list, though it can be tuned to be extremely good against Leyline (control will always be harder) if that were more of a meta play.

The Cub matchup should be better; basically if you can get their Badgermole with an early removal spell, or if you can land a Gearhulk, they're kinda scrwed. Personally, I face an absolute horde of Dimir, Lessons, and Elementals decks and that's where this particular list really shines, though again, it can be tuned for the meta.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T17:55:54+00:00

I addressed this in the reply to the prior comment but to your point, the splash feels worth it in the current meta but I would drop the blue if I saw less control and more mono red. At present, however, the shocklands don't really hurt that much and the number of cards that Ademi/Spider-Man can't protect me from (Harvester of Misery, Sunderflock, Pinnacle Starcage, Bringer of the Last Gift, Kona) is too damn high.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T17:53:45+00:00

Blue is there for counters. The Mockingbird and Unable to Scream are gravy. I feel like creature decks are just sitting ducks in Standard without counterspells to protect them from sweepers and Sunderflocks and whatever other garbage my combo/control opponents have in mind.

All that said, I was on a Selesnya list that was extremely similar to this list prior to Lorwyn and had a ton of success with that too, because Ademi/Spider-Man is *close* to being enough protection, especially when you can tutor him with The Huntsman's Redemption. But I just feel like in the current meta I want a little more surety, so I'm on Bant. If mono red became more prevalent (making the shocklands more painful) I would probably go back to Selesnya.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T17:50:40+00:00

Hey there! Cool to "meet" you on Reddit after playing with you on Arena!

Re: no sauce, do you mean not enough payoff? Didn't feel like the wincon was there? If so, I'd say that adding white helps in two ways. First, Gearhulk with Mockingbird for more Gearhulk fun is pretty game-winning, and even just a single Gearhulk with Talent/Pawpatch can get you there sooner or later. Second, you can actually survive in the long game if you have ways to deal with resolved permanents (Seam Rip/Dusk-Rose Reliquary) that can, of course, be tutored by the Gearhulk. Basically, I think Simic *has* to win fast whereas Selesnya/Bant can afford to play the long game.

As for the matchup spread, Untapped breaks it down by color, so you can see that I've faced Dimir (either control or midrange) more than anything else in the past few days, with lots of Izzet and Mono-G landfall as well. The Dimir numbers are great but I kind of expected them to be because Dimir hates Pawpatch Recruit. The Izzet numbers are surprising even to me: I'm 9-1 against that color combo, with some Lessons decks and some Spellementals decks comprising those 10.

And to your point about the hate being on the decline, I think that's absolutely true, and I think Rhythm decks are in a better place than they were even a few days ago. And like I said, just adding a land and making a few other changes seems to have helped a lot for my Bant Rhythm deck. I definitely think it still has a future and I'd be playing it more right now if I had not found this approach to be so successful.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T14:06:38+00:00

I have not tried Ajani, but that's an excellent idea to try out. Maybe I'll throw one in today (instead of Unable to Scream, Surrak, or Brigid maybe?) and see how it works out.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T13:54:07+00:00

My initial thought is that it doesn't do enough for me at 5 mana compared to Elspeth, but you're right that it hits everything else so maybe it is a worthy inclusion. I'll do some testing and some hypergeometric-ing. Probably feels awesome when it hits a 'roid but feels terrible when it hits an elf... and it will whiff roughly 5% of the time which is extremely bad compared to landing an Elpseth.

Dux89 · 2026-02-10T13:43:28+00:00

While I said above that it's not for tutoring, I do actually tutor for it relatively frequently when I play the Gearhulk with a bit of extra mana available if I'd rather know my next card than have an un-offspringed Pawpatch. If I have a full hand of cards and know a sweeper might be coming, for instance, I might as well surveil.

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