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Lands:
14 Forest
10 Mountain
Creatures:
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Shinen of Life's Roar
4 Mannichi, the Fevered Dream
4 Dancing Scimitar
4 Myr Quadropod
4 Elvish Bard
Other Spells:
4 Manriki-Gusari
4 Pyroclasm
4 Ensouled Scimitar |
  Switcharoo.
Description of deck by its author
(quoted):
This deck plays one of two ways. The first way
is that it sits back on defense with all of its high-toughness
creatures, sometimes clearing away small threats with Pyroclasm and
sometimes blasting equipment with Manriki-Gusari. When my opponent's
deck has run out of steam and I've found either Mannichi or Myr
Quadropod to go along with either Shinen of Life's Roar or Elvish Bard,
then I attack and end the game in one or two mighty swings. I think of
this as my "combo" style of play.
The second way the deck can play is to get a quick
Shinen of Life's Roar equipped with Manriki-Gusari and/or Ensouled
Scimitar and attack, attack, attack until my opponent is out of creatures.
This works as a midgame strategy with Elvish Bard, too. In these games, my
Lure-creatures are acting as creature removal while my other creatures
kill my opponent unhindered. I think of this as my "aggro" style of play.
In either case, there are two important elements to the
deck: 1) My power-toughness switching cards (Mannichi, the Fevered Dream
and Myr Quadropod), and b) my Lure cards (Shinen of Life's Roar and Elvish
Bard). Everything else that the deck can do rests on these pillars.
Although bizarre, it's actually the least tricky of the
decks today. My opponent can often quickly see what I'm up to and how I
intend to win. Whether they can stop me, though, is an entirely different
matter. A surprising number of decks are flummoxed by my high-toughness
cards with the ability to become high-power cards at instant speed. Even
decks loaded with creature removal tend to either have a hard time with
five or high toughness or are vulnerable to an Ensouled Scimitar. The fact
that Dancing Scimitar is now a Spirit has stopped a number of Rend Fleshes
cold. This is not to say that the deck is unstoppable, only that it wins a
lot more than you would guess from the wonky cards I've included.
What the deck loses from Mirrodin... Although the Lure
side of the deck is untouched, the Mannichi side of the deck suffers two
big losses. The first is Myr Quadropod. Without the Quadropod, the deck is
entirely reliant on Mannichi to combo-kill a player or to make the other
cards in the deck scary. The entire deck sort of relies on the fact that I
have eight "switcharoo" cards, and with half as many I think I'll either
need to insert card-drawing or bend the focus a little.
The second big loss is Ensouled Scimitar. This one isn't
quite so traumatic, but it has been good versus Wrath of God or as a way
to make my Lure creatures unstoppable. Slagwurm Armor is gone, too, so the
super-toughness equipment in general is now pretty much gone. Again,
having eight ways to enhance Shinen of Life's Roar and Elvish Bard is a
lot more effective than four.
Still, that's only two cards lost from a pretty
straightforward deck. Mannichi, the Fevered Dream is still there, along
with Shinen, Elvish Bard, Dancing Scimitar, Manriki-Gusari, Pyroclasm, and
the omnipresent Sakura-Tribe Elder. Surely Ravnica can offer up some way
to patch eight card slots in a sixty card deck, right?
What the deck gains from Ravnica... The card that truly
makes me smile is Gaze of the Gorgon. The Gaze doesn't naturally replace
either of the two cards that leave the deck, but it's a fun trick with
Lure creatures and a bunch of high-toughness dudes. I think it's possible
to add Gaze of the Gorgon and Selesnya Sagittars (splashing a third color
is once again easy thanks to the wonders of Green) and see what happens.
It would feel slanted towards Lure and away from Mannichi, but I still
think it might be a fun deck.
Speaking of splashing a third color, I think I could add
a Plains or two to either reap the full benefits of Boros Guildmage or try
Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi. Neither thrills me in the same way Myr Quadropod
and Ensouled Scimitar do, but they might be serviceable to keep the deck
intact. If White is in the deck, Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is worth
a try.
Goblin Fire Fiend? That feels sort of lame, but it
emphasizes the Lure part of the deck. After that, I'm coming up empty. No
equipment exists in Ravnica to pump a creature's toughness significantly,
nor are there any power/toughness switching cards, nor are there any
artifacts that animate to survive board-sweeping spells. Thus if the deck
continues in the new Standard, it's going to take on an entirely new
twist.
The Verdict... Switcharoo feels a lot like Blue Owl. The
pieces are sort of there, but they don't quite come together in a way that
feels right. Just like with Blue Owl, I'm guessing that if I wait a set or
two that some Green, Red, Green/Red (hello... Gruul Clans!), or artifact
cards will add just enough spice to pick Mannichi off the ground and allow
this deck its resurrection. It seems silly to wait when the deck lost so
relatively few cards, but for now I'm putting this deck on the sidelines
to be picked up again later.
So, the final verdict? One deck translates into the new
Standard, two decks may rise again eventually, and one deck is outright
dead. I think I've run the full gamut for what happens to pet decks when a
format changes. As I said from the outset, I hope today's article has been
a fun mental bridge as you get ready for Ravnica's online release, and one
that's given you some new ideas to ponder.
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