Oh God, Standard

So I finally put together the white weenie throwback deck of doom! What's kind of funny is that I accidentally stumbled on Scrapheap Scrounger long before I should have just because it turns on the Toolcraft Exemplar.

All he wants is a smooth shaft and a strong crank.

Click here for decklist



For those you just can't be bothered to click on a link, here's the rundown. First, MANY WHELPS

    

  



For spells, we keep it even simpler

 

Lands (18!)
  

Basically this deck is just an excuse to run Always Watching, which has some of the best artwork I've seen in a while. Get out one or two lands and TURN THE CARDS SIDEWAYS.

I had my first chance to play it against Chris's Jeskai control. We weren't sideboarding, which is naturally going to give the aggro deck a major advantage, but it was SHOCKINGLY fun to pilot. Triggers to remember, sequencing spells to maximize damage.

For example, here's a sample hand:
      

This is a perfect draw but it's fun to think about. Without knowing future draws or the opponent, the big question is the two-drop: Scrapheap Scrounger or Metallic Mimic? Scrapheap gets 3 damage firing instantly where the Mimic boosts future Humans.

Against a goldfish:
Line #1:
T1 Constable, no attacks
T2 Mimic, Attack with Constable for 1
T3 Thalia, Attack with Constable + Mimic for 3
T4 Lieutenant + Scrapheap, Attack with Constable, Mimic, Thalia for 10
Power on the board: 15 (Constable 2, Mimic 3, Thalia 5, Lieutenant 2, Scrapheap 3)


Line #2
T1 Constable, no attacks
T2 Lieutenant, Attack with Constable for 2
T3 Scrapheap, Attack with Constable + Lieutenant for 3
T4 Thalia, Attack with Constable, Lieutenant, Scrapheap for 7
Power on board: 10 (Constable 2, Scrapheap 3, Thalia 3, Lieutenant 2)

Line #3
T1 Constable, no attacks
T2 Scrapheap, Attack with Constable for 1
T3 Thalia, Attack with Constable + Scrapheap for 4
T4 Mimic + Lieutenant, Attack with Constable, Scrapheap, Thalia for 8
Power on board: 14 (Constable 2, Scrapheap 3, Thalia 4, Mimic 3, Lieutenant 2)

Sequencing matters! 12-14 damage, 10-15 power on the board.

Early Plays

  

Toolcraft gets to three power if you follow it next turn with an artifact (Metallic Mimic, Scrapheap, the clue from Thraben Inspector), fasted possible turn 1 play. Metallic Mimic boosts all tribal coming after it, so get it down early. Thalia is pretty brutal if she sticks, slowing down their mana and potential blockers for a full turn. Take THAT Mr. Gearhulk.

Late Plays

 

Thalia's Lieutenant is basically an anthem with legs: I'd rather boost the team on the ground than get her bigger. Ditto with always watching. The way I think of it is that all the +1/+1s that go out effectively have haste and that's a real advantage if the game needs to be over by turn seven. Again, a bit 'duh' but it's fun mixing the possibilities.

Probabilities

It's kind of fun running 18 lands as suddenly "Do I keep a one-land hand?" is a legitimate question.
Opening Seven Odds
0 lands: 7%
1 land: 24%
2 lands: 33%
3 lands: 23%
4+ lands: 11%

So 18% (0 or 4+) is automatic mull. As for the one-lander, here's the odds on drawing into the second land:
One land within 1 draw: 28%
One land within 2 draws: 49%
One land within 3 draws: 64%


I think this translates as keeping a one-lander when on the draw but mulling it when on the play.

Hyper geometric calculator found here: http://stattrek.com/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx

Next edition: sideboarding!