With Ravnica Allegiance just around the corner, I can’t stop thinking about all of the new decks I want to build and all of the new cards I want to test. That’s why each week I’m going to be brewing a Standard deck for a different guild, starting with some Blue-Green bio-engineered baddies: Simic!
Simic’s new adapt mechanic favors +1/+1 counters, and it synergizes well with the Explore mechanic from Ixalan block. I think there’s opportunity for a smaller creature strategy that beefs up your team with counters and provides payoff for those +1/+1s – especially with the newly spoiled Zegana, Utopian Speaker.
However, that isn’t the deck that my brewers heart was attracted to first. Cards like Growth Spiral, Spiral Engineer and Hydroid Krasis make me believe that a Simic ramp deck is not only possible, but powerful. With tempo advantage in the new Wizard Lizard, Frilled Mystic, and the ability to stymie opponents with cards like Incubation//Incongruity and Quench, I think this deck has the potential to be a legitimate threat in new Standard.
New Simic
2 Carnage Tyrant
4 Spiral Engineer
2 Frilled Mystic
4 Hydroid Krasis
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Vivien Reid
3 Blink of an Eye
3 Chemister’s Insight
4 Growth Spiral
3 Quench
4 Breeding Pool
12 Forest
8 Island
3 Memorial to Genius
Sideboard:
3 Incubation // Incongruity
1 Carnage Tyrant
2 Essence Scatter
2 Karn, Scion of Urza
3 Negate
3 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Vivien Reid
Hydroid Krasis is the big payoff for this deck; it might even be worth considering playing four copies. It’s important to note that you draw half X cards and gain half X life upon casting Krasis, so you’ll get that value even if it gets countered. Growth Spiral is the real engine that enables the deck to ramp profitably, and it’s an instant, you can still hold it up along with Quench or Frilled Mystic.
Ramp decks often struggle to draw the right balance of lands and threats. This deck can mitigate those issues with flexible threats like Hydroid Krasis and plenty of card-draw with Chemister’s Insight and Memorial to Genius.
Other cards to consider include Wilderness Reclamation, Precognitive Perception and Mass Manipulation (a great ramp payoff). I’m also not sure if there should be room in the builds for Opt or Anticipate, or if Azor’s Gateway – an early staple in Jeskai Control builds – could be a reasonable inclusion. Additionally, an explore package with Merfolk Branchwalkers, Jadelight Rangers and Wildgrowth Walkers might be a great option to sideboard into, or possibly even run in the main deck.
I’m excited to ramp out some big threats – who doesn’t love Carnage Tyrant? Stay tuned for next week, when we riot with Gruul!
A Spike at heart, Chantelle spends her free time prepping for tournaments, working toward the ever-elusive Mythic Championship, and championing other competitive ladies. She’s a combo aficionado and seasoned aggro deck player, and Standard and Modern are her preferred formats. Growing and improving as a player, both technically and in her mental game, are of the utmost importance to her.