//Developing Competitive// - Bant

[josephhancock]

(Not trying to hijack rabbit's Bant thread, but his deck is geared more towards budget and casual magic, where as this thread is for the more serious Bant decks. Just wanted to make that clear.)

With the rise of both black and red decks in the format right now, I've been looking over to Bant for some new tools to hate these colours out. Through playtesting, I've discovered that Shroud, Lifelink, and First Strike are so devestating to the aggro decks that are floating around right now, that bant Fish might be a real contender. So, let's start seeing what we can do.

//Creatures//

Deft Duelist - Remember when I was saying this was a great card, but not for the format when it was released due to the amount of maindeck sweepers and token production? Well, this is the right format for it now. A turn 2 Duelist can shut most other decks down for a significant amount of time. All of a sudden t3 Ball Lightning isn't as great as it sounds. This baby dodges Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile, blocks Goblin Guides and Ball Lightnings all day and lives to talk about it. Very VERY solid card right now.

Noble Hierarch - Bant Bird is still a great option in today's Fish since it's Exalted ability gives it some late game usefulness, and can always hold a Behemoth Sledge or something. For all intents and purposes, Noble > BoP in Bant builds.

Rhox War Monk - I think there's a law somewhere that you have to play this card in any deck calling itself Bant. Doing otherwise would be both foolish and unrecommended, in any case. Rhox is another great card in this format since it dodges most damage-based removal, and can bang with most creatures all damn day, giving you a lifegaining machine if you're not too careful.

Dauntless Escort - My sweeper protection service, along with my sneaking combat tricks quarterback. Probably good enough to be maindeck, but i'm not sure if we'll have the space for it in the end.

Jenara, Asura of War - I'm still not completely sold on this card not being useful, and I think can actually be quite powerful when put into the right deck. Sure, it doesn't have Shroud, but neither does Baneslayer Angel, and she still gets some good play. In a midrange deck, this could be a card worth running as a 2-of or 3-of as a finisher that really needs to be removed before untap, otherwise it's going to be a problem.

Knight of New Alara - Another Janky card I'm drawn to, this card was dismissed at first as being too much of a reliability. But with most creatures in this deck being two colours, this might be a card to consider as a really good pump machine, if it can live long enough to make a difference.

Lorescale Coatl - Popular in the Bant Gro decks that saw some medium-level play in shards, this card can be a hidden threat if not dealt with, and especially with other draw spells. Might be a bit slow for this midrange deck, but an option to consider nonetheless. It's lack of evasion is what really kills it.

This is a good list to start from, and doesn't even get to some of the other creatures I wanted to talk about how they effect/are affected by the new Standard (Stoic Angel, Rafiq of the Many, Battlegrace Angel, Meddling Mage, Knight of the Reliquary etc). From here, and thinking along these guidelines, we can come up with a pretty versatile list to be our legs for the deck.

//Spells//

Path to Exile - Shouldn't really need too much explaining, probably the best removal spell in the format right now. Please not that it can also be used to kill one of your own creatures should you need to fetch a land, and while not always the most advantagous of plays, can sometimes be the difference between dropping that War Monk or Duelist. This is the core of your removal suite, which is something Bant really lacks in a long term essence, so make sure you have them.

Oblivion Ring/Journey to Nowhere - This is really a question of cost vs. versatility. Journey costs less, but can only hit creatures. In the format right now, I think you could get away with boarding the Ring and running Journey main, but that is meta dependant. I'd say run one main and one in the board, in equal amounts so it's an easy swap depending on matchups.

Bant Charm - The utility card for the Shard, it's useful as another "removal" spell that can also be used as a counterspell in a pinch. Or can blow up an artifact, which can have good implications. Another strong choice for maindeck midrange spells.

Negate/Essence Scatter/Cancel - Since we're running blue, all of these cheap, situational counterspells become available to us, and sometimes finding the right mix can be the difference between a winning and losing build. Hindering Light is another option as well.

Day of Judgement - Now, in most midrange decks I tend to have a strict maximum of two maindeck sweepers, since usually it's going to be worse on me to lose my creatures as opposed to my opponent, since they have a lot fo aggro in my area, but in builds running the Escort, I can see running three or four in the main and still be ok. Regardless of numbers and split between main and sideboard, your deck should have a minimum of two of these somewhere, since a t4 sweep into t5 Rhox, Escort, or Jenara, with counter backup, can be gamebreaking.

Sleep - Another card not seeing a whole lot of play right now, it's amazing in Bant midrange, especially builds running Stoic Angel, but not a requirement. it lets us alpha strike and not worry about having blockers hold back for the opponent's next attack phase, which is exactly what this deck needed. I know it's no Cryptic command but we need to move on, and this is a step in the right direction.

Behemoth Sledge - The new Loxodon Warhammer. The lifelink not stacking is a bit of a damper on Rhox, and it can't target a Duelist, but it's still plenty good on a lot fo the creatures, and can even be used defensively to boost toughness. A splash of one or two in the main or board won't hurt too bad.

//Planeswalkers// - Technically, every Planeswalker that's on colours with us can be used and give a good deal of power to the deck. Logically, though, I have to say that Garruk Wildspeaker is the only one I'd personally run, thought I can understand debating his inclusion over Ajani or Elspeth. The reason for this is because Garruk is exactly what a Midrange deck needs, in all three of his abilities. He can help get mana open for counters and removals after you tap out to cast a threat, he can create threats himself, and he can Overrun for free, which can be diabolical when combined with cards like Sleep in this format. Any three creatures alphastriking with Garruk's final going off will be good game.

Now that we've taken a minute looking at some of the card choices, let's take a look at a possible direction we can take this deck. Here's a generalized midrange deck that would be a good sarting point to tweak and adjust to a customized Bant Fish deck according to card availability and Meta.

Bant Fish
//Creatures (20)// 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Deft Duelist 4x Rhox War Monk 4x Dauntless Escort 4x Knight of New Alara //Support (16)// 4x Path to Exile 4x Bant Charm 2x Day of Judgement 3x Garruk Wildspeaker 3x Journey to Nowhere //Lands (24)// 4x Misty Rainforest 3x Glacial Fortress 4x Seaside Citadel 3x Sunpetal Grove 4x Forest 4x Plains 2x Island	//Sidebaord (15)// 4x Meddling Mage 4x Celestrial Purge 3x Harm's Way 3x Pithing Needle 1x Day of Judgement

This deck has a lot of underlying synergies and functions quite well against most matchups. Eleven maindeck kill spells, plus two sweepers will keep most aggro stratagies back until we can set up some magic with our team of evasive pain in the ass creatures. T1 Noble, t2 Monk, t3 Garruk is probably this deck's best setup, but it's far from a one trick pony. Land base is stable, and I've really had no problems hitting blue mana, despite the inclusion of only two Islands. Seaside, Noble, and Fortress are usually good enough, and the fetchland rounds it off nicely. I would suggest that decks running more maindeck counters or Sleep somewhere in their 75 add more Islands and/or blue sources/fetches.

Sideboard again is a very generalized one. Meddling Mage + Pithing Needle make an amazing denial package against control and combo, and can seriously hinder some of the aggro's key players. T1 Needle naming Tezz, turn 2 Mage naming Jace is pretty much good game against Time Seive combo too. rest of the board is designed to combat certain things. Purge helps against red and black decks, and there's a lot so four is a must. harm's way is additional "kill" magic versus red decks, and a third DoJ to round it off. If your meta becomes infested with red-based aggro, which in all hoensty might jsut happen on a global level, it's prefectly acceptable to exchange your Mages with Vedalken Outlanders for a better matchup.

Let's see what people have to say about this build, since i feel this build is very strong, and the archtype itself is poised to be a contender in the new Standard.

//EDIT// - Here'sa budget list I've been playing as well, for people wanting to get started in a Bant deck without breaking the bank.

Budget Bant
//Creatures (22)// 4x Deft Duelist 4x Rhox War Monk 3x Knight of New Alara 4x Qasali Ambusher 4x Winged Coatl 3x Borderland Ranger //Support (14)// 4x Bant Charm 3x Divinataion 3x Behemoth Sledge 4x Journey to Nowhere	//Lands (24)// 4x Seaside Citadel 4x Bant Panorama 6x Plains 6x Forest 4x Island

[rabbit]

really good build man... I have nothing really to put on this deck. After looking at your list, I may need to put Deft Duelist into my wifes build. Again, kudos on the build.

[Psychomagus]

That list looks really good, joseph. Just a question for you. What do you name with Meddling Mage if you choose to side it in....or what was your thinking in including that in the sideboard. One thing I can think of off the top of my head is Baneslayer or Bloodwitch, probably a few more I am missing. Just wondering what popped into your head other than what you already mentioned . BTW, YES, Garruk is easily the best choice for this deck. Also, not sure Time Sieve deck is quite as viable now as it was before Zendikar. However, time will tell.

[AtriumXP]

The best thing about Meddling Mage is that it's flexible enough to be an answer to almost any threat. So I'd say you see what the threats are during game 1, and sideboard in the Mage. Name whatever threats your opponent threw at you in game 1

What I think I like most about this decklist aside from its good overall synergy is the idea that lot of the cards you play are going to be unexpected. It's not Baneslayer or Great Sable Stag. And "Coatl" makes me giggle. "Coital". LOL.

[josephhancock]

Originally Posted by Psychomagus

That list looks really good, joseph. Just a question for you. What do you name with Meddling Mage if you choose to side it in....or what was your thinking in including that in the sideboard. One thing I can think of off the top of my head is Baneslayer or Bloodwitch, probably a few more I am missing. Just wondering what popped into your head other than what you already mentioned . BTW, YES, Garruk is easily the best choice for this deck. Also, not sure Time Sieve deck is quite as viable now as it was before Zendikar. However, time will tell.

I tend to name non-white removal spells with the Mage, since it helps me not only keep the Mage in play, but also takes away a lot of the tools red and black need to win. Naming Terminate, Lightning Bolt, or Doom Blade will usually do the trick, but I've been known to name Lavalanche, Baneslayer Angel, and Malakir Bloodwitch as targets as well. That last one is especially nasty since I don't have any answers to it at all. On that note, I tend to name Planeswalkers with Pithing Needle, and while Time Sieve might not survive rotation, Needles is never a dead card in any matchup, and can still shut off some powerful effects.

Originally Posted by AtriumXP

What I think I like most about this decklist aside from its good overall synergy is the idea that lot of the cards you play are going to be unexpected. It's not Baneslayer or Great Sable Stag.

That's definetly something I've seen in my testing as well. Most people see the Noble and Rhox and get a general idea of what my deck's about, but game two I drop a Duelist and they looked stunned at first because they can't figure out if their decks have a way to deal with it. And I can't count how many times somebody has whiffed with Thought Hemmorhage naming Baneslayer.

Originally Posted by AtriumXP

And "Coatl" makes me giggle. "Coital". LOL.

Lol, that's awesome.

[Filth]

- 3 Journey to Nowhere
+ 3 Negate

I believe not playing Negate in a blue deck is a huge mistake in this T2. There are so many things you want to counter: Blightning, all the super-effective removal, planeswalkers, Brave the Elements. You already have 8 very good spot removal spells, 4 Duelist, 4 Monk, and 2 Day of Judgment to hold off aggro, and you don't want to have too many dead cards against control. You're not in burn, discard, or LD colors, so you're not going to have an easy time against control.

I would also default to Elspeth, Knight-Errant as the planeswalker of choice in the general T2 meta at the moment. T1 Hierarch, T2 Monk, T3 Garruk will often be 1-up'd by T2 Putrid Leech / Terminate on Monk, T3 Blightning on Garruk, which makes Blightning a 3-for-1 if you made a token with Garruk (like you'll usually want to), while Elspeth would simply go to 2 every time and keep making tokens. I'd play either 3x Elspeth, or 2x Elspeth + 1x Garruk simply because Elspeth is so hard to kill.