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Solar Flare Returns to Standard?
by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-01-12 01:39:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Standard, Solar Flare, Ben Goodman
When Solar Flare first debuted in Standard, it took the world by storm. Fatties in a control deck with a reanimator sub-theme? Who couldn't fall in love? It looks like the days of Solar Flare may have returned to Standard. Check out this decklist played by SorryMsJackson on Magic Online:
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Island
4 Marsh Flats
4 Plains
3 Swamp
3 Iona, Shield of Emeria
3 Sphinx of Lost Truths
2 Agony Warp
4 Courier's Capsule
3 Day of Judgment
4 Esper Charm
2 Essence Scatter
3 Flashfreeze
2 Into the Roil
2 Negate
3 Path to Exile
3 Rise from the Grave
Sideboard:
2 Agony Warp
4 Celestial Purge
1 Day of Judgment
4 Duress
2 Essence Scatter
1 Flashfreeze
1 Negate
The deck, which netted first place in Magic Online event #847764, controls the early game with spot removal like Agony Warp. The occasional counterspell helps keep the board clear until an end game that features powerful fatties in the form of Iona or Sphinx of Lost Truths. The Sphinx even allows for creatures to be discarded from its owner's hand to enable Rise from the Grave. Or simply use the reanimation spell on a fattie that was killed earlier in the game.
The deck looks like a lot of fun, but can it be competitive? Time will tell, but it's definitely a bright spot in the world of Standard that is Jund, Grixis, and Red decks.
(Thanks to Ben Goodman on Twitter for the heads up for this article. Follow him at Twitter.com/RidiculousHat.)
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Bill Stark is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheStarkingtonPost.com. He began playing Magic in 1995 after being introduced to the game by his brother. Since then he has competed at all levels of play including the JSS, Grand Prix, Nationals, and Pro Tour. In addition to his career as a pro, Bill began writing about the game early on for TheDojo.com, the first website dedicated to Magic. Since then he has written and edited for nearly every major Magic website on the web. In 2007 he began work as an official coverage reporter for Wizards of the Coast, flying to Grand Prixs, Nationals, and World Championships to record the events happening at each. He was also hired for six months as an R&D intern at Wizards where he worked on the redesign for DailyMTG.com as well as helping to develop multiple Magic sets. After leaving Wizards, he started TheStarkingtonPost.com to utilize his many contacts in the industry to provide a better information solution for fans of TCGs, gaming, and Magic: The Gathering.