Bant Toxic Guide
How to be a Toxic Standard player
Bant Toxic in Standard
Author: Zen Takahashi
Hello everyone!
Over the past weekend, I made the Top 8 of the Australia/New Zealand Regional Championships, qualifying for the upcoming Pro Tour in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I have had to defer the invite to the following Pro Tour, which won’t be until the beginning of next year.
The deck I played was Bant Toxic – an archetype that was completely non-existent at Pro Tour Outlaws of Thunder Junction just over a month ago but is now one of the top decks in Standard and was well represented across all the Regional Championships over the weekend.
What to Expect from this Article
In this article, I will go over in detail about everything you need to know to pick this deck up – the game plan, what hands to keep, how to sequence your turns, tips and tricks, and how to approach each of the major matchups.
In my next article, I will cover my experiences from the tournament – the preparation process and the event itself, so keep an eye out for that if you’re interested!
Before I get into it, I also want to give a massive shout-out to Pascal Maynard and Guillermo Sulimovich for pretty much teaching me everything I know about this deck! I’m merely a proxy sharing the wisdom these two bestowed upon me!
Game Plan
The deck’s game plan is simple: Curve out and get your opponent to ten poison counters as quickly as possible. Often, you’ll look to deal the first few poison counters with your creatures.
Then, you may either make blocking difficult for your opponent with The Seedcore and/or your bounce spells, proliferate your way to victory with Serum Snare or set up Venerated Rotpriest.
The deck often “steals” wins with the Venerated Rotpriest + March of Swirling Mist combo.
Sometimes, even if you don’t have Rotpriest, you can “steal” a win with March by blanking your opponent’s blockers for a turn and setting up a lethal attack. Alternatively, you might win via Rotpriest + Fading Hope/Serum Snare to deal the last few poison counters.
While the deck aims to win quickly, it has decent staying power thanks to Skrelv’s Hive and Mirrex. As the game progresses and you make more land drops, you can also set up a bigger March of Swirling Mist to get through multiple blockers.
Hands to Keep
You should basically never keep a hand without a one-drop creature, as it’s too hard to build toxic momentum without one. On the draw, you should never keep a hand without a one-drop in any matchup. On the play, you might very seldom keep a hand without a one-drop if it includes Skrelv’s Hive and you’re against a deck like Dimir Control.
It’s important to have a hand with at least two creatures (or a Skrelv’s Hive) to play in the first two turns.
Relying on just one creature, even if it’s a Venerated Rotpriest, makes it too difficult to get across the line. When facing decks with Field of Ruin or Demolition Field, prioritize putting basic lands on the bottom when you mulligan.
Sequencing
Always keep in mind that you are playing a tempo deck.
The deck is essentially Azorius splashing green for Venerated Rotpriest. Skrelv’s Hive and Charge of the Mites are the only white cards that can’t be cast off The Seedcore in the maindeck, so be mindful of this when naming a color with Thran Portal.
Proper sequencing of your opening hand is critical; plan out the order in which you will play your lands and spells, and consider how each step will play out. Incorrect sequencing or naming the wrong color with Thran Portal can disrupt your mana base.
Dealing the first poison counter is crucial, as it allows you to proliferate.
Your goal should be to deal three poison counters as soon as possible, enabling you to activate corrupt for The Seedcore, Skrelv’s Hive, and Bring the Ending.
The next step after that is to reach six or seven poison counters so you can set up Mirrex, Venerated Rotpriest, or a big March of Swirling Mist to deliver the final poison counters and secure the win.
Turn 1:
Against decks with a lot of removal spells, especially Cut Down, you want to prioritize your one-drops in the order of:
Crawling Chorus -> Venerated Rotpriest -> Skrelv, Defector Mite
Conversely, against decks with little removal spells, particularly those lacking one-mana removal, the optimal order is:
Skrelv, Defector Mite -> Venerated Rotpriest -> Crawling Chorus
If you have a Jawbone Duelist, it becomes more advantageous to play Skrelv, Defector Mite on turn one, especially against decks with minimal removal like Boros Convoke or Temur Analyst.
When you have March of Swirling Mist in hand, consider holding back Venerated Rotpriest to play it on a turn when you can also set up the combo. If you have two copies of Skrelv, Defector Mite, lead with one so you can play the other when the first one dies.
In situations where you suspect your opponent is holding up Cut Down, lead with Crawling Chorus to mitigate its impact.
Occasionally, your mana will dictate which one-drop you play. For instance, if your opening hand includes Seachrome Coast, Yavimaya Coast, two Venerated Rotpriests, and a Crawling Chorus, you would lead with Rotpriest on turn one to set up a double-cast on turn two.
Turn 2:
Generally, it’s better to play two one-drop creatures on turn two rather than a two-drop creature.
However, depending on the matchup, especially when you’re on the draw, you might prefer to play a one-drop creature and hold up Spell Pierce or Fading Hope. Against decks with sweepers, opting for a two-drop over two one-drops can help you play around sweepers more effectively.
Jawbone Duelist shines against decks that are light on removal or when you lead with Skrelv, Defector Mite. It synergizes well with The Seedcore, making it a strong play on turn two if you have the land in hand.
In matchups where you need to tempo your opponent out quickly, playing Jawbone Duelist can be more advantageous. Post-board, Jawbone Duelist can also combo with Aspirant’s Ascent, providing another evasive angle of attack.
Skrelv’s Hive is a slow card; playing it on turn two means you won’t get to attack with it until turn four. However, in matchups with a lot of removal, it’s your best turn two play. For instance, against a deck like Dimir Control, playing it on turn two can essentially win the game for you if it resolves.
Conversely, against fast decks, you don’t want to play it early since the Mites can’t block and the life loss from the Hive can be detrimental. In such cases, hold it until the lifelink clause is active.
Generally, it’s better to establish your board presence before you start using your bounce spells, as this gives you more attackers. The exception is when you need to play around sweepers, or you’re playing around a counterspell and want to avoid tapping out for a creature on your turn.
Lands:
Typically, you want to play your fastlands as your first and second lands so that if you draw another one, you can play it on turn three.
However, sometimes this isn’t possible if you haven’t yet decided what color to name with Thran Portal. Ensuring you have each color source is the first priority, but after that, the second blue source is more important than a second white source because you’re more likely to double-cast two blue spells.
A second green source is generally unnecessary unless you’re concerned about Field of Ruin or you need to use The Seedcore as a pump spell.
It’s crucial to think about when to play Mirrex.
Sometimes, you play it on turn two to double-cast two one-drops, while other times, you play it on turn one because it’s your only green source for a Venerated Rotpriest. Be careful, as Mirrex can help fix your mana (especially for Rotpriest) but can also color screw you, being particularly poor for casting blue cards, as you mostly want to play them on your opponent’s turn.
Against decks with Field of Ruin and Demolition Field, hold your Mirrex until you can get at least one activation out of it.
Consider when to play The Seedcore.
It can fix your mana early, especially for Venerated Rotpriest, so you might not need to set Thran Portal to green. Conversely, you might want to “hide” The Seedcore to encourage your opponent to take a third poison counter, enabling you to corrupt them.
Make sure you minimize the damage from your painlands; remember that Thran Portal‘s damage is unavoidable. If possible, use The Seedcore for colored mana to avoid using your painlands.
Always leave untapped mana in a way that represents the most options possible, typically holding up blue sources and/or The Seedcore. This often means playing a land pre-combat. Hitting your land drops is also important, so you can cast a big March of Swirling Mist if you topdeck it.
Sequencing Example
An example of messing up my mana sequencing happened here. I played Thran Portal on turn two, named white, to cast Skrelv’s Hive. However, I should have played Mirrex instead and named blue with Portal on turn three. I have many more blue spells than white spells, and most of my white cards are creatures that I can cast off The Seedcore.
Individual Cards
Crawling Chorus
- Best creature to play into sweepers (excluding Temporary Lockdown and Sunfall) as it leaves a body behind.
- Often used to chump-block.
Skrelv, Defector Mite
- Combos with Jawbone Duelist to deal four poison counters in one attack.
- Good for protecting Venerated Rotpriest or Annex Sentry.
- The channel lands (Boseiju, Who Endures; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; Otawara, Soaring City) get around Skrelv’s protection as they are colorless. Also, tokens from Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance are colorless.
- Helps blank your opponent’s Go for the Throat, as they can’t kill Skrelv with it and Skrelv can protect whichever creature they want to kill.
- Gets countered by Tidebinder Mage, losing toxic, but it can now block. To play around Tidebinder Mage, use Skrelv on your main phase before declaring attackers, so your creature doesn’t get ambushed in combat.
Venerated Rotpriest
- Triggers when any of your creatures are targeted, including tokens and Doorkeeper Thrull.
- The channel lands (Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; Otawara, Soaring City), The Wandering Emperor, Case of the Gateway Express, and Leyline Binding get around Rotpriest’s spell clause, so they won’t get a poison counter.
- Tidebinder Mage can counter the trigger, causing Rotpriest to lose its ability and toxic. However, multiple triggers on the stack (e.g. through March) will still resolve.
- Stack multiple targets onto Rotpriest to get triggers before any spells resolve. Play Serum Snare last to ensure it doesn’t fizzle, and you get the proliferate effect.
Jawbone Duelist
- First strike damage happens first, turning on corrupt for The Seedcore and Skrelv’s Hive before normal damage if they are on two poison counters. This allows surprise pumping of a blocked creature and/or gaining life off the Hive.
- With The Seedcore, the Duelist becomes a three-power double strike creature, allowing you to attack into creatures like Raffine, Scheming Seer.
Skrelv’s Hive
- Works well with Mirrex (producing two creatures per turn) and The Seedcore (pumping out three-powered creatures).
- Be careful of playing a second copy, as the life loss may be lethal, especially if the lifelink clause isn’t active.
- Generally, you play it post-combat, but play it pre-combat if you can hit corrupt before damage (e.g. Jawbone Duelist’s first strike damage, removal spell with Venerated Rotpriest in play, or Serum Snare bounce with proliferate).
Slaughter Singer
- Make sure you pump 1/1s with The Seedcore before they are pumped by Slaughter Singer.
- Only pumps other attacking creatures with toxic, not itself or non-toxic creatures.
- If its triggers get countered by Tishana’s Tidebinder, it will lose toxic.
- Safer to play on turn two than Jawbone Duelist against decks with End the Festivities.
Charge of the Mites
- You can target your own creature if you have a Venerated Rotpriest in play to give a poison counter.
- When using the damage side, be cautious of your opponent using removal spells in response, reducing the damage dealt.
Fading Hope
- Once you have three lands in play, assuming you don’t have Mirrex, you generally want to play it at upkeep as you don’t want to flood any more, and you can cast most spells you keep on top with it.
Serum Snare
- Against Wedding Announcement, you may want to proliferate their counter so they get one less token.
- Bounce Temporary Lockdown with the trigger on the stack to prevent your tokens from being exiled.
- With Venerated Rotpriest, your opponent gets two poison counters.
March of Swirling Mist
- Great for protecting your creatures from sweepers.
- Can target multiple creatures and resolves even if one target fizzles.
- Use your mana efficiently by pitching blue cards, but always have an untapped blue source, since you can only help reduce the “X” portion by pitching cards.
- Often used to save your creatures from removal and fade out your opponent’s blockers to set up a big attack.
- Can swing board states; use it to block multiple attackers and save your creatures to set up a lethal attack back. Stronger with Venerated Rotpriest in play, dealing poison counters when you are saving your creatures that are blocking.
- Against control decks, if you have lethal next turn, March your board during your turn when they tap out for something like Memory Deluge to guarantee protection from a sweeper.
Aspirant’s Ascent
- Works well with Venerated Rotpriest (three poison counters) and Jawbone Duelist (four poison counters).
- Good for countering damage-based removal spells and Cut Down.
- Can protect your creature from sweepers like Glistening Deluge or Brotherhood’s End.
Lands
- The Seedcore doesn’t work once a creature has grown, so you can’t use two Seedcores on the same creature.
- Mirrex can be hit by Tidebinder Mage. Against decks with Tidebinder Mage but no sweepers, make the Mite token on your turn when they’re tapped out if it’s clear you have no alternative play.
- Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is discounted when you have Skrelv, Defector Mite in play. It’s also colorless, so you can target Skrelv-protected creatures.
Tips and Tricks
- Against other creature decks, setting up The Seedcore + Skrelv’s Hive is great for gaining a ton of life. With Jawbone Duelist, you gain six life.
- To play around Gix’s Command or Glistening Deluge, use The Seedcore to save your creature.
- Generally, play sorcery-speed spells on your second main phase and slow-roll The Seedcore to hide information. However, you can play them pre-combat if you have hit corrupt, or if Jawbone Duelist’s first strike damage will put them to three poison counters.
- Skrelv’s Hive + Mirrex is a powerful combination against midrange/control decks, producing two bodies per turn. Adding The Seedcore can make combat a nightmare for your opponent, as you can attack through creatures like Tidebinder Mage and Restless Anchorage.
- Against Preacher of the Schism, intentionally take damage from your painlands and Skrelv, Defector Mite to prevent them from making tokens with the vampire.
Example 1
We have lethal here as we can March of Swirling Mist our two creatures (six poison), then on our turn, give Venerated Rotpriest protection from red and attack (eight poison). We can then play Fading Hope on our own creature (nine poison), and with it on the stack, Serum Snare our own creature (ten poison + proliferate).
Example 2
We have lethal here. End of turn, cast March of Swirling Mist with X=4 (exiling our Augury), and target our three creatures (five poison) plus their Glissa Sunslayer (remove blocker). On our turn, attack with our creatures (eight poison), then Serum Snare one of our creatures (nine poison + proliferate). When we have March in hand, think carefully as we can put together wins out of nowhere like this.
Matchups
Matchup Guide: Esper Midrange
OUT
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 2 Tidebinder Mage, 4 Faerie Mastermind, 4 Deep-Cavern Bat, 2 The Wandering Emperor, 4 Go for the Throat, 3 Cut Down, 3-4 No More Lies, 2-3 Virtue of Loyalty, 0-4 Wedding Announcement, 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, 1 Otawara, Soaring City
Sideboard: 2-3 Pest Control, 2 Tidebinder Mage, 1-2 Long Goodbye, 0-1 Cut Down, 0-1 Loran of the Third Path
Depending on their list, you may want to bring in Slaughter Singer, Spell Pierce or Aspirant’s Ascent, and cut Bring the Ending or Annex Sentry.
Slaughter Singer is good if they have multiple Pest Control, Spell Pierce is good if they have Wedding Announcement/Wandering Emperor/Virtue of Loyalty.
Aspirant’s Ascent is good if they have four Cut Downs, Bring the Ending is good if they have Gix’s Command, Annex Sentry is good if they don’t have four Cut Downs.
- The plan is simple: you want to out-tempo them if you can. Their card quality is higher, and you don’t want to let them snowball with Raffine, Scheming Seer. Use your bounce spells aggressively and keep the board clear.
- Pre-board, they don’t have big haymakers that punish us for playing a slow game, as long as they don’t have Raffine. Therefore, you can go wide if you need to, which beats both their creatures and spot removal. Skrelv’s Hive + Mirrex is perfect for this. However, if they have Raffine, you need to play more aggressively/tempo-orientated, or else they will kill you.
- Think carefully about what they do, as you can often figure out what they have. After the first few turns, you should have a good idea of what their hand looks like.
- Often you’ll opt to bounce the creature that is attacking and targeted by Raffine rather than Raffine itself to be more mana-efficient and avoid paying ward.
- Prioritize playing Crawling Chorus/Skrelv, Defector Mite over Venerated Rotpriest, and try to play the latter with a bounce spell for protection. However, on the draw, you may want to play Rotpriest on turn one as it can attack through Deep-Cavern Bat on turn two.
- Getting to three poison ASAP is key as turning on The Seedcore is crucial.
- Post-board, it gets harder because they have Pest Control. It’s difficult to play around it as it’s one-sided and only two mana. You can’t really afford to play around it because you then give them too much time to build a board. The best way to play around it is with Venerated Rotpriest + a bounce spell, so you can either bounce a blocker at the end of their turn to set up an attack, or bounce the Rotpriest in response to the sweeper. Alternatively, just play to the board and hope for the best.
- They have a difficult time killing Skrelv, Defector Mite as it doesn’t die to Go for the Throat.
- Against Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal, play your lands as you generally rather they draw a card than make a 1/1 (unless you’re in a spot where you lose if they draw a specific card).
- If they play Wedding Announcement, you can use Serum Snare to bounce it before they reach the end step and make a token. You can also proliferate on Wedding Announcement so they get fewer tokens.
- Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City get around the protection from Skrelv as they are colorless.
Matchup Guide: Boros Convoke
IN
+1 Annex Sentry
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 4 Resolute Reinforcements, 4 Imodane’s Recruiter, 4 Gleeful Demolition, 4 Case of the Gateway Express, 2-3 Warleader’s Call, 1-2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Sideboard: 2 Lithomantic Barrage, 2 End the Festivities
- Pre-board is extremely tough, but post-board things get better. Doorkeeper Thrull and Aspirant’s Ascent are great in the matchup.
- Mulligan aggressively for a good hand. You need a hand with Skrelv, Defector Mite + Jawbone Duelist or Venerated Rotpriest + March of Swirling Mist to have a chance.
- We generally lose if they have a turn two Knight-Errant of Eos or a turn three Imodane’s Recruiter. If they don’t, try to set up a March of Swirling Mist (with or without Venerated Rotpriest). They can’t interact well with March (and to some extent Rotpriest), which is our main edge in this board-centric matchup.
- They hardly interact with Skrelv + Jawbone Duelist, but they are good at putting different colored creatures into play, making this less effective.
- Many of their significant plays involve tapping a large portion of their board (Knight, Warden, Recruiter). Use this opportunity to bounce/phase out their blockers and set up an attack, but be cautious of their counter-attack.
- Getting to three poison is key as turning on The Seedcore and Skrelv’s Hive is crucial.
- Post-board, Aspirant’s Ascent can set up big swings with Venerated Rotpriest or Jawbone Duelist and protects your creature from Case of the Gateway Express.
- The Seedcore can help play around End the Festivities.
- Gleeful Demolition can kill Skrelv, Defector Mite, and Annex Sentry, which comes up often.
- Case of the Gateway Express can kill Venerated Rotpriest without them getting a poison counter.
Matchup Guide: Domain Ramp
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 4 Archangel of Wrath, 4 Herd Migration, 3-4 Sunfall, 2-3 Depopulate, 0-2 Long Goodbye, 4 Leyline Binding, 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
Sideboard: 2-3 Temporary Lockdown, 2-3 Long Goodbye, 1-2 Tranquil Frillback, 0-2 Chrome Host Seedshark
- Pressure them with two or three creatures while holding up a counterspell or March of Swirling Mist for their sweeper.
- Ignore Up the Beanstalk and Topiary Stomper. Hold your counters for Temporary Lockdown, Depopulate/Sunfall, Archangel of Wrath, Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Herd Migration.
- Bouncing Temporary Lockdown with Serum Snare at the end of your opponent’s turn to set up an attack is good. If you cast it with the trigger on the stack, you won’t lose your Mite tokens, but just make sure they can’t re-cast it straight away.
- Against the Ancient Cornucopia version, you can exile the namesake card with Annex Sentry.
Matchup Guide: Azorius Control
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 0-2 Tidebinder Mage, 4 The Wandering Emperor, 4 No More Lies, 3 March of Otherworldly Light, 2-3 Sunfall, 4 Three Steps Ahead, 1-2 Get Lost, 1-2 Depopulate, 0-1 Farewell, 2 Temporary Lockdown, 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, 1 Otawara, Soaring City, 4 Field of Ruin
Sideboard: 1-2 Tishana’s Tidebinder (3-4 in 75), 2 Temporary Lockdown, 0-2 Chrome Host Seedshark
- Hands with multiple one-drops are the best.
- Be cautious of The Wandering Emperor. Avoid attacking with Venerated Rotpriest into four open mana to prevent losing it without dealing poison counters.
- Use Serum Snare to set up a lethal attack by bouncing Temporary Lockdown.
- Fading Hope can bounce Restless Anchorage, Serum Snare cannot.
Matchup Guide: Temur Analyst
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 2-3 Worldsoul’s Rage, 4 Ill-Timed Explosion, 3 Fires of Victory/Abrade
Sideboard: 2-3 Pick Your Poison, 2 Vampires’ Vengeance/Seismic Wave, 0-2 Tranquil Frillback, 0-1 Abrade
- The matchup plays out with both sides having draws that are difficult to beat. For Temur, Aftermath Analyst on turn two into Nissa, Resurgent Animist on turn three is hard to beat. For Toxic, any hand with creatures on turn one/two followed by well-timed blue interaction is strong.
- Toxic is slightly favored as you have more “good” draws, but when you both have average draws, Temur tends to be favored due to higher average card quality and less concern about flooding in longer games.
- Try to out-tempo them as hard as you can and prevent them from setting up.
- Bounce Nissa, Resurgent Animist in response to her first trigger to stop them from gaining additional mana or fetching an elemental creature.
- If choosing between bouncing Aftermath Analyst or Nissa, Resurgent Animist, you generally bounce Nissa as she can generate more value, while Analyst bringing back tapped lands is less effective.
- When using March of Swirling Mist to protect your creatures against Ill-Timed Explosion, make sure they discard with it first.
Matchup Guide: Mono Red Aggro
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 4 Play with Fire, 4 Lightning Strike, 2-3 Witchstalker Frenzy, 4 Monstrous Rage, 0-3 Scorching Shot, 0-2 Obliterating Bolt, 1-2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
Sideboard: 3 Lithomantic Barrage, 3 End the Festivities, 0-2 Obliterating Bolt
- Hold Skrelv’s Hive until your opponent has three poison counters, so you can start gaining life immediately. Your best bet is to set up Hive + The Seedcore to gain lots of life, so try to hit three poison counters as soon as possible.
- You can’t out-tempo them as their creatures are bad to bounce since they are all cheap and have haste.
- If they have a flipped Kumano Faces Kakkazan in play, your Crawling Chorus dying won’t give you a token.
- Mishra’s Foundry and tokens from Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance are colorless and can block through a Skrelv-protected creature.
- Post-board, you need to play around End the Festivities.
Matchup Guide: Dimir Control
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 2 Jace, the Perfected Mind, 3 Go for the Throat, 4 Three Steps Ahead, 2-3 Cut Down, 4 Deadly Cover-Up, 1-2 Negate, 2 Path of Peril, 2 Sheoldred’s Edict, 2-3 Long Goodbye, 1-2 Duress, 0-2 Phantom Interference, 1 Otawara, Soaring City, 4 Field of Ruin, 1-2 Demolition Field
Sideboard: 3-4 Tidebinder Mage, 1 Path of Peril, 1-2 Duress, 1-2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, 0-2 Chrome Host Seedshark
- Crawling Chorus, Skrelv’s Hive, and Mirrex are your best cards in the matchup. A resolved Skrelv’s Hive on turn two is basically unbeatable for them.
- Interfere with their Memory Deluge turn.
- Do not overextend into Deadly Cover-Up.
Matchup Guide: 4c Legends
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 2 Ertai Resurrected, 3 Go for the Throat, 2 Cut Down, 4 Otawara, Soaring City, 3 Boseiju, Who Endures
Sideboard: 3 Duress, 3 Glistening Deluge, 1 Cut Down, 1 Long Goodbye, 1 Path of Peril
- Unlike the Esper Midrange matchup, you can’t let the game go long, as you’ll lose to Slogurk, the Overslime + Channel lands or Inti, Seneschal of the Sun + Rona, Herald of Invasion.
- Take advantage of their clunkiness. Out-tempo them as hard as you can and hope they stumble due to their mana base.
- Use your bounce spells aggressively, since their creatures always block well. They will struggle to double-cast due to their mana base being poor.
- Getting to corrupt ASAP is key, as turning on The Seedcore is big.
- Often, you’ll deal the first six to eight poison counters via tempo, then finish by going wide or setting up Venerated Rotpriest.
- Post-board, you’ll need to play around Glistening Deluge. You’re happy to play Annex Sentry even if there’s nothing to exile to have a threat that doesn’t die to Glistening Deluge or Go for the Throat.
- Don’t use Serum Snare to bounce Slogurk, the Overslime if it can bounce itself, as you won’t get to proliferate.
- Boseiju, Who Endures is very good against us. It hits Skrelv’s Hive, The Seedcore, Annex Sentry, Skrelv, Defector Mite, Mirrex and it doesn’t trigger Venerated Rotpriest.
Matchup Guide: Golgari Midrange
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 0-2 Tranquil Frillback, 1-2 Liliana of the Veil, 3 Cut Down, 4 Go for the Throat, 3 Duress, 2 Gix’s Command, 0-1 Shoot the Sheriff, 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
Sideboard:3 Path of Peril, 1 Duress, 2 Tear Asunder, 1 Cut Down, 0-1 Tranquil Frillback, 0-1 Harvester of Misery
- Pre-board is straight forward – go wide against their spot removal and clunky creatures.
- Slow-roll your Venerated Rotpriest and try to play it with protection up.
- Use your bounce spells in such a way to maximize tempo on their creatures.
- If the board stalls, your best bet is to win via setting up a March of Swirling Mist.
- Post-board, be aware of their sweepers and play around them accordingly.
- You can use The Seedcore to grow your creatures out of Gix’s Command range.
Matchup Guide: Bant Toxic (Mirror)
Key Cards to Play Around
Main: 0-2 Annex Sentry, 3-4 Fading Hope, 3-4 Serum Snare, 4 March of Swirling Mist, 0-3 Bring the Ending, 2 Charge of the Mites, 0-1 Aspirant’s Ascent, 4 The Seedcore
Sideboard: 2-3 Annex Sentry (3/4 in 75), 2-3 Aspirant’s Ascent
- Venerated Rotpriest is the most important card in the matchup.
- The bounce spells aren’t very good, so it’s generally better to play to the board than to try to out-tempo them, since they don’t block well anyway.
- If they have Skrelv, Defector Mite, play different colored creatures so you can block.
- Slaughter Singer is good as it makes blocking difficult for them. The Seedcore and Aspirant’s Ascent are also both strong in the mirror, as they help you win in combat.
About the Author
Zen Takahashi is a seasoned writer and mainstay on the Three for One Trading writing team. He is an avid Eternal player from Auckland, New Zealand and enjoys competing in local Legacy events and playing Old School over webcam with friends.
Previously, he was a Silver Pro for multiple years and his results included five Grand Prix Top 8s, a 27th place at Pro Tour Amonkhet, three consecutive online Regional PTQ wins, and he co-created the Modern Dredge deck.
Nowadays though, he primarily plays Legacy, his favorite format, but he also branches out into Pioneer and Modern.
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Mistakes have been made and lessons have been learned, so it’s time for an update on Zen’s Rakdos Midrange deck in Pioneer. This time with a very detailed matchup guide on the current Pioneer Meta with sideboard options for each popular deck you’ll encounter.
World Championships 2023 Report
Zen Takahashi is back with a full report of his time during the Magic: The Gathering World Championships 2023 in Las Vegas! Learn everything about his intense preparations, his great team, his tight schedule and tasty dinners.
Rakdos Reanimator Guide [2023]
Zen Takahashi played Rakdos Reanimator at the Magic: The Gathering World Championships in Las Vegas! In his latest article, he goes in-depth about how to play the deck, what to look out for in popular matchups and explains how to make best use of The Cruelty of Gix.
The Lord of the Rings Pro Tour Report
Zen Takahashi is back with another tournament report! This time it's all about Lord of the Rings in Barcelona. In this detailed article, he goes over his draft preparations and the overall fantastic weekend with his team and friends.
Modern Living End Primer
Zen Takahashi played Living End during the Lord of the Rings Pro Tour in Barcelona. Now he's ready to share some insights on this powerful Modern deck including the card choices, what hands to keep and how to sideboard against different opponents.
Regional Championship Report – Sydney
Zen Takahashi played Mono White Humans in Pioneer during the Regional Championships in Sydney! Find out all about what deck he played, what useful tips and tricks he had up his sleeves and how it all went down in his latest article! Bonus insider info on where to get the best truffle pasta in Sydney!
Pro Tour March of the Machine Tournament Report
Zen Takahashi writes about his experience during the Pro Tour in Minneapolis! Here you can read all about what deck he played, his preparation and a full report on the Pro Tour weekend with his team.
Rakdos in Standard
Our author Zen Takahashi competed at the Pro Tour in Minneapolis, shortly before re-qualifying for another Pro Tour. Both times he played Rakdos: Reanimator and Midrange! In his latest article, he compares both experiences and goes over each of the two decks in detail.
Standard Grixis Midrange Primer
Zen won the Australasian Championship with his Standard Grixis Midrange deck a few days ago. Lucky for us, he didn't take a break and wrote an in-depth primer for the deck including sideboard tips and card choices for us! Prepare yourself for future Regional Championships or Qualifiers, because you'll be either playing this deck or playing against it.
Australasian Regional Championships Report
Zen Takahashi won the Australasian Championship and qualified for the Pro Tour and the World Championship! Now we are getting an in-depth look into how he prepared for the tournament and how the games played out in an old-fashioned tournament report.
Boros Burn in Modern
Our author Zen Takahashi is feeling nostalgic, so it was time for a break from Pioneer and time for Modern Burn, Modern Boros Burn, to be precise! As usual Zen gives you a detailed overview of the deck, nice tips and tricks on how to maneuver it around the Modern meta decks and a useful sideboarding options, based on his experience.
Rakdos Midrange in Pioneer
Zen Takahashi is not done with Pioneer yet! For the Regional Championschip in Sydney, he and his team of over 10 other players tested different decks extensively until they came up with their own twist on the popular Rakdos Midrange deck.
Mono White Humans in Pioneer
Zen Takahashi takes a closer look at his newest favorite deck in Pioneer: Mono White Humans! As usual, you can expect in-depth tips and tricks as well as a sideboard guide from Zen, who was already very successful with his Pioneer decks in his Regional Championship Qualifiers.
Best Cards in Modern – Multicolor [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten multicolored cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Best Cards in Modern – Lands [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten lands in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Best Cards in Modern – Artifacts [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten artifacts in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Mono Red Primer for Pioneer
This time, Zen Takahashi writes in depth about his Regional Championship Qualifier Deck: Mono Red in Pioneer! That means we get a Primer for Mono Red Burn and Mono Red Frenzy. He also doesn't spare any details about key matchups in Pioneer and helps you to play your way around them!
Mono Blue Spirits in Pioneer
Zen Takahashi can't get enough of Pioneer, which means we have another great Pioneer Primer for you: Mono Blue Spirits! Read all about mulligans, sideboarding and most importantly: How to sequence your turns.
Best Cards in Modern – White [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten white cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
How to Build Mono Red in Pioneer
After the success of his Blue-Red Ensoul article, Zen is back with another Pioneer primer: Mono Red! In his latest work, he excessively tested Devotion, Wizard and Burn decks. You can find all his discoveries and recommendations right here:
Legacy Reanimator 2022
If you are looking for a Reanimator Primer in Legacy, look no further! In his article, Zen Takahashi gives you everything you need to know about Reanimator: Which hands to keep? What are your opponents playing? How to sideboard? All these questions and more will be answered right here.
Blue-Red Ensoul in Pioneer
After a longer break, our author Zen Takahashi is excited to get back into Pioneer and crush the first PTQ season with his version of Izzet Ensoul. You can read all about the new and old decklist as well as mulligan strategies and other tips right here!
Best Cards in Modern – Green [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten green cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Auckland Eternal Weekend Report
Our author, Zen Takahashi, spent an Eternal Weekend in Auckland where he played tournaments of Vintage, Old School and Legacy. Real Power Nine, no proxies allowed! You can read all about what decks he played and how it went right here on our blog!
Best Cards in Modern – Red [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten red cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Top Ten Decks in Legacy 2022
In our latest article, Zen Takahashi analyses the best Legacy decks and comes up with his Top 10 Legacy decks of 2022. If you are curious to find out if your deck made the cut, or simply interested in what's going on in Legacy these days, keep on reading right here!
Best Cards in Modern – Black [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten black cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Rainbow Dredge in Modern
Today’s article is all about Dredge in Magic: The Gathering, more specifically, Dredge in Modern. Zen Takahashi, one of the creators of Rainbow Dredge, took a look at the history of the deck and its current state in the meta. He’s also going over different iterations of the deck, as well as all the current sideboard options available.
Best Cards in Modern – Blue [2022]
We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten blue cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.
Blue Zenith in Legacy
Zen takes a look at a new deck that did surprisingly well in recent Legacy online events. Green Sun's Zenith and blue Counterspells are the engine in this midrange powerhouse.
Deck Spotlight Modern: Golgari Yawgmoth
Zen takes us to a wonderful world full of creatures, combos and one ofs in the Magic the Gathering Modern format. Chord of Calling is the name of the game. Let's go!
Deck Spotlight Legacy: UW Omni-Tell
Zen talks about one of his favorite decks for paper Legacy: Blue-White Show and Tell Omniscience combo. The best thing about it: It does not need a single card from the restriced list!
Bant Miracles in Post-Modern Horizons 2 Legacy
Zen Takahashi shares his thoughts about his favorite Legacy Deck – Bant Miracles in a Post-Modern Horizons 2 world. He explains which cards he added from the new set and how matchups have changed.