Welcome Magic lovers!
With the spoiler released, and our descent into Duskmourn only one week away, the competitive Magic community is turning their sights back on Standard, as it will be the featured format of the next cycle of Regional Championship Qualifier tournaments.
I was lucky enough to have a chance to play Duskmourn a week early, during the content creator early access event on Magic Arena, and I definitely took advantage of the opportunity, streaming and testing for the full twenty-four hours it was available.
While I did play plenty of Limited (sixteen drafts and a sealed event), I also had a chance to try some Duskmourn Standard, and while a few different decks seemed interesting, none performed as well as Azorius Flash Enchanties: This is a lean, mean tempo machine, trying to flash in an early two-mana, evasive threat, then stick a Combat Research on it to begin drawing cards and snowballing out of control. Normally this type of 'protect the queen' strategy is risky, as any wrong move can cause the whole house of cards (no pun intended) to collapse. However, with some new tricks from Duskmourn, as well as a nasty new draw engine, the deck ended up being quite powerful and resilient. Let's break it down.
The Threats
The threat package consists of Faerie Mastermind, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel and Plumecreed Escort. While the Escort should ideally be saved to protect something else, it is perfectly acceptable to flash it in early to start the ball rolling. These three threats will do most of the heavy lifting, using their evasion to get hits in while suited up with a Combat Research or Ethereal Armor.
Entity Tracker is a new Duskmourn addition that's perfect in this deck, as it can be flashed in on the opponent's end step when they can't interact easily, then it begins to draw cards. A LOT of cards. Any of the twenty enchantments in the deck will trigger the Tracker, from removal like Sheltered by Ghosts, to protection spells like Shardmage's Rescue and enablers like Combat Research, Enduring Curiosity and Ethereal Armor. It even triggers off the land, Valgavoth's Lair! It's hard to overstate how powerful a card draw engine Entity Tracker is in the deck, and playing less than four is a mistake.
Another new addition is Enduring Curiosity, which not only powers up Ethereal Armor and Entity Tracker, but also allows one's other creatures to draw cards if they connect with the opponent, even after Enduring Curiosity has died and become a simple enchantment. Its four-mana cost is what's keeping me from running a full playset, but its effect on the game is undeniably powerful so it still earns a couple of slots in the deck.
Ethereal Armor needs no introduction, as it's a very potent aura that has been the backbone of many hexproof decks in the past. For one mana, it often represents six, eight, ten damage or more, and in this deck it can take the opponent from a comfortable fifteen life to zero in one turn. Considering the number of enchantments this list plays, combined with the ludicrous velocity with which one can rip through the deck , means it's a perfect home for the vaunted Armor, making it one of the most terrifying draws in the deck for the opponent to face.
Combat Research is the latest in a long line of similar auras which give one's creature the ability to draw a card when doing damage to the opponent. It's a crucial card in the deck, as it's one of the main ways to start the card advantage flowing, and setting up a turn where one can resolve a Combat Research and connect is critical to winning any given game. The added bonus of giving +1/+1 and ward 1 to a Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel is also a nice perk.
The Interaction
No More Lies is fantastic here as an early, 'catch-all' play to either stop an opponent's key spell on the first few turns, or protect an enchanted threat. The list only runs three copies at the moment, as it's not an enchantment itself and therefore doesn't synergize with the rest of the deck, however it's utility is unmatched in the early game so it definitely earns its spot here.
Into the Flood Maw is the perfect 'removal' spell for this deck, as its low cost and instant speed allows the pilot to often waste an opponent's entire turn for just one mana by bouncing a newly-cast blocker or midrange threat. This deck often only needs a one-turn window to go off and kill the enemy, so not being able to permanently deal with the opponent's creature down the road isn't an issue.
This is one of my favorite new cards from the set, and after playing with it, it became immediately apparent how incredible this removal spell really is. Not only does Sheltered by Ghosts remove an opponent's threat or blocker in order to hit them and keep drawing cards, the lifelink ability that it confers also makes a damage race impossible to lose. Not only that, it also protects the creature you enchant with it by giving it ward 2, which is very close to actual hexproof in the early game. Throw in the fact that it's an enchantment which powers up all the card-draw engines and Ethereal Armor, and it's clear that Sheltered by Ghosts more than earns its four slots.
Shardmage's Rescue is another perfect addition, as it smoothly replaces previously used 'protection' spells like Shore Up or the recently rotated Slip Out the Back. Not only does it give hexproof and +1/+1, but it's also conveniently an enchantment to synergize with the rest of the payoffs in the deck. It's really the perfect protection spell in this list and I wouldn't play less than four.
The Mana
A nice, lean twenty-two land mana base is ideal here, as the deck has a very low curve and flooding out with too many lands is one way to easily lose a game. The new Floodfarm Verge makes an appearance here as another untapped dual land in the early game. Valgavoth's Lair is the only come-into-play-tapped land, but being an enchantment to trigger Entity Tracker or power up an Ethereal Armor is well worth any tempo that may be lost.
Conclusion
While the deck is still akin to a rough sketch at the moment, hence no sideboard, it felt very fast and powerful, while attacking on an axis that many opponents found difficult to answer. Spot removal is never good enough, as there are far too many ways to protect one's threats, making sweepers like Temporary Lockdown the spell that most opponents are praying to resolve. Therefore, saving one's No More Lies for sweepers such as this is paramount. In fact, tempo-aggro decks like this are rather tricky and reward a high level of skill. Practice plenty with Azorius Flash Enchanties and it will reward you, but play sloppy and it will be unforgiving.
Do you think a tempo-aggro deck like this one will make a splash in Duskmourn Standard? Let me know in the comments below!
