Before Pro Tour Kaladesh, everyone went crazy over how busted Smuggler's Copter was. It wasn't long until the Pros figured out how to beat it. True enough, during the Pro Tour, despite flooded by Copters, the competition wasn't totally dominated by them. The players who went control won big as they next leveled their opponents, namely the Aetherworks Marvel decks who aimed to beat BG Delirium kind of mid-range that preyed on aggressive decks like RW Vehicles.
That was pretty impressive with Shouta Yasooka, the control master winning the whole event. But sadly, control players didn't enjoy much of their triumphant moments because the UW Flash deck, which was the best performing deck in Pro Tour, found their way to nullify control's power. Soon, BG Delirium players found a way to win against control as well while having a decent game against UW Flash due to their access of "mother-spider" a.k.a Ishkanah, Grafwidow.
Soon, the metagame of Standard started to settle down with the 2 top decks having their backs against each other. This was how Standard looked like a month ago:
UW Flash:
> Favored: Control, Aetherwork Marvel
>Unfavored: Zombies
BG Delirium
>Favored: Aggro, Zombies
>Unfavored: Aetherworks Marvel
This is only a very simplified view of the match-ups of those 2. I might miss out something, but both Aetherworks Marvel and Zombie variants are the decks that preys on them at their extreme ends. However, UW Flash and BG Delirium co-exists because they cover each other, meaning trying to out meta-game them is useless if you run into the other deck which you really don't want to gun.
True enough, everyone thought that Standard is solved. BG Deliriums everywhere, and they even tried to push UW Flash out with dedicated sideboards and rely more on the raw power of Ishkanah.
The Golgari dudes is going tooooooooo ambitious this time around :/
Just when everyone thought Standard is boring and unplayable, some just don't give up and tried to crack that door open. The recent GPs and SCG events saw the return of Aetherworks Marvel that bested BG Delirium splendidly. They even went to the point of playing more Ishkanah of their own to fix the UW Flash matchup, and surprisingly, it worked.
There also people who tried to innovate their respective decks and made great success. RB Aggro now plays more Key to the City and Bloodhall Priest to improve their reach and resiliency. RW Vehicles playing Always Watching to force through Ishkanahs and friends, and BR Zombies going Mindwrack Demons and Key as well to add more attacking angles.
So, what's the point here? Standard is not SOLVED.
With this much decks make a sudden re-appearance, and BG Delirium being pushed back, rouge decks who find themselves overpowered by the raw consistency of BG Delirium now could see light and breathe once more. Let's look at the theoretical cycle of Magic archetypes:
Aggro > Control > Combo > Mid-range > Aggo
With the return of Aetherworks Marvel, we witness the resurgence of Standard's most aggressive deck: Mardu Vehicles, who looks to curve out very quickly and smash them hard. Not to mention the sideboard Ceremonious Rejection, which was played for the sole purpose of beating Marvel or heavy artifacts deck (Metalwork Colossus eh? Oh, is that you Aetherflux Reservoir~? )
See the pattern? Kaladesh is now blossoming once again with a great diversity of decks! This is no doubt a good news to every players out there =)
Despite all the changes, I truly believe to be the Master of your own strength is better than Jack of All Trades at times like this. The one who knows well of to pilot his / her own pet deck will have an upper hand facing a diverse field of decks. I'm locked to BR Aggro this season and looking forward to take down tournaments with it before Aether Revolt strikes! Because Pia Nalaar deserves TRUE JUSTICE~
Until then, wish myself luck in the upcoming PPTQ @ Attilan Games if I'm making a trip there =)
Sadly, travelling is not fun when you are a Magic player but staying miles away from the heart of the community =(
Welp, that's life.
