| Spell Queller is… What words do you want me to use to describe the best card out of Eldritch Moon? Completely absurd? Ridiculously overpowered? Incredibly annoying? Because after watching Devin Koepke smash all comers with Bant Company at #SCGCOL, I had all those thoughts ringing through my head. That doesn't mean the card isn't beatable. It very much is, and we had plenty of non-Spell Queller decks in the Top 8 of #SCGCOL to prove it, but it is a card that people have to prepare to play against for the foreseeable future. But Spell Queller isn't the only card from Eldritch Moon that impressed at #SCGCOL. Selfless Spirit may have felt like a card made for Spirit strategies, but as Koepke and Team Cardhoarder displayed, the 2/1 Spirit will have plenty of homes in Standard. Most of those homes may be side by side with Archangel Avacyn, but with how powerful that combination of cards is, it only makes sense for that to be the case. So will Spell Queller, Selfless Spirit, and Devin Koepke dominate #SCGBALT like they did at #SCGCOL? We'll find out in just a few short days as the SCG Tour heads north to The Charm City for the second week of Eldritch Moon Standard. Chris VanMeter, Andrew Boswell, Nick Miller, and the rest of the @SCGLIVE crew will be bringing you all the action as we prepare to find out if Bant Company truly is unstoppable. If you can't make it out to #SCGBALT, be sure to watch all the action at twitch.tv/scglive! — Cedric Phillips, Media Manager @CedricAPhillips |  |  | Spell Queller: Warping The Format On Day One If you were skeptical about Spell Queller coming into #SCGCOL, I can no longer imagine that being the case. For what it's worth, Patrick Chapin tried to warn us all. Devin Koepke and Bant Company may have won #SCGCOL, but, as The Innovator shows this week, Spell Queller was the real winner. |  | The Complete Guide To G/B Delirium Thankfully not everyone elected to cast Spell Queller at #SCGCOL. Todd Stevens' 20th-place finish with G/B Delirium showed there are other decks in our new Standard format. Can Mindwrack Demon, Grim Flayer, and Deathmist Raptor slow down Bant Company? Todd thinks so. |  | Beating Bant Company Todd Anderson also went against the grain at #SCGCOL by playing W/R Humans to a 15th-place finish. Even though Todd finished well with a non-Bant Company deck, he expects it to be everywhere at #SCGBALT. What's the best way to get the upper hand on Bant Company? Let him show you. | | | While #SCGCOL may have been defined by Bant Company solidifying its place as the deck to beat in Eldritch Moon Standard, I'm more excited by the B/W Angel Control deck that made Top 8. Inspired by Brisela, Voice of Nightmares, and packing a toolbox of legendary creatures, Ronnie Ritner took an adapted B/W Control list and tuned it to be great at taking down the Bant Boogeyman of the format. | | 
Gisela, the Broken Blade may be the flashiest card in the deck, gaining important amounts of life while defeating many of Standard's threats in combat, and melding into Brisela once you find Bruna, the Fading Light. But the most important creature in the deck might actually be Thalia's Lancers. The package of legendary singletons include creatures that are perfect answers to certain situations like Linvala, the Preserver or Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet as well as finishers like Bruna, the Fading Light. If you're in a pinch, it can even find a land in Geier Reach Sanitarium. Besides the fact that a 4/4 First Strike is nothing to sneeze at, the Lancers don't even get countered by a Spell Queller! Note that as more people learn about the deck, the nature of the singleton package may have to change. Even for #SCGCOL, the sideboard included an extra copy of Bruna against exile effects like Declaration in Stone. 
The Planeswalker package is also pretty great. Liliana, the Last Hope provides a way to kill or slow down early attackers, as well as a way to get back a lost Bruna so you can get back Gisela and re-form Brisela. Since Liliana can come down as early as turn three, she can sneak under opposing Spell Quellers when you're on the play. Her plus ability can even mop up a fully-grown Sylvan Advocate in combination with a Languish. 
Ob Nixilis Reignited and Sorin, Grim Nemesis team up to provide creature removal and card advantage above a converted mana cost of four, allowing you to feel safer tapping out to cast them. The contrast between paying life with Ob Nixilis and gaining life with Sorin illustrates an interesting balancing act this deck plays: using its life total as a resource. You have to be confident casting cards like Read the Bones and Anguished Unmaking in the face of a shrinking life total, knowing you can gain it back with Shambling Vent, Blessed Alliance, and Gisela, the Broken Blade. 
In a format dominated by Humans and 2/3s from Collected Company, Languish is an all-star. Ritner mentioned that he wishes he'd played the full four copies of Languish, so be sure to find room for the playset! Aside from the Planeswalker package, wrath effects, and Read the Bones are the primary source of card advantage. As most control decks do, B/W Angel Control has the resources it needs to grind in a longer game, gaining incremental advantages along the way. Copies of Planar Outburst and Flaying Tendrils from the sideboard increase the number and flexibility of options available. 
A mix of removal such as Anguished Unmaking, Grasp of Darkness, Ruinous Path, and Ultimate Price slow your opponent down, giving you the time you need to begin building long-term advantages. Be sure to practice sequencing your removal spells, as Standard is full of conditional removal at two mana. For discard, a well-timed Duress can deal with a Collected Company before it becomes a two-for-one, and Transgress the Mind from the sideboard can take care of bigger problems before they even arrive. 
Finally, the reason I'm so excited to play this deck. Sure it's a great control deck that has the tools you need to win long games in a format where Bant Company can grind with the best of them, but I want to meld! Ronnie Ritner was the first to meld anything on camera at the SCG Tour, and it was beautiful. Brisela shuts off most of your opponent's spells, and even stands up tall against such huge creatures as Dragonlord Atarka and Ormendahl, Profane Prince. Since she's got lifelink and vigilance, she's ready to take you out of reach of aggression and close the game out very quickly. Altogether, B/W Angel Control seems very well-positioned for the Standard metagame headed into #SCGBALT. Bant Company is the deck to beat, and with a finisher that shuts off nearly every card from that deck except Collected Company, this is a great way to next-level the format. It's a powerful deck, and it looks like a ton of fun to play. So sleeve up those copies of Languish, grab your Thalia's Lancers, and get ready to meld! Have a wonderful weekend, and as always: happy gaming! — Jennifer Long, @TheMrsMulligan | | New Standard is here with Eldritch Moon, but the same players on top of the SCG Player of the Year leaderboard are still putting up results. Jeff Hoogland and Tom Ross secured Top-16 finishes at #SCGCOL to continue to grow their point totals as Hoogland added to his lead in the yearlong race while Ross took over the Season Two race now that Pete Ingram has quit tournament Magic for his internship at Wizards of the Coast. Devin Koepke had the biggest weekend of everyone, winning the event with Bant Company. Koepke wasn't the only Team Cardhoarder player to put up results this past weekend as Chris Andersen, Kent Ketter, and Andrew Tenjum finished 16th, 19th, and 21st, respectively, with the same 75 cards. Ali Aintrazi used his runner-up finish in Columbus to jump back into the Top 16 on the POY leaderboard. Dan Jessup made the Top 8 with Team MGG's build of Bant Company, taking him up to 13th overall. While Cardhoarder has five players in the Top 32 with Tenjum, Jacob Baugh, Koepke, Ketter, and Noah Walker, Team MGG has all four of its members in the Top 16 with Andrew Jessup (7), Kevin Jones (9), Dan Jessup (13), and Jim Davis (15). |  | | Todd Stevens finished in the Top 32 at #SCGCOL with a G/B Delirium deck, getting six SCG points to climb into fourth in the Season Two race. With Ingram leaving the SCG Tour, Stevens now has the third slot for a Players' Championship qualification if he holds onto his spot. Stevens also maintains his sixth-place position in the POY race. Emma Handy moved up to 27th after her Top-32 finish at Columbus with Bant Company. Season Two of the SCG Tour is nearing its end with only a few events remaining before the New Jersey Invitational. #SCGBALT is the next stop this weekend, showcasing the new Standard Open for a second weekend in a row. Follow all the action at twitch.tv/scglive as the race for Player of the Year continues! |  |   If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here. |
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