Mat Bimonte: Full Moon Revelry
Have you ever thought to yourself, “man, why do I even play this game anymore?”
Let’s get this out of the way: Every single person you’ve ever interacted with that plays this game says that to themselves at least once a month, and that’s being conservative. I’ve found myself saying that quite a bit as Green and White have been dominating my favorite format, Standard, for quite some time now. I get the thought in my head, “you know what, maybe I’ll take a step back and do some other things within the game, like work on a podcast/my commentary skills for when I do step away from playing” and then, they print something like this:
Thanks Obama. (Man, what’s the world going to be like when we can’t say that anymore?)
Anyways, this card has really lifted my spirit for Standard — and possibly Modern — and I don’t think I’m alone in this thinking. Bedlam Reveler is definitely a sleeper card, as most lists I’ve seen higher level players working on omit this card, and are instead focusing on Bant Humans (duh), U/W Spirits (kind of duh), and Delirium decks (stop it).
Let’s start with Standard, since SCG Columbus is my next event. If you’ve read me before, you know I thoroughly enjoy lighting people on fire, and if I get a chance to do that in Standard, you better believe I’m gonna give it a shot. Here’s where I began:
Surprise, surprise, Mat is playing a red white burn deck. But let’s be serious: This isn’t your typical burn deck. Having experience with a shell like this, I was surprised with how often you are able to refuel your hand and filter through your deck. Nahiri + the selection spells (especially cast through Goggles) will just bury your opponents as their hands quickly become filled with air, and you are likely pointing a shotgun at their creatures every turn before then. Adding a card like Bedlam Reveler just seems like one of the best things you can be doing with Nahiri. Out of cards? In the immortal words of Jim Ross, when this guy hits the field, “business is about to pick up.” (Editor’s Note: We would’ve also accepted “By Gawd it’s a slobberknocker!”) Not only does Bedlam Reveler refuel your hand, it sets up the second, third, or fourth Reveler if you’re feeling ambitious. This is definitely one of the front runners for me heading into the weekend.
Todd Anderson also posted quite the list this week:
I’m not sure about the sideboard as some of the cards seem suspicious, but the wacky main deck Shreds of Sanity has been incredible for me in testing. Don’t omit this card because you think it is cute. The shell is roughly the same as mine and contains obvious powerhouse Pyromancer’s Goggles. The only question I have left is whether I like the Blue or White cards more alongside the Red shell.
What else am I looking forward to in Standard? Well, if these lists fail, we always have old faithful.
Our editor here at Nerd Rage Gaming, Casey Laughman, sent me the prototype for this list after he won a PPTQ (Editor’s Note: I stole it from Erin Campbell), and then Jeff Hoogland went on to Top 8 SCG Orlando with it. We’ve made very minimal changes to the decklist, and I think it is still a fine contender without a rotation happening.
As for the cards we added, Liliana, the Last Hope, and Permeating Mass stick out the most. This deck needed a small boost against the Mono White Humans deck, and Liliana provides “removal on a stick,” as the kids say, as well as just nerfing their creatures down until you can find more removal to clean up the board.
Permeating Mass is a card I know I will answer a lot of questions about. This spot was reserved for Lambolt Pacifist as a blocker for aggressive decks, but this card makes even the biggest of attackers look laughable. I see this card being a big player in sideboards for quite some time.
The last list I’m going to toss your way is experimental and has zero testing behind it, so take it with a grain of salt. I’ve been very locked into Standard; however, I don’t ever sleep on Modern when undercosted cards are spoiled. I mentioned Bedlam Reveler being Modern playable, and this is a preliminary build of what I’m kicking around.
Again, big surprise. I love Grixis, and I love Delver of Secrets, so will find most any excuse in order to play it. I’m also working on a Blue-Red Delver deck with Blood Moons in the main deck (hooray!) but I’m not quite ready to unveil that one yet.
I’m always excited about new set releases and format shake ups. Even though Eldritch Moon is only 205 cards and we’re not yet at a rotation, I feel like many new archetypes will be spawned — not only in Standard, but in Eternal formats as well. What have you all been cooking up? Am I crazy to think that these cards are supercharged? Is Emerge as busted as a mechanic as it looks? Is Bedlam Reveler bad? Is Eldritch Evolution a Modern All-Star? Hopefully all of our questions will be answered in a week or so! I’ll see you in Columbus; come say Hi!
Thanks for stopping by,
Mat Bimonte
Mat Bimonte first picked up the game during Theros block, but already has a Modern 5K championship under his belt, as well as a number of smaller Standard tournament wins. Based out of Bloomington, Ill., Mat is a regular on the SCG Tour, with future aspirations of qualifying for the Pro Tour.
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