Magic: The Gathering's latest set, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, is hitting shelves now, and players are eager to get their hands on the latest cards. On Feb. 7 Wizards of the Coast released an article detailing some of the most popular cards ahead of release day. Vraska, Betrayal's Sting was the number one Mythic Rare card played, so you might be wondering how you can fit her into a deck should you get a copy. Let's get brewing!
Vraska, Betrayal's Sting All Will Be One Standard Deck
This Standard deck uses what's known as a "Superfriends" strategy that focuses on Planeswalkers. This deck uses 10 Planeswalker cards, far more than most decks, including three copies of Vraska, Betrayal's Sting.
This deck is similar to Control strategies in that it wants to slowly build to casting powerful cards in the late game rather than winning quickly like Aggro decks. Its win conditions are Planeswalker cards, the most notable of which is Vraska. Her primary ability uses the Proliferate mechanic, which puts counters on all your permanents, including other Planeswalkers. This can easily get out of hand combined with Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus, who doubles all your Proliferate triggers.
In essence, this deck uses the value generated from Planeswalkers to grind out opponents. Because enemy creatures must choose to either attack you or your Planeswalkers, Vraska and her "superfriends" make for excellent shields that allow you as the player to stay alive. Furthermore, board wipe effects like Depopulate and The Eternal Wanderer can clear out entire swaths of your opponent's creatures while leaving your Planeswalkers unharmed.
The deck also uses plentiful removal and annoying, value-generating creatures to survive to the late-game. Voidwing Hybrid is a new creature that can return to your hand from the graveyard every time you Proliferate, meaning it's a lasting threat difficult to permanently remove. Stenn, Paranoid Partisan can reduce the cost of your expensive Planeswalkers, getting them online faster, while also providing a useful "blink" ability that can be used to save him from removal, or most interestingly, an attacking enemy creature he has blocked (and thus nullified the damage from).
As far as miscellaneous cards go, Experimental Augury makes sure you get the right card at the right time and also Proliferates, buffing Planeswalkers at instant speed. Urza Assembles the Titans can find a Planeswalker and put it onto the field for free over two turns, saving mana to be spent on other cards (like another Planeswalker!)
Lastly, Ichormoon Gauntlet is a strange card that boosts Planeswalkers even more by granting them additional abilities and counters. The -12 ability it grants to Planeswalkers that gives you an extra turn can be game-winning, though Vraska's -9 ability is also a great way to close out the game.
This deck has been pretty successful for me and is a lot of fun to play. It does use a lot of Rare and Mythic Rare cards, so if you are on a budget or don't have the Wildcards to spend, try a version of it that swaps out Rare lands for Common variants and uses just one or two copies of Planeswalkers instead of three or more. This will give you a feel for the deck while saving some time and effort while you continue to collect cards.
This article was originally published on dbltap as Vraska, Betrayal's Sting All Will Be One Standard Deck, Strategy.
