Format is still open - A reflection of Mardu (part 1)

I was watching GP Paris last week and this particular GP brings back a lot of sweet memories and time traveled me all the way back to September 2014. 

September 2014:

My current teammate and good friend from secondary school asked me to consider whether to come back to Standard. I was playing EDH all thanks to him as well. I was in the midst of my honeymoon and he was sharing how he won the Khan of Takir's Gamesday. I was also looking at the Spoilers and 1 card really caught my eyes, yes no longer my wife, it was a card:

Nope, if you think it was the ability that caught my attention, you are wrong! It was the art. Look at the lightning and look at the flavor text, how cool that was: "Do not fear the lightning. Fear the one it obeys." After the art and the text, then the ability hits me, sacrifice a creature with the greatest power. I am like, how could Magic create such cards? I had to admit, the last time I touched Magic was Urza Saga to 7th Ed period, and during those period, gold card with specific targeted ability such as this was pretty rare. I may be wrong or ignorance but this card really blow me away.

So this friend of mine wanted to build me a deck so that when I returned, I would already have a ready deck to play with. I told him, a deck with no blue and green (because my EDH was mono-green), see the link from the card above? Alas, with r/w/b, that give rises to Mardu. From then, it was a path of no return.

Our first version as follows:

Bearing in mind that he was doing all the testing while I am still in Europe enjoying life with my wife. He would report his wins and loses for the day that he tested the deck. No matter how he play, he feels that there is still something missing. He voiced out the lack of aggro plays and the deck being clunky and with that comment, here comes Version 2:

Early 1 drops with Swiftspear and Thoughtseize followed up with Skullhunter for maximum hand disruption. After 10 over testing, and with the honeymoon coming to an end, he told me he had enough of testing, and he left the rest to me.

Early weeks of October 2014:
After I returned (yes, it was a 5 weeks honeymoon), I felt that the top curve gets removed easily and I wanted creatures that are more resilience as Butcher of the Horde gets removed or destroyed easily. Hence, I decided to take out the swiftspears and welcomed Wingmate Roc (Mardu clan creature for the win!) with open arms. I figured I can almost trigger raid with Hordeling Outburst and Wingmate Roc can be sacrificed for Butcher if she ever get targeted. The token she created is of utmost importance to the gameplan, and here goes version 3:

I was winning FNMs with the above decklist, however, the removal feels lacking and Mardu Charm(s) feels inadequate at times, especially when the Meta during those time were Sidisi/Abzan whips.

During the end of third week of October 2014, guess what:

Brad Nelson brought Mardu to GP LA and scored a 6th place with it. I examined the deck list and realised what I am missing out. Aggro main + cheap removals (chained to the rock) + synergistic maneuvers (outburst + sorins, outburst for Butcher's fodder to gain haste, prowess trigger with Seekers, etc.) were of solid gameplan that brought Brad to his top 8.

November to January 2015 (right before Fate Reforged):

With the above, I build my deck around his list and produced some good results. I was satisfied with the list, and a lot of guys was still playing Whips, Heroic and Mono-red. The list which lasted me up til Fate Reforged's season was as follows:

It was a matter of personal preference towards Stoke the Flames, and to me, it was of so much value together with Hordeling outburst!

January 2015 - Fate Reforged's release til Mar 15:
 Well with Fate Reforged's release, it was pretty unfortunate that Mardu get the least upgrade. Partially due to the fact that the ability 'Dash' was a little counter-intuitive towards a tempo-based deck like what I used to have. As far as I would like, I always prefer to maintain board presence rather having it back to my hand. With the limited upgrade to the above list, I guess it was still ok, just that I felt like, almost all the other decks got a huge upgrade. And for me, only 2 cards made entry into my list:

The modes on Valorous Stance are also pretty relevant. Imagine giving Rabblemaster indestructible in the late game to ensure 6 solid damage going through the next turn. As this card is so good, almost all decks that has White (hint hint: Abzan and Jeskai) also has this card. Stance also synergise with Seeker of the way, and heck even making Butcher indestructible feels overwhelming!

 Yes, finally Red gets to have a card that gives it some card advantage!  Outpost Seige puts Mardu into similar league with decks that run Courser of Kruphix. Though seldom used, but there were times where I have 3 goblin tokens in play with opponent at a low life count, I chose Dragons mode to close out the game.

As stated above, with Valorous Stance running around, my 5cmc creature have to be tweaked to be more aggressive and evasive towards white spells. Guess what:

I have removed the Chained to the rocks as Valorous Stance seen as a better removal, imagine when playing against Abzan post sideboard, a Mardu player with chained to the rocks played against a Seige Rhino, just to see the Chained get Erase(d) and trigger Seige Rhino's ETB (enter into battlefield) effect again. So much tempo lost!

All in all, the main theme of the deck was still maintained. The upgrades were awesome and I never feel disappointed with deck. There were 8 4-drops and decisions have to be made with which to drop, the following were my thought-process:

1. Am I on the play or on the draw? If I am on the draw with tempo achieved and opponent is of an aggressive deck, I will play either Sorin or Butcher. If opponent is playing a Control deck, I would most likely play an Outpost Seige.
2. What is my turn 3 drop? If I have casted an Hordeling outburst, I would be inclined to follow up with Sorin or Outpost Seige (as outburst tokens can chump-block if necessary). If I played a Rabblemaster, it is likely I will follow up with a Butcher or Outpost Seige.
3. What is the board state? If opponent did not develop board state, I would play an outpost seige. If there is, depending on the creature size, I may either play Sorin for a token or Butcher.

Of course the above thought process were not exhaustive and conclusive, most of the times, they have to be read together and not in isolation. I mean, this is the fun part of Mardu, so many types of play under different circumstances.

With Dragon of Tarkir, most of the Archetypes have been developed, and fortunately, somewhere, somehow, Mardu is still the deck that is embraced by some of the pro-players out there. For that, I will dedicate the next post on Mardu Dragons. Stay tuned!