Exploring Block Constructed

As the name suggests, in Block Constructed you only have access to cards from the namesake Block, in this case Innistrad. As such, when we talk about Block Constructed at present, we’re only looking at Innistrad and Dark Ascension, though I’ll be intermingling some discussion of Avacyn Restored today. After all, we’re only two weeks out from the release of Avacyn Restored, and I think it’s important to be prepared for what lies ahead, as well as learning from historical data. Before we get started, I should note that, effective April 2nd, Lingering Souls and Intangible Virtue have been banned from Block. These two cards, alongside a plethora of other Token producers, were apparently simply too powerful to let run rampant through the format.

That being said, Block Constructed has been absolutely dominated since those bannings by Red/White aggro builds, so I believe that is the best place to start. Some commonalities among these RW builds are a playset of Champion of the Parish alongside Gather the Townsfolk. This gives you the opportunity for a pretty explosive start with a 3/3 Champion on turn two. Doomed Traveler is another mainstay, providing two bodies to chump block with, another human to proc Champion of the Parish, and a flier on the back end, who’s evasion helps to circumvent a stalled ground war. To that end, Midnight Haunting sees a lot of play in most builds, as well as the occasional Geist-Honored Monk, both of which put some flying power on the board. Hellrider is another staple for the archetype, providing reach again. In case the opposing player starts dropping creatures that outclass the RW player’s horde, Hellrider gives some direct damage to finish them off. Four Brimstone Volley and some number of Devil’s Play round out the kill package, looking to get as much damage in early with the critter swarm, and following up with some morbid Brimstone Volleys to close out the game. Mikaeus, the Lunarch gives some utility to the deck, allowing even an outclassed RW player to pull ahead on the board, while Fiend Hunter helps to ensure that the opposing board doesn’t develop too much. Stromkirk Noble has started seeing some inclusion as a way to shore up the mirror match. Given the prevalence of Humans in the deck, Stromkirk Noble’s inability to be blocked by Humans can be very relevant. Similarly, in various builds, you may see Rally the Peasants, which can turn four 1/1 creatures into lethal damage at instant speed. I strongly expect Silverblade Paladin to make a splash on this archetype when it gets released, given the lack of Mirran Crusader to compete for its spot on the mana curve. I’m not certain as yet, but Vexing Devil may also come in, though with Red typically being the secondary color in the deck, it may not lend itself to another Red 1-drop.

A more recent player in Block Constructed is Red Green aggro, which seems to have picked up a lot of steam with its recent successes in Standard. Huntmaster of the Fells is, as always, an absolute beast, providing an immediate board presence as well as taking out opposing creatures when he transforms. Daybreak Ranger is another centerpiece for RG. Though not necessarily a four-of, Daybreak Ranger is perfect against the occasional flipped Delver, the plethora of Spirit tokens, and the Nightfall Predator’s fight ability on the reverse side acts as removal for all but the biggest threats. Avacyn’s Pilgrim or Dawntreader Elk work as acceleration in the deck, powering out turn three Huntmasters fairly easily. Strangleroot Geist works well in many of these builds, putting pressure on early, and being resilient to removal, though having two Green on turn two can sometime be troublesome without friendly-colored dual lands to assist. Most RG decks I’ve seen to date feature finishers in Flayer of the Hatebound and Vorapede which work well together to close out a game. As for looking forward, I’d like to see Reforge the Soul as a way to restock the hand in the mid-game, though I’m not convinced that it will necessarily see play, given that the other top-tier decks are putting their hands in play just as quickly. Vexing Devil, again, may see some inclusion, though whether it will become a staple is definitely up in the air. Champion of Lambholt seems like another potential winner, making your critters harder to block as you cast more creatures, which seems profitable.

Delver of Secrets is significantly less prevalent in Block Constructed than in Standard, with most Delver decks running it alongside Invisible Stalker with cheap buffs like Furor of the Bitten and Spectral Flight or the occasional equipment package to turn Stalker into a real clock. Red Blue and White Blue seem to be Delver’s home in Block, with Red Blue featuring a more Aura-oriented buff suite, as compared to more Equipment in the White version. Both decks can be incredibly powerful, though, so don’t let the fact that they’re less popular than RW fool you into showing up unprepared. Latch Seeker seems like a potential fit here, given his unblockable status, though the lack of Hexproof does make him less appealing than Stalker. Tandem Lookout‘s Soulbond, pairing it with a Stalker or other evasive creature seems like another approach, garnering some card advantage.

Finally, Blue Green sees its share of play, working on the self-mill plan to fill up the Graveyard a la Armored Skaab. Once there are plenty of creatures in the yard, Splinterfright can be quite a beating, especially alongside Kessig Cagebreakers. I’m less impressed with Ghoultree in general, but I guess it’s hard to go wrong with a 10/10 for just a couple mana, which seems easy enough to accomplish with these builds. Gnaw to the Bone helps offset the aggro advantage with lifegain. Mulch helps smooth out your mana and fills up your Graveyard, while Tracker’s Instinct gets you your choice of creatures from the top four cards, helping to dig up the finisher of choice for the situation. Unfortunately, Avacyn Restored has done away with a lot of the Graveyard shenanigans, so I’m at a bit of a loss as to how this deck will fare once it hits. It could potentially be tuned to work with Descendant’s Path, given the Human and Zombie elements of the creature base.

Ultimately, if you’re looking to participate in a Block Constructed event, either in paper or online, I would strongly urge you to make very certain that you’ve got a strong Aggro matchup. The format is aggressive right now but with that comes opportunities for anti-aggro builds to shine. Sleeve up your Blasphemous Acts and watch out for Invisible Stalker.

Q&A
Q: I sit at 6 life and control Teysa, Orzhov Scion, three 1/1 White Spirit creature tokens with Flying, and Butcher of Malakir. My opponent controls three 6/6 Green Wurm creature tokens which are currently attacking. Before blockers are declared, I activate Teysa’s first ability, sacrificing three Spirit tokens to pay its activation cost, targeting one of the Wurm tokens. In response, my opponent casts Beast Within, targeting Butcher of Malakir. What happens?

A: In short, your opponent will sacrifice all of his Wurm tokens to Butcher of Malakir’s triggered abilities and Teysa’s ability will be countered on resolution. Sacrificing three white creatures is the cost of activating Teysa’s ability, which is done after you’ve announced that you are activating the ability and chosen targets. As soon as you sacrifice those creatures, Butcher’s ability triggers, but is not yet put on the stack. Once you have finished paying all costs of activating Teysa’s ability, namely sacrificing three White creatures, the ability is considered activated, and you would normally get priority again immediately. Since Butcher’s ability has triggered three times, however, those triggered abilities must first be put on the Stack before anybody receives priority. As such, when you receive priority again, the Stack contains, from top to bottom, three instances of Butcher’s triggered ability and one instance of Teysa’s activated ability. When you pass priority, your opponent will have their first opportunity to cast Beast Within on your Butcher. To be sure, when they cast Beast Within on Butcher of Malakir, once that resolves, his ability will trigger again, ultimately leaving four instances of its triggered ability on the stack above Teysa’s activated ability. As each resolves, the opponent must sacrifice a Wurm token, until all three have been sacrificed. The fourth Butcher ability will have no effect, and finally, Teysa’s activated ability will be countered for lack of a legal target.

602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation instructions (if any).]”

603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority.