Hello and welcome to my first article for TrollTraderCards.com

With the release of Magic Origins, everyone will be trying to fit in some of the many new, exciting cards in both existing and new archetypes for the Standard season. Looking back on the results from the SCG Open in Chicago, we can see that the decks with the biggest shares of the Day 2 meta were Abzan, Mono Red and G/R Devotion, with the latter taking down the tournament in the hands on Tuan Nguyen. Experienced players will know that we have to take these results with a pinch of salt, not many pro players will be willing to début new decks or  innovative tech for sideboards whilst working over the coming weeks for the Pro Tour. So who knows what decks we may be seeing over the coming season.

I would like to share with you an idea for a deck that I’ve been working on and how it may fit in to the new Standard format:

G/B Collected Company                              

Creatures (27):                                                                                 Lands (24):

4 x Rakshasha Deathdealer                                                               4 x Windswept Heath

4 x Den Protector                                                                                4 x Temple of Malady

4 x Deathmist Raptor                                                                         2 x Jungle Hollow

3 x Fleshbag Marauder                                                                      4 x Llanowar Wastes

4 x Warden of the First Tree                                                              2 x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

3 x Nissa, Vastwood Seer// Nissa, Sage Animist                              5 x Forest

3 x Liliana, Heretical Healer// Liliana, Defiant Necromancer         4 x Swamp

2 x Gilt Leaf Winnower

Spells (9):                                                                                              Sideboard:

3 x Thoughtseize                                                                                   3 x Hornets Nest

4 x Collected Company                                                                         2 x Minister of Pain

2 x Ultimate Price                                                                                  1 x Pharika, God of Affliction

.                                                                                                               2 x Reclamation Sage                         .                                                                                                                                                                                                .                                                                                                                                         2 x Nylea’s Disciple                              .                                                                                                                                                                                             .                                                                                                                                           2 x Hero’s Downfall                          .                                                                                                                                                                                            .                                                                                                                                                1 x Murderous Cut                           .                                                                                                                                                                                           .                                                                                                                                                2 x Duress

Now you may be looking at this and asking, why straight G/B as opposed to adding the White for Abzan? The simple answer is that we want a consistent mana base, we want to be playing our cards on curve and not stumbling.

The power level of Collected Company is undeniable, making a strong showing in modern with Elves and Podless Pod variants. This deck allows us to hit 25 creatues, 6 of which can transform in the right circumstances in to Planeswalkers, providing a good early game and being able to control the mid-late game.

The deck includes the dominant Den Protector / Deathmist Raptor graveyard synergies, with Den Protector allowing us to generate more card advantage by returning Collected Company.

Fleshbag Marauder provides a cheap and efficient way to transform our Liliana, Heretical Healer, Defiant Necromancer can take over the game in the right circumstances, her +2 ability can run our opponent out of resources quickly. Whist her -X ability allows us to re-buy creatures with ETB effects such as Fleshbag Marauder and Gilt Leaf Winnower.

Our sideboard provides a lot of answers in the form of creatures, allowing us to hit these off of Collected Company. Pharika, God of Affliction provides us with an answer to opposing Den Protector / Deathmist Raptor Decks. Hornet Nest has proven it’s worth in creature mirrors, often locking up the ground with the opponent unwilling to give us any Hornets. Minister of Pain allows us to wipe away troublesome token creatures such as Goblins and Soldiers out the Mono-Red and Jeskai Tokens decks.

Hopefully this list provides some inspiration, let me know in the comments your thoughts and any changes you would make, I’ll be back with some more thoughts and a new list in my next article.