As the prerelease for Mirrodin Besieged looms, more and more spoilers are being leaked!
As of this writing, 111 out of 155 cards have been spoiled, and some I'm especially excited about. This is because I have wanted to create a viable Standard deck focusing on Venser, the Sojourner for quite some time. And several of the cards spoiled so far may just make that possible.
While Oblivion Ring may have been more versatile, with the release of Mirrodin Besieged we will have a wide variety of tools at our disposal for Venser's blinking shenanigans. Already available in Standard is Journey to Nowhere, which is Oblivion Ring, but only for creatures. Mirrodin Besieged now also gives us Lenonin Relic-Warder, which is O-ring just for artifacts and enchantments, and Phyrexian Revoker, which is a new take on the classic control card, Pithing Needle.
Oblivion Ring's greatness was that it could target any nonland permanent and exile it. Bye bye Baneslayer Angel! Bye bye Jace, the Mindsculptor! The current similar cards available, and soon to be available, are far more conditional, but that's just the way things go, I suppose. What I find interesting is that these effects are now being applied to creatures, so Leonin Relic-Warder is a white Bear with an O-Ring-like effect. This plays well with Venser. His first ability blinks your guys so that their effect can be re-targeted. His second effect turns them unblockable. Control decks need a means to win, and Venser does that while also allowing for repeatable effects. The cards you are using to hold your opponent in check suddenly become your finishing move.
Mirrodin Besieged is also giving us Spine of Ish Sah. Seven mana is a lot, even when it is colorless, but let's look at what this card does.
Spine of Ish Sah
7
Artifact (Rare)
When Spine of Ish Sah enters the battlefield, destroy target permanent. When Spine of Ish Sah is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return Spine of Ish Sah to its owner's hand.
Well, well, well...I would definitely like to have the ability to repeatedly destroy anything in play! Yes, even you Jace. When you consider that it is the same thing that Argentum Armor does, only without the need for 12 mana (or to be cheated into play) and a creature and the ability for that creature to attack, 7 mana doesn't necessarily seem so far-fetched. If you stick this with Venser out, I would hope it is game over. Plus, we now also have access to Trinket Mage's cousin, Treasure Mage. Treasure Mage will let us search for Spine of Ish Sah, and any other pricey artifacts, when it enters the battlefield! So guess what, it also plays well with Venser!
Other ideas:
Venser + Living Weapon
Living Weapon is a new keyword associated with Phyrexian-aligned equipment. When an equipment with Living Weapon enters the battlefield you put a 0/0 Germ token into play and automatically equip the equipment to it. While I am not really sold on this mechanic, I could see it being interesting with Venser. Of those spoiled so far, Skinwing seems the best to me for its abilities, but 4 is a lot for a 2/2 flier.
Perhaps a Blue/White variation of the Soul Sisters deck? That's another deck that I really like the "idea" of. While there is only one "sister" available in Standard right now, I think the foundation could be tweaked a bit. Living Weapon Germs, Ajani Pridemates, Kabira Skyguards, and Ajani Goldmane, who would serve to make those Germs get bigger? Just throwing out some ideas.
Venser + Knowledge Pool
This would just be silly. Definitely for the casual table though!
That's it for now, when the full set is spoiled I will throw together a potential deck list.
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