It’s now been nearly two weeks since a whopping seven cards were banned in Standard. Immediately following the ban announcement, many players gravitated towards Dimir midrange as their deck of choice.
Since then, though, we’ve seen a lot of innovation. Izzet Cauldron and Izzet Prowess are still strong choices. Mono-green Landfall has emerged as a contender in the format. The ban announcement really opened the door for players to have success with an array of different strategies.
In fact, yesterday, I had a great run in the Magic Online Standard Qualifier with Azorius Soldiers, an archetype that hasn’t put up any competitive results in months. While once incredibly weak to aggressive Monstrous Rage decks, Azorius Soldiers does a good job exploiting a slower metagame. This deck is explosive, resilient, and can be purchased in its entirety for under $85. What more could you want?
Soldier Payoffs
Soldiers is an abundant card type in Standard. There are plenty of one-drop options, including Warden of the Inner Sky and Descendant of Storms, that are decent even without many other Soldiers present. However, what really gives Azorius Soldiers its staying power are the Soldier payoffs.
Most typal decks in any format need cards that reward you for sticking to your specific theme. Whether you’re playing a mix of classic “Lord” effects that buff your whole squad or have access to mana engines like Heritage Druid in an Elves shell, these payoffs are essential your success.
In the case of Azorius Soldiers, most of your payoffs come in the two-mana slot. For Lords, Valiant Veteran is a premium option. At two toughness, it is vulnerable to cheap removal. The good news is that its activated ability can come in clutch in grindy matchups as you continue to flood the board with creatures.
The same can be said of Fortified Beachhead. As a dual land that reliably enters untapped, Fortified Beachhead already pulls its weight (getting to play four different dual lands is a huge luxury and makes your mana super consistent). Then, later in the game, you can pay mana to pump your team and break a board stall wide open!
Speaking of breaking open a board stall, no card does that better than Harbin, Vanguard Aviator. Getting five Soldiers into play is a tall task, but Resolute Reinforcements makes this a real possibility. Remember, Harbin doesn’t need to attack itself to trigger. If your opponent ever taps out with a board of ground blockers, you can jam Harbin during your turn, enabling a huge attack in the air.
Raw Power
One cool thing about this build is that outside of Valiant Veteran and tokens produced by Resolute Reinforcements, every Soldier is also a Human. This means you’re free to maximize Coppercoat Vanguard as another Lord effect. By running a full eight two-mana Lords in addition to Harbin, it’s easy to overwhelm your opponent in short order.
It’s worth noting that many Soldiers builds in the past focused less on raw power output and more on finesse and flexibility with payoffs like Zephyr Sentinel. Zephyr Sentinel certainly pairs well with Protect the Negotiators, since you can leave your mana up and react to what your opponent does.
However, I decided to focus more on adding power to the board for a few reasons. First and foremost, with the addition of Mockingbird, you’ll frequently have access to multiple Lord effects each game. Mockingbird is an awesome inclusion due to its versatility. It makes it more likely you can have three one-drops in play on turn two, while also giving you the option of copying a Lord to push damage or an opposing bomb such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.
The extra Lords also help your one-drops continue to apply pressure in the face of bigger blockers. This deck needs to play a high density of one-mana creatures in order to get the most out of Knight-Errant of Eos. The downside is that your one-drops can get outclassed quickly on their own. Your Lords mitigate this problem.
Plus, Knight-Errant of Eos does a great job finding your Lords and Mockingbird in the mid to late game. It’s very common to build out a board of small creatures, Convoke out Knight-Errant, then follow up next turn with multiple Lords and attack for a boatload of damage. Presenting lethal by turn four is not out of the question.
Resiliency
As a whole, I’m very pleased with how the deck performed during the tournament. While barely missing out on top 8 (I finished 10th out of 168 players) is a bummer, Azorius Soldiers showcased it has what it takes to compete, even if it’s flying under the radar.
A huge reason for this is that besides being able to threaten damage very quickly, you have a very resilient gameplan. Knight-Errant of Eos provides so much value that as long as you can stick it, one-for-one removal from Dimir midrange becomes of minimal concern.
Meanwhile, Protect the Negotiators prevents you from getting blown out by board wipes from Azorius control. Warden of the Inner Sky does a good job setting up your draws, and Recruitment Officer‘s activated ability becomes a real threat in long games. Throw in Enduring Innocence out of the sideboard, and you’re well set up to fight a war of attrition.
As strong as this deck has felt, though, it does still have its weaknesses. With such a high creature density to make the most of Knight-Errant and your Soldier payoffs, you don’t have much room for removal. This makes your matchup versus hyperaggressive decks far from ideal.
Racing a turn two Tifa Lockhart out of mono-green is nearly impossible on the draw. Running some copies of Sheltered by Ghosts could serve as an improvement, but even that lines up poorly versus Snakeskin Veil.
Another area of concern is getting blown out by Fire Magic. Fire Magic is becoming more popular with the rise of Izzet Cauldron. This card often serves as an efficient Plague Wind, and playing around it with counter magic is difficult because it itself is an instant. I finished the tournament with a record of 6-2, and both losses came at the hands of Fire Magic decks.
Fortunately, there are ways to adapt here. In last night’s Magic Online Standard Challenge, one player found success adding Surge of Salvation to the sideboard, which protects your whole board for one mana.
Azorius Soldiers is simply a strong option that attacks the current metagame well. Unfortunately, most Soldier payoffs rotate with the release of Edge of Eternities, so don’t miss your opportunity to give Azorius Soldiers a whirl.
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