Collector’s Cage is one of the many impressive additions to MTG that arrived as part of The Big Score. While the card initially saw Modern play cheating out Emrakul herself, the card returns in spectacular fashion every once in a while. Recently a curious Standard brew has begun picking up steam after a 5-0 league result. While the results of the deck aren’t breathtaking, what the deck is doing is incredibly powerful. Not only are you going ridiculously wide with this token-based strategy, but you can cheat in Overlords way ahead of schedule.
Selesnya Collector’s Cage
This deck has a ton of different synergies that make it somewhat resemble a Collected Company deck in Pioneer. Of course, Collector’s Cage is nowhere near as good as the four-mana instant, but your massive value payoff for going wide is found here. For one mana, it’s easy to cheat in an Overlord of the Mistmoors. This creates a massive army that threatens to run your opponent over if they don’t have an immediate answer.
The nice thing about Overlord of the Mistmoors being your payoff is that the card isn’t dead if you draw it. Getting to four mana is perfectly reasonable for this deck, which allows you to cast the Overlord for its Impending cost. Not only that, but this deck has further synergies with tokens.
Going Wide
While Collector’s Cage needs three creatures with different powers to trigger Hideaway, there are other payoffs to using a ton of creature tokens. One of those is Sandstorm Salvager. The creature presents two bodies, which is good against single-target removal and helps enable Collector’s Cage. While the 3/3 Golem is great for board presence, the activated ability of Sandstorm Salvager is really dangerous.
You need to shake off the Summoning Sickness, but buffing all your tokens permanently can mean lights out. For reference, Sandstorm Salvager’s activated ability will buff the token it creates, tokens from Sanguine Evangelist, Overlord of the Mistmoors, Offspring effects like Pawpatch Recruit, and more.
Another payoff to going wide is the new MTG Foundations creature Skyknight Squire. A 1/1 for 2 mana is hardly impressive, but just resolving one of your three drops can easily make this card a 3/3. Between Sandstorm Salvager, Pawpatch Recruit, and Sanguine Evangelist, you have 11 creatures that immediately make this card a 3/3. Once it gets 3 counters, the card even gains Flying, making it very difficult to stop in combat.
Perhaps the most overlooked payoff that this deck provides is actually its Man land. Restless Prarie buffs all your creatures when it turns sideways, which can amount to a ton of damage out of nowhere. It’s very easy for this deck to establish a sudden board and threaten your opponent’s life total, even in the mid to late game.
Having so many multi-body creatures also means that this deck is really strong against single-target removal. Using Burst Lighting to kill one-half of a card puts you ahead in terms of card advantage.
Sunfall Food
If you want a way to beat this creature combo deck, that card’s name is Sunfall. No matter how much value you create by going sideways, losing all your board presence to one card is absolutely devastating. Not only that, but Sunfall punishes you for going wide further by creating a massive token after the wipe.
Board wipes, in general, are where this deck struggles. As a result, the Mono White Control matchup seems difficult on paper. Authority of the Consuls can also gain the deck a ton of life in post-board games, but siding that may be incorrect since Haste isn’t really a factor.
Fortunately, this deck does come prepared with tools to navigate board wipe scenarios thanks to Aven Interrupter. This can buy the dire turn needed for your board to crack in for lethal damage. Invasion of Gobakhan can also slow down board wipes somewhat. If you’re worried about Day of Judgment over Sunfall, flipping the Invasion can also buy an extra turn.
Serra Paragon can also help in slower matchups by allowing you to rebuild your board from your graveyard. It’s a slow process, though, so if Mono White has its draw engines assembled, it may not be enough.
Overall, this deck seems to have strong midrange matchups since it trades well into single-target removal. Your plan can also overwhelm their board states. The real issue presents itself with board wipes. In a format where Sunfall and Gix’s Command aren’t too popular, this deck could be ready to take over.
