Streets of New Capenna promises to bring some fantastic cards into the game. We’ve seen some nutty cards like Luxior, and the new Vivien, but both of those cards are Mythics. There’s always an uncommon or common that sneakily are strong and worthy of the title staple. Well, we got a new common that is fantastic and will be a staple in a popular archetype.
Sneaking Past Security
The new card we’ll be talking about is Secruity Bypass. This is a 2 mana Aura, and when the enchanted creature attacks alone it can’t be blocked. When it deals combat damage, that creature connives.
Now this may seem like an decent draft common, but it has a lot of potential in a very popular archetype, Azorius Auras!
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Azorius Auras
Azorius Auras is a pretty popular deck in Historic and it used to be in Pioneer as well. It’s a pretty fast and linear strategy where you suite up one creature with a bunch of auras and slam in for a bunch of damage. Truthfully, this card slots really nicely into the Historic version of the deck for a few reasons.
First off, the deck wants to suite up 1 creature and get in for damage with that creature, so this lets you get in some guaranteed damage. Additionally, it’s a great card to use with
Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice
Light-Paws, Emperor’s Voice
Whenever an Aura you control enters, if you cast it, you may search your library for an Aura card with mana value less than or equal to that Aura and with a different name than each Aura you control, put that card onto the battlefield attached to Light-Paws, then shuffle.
. Light-Paws wants to have a variety of Auras in the deck, and this one is a really solid choice.
We also can leverage the connive to help filter out dead lands, and pitch cards to the graveyard for
Lurrus of the Dream Den
Lurrus of the Dream Den
Companion — Each permanent card in your starting deck has mana value 2 or less. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for {3} as a sorcery.)
Lifelink
Once during each of your turns, you may cast a permanent spell with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard.
and Sentinel’s Eyes.
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Standard Auras
Now I think that this card is honestly good enough to make a case for playing UW or UWx Auras in Standard. We still have Light-Paws, but we also have access to the Runes package that Naya Runes are playing.
RuneForge Champion can find Rune of Sustenance for Lifelink, Rune of Flightfor evasion, and potentially Rune of Speed for haste. On top of that package, we have a few other very solid Auras that we can take advantage of.
One of the new Auras in the set is Raffine’s Guidance. It’s a simple aura but it’s our Sentinel’s Eyes replacement.
Additionally, with the Connive synergies, we can take advantage of some of the disturb auras from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow, namely Dorothea, Vengeful Victim / Dorothea’s Retrubution.
Dorothea’s Retribution is effectively a remake of
Geist of Saint Traft
Geist of Saint Traft
Hexproof (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
Whenever Geist of Saint Traft attacks, create a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying that's tapped and attacking. Exile that token at end of combat.
, which was an incredibly powerful creature in it’s day. This effect also gets around Security Bypass’s “attacks alone” trigger, since the angel is put into play tapped and attacking, and the original creature is still declared “attacking” alone.
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Putting It All Together
Here’s a sample list for this Standard version. We’re only playing 1 Rune of Speed, which we have multiple ways to fetch up and cast, but otherwise we are strictly Azorius.
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A few other choice includes in here are Michiko’s Reign of Truth,
Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
Flying, lifelink, protection from Vampires
Katilda's power and toughness are each equal to the number of permanents you control that are Spirits and/or enchantments.
Disturb {3}{W}{W} (You may cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its disturb cost.)
, as well as a pair of “An Offer You Can’t Refuse” for protection.
Overall, I think there’s a case to be made for a version of this deck. It has some competition for the “best auras” deck for Standard, so we’ll have to see how the metagame shakes out, and whether or not these card choices are worth it over Naya. What are your thoughts on this style of deck? Let us know!