Welcome everyone, to the first installment of Frontier content here at First Flight games. We’re going to get remedial today as we discuss the fundamentals of the format and what we should be playing and why. This will be a discussion about individual cards that are great, not so much a discussion about cards that are only good within the context of other pieces like combo decks and archetype support. I’ll be breaking this down by what I think the five best cards in each color, (multicolored included) are for the format with some justification, although most of them speak for themselves.
With the introduction to a new format, this leaves all of us interested in an awkward spot. Where can I play frontier? Does anyone else around me want to play frontier? What cards and decks are good? Will there ever be sanctioned frontier events? And how long until Wizards starts to regulate and moderate the format like they did with modern. Which for those of you who might not know, modern started as an idea created by the players. People came together and said let’s build decks with this card pool and see what we can come up with. And now we have one of the most loved, and most hated formats in Magic. So in short for people skeptical of the longevity of frontier, we have a strong precedent to base the following assumption on. If people continue to express interest, the format will thrive. To further support this, Wizards will now be hosting frontier side events at Grand Prix tournaments. Politics of the format aside, we are going to continue under the likely assumption that frontier is here to stay, one way or another. Now let’ get to the fun stuff.
RED
5. Let’s go bottom up for the sake of suspense. My number 5 pick for red is Thunderbreak Regent. While this may seem to violate my previously mentioned rule of not needing surrounding cards to make it playable, Thunderbreak Regent is immune to that. While this card certainly gets better the more dragons you are playing, this card is great even without a deck centered around dragons. This is the epitome of a midrange threat. Four mana, flyer, has an effect that can grind out advantage when the opponent tries to deal with it.
4. Abbot of Keral Keep. This is an early game threat that does everything you would need in red. Being able to dig a card deeper in the end of the early game is a good place to be when you need to start putting on the pressure. Two mana for a 2/1 that scales is exactly where you want to be in mono red for red/x where you’re trying to end the game as quickly as possible.
3. Goblin Dark-Dwellers. Another great midrange card. (Notice the theme here). 4/4 with menace is a sizable threat that is punishing to chump. Not only is it a threat during combat, this card can help you turn the corner and get back in the game, but GDD can also put games to bed. Being able to get a free recast on some of the most important spells in the format opens up burying your opponent in advantage. Just to emphasize the value that comes with GDD, here are just a couple spells that are worth casting again for free. Crackling Doom, Read the Bones, Pulse of Murasa, Kolaghan’s Command, Abzan Charm, Collective Brutality, Declaration in Stone, and Lightning Strike.
2. Monastery Swiftspear. If you thought we were going to discuss the red best cards since M15 and not talk about the card that is so good that it sees play in vintage, guess again. While this card’s worthiness doesn’t warrant much discussion, it does require mentioning. This is the premier aggro card for the format. If you’re planning to get aggressive early in this format and you’re in red and not using this card, I would highly recommend dropping 4 of something and slamming these in. Swifty works in every red shell for aggro decks. The synergy is omnipresent. If you’re going wide with tokens, this card on turn 1 helps you apply the pressure even quicker while it’s scaling as you’re deploying. If you’re going for the traditional Atarka Red style, this fits in perfectly, even if she’s not the one you’re dropping the Become Immense and Temur Battle Rage on, she will help get in those extra points of damage. This will be a format defining card as it is in modern, legacy, and vintage.
1. Lightning Strike. While this may seem a bit anticlimactic, this is 100% appropriate. Formats are defined by what removal is present. If we only had access to Shock, Sylvan Advocate would be far more viable than it is currently, Swiftspear could dodge it with only 1 prowess trigger, and Smuggler’s Copter would get banned. Again. 2 mana instant that can play the spot removal game in the early game against 9/10 of the most played creatures in the format, and can give you that crucial reach against opponents that have managed to gum up the board and prevent you from finishing them with combat damage. This card is aggro, this card is midrange, this card is control. And that is what makes it the number one red card in the format. No matter what archetype you’re playing, if you’re in red, Lightning Strike is part of the deck building discussion.
That is all for today. Stay tuned for the rest of the format breakdown and other Frontier related theories and news. I hope you all enjoyed the beginning of my content creation experience. For any questions or comments, you can reach me at captainseon@live.com. And remember, buy local, play global.