So, Theros is completely spoiled, and I want to talk a little bit about how I feel about the set.
In many respects, I am underwhelmed by Theros, and in others I am very excited. The set as a whole seems very flavorful, but I'm not a fan of the way it looks like the mechanics will play out in limited. This format seems to either be about voltroning dudes up or playing with large monsters. IMO it looks very swingy or board-stally, maybe both. Neither of those factor are things I enjoy in formats. I'm concerned by the lack of good removal, particularly at instant. Also, I wish some of the Bestow guys were better, but maybe the mechanic is stronger in limited than I think it is.
Would this have been too much to ask for?
Bestow Griffin - 2W
Creature - Griffin
Flying
When Bestow Griffin or enchanted creature dies, put a 2/2 Griffin token into play
Bestow 2W
2/2
Or maybe this:
Bestow Elephant - 2G
Creature - Elephant
When Bestow Elephant or enchanted creature dies, put a 3/3 Elephant token into play
Bestow - 2G
3/3
Astute observers will recognize these as Bestow versions of Griffin Guide and Elephant Guide. Obviously these are too strong at common (maybe even at uncommon), but I think they would've made cool rares and are likely constructed playable.
Anyway, I don't want to spend a whole ton of time on limited because it's not my forte, but my initial impressions of this limited format are mediocre, although I'll reserve judgment until I actually play it. I'll be playing quite a few prerelease flights, as well as SCG Worcester team sealed, so by the end of that I'll have a decent idea of what the format looks like.
Constructed, on the other hand, looks excellent. There's a strong variety of decks and strategies, and even strategies that look similar can diverge in interesting ways. I'm still not a fan of the creature-focused-ness of Standard in general, but I've long since accepted that I can no longer play creature-less 75's on a regular basis, even if I would like to; doesn't mean I have to like it :-p.
Anyway, the way I see it, this is how the metagame is shaping out.
Aggro
There seem to be a wide variety of aggro strategies. I'm sure some of these will float to the top, but right now it appears if you want to be attacking early, there are quite a few options. Red-based aggro (RG, Mono-red, Boros) all looks good, especially with Madcap Skills, which has proven extremely strong in testing. Of the three, I like RG the best, but only because it seems to have the best game against Control. Mistcutter Hydra and Xenagos have both proven to be very resilient threats, and alongside some good aggressive openings can generally cause problems.
I think the mono-colored options outside red are for White Weenie and maybe mono green. I haven't tested Mono-green, but WW looks promising. Heliod and Mutavault give the deck a bit more of a mid-game than is historically present in WW, and Imposing Sovereign often allows WW to establish tempo advantages. The quality of the threats WW has is actually very high, which definitely works to the deck's benefit. It is still vulnerable to Supreme Verdict, but that's to be expected.
Midrange
I'm not really sure what's going on here. I'm sure there's a midrange deck, but I can't seem to find it. The manabase seems to be the primary issue. The Scry lands essentially prevent you from being 3 colors, but being 2 colors I feel it's better to tilt more aggressive, as the pressure you can apply just wins you games. Also, this makes Madcap Skills better, a card which often allows you to just run over the slightly slower 3-color midrange decks.
The only real exception to this has been GW Tokens. Tokens has performed very well in the creature match-ups, but hasn't been great against control. There may be a strong sideboarding plan to fix that, but I haven't found it yet. Even so, I don't expect control to be a huge part of the field, so playing Tokens and hoping to get lucky may be a viable choice.
I'll be keeping my eyes out, but I haven't really seen a good option for midrange or mid-range control. Mid-range aggro like RG is pretty good, but I discussed that in the "aggro" section.
Control
Esper has been our control deck in testing, and it's performed fairly well. I haven't had the time to really take a second look at American or a look at Grixis, but I don't really see many other options beyond those three. I still think Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is an excellent metagame choice given the number of creatures I expect to see, but Steam Augury is a compelling reason to play red. American will have serious issues vs. Mistcutter Hydra (not something I look forward to, as it is one of the strongest threats, even with Esper's suite of Black removal and Far//Away), and Grixis only has Anger of the Gods as a sweeper.
I find it hard to believe a control deck other than Esper will rise to the top, as I feel like that deck has the best tools. It is, of course, not impossible, because Steam Augury is VERY good, but I just don't think the supporting tools are there yet.
Other
There are quite a few interesting brews (Whip, various devotion builds, maybe something with Bestow or centered on the new Cabal Coffers), but I am unsure that any of those can genuinely stick. The Aggro decks all look very good at applying pressure, which puts a real constraint on trying to do something interesting/cool. It's definitely possible, but there's a lot of work involved.
Ramp has been okay, as long a it runs Hammer of Purphoros. Without that card, the deck is simply too vulnerable to Doom Blade. But, for those of you who like to cast giant monsters, you can do that. Just make sure you have Mistcutter Hydra and Hammer.
Anyway, that's what I've seen as far as playing this new Standard format. I'm happy to talk ideas with people.
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