Player Baby Come Back: The Resurgence of the Powerhouse Archetype in Standard
Introduction
The Standard format in Magic: The Gathering is a constantly evolving landscape, with new cards and strategies emerging to challenge the established order. In recent months, one archetype has made a remarkable comeback, dominating tournaments and leaving opponents in its wake: Player Baby.
What is Player Baby?
Player Baby is a deck that revolves around casting powerful creatures early in the game and overwhelming opponents with their sheer size and strength. The deck’s namesake card, Player Baby, is a 3/3 creature for only one mana, providing an incredibly efficient threat in the early turns.
Key Components
The core of the Player Baby deck consists of several key components:
- Low-Cost Creatures: In addition to Player Baby, the deck runs a suite of other low-cost creatures, such as Llanowar Elves, Gilded Goose, and Lovestruck Beast. These creatures help ramp up mana and provide early pressure.
- Powerful Midrange Creatures: Once the deck has established a board presence, it transitions into casting larger, more powerful creatures. Cards like Bonecrusher Giant, Questing Beast, and Cavalier of Thorns provide significant value and can quickly overwhelm opponents.
- Removal Spells: To protect its creatures and disrupt opponents’ plans, the deck includes a variety of removal spells. Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, and Heartless Act are all efficient ways to eliminate threats.
- Card Draw: To keep the deck flowing and find the cards it needs, Player Baby runs a package of card draw spells. Opt, Growth Spiral, and Collected Company provide additional resources and help the deck maintain its momentum.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Early Aggression: Player Baby’s ability to cast powerful creatures early in the game gives it a significant advantage. It can quickly establish a dominant board position and force opponents to react.
- Efficiency: The deck’s low mana curve allows it to play multiple threats per turn, making it difficult for opponents to keep up.
- Resilience: With a variety of removal spells and card draw, Player Baby is well-equipped to recover from setbacks and maintain its advantage.
Weaknesses:
- Control Decks: Control decks with access to counterspells and board wipes can disrupt Player Baby’s game plan and prevent it from establishing a board presence.
- Aggro Decks: Highly aggressive decks that can swarm the board with small creatures can overwhelm Player Baby before it can stabilize.
- Mana Flood: If Player Baby draws too many lands, it can run out of gas and become vulnerable to counterattacks.
Variations
While the core components of Player Baby remain the same, there are several variations of the deck that have emerged:
- Gruul Aggro: This variation focuses on maximizing early aggression with cards like Gruul Spellbreaker and Embercleave.
- Selesnya Midrange: This variation adds white to the deck for access to powerful creatures like Archon of Sun’s Grace and Trostani Discordant.
- Rakdos Sacrifice: This variation incorporates black for sacrifice outlets and cards like Mayhem Devil and Bloodtithe Harvester.
Tournament Success
Player Baby has enjoyed significant tournament success in recent months. It has won multiple major events, including the Mythic Championship VII and the Grand Prix Las Vegas. The deck’s ability to consistently put pressure on opponents and close out games quickly has made it a formidable force in the Standard metagame.
Conclusion
Player Baby is a powerful and aggressive archetype that has made a remarkable comeback in Standard. Its ability to cast powerful creatures early in the game and overwhelm opponents with its sheer size and strength has made it a dominant force in tournaments. While the deck has some weaknesses, its strengths far outweigh its limitations. As the Standard format continues to evolve, Player Baby is likely to remain a top contender for the foreseeable future.