Daring Sleuth: Standard Void Menace

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Introduction

The new set “Marvel’s Spider-Man” splits the stage evenly between Spider-Man’s web-slinging and the villains’ mayhem. In the conflict between righteous heroes and evil bad guys, the author chose the newspaper boss who eagerly pursues the truth as this article’s theme. What can this upstanding citizen do in a city of brawling superpowered beings?

Card Analysis

J. Jonah Jameson // Lazlo, Enthusiastic Accuser
Creature - Human Citizen
When this creature enters, suspect up to one target creature. (A suspected creature has menace and can’t block.)
Whenever a creature you control with menace attacks, create a Treasure token.

• Lazlo, Enthusiastic Accuser is the card name of the MTGA version of J. Jonah Jameson. It has no official Chinese translation; the Chinese name used in the original article is the author’s provisional translation.

J. Jonah Jameson is the boss of the Daily Bugle, where Peter works, and he is obsessed with Spider-Man, intent on exposing his true identity. His ability, reflected on the card, is to suspect a target creature of being Spider-Man, and to pay interview fees to every capable reporter with menace. That’s right, he is not a stingy boss who makes only one Treasure when one or more creatures attack; every menace creature you control that attacks earns a Treasure, and the suspect on entering grants a creature menace, making him a solid menace lord. The menace-theme deck built around him is as follows:

Decklist

Although J. Jonah Jameson can pair with any creature that has menace, considering the interaction with Treasure and the aggressive-leaning configuration, the author’s picks for creatures at two mana or less are: Stalactite Stalker, Nullpriest of Oblivion, Shock Brigade, and Reno and Rude.

Of these, Reno and Rude and Nullpriest of Oblivion have the best synergy with J. Jonah Jameson. For one, both cards are two-mana plays, so following up with a turn-three J. Jonah Jameson immediately makes a Treasure. For another, both also have ways to use Treasure: Reno and Rude can sacrifice creatures or artifacts to use the opponent’s top card of library, while Nullpriest of Oblivion can use the extra mana from Treasure to reanimate from the graveyard and rebuild the board. Stalactite Stalker mainly fills the one-mana slot; the author likes its removal ability, and you can swap it to your own preference. Shock Brigade looks like a cheap choice, but do not be fooled by the rarity: it is a budget Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, needing three creatures to fully stop its offense, and its 3 toughness keeps it from dying to Fire Magic. The Warrior tokens it makes can be fed to sacrifice outlets, or can meet the Void condition by being blocked by the opponent.

Since Void has been mentioned, I trust the more perceptive readers already know how to make use of Treasure. That’s right: it is the pairing with Elegy Acolyte from “Edge of Eternities”. A board where everyone has menace lets you easily connect with the opponent to refill your hand, and even if no one dies, sacrificing a Treasure to do something can still achieve Void, letting her make a Robot token every turn to replenish your forces. However, her lack of menace is a flaw. Besides relying on J. Jonah Jameson’s suspect, there is something else in Standard that can make up for it.

That is the three-mana enchantment Ferocification from “Outlaws of Thunder Junction”. At the beginning of your combat you can choose to give a target creature +2/+0 or haste and menace, letting Elegy Acolyte charge in the same turn and make an extra Treasure. When you do not need haste and menace, you can instead pump power to raise your output, as fierce as its name says. Here is one more extension of the pairing: the four-mana creature Jecht, Reluctant Guardian // Braska’s Final Aeon comes with menace, and when it connects with the opponent it transforms into Braska’s Final Aeon, the final boss of FFX, covering both output and card advantage. Just find an opening and come down with haste for a punch.

For removal, the author chose Tragic Trajectory, which can trigger the Void effect via Treasure, Virtue of Persistence // Locthwain Scorn, which can be quickly slammed down with Treasure to keep reanimating from the graveyard, and the two-mana instant removal Shoot the Sheriff.

Finally, the special lands. The versatile Fountainport turns Treasure or Warrior tokens into cards in hand. Restless Vents comes with menace and can trigger a Treasure, and by discarding to trigger descend it can make Stalactite Stalker grow. Fabled Passage helps trigger descend and thins the library, lowering the chance of making a table full of Treasure and then continuing to draw lands.

Gameplay Demo

As a Fair Deck, this deck is quite fun to play against traditional archetypes, especially once J. Jonah Jameson gets going and the board develops at a startling speed, and it also has decent rebuilding ability in the mid-to-late game. However, the early game is a bit slow, and the main-deck interaction is mostly sorceries that hit only creatures, so it may lose easily to Unfair Decks. Readers who want to play it should adjust according to their local store’s environment.

Conclusion

To be honest, the idea for this deck actually came from the pairing of Reno and Rude and Elegy Acolyte: on one side, evasion plus sacrificing Robots to use the top of the opponent’s library, and on the other, drawing cards plus making Robots. But in the “Edge of Eternities” Standard card pool, red-black lacked a suitable token engine, and I was really not satisfied with what I put together. Who would have thought “Marvel’s Spider-Man” would fill in this piece of the puzzle, and even let me play with Jecht transforming. A real pleasant surprise.