When I heard that Simic was going to be in Ravnica Allegiance, one of the first things I put on my wish list was having the Simic mechanic be Flash. Flash is one of my all-time favorite mechanics and is part of what makes the game Magic so unique. Unfortunately, once Adapt was spoiled, my hopes were dashed. That is until I started playing with the set. You see, Ravnica Allegiance draft surprised me with something. Adapt says nowhere on the card that it can be activated at instant speed, but many times in my draft games I would have 5 mana open, 2 adapt creatures and a counterspell in my hand, and it felt like my opponent couldn’t do anything. Ravnica Allegiance surprised me by doing something better than flash; they created a mechanic that works incredibly well with it.
One of my favorite things to do in Magic is to draw for my turn, look at my hand, and then say go. I’m a filthy control player, but I also love to attack with creatures. For this reason, tempo speaks to me. Play a threat, protect it, and counter anything relevant is the way I like to play Magic. Currently, Standard has a really good tempo deck in Mono-Blue Tempo and it’s really cheap too. But I wanted to see if it was possible to create a deck around 2 mechanics, Flash and Adapt.
The first thing I went ahead and did was find all of the Adapt creatures. There admittedly weren’t a lot of options but I went for the budget options, that also did interesting things when adapted. Sharktocrab, in particular, is one of my favorites. Being able to hold up a Frilled Mystic, backed up by a frost effect is really powerful. Benthic Biomancer is a good way to filter through the deck, however, if you want to go rare-less I would recommend Sauroform Hybrid. I honestly believe that it is one of the best commons in Ravnica Allegiance, and will be more than fine in a budget deck.
The other half of this deck, is, of course, the Flash. There are 3 creatures that have this mechanic that I feel are relevant in this kind of deck. The aforementioned Frilled Mystic which is fantastic for this deck, Merfolk Trickster, and the dinosaur Snapping Sailback. This dinosaur serves as a huge tempo swing, eating a 3 power attacker and swinging in for 5 out of nowhere. And in this deck, when you are holding 5 mana, it could mean any number of things.
Finally, the last thing to talk about in this deck is the instants. One of my favorite new instants from Ravnica Allegiance is the common trick Applied Biomancy. This card can create 2 for 1’s like none other, and for only 2 mana is a steal. Bouncing creatures and a mini pump can make you the king in almost any combat scenario. Dive Down is one of the key tempo cards in this Standard season, so we are definitely jamming a playset. Finally, Sinister Sabotage rounds off our counterspell suite, and Code of Constraint serves as great aggro hate and a way to win through a stalled board state.
This deck is worse than Mono-Blue Tempo. Mono-Blue does a much better job of playing the bait and punish game and is better at actually winning the game. But I really enjoy holding up mana on my opponents turn, and with more upgrades, this deck could turn into a full-fledged adapt deck. On a budget, and for $20 this deck has a really fun playstyle and can lead into a lot of different things. Thank you all for reading, I hope you guys have a great week and an amazing Tuesday!
Link to Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1644334#paper
Made this deck, or close to it in MTG Arena, didn’t have all the cards so I put in a few substitutes. It is awesome and a lot of fun to play, thank you.