Field of the Dead Needs to Go(los)

Since Core Set 2020 and the printing of Field of the Dead, it’s been running around in a multitude of ways. Before rotation in standard, it was with Scapeshift and Teferi, Time Raveler to make a huge board of zombies on your opponent’s end step and they couldn’t do anything to stop you. It saw a little bit of play as a backup in TitanShift in modern. Obviously, we can’t forget commander. In a format where you naturally have a lot of differently named lands, it’s pretty good there too. Of course, none of those reasons are why I’m here today. This needs to be discussed and addressed and I’m sure you know what it is already so let’s not waste any more time.

Since rotation and the release of Throne of Eldraine, the biggest contender for “best deck in the format” in standard has been various builds of Golos Field. From Gates, to Bant Ramp, to Fires of Invention, this pairing of cards has been the dominant strategy. Clearly it’s a good deck and I’m not taking anything away from it, but it’s not nearly as powerful as it’s made out to be. A deck like this would get destroyed in modern, so what’s the deal? Why is a colorless land the most broken thing to do in standard right now? The answer is, well, answers; rather, the lack there of. Currently in standard, there is only one playable answer to Field of the Dead itself after it hits the battlefield, and that’s Assassin’s Trophy. There’s a handful of 4-mana Stone Rain‘s in the format but they aren’t realistically playable, especially when they’re only being played for Field of the Dead. You could proactively deal with it with Unmoored Ego, but if they happen to get one or two on the battlefield before you get to, then you still have to fight the ones on the board. You could try to stunt their ramping with Ashiok, Dream Render, but they have other ways to get lands on the battlefield that it’s more of an annoyance than anything else. Without Field of Ruin in the format anymore, Field of the Dead gets to do whatever it wants and be the big bad wolf of ELD standard.

I’m not normally one to call for a banning on a card like Field of the Dead, especially so early into a new format, but this is a problem now and will be for the next year before it rotates. Whether the deck remains a dominant force or not, it will always be around and we can’t stop that without banning a card or printing an answer that anyone can play. I don’t care if we get Encroaching Wastes, the worst of all land hate. We need something to keep Field in check. Wizards, please hear my cries. Don’t let this become Eldritch Moon standard where everyone was playing Delerium-Emrakul decks with no graveyard hate or Kaladesh standard with minimal artifact hate. Either give us a reasonable answer or ban Field of the Dead. One or the other needs to happen or standard, especially Arena standard, will be brought to its knees thanks to one card that we can’t efficiently answer.

Before we close out today, I want to bring attention to one more thing that I know I’ll get yelled at for, and that’s just simply keeping the zombies in check. In theory, it is possible to sweep your opponents board every turn to make them rebuild again and again, but without a clock like Rakdos aggro, this plan has a hard time succeeding. It’s like tron in modern. You can play your Damping Sphere‘s and Blood Moon‘s all you want, but if you don’t back it up with a way to end the game, they will eventually hardcast Karn Liberated and Wurmcoil Engine‘s, then you have a whole different problem on your hands. It’s not to say this isn’t a bad strategy, but it’s not ideal for slower, midrange decks like Golgari Adventures or Sultai Food. Back it up with a clock and you might have a chance to pull out the win.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. Did I miss anything you think I should’ve covered or do you have your own thoughts and opinions on the matter and want to debate with me about it? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter! Speaking of Twitter, don’t forget to check us out @MTGOracle and myself @TwoBlueUntapped to keep up with everything Magic. This is Blue, Signing out!