Good news, everyone; we can finally run with scissors in Standard again! For those who aren’t a Magic Boomer like myself and have no idea what I’m talking about, you’ll have to look up the Ensoul Artifact decks of old to figure it out.
In The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, Wizards of the Coast printed Zoetic Glyph, the newest version of this beloved card. Glyph turns all your useless artifacts into threats that replace themselves, a dangerous combo. In the Standard Challenge this past weekend, Magic player Hamuda piloted this deck through 91 players to make it to the top eight, ending with a record of 6-2!
The plan here is simple: flood the board with spare artifacts on the early turns with cards like Novice Inspector and Spyglass Siren and then turn them into 5/4 creatures on turn three with Zoetic Glyph. Then, attack your opponent until they are dead or until they kill your creature, in which you get to replace it with something new!
While I've always loved the simple game plan of Running with Scissors, what I love the most about this deck are the cards it uses for its backup plan: Cryptic Coat and Case of the Filched Falcon. These are two of my favorite cards from the new set, and I’m always ecstatic when I can get them into my limited decks.
Cryptic Coat is sometimes a True-Name Nemesis that you can protect from board wipes, while the Case, when supported, is often a 4/4 flier that you can sacrifice to draw a card. These cards give you a threat and card advantage, just like Zoetic Glyph.
Azorius Glyph looks like an aggressive tier-two deck that attacks from an entirely new angle and can overpower some of the tier-one decks that aren’t ready for it. I have seen this deck popping up more and more in big tournaments, and I am far from surprised that it was able to top eight in a big event.
If you’re looking for a deck with many lines of play but trying to enact a straightforward game plan, this is the deck for you. This deck style has been around for years and has even recently seen a resurgence in Pioneer.
I could even see someone creating an Izzet version of this deck using Voldaren Epicure instead of Novice Inspector. The best thing about Standard is that the format is far from figured out; you could be the next creator of a significant tier-one strategy!
You can also find the decklist here.
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