Into the Arena: Can Faithbound Judge Break Standard?

Innistrad: Crimson Vow is nearly released now and I have been preparing by brewing some Standard decks with the spoiled cards. Today I’ll be sharing two decklists that take advantage of Faithbound Judge, one of the most exciting cards of the new set.

UW Control

Standard
by Dawson Reynolds

UW Control has already been close to breaking into the top tier of Standard but it has mostly failed to have answers to Alrund’s Epiphany and Aggro decks simultaneously. As well, it has struggled to close games without having any good win conditions. With Faithbound Judge added to defend against aggro and Wash Away to help counter Alrund’s Epiphanies, UW control looks like it may have what it needs in order to control the format. As well, Faithbound Judge provides the deck an easy way to finish games, either by attacking or with its enchantment side. Because this deck plays six board wipes it will often be possible to clear the battlefield after Sinner’s Judgement is played, leaving opponents scrambling to end the game before three turns pass. As well, if you can play an Alrund’s Epiphany or two the turn after playing Sinner’s Judgement then you can win the game on the spot.

Although seven mana for an enchantment that takes three turns to do anything isn’t usually the sort of win condition that control decks use, Faithbound Judge is really powerful because the flip side is really an added bonus to an already useful creature. When Faithbound Judge is Disturbed from the grave, it will be in situations where Sinner’s Judgement can come down safely and effectively. As well, the two sides of the card synergize with each other; the Judge can do a great job of defending you once you have cast Sinner’s Judgement.

Faithbound Judge Midrange

Standard
by Dawson Reynolds

This second decklist is quite different from a typical Azorius control deck, especially with the number of creatures it plays. In fact, although I originally meant for this deck to be a control deck with some powerful creatures, I think it has become more of a midrange deck. The main point of this list is to take advantage of the flipped sides of Faithbound Judge and Jacob Hauken, Inspector, which are both game-ending but expensive enchantments. In order to ramp up to these win conditions the deck includes three mana rocks and three copies of Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset. The rest of the deck is focused on protecting itself until it can win the game with its late-game power (or sometimes simply by attacking).

Hauken’s Insight (the backside of Jacob Hauken, Inspector) is powerful but it requires you to play other expensive cards to work. This is why the list includes Professor of Symbology and Mascot Exhibition as well as Emeria’s Call. Alrund’s Epiphany is another great card to play with Hauken’s Insight and Epiphany is especially powerful in this deck because of the high creature count. Sometimes attacking with Elite Spellbinder and Faithbound Judge two turns in a row will win games on its own. Elite Spellbinder synergizes with Wash Away, the deck’s main counterspell, but also can do good job of trading with opponent’s attackers or pressuring slower opponents. There are still two copies of Doomskar in the deck to slow down extremely aggressive opponents, plus Doomskar can sometimes be played before you cast any creatures.

These decklists will be the first thing I play once Crimson Vow is released on Arena and I couldn’t be more excited! It has been a long time since traditional UW Control has been good in Standard, but it has a real shot now. Meanwhile, the second decklist is unique and seems like it will offer some interesting choices during games and some very exciting endgames. I hope you have a happy set release and get to try out the decks above or some brews of your own!