Standard - UR Prowess

Now that Oath of the Gatewatch has come out, one of the more exciting cards I noticed (and I'm sure many many others noticed as well) was Stormchaser Mage. This little 1/3 with Flying, Haste and Prowess for 2 CMC seemed too good to be true. To me it's like the older brother to Monastery Swiftspear. A lot of the decks I like to brew are aggro mainly because that's what I'm comfortable with. I also enjoy a good control shell as well, the past two standards I mainly played control but the KTK - BFZ era I've found myself back in aggro.

Look at it, isn't it wonderful? It's the perfect tempo drop if your previous turn was a Monastery Swiftspear, now you drop Stormchaser Mage and you can start applying some serious pressure to your opponent. Let's go over a decklist I've been working on for UR Prowess. I've been really excited about this deck and it's possibilities about where it can go. 

So let's talk about the deck a little bit. Listed below is the decklist I am currently using. It's a decklist that was used at a Starcity Open and so far I'm pretty pleased with it. One complaint I have had about it is it feels like too few creautres as your opening hand is very important, more so than most decks it feels like. Once you do get a creature of two out, you're ready to rock and roll and abuse that prowess ability.

Creatures

Abbot of Keral Keep: A 2/1 with Prowess by itself is not bad. Abbot's extra ability with exiling the top card and you have the chance to play it makes it better. Normally you do not want to play this turn 2 unless you absolutely have too.

Jace, Vyrn's Prodigy: What more can be said about Baby Jace? Is he a must in this deck? With this variant I would say so. His ability to flashback spells once he flips is invaluable for your creatures.

Monastery Swiftspear: This card is a must. Probably the best one drop we've seen in standard in awhile (in my opinion at least).

Stormchaser Mage: The newest kid on the block and has abilities that Monastery Swiftspear can only dream of (mainly just flying). This card was the one that made me decide to build this deck.

Spells

Dispel: While normally not a mainboard card, but running one isn't too bad. Not only does it prevent instant kill spells or counters it still buffs your prowess.

Expeditie: If this was just a one mana give creature haste card it would be very meh. The fact it lets you draw a card makes this card go from meh to yea, not bad!

Fiery Impulse: For a long while I've been going back and forth between Wild Slash and Fiery Impulse. At first I couldn't stay away from Wild Slash but Fiery Impulse, especially in this list, proves it can wipe creatures out easier than slash. With it getting spell mastery much easier than some other decks, this card was a no brainer.

Roast: Does it kill Siege Rhino? Check. Can it kill most ground creatures that are played? Check.

Slip Through Space: First reading this card it's interesting. You'll definitely want to cast it on your ground creatures more than anything. Plus you draw a card, there's never anything wrong with drawing cards!

Temur Battle Rage: Yes, give me all the double strikes.

Titan's Strength: That which doesn't kill your opponent, only means you need to do more damage. This helps you achieve that goal quicker.

Treasure Cruise: With all the spells you play in this deck, this card essentially becomes Ancestral Recall for you. Need I say more?

Sideboard

Boiling Earth: I found this pick interesting. With Token decks becoming more apparent, this card definitely fits a small niche, though it does depend on your meta also.

Disdainful Stroke: Don't want your opponent casting big spells? Stop them with this!

Dispel: I would definitely bring this in for the mirror. While prowess will still go off for them, at least it can prevent more damage for you.

Duress: An overall good card, with no Thoughtseize in Standard, this is your next best bet.

Murderous Cut: If you have to bring this in, take a treasure cruise out.

Painful Truths: Still a good card minus the life lost. Side this in against the slower decks, aggro would be no good.

Pia and Kiran Nalaar: Chandra's parents have definitely been seeing more play, not just in Standard but in Modern as well. One of my favorite Origins' cards. If your games are looking to go mid to late, side this in to help you out.

Roast: Need to kill an extra Rhino? Get this in.

Wild Slash: Just more burn, I may put this in if I just need that extra damage to my opponent to help kill them quicker.

Overall the deck is fairly fun. I'm not sure if it is well positioned in the current meta though, with 4 color rally and CoCo decks running rampant as well as ramp and Atarka Red running around the deck is definitely second tier. What about when Shadows of Innistrad comes out? We will have to see. We will lost Swiftspear as well as the fetchlands and other spells, if SOI brings any good support cards along with it, it may stay alive.

Bring it to an FNM or your LGS for practice and see how you like it. So far the deck is pretty fun and can be pretty explosive. It does feel very glass cannon like if/when your board is wiped. It doesn't feel as fast as Atarka Red though so against Atarka you'll just have to be faster and the better player.

Thanks for reading! I'm planning on doing more write ups on other Standard decks I am currently running and doing a weekly Modern Report where I report how well I did at Monday Night Modern and where I am at in the game.