Spoilers for new Theros started yesterday. There were leaks before, but I’m going to be boring and join the no-leaks crowd. This means that we only have three cards to play with at this point. Not sure there was anything Standard playable anyhow. (Although there might have been, I just don’t remember.)

But let’s start with this.

This seems very powerful and very frustrating to play against.

Suppose you have a UB deck with this as the wincon? How about [scryfall]Ritual of Soot[/scryfall] into this? Of course, [scryfall]Questing Beast[/scryfall] preys on this in the worst possible way, but you can’t win them all.

What would such a deck need? Loads of removal. Preferably of the kind that exiles, since Ashiok doesn’t care how those cards ended up in exile, as long as they are face up (and most are).

Here’s a control version:

[deck]
[planeswalkers]
3 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
2 Kaya, Orzhov Usurper
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
[/planeswalkers]
[spells]
4 Prison Realm
2 Despark
4 Tyrant’s Scorn
4 Kaya’s Wrath
2 Dovin’s Veto
4 Thought Erasure
2 Drown in the Loch
4 Chemister’s Insight
2 Unmoored Ego
[/spells]
[lands]
4 Temple of Silence
4 Watery Grave
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Godless Shrine
2 Fabled Passage
2 Island
1 Castle Vantress
2 Swamp
1 Castle Locthwain
2 Plains
[/lands]
[/deck]

How about a more mid-rangish version?

[deck]
[creatures]
3 Lochmere Serpent
4 Thief of Sanity
4 Brazen Borrower
4 Murderous Rider
2 Gadwick, the Wizened
[/creatures]
[planeswalkers]
4 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
2 Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer
1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
[/planeswalkers]
[spells]
4 Tyrant’s Scorn
4 Thought Erasure
1 Legion’s End
1 Commence the Endgame
[/spells]
[lands]
4 Watery Grave
4 Fabled Passage
4 Dismal Backwater
2 Castle Locthwain
2 Castle Vantress
5 Swamp
5 Island
[/lands]
[/deck]