NO RUG

Duck. Duck. Mongoose! Today’s list is an Ancient take on a semi-old Legacy deck. Sorry, did I just lose ya there? Allow me to elaborate.. the deck didn’t actually exist between the span of Alpha-Scourge. In fact, it seems to have been created about 7 years after Legacy became a format. So why do I think it could work in Ancient, a format where creatures aren’t the broken monstrosities they are now? Because the combination of tempo and combo found in NO RUG makes it a force to be reckoned with, that’s why!

Despite not having a creature like Progenitus in the format, Natural Order-based decks do have some pretty strong targets. Among them, I found Fungal Shambler, Symbiotic Wurm and Verdant Force to be among the best for this type of deck. As such, I decided to include one of each, as they all provide advantages depending on the situation at hand. It is also good to keep in mind that if a creature gets stuck in your hand, you can always use Brainstorm to put them back in your library.

While the deck does try to win by getting one of the big guys into play, it can also win via its tempo-based creatures: Werebear and Nimble Mongoose. Once you hit Threshold, these guys become serious threats at a low casting cost. Not only that, but they are also good without 7 cards in the graveyard. For example, Werebear is able to help you ramp mana early on, which can be very relevant if you are going for a fast Natural Order or if you’re facing a land destruction deck. The Mongeese don’t provide mana ramp, but their Shroud does make them hard for your opponent to destroy, which means you should have a target for Natural Order later on.

So what’s the strategy here? To be honest, there are a few of them. You can either focus on the combo with Natural Order, in which case I recommend trying to get out Birds and/or Werebear to ramp. There’s also the tempo game, which can win the game fairly quickly in its own right. Which path you take depends on a variety of different factors and I recommend you practice each. The versatility that the deck provides is one of its many strengths and I definitely recommend you try it out. Happy Brewing!

NO RUG

Land

3 Volcanic Island

4 Tropical Island

1 Taiga

4 Polluted Delta

4 Wooded Foothills

4 Wasteland

Total: 20

Creatures

4 Werebear

4 Nimble Mongoose

4 Birds of Paradise

1 Fungal Shambler

1 Verdant Force

1 Symbiotic Wurm

Total: 15

Spells

4 Natural Order

4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will

4 Daze

4 Stifle

4 Lightning Bolt

1 Portent

Total: 25

Sideboard

1 Red Elemental Blast

2 Pyroblast

4 Tormod’s Crypt

2 Naturalize

1 Grim Lavamancer

4 Fire / Ice

1 Penumbra Wurm