We R gone aggro

A sweet aggro deck can be compared to a good date on a Friday night – fast, cheap and easy to get into! Today`s list combines two of the `easier’ decks to pilot, White Weenie and Red Deck Wins; drawing from the strengths of each and forming a formidable deck in its own right. Intrigued? Then come on pardners, grab your saddles and giddy up, ‘cause today We R gone aggro!

So the name of the game for any good aggro build is speed. That means when it comes to creatures, unless they have Haste, we don’t  want them to cost anything higher than 1. Savannah Lions and Jackal Pup are our go-to 1-drops here. Remember when 2 power for 1 mana was worthy of being Rare? The Grim Lavamancers are also included because they can help clear the way for your creatures and/or get in some damage of their own. Icatian Javelineers might seem like a strange choice, but I wanted to include a direct damage creature like Lavamancer that wouldn’t compete with its cards in the graveyard.

The tricky part about building an aggro deck with Red is to not just make a subpar RDW. What can White add to the deck that warrants including it instead of being a mono colour deck? In order to prove White’s worth, I recommend taking a look at the sideboard. Swords to Plowshares is the best creature removal option in the game, and I included 3 copies in the SB to take care of the big creatures you don’t want to spend 2+ burn spells to take out. White also offers Disenchant, which can be crucial against cards such as CoP: Red and Ivory Mask. Another possible addition would be Abeyance against combo decks, but I chose to focus on hating out other types of decks.

One of the strengths of today’s deck stems from its balance between creatures and spells. Generally, you want to begin by dealing fast damage with your creatures, slashing away at your opponent’s life total before direct damage wins you the game. Red just happens to be the best colour in Magic at hitting the opponent and/or their creatures, which we can certainly use to our advantage. While the deck contains your standard 8x Lightning package, it also includes some less prevalent zappers. Kindle is an oldie, but it can pack some serious punch. Scent of Cinder is a new one to me, but I thought it had some sweet potential, as the majority of your spells are Red.

Another Red spell that deserves some attention is Fork. Honestly, this is an amazing card. Not only can it double the damage of your spells, but you can use an opponent’s removal against them, counter their spell, pump your own creature.. I am seriously just scratching the surface of the card’s versatility. I didn’t include 4 because it CAN be a dead card in your hand, however I think 1-3 copies are a great addition to the deck.

Despite my speech on only including 1 CMC creatures unless they are Hasty, there were a couple of 2 cost dudes that I had actually considered. White Knight and Silver Knight are both great against Black and Red respectively, but ultimately I didn’t think they were fast enough. The main 2-drop that I wanted to include was Goblin Legionnaire. The card seems pretty innocuous at first glance, but it can lead to some pretty interesting in-game decisions for you and your opponent. Why? Among other uses, it’s a 2-power creature that can act as direct damage, a “4 power” blocker or attacker and an anti-burn card. I felt that this was probably more mid-range in use, but you can probably fit it into the deck nicely. Happy Brewing!

We R gone aggro

Land

4 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Plateau
4 Mishra’s Factory
7 Fetch lands

Total: 20

Creatures

4 Savannah Lions
4 Jackal Pup

3 Grim Lavamancer

4 Icatian Javelineers

2 Viashino Sandscout

Total: 17

Spells

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Chain Lightning

1 Fireblast

3 Overmaster

2 Fork

1 Flame Rift

1 Final Fortune

4 Kindle
3 Scent of Cinder

Total: 23

Sideboard

3 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Swords to Plowshares

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Pyroblast

1 Pyroclasm

4 Blood Moon

2 Disenchant

Brown Snow

One of the things I try to do with these introductions is grab your attention. Without the use of cat videos however, I know how hard it can be sometimes; as such, I try to include interesting facts, real world references, et cetera to get you reading. Today I decided to go with immaturity. I could’ve named the deck something more PG such as Iced Coffee or Mocha Latte. But nah, instead I went with Brown Snow.  Enjoy.

Despite containing White, the deck employs several elements of your average MUD deck, such as the use of artifacts to tax your opponent. It does so by increasing the cost of casting spells and destroying the opponent’s mana base. While this strategy can be effective, particularly if you’re on the play, it can also limit your own ability to develop your board. Not only that, but artifacts aren’t particularly strong in the interaction department, and so the idea is to limit your opponent’s ability to interact as well, thus giving you an edge on the competition.

So how does it work?  While it employs the trifecta of attacking their manabase, generating mana, and limiting the opponent’s ability to interact with you; it’s actually the last point that defines this deck. The addition of White allows you to minimize an opponent’s ability to interact with your board, while allowing you to interact with theirs. It does so via Hanna’s Custody - a seriously overlooked card in artifact decks, which singlehandedly protects every non-land permanent that you own (except itself).

Now that we’ve talked about its defense, let’s look at how Brown Snow can win. Your main tool is Chimeric Staff, a lesser known artifact that becomes particularly strong when paired with 1+ Metalworker(s). That being said, you want variety in your win conditions of course, which is why the deck also includes a Phyrexian Processor, a pair of Masticore and 2x Karn, Silver Golem. The problem with Karn is that he becomes pretty useless on his own as a win condition if the opponent has a creature out – good thing we have Masticore and Swords to Plowshares!

The Metalworkers actually serve several purposes in the deck, as they can allow you to maneuver around your Spheres and even play a somewhat tempo role. In fact, Metalworker, along with Grim Monolith, can also be enhanced by Voltaic Key - just remember that Key becomes useless when Custody is in play, so you may not want to include them in your deck.

I put 4 Defense Grid in the sideboard, however there is a valid argument for them to be MB. The idea is that Staff can only be targeted by removal during your turn, thus forcing them to block or take damage by it. Attacking their mana base (and Hanna’s Custody) should be enough to limit the average opponent, but I kept them in the SB for this reason, to hit High Tide/Reset decks, and other various shenanigans. Another card I’d considered was Storage Matrix, which I think can have some really cool board states that I might write about it in another deck. Happy Brewing!

Brown Snow

Land

4 Snow-Covered Plains

4 Ancient Tomb

4 City of Traitors

4 Wasteland

8 Fetch lands

Total: 23

Creatures

4 Metalworker

2 Karn, Silver Golem

2 Masticore

Total: 8

Spells

4 Hanna’s Custody

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Mox Diamond

4 Grim Monolith

3 Voltaic Key

4 Sphere of Resistance

4 Chimeric Staff

1 Phyrexian Processor

1 Icy Manipulator

Total: 29

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Defense Grid

3 Ensnaring Bridge

1 Wrath of God

4 Abeyance

Creature Void

Seeing as how the last two decks were both Mono coloured (B and G respectively), I thought that this week we could try combining them to create something different. I use the term `we`, but really a good portion of today`s deck theory was done about 20 years ago; drawing its strategy from The O`Brien School of Magic. As we`ve seen time and again, Black excels at land destruction, while green excels in the creature department. When combined, we get a deck that allows us to play our spells while our opponent doesn`t. Pretty awesome, eh? So with that intro out of the way, let`s delve into Creature Void.

Defining the deck [and its name] is Nether Void - an oft-forgot Enchant World from Legends that counters every spell that it can unless the caster pays an additional 3 mana. There are a couple of plans here, depending on your opening 7. The first is to ramp your mana into an early Void, then grind out a win against an opponent who can’t cast their spells. The other option is to deny your opponent access to their mana as you wait to either draw and/or cast a Nether Void and win.

Drop of Honey. So why Drop of Honey? Another obscure oldie, Honey is actually quite incredible in the right deck. If you don’t have a T1 Dark Ritual, then this is the card you want to be casting. Yes, the opponent can play around it by not casting a creature, but then y’know what you just did? Stalled the board as you build your mana towards a Nether Void! Pretty clever, wouldn’t you say? This is just one of its uses, as the card can really help you clear any sort of board an opponent might have cobbled together before you cast the Void.

Alright - we’ve talked about the power of Nether Void, so the question then becomes how do we use this to our advantage? The answer is in our win conditions. Blurred Mongoose is rarely talked about, but in a deck like this, the card is a powerhouse. It’s an uncounterable threat  is also untargetable. The latter of which can be quite relevant against an opponent who managed to scrounge enough mana for a Swords to Plowshare or Lightning Bolt. I had considered a higher number of uncounterables in the list, but decided to go with manlands instead, as they can also be used to get our own spells out past Void.

I would call the rest of the deck pretty self-explanatory. The Rituals help cast your hand on T1 and T2, while the rest aim at destroying your opponent’s resources. Engineered Plague can be a pretty important card vs cheap aggro builds because they are exactly the kind of deck that we want to a-Void (sorry).

Mox Diamond? Sol lands? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to include Diamond or not. There is a high land count to support it, but you tend to want those lands in play because of Void. Not including them was not an easy decision, as the card does offer some nice T1 plays, so you might want to consider it. The Sol lands can also be nice and I think they warrant consideration as well. Happy Brewing!

Creature Void

Land

4 Bayou

3 Swamp

2 Forest

4 Mishra`s Workshop

1 Treetop Village

4 Wasteland

7 Fetch lands

Total: 25

Creatures

4 Blurred Mongoose

1 Vexing Beetle

Total: 5

Spells

4 Nether Void

4 Dark Ritual

4 Duress

4 Drop of Honey

4 Hymn to Tourach

4 Sinkhole

3 Engineered Plague

Total: 30

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Naturalize

4 Innocent Blood

1 Engineered Plague

2 Vexing Beetle

Forest Beats

Last article, we looked at a popular mono coloured deck and decided how we wanted to employ its strategy. Today, we are going to be doing the same thing, but with a very different [and less explored] colour. You see, it dawned on me that I hadn’t written about a Mono Green deck yet. As such, I felt inspired to rectify this. But what exactly does a Mono G deck involve, without simply being an Elves variant? Well, there was the tribal option of Saprolings of course, but I wanted to try a different route instead. So bear with me and let’s see what we can do with our imagination, a bit of creativity and some good old-fashioned Forest Beats.

To start, let’s identify Green’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s pretty common knowledge that Green is the colour of mana ramp; in fact, G doesn’t really have many rivals in this particular department. Strong mana ramp results in another of Green’s advantages, as it enables a player to cast their large creatures faster than others. Alright, so it ramps mana and casts fatties easier than W/U/B/R. That’s pretty sweet, but is there anything else that Green is the best at? This one might take a bit more thought, but the answer is quite obvious – G pumps its creatures. These are the attributes that define Green, and have been established since Alpha - let’s take advantage of them.

With its strengths identified, let’s see if we can figure out Green’s weaknesses. The ‘good’ news is that they are pretty glaring; meaning they are easy to spot and thus [in theory] easy to rectify. The main weakness of G is its lack of targeted creature removal. In a creature-heavy meta, this seemingly minor disadvantage can be crucial. The colour is also pretty weak in the flying department, which means its creatures lack an important form of offensive evasion. Luckily, there are some tools available that provide us with ways around these things. Let’s see what we’ve got..

Berserk. Combined with Rancor and/or giant creatures, Berserk can mean game over for the opponent. Also, remember how we mentioned that Green is lacking in removal AND offensive evasion? Well Berserk can sort of act as both. While not ideal, Berserk has the ability to destroy an opponent’s attacking creature. Just be confident in your math before casting it, since you don’t want to die because you forgot to carry the zero. Also, while not quite the same as Flying – Trample does act as your best way to ensure some damage gets past an opponent’s blockers.

Speaking of old and efficient cards, let’s take a quick look at Regrowth. This card has a pretty neat history, as it was restricted in Vintage for a very long time – and with good reason. While the speed of the game has certainly increased, the ability to reuse a spell should not be underestimated. Forest Beats contains several cards that you want in multiples, so reusing one from the graveyard can be incredibly handy.

Concordant Crossroads is another somewhat obscure card, but it has amazing potential. While Aluren tends to be the more popular of the Green ‘Haste’ enchantments, Crossroads is just a better card in certain decks. Despite the effect being mutual, Beats’ number of 1 CMC mana rampers should allow you to generate an advantage against your opponent. Originally, I had divided the ramp between creatures and enchantments, but in the end I just went with creatures due to the Haste-y goodness of Crossroads.

Speaking of which, because the deck contains twelve 1-cost creatures that are essentially there for ramp, it needs a way to either draw cards and/or find a game-winning creature. At one point, Beats did contain 4 Howling Wolf to help with this, but I thought they were unnecessary due to the 4 Collective Unconscious. The latter is just incredible with all the ramp creatures and can really bring you back when it might seem as though you are behind. Also note that Unconscious is not a mutual effect like Crossroads, so you are the only one who benefits from it.

Lastly, I want to touch on defense. Because Green seems to lack defensive interaction such as counter spells or even discard, it sometimes has Shroud tagged onto its creatures to protect them. I had considered adding these to the deck, but decided against it because of the targeted pump spells we use to win. Despite the majority of Beats’ creatures being tiny mana rampers, in the end they can all become game changers. Also, the 4x Avoid Fate are a way you actually can protect your creatures, enchantments et cetera, which makes Shroud less necessary.

Closing thoughts. Every deck should have a strategy and/or game plan, and Green certainly has several options to choose from. For example, while life gain is something I rarely recommend, it can be good in conjunction with other things. In this case, I had been tinkering with Stream of Life in the main board as a pseudo source of card draw when combined with Sylvan Library. In the end, I decided against the ‘combo’, but thought I might mention it as an example to inspire others to try different things. Happy Brewing!


Forest Beats

Land

7 Forest

1 Pendelhaven

3 Gaea’s Cradle

7 Fetch lands

Total: 19

Creatures

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Llanowar Elves

4 Fyndhorn Elves

3 Terravore

2 Verdant Force

2 Weatherseed Treefolk

1 Multani’s Acolyte

Total: 20

Spells

4 Concordant Crossroads

1 Sylvan Library

4 Avoid Fate

1 Regrowth

3 Berserk

2 Rancor

2 Overrun

4 Collective Unconscious

Total: 21

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Naturalize

2 Stream of Life

3 Desert Twister

2 Fog

Sui

It`s always humbling to start writing about something you think you know about, only to do some research and learn about a) how it actually works and/or b) how to improve on your original design. Today’s deck happens to be a great example of this, as it had to undergo several changes before finally looking the way it does. I think a common misconception among MtG players is that we can group decks under broad strategic categories: aggro, control and combo. There is certainly a logic to doing so, but it doesn’t really describe how a deck works. For example, there are numerous ways to control an opponent – land destruction, hand disruption, counter magic, et cetera. Anyway, it’s because of this that I decided against naming today’s deck by its generic title of Mono Black Aggro, instead going by its other name(s) Suicide Black or Sui.

After such a lengthy introduction, I think it is only fair to delve a bit into what I was referring to. Here is an original draft paragraph I had written for the deck: “I had originally put 1x Hatred in the deck as a sort of homage to the old Suicide Black decks, but the card itself can also win you games. While the cost of 5 mana might seem high, with the rituals and the role the card plays in the deck, as a 1-of I think it`s a fine addition – perhaps even in the mainboard.” Now obviously, the card itself happens to be very important to Sui. Why? It allows you to win on a very fast clock. As you can see in the finished version, the card became a 3-of in the mainboard and one of the key win conditions of the deck. Learning things is neat.

Originally the deck had 8 pump knights in its creature base. I found that the knights, combined with Nantuko Shade, just made the board way too mana hungry and so removed them. In their place, I added another cheap threat that didn’t require mana investment once cast – Rotting Giant. I also added 4 Vendetta to help clear the path for the creatures who land, instead of just adding other efficient beaters that you don’t really want to draw later on. This is supposed to be an efficient threats’ deck, not an Elf-style one.

Speaking of efficient beaters, the [fellow] MtG history nerds among us may have noticed an omission from the deck. The truth is, I was never a fan of Phyrexian Negator despite it being a staple in Mono Black aggro decks. Even with Sarcomancy being a `free’ sac outlet for Negator, Lightning Bolt and other creatures are just so prevalent in the format that I don’t think Negators are worth playing. That doesn’t even factor in drawing them later on..

Speaking of which: the long game. Sui generally tries to avoid the long game, but the inclusion of Grinning Demon, Nantuko Shade and Bad Moon can help you win if the game goes a bit longer than hoped. Try to avoid this though as other decks certainly have an advantage if they are able to withstand your initial assault and stabilize the board.

I think one of the important things to remember when designing Sui is to stay focused on being aggro. You should not be trying to jam in a bunch of answers for your opponents - they should be the ones trying to find answers to you. With that in mind, there are a plethora of playable cards for the deck, so choose the ones that suit you best. Happy Brewing!

Sui

Land

7 Swamp

1 Lake of the Dead

7 Fetch lands

4 Wasteland

Total: 19

Creatures

4 Carnophage

4 Rotting Giant

3 Nantuko Shade

4 Hypnotic Specter

2 Grinning Demon

Total: 17

Spells

4 Dark Ritual

4 Sarcomancy

4 Duress

4 Hymn to Tourach

3 Hatred

4 Vendetta

1 Bad Moon

Total: 24

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Smother

2 Gate to Phyrexia

1 Innocent Blood

1 Hatred

2 Engineered Plague

1 Cabal Ritual

Dark Tide

Don’t you love it when you discover a card that immediately gets you thinking of ways to abuse it? That’s exactly what happened with today’s deck, once I stumbled upon a card called Bubbling Muck. Honestly, I had never heard of the card before – a rather embarrassing admission once I discovered how prevalent it had been during Urza’s block. Indeed, this is often the case, as those cards are ‘new’ to me (I stopped playing around Weatherlight..), so try not to judge. But enough about my MtG history, let’s talk about today`s deck: Dark Tide.

How it works. So the deck itself plays quite similar to your normall High Tide-type deck. The main difference here being that the addition of Black offers you more flexibility, both in play-styles and win conditions. Another benefit is that a Storm-based combo deck tends to require a lot less luck when it comes to winning. Why? Because you normally only need to cast <10 spells, as opposed to generating insane mana on top of playing an extremely high number of spells to reduce your opponent’s life total to zero.

Colour balance. This is the part that can be tricky. For example: Force of Will or Duress? While I can understand the argument for including FoW, I decided to go with the latter for a number of reasons. Not only does it build your storm count, but it also lets you know if it`s clear to go for the combo and doesn`t cost you card advantage. In short, it always has a use; whereas FoW does not and can just be stuck in your hand – not an ideal plan for a Storm deck. The one downside to this decision is that Time Spiral re-news your opponent’s hand too, and a well-timed Orim’s Chant or Abeyance in response to your Duress can really ruin your play. The bright side to this is that if does happen, then at least you got a new grip of cards in your hand to try to win with next time.

No Dark Ritual? No problem! Yes yes, I know - it seems almost blasphemous to be playing a Black combo deck without incorporating Dark Ritual. The thing is, with the 4x Muck and 4x Tide, they just aren’t necessary. With those 8 cards, the deck does not need any more mana ramp; what it needs is to be drawing extra cards. In order to do so, the deck contains 17 spells that get cards in your hand. Not only do these replenish your grip while cycling through your deck, but they also add to your storm count and [thus] win you the game.

I know I just wrote that Bubbling Muck and High Tide make other mana pumping spells unnecessary, but that was only sort of true. The 4x Lotus Petal are not there for ramp, but they are there to get you that first B mana without having to tap a land to do so. Also, if you`re playing against a Wasteland deck, you might just want to go the Mono U route; in these instances, the Petals can also be used to cast Tendrils if you`re short on Braingeyser-ing your way to victory. The fact they are re-usable with Time Spiral just happens to be an added bonus, albeit one that is rarely necessary.

Speaking of which.. in the end, I decided to go with Braingeyser instead of Stroke of Genius because the Instant speed of the latter isn`t really necessary and it costs an additional mana to cast. Admittedly, the latter point probably isn’t relevant and the cost of U vs UU can be. These are just some things to consider when you’re trying out the deck and tweaking it to your style. Another omission was the inclusion of other cantrips and/or Impulse. The deck list is already pretty tight due to the addition of Black, but it’s another thing you might want to consider. Happy Brewing!



Dark Tide

Land

4 Underground Sea
4 Island
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
4 Fetch lands

Total: 17

Creatures

4 Cloud of Faeries

Total: 4

Spells

4 Bubbling Muck
4 High Tide
4 Brainstorm
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Meditate
4 Time Spiral
4 Lotus Petal
4 Duress
1 Snap
3 Turnabout
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Braingeyser

Total: 39

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Chain of Vapor
3 Engineered Plague
1 Infernal Contract
3 Cabal Therapy

WG Auratog

Ah yes, another article on casual decks. How ironic that it rhymes with another thing people love, eh? Today`s casual deck resulted from some glorious ‘accidental inspiration’. I sort of stumbled upon the idea as I was browsing old cards, reading about their interactions and going from there. I think doing this can be really beneficial to brewers - not just for casual players. When you browse old cards, you discover new ones, thereby creating a catalogue of information. Seeing a card can in turn flash you back to another/others, inspiring a deck premise to build upon. But enough about the process(es) of deck building, let’s jump right into today’s deck: WG Auratog!

One of my favourite aspects of Magic the Gathering is the collecting. I really enjoy finding old rares and trying to figure out how and/or why the designers deemed the card to warrant its rarity. Take today’s deck for example; which started with only 1 card – Femeref Enchantress. This is a card that has been on my radar for some time. Why? Because it obviously has some potential applications, as it is an engine for enchantment-type card advantage. The question then becomes how. How do I abuse this to win games?

Femeref Enchantress is pretty unique in that it requires enchantments to go to the graveyard from play. This means that you then require another ‘engine’ to do so; the more efficient the better.  Enter Auratog. In the right deck, the ‘tog is amazing. It’s an engine and a win condition in one! Of course, Rancor certainly helps.. Being a creature without evasion does make it somewhat vulnerable however, which is why the deck contains the little-known Avoid Fate. I chose Avoid Fate instead of an enchantment because it has the advantage of surprise, and can protect any of your permanents, not just your creatures.

This is not a speedy deck that wins right away; it requires time to build a substantial enchantment-y board presence before going in for the win with Auratog. While that certainly does not make this a control deck, it does mean that slowing down the game becomes a factor. 4 copies of Elephant Grass and 4x Swords to Plowshares are in the deck to help ensure this happens. It is also important to remember that when you no longer want to pay for Elephant Grass, you can sac it to Auratog instead.

I chose not to include Steely Resolve, but it was removed late into the deck construction. The reason was because the deck needed some trimming, and the Shroud could potentially work against the deck. Auratog could sac Resolve when need be, but that would mean losing one of its sources of protection. In the end, it just didn’t seem worth the slot(s) in the deck. Perhaps you feel differently though. I encourage you to try it out and see what you prefer. Happy Brewing!

WG Auratog

Land

4 Savannah

4 Forest

1 Plains

4 Windswept Heaths

3 Fetch lands

4 Wasteland

Total: 20

Creatures

4 Auratog

4 Femeref Enchantress

4 Argothian Enchantress

Total: 12

Spells

4 Rancor

4 Wild Growth

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Elephant Grass

4 Avoid Fate

3 Mirri’s Guile

3 Gaea’s Touch

1 Nature’s Chosen

1 Replenish

Total: 28

Sideboard

4 Orim’s Chant

4 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Naturalize

1 Disenchant

1 Moat

2 Aegis of Honor