Sometimes I get tired of the same old standard decks. I get bored of seeing one Siege Rhino after another. This deck is my attempt to make a semi-competitive deck without many of the popular standard cards. Let me tell you how it works.
WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?
The main goal of this deck is pretty simple, you want to mill your own deck as fast as possible. The different interactions with this constant milling adds a dimension to this deck that many others lack. Self-milling allows you to take advantage of a lot of cool Sultai clan cards such as Sidisi, Brood Tyrant,
Empty the Pits
, and Tasigur, the Golden Fang. However, the overarching master plan of this deck is to win via
Hedron Alignment
which works surprisingly often.
The Cards
Sultai Ascendancy: At first glance this looks to be the worst of the five ascendancies released in KTK. However, for the strategy of self-milling, this card is a beast. It not only allows you to choose which cards you want to draw (if any) and it helps you mill and get triggers off of cards like Sidisi, Brood Tyrant.
Taigam's Scheming: This is a very solid card in this deck. Playing this turn 2 can allow you to get to Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Murderous Cut, and
Empty the Pits
much faster. It also can help to set up your next draws, and is very helpful at getting out of some early game mana shortage.All around, this card helps this deck's strategy in many different ways.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang: This is probably the most commonly seen card in other standard decks that are included in this deck.The reason that he is here is because I can often cast him on turn 3 or 4 because of the self-milling. This not only creates a hug threat for the opponent, but Tasigur also has an amazing 4-mana ability that helps my strategy. When I use his ability I can create tokens off of Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and have something get back to my hand.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant: This card is an absolute workhorse in this deck. Once she is out I can usually start making a few zombie tokens per turn. This not only stymies aggro decks with endless chump blockers, but also allows you to swing in with some damage when necessary. I usually don't attack with her in order to keep her alive since there are so many other ways to make zombies than just off of her own abilities. However, if you need a little more milling, then by all means swing away!
Empty the Pits
: Let's be honest here. We all have always wanted to play this card ever since it came out in KTK. Here is your perfect excuse to. There is only one of them in this deck because it is a great finisher when there are 40+ cards in your graveyard. This card is "meh" in most other decks, but in this one it is crazy good. If you run into trouble in the middle of a game you can also chuck this out to create blockers while you stabilize and mill some more.
Inverter of Truth
: Here we go, the card that made you scratch your head when you first saw the spoilers for OGW. The downside seems a little too extreme for the value gained, right? WRONG!!! This card is exactly the one that this deck wants. This deck cycles through cards very quickly. Don't be afraid of getting close to milling out because this card serves as a security blanket. Make sure to hold one of these in your hand. When the opponent thinks that you only have a few turns left you can play this card and put that whole graveyard back into your library and start the process all over again. This card is what makes this deck fun to play. Also, before you invert your graveyard you can get rid of unwanted cards with delve mechanics from cards like Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Murderous Cut. This way on the second or third times through the deck you can be drawing nothing but gasoline instead of having to worry about mana flood or worthless draws.
Hedron Alignment
: The card that almost never works in any other deck has just been turned into your most consistent win-con. It is very easy to get this card into any zone you would like. Delve to get it exiled, self-mill to get it to graveyard, play it for the battlefield, and draw it into your hand. The fact that this deck regularly cycles through the whole deck in most games means that you will be seeing all four hedrons consistently. I usually try to mill 2 of them and draw 2 of them. This way you can exile one of the milled ones and play one of the drawn ones. Cards like Sultai Ascendancy and Taigam's Scheming Will help you to avoid milling or drawing too many hedrons. Again, mill 2 and draw 2. During some of my deck testing I was able to successfully win by aligning the hedrons 4 times in 8 games. When your opponent sees that you are playing
Hedron Alignment
they usually scoff at how bad your deck is, but they will promptly shut up when they lose by the hedrons on turn 6.
Conclusions
There are many other useful cards in this deck that are fun to play with. Since the next block is Innistrad, which is known for graveyard interaction, I foresee that this deck will get even better despite losing most of its Khans cards.
Please let me know if you have any ideas or comments on this deck by commenting them below. Upvote if you like the idea! Also upvote if you like decks that use uncommon cards in standard.
Oh, and I almost forgot, this deck is extremely budget for standard at less than $50.00.
