Mardu Beatdown

Standard* Demons RBW (Mardu)

Alskar

Creature (22)

• 4x Bloodsoaked Champion
• 4x Butcher of the Horde
• 3x Chief of the Edge
• 1x Dragon Whisperer
• 2x Flamewake Phoenix
• 3x Grim Haruspex
• 3x Master of the Feast
• 2x Stormbreath Dragon

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
• 1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Land (24)

• 4x Bloodstained Mire
• 4x Mountain
• 1x Plains
• 7x Swamp
• 2x Temple of Malice
• 4x Temple of Silence
• 2x Temple of Triumph

Enchantment (3)

• 3x Mardu Ascendancy

Instant (9)

• 3x Crackling Doom
• 2x Hero's Downfall
• 2x Mardu Charm
• 2x Silence the Believers

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Sideboard

Creature (5)

• 3x Aegis of the Gods
• 2x Eidolon of the Great Revel

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Gift of Immortality

Sorcery (8)

• 2x Crater's Claws
• 3x Despise
• 3x Duress

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I present to you, my Mardu concoction!

First, a little bit of story time... I, like so many of you, had been cruising the recent releases, trying to get an idea of what colors I am going to run this season as I am choosing to foray back into standard. Whilst wading through the spoils of many hard earned packs (Hey, its not always easy cutting through the 8 year-olds crowded around the Pokemon cards, okay?) a couple of cards stood out to me, first being Butcher of the Horde, the first time I laid eyes on him my initial thoughts were: "Oh look a 5/4 flying demon for 4 with a paragraph, what's the spine shattering downside?"

And then I read the rest of the card.

"Holy crap."

The main reason I thought this was so powerful was because I just finished salivating over Raidcrawler... Erm, sorry Bloodsoaked Champion, and my internal combo alarm went off.

 Initial ideas were leaning towards an aggro styled deck, but some quick testing made it feel too shaky on its feet, and aggro was never really my cup of tea anyway.

Now let me stop you here, its time to learn a little bit about me.

 I am a fledgling magic player, swimming in a play group of vicious modern piranha and PTQ ready standard sharks. Needless to say, no one is really all that interested in showing the ropes to the newb in proper fashion. Rather they figure beating me over the head with their vast knowledge will do the trick, and it has... To an extent. So forgive me if my sense of what seems good is far from 'on the money.'

Now, back to the deck, I liked the Bloodsoaked Champion + Butcher of the Horde synergy but I felt like it needed a little more to be competitive. The players in my play group are very good at getting value out of everything they play, so the search was on. Luckily I didn't have to look far before I realized Grim Haruspex would not only jump onto the combo bandwagon, but it would actually give the deck a small shovel in which to dig for more goodies. I was pleased with my findings.

From there, everything kind of filled itself in naturally.

Chief of the Edge to buff Bloodsoaked Champion and the warrior tokens spawning from Mardu Charm

Crackling Doom because I'm newby, and if I can get a pseudo - albeit, faceseeking Shock glued to a Diabolic Edict type effect, well, I want it.

Hero's Downfall and Silence the Believers for removal.

 (Silence is a meta choice based on some of the decks I face in my playgroup, this is subject to change)

Mardu Charm for versatility.

Master of the Feast I feel like he will be a good combatant against Savage Knuckleblade and a lot of other likely T3 creature plays. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's why I'm here; every day is school.

Stormbreath Dragon because, dem beats.

Flamewake Phoenix was initially added for more T3 options; however, the ferocious mechanic works really well with Butcher of the Horde assuming you have a spare red mana source. (Sac phoenix>Declare combat step>Use Ferocious trigger>???>Profit)

Sorin, Solemn Visitor expands your T4 options as well as allowing for surprise buffing and more lifegain vs burn.

And finally Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker because I initially wanted to run 3x Stormbreaths, but felt I would lose a bit of utility... I feel this is the best of both worlds. Once again, yell at me if I'm wrong.

My sideboard is hastily assembled because I felt like I needed to put something there else be scorned.

Anyway, that is my deck. Feel free to give suggestions in the comments, I look forward to your expert critiques!

Date added	10 years
Last updated	9 years
Key combos	Bloodsoaked Champion + Butcher of the Horde
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 9 Rares 5 - 3 Uncommons 0 - 3 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.03
Tokens	Dragon 4/4 R, Emblem Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Goblin 1/1 R, Morph 2/2 C, Vampire 2/2 B, Warrior 1/1 W