"Why? Do you even know why they sent you?" the Mystic asked. A green light began to gather around his hand.
"It's not my place to ask," the Agent answered. "I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin." Daggers leapt upward from the ground. They stopped at chest height, hovering motionless in the air. Rivulets of blood trickled from top to bottom where the crimson liquid pooled, defying gravity like the instruments of death that carried them.
"So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?"
The Agent smiled. "I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there, any more than there is for you. Mystic... I'm a monster.What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done."
"Then let it be done," the Mystic said, closing his eyes.
The dagger closest to the Mystic flew forward, taking him in the throat. The Agent stepped dutifully to the fallen body and wrenched the dagger from the corpse. He sheathed it at his side without wiping the blood from the weapon. Blood never left his instruments. The greatest miracles required it as a sacrament.
From another pouch on his belt he pulled a piece of rolled parchment. He opened it carefully, reverently. With several names above and many more below, he drew a finger across one entry. Beneath lay another sinner: Master of Waves.
"You are breathing borrowed air."
I have a confession to make: I have two loves in Standard right now, Heroic and White Control. I can't really get into playstyles like Rakdos, Ramp, Dredge, Mill, Mono-Black, Mono-Blue, etc... I know that several of those are really, really good right now. The problem is, I like to play the "good guy", and in my head White equals good. Heroic, the rising up of common men to do extraordinary things equals good.
Sacrificial Rites is built around both concepts. Let's talk about the White Control aspects first:
White Control
Gods Willing - I know that God's Willing isn't typically described as "Control." I lump it in here as I ascribe to the following definition of control: Anything that does not let an opponent do what he wants, when he wants. You want to Doomblade my Precinct Captain? God's Willing, protection from black. I get to keep my Precinct Captain, and have a scry thrown in for good measure.
Soul Tithe
- I love this card. You'll notice that my removal spells are all sacrifice or exile. By splashing Black I could have gone the direct removal route with Doom Blade or
Ultimate Price
or Hero's Downfall. However I wanted something that I could use on every non-land permanent and force my opponent into tough decisions. Tough decisions early in a match are good. The more I can throw you off your plan, the better. Pay X every turn to keep your bully out there, or sacrifice it with no gain to yourself. Devour Flesh is another option in this two drop slot, but it only targets creatures and beefs up the opponent's life total over time.
Celestial Flare
- This card, like a couple other White cards, just isn't fair in standard. Two mana to force a sacrifice at instant speed. Best, it circumvents creature hexproof and similar effects by targeting the player. Indestructibility? Not a problem. Like Soul Tithe above, Devour Flesh is an option here, but is disregarded for similar reasons.
Banishing Light - Welcome back to Standard, Oblivion Ring. The merits of this card should be obvious, it completely removes a threat from the battlefield. Erebos, God of the Dead keeping you from gaining life? Not anymore. Polukranos, World Eater about to ruin your day? Nope! Mogis, God of Slaughter draining your life total turn after turn? Bye bye. Elspeth, Sun's Champion putting out infinite 1/1's to sacrifice instead of his creatures? Same answer. Think of Banishing Light as your Swiss Army Knife. If your opponent has a threat that needs to go "right now," this is your answer.
Heroic
You'll notice that, despite loving Heroic, I only have one Heroic card in this deck. That decision is based on two factors: 1)
Agent of the Fates
has a very powerful Heroic ability that we want to leverage as often as we can. 2) The other White creatures in this deck are powerful in their own right and can help stave off early pressure from other aggro decks.
Agent of the Fates
- Wow. Target him with any of the trigger cards below and your opponent(s) sacrifice a creature. Deathtouch is just gravy for this card. The best part is that Agent of the Fates does not have to be involved in active combat for his Heroic ability to make a difference. Let's look at some of the potential use cases:
- Opponent plays in a large creature on his turn that will be problematic next turn, or will keep you from attacking like a Desecration Demon. Play any of the Heroic triggers below (most likely
Boon of Erebos
or Gods Willing) and the demon is no longer a problem.
- You play in Agent of the Fates. Opponent plays
Ultimate Price
or Hero's Downfall after the Agent has entered the battlefield. You counter with one of the two protection spells listed above. Not only do you save the Agent, but your opponent has to sacrifice a creature he may have on the battlefield.
- You want to finish things off and have two Agents in play and two 1/1 tokens in play from a now-dead Precinct Captain. Your opponent has a three beefy blockers. You Launch the Fleet and strive for at least 1 extra, targeting both of the Agents. Immediately the enemy has to sacrifice two of his three beefy blockers. You play another cheap trigger. Bye bye third blocker. You're now hitting for a minimum of 10 that turn, depending on how many tokens you targeted with the Strive.
Boon of Erebos
- Yes, the payment of life for this card stinks. But let's think about it pragmatically: you can pay that two life now and immediately remove another threat. That means the Precinct Captain that was attacking you doesn't get to hit you for two once or twice more. Or the Desecration Demon doesn't swing for six.
Boon is also a great "keep Agent on the field" spell. Shock? Regenerate.
Ultimate Price
? Regenerate. Hero's Downfall? Regenerate.
Bile Blight
? Crap. But that's where the next spell comes in...
Gods Willing - Such a good card. Protection from a color of your choice and a scry. That means a sacrifice of an enemy creature, and you get to control the next card coming out of your deck. Win and win.
Ethereal Armor - If you are able to get/keep enchantments out there, Ethereal Armor becomes a hyper efficient card. You'll notice that we run nine enchantments in our deck. There is no way we'd ever have them all out at the same time, but two or three at once is not out of the question. Stacking two of these on the same creature, especially the Agent, means that he is swinging for the fences.
Assume just two enchantments in, both Ethereal Armor, and both on the Agent. That means two creatures likely sacrificed by your opponent. The Agent starts at 3/2. Each Ethereal Armor gives +1/+1 for each enchantment on the field, and since we have two out each is giving +2/+2. That puts the Agent at a hefty 7/6 attacking, with First Strike and Deathtouch. Not bad for two mana.
Launch the Fleet - Launch the fleet's purpose is two-fold. 1) A Heroic trigger for more sacrifices. 2) A win-con when paired with a Precinct Captain that has been attacking unimpeded due to Agent's sacrifices. There's something great about flooding the board with 1/1 counters that are immediately attacking your opponent. As listed in the examples above, if you have more than one Agent out, make sure you're stiving both if the opponent that two or more creatures.
Glimpse the Sun God
- This is a sideboard card, but it is worth mentioning. Being able to attack with your Agent (or Precinct Captain), cast Glimpse at the end of the declare attackers phase, target Agent (who is already tapped) and the likely defenders is fun. Letting your attack go through AND force a sacrifice is even more fun.
Card Synergy
Agent of the Fates
+ Precinct Captain - This is a rather simple one. Agent of the Fates removes potential defenders. Precinct Captain gets to stack 1/1 counters on the battlefield when hitting an opponent.
Agent of the Fates
+
Celestial Flare
+ Banishing Light + Precinct Captain - The above combo on steroids. Every time the opponent puts a creature out there, force it off the battlefield, and then swing with Precinct Captain. Keep the 1/1 tokens flowing.
Precinct Captain + Launch the Fleet - Turn those 1/1 tokens into an avalanche of 1/1 tokens, all attacking.
Agent of the Fates
+
Celestial Flare
+
Soul Tithe
+ Wight of Precinct Six - Through sacrifice or combat, your opponent is going to acquire a mass of creatures in his/her graveyard. Wight of Precinct Six takes advantage of this, growing in size each and every time another corpse is buried. Swing for large/huge numbers with no buffs applied.
Sideboard
Blind Obedience - Bring this in for Haste-heavy matches like Rakdos. An unleashed Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch isn't that scary when she enters the battlefield tapped, giving you plenty of time to prompt a sacrifice.
Debt to the Deathless - To sideboard in if you need another win condition. It's a different flavor of Spinx's revelation. No cards, but scalable direct damage right to your opponent's face.
Fiendslayer Paladin - Bring in against Black or Red, sub out Brimaz.
Soldier of the Pantheon - Bring in against multi-colored decks. Sub out Judge's Familiar.
Rise of the Dark Realms - Your opponent is going to have a lot of creatures in his/her graveyard. Bring them all back onto the battlefield, all under your control. Watch them scoop as the card resolves.
Final Thoughts
Sacrificial Rites is all about forcing your opponent into negative choices as often as possible. Which creature are you going to sacrifice this turn? Do you pay three life (per creature) to keep my just-killed creatures dead? Do you put another creature out there, knowing that I have cards in hand that might be able to force an instant speed sacrifice?
While your opponent is thinking about which creature/permanent he is going to lose access to next, keep swinging with your stalwart low-cost White creatures. Let them carry you to victory through solid two power swings a round, and watch the mountain of tokens accumulate.
This is my first Tappedout deck I've built. Being relatively new to MTG, I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have as means to improve the deck. Note that my budget is not unlimited. The most expensive cards included in the deck are Athreos, God of Passage,
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
and Mana Confluence. I received one Athreos and the Mana Confluence included in boosters from FNM winnings with Monoxidechild's White Power (6x 1st in FNM + Game Day) deck. Had to buy the 2x Brimaz, but I think they'll be worth it. Finally, credits go to Serenity for the Mystic/Agent conversation included at the top.
