Hi, thanks for stopping by and checking out this deck that I've been tinkering with. If you have any comments, criticisms or tweaks, please let me know. This deck is obviously a work in progress as five colour is always a deck that has to be incredibly fine tuned to function. Also, the new Ravnica set has not even begun to release spoilers, but a man can dream right?
HOPES AND DREAMS
So, what is the deck, and why do I believe that this will be a real thing. For those of you who were not playing/actually playing competitive decks, when the last Ravnica block was in standard, there was a tier two deck that was essentially a Bant pillow fort that revolved around Maze's End. After looking at all the possible signs that Wizards have dropped, I am hopeful that Maze's End is due for a reprint. So what makes me think that this will actually happen? Over the last few sets, Wizards have printed/reprinted several cards that I think both enable and hose a deck like Maze's End, despite the fact that nothing like this archetype currently exists in Standard.
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Enablers: Scapeshift and Crucible of Worlds are both much needed reprints for this deck to stand a chance. While Crucible is currently not in my main, that is just because the shell I am currently building revolves more about Bant ramp and protection, and has less to do with graveyard synergy. I think there is a big chance for Crucible to be a major player, but unfortunately we will not know that until spoilers season is over. Additionally, the new Guild Gate Explosive Vegetation, Circuitous Route is a great pick up, and Guild Summit is a tremendous little draw engine. Once it's on the field, there are about seventeen cards in your deck that trigger it. And finally, Chromatic Lantern is always a welcome addition when one is trying to construct the spiciest of five colour brews.
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Hoses: I do not think that it's a coincidence that Assassin's Trophy can specifically target lands, even with the prominence of the flip lands from Ixalan. Additionally, Alpine Moon forces lands to lose abilities, and more importantly in this context, types. What many people passed off as just a very narrow hose against Tron, I think could also be a potential hoser in standard designed for Maze's End.
BASIC DECK CONCEPTS
So currently I am using a Naya shell for this deck, with red really being there just for premium removal, such as Lava Coil, Deafening Clarion, and Fiery Cannonade. I splash blue for Guild Summit, and I believe I will have a little black and blue in the sideboard for specific removal/counter-magic. It's possible I may take the deck towards Black at some point, but currently I just don't think there are enough worthwhile cards to push me in that direction. I think spot removal like Cast Down or Moment of Craving is just not up to snuff compared to Lava Coil, short of getting rid of Adanto Vanguard. The black card that I feel this deck would really need is Vraska's Contempt to deal with walkers, but it is unfortunately double black, and seems a bit rough to pull off in this shell. Continuing down this thought process, the board wipes in white/Boros just seem a little more flexible and non-conditional than black, and a little less taxing on the mana shell I'm trying to create.
LANDS
The actual land set up right now is obviously a bit of a mess as I'm still in full swing tinkering mode, but I'm shooting to have about 27 lands total, and will probably have about 16-18 gates, 4 Maze's End, and the remaining amount will be either shocks or basics. I may cut 1-2 of the Maze's End for more gates, as I have 4 copies of Scapeshift included, and will most likely be playing some amount of Elvish Rejuvenator's that will filter for the game winner. If this deck ever actually takes off and people actually prepare a sideboard against it, I will have to make sure to make sure I can't be locked out by the opponent just blowing up one of my guild gates.
CREATURES
The creature base for the deck is currently very wonky, and I am not entirely sure what the correct path should be. Llanowar Scout I think is fairly important addition, since it can block some chip damage, and put gates out at end of turn, which should hopefully help me curve out. My personal problem right now lies between how many District Guide and how many Elvish Rejuvenator should be run. Personally, I believe that District Guide will probably end up being cut entirely for Elvish Rejuvenator, because the actual ramp just seems more important than getting a specific guild gate, and I have several ways already built into the deck to get specific lands. The spicier bits of tech are Chamber Sentry and Gleaming Barrier. If this deck is actually legit, I think Chamber Sentry will be an all-star. It can be cast on basically any turn based on your needs, it has recursion, and it can be leveraged as spot removal for your opponent's creatures/planeswalkers. Gleaming Barrier I am less sure of. I have it at the two slot currently because it has no specific mana costs, which seems integral for any card I play in the early game. It can also block Adanto Vanguard, and when it does die, it makes that sweet, sweet treasure which can fix mana, and ramp me ahead to a potential board wipe/stalling tactic.
CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
So, this is all I have from working on it up to this date. Once I have figured out my removal suite, I will add another section to the description. Thanks so much for reading, and I would love to get any feedback/suggestions you may have. With any luck, I will be pillow-forting my way to victory in the very near future!
