Cruel Celebrant
has been impressing me in brews I've experimented with, so I wanted to see what I can make happen in Mardu, keeping in theme with
Hero of Precinct One
with multi-colored spells and what have you.
Mardu can interact with a lot of decks well, grinding and creating value all the while.
Oath of Kaya
is a great at dealing with smaller threats, and stabilizing your life total against more aggressive decks, as well as gaining extra value from the 3-6 planeswalkers I may be running. There's
Kaya's Wrath
,
Solar Blaze
, and
Deafening Clarion
representing different board wipes, all represented in the sideboard.
Usually you'd like running
Bedevil
over
Angrath's Rampage
, but because I'm light on mana, as well as early plays,
Bedevil
is left in the sideboard when it's absolutely necessary.
Kaya, consecrate, and Profane Processions are all sideboard ways of exiling cards, phoenixes particularly, from the graveyard.
There's plenty of swingy cards at the top end to choose from, but I went with
Angrath, the Flame-Chained
,
Huatli, Warrior Poet
, and
Rakdos, the Showstopper
in the mainboard, as well as
Ethereal Absolution
and
Captive Audience
in the sideboard. I'm a little light on 5-drops, compared to 6 and 7 drops between the main and sideboard, but you can consider running
Lyra Dawnbringer
, or even
Vona, Butcher of Magan
in that spot. My idea was that I enjoy
Oath of Kaya
, and I run a lot of chumps from hero to block,
Cruel Celebrant
to gain value, as well as
Teysa Karlov
, Sorin, and Judith to keep the engine strong. Cards like Aurelia and Tajic serve the purpose of sizing up my little threats, to create that pressure through the grind.
Theater of Horrors
is a great tool for grinding and creating card advantage, but it can be slow, as well as punished by cards like
Knight of Autumn
, or
Mortify
, so be wary.
Despark
is in the mainboard because it's more flexible than I've given it credit for. It answers Chandra/Experimental Frenzy against red, is great in midrange/control match-ups as well, and can even snag a
Venerated Loxodon
against monowhite. I guess it's a dead card against monoblue, so be wary of that, though to be honest cards like
God-Eternal Kefnet
may even show up there, and I only run 2 anyways. It's a 2-mana off curve spell, meant to be paired with other 2, 3, or 4 drop spells. Removal that works against big threats at a good rate is important though, so try to put them in any deck you can.
