Looking to take my Mardu aggro to FNM soon: I'm open to suggestions that would make it nastier or more efficient.
For turn one, Bloodsoaked Champion is a threat that keeps coming back to haunt the opponent, or
Soldier of the Pantheon
for protection from all charms,
Rakshasa Deathdealer
, and other strong multi-colored cards throughout Khans, and the potential for life gain can help keep me alive long enough to win in some instances. Against mono-colored decks, he gets sided out in favor of [[Gnarled Scarhide].
Turn two I can cast
Spiteful Returned
, which I was never a fan of originally but that little bit of extra reach for 2 life even if he gets blocked is worth it almost every time. In this deck,
War-Name Aspirant
can always be read as a two-drop 3/2 creature, plus it can't be blocked by a couple other strong openers like Monastery Swiftspear or utility defenders like Sylvan Caryatid and the like.
Turn three is where the majority of this deck comes into play.
Mardu Charm
to burn Brimaz and Courser of Kruphix, or provide surprise blockers which can also be sacrificed for
Butcher of the Horde
purposes, or take a look at the opponent's hand and remove their anger (or the occasional Planeswalker).
Mardu Ascendancy
cast before combat on turn three can sometimes mean an extra 3 attackers, and being able to sac it for the extra toughness is a plus in this deck. Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Goblin Rabblemaster can come out and start producing their 1/1 minions, which keep up pressure on the opponent or provide chump blockers in a pinch, but more importantly provide fuel for
Butcher of the Horde
on turn 4.
Fourth turn helps ensure victory. Utter End can take care of big threats I can't remove with the charm, and can kill an opponent's walker before it can activate its ability. Sorin, Solemn Visitor can pop up, making even my 1/1's more of a threat with a side of lifegain. If I'm allowed to use his ultimate, the field keeps getting thinner and thinner for the opponent in more drawn-out duels until I can overwhelm with tokens.
Butcher of the Horde
can sometimes end a match the turn he comes out, if there's enough field presence already and he can be given haste. If not, extra tokens serve to give him lifelink or vigilance to keep the game tipped in my favor. If
Gnarled Scarhide
has been sided in, I can also cast him for the bestow cost this turn and functionally remove a blocker, which can sometimes be fatal.
Last but not least, on turn five I can pop down
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
. Love this guy, and he works very well with this deck. By turn five, my opponent is usually fairly low on health and can be finished by Sarkhan's +1. His -3 works as spot removal in case there's a looming threat on the board. If, by some chance, I get to use his ultimate, the game will almost always fall in my favor since I will by then have the mana to cast as many creatures as I can draw into and finish overwhelming the opponent.
Sideboard: as said previously,
Soldier of the Pantheon
gets swapped out for
Gnarled Scarhide
against mono decks. For decks that have creatures too big for me to get around with my own, or for the charm to take out, I can side in a couple Crackling Dooms and a third Utter End to solve that problem, and
Dark Betrayal
and
Glare of Heresy
are some of the best potential sides for almost any strong current decks except for Temur, but that's why they're sideboard, after all.
The only adjustments I would currently make are getting a playset of Bloodstained Mire, but I've only gotten my hands on two so far.
