Thanks to linking me to this.

It's very, VERY exciting.

Maybe my evaluation of this Standard was a little premature.

It seems that there are a lively amount of different decks that can compete.

This is cool! I bet this can get rid of its hand really quickly. I can see Lupine Prototype being super good in this deck. And I'm a big fan of Bomat Courier and Scrapheap Scrounger. In fact, this deck is just full of my fave cards.

I love the interaction between Lupine Prototype and Consulate Dreadnought. I'm curious why even bother with Stitcher's Graft and Always Watching . I get the synergy, and I like those cards, but with just a 1 of Always Watching and a 2 of the Graft, it seems unlikely to get the synergy going. I would think something like Stasis Snare would be better. Just a little removal to take out some of the big guys (with Verdurous Gearhulk being all too common in the meta)

Argeaux,
You're very welcome.

I think Standard is still a rock-scissors-paper meta, but I'm at least happy to see some Tier II (maybe 1.5?) decks that are worth playing.
For example: This deck. I'm REALLY enjoying it!

Shwang,
Yeah, Lupine Prototype is almost never dead (in casual games anyways ... I have no real tournament play yet with the deck). With the exception of a rare Land flood, I've found he's usually ready to start swinging on T3 or T4. And if the hand looks like it won't work, there's usually a Boat there for him to row. Or I just mulligan (which is actually kinda beneficial, as that helps bring Robowolf online sooner).

Stitcher's Graft and Always Watching aren't really meant to be played together (though it's obviously cool on the rare times they're both out). Graft is for turning all the 3-Power Creatures into 6-power dudes so they can row the Boat, and Watching is for general value (plus giving Robowolf the extra boost so he can row on his own).

Stasis Snare is a great idea, and while I wouldn't want it mainboard I was kind of surprised to see Craig didn't have it in his sideboard. If Saheeli stays down, I think swapping Snare for Authority of the Consuls would make a ton of sense.

Thanks tons!

Shwang,
One more thing about Robowolf I forgot to mention: Even when he's "dead" on the board, he's a great Tempo play. I've found opponents will almost always leave a Creature back when he's out, as they don't want to get caught on the backswing if I empty my hand the next turn.

Good call. And lol to Robowolf. I can see graft being useful for that, but then your guy becomes useless. Is it really that useful to crew and then die the next turn, not only leaving your guy dead, but unable to crew ever again? I guess if you're going for speed. I'll have to play test this deck because it looks like a lot of fun and would prob answer my questions. Thanks for sharing with the tappedout community!

Shwang,
Not sure what you mean by 'crew and then die the next turn' ... please note the 'doesn't untap' piece of Stitcher's Graft only triggers on Declare Attackers, not on Crew. And the 'sacrifice that permanent' piece only triggers when it's unattached (which admittedly makes attaching it to Consulate Dreadnought kind of a desperation move).

You're very welcome ... I'm just happy to see that I'm not the only one who thought this looked like a fun deck!

Woops I misread Stitcher's Graft... thought it said that the permanent never untaps. Ok, it makes more sense in there then.

StuBi has been playing with Stitcher's Graft for two seasons now in Angelic High and let me tell you, it is drop dead amazing when paired with Always Watching .

Coz NOW, you can equip to anything you like without worry about it not untapping.

I've play tested my deck which is very much like Wescoe's deck, with minimal changes. it is so fast, and you can have your hand empty in no time. The Key to the City works very well. If you run Cathar's Shield along with Stitcher's Graft I believe your creature will untap with the vigilance from the shield.

Argeaux,
Yeah, I've only had them both on the board at the same time once so far. But it was amazing!

Geo67,
Strictly speaking, the Vigilance effect from Cathar's Shield, grants "Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap." So even though Stitcher's Graft would still trigger, it wouldn't make any difference ... Well, unless you tapped the Creature later (e.g., to Crew a vehicle on defense).

I'm glad Cathar's Shield is working for you, but I'm not a fan at all. If it was +3/+0 then sure. But an increased defensive capability and no increase in Crewing power is just not what I'm looking for in this deck.

Thanks though!

I totally see that on the Shield. It makes me rethink it in my deck, since it is only beefing up the body, not the power. I just thought since it gave your creature vigilance, the graf couldn't keep your creature tapped.

The thing with Cathar's Shield is that it's equip 3, to give ONE Creature Vigilance.

For the same mana cost you can give ALL your Non-Token Creatures Vigilance and +1/+1 with Always Watching .

Argeaux, I totally understandnow, why Always Watching is better in this deck. I never really took a good look at the shield. Thanks guys for the insight on this, it's very much appreciated :)

I don't understand why Dreadnought is there. Is that just something to play for the sake of playing so you can empty your hand for Lupine Prototype? I tend to think Expedition Envoy would serve you better.

KaraZorEl, I think Consulate Dreadnought is in because you can cast it for one colorless, it's 7/11 and with Key to the City, or Gryff's Boon it is tough to stop.

Sure it has a high crew cost, but two, one white mana Toolcraft Exemplars, can crew it, or one Lupine Prototype with a Stitcher's Graft. A vehicle that size really puts pressure on an opponent, and can race with the fast Mardu vehicles decks.

Plus, it's a cheap to buy vehicle, and you know, this deck has some jank cards working well together. I think a lot of it is the fun factor.

I would think that Consulate Dreadnought is the heart of this deck and I can't see that you won't Crew it on Turn 3, most of the time.

A 7/11. On Turn 3.

Unfortunately this is where one of the weaknesses of this deck sets in as you can one shot it with Fatal Push, which most people are playing.

There is a bit of a backup plan with Lupine Prototype and a lot of smaller Creatures hitting the field. Which you can make Unblockable or give Flying to.

There are a lot of options for protecting your stuff.

Unfortunately the deck doesn't have any real ways to disrupt its Opponent's plans, so it might not work if they are trying to out aggro it.

Counter spells and board wipes are going to severely nerf it, as well.

I would think that Control would be its worst matchup. That gets played quite a bit in my local meta, but I would hazard to guess that doesn't hold true across the board.

Good lord this actually looks like a load of fun. and if you get to win with a 5/5 do nothing (most times) and a 7/11 boat....I might use this to get into standard.

Finally catching up on comments ...

KaraZorEl,
I can't tell if you're joking or serious. If you're joking, lol :-D
If you're serious, please just playtest the deck or watch Craig's gameplay video ... I think you'll find that swinging with a 7/11 as early as T2 is slghtly better value than swinging with a 2/1 as early as T2.

Geo67,
Well said. And you're absolutely right that a lot of it is the fun factor!

Argeaux,
Yeah, Fatal Push is brutal. Built to Last (mainboard) and Selfless Spirit (sideboard) help a lot, but Mardu Vehicles is still a very tough fight (which is why I think Craig and his team decided to play that deck instead of this one at the Pro Tour).

I don't have a ton of games (even casual ones) with the deck yet, but I've noticed ...

• My aggro match-ups so far have been either really fast, or really grindy. I've been a little surprised at how clogged the board can get ... though in retospect, I guess 5/5 and 7/11 blockers can do that!
• Bomat Courier is really good for rebuilding the board after a boardwipe ... getting one in opening hand is probably a key part of a post-board mulligan strategy vs. a boardwipe-heavy deck.

I've no real idea yet, on Control. But I'll watch out even more now!

As always, thanks tons!

TLTeno,
Yeah, it's really a ton of fun to play! Thanks and PLEASE let us know how it goes if you give the deck a try!

Thanks to you all!

This squares off against Cast a Shadow very well.

I think that's because it can have so many Creatures on the field by Turns 4 and 5.

I hate to be the negative guy here, but this deck as it's currently being presented shouldn't be here. The deck looks very fun, but you need to put your own twist on Craig's original idea and deck.

This is Craig Wescoe's deck and even though you've stated this and have given him credit as well as a link to his original article it's still his deck. You even went as far to title the deck the same exact title of his "Dogs in Boats". This is a very clever name and should be reserved for his deck not this deck. At least change the title to something else. You're also using his exact main deck list. The only change you've made is to the sideboard which doesn't make this deck at all a twist on his original. To me this is a blatant attempt at fishing for upvotes. I don't understand how you can feel okay getting upvotes for a deck you didn't conceptualize or make. You're completely benefiting from Craig's ideas not your own. You seem to be a well rounded person on this site I've seen your name among many decks, you're much better than this.

I think it's great you get inspiration from the Magic Pros who doesn't, but that's what this deck should be build from, pure inspiration. Don't use his exact main deck list and deck name instead put your own twist on them. Maybe including a second color or change up the creature base some. Perhaps, include the Dogs in Boats theme in a Mardu Vehicles shell or something, make it different, make it unique.

You shouldn't expect any good suggestions of improvements to this deck because it was made by a seasoned Magic Pro, Craig. You think anyone that visits TappedOut can have any suggestions that Craig hasn't thought of? Putting your twist on the original then opens up more discussion about how your version can be improved.

"if you then tap to Row the Boat for defense, the 'doesn't untap' effect will definitely apply."

I don't believe this is right.

Stitcher's Graft says "Whenever equipped creature attacks, it doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step."

If you use a Creature with Stitcher's Graft attached to Crew, it is not attacking. That means it will definitely untap during your next untap step.

I think I also saw you say above that a Creature with Stitcher's Graft attached will tap if you have Always Watching on the field.

That's not right. The Creature won't tap when attacking due to the Vigilance that Always Watching gives it.

I think maybe the confusion is happening because you think that Stitcher's Graft says that the equipped Creature must tap when attacking. It doesn't.

Hi multimedia,

Although, I'm not the poster of this Dogs In BOats deck, I had one of my own up on my page. I did however make changes to the deck, not many but changes indeed. Mostly with cards I didn't like, or own, and replaced with cards of my choice. Is it better than Craig's, not sure, maybe, maybe not.

I think your comment on Dogs in Boats is a bit harsh. But some of your points come across as very valid. I have taken my own version of this deck off my page, changed the name, and will just leave it for myself to look at. I don't want to give any false impressions that I had any input on the original deck, nor do I want any sort of credit for this deck. I do think the deck should be posted on TappedOut, because not everyone reads TCG articles, and may not know about this deck. It is something that people want to play, and it's new, exciting and different. I think I'll reach out to Craig W and ask what type of etiquette should be taken in these situations. He is a very nice guy on TCG and is good at responding.

I do think for you to assume that just because someone is a pro player that they have thought of everything is just ridiculous tho. This game is so many levels deep, with so many card combinations you can always learn something.

Argeaux did a nice job on his post, and not one time does he ever claim it's his deck, he posted a cool idea, and shared it with people he thought would like it.

This is what it says in Tappedout on the deck creation page:

"If this deck is not yours, please cite the source in the description"

From the description above:

"Confession: ALL the credit here goes to Craig Wescoe. I just wish I could brew something as good as Craig Wescoe's Dogs in Boats - Original, from this article (with gameplay video) over at TCGplayer."

The source was well and truly cited.

Nowhere on Tappedout does it say that you can't post other people's decks and deckcycle them.

It is a way of promoting new ideas that other players may not know about.

Argeaux I've misread Stitcher's Graft twice now... the first time thinking that it didn't untap indefinitely... the second time not realizing that it was only when it was tapped for attacking that it didn't untap. That card is much better than I thought! It's a very good crewing card. Thanks for the callout.

Cheers.

No problem at all, Shwang.

I know so much about that card because I fell in love with it when it first came out, and it inspired me to build a deck for my partner that is good enough to play in Frontier, and beats me all the bloody time in Standard!

I'll tell you something else cool about it. If you want to make Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip flip you deliberately move Stitcher's Graft from one of your Creatures to another, making the first Creature die.