Dark Confidant in Standard!!

Standard BUG (Sultai) Competitive Midrange Primer

mtgThaen

Creature (15)

• 2x Gurmag Angler
• 3x Honored Hierarch
• 2x Hooting Mandrills
• 3x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip
• 2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
• 3x Woodland Wanderer

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Kiora, Master of the Depths
• 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited

Land (24)

• 3x Forest
• 1x Island
• 2x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Lumbering Falls
• 4x Polluted Delta
• 4x Sunken Hollow
• 3x Swamp
• 4x Wooded Foothills
• 2x Yavimaya Coast

Instant (9)

• 2x Feed the Clan
• 2x Horribly Awry
• 2x Murderous Cut
• 2x Negate
• 1x Scatter to the Winds

Sorcery (10)

• 2x Duress
• 4x Painful Truths
• 2x Ruinous Path
• 2x Taigam's Scheming

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Sideboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Gaea's Revenge

Instant (11)

• 2x Disdainful Stroke
• 2x Feed the Clan
• 2x Negate
• 1x Scour from Existence
• 2x Sultai Charm
• 2x Ultimate Price

Sorcery (3)

• 2x Languish
• 1x Ruinous Path

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Maybeboard

Land (1)

• 1x Opulent Palace

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Evolutionary Leap

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Crux of Fate
• 1x See the Unwritten

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Dark Confidant in standard? Whaaaat? This guy is trippin' *balls!*

Okay, so maybe is isn't actually Dark Confidant, but Painful Truths does a fair bit of work to make sure that we don't know that. I was reading an article the other day, in which the remark was made that Painful Truths was like having a Dark Confidant in standard, especially for BGx shells. So I thought to myself, "How can I abuse this?" To me, I thought a midrange deck would do best, and that, rather than going Jund (), I would go BGu. However, what started off as a splash ended up being a good chunk of the deck, so now it's more Sultai ().

The main ideas of this deck are to

fill the grave and delve out fatties

use Painful Truths to generate outrageous card advantage

utilize Feed the Clan to make sure we don't kill ourselves

and, finally, kill our opponent.

So I'll break down my card choices:

Honored Hierarch : starting at the bottom of our curve at , this guy does work. He is our rainbow mana dork, allowing us to more easily hit our colors and to cast Woodland Wanderer as a 6/6. His downside of having to be renowned is not that bad, and he usually gets through.

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  : this guy is in here for obvious reasons, but I'll clarify. He lets us abuse our graveyard, and also loots while he's young to fill it up. I cut to three because he kept showing up too often, and as a legendary that wasn't working for me.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang: this bad boss is ridiculous here, as he is almost anywhere he's put to good use. Casting him early puts enormous pressure on the opponent, and his activated ability helps fuel the yard and further let us recur value. I only run two because I have many delve cards, and he is legendary.

Gurmag Angler: Jaws here loves to eat anything he can get his mouth on, preferable by letting it come to him in ambush mode. He's a fat body that makes seige rhino s and other Tasigurs cry. Only two because I don't want to break the graveyard's back.

Hooting Mandrills: a 4/4 trampler for ? Yes, please! I need a green beater, and this guy fits the bill. He runs over chump blockers and is a big body on his own. Two, for the same reasons as for the others.

Woodland Wanderer : he often comes down as a 5/5, but with Honored Hierarch he can easily become a 6/6, which is amazing. I run three because I like him a lot, and he eats removal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Ob Nixilis Reignited: all around utility. He can act as a draw engine, a spot removal stick, or a control player's nightmare with his ultimate. He's a one-of because of his cost, though I may up him to two.

Kiora, Master of the Depths: to be honest, I think I will cut her for another Ob Nix. But, her +1 and minus are useful, allowing me to ramp or hit a land drop when I need it.

Duress: a little hand disruption, especially T1 if I don't have a Forest around. Also good to clear the way so we don't get BTFO when a delve spell gets countered.

Feed the Clan: does so many things! Hoses aggro, lets us use O'Nix and Painful Truths pain-free, and frustrates opponents to no end. Who likes playing someone who has 60+ life? No one, that's who.

Horribly Awry: gets rid of most creatures before they are a problem. Stops seige rhino and Deathmist Rapto, and also Anafenza, the Foremost, who wrecks this deck like nobody's business.

Negate: What can I say? Utility for .

Taigam's Scheming: let's us fill our yard and dig deep to stack our draw. I wish it were at instant speed, and I'm willing to swap it out for an upgrade.

Painful Truths: the reason for the season. I mean, deck. This lets us put immense pressure on our opponents, and its reusability with Baby Jace and Tasigur makes it better, in my opinion, than Treasure Cruise here. We almost always draw three.

Scatter to the Winds : this card is a one-of due to mana requirements, but late game this can turn a bad game around.

Ruinous Path : Hero's Downfall 1.5. Sorcery speed, but it gets the job done, and awakening it is hilarious! Kills pretty much anything, which is just what we want.

Murderous Cut: kill spell for ? Hell, yeah. Talk about value. I only run one because of the yard taxation, but it's an all-star.

Lumbering Coast: a just-in-case finisher. It dodges most removal, and can slowly finish off an opponent. Helps out with the late-game of a midrange deck.

Sideboard:

Disdainful Stroke: comes in against control, mostly. Stops pesky board wipes and Rhinos, etc.

Feed the Clan: just in case two mainboard doesn't do it.

Gaea's Revenge: also against control. Super hard for them to touch.

Languish: stops aggro dead, and leaves most of our finishers alone.

Negate: for when we need a more control approach.

Ruinous Path : more removal for walker decks and fatties.

Ultimate Price: for the mono-colored decks, however few there are.

Scour from Existence: because Eldrazi are a thing.

Sultai Charm: just when we need the utility. Hates artifacts and mono-color decks, and lets us dig when we need to.

Thanks for reading! If you see any problems, have any advice, or want to ask any questions, let me know in the comments! I don't play standard, but I'd be interested in hearing how you do with it if you make this deck IRL or on MTGO.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 4 Rares 4 - 6 Uncommons 12 - 5 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.25
Tokens	Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Emblem Kiora, Master of the Depths, Emblem Ob Nixilis Reignited, Octopus 8/8 U
Folders	decks