Hey guys, first time posting here! I've been thinking about this a lot lately, I definitely think this will be a thing. I'm kind of new with constructed and stuff, so sorry if I say anything stupid lol

I feel like one weakness this deck has is against flying...especially since there's no removal. I was thinking maybe Suspension Field could help out? Or maybe Utter End and Hero's Downfall for potential Planeswalker removal? With these new Dragon guys and Mantis Rider will always be a potential threat, I just feel like some sort of removal could help.

Is Mardu Shadowspear really that much better than Bloodsoaked Champion? The dash mechanic is cool and everything, but I feel like the point of this is to try to get Obelisk of Urd out ASAP. Especially with all the potential early board wipe stuff going around lately such as Anger of the Gods, Bile Blight, etc. Then again, now we have Mardu Woe-Reaper...there's too many good 1 drops to choose from! #FirstWorldProblems

Brutal Hordechief looks badass and stuff, but I'm definitely in the Sorin, Solemn Visitor camp on this. The extra lifelink and potential to make flying is really important IMO. Plus it makes the opponent deal with a Planeswalker of course.

So I think that's everything, sorry for the thesis lol. I'm just excited for this!

Welcome to tappedout.net, PatentOfNobility!

The deck is definitely weak to flying. To combat this, the deck pushes ground-based damage very quickly. I'm on the fence about siding in removal. I think that the best way to run the deck is to keep it as close to it's core principles as possible in Games 2 and 3, and bring in answers specifically for the deck your opponent is running. That means to me usually bringing in more protection instead of removal, as the opponent generally is bringing in more removal to combat your threats.

Mardu Shadowspear deals 1 damage unblockable and another via combat, which could be blocked. Bloodsoaked Champion can have both points of damage blocked. Also, Shadowspear can be a 3/3 (really a 4/3) blocker once an Obelisk of Urd is in play. Bloodsoaked can't block, and blocking will be important with this deck mid to late game.

Mardu Woe-Reaper is going to bump Seeker of the Way out of the deck. I get lifelink from Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and Woe-Reaper helps get an Obelisk into play faster.

I agree, Brutal Hordechief looks wicked cool, but I need to keep Sorin in here. Sorin will present a diversion that the opponent must address, taking attention away from my creatures in the event that I have yet to draw an Obelisk. Sorin also acts like Obelisks 3 and 4.

I am super excited, too. I really dig fast aggro decks, and I think this one is going to have some punch to it.

Okay, here's what I personally would do with this deck:1) Find a way to get Take Up Arms into your main or sideboard. Yes, it's expensive, but once you've got your Chiefs and Obelisks out it's worth it.2) Add a splash of red ( 4 Mountain, 2 Flamerush Rider, 2 Borderland Marauder, 2 War-Name Aspirant)3) Add some Mardu Woe-Reapers to mess with graveyards, some Wild Slashes to deal with pillow forts, and some Harsh Sustenances to deal with evaders.

I've tried to work in Take Up Arms, but at for only 3 warriors, it's just not valuable enough. It would be an auto-include if it was the same cost as Hordeling Outburst.

I'm holding off on three colors to maintain a performance advantage over wedge decks. I am going to make a Mardu version of this deck at some point, and I'll definitely take your advice into consideration.

Harsh Sustenance is a cool card, but adding it would take out something critical to the deck's core principle: get a few creatures big, irremovable and killing quickly.

What about Bloodsoaked Champion and the new one, Mardu Woe-Reaper?

Bloodsoaked Champion can't block. The deck may need to stall with blockers if Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Obelisk of Urd or Rush of Battle aren't drawn.

Mardu Hateblade is a placeholder for Mardu Woe-Reaper until tappedout is updated.

what about Archetype of Courage. Soldier = check, all round boost = check.

These are Warriors, not Soldiers.

Nelstone ah yeah, I see now with Mardu Shadowspear

I agree with replacing Seeker of the Way with Mardu Woe-Reaper. We're not really casting a whole lot spells to make Seeker worth it. Plus Woe-Reaper makes Whip decks hate us haha! The fact that its not ---just-- Woe-Reaper, but also "or another Warrior enters the battlefield" really devastates Whip decks IMO.

I think I might try out Brutal Hordechief just to see how he goes. I think Sorin will be better but I dunno, being able to almost control a combat phase could be really powerful in an aggro deck like this. Imagine forcing the opponent to multi-block just one dude (preferably someone weaker, so its essentially sacrificing it) just so a ton of damage gets through to them. Or we can arrange blocks our way to potentially wipe their side of the field. Like honestly if we get Hordechief and Obelisk in play together...it's gotta be over at that point

I really like this tribal idea but it would be more competitive with a lower cmc. The reason I may play this over red agro is that you can really utilize Athreos, God of Passage he can give you that extra steam you need. Just an idea! upvote for me :)

how is the 4x Obelisk of Urd working out? most decks i see only run 1-2 due to its cost and the slowness of convoke in aggro.

Rally the Ancestors ?

Brutal Hordechief can definitely turn the tables with all kinds of fun blocking considerations. I'll do some playtesting with him in the deck. Yea, the Hordechief, an Obelisk and open would pretty much end the game.

Most financial sites are predicting it to drop to around $5, as opposed to it's current $10 preorder price. I really want a playset. I may get 2 at $10 each, I'm not sure. I've spent arounf $35 on preorders so far, which in Magic is a drop in the bucket.

Athreos, God of Passage is a good card, but not for this deck. First, there isn't anything I'd cut to add it. Second, I play defensively with protection until I'm in a position for an explosive, overwhelming attack, so not a lot of creatures should be dying.

The lower CMC version of this deck (which is a prototype I'm working on called Utimate Warriors) includes a lot more 1 toughness creatures, which makes it waaaaay more susceptible to Drown in Sorrow, Lightning Strike, Magma Jet, Anger of the Gods, and Bile Blight, even with an Obelisk of Urd in play.

This isn't a typical aggro deck. If an Obelisk isn't drawn early, you need to play defensively and conservatively.

@IzuKorasu, Obelisk of Urd is central to this deck's primary principle: get every creature too big to handle as quickly as possible. It can be played as early as turn 3. It's not Legendary, so multiple can be played, depending on the situation, of course. Running 4 works out remarkably well for me, so much so that I'm surprised more decks don't run 4.

Rally the Ancestors is good, but much the same way Athreos, God of Passage doesn't fit this deck, not a lot of my creatures are going to the graveyard, ideally.

I feel like the sideboard could maybe use some work...I'm not really sure if 4x Erase is necessary, I think we could get away with less than that. Especially with all the scry action we have, and also we got Read the Bones. I think having Erase is important just in case we run into Jeskai Ascendancy combo but I dunno if having 4 is worth it. Most sideboards from what I've seen have maybe 2 or 3 I think

Disowned Ancestor is cool I guess, since a lot of removal does 3 damage or less

I like the Ajani's Presence, Hushwing Gryff, and Feat of Resistance stuff though

I'm still all for putting in some sort of removal through the board

Actually I just remembered, thoughts on Valorous Stance?

The sideboard needs more attention. I've been focused on tweaking the mainboard and basically copy-pasted the ideas for the side from one of my other main Obelisk-based decks.

I think Valorous Stance has a place in the side. The question is, do we completely drop Ajani's Presence? I'm not so sure. Valorous adds removal to the deck that targets threats that may be too big to handle before getting +2. Ajani's offers cheap protection. Much like having both Gods Willing and Feat of Resistance, perhaps Valorous as a 3-of and Ajani's a 2 would be good options.

Whip decks are very prevalent in my meta, hence the 4x Erase and 3x Hushwing Gryff. You're probably right, 4x Erase, especially with 4 Read the Bones in the main, may be too many. Let's consider 3-of.

So far, the proposed sideboard looks like this:

• 2x Ajani's Presence
• 3x Erase
• 3x Hushwing Gryff
• 3x Valorous Stance

This leaves 4 slots open. We haven't accounted for 4x Disowned Ancestor or the 2 original Feat of Resistance. We could drop the two Ajani's for the Feats and keep 4 Disowned. We can also consider dropping Disowned altogether. If we did, we would have to play much more conservatively against burn decks, basically holding back on a creature presence until we have protection in hand. This would impact the ability to convoke an Obelisk early on.

For arguments sake, lets say we drop the 4 Disowned, keep 2 Ajani's and the 2 Feats. The extra protection would come in against burn instead of the Disowned Ancestors. So, what fills the last two spots? I think you're right, it'd need to be more removal. But which 2 or 2-of would be the best value? Running white and black gives us access to the best removal available. With Monastery Mentor looming on the horizon, and Jeskai Token decks showing strength, I think 2x Drown in Sorrow is the way to go.

The proposed sideboard is shaping up as such:

• 2x Ajani's Presence
• 2x Drown in Sorrow
• 3x Erase
• 2x Feat of Resistance
• 3x Hushwing Gryff
• 3x Valorous Stance

Your two cents?

Thinking about it, with 3 Valorous Stance, the 2 Ajani's Presence could be dropped, bumping both Drown in Sorrow and Feat of Resistance to 3-of each.

Drown in Sorrow will hit everything rather hard, including tokens and your unbuffed creatures, but probably not Monastery Mentor. Valorous Stance will probably be a valid way of removing the problem at the source (especially with ascendancy out) which is better then removing tokens, but that prowess makes everything more tricky. Bile Blight could also be a valid option and that instant speed could make all the difference.

either Disowned Ancestor or Bloodsoaked Champion could be used to deal with burn decks in the sideboard, but depending on how common it is, your creature base should be heavy enough to handle it.

while not on theme Citadel Siege is an interesting card.

Bile Blight may be a better sideboard choice than Drown in Sorrow.

Citadel Siege does offer some interesting combat options.

Oh yeah, I forgot Whip is an Enchantment Artifact, I thought it was just an Artifact for some reason

I think I like Bile Blight more than Drown in Sorrow. Really the perfect answer for token decks

I feel like Valorous Stance would be great against Abzan Midrange. Turn 3 Siege Rhino is where its at (with Turn 2 Sylvan Caryatid). I don't think this current deck gives us an answer for it on Turn 3, but Valorous Stance certainly would provide us with that

Citadel Siege is interesting, but at that point I'd rather just play a Rush of Battle

I've been working on a deck similar to this to. In my opinion Obelisk of Urd is to slow.I think Bloodsoaked Champion is better than Mardu Shadowspear. I would also add Brutal Hordechief since he is a great aggro finisher.

I'm actually considering exchanging Mardu Shadowspear for Bloodsoaked Champion or Tormented Hero. The guaranteed 1 player damage has been overshadowing the fact that it's still a 1/1 in battle, and just a 3/3 with the Obelisk out. We need the 4/3 to attack through Courser of Kruphix.

I'm going to hold off on preordering Brutal Hordechief, as signs point to it dropping to the $5 range within a few months after release. Also, he doesn't entirely fit with this deck in particular due to it's converted mana cost.

Building this one already XD!!

Genizues this deck allows us to get Obelisk out as soon as turn 3. How is that too slow lol