Hey Guys,
This shall be a Standard-Ramp-Exert Deck. With two main strategies:
With Channeler Initiate and Druid of the Cowl it should be possible to cast a Champion of Rhonas in turn 3.In turn 4 it should be possible to hard cast a Glorybringer and in the best case a CC6+ creature with the exerted Champion of Rhonas.
The Soul-Scar Mage is here for the effect of the Glorybringer, and Ambuscade. And he is the only one drop creature.
Rhonas the Indomitable is in the Deck as Backup. If i dont draw a big creature, i have an indistructible 5/5 which gets viable with the most creatures in the deck. And if not, he can give another creature +2/+0 (like his Champion) and is able to block or attack.
The Crocodile of the Crossing is on the one hand a cheap fatty, on the other hand its possible to add -1 counters on the Channeler Initiate.
The Scaled Behemoth and the Majestic Myriarch are the finishers.
The Spells are there to buff my cheaper creatures to survive the early game. Ornamental Courage is there to trigger the exert more often and build a trap if i need to block. And it can take marks from the Druid if i need to geht Rhonas viable. (Provided i have enough Mana)
Well, the Cinder Glade is the best Gruul land at the moment in my opinion. But with Ixalan it isn't standard legal anymore, if im right. So if you see a better mana and ramp base there, tell me please.I choose a few more mountains, cause of the ramp creatures. If Rootbound Crag comes with Ixalan i will add it for the Cinder Glade. And i added two Sheltered Thicket. If they come turn 2 or 3 they are not that viable against a basic (because i need the mana directly) but in slower games they do very well and if i have enough mana i can cycle them.
In the Sideboard i added Appetite for the Unnatural for the Artifact and Enchantment hate. Aswell as Heaven / Earth if theres a flying aggro enemy.The Combustible Gearhulk is added to switch with the Majestic Myriarch, if i see i get an empty hand.
I playtested it on last Gameday and against some friends. It worked very well, but in a burn dominated meta its very hard letting the druids survive.
In the most games i won, i just had 3 Mana on the field but could cheat with the druid and champion a lot in the game. If i come to the moment a Behemoth is on the field its mostly a win. So i added two more Blossoming Defense and two more Behemoth for the Hexproof, to survive the early and late phases of the game. The Myriarch was a good choice, too. If he is on the field he is that fast a 14/14. But maybe i should add him two times more (in exchange for the Crocodile of the Crossing) to draw him more often. And i will test to switch the Croco against the Gearhulk, cause in slower games I needed to play topdeck and cant react very well.
I removed the Combat Celebrant. In nearly 20 Games i never had a chance to use his exert effect effective. I switched
Gift of Strength
to the Sideboard, cause i never needed the reach.
And there are some nice combat tricks. Rhonas and his Champion can do 10 dmg in one combat to the enemy, alone.And with the Soulscar-Mages prowess' it was possible to do some nice offensive and defensive tricks cause of all the cheap spells.
Ambuscade did a great job, too. Sometimes it was to expensive.
I will test how it will work if i play Samut instead of the added Gearhulk. (If she gets 7 counters, i dont need draw any more)
I think with all these changes the deck gets more consistency and can survive more easily in the actual meta.
PS: Ornamental Courage did a great job for Glorybringer and the Champion.
Thanks for helping me out!
