Ladies, gentlemen, and everything outside and in between. Welcome to the Mardu Humans primer. Im new to writing these so please cut me slack.
Lets jump right in, why Mardu Humans vs Normal Humans?
+Direfleet Daredevil: is really good
+Large Tempo swings
+Can be faster than normal humans
+Equal Interaction, and better vs creature decks.
Let me go ahead and break down each main point of these four in order.
-Dire Fleet Daredevil is really good. It is, this card has singlehandedly won 103/610 games, of those 610 games played, the deck itself won a staggering 547. A 90% winrate. In those games won, Dire Fleet Daredevil was in the opening hand 68% of the time. The sheer impact this card has against almost any deck is absolutely amazing. Playing against lets say, Ad Nauseam Aether Vialin a Dire Fleet Daredevil and play Angel's Grace. GB rock? I heard Assassin's Trophyis a good card. Playing against a Collected Company deck? Hey, Collected Company is a really good card I wish we were playing. You get the idea. It's positives outway noteworthy negatives of being a "dead card" in the humans/tron matchups. That being said its still a 2/1 first strike for 2 mana. So playing it as a bear at the end of the day isnt the end of the world now that cards like Electrolyze aren't as prevalent in the meta. Moving on.
-Large Tempo swings. This deck can go 0-100 very, very fast. Champion of the Parish or Kytheon, Hero of Akros
on turn one Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Thalia's Lieutenant or even Kitesail Freebooter on turn two into a Tajic, Legion's Edge is representing a lot of damage. So the natural dps route that tribal decks want to take is still alive and well. But, with very explosive cards like Kytheron, Hero of Akros: Tajic, Legion's Edge Ethersworn Canonist Fiend Hunter Sin Collector and of course Dire Fleet Daredevil. This deck has the tools to have explosive tempo swings. Casting Fiend Hunter on a
Death's Shadow, Dire Fleet Daredevil a Fatal Push on a Tarmogoyf Ethersworn Canonist using Aether Vial in as you cast a Manamorphose.
-Can be faster than normal humans. This one is simple, humans will spend on average one turn doing a build turn, and swinging with maybe a Champion of the Parish or a Mantis Rider on that turn, lessening the DPT, damage per turn. This deck builds as it attacks with cards like Tajic, Legion's Edge , which is everything we want, or cards like Fiend Hunter , allowing large swings when players think they are fine behind their board state. Kytheon, Hero of Akros
is a perfect example of this, if you play a turn 1 or 2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
you get the flipped Gideon, Battle-Forged for turn 3, which presents a completely new angle humans previously couldn't attack from. Planeswalkers are good, and Gideon, Battle-Forged is nothing to shake a head at. Its a very versatile card, and allows you to manipulate the board state in a different and more permanent way than humans traditionally could.
-Equal Interaction, and better vs creature decks. This one may require some explanation, and before I begin, yes I wish we could play Meddling Mage. Card is absurd. While we don't get Meddling Mage we do get access to Mardu's plethora of interaction. Fiend Hunter, Kitesail Freebooter, Sin Collector, Path to Exile, Direfleet Daredevil:, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben,Ethersworn Canonist, and even Tajic, Legion's Edge offer different lines vs lots of decks humans has issues with. Being able to exile cards against dredge right now is good I heard, and having the capability to Cryptic Command is also quite good. This deck specifically is much more interactive with control, even jeskai. While the matchup is still 60/40 according to my stats of exactly 6 losses and 4 wins, its alot better than the 80/20 or 90/10 humans normally experiences vs jeskai control. The deck is also just generally better vs other creature decks, the guys and gals are big enough to block opposing creatures, and the spells we have in the main and side are significantly good.
Moving on, here is your best to worst matchups in the metagame as of 11/6/2018 with sideboard guides.
-Infect, your level of interaction, blockers, and such is quite powerful vs this deck but it does depend on the deck type. You are significantly better vs the more popular Rancor Ichorclaw Myr build. 2 Milita Bugler:, and 4 Dire Fleet Daredevi:out for 3 Dismember, 1 Path, and 2 Mirran Crusader
-Affinity, again your interaction is better and your creatures are just stronger. 2 Militia Bugler, 4 Dire Fleet Daredevil, 1 Ethersworn Canonist 2 Sin Collector for 1 Path to Exile, 3 Dismember, 2 Mirran Crusader, and 3 Stony Silence.
-Burn, this one surprises me but I have a 95% winrate against burn, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is incredibly good, and Dire Fleet Daredevil on a Boros Charm or even better, a Searing Blaze is very, very good. Plus Tajic, Legion's Edge is a card in magic the gathering. 2 Auriok Champion for 2 Militia Bugler.
-Hollow One, this matchup is either a grind fest or explosive, and its completely dictated by your opponent. However, its rather favored for you either way. Delve cards are your main issue, and if they fire off too quickly then you will just lose. However, usually that level of being overtaken doesn't happen too fast and you should be able to keep up. Removal of 3 Dismember and 1 Path to Exile and 2 Auriok Champion in for 4 Dire Fleet Daredevil and 2 Militia Bugler.
-Bant Spirits, this one surprised me the most, but you are just a turn faster than them usually, this matchup would be a bit more lopsided if they went harder into Geist of sant traft:. We take out Thalia, Guardian of Thraben for our removal of 3 Dismember and 1 Path to Exile.
-Jund, another shocker but in my testing we have a 100% winrate against it in matches, 2-0'ing all of them. I do think that this isn't exactly 100% winrate territory, and a smarter jund player doesnt play his Dark Confidant at all in this matchup, as it just helps me kill you. Dire Fleet Daredevil is nuts. I take out Militia Bugler, Ethersworn Canonist, and a Fiend Hunter for 2 Mirran Crusader and 2 Auriok Champion.
-Not eldrazi tron, you are really fast, and Damping Sphere helps loads. I take out 4 Dire Fleet Daredevil and for 2 stony silence and 2 damping sphere. Leaving in sin collector for all is dust.
-UW Control, the matchup is pretty cut and dry, just play your cards and interact according to your opponents plays, vial and cavern are MVP. I take out Ethersworn Canonist and 3 Fiend Hunters for 2 Crypt and 2 Crusader.
-Storm, This matchup feels a bit like a coin flip, as it seems whoever goes first has a VERY distinct advantage. I love vial'ing a direfleet in response to past in flames on grapeshot however. However post board the crypts, dismembers, and damping spheres in for the Fiend Hunters, Buglers, and 2 Kytheon.
-Amulet Titan, the issue with Amulet titan is the fact that I didn't get alot of games against it. Just 4. With a 2-2 split. It felt like they lost more to themselves misplaying rather than me interacting enough. Needs more testing, but I just sided a path in for a bugler.
-Jeskai Control, as stated above its about 60/40. They happen to play lightning bolt and electrolyze and path and board wipes including settle the wreckage which hoses us. You need to be very careful with each resource you use, don't wait too long to extend into the board state however, as they will eventually just have too much value for you to overcome. You need to be fast and interactive with kitesail and sin collector. Direfleets are precious. I bring in 2 Crypt and a Auriok champ in for the Fiend Hunters.
Humans, as coin flip as it gets game one, with us being somewhat even post board. We take out 2 direfleet for removal 1 path and 3 dismember, 4 kitesail for Mirran crusaders.
Dredge, you have enough interaction to win the game but its always a uphill challenge and its completely dictated by your opponent's pace. If they whiff for the first few turns you can usually get under them. Crypt in for Bugler, path and a champion in for sin collectors.
Iron Works, no meddling mage means we have to see kitesail or we literally just lose game one. They can win through stony silence they just have to remove it which is easy enough for them. Your tempo in all games but especially 2/3 needs to be preventing them. I bring in 2 Crypt, and 3 stony silence, and 1 mirran crusader in for 4 Direfleet, 2 sin collector.
If there is any other decks you would like written about or any questions please ask them in the comments below. Cheers!
