Hey everyone, now after about the 20th banning for Standard, it actually looks fairly balanced and diverse (for now). That got my brew juices flowing and I came up with this idea. Yes, it is still very much a very rough idea and I'm looking for any and all help and suggestions.
I anticipate that this deck will plate a lot like a dredge/combo deck. The name of the deck is a combination of mutate + reanimator and that should pretty much tell you what the game plan is: ramp & dredge a whole bunch and mutate on to/with Nethroi, Apex of Death.
When we mutate with/on Nethroi, we can bring back any number of creatures with a total power of 10. Interestingly, there are quite a few creatures that have 0 power, meaning they're essentially free to bring back: Faeburrow Elder, Oathsworn Knight, Glasspool Mimic
, Yorvo, Grakmaw, Polukranos, Carrion Grub, and now with Zendikar Rising, Tuktuk Rubblefort to give all of our creatures haste and slam for the victory. Other great reanimate targets are Archfiend's Vessel (4x 1 power for 20 power of flying demons), Fiend Artisan (1 power for 1+ power on the field), and King Ken (5 power, making 10 total, to give all your creatures haste and trample). I'm also thinking of Moraug as a sideboard option against lifegain so you can attack for a huge amount after reanimating, then playing again and attacking for a ton more.
Mutating Nethroi is expensive, so Gilded Goose, Faeburrow Elder, Cultivate, and Migratory Greathorn are there to ramp. If you opt to cast Nethroi first and then mutate onto is (risky since you open yourself up to removal, but cheaper), you can use the Greathorn or Brokkos from your graveyard to get the job done.
As it is now, the deck is base Abzan colors, but I'm also thinking about Sultai or Mardu splash green. Blue gives us Sweet Oblivion, Mefolk Secretkeeper, Vantress Gargoyle, Teferi, Pollywog if I were to really lean into the mutate theme, Thirst for Meaning, and Obsessive Stitcher. Red gives us Thrill of Possibility, Cathartic Reunion, and Ox of Agonas. Aside from The Binding of the Titans, Tymaret Calls the Dead, Mire Triton, Carrion Grub, and Excavation Mole, the only other card I'm considering at the moment for dredging in Abzan colors is Death's Oasis, which is definitely something I'm tinkering with, but I've found it a bit awkward in deck construction.
Thanks everyone for reading and I'm really looking forward to your suggestions!
