Creature (25)
Land (22)
Enchantment (4)
Instant (9)
Sideboard
Creature (11)
Instant (4)
A fat cat and whole lot of beefy creatures. 1st @ FNM
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The 3 Drops
The real heart and soul of this deck. Landing any one of these creatures puts a real threat on the board which typically demand some respect from your opponent. Obviously some of these are going to be better in certain matchups (i.e. Boros Reckoner against RDW) but they are all generally good enough to be in the main.
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The 2 Drops
In my opinion, other than Precinct Captain these are really some of the best 2 drops you could wish for. They are aggressive and relevant at many stages of the game and do their job of walling of laying on early beats pretty well. The fear of one of the creatures being pumped with either Charm is a threat you can make most decks cow to once you've done it once.
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The 1 Drops
While in most decks the 1 drop slot has the problem where it stops being relevant quickly I feel like that isn't the case here. Excepting the two of Dryad Militant the rest of the pack have a niche that persists for some ways into the game while still being important or relevant the rest of the time.
Honorable Mentions
1 Drops: Experiment One, Ethereal Armor, Wear / Tear
Experiment One almost makes it here but having creatures that you can't try and save with Brave the Elements really sucks. Ethereal Armor and Eidolon of Countless Battles on one creatures is usually GG for the opponent but having more effects that could be knocked off by Brave the Elements is a non-bo and this deck isn't rolling in enchantments either. Wear / Tear is a good card for the side but has the problem where it doesn't remove Gods. Getting to two-for-one them on a weapon (Whip of Erebos, et cetera) and a creature or enchantment (Hopeful Eidolon, Boon Satyr , Ethereal Armor) is very nice and makes it worth considering. It also costs the least for enchantment removal which makes it easier to justify leaving mana open for.
2 Drops: Spirit of the Labyrinth, Precinct Captain, Truefire Paladin , Call of the Conclave, Unravel the Aether and Revoke Existence
The Spirit of the Labyrinth is a viable choice to play just because its a 3/1, it isn't as consitently worth it in a deck without Ethereal Armor in Standard, IMO. Precinct Captain is great with Eidolon of Countless Battles but is walled by too many played creatures and is too hard on the mana to forgive that. Truefire Paladin is under-rated in my opinion as you can take a mana-flood and make it a huge beater without being forced to continue to commit to the board, not as consistently good as the choices that made it though. Call of the Conclave suffers from the Brave the Elements problem again in addition to not being as potentially potent as the alternatives. Unravel the Aether and Revoke Existence are both good here but I find Unravel the Aether to be preferable because it is an Instant and it can remove a God. Revoke Existence has a couple upsides but being a Sorcery is the real kicker here. I play neither as Selesnya Charm gets Gods when they are being directly annoying and I couldn't find side-board space for them. Not bad though.
3 Drops: Frontline Medic , Centaur Healer , Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Unflinching Courage, Domri Rade, Courser of Kruphix, Bow of Nylea, Spear of Heliod, Boon Satyr , Archetype of Courage, Archetype of Aggression more Brimaz, King of Oreskos
I'm still considering actually playing Frontline Medic in the deck (main or side) as it is a naturally splashable and effecient creature that allows you to repeatedly force damage. Its especially good if you've got Ready / Willing (Ready or both) in hand as you can swing for the fences and blow them out on the counterstrike, he also lets Brimaz, King of Oreskos' cat tokens survive a few combats as well. The last ability vs. control is also very nice. As for Centaur Healer he just doesn't quite cut it in a deck without flicker but he is a decent choice if your meta is all Aggro/RDW/Burn. Ajani, Caller of the Pride is a decent card but I've found it to be lacking unless a deck has more ways of getting creatures to around 5/5. He certainly is nice alongside Eidolon of Countless Battles and Loxodon Smiter but isn't quite as amazing elsewhere. Still worth considering though. Unflinching Courage is a great card, no denying that, but it has two problems. One, it suffers from being potentially knocked off by Brave the Elements and the second is that could be useless at certain times. If my field is all Soldier of the Pantheons because the rest died then it is going to be entirely unhelpful. The lack of notable space for inclusion is a problem as well.
(Broke this one into two paragraphs to try and make it more readable.)
Domri Rade is a decent choice and is highly playable but you would need to take out some number of Brave the Elements, Boros Charm, and Selesnya Charm to make him consistent. I like the version with these spells more but I can see the counterargument. Courser of Kruphix may be a great card but I find it to be pretty lacking in a deck that doesn't want to curve out closer to 5. Bow of Nylea is a card I haven't overtly considered very much but it is a decent utility answer to several things. Not sure if its worth considering overmuch though. Spear of Heliod is a card I want to like and I've tried it over and over again but I almost never find myself playing it and usually it gets boarded out. Boon Satyr runs into the same problem with Experiment One and such and is merely good after that. Worth considering if you play a version with Domri Rade and less spells. Archetype of Courage and Archetype of Aggression are both good in here (with Courage being more in line with what you want, obviously) but it is challenging to try and find deck space for either where you can't solve some of the problems they fix with other things anyway. Brimaz, King of Oreskos may be legendary but he packs a decent (not $35 decent) punch against most decks and is a huge thorn in the side of nearly everyone. I would play three in the main if I were inclined to get more of him and I found something to cut.
4 Drops: Advent of the Wurm , Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
Advent of the Wurm is a card I would gladly play out of the side vs. Control but I can't dig out some space for it considering that I generally prefer most of my other options against most other decks. It also has the Brave the Elements issue that it shares with Experiment One and Call of the Conclave. Trostani, Selesnya's Voice is another decent choice for messing with aggro/RDW/burn and isn't bad elsewhere. The demanding mana cost makes it slightly less appealing but I can see a good case being made for it. Its biggest detractor is honestly the fact that it costs 4.
Matchups
RDW/Aggro: Board into Loxodon Smiters, Fiendslayer Paladin s and Ready / Willing (Mostly for Willing). Board out of Eidolon of Countless Battles, Dryad Militant and a couple Selesnya Charms.
(Fat/protected creatures and lifelink make the cut. The board-outs are weakened by the pile of burn and you want Searing Blood and Magma Jet to have more limited targets.)
Mono-B: Board into the Loxodon Smiters and Fiendslayer Paladin s again. Board out of Eidolon of Countless Battles and Dryad Militant.
(Other than against Drown in Sorrow Fiendslayer Paladin is pretty good here. Loxodon Smiter is your dream of having vs. Thoughtseize and survives Bile Blight. Boarding out Eidolon of Countless Battles because it will be weak vs the pile of removal. Same with Dryad Militant.)
Mono-U: Board into Eidolon of Countless Battles, Skylasher , Banisher Priest and maybe the last Boros Charm. Board out of Loxodon Smiter and some combination of Fleecemane Lion , and Dryad Militant
(Tidebinder Mage is annoying. Board into things that make it less annoying. Ways to deal damage out of combat are nice as are more ways to make Thassa, God of the Sea and Master of Waves go away.)
Control: Board into Loxodon Smiters, Skylasher s, Ready / Willing and Boros Charm. Board out of Eidolon of Countless Battles, Dryad Militant, and Chained to the Rocks
(I play the 'I have fat creatures and piles of ways to make them Indestructible' plan vs most versions of control as they will be dying to Supreme Verdict you as often as they can. Boarding out the more reactionary stuff (obviously sans the anti-wipe) and forcing them to make plays is the name of the game here, IMO.)
Big Gruul: Board into Eidolon of Countless Battles, Loxodon Smiter and Banisher Priest. Board out of Dryad Militant, Voice of Resurgence (2) and Boros Charm (1) .
(This is a matchup where things like Sylvan Caryatid get annoying and you want as many creatures that are likely to survive an early Polukranos, World Eater activation as you can. More removal for said problem cards is good too. Depending on what kind of list they are playing sometimes I actually board into Boros Charms to hit things like Xenagos, the Reveler without having to try and get past the pack of fatties.)
(Note: I've mentioned cutting Dryad Militant in the match ups above but I still play it as a two of for a pair of reasons. The first is that in game 1 where your opponent doesn't know what you are it is pretty important, IMO, to be able to keep the pressure up early to try and take things to a game 2 where you have the lead and can board into a more directly comfortable situation. The second point is that Dryad Militant is consistently castable for my manabase and keeps me consistently aggresive as it doesn't force me to try and prepare lands for certain things if I don't have to and keeps me above four 1 drops in the main (which I feel is important).)
Suggestions
Updates Add
Primary things covered in the comments:
Blood Crypt
and Godless Shrine are for Ready / Willing in the side.
Discussion on whether the above note is worth running.
Matchups vs aggro, Jund, et cetera.
The most currently relevant thing was whether I should still be playing 2x Dryad Militant instead of various alternatives. To break it down I feel like doing a Pros / Cons bit.
| Pros | Cons |
| 2/1 for 1 | Only hoses Spellheart Chimera |
| Hybrid cost | Low late-game relevance |
| More creatures = bigger Brave the Elements swings | Green vs Tidebinder Mage and White vs Blood Baron of Vizkopa |
| Cheaper than most alternatives | Easy to remove/Walled by common creatures |
Beyond that, there are some alternatives which were discussed and a few others. I'll list those here in order of CMC and then alphabetized.
CMC 1
Hopeful Eidolon -- Good:Second way to make Boros Reckoner go infinite. Decent reach vs. Midrange/Aggro. Bad: Loses all combats without assistance. Is frail.
Judge's Familiar -- Good: Helps stave off tempo hazing spells and disrupts on-curve burn. Is evasive. Bad: Will usually be small. Ability matters less later.
CMC 2
Precinct Captain -- Good: Is very efficient. Builds his own board. Good synergy with Selesnya Charm to randomly pick up trades. (Off of tokens or himself). Bad: Is walled by common creatures. Costs WW.
Truefire Paladin -- Good: Versatile. All-star mana sink in mana flood or late game.Threatens trades on offense or defense with nearly anything. Bad: Tempts mana usage blowouts. Requires investment to become productive. Weaker without manaless Double strike (i.e. Ajani, Caller of the Pride). Tidebinder Mage exists.
Spirit of the Labyrinth -- Good: Is not walled by Sylvan Caryatid, Meletis Astronomer, Omenspeaker, et cetera. Good vs. Control. Bad: Dies easily (toughness and enchantment removal). Ability only interacts with one deck.
CMC 3
Frontline Medic -- Good: Splashable. Effecient. Makes combat math a cakewalk. Good vs. Aggro/Midrange/Control. Second ability is rarely remembered. Bad: Is another three drop. Gonna emphasize the three drop thing again.
Other than the above there is always the idea that I could bump up a card already in the deck or take one from the sideboard and move it into the main. Better choices there IMO would be moving the 4th Boros Charm to the main or adding a 3rd Brimaz, King of Oreskos. Of course, the manabase could support a lot of options other than what I've mentioned (believe me when I say that I excluded things. haha)
Anyway. I know this deck has a description section a mile wide so I'll try and cut it off here. haha
Thoughts?
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 10 years |
| Last updated | 10 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Standard legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 7 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 12 Rares 11 - 3 Uncommons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.03 |
| Tokens | Cat Soldier 1/1 W, Elemental */* GW, Knight 2/2 W w/ Vigilance |
| Folders | Expensive stuff, Decks I Like, other peoples, STD Decks, cool ones, Brimaz, Neat-O, Cool Decks, Other's Cool Decks, decks |
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