Proteus, Trickster of the Sea [Theros Standard]

Standard* Budget Combo Midrange RUG (Temur) Tempo

alachronism

Creature (19)

• 2x Artisan of Forms
• 4x Battlefield Thaumaturge
• 3x Daring Thief
• 4x Kiora's Follower
• 4x Master of Waves
• 2x Yasova Dragonclaw

Land (22)

• 5x Forest
• 4x Frontier Bivouac
• 8x Island
• 1x Mountain
• 2x Shivan Reef
• 2x Yavimaya Coast

Instant (12)

• 3x Hour of Need
• 3x Icy Blast
• 3x Retraction Helix
• 3x Triton Tactics

Sorcery (7)

• 4x Act of Treason
• 3x Life's Legacy

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Sideboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Daring Thief

Land (2)

• 2x Forest

Instant (9)

• 3x Aetherspouts
• 3x Disdainful Stroke
• 3x Unravel the Aether

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This water-themed deck is all about devilish tricks and incessant tempo.

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Protean

adjective

1. readily assuming different forms or characters; extremely variable.

2. changeable in shape or form, as an amoeba.

3. a general pain in your opponent's ass.

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It's taken me a long time to develop a post-rotation standard deck of my liking, but with a little inspiration from some of hateindigital's decks, I think I've pinned one down.

• Battlefield Thaumaturge is simply an amazing card, and combos wonderfully with most of the instants and sorceries in the deck. Battlefield Thaumaturge + Curse of the Swine completely ruins your opponent's offensive line for only UU, especially if he uses abilities. Battlefield Thaumaturge + Icy Blast is so cheap it's silly, not to mention you can tap the thaumaturge as well to give him hexproof if you need it.

• Once you've gotten some ground in creatures, Master of Waves gives you lots of wonderful little fodder. A 2/1 really isn't bad, but it gets better. Daring Thief + Master of Waves lets you trade that token for one of your opponent's creatures - and because it's a 1/0, it instantly dies under their control anyway. Don't forget that Master of Waves + Polymorphous Rush means you can turn everyone but your tokens into a master, resulting in a swarm of 4/4s or 5/5s.

• Daring Thief's ability might be circumstantial, but it's very powerful. Not only can you trade a worthless 1/0 elemental token for one of their creatures, but there's a little more versatility than that. Daring Thief + Voyage's End lets her trade places with a creature, and then you can simply return her to your hand. Daring Thief + Encrust lets you steal an enchantment or enchantment creature, and in turn your opponent gets an Encrust ... which is already attached to a creature so, who cares if they control it?

• Kiora's Follower rounds out your strategy, providing huge mana ramp, especially with Kiora's Follower + Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx . Daring Thief + Kiora's Follower also gives you a huge amount of flexibility as to when her ability goes off.

• Act of Treason might not seem a good enough reason on its own to splash red, but it really is. Act of Treason + Curse of the Swine or Act of Treason + Hour of Need lets you attack with their creature, then exile it and replace it with a 2/2 or a 4/4 flier that's now under your control. Yay!

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While I have the general strategy in place, I'm still new to the art of sideboarding and anticipating common decks in standard. If anyone has any suggestions for tweaks or sideboard cards, I would love to hear them!

Top Ranked	Achieved #17 position overall 10 years ago
Date added	10 years
Last updated	8 years
Key combos	Battlefield Thaumaturge + Curse of the Swine Kiora's Follower + Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Battlefield Thaumaturge + Icy Blast Daring Thief + Master of Waves Daring Thief + Voyage's End Master of Waves + Polymorphous Rush Daring Thief + Encrust Daring Thief + Kiora's Follower Act of Treason + Curse of the Swine Act of Treason + Hour of Need
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 21 - 4 Rares 14 - 6 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.29
Tokens	Elemental 1/0 U, Sphinx 4/4 U
Folders	Budget STD, Possible decks I can make, Dirty, Decks I should make, Standard Ideas, Test out decks, Possible decks, mono g, Favorites, Smth