Finally, an Aristocrats-style deck featuring the Burger King himself that is competitive in Standard. This deck looks to chip away at the opponent's life total early and often while having an inevitable win con and great reach.
Your opponent will initially find themselves getting pinged by a ragtag crew of weenies that aren't fun to block, such as Bloodsoaked Champion, Sultai Emissary, and Black Cat. Early-game sac outlets like Qarsi High Priest and Collateral Damage feed off these cards for incredible value, with Grim Haruspex generating a healthy share of card advantage (as one would expect from a Haruspex).
Then come the big guns. Alesha, Who Smiles at Death reanimates the weenies to recycle their value while creating a massive army. Ashcloud Phoenix gets the better of almost every flier in the format and puts the opponent on a quick clock. Underworld Cerberus gets huge evasive damage across and refills your hand upon its death.
And of course, Tymaret, the Murder King lets your opponent know that they will eventually run out of life; the only question is how long it will take.
Here is the card-by-card breakdown.
CREATURES
<1>
4x Bloodsoaked Champion: Provides crucial early-game damage to put the opponent on their back foot. Its Raid ability means it works well with sac outlets, with he and Tymmy forming an especially potent late-game duo.
4x Qarsi High Priest: Cheap, instant-speed sac outlet. Since the High Priest adds to the board, it is actually the preferred method of suicide over Tymmy in the early going.
<2>
4x Sultai Emissary: The bread-and-butter of the sac fodder. If only I could run 12.
3x Black Cat: Secondary sac fodder that opponents are surprisingly terrified to see bite the dust. An especially brutal play against a topdecking opponent is to sac our furry friend at the end of their draw step.
3x Tymaret, the Murder King: Between his direct damage and recursion, this Rakdos Bear is nearly unstoppable at closing out games.
<3>
4x Grim Haruspex: If the trigger didn't already make this card a perfect fit in this deck, the fact that it can be flipped for one freakin mana after a Manifest seals the deal. Value town.
2x Alesha, Who Smiles at Death: Grabs sac fodder for another round. Also, with the help of some burn, her First Strike makes her the only creature here that can throw down with fatties and live to tell the tale (not that the other creatures are very interested in living). Huge threat for a 3-drop.
<4>
4x Ashcloud Phoenix: Setting aside how well the Phoenix is positioned against other Standard fliers (Stormbreath Dragon, Wingmate Roc, Butcher of the Horde, etc.), it's even better here due to the dying synergies and the fact that Manifesting it is just brutal.
<5>
1x Underworld Cerberus: If you are winning with this card, you know you are playing Magic the right way. The only question in this deck is whether it's better for it to be alive and attacking or dead and grave-digging.
SPELLS
<1>
3x Collateral Damage: Apparently, casting a Lightning Bolt in Standard requires sac'ing a creature. Luckily for this deck, that's a good thing.
<2>
2x Magma Jet: While it is a form of removal / burn, a big reason for its presence is the Scry 2, which can be used to set up favorable Manifests.
<3>
3x Hero's Downfall: Handles fatties and other problematic creatures that may be immune to cheaper removal.
SIDEBOARD
2x Bile Blight: Brings down the removal curve against aggro like BW Warriors, RG aggro, and RDW, plus cleans up mass tokens, such as those played by Jeskai and Boros decks.
4x Dark Betrayal: Four sideboard slots may seem like a lot to devote to creatures of one color, but when one of the format's top decks (Abzan) plays a 4-of that hoses your strategy (Anafenza, the Foremost), you pack the hate. Luckily, it's also great against BW Warriors, Mardu, GB Constellation, and Sidisi Whip decks among others.
2x Dictate of Erebos: Against midrange decks that play a limited amount of creatures, this card is the absolute nuts, especially when considering that it can be Flashed in.
2x Merciless Executioner: Another midrange hater. I'll sac my Sultai Emissary, and you sac your Siege Rhino? Seems fair.
2x Outpost Siege: Both options are great against control depending on the game situation. I especially like how the "leaves the battlefield" clause gets around Anger of the Gods.
2x Stain the Mind: Speaking of Anger, there's another pain in the ass. Being able to Convoke it out of existence as early as turn 3 is well worth slowing things down a turn. Other good targets include Anafenza, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, and Doomwake Giant.
1x Underworld Cerberus: Because if you're going to play Magic the right way, you might as well double down.
