Aggro decks with good matchups vs big green things?
Standard forum
Posted on March 11, 2015, 10:07 p.m. by Thereddic
So I've been rocking Mono Red Heroic since pretty much the beginning of Khans standard. It's been a pretty strong run, since my store was heavy on Mardu and Jeskai decks. It's been a solid run, but it's becoming an issue. THe first problem is that everyone is moving towards green based decks, the top decks at my store being Abzan (all variations), Sultai Whip and, well, me. That leads to the second problem. People are running circles of flame and peak eruptions in their sideboards just for me. I'm the only one on this deck (and pretty much the only aggro player right now) but my track record has been good enough for it to be singled out with hate.The third issue, and probably the most important one is the simple fact that I'm bored. It's boring jamming the same cards for 5 months straight. It's boring winning in 10 minutes and waiting 40 for everyone else to finish up. So I want to get on a new deck, one better positioned and with some more game.
All that said, I'm not really sure what I want to build. Aggro decks have been my best track record in my career, but that can easily be because they're the only legitimate deck I've really played (haven't been playing long, so I've mostly been running junky brews until R/W Burn in R2R/Theros and my current Mono Red plan). That being said, with all the goodies red is getting in DtK (including my current favourite card Thunderbreak Regent) it feels silly to move away from that colour. That being said, I'm also considering some manner of Sultai deck, since I have a playset of Dig Through Time and Polluted Delta sitting around begging to be used. That being said, I could probably make an argument for wanting to play almost every deck. Aside from G Devotion decks, I've made a personal vow to never touch Courser of Kruphix / Sylvan Caryatid dekcs. As for my local meta, the top decks may be Abzan/Sultai/G Devotion, but the meta has a smattering of just about everything. I see Jeskai aggro and Mardu aggro relatively frequently, there are a few surprisingly successful brews floating around (Chromatiflayer makes his appearance, for example). and some occasional U/B or Sultai control decks, even a Rakdos Aggro deck to first place last week.
So in short, I'm an aggro player with a love of removal spells looking to beat a pile of Rock decks without compromising good game against a healthy meta. Can anyone assist me? Am I being too broad in my request? did I just post this in the wrong forum? If so I apologize. In any case, Thanks in advance for any help!
alexthegreat38 says... #3
Have you considered Temur Aggro? Temur hits the ground running and has access to all sorts of aggressive creatures that eat your opponent's life points chunks at a time, namely Savage Knuckleblade but also Frost Walker, Goblin Rabblemaster, Boon Satyr, Yasova Dragonclaw, Shaman of the Great Hunt, Ashcloud Phoenix, Polukranos, World Eater, Stormbreath Dragon, and Surrak Dragonclaw. With Elvish Mystic and/or Rattleclaw Mystic and the new Atarka's Command for acceleration, this deck can usually win by turn 6 on a good draw. It's probably one of the most fun aggro decks I've played. Its removal spells are rather weak, but getting better: Epic Confrontation is good for a fighting effect, Reality Shift is there to exile stuff you can't otherwise deal with, Crater's Claws is there to either kill big stuff or simply finish the opponent, and Roast coming out of DTK will finally allow us to deal with Siege Rhino/Tasigur, the Golden Fang. My personal favorite part about the deck is that we have access to counterspells like Stubborn Denial and Disdainful Stroke that, when well-placed, can give us a game-ending tempo swing.
There's my pitch for Temur Aggro! I have more of a Tempo build that involves Courser of Kruphix which I know you said you'd like to stay away from, but you can still check it out:
Fire, Lightning, and Ice: The Brutal Frontier Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 10 | 0 COMMENTS | 2038 VIEWSI'll be posting and updated version with DTK cards soon.
Let me know what you think or if you have questions! I've obviously never played in your meta before, so I have no idea how it might do, but it tends to do fairly well against midrange.
March 11, 2015 10:16 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #4
I personally like running my own home brew version of Mardu. It's basically the Jeskai Tempo deck that was popular, but instead of Mantis Rider, Jeskai Charm, and Dig Through Time you run Butcher of the Horde, Crackling Doom, and Read the Bones. And instead of counterspells in the side, you utilize the black for removal and hand disruption (Thoughtseize, Hero's Downfall/Murderous Cut although I ran 2 Murderous Cut in the main). It hasn't lost for me yet, but I've been using a different deck a lot lately trying to expand my horizons from just using "burn" decks.
March 11, 2015 10:21 p.m.
SoggyGecko says... #5
I gotta say just go R/W something. That's pretty much my deck in Modern and Standard. R/G aggro is another pretty fun deck, and always destroyed my Mono-Red. Might be good against the other green decks.
March 11, 2015 10:45 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #6
I've been on R/W and Mardu having success. Duress, Self-Inflicted Wound, Ultimate Price, Dragon Fodder and Roast will have me switching over to R/B. Hero's Downfall seems better than Chained to the Rocks in DTK.
R/G should be better as well. I've tried it, Temur, and Jund with middling results. It got a lot of power and answers to problems in DTK. You don't have to play Caryatid, Rattleclaw Mystic and Elvish Mystic are good in aggressive decks.
March 11, 2015 10:49 p.m.
ChrisHansonBiomancin says... #7
RW seems pretty solid since Chained to the Rocks seems like the best removal against them, plus Valorous Stance can do work. Roast could be a meta add when it comes out.
March 11, 2015 11:48 p.m.
Temur actually is run by one guy in my store. I find myself unimpressed by it's performance. I like the concept of strong creatures with counters and draw backup, but Temur as a whole seems rather unimpressive. Maybe it'll get some goodies in future DtK spoilers.
R/W is a deck I'm considering heavily (it feels like the logical evolution of my current deck) but I'm nervous about the removal being White based. Stormbreath Dragon is a popular card for everyone running red that isn't myself and not having a way to deal with it beyond Stoke is making me nervous. I've considered going R/B or Mardu to hedge with Black removal and/or Crackling Doom but then I don't have a solid 2 drop, or ways to deal with enchantments (and with Jeskai Combo walking around, that feels necessary). Plus I want to avoid getting Stormbreath Dragons, because they are expensive and rotatiing soon. I suppose I could compensate with Wingmate Rocs to replace, but then that exasperates the Stormbreath issue on my opponent's side. Am I overthinking this?
Any other plans I've overlooked?
March 12, 2015 12:38 a.m.
So this is the Jeskai deck I'v been playing for some time now and It wins everything. It's just insain against the other R/W/x decks and will normally crush anything with green in it. As for control decks, it's easy just to burn them out or out draw them with the Outposts in play.
I used to play all RDW in standard before Khans and when I switched to the Jeskai I found that this deck was a good fit for me. It could go aggro or it could out grind the grindy decks due to Monastery Mentor being insain on defence. The deck also has the lifegain to deal with decks trying to race you thanks to the SGM and Jeskai Charms(they just destroy any attacks your opponent might do into an active Mentor).
Jeskai Tempo Playtest
Standard*
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 159 VIEWS
tclaw12 says... #2
I'd probably give R/W Aggro or Jeskai Tokens a try. Both are very strong decks that don't just lose to Drown in Sorrow etc.
March 11, 2015 10:12 p.m.