There is an ongoing argument in both Standard and Pioneer currently. What color combination is the best for aggressive decks? We have seen people try out Jeskai Aggro to try and incorporate the best of both worlds between Azorius Aggro, and Boros Aggro. Some like to stick with Gruul Aggro because of the high rolls that it allows for, and there is also an argument that sometimes all you need is mono red - and the results have proven as much in major events. There has been a bit of a surge of some Mardu Aristocrat/Sacrifice decks, and today's list will follow that to some degree. We went a little bit more aggro-based, but there is a combo element to it, along with a healthy sideboard that should provide for balanced gameplay. We will look to get a bunch of creatures onto the board, and then create a bunch more based on the amount that we have, while punishing the opponent when they die. If that isn't enough, the go-wide strategy should also allow us to swing for ample damage at an ample pace.
A new ability called Mobilize that is being brought to us in Tarkir Dragonstorm is going to allow us to pull off some pretty powerful swings in combat. Mobilize allows us to create a bunch of tapped and attacking 1/1 tokens based on either the number behind it, or circumstances that pertain to "X." Something that is particularly fun is that we can benefit from our creatures dying, because the mobilize ability requires us to sacrifice the creatures that we get from mobilizing at the beginning of our end step. This is yet another deck that can allow us to win on the end step which is always fun. Another fundamental reason why I think the deck is good is because we are rewarded for something that would normally be considered a setback. If you find enough ways to turn negatives into positives, it usually can translate into the small margins that win you a match. Enough of me blabbing. Let's take a look at the cool new cards!
Key New Cards
This is a fun card, and I wanted to include two copies in the main deck so that we could hopefully use it to buy ourselves more time to pull off a win. It's also just nice to not have to worry about an opponent messing up your plan on your turn. There is an additional copy of this creature in the sideboard if we need it. The fact that it has a power of two or less is also helpful, as it helps us pull off additional shenanigans with the combos that we have.
This is the creature that sparked the idea for the deck. It was too tempting not to try. It also has a power of two or less, which I promise I will eventually get to why that's relevant. Once we go wide, we will be able to make a ton of creatures, and then use cards like Vengeful Bloodwitch to punish our opponent for letting us have things. The fact that it has deathtouch is also helpful, and allows us to use it as a great blocker. It also threatens as an attacker, because it can basically attack into anything which is helpful when having such a strong attack trigger.
I told you we had a healthy sideboard! Yes, I know, Sunfall is still a thing, but a lot of decks are using Day of Judgment right now, or maybe some other type of damage-based effect. We can easily sacrifice one of the many creatures that we have on the board and protect the rest. This card as an instant with a cost that isn't too high to us seems like an auto-include when insulating ourselves against board wipes.
This card is really something. It allows us to almost create a sort of prison/lockout effect on our opponent after sideboarding. Jace is a really important planeswalker in Standard right now, and we have a good way to deal with him in this card. Artifact decks are also becoming more prevalent, so we like to be able to shut down that stuff too. If you come across a deck centered around Agatha's Soul Cauldron, this just about turns off everything. It is nice to have this creature as a decoy that demands removal while behind the scenes we are building our Mardu Army that kills them before they know it.
Built-In Combos
We have a few combos in the deck. The main reason that we like almost everything to be power two or less is because we will use Delney, Streetwise Lookout to cause additional triggered abilities from our creatures. The deck is effectively centered around a go-wide strategy, and other triggered abilities, so this is incredibly relevant to our success.
If that doesn't work as well, we can simply gain and drain them to death by going wide and mobilizing, then sacrificing a ton of creatures to trigger Vengeful Bloodwitch and Starscape Cleric. Ideally, we will have so many triggers that it is almost impossible to deal with the life the opponent will lose during combat, or on the end step.
Oh yeah, and if that isn't enough, we also have attack triggers that go off with Arabella, Abandoned Doll, who has triggers that revolve around attacking with creatures that have power two or less. This is relevant even more because Delney can make this trigger an additional time. Theoretically, we could kill the opponent by attacking, and just by ending our turn. It is possible that we have finishers at multiple points in our turn outside of combat. This is integral to the well-rounded approach we take in the deck.
Can you tell how excited I am for Tarkir? I hope you are too. The cards that have been coming out have really greased the wheels of my creativity. We will be having early access on Wednesday, April 2nd, so be sure to tune in for that! I hope that you enjoyed this deck review, and we will have it live in action during early access, so come on by!
