It's no secret that in Standard we have some absolutely monstrous creatures right now. There are multiple ways to cheat them out, and the most immediate one that comes to mind is reanimator. With Foundations, we also get a bit more access to ramp, and the overlords from Duskmourn have been pretty impactful in the format as well. So the idea is that we can center a deck around having a bunch of enter-the-battlefield effects or attack triggers that allow us to commit some serious shenanigans. In Gruul Surprise, we are going to cheat out the big guys as best we can, be it ramp, or with a card that says we can simply put them on the board. Since we can sometimes do this at instant speed, it insulates us against board wipes, and allows us to set up one-turn kills. The idea is that we can get around control decks and punish opponents who didn't leave up any blockers. We are also looking to ping our opponents for tons of damage just by having creatures enter under our control. Since we are playing 7 overlords, we are also going to play Up the Beanstalk because it will allow us to draw a bunch of extra cards. OK, I have hyped up this fun deck enough. Let's take a look at the list!
The addition of Llanowar Elves has really helped this deck to be more consistent and possibly try to keep up with the fast meta. We have access to the smaller board wipes that deal with aggro decks, while not killing all of our stuff. The deck does a great job of going over the top and running away with the game if left unchecked. Most of the time, playing against it feels like a ticking time bomb. We are able to deal pretty significant damage that forces the opponent to be very selective with when they attack, and when they leave up mana for removal. Let's take a look at some key cards.
Relevant Cards
Hauntwoods truly captures the essence of the deck. It has an attack trigger and an enter-the-battlefield trigger, and allows us to ramp while possibly drawing cards even when cast at a reduced cost. With all of that, it allows us to ramp at the midrange level, which is nice for when we want to do stuff that costs up to 9 or 10 mana. In the deck, we have ways to ramp early and later in the game. The ramp that this overlord gives us is arguably better than Llanowar Elves, because it is more difficult to destroy the land that it gives us, as opposed to simply removing a creature with a toughness of 1. This creature also follows suit in being a powerful non-legendary creature so that we can make additional copies of it with Calamity.
Beans is so good in this deck. It's nice to know that we are starting to find lists that can play this card and get value from it outside of your typical domain lists. I always wanted to draw a ton of cards off of Beanstalk, but wanted to avoid playing domain for multiple reasons. This gives you the big mana power level with similar value engines, but feels like a more fair way of winning as opposed to wiping the board until you can safely resolve an Atraxa. The fact that we can use the overlords to draw cards from this even when we cast them at their discounted rate makes it a phenomenal turn-two play.
This is an awesome one from Thunder Junction. It's going to allow us to find a creature card, give our creatures hexproof and indestructible, while also allowing us to put creatures on the board if we have enough mana. The fact that we can do it at instant speed makes the deck that much more playable and difficult to deal with. It can punish a control player for not playing to the board, and force them to use counter magic on their turn so that we can safely resolve spells on our turn. It also plays around removal and can simply get us more creatures if we aren't drawing any.
The Tyrant is a great value card. It is incredibly difficult to deal with, as it literally replaces itself when it dies. The life gain never hurts either. We are in a meta right now where aggro is everything, and our life total might be pretty low by the time we get this on the board. If you combine this card with Calamity and saddle it, we can end the game with that combo. Even if it doesn't end the game, we are going to have a full hand and a ton of life after attacking. If that isn't enough, we have another guy that allows us to get in for that finisher damage.
There are multiple versions of this deck that don't play our beloved dragon, and I think it's simply wrong. I believe we leave too much value on the table by not playing it. In a world where Sunfall is so prevalent, you want to ensure that you get maximum value from cheating out these creatures even if they do not get to attack. Terror of the Peaks does just that for us. Not to mention, they will also lose three life by targeting it. This can help with getting in for lethal damage as well.
Difficult Matchups
It kind of goes without saying that we may struggle against aggro with this deck. Thankfully, our sideboard is well-equipped to deal with the creature decks, and we have ways to deal damage that can also exile a creature to ensure we don't have to deal with death triggers from cards like Heartfire Hero, etc. Aside from the aggro matchup, Domain is kind of a toss-up too. It kind of is centered around who gets to ramp and who doesn't. It can even be as simple as us having more Up the Beanstalks on the board than our opponent, and we draw so many cards that it doesn't matter what they do, or vice versa. Both matchups are winnable, but they are something to keep an eye on and ensure you have a good sideboard plan against.
Thank you again for joining me, and don't forget that we will have early access for Pioneer Masters, so be sure to tune in for awesome Pioneer decks and the deck tech articles to come!
