RB's Magic the Gathering Thread!

[Cheater Hater]

Interesting. It's clearly a different deck, though I am surprised at how many games I've won/would win by Jace. I haven't watched the games yet, but I'm interested how many times he needs to cast Vow to win the game and for how much mana--I generally only need to cast it once to win (and don't need it), and he obviously has many fewer hits than I do.

[Cheater Hater]

New Standard means I have a new Arena deck, and this is the closest I've seen to the Blood Artist decks I've seen in Standard in a while:
4 Venerable Knight (ELD) 35
4 Acclaimed Contender (ELD) 1
2 The Circle of Loyalty (ELD) 9
4 Knight of the Ebon Legion (M20) 105
2 Order of Midnight (ELD) 99
4 Worthy Knight (ELD) 36
4 Smitten Swordmaster (ELD) 105
4 Murderous Rider (ELD) 97
3 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 77
2 Knights' Charge (ELD) 328
4 Corpse Knight (M20) 206
4 Swamp (ANA) 63
4 Plains (ANA) 61
4 Tournament Grounds (ELD) 248
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
3 Temple of Silence (M20) 256
4 Fabled Passage (ELD) 244

Some notes:
* I hate the mana base--seven tap lands seems like way too many for an aggro deck, and Tournament Grounds is bad in a deck that regularly wants to cast BB and WW spells. I should probably drop a couple Fabled Passages and bias it a bit more towards Swamps.
* Going off the last point, maybe it's even worth cutting Venerable Knight for Foulmire Knight, as crazy as that sounds? Then again, maybe I just want more than 8 one-drops? It feels like I don't need the card much (I win or lose with a bunch of cards in my hand in most cases, thanks to chaining Acclaimed Contenders)
* Corpse Knight + Worthy Knight is just as fun as I expected it would be, especially since virtually all the cards are creatures (just the four anthems aren't, even if the Adventures help give me interaction).
* Smitten Swordmaster seems like it would be win-more, but since you're getting that high upside on Child of Night it's well worth it.
* I'm not sure if I want Midnight Reaper; it doesn't seem like it does much, as a lot of the matchups where you would be trading off creatures they have Lava Coil (and it doesn't count the Worthy Knight tokens, which mostly exist to chump things)
* I don't know how my anthem count should look--Knight's Charge is a lot better than a Brawl deck exclusive should be (something I can say about most of the Brawl deck exclusives...), as it provides the straight pump equivalent, reach if they have blockers, and 8 mana "win the game" (with all the Corpse Knight triggers). Circle of Loyalty is better (mostly because it pumps the tokens), but it's hurt by WW in the mana cost and being legendary.

Edit: Yeah, I made a new version of the deck with 10 1-drops and 4 Foulmire Knights. I also remembered Icon of Ancestry exists--I'm not sure if it's better than either Circle of Loyalty or Knight's Charge.

[Mr. Cairo]

That looks like a nice knights deck, but it's not a blood artist/aristocrats deck. No drain effects or sac outlets. I've had three different aristocrats decks in standard (on arena) the last little while. I can post some decklists once I get home from work.

Edit: no drain effects from creatures dying I mean.

[Cheater Hater]

I know it's not technically a sacrifice deck (the various Cauldron Familiar decks would probably be closer to that), but it still bleeds the opponent out in a similar way. I keep seeing Cauldron Familiar decks on Arena, and while they're annoying they just seem so weak in a format with so many exile effects (though Witch's Oven and the BBB legend being instant-speed hurts that), though every single time it pairs the Oven and the cat, because everyone gets to tutor on their draw step instead of me (because Wizards doesn't realize that you can't put advancement at zero-sum when you only actually play like one in five games)

[superdeath]

EDH> standard.

[Cheater Hater]

EDH> standard.

EDH with a good group > most formats, but that isn't practical for everyone (and Brawl is coming to Arena sometime this month, so that kinda works )

[Mr. Cairo]

I know it's not technically a sacrifice deck (the various Cauldron Familiar decks would probably be closer to that), but it still bleeds the opponent out in a similar way.  I keep seeing Cauldron Familiar decks on Arena, and while they're annoying they just seem so weak in a format with so many exile effects (though Witch's Oven and the BBB legend being instant-speed hurts that), though every single time it pairs the Oven and the cat, because everyone gets to tutor on their draw step instead of me (because Wizards doesn't realize that you can't put advancement at zero-sum when you only actually play like one in five games)

Yeah, but even those aren't what I'd call "Aristocrats" decks, since their main drain is just from recurring the cat. To me Aristocrats has always meant a deck built around "when a creature you control dies, each opponent loses one life and you gain one life" or something to that effect.

In Allegiance we got Judith, who doesn't drain, but does deal a damage (to any target) when a creature you control dies, and is an anthem effect. Which went quite well with things like Footlight Fiend and Gutterbones. So that made a pretty good Rakdos deck, which got better in War of the Spark with Dreadhorde Butcher. But the neatest tech has come with M20 and the fun little interaction between Mayhem Devil and Chandra, Acolyte of Flame.

This is what my Rakdos aristo deck looks like now:
4 Knight of the Ebon Legion (M20) 105
3 Bedevil (RNA) 157
4 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame (M20) 126
4 Light Up the Stage (RNA) 107
4 Judith, the Scourge Diva (RNA) 185
4 Mayhem Devil (WAR) 204
2 Footlight Fiend (RNA) 216
4 Spawn of Mayhem (RNA) 85
3 Angrath's Rampage (WAR) 185
4 Dreadhorde Butcher (WAR) 194
4 Embodiment of Agonies (M20) 98
11 Swamp (RIX) 194
5 Mountain (RIX) 195
4 Blood Crypt (RNA) 245

With Embodiment of Agonies and Spawn of Mayhem being the finishers.

But also in War of the Spark, we got an actual Aristocrat in Cruel Celebrant, which actually does drain when your stuff dies, and that includes tokens. At first I made a Mardu deck out of that with Hero of Precinct One being the token generator, and Heroic Reinforcements (which has since rotated). I haven't actually gone back to that deck since rotation, and I found it wasn't as good as the straight R/B Judith deck.
But I did make a Orzhov deck with Cruel Celebrant and Hero of Precinct One that might still be good, but I haven't gone back to that for a while, so it'll need some work to update.

Lately however, my standard baby has been Rampage of the Clans. One of those junk rares that I just love building decks around. I've got two versions, an enchantments one that lets me use a bunch of other junk rares:
4 Starfield Mystic (M20) 39
3 Murderous Rider (ELD) 97
2 Smothering Tithe (RNA) 22
4 Gift of Paradise (M20) 173
2 Dawn of Hope (GRN) 8
3 Pause for Reflection (GRN) 140
3 Root Snare (RNA) 137
3 Rampage of the Clans (RNA) 134
4 Urban Utopia (GRN) 146
3 Kaya's Wrath (RNA) 187
3 Fabled Passage (ELD) 244
4 Revenge of Ravens (ELD) 104
2 Cry of the Carnarium (RNA) 70
4 Temple of Silence (M20) 256
4 Temple of Malady (M20) 254
1 Temple Garden (GRN) 258
5 Forest (ANA) 65
3 Plains (ANA) 61
2 Swamp (ANA) 63
1 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253

I don't have the wildcards yet to get the rest of the Shocklands, but eventually. Murderous Rider is a recent addition, to deal with pesky planeswalkers. But basically the deck just stalls out with fogs and life-gain and wraths until you've got enough enchantments (and treasures) on the board that an eot Rampage generates enough 3/3s to win on the next turn. When it works, it is so satisfying, but half the time the opponent just scoops before you even get that far.

Then, once Throne was released, and I saw all those Cauldron Familiar decks around, I realised that Rampage of the Clans works quite well with Food tokens, so I made an artifacts version:
4 Trail of Crumbs (ELD) 179
2 Status // Statue (GRN) 230
4 Oko, Thief of Crowns (ELD) 197
4 Golden Egg (ELD) 220
4 Cauldron Familiar (ELD) 81
4 Savvy Hunter (ELD) 200
4 Gilded Goose (ELD) 160
4 Witch's Oven (ELD) 237
3 Rampage of the Clans (RNA) 134
3 Murderous Rider (ELD) 97
6 Forest (ANA) 65
3 Swamp (ANA) 63
1 Island (ANA) 62
4 Watery Grave (GRN) 259
1 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253
3 Breeding Pool (RNA) 246
3 Fabled Passage (ELD) 244
1 Gingerbread Cabin (ELD) 245
1 Castle Locthwain (ELD) 241
1 Castle Vantress (ELD) 242
Lands are once again a work in progress, but I do like this one. Oko is a beast. I really need to play this one more now that I think about it. It can probably be refined.


Also, because I'm a terrible person, I built a mono-blue Draw-Go deck for standard that wins by decking your opponent with the counterspells that mill for three, while keeping yourself from being decked with Devious Cover-Up:
2 So Tiny (ELD) 64
3 Essence Capture (RNA) 37
4 Negate (M20) 69
4 Didn't Say Please (ELD) 42
4 Devious Cover-Up (GRN) 35
4 Thought Collapse (RNA) 57
1 The Magic Mirror (ELD) 51
2 Commence the Endgame (WAR) 45
4 Opt (ELD) 59
3 Anticipate (M20) 45
3 Chemister's Insight (GRN) 32
2 Unsummon (M20) 78
2 Castle Vantress (ELD) 242
4 Mystic Sanctuary (ELD) 247
18 Island (ANA) 62

Well, the real win-con is removing the will to love/play from your opponent so they scoop.


I have to say, I really like Arena and standard right now. I've been uninterested in standard for years until Arena came along, mainly because it just costs so much money. I have some EDH decks and a Modern deck (in paper) that aren't going to rotate. But with Arena, I can play regularly without a massive investment of cash.

[Cheater Hater]

For your actual Sac deck the main thing that's missing is the black god, since he's "I win" with Mayhem Devil. Rampage of the Clans is an interesting card with Food, but the problem is that there are better ways to win with Food that do things if you don't have food.

[Cheater Hater]

New format! As suspicious as I am that Pioneer came out right at the time where both Standard and Modern are awful (and it's a massive blunder for WotC to not even say it's working towards the format on Arena), it's fun to get my brewing hat on in a new format. Here's where I am at on Day -70 or so:

Code:

3 Llanowar Elves
3 Elvish Mystic
4 Gilded Goose
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality Smasher
4 Hydroid Krasis
4 Questing Beast
4 Leyline of Abundance
4 Once Upon a Time
4 Aether Hub
2 Hashep Oasis
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Breeding Pool
3 Botanical Sanctum
2 Forest
3 Field of Ruin
4 Oko, Thief of Crowns
1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales

Sideboard:
4 Wicked Wolf
3 Veil of Summer
4 Stubborn Denial
1 Field of Ruin
1 Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Leyline of Abundance is a card that seems like it could be broken in a format that has lots of accelerators but isn't super-powerful, as T2 powerful 4-drops has gotten stuff banned in the past. It's a little worrying that the best four-drop after Thought-Knot Seer is either Questing Beast or Oko though. I know it isn't as broken as most decks (obviously whoever makes the good version of Copycat, Marvel, or Emry is probably going to be better in the long-run), but Thought-Knot Seer gives me something against combo (and I wouldn't be surprised if a piece of each of those decks gets banned soon, while the thing most likely to get banned here is Oko). The exact manabase is up in the air as well (can I shave another land? I'm also not sure what the balance of blue vs colorless should be, as I still want most of my lands to cast an accelerant on T1--Field of Ruin is an unfortunate concession to Field of the Dead before a piece of that possibly gets banned too), and of course I have no clue how to build a sideboard.

[Mr. Cairo]

I'm curious why do you think Standard is awful right now? I only play it on Arena so I probably don't see the full metagame, as it were.