Oh baby, Kaladesh is online! What makes this moment particularly great is that the Pro Tour has not yet happened and for a little longer the meta on MTGO is like the Wild West. Since my last article, I have been able to do more testing and the list below is what I have been having the most fun with. It takes a lot of the strength that the other W/R Vehicle decks have, but it is a lot leaner. It hits harder faster with cards like Inventor's Apprentice and Lathnu Hellion. Lathnu Hellion actually makes a nice little love triangle of synergies with Harnessed Lightning and Aetherhub. Scrapheap Scrounger means you are unlikely to run out of gas and the deck plays a longer game surprisingly well. Thraben Inspector, Veteran Motorist, Smuggler's Copter, and Pia Nalaar all help filter your draws and give you extra ways to use your mana. Start your engines because this deck is total gas. Vroom, vroom, vroom!
W/R Aggro ? Kaladesh Standard | Andrew Boswell
- Creatures (25)
- 2 Pia Nalaar
- 3 Lathnu Hellion
- 4 Inventor's Apprentice
- 4 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Toolcraft Exemplar
- 4 Veteran Motorist
- Spells (13)
- 1 Fiery Temper
- 4 Harnessed Lightning
- 4 Incendiary Flow
- 4 Smuggler's Copter
- Lands (22)
- 2 Plains
- 6 Mountain
- 2 Needle Spires
- 4 Aether Hub
- 4 Concealed Courtyard
- 4 Inspiring Vantage
- Sideboard (15)
- 4 Galvanic Bombardment
- 3 Skywhaler's Shot
- 4 Weaver of Lightning
- 1 Lathnua Hellion
- 3 Fragmentize
Match 1: R/G Energy
Match 2: G/W Midrange
Match 3: Grixis Madness
Match 4: Jund Delerium
Match 5: Mono-Green
Surprisingly, in this sample of games, the thing that stood out the most to me was how mediocre Smuggler's Copter can be. In some games it was good, but it was never really great. In a lot of games it was just bad! This is kind of a crazy thing to see, even in a small sample of games. Smuggler's Copter was so hyped and now I am wondering how it will do at the Pro Tour coming up in Honolulu. Aside from Copter, the other thing that stuck out was how much I missed playing Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. Gideon is just such a sick and powerful card that gives you a way to overwhelm cards like Ishkanah, Grafwidow or level up your team with an Emblem. For the next version I will likely cut the 4 Inventor's Apprentices for 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and a 3rd Needle Spires. Apprentice was good but not great and had little use as a top deck.
Until next week, GLHF friends. May you smite thy enemies with a Golden Axe!
— Andrew Boswell
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