This past weekend, Rob and I got together once again in an attempt to break the Standard format.

In all seriousness, I bemoan the state of Standard a good deal I think, I'll admit that, but the truth is, when I'm actually able to play fun, interactive games, with a lot of back and forth, the format can be one of the best available. I think that's what took place here.

It all started when long-time viewer and subscriber, Llamagoyf, commissioned me to create a Pioneer deck for him entitled "Lyra Pumps Resto." The deck was meant to be an angel tribal deck that consisted of things like Lyra Dawnbringer and Restoration Angel, but he also wanted it to be Red and Green, because Christmas. The whole thing was meant to have a Christmas theme to it.

With Pioneer being so new, I actually had a good feeling about a Naya Angel deck that could deploy a lot of fat, evasive threats. Alas, Llamagoyf messaged me a bit after Theros Beyond Death was released and let me know that if I just wanted to play a rampy Standard deck, that would be fine by him. Well, I thought this would be a fun exercise, and a way to see if Standard was as damaged as I had thought.

You can see Rob and I build the entire deck from scratch, along with playing a few rounds with it in the video down below, but this was the final list we arrived at.

B/G Ramp | THB Standard | Frank Lepore

• Creatures (20)
• 1 Acolyte of Affliction
• 2 Voracious Hydra
• 3 Arboreal Grazer
• 3 Murderous Rider
• 3 Polukranos, Unchained
• 4 Cavalier of Thorns
• 4 Paradise Druid

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
• 1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

• Instants (4)
• 1 Erebos's Intervention
• 3 Deathsprout

• Sorceries (5)
• 2 Relentless Pursuit
• 3 Command the Dreadhorde

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Omen of the Hunt

• Lands (25)
• 7 Swamp
• 8 Forest
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Temple of Malady

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Agonizing Remorse
• 2 Legion's End
• 2 Massacre Girl
• 2 Mystic Repeal
• 3 Noxious Grasp
• 1 Return to Nature
• 1 Ritual of Soot

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One thing to note off the bat: the original list we played had one copy of Vilis, Broker of Blood in it. This was my decision, as I wanted to live out a Standard version of Griselbrand. While the card did end up winning us a game, we ultimately cut it for being too cute. I don't necessarily agree with this, as I'm stubborn, and I like big, underplayed idiots, but honestly, it probably isn't necessary. (That being said, definitely feel free to play him if you want! I totally enjoyed casting the big demon and I never felt like it was a drawback!)

The main goal of the deck is to ramp with cards like this:

• Omen of the Hunt
• Deathsprout
• Paradise Druid
• Cavalier of Thorns
• Arboreal Grazer

Into cards like this:

• Command the Dreadhorde
• Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• An escaped Polukranos, Unchained
• Erebos's Intervention
• Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
• Voracious Hydra
• (Vilis, Broker of Blood)

I guess that's about it.

Truth be told, all of these cards were good at one point or another, with many of them having a lot more longevity thanks to things like Acolyte of Affliction, Command the Dreadhorde, and Cavalier of Thorns being able to put them back on top.

We actually removed a few copies of Relentless Pursuit after playing with them, because the deck doesn't actually have that many creatures as threats. There are only 19, with seven of them being Arboreal Grazer and Paradise Druid. While I love the fact that the card draws you two and puts three cards into the graveyard, our only escape card is Polukranos, and we usually have enough cards in the graveyard to bring him back at least once.

Speaking of running them out of cards, one thing Rob and I were consistently surprised at was how good the deck was at grinding away. We never seemed to run out of cards, or things to do. Maybe it's because we had such a powerful top end that consisted of a lot of big, value cards. Maybe it was because the escape mechanic always gives you something to do. One thing I know for sure is that, despite being a ramp deck, we didn't really feel like we were missing cards like Nissa, Who Shakes the World and Hydroid Krasis, although both would be easy to include; we have tons of ways to add a single Blue mana to the deck. The thing about Nissa is, although she provides some amazing value with the 3/3's, we just never need the sheer amount of mana she produces, and our card slots could be better spent on six-drops, like the planeswalkers we included, or Command the Dreadhorde, all of which felt like they were overperforming.

Omen of the Hunt was great, and the scry was super valuable in the late game. Acolyte of Affliction is basically Golgari Findbroker Lite and I'm not sure which is better.

Voracious Hydra was very hard to deal with, especially with people playing both Shatter the Sky and Elspeth Conquers Death. The former usually means we'll draw a card, and the latter can't hit the Hydra. I could easily see making room for more.

The hardest part of building this deck was sticking to just Green and Black, because it's so easy to fix your mana right now. Like I said, there were definitely cards we could add: I love the new Ashiok, I think Hydroid Krasis is great, and Thief of Sanity is one of my favorite creatures. But ultimately, I don't think the deck was really missing any tools, and our mana base (and life total) were all the better for not being too convoluted.

Like I said, if you want to see our thought process from beginning to end, or watch some game play, be sure to check out the following video:

As for me, that's about all I have for you guys. The next time you hear from me, I'll be living in Utah, as I have a pretty sizable move coming up from my home state of Florida! Thanks so much for reading, and as always, be sure to leave me a comment down below with your thoughts. Did we miss any key components? Could the deck be the real deal? Are there any cards that would be a great fit that we might have overlooked? Let us know! Have a great week, don't forget to use promo code FRANK5 for 5% off, and I'll see you next week.

Frank Lepore

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