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Main » Articles » A Casual Deck Redux!

A Casual Deck Redux!

James Heslip
Posted on December 14, 2022
 Reddit

Over time things change, new ideas emerge, and additional cards are added to our pool of potential picks for any strategy. It's just the nature of card games. So, just like any other decks out there, our lists need to be updated from time to time. With the year's end quickly approaching, I thought I'd take a look back at some of my favorite casual decks that I've written about here and showcase changes I've made to them since they last appeared. Starting us off is the classic Hokey Pokey!

Gruul Hokey Pokey (Old List) | Casual | James Heslip

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Cost: $14.00 at the time of publication

The Original

Hokey Pokey is a Gruul bounce deck that abuses Stampeding Serow and Stampeding Wildebeests as the core bounce engine. Creatures like Elvish Visionary and Sylvan Ranger have powerful "enters the battlefield" (ETB) effects that the pilot is able to make use of over and over again. Rhonas's Monument reduces the cost of the creatures, and provides a nice buff trigger every time we re-cast something. Games would end either through large single creatures grown by Monument, or sheer card advantage and creature numbers thanks to all the draw triggers the deck is able to accomplish.

Originally, the Hokey Pokey was Mono-Green, but eventually a very slight Red splash was added to make room for Thunderscape Familiar (which allowed for more cost reduction) and Horned Kavu (which gave us more bounce).

Gruul Hokey Pokey (New List) | Casual | James Heslip

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Cost: $16.00 at the time of publication

The Update

Goblin Anarchomancer
The updated Hokey Pokey has a much larger focus on Red, thanks mostly to the printing of Goblin Anarchomancer. This cost reduction affects our Red creatures as well as our Green, so we're able to play more Red in the deck overall. What this really means, is that we're able to interact with our opponent more by adding a bunch of removal with legs, like Flametongue Yearling and Flametongue Kavu. Their inclusion eliminates our need for Lys Alana Bowmaster as an answer to flying creatures.

Because Stampeding Serow and Stampeding Wildebeests require you to bounce a Green creature specifically, we needed to find new bounce outlets as well. Roaring Primadox saw play in the old Mono-Green version way back in the day, so there's no reason we can't invite him back to the party. First Responder, however, is a new but welcome face to the strategy. Like Primadox, the ogre citizen can bounce a creature of any color. His Vigilance, ability to grow over time, and end of turn bounce all set him apart from his beast counterpart, though.

Since none of our bouncers have trample and we've already ditched Bowmaster, I figured it was safe to abandon Mwonvuli Beast Tracker altogether. We might lose out on some consistency, as well as the chance to silver bullet search for answers, but I'm not sure how much all of that was needed in the first place.

Silversmote Ghoul (Old List) | Casual | James Heslip

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The Original

My old Silversmote Ghoul list aimed to abuse the namesake zombie as much as possible, usually by equipping it with Sylvok Lifestaff before sacrificing it to powerful cards like Village Rites or Carrion Feeder. Bubbling Cauldron was also included as a means to gain enough life to trigger Ghoul. Because of this, Festering Newt found its way into the list. Other pay off cards for the life gain and sacrificing were Griffin Aerie and Hidden Stockpile, which made up the core of the deck's win condition.

Forerunner of the Legion was included as a way to search up Silversmote, but that wasn't its only target. Oathsworn Vampire was yet another recurring creature we could find. Inspiring Cleric was a searchable life-gain enabler, while Indulging Patrician gave the deck some reach.

Silversmote Ghoul (New List) | Casual | James Heslip

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Cost: $16.00 at the time of publication

The Update

Lone Rider
Overall, I feel that the old list relied way too much on Sylvok Lifestaff. Additionally, it struggled to really end the game due to its lack of powerful finishers. Finally, I don't think it was really able to make full use of the Aristocrats-style strategy it was desperately trying to pair with the lifegain-focused strategy it was already accomplishing.

I feel that the changes I've since made answer these problems completely. For one, the deck has much more life gain than before. Lone Missionary is a respectable 2-drop that gains us four life, and Stronghold Arena replaces Village Rites as our card draw of choice while still providing a life-gain option that triggers everything we need it to. Abundant Maw also pumps up our HP, is a great six-power finisher, and hits the aristocrats gameplay on the nose with Silversmote Ghoul. Lone Rider is similar in that it's both an amazing finisher that also gains us life.

Bone Shards was added to give us some interaction with opposing threats. We can sacrifice Ghouls, Eggs, or tokens as needed. Discarding a Ghoul to the removal spell and then reviving it later also feels great.

I'm unsure about Ayli, but she seems to fit in okay. Sacrificing an Egg gains us enough life to trigger anything that cares about the life gain, and her permanent destruction ability feels good on paper. Still, I'm wondering if we can find something better.

Phoenix Tribal (Old List) | Casual | James Heslip

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Cost: $22.00 at the time of publication

The Original

This Mono-Red phoenix tribal deck attempted to make full use of Flamewake Phoenix and Kuldotha Phoenix by running a slew of artifacts and high-power creatures. Cards like Makeshift Munitions, Faithless Looting, and Witch's Oven would dump the fiery fowls into the graveyard, only for us to bring them back later on.

Munitions also played well with the food tokens Oven and Cookbook would provide. These tokens helped to enable Kuldotha Phoenix's metalcraft, while Tuktuk the Explorer, Gadrak, and the aforementioned Kuldotha would all enable Flamewake.

Phoenix Tribal (New List) | Casual | James Heslip

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Cost: $23.00 at the time of publication

The Update

Phoenix Chick
The biggest difference between the two lists is the Black splash added into the updated deck. Since we were already playing Witch's Oven, it made sense to add in Cauldron Familiar, which pairs extremely well with the artifact. The only other Black spell added is Bone Shards, which added some much-needed removal. Alongside Cookbook, Shards is the best way to bin your Kuldotha Phoenixes early on. Both cards helped to mend some of the issues the old list had, namely its lack of proper interaction and its relatively high mana curve.

Phoenix Chick is another early play that also fits right into the deck's tribal theme! I couldn't not include him. I mean, he's just so cute! It's a little more difficult for us to revive him compared to his more aged counterparts, but I still don't mind discarding him to an early Faithless Looting.

One other weakness I thought the deck had was consistency, specifically in being able to actually revive its odyssey. It was too often that I could not reach metalcraft in time for Kuldotha, or that I had a Flamewake in the yard with no larger creature to enable it. Lupine Prototype was added in to help with this. Since it's both an artifact and a creature with more than 4 power, it aids us in reviving either bird! With Cookbook, Bone Shards, and Faithless Looting all acting as discard outlets, we'll be more than capable (and happy) to empty our hands and give him the power to attack.

As a silly side note, my wife and I have taken to calling the deck "Pet Shop" since it's full of cats, dogs, birds, and two copies of a rather large lizard.

TAGS articles, casual, kitchen table, decklist, james heslip, 12142022

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