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Main » Articles » Play Any Monastery Swiftspear Deck That You Like!

Play Any Monastery Swiftspear Deck That You Like!

Michael Flores
Posted on October 1, 2024
 Reddit

Coming out of Bloomburrow, aggressive red decks were some of the top decks in Standard.

Hmmm... That's probably an understatement.

The printing of certain new Mouse and Mouse-themed cards pushed red to new heights of damage; and in particular the combination of Cacophony Scamp and [Mouse] Heartfire Hero with Callous Sell-Sword (or more properly, Burn Together) made for explosive final turns.

Well with Duskmourn: House of Horror the final turn can be turn two.

What!?!

The Three Cards

There are several cards from the new set that are impacting Red aggro deck design, but the most dynamic is probably Leyline of Resonance.

Mono-Red | DSK Standard| Mogged, 5th Place

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Mogged'S deck is a good example of a Red aggro deck that is utilizing the three most important cards from Duskmourn: House of Horror:

Leyline of Resonance
Turn Inside Out
Thornspire Verge

Leyline of Resonance, as we said, is the most important card. In a sense this is a card that makes the deck even more high variance. Red aggro - if it gets a mix of creatures and pump spells - can feel unbeatable. But what if it only has one creature? And the opponent has a fast removal spell? It can get stuck with a hand full of pump spells and nowhere to aim them. Similarly, if it has all creatures and no way to make them bigger and faster... Well it has a bunch of stupid 1/1s that aren't attacking into a 2/2 or 2/3 blocker.

Now with this Leyline you have the added variance of starting with the card in play (but probably having problems casting it if you draw it any time later). This is a card that does nothing unless you have at least one creature and at least one pump spell.

But my word what it does if you have a pump spell!

A Turn Inside Out is worth six damage... or more if you have a Monastery Swiftspear or Emberheart Challenger. If the opponent successfully kills your creature in combat, you can come out with multiple Manifest Dread 2/2 remainders.

Manifest Dread is a pretty good pump spell (+3 damage for one mana) but it isn't super clear that it's better than Mirran Banesplitter. Prior to Duskmourn: House of Horror, Mirran Banesplitter was my second-favorite buff because you could get the party started on a Heartfire Hero on the opponent's turn and retain the full offense. AND you could trigger Valiant later in the game without committing another card.

But once Leyline of Resonance is in the mix, Mirran Banesplitter (which is not an instant or sorcery) suddenly has a far lower ceiling.

Finally, the card that kind of "makes" gr is Thornspire Verge.

Most Red aggro decks of the previous season were br so they could cast Callous Sell-Sword. They were in it for Burn Together, but the Sell-Sword's body was often bigger than 2/2, and in a pinch it could be the creature on the receiving end of a flurry of pump spells. Thornscape Verge - which taps for Red mana naturally in this base-Red strategy - gives a real incentive to trying a different color combination.

Mogged's deck is not the most offensive / most explosive version of Red aggro, but it does get something out of the Green splash.

Snakeskin Veil

Because the most annoying thing if you're attacking with a small Red creature that you're trying to make a big Red creature is the opponent killing it. Green is better at protecting your creatures than Black is. That's kind of the whole story here.

So, if we're Green... Why not the classic Green boon?

The Boon

Giant Growth

Mono-Red | DSK Standard | freddyfaz, 5-0 MTGO Standard League

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One of the big movements we're seeing in Standard right now is a greater adoption of Elspeth's Smite in White decks.

Elspeth's Smite was always pretty good... But good in the sense that you might see one copy in a Blue-White Control deck. Now we're seeing Elspeth's Smite in multiples - maybe even four-of main deck - including in Black-White decks alongside Cut Down and before Go for the Throat.

This is because Elspeth's Smite is not only fast, but because it exiles the creature that it eliminates. This is a big deal for a number of reasons in Standard; but most importantly it prevents the "death" triggers on Cacophony Scamp and Heartfire Hero.

What is one solution?

Straight out of Alpha... Giant Growth!

Freddyfaz didn't play a lot of them, but the Green splash does enable the classic. It is also a pretty cool card in the face of another spell that FREDDYFAZ plays (that many and most Red aggro decks don't)... Shock.

Shock is... Not powerful. It's not synergistic with the "play a guy and pump it to the moon" strategy that Red aggro has moved toward over the last couple of sets. It's not synergistic with Leyline of Resonance.

But what it does do is kill an incoming creature - ideally in response to a pump spell - to save potentially massive damage.

One thing you'll notice about the pump spells in these deck is (outside of Giant Growth) they don't pump a lot of toughness. That means that outside of the odd Prowess or Valiant trigger, even if the incoming creature is getting big on power, it can be very vulnerable to Elspeth's Smite, Shock, or all manner of toughness-dependant removal spells.

Now freddyfaz has no Black mana whatsoever, but does play Callous Sell-Sword (if only three copies). How does that enhance a Leyline of Resonance build?

Turn 0: Leyline of Resonance

Turn 1: Heartfire Hero

Turn 2: Turn Inside Out Heartfire Hero. The Hero goes from 1/1 to 8 power (1 + 3 + 3 + 1 from Valiant). In for 8! You're on 12... Burn Together.

That's right folks: A turn TWO kill in Standard is now enabled by Leyline of Resonance.

Old Faithful

Don't worry if you haven't collected Thornspire Verge yet... Black-Red is still going strong.

Mono-Red | DSK Standard | Ti0Patinhas, 8th Place MTGO Standard Challenge 9/28/2024

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Again we see a Leyline of Resonance build here. And this deck is capable of the turn two kill.

One card I wanted to note is Might of the Meek.

Might of the Meek is pretty variable. Some people play it; some people don't. As far as a pump spell goes... It doesn't pump a lot of offense. It's obviously better in a deck with more Mice. Here Ti0Patinhas has half their Mice in the sideboard (which I found surprising)... But I guess you have to cut something to make room for Leyline of Resonance.

That said, I've seen Might of the Meek in decks with only Emberheart Challenger, and decks without Leyline of Resonance. Its floor is actually pretty high for a couple of reasons:

  1. With Monastery Swiftspear or Slickshot Show-Off you still get trample and draw a card. That can be pretty good because the creature is making itself bigger.

  2. You can "cycle" Might of the Meek on the opponent's creature in a pinch (and it only costs one mana)

  3. It can be pretty nutty with Leyline of Resonance. You draw multiple cards and potentially give multiple incoming creatures trample

Might of the Meek obviously gets wider in application the more Mice you have. For example Manifold Mouse gives double strike... So, adding trample while drawing a card can lead to some explosive attack phases. Not as explosive as Leyline of Resonance; but pretty explosive still.

Massacre

So, here's a build with Manifold Mouse... But not Leyline of Resonance or Might of the Meek!

It just goes to show how varied the Red decks are right now.

Mono-Red | DSK Standard| TioKadu, 5-0 MTGO Standard League

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I just wanted to showcase another new card from Duskmourn: House of Horror... Chainsaw!

I am not sure how widely adopted Chainsaw will be in these kinds of decks, just because it's nowhere near as fast or explosive as the Leyline style... But three damage for two mana is a reasonable rate (if only at creatures, and at sorcery speed). Chainsaw's long-term ability especially with Valiant creatures is an incentive of its own, though.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Boros Aggro | DSK Standard | bless_von, 3rd Place MTGO Standard League

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Yes my friends, that's three basic Plains in the Red aggro deck!

It's also Lightning Helix in the main, so I have some fond thoughts.

What I am not fond of - if putting on my Red aggro (as a player) hat - is Sheltered by Ghosts.

Oh wow.

I feel like Sheltered by Ghosts might be the best card in Duskmourn: House of Horror. If you're a Red aggro deck - like many that we've looked at today - that doesn't play creature removal at all you're likely to lose to this card on the spot.

Is it good enough to commit three basic Plains? No Verge... Restless Bivouac that enters the battlefield tapped?

It really, really might be the best card in the set, so maybe this is the secret new direction that Red aggro is going to move, rather than toward turn two kills.

Shardmate's Rescue plays the "Snakeskin Veil" role that we saw with some of the gr builds. And Optimistic Scavenger - an oddball on curve if ever I've seen one - gives the deck an incentive to play auras in general.

So, what makes Sheltered by Ghosts so good?

First of all, it's an undercosted Oblivion Ring. This kind of effect usually costs three mana; here it only costs two. You have to have a creature to put it on, but you wanted to be beating down with creatures anyway.

Secondly, the Ward is pretty annoying. Sheltered by Ghosts makes it so you can pile more buffs onto a single creature with less downside risk of it being removed by someone who doesn't want to die to your suddenly-tall attacker.

But of course the biggest deal is lifelink. Since most Red aggro decks can't easily kill a creature wearing Sheltered by Ghosts, it will typically just take out their best creature and swing the game out of range with a single attack. Sheltered by Ghosts doesn't care how big the creature it is taking out is. It doesn't trigger Heartfire Hero or Cacophony Scamp.

You can go even further (taller?)...

Boros Aggro | DSK Standard | fives, 5-0 MTGO Standard League

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I love this deck.

This deck is a riot.

The player is FIVES.

They went 5-0.

There are FIVE BASIC PLAINS.

It still has Callous Sell-Sword for a finish. Which is surprising given the no black / five basic Plains.

But also makes sense because a single creature can go so tall here. Sheltered by Ghosts? Meet Ethereal Armor. Chump blockers? Not so fast! Demonic Ruckus is back on the table.

Standard is wild right now. You can play any Monastery Swiftspear deck that you like.

LOVE

MIKE

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TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, red, decklist, michael flores, monastery swiftspear, 10012024

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