There are a lot of powerful cards in Theros, but one that I think hasn't received the attention it deserves is Reaper of the Wilds. This card seems excellent in either a midrange or slightly slower aggro strategy, giving your late game a big boost with its three useful abilities. I explored the midrange option first, but that deck needs a number of fairly expensive rares to operate, so to keep the budget lower, I'll be taking a look at a more aggressive build.

"Golgari Aggro"

• Creatures (31)
• 4 Boon Satyr
• 4 Experiment One
• 4 Lotleth Troll
• 4 Rakdos Cackler
• 4 Reaper of the Wilds
• 4 Thrill-Kill Assassin
• 4 Tormented Hero
• 3 Varolz, the Scar-Striped

• Spells (6)
• 2 Putrefy
• 4 Doom Blade

• Lands (23)
• 10 Forest
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Golgari Guildgate

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

The other two 1-drops in the deck are useful simply for their 2 power. Rakdos Cackler and Tormented Hero each have their own drawbacks, but neither is particularly damaging to an aggressive deck like this one. Although Tormented Hero's heroic ability is rarely going to be relevant, I could see it allowing you to win a game by casting Putrefy with your opponent at 1 life. Even without that ability however, a 2/1 for 1 is exactly what an aggro deck needs.

Lotleth Troll isn't as beefy as some of the other options at this slot, but it is quite hard to kill, especially in combat. The ability to regenerate it for only 1 mana lets you dodge just about any removal spell, and with the ability to discard creatures to make it bigger, your opponent won't even be safe hiding behind a Loxodon Smiter. Although it may hurt to discard a perfectly good creature when you need to, Varolz, the Scar-Striped can make sure you still generate some good value out of that creature later.

Thrill-Kill Assassin's 3 toughness ensures it won't die to any opposing 1-drops with 2 power, and having deathtouch once again means that even large creatures such as Loxodon Smiter can't block it safely. In addition, you can cast it without unleash late in the game to create a deadly blocker that can trade with almost any creature.

Varolz, the Scar-Striped may lose some power depending on how popular Scavenging Ooze is in the new format, but unlike many other graveyard-centric cards, he doesn't allow your opponent to stop you just by leaving green mana open. If your opponent doesn't want you to scavenge, he actually has to activate that ability, probably multiple times. Leaving one Forest untapped isn't going to do anything. Like Lotleth Troll, Varolz can regenerate to dodge Supreme Verdict and removal spells, and his scavenge ability is quite good. Although several of the creatures in this deck will only give 1 counter, Tormented Hero gives you 2 counters for 1 mana, and Boon Satyr gives you 4 counters for 3, giving any creature the ability to take out a quarter of your opponent's life.

Reaper of the Wilds was the reason I built this deck in the first place. A 4/5 for 4 mana is fairly solid, despite the fact that we've seen a number of 5/5s for that price recently. However, unlike those creatures, the Reaper has a trio of powerful abilities to take advantage of. First, whenever a creature dies, you are able to scry 1. This seems incredibly useful for ensuring the threats keep flowing. It can also start a chain of sorts as long as you manage to keep it alive. You scry into a creature and cast it, and then if your opponent kills it, you are able to scry again, making it more likely that you draw another creature to replace it. The second ability is the reason Reaper of the Wilds can stand up to the 5/5s in the format. For 1 mana, you can give it deathtouch, allowing it to trade with a blocker no matter how large it is. Finally, for 2 mana you can give the Reaper hexproof, making it difficult for your opponent to bat it away with a removal spell. If he wants it dead, that means blocking, and thanks to deathtouch, that also means losing at least one large creature.

The Removal

Playtesting

A number of writers have been suggesting green and white aggro decks, thanks to the large creatures those colors have access to. Any deck that sees this much press is sure to be a popular choice in this unknown format, so that's what I'll be testing against today.

Game 1

My opponent attacked for 2, and I took the damage. He played a Plains and cast Voice of Resurgence and ended his turn. I drew Thrill-Kill Assassin and attacked for 2, and my opponent blocked with the Voice. I cast the Assassin, unleashed, and ended my turn.

He played Selesnya Guildgate and passed back. I drew Putrefy and attacked with my Assassin. My opponent took 2, and I cast both copies of Rakdos Cackler before ending my turn.

My opponent played a Forest and passed the turn. I drew Golgari Guildgate and attacked with everything. My opponent cast Advent of the Wurm to make a 5/5 and then used it to block a Rakdos Cackler. Dryad Militant blocked the other Cackler, and the now-3/3 Elemental token blocked Thrill-Kill Assassin. Before damage, I killed the Wurm with Putrefy, which also enabled Thrill-Kill Assassin to kill the Elemental without dying. I played my Guildgate and ended my turn.

My opponent played Temple Garden, cast Experiment One, and ended his turn. I drew Reaper of the Wilds and attacked for 4. My opponent took the damage, dropping to 14. I played my Swamp, cast the Reaper, and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Plains and cast Dryad Militant, evolving Experiment One. He ended his turn, and I drew another Reaper of the Wilds. I attacked with everything, and my opponent traded his Militant for my Rakdos Cackler. He dropped to 8, and I cast my second Reaper before passing the turn.

He cast Loxodon Smiter, evolving Experiment One once again, and ended his turn. I drew a Forest, played it, and cast Varolz, the Scar-Striped. I scavenged the three 1-drops in my graveyard, putting 2 counters each on Varolz and Thrill-Kill Assassin. My opponent conceded.

Game 2

My opponent paid 2 life for a Temple Garden and cast Fleecemane Lion before ending his turn. I drew Experiment One, played my Swamp, and cast Lotleth Troll. I passed the turn.

My opponent attacked with Fleecemane Lion, and I took the damage. He then cast Voice of Resurgence, played Temple Garden tapped, and ended his turn. I drew Doom Blade, played my Guildgate, and passed back.

He played a Plains and ended his turn, and I cast Doom Blade on the Lion. He cast Rootborn Defenses to make it indestructible in response. I drew Boon Satyr, cast my second Lotleth Troll, and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Plains and activated Fleecemane Lion's monstrosity ability. He then ended his turn. I drew Varolz, the Scar-Striped and passed back. He played another Plains and cast Call of the Conclave to make a 3/3 Centaur before ending his turn. I drew a Forest, played it, and cast Varolz. I ended my turn.

My opponent attacked with everything. I blocked the Centaur with a Lotleth Troll, discarding Rakdos Cackler to give it a counter and regenerating it. My opponent gave the creature +2/+2 and trample with Selesnya Charm, and I dropped to 11. I drew Tormented Hero and scavenged Rakdos Cackler onto Varolz. I discarded Tormented Hero to make the larger Lotleth Troll a 4/3 and scavenged it onto the other to make it 4/3 as well. I attacked for 3 with Varolz and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Forest and passed, and I drew Tormented Hero and passed the turn with no play.

My opponent did the same, and I bestowed Boon Satyr at end of turn onto the smaller Lotleth Troll, making it an 8/5. I drew Doom Blade and attacked with the 8/5 Troll. My opponent blocked with Fleecemane Lion, dropping to 7. I ended my turn, and he cast Advent of the Wurm to make a 5/5 and evolve Experiment One. I killed the Wurm with Doom Blade before his turn, and he passed back with no play.

I drew a Forest and played it. I discarded Tormented Hero to put a counter on my smaller Lotleth Troll, and I then scavenged it onto the same, making it a 9/8. I then attacked with everything. My opponent cast Rootborn Defenses, making his creatures indestructible and populating his Elemental token, evolving Experiment One as well. He blocked Varolz with an Elemental and put the other 4/4 token and Experiment One on the 9/8 Troll. He blocked the 8/5 Troll with Fleecemane Lion. I bestowed my second Boon Satyr onto one of the trampling Trolls for lethal damage.

Wrap-Up

This deck certainly has some power, and Boon Satyr is a much harder card to play than I originally anticipated. I'm still not sure if hanging onto them in the last game was the right decision, despite having won. The weighing of future value versus immediate effect is never easy, and adding in the disparity between a creature and an Aura makes it even more complicated.

Varolz was just as awesome as I predicted, and the regenerate ability on Lotleth Troll was the only reason I was even in that second game. It's nice to have a creature that can block anything and live, especially when dealing with an almost-impossible-to-kill threat like a monstrous Fleecemane Lion. Overall, I think this deck might be an interesting and effective choice for the new Standard. If you want a different kind of aggro deck, give this one a shot.