Locations
Hello, everyone! Throne of Eldraine was physically released a few days ago, but it was released digitally before that. As such, the digital world has already been making strides in creating new decks featuring these new cards. This week, we'll take a look at some of the decks doing well on Magic Online (MTGO). Let's get started.
Boros Knights
The first deck I have for you features two of my favorite things -- a Boros color scheme and the Knights tribe. Let's take a look at the deck:
Boros Knights | Eldraine Standard | MATUFFINO, (5-0) MTGO
- Creatures (31)
- 3 Skyknight Vanguard
- 4 Acclaimed Contender
- 4 Fervent Champion
- 4 Inspiring Veteran
- 4 Venerable Knight
- 4 Venerated Loxodon
- 4 Weaselback Redcap
- 4 Worthy Knight
- Enchantments (3)
- 3 Conclave Tribunal
- Artifacts (4)
- 1 Icon of Ancestry
- 3 Embercleave
- Lands (22)
- 5 Mountain
- 7 Plains
- 2 Temple of Triumph
- 4 Sacred Foundry
- 4 Tournament Grounds
I mentioned that the majority of creatures in this deck are Humans, but there's a couple that aren't. Weaselback Redcap is a Goblin Knight that has the potential to attack for a ton of damage if unblocked. It's better kept back for defense, as it can take down foes much larger than itself. The other non-Human is Venerated Loxodon. Not only is it not a Human, but it's also not a Knight, so there's no way that Venerated Loxodon will normally gain a bonus from Icon of Ancestry. This Elephant Cleric is included in this deck as a means to make other creatures bigger while also acting as a big body itself.
I mentioned earlier how you might want to hold Weaselback Redcap back for defense. That line of thinking changes if you have Embercleave in play. By equipping it to Weaselback Redcap, you'll give it a +1/+1 bonus as well as double strike. Thanks to double strike, the ability to increase the power of Weaselback Redcap makes it a threat that must be dealt with quickly. Since it doesn't have some sort of evasion, unless your opponent has a way to create unlimited chump blockers, you'll be able to take out one of their blocking creatures with each attack, forcing them to make a big move quickly or lose their entire team.
Azorius Artifacts
The next deck I have for you attempts to use the power of Artifacts to win games. Let's take a look at it:
Azorius Artifacts | Eldraine Standard | KURUKURU, (5-0) MTGO
- Creatures (22)
- 2 Arcanist's Owl
- 4 Gingerbrute
- 4 Inquisitive Puppet
- 4 Locthwain Gargoyle
- 4 Stonecoil Serpent
- 4 Steel Overseer
- Planeswalkers (2)
- 2 Gideon Blackblade
- Instants (4)
- 4 Gods Willing
- Enchantments (4)
- 4 All That Glitters
- Artifacts (7)
- 3 Mystic Forge
- 4 Glass Casket
- Lands (21)
- 11 Plains
- 5 Island
- 1 Castle Ardenvale
- 4 Hallowed Fountain
In theory, enchanting Gingerbrute with All That Glitters could end games quickly against the right opponent. If you know your opponent doesn't have any creatures with haste, you'll be able to attack for a ton of damage. Alternatively, you could enchant Arcanist's Owl instead. Arcanist's Owl has another form of evasion, flying, and against many decks, attacking with this Bird a few times while enchanted equals game over for your opponent. However, to get the most out of All That Glitters, you'll probably want to enchant Stonecoil Serpent with it. Giving a huge power bonus to a creature with trample is a no-brainer. The fact that Stonecoil Serpent has protection from multicolored means that your opponent might be limited in the number of creatures they have that can block this Snake. Fewer blockers means more trample damage going straight through to the opponent's life total.
Izzet Instants
The final deck I have for you is a control deck that wants nothing more than to play all of its cards on the opponent's turn. Let's take a look at the deck:
Izzet Instants | Eldraine Standard | GERSCHI, (5-0) MTGO
- Creatures (12)
- 4 Bonecrusher Giant
- 4 Brazen Borrower
- 4 Brineborn Cutthroat
- Planeswalkers (2)
- 2 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
- Instants (21)
- 2 Scorching Dragonfire
- 3 Mystical Dispute
- 4 Ionize
- 4 Opt
- 4 Ral's Outburst
- 4 Shock
- Lands (25)
- 5 Mountain
- 6 Island
- 2 Castle Vantress
- 4 Fabled Passage
- 4 Steam Vents
- 4 Temple of Epiphany
- Sideboard (15)
- 2 Ashiok, Dream Render
- 2 Crackling Drake
- 3 Aether Gust
- 3 Flame Sweep
- 3 Negate
- 1 Beacon Bolt
- 1 Lava Coil
There's only two spells that you'll need to consider casting on your own turn. Bonecrusher Giant can be cast to give you a back-up creature in the event that Brineborn Cutthroat gets destroyed. Generally, you'll cast it from exile after you've already cast Stomp, though. Bonecrusher Giant can act as a resilient threat thanks to its ability to deal two damage to the player that targets it with a spell.
Chandra, Awakened Inferno is the other threat you'll need to cast on your own turn, and what a threat she is. She starts at a whopping six loyalty, and you'll likely want to use her +2 loyalty ability every turn unless you're in trouble and need to destroy your opponent's creatures. By using her +2 loyalty ability, you'll create an emblem that will deal a point of damage to your opponent every turn during their upkeep. You can create multiple emblems, which really puts a ticking clock on your opponent as their life slowly drops, turn after turn.
Wrapping Up
These decks are but a small sampling of the new decks that Throne of Eldraine has made possible. It's always an exciting time the first few weeks after a new set is released, as new decks seem to pop up everywhere. Do you think any of these decks have what it takes to compete with Field of the Dead decks?
What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
