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Main » Articles » One Giant Step for Standard

One Giant Step for Standard

Mike Likes
Posted on April 9, 2020
 Reddit

Hello everyone. While the preview season for Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths continues, we still have a while before these new cards are released. As such, this is the perfect time to stay at home and play some Magic Online or Magic Arena. This week, I've got a few more tribal decks that you can try out while passing the time self-distancing. Let's get started.

Naya Giants

The first tribe we'll be taking a look at is the Giant tribe. Let's take a look at the deck.

Naya Giants | THB Standard | Q, mtgarena.pro user

Realm-Cloaked Giant
In a typical tribal deck, you'll see cards like Icon of Ancestry, that give creatures of the tribe a bonus. However, in a deck featuring Giants, your creatures are typically larger than your opponent's anyway, so there's no need for cards like this. Their size, though, does come with a cost. Typically creatures in a Giant deck have a higher CMC (converted mana cost), making it easier for your opponent to have built up a battlefield of creatures to use against you in the early stages of the game. This deck does have a couple of ways to deal with those early threats. The first is The Birth of Meletis. Not only does this saga give you a 0/4 Wall creature token with which to defend yourself, but it also provides you two points of life to replenish what may have been lost. The second card to deal with early threats is Deafening Clarion, which can deal three damage to each creature on the battlefield. If you can avoid using Deafening Clarion until after you have a Giant or two in play, you can potentially wipe an opponent's board while also providing yourself with a huge influx of life points.

This deck has a few points of tech that I'd like to point out to you. Even though he's a planeswalker and not a Giant, Karn, the Great Creator fills a giant-sized gap for this deck. With his -2 loyalty ability, you can add any artifact card from your sideboard to your hand. This allows you to find things like Shadowspear, which grants both trample and lifelink. You could also find Embercleave, which provides the creature it's equipped to both double strike and trample. Gaining trample can be a huge benefit for decks utilizing Giant creatures, as it allows you full usage of that creature's power and can help you end the game quickly. This is especially true against opponents who have ways to create an endless supply of chump blockers.

Another cool piece of tech that only tangentially fits into the Giant theme, is the giant-sized dinosaur known as Thrashing Brontodon. Since a lot of decks rely on having specific enchantments in play, having access to Thrashing Brontodon is essential. Not only can it deal with troublesome enchantments, like Fires of Invention, but it can also deal with pesky sagas as well. It's also an answer when your opponent resolves an Embercleave of their own in their attempt to put the game away.

Pegasus Tribal

The next tribal members we'll take a look at are the Pegasi. Let's take a look at the deck.

Pegasus Tribal | THB Standard | Anonymous, mtgarena.pro user

Archon of Sun's Grace
This deck is built around having a copy of Archon of Sun's Grace on the battlefield. The Archon gives all of your Pegasus creatures lifelink, allowing this deck to gain an absurd amount of life. Since every creature in this deck with the exception of Archon of Sun's Grace is a Pegasus, and all of these Pegasi have flying, you'll be able to have an evasive force for attacking and defense.

Archon of Sun's Grace also affords you a method of creating additional 2/2 Pegasus creature tokens that also have flying. This happens each time you successfully cast an enchantment. With a total of eleven enchantments in this deck, you'll likely be able to create at least a few additional Pegasi throughout the course of a game.

Since I mentioned how important Archon of Sun's Grace is to have on the battlefield, you'll want to do what you can to keep it safe. While there are only two copies of it in this deck, Gods Willing offers you protection from any type of targeted removal spell your opponent has to offer. You'll still be vulnerable to mass removal spells, but there's typically no way for most decks to deal with mass removal anyway. In those instances, you'll have to hope the additional life you've gained throughout the match can sustain you long enough to rebuild your lost forces.

Goblin Tribal

The final deck I have for you this week features the popular Goblin tribe. Let's take a look at it.

Goblin Tribal | THB Standard | Drunk Gnome.169575, mtgarena.pro user

Grumgully, the Generous
Goblins have been a popular tribe for a long time. Normally, they're a fast, low-to-the-ground tribe that snowballs in mass over the course of time. This deck is no exception to that, but it does have the potential for its small creatures to get a little bit bigger and more beefy. This is due to Grumgully, the Generous. When you have a copy of Grumgully on the battlefield, each other creature you cast will come in with a +1/+1 counter on it (since all of your creatures in this deck are Goblins). That means you'll hit your opponent a little harder as well as defend just a little bit better.

You shouldn't have any problems building up your army of Goblins very quickly. Both Legion Warboss and Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin allow you ways to create 1/1 Goblin creature tokens. Goblin Ringleader, even though it's the most expensive card in the deck (with a CMC of 4), allows you the chance to put up to four additional Goblins from the top of your deck into your hand. When this deck is running on all cylinders, you'll be able to outnumber your opponent's forces in no time.

Grumgully, the Generous isn't the only way to enlarge the size of your creatures. With Domri's Ambush, you'll be able to put a +1/+1 counter on one of your creatures and then have that creature fight one of your opponent's creatures. Bulk plus removal, all rolled into one. This deck also has a couple of ways to specifically increase the power of your creatures. Domri, Anarch of Bolas and Heraldric Banner both give all of your creatures a +1/+0 bonus while they are in play. Use this additional power to keep the pressure squarely on your opponent by attacking them often, and deny them the chance to regain their footing. If you do that for long enough, you'll achieve victory.

Wrapping Up

Tribal decks can be a lot of fun to play, so you should try these deck out and relieve a bit of the stress from normal day-to-day life. I, for one, can't wait to play the Goblin tribal deck on Magic Arena this weekend.

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

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, decklist, mike likes, thb standard, 04092020

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