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Dominaria Tribal

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Dominaria was released on Magic Online (MTGO) last week, so my plan for this week's article was to showcase some of the cool brews featuring new cards. However, due to some sort of snafu with the reporting of MTGO decklists recently, most of the lists were incomplete since the reporting software wasn't showing the new cards from Dominaria. Hopefully Wizards of the Coast will get that problem fixed as soon as possible so that next week I can bring you some tested decklists.

With that being said, I still have some new decks to show you this week, and while they may not have the distinction of going 5-0 on MTGO, they're still good starting points. Let's start off by taking a look at a deck built around one of my favorite tribes, Knights.

B/W Knights


First and foremost, this deck does not have a sideboard. I wouldn't let that stop you from playing this deck if it interests you, though, since a sideboard is best when it's customized for your local meta.

One thing to note is that the creator of this deck took no risk when it came to playing a single copy of each of the Legendary creatures in the deck. I think that's a mistake you might want to rectify if you play this deck. I could see playing one or two additional copies of Aryel, Knight of Windgrace instead of the Fragmentize, sending that card to the sideboard instead. Aryel is both a token creator and a source of removal for this deck, so I'd like the redundancy of having a second copy in my hand in the event that the first one cast gets destroyed.

This is definitely a barebones version of a Knight tribal deck, and there are a lot of other cards that could be included. All in all, though, this is a good starting point as it follows a nice mana curve and includes a variety of threats and pieces of removal.

Temur Elves

The next starting point I have for you is based around Elf tribal. Let's take a look at Temur Elves.


Here's a deck that I really think needs to be played to fully understand how it works, as there's a lot of moving parts here. You have cards that ramp your mana production like Llanowar Elves, Druid of the Cowl, and Marwyn, the Nurturer. You also have payoff cards for your mana ramping such as Steel Leaf Champion, Carnage Tyrant, and Sandwurm Convergence. Then you have other cards like Rashmi, Eternities Crafter and Samut, the Tested that allow you to gain an otherwise unfair advantage.

If you're able to activate Samut's ultimate ability, you should be able to end the game in no time assuming you're not too far behind. Getting a combination of Carnage Tyrant's and Regisaur Alpha's can end the game quickly. Alternatively, if you do find yourself behind you can always get one big dinosaur and one cheap elf to cast and chump block with in order to attack with your hasty dinosaurs.

Unclaimed Territory and Metallic Mimic seem to be in a weird spot in this deck since it's hard to know whether to choose Dinosaur or Elves when you play them. I think for Unclaimed Territory I would likely choose Dinosaur most of the time unless I was somehow short on sources of Green mana. For Metallic Mimic, however, I think choosing Elves is correct more often than not. That will allow your Elves to be able to survive for longer in the event you're not ramping your mana as expected.

Mono-Red Goblins

The final deck I have for you is another tribal deck made possible by the release of Dominaria. Let's see what Goblins have to offer.


There's something about the combination of Squee, the Immortal and Siege-Gang Commander that makes my heart flutter. Being able to have a steady stream of damage, even if it's at a rate of 2 points per five mana, can end a game quickly. Unless your opponent has a way to exile either Squee or the Commander, they are in for a world of hurt. And, since the damage can go to any target, you can start plinking off their forces with your immortal goblin or deal that damage to any Planeswalker they might control.

Sacrificing Squee to your Siege-Gang Commander also works well on turns when you cast Goblin Chainwhirler, since you can destroy a creature with more than 2 toughness this way. And don't forget that damage dealt to creatures lasts until the end of the turn, so if you have a burn spell or enough mana to use Squee with the Siege-Gang Commander multiple times in a turn, nearly any creature can be destroyed.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully by the time my next article comes out, Wizards of the Coast will have fixed the problem with their reporting of the MTGO League decks. In the meantime, feel free to try out one of these decks and let me know what you like about them and what cards you would change. You can let me know by leaving a comment below or you can reply to me directly on Twitter (@mikelikesmtg), or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. 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


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