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Main » Articles » Historic Preparations

Historic Preparations

Mike Likes
Posted on July 23, 2020
 Reddit

Hello everyone. On August 1-2, Magic Arena will be hosting an Arena Open. This is an online tournament open to the public that features the potential for you to win $2,000, provided you do well. The format for this tournament is Historic. Because of this, for the next couple of weeks, I'll be bringing you some Historic decks that you can use if you decide to enter this tournament. Let's get started.

Mono-Blue Tempo

We start this week by taking a look at a Mono-Blue deck that recently came in Second Place in MTG Arena Zone tournament. Let's take a look at it.

Mono-Blue Tempo | Historic | ValterEgo

The main route to victory with this deck will be to stick a creature and enchant it with Curious Obsession. That will give it a +1/+1 buff and the ability to draw a card whenever the enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player. Those additional cards will allow you the opportunity to draw some of the counterspells that this deck has, making it difficult for your opponent to successfully cast a creature that can block you. You can also use Dive Down or Siren Stormtamer's activated ability as a means of protection against any targeted removal spells your opponent might send your way.

This deck also features creatures like Brineborn Cutthroat, Spectral Sailor, and Merfolk Trickster that all have flash. Because of this, you can end your turn with lands untapped, allowing you to use that mana for countering an opponent's spells if possible. If it ends up that you don't need to counter anything, you can then use that mana to cast these creatures, allowing you to attack with them on your next turn.

Dinosaurs

The next deck I have for you is a Mythic ranked deck from Arena by a user named Geometra. Let's have a look at it.

Dinosaurs | Historic | Geometra

This Jund deck features an amazing assortment of powerful creatures that you can use to wreck your opponent's game. However, that power does come with the drawback that Dinosaur spells can often be a little pricy. This deck has that covered in multiple ways, though. Once you get to two mana, you can cast both Otepec Huntmaster and Marauding Raptor. Marauding Raptor makes all of your creature spells cost one mana less to cast, but does so at the cost of dealing two damage to any creature that enters the battlefield under your control while Marauding Raptor is on the battlefield. Most of your Dinosaurs can suffer this damage without problems (in fact, Ripjaw Raptor will reward you for it). Otepec Huntmaster also reduces the mana cost of any Dinosaur you cast by one mana. Once you reach three mana, you can cast Domri, Anarch of Bolas, and by using his +1 loyalty ability, you'll ramp up your mana by one and make your creature spells unable to be countered for the turn.

This deck will often win by attacking with larger creatures than your opponent has. You'll often win on the spot by attacking with either Rotting Regisaur or Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and equipping Embercleave to either of these massive Dinosaurs. The double strike and trample combination Embercleave grants the equipped character can often provide lethal damage even if your opponent blocks with their entire team. That means that this deck can strike both fast and hard, and even the most prepared opponent might not be able to stop it.

Azorius Control

The next deck we'll look at utilizes multiple planeswalkers as a means of controlling the battlefield. Let's take a look at the deck.

Azorius Control | Historic | LuCaparroz

This deck features three different versions of Teferi, and each of them serves a purpose in this deck. Teferi, Time Raveler has a static ability that eliminates your opponent's ability to utilize instant spells and cast creatures with flash. In conjunction with the numerous counterspells in this deck, Teferi, Time Raveler can be difficult for your opponent to remove from the battlefield. He also has a -3 loyalty ability that can be used to return specific card types from the battlefield, sending them back to their owner's hand. Use this to take away that small glimmer of hope your opponent has when they're finally able to resolve a threat. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria acts as both removal, thanks to his -3 loyalty ability, and a win condition, thanks to the combination of his -8 loyalty ability and his +1 loyalty ability. Finally, Teferi, Master of Time offers more card drawing capabilities and creature removal. Being able to activate him on both players' turns makes him especially annoying to play against.

I mentioned earlier that Teferi, Hero of Dominaria could act as a finisher, however that's not the only way this deck can get the victory. Shark Typhoon has the ability to create a decent sized force of flying Sharks than can be used as both a deterrent for your opponent to attack you, and as an evasive attacking force. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon also acts as a finisher, and many people will concede the moment Ugin hits the battlefield. You can use his -X loyalty ability to clear the battlefield of any threats your opponent has in play. Once the field is clear, you can begin using Ugin's +2 loyalty ability to deal three damage to your opponent each turn, or use it as additional creature removal.

Rakdos Sacrifice

Next up, we have a deck that took First Place in the recent Hooglandia Open 4. Let's have a look at the deck.

Rakdos Sacrifice | Historic | Luca Moretti

This deck is reminiscent of the Rakdos Sacrifice deck that's currently played in Standard. It features the same combination of Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven, acting as a means of continual incidental damage throughout the game. By getting this combination in play, you're able to declare Cauldron Familiar as a blocker to any threat that doesn't have trample, and then activate Witch's Oven once blockers have been declared. You'll take no damage from the attacking creature, and will be able to return Cauldron Familiar to the battlefield by sacrificing the Food token that Witch's Oven created. By doing this repeatedly, you can possibly defeat your opponent without ever attacking.

This deck really gets humming when you have a copy of Mayhem Devil on the battlefield (and it works better when there are multiple copies in play). Mayhem Devil deals one point of damage to any target whenever any player sacrifices a permanent. You can use this damage as a means of creature removal by destroying your opponent's creatures or send that damage directly at your opponent's life total instead. One cool interaction in this deck can be very demoralizing to your opponent. Cast Claim the Firstborn to steal one of their creatures, attack with it if possible, then sacrifice it with one of the numerous ways this deck has to allow sacrificing creatures, and deal additional damage to your opponent or their creatures. Fun for you, misery for them.

Bant Golos

The final deck I have for you today features a means of creating a Zombie horde. Let's take a look at it.

Bant Golos | Historic | vCardarelli

Half of this deck is comprised of nothing but land cards, so you know there has to be some sort of payoff for that, right? Well, there is, and that payoff is called Field of the Dead. Field of the Dead is the only land in this deck that you have a full playset of, and for good reason. Field of the Dead creates a 2/2 Zombie creature token whenever you play a land and you control seven or more lands with different names. When you have multiple copies of Field of the Dead in play, you'll add an extra Zombie for each copy you have in play. This can allow you to create a large force of Zombie tokens. Since a lot of the cards in this deck allow you to put additional lands into play, you'll be starting your Zombie army in no time.

With all of these lands, you'll be able to produce any color of mana. You can use that mana to activate Golos, Tireless Pilgrim. His activated ability allows you to exile the top three cards of your library and play them without paying their mana costs. This can be a great way to get your two biggest threats into play easily. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon offers a way to remove nearly any threat your opponent has in play, as well as offering a means of finishing off an opponent. Alternatively, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger can end games quickly since it exiles the top twenty cards of your opponent's library when it attacks. Since these two threats are so powerful, your opponent might choose to concede the game on the spot when you play either Ugin or Ulamog.

Wrapping Up

We've reached the end of my time with you this week, but I still have more Historic decks to share. Come back next week for the second part of my look at Historic decks that you can use in the upcoming Arena Open. And, let me know what you think of these decks in the comments section below. I'll see you next week.

- Mike Likes

TAGS articles, metagame, constructed, analysis, decklist, arena, mike likes, mtg arena, historic, 07232020

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