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Hello everyone. Dominaria United brought us a cycle of new lords, creatures that grant a +1/+1 bonus to a specific type of creature. This week, we'll be looking at some Standard decks featuring these lords that you can use for yourself. Let's get started.
Valiant Veteran is the Mono-White 'Lord' that grants a bonus to other Soldiers. Let's see how it fits into this Mono-White Aggro deck.
Valiant Veteran | Standard | powrdragn
- Spells (37)
- 2 The Wandering Emperor
- 2 Sungold Sentinel
- 3 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- 3 Guardian of New Benalia
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Brutal Cathar
- 4 Hopeful Initiate
- 4 Intrepid Adversary
- 4 Valiant Veteran
- 4 Fateful Absence
- 4 Wedding Announcement
- Lands (24)
- 22 Plains
- 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- 1 Field of Ruin
Since Valiant Veteran provides a bonus to Soldiers, I was a little surprised at the number of non-Soldier creatures there are in this deck. However, once I looked closer at the non-Soldier choices, things became more clear. Hopeful Initiate is a better one drop for an aggro deck than the only Soldier alternative, Gavony Trapper. Intrepid Adversary can boost all of your creatures, not just Soldiers. Finally, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar can grow to immense power, plus she creates 1/1 Human creature tokens that can punch through your opponent's defenses for extra damage.
This deck also includes one of the best Planeswalkers currently in Standard, The Wandering Emperor. Since The Wandering Emperor has flash, you can cast her after your opponent has declared attackers. Then, by using her -2 loyalty ability, you can exile any tapped creature and gain two points of life. By timing this correctly, you'll be able to take out one of your opponent's major threats, while blocking their lesser threats and gaining some life to boot.
Next, we come to Shadow-Rite Priest, who boosts your other Clerics. Let's look at a deck that pairs up those Clerics alongside a toxic Slug Horror.
Shadow-Rite Priest | Standard | JayVillain
Shadow-Rite Priest looks innocent enough. It's a 2/2 Human Cleric that boosts other Clerics by giving them a +1/+1 bonus. By combining that boost with the vigilance that Anointed Peacekeeper has, you'll create a big blocker that can also attack easily. There are also other creatures that have lifelink, such as Phyrexian Missionary or Markov Purifier, that benefit greatly from the +1/+1 bonus.
As I alluded to before the deck list, this deck includes Toxrill, the Corrosive. While Toxrill is on the battlefield, all your opponent's creatures will slowly wither away. Once they finally succumb to the toxic slime counters Toxrill provides, you'll begin to amass an army of 1/1 Slug creature tokens. Shadow-Rite Priest can help you get Toxrill into play quicker than usual, by using its activated ability and sacrificing another Cleric. This allows you to shave off two full turns, getting Toxrill into play as early as turn five instead of turn seven.
The next deck I have for you features a horde of Goblins being led by Rundvelt Hordemaster. Let's take a look at the deck.
Rundvelt Hordemaster| Standard | Hothster
- Spells (40)
- 2 Chandra, Dressed to Kill
- 2 Phoenix Chick
- 2 Squee, Dubious Monarch
- 2 Twinshot Sniper
- 4 Electrostatic Infantry
- 4 Goblin Picker
- 4 Rundvelt Hordemaster
- 4 Shivan Devastator
- 2 Flame-Blessed Bolt
- 2 Twinferno
- 4 Lightning Strike
- 2 Hammerhand
- 2 Kumano Faces Kakkazan
- 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
- Lands (20)
- 17 Mountain
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 2 Crystal Grotto
Rundvelt Hordemaster provides a +1/+1 bonus to other Goblins you control. This works wonderfully when Squee, Dubious Monarch attacks. Not only will this make Squee a 3/3 attacker with haste, but Squee will also create a 1/1 Goblin creature token that is also attacking, and that token will also benefit from the +1/+1 bonus that Rundvelt Hordemaster provides.
While your Goblins will often be quick enough to finish off many opponents, there might be times that the game goes a little longer than planned and the battlefield becomes cluttered with potential blockers. Those are the times you'll be happy that there's a full playset of Shivan Devastator in this deck. This Dragon Hydra can be as big as you need it to be, it has haste, and it flies. What more could you want in a finisher?
The next deck I have for you features Leaf-Crowned Visionary, who provides a bonus to your other Elves. As you'll see, there are a lot of good Elves currently in Standard. Let's check out the deck.
Leaf-Crowned Visionary | Standard | FROG510
This deck is packed full of Elves that have various keywords. Brazen Upstart has vigilance. Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut has flying. Fleetfoot Dancer has trample, lifelink, and haste. All of these keywords get a little better when you factor in the +1/+1 bonus that Leaf-Crowned Visionary provides. But there's even more keyword possibilities to be had in this deck.
The only non-Elf creature in this deck is Jetmir, Nexus of Revels. Jetmir helps out a lot by providing additional keywords to your creatures, based on the number of creatures you have in play. With three creatures in play, Jetmir provides vigilance. Having six creatures in play grants you trample. If you have nine or more creatures in play, your creatures will get double strike. Plus, as an added bonus, Jetmir also provides a boost of power whenever each of these keywords is achieved.
The final deck I have for you is the only deck that doesn't include a full playset of its 'Lord' card, Vodalian Hexcatcher. Let's take a look at it.
Vodalian Hexcatcher | Standard | MTGA-Assistant-Meta
- Spells (36)
- 3 The Wandering Emperor
- 1 Raffine, Scheming Seer
- 2 Cleaving Skyrider
- 2 Hullbreaker Horror
- 2 Vodalian Hexcatcher
- 3 Cemetery Protector
- 4 Obscura Interceptor
- 4 Spectral Adversary
- 4 Resolute Reinforcements
- 2 Negate
- 3 Void Rend
- 4 Memory Deluge
- 2 Leyline Binding
- Lands (25)
- 3 Island
- 3 Swamp
- 4 Plains
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- 1 Skybridge Towers
- 2 Deserted Beach
- 2 Raffine's Tower
- 3 Shattered Sanctum
- 3 Shipwreck Marsh
- 3 Xander's Lounge
- Sideboard (15)
- 2 Cathar Commando
- 2 Graveyard Trespasser
- 2 Negate
- 2 Farewell
- 2 Vanquish the Horde
- 3 Duress
- 1 The Cruelty of Gix
- 1 Unlicensed Hearse
There are currently only six Merfolk in Standard, which makes playing Vodalian Hexcatcher better in other formats. However, it can still be a good card to play in Standard, even if you won't be able to capitalize on the tribal synergy as easily. Since it has flash, you'll be able to soft-counter any noncreature spell your opponent plays, even if there are no other Merfolk in play (by sacrificing Vodalian Hexcatcher itself). Also of note is that every creature in this deck, except for Raffine, Scheming Seer, has flash, so your opponent will never know for certain when you're holding back your mana to counter their spell.
That plays into the control nature of this deck. Counter (Negate), destroy (Void Rend), and exile (Leyline Binding) whatever you need to until you make it to the late portion of the game. At that point, you'll either be able to defeat your opponent by attacking with Raffine, Scheming Seer repeatedly, or cast Hullbreaker Horror and begin returning your opponent's nonland permanents to their hand.
Wrapping Up
While the five new 'Lords' that Dominaria United has brought might not all slot perfectly into Standard, they are all very playable. With each new, upcoming set, I'd expect each of these tribes to grow, providing more value from each of these creatures.
What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. 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!
