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Main » Articles » Taking Down Standard: Tribal Take Two

Taking Down Standard: Tribal Take Two

Mike Likes
Posted on November 1, 2018
 Reddit

In my article last week we took a look at some tribal decks that have gone 5-0 on Magic Online (MTGO). We took a look at Knights, Vampires, Goblins, and Dinosaurs. I mentioned then that there are a lot of tribal decks that have done well, so this week we'll be continuing our look at some cool tribal decks. Let's get started by taking a look at Grixis Dragons.

Grixis Dragons

Grixis Dragons | Guilds Standard | INTERESTING, (5-0) MTGO

Niv-Mizzet, Parun is an incredibly powerful card in our current Standard environment. Once you have him on the battlefield, you can begin to ping away at your opponent or their creatures by drawing cards and casting instants and sorceries, things that you want to be doing anyway. You also get to draw and ping whenever your opponent casts and instant or sorcery as well, so you can draw massive amount of cards and deal a great amount of damage if your opponent doesn't have a removal spell for Niv-Mizzet right away. And even if they have that removal spell (as long as it's an instant or sorcery), you'll still be able to draw one card and deal one point of damage to any target.

The main drawback of playing Niv-Mizzet, Parun is its mana cost. It can be difficult to have three Red mana and three Blue mana when you need it. The solution for this problem is Sarkhan, Fireblood. His second +1 loyalty ability that adds 2 mana of any color to use on Dragon spells helps fill in whatever color of mana you're short on. His other +1 loyalty ability also helps you find Niv-Mizzet faster and allows you to draw a card, triggering Niv-Mizzet once you have him in play.

Sarkhan, Fireblood also helps cast your other Dragon creature, Nicol Bolas, the Ravager. Nicol Bolas immediately caused a stir when he was released in Magic 2019, and with good reason. It's a very powerful card that, if left unchecked, will win the game single-handedly very quickly. And, if you're not able to win the game quickly but are able to keep Nicol Bolas in play, transforming him into Nicol Bolas, the Arisen is always a possibility. His +2 loyalty ability allows you to draw two cards, which works well in conjunction with Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

Boros Dragons

The next deck I have for you continues with the Dragon tribe, but switches colors from Grixis over to Boros. Let's take a look at it.

Boros Dragons | Guilds Standard | ALVAROTJ, (5-0) MTGO

This deck also utilized Sarkhan, Fireblood as a way to ramp out your Dragon creatures. Use this to power out Lathliss, Dragon Queen as quickly as possible, as she will create a 5/5 Dragon creature token for every other nontoken Dragon that enters the battlefield under your control. You can quickly fill up your battlefield with powerful Dragons with this ability.

This deck also plays a couple of copies of Azor's Gateway. Not only can this card help you filter through your deck to find specific cards in need, but it can also transform into Sanctum of the Sun. While it's not easy to transform, the payoff is definitely worth it. Being able to make a large amount of Red mana to use for a massive Banefire can allow you to win a game that otherwise looks to be unwinnable.

Runaway Steam-Kin is the final piece of acceleration for this deck. Since the majority of cards in the deck are Red spells, you should be able to amass three +1/+1 counters on it rather quickly. But don't leave those counters there. Instead, cash them in for three Red mana to use to cast more Red spells which will place more +1/+1 counters on Runaway Steam-Kin. This is a great cycle of actions to do that help you build up your battlefield quickly.

Zombies

The next tribal deck I have for you is focused on a tribe that continues to return to Standard time and time again after having major portions of the previous incarnation rotate out of Standard. Let's take a look at Golgari Zombies.

Golgari Zombies | Guilds Standard | FANDENUNU, (5-0) MTGO

Liliana, Untouched by Death finds a good home in this Golgari Zombie deck. Her +1 loyalty ability will usually be able to drain your opponent two points of life while also putting creatures into your graveyard. Getting creatures in the bin is important for cards like Graveyard Marshal and Molderhulk which both are optimized when there are a fair amount of creatures in your graveyard. You also benefit by having a large amount of creatures in your graveyard when you're able to play Gruesome Menagerie. While it's certainly playable if you're only able to return one or two creatures to the battlefield, it's much better if you can get all three.

There's also a cute combo included in this deck. Molderhulk and Memorial to Folly have the ability to return each other from the graveyard either to the battlefield or to your hand. While you can use this to your advantage, don't become so focused on making this combo happen that you overlook other ways to win the game.

Angels

The final tribe we'll be looking at this week is centered on Angels. Brad Nelson took a Boros Angels deck to a second place finish this past weekend at Grand Prix New Jersey. The deck I have for you is another variation that went 5-0 on MTGO. Let's have a look at the deck.

Boros Angels | Guilds Standard | JAKOBM, (5-0) MTGO

Resplendent Angel is a card I really like. If you somehow manage to gain five life during a turn, you get a 4/4 Angel token in return. With Lyra Dawnbringer on the battlefield, you can basically bring the game to a standstill as your opponent won't want to attack into your Angelic host because doing so will generally create even more Angels for you. Since the Angel tokens Resplendent Angel creates have vigilance, you're still free to attack with them on your turn knowing that they'll be able to defend you as long as they survive.

This deck is also running a copy of Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants. If you manage to get him into play, you'll likely want to target Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice as one of the two creatures to receive +1/+1 counters from his +1 loyalty ability. By doing so, you make it possible for her to mentor her Angel counterparts in the deck after gaining a few counters.

Speaking of mentoring, one great target to be mentored is Adanto Vanguard. Mentoring this into a 3/3 or a 4/4 makes it so that you can attack with impunity. It enables you to attack with the knowledge that you'll likely be able to destroy any blocker put in front of you and still be able to stay alive after the combat ends. You simply have to pay four life to become indestructible, and that life can easily be gained back thanks to Angels with lifelink.

Wrapping Up

Right now, Standard is in such a good spot. No one deck is too dominant and a variety of decks are doing well on MTGO. Join me here next week for the final batch of tribal decks I have for you. And let me know which tribe is your favorite. You can leave a comment below or you can reply to me directly on Twitter (@mikelikesmtg), or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. I'll see you next week!

- Mike Likes

TAGS articles, standard, metagame, constructed, analysis, decklist, tribal, mike likes, guilds standard, 11012018

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