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Main » Articles » Taking Down Standard: Tribal Threepeat

Taking Down Standard: Tribal Threepeat

Mike Likes
Posted on November 9, 2018
 Reddit

Over the past couple of weeks, we've taken a look at various tribal decks. The first week we looked at Knights, Vampires, Goblins, and Dinosaurs. Last week we looked at Angels, Zombies, and two different Dragon decks. This week I have a few more decks for us to look at as we wrap up this series of tribal themed decks, so let's get started.

Elves

The Elven tribe has always been one of my favorites. My goal is to break Modern with an Elf deck built around Gilt-Leaf Archdruid. But my column isn't about discussing Modern. It's about Standard decks, and it just so happens that Elves are a competitive tribe currently in Standard with a couple of different builds. Let's begin by taking a look at the Mono-Green build.

Mono-Green Elves | Guilds Standard | RA_PO, (5-0) MTGO

Now this is deck-building at its most basic. There's no playing a copy of this and two copies of that. Nope. This deck runs full playsets of each and every card in the main deck. Making it easier to do this is the fact that none of the cards in the deck are able to directly interact with your opponent. Instead, they are all ways to improve your side of the battlefield and make your Elves more unstoppable.

This deck can get off to some explosive starts. If you start the game by playing a Forest and a Llanowar Elves, the very next turn you can follow it up with another Forest and a Steel Leaf Champion. For many decks, it will be hard to stage a comeback after that happens, especially if you're able to continue playing multiple threats each turn which this deck is certainly capable of thanks to Beast Whisperer. Being able to draw a card every time you cast another creature, whether that creature is countered or not, keeps a steady flow of threats in your hand.

Another card that draws you a card whenever you play an Elf is Vanquisher's Banner. It also grants a +1/+1 bonus to every Elf you have in play. With a really crazy draw, you could potentially play Vanquisher's Banner as early as turn three, although it's more likely on turn four or five. It, alongside Elvish Clancaller, will help turn your Elves into amazing attackers and beefy blockers.

Mono-Green Elves is definitely a force to be reckoned with. However, Mono-Green isn't the only Elf deck to go undefeated in a league on Magic Online (MTGO). Let's take a look at Golgari Elves.

Golgari Elves | Guilds Standard | CMANROCK, (5-0) MTGO

This version trades in a bit of Elvish synergy for a gigantic, legendary dinosaur. Ghalta, Primal Hunger is a huge threat in this deck, and it can be played fairly easily once you have a few Elves on the battlefield. Ghalta's trample allows you to attack with it every turn and push damage through and likely take out a blocker. That, in turn, allows the rest of your Elves to be able to attack easier on following turns.

The Black splash in this deck is for a couple of key cards. The first is Assassin's Trophy. This catch-all removal spell can be used to destroy literally any permanent your opponent controls that is giving you grief. While it does give them the small benefit of ramping up their mana capabilities, you should still be able to out produce them every turn thanks to the mana rampers in this deck. Not only do you have Llanowar Elves, Druid of the Cowl, and Marwyn, the Nurturer, but you also have Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun which can create a ton of mana for you each turn.

The other Black card in the main deck is Underrealm Lich. Not only does this Elf fit in with the theme, but it also provides you a wonderful way to filter through your deck for the specific cards you need. It can also act as an impervious blocker, becoming indestructible for the not-so-low cost of just four points of life. Because there are no ways to gain life in this deck, you'll want to use that ability very sparingly.

Pirates

Our next tribal deck takes us back to the plane of Ixalan. Let's take a look at Dimir Pirates.

Dimir Pirates | Guilds Standard | RUCKUS-MH, (5-0) MTGO

Curious Obsession is a good way to be able to draw extra cards while dealing damage to your opponent, and it works wonders in this deck full of flyers. You'll want to generally save it for use on your Dreamcaller Siren if possible in the event you need a beefy blocker. But don't be afraid to put it on one of your smaller creatures as the benefit of drawing extra cards can outweigh the need for a large creature. Enchanting Thief of Sanity with Curious Obsession is an especially good play since you'll get an added bonus when it damages your opponent directly.

While this deck doesn't have any means of enhancing all of your Pirates, there is still some Pirate synergy. Dreamcaller Siren can tap up to two nonland permanents when it comes into play as long as you control another Pirate. This is a great way to push through some additional damage, and since Dreamcaller Siren has Flash, you can often catch your opponent by surprise with it.

Lookout's Dispersal is the other Pirate synergy card in this deck. If you have a Pirate in play when you cast it, it acts like a souped-up Spell Pierce, basically doubling the effect of Spell Pierce for double the cost. The fact that Lookout's Dispersal can counter any spell, not just noncreature spells, makes it so much better and worthy of playing the full playset.

Historic / Legends

The final "tribe" I have for you this week isn't your typical tribe. It's a deck focused around the Historic ability. Let's take a look at it.

Jeskai Historic / Legends | Guilds Standard | DANIEL_GARCIA, (5-0) MTGO

With the majority of creatures in this deck being Legendary, it's important to make sure to mulligan away any hand that includes multiples of the same Legendary creature. Luckily this deck is running usually only two copies of the majority of Legendary cards. The exceptions are the obvious powerhouses, Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Since Aurelia will frequently be mentoring the other creatures in this deck, she'll likely be the target of a removal spell from your opponent. For that reason, you'll want to have a greater chance to draw a replacement copy in the event that she is destroyed or exiled.

Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is a card you definitely want to find a copy of before the game finishes. Because his abilities allow you to draw additional cards and untap your lands, he brings you so much of an advantage over your opponent that you'll want him on the battlefield as soon as possible. He works well in conjunction with Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage as Teferi can untap lands that you can use to cast historic spells with on your opponent's turn. With this tag-team effect, you can surprise your opponent with an unexpected blocker or flash in History of Benalia and shave a turn off of reaching its third effect.

This deck also includes a whole host of Angels. I've already talked about how important Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice is for this deck, helping to pump up your other creatures. Shalai, Voice of Plenty helps protect your team from outside, harmful effects. Resplendent Angel gives you the potential to call forth additional Angels while gaining life in the process. Lyra Dawnbringer also provides you additional life whenever she deals damage, plus she also provides a boost for all of your other Angels in play. Gaining life and pumping up your team is what these Angels are all about.

Wrapping Up

I hope you've enjoyed taking a look at tribal decks currently in Standard over these past few weeks. All of the tribes we've looked at have brought their own synergies and unique abilities that can be used to help you gain a victory. With Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica taking place this weekend, do you think tribal decks will be pushed out of Standard? 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

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, analysis, decklist, tribal, mike likes, guilds standard, 11092018

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