Ruhan's Giants

Ruhan is perhaps one of the least interesting/exciting new Legends from the recent Commander decks. Most people aren’t a big fan of his “LOLRANDOM” mode of attacking, and while a 7/7 for 4 mana is a pretty sweet deal, randomly attacking into someone’s Acidic Slime while another player is defenseless is not exactly a winning strategy.

One of the more subtle facets of Ruhan, though is the fact that his “at random” clause doesn’t port over to 1v1 games, and he’s basically just a 7/7 for 4 that must attack your opponent each turn. That fact, plus the fact that he’s in the prime color combination for Equipment and Enchantment tutoring, makes him a very desirable General for a 1v1 “Voltron” deck. For those of you not keeping up with the lingo, “voltron” simply means a deck that seeks to stick one creature as the primary threat and beef that creature up via multiple equipments and auras. Uril and Zur are prime examples of a voltron strategy – most Uril decks win by casting Uril and piling as many powerful Auras onto him as possible and will quite often deal 21+ general damage in a single attack.

So, as an aggressively costed beat-stick, Ruhan does seem like he’d make a good “voltron” general. We’ve got plenty of Equipment and Auras with which to boost his stats and give him all kinds of evasion, and his colors – white, red and blue, - give us the best options for tutoring up those buffs. Cards like Stoneforge Mytic and Stonehewer Giant combine with stuff like Academy Rector and Sovereigns of Lost Alara to fetch the appropriate Equipment or Auras.

The other cool thing about Ruhan is that he’s a Giant, and two of his colors – Red and White – contain many playable Giants. Blue basically only has Frost Titan as its lone Giant, but it has plenty of Clone effects that can effectively count as Giants when played copying our own creatures.

My idea isn’t strictly a new one – I’ve seen Ruhan lists with Giant Tribal themes and lists with a Voltron strategy. I play EDH both ways: 1v1 and Multiplayer, and I try to build my decks to handle both modes of play fairly well. I recently updated my Rafiq list from a strictly 1v1 only build to a list that can handle multiple opponents fairly well while still maintaining enough of its speed and aggressive bent to continue to do well in 1v1. That’s kinda what I’m going for with this deck, too. The voltron aspect will give it a good 1v1 game plan, while the Giant Tribal theme will give me more to do in a Multiplayer game where casting my general and attacking mindlessly won’t always be a solid strategy.

Furthermore, I like the addition of the Giant theme because it gives me more room for variance of game play. Many Voltron decks suffer from being too linear and repetitive in how they play. I don’t want every game to go: 1) Cast Ruhan, 2) Buff Ruhan, 3) Attack with Ruhan. I want to have a small army of big Giants to attack with, so that if Ruhan does want to go where I want him too, I can at least send the other dudes to pound the correct opponent’s face in.

Once again I will turn to Gatherer to find Giants in our colors, and to find cards that specifically care about Giants or Tribal Giant cards. There aren’t that many to choose from, unfortunately but there are some. I just write down a list of all the playable ones, weeding out the obvious chaff right away. Then I throw in all the necessary support cards – Equipment and Auras for the Voltron theme, tutors for those pieces, miscelanous removal and utility spells, and a dose of card-draw. Finally I apply an agonizingly difficult sequence of cuts to get the deck down to a size we can live with and viola! the deck is ready for an initial build.

After playing the deck a few times, I’m sure the deck will change a bit, as I determine the weaknesses and shore them up, but for now here is Ruhan’s Giants v1.0…

Creatures

Ruhan of the Fomori

Stoneforge Mystic

Academy Rector

Changeling Hero

Cloudgoat Ranger

Stonehewer Giant

Sun Titan

Shapesharer

Phyrexian Metamorph

Mulldrifter

Frost Titan

Godo, Bandit Warlord

Changeling Berserker

Hammerheim Deadeye

Giant Harbinger

Thundercloud Shaman

Bloodshot Cyclops

Sunrise Sovereign

Hammerfist Giant

Desolation Giant

Hamletback Goliath

Borderland Behemoth

Wall of Denial

Brion Stoutarm

Sovereigns of Lost Alara

Adaptive Automaton

Solemn Simulacrum

Duplicant

Spells

Swords to Plowshares

Path to Exile

Orim’s Thunder

Dismantling Blow

Return to Dust

Psychotic Fury

Wild Ricochet

Vanish into Memory

Land Tax

Divine Reckoning

Elspeth, Knight Errant

Austere Command

Feudkiller’s Verdict

True Conviction

Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Foresee

Rite of Replication

Time Spiral

Wheel of Fortune

Warstorm Surge

Sword of Fire and Ice

Sword of Light and Shadow

Sword of Feast and Famine

Sunforger

Darksteel Plate

Loxodon Warhammer

Lightning Greaves

Urza’s Incubator

Door of Desitinies

Eldrazi Conscription

Sol Ring

Azorius Signet

Boros Signet

Izzet Signet

Coalition Relic

37 Lands

A few notes:

Obviously 37 lands is not ideal. I’d like to cut 1 to 3 more cards in favor of upping the land count. Most Giants come with rather hefty mana costs, so it stands to reason that a modest sprinkling of artifact mana isn’t going to provide the reliability and consistency we’d like to see in our mana base. For right now, though, I have no idea what to cut. Hopefully playtesting will reveal which cards aren’t performing.

Some of the specific cards choices might warrant a bit of explanation, so I’ll run down the list.

Changeling Hero & Changeling Berserker – I included these because they’re relatively cheap, count as Giants per the Changeling ability, and the Champion ability does provide some resilience against Wrath effects.

Academy Rector – There are very few non-Giant creatures in the deck, but with Eldrazi Conscription, Warstrom Surge and True Conviction in the deck, I feel like the Rector is worthwhile.

Hammerheim Deadeye – Cheap anti-Flying tech, and Flying is one of the most common keywords in EDH.

Hammerfist Giant – This is one of the primary reasons Darksteel Plate is in the deck, and vice versa. Hopefully this will work out. If not, that’s two open slots.

Wall of Denail – One of the best Defenders in the game, this wall is a fantastic blocker and hard to get rid off.

Duplicant – Never leave home without it.

Divine Reckoning – This Wrath variant seems like the perfect fit for a Voltron deck. Yeah, you have to hope that the one guy you keep trumps the one guy they keep… but in a Voltron deck, if that isn’t the case 99% of the time, you’re doing it wrong.

Building this deck was challenging, because there was a lot of stuff I wanted to run but couldn’t find room for. I ended up cutting quite a few cards I do think I can live without, but here are a few that I’d like to fit back in at some point:

Jareth, Leonine Titan – It’s a Cat Giant, what’s not to love?

Jotun Owl-Keeper – Probably bad, which is why it got cut, but it does seem like a decent early defense.

Bloodfire Colossus – Cut for being highly expensive, but the effect is probably worth every mana…

Stinkdrinker Daredevil – Seems like a must-run, but it’s basically a mana accelerator that dies to Wrath. Still, probably worth running.

Steel of the Godhead and Scourge of the Nobilis – It was very painful to cut these, and I only did because Swords are still better, and their Protection abilities will sometimes make these aura’s fall off.

Spitebellows – Cutting this defense/removal option is usually the wrong choice, but we’ll see how it goes…

World Slayer – Originally I had intended to use the cheesy combination of Darksteel Plate + World Slayer to seal up a game, but over time that started to sound less and less fun to me.

Anger – This deck probably needs more Haste effects, but again, I went cut this old staple in favor of cards I’ve never or rarely played before. This will be one of the first things to go back in, if I find things to cut.

Quicksilver Amulet – Cheating big, expensive guys into play for cheap and at Instant speed? Sounds good. Alas, I still opted for Urza’s Incubator over this. If the Incubator fails to produce results, this is next in line for that particular spot.

Well, that’s about it for Ruhan and his Giants. Enjoy.

Stonebrow, Trampling Hero

   Of all the decks I have in development at the moment, this wasn't the one I expected to rise to the top of the queue. But, the more I thought about it, the more I decided this was the most exciting deck in the queue. For one thing, I realized that I really wanted to play Kessig Wolf Run and a handful of other R/G cards that I haven't gottent to use before.None of my decks right now contain both Red and Green, so there's a whole slew of cards that I just can play!
   Finally, as I was doing some preliminary work in developing the deck on paper, I came across a handful of forgotten or obscure cards that just seemed highly exciting. As the deck began to coalesce I realized there were going to be quite a few cards in the deck I rarely or never play in EDH, so that really got me excited to branch out and play a deck that DOESN'T have Rite of Replication or Geth, Lord of the Vault for once.


   Anyway, while I was browsing the forums at mtgcommander.net, I came across this list, posted by forum-goer Pysces (I've marked creatures with Trample with a (T) after the card name):

General: Stonebrow, Krosan Hero

Green Creatures

Wood Elves

Eternal Witness

Spawnwrithe (T)

Oracle of Mul Daya

Brawn (T)

Genesis

Hystrodon (T)

Acidic Slime

Vigor (T)

Primeval Titan (T)

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (T)

Woodfall Primus (T)

Terastodon

Red Creatures

Squee, Goblin Nabob

Anger

Urabrask the Hidden

Hoarding Dragon

Hellkite Charger

Mana-Charged Dragon (T)

Charmbreaker Devils

Godo, Bandit Warlord

Flameblast Dragon

Akroma, Angel of Fury (T)

Greater Gargadon

Multicolor Creatures

Boartusk Liege (T)

Deus of Calamity (T)

Green Spells

Rancor

Regrowth

Survival of the Fittest

Cultivate

Kodama's Reach

Krosan Grip

Beast Within

Nature's Will

Triumph of the Hordes

Bear Umbra

Garruk Wildspeaker

Harmonize

Momentous Fall

Reap and Sow

Creeping Renaissance

Garruk, Primal Hunter

Tooth and Nail

Red Spells

Wheel of Fortune

Aggravated Assault

Seize the Day

In the Web of War

Savage Beating

World at War

Mana Geyser

Insurrection

Decree of Annihilation

Fanning the Flames

Multicolor Spells

Hull Breach

Artifacts and Colorless Spells

Skullclamp

Sword of Feast and Famine

Sword of Vengeance

Sol Ring

Darksteel Ingot

Oblivion Stone

All Is Dust

Lands

38 Lands Total, including:

Kessig Wolf Run

Raging Ravine

Homeward Path

Hall of the Bandit Lord

Inkmoth Nexus

High Market

This list captured my attention right away, because it immediately looked to be a stronger deck that I expected when I clicked on the thread. It also looked like a lot of fun. I posted a comment or two in the thread and Pysces, the deck's creator explained some of his choices and reasoning. I quickly became enamored of the deck and put my own build in the development queue, where it sat mostly untouched for a few days, but then line-jumped it's way to the top and I spent most of last night brainstorming and researching Gatherer for ideas.


I want to stress that I don't consider this a "Deck Doctor" article, as Pysces has not expressed that he would like some stranger on the interwebs to overhaul his deck, and I'm quite sure he's capable of doing so himself should he deem it necessary. The point is, the changes I'll be making are for myself specifically, and will be largely determined by my own preferences, playstyle and metagame factors.


So, on with the show! The first thing I like to do is research cards on Gatherer for more on-theme cards. In this case the search is pretty easy: just search for Red and Green creatures with Trample! Those of you who follow me regularly will know that I am not the slightest bit reluctant to run "good stuff" inclusions in my decks, even when trying to push a thematic approach. That said, I like my initial builds to be as theme-heavy as possible and through playtesting, cut the weakest and least useful thematic cards for better stuff down the road.


So, to start with, I'm going to really push the trample theme as far as I can. Here are some potential candidates:

More Trample!

Borborygmos

Wilderness Elemental

Dragon Tyrant

Garruk’s Horde

Kaargan Dragon Lord

Living Hive

Primordial Hydra

Rampaging Baloths

Skinshifter

Skyshroud War Beast

Pelakka Wurm

Bramblewood Paragon

Moldgraf Monstrosity

Shivan Wurm

Even More Trample!

Gruul War-Plow

Loxodon Warhammer

Akroma's Memorial

Gaea’s Embrace

The Most Trample Ever!

Overrun

Overwhelming Stampede

Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

Baru, Fist of Krosa

Haste is another extremely good keyword in EDH, and Pysces already has a small Haste package so let's see if we can expand on that as well.

Oh, and Haste too!

Fires of Yavimaya

Sarkhan Vol

Lightning Greaves

I like tutors in my EDH decks, especially in those that don't have tons of pure drawing power.

Get Stuff!

Fauna Shaman

Tooth and Nail

Primal Command

Green Sun’s Zenith

Removal is king in Limited. It's pretty important in EDH too.

Get Rid of Stuff!

Indrik Stomphowler

Spitebellows

Duplicant

Bramblecrush

Into the Maw of Hell

Get Rid of Everything!

Balefire Dragon

Blasphemous Act

Savage Twister

Unfortunately, your opponents will almost definitely be running removal of their own. There's a damn good reason why graveyard hate is so critical in the format, and that is because recurssion is really powerful.

Get Stuff Back!

Vengeful Rebirth

Sword of Light and Shadow

And everyone who knows me is already aware of this, but I simply CANNOT play an EDH deck without some card draw. I draw cards. That's what I do.

Draw Some Cards!

Hunter’s Insight

Greater Good

Harmonize

Momentous Fall

Wheel of Fortune

Skullclamp

Sword of Fire and Ice

Pysces has a good ramp/fixing package already, but I have a couple of old favs in mind...

More Mana!

Skyshroud Claim

Gruul Signet

These last few are just some random good cards that I like and would like to find some room for. These will probably be added in, then cut for more on-theme stuff, then later on be added BACK in once I have played the deck to know which of the thematic cards aren't pulling their weight.

More Utility and Good Stuff!

Scavenging Ooze

Bellowing Tanglewurm

Avenger of Zenikar

Inferno Titan

Beastmaster Ascension

Rage Reflection

There's like zero GY hate in the deck, so I could easily roll over and die to a Living Death or Geth, Lord of the Vault. Scavenging Ooze is a great solution, but I probably need Relic of Progenitus too. But Relic isn't exciting, so I'll only include it later, if reanimation and recurssion start costing me games.

Bellowing Tanglewurm is probably better off in a mono-G deck, but I'll just tell you now that only 8 creatures remain in my finished list that don't have green in their color identity. With this in mind, I think the Tanglewurm will do just fine, if it makes it in the final cut.

Avenger of Zendikar is pretty much THE good-stuff posterboy for Green. And it happens to be pretty synergystic with the deck, even if not necessarily on-theme. Akroma's Memorial + Stonebrow + a bunch of Plants seems pretty likely to win me a game or two.

Inferno Titan is good. He doesn't have trample, but that's what Gruul War Plow and Akroma's Memorial are for. Duh.

Beastmaster Ascension is kinda like a permanent Overwhelming Stampede. That said I've seen folks try to make this work and fail. I remain cautiously optimistic.

Rage Reflection is almost guaranteed to never make it into the deck, without access to white for Academy Rector and other ways to tutor it up. That said, this does seem like a deck that can make mass-double-strike do impressive things.

Too many cards!

 At this point, we obviously have way too many cards for potential inclusing, so let's start the editing process.

OUT:

Spawnwrithe - Cute, and I was hoping to give this guy a chance, but he seems weak in my Wrath-laden metagame.

Oracle of Mul Daya - I hate letting my opponents always know what my next draw is going to be. I will make an exception to this, but not for this card.

Terastodon - If only it had trample... Either way, I'm not a huge fan of this, because 99% of the times I see it cast it blows up three lands/mana rocks and pretty much ruins one person's fun.

Living Hive - I'd like to run this, but it's just so drastically outclassed by Avenger of Zendikar, I'd rather run Avenger despite the lack of trample on it.

Primordial Hydra  - It's a neat idea, but probably not good enough. Really wants to be in a deck with Doubling Season.

Pelakka Wurm - I knew I was going to cut this, but for anyone needing a budget replacement for one of the rares or mythics, this card really is not bad at all. It's very playable, just not as good as some other stuff in the list.

Scavenging Ooze - A mistake, I'm sure, but I just realized it's already in another deck and I only have 1 copy at the moment. It's a tough cut but the other deck needs it more.

Bellowing Tanglewurm - Crap, I had to cut it after all. But I expect it to be one of the shortlisted cards to go back in once I decide some other card isn't good enough.

Squee, Goblin Nabob - I don't have a Survival of the Fittest and it's not worth it just for Fauna Shaman.

Anger - I have better options for Haste...

Hoarding Dragon - I'm not running enough artifacts that truly matter, plus I'm worried about this getting Exiled and screwing me over.

Hellkite Charger - Meh.

Godo, Bandit Warlord - I play this guy a lot, and since I'm downtuning the Equipment angle this guy seems unnessecary.

Charmbreaker Devils - Cool card, but I have other plans for it... mwah ha ha.

Flameblast Dragon - Cool, but not on-theme enough and not powerful enough to be a good-stuff inclusion.

Greater Gargadon - I just hate this card unless I suspend it on turn 1.

Balefire Dragon - Turns out I don't have one. Will definitely go in once I remedy this.

Shivan Wurm - Full of potential but I don't have enough ETBF effects to truly justify this.

Triumph of Hordes - Infect makes my playgroup mad, so this is a concession to them. Plus I like other things better.

Nature's Will - I foresee this being a dead card just a bit too often.

Bear Umbra - Possibly worthwhile, but I had to cut something and this loses to SoFF.

Krosan Grip - The addition of Indrik Stomphowler makes this a bit too redundant.

Garruk, Primal Hunter - Don't have one!

Survival of the Fittest - Don't have this either, added Fauna Shaman and some other stuff to compensate.

Regrowth - Beefed up the recurssion in other ways, this became redundant.

Reap and Sow - Meh. I like Skyshroud Claim better, and if I need to kill a land, there's always Acidic Slime.

Overrun - Of all the "overrun" variants, Overrun is the least exciting now. That's kinda sad.

Bramblecrush - Another card I probably need but cut for more exciting/cool things. May return later.

Sword of Feast and Famine - Using all my other copies at the moment. Will get added later, most likely.

In the Web of War - Sad to cut this, want to put it back... gotta find room via playtesting first.

Fanning the Flames - Meh.

Insurrection - This usually get's screwed over by everyone sacing all their guys to something. Rarely actually does what it's meant to do.

Aggravated Assault - I wanted to keep one of the extra attack step cards and eventually setlled on Savage Beating.

Seize the Day - Same as above.

World at War - Ditto, though I do like this card.

Mana Geyser - Seems like it could make shit-tons of Red mana, but what do I do with it all?

Into the Maw of Hell - I swear if this cost 5 mana, it'd never get cut!

Fires of Yavimaya - Fantastic card, but outclassed by Sarkhan Vol and Akroma's Memorial.

Sword of Fire and Ice - Using all my copies at the moment.

Sword of Light and Shadow - Ditto, but I do have one in a deck that can live without it. I just don't know what to cut instead, so this will just wait on the bench until I pull something else out.

IN:

That leaves us with the following list:

Creatures 

Wood Elves

Eternal Witness

Brawn

Genesis

Hystrodon

Acidic Slime

Vigor

Primeval Titan

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

Woodfall Primus

Garruk's Horde

Rampaging Baloths

Skinshifter

Skyshroud War Beast

Fauna Shaman

Indrik Stomphowler

Moldgraf Monstrosity

Avenger of Zendikar

Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

Baru, Fist of Krosa

Urabrask, the Hidden

Mana-Charged Dragon

Akroma, Angel of Fury

Dragon Tyrant

Inferno Titan

Kargan Dragon Lord

Spitebellows

Stonebrow, Krosan Hero

Borborygmos

Wilderness Elemental

Boartusk Leige

Deus of Calamity

Duplicant

Spells

Tooth and Nail

Rancor

Beast Within

Harmonize

Momentus Fall

Creeping Renaissance

Cultivate

Kodama's Reach

Garruk Wildspeaker

Overwhelming Stampede

Green Sun's Zenith

Skyshroud Claim

Beastmaster Ascension

Greater Good

Savage Beating

Wheel of Fortune

Blasphemous Act

Hull Breach

Sarkhan Vol

Savage Twister

Vengeful Rebirth

Oblivion Stone

Gruul Warplow

Sol Ring

Gruul Signet

Darksteel Ingot

Sword of Vengeance

Skullclamp

Lightning Greaves

Loxodon Warhammer

All is Dust 

Lands

If my count is correct, above are 64 cards, leaving room for only 36 lands. I'm not particularly comfortable with this number even with the added ramp stuff. I really feel I need to cut at least 1 more card, probably two. I rarely go below 38 lands in EDH, even with ramp... I'll sleeve this up later on and gold fish a bit to get a feel for it, but I can't know for sure how it'll play until I get some actual games in.

I can't wait, though! The deck looks hella fun to play.

Coming Attractions

So I'm in a period of not-building right now. I have six assembled EDH decks and I happen to enjoy them all very much. I want to build more, but having too many decks at once tends to result in the ones built later having somewhat poorer card choices, as I start having to dredge up some alternatives to my first-choice inclusions, if I'm using all my other copies.

Nonetheless, content must flow and I admit to having been a little lax in updating recently. I'm putting in a lot of overtime at work and also busy at home with various things. But not to worry! I've got a brand-new spiral notebook and I've been filling it up with ideas all week.

Even if I don't actually build some of these decks, I can post theoretical lists, and can reference them later on when I finally get tired of some of the current decks in my stable. So, here's a breif list of ideas I'm mulling over right now.

Disclaimer: Many of these are inspired by various forum-goers or the other folks I play with regularly. If and when I use and idea I shamelessly plagiarized I will give credit where it is due.


1. Ruhan of the Fomori - Fusing a Giant Tribal theme onto a bit of a Voltron strategy. I've seen Ruhan lists do both ideas before, but I want to try to come up with a list that does both well, that way the deck is strong in both multiplayer and 1v1.

2. Jhoira of the Ghitu - After my Nin, the Pain Artist deck idea fell apart, someone on the forums suggested Jhoira would be a better general for the deck I had in mind. I'd love to still make the deck but I'm kinda reeling from the epic failure that was the initial Nin build, and thus a bit gun-shy to start working on this deck again immediately. Soon, though. Definitely soon.

3. Geist of Saint Traft - I envision a WU Control with a mid-range Voltron strategy as the primary win condition. Basically this would be a slower, more controlling version of the Rafiq deck. I'd almost certainly have to take Rafiq apart to build this. That shouldn't be a problem, but I just love Rafiq so damn much.

4. Kaarthus, Tyrant of Jund - Nothing new here. Just good stuff and dragons. I'm fine with not thinking outside the box here, because I just never really play Jund. It'd be new to me! I considered Kresh or even revisting the slightly disappointing Sek'Kuar ideas, but fuck it, Kaarthus is just BETTER!

5. Argus Kos, Wojek Veteran - Jor Kadeen is an immensly fun deck, but I really wanted that deck to have a sub-theme of "War" or "Battle", with cards like Glory of Warfare and Crescendo of War. Just dudes and things that pump dudes. I didn't really have room for all that, though, with the need to include more artifacts for the Metalcraft ability on Jor. Once I get tired of Jor Kadeen, I want to build this.

6. Jenara, Asura of War - I don't really plan on building this list myself, but a friend of mine has a Rhys the Redeemed token deck, and I kinda feel like adding blue would be a boon to his deck. It'd improve his card-drawing and card selection dramatically, plus Blue has exciting things like Spitting Image and Rite of Replication.

7. Grand Arbiter Augustin IV - Another deck I don't actually want to build, but I want to put up some sort of list for future reference, in case things deteriorate to the point where such an obnoxious deck is a valid response. Hopefully the mere threat of this deck will be enough to keep my playgroup casual.

8. Kaervek, the Merciless - All out greifer, a deck that just says "fuck you" to my opponents. Probably almost as offensive and asshole-ish as GAAIV, but it seems way more fun to play.

9. Stonebrow, Krosan Hero - I was dismayed to learn that I don't have a single deck right now that can play Kessig Wolf Run. This is probably the most exciting deck on the list to me right now, and as I don't have a deck currently running Red and Green, all my R/G duals are up for grabs. I think this is the one deck I could possibly make without having to cannibalize too many cards from other decks to build.

Anyway, I'm doing development work on several of these decks at the moment, via pen and paper. Once I have something solid to build from, I'll write 'em up and post 'em here. They probably won't be finished, formalized decklists, but will be a solid foundation to build upon.

Enjoy.

Oh, the Humanity! Humans in Standard.

Let me preface this by saying this article is not intended or expected to produce a competitive Standard deck. I haven’t played Standard since Rafiq of the Many and the rest of the Bant Shard rotated out. But I don’t like to turn my back on 60-card Magic for too long, as I don’t want to let my 60-card deckbuilding skills atrophy too much. So at worst, this article might produce a deck that’s fun to play in the Casual room on MTGO or maybe, just MAYBE, good enough to make Top 8 at some local FNMs, but it’s not meant to be a serious deck.

Human is actually an extremely common creature type, but has never been officially supported as a true “Tribe” in that there were no cards that specifically referenced them in their ability text. No “Lord” creatures existed, nor other beneficial abilities to push players into playing Humans. Innistrad has changed all that, and quite drastically. There are plenty of Humans in Innistrad, of course, but plenty of cards with abilities that push you into playing Humans as a legitimate tribe. Some are great (Champion of the Parish) and some are not so great (Dearly Departed).

Right now, I imagine the optimal Human deck to be Green/White, though mono-White certainly is well supported enough to be viable… however we’d be cutting off two really strong “Lords” in the form of Mayor of Avabruck and Hamlet Captain. Hamlet Captain is one of the principle reasons I’m even interested in building this deck, so I am not willing to lose Green… besides that, a Mono-White Human deck would be very much like a typical White Weenie deck, which is somewhat less exciting, as I’ve visited that archetype quite often over the years.

Let’s take a look at which Humans are available to us in Standard, at least those that are the most playable. I’ll run these down by mana-cost, starting with one drops.

One Mana

Champion of the Parish – Easily the best one-drop we have access to, this should be an automatic 4x in any Human deck.

Elite Vanguard – Another fantastic, highly aggressive Human for a single W. Also a likely 4x.

Gideon’s Lawkeeper – Not as aggressive, but could be a good side-board option.

Avacyn’s Pilgrim – It might seem a bit odd to include a “mana elf” in a deck with such a low curve, but I think this should also be a 4x.

Two Mana                         

Accorder Paladin – Seems ideal here, as a very aggressive two-drop that also pumps the rest of your guys. Highly playable.

Elite Inquisitor – More of a sideboard card, if anything, but a 2/2 First Striker with Vigilance is still playable.

Grand Abolisher – Not quite aggro enough for the main deck, but a very valuable sideboard option.

Puresteel Paladin – Fantastic in the right deck, but I doubt he’ll have adequate support in this particular deck.

Hamlet Captain – Definitely a 4x, as it’s one of the main reasons I wanted to build this deck.

Mayor of Avabruck – Your other humans get +1/+1… seems like something we might want. It does kinda suck if he flips, but you should have little trouble dropping two guys in one turn to flip him back.

Skinshifter – This guy is tough, as I can’t figure out if I want 4x of him, or zero copies. Seems pretty solid.

Three Mana

Fiend Hunter – Tough call. It seems possible to maindeck this guy, but as a 1/3 for 3 he’d be the least aggro creature in the deck, probably. I’d say 4x sideboard, or a 2x main deck.

Gideon’s Avenger – I’m a big fan of this guy, but if you’re not running other tap effects (such as Gideon’s Lawkeeper) I’m not sure he’s worth it.

Mentor of the Meek – A must-have for this deck, as we’ll likely be dumping our hand quickly, and need to keep our grip full to apply pressure.

Mirran Crusader – Best with some Equipment such as Sword of War and Peace or whatever, but probably still great on his own.

Elder of Laurels – Might be a 2x in a more casual, slow version of the deck. Too expensive for my build, though.

Four Mana

Hero of Bladehold – There’s only one creature powerful enough to be worthwhile above three mana, and this is it. I would love to have 2x of these in the deck, if we can fit them. Note that if we do have Hero, Avacyn’s Pilgrim definitely starts to look necessary.

Variable Cost

Mikaeus, the Lunarch – Probably too slow and costly for a truly aggro deck, but a fine casual card nonetheless.

That pretty much sums up the best of what Humanity has to offer us, for now at least. There are a lot of options here, and there’s no way we can fit all of these cards into a single 60 card deck. But that’s okay, because it gives us room for variance and customization. You should be able to tune the list to suit your playgroup’s power level, and your own personal play preferences. If Elder of Laurels and Mikaeus the Lunarch excite you the most, you can easily play a slower more deliberate version of this deck. Throw in the Lawkeepers and Fiend Hunters to control the board while you build up to critical mass.

Or, you can just see how far you can push the aggro side, and make the deck as fast as possible.

Here’s my starting list:

4x Champion of the Parish

4x Elite Vanguard

3x Avacyn’s Pilgrim

4x Accorder Paladin

4x Hamlet Captain

3x Mayor of Avabruck

2x Skinshifter

3x Mirran Crusader

2x Mentor of the Meek

2x Hero of the Bladehold

3x Beast Within

4x Mutagenic Growth

4x Razorgrass Prairie

4x Sunpetal Grove

4x Forest

10x Plains

For the non-Creature spells, I chose the most generically useful spells I could find, as I have no idea what opposition this deck might encounter. Mutagenic Growth is basically the best Giant Growth variant in Standard right now, and Beast Within is a pretty universal answer to any problematic Creature, Planeswalker or other permanent type.

A suggested sideboard might include:

4x Fiend Hunter

4x Elite Inquisitor

4x Grand Abolisher

3x Celestial Purge

Or something like that. I dunno. Another really compelling option is to run Triumph of the Hordes. It’s an Infect card, yes, so it kinda seems out of place with zero Infect creatures, but I think it might be worth it for the surprise factor. It can really screw up combat math for an opponent, who is expecting you to attack their life total, not poison them out. It can just end a game out of nowhere just as your opponent is starting to stabilize and looks to be clogging up the ground for your attackers. You pretty much have to kill them in one attack if you do cast it, otherwise you basically just skipped that turn, but that’s the appeal of Triumph: that card usually does end the game upon resolution.

Enjoy!

Art Critic's Corner: Innistrad Basics

Welcome to a new feature I'm trying out for the blog. I have a background in art, having studied fine art and commercial art/graphic design for some years. I'm the sort of guy who finds documentaries about fonts utterly fascinating, and usually has at least 1 card in each of my EDH decks that I know shouldn't be there, but I'm playing because I like the art too much.

So it seems only natural that I should combine my love of art with my love of Magic - especially since art plays such a huge, important role in making the game stand out and capture people's attention.

The art in Innistrad, overall, is phenomenal. They really went all-out to capture the mood of 'dark gothic horror' and I'd say the succeeded quite well overall. Of course I'm a huge sucker for all things dark and gothic, so I will readily admit my tastes are heavily biased in favor of this set's theme... but that doesn't mean I don't look at the art objectively. There are plenty of cards in Innistrad whose illustrations don't really thrill me much. But far more of the cards do boast some exceptional work.

For this first article, I want to narrow it down a bit, though. Reviewing a whole set, especially one as fantastic as Innistrad, might be tedious. So, I think I'll just do the Basic Lands of the set. I've already posted about why I think it's important to choose Basic Lands that have an aesthetic that matches the rest of your deck. Basic Lands are the one thing in Magic where you know which specific card you want but have dozens and dozens of options where artwork is concerned.

With that in mind, it seems logical to begin this little experiment by critiquing the Basic Lands of Innistrad. NOTE: I am posting the pictures of each land here, but I'm basic my critiques off the actual physical cards which I have right in front of me as I write. This is because computer monitors are pretty inconsistent in how the display colors, but the actual cards will not vary in this way.

First up, we have the Plains.

Good, subtle use of color here. The sky has just a hint of purple to contrast with the hint of green in the land below. The dark clouds in the sky are rather oppressive and ominous - which works for the mood and theme of the set. Just a hair too much green, though. This clearly isn't a forest, but it also doesn't make me think "white mana" right off the bat.

This artist went for a similar execution as the one above. Greenery below contrasts with hints of pink and purple in the sky above, with dark clouds above suffocating everything beneath. This pieces winds up a bit more colorful than the previous one, though, with more color in the sky, and the little touch of rust/orange in the bottom right corner... this illustration also effectively conveys the right mood, while still evoking a sense of white mana.

I'm a huge Jung Park fan, and was following his work before he started illustrating for Magic. However, this isn't his strongest work. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, it's the weakest of the three Plains arts. But Jung did do some things right here. First of all, does this look like a Plains in the sense that it could be a source of white mana? Yes, to me it does. I also think that this piece utilizes a better prospective than the other two. In the first two, the horizon line is much closer to the bottom of the frame, lending to an elevated perspective, while Jung's piece puts the POV right on the ground, with the horizon much higher. This makes it feel like the veiwpoint of a person standing there on the ground.






Ultimately, I have to give Adam props for the most aesthetically pleasing illustration, though it comes up short in evoking a "white mana" feeling. Jung Park's illustration is the least aesthetically pleasing, but he employs a stronger grasp of perspective, recognizing the importance of POV in this set. Finally, Eytan Zana probably does the best at hitting both points - selling the concept of "Plains" and "white mana" while still making a visually arresting piece through bold use of color.

Next, we've got Islands.

 James Paick is another illustrator I happen to be a big fan of. However, this illustration isn't my favorite work of his. It looks great on-screen, but the printed card is much darker and you loose a lot of that great detail at the bottom of the canyon. Also the rocks on the right side look almost completely black on the printed card, so that the illustration just looks like it's about 65% solid black with no detail. I wish the printed piece looked more like the digital version, but even if it did, this wouldn't be my favorite Island.

 I really dig this one in concept. The battered ship cresting a big wave is just cool as hell. The water and the rocks in the foreground are neat, and a good way to give the art some texture. However, I think Adam Paquette's brush strokes are just a hair too smooth, giving the piece an almost airbrushed look. It reminds me of those tacky paintings people do on black velvet. Despite this flaw I'm still a fan of this Island, and I'm currently using it as the basic of choice in my Garza Zol vampire deck.

After a miss with his Plains artwork, it's nice to see Jung hit a home-run here. I love this illustration. The green/orange contrast to the foliage is superb, and the ghostly hint of a city in the far background adds an element to help capture the mind's eye and draw you into the piece. This is another one where the printed card is a tad too dark, but you at least get some of the color and detail on this one. Definitely my favorite of the three.










All three Islands boast good artwork, but that first one just came out way too dark. I think I can find other Islands that are similar but more visually interesting. Adam's piece has a great hook in the form of the tossed-about ship, but I think he should have worked in some stormy weather and lightining, in place of the big grey cliffs in the background. The foreground is great, while the background is just boring. Jung Park wins this time, with an aesthetic piece where the background is just as interesting as the foreground.

Swamps are next.

First up, Adam Paquette turns in a solid piece. Great use of color and texture make this one his strongest illustration so far. It has that up close and personal feel that was lacking in his Plains illustration, and he utilizes the background as well as the foreground, avoiding the primary flaw in his otherwise great Island piece. This illustration reminds me of Scooby Doo, for some reason, and I'm not convinced that's a bad thing!

 If I have to pick a weakest among the swamps, this one is it, but that's not to say it's a bad piece. The concept nails the mood dead-on, and this is on creepy fucking swamp! My only real complaints are that the horizon line should have been a bit higher to give some more attention to the land, because the sky dominates this piece, while being the least interesting part of it. And the other complaint is that the color values are too monochromatic. James should have used just a tad more color to break up the monotone sky.

And the winner again is Jung Park. This illustration is great. One thing you'll notice if I do this type of column often, is that I tend to dislike monochromatic pieces. Even where it makes sense, I just rarely find monochromatic art interesting or appealing. This piece stands out, to me, though precisely because it manages to be a monochromatic (mostly) illustration, while still being visually arresting and aesthetically pleasing. Partly because it's a graveyard, giving the artist room to add details via the headstones, and partly because the artist utilized a very important technique by including that one little tattered red banner on the right. That one little splash of color both gives the piece a way to break up the monotone greys and blacks, and gives it a way to catch the eye, and hold it.





Adam consistently comes in second with another solid illustration, while Jung shows his grasp of using color and detail to compensate for a lack of broad color palette. Once again, though, James Paick sees another well-executed piece hampered by too-dark printing, and his reluctance to use color value to his advantage.

Now for some Mountain action.

 Finally, a James Paick piece that I love. Frankly, this illustration possesses the same flaws I complained of in his Island and Swamp contributions, but the concept here is unmistakably that of the creepy mountain pass leading up to Dracula's castle (or Oliva's I guess in this case?). The hint of sun breaking through the clouds in the top left gives the piece some much-needed contrast. The printed card still comes out too dark, but the reds in the sky alleviate this problem somewhat. More than anything, though, what's important is that when I look at this peice, I so badly want to follow that mountain road to find out where it goes! Very cool.

I'm starting to see a trend in Adam's work. He likes to put in some man-made element, or some other central feature that doesn't quite belong (like the ship on his Island, or the little boat on his Swamp). It's an effective technique, but like all techniques, it becomes less effective if you rely too heavily on it. Still, Adam hasn't hit that point yet, cause I dig this Mountain art. The blue/red contrast is very effective too. I like this one quite a lot.

There are very, very few Mountain illustrations that I would consider "gorgeous" or "beautiful" but this one deserves both adjectives. From the sky to the flowery field below, this piece is just gorgeous. Even the big rock has it's own appeal. But, the question must be posed: Does a big rock count as a "Mountain"? I don't know but if I were a planeswalker needing to lob a fireball at an enemy, this wouldn't be the first place I'd imagine to draw red mana from. I like to see artists thinking outside the box a bit, but this just doesn't evoke the right feeling to me. It is really pretty, though, so I can definitely see using this one anyway.







It's kind of a toss-up here, as to which I like best. James' is the best concept and evokes the mood the best, but Adam's and Eytan's are both more aesthetically pleasing. All three are quite good in their own rights, which is weird to me, because Mountains are usually the ugliest of the bunch in most sets.

Wrapping up with Forests...

 With the first two Plains we looked at, I appreciated the green/purple contrast utilized in those illustrations. Here, though, it might be a bit too much. Especially since the printed piece looks slightly more pinkish. Finally, James Paick decides to utilize some color, and he winds up overdoing it! Still, it's not bad - it does have that spooky, foggy look to it that fits the set well. This is my least favorite of the Forests but I definitely don't hate it.

Another superb illustration mired by the printed version being too dark to make out the details. I never would have know there was a little rowboat by the creek if it weren't more clearly shown in the digital version. But with the dark tone and the splash of blue in the creek, this is still a great peice, and I definitely think it would fit perfectly into a Blue/Black/Green deck, capturing elements of all three.

Fabulously done. Defintely my favorite Forest, possibly my favorite basic in the set. The fall-colored leaves, with the green grass, and the twisted, gnarled old tree. Perfect concept, perfect execution. When an illustration makes you want this badly to actually BE there, you know the artist has succeeded.












Well, this wraps up my latest attempt at being an art snob. Hopefully this wasn't too disappointing of a distraction from EDH decklists!