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Standard - Izzet Pirates

Standard Aggro Artifact Pirate UR (Izzet)

ZEBR4


Sideboard


Maybeboard

Artifact (1)


The Deck:

My quest to find the best home for Roaming Throne has led me to another very interesting Kindred Deck - Pirates! Most of them have some sort of awesome triggered ability that is doubled up by Roaming Throne, but pirates in particular also have the advantage of utilizing artifact synergies, making an artifact like Roaming Throne the perfect fit to take the archetype over the top. After much playtesting and winning an event with the deck, I have whittled the list down to this.

Beating Aggro:

With 6 one-drop interaction spells to catch early aggressors and a creature base full of incredible synergy, this matchup is very winnable as long as we know what to prioritize and how to flip between the roles of defender and aggressor. Though it is very play/draw dependent, this deck is absolutely capable of racing other aggro decks. But defensive speed and early trading off is important to stabilize with a healthy life total and proceed to win the game from there via incremental advantage. Our sideboard has more cheap burn spells and a couple of damage-based wraths to safely get us to the midgame so we can take over.

Beating Midrange:

This is our easiest matchup since Roaming Throne is a Midrange card with its own built-in protection that can grind with the best of them. The versatility provided by the pirate abilities is already good enough on its own - providing maps, clues, treasures, card advantage, removal, evasion, and even +1/+1 counters. But all of that is essentially doubled as soon as Roaming Throne hits the battlefield. All we have to do is board in Disdainful Stroke to stop their big plays, Urabrask's Forge to clock them, and Witchstalker Frenzy to efficiently pick off their threats and watch our deck go.

Beating Control:

You may think that because this is a creature-based deck that our game essentially ends after a board wipe and we will then lose to any planeswalker, but you'd be wrong. Look a little closer and you'll realize that most of our creatures are two-for-ones and that our removal can burn planeswalkers down or bounce our threats back to hand in response to removal. I've been thoroughly impressed with how well pirates are able to rebuild and continue scrapping, especially with the help of Roaming Throne. Sideboarding in Spell Pierce and Disdainful Stroke to watch them squirm feels fantastic while Urabrask's Forge can finish the job as a backup plan.

Beating Combo:

This could actually be our toughest matchup, as most of our synergy is built upon amplifying our board past our opponents while having no interaction with the stack or with graveyards in game one. Our deck can be fast, but not always fast enough to kill before an effectively game ending combo has been presented by the opponent so our sideboard is going to be the real key to victory here. Just pay extra close attention to how the opponent is trying to win in game one and then sideboard in the appropriate tools to prevent that accordingly.

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Casual

91% Competitive

Date added 1 month
Last updated 4 days
Legality

This deck is Standard legal.

Rarity (main - side)

5 - 0 Mythic Rares

30 - 2 Rares

13 - 8 Uncommons

9 - 5 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 1.92
Tokens Clue, Map, Phyrexian Horror X/1 R, Phyrexian Mite 1/1 C, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders standard 2024
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