This deck has done great in my recent play testing, and it's definitely one of my favorite decks to play. It has no trouble keeping aggro decks at bay with it's removal suite, and the control/midrange decks will fear my top decks. With the amount of power this deck has, it won't have any problem competing with the best.
Planeswalkers:
Garruk, Apex Predator
- By far my favorite planeswalker to throw down. Every ability is relevant, and devastating to the opponent, I mean who doesn't like up-ticking him and destroying another planeswalker?
Vraska the Unseen- I was skeptical about playing her at first, I thought she was a little slow for our game plan, but having another planeswalker that can kill basically anything on the board is amazing. She protects herself, and has the kind of ultimate that makes you giddy with excitement.
Xenagos, the Reveler- He pulls double duty here as mana ramp, and as a token generator. The 2/2s he produces may not seem like much on their own, but they do some heavy lifting in groups. His ultimate isn't too impressive, and he's mostly gonna sit at his starting 3 loyalty, but hey you never know.
Liliana Vess- Mainly in the deck for her tutor ability, she can nab us a very much needed Rakdos's Return or maybe a certain dragon we need to close out the game.
Creatures:
Sylvan Caryatid- The backbone of our mana base, and certainly a fantastic blocker. Anyone with a multi-color deck running green is nuts if they aren't playing this.
Courser of Kruphix- One of the best cards in standard at the moment. He does kinda give away our game plan, but the life gain and the huge butt for blocking make up for it. Plus he helps us make our land drops, and rewards us for it.
Stormbreath Dragon- Awesome finisher, he comes out swinging, and he dodges some removal. Plus it's always fun to monstrous him, and then Rakdos's Return your opponent for double the damage.
Instants:
Abrupt Decay- One of my favorite removal spells at the moment. It hits most of the early problem cards like Domri Rade, Detention Sphere, Underworld Connections, and even opposing Courser of Kruphixs.
Hero's Downfall- An unbiased, kill all spell with a decent cmc, what more could you want?
Putrefy- Helps with those pesky god artifact weapons, and the artifact aggro decks that seem to be wandering around. Its also another instant speed removal, so can't argue with that.
Sorcery:
Thoughtseize- Probably the best card card in standard, it basically ruins your opponent's strategy, and ensures your plays will be more relevant, and more threatening than anything they could throw out.
Mizzium Mortars- Another creature removal spell with a decent cmc, plus if you need it for later you can always overload it for devastating effect.
Dreadbore- Basically a slower version of downfall, although it is cheaper to cast. We can use all the removal we can get in this build, so why not?
Read the Bones- Basically our only method of card draw, it allows us to dig into the deck to find an answer for something on the field, or even just to refill our hand.
Rakdos's Return- One of our alternate finishers in the deck, it can be used in the early or late game to make our opponent's hand a little less useful. Plus it can be used as an over-kill dreabore if you decide to redirect the damage to an opposing planeswalker.
