Tri-color khans decks? Meh
Behold a possibly competitive, fun aggro mono-blue deck, with many hidden tricks. It is my tweak of a competitive mtgtop8 deck, after carefully analyzing the build...
In short, bring fast a big nasty artifact and/or steal a big opponent fatty to kill opponent asap. Take benefit from the lack of starting explosiveness in multi-color decks and punch through them efficiently. There are many secondary synergies worth to highlight, as seen next in the long but thorough description.
A relevant quote:
Beware of engineers: it starts with the sewing machine, and then you get the atom bomb. (Marcel Pagnol)
Current version as of Halloween 2014 corresponds to the cards I own, not the ones I would like to feature; please read the updates first.
Deck sources:
It stems from my other deck Budget blue metagame killer and its comment thread: I kept being suggested to include
Chief Engineer
and Scuttling Doom Engine and I started tinkering with how to include those 2 cards and what else to modify in said deck. I've also had some other suggestions like Chasm Skulker, Thassa, God of the Sea, and
Master of Waves
. After thinking about if carefully, it seems to me there are some 5-7 good foundation cards for a standard mono-blue deck:
Chief Engineer
, Ensoul Artifact,
Daring Thief
,
Master of Waves
, Chasm Skulker. Trying to put all of them in a deck seems subpar, and I think there are 2 broad deck types that can result with those foundation cards: either there are many artifacts, or there are not.
The second case (little or no artifacts) can contain the Chasm Skulker and/or the
Master of Waves
or rather be built around them; see my build master skulker fall 2014 for example. In the first case (artifacts), the deck is built around getting out nasty artifacts ahead of their time mostly via
Chief Engineer
's convoke and/or Ensoul Artifact enchanting cheap artifacts.
After playing around with my other deck with
Chief Engineer
and Scuttling Doom Engine, I found there is actually a competitive deck built around those 2 cards and Ensoul Artifact, you can find it here. The main difference with that build and my other deck based upon Ensoul Artifact is that it doesn't pack any countermagic (in fact, it has only permanents!), and it features
Daring Thief
. I've seen people calling that deck model "ensoulnithopter"...
Card by card
- Ensoul Artifact is a nasty card. A Turn 2 5/5 flyer (via Ornithopter) or 5/5 indestructible (via Darksteel Citadel) creature is respectable. Unless dealt with immediately, a turn 2 Ensoul is often victory... As it needs artifacts to target, there is a fair number of ensoulable artifacts in the deck:
- Ornithopter, early blocker, can be a 2/4 flyer by turn 2 with Ghostfire Blade; can help convoke from turn 2 on with a turn 2
Chief Engineer
, can be fodder for
Daring Thief
- Phyrexian Revoker: neuter planeswalkers and legendary enchantment artifacts. See in next section a list of the most probable played cards of both types based upon early lands played, so you can have a fair chance of precluding the opponent from playing said cards. If they manage to land, you can steal some of them with the
Daring Thief
(see next). Of course, it can always fuel convoke and
Daring Thief
- Springleaf Drum: another subtle mana ramper and Ensoul Artifact fodder. The fact it yields mana of any color is not irrelevant: you can use activated abilities of cards stolen with
Daring Thief
in spite of running mono-blue... Use
Daring Thief
to swap opponent Polukranos, World Eater for an ornithopter of yours, and make it monstrous with Springleaf Drum giving green mana...
- Ghostfire Blade: +2/+2 for 1 after it lands seems fair: a turn 2 2/4 ornithopter can (besides attacking with evasion!) block forever a Courser of Kruphix and any 2/1 1-drop from aggro decks; it is also fodder for Ensoul Artifact
- Tormod's Crypt is a priori SB, but it is necessary against delvers, and I have seen some reanimator golgari decks with new Khans of Tarkir cards... Land it and wait until the opponent is tapped out or targets it to sac it and kill all his graveyard; it also fuels Ensoul Artifact and can be 'saced after being ensouled
- Scuttling Doom Engine: 2 more mana than
Juggernaut
but it is a 6/6 which can not be blocked by tokens, early drops, or coursers, and if it dies, it kills nearly all planeswalkers! (or it deals 6 damage to an already lethal-ranged opponent...).
Chief Engineer
and Springleaf Drum help bringing him before turn 6.
- Soul of New Phyrexia, in lieu of the 4th Scuttling Doom Engine: it provides trample and can sometimes be a mana dumper to make all your permanents indestructible... Expensive it may be, you just countered any non-exiling removal the opponent might have...
Just remember, to effectively use the Ensoul Artifact: drop in turn 1 the Ornithopter if you have it in the initial hand. If you have an Ensoul Artifact in the initial hand or the initial draw, OR if you draw the Ensoul in turn 2, if you want to start beating in turn 2, target artifact to be ensouled has had to be under your control since turn 2's upkeep, ie cast in turn 1. Ensouling in turn 2 a Darksteel Citadel dropped in turn 2 might preclude you from casting 3 drops in turn 3, although you start beating with a 5/5 indestructible in turn 3...
-
Chief Engineer
can be tapped to convoke an artifact the turn it comes into play and is an effective ramper; it is also fodder for
Daring Thief
. A land per turn, a turn 2 engineer, 2 artifacts in the first 3 turns, and you have a turn 4 Scuttling Doom Engine or Soul of New Phyrexia...
-
Singing Bell Strike
to hamper your opponent creatures. Fodder for
Daring Thief
as seen next. Furthermore, cast or convoke a Phyrexian Revoker naming the creature enchanted by
Singing Bell Strike
afterwards and they can never untap it (it's the creature who gains the activated ability granted by
Singing Bell Strike
)
-
Hypnotic Siren
early evasive creature, fodder for
Daring Thief
, bestow in late game.
-
Flitterstep Eidolon
same thing as
Hypnotic Siren
, but riskier fodder for
Daring Thief
- Stubborn Denial: it is fairly easy to control (not necessarily to cast) a 4-strength creature in this deck. For U you have a hard counter to protect your permanents. Paradoxically, the fact it can not target a creature spell works for us, not against, as said creature can be stolen with the
Daring Thief
. The typical list does not contain any non-permanents, therefore no counters, etc., but I think it is worth trying to fit a hard counterspell for U, especially after game 1 or 2 when the opponent will try to destroy your
Daring Thief
like crazy, besides exiling your artifacts... I have not seen mono-blue aggro players maindecking countermagic, but I think that aside from protecting your key permanents (Ensoul Artifact,
Daring Thief
, and the big robots), the Jeskai tempo combo has to be stopped at instant speed. I bet they do not expect it on game 1...
- Thassa, God of the Sea. It is not likely to have devotion in this deck, but sustainable scrying for 2U and the possibility of making your big nasty artifact creature, or your ensouled 5/5, or the opponent's stolen fatty unblockable imho deserves consideration. Especially as the opponent could chump block with your traded dork via
Daring Thief
. Original build featured Bident of Thassa, which has some advantages like more devotion and drawing cards, but it is also more expensive, and I think it is better in general to grant unblockability to damage the opponent, than to reap benefits after damaging the opponent, ie if you damage the opponent...
What to revoke preventively with the Phyrexian Revoker
If you land a Phyrexian Revoker early in the game, you might not know what to name to neuter the opponent card with activated ability. Despite the early Standard season, there are some patterns to try to maximize the use of the Revoker. This is a planeswalker-plagued metagame and we are not packing planeswalkers, so you won't trade them with
Daring Thief
but rather neuter them with the Revoker.
The Revoker is mainboard for 3 reasons: there are not so many lowcost useful artifacts to be Ensouled currently in Standard, there are a lot of planeswalkers or fatties with activated abilities in the meta, and especially, it is ALSO a good trade for the
Daring Thief
after it has accomplished its job by landing on your side: if opponent carries more than one copy of the neutered planeswalker or creature and draws it after trading control of the Revoker (which has already named the card), he has essentially a dead card in hand...
- if you suspect Abzan mid-range or Mardu control (look for
Temple of Silence
, Caves of Koilos, and of course the tri-color lands Sandsteppe Citadel or Nomad Outpost), name Elspeth, Sun's Champion or Sorin, Solemn Visitor. You can also name
Fleecemane Lion
, preventing hexproof and indestructible. Although it would be sweet to steal the monstrous lion with
Daring Thief
!!
- You can also name Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker or Chandra, Pyromaster or Stormbreath Dragon if you see red and you don't see a 1-drop whistleblower of Rabble Red, like Monastery Swiftspear or
Firedrinker Satyr
- if you suspect Green devotion, name Polukranos, World Eater or better yet,
Nissa, Worldwaker
, as you might steal Polukranos and theoretically you could make him Monstrous via Springleaf Drum
- if you suspect UB or GUB (Sultai), name Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
- if you suspect Gruul monsters (
Wooded Foothills
or Temple of Abandon), name Xenagos, the Reveler, or Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, or Polukranos, World Eater, or Stormbreath Dragon, or maybe
Nissa, Worldwaker
Bear in mind it is not impossible to draw and play 2 Phyrexian Revoker in the early turns. If you name two of the staple fatties or planeswalkers, you have already done a pretty big deal of damage to the opponent in the game...
Also, you can also name near-ubiquitous Legendary Enchantment artifacts, especially those requiring more than one specific colored mana to activate:
Spear of Heliod
and Whip of Erebos are quite frequent too. You can steal them for their static ability with
Daring Thief
, and prevent their activated ability with the Revoker...
Daring thief: aka let's loot like bankers!
This is maybe the most important part of the description, as I believe this card is as for now underrated...
Daring Thief
can be surprisingly effective and deserves a closer look as to what to do with him:
The amount of valuable permanents you can steal almost for free is astounding. You don't need to attack with it to have it untapped at your next turn: tap it to convoke an artifact through
Chief Engineer
or to give mana through the Springleaf Drum and next turn you are stealing whatever the opponent has played, luckily a big fatty; unless I'm mistaken, as it comes under your control during untap and before upkeep, you can swing with the fatty in the same turn you stole it!!
There is also Triton Tactics to force it untap and trigger inspired; it does not matter it was untapped before targetting it with Triton Tactics; EDIT: I have to check this one, as I was told in FNM "you can't untap an untapped creature"...
. In fact, I have to check if you can steal their creature during combat phase, but it looks feasible: opponent declares attackers, you cast Triton Tactics in response, trigger
Daring Thief
inspired ability and steal their big creature (tapped, and assuming you have a creature to swap). Just remember never trading
Daring Thief
himself.
Daring Thief
needs targets also, to swap a non-land permanent of yours for a permanent of theirs sharing a card type. Luckily, there are mixed card type permanents! Enchantment artifacts, enchantment creatures, even an artifact land!! I have to establish the compleat permanent swapping matrix, but the possibilities look wider than at first glance:
Non-land permanent card types are: artifact, creature, enchantment, planeswalker .
You can trade an Ornithopter (Artifact Creature) for:
- any Artifact (rare, but still... I could think of stealing an altar of brood and the next turn a Goblin Rabblemaster: automatic mill for the opponent!!! I know, improbable but fun)
- any Creature: Polukranos, World Eater, Courser of Kruphix, Siege Rhino,
Mantis Rider
,
Sagu Mauler
, hydras, Stormbreath Dragon, Goblin Rabblemaster (and start poping up tokens to convoke anything even faster or to trade them for other fatties!!!)
- any Enchantment Creature (a God!!!!): Steal Xenagos, God of Revels and convoke a 11/6 trampler (Soul of New Phyrexia) with haste! You can also steal Eidolons: steal Eidolon of Countless Battles and get easily a 5/5...steal Eidolon of Blossoms and the next time you cast an aura or enchantment creature or enchantment artifact, you draw an extra card...
- any Enchantment artifact (Bident of Thassa,
Spear of Heliod
, Bow of Nylea, Hammer of Purphoros, Whip of Erebos). Just by stealing them you are giving your creatures haste, lifelink, deathtouch, 1/1, or card drawing. But you can also tap Springleaf Drum and a dork to produce one green mana and activate the bow, or a red mana to activate the hammer...
You can trade an aura (
Singing Bell Strike
AND Ensoul Artifact) for:
- any Enchantment Creature, as seen
- any Enchantment artifact, as seen
- any Enchantment: Steal
Jeskai Ascendancy
(killing their combo), pump your creatures, cast an artifact, force untap the
Daring Thief
triggering inspired and steal another prize permanent!!! Sweeeet. Steal just about any hard-cast-with-pain-or-fetchlands Ascendancies...
How to efficiently trade the permanents: let's read the card again: exchange control of target blablabla. Examples of extremely annoying uses:
- Cast Ensoul Artifact on your own cheap artifact, then exchange control of said Ensoul Artifact for a God, an Ascendancy, a Legendary Enchantment Artifact, an Enchantment... they might control your Ensoul Artifact, you retain the 5/5 ensouled artifact AND get their enchantment: you just took their enchantment almost for free.
- Cast
Singing Bell Strike
on an opponent creature, and give them control of the aura. Again, you are giving them nothing as the creature gained the ability to untap, and you are taking an Enchantment, an Enchantment creature (aka a God or an Eidolon or another bestow aura), or an Enchantment Artifact...
- Cast
Singing Bell Strike
on your own Ornithopter and tap it as a response with Springleaf Drum to give 1 mana if necessary. Next turn trade the Ornithopter for a great creature; the singing bell strike stays attached so it will not untap... See the opponent's face pondering for a nanosecond if spending 6 mana to untap an Ornithopter while he just lost control of Polukranos, World Eater or Siege Rhino...
- Give them a
Chief Engineer
, chances are it is just a 1/3 blocker for them. Same with a Phyrexian Revoker, which already did its job by ETB. Same with an Ornithopter...
More variations
There are more cards that could potentially be included.
With so many cheap artifacts,
Illusory Angel
comes naturally to mind, but most often it will slow down the deck.
Overall, keep in mind you need to maximize the creature count (to convoke and trade), the artifacts (to ensoul and trade), and the auras (to disrupt and trade). Not much to choose from right now in Standard...
Coda
This deck is part of my Standard fall 2014 decks, which focus mostly on monocolor aggro (to drive a wedge through the tri-color khans hype), and also on the many possibilities that mono-blue offer. You can check my two other mono-blue decks, master skulker fall 2014, and Budget blue metagame killer.
SB is still to be done...
Please playtest, comment, share your thoughts, and don't forget +1
