This deck is from our new podcast Mull to 3, Episode 7 'Game Over Day' posted on the 30th of July 2017.
Introduction
When I first met Rattlechains it was love at first sight. This deck was originally based around two cost flash fliers and the combination of Rattlechains and
Dimensional Infiltrator
resulted in the title 8-ChainZ. At it's core it's a spirits tribal aggro fliers deck that uses Always Watching to push difficult to block damage over the top of your opponents, since the release of Shadows Over Innistrad this deck has gone through a lot of transformations, but probably sits in one of its strongest confirmations at the moment.
Gameplan
The gameplan is to get damage in early with difficult to remove spirits in the form of Mausoleum Wanderer, Selfless Spirit, Rattlechains, and Spell Queller, all of which have inbuilt mechanisms to protect either themselves or other spirits. Nimble Obstructionist is a spirit at heart and fills out the low-cost flier bracket and doubles as a nice counterspell in a pinch. The ladies of Innistrad top out the high end of the curve with 2 Gisela, the Broken Blade to help out against aggro and 2 Archangel Avacyn
to give you some game against control. Censor provides some additional protection and Stasis Snare deals with any pesky blockers... Heart of Kiran anyone? The foundation stone of the deck is Always Watching which not only provides extra damage on the attack, but also gives all of your creatures a chance to block incoming attackers as well. This card was even able to give this deck serious game back in the days when Blue-White Flash was a tier 1 deck.
Sideboard
The sideboard is pretty simple. If you are against an aggro matchup cut the 2 Archangel Avacyn
for 2 Gisela, the Broken Blade, and if you are playing a control matchup do the opposite. The rest of the board is a mix of removal and counterspells. Declaration in Stone is particularly good against zombies, but also has some game against red aggro decks, Cast Out is in to help out against any spell queller mirror battles, and Disallow and
Summary Dismissal
help to give some hard counter game against gearhulk control. Solemnity is a funny one-of which is in the side to mess up any constrictor or energy builds, and Crook of Condemnation is another one-of to work against any graveyard based decks.
Great deck, surprisingly quick, and usually takes people by surprise after their life gets reduced to zero and they momentarily start considering adding more creatures with reach into their sideboards.
Enjoy flashing your opponents (in a socially acceptable way)!
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