A variation on Saito Zoo Aggro. Trying to go slightly bigger than playing Burning-Tree Emissary. I wanted to design the deck so that there are no bad draws in the late game. The goal is generally to play big (3/3 and up) and low casting cost creatures to slowly overwhelm the opponent until he runs out of answers. Even a
Flinthoof Boar
is a threat on an empty board. About the worst you can get late game is a Gyre Sage, and if it sticks it's still a reasonable creature with a few evolve triggers.
Nearheath Pilgrim
and
Pillar of Flame
are not stellar late game topdecks either, but you'll kick yourself if you don't have any early plays against aggro.
Nearheath Pilgrim
can easily put the game out of reach for a lot of decks if they don't answer him fast. Soulbond it with Boros Reckoner for insanity, or just about anything to gain life in repeatable chunks of 3.
I can understand adding Hellrider over Restoration Angel in this deck, but I usually just have 2, maybe 3 big guys out at once. Hellrider seems better with lots of 1 and 2 drops, to build up an army of 4-5 creatures and end the game when he drops. I'm never upset to see Restoration Angel though. There's not many good blink targets pre-board (only 1 Thragtusk), but holding the angel to save a creature from a kill spell is more than enough value. Even dropping the Resto at the end of the opponent's turn for a clean swing of 3 is still awesome.
Thundermaw Hellkite and Aurelia, the Warleader are there to end the game fast. If everything goes right, once you get to 6 mana the game should be over. Thragtusk in the board comes in instead of these guys against aggro. You don't need to end the game fast, you just need to live until they run out of cards and then you win.
Boros Reckoner is just amazing. I don't need to say anything about it.
Loxodon Smiter means your opponent better be playing black or running Mizzium Mortars himself, or you're just going to shut him down in the early game, or 2-for-1 him. Which I'm more than happy to do.
Aurelia's Fury
is a card I wasn't sure about, but it usually ends the game when you cast it. It's really flexible, but you need a good amount of mana to get anything out of it.
Mizzium Mortars has been just awesome for me. 4 damage kills the vast majority of creatures, and when you can overload it it's just a brutal, one-sided wrath. It's not an instant, so there's no trickery to be had here. It'll take care of any early threats that might stop you from swinging.
Domri Rade is just insane in this deck. With so many creatures, his +1 will draw you extra cards maybe 40% of the time. This is just a bonus, though, and totally unnecessary. His -2 is where it's at. Make your Loxodon Smiter fight his creature, win, then get a clean swing with the team. Every time you fight and pick off a creature with Domri's help, you're pulling ahead. Domri is Boros Reckoner's best friend. Use -2 to 2 for 1 your opponent? I'll do that all day. If Reckoner is fighting a 2/2 and you get to kill ANOTHER 2/2, it's just gross. I'd love to run 4x Domri Rade if I had 'em.
Victory comes when your opponent runs out of kill spells and all of your creatures dwarf his. Once you have a good board position, you start swinging with 10 power worth of creatures and they go down pretty fast. So I'd recommend playing fairly cautiously until you have the board under control, because when the time comes, you can close it out quick. This deck has a hard time against control, but that's what the sideboard is for.
3x Boros Charm is for stopping sweepers. Sometimes you can double-strike one of your guys, but 99% of the time this goes to save your creatures from a sweep, or even just saving a Reckoner at a crucial time. Board it in against anybody playing a lot of burn or kill spells.
3x
Selesnya Charm
is for an opponent playing creatures bigger than 4 toughness. Exiling an Obzedat, Ghost Council is the only way you can deal with that card. It's reasonable against aggro too, the +2/+2 and trample can save a creature, or just make a surprise 2/2 blocker for a Geist of Saint Traft or something.
2xOblivion Ring for opponents playing difficult creatures (flying or gigantic fit the bill) as well as getting rid of planeswalkers, artifacts, etc.
2xGarruk, Primal Hunter for control decks and midrange mirror matches. Making a stream of 3/3s or drawing a grip of cards out of nowhere is huge.
2x
Pillar of Flame
throw these things in against aggro or zombies automatically. Sometimes even against ramp decks to kill mana dorks. Having a full set means you can likely make a bigger impact in the early game. You have to slow them down - if you get a few 3/3s out you will win, but some of these decks out nowadays can kill by turn 4 easily.
3xThragtusk as I said above, swap your big hasters for these guys against aggro. Sometimes, when playing control, you actually want to cut some piddly dudes, like Gyre Sage or
Nearheath Pilgrim
and go up to 4 Tusks. Lifegain and ramp don't matter too much, they're just going to wrath your early guys away anyway. Make your threats actually nasty, MAKE them deal with 'em right away or die.
So yeah, that's the deck. It's been good to me for the past 2-3 weeks I've been running it (1st at Grove Invitational, 1st at Standard FNM) and I change a few cards each week. I'd love to throw some
Huntmaster of the Fells
in here, but then I'd probably need more ramp. I'm pretty happy with the deck as-is though. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!
