Rubblebelt Raiders ???

Silverblade Paladin is in my mainboard because it offers that punch to the face. Most of the time, he gets paired with a Champion of the Parish after its a 4/4, and then all of a sudden, by turn 3 nothing can block it and survive. Usually, with any card that Silverblade Paladin is paired with becomes a beat stick that has to be blocked otherwise it is massive damage. Its almost a removal spell at that point, where they have to chump block, and with the first strike bonus, my creature lives.

I don't usually ever take him out, unless the enemy is using lots of removal, in which case... i still don't take him out because he is one of the best humans I have to work with.

@JSims

My sideboard is formed basically from my local meta. Card for card, these are my reasons for running them:

Boros Reckoner . Sure, not a human. But, one of the most valuable rares in standard for a reason. If the enemy doesn't have good spot removal (if any) He is a powerful creature than can have first strike, to counter any Thragtusk play, he can block to deal lots of damage to the enemy, and, he can offer a "Do i use this Mizzium Mortars , Bonfire of the Damned , Rolling Temblor , to wipe the board?" Red decks do not like facing Boros Reckoner , because he is never a free kill without consequences. I bring him in against other creature heavy decks, or RDW.

Pillar of Flame is also brought in against the mirror, zombies, or RDW. Little creatures like Ash Zealot that can usually block my creatures successfully, or force me to trade can be really annoying. Having the cheap 1-mana spell will allow me to clear the way in the early game for my guys to break through. Plus extra burn damage if I need to focus their health.

Pithing Needle . This is for those control decks that have a nasty planewalker, or a land that i do not wish my opponent to use. like Nephalia Drownyard , or Kessig Wolf Run . It costs 1 mana, and forces my opponent to use a removal spell on IT rather than a creature of mine.

Purify the Grave is an often argued-about card. People like to think Rest in Peace or Tormod's Crypt are strictly better, however with my playstyle, I love the option to wait until my opponent tries to combo out with his Frites deck, and stop it right in it's tracks. They never expect a counter-like card when playing against Naya Blitz, and it can disrupt their gameplan out of the blue. It has worked very well for me in the past, so i keep using it. If i ran Rest in Peace , they would play around it, and destroy it before they attempt their combo.

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben , great card, not much needs to be said about why i use her. Against decks with small creatures, or even decks with not creatures, she can counter both sides. Her having first strike is a bonus. She can block little things, and prevent important spells from being cast consistently.

War Priest of Thune is in my sideboard because I've been running into a lot of enchantment play at my store. Whether i see too many Detention Sphere s, or curse cards, It is always useful to be able to get rid of enemy enchantments while getting a 2/2 body to clog the field, as well as assist me in attacking.

And for the record:

The Maybeboard is a suggested sideboard to try and make this deck a little bigger. Taking away the speed of humans, and turning it into a Naya Midrange build. It could be a counter to people expecting the speed.

Udated

So I randomly picked a deck to playtest against with my Humans Bant Enchant which tends to win turn 4/5/ and got steam rolled. I would love to see the Mark for Death + Mugging on the same creature combo where you can swing with everything and get all hits through.

Thats using 2 spells for 5 mana, and can be quite tricky to pull off every single game.

You'd rather want to use cards like Bonfire of the Damned , or Mizzium Mortars or Sleep to clear the way. 2-card combos are very iffy, as cool as they might seem.

However, one card you might use instead is Nightbird's Clutches

foodforthought

Ah yes, I'd been considering Feeling of Dread for the dual usage to tap their attackers down too. Thanks for the ideas.

No problem, mate. You could always splash for blue to use the flashback on that too... 4 color decks are not that difficult to pull off right now.

I really like this deck! I don't play STD myself, but I saw the tournament where this deck (well, the slower version with Frontline Medic that seemed so slow and out of place every time) steamrolled everybody, but I like your version with Thatcher Revolt and Rancor . Also Experiment One which forces everybody to play Flinthoof Boar was just never a satisfying card in this deck. Spark Trooper seems really awkward to me, why wouldn't you play Hellrider instead? Seems way more aggressive to me...

Welcome to being the 2374th person to comment about Hellrider , haha.

I am in the process of discovering which card is the best to play in that 4-drop spot, or which card is better to be a filler for the 4-drop spot in this deck. My studies, currently, are exploring the use of Spark Trooper for the sole reason of it's sustain. However, the results are looking grim, Spark Trooper is not really making a large presence in this deck. Sure, when it lands, it hits hard... and sure, when it lands and i pair it with Silverblade Paladin , it just flat out wins me the game. However... that occurrence is few and far between, and not very common.

I am saving Hellrider for the end of my experimenting, just because i do feel it is the most powerful asset as a finisher for this deck... without splashing a 4th color at least. I have tried Spark Trooper (now), Frontline Medic , Odric, Master Tactician , Boros Reckoner , Rubblebelt Raiders , Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip , Riders of Gavony , Fervent Cathar , Champion of Lambholt , Loxodon Smiter , Bonfire of the Damned , Sublime Archangel , Azorius Justiciar , Goldnight Commander , Instigator Gang  ^Flip , and Kessig Malcontents ...

Out of all of them, Boros Reckoner , Kessig Malcontents , Champion of Lambholt and Instigator Gang  ^Flip were the only real game-altering cards that helped this deck. However, the impact was not good enough for me. I needed the super damage, or flying blast card to punch that extra damage.

The next card... the LAST card... that i am going to attempt to fill that spot is Archwing Dragon . Mainly for its dodge of board wipes and soceries. Plus, it can swing into a flashing Restoration Angel without any fear. This is the last card that may fit this deck before I throw in Hellrider

snickers at the Hellrider comment, because he knows what Vos_Is_Boss will say

It is only a matter of time...

NO HELLRIDER YET = Short answer.

What did you think of Sublime Archangel ? Also you left out Ghor-Clan Rampager the bloodrush ability as a potential finished shouldn't be ignored. Also what about either Rally the Peasants or Dynacharge (overloaded), both are like old school Army of Allah

actually if you swapped in Gather the Townsfolk over Thatcher Revolt and added either Rally the Peasants or Dynacharge (overloaded) they would hit for a lot...

Oh yeah, i forgot to type Ghor-Clan Rampager , he was already on my TO-DO list. He'll be after Archwing Dragon i guess. Because i KNOW Ghor-Clan Rampager is good too.

Sublime Archangel encourages bad play. In this deck, i'd rather not swing in with one creature that is huge when my other creatures, swinging all together, would do more. She wasn't that powerful in this deck, I did try her at FNMs a few times, because i thought it would be really good... however, outside the vacuum, she gets nailed and crucified, and i only win if i get my 4th mana, my opponent has nothing, AND i have like 5 creatures on the board. Pretty situational...

Spells like that are fun, however, can be routed. I'm trying to stick to permanents as much as possible, for the reason to have synergy with the other creatures. When i bring in Thalia, Guardian of Thraben ... my non-creature spells become painfully obvious that they are not creatures.

I will NEVER get rid of Thatcher Revolt .

Ok, so why not either Rally the Peasants or Dynacharge over Rancor ? If your consistently swinging with multiple creatures doesn't it make sense to add the +2 to all of them, versus just one and a little trample damage? I mean in the goal is to win by turn 4, you probably won't swing with rancor more then 3x at the most. I don't know if the right call, I'm just exploring possibilities.

yo man i feel like you should use Hellrider AT LEAST until Dragonsmaze comes out btw check out my new tribal angel deck having some trouble with that. But until then as always good luck!

Rancor keeps coming back in bad situation, and i've grown accustomed to it.

To be honest... its something that I've forgotten to investigate. I've been caught up in the creature study, and the enchantment study (Volcanic Strength and Bonds of Faith ) that I havnt really looked at too many instant options. I mean, besides Boros Charm or Searing Spear , i'm not sure how much room I'll have.

I'm settled on enchantments. Opting for Volcanic Strength against RDW, or any deck with mountains, really. However, Rancor won the game one threat.

After I had that set in stone, i moved on to a more complex study on which creatures should be used. In this deck, i think Rally the Peasants , or Dynacharge would be used if I had 12 one-drops and no 4 drops. However... that is really altering the deck, and may be a different deck entirely. I could probably swap out Silverblade Paladin for, say, Rally the Peasants ... thats something i have to study... but i can't believe going that route will solidify my deck. It is worth trying however... so after i reach my conclusion over Hellrider vs Ghor-Clan Rampager vs Archwing Dragon i'll definately be looking into the weenie-buff play.

Can I just say I've play tested this deck way too many times and the Spark Trooper in almost all cases was a game changer.

The question is if Hellrider isn't more of a game changer ; )

Spark Trooper is really good, and i do not have trouble casting him because, worst case scenario, i can name "soldier" with Cavern of Souls . However, no matter how good the card is, i still need to test all the options.

Spark Trooper scored higher than most of the cards so far. All thats left (to see what is better) is Archwing Dragon , Ghor-Clan Rampager , and Hellrider . Then i'll have my creature base set in stone.

I like this deck a lot! I would definitely consider running Spark Trooper it is such an amazing card anytime I drop him my opponents are like "f*ck me" after they tried to wipe my board out. I feel like Elite Inquisitor , Precinct Captain , and/or Ash Zealot could be very useful in here (the zealot at least SB for grave hate) zombies and vamps are a big part of (well mine at least) meta so the Inquisitor is essential in my slightly cheapo Boros Human build (till I get some better cards) Hellrider is without a doubt a nice card I personally prefer the Trooper. My friend just recently bought some boosters from my store and he pulled this: Rubblebelt Raiders that could be fun to play with in your 4 drop slot and is a definitive game changer if they can't respond to it

To simplify my findings, in a way that will make sense... This is how the "finishers" have scored so far, out of 10.

I'm still working on some of them.

Spark Trooper -- 8.2

Rubblebelt Raiders -- 7.4

Boros Reckoner -- 6

Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip -- 5.7

Riders of Gavony -- 5.3

Odric, Master Tactician -- 5.3

Archwing Dragon -- ???

Ghor-Clan Rampager -- ???

Hellrider -- ???

sweet, I'm hoping to see Hellrider statistics soon

I predict it will score 9.2 (my own calculations that i will not show to the public)

Archwing Dragon is at about 8.5 on average, surprisingly. However, i still have about 10 more tests to do and it could go down to below Spark Trooper .