Amonkhet Minotaurs

Modern Argy

SCORE: 175 | 214 COMMENTS | 39233 VIEWS | IN 83 FOLDERS


Zaueski says... #1

Lol, fair enough. Guess you're right our playstyles are probably just too different for me to test this deck as accurately as you can. No draw spells seems so bad from my perspective but I can see why its needed to be that way

April 22, 2017 1:10 p.m.

Hardhitta7 says... #2

The image in my head of Flinging a Minotaur at Saheeli is amazing. Lol

Just imagine Saheeli getting crushed by 1000 pounds of pure angus beef.

April 22, 2017 3:28 p.m.

Argy says... #3

Saheeli would end up with hamburger for brains.

In more ways than one.

April 22, 2017 11:54 p.m.

idiotbane says... #4

One little thing about Neheb, the Worthy. When you get his +2/0 for minotaurs, it applies to himself as well. I would suggest Hazoret the Fervent in place of Zulaport Cutthroat. He's easy to turn on with your preexisting strategy and hastes in for a ton of damage. Though, he does contend for the 4th CMC slot with Ondu Champion, so likely only a 2x. Also, while a nitpick, why no 4th bloodrage brawler? Discarding is just about always great for you and a 4/3 is both amazing on turn 2 and a great target for Fling.

April 25, 2017 3:02 p.m.

Argy says... #5

idiotbane I've now played this deck over 200 times against a variety of decks on Tappedout, decks that are dominating the MTGO meta, and against real life Opponents.

What on earth made you think that I don't realise that Neheb also gets +2/0 when I have one or less cards in hand?

It's central to my strategy.

Hazoret the Fervent has been tested and is a firm no. It's not an auto-include in every deck. It can be chump blocked all day, and Declaration in Stone screws it right up.

Zulaport Cutthroat has gotten this deck home more times than I can count.

Activating Rally then hitting with Minotaurs that all have +2/0 with TRAMPLE, then Flinging the biggest one at your Opponent? A comprehensive defeat.

You can have Minotaurs as big as you like with First Strike but, if you can't get Trample damage through, it can cost you the game.

As good as Bloodrage Brawler is, four of them is too many. You don't want to have to two for one yourself too often in the early game.

I'm interested, did you play test this deck before commenting? Did you read the archived Comments?

It feels like you didn't.

April 27, 2017 1:18 p.m.

Zaueski says... #6

Lmao "Finer points" indeed xD Seems like Hazoret is your version of (Insert whiny voice here)"Why dont you run Shadow??"

On a serious note... Has Oblivion Strike been holding up in testing? I've been looking for a good answer to the gods and gideon beyond Grasp of Darkness...

April 27, 2017 1:26 p.m.

Argy says... #7

Zaueski I was a bit skeptical about Oblivion Strike but it's been so good that I've not only been Siding it in against Gods, but just any time I want this to play more as Control.

It curves nicely in this deck, though.

Here is the Control curve:

  1. Magma Spray
  2. Cut / Ribbons
  3. Often a second Magma Spray or Cut / Ribbons
  4. Oblivion Strike

It doesn't hit Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, unfortunately.

It shuts those Gods down very effectively. Particularly Hazoret, who comes out at the 4 CMC drop. Often the Gods can't hit or block right away, so you have time to shut then down.

April 27, 2017 1:43 p.m.

Zaueski says... #8

Well it hits Gideons when he's animated at least. But yeah, it doesn't hit him when he's just pooping tokens

April 27, 2017 2:15 p.m.

Argy says... #9

Nah Zaueski it never gets him.

It's a Sorcery.

Mind you, Grasp of Darkness won't permanently take care of him, either.

Final Reward or, in the right deck, Titan's Presence are the best options in .

April 27, 2017 2:27 p.m.

Hardhitta7 says... #10

I just noticed the categories you made, Pasture , etc. I like it, I like it a lot.

April 27, 2017 2:30 p.m.

Zaueski says... #11

Oh, dang. Completely missed it being a sorcery...

April 27, 2017 2:39 p.m.

Argy says... #12

hardhitta71194 I like to do custom categories for decks I'm proud of.

I was still mucking around with these when you posted.

All finished now.

Thanks for the encouragement.

April 27, 2017 2:50 p.m.

Hardhitta7 says... #13

Lmao The Lonesome Cowboy!

I was thinking the sideboard could be "The Stable" but that may confuse people. Lol

April 27, 2017 4:04 p.m.

idiotbane says... #14

Look, I put a post on your deck because I like it and because there are a couple changes I think would make it stronger. I should not be expected to playtest your deck and read through a mile of archived comments to give you my input. That stuff is the job of the creator of the deck, not a peanut-gallery deckbuilder who wants only to see interesting decks like this succeed.

April 27, 2017 6:46 p.m.

Zaueski says... #15

@idiotbane: Which is why Argeaux provided a convenient list of cards that were already considered and rejected in the description. Which is there for the "peanut-gallery deckbuilders" to read and understand the deck. Your post acted like Argeaux didn't understand the deck and was met with the appropriate response. When a deck is popular on here it gets a lot of repetitive comments, speaking from experience they get a bit annoying. It's very easy to see a new comment like yours and just think "Great, another person who doesn't understand"

P.S.: Pro-tip, test the decks on here. It'll make you a better player and let you give better advice. If you're fine staying casual then do so, but you only get better by widening your horizons.

April 27, 2017 6:59 p.m.

idiotbane says... #16

I did in fact see the list of considered and rejected cards. It just so happens that I disagreed with a card or two and put up my opinions to be considered. If speaking one's opinion for something that has been dismissed is a crime, then we all deserve lockup.

As for your referring to how I "acted like Argeaux didn't understand the deck", I assume you are talking about where I mentioned Neheb, the Worthy's third ability. Despite the owner's knowledge and experience behind the cards, I had noticed at a point in the description that Argeaux stated OTHER minotaurs you control instead of all minotaurs you control. It was unclear as to whether Argeaux had simply typed it in wrong or he/she misread the ability and wasn't getting full use of their card. Hoping to play a role in helping out a fellow Magic player, I made it a point that Neheb does include himself. I notice now that the description correctly represents Neheb's third ability and I like to think I helped to clear that up.

P.S.: Pro-tip, don't assume someone is an idiot just because they disagree with your assessment or don't have the time to run three matches with every jank deck they bump into.

April 27, 2017 10:58 p.m.

Hardhitta7 says... #17

Jank deck? =O

April 27, 2017 11:08 p.m.

idiotbane says... #18

Now, more on point, I still think that Bloodrage Brawler deserves a 4x in this deck. If anything, that's a card you would love to have six of. Getting on-board with a 4/3 on turn 2 is massively impactful. Compared to Ondu Champion, where you're paying double the mana for the same stats, there just isn't much of a competition. Now compare the card to Zulaport Cutthroat, a 1/1 for 2. I thought you were trying to actually kill people, not play aristocrats. This is compounded by how awesome he is on curve with Neheb, the Worthy. A creature that is ahead of the board, brings you closer to Neheb's best ability, and curves right into him? Please, give me more. This isn't to mention the fact that you don't really have enough Minotaurs in the deck as it is, which is the real problem with them as a tribe in Standard: there just aren't enough playable tribesmen.

As for Hazoret the Fervent, the comparison is really to Ondu Champion which I can tell is a card you fully support in this list. They both occupy the same mana slot and fill the same role: that of a finisher. The difference between the two is that, while Hazoret isn't actually a minotaur (noting of course that you only really have one minotaur synergy), he operates independently of other spells in your deck. For Ondu Champion to be good on turn 4, you must already be ahead on board and be willing to attack in. Hazoret the Fervent asks merely that you are heckbent, something the deck wants to do already. He then rumbles for a massive five damage the turn he is played. Saying that he dies to a sorcery speed removal spell that exiles any target creature is the classic "...but it dies to removal" argument which simply makes little sense when you look at how durable Indestructible makes this beater against the rest of your deck, which basically folds to removal because of the fact that these other cards need synergy to be very good at all.

April 27, 2017 11:20 p.m.

Argy says... #19

You haven't playtested this deck.

Until you do you won't understand how well it works.


The synergy between Neheb, the Worthy and Ondu Champion means that you CAN just fully attack into your Opponent while getting damage through.

You are unlikely to lose any of your Cows as they all have First Strike. The extra +2/0 means they have enough damage to Trample over the top. Plus you can make the biggest Opponent Creature not block by Exerting Ahn-Crop Crasher.

However, you need to be able to trigger Rally to do that. You have 11 ways to do that with the addition of Zulaport Cutthroat. Without him you have 8 ways, which is not nearly consistent enough.


It's very bad form to keep suggesting the same cards to someone who has taken the time to explain to you why they don't work as well as you think they will.

You don't know my local meta, where every deck packs Declaration in Stone.


You don't build a strong Tribal deck by just jamming all the good members of the Tribe in there. You need to have other Creatures and Non-Creature cards that support them.

I have 21 Cows in this deck (Metallic Mimic also counts), 3 Creatures that aren't Cows, and 13 Non-Creature spells.

So, more than a third of my deck is comprised of the Tribe.

That is a healthy proportion.


You were nitpicking about the wording in my description. You could have just said something like, "by the way, in your description, etc." rather than the way you did it, which assumed that I didn't know. In my "How to Play" section it was quite clear that I understood that Neheb, the Worthy also gives himself +2/0 when the criteria are met.


You telling me to consider Hazoret the Fervent, when I have made it clear that it is still Under Consideration, is redundant.


hardhitta71194, Zaueski, and I have a lot of experience with Commenting on other people's decks and responding to Comments on ours.

We all realise how frustrating it is for people to keep suggesting the same card repeatedly when it is already being considered, or has been assessed as not working well in the current build.

I have now spent a lot of time replying to your Comments. Time that could be better spent elsewhere.

If you keep posting the same suggestions I am now just going to delete them as ain't nobody got time for that.

April 28, 2017 3:47 a.m.

clayperce says... #20

Argeaux,
I started playtesting (the earlier version of) the deck on MTGO. I don't have many reps in yet, and the meta is still extremely fluid, so it may be a while before I have any meaningful data. One thing worth mentioning though: I've started running 3x By Force in Sideboard.

April 28, 2017 11:18 a.m.

Argy says... #21

What's that due to, clayperce?

Are people still running Artifact heavy decks? Are they still just playing #1 Mardu Vehicles?

April 28, 2017 12:04 p.m.

clayperce says... #22

Argeaux,
For pure Artifacts, it appears UR Tower and 4c Marvel are still real decks. I've also seen Key to the City in BR Discard and RG Bigstuff decks. I haven't seen Heart of Kiran at all, which seems bizarre.

There are lots of ways to deal with Artifact Creatures of course, but Walking Ballista is still alive and well (they just drop the counters in response of course ... but at least they're doing it on your schedule rather than theirs). Some folks are obviously trying to get Saheeli Rai to work too, which means her Artifacts may still be with us for a while (though obviously not so many of them!). And though I haven't faced it, UR Control still has Torrential Gearhulk.

None of those individually are probably worth the slideboard slots, but all together it feels like they are.

Your meta and mileage, of course, may vary :-)

April 28, 2017 2:52 p.m.

Argy says... #23

clayperce

I've played against Dynavolt Tower with my Vehicles and it really doesn't bother me that much. I'm faster than it. I can also grab it with the newly inserted Lay Bare the Heart.

Aetherworks Marvel I'm not too worried about, either. Oblivion Strike is there to deal with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and I have a bunch of other spells like Cut / Ribbons and Unlicensed Disintegration to mop up any other Creatures.

Can't say I've ever been that concerned with Walking Ballista. As with Hangarback Walker I just put pressure on and they have to block with it, or I just kill it before it gets too large. It hits me for a bit ... and I hit them for a lot more. Fling, Cut / Ribbons or Unlicensed Disintegration should take care of it.

I changed my Sideboard in response to UR Control by OAFMCNAMARA. That thing is hateful. Specific Artifact destruction is not the way to go with that, I feel. Better to have a range of hand disruption and Creature removal spells so that you can hit Torrential Gearhulk, Wandering Fumarole, or one of their annoying removal spells.

You really should practice against that deck. If people get wind of it, then that is all they will play at FNM. Seriously, Wizards has once again printed a card - Essence Scatter - that has made an archetype unstoppable, with no good answer for it - Duress.

April 28, 2017 3:11 p.m. Edited.

Argy says... #24

Oh, one other thing.

Ahn-Crop Crasher really helps to take care of low cost Planeswalkers like Saheeli Rai.

If they play her early, you just stop their biggest Creature from blocking and BOOM, she dead.

If they play her late then they probably aren't getting much value from her, and things are all over by then anyway.

April 28, 2017 3:18 p.m.

Zaueski says... #25

Damn, you weren't kidding Argeaux... that control deck is brutal. My deck managed to eke out the win but that was so close. The deck was one mana short of countering my Chandra and even then I got taken down to 1 life... That will definitely be an interesting matchup for the upcoming season... Game one took almost an hour :O

April 28, 2017 4:10 p.m.

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