Instant (9)
Sorcery (4)
Enchantment (3)
Planeswalker (4)
Sideboard
Sorcery (9)
Planeswalker (4)
Step aside, Nightfury!
Hey guys!
So as some of you may either already know or have noticed, I really love BWR color combination (now officially called Mardu) in a midrange deck and I have been building that shard since INN-RTR standard to much success. One problem I've always had with the color combination is how painful it is to run since you have virtually no way of fixing the color like green does (with Sylvan Caryatid) and the color requires a lot of self-damage to keep up the tempo. However, with the release of fetch lands, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth as well as painlands plus clan lands, this makes it a lot less painful to run the shard.
Enough about my history. This is my first shot at a Khans standard deck. Naturally, I begin with the archetype I am brew best at: midrange.
A tempo-type deck that wins by casting spells on your opponent's turn while also casting your own threats on your own turn to force them to spend their turn trying to deal with them.
Let's go through the list!
Creatures
Stormbreath Dragon - A super star since its release, the dragon is more relevant now than ever! He has protection from white along with a 4/4 body which means he does not give a hoot about other relevant flyers in the format like Mantis Rider, Wingmate Roc, Prognostic Sphinx, and vampire tokens from Sorin, Solemn Visitor. They're either white or are too small to kill the dragon. He is also immune to Abzan Charm which is huge. Abzan has a really hard time dealing with the guy since they only have a couple outs against it. Some thought Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker's release would mean this guy will not see play. In contrary, the two run ridiculously well together!
Goblin Rabblemaster - Our centerpiece. An absolutely must-answer threat as he gets out of hand in as little as 1-2 turns while providing fodder for Butcher of the Horde to make an ideal turn-4 play by giving him haste.
Butcher of the Horde - The Mardu Demon makes a return to this list after much consideration. He works too well with Goblin Rabblemaster, Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and Elspeth, Sun's Champion not to run in our deck. The fact that he either kills any planeswalker in the format with one swing or gains you tons of life or puts your opponent on a fast clock makes him a powerhouse even by himself. 5/4 flyer for 5 with possible upside doesn't come much cheaper than this.
Wingmate Roc - I am now a believer. I have always considered running this creature in my Mardu deck but never got around to it because I didn't have copies of it. After much testing, however, I had to go out and get my hands on these birds. Raid is extremely easy to trigger with this deck thanks to abundance of tokens you can suicide into your opponent. This guy almost always forces a 2-for-1 trade and gains you a decent amount of life. I call them Maverick and Goose.
Seeker of the Way - Another card that got cut, then re-included, then cut again, then re-included again. His synergy with Hordeling Outburst is amazing and free incidental lifegain is huge in certain matchups.
Planeswalkers
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker - Essentially our Stormbreath Dragon #3-4 with the upside of being indestructible. His other abilities are also versatile, letting us deal with annoying things and his ultimate almost always guarantee you a win if you aren't already incredibly behind.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor - This guy works better the more creatures you have on the field. Thanks to Goblin Rabblemaster, that part is taken care of. If anything else, he usually gains you tons of life while adding a good amount of damage to the combat and also is able to produce his own attacker to pump. His ultimate is usually game-ending against a midrange deck.
Noncreatures
Lightning Strike - More cheap burn spells that gives us come amount of reach to finish our opponents off or to remove small creatures or to let our tokens trade up against larger creatures.
Crackling Doom - The best card in Mardu. Period. If you are playing Mardu, you want 4 of these in your 75. Nuts against midrange. Instantly wipes the board on a downticked Sorin, Solemn Visitor. Lets you not care about monstrous Fleecemane Lion or a Prognostic Sphinx.
Chained to the Rocks - My transition to RW-based splash black Mardu build allows me to run this monster of a removal. One mana removal that deals with almost any creatures in the format. Mountains are very easy to find thanks to fetch lands. Gains us tons of tempo.
Hordeling Outburst - Another value card that gains us tons of goblins to boost Goblin Rabblemaster's power on attack and also providing more fodder for Butcher of the Horde while at the same time triggers prowess on Seeker of the Way. A lot of decks can't deal with this card due to the fact that they often have to spend many cards to completely deal with this.
Sideboard
Sideboard is still under construction and the current version is designed to be able to deal with most decks, prior to any adjustments to match the meta.
Anger of the Gods - Comes in against aggro and Jeskai Tempo usually. Also great in green devotion matchups as they rely heavily on dorks and other creatures to turn on devotion mana.
End Hostilities - Comes in against monsters and midrange mostly.
Utter End - Our catch-all answer to whatever our mainboard removals has a hard time or needs help dealing with. Creature removal in a pinch. Everything-else-removal most of the time. Exile effect also very relevant as it denies one mana for delve and also denies reanimation. Also works well against Gods.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Another now-classic finisher. generates great card advantage and protects herself quite well while at the same time threatening lethal. Also acts as good emergency wipe against monsters deck. Comes in against Abzan Midrange, GRx Monsters, Gx Devotion, and Control.
Glare of Heresy - Another card that comes in mostly against Abzan decks to help us gain tempo by providing us cheap, reliable answer to their main threats like Siege Rhino, Wingmate Roc, and all but one of their planeswalkers (it being Liliana Vess). Also works well in Esper control matchups or the mirror especially if they rely on Banishing Light and Chained to the Rocks.
Read the Bones - This usually is reserved for control matchups but can also come in against Abzan if you anticipate a long grindy game (which you should most of the time). We need to keep up with card draws or we run out of gas while they dig for threats and answers.
Chandra, Pyromaster - Comes in against Monsters, control, and Abzan decks to help us keep up with cards. Essentially lets you draw two every turn while also dealing with small creatures and tokens. We don't really aim to use her ultimate in this list as we don't have a huge burn spell to copy.
Comments, criticism, and suggestions are always welcomed! I wouldn't be here without the help of you guys!
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Revision 16 See all
(9 years ago)
| -4 | Hero's Downfall | main |
| +4 | Hordeling Outburst | main |
| +1 | Mountain | main |
| -1 | Read the Bones | side |
| +3 | Seeker of the Way | main |
| -2 | Stormbreath Dragon | main |
| -1 | Swamp | main |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 9 years |
| Last updated | 9 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Standard legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 8 - 4 Mythic Rares 29 - 7 Rares 9 - 2 Uncommons 7 - 2 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.20 |
| Tokens | Bird 3/4 W, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Goblin 1/1 R, Soldier 1/1 W, Vampire 2/2 B |
| Folders | standard, Favourites, Tarkir: Red, Good decks, Mardu, I would play this, Decks, kahns, decks I like, Mardu deck ideas |
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