Disclaimer
This is my first attempt at brewing after a long break from Magic and first time posting a deck. Please give me your thoughts of how I can improve this deck. If you suggest cards to include, please tell me what you would take out to replace it with and why. I hope you like it. I look forward to any feedback.
Introduction
I know this is not a pure triabl deck, but 15 of the 22 creatures are minotaurs so I refer to it as my Minatuar Deck. I tried to get the most value out of the chosen cards as I can, and this deck has a lot of synergies. I will go through them and explain the reasons I chose them, and highlight how well they have performed in testing.
In-Depth Look
I built this deck around Neheb, the Worthy. You want to get minotaurs on the board, and once you get down to one card in hand, between Neheb and Hazoret the Fervent this deck really gets mean. So I wanted incorparate synergies for discarding and obviously more minotaurs!
Ruthless Sniper really over performs in this deck. In many games people don't want to waste their removal on him, and his ability to add -1/-1 counters of our opponents creatures with all the discard outlets we have is awesome. Metallic Mimic will be named a Minotaur 95% of the time, and if you have them in your hand, you will always play them before any other minotaurs. I think I had one game in testing where I named God to get 6 damage from Hazoret to end a game, but its really rare. Nice to have the option though!
The other minotaurs:Bloodrage Brawler - he is a great play on turn 3 with a Mimic for a 5/4 for 2 mana! If you have Fiery Temper in hand, you get to kill one of your opponents early creatures or just hit them for 3 to the face!
Ahn-Crop Crasher - this guy is another strong performer in the deck. His exert ability is really nice to nullify an opponent's blocker. In a long game, opponents really have to pay attention to how many blockers they leave up with this guy in play. The haste is also really nice. I had many games with a mimic on turn 2, and crasher on turn three - swinging in for 6 damage before my opponent even played a creature.
Neheb, the Worthy - this guy is a beast! He gives all our minotaurs first strike, and once you get down to 1 or 0 cards in hand they get +2/+0. If you had a mimic out early, once you get down to one card, you minotaurs are extremely hard to deal with. Swinging in with 3 or 4 Minotaurs with 5 to 7 power each usually means you win or at the very least, you will wipe out your opponents side of the board when they block and die to first strike damage. One thing to keep in mind though, Neheb make you and your opponent both discard. Just make sure you keep that in mind incase you had 1 card in hand that you really want to cast!
Pitiless Vizier - I chose this guy because with our discard synergies, his indestructible ability can be really handy, allowing him to survive board wipes like fumigate. With the mimic out and Neheb's abilities in play, Vizier can be a 7/3 first striker.
The rest of the creatures:Hazoret the Fervent - this God fits into the deck perfectly. He's got haste, indestructible, and gets you an outlet to discard and do damage to your opponent as you do it.
Archfiend of Ifnir - his ability to put -1/-1 counters on all of your opponent's creatures every time you discard is great. Plus he is a pretty heavy hitter with flying.
Rest of the SpellsFiery Temper
+
Lightning Axe
- listed these together because everyone loves the 5 and 3 damage wombo combo! Throw in the -1/-1 counter from Ruthless Sniper for icing on the cake. I had a game against Mardu Vehicles where my opponent had Heart of Kiran, Thalia, and Toolcraft in play and attacking. For only 3 mana, I was able to use Lightning Axe to kill Heart of Kiran, Fiery Temper discarded to kill Thalia, and Ruthless Sniper took out the toolcraft exemplar. So good!
Lightning Axe - is obviously your big removal spell. -1/-1 counters from Ruthless Sniper or Archfiend of Ifnir can bring even bigger creatures down to size, so you can kill them.
Fiery Temper - is always good to get value out of your discards.
Insult / Injury - this card is just brutal. If you have enough mana to cast both sides on the same turn it is almost always game over. If not, it performs great either way. Doubling your damage for a turn is hard to handle, and even if you just discard it, you still get good value from it cause you can still cast Injury later.
Key to the City - This card REALLY over performs in this deck. It was one of the last cards I added when revising the deck, and it is amazing. The additional card draw is great, but the ability to discard a card at instant speed really adds a powerful dynamic to this deck. You can discard from 2 to 1 cards in hand in the middle of combat to activate Neheb's abilities when needed. Activate it to make Vizier indestructible when needed, or to thrown down -1/-1 counters with Sniper or Archfiend on demand. And of course, make one of your huge minotaurs unblockable. Especially whwn you have double damage from casting Insult / Injury, it usually means game over.
So that is the deck. The lands are a mix of mountains, swamps and dual lands. I used 4 x Canyon Slough which gives us options for cycling. I also added Hanweir Battlements because being able to give our creatures haste in the late game is very helpful.
Sideboard
I am definitely interested in hearing suggestions or thoughts on sideboard options. I will go through these quick.
Lay Bare the Heart and Transgress the Mind are to get rid of cards early the opponent has that gives of problems in games, such as Prized Amalgam, counter spells, Sweltering Suns or whatever the case may be.
Magma Spray - great against zombies and Scrapheap Scrounger
Hazoret the Fervent - in case you need him out more reliably.
Glorybringer - in case you need more creatures/removal in the late game. Great against planeswalkers!
Final Reward - removal for things like Gods.
By Force - this is great against the artifact based decks. Killing Metalwork Colossus and all the big artifacts that were used to cast him in one swoop usually ends in rage quit! lol
Conclusion
Thanks for looking at my deck, and please let me know what you think of it. I am having a lot of fun with it. It seems to be pretty competitive so far, and not too expensive either! I think I will try this out at FNM next week! Will follow up, if I do.
