Syr Konrad, the Grim
was another obvious build-around from ELD, but like many others, it felt like it was lacking some key tools to really make it shine. Add to that an oppressive, linear meta, and Pioneer felt like the right home for a deck built around this card.
Moving formats gave us access to the critical
Tormod's Crypt
which will allow us a combo-kill on our opponent, assuming we have enough in the yard to finish off their life total. Since it comes at 0 mana, and without concern for summoning sickness, we can theoretically combo as early as turn 4 or 5.
Gilded Goose
will help us fix our mana, and hopefully get our combo out a turn early.
Stitcher's Supplier
may be the single best self-mill card ever printed, and was sorely missed in building the Standard version of this deck. Add to that
Glowspore Shaman
, who will also fix a low-land opening hand, and
Gorging Vulture
and we have a nice clean curve of self-milling creatures.
We can shore up our defenses with the versatile 1-2 combo of
Thoughtseize
and
Assassin's Trophy
.
Murderous Rider
may be some of the best removal around, but it’s also a creature target for Syr Konrad.
My favorite bit of tech in this deck is
Tamiyo, Collector of Tales
who serves a variety of purposes. Her static helps protect us from hand attack, her Plus digs for our combo pieces or needed defensive removal all while filling up our yard with targets, and her minus makes sure that any piece we lose we can recover easily. She can even dig a land out of the yard if we need it.
The paranoid in me keeps a copy of
Bond of Revival
in the main in case our opponent cottons on to our plan and target Konrad with all their removal.
