I'd like to begin by discussing the commander: Thantis, the Warweaver. When this card was discovered, it received a lot of hate. In fact, it still does. True, it did not fit the Windgrace deck, but no matter, this card is pretty cool. As soon as I laid eyes on this beauty, I wanted to build a deck around it. In practice, Thantis is incredibly powerful and immediately receives a ton of hate due to that unadulterated power. My only real criticism with the card is its 6 CMC. Thantis is expensive to cast, and given the hate, can become prohibitively expensive quickly. HOWEVER, Thantis synergizes with itself amazingly well. And the chaos it creates is delectable.
This deck is very much under construction right now. Once I got the card, I built a deck with the cards I had on hand. So forgive the rough edges. Even so, Thantis has proven to be a force, and I only hope to improve the deck from here! If anyone has any suggestions, please do not hesitate to share! I haven't done much research for the deck yet.
Since Thantis is so expensive, my first thought was getting Thantis out as quickly as possible. That included a card I've had for a long time, Centaur Omenreader, which I've always wanted to use, but could never find a good enough use for. It reduces creature spells by 2 when it is tapped. Since Thantis forces ALWAYS ATTACKING, why not benefit from swinging? Additionally, Hardened Berserker reduces the next spell cast by 1 when it attacks. Same premise: swing and gain a reduction. Ideally, no one else has prepared themselves for ALWAYS ATTACKING. Since these are only two cards, I opted for something more solid: ramp, two ways. Firstly, traditional ramp with spells. Recross the Paths is amazing and should probably be a green staple. Harvest Season and Growth Spasm more fully synergize with the rest of the deck. Swinging and tokens, respectively. Ramp version 2.0 is through creatures. This might mean something like Civic Wayfinder that finds a land when it ETBs, but more specifically this deals with Cryptolith Rite, Druids' Respository, Treasure tokens (Pitiless Plunderer or King Macar) and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Growing Rites of Itlimoc. Cryptolith Rite in congruence with the wide strategy means gobs of mana. Druids' Repository in congruence with the ALWAYS ATTACKING means gobs of mana. Nykthos and Growing Rites of Itlimoc in congruence with a big field means gobs of mana.
Phase II is token generation. A number of cards are one-offs, like Giantbaiting or Broodmate Dragon; however, even more are repeated creators of lovely, bloodthirsty minions. Dragonbrood Mother, Avenger of Zendikar, Mycoloth, Tendershoot Dryad, and Creakwood Liege are the most notable. These critters produce a lot of tokens and can also produce powerful tokens. Pitiless Plunderer deserves an honorable mention due to the sheer volume of Treasure tokens possible to produce with this deck! Another honorable mention is Goblin Spymaster. This card allows you to initiate ALWAYS ATTACKING before you get Thantis on the field. Just don't kill that goblin token :). Underpinning these many generators is Parallel Lives and Second Harvest. It goes without saying that a Doubling Season would be amazing in this deck...One day. I've also considered Primal Vigor, but that card has the potential to be incredibly dangerous.
Speaking of ALWAYS ATTACKING, Thantis and Goblin Spymaster, as previously mentioned, but also Warmonger Hellkite and Hellraiser Goblin (this is in the deck currently for haste, but also a tiny bit of flavor. It is likely to be removed as the deck becomes better focused). To support the ALWAYS ATTACKING mentality (and often, reality) Throne of the God-Pharoah and Beastmaster Ascension both offer win conditions for the deck. And as previously noted, Druids' Repository produces mana from your attacks.
Since this deck cries out to be aggressive, I tied that brutal nature to the deck's utility package. Cards such as Cathartic Reunion and Tormenting Voice throw away currently unnecessary cards for the hopes of something better. Outpost Siege and Experimental Frenzy utilize the top of the deck for card advantage. Sidisi, Undead Vizier and Ghoulcaller Gisa both exist to ditch outdated creatures for something more hip and exciting. I think I'd like to expand this category in the future. Etali, Primal Storm could be hilarious in this deck. Bonesplinter or some of the sac for search/card draw may also be good. This area offers a lot of growth for the deck.
Since the deck forces everyone to swing always, I wanted to be prepared for this. If I did not want to lose a creature, Cryptolith Rite, Holdout Settlement, and Rishkar each offer ways to allow my creatures to tap before combat. Some creatures, like King Macar or Centaur Omenreader, benefit from always being tapped. I also wanted to untap more than everyone else, so when they swing into me, I have blockers. This means Seedborn Muse and Curse of Bounty. I also included Curse of Disturbance. I think both curses could offer some politicking for Thantis.
Currently, the biggest weakness of the deck is that Thantis is expensive and that Thantis is unprotected. I've mostly accounted for the first issue. As for the second, my first thought was enchantments, in particular, some umbras. These will protect Thantis (or other notables) pretty well, and can also have some excellent perks. Another thought is the usual equipments. A lesser weakness is the lack of trample. Thantis becomes large quickly but lacks trample, and so this can become a problem. I was hoping the ALWAYS ATTACKING would largely make this a negligible problem, and to an extent, it does. Another lesser weakness is the low quantity of ALWAYS ATTACKING initiators. This I have researched a bit, and there are a number of interesting options. This issue, I think, will serve the deck the most effectively as it grows.
Thanks for reading my book! Any suggestions you might have are very welcome! I'll update this as I fiddle with the deck. As with my other decks, one day, some time in the distant future, I will remember to go through and make my descriptions nice and fancy with card names linked in and all that jazz.
