Deck of the Week: W/R Humans

Hopefully, this weekend was just a false start on the way to a new Standard.

I feel fairly confident in saying that it was; with Felidar Guardian not being banned on April 24, a lot of players naturally gravitated to Mardu Vehicles because of its good match-up against Copycats. Then, when Guardian was banned on April 26, it only left a couple days to come up with something new before the SCG Tour Open began on April 29.

This most likely explains the dominance of Mardu Vehicles at the Open: Five of the top 8, seven of the top 16, 10 of the top 24. More than 40 percent of the top 24 decks were simply last season’s best deck with a few new cards dropped in.

So we’ll chalk this up to circumstances and hope that the format opens up soon. But there were still some bright spots, including this week’s Deck of the Week. Zach Stern’s W/R Humans was the only non-Vehicles deck to make the top 4:

W/R Humans, by Zach Stern
4th place, SCG Tour Atlanta, 4/30/17

 

Zach is clearly subscribing to the time-tested plan of “When in doubt, get ‘em dead.” The deck already had cards such as Thalia’s Lieutenant, Thraben Inspector and Always Watching just waiting for a new home, and a number of new Humans from Amonkhet filled in the gaps nicely. Let’s break it down.

Creatures, Anthems and Removal

With a lack of good, cheap burn spells in the format, the old-school 20/20/20 RDW-style build isn’t going to work. But when the creatures are this good and the removal is lacking, turning dudes sideways is never a bad idea.

Thraben Inspector has been filling one-drop slots in various aggro decks since it was first printed, because a one-mana creature that can replace itself is a big plus, especially in a deck with a bunch of anthem effects. Expedition Envoy is a 2/1 for one, which is fine, then quickly gets to be a pretty big threat when followed up by anthem effects on turns 2 and 3. Town Gossipmonger fits nicely here because it is a Human when transformed, meaning it can come down as a 1/1, turn into a 2/2 on turn 2, transform into a 3/4 by tapping the two-drop creature, then be a 4/5 on turn 3 with the help of Always Watching. Oh, and it can pump itself, too, giving you something to do if you get flooded.

The one-drops are decent on their own, but start getting silly when you look at how many anthem effects are in the deck. Thalia’s Lieutenant is flat-out busted if it survives for a turn or two, and if you have a Lieutenant and a Metallic Mimic in play, then I hope you have plenty of dice.

Honored Crop-Captain isn’t as good as Mimic or Lieutenant at pumping things, because its bonus only applies to attacking creatures. But it’s still a 3/2 for two that gives other attacking creatures a bonus, so that’s nothing to complain about. It also has a fun little interaction with Hanweir Garrison, because if you stack the triggers correctly, Hanweir Garrison puts two 2/1 creatures into play and attacking instead of 1/1s.

Glory-Bound Initiate is the final creature, and it’s a doozy. First, it’s a 3/1 for two, which is good. But the exert mechanic turns it into a 4/4 with lifelink, and here’s the fun part: If Always Watching is in play, then you have a 4/2 Glory-Bound Initiate with vigilance that you can exert to turn into a 5/5 lifelinker without tapping it. That seems entirely reasonable.

Always Watching has been mentioned a couple of times, and it’s still just a really good card. Power/toughness bonuses good. Power/toughness bonuses plus vigilance very good.

The only other non-land card in the main deck is four copies of Declaration in Stone. While it may not hit vehicles, it sure does clean up other creatures nicely. Giving your opponent a clue is a downside, but you can’t draw cards if you’re dead.

Mana

Four copies of Inspiring Vantage is a must in a W/R aggressive deck. Aether Hub serves as another untapped dual land, although without any other energy generators, it can’t be counted on to always be available as a dual. Basics always work well in aggro decks because they never come in tapped, which is even more of a plus in a format that still has Thalia, Heretic Cathar in it. A copy of Hanweir Battlements rounds out the mana; its haste-granting ability helps fuel big attacks out of nowhere and if everything dies and you’re flooding out, it can meld with Hanweir Garrison to turn into a 7/4 (8/5 with Always Watching) trampler with haste that adds six more power to the board when it attacks. Not bad.

Sideboard

What’s interesting about this format is how many aggro decks end up siding into midrange decks, and this one certainly fits into that plan.

Glorybringer and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar are probably the most aggressive options available at their mana costs, and they both dodge sweepers. Selfless Spirit helps add more flying threats, as well as being another way to invalidate damage-based removal.

Running four Glorybringer and four Gideon in a 22-land deck is just silly, so there is a playset of Needle Spires in the board. Not only does that allow you to increase your land count, but Spires — like most creaturelands — is great in wars of attrition.

Maybe the format really is going to be nothing but Vehicles mirrors, but I doubt that will be the case as things settle out. One thing’s for sure, though: Aggro is alive and well, and W/R Humans might just be the fastest way to count to 20 in the new Standard.

Deck of the Week is a breakdown of an interesting deck from the preceding week in Magic. Email deck suggestions to claughman@gmail.com.

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Casey Laughman