R/W "Blood Mist" Aggro deck!

Good afternoon, Steemit! I’m settled in at @caffetto. Hottest than it’s been, which is making me long for autumn. Those 60º days reminded me why fall is my favorite season. @caffetto rotates in a bunch of seasonal favorites. The pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake, of course, but also kombucha specialities like Tapaché and Fireside […which is almost an apple cider base]. SO good!

@tarotbyfergus just rolled through @caffetto one last time before his big trip down south. It was the last Magic: The Gathering games we’ll be playing for a while because I’ll be in LA by the time he’s back in the Twin Cities. They’ll resume the beginning of September, but it’s been a drastic back and forth these last fews. If you have a chance, read his previous post “Planeswalker deck of doom! aka The Bane of @kommienezuspadt". He’s being an asshole, but it really did get to that point.

I will be doing an in depth teardown of the deck I built “…in response to” […something @tarotbyfergus says every time I destroy his now pacified “planeswalkers of doom” before their killed with Ruinous Path or Liliana’s Defeat] his Bane of @kommienezuspadt deck, but for today, I wanted to deconstruct the deck I’m currently having the most fun playing. The “Blood Mist” deck! R/W aggro w/ vehicles!

Most of the decks I build are meticulous designed. I spend days and days thinking about them before I even start constructing them. I think of devastating combos and ways to stretch the limitations of Standard as far as they go before breaking […and sometimes even breaking]. The deck I’m sharing today, though, isn’t one of those builds. I showed up at @caffetto and put a few things together on instinct; good instincts, as it turns out.

Since it’s initial build, there have been a few medications. A couple of creatures didn’t make the cut on account of not being big enough to crew the Fleetwheel Cruiser, but more or less, this thing is fast, effective and above all, consistent. White helps slow down opponents. The cornerstone of white in this deck is Thalia Lieutenant and Authority of the Consuls. Creatures and thanks to Thalia, non-basic lands, enter the battlefield tapped. This keeps your opponent a turn behind and open to punishment from the red aspect of the deck.

Red hits hard and fast, with the Fleetwheel Cruiser, Snarethopter and Glorybringer. All hastey problems that attack as soon as they enter the battlefield. Beyond those core attackers, the other creatures serve the purpose of filling out the battlefield early and crewing the Fleetwheel after it’s initial ride. They include Depala, Pilot Exemplar, Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, Odirc, Lunarch Marshal and Honored Crop-Captain, […who gives all attaching creatures a +1/+0 which is a big deal and I’ll explain why in a minute].

Now for the spells, and the one that makes this deck so brutal is an enchantment. Blood Mist. It comes out on turn four. “At the beginning of combat on your turn, target creature you control gains double strike until end of turn.”. Apply that to the Fleetwheel Cruiser and you’re looking at 10 trample attacks on turn five. Honored Crop-Captain tacks on a +1 on attack, which could have you with a 12 trample artifact creature. Start Your Engines brings vehicles to life and gives them a +2. Other removal spells in the deck are Declaration in Stone […handy for zombies and token decks], Fumigate, Immolating Glare and four Galvanic Bombardments.

Three planeswalkers fill the deck out and that’s Gideon of the Trials, Nahiri, the Harbinger and Chandra, Torch of Defiance. Here’s a nasty combination I discovered that can change nearly any situation. Authority of the Consuls or Thalia bring opponents in tapped […let’s say @tarotbyfergus’ Glorybringer, because this actually happened]. If you have Chandra in your hand or on the battlefield, her +1 adds 2 red mana to your mana pool. If you’re past turn five, it’s likely you can bump her loyalty counter up for the mana, and cast Nahiri. Nahiri’s -2 is “Exile target enchantment, tapped artifact, or tapped creature”. Depending on what you have to block, it’s risky to drop Narihi down to a 2 right away, but there are some awful enchantments in Standard, like Torment of Scarabs. Also, exiling something big, mean and fast last Glorybringer is almost always worth it.

Alright. Let’s look at the deck list.

Lands

12 x Mountains

4 x Stone Quarry

4 x Plains

Creatures

2 x Depala, Pilot Exemplar

2 x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider

2 Honored Crop-Captain

2 x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

2 x Snare Thopter

2 x Ordic, Lunch Marshal

Planeswalkers

1 x Gideon of the Trials

1 x Nahiri, the Harbinger

1 x Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Spells

4 x Fleetwheel Cruiser

4 x Galvanic Bombardment

2 x Immolating Glare

2 x Declaration in Stone

2 x Fumigate

2 x Collective Effort

2 x Kari Zev’s Expertise

2 x Blood Mist

2 x Authority of the Consuls

3 x Start Your Engines

Just one of many R/W aggro deck variations out there, but this has performed well for me. It’s consistent, which is the hardest thing to achieve in deck building. It’s also really fun to play. It has trouble with @tarotbyfergus’ Planeswalker deck of Doom, but otherwise, it rolls through most opponents with a near guaranteed best out of 3 or 5 series. If your opening hand is holding Authority of the Consuls, Blood Mist and a Fleetwheel Cruiser, it’s usually all over by the crying.

Thanks for reading this nerd fest. These MTG blogs just make me happy to write. I’m sure they don’t appeal to the Steemit masses, but to those MTG nerds on the site, these are like sneaking in to the cookie jar. I post daily. For more nerd posts, photography, illustration and thoughts on life, follow me here at @kommienezuspadt!