Since Born of the Gods was released, I've received a few requests to do an update on the Standard Minotaur tribal deck I wrote about in January. This historically scarce tribe seems to have managed to acquire a surprising number of fans, and with a reasonable amount of support in the block so far, a tribal Minotaur deck is finally possible, and perhaps even good enough to compete in Standard. Since Minotaurs haven't exactly made a big splash in the format, you can give it a try while keeping your budget trim.

B/R Minotaurs — Standard | Mike Cannon

• Creatures (32)
• 4 Deathbellow Raider
• 4 Fanatic of Mogis
• 4 Felhide Brawler
• 4 Kragma Butcher
• 4 Kragma Warcaller
• 4 Minotaur Skullcleaver
• 4 Rageblood Shaman
• 4 Ragemonger

• Spells (4)
• 4 Ultimate Price

• Lands (24)
• 12 Mountain
• 8 Swamp
• 4 Temple of Malice

Buy This Deck

The Tribal Leaders

Ragemonger normally reduces the cost of all your creatures by 1. It’s not bad, but not particularly impressive either. However, it really shines with Kragma Warcaller, making your best and most expensive card cost only 3 mana. After the Warcaller is in play, Ragemonger can more easily allow you to cast multiple creatures in one turn, putting a huge amount of damage on the battlefield all at once. I initially considered playing fewer than four copies of Ragemonger due to the fact that only one creature in the deck can have its cost reduced further. However, after testing, I realized that a second Ragemonger is also just a 1-mana 2/3, which is pretty sweet on its own.

Rageblood Shaman gives you some redundancy in your tribal lords, making sure your Minotaurs are bigger than what they say on the card. It also gives trample, which works particularly well with Minotaur Skullcleaver and Kragma Warcaller.

The Others

The 3-mana slot is crowded in this deck, but if your 3-drop is Ragemonger, you can cast two others next turn, and Rageblood Shaman is great at any point in the game. The next Minotaur I've included is Kragma Butcher. Although a 2/3 is not at all what you want for 3 mana, it turns into a 4/3 after the first attack, which is actually fairly impressive.

Minotaur Skullcleaver is essentially the opposite, giving you 4 power immediately, but then shrinking down to 2 afterward. It does only have 2 toughness, making it easier to trade with, but that kind of hasty damage can often take your opponent by surprise.

At 4 mana, I chose Fanatic of Mogis. Although there are a lot of options for this slot, I think this is going to do the best work for this deck. I briefly tried out Felhide Spiritbinder instead, but Fanatic of Mogis gives you an immediate impact, even if it encounters blockers or a removal spell. That fourth power is also important with creatures such as Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Stormbreath Dragon, and Courser of Kruphix all prepared to stand in the way.

Ultimate Price gives you a way to deal with troublesome creatures such as Master of Waves, Desecration Demon, and Polukranos, World Eater. Although Kragma Warcaller makes taking down creatures with 4 toughness easy, anything larger can be a major roadblock, and Ultimate Price is great at clearing those roadblocks away.

Playtesting

Jund Monsters – Game 1

He paid 2 life to play Blood Crypt untapped and then cast Sylvan Caryatid. I played a Swamp and ended my turn.

He paid another 2 life for Stomping Ground, cast Polukranos, World Eater, and passed. I killed it with Ultimate Price during his end step and then untapped and cast Ragemonger, ending my turn.

My opponent played a Temple of Abandon, scrying something to the bottom. He then cast Domri Rade and used his +1, failing to find a creature. He passed the turn. I cast Kragma Warcaller and sent both creatures at Domri to ensure the kill.

My opponent cast another Domri Rade, finding Polukranos, and then killed Kragma Warcaller with Dreadbore and passed the turn. I cast Minotaur Skullcleaver and used it to kill Domri, hitting my opponent for 2 with Ragemonger. I cast a second Ragemonger as well as a Felhide Brawler and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Polukranos and passed back. I cast two copies of Rageblood Shaman and attacked with everything. Polukranos took out a Ragemonger, and my opponent dropped to 2 life. I ended my turn.

My opponent drew his card and conceded.

Game 2

He paid 2 life for Overgrown Tomb and cast Domri Rade, using his +1 to no avail. I played a Swamp and passed the turn.

My opponent used Domri's +1 again, failing to find anything, and he then paid 2 more life for Stomping Ground and cast Reaper of the Wilds. He ended his turn. I cast Rageblood Shaman and passed back.

Temple of Abandon scryed a card to the bottom, and Domri's +1 failed again. My opponent attacked for 4 with the Reaper, cast Dreadbore on my Shaman, and passed the turn. I cast Minotaur Skullcleaver and attacked Domri. My opponent blocked with Elvish Mystic, and I passed the turn.

Domri went up to 7, finding Scavenging Ooze, and Reaper of the Wilds hit me for 4. He cast Xenagos, the Reveler and made a Satyr token before ending his turn. I cast Kragma Warcaller and attacked Domri Rade with both creatures. The Satyr traded with my Skullcleaver, and Domri took 4.

My opponent used Domri's -2 to make Reaper of the Wilds fight Kragma Warcaller, and he attacked for 4. He cast Polukranos, World Eater, made another Satyr, and passed the turn. I drew my card and conceded.

Game 3

I cast Felhide Brawler and passed back. My opponent simply played a tapped Overgrown Tomb.

I attacked for 2, and I then cast Ragemonger and ended my turn. My opponent cast Courser of Kruphix and passed.

I cast Rageblood Shaman and attacked for 6. The Courser blocked one creature, and my opponent dropped to 15. I cast another Felhide Brawler and passed the turn. My opponent paid 2 life for a Stomping Ground, gaining 1 back, and he then cast Polukranos, World Eater. He ended his turn.

I killed Polukranos with Ultimate Price and cast Fanatic of Mogis, dealing 4 damage to my opponent. I attacked with everything, and the Courser soaked up 3 damage, leaving my opponent at 2. He drew his card and conceded.

Wrap-Up

This deck can put a ridiculous number of threats on the board, especially when Ragemonger is involved. With Kragma Warcaller and Rageblood Shaman to make those threats even more lethal, you can often power through your opponent's defenses even if his creatures are larger than yours.

It feels odd to call a deck that often casts nothing until turn three an aggro deck, but while playing it, it really feels like an aggro deck with the amount of damage you can put out around turn five. Unlike Monsters decks, this one spreads your damage out over a number of creatures, making the question of who has the biggest guy less important than the question of whether your opponent has enough blockers to live. If you're looking for a different kind of aggressive deck, or if you just like Minotaurs, give this a try at your next Friday Night Magic.