Powerful uncommons are often key to the construction of budget decks, and Magic 2013 gives us the most powerful uncommon we've had in a long time in the form of Rancor. Green has also recently received two other powerful uncommons that happen to work rather well with Rancor: Strangleroot Geist and Wolfir Avenger. Although many decks in Standard have been using similar strategies, another uncommon might give us an advantage: Nearheath Pilgrim. When paired with one of the previous creatures, especially one wearing a Rancor, it can gain you a massive amount of life and allow you to race any opponent rather than be forced into playing it safe. Here's the deck I put together to take advantage of these cards:

"Wolfir Aggro"

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Wolfir Silverheart
• 4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 4 Borderland Ranger
• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Nearheath Pilgrim
• 4 Strangleroot Geist
• 4 Wolfir Avenger
• 3 Thrun, the Last Troll

• Spells (8)
• 4 Oblivion Ring
• 4 Rancor

• Lands (23)
• 11 Forest
• 6 Plains
• 2 Gavony Township
• 4 Sunpetal Grove

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Naturalize
• 2 Crushing Vines
• 4 Dismember
• 3 Celestial Purge
• 4 Knight of Glory

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

Strangleroot Geist has been the premier green 2-drop throughout its time in Standard so far. Not only is it a very fast, aggressive creature, it has the ability to provide you with some card advantage through undying, often pushing through a few points of damage before trading off with two of your opponent's creatures.

Nearheath Pilgrim pairs with some of the other, larger creatures in the deck to help you win any race. It can also attack for a bit of damage on its own if your opponent's defenses are lacking. Even when you don't draw any larger threats, you can often pair it up with a succession of Rancored mana dorks to keep the damage flowing.

Wolfir Avenger has dropped off the map somewhat as of late, but it's still a very powerful creature for 3 mana, especially with Rancor around to make it big enough to take down larger creatures such as Restoration Angel. The ability to regenerate it is quite relevant with so many decks playing Bonfire of the Damned, and it also serves to make combat far less risky. Flash allows you to swallow up attacking creatures as well as play around counterspells and sorcery-speed removal. Just having this creature in your deck can force your opponent to play more conservatively when you have 3 mana available.

Thrun, the Last Troll is large enough to take down creatures such as Restoration Angel and Hero of Bladehold, and it is also immune to most removal spells. With a Rancor, it can even tangle with a Titan and live to tell the tale.

Wolfir Silverheart is currently contending with Thragtusk for the green 5-drop slot in Standard. Although Thragtusk is winning at the moment, that only makes these easier to acquire. Between Rancor and Nearheath Pilgrim, this deck has a number of ways to take advantage of the massive power boost given by the Silverheart, making it more than just a big vanilla creature.

The Spells

Oblivion Ring has been among the best removal spells in the format for almost the entirety of both its tours in Standard. It deals with threats of almost any type and doesn't allow graveyard shenanigans such as undying. The ability to deal with everything from Swords to Titans is extremely relevant at the moment, often allowing you to win games you otherwise would have lost.

The Sideboard

Dismember is mostly a concession to fast infect decks like the one I wrote about in last week's article. Gut Shot becomes ineffective as soon as your opponent lands a Wild Defiance, but Dismember continues to be relevant. Leaving 1 mana open isn't too difficult, and paying 4 life doesn't matter at all when your opponent is planning on winning with poison counters. When your opponent doesn't have Wild Defiance on the board, pump spells like Mutagenic Growth and even Titanic Growth won't be able to save his creature.

Celestial Purge and Knight of Glory are very effective at fighting the increasingly popular Zombie decks. Celestial Purge allows you to get rid of Zombies at instant speed, and it prevents things like Gravecrawler and Geralf's Messenger from coming back to haunt you. Knight of Glory will often add an extra power to your attacks while staying back to make attacking unprofitable for your opponent. If you don't need to be so cautious, you can swing in for some nigh-unblockable damage as well. With Rancor and Wolfir Silverheart in the deck, it can often attack for much more than just 2.

Playtesting

Zombie Pod – Game 1

I drew Thrun, the Last Troll, played the second Grove, and cast Llanowar Elves. I passed the turn. My opponent cast Tragic Slip on my Llanowar Elves and hit me for 2 with Diregraf Ghoul. He then played Cavern of Souls, naming Zombie, and cast a Gravecrawler before passing the turn.

I drew a Llanowar Elves and cast Borderland Ranger, searching up a Forest. I passed the turn. My opponent attacked with both creatures, and I traded my Ranger for the Ghoul, dropping to 16. My opponent played a tapped Woodland Cemetery, then cast two Gravecrawlers. He ended his turn.

I drew Strangleroot Geist and cast Thrun, the Last Troll before passing the turn. My opponent attacked with his Gravecrawlers. Thrun took one down, and I took 4. My opponent played a Geralf's Messenger, dropping me to 10, and passed the turn.

When my opponent passed the turn, I was at 8, and he was at 17. I drew a Forest, played it, and cast Llanowar Elves and Strangleroot Geist. I passed the turn. My opponent attacked with Geralf's Messenger and Gravecrawler. Thrun took down the Gravecrawler, and Strangleroot Geist traded with Geralf's Messenger. I went to 3, and my opponent went up to 20. He played a land, cast Birthing Pod, and sacrificed his Blood Artist for a Geralf's Messenger to finish me off.

Sideboarding:

−4 Llanowar Elves

−4 Avacyn's Pilgrim

−1 Borderland Ranger

+4 Knight of Glory

+3 Celestial Purge

+2 Naturalize

Zombie Pod – Game 2

I drew a Gavony Township, played a Plains, and passed the turn. My opponent played another Darkslick Shores and swung for 2 with the Ghoul. He ended his turn.

I drew Knight of Glory, played a Forest, and cast Borderland Ranger, grabbing another Forest. My opponent attacked with a Diregraf Ghoul, and I traded my Ranger for it. He then played a Swamp and cast Geralf's Messenger, making me lose 2. He ended his turn.

I drew Thrun, the Last Troll and cast Knight of Glory. I played a Plains and passed the turn. My opponent cast Phantasmal Image, and I cast Celestial Purge on Geralf's Messenger in response, exiling it and forcing the Image to copy my Knight of Glory. My opponent ended his turn.

I drew Knight of Glory, played a Forest, and cast the second Knight. I attacked for 4 with the first Knight and passed the turn. My opponent attacked with his Knight of Glory, dropping me to 14. He then played a Woodland Cemetery and cast Thragtusk, gaining 5 life. He ended his turn, and I cast Wolfir Avenger during his end step.

I drew Strangleroot Geist and attacked with a 6/6 Thrun. My opponent blocked with his Phantasmal Image. I cast the Geist and passed the turn. My opponent played Cavern of Souls and cast Massacre Wurm. My Knights and Strangleroot Geist died, and I lost 6 life. My opponent passed the turn.

I drew Wolfir Silverheart and cast Oblivion Ring on the Massacre Wurm. I passed the turn. My opponent played Diregraf Ghoul and passed the turn.

I drew Nearheath Pilgrim and cast it, choosing not to pair it. I passed the turn. My opponent played another Cavern of Souls and passed the turn.

I drew another Nearheath Pilgrim and cast Wolfir Silverheart. My opponent cast Tragic Slip on my Pilgrim in response to the soulbond trigger, then cast another Tragic Slip to kill the Silverheart. I passed the turn. My opponent attacked with his three creatures. Thrun took down Skinrender, and Strangleroot Geist traded with Thragtusk. I dropped to 4, and my opponent passed the turn.

I drew Rancor and put it on Thrun. Thrun attacked, and my opponent elected not to block. I activated Gavony Township, and my opponent took 8, dropping to 7. I ended my turn at 18 life. My opponent attacked with Gravecrawler for 2, then cast Birthing Pod and activated it, paying 2 life. He sacrificed Gravecrawler to find a Phantasmal Image, killing my Thrun. He stole 1 life with the Blood Artist trigger, then recast Gravecrawler and passed the turn.

I drew a Forest, played Rancor on the Pilgrim, and passed the turn. My opponent sacrificed his Blood Artist to Birthing Pod and searched up a Geralf's Messenger. He stole 1 life with Blood Artist, and I lost 2 more from the Messenger, going to 12. He recast Gravecrawler and passed the turn. I activated Gavony Township during his end step to make the Pilgrim a 7/4.

I drew Wolfir Silverheart, and my opponent conceded when I cast it.

Zombie Pod – Game 3

He swung for 2 with Gravecrawler before playing a Woodland Cemetery and passing the turn. I drew a Plains, played it, and cast Knight of Glory. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a Swamp and cast Geralf's Messenger, and I dropped to 16. He passed the turn. I drew a Forest, played it, and cast Borderland Ranger, searching up another Forest before passing the turn.

My opponent played Cavern of Souls on Zombie, then cast Diregraf Ghoul and Fume Spitter. He ended his turn. I drew Strangleroot Geist, played a Forest, and cast Thrun, the Last Troll before passing the turn.

My opponent passed the turn with no play. I drew Nearheath Pilgrim, played a Plains, then cast Strangleroot Geist and attacked with it as well as Thrun. My opponent blocked the Geist with his Fume Spitter and took 4 from the Troll. I played my second Borderland Ranger, grabbing a Forest, and passed the turn.

My opponent dropped me to 6 with his creatures, then paid 4 life to cast and activate Birthing Pod, sacrificing his Gravecrawler to find a Phantasmal Image and kill my Thrun. He passed the turn. I drew a Naturalize, and I cast my Nearheath Pilgrim, pairing it with Strangleroot Geist. The Geist attacked, dropping my opponent to 8 and putting me at 10, and I destroyed Birthing Pod with Naturalize before ending my turn.

My opponent played Woodland Cemetery, recast Gravecrawler, and passed the turn. I drew Rancor, put it on Strangleroot Geist, and attacked with it as a 6/3. My opponent traded his Geralf's Messenger, taking 3 trample damage. Rancor went back to my hand, and I gained 6. I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Phyrexian Metamorph, copying my Nearheath Pilgrim and pairing it with his Gravecrawler. He passed the turn. I drew a Plains, played it, and put Rancor on Nearheath Pilgrim. I attacked for 5, and my opponent blocked with his Pilgrim. He gained 2 life and took 4 trample damage, putting him at 3. Both creatures died, and Rancor went back to my hand. I passed the turn.

My opponent drew his card and conceded.

Wrapping Up

Although this deck doesn't have the same explosiveness as some of the other aggro decks I've written about recently, it's very good at grinding out longer games due to the power and inevitability of Rancor. If you're looking for a strong creature deck that's hard to stop, be sure to give this one a try.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.