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Hello everyone. Tomorrow marks the official release of Wilds of Eldraine, and I'm very excited to start looking at decks featuring some new cards. This week, I have three new decks for you that are all focusing on a particular creature type. Let's get started with the first deck.
Dimir Faeries
We'll start things off this week by taking a look at a deck featuring the Faerie creature type. Let's see what makes this such a powerful group.
Dimir Faeries | WOE Standard | MTG_Joe, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (24)
- 2 Obyra, Dreaming Duelist
- 2 Talion's Messenger
- 4 Faerie Dreamthief
- 4 Faerie Mastermind
- 4 Faerie Vandal
- 4 Sleep-Cursed Faerie
- 4 Spellscorn Coven
- Planeswalkers (2)
- 2 Kaito Shizuki
- Instants (8)
- 4 Faerie Fencing
- 4 Spell Stutter
- Sorceries (4)
- 4 Ego Drain
Kaito can also be helpful by allowing you to draw an additional card each turn. Since all of your Faeries have flying, you'll often be able to attack without the fear of being blocked, so you won't have to discard a card when you activate Kaito's +1 loyalty ability. As an additional way to draw extra cards, you have Faerie Mastermind, who can provide you with some card advantage over your opponent. There's also Talion's Messenger, who can provide a little more oomph in the form of a +1/+1 counter for a Faerie you control. All of these cards synchronize well with Faerie Vandal, helping it grow in size.
Each of the instant and sorcery spells in this deck are specifically useful in a Faerie-focused deck. Ego Drain helps remove a key card from your opponent's hand, but should only be played if you have a Faerie in play. Faerie Fencing is a very useful targeted removal spell, but it's even better in a Faerie deck like this one. Spell Stutter is a soft counter spell, which becomes more of a hard counter while you have any number of Faeries in play. While all of these spells are useful, the additional benefits gained by using them in a Faerie deck shouldn't be overlooked.
Azorius Knights
Next, I have a deck featuring one of my favorite creature types, Knights. Let's take a look at the deck.
Azorius Knights | WOE Standard | Tanukiffxi, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (22)
- 3 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- 3 Knight-Errant of Eos
- 4 Knight of Dawn's Light
- 4 Marshal of Zhalfir
- 4 Order of the Mirror
- 4 Werefox Bodyguard
- Instants (5)
- 2 Destroy Evil
- 3 Make Disappear
- Enchantments (8)
- 4 Ossification
- 4 Virtue of Loyalty
- Battles (2)
- 2 Invasion of New Phyrexia
One new Knight from Wilds of Eldraine is Werefox Bodyguard. This Elf Fox Knight can be flashed into play whenever your opponent plays a creature you don't want them to have. When Werefox Bodyguard enters the battlefield, you can exile one other non-Fox creature until Werefox Bodyguard leaves the battlefield. The non-Fox clause keeps your opponent from exiling your Werefox Bodyguard with a copy of their own, and vice versa. Even with this drawback, removing a huge threat from the battlefield makes Werefox Bodyguard a card worth playing.
This deck includes a couple of different ways to make your creatures more difficult to deal with. The first is Marshal of Zhalfir, who provides a +1/+1 bonus to other Knights while it is on the battlefield. There's also a playset of Virtue of Loyalty. While this enchantment is in play, you'll get to place a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control at the beginning of your end step. You'll also untap those creatures, allowing them to serve as blockers if your opponent decides to attack.
Rakdos Rats
The final deck I have for you focuses on the Rat creature type and has the capability of creating a lot of Rat tokens. Let's check it out.
Rakdos Rats | WOE Standard | RAPSOLO_, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (22)
- 2 Mishra, Claimed by Gix
- 4 Karumonix, the Rat King
- 4 Lord Skitter, Sewer King
- 4 Lord Skitter's Butcher
- 4 Redcap Gutter-Dweller
- 4 Tangled Colony
- Instants (3)
- 3 Candy Grapple
- Sorceries (3)
- 3 Song of Totentanz
Lord Skitter's Butcher provides you with a trio of great options when it enters the battlefield. While creating a 1/1 Rat creature token or scrying 2 and then drawing a card are wonderful options, I'm more likely to choose the third option. Giving your creatures menace until the end of the turn can allow you to attack when you otherwise might not be able to. This can be especially true when paired with Song of Totentanz.
To make all of your Rats a little more threatening, you'll want to have Karumonix, the Rat King on the battlefield. Doing this will provide toxic 1 to all of your Rats, providing you with an alternate route to victory. Additionally, when you cast Karumonix, you'll get to put any number of Rats from the top five cards of your library into your hand. Since the majority of creatures in this deck are Rats, you can gain a lot of card advantage with this ability.
Wrapping Up
I'm a huge fan of typal decks. Not only does focusing on creatures of a single type give your deck a lot of synergy, but it also makes it feel more thematic. You're not just playing a deck that uses the best cards of a certain color. Instead, you're playing the best Faerie/Knight/Rat cards, giving an identity to your deck that it might not otherwise have. Each of these creature types feels different when played, making for a unique experience that you can't get with a non-typal deck.
What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!
- Mike Likes
