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Main » Articles » Taking Down Standard, Tribal Style

Taking Down Standard, Tribal Style

Mike Likes
Posted on October 26, 2018
 Reddit

Those of you that have read my articles for any length of time will know that I love tribal decks. Now that Standard rotation has happened, it is the perfect time for new tribal decks to shine since the oppressive decks that were dominating Standard are no more. And there are a lot of tribal decks doing well in Standard currently. So, for the next couple of weeks I'll be bringing you some of the most fun and competitive tribal decks that are doing well on Magic Online (MTGO) and in other tournaments.

Knights

The first deck I have for you is for a tribe that I love - Knights. Let's take a look at Abzan Knights.

Abzan Knights | Guilds Standard | EFUDA, (5-0) MTGO

If you're playing against this deck, blocking can be a nightmare. Lyra Dawnbringer, Knight of Grace, and Knight of Malice all have first strike. Valiant Knight has an activated ability that can grant all of your Knights double strike. Both first strike and double strike give you a huge advantage in combat, so take advantage of that. If you're behind on the battlefield, keep your Knights back for defense. Your opponent won't want to attack into a wall of creatures that have first strike. However, as soon as you are at parity or better on the battlefield, don't be afraid to begin the attack. Even if your opponent manages to double block and kill some of your first strikers, you should be able to thin their forces some.

History of Benalia grants you a giant bonus once you put the third lore counter on it. It's a great combat trick that your opponent can see coming and must deal with as soon as possible. Against some decks that have little to no enchantment removal, History of Benalia can mean game over for them. However, if your opponent is playing Green, Blue, or White, there's a good chance they have something in their deck to remove your enchantment before you can get the maximum effect from it.

Vampires / Knights

The next deck I have for you today is another style of Knight deck that also gets a boost by playing some great Vampire cards. Let's take a look at Orzhov Vampire Knights.

Orzhov Vampire Knights | Guilds Standard | KVZA, (5-0) MTGO

As you can see, this is mainly a White deck, splashing Black for just a couple of cards -Knight of Malice and Legion Lieutenant. Since both of those cards have a converted mana cost (CMC) of 2, you'll want to find either an Isolated Chapel or an Unclaimed Territory fairly quickly. Since both cards are Knights, I would generally choose Knight as the creature type that Unclaimed Territory will be able to add colored mana for. That will also allow you to produce White mana to cast Benalish Marshal with it as well.

This deck does a good job of protecting itself against board sweepers thanks to Adamant Will and Make a Stand. Both can be used in combat as a way to attack into a larger blocker or one that you would just trade with and still allow your creature to survive. They can also be used to protect Shalai, Voice of Plenty from any spot removal your opponent might have.

Dinosaurs

The next tribe I have for you is the Dinosaur tribe. Let's take a look at Naya Dinosaurs.

Naya Dinosaurs | Guilds Standard | TANGRAMS, (5-0) MTGO

If you like playing with huge creatures and smashing into your opponent's forces with large, stompy creatures, then this deck is for you. Thunderherd Migration and Llanowar Elves both help accelerate your mana production, so you can cast your big threats quickly. Both Charging Monstrosaur and Untamed Kavu have trample and Steel Leaf Champion can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less. All of these creatures will usually attack with 5 power, so you should be able to wipe out your opponent fairly quickly.

A nice combo this deck has is the interaction between Deafening Clarion and Ripjaw Raptor, allowing you to draw a card. Deafening Clarion will act as a board sweeper much of the time by dealing three points of damage to each creature. Luckily for you, assuming you kicked your Untamed Kavu when you cast it (which you should usually do), the only creature of yours this damage will kill is your Llanowar Elves. However, against most opponents, that three damage will usually be enough to sufficiently thin their forces. Deafening Clarion also grants lifelink to your creatures and, since the majority of your team survived the damage, you can attack for a whole bunch of damage and gain a whole bunch of life in the process. That sounds like a good time to me.

Goblins

The final deck I have for you this week is focused on a tribe that goes all the way back to Alpha. Let's have a look at Mono-Red Goblins.

Mono-Red Goblins | Guilds Standard | ARCACREMA, (5-0) MTGO

Goblin Chainwhirler is back with a vengeance, and he's brought along some friends to wreck the party. Goblin Instigator gives you two bodies for the price of one. Goblin Cratermaker is both a source of damage and removal in one package. Legion Warboss is his own one-man army, adding additional Goblins to the battlefield every turn. You also have Siege-Gang Commander (and his lackeys) and Skirk Prospector that can make good use of the Goblins you have in play. But before you start sacrificing your Goblins for value, you can play Volley Veteran which will take care of one of your opponent's key creatures (hopefully).

As I mentioned before, you have Skirk Prospector as a way to use your Goblins in play to make additional mana. This deck also runs a playset of Runaway Steam-Kin, which also can give you additional mana. And what better way to make use of all of this additional mana than by casting a kicked Fight with Fire to deal ten damage directly to the opponent's dome? This is a great way to end a game where the battlefield has gotten too gummed up for attacking. You can also perform a similar trick with Siege-Gang Commander, even though he usually gets taken out by a removal spell before you get a chance to start sacrificing Goblins with him.

Wrapping Up

I find tribal decks to be a lot of fun. This week I went over decks for three (or four, depending on how you count things) tribes currently in Standard, but I'm not done yet. There are still a bunch of tribes to go, so make sure you join me here next week for the next batch of tribal decks. And let me know which tribe is your favorite. You can leave a comment below or you can reply to me directly on Twitter or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. I'll see you next week!

- Mike Likes

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, vampires, decklist, knights, goblins, mike likes, dinosaurs, guilds of ravnica, 10262018

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