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Hello everyone. Last week, I brought you four decks with their own unique theme, and I'm back this week with more thematic decks. This week's decks all focus on a particular creature type. So, without further ado, let's get started.
Grixis Dragons
The first deck I have for you focuses on Dragons, a popular creature type of many Magic players. Let's take a look at the deck.
Grixis Dragons | LCI Standard | SwayzeMTG, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (19)
- 2 Bonehoard Dracosaur
- 3 Decadent Dragon
- 3 Manaform Hellkite
- 3 Zurgo and Ojutai
- 4 Roaming Throne
- 4 Sarkhan, Soul Aflame
- Instants (4)
- 4 Go for the Throat
- Sorceries (5)
- 2 Gix's Command
- 3 Nahiri's Warcrafting
- Enchantments (3)
- 3 Virtue of Persistence
- Battles (4)
- 4 Invasion of Tarkir // Defiant Thundermaw
Export Arena
One such Dragon is Zurgo and Ojutai. When Zurgo and Ojutai is on the battlefield, when any Dragon you control deals combat damage to your opponent or to a battle, you'll be able to filter through your library with ease. You can even potentially Zurgo and Ojutai to your hand, keeping them safe from your opponent's removal spells. Since Zurgo and Ojutai has haste, you won't miss a beat next turn when you decide to attack again.
Naya Humans
The next deck I have for you is a Human typal deck that features a pair of new Humans from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Let's take a look at the deck.
Naya Humans | LCI Standard | LegenVD, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (32)
- 2 Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- 2 Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard
- 2 Melira, the Living Cure
- 2 Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
- 3 Halana and Alena, Partners
- 3 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
- 3 Roaming Throne
- 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon
- 4 Hopeful Initiate
- 4 Lunarch Veteran // Luminous Phantom
- Sorceries (4)
- 4 Animist's Might
Pairing up nicely with Anim Pakal is Inti, Seneschal of the Sun. Inti allows you to discard a card whenever you attack to put a +1/+1 counter on an attacking creature, giving that trample in the process. This deck also includes three copies of Roaming Throne, allowing you to get multiple triggers from your triggered abilities, resulting in loads of +1/+1 counters and Gnome creature tokens.
Orzhov Demons & Vampires
Up next, I have a deck for you featuring numerous Demons alongside their good buddies, Vampires. Is this unholy alliance the best deck in Standard? Let's check it out.
Orzhov Demons & Vampires | LCI Standard | JayVillain, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (24)
- 2 Dreadfeast Demon
- 3 Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz
- 3 Vraan, Executioner Thane
- 4 Archfiend of the Dross
- 4 Bloodletter of Aclazotz
- 4 Greedy Freebooter
- 4 Voldaren Bloodcaster
- Instants (10)
- 2 Cut Down
- 2 Destroy Evil
- 2 Go for the Throat
- 4 Fanatical Offering
- Sorceries (2)
- 2 Annihilating Glare
- Lands (24)
- 4 Plains
- 10 Swamp
- 1 Restless Fortress
- 3 Cavern of Souls
- 3 Caves of Koilos
- 3 Shattered Sanctum
- Sideboard (2)
- 2 Infernal Grasp
All of these sacrifices serve a real purpose in this deck. It can be important to have a way to remove Archfiend of the Dross from the battlefield if it can't quite finish off your opponent before losing its last oil counter. Vraan, Executioner Thane also punishes your opponent each turn that a creature you control dies. Finally, by sacrificing things while Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz is on the battlefield, you can get up to three benefits which include gaining life, forcing your opponent to lose life, and creating a 4/3 Vampire Demon creature token that has flying. All of the gains you get for sacrificing a few.
Dimir Zombies
The final deck I have for you features Zombies, which have been around for a while, but have recently gotten a few new cards that really help them out. Let's take a look at the deck.
Dimir Zombies | LCI Standard | LegenVD, aetherhub.com user
- Creatures (29)
- 2 Tainted Adversary
- 3 Roaming Throne
- 4 Bladestitched Skaab
- 4 Champion of the Perished
- 4 Fell Stinger
- 4 Greedy Freebooter
- 4 Headless Rider
- 4 Skull Skaab
- Instants (4)
- 2 Cut Down
- 2 Go for the Throat
- Enchantments (2)
- 2 Necroduality
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Once again, I can't say enough about how much Roaming Throne has helped out decks that feature a single creature type. By doubling all of the triggered abilities, you're able to get extra +1/+1 counters on Champion of the Perished, making it a huge threat in the process. You also get double the amount of 2/2 Zombie creature tokens from Headless Rider whenever nontoken Zombies you control die. Roaming Throne also allows Fell Stinger to exploit twice and you can draw up to four additional cards if you're willing to pay the life cost.
Giving this deck a little stability it needed is Cavern of Souls. When you play it, you can choose Zombie as the creature type, making your Zombie spells unable to be countered. You might also want to choose Golem, so you can make sure Roaming Throne won't be countered when you cast it. Cavern of Souls also provides color fixing, if you need it, for all of your Zombie creatures.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, I really enjoy playing decks that focus on a particular creature type. Different creature types generally bring a different play style and a unique feeling to the game. This can make your matches more memorable.
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
