Hello and welcome to another episode of Raise Your Standards. Dominaria has been out for a few weeks now and has made quite an impact upon Standard. This week we’ll be taking a look at some more new decks featuring cards from Dominaria. Let’s get started.
Sultai Midrange
The first deck I have for you is a Sultai Midrange deck. Let’s take a look at it.
Sultai Midrange – (by GOTTELICIOUS)
Planeswalkers
Creatures
- 4 x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
- 1 x Hostage Taker
- 4 x Jadelight Ranger
- 4 x Merfolk Branchwalker
- 1 x Muldrotha, the Gravetide
- 2 x Ravenous Chupacabra
- 2 x Servant of the Conduit
- 2 x The Scarab God
- 2 x Walking Ballista
- 3 x Wildgrowth Walker
Spells
- 2 x Fatal Push
- 1 x The Eldest Reborn
- 2 x Vraska’s Contempt
Lands
- 4 x Aether Hub
- 4 x Blooming Marsh
- 1 x Botanical Sanctum
- 2 x Evolving Wilds
- 4 x Fetid Pools
- 4 x Forest
- 1 x Island
- 2 x Swamp
- 4 x Woodland Cemetery
Sideboard
- 1 x Arguel’s Blood Fast
- 1 x Bontu’s Last Reckoning
- 1 x Deathgorge Scavenger
- 3 x Duress
- 2 x Fatal Push
- 2 x Golden Demise
- 1 x Lifecrafter’s Bestiary
- 2 x Thrashing Brontodon
- 2 x Vraska’s Contempt
This deck has multiple ways to get cards into your graveyard. Jadelight Ranger and Merfolk Branchwalker both have explore which can allow you to put any non-land card into your battlefield. Liliana, Death’s Majesty can be used each turn to put the top two cards from your library into your graveyard. Also, and creatures you chump block with or any other permanent your opponent destroys will end up in the graveyard.
But, not only can the deck find ways to get cards into your graveyard. It also has ways to get those cards that have gone to your graveyard back into play. Muldrotha, the Gravetide allows you to play any of those permanents in your graveyard, effectively increasing your hand size. There is also a copy of The Eldest Reborn which allows you to either return your best creature or planeswalker residing in your graveyard, or you can choose one from your opponent’s graveyard for some added insult to injury.
White/Red Midrange
The next deck I have for you brings the heat. Let’s take a look at W/R Midrange.
W/R Midrange – (by YUUKA_KAZAMI)
Planeswalkers
Creatures
- 3 x Benalish Marshal
- 2 x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
- 2 x Lyra Dawnbringer
- 3 x Pia Nalaar
- 4 x Toolcraft Exemplar
- 4 x Walking Ballista
Spells
- 3 x Abrade
- 1 x Aethersphere Harvester
- 1 x Fight with Fire
- 2 x Heart of Kiran
- 1 x Jaya’s Immolating Inferno
- 3 x Servo Exhibition
Lands
- 3 x Aether Hub
- 4 x Clifftop Retreat
- 4 x Inspiring Vantage
- 2 x Mountain
- 8 x Plains
- 1 x Scavenger Grounds
- 1 x Shefet Dunes
- 2 x Stone Quarry
Sideboard
- 1 x Aethersphere Harvester
- 2 x Angel of Sanctions
- 2 x Fragmentize
- 1 x Jaya’s Immolating Inferno
- 1 x Magma Spray
- 3 x Seal Away
- 3 x Settle the Wreckage
- 2 x Urza’s Ruinous Blast
This deck uses a combination of hard-to-block ground creatures alongside some flying threats to dish out some damage to your opponent. Benalish Marshal combines very nicely with the Servo and Thopter tokens you create with this deck to turn the tokens into more than just chumps. And let’s not overlook just how good Benalish Marshal is with Lyra Dawnbringer. She becomes even more of a must-kill creature than she is without the Marshal’s buff.
In the sideboard, this deck has the tools to slow down the game and become something more of a control deck. Angel of Sanctions is a difficult creature to destroy normally, but it becomes even more difficult once it receives the +1/+1 buffs from Benalish Marshal and Lyra Dawnbringer. Combine those cards with Urza’s Ruinous Blast and you could have a one-sided game against an opponent with few legendary permanents.
Blue/Red Prowess
The final deck I have for you this week has a bit of a Wizard tribal theme. Let’s take a look at U/R Prowess.
U/R Prowess – (by IROPPOI)
Creatures
- 4 x Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
- 4 x Ghitu Lavarunner
- 2 x Siren Stormtamer
- 4 x Soul-Scar Mage
- 4 x Spellweaver Eternal
Spells
- 4 x Lightning Strike
- 4 x Opt
- 3 x Reduce // Rubble
- 4 x Shock
- 3 x Warlord’s Fury
- 4 x Wizard’s Lightning
Lands
- 4 x Island
- 8 x Mountain
- 4 x Spirebluff Canal
- 4 x Sulfur Falls
Sideboard
- 2 x Abrade
- 2 x Admiral’s Order
- 1 x Glorybringer
- 4 x Goblin Chainwhirler
- 2 x Kari Zev’s Expertise
- 1 x Reduce // Rubble
- 3 x Saheeli Rai
If you were hoping for a Wizard tribal deck, look no further. All of the creatures in the main deck are Wizards. And because of that, most of the time you will be able to get a casting cost reduction for your Wizard’s Lightning, giving you access to Lightning Bolt in Standard.
While some of the creatures in the deck already have prowess, Adeliz, the Cinder Wind grants all of them a pseudo-form of prowess which pairs up quite nicely with Warlord’s Fury. The first strike granted to all of your creatures combined with the +1/+1 bonus from Adeliz, the Cinder Wind can make blocking quite difficult for your opponent. If only Warlord’s Fury were an instant instead of a sorcery…
Wrapping Up
Every week more and more cards from Dominaria find their way into decks. Which deck this week was your favorite? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment. Or you can reply to me directly on Twitter (@mikelikesmtg), or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. And, don’t forget to like our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MTGDeckTechs/) to be sure to be notified when a new article is posted.
Also, be sure to check out my articles every Thursday on GatheringMagic.com. If you like the innovative decks I write about here each week, you’ll want to check out my articles there as well.
Be sure to join me back here next week for another installment of Raise Your Standards. I’ll see you then!
Mike Likes
