With Gatecrash still fresh out of the pack there are already new decks starting to pop up. We see the aggro meta starting to form with decks like Jund, Boros and Mono Red climbing to the top of this weekends Open series.
Boros Reckoner: This was the big card of the weekend. Reckoner is turning into one of most the sought after rares from Gatecrash. Starting at $3.99 when it was spoiled, it then went up to $9.99 at the release and is now at $14.99. It’s in the maindeck or sideboard of R/W Aggro (Boros) and Mono Red (RDW) with usually a full 4 played. Reckoner is a beast against Rakdos, usually yielding 2 for 1’s when blocking or attacking.
R/W Aggro
Andrew Schneider
3rd place SCG Standard Open
Creatures (26)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
2 Lightning Mauler
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Stonewright
4 Stromkirk Noble
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Lands (23)
15 Mountain
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sacred Foundry
Spells (11)
2 Boros Charm
1 Brimstone Volley
4 Searing Spear
4 Pillar of Flame
Sideboard
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Volcanic Strength
2 Boros Charm
4 Skullcrack
4 Mizzium Mortars
Mono-Red Aggro
Ryan Cruz
9th place at SCG Standard open
Creatures (28)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Stonewright
4 Stromkirk Noble
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Lands (22)
21 Mountain
1 Hellion Crucible
Spells (10)
4 Searing Spear
3 Skullcrack
3 Pillar of Flame
Sideboard
2 Reckless Waif
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Volcanic Strength
1 Skullcrack
2 Thunderbolt
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Pillar of Flame
2 Traitorous Blood
1 Cavern of Souls
Experiment One: The new aggressive one-drop we see appearing in the new Jund aggro brews. Has the potential to get to a good aggressive size and once it has two counters becomes very difficult to remove without being forced to waste extra resources.
Ghor-Clan Rampager: Junds new 4-drop that doubles as an aggressive finisher using bloodrush. Giving +4/+4 and trample for RG is quite aggressively cost. I had my eye on this card for Limited already and was thinking it is good enough for standard. We see it used along side Experiment One in this Jund Aggro list.
Jund Aggro
Tyler Lindsey
Creatures (28)
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Dreg Mangler
4 Experiment One
3 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hellrider
4 Strangleroot Geist
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Lands (24)
3 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
2 Woodland Cemetery
Spells (8)
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Searing Spear
2 Tragic Slip
Sideboard
1 Deathrite Shaman
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
2 Gruul Charm
1 Rakdos Charm
3 Skullcrack
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Rolling Temblor
Cartel Aristocrat: This is the new sacrifice engine that is being used in the Human Reanimator deck to abuse the synergy of Angel of Glory’s Rise and Fiend Hunter.
Human Reanimator
Brian Braun-Duin 2nd Place at SCG Standard Open series
4 Angel of Glory’s Rise
4 Cartel Aristocrat
1 Cathedral Sanctifier
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
Lands (23)
1 Blood Crypt
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Godless Shrine
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Temple Garden
4 Woodland Cemetery
Spells (20)
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Faithless Looting
4 Farseek
4 Mulch
4 Unburial Rites
Sideboard
3 Cathedral Sanctifier
2 Purify the Grave
3 Ray of Revelation
4 Appetite for Brains
3 Slaughter Games
Devour Flesh: Gatecrash’s new Cruel Edict with just a splash of Swords to Plowshares. One of few answers to Geist of Saint Traft or Invisible Stalker
Esper Spirits
Eddie Walker 8th place at SCG open series
Creatures (18)
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Dungeon Geists
3 Restoration Angel
4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
Lands (24)
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Watery Grave
Spells (18)
3 Blind Obedience
4 Azorius Charm
2 Devour Flesh
3 Orzhov Charm
2 Ultimate Price
4 Lingering Souls
Sideboard
2 Pithing Needle
4 Augur of Bolas
3 Detention Sphere
3 Rest in Peace
2 Devour Flesh
1 Ultimate Price
We will be keeping a close eye on all the different formats over the next few weeks to see which Gatecrash cards get played in Standard, Modern and Legacy. We welcome all feedback and please comment on the articles if you have any thoughts. Until next time…
Greg Thibault (@gregsterism on Twitter)
