Are you guys ready for Pro Tour Honolulu? I am sure many of you are looking forward to it. Today, I will talk about one of the aggro decks you should expect in the Pro Tour metagame, Gruul Aggro Fat. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend this Pro Tour (due to college assignments). I have to arrange time and my schedule so that everything’s cool in my life. The Prague and Invitational is probably a little too close for me to fly back and forth, so I would have to skip a week of college over there. Thus, something had to go… and I choose PT Hawaii.
Before I continue, here is the deck list I feel is best suited as an aggressive deck for the Pro Tour metagame.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Kird Ape
- 4 Burning-Tree Shaman
- 4 Dryad Sophisticate
- 3 Giant Solifuge
- 4 Gruul Guildmage
- 4 Rumbling Slum
Lands (22)
Spells (11)
Before I go on to the card analysis, I would like to explain how the deck is played. Gruul Aggro Fat is a Stompy deck. For those of you who have played Boros Weenie, it is practically the same thing. Cast creatures, attack, and burn for the win. The only difference from playing this deck over Boros Weenie is that the creatures are much bigger for the cost you are paying (e.g. Kird Ape, Rumbling Slum). So if there are any of you who are still unsettled without a deck for Pro Tour Honolulu, this is an ideal choice as it is one of the simpler decks to play.
This is one of my top guns in my testing, but since I’m not going anyway, I don’t mind sharing. Indeed, the Gruul beatdown formula is one that can have many directions, and everyone has ideas on its build. Do we go with a straight weenie strategy, or high-end fat monsters? Do we go basic Red/Green, or do we add white for quality one-drops? While we can only suggest directions, hopefully things will become clearer for this much-anticipated archetype once the Pro Tour is underway.
Clearly, in a wide field, it is generally better to play with a beatdown deck than a control deck, because you might have the wrong tool against the wrong metagame. Again, there’s nothing wrong with playing a control deck… but without knowledge of the exact threats in a new format, how can we incorporate all the correct answers? Just a little food for thought…
I will now move on to the card analysis.
Creatures
One-Drops
I was looking at all the one-mana creatures available for this deck, and there are only five creatures in contention. Those creatures are Kird Ape, Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, Elves of Deep Shadow, and Wild Cantor. Of the five creatures above, Kird Ape was a no-brainer as it’s the best one casting cost beatdown creature in Standard today. The rest of the creatures are mana accelerants to your three- and four-mana guys. As I was testing, I found that I did not want to have too many mana accelerants, as they do nothing late game (besides wearing a Moldervine Cloak, of course). In this case, I chose Llanowar Elves as I feel it’s the best creature for the slot. Birds of Paradise got shafted out, because it’s only a 0/1. Also, for a two-color deck, I actually feel that tapping the Bird for any color is not important. Wild Cantor could make it to the deck, but I felt that I wanted more creatures in the four-mana slot instead, like Giant Solifuge.
Two-Drops
4 Gruul Guildmage
4 Dryad Sophisticate
If you have read my last article about URzatron, you’ll notice I was hyping the Scab-Clan Mauler. After testing more of the Gruul deck with Scab-Clan Mauler, I found it to good against control decks, but not much else. When I tried it against a mirror or Zoo deck, it is very rare I find myself able to trigger its Bloodthirst as they will almost always have a blocker. I decided to replace it with Dryad Sophisticate, as it is almost always an unblockable creature. With an environment full of Dual and Pain Lands, this new “Zodiac Monkey” is proving to be very good even if it is just a 2/1. A Moldervine Cloak on it will pressure your opponent to kill it straight away. The other two-mana I tested was Gruul Guildmage. I do not know how many times this card has actually won me games, against both control and aggro matchups. First off, against aggro, it can make each of your creatures able to win creature combat with its pump ability. Sure, as you are playing Burning-Tree Shaman as well, the Gruul Guildmage may bite you in the ass, but the one damage is actually irrelevant if you can breakthrough damage or kill a creature during combat. Against control, the Guildmage is a threat by itself because, if left unchecked, extra lands from your deck can be sacrificed to aim at your opponent for the win.
Three-Drops
Not much to say here, as I only have one type of creature in the three-mana department. I chose more three-mana spells instead, as I felt the spells were much stronger than creatures (Moldervine Cloak and Char). Anyway, I am sure there are too many good things to say about this card… It’s three mana for a 3/4, which is bigger than a Watchwolf; it also inflicts pain to opponents using Sensei’s Divining Top, as well as the much-dreaded Umezawa’s Jitte. One thing to note: it also deals one damage each time your opponent Transmutes or Channels a spell. This is especially important, because every single point of damage counts when you are playing an aggro deck. Don’t forget to subtract their life!
Four-Drops
4 Rumbling Slum
3 Giant Solifuge
I am sure Rumbling Slum does not need any explanation, as it has been fully hyped even before the card was out. One thing to note again about Rumbling Slum is that it goes a long way towards triggering Bloodthirst cards (in case you are playing Scab-Clan Mauler).
I am sure most of you are thinking why I chose Giant Solifuge as the other four-mana creature. Initially, I was using Kodama of the North Tree, but I realized that it was very slow against control decks. The triple Green mana commitment from Kodama of the North Tree proves to be hard to get, and that’s without mentioning its five-mana cost. This was when I tried Giant Solifuge and I never turned back. Against control deck, this card is self-explanatory, and I would even rate it better than Rumbling Slum against those matchups. I actually thought this card would be useless against aggro decks, as it is just a 4/1, but the more I played it I found it to be useful. It usually give my opponent a hard decision in blocking my creatures. In a metagame like Pro Tour Honolulu, Giant Solifuge deserves to be in the deck as you should expect control decks like Orzhov and URzatron.
Burn Spells
The burn spells to choose from were between Shock, Char, and Volcanic Hammer. Char was an automatic inclusion in the deck, as it kills Meloku the Clouded Mirror and Loxodon Hierarch. I chose Shock over Volcanic Hammer because I find myself using Shock to destroy my opponents Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, and Hypnotic Specter. Many times during testing I used Volcanic Hammer to destroy those one- and two-toughness creatures, and found it wasteful as I can pay one less mana for the same effect at instant speed for Shock. Therefore, Shock won the slot. However, if you are more comfortable using Volcanic Hammer you can continue to use it as I think this is probably more of a personal preference to suit your metagame. If Zoo is big, with its three-toughness two-drops, then the Hammer shines again.
Enchantment
Some of you must be thinking, “why Moldervine Cloak over Umezawa’s Jitte?”
During testing, Umezawa’s Jitte somehow proves to be sub-par in this deck., compared to the Cloak. The Cloak is effective immediately. In this metagame, the good aggro decks like Zoo and other Gruul Deck Wins are packing Burning-Tree Shaman too. This makes Umezawa’s Jitte a rather dead card, especially if you have two Burning-Tree Shaman in play. Therefore, I decided to do away with the Equipment and go for Moldervine Cloak. If the metagame changes (or rather, once it clears), you can try putting Umezawa’s Jitte back in the deck, or maybe even try it out in the sideboard.
Sideboard
I would like to point out that this sideboard is just a sample of mine. So far, I find this sideboard to suit me best for the current metagame. If you think of other cards that I do not mention, suggest them in the forums. Thanks in advance!
This is one of the cards that is a must-have in the sideboard. I have seen some versions of Gruul Aggro Fat playing it in the maindeck, to deal with pesky enchantments such as Faith’s Fetters, Confiscate, and Phyrexian Arena. A definite four-of card.
As you can see, after sideboarding, the deck can go to a land destruction route to target control matchups. I like this version so far, as I feel its one of the best way to stop decks with Wrath of God. Denying their White mana means denying their ability to cast the dreaded board-sweeper. Lets be honest, and admit that a creature deck faces a little difficulty against a control deck that resolves a Wrath of God.
If you have not realized yet, this card is one of the best to hose the environment right now. Against URzatron, you are making your opponent play with just Mountains. If he is lucky, he will be able to generate Blue mana from one of the four Izzet Signet. Against Zoo you actually may sometimes randomly win games because they are only able to cast Char, Kird Ape, and Shock. On average, each deck plays at least eight non-basic lands, making Blood Moon an important tool n the sideboard.
The rest of the cards are basically those that suit your play style. As usual I will just state some of the cards that can be played in the sideboard.
You can try this card out together with Stone Rains and Blood Moon to have more land destruction spells. Wreak Havoc is a better choice than Demolish in this deck. Another card you can try using is Creeping Mold, but I feel that Naturalize already fills in for that slot.
This card can be use to fill in the two-drop slot if you expect many decks playing artifacts like signets, Jittes, or even Pithing Needles. Another card you can try is Hearth Kami. The difference between the two is that you can play Hearth Kami freely without waiting for an artifact to be in play first. However, the downfall of the Kami is that you need to sacrifice it, and reserve some mana as well to destroy an artifact later. I suggest you try both of these cards if you need a two-mana artifact destructo-guy, and choose which suits you best.
One of the best sideboard cards ever printed. This card acts like a Meddling Mage in the new Standard. As this deck is not playing Umezawa’s Jitte, you may want to play this card in the sideboard to stop this artifact. I suggest this card because I find Pithing Needle can handle a massive amount of pertinent threats. It can stop Greater Good, Sensei Divining Tops, Glare of Subdual, and Meloku the Clouded Mirror – in addition to Umezawa’s Jitte. With a mass of possibilities, the Pithing Needle is one of the most influential cards of the current Standard scene.
This is the card to use if you expect lots of Blue decks running around. When compared to Defense Grid, the Leyline fares well: half of time you will be able to get it down for free. While it’s stating the obvious, Leyline of the Lifeforce is good when you have a deck full of creatures.
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I am sure there are many other sideboard cards you can try, like playing Jitte in the sideboard. Playing Umezawa’s Jitte would probably make your matchups against aggro decks like Orzhov aggro-control more favorable, as you are able to capitalize on the Jitte war.
How to Play the Deck
As this is an aggro deck, playing the deck is rather simple and easy. You should evaluate what is the most damage you can do in a turn when making your decision to cast spells. Simply, you want twenty damage, nothing less and nothing more. Some people tend to play safe and hold back their creatures, while others like to just go aggro and win. I feel the simplest way to play Gruul Aggro Fat is to just keep casting your spells and attack all the way. Do not hold back. When you hold back on your spells you are actually losing tempo. Losing tempo against a control deck would give them go on with their game plan easily. Now I will try to explain some of the matchups.
URzatron
This is quite a favorable matchup for you as long as they do not assemble Tron within the first four or five turns. I usually see Gruul Aggro Fat losing when URzatron is able to accelerate to their bombs within those turns. Your best creature against them is in the four-drop slot. After boarding, Blood Moon would be able to slow them down a lot. One thing to note against this matchup is that people are going to the extent to try playing Ryusei, the Falling Star. The reason is that it’s a 5/5 that can wipe the board, and it can be cast even when Blood Moon is in play. Therefore, try not to be too shocked when you see that card used against you.
Zoo
Another good matchup as our deck is much more consistent over the Zoo’s shaky mana base. With an aggro deck like Zoo, your opponent takes a lot of pain from the land itself. This causes your burn spells to rise in play value Compared to your deck, this deck’s creatures are much bigger and usually will be able to trade of a two-for-one on their creatures. When making decisions, try to remember that a single Lightning Helix can swing the game to their favor.
Eminent Domain and Magnifires
Against land destruction decks, your creatures are (most of the time) superior to their Pyroclasm. Against Eminent Domain though, you may want to be careful when tapping your creatures as a Dream Leash may spoil your plan. One of your most important creatures in the deck is Rumbling Slum, as it survives a Wildfire. You should also make it a priority to cast Moldervine Cloak on one of your creatures (rather than casting another creature if possible), as the Cloaked creature would be able to survive Wildfire.
Orzhov Aggro-Control
The worst card you will face against this deck is actually Nekrataal. As this deck plays Umezawa’s Jitte, this would pressure you more to have Burning-Tree Shamans in play early in the game. Try to use your burn spells early, as they will try to make you discard them with Ravenous Rats, Shrieking Grotesque, Blackmail, and Castigate. Overall, I find this match more like an even one.
W/B/G Control Decks (includes Greater Good Gifts)
This matchup depends on the type of removal they’re packing. Any aggro deck would actually lose if your opponent is able to Putrefy/Mortify and cast Wrath of God the following turn. However, this is why Giant Solifuge is good: it has haste, trample, and he’s untargetable. Having him deal four damage the turn after a Wrath of God feels all sorts of bad.
Conclusion
Overall, I would actually rate Gruul Aggro Fat to be one of the benchmark decks, if not the very best aggro deck in the format. (Not Zoo or Boros) This deck has the ability to stand the early and mid game against most decks, making it one of the most resilient decks around now.
Good luck to all of you playing at Pro Tour Honolulu!