I was very impressed by Ross Isley’s deck at the Open Series in Chicago. He took the popular G/B Constellation shell from seasons ago and tried to streamline it. Herald of the Pantheon rewards you for playing a lower curve, so that’s exactly what Ross tried to do.
Brain Maggot and Herald of the Pantheon are your early plays, but anything can happen on turn three or four when you have a Herald. With an Eidolon of Blossoms, things get out of control rather quickly. You also shouldn’t underestimate Kruphix’s Insight. For a deck that’s fairly aggressive, this deck has many sources of card advantage, and it even has the full complement of Doomwake Giants to dominate other creature decks. This deck is capable of triggering Doomwake Giant early and often, plus Doomwake Giant survives Languish, making it reasonable against more controlling decks as well.
With Herald of the Pantheon and Courser of Kruphix, it’s going to be difficult to lose when you find yourself in a racing situation. There’s also the Bestow creatures that your opponent has to worry about, especially when Den Protector is in the mix. Whip of Erebos isn’t a focal point of the deck, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s simply an end-game card you can dig for if necessary. Similarly, each of the Theros Block gods can provide inevitability.
Ross built a great deck that fell just short of the Top Eight, but it’s a strategy that will likely get more potent in the coming weeks as people continue to tune the deck.
Creatures (28)
- 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
- 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
- 2 Boon Satyr
- 2 Herald of Torment
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Eidolon of Blossoms
- 4 Doomwake Giant
- 1 Pharika, God of Affliction
- 2 Brain Maggot
- 1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
- 2 Den Protector
- 4 Herald of the Pantheon
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
