Humans have been the premier white aggressive tribe for several years now. All I can say is that I’m not surprised to see them leave their mark in Modern now that they’ve gotten some new top-tier toys.
Thalia’s Lieutenant is absolutely no joke, both functioning as a “lord” and an individually powerful creature. Thraben Inspector, innocuous as it may seem, is an awesome tool for aggressive decks as a cheap body that is able to generate advantage whenever mana is available. These are really the only additions that it takes to put an already aggressive curve over the top.
In some ways, Champion of the Parish is the “original” Thalia’s Lietuenant, and once ZYXWVUTSRQPON was able to combine the two, they were able to build a potent and efficient machine.
Gather the Townsfolk is another seemingly innocent card that has gotten miles better now that there are eight “Humans matters” cards present. It lets us go wide and simultaneously build up several of our creatures to unmanageable sizes.
The real hero here is Brave the Elements. Not only is this card effectively a counterspell for removal, it’s also a Falter effect. It provides the Mono-White deck an incredible amount of reach by being able to push an entire squad through on a key turn.
A huge benefit of being Mono-White rather than other colors is that your Modern sideboard cards are still excellent. This hyper-aggressive deck that is capable of absolutely punishing draws still gets to pack the best of the best in its sideboard, notably Stony Silence and Rest in Peace. Grafdigger’s Cage is undoubtedly a nod to the rise in Abzan Company strategies, and you can’t help but love the addition of a few copies of Mana Tithes. When your curve is as low as this Humans deck, the margins on which your opponents can fight back to survive are incredibly slim. Sometimes all you need is a well-timed Force Spike.
The Human invasion is coming.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Champion of the Parish
- 4 Doomed Traveler
- 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 4 Boros Elite
- 4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 3 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
Lands (20)
Spells (13)
