G/R Aggro was one of the more anticipated archetypes during the preview
season for Amonkhet. Glorybringer was another in a long line of successful,
undercosted Dragons that could be paired with some mana acceleration,
efficient removal, and other creatures to create a midrange-aggressive deck
that would win mainly on the good rate of all of its cards.
But as is often the case in Magic, things didn’t come to pass as expected.
In a format that already has such a deck in Mardu Vehicles and plenty of
good removal for Glorybringer, there wasn’t a lot of room for G/R.
Today’s list is an attempt to flip the script on this deck, and change it
into something no one expected it to be. Gone are the Glorybringers and
mana acceleration. Instead, the deck is committed to a lower curve with
cards like Greenbelt Rampager and Heart of Kiran. It’s a true aggressive
deck rather than a midrange-aggro hybrid.
Nowhere is this commitment to a lower curve more evident than in the
removal suite. Rather than the typical four copies of Harnessed Lightning
there is only a singleton in the maindeck alongside three copies of Magma
Spray. You could play more removal than that, but instead this list opts to
play a healthy suite of pump spells.
The four copies of Blossoming Defense may only be surprising for the high
number, but Invigorated Rampage hasn’t seen play outside of its pairing
with Electrostatic Pummeler. This energy deck doesn’t play the artifact
creature so there’s no true combo element, but the pump spell, especially
in combination with so much evasion and the hexproof of Bristling Hydra
gives the deck more reach than any removal spell available would.
A lot of deckbuilding is borrowing from the past, but sometimes that leads
us astray. Context is so important in every part of Magic and sometimes you
have to break from the expected in order to find the best build of a
certain deck. With early versions of G/R and G/B faltering in the current
metagame, this reimagining of the former could simply be the better list
for Amonkhet Standard.
Creatures (21)
- 4 Longtusk Cub
- 4 Voltaic Brawler
- 4 Lathnu Hellion
- 3 Bristling Hydra
- 4 Greenbelt Rampager
- 2 Rhonas the Indomitable
Lands (20)
Spells (19)
