For those of you who don’t already know, we’re doing something a little different here at the Daily Digest this week. Aether Revolt is on everyone’s mind, but we won’t see tournament-winning decklists with these cards until this weekend at #SCGCOL. So rather than spotlight decks in lame-duck formats, we’re showing off brews from you, the readers! You can still have your deck considered for later in the week by emailing it to dailydigestdecks@gmail.com with the subject “Deck Submission” and your name in the body along with your list.
Today’s list comes courtesy of Tim Hall and showcases a powerful interaction that I had previously missed in my exploration of the format: that between Ravenous Intruders and Key to the City. R/B Aggro was a fringe archetype last season and suffers greatly from the loss of Smuggler’s Copter, but this interaction gives the deck a combo-finish that must be respected. In combination with cheap artifacts you can deal five, seven, even nine or more damage against the most cluttered battlefields, forcing your opponent to play more conservatively than they would like.
This list pushes some of these synergies to their limit, dipping further into black for an additional sacrifice outlet in Syndicate Trafficker and Fatal Push, which is excellent in a deck that turns on Revolt with ease. Scrap Trawler and Servo Schematic let you more easily set up big turns by acting as multiple artifacts to sacrifice in one card.
Now, Tim didn’t include a sideboard with his list, which is understandable, seeing as the new metagame is very tough to predict, but I want to highlight two potential options that can do good work.
The first is Release the Gremlins, which finally gives red a way to remove artifacts. Most of the time you’ll cast it for X = 1, which is fine, and the times you’ll cast it for X = 2, it will be excellent. After two artifact-centric sets, you’re going to want that effect. Second is Kari Zev’s Expertise. The “steal your thing, sacrifice your thing” synergy is well-explored, and this is one of the better Threaten effects printed in recent memory, so this one is a natural fit here.
Last, I’d like to see some copies of Implement of Combustion. Sacrifice fodder that replaces itself is important for not running out of gas in decks like this and the effect itself offers some insulation against the Saheeli Rai / Felidar Guardian combo.
In addition to surprising opponents with a new synergy, this deck is not going to be on many radars because of the banning of Smuggler’s Copter. Proactive decks always overperform in Week 1, so get your licks in while you can.
Creatures (25)
- 3 Pia Nalaar
- 2 Bomat Courier
- 4 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 4 Syndicate Trafficker
- 4 Scrap Trawler
- 3 Hope of Ghirapur
- 4 Ravenous Intruder
- 1 Sly Requisitioner
Lands (21)
Spells (14)
