What’s the best control shell? Is it U/B? U/W? Esper Dragons? What about a pile of planeswalkers?
This deck sports five different planeswalkers (or six, depending on how you look at it) with the hope of establishing board control, protecting those planeswalkers, and riding them to victory. Nyx-Fleece Ram isn’t bad against opposing red decks, Fleecemane Lions, or protecting your planeswalkers in general.
The real defensive all-star is Hangarback Walker, which at this point I’m sure you’re sick of showing up in basically every single Standard deck, but there’s a reason for that. It comes down early and can either become a huge threat or chump block once and become several smaller threats. Either way, it’s great at protecting planeswalkers.
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy does a fine job at controlling the early game, plus it’s an excellent card to return with Ojutai’s Command. It plays well with Languish and all the other removal spells in the deck too. Most importantly, it will likely draw early Hero’s Downfalls and burn spells, which will further protect your planeswalkers. You can’t ask for much more out of a two-mana card.
This deck is clearly ready for Mono-Red Aggro and U/R Thopters, which might be a bit outdated, but having Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a step in the right direction for fighting green decks.
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (8)
- 1 Liliana Vess
- 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- 3 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
- 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
- 1 Narset Transcendent
Lands (26)
Spells (16)
