They are probably in a car riding back to Roanoke, trophy in hand (claw?). Last weekend, StarCityGames’ own Chris VanMeter took down the Standard Open with a different take on G/R Aggro.
I was wondering where the Courser of Kruphixes were in these G/R “Aggro” decks, but without a top end, it makes more sense to play something like Deathmist Raptor. However, CVM is clearly trying to play a longer game with Dragonlord Atarka and a bunch of Haven of the Spirit Dragons. Xenagos, the Reveler also makes a maindeck appearance, as Dragonlord Atarka is not cheap and Xenagos is able to help cast it. Sylvan Caryatid instead of a Rattleclaw Mystic is also a nod to not being quite as aggressive and valuing the ability to keep his mana accelerants in play.
Chris can be a little slow out of the gates, but it’s not difficult to cobble together twenty points of damage. Draconic Roar and Thunderbreak Regent deal some nice residual damage, plus there’s always Stormbreath Dragon and Crater’s Claws to do huge chunks all by themselves. Of course, there’s also a couple 8/8 flying tramplers in the deck that tend to kill people.
Going forward, I fully expect this to be the G/R list of choice.
Creatures (24)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 4 Courser of Kruphix
- 2 Ashcloud Phoenix
- 2 Dragonlord Atarka
- 4 Thunderbreak Regent
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (9)
