We’re approaching the twilight of Hour of Devastation Standard and the
metagame at this point is well-known. Temur Energy is the new top do,
supplanting Ramunap Red and Zombies, with a spate of solid tier two decks
behind them, including G/B Constrictor and various control strategies.
But a new deck has emerged recently, built around one of the more powerful
cards in Hour of Devastation, Crested Sunmare. We most all know how
powerful Wingmate Roc and Broodmate Dragon were and Crested Sunmare acts
like another of those creatures, but with the upside of being able to
continue to churn out tokens and have those tokens be immune to most
sweepers.
The only way to clear away those horse tokens without first getting rid of
the original is Hour of Devastation, and unsurprisingly, this deck has four
copies of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, which can anthem your team above the
powerful red sweeper. And if you ever get two copies of Crested Sunmare
onto the battlefield, they protect each other, making things like Fumigate
virtual blanks.
Of course, realizing that potential is the tricky part, and this deck goes
far out of its way to maximize its build around, with a slew of life-gain
cards. Most of them are attached to solid bodies, but Crypt of the Eternals
lets you make two horses on turn five even from no battlefield, and
Authority of the Consuls, in addition to being a bomb against Ramunap Red,
lets you gain life on your opponent’s turn, thus making more horses on
their end step.
These enablers for Crested Sunmare also give the deck a strong aggressive
plan that opponents have to take into account. Curving your early creatures
into a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar can easily lead to a turn five kill, so
your opponent often has to use their interaction early, leaving them
vulnerable to the horse brigade.
With so much space dedicated to its plan, there is less room for
interaction, but the high amount of life gain lets the deck play four
copies of Anguished Unmaking in its 75, so the interaction you do have is
flexible.
Crested Sunmare is a great trump in midrange matchups while the cheap
creatures and life gain position you well against aggressive decks. This
deck could be a sleeper hit for #GPDC, making a late push in a complacent
metagame much like U/W Monument a few months ago.
Creatures (21)
- 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Lone Rider
- 4 Glory-Bound Initiate
- 4 Crested Sunmare
- 4 Sunscourge Champion
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (10)
- 1 Declaration in Stone
- 1 Anguished Unmaking
- 2 Authority of the Consuls
- 4 Fatal Push
- 2 Aethersphere Harvester
Sideboard
