I know, I know. It’s an Energy deck, and those aren’t exactly under the radar in Standard right now. Servant of the Conduit and company represent Public Enemy Number One right now with The Scarab God not far behind, yet I’m featuring a deck that contains both of them.
But hear me out: this deck does a lot of cool things that break from the accepted mold of Energy decks that I like a lot. The fundamental shift is in making a Four-Color variant that is base Sultai with a red splash as opposed to base Temur with a black splash. Temur has become so intertwined with the energy mechanic that such a change may be tantamount to blasphemy, but the benefits are real.
The first benefit is significantly better mana. The Sultai base lets you effectively play the full eight fastlands, which are simply the best in Standard, and especially in this shell, since early green mana is the best way to ensure access to the rest of your colors with Attune with Aether and Servant of the Conduit.
The second is Fatal Push. Little has to be said about the card at this point, and I don’t see its superiority to red analogs like Magma Spray being challenged. This version of the deck gets to play the two best removal spells in Standard (Harnessed Lightning being the other) alongside Vraska’s Contempt, whose versatility is extremely useful in small numbers. So long, opposing The Scarab Gods and Hazoret the Fervents!
The major loss in all of this is Glorybringer, as the RR casting cost is too much to ask for, but you gain plenty of powerful midrange threats in the trade. The Scarab God is obvious and takes Glorybringer’s spot on the curve, but don’t undersell Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. Longtusk Cub has dropped in value recently, whereas Siphoner plays nicely with the extra removal this deck runs and often demands an immediate answer in the same way Cub used to. It’s not as effective against aggro decks, but Fatal Push should help you there.
I’m curious about the inclusion of Gonti, Lord of Luxury over Bristling Hydra, especially after losing Longtusk Cub against aggro, but it’s clear this deck is gearing up to play a long game and grind its opponents out more often than previous iterations of Energy. If that’s your thing and you don’t mind joining the dark side (let’s face it, Luke Skywalker kind of sucks anyway), give this one a spin.
Creatures (22)
- 3 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
- 4 Whirler Virtuoso
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 3 The Scarab God
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (18)
Spells (18)
