The loss of Nantuko Husk was a huge blow to any deck built around sacrificing creatures. The ability to utilize sacrifice synergies without investing any mana jumpstarts any engine built around them and allows for degenerate combo turns. The downgrade from zero mana to one mana activation costs on your sacrifice outlets is a significant one, but in this case it is not without gains.
Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim and Syndicate Trafficker are powerful cards in their own right and give the deck a more aggressive feel than the various Cryptolith Rite decks from last season. The Fabricate creatures in this deck also provide token generators that are more efficient than those available last season. And you have gained Angel of Invention, a powerful Anthem effect that can dominate a game against any aggressive deck.
Importantly, the lifegain from Angel of Invention also helps to turn on Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim’s second ability, which is itself powerful enough to dominate games.
Scrapheap Scrounger shows up to continue the aggressive trend of this list while also providing a recursive creature that can generate combo finishes in combination with a sacrifice outlet and Zulaport Cutthroat. This means that Scrapheap Scrounger will be a good draw at nearly any point in the game, a rare characteristic for a two-mana creature and one that elevated Sylvan Advocate to the status of format staple for the better part of this year.
Access to black and white removal will allow you to answer any threat your opponent has, and I like that this list leans toward Grasp of Darkness, which matches up very well against the threats in R/W Vehicles and U/W Flash decks. Harsh Scrutiny as additional disruption is a questionable choice as long as Temur Aetherworks remains popular, but Transgress the Mind is a great option and shows up in this list’s sideboard.
There are plenty of options to ramp up the power level of this deck, although they are quite boring. They are of course Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Smuggler’s Copter. The former has already been a key performer in successful token strategies and the latter plays very well with small creatures that are easy to invalidate on the ground. The looting of Smuggler’s Copter also helps you dig toward specific synergy cards, whether you’re missing a key Anthem, sacrifice outlet, or Zulaport Cutthroat.
With everyone scrambling to digest the new information and decks gained from the #PTKLD and #SCGRegionals, it’s a great time to pivot to an unknown quantity and take advantage of a distracted metagame.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Zulaport Cutthroat
- 3 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
- 3 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Angel of Invention
- 2 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
- 2 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 4 Weaponcraft Enthusiast
- 4 Syndicate Trafficker
- 2 Marionette Master
Lands (19)
Spells (13)
