For today’s Magic: the Gathering deck feature blog post, we delve more into the aggro decks in the Standard format as to what the new cards from the Innistrad: Crimson Vow set have influenced their builds. This is also about how they deal with other decks in the metagame in winning with their game plan.

The aggro deck of choice this time is Mono-Black Zombies Aggro. As I have recalled, the last time that it was a top-tier deck built in the format was back in Amonkhet Standard. We try to compare the power level of this decklist below.

Reference: https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=33498&d=455281&f=ST

The ideal one-drop here is Champion of the Perished which gets to pump as you have more Zombies enter the battlefield. This is partnered with Shambling Ghast, the role is more of a utility critter that you can sac for Deadly Dispute and Eaten Alive and also can battle trade for random X/2s or X/1s.

A playset of Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia is another Zombie token generator that also benefits the Champion and your sacrifice spells mentioned above. Archghoul of Thraben, Fell Stinger, and Headless Rider are your three-drops that make sure your board is consistently filled despite the expected spot removals and creature trades from opponents.

The Zombie Dragon Ebondeath, Dracolich goes with the advantage of evasion and resiliency. It can also trade with Goldspan Dragons and the Flash ability means that you can cast it at the end of opponents’ turns provided the condition is fulfilled and then attack during your turn.

Tainted Adversary is basically a five-drop for it to generate card advantage with its mana sink ability. It can also fill the role of a two-drop if needed for an aggressive start. The Deathtouch bonus can get it to trade with bigger Green or White creatures.

The spell choices here are pretty basic for the Black creature deck build. What is interesting is the single copy of The Meathook Massacre that can be useful in wiping out an opponent’s aggro in dire situations or a siphon card against control decks.

As for the sideboard, the two basic strategies are for dealing with control and other aggro decks. Discard spells work well in disrupting the control gameplan and taking out their mass removal with Duress. Ray of Enfeeblement is against the Mono-White Aggro deck which is currently the top choice deck under this archetype category.

Overall, I can suggest this deck for your next Standard tournament whether locally or online as it is well-built based on the main deck and sideboard against the current metagame. There are several MTG Arena of this deck where you can check on its actual gameplay for reference.

That is a wrap for now. Until next time and thanks for reading.