I’m not talking about some back story from the fiery (literally) planeswalker but what I am referring to is a deck archetype I’d wanted to try in the new Standard. It’s not actually new since the combo exists way back after the release of Magic2012. I believed the rotation paved way for the deck to shine in the current meta.
Before I start to discuss things, here is the decklist I came up with to give you a clear idea of what I am talking about. I nicknamed the deck “Omnislash”.
Lands
11 Swamp
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
6 Mountain
Creatures
1 Grave Titan
4 Solemn Simulacrum
Spells
1 Tezzeret’s Gambit
3 Arc Trail
1 Moan of the Unhallowed
4 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Sorin Markov
4 Slagstorm
2 Tribute to Hunger
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
1 Doom Blade
1 Sever the Bloodline
4 Distress
1 Batterskull
1 Go for the Throat
1 Dismember
2 Mind Rot
1 Sorin’s Vengeance
1 Surgical Extraction
As you will notice, the deck’s core combo is with Chandra the Firebrand and Sorin’s Vengeance. It can literally put the creature from 20 to zero in just one spell. The good thing is that the deck can do a lot if tricks with the red walker in the battlefield. I preferred the control approach since it will rely more on hand and board disruption and removal in order to successfully execute the combo.
Each card in the deck has its specific role, for example:
Distress and Mind Rot – these are obviously against control. Distress takes out the best card in hand and works well with Surgical Extraction. Same scenario with Mind Rot, though its situational use is on late game with the opponent at least two cards in hand. There is no worry now of Obstinate Baloth jumping out to battlefield. If you have the new version of Liliana, then that would be the better choice instead of this sorcery.
Slagstorm – this is Red’s best mass removal as of the moment and what I like about it is the 3 damage that can deal with Tempered Steeled Memnites or Pests and Sworded 1/1s. Also, it can also damage opponents’ walkers in control matchups.
Tribute to Hunger – Hexproof? Not a problem. The current two that are popular are Geist of the Saint Traft and the last Troll, Thrun. An upgrade of gain life maybe good against red but I’d still prefer the mana cost to be at least two.
Sever the Bloodline – this sorcery has gained popularity against Solar Flare so it is included in the deck and can be another Chandra ‘fork’ target.
The orders are just random one-ofs to balance the deck like Moan of the Unhallowed for critters and Tezzeret’s Gambit for card draw and Proliferate on the walker. Batterskull is obviously a red maindeck hate and can be a late game threat against other control decks.
As for the sideboard, there is not a specific list just yet but it will probably include more graveyard hate with additional extractions and anti artifacts like Manic Vandals and Shatter (to combo with Chandra of course). I’d also likely to add a third Mind Rot for control and maybe a second copy of Sever the Bloodline.
Take note that this is an untested list so feel free to do your own edits according to your preference. If the cards’ availability permits, I might give it a try in the next few weeks. Yeah, I’m still hoping those Chandra prices will go down since the hype is currently on Garruk.
I guess that’s about it. Good thing I was still able to write this post despite of being pissed about my f**ked up connection since Tuesday at the HQ. Anyhow, have a good day and thanks for reading guys. 😀