M14 I can say is still a promising set. Even with less money rares to expect than the usual, I am pretty sure it can fix or improve a few of the deck archetypes in Standard. Speaking of which, my featured archetype for the week is the Aristocrats, with a taste of M14 in the form of Xathrid Necromancer. This Rotlung Reanimator 2.0 fits perfectly in an old version of deck which is Tom Martell’s winning list from Pro Tour Gatecrash. We are to be ditching out Boros Reckoner in favor of Champion of the Parish and the necromancer.

Here is my proposed list:

Human Aristocrats by Mark Ian Alloso
Standard

Main Deck
4 Blood Artist
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Skirsdag High Priest
4 Xathrid Necromancer

4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Tragic Slip
1 Path of Bravery

2 Blood Crypt
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Clifftop Retreat
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
3 Swamp

The deck can curve out as a beatdown deck with Champion into Cartel or Gather the Townsfolk while also becoming more resilient to mass removal. With eight sacrifice outlets, even a single Blood Artist and a necromancer in the battlefield coupled with a few Humans can spell disaster and a fast kill of an opponent.

Replacing the Minotaur Wizard with humans allows us to play Cavern of Souls again, dodging counterspells if ever it becomes a popular strategy again in the format.

We still stick with Tragic Slip as the best removal in the maindeck, and we have option to add the likes of Doom Blade or Fiend Hunter (or its 2/2 version) in the board.

Path of Bravery is our sole pump option, since you are on an aggressive route and Blood Artist gives you life gain in case you took early damage. Imagine this as your third turn after Champion and Gather the Townsfolk. Note that all creatures you control, not only White creatures so it can even abruptly pump your Zombie tokens.

I am pretty sure Xathrid Necromancer will see play this coming weekend as M14 becomes legal in Standard. It might be not exactly like the list above, but its context of support value is too good not to be considered.

Until next post, and thanks for reading.