A few card previews from the upcoming big set Khans of Tarkir has been revealed in the recent Duel Decks edition: Speed versus Cunning. One card in particular that I have noticed was the Mardu Heart-Piercer and its mechanic, Raid.

The ability triggers when you have attacked a creature this turn, in this case Mardu Heart-Piercer deals 2 damage to target creature or player. This works well if you have early beaters on your first three turns, in which most aggro deck has this feature. This also gets you a similar trigger in cards like Goblin Rabblemaster.

Here is a sample Standard Red aggro decklist post rotation:

Creatures
4 Akroan Crusader
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Mardu Heart-Piercer
4 Mogis’s Warhound

Spells
3 Titan’s Strength
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Lightning Strike
4 Dragon Mantle

Lands
19 Mountain
3 Temple of Triumph

The Boss Sligh which I referenced its build as I expect this archetype will still be around in Standard post rotation. Mardu Heart-Piercer is the only top curve creature on the deck, with twelve one drops for a consistent first-two-turns punch. Its one Red mana casting cost also benefits it on being used on other two-color aggro decks like Rakdos (Black Red) and Gruul (Red Green).

I am expecting cheap and a variety of Raid cards in the coming spoiler weeks so I might post an updated deck list.

Until next time.