The deck Blue White Auras has made an appearance early this year with the introduction of the components from Rivals of Ixalan, specifically Curious Obsession. With the arrival of Dominaria in the format, I checked on the possible additions and found two relevant cards as based on the current metagame: Danitha Capashen, Paragon, and Knight of Grace. Danitha is already a powerful 3-drop with the 3 abilities and also lessens your cost for the two-mana Auras. Knight of Grace was preferred over the Adorned Pouncer because of its evasion to popular spot removals like Fatal Push and Unlicensed Disintegration. That said, here below is my version of the DOM updated Blue White Auras:

Lands
4 Island
6 Plains
3 Shefet Dunes
3 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress

Creatures
3 Danitha Capashen, Paragon
4 Knight of Grace
3 Sacred Cat
3 Siren Stormtamer
4 Sram, Senior Edificer

Spells
1 Arcane Flight
2 Dive Down
4 Curious Obsession
3 Sheltering Light
3 Legion’s Landing/Adanto, the First Fort
4 Cartouche of Knowledge
4 Cartouche of Solidarity
2 One With the Wind

I have found this deck archetype while looking for possible deck brews that can a base list for my future Standard deck brews. The deck is fully composed of Green creatures, with about a touch of Blue for a particular card tech: Arcane Flight. I do not really know the efficiency of this card, being only two copies in the deck. Maybe because it will let the biggest fatty get past through relevant blockers.

Anyhow, here below is the full decklist:

Maindeck
21 LANDS
4 Botanical Sanctum
10 Forest
2 Hashep Oasis
4 Hinterland Harbor
1 Island
25 CREATURES
3 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
3 Jadelight Ranger
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Merfolk Branchwalker

3 Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter
2 Rhonas the Indomitable
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4 Steel Leaf Champion

4 INSTANTS and SORC.
4 Blossoming Defense

10 OTHER SPELLS
2 Arcane Flight
3 Heart of Kiran
3 Mox Amber
2 Nissa, Steward of Elements

SIDEBOARD
1 Arborback Stomper
2 Deathgorge Scavenger
2 Karn, Scion of Urza
2 Negate
1 Nissa, Vital Force
2 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
3 Thrashing Brontodon
2 Unsummon

The deck also caters the combo of Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter with Mox Amber which will enhance the mana ramp speed of the deck. The deck finished Top 8 of a local tournament and you can find the rest of the decks here.

It is a bit late to post this news as it is already 4 days past the recent Grand Prix in Birmingham but I am still glad to share this deck, with me being a big fan of Black Red Aggro deck archetypes. The deck was played by Simon Nielsen, who placed 8th after the 15 initial Swiss rounds. He defeated the Top seed BG Constrictor deck with the lethal Ribbons in the deciding game before winning the Semis Mirror matchup. The finals match was somewhat intense as the favor mostly goes with the UW Control player Leon Lahonen which had defeated Black Red decks left and right on the second day of the GP. Three matches later, Nielsen emerged as the winner and crowned champion of Grand Prix Birmingham. Here below is his decklist for Rakdos Aggro:

25 LANDS
1 Aether Hub
4 Canyon Slough
2 Cinder Barrens
4 Dragonskull Summit
11 Mountain
2 Spire of Industry
1 Swamp

19 CREATURES
2 Glorybringer
4 Goblin Chainwhirler
2 Pia Nalaar
2 Rekindling Phoenix
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Soul-Scar Mage
2 Walking Ballista

9 INSTANTS and SORC.
4 Abrade
2 Magma Spray
3 Unlicensed Disintegration

7 OTHER SPELLS
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Heart of Kiran
2 Karn, Scion of Urza

SIDEBOARD
1 Angrath, the Flame-Chained
2 Chandra’s Defeat
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Cut / Ribbons
1 Doomfall
3 Duress
1 Fiery Cannonade
1 Glorybringer
1 Heartless Pillage
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Release the Gremlins
1 Vraska’s Contempt

I was able to drop by the new Games and Comics shop yesterday right after my office hours to check on any developments of the place. The real reason though is that I will be buying Dominaria booster packs since they have announced on their FB page that their boxes have arrived. This is for trying my luck to open a planeswalker Karn and any other cards that we need for Standard. It did not disappoint though as I was able to open the tenth booster pack. Karn was there looking at me while hiding behind a Gaea’s Blessing. Overall here is a screenshot of my card loots:

Three Mythics (Jaya Ballard and Multani) for ten booster packs is not bad and if ever I did not open one, I would up my booster pack purchase count. That would cost a lot but then it is given a gamble and the good thing is it paid off. That would compensate to the three Dominaria boxes that we purchased that did not even have one Karn.

Anyhow, I have also talked with the owner with regards to his application to become a Local Game Store of Magic: the Gathering and he said that he is still waiting for the reply from Wizards. He also looked forward to having the construction of the shop’s second-floor finish by end of May. That would just perfect for the class opening with the goal to promote Magic to the new players and students. I will devise a plan and schedule for that soon.

To conclude, it was a productive night with the Karn loot along with the Nth Dimension store updates. They will be announcing an official opening soon so just stay tuned on their page and also on this blog.

Until the next post. Ciao.

As I browsed through the initial waves of Dominaria Standard in Magic Online, I came upon this decklist of an archetype that once were popularized at the time when Kaladesh was the recent Standard set. Paradoxical Outcome is the main key to cantrip all of your artifacts whereas Aetherflux Reservoir is your win condition to gain enough life to kill your opponent with 50 damage. Here below is the updated decklist with the inclusion of the Mythic artifact Mox Amber.

Creature (12)
2 Artificer’s Assistant
2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
4 Glint-Nest Crane
4 Ornithopter

Sorcery (7)
3 Baral’s Expertise
4 Reverse Engineer

Instant (6)
2 Commit // Memory
4 Paradoxical Outcome

Artifact (17)
1 Aetherflux Reservoir
4 Inspiring Statuary
4 Mox Amber
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Renegade Map

Land (18)
1 Inventors’ Fair
17 Island

Sideboard (15)
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Commit // Memory
1 Efficient Construction
1 Key to the City
2 Metallic Rebuke
1 Negate
2 River’s Rebuke
1 Silent Gravestone
1 Spell Swindle
1 The Antiquities War
2 Treasure Map
1 Aetherflux Reservoir