Preparing for the new meta after Born of the Gods is not just a walk in the park. Each of the new card’ potential should be checked and on which deck archetype it will fit. Also, possible archetypes could arise with some new card interactions presented in the set. As for this post, I am to explore Gruul Monsters and on what standing (Tier 1, Tier 2 and so on) the deck is currently positioned.

My recent straightforward Red and Green list might do well against the top decks, but I think it still lacks some aspects. That is where we decided that the splash color is needed and we chose White. The reasons are:

1. Access to Chained to the Rocks which is a good answer to most threats in the meta (i.e. Desecration Demon, Boros Reckoner, etc)
2. Post board has the option for Boros Charm versus Supreme Verdict or spot removals and Assemble the Legion which is good versus most control decks.

With that in mind, we (Mao and I) also fixed the mana base with addition of the eight shocklands with access to White.

Chained to the Rocks took the spot of Magma Jet from the previous list and the new card addition from Born of the Gods is Xenagos, God of Revels.

Here is the decklist:

Lands
4 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple Garden

Creatures
2 Boon Satyr
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Xenagos, God of Revels

Spells
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Domri Rade
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Xenagos, the Reveler

Sideboard
1 Assemble the Legion
3 Boros Charm
2 Destructive Revelry
4 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Nylea’s Disciple
1 Time to Feed

It was good news for me as I have already completed the deck on paper last night. Big thanks to Oliver for opening the second Xenagod. I was able to do some playtest vs Mono Black Devotion and here are the results summary.

Preboard: 3 wins, 1 defeat
Postboard: 3 wins, 2 defeats

What I have noticed is the deck’s vulnerability on Lifebane Zombie and which it can grab Xenagod from your hand. They would initially stop your ramp by killing the mana elves and then discarding your best creature. Though this might be unavoidable in the current setup, the best thing to do is to keep a four-spell hand, or five if you have the caryatid.

We shall see how the deck will perform against other archetypes as I will be playing this list tonight at our Friday Night Magic event. Wish me luck.