Hey guys, today I’m looking at two more decks for Theros Standard. This time they each feature one of the Titans. If you want to see even more Theros Standard decks, then you can check out my article about devotion decks here!
This is a fairly typical ramp deck with around half of its cards being ramp (16), half of its cards being bombs (15), and the last few being other stuff to try to keep you alive (5). Note that neither Nissa, Who Shakes the World nor Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath fit neatly into a category. For the numbers given above I counted Uro as both ramp and a threat while I only counted Nissa as a threat.
The Ramp
First things first: Gilded Goose is passable ramp; it’s a 1-drop which is okay. However, it also only produces mana once unless you want to spend excess mana one turn to make less the next turn. Paradise Druid is probably one of the best rates of CMC for mana produced in the deck. Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is closer to Wayward Swordtooth than it is to Courser of Kruphix, except with a cute interaction with Nissa. The reason I’m not playing more Dryads is because while if you have a lot of lands in your hand it can give you an insane amount of ramp, in most cases it will let you play an extra land once or twice, but then you’ll have no more lands to play. This is also why I’m only playing 3 each of Growth Spirals and Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath. They don’t always give you ramp. Growth Spiral is much more efficient than Uro, but Uro is also one of your biggest threats, so they see play in equal numbers. Circuitous Route is slightly more efficient than Paradise Druid, since it can’t be killed by removal. However, most times I would play Route I’m about to, or already can, play one of my bombs.
The Threats
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath is a value machine. However, it might take a little bit of time to get it out since you might not have 5 other cards in your graveyard. Nissa, Who Shakes the World is similar to Cauldron Familiar. If you can’t figure out why it’s in a deck, look around at the meta; it’s everywhere because it’s such a good card. Thryx, the Sudden Storm is an interesting one, it’s an okay creature because of its stats and keywords. I don’t really care if it reduces the cost of stuff, this is a ramp deck, it has the mana. The thing that interests me here is that with this none of my bombs can be countered. Kenrith, the Returned King is in here mainly because his life gain ability crushes mono-red. His red and black ability are also pretty good -- you just need Paradise Druid, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove, or Gilded Goose to make the mana. Hydroid Krasis also falls under the category of, “it’s good, next card”. Kiora Bests the Sea God is the Agent of Treachery replacement in this deck. It makes a hexproof threat, and also possibly lets you attack for lethal. If that wasn’t enough, it takes something as well. Sure, it doesn’t take it out of nowhere but that’s what Mass Manipulation is for.
Everything Else
I’m going to guess that you can figure out Teferi, Time Raveler and board wipes. One cute interaction to keep in mind is that Realm-Cloaked Giant doesn’t kill Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath. As for lands, I tried to play lots of forests for Nissa, but I still decided that with 27 lands I have enough space for 2 utility lands in Blast Zone and Labyrinth of Skophos.
This deck is a pile of some of the weirder red and black cards from the set.
The Weird New Cards
Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger doesn’t have the same value of its sibling, but it still can be a decent creature, assuming you have enough cards in your graveyard. Allure of the Unknown does give your opponent your best cards for free, but it then draws you 5 cards for free. This card could end up flopping and being horrible, but I’m a slave to the card draw. Ox of Agonas is some card draw if you’re empty-handed, but it’s not the best body on its own. It can be better when it escapes, though good luck getting 8 cards in the bin. Underworld Breach can get you a bunch of cards out of your graveyard, if you have enough mana and even more cards that you don’t want in the bin. It is only a 1-of because it’s terrible early game and sometimes late game too, but rebuilding your battlefield that fast is sometimes game-winning.
The Obvious Cards
Knight of the Ebon Legion is a strong card, but it does best in an aggro deck, which this is not. Dreadhorde Butcher can be great against decks with little defense since it snowballs so quickly. Stormfist Crusader is a decent creature and the card draw can be good if you can use it more effectively than your opponent. Murderous Rider and Bonecrusher Giant are both great value cards that are auto-included in every red and black deck. The 6 mana planeswalkers are the most value you can get in these colours, so they are obvious. Embercleave is a great way to alpha strike kill your opponent, but it’s a 1-of because I don’t have any Rotting Regisaurs. Dreadhorde Invasion can be a good way to always have a creature, and often a big beefy one too, as long as you keep your life total high enough. The rest of the deck is removal, because removal is good, who knew?
Anyway, thanks for reading. What weird new decks have you made? Let me know in the comments!
