Welcome to mid-week here on the Daily Dose of Hour of Devastation, where the previews are coming at us at a fast pace. Late last week, I talked a little bit about the return of Deserts in Hour of Devastation. Amonkhet brought us four Desert cards as well as Shefet Monitor, which allowed you to put a Desert card directly onto the battlefield from your library when you cycle it. Well, Hour of Devastation has taken that into overdrive, with 13 new Desert lands to play with. Not only that, but it has given us a multitude of spells and creatures that utilize having Deserts on the battlefield.
Today I’m going to show you a decklist I’ve come up with that takes advantage of all that the new Desert lands and Desert cards have to offer. Before I do that though, let’s go over some of these new cards. First is a creature land that will require the help of some lands in your graveyard. Here's Hostile Desert.
A 3/4 land creature for only two mana is pretty strong. True, you need to have some lands in your graveyard to activate it, but that shouldn’t be a problem. There are already Desert lands that have you sacrifice Deserts, as well as some that have cycling. Being able to avoid a lot of removal and get in for three damage with a land creature can be a great way to finish off your opponent.
Next is a cycle of uncommon Desert lands, that I’m calling mono-Painlands. Let’s have a look at the Red and Green ones I’ll be using in this deck. Here are Hashep Oasis and Ramunap Ruins.
Once Painlands rotated out with Magic Origins, there was a void for lands that could produce both colourless and coloured mana. But the wait is now over! Not only do you get two different types of mana in one land with these cards, which come into play untapped, but you get a sweet ability that can be used repeatedly. The fact that these cards let you sacrifice any Desert and not just themselves means that each extra Desert you have in play could be worth two to three extra points of damage. I love lands that do that little bit extra, and this cycle of lands does the trick.
Next, I want to talk about a ramp spell that fits perfectly into this Desert deck. Here's a look at the brand new Hour of Promise.
I want to talk about how powerful it is to be able to search for two lands. Not just basic lands, but any two lands. Currently in Standard there are only two such cards that let you do that. They are Sylvan Scrying and Ulvenwald Hydra. Actually, forget just Standard, there are only a few cards ever that allow you to do that. Others include Crop Rotation and Primeval Titan. Primeval Titan is the only other spell that lets you search your library for two lands and put them directly onto the battlefield. Being that this deck plays an abundance of Desert lands, 99% of the time when you play this spell you'll also get two 2/2 Zombies on your side of the battlefield as well. Not bad for five mana.
Let’s have a look at what I’ve created using these fun new Desert toys from Hour of Devastation.
This deck plays 19 Desert lands which means you will have some in play always. There are plenty of ways to get lands in your graveyard since many of the new lands ask you to sacrifice a Desert to gain an ability. Hour of Promise will give you a board presence while at the same time, building your Desert army on the battlefield. Ramunap Excavator will allow you to take all those lands you’ve put in your graveyard and bring them back onto the battlefield to sacrifice again.
So, are you excited to see more Desert cards in Hour of Devastation? I’m looking forward to seeing if they add a couple more Desert related cards later in the week, but even without any more, there's plenty to work with as of right now. Thanks again for joining me on the Daily Dose of Hour of Devastation. I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow for some more Hour of Devastation fun!
