Well it is a deck that encompasses from sacrificing a creature for an alternate desirable outcome. Often seen effects would be an enemy loses 'X' life while you gain 'X' life, target creature gains +X,+X and/or "random temporary ability", creature gains protection from color of your choice or Scry 'X' or Draw 'X'.
What colors does this typically run?
Often seen combos are: black/white, black/green, black/red or black/blue or sometimes a tri-color combo of any of the listed. You should find what clicks for your own play style.
This is my take on the often off the wall deck archetype. I am currently keeping it from Kaladesh on up. It is my personal opinion to do so but I will talk about some other options from previous current standard legal blocks, I will offer budget friendly options, and notable mentions! Please feel free to leave feedback and what you run with or what I should use! Love to see what others have for ideas. Remember it's always good to think "outside the box".
So here is a quick brush up on cards from previous blocks that are still standard that you may want to add to your deck. Cannot go without saying Zulaport Cutthroat. He does exactly what the deck wants and fills in a lower curve of creature CMC. Westvale Abbey I'll just leave this right here. A great win-con when you have multiple tokens/creatures out with an engine to fill your fodder. Who doesn't like a 9/7 demon anyways? Grasp of Darkness Hands down an amazing spot removal with instant speed. Stasis Snare Yet another instant speed spot removal. Angel of Invention Another alternate win-con. Buff up all your creatures including your little 1/1 tokens. All while increasing Marionette's potential damage output and while fueling your sacrifice fodder. I say yes!
Here's to all my other Planeswalkers with not so much deep pockets. I've got you covered. Sacred Cat Has some sustain from lifelink, you can choose to sacrifice it and bring it back. Great vs aggro match ups and board wipes. Doomed Dissenter Another good option as Sacred just doesn't have sustain. Oketra's Monument Great alternate to Anointed. Doesn't double your output of tokens but it definitely keeps them coming at a faster rate. All while keeping some creatures cheaper! Can't afford any of the Gods? Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Bontu's Monument fills the spot while keeping the theme. There's quite a few other options you can run. I can help if you need any ideas.
Notable mentions! Tattered Mummy Why not sacrifice something and make them lose even more life? They'll love you for it! Inspiring Statuary can free up more needed mana per turn! Metalwork Colossus I could see this card making its way somehow into the idea. Could easily fill him in if you tried. Especially running both Monuments and Statuary. Syndicate Trafficker Yet another sacrifice outlet and gains indestructible? Uh, nice! Altar's Reap Another sacrifice outlet with card draw to fill your hand. Diabolic Tutor Looking for that specific card? Is it one of the Gods or maybe Metalwork?
As always let me know what you think! All feedback is good feedback. Even constructive criticism.
I'm still ironing out the kinks in the deck itself and also the sideboard. I can tell you right now, the deck is fairly strong. It follows more "traditional" aristocrat style decks by draining life from our opponent via various ETB, LTB, and sack effects, but with a twist: The deck simultaneously allows us to generate enough mana to consistently exile 2-3 of our opponent's permanents with Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim once we reach 30 life.
The Win Conditions
-Drain opponents LP's via various ETB, LTB, sack effects.
-"Go wide" strategy attacking with more small creatures than our opponent can block.
-"Go big" strategy attacking with indestructible 5/5 horses + Bontu the Glorified, and sometimes, a suped-up Yahenni, Undying Partisan.
I feel like the deck is neutered without Panharmonicon due to all the ETB, and that panharmonicon boosts marionette master to 7 on initial drop, which is more than enough to kill someone outright with just 3 artifact pops. Works great with clues (thraben inspector).
I feel like the deck is neutered without Panharmonicon due to all the ETB, and that panharmonicon boosts marionette master to 7 on initial drop, which is more than enough to kill someone outright with just 3 artifact pops. Works great with clues (thraben inspector).
Which deck, mine or the OP's? I honestly don't think I have any room in my build to support it, unless I were to replace Anointed Procession with it. Essentially, they would serve the same role, although I'm not sure what the ruling would be with Panharmonicon + the Eternalize mechanic (I don't think it does because there isn't a "when" or "whenever" clause in eternalize's description). I also believe it doesn't work with Hidden Stockpile (but I could be mistaken). It's important my build produces creature tokens more than anything else. That being said, I've made a few changes to the deck after testing for about 4 Hrs:
I added +3 Yahenni's Expertise to the SB. Since the deck only runs six cards with CMC's higher than 3, I love the idea of being able to nuke the board and gain a bunch of life if Zulaport Cutthroat is on the battlefield, then casting a Lifecrafter's Bestiary after that for free. Which leads me to the other changes I made to the deck. I replaced Yahenni, Undying Partisan with Bestiary for a number of reasons. 1) I was only running Yahenni as a "two of," and as such, never really saw him as often as I would've liked. Even with all of the scry and card draw built into the deck. 2) When I did see him, I never really wanted to cast him. The problem is that it never really advanced my board. Yahenni is good at protecting itself, but his sack ability, although free, doesn't do anything for the team or increase my lifepoints. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim gains me life and allows me to exile other permanents when she sacks. Hidden Stockpile allows me to scry and generate a Servo token when it sacks. And Bontu the Glorified allows me to scry and gain life when she sacks. In the end, I only cast it when I didn't have anything else to do, which let me tell you, is very rare. In light of losing Yahenni in the deck, I kept trying to come up with a suitable replacement. I'd thought of adding in +2 Hidden Stockpile, but then thought of a card I owned that hasn't seen much play in Standard all that much. That card was Lifecrafter's Bestiary. I like Bestiary because it allows me to scry for free on my upkeep, and allows me to draw into deck fairly fast. Most games I play it, I'm drawing into at least one extra card per my turn.
In a deck that's so low to the ground, I didn't like having so many lands entering the battlefield tapped. So I removed Desert of the True from the deck. And because the deck wants to constantly sack creatures for various effects, I saw no need to pay four mana and sacking a desert just to pump my creatures for a turn. So out went Shefet Dunes. Instead, I added +4 Spire of Industry (so I have G mana for Bestiary's draw ability) and upped my Plains count +2 in place of -2 Swamps.
I feel like the deck is neutered without Panharmonicon due to all the ETB, and that panharmonicon boosts marionette master to 7 on initial drop, which is more than enough to kill someone outright with just 3 artifact pops. Works great with clues (thraben inspector).
Which deck, mine or the OP's? I honestly don't think I have any room in my build to support it, unless I were to replace Anointed Procession with it. Essentially, they would serve the same role, although I'm not sure what the ruling would be with Panharmonicon + the Eternalize mechanic (I don't think it does because there isn't a "when" or "whenever" clause in eternalize's description). I also believe it doesn't work with Hidden Stockpile (but I could be mistaken). It's important my build produces creature tokens more than anything else. That being said, I've made a few changes to the deck after testing for about 4 Hrs:
I added +3 Yahenni's Expertise to the SB. Since the deck only runs six cards with CMC's higher than 3, I love the idea of being able to nuke the board and gain a bunch of life if Zulaport Cutthroat is on the battlefield, then casting a Lifecrafter's Bestiary after that for free. Which leads me to the other changes I made to the deck. I replaced Yahenni, Undying Partisan with Bestiary for a number of reasons. 1) I was only running Yahenni as a "two of," and as such, never really saw him as often as I would've liked. Even with all of the scry and card draw built into the deck. 2) When I did see him, I never really wanted to cast him. The problem is that it never really advanced my board. Yahenni is good at protecting itself, but his sack ability, although free, doesn't do anything for the team or increase my lifepoints. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim gains me life and allows me to exile other permanents when she sacks. Hidden Stockpile allows me to scry and generate a Servo token when it sacks. And Bontu the Glorified allows me to scry and gain life when she sacks. In the end, I only cast it when I didn't have anything else to do, which let me tell you, is very rare. In light of losing Yahenni in the deck, I kept trying to come up with a suitable replacement. I'd thought of adding in +2 Hidden Stockpile, but then thought of a card I owned that hasn't seen much play in Standard all that much. That card was Lifecrafter's Bestiary. I like Bestiary because it allows me to scry for free on my upkeep, and allows me to draw into deck fairly fast. Most games I play it, I'm drawing into at least one extra card per my turn.
In a deck that's so low to the ground, I didn't like having so many lands entering the battlefield tapped. So I removed Desert of the True from the deck. And because the deck wants to constantly sack creatures for various effects, I saw no need to pay four mana and sacking a desert just to pump my creatures for a turn. So out went Shefet Dunes. Instead, I added +4 Spire of Industry (so I have G mana for Bestiary's draw ability) and upped my Plains count +2 in place of -2 Swamps.
Went down -1 Crested Sunmare MB and moved +3 Fatal Push MB for faster removal against Ramunap Red and Mono Black Zombies matchups. Also moved Anguished Unmaking to the SB to be boarded in against Hazoret the Fervent Game 2. Removed Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet from the deck entirely. He didn't really help the deck out all the much, and was kinda late to the party most games. Instead, I opted to run Kambal, Consul of Allocation in the SB. Kambul is good because he either negates or lessens the amount of damage we take from direct burn spells from Ramunap Red. He also great against control decks if he resolves, especially UR Control/Izzet Burn. A minor but not insignificant change I made was removing Anointer Priest from the deck and replacing her with God-Pharoah's Faithful. With Priest, I wasn't gaining nearly as much life as I wanted as fast I needed to, not only to survive Ramunap Red, but also to turn on Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim's exile ability quicker. Faithful is the kinda card that normally slots into control decks, but works great here because the deck runs many wb and b spells to gain us life. It also acts as a great blocker early because she has a big butt(toughness). All in all, I'm happy where the deck is for now.
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What is an Aristocrat deck?
Well it is a deck that encompasses from sacrificing a creature for an alternate desirable outcome. Often seen effects would be an enemy loses 'X' life while you gain 'X' life, target creature gains +X,+X and/or "random temporary ability", creature gains protection from color of your choice or Scry 'X' or Draw 'X'.
What colors does this typically run?
Often seen combos are: black/white, black/green, black/red or black/blue or sometimes a tri-color combo of any of the listed. You should find what clicks for your own play style.
This is my take on the often off the wall deck archetype. I am currently keeping it from Kaladesh on up. It is my personal opinion to do so but I will talk about some other options from previous current standard legal blocks, I will offer budget friendly options, and notable mentions! Please feel free to leave feedback and what you run with or what I should use! Love to see what others have for ideas. Remember it's always good to think "outside the box".
3 Bontu the Glorified
2 Oketra the True
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Bone Picker
3 Marionette Master
2 Herald of Anguish
Instant/ Sorcery: 15
2 Fatal Push
2 Never // Return
4 Servo Exhibition
4 Start // Finish
3 Sram's Expertise
4 Hidden Stockpile
2 Anointed Procession
Land: 22
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Forsaken Sanctuary
8 Swamp
6 Plains
2 Filigree Familiar
1 Fumigate
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
2 Dusk // Dawn
2 Dispossess
2 Fatal Push
2 Vengeful Rebel
So here is a quick brush up on cards from previous blocks that are still standard that you may want to add to your deck. Cannot go without saying Zulaport Cutthroat. He does exactly what the deck wants and fills in a lower curve of creature CMC. Westvale Abbey I'll just leave this right here. A great win-con when you have multiple tokens/creatures out with an engine to fill your fodder. Who doesn't like a 9/7 demon anyways? Grasp of Darkness Hands down an amazing spot removal with instant speed. Stasis Snare Yet another instant speed spot removal. Angel of Invention Another alternate win-con. Buff up all your creatures including your little 1/1 tokens. All while increasing Marionette's potential damage output and while fueling your sacrifice fodder. I say yes!
Here's to all my other Planeswalkers with not so much deep pockets. I've got you covered. Sacred Cat Has some sustain from lifelink, you can choose to sacrifice it and bring it back. Great vs aggro match ups and board wipes. Doomed Dissenter Another good option as Sacred just doesn't have sustain. Oketra's Monument Great alternate to Anointed. Doesn't double your output of tokens but it definitely keeps them coming at a faster rate. All while keeping some creatures cheaper! Can't afford any of the Gods? Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Bontu's Monument fills the spot while keeping the theme. There's quite a few other options you can run. I can help if you need any ideas.
Notable mentions! Tattered Mummy Why not sacrifice something and make them lose even more life? They'll love you for it! Inspiring Statuary can free up more needed mana per turn! Metalwork Colossus I could see this card making its way somehow into the idea. Could easily fill him in if you tried. Especially running both Monuments and Statuary. Syndicate Trafficker Yet another sacrifice outlet and gains indestructible? Uh, nice! Altar's Reap Another sacrifice outlet with card draw to fill your hand. Diabolic Tutor Looking for that specific card? Is it one of the Gods or maybe Metalwork?
As always let me know what you think! All feedback is good feedback. Even constructive criticism.
The Deck:
2 Westvale Abbey
2 Shefet Dunes
4 Desert of the True
4 Shambling Vent
4 Concealed Courtyard
6 Swamp
2 Plains
CREATURES 28
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Anointer Priest
4 Crested Sunmare
4 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 Bontu the Glorified
4 Zulaport Cutthroat
4 Carrier Thrall
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Altar's Reap
ENCHANTMENTS 4
2 Anointed Procession
2 Hidden Stockpile
2 Stasis Snare
2 Cast Out
2 Dusk // Dawn
1 Never // Return
3 Fatal Push
5 ?
I'm still ironing out the kinks in the deck itself and also the sideboard. I can tell you right now, the deck is fairly strong. It follows more "traditional" aristocrat style decks by draining life from our opponent via various ETB, LTB, and sack effects, but with a twist: The deck simultaneously allows us to generate enough mana to consistently exile 2-3 of our opponent's permanents with Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim once we reach 30 life.
The Win Conditions
-Drain opponents LP's via various ETB, LTB, sack effects.
-"Go wide" strategy attacking with more small creatures than our opponent can block.
-"Go big" strategy attacking with indestructible 5/5 horses + Bontu the Glorified, and sometimes, a suped-up Yahenni, Undying Partisan.
Which deck, mine or the OP's? I honestly don't think I have any room in my build to support it, unless I were to replace Anointed Procession with it. Essentially, they would serve the same role, although I'm not sure what the ruling would be with Panharmonicon + the Eternalize mechanic (I don't think it does because there isn't a "when" or "whenever" clause in eternalize's description). I also believe it doesn't work with Hidden Stockpile (but I could be mistaken). It's important my build produces creature tokens more than anything else. That being said, I've made a few changes to the deck after testing for about 4 Hrs:
2 Westvale Abbey
4 Spire of Industry
4 Shambling Vent
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Swamp
6 Plains
CREATURES 25
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Anointer Priest
3 Crested Sunmare
4 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Bontu the Glorified
4 Zulaport Cutthroat
4 Carrier Thrall
2 Altar's Reap
3 Fatal Push
ENCHANTMENTS 4
2 Anointed Procession
2 Hidden Stockpile
ARTIFACTS 2
2 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
2 Stasis Snare
2 Cast Out
2 Dusk // Dawn
2 Anguished Unmaking
1 Never // Return
3 Yahenni's Expertise
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
I added +3 Yahenni's Expertise to the SB. Since the deck only runs six cards with CMC's higher than 3, I love the idea of being able to nuke the board and gain a bunch of life if Zulaport Cutthroat is on the battlefield, then casting a Lifecrafter's Bestiary after that for free. Which leads me to the other changes I made to the deck. I replaced Yahenni, Undying Partisan with Bestiary for a number of reasons. 1) I was only running Yahenni as a "two of," and as such, never really saw him as often as I would've liked. Even with all of the scry and card draw built into the deck. 2) When I did see him, I never really wanted to cast him. The problem is that it never really advanced my board. Yahenni is good at protecting itself, but his sack ability, although free, doesn't do anything for the team or increase my lifepoints. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim gains me life and allows me to exile other permanents when she sacks. Hidden Stockpile allows me to scry and generate a Servo token when it sacks. And Bontu the Glorified allows me to scry and gain life when she sacks. In the end, I only cast it when I didn't have anything else to do, which let me tell you, is very rare. In light of losing Yahenni in the deck, I kept trying to come up with a suitable replacement. I'd thought of adding in +2 Hidden Stockpile, but then thought of a card I owned that hasn't seen much play in Standard all that much. That card was Lifecrafter's Bestiary. I like Bestiary because it allows me to scry for free on my upkeep, and allows me to draw into deck fairly fast. Most games I play it, I'm drawing into at least one extra card per my turn.
In a deck that's so low to the ground, I didn't like having so many lands entering the battlefield tapped. So I removed Desert of the True from the deck. And because the deck wants to constantly sack creatures for various effects, I saw no need to pay four mana and sacking a desert just to pump my creatures for a turn. So out went Shefet Dunes. Instead, I added +4 Spire of Industry (so I have G mana for Bestiary's draw ability) and upped my Plains count +2 in place of -2 Swamps.
OP's Deck, sorry.
2 Westvale Abbey
4 Spire of Industry
4 Shambling Vent
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Swamp
6 Plains
CREATURES 25
4 Thraben Inspector
4 God-Pharoah's Faithful
3 Crested Sunmare
4 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Bontu the Glorified
4 Zulaport Cutthroat
4 Carrier Thrall
2 Altar's Reap
3 Fatal Push
ENCHANTMENTS 4
2 Anointed Procession
2 Hidden Stockpile
ARTIFACTS 2
2 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
2 Stasis Snare
2 Cast Out
2 Dusk // Dawn
2 Anguished Unmaking
1 Never // Return
3 Yahenni's Expertise
3 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
Went down -1 Crested Sunmare MB and moved +3 Fatal Push MB for faster removal against Ramunap Red and Mono Black Zombies matchups. Also moved Anguished Unmaking to the SB to be boarded in against Hazoret the Fervent Game 2. Removed Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet from the deck entirely. He didn't really help the deck out all the much, and was kinda late to the party most games. Instead, I opted to run Kambal, Consul of Allocation in the SB. Kambul is good because he either negates or lessens the amount of damage we take from direct burn spells from Ramunap Red. He also great against control decks if he resolves, especially UR Control/Izzet Burn. A minor but not insignificant change I made was removing Anointer Priest from the deck and replacing her with God-Pharoah's Faithful. With Priest, I wasn't gaining nearly as much life as I wanted as fast I needed to, not only to survive Ramunap Red, but also to turn on Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim's exile ability quicker. Faithful is the kinda card that normally slots into control decks, but works great here because the deck runs many wb and b spells to gain us life. It also acts as a great blocker early because she has a big butt(toughness). All in all, I'm happy where the deck is for now.