Naya Humans is a deck that saw play pre-Gatecrash as an aggro/midrange hybrid list. It had the potential for explosive starts (Champion > Mayor > Silverblade) and also a very strong midgame in the form of Huntmaster, Restoration Angel, Zealous Conscripts, and many Gavony Townships.
With the release of Gatecrash, I feel that two cards in particular encourage the Naya Human list towards more all-in aggro:
These two cards allow for incredibly explosive starts, with many lines of play leading to T4 kills and there are a couple possible T3 kills as well.
UPDATE: Boros Charm is being relegated to the sideboard more and more, but BTE has obviously proven itself to be an all-star of this format.
The other card that definitely deserves a maindeck spot from GTC is Frontline Medic. It makes combat very profitable if it stays around and is also an excellent way to deal with top deck Bonfires, Aurelia's Fury, Sphinx's. It's also just a 3/3 for 3, which fits the curve very solidly.
What makes this deck good?
The deck is super fast and consistent. There are many good opening hands and lines of play that result in T4 goldfish kills, and a couple lines of play are T3 kills.
Examples:
T3 Goldfish
T1 Champion > T2 BTE + Lightning Mauler (bond, swing for 7) > T3 Rancor on Champion + Boros Charm it (swing for 14).
T1 Champion > T2 BTE + Mayor (swing for 4 with Champion) > T3 Rancor Champion + Boros Charm it (swing for 16 exactly including Mayor; 6/4 double striking Champion [12] + 3/3 BTE [3] + Mayor [1]).
But sadly, we don't always get to live in magical christmasland. However, not all hope is lost! There are plenty of consistent T4 goldfish kills available and other very solid opening plays:
T1 Champion > T2 BTE + Mayor, swing for 4 and have 8 power on the board T2.
T1 Experiment One > T2 Experiment One + Boros Elite > T3 BTE + Frontline Medic, swing for 9
T1 no play > T2 BTE + Mauler > T3 Medic > T4 (2 drop) + Boros Charm
Not every hand is going to be blazing fast, but the general line of thinking is that by the time you hit 4 mana, you should have already established a great board presence and have mana up for Boros Charm or Hellrider to close out the game. Frontline Medic and Boros Charm provide resiliency and power simultaneously to the deck, and BTE is just absurdly explosive in this deck.
Keep in mind that if you don't have a T1 play, you REALLY want a BTE available along with something to play out with the RG mana from it. You can still get there without that, but hey, you're playing an aggro deck. T1 land-go is not exactly your bread and butter here.
If you're playing the version of the deck without Hellriders and with Giant Growths, you have a lot more options open to you for a kill on T3 but if your initial assault is blunted, you have very little recovery in the midgame (T4+).
Core Cards:
Experiment One
Champion of the Parish
Boros Elite
Burning-Tree Emissary
Lightning Mauler
Mayor of Avabruck
Frontline Medic
Searing Spear
Decklists
GP Quebec City 1st place - Naya Humans by Nico Christiansen
Keep in mind that Brad Nelson's suggested changes to the above list are -1 Frontline Medic, -1 Ghor-Clan Rampager, +1 land, +1 Giant Growth.
I agree with the -1 Medic, +1 land, but I like the Ghor-Clan Rampager as a 1 of. It makes your opponent have to play around it, and if they see it once they'll suspect you have more than just 1.
Boros Elite - I'm personally not very impressed with this card. It can't be cast for free off BTE, and Batallion is something you don't want to rely on to make a card good. I'd love to be proven wrong however, because Avacyn's Pilgrim isn't optimal for aggro but still allows for some very solid lines of play.
Experiment One - This seems like a better inclusion than Boros Elite - it's easily a 2/2 on T2, but the problem is that it's not easily a 3/3 on T3. If you have a good number of 3+ power or toughness creatures in your deck, consider this for your 1 drop slot.
Wolfbitten Captive - While this won't be a consistent 2 power creature on T2 like Experiment One in every match-up, it WILL be vs. the decks that have very few 1 CMC plays. However, any situation where it doesn't flip makes it very weak, and you usually can't afford to tie up your mana to pump this at any point in the game unless you get flooded.
Reckless Waif - This card is absurdly good vs. durdly decks when you're on the play. A possible sideboard option, similar to how RDW sideboards it.
Pillar of Flame - I don't see this as a good fit mainboard. We want to be casting creatures during the early turns, and Pillar is somewhat of a dead card vs. a lot of match-ups. Possibly a solid sideboard option though.
2 CMC:
Selesnya Charm - I wish we could somehow have room for 4 Selesnya Charm, 4 Rancor, 4 Boros Charm, 4 Searing Spear, etc. and all the creatures at once, but it's just not possible. I'm not sure if 4x Rancor is better than 4x Selesnya Charm, or if some sort of split is better, but I've noticed that Rancor plays much nicer with the curve (and for leaving mana open to Boros Charm) so it's the go-to pick for me currently. I do love Selesnya Charm though, but with less decks running Thundermaw Hellkite and with the goal to be racing UNDER Thragtusk most games, it's somewhat less appealing now.
Precinct Captain - I love this card, but I wanted to stay away from WW or RR costs as far as 2 drops are concerned because they just don't play well with BTE. Still a possible option though, Precinct Captain can be a beast.
Ash Zealot - Another awesome 2 drop that just doesn't play well with BTE. It's good, but BTE + Lightning Mauler or BTE + Mayor is just better for this deck in my opinion.
Truefire Paladin - If this could be cast off BTE it'd be a much better candidate for the 2-drop slot, but I think this doesn't quite fit. Our deck doesn't really have mana to spare for its activated abilities most of the time.
Searing Spear - This card pretty much speaks for itself, it's pretty much a 4-of in most lists running red. I think Selesnya Charm is more versatile, but removal/burn spells are crucial to a lot of aggro strategies, so Spear is no exception.
Nearheath Pilgrim - A card that if left unanswered on a board pretty much wins you the aggro matchup automatically. Pairs extremely well with Boros Reckoner too, if you run that.
3 CMC:
Domri Rade - This isn't exactly the sort of card you want maindecked (you don't want to spend your T2 or T3 not casting a threat, and his -2 Fight ability isn't great unless you have a big Champion on the field), but I think this could be a house against control. His +1 has around a 50% chance of drawing you an extra card, and his emblem basically reads "you win this game." A very good sideboard option.
Boros Reckoner - This card is just beastly. The mana can be tricky if you have to use Cavern on Human, or you get a colorless mana in your opening hand, but it's an incredibly brutal card and may well be worth running despite the consistency hit. I'm trying to keep the decklist as consistent as possible though, so I'm eschewing this one in favor of more Frontline Medics / Silverblade Paladins for now. As long as you find yourself able to consistently cast this guy though, go for it - he's insanely good vs. any creature deck.
Pyreheart Wolf - Unfortunately it's not a Pyreheart (Human) Werewolf, so we don't get the Human tribal synergy here. It's still such a good card in an aggro focused list that I wanted to keep in under consideration. I don't think it beats out Frontline Medic, Silverblade, or Boros Reckoner though.
Kessig Malcontents - I think Boros Charm provides enough reach, and it's hard for this card to compete with Medic, Reckoner, or Silverblade in terms of board impact.
4 CMC:
Hellrider - This card rocks faces in this deck, it is the go-to 4 drop of choice. Maindecked as of now. I highly recommend running at least 3.
Garruk Relentless - An all-star planeswalker from the pre-GTC Naya Human midrange deck, this guy still does serious work in our deck too. It's a slower maindeck option than most, but has a lot of versatility. Great vs. control, great vs. decks running optimal targets for his pinging ability, etc. A solid sideboard option, and can possibly be maindecked as well.
Huntmaster of the Fells - I don't think Huntmaster fits in the aggro plan, but he's not exactly bad either. His interaction with Mayor is absolutely phenomenal, and a T3 Huntmaster is nothing to scoff at. I think he doesn't belong in the aggro list though, at least not mainboard.
Ghor-Clan Rampager - This should probably be listed under 2 CMC, as you only want to cast this as a creature if you topdeck it on an empty board or something. Probably not the strongest card, but the idea of giving something +4/+4 and trample for 2 mana, with Silverblade and Boros Charm being in the deck, is definitely worth considering.
Spark Trooper - I don't think this is mainboard material, as it just gets completely shutdown by Blind Obedience, Orzhov Charm, Tragic Slip and Searing Spear. At least Hellrider coming down on T4 still gets you extra damage past Blind Obedience by swinging with your other creatures, and they take 3 damage if they Orzhov Charm it. This has potential as a sideboard card in the creature/aggro based mirrors though.
Sideboard Options (Under construction)
Almost Mandatory
Rest in Peace - Ever seen what a turn 3 Angel of Serenity does to an aggro deck? It's not pretty. RiP also comes in vs. the runechanter pike/snapcaster decks to great effect. Make sure you run at least 2 in the board, some people like 3.
Gruul Charm - Great for Lingering Souls based decks and pushing your board through Boros Reckoners and Thragtusks. Also not an unreasonable include vs. Olivia decks.
Fiend Hunter - Buffs Champion AND Experiment One, takes out Reckoners, becomes a 2/4 relevant body with a Mayor out, etc.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - This card is so good vs. spell heavy decks that I recommend maindecking it if you see a lot of control/flash players in your meta. I've finally relented and put mine in the sideboard, but I wasn't incredibly happy to do so.
Pacifism OR Bonds of Faith - Great in most of the aggro mirrors, just don't bring them in vs. any Restoration Angel decks.
Other really good options
Faith's Shield - Faith's Shield is one of the most criminally underplayed cards in the format and is almost never dead in hand. Protecting your Champions/Mayors/Frontline Medics/Hellriders is very important in any matchup where there is a lot of removal, and invalidating a T2/3 Azorius Charm on your Champion often wins you the game vs. control.
Selesnya Charm - There are decks that will get T4 Thragtusks / Obzedat / Thundermaws out consistently, and Charm is perfect here. Also not an unreasonable answer to a buffed Olivia. The +2/+2 trample option works amazing well with Boros Charm too, if you have WWGR available to you that turn.
Triumph of Ferocity - I loved this card to death in RTR-era standard. It's amazing for the control match-up. However, I think this aggro-focused version of the deck doesn't have the top-end cards that are powerful enough to go late-game against control regardless of how often you're drawing them. I think Domri is a more solid choice in a 30+ creature deck like this one though.
Huntmaster of the Fells - I've been entertaining the idea of being able to sideboard into more of a midrange-y list, but I'm not sure how it'll play out. Huntmaster's a great card though, so I don't want to eliminate the possibility of running him in the sideboard.
Domri Rade - We're running over 30 creatures in our deck, so this guy's +1 has approximately a 50% chance of netting us a card in hand. His -2 isn't so good unless we have some beefy creatures on the field (buffed Champion, Frontline Medic, etc) but can still do serious work given the right circumstances.
Garruk Relentless - A great card overall, I'd bring it in vs. control and vs. decks running creatures like Vampire Nighthawk, Izzet Staticaster, Huntmaster of the Fells, etc. If you get a flipped Garruk to stick, your opponent is in for a world of hurt as you start saccing Deathtouch wolves to fetch Hellriders.
Other possibilities
Volcanic Strength - This one's been catching on a lot in the aggro heavy meta, but I think that unless you're sure you're gonna be up against a lot of decks running mountains, don't run this in the sideboard.
We want to protect our Champions/Thalias/Silverblades/Mayors etc. from spot removal with Faith's Shield and bring in our card advantage (Domri Rade) and our best card vs. control (Boros Charm)
Lightning Mauler is really bad against Augur unless you have a Mayor out too, and we're taking out Searing Spears too so we really don't want to play BTE into Lightning Mauler and just sit there doing nothing vs. Augur of Bolas. We want to keep a couple Frontline Medics in even though the batallion won't often be relevant so we can counter late game Sphinx's after a board wipe. Pilgrim we're reducing by 1 because we don't really want to see more than 1, ever, in this matchup.
You really want to play a T2 Thalia vs. Esper whenever possible, so keep that in mind when analyzing your opening hand. You need to be ready for T4 (T5 with Thalia out) Supreme Verdict so have a Boros Charm ready if possible. Also watch out for Resto Angel.
VS. R/X aggro (R/G, R/W, mono R)
ON THE DRAW
+3 Nearheath Pilgrim
+2 Oblivion Ring
-3 Thalia
-2 Rancor
ON THE PLAY
+3 Nearheath Pilgrim
+2 Oblivion Ring
-3 Thalia
-2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
Matchups (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
This is my first try at a primer, so please feel free to supply constructive criticism! I'm really excited for Naya humans in GTC, and I want to brainstorm with the community to come up with the best list possible.
Thank you for linking me your thread! I searched the Competitive forum for Naya Humans and found basically 0 good results, I didn't think to search Standard Deck Creation.
Also your sample decklist turned up some cards I'd completely forgotten about:
I'm definitely going to add those to the Potential Card section. Skargg seems like a great 2-drop to board in for potentially longer matches, and especially if Thalia seems to not be relevant.
Skullcrack, I can't believe I forgot to put in the sideboard. I had it in there originally and just forgot to add it back in later apparently.
Other thoughts on your list:
- I can't part with Thalias from the mainboard (they turn so many game 1s into auto-wins), so that makes Gather the Townsfolk and especially Thatcher Revolt less appealing.
- Boros Charm can never be less than a 4-of. I'm 100% positive on this one.
- Searing Spear seemed like a weaker option than Rancor to me but I'm adding it to the Potential Card section.
- I'm not sure if Gavony's what we want to be doing with this kind of list but if the board does get clogged I agree it can get us there. I still like a 1-of Slayers' Stronghold for a lot of reasons though.
- You have Hellriders in your list, which as I noted in the Primer are one of the strongest options I'm considering right now.
I am super psyched to convert my GW human aggro into a naya human with gatecrash. I am especially looking forward to this list as it does not require me to break the bank for a playset of huntmasters
My GW experience boiled down to two major problems:
1. Sweepers.
2. Rakdos is faster and better vs sweepers.
rootborn defenses was just too much to ask for on t3/4 - not only do I have to actually draw it at the right time, I have to pass the turn and keep three mana open.
The changes I see in your naya list look to me like they seriously address these two issues. Boros charm and frontline medic (bonfire/aurelias) are our answers to board wipes, while also pulling other regular duties that rootborn defenses never could. Medic is even respectable post-verdict since he keeps them from doing their revelation for 3+.
I'm also hopeful that your move towards the mauler and BTE can make our speed compete with rakdos decks. My issue in that matchup was facing down guys who were faster and bigger than mine, and their deck having cheap effective burn/removal in searing spear while I durdled around with ineffective o-rings (awesome as they are in many other matchups like predator ooze). At the end I had 4 centaur healer and 4 bonds of faith in the board in a desperate attempt to shore up the rakdos match.
One major question - where are the gavony townships? Were they too hard on the mana base?
This looks good man, although this looks a lot more like the theoretical Naya Zoo builds than it does the current Naya Humans deck in our meta. We might have a bit of difficulty differentiating between the two name wise, although they clearly have very different mission statements. Anyway, I'm going to be testing out a super aggressive deck with a low curve once GTC is released. It's very similar to your list.
I really wanted to give Experiment One a try. Although he's at best going to be a 4/4 in this list (excluding possible Mayor pump), human builds have settled for MUCH less next to CotP in the past. He can also survive sweepers if need be.
Wojek Halberdiers seems sub-par. However, I figure with BTE and Mauler I'll have better odds at triggering Battalion but more importantly he helps trigger Evolve for Experiment One, something other 2-drops just cannot do.
Ghor-Clan Rampager is primarily going to be a pump, an extremely scary pump.
So yeah, it's a fast list, with a very low average CMC. This makes me think it's more akin to Zoo. Whenever someone says Naya Humans now I automatically think towards the Midrangey list featuring Huntmaster, Reto and Conscripts.
One major question - where are the gavony townships? Were they too hard on the mana base?
Gavony has a few major problems in this deck:
1. I run 22 land, and Gavony requires 5 mana (total, including itself) to activate. I do run Pilgrim, which can help, but honestly this is an aggro deck and it usually relies on cards like Frontline Medic, and Boros Charm (and as I'm testing more, Hellrider) to break through board stalls vs. a midrange matchup. Remember, we don't even want the game to go beyond turn 5 ideally, so hitting our 5th land isn't really in our game plan.
In the more midrangey Naya human list with Huntmasters/Resto Angels/etc, 2-3x Gavony made so much more sense than it does in a pure aggro deck.
Gavony is a sweet card though, and I can potentially see including it, but with this deck you really have to be wary about messing with the manabase too much. With the mana how I have it right now, I almost never run into issues, and I'd like to keep it that way. If you do some testing with Gavony please let me know how it turns out! I plan on testing it in the future as well but so far things have been smooth sailing without it.
Quote from DTG99 »
I really wanted to give Experiment One a try. Although he's at best going to be a 4/4 in this list (excluding possible Mayor pump), human builds have settled for MUCH less next to CotP in the past. He can also survive sweepers if need be.
Wojek Halberdiers seems sub-par. However, I figure with BTE and Mauler I'll have better odds at triggering Battalion but more importantly he helps trigger Evolve for Experiment One, something other 2-drops just cannot do.
Ghor-Clan Rampager is primarily going to be a pump, an extremely scary pump.
So yeah, it's a fast list, with a very low average CMC. This makes me think it's more akin to Zoo. Whenever someone says Naya Humans now I automatically think towards the Midrangey list featuring Huntmaster, Reto and Conscripts.
Experiment One seems fine, although most of the time he's going to be a 1 drop 2/2 in this deck. I've noticed that in this deck, getting to 4 mana can be pretty vital (especially if you run Hellriders; more on that below) for plays like Mayor + keeping Boros Charm open. Pilgrim can really help get you there, and also helps fix your Silverblade WW cost on occasion. I'm definitely not averse to replacing him though, and I think Experiment One and Wolfbitten Captive are both fine options for doing so.
Hell, even Reckless Waif might be an option... although I wouldn't mainboard her unless you use rigged dice to win the roll every time.
I agree that Ghor-Clan Rampager is a potential option, but I have a feeling in the end it'll be too susceptible to getting blown out compared to other options. However, maybe if you bring them in alongside a couple Faith's Shields, they'll shine a bit more.
I would absolutely cut Wojek Halberdiers though. You can't cast them off BTE mana and they're just pretty bad overall without Batallion. =/ I would definitely mainboard Thalias instead - they give you so many G1 wins vs. control, and they can really slow down midrange Farseek decks when you're on the play too.
As for the discrepancy with the current Naya Human list in terms of titling, that's why I included the word "Aggro" although I do see the current RTR list touted as Naya Aggro a lot too. This is more like.. Naya Humans Win (NHW?) in terms of style. Either way, I'm not too worried, I think the other list really deserves the title Naya Human Midrange anyways.
I've been doing more testing with 3x Hellrider (I took out 1 Rancor, 1 Frontline Medic, and 1 Lightning Mauler) and it's been pretty spectacular so far. I do notice that the mana becomes slightly more unreliable (especially when you have to Cavern naming Human so often) but he's such a beastly T4 play, and if you have Frontline Medic already in play it gets bonkers.
What's nice is that you can occasionally use BTE to help cast Hellrider when you only have 1 real red source available (since you can spend Human Cavern / Temple Garden / Sunpetal Groves only to cast BTE and get the R mana added to your pool), but usually BTE will be dropped way earlier than that, so it's not super reliable. I've still done it in a few matches though, so it's something to consider.
RDW is on gear and the 1cmc bloodsucker would be a pain if not remove. They also have that new Minotaur that returns damage taken to players or creatures. A little removal would help like Oblivion Ring in the SB and a little gain wouldn't hurt in a form of Centaur Healer and the ever popular COW. Just my .02 cents
RDW is on gear and the 1cmc bloodsucker would be a pain if not remove. They also have that new Minotaur that returns damage taken to players or creatures. A little removal would help like Oblivion Ring in the SB and a little gain wouldn't hurt in a form of Centaur Healer and the ever popular COW. Just my .02 cents
I've playtested a LOT vs. the new RDW (splashing white for Reckoner/Boros Charm) lists, and I can outrace 1 Stromkirk Noble. 2 Nobles is... difficult, yes.
Reckoner can be pretty brutal, I agree. You need to have a Boros Charm or Faith's Shield at the ready to invalidate one if they shoot one of your creatures with it, but if they respond with their own Boros Charm you're still left at a disadvantage (since that thing sitting on the board is just really bad for us). However you have a lot more options post side-board for dealing with it (Faith's Shield, O-ring, Fiend Hunter) and you do have to keep in mind that Frontline Medic with Batallion helps combat it to some extent.
The worst part about it is if they're doing well in the race, and they leave it back to block something particularly strong of yours (like a double-striking, Rancored Champion) and then they just bolt you to the face with it for 5+ damage. That HURTS a lot, and it's possible that we may need to look at options like Nearheath Pilgrim in the sideboard to swing the race drastically in our favor. There's also Gift of Orzhova (1WW, +1/+1 flying and lifelink enchant) but ehhhhhh. It seems slower and more vulnerable than a Nearheath.
One thing I've noticed in the aggro mirrors is that Aurelia's Fury is just super sweet (it makes Boros Reckoner not nearly as scary - they usually can't kill anything off with a ping of 1 damage from Aurelia's hitting it). In fact, that card's been playtesting pretty well in most match-ups, so much so that I was considering maindecking 1-2 for awhile.. but I have no idea what I'd cut. It's a great finisher, and very versatile for the Silence effect vs. control, but one of the great things about this list is its consistency. I really don't want to compromise that too much.
If hasty RDW-style decks are super popular in the meta, I would be pretty open to running 2x Blind Obedience in the sideboard. If you land one of those T2 on the play, it's VERY difficult to lose the race. Even T2 on the draw it's pretty damn good against that deck, and the extort can actually be relevant too.
While testing with my Naya Zoo, I found that it's pretty simple to deal with Reckoner. We simply, in both Naya Humans and Naya Zoo, have the tools to do it. Rancor, then exile with Selesnya Charm. For GGW you have dispatched a problematic drop without taking damage and without even letting them save it via Boros Charm.
Do you ever find awkward situations where you've paired up your mauler and now your paladin can't find a friend to pair with? I always hope to pair my paladin with an existing creature for the "haste" double-strike.
If your turn 2 is emissary-mauler that means a t3 paladin basically only rocks if you had t1 champ. You don't really want to pair him with a pilgrim :/ It may not be a big deal if it just means we play other things on t3 - another mauler, a mayor, thalia, + rancor or medic. But playing too much soulbond can hurt. Perhaps fewer than 4 maulers?
I think the deck doesn't have to be Human themed, but after all, it's your personal preference. Getting into a theme doesn't give you much access to better creatures/spells(e.g. Restoration Angel/Strangleroot Geist)
Still, let me comment on the deck. I would personally replace 4 of the Mayors to 3x Ghor Clan Rampager and 1 more Rancor. Why? Well first, if you're looking for a technically 2CMC spell (let's say bloodrush mechanics acts as a spell in this kind of deck), Ghor Clan Rampager is a better card value(it's a creature, with an uncounterable ability/pump spell) than your anthem from Mayor of Avabruck. Second, you would always want to see a Rancor. That card, even top decked, wins most of the time. Let's just compare the cards per turn I mentioned to your list:
T1: Land. You play 1 Champion of the Parish, pass turn.
T2: Land. You play the Mayor, attack for 3 or 4 damage. (Or cast both champ and pilgrim, or Rancor + Pilgrim= 4dmg)
T3: Assuming no land drops and let's say you drew another Mayor, you play the drawn Mayor(or other possible/better card plays), attack for 7 damage max, depending on how you play out.
Total of 11 damage tops by playing it that way on turn 3 and hoping you have another Rancor.
T1: Land. You play Champion of the Parish
T2: Land. Play Avacyn's Pilgrim, and Rancor. Attack for 4.
T3: Assuming no land drops, and not drawing a Rancor. You play the Champion via Avacyn's Pilgrim. Now you have a 5/3 Champion attacking, waiting to get bloodrushed for a total P/T of 9/7 which will always save your creature if ever it is blocked.
Left unblocked, that's total 13 damage by turn 3. And that 2 damage difference is significant enough for reach, imo. Next turn, if ever you'd draw a Rancor or another Ghor-Clan Rampager, that's the W for you via a single Champion of the Parish(see how significant that 2 damage this hand made?)
Please don't make crap up. This is such an obvious word vomit it's ridiculous. Something about the internet and people thinking they need to say something to fit in..
My only concern is that if anything happens to that Champ, you have no board, and in my experience something will usually happen to that Champ. You are over-committed to it. Mayor spreads the board as a permanent, threatens to become problematic with the inevitability of transform, baits removal/burn that would otherwise hit your face, powers Gather the Townsfolk, (a card missing from this discussion which I believe is a mistake).. The hyper-aggro-do-as-much-damage-as-quickly-as-possible approach is better suited for decks running a burn suite imo.
The best thing about humans is that it's not invested in any one thing aside from battlefield presence. Our biggest threat is Champ which we invest practically nothing into. It's a turn 1 play! I've played all sorts of finishers and alpha strike enablers with this archetype ranging from buffed Champion of Lambholt to Overrun to morbid triggered Brimstone Volley.. the results are always mixed.
And while I do think Ghor Clan is a fine pump smasher, I think I'd rather run Revenge of the Hunted in the sideboard.
I've started liking Wolfbitten Captive over Experiment One. More often then not Experiment One is competing with Champion of the Parish for the turn 1 play, and in that battle champ just wins. The highest Experiment will go is 3, and that's with luck. Sure a vanilla 2/2 beater for 1 is great, but champion can get very big quickly, and if you champ into BTE its off to the races.
Wolfbitten Captive however, is solid on his own. He's a mana dump that can also be a Isamaru, Hound of Konda.
While testing with my Naya Zoo, I found that it's pretty simple to deal with Reckoner. We simply, in both Naya Humans and Naya Zoo, have the tools to do it. Rancor, then exile with Selesnya Charm. For GGW you have dispatched a problematic drop without taking damage and without even letting them save it via Boros Charm.
I personally don't consider a 2-card combo a legitimate answer to a single card. It's statistically unlikely that you'll have the Rancor AND Selesnya Charm in hand by the time they drop a Reckoner even if you run 4 of each.
Also, it's very difficult to find room for both S.Charm AND Rancor in this list. When I feel that S.Charm is more relevant I'm usually siding Rancors out to bring them in.
I think there are plenty of answers to Reckoner post sideboard (O-Ring, Fiend Hunter, Aurelia's Fury [to an extent], etc) but it definitely is one of the most powerful creatures they can play against this deck.
I did a gauntlet of testing against the deck last night again though, and honestly the RDW/Boros aggro deck doesn't really scare me too much. I won about 70% of the matches, despite facing several T1 Stromkirk Noble plays. This deck tends to be much more explosive, and RDW/Boros really only beat it when they had all the right removal at the right time.
Hes both repeatble Removal and Card draw here, there's just no more value you can get out of a card, especially with Burning-Tree Emissary you can play him pretty fluidly.
Domri is too slow to maindeck. We're not looking for card advantage in most matchups and his -2 is pretty bad when the biggest creature in the deck is a 3/3.
However, he's a very legitimate option to bring in from the sideboard vs. control, so I will add him to the list of 3CMC potentials.
Do you ever find awkward situations where you've paired up your mauler and now your paladin can't find a friend to pair with? I always hope to pair my paladin with an existing creature for the "haste" double-strike.
If your turn 2 is emissary-mauler that means a t3 paladin basically only rocks if you had t1 champ. You don't really want to pair him with a pilgrim :/ It may not be a big deal if it just means we play other things on t3 - another mauler, a mayor, thalia, + rancor or medic. But playing too much soulbond can hurt. Perhaps fewer than 4 maulers?
This is never really the issue you make it out to be. In general, if your hand is Champion, Mauler, Silverblade are your only creatures it winds up depending on the match. If I'm vs. control or a deck with a lot of removal/bounce, I'll usually just pair the Mauler with Champion T2 and swing for 4 because there's a good chance they're going to kill one of the two and leave the other open for pairing with Silverblade.
If you have Pilgrim, BTE, Mauler, Silverblade, then the play is typically T1 Pilgrim, T2 Silverblade (no bond), T3 BTE + Mauler, bond Mauler to Silverblade and swing for 8 (hopefully you have a Rancor in hand too to use with the last mana so you can swing for 12 instead).
In all the games I've played I've never really had an issue of Mauler and Silverblade colliding unfavorably. Bonding Silverblade to Mauler or BTE is fine.
Yes, I've occasionally had to resort to bonding a Silverblade to a Pilgrim or Mayor, but Rancor or flipping Mayor makes this a decent play still. Soulbond decisions are a very important part of playing this deck and it really hinges on the matchup you're playing and how critical it is to get early damage in. Sometimes I'll play T1 Champion, T2 mauler (no bond), T3 silverblade on Champion, and T4 frontline medic (bond to mauler). Sometimes getting in with Mauler+Champion on T2 is more important. Much like most of Magic, you'll start recognizing the right plays vs. each deck you face as you practice the matchups more.
I think the deck doesn't have to be Human themed, but after all, it's your personal preference. Getting into a theme doesn't give you much access to better creatures/spells(e.g. Restoration Angel/Strangleroot Geist)
Still, let me comment on the deck. I would personally replace 4 of the Mayors to 3x Ghor Clan Rampager and 1 more Rancor. Why? Well first, if you're looking for a technically 2CMC spell (let's say bloodrush mechanics acts as a spell in this kind of deck), Ghor Clan Rampager is a better card value(it's a creature, with an uncounterable ability/pump spell) than your anthem from Mayor of Avabruck. Second, you would always want to see a Rancor. That card, even top decked, wins most of the time.
<snip>
Left unblocked, that's total 13 damage by turn 3. And that 2 damage difference is significant enough for reach, imo. Next turn, if ever you'd draw a Rancor or another Ghor-Clan Rampager, that's the W for you via a single Champion of the Parish(see how significant that 2 damage this hand made?)
(Please correct me if my math is wrong. Thanks)
Restoration Angel is a great creature in a deck looking to play out the mid-late game. Restoration Angel is NOT a great creature in the deck looking to kill someone by T4/T5. Also, this is a thread to discuss Naya Humans, there is a Naya Zoo primer in this forum for alternate discussions.
Have you played with Mayor of Avabruck much? It is absolutely critical to this deck. I get what you're trying to do with the Ghor-Clan Rampager examples but you're focusing too much on achieving the fastest goldfish result. What happens when you use +4/+4 trample bloodrush and they Orzhov Charm/Ultimate Price/Selesnya Charm/bounce your attacker? Now you're down a card and way behind. You can wait til they're tapped out, but I can assure you it's not going to happen vs. control, or really
Mayor of Avabruck is one of the few cards that can actually carry the deck through the midgame in the case of a board stall. If you've never seen the work that Howlpack Alpha (Mayor's flipped side) does, it's quite amazing.
On top of that, it also makes Thalia and anything bonded with Silverblade just that much better. In fact, it makes your entire BOARD better and makes combat way more profitable for you in pretty much every case. I pretty much can't overstate how vital Mayor is to this deck.
In a theoretical world where everyone plays creature based decks with no instant speed removal, Ghor-Clan Rampager would be the go-to pick for sure. But even then, I still wouldn't replace Mayor with it in the deck.
As for mentioning 1 more Rancor, I love Rancor to death, trust me. But when I made the change to the maindeck to include 3x Hellrider (which is a far more powerful card in this deck), I had to cut a few things, and honestly 1x Rancor is one of the better choices. It was either that or cut Silverblade to 3, but I prefer keeping the threat density higher in the deck.
That being said, if you want to cut something else for the 4th Rancor, go ahead - it's an amazing card. Just keep in mind that you have to give up some other amazing card to fit it in the list.
Is Kessig Malcontents too expensive here? I previously thought so but it just handily made the difference in two games on Lackey against me in a Boros humans build.
It seems to a decent amount of reach. And it has three power to help force damage through.
Is Kessig Malcontents too expensive here? I previously thought so but it just handily made the difference in two games on Lackey against me in a Boros humans build.
It seems to a decent amount of reach. And it has three power to help force damage through.
I wanted him to work in the last block incarnation of Naya Humans, but he was only ever a bolt following Gather the Townsfolk. With GTC Humans, I will be running Gather plus the BTE + Mayor/Mauler line of play. This also enables Malcontent to bolt, making him a bit more viable.
Is Kessig Malcontents too expensive here? I previously thought so but it just handily made the difference in two games on Lackey against me in a Boros humans build.
It seems to a decent amount of reach. And it has three power to help force damage through.
I have it listed as a potential card for the 3CMC slot, and it's definitely not bad if you feel you need the extra reach on top of Boros Charm, but there are quite a few things working against it.
It shares the same CMC slot as Frontline Medic and Silverblade Paladin.
On top of that, it REALLY sucks in aggressive combat unless it's on the field with either of these two (and on top of that, the Silverblade would have to be unpaired).
It's particularly bad vs. control decks. The extra reach it provides relies on not getting your board wiped AND on not getting your early creatures killed. An Augur of Bolas trades with it without Mayor or Silverblade. On the upside, though, it's one of your strongest topdecks with a Slayers' Stronghold on the board.
As a late game finisher, I'd sooner run a 4th Hellrider and put in Searing Spears or Selesnya Charms than play it.
You could try to make a case for replacing Frontline Medic with it mainboard, but with all the Bonfire/Aurelia's Fury/Sphinx's Revelations we're probably going to see in the meta, on top of Frontline's batallion ability being awesome, I'll personally be sticking with Medic for now.
You could try to make a case for replacing Frontline Medic with it mainboard, but with all the Bonfire/Aurelia's Fury/Sphinx's Revelations we're probably going to see in the meta, on top of Frontline's batallion ability being awesome, I'll personally be sticking with Medic for now.
Good analysis. As a B/x player, I would also add that Tragic Slip is being talked about a lot right now. Expect to see it everywhere early GTC.
I have it listed as a potential card for the 3CMC slot, and it's definitely not bad if you feel you need the extra reach on top of Boros Charm, but there are quite a few things working against it.
It shares the same CMC slot as Frontline Medic and Silverblade Paladin.
On top of that, it REALLY sucks in aggressive combat unless it's on the field with either of these two (and on top of that, the Silverblade would have to be unpaired).
It's particularly bad vs. control decks. The extra reach it provides relies on not getting your board wiped AND on not getting your early creatures killed. An Augur of Bolas trades with it without Mayor or Silverblade. On the upside, though, it's one of your strongest topdecks with a Slayers' Stronghold on the board.
As a late game finisher, I'd sooner run a 4th Hellrider and put in Searing Spears or Selesnya Charms than play it.
You could try to make a case for replacing Frontline Medic with it mainboard, but with all the Bonfire/Aurelia's Fury/Sphinx's Revelations we're probably going to see in the meta, on top of Frontline's batallion ability being awesome, I'll personally be sticking with Medic for now.
Completely fair points against it. I do agree medic is by the far the better creature, it was just an idea.
I'm really liking this deck so far, I haven't encountered a bad match-up with it. Against other aggro decks you tend to outsize, out explode, or first strike them to death. Against control/tempo they can't afford to miss a turn durdleling for lands or cards as you can very easily win a game in two or three attack steps. Not to mention with boros charm and battlefield medic your board is surprisingly resilient.
I've started liking Wolfbitten Captive over Experiment One. More often then not Experiment One is competing with Champion of the Parish for the turn 1 play, and in that battle champ just wins. The highest Experiment will go is 3, and that's with luck. Sure a vanilla 2/2 beater for 1 is great, but champion can get very big quickly, and if you champ into BTE its off to the races.
Wolfbitten Captive however, is solid on his own. He's a mana dump that can also be a Isamaru, Hound of Konda.
It depends on what your definition of "more often than not" is. I do not believe the odds of you opening up with them together are all that large. For the times you don't draw CotP, Experiment One will do a decent impersonation. In the end it has a lot to do with how your deck is structured. Something like a play set of Loxodon Smiter can go a long way it making him more viable.
I have it listed as a potential card for the 3CMC slot, and it's definitely not bad if you feel you need the extra reach on top of Boros Charm, but there are quite a few things working against it.
It shares the same CMC slot as Frontline Medic and Silverblade Paladin.
On top of that, it REALLY sucks in aggressive combat unless it's on the field with either of these two (and on top of that, the Silverblade would have to be unpaired).
It's particularly bad vs. control decks. The extra reach it provides relies on not getting your board wiped AND on not getting your early creatures killed. An Augur of Bolas trades with it without Mayor or Silverblade. On the upside, though, it's one of your strongest topdecks with a Slayers' Stronghold on the board.
As a late game finisher, I'd sooner run a 4th Hellrider and put in Searing Spears or Selesnya Charms than play it.
You could try to make a case for replacing Frontline Medic with it mainboard, but with all the Bonfire/Aurelia's Fury/Sphinx's Revelations we're probably going to see in the meta, on top of Frontline's batallion ability being awesome, I'll personally be sticking with Medic for now.
A couple of people over in the Boros Sligh thread have been extremely disappointed with Medic (against control) thus far. They felt like he acted as mere speed bump that could easily be played around. I'm still optimistic, especially since it can be utilized a bit better in these builds, but admittedly much less so then at the moment it was spoiled.
Whether or not Medic is MB material is going to be totally dependent on how saturated the meta is with Aurelia's Fury and Bonfire (and to a lesser extent Entreat) in conjunction with Sphinx's Revelation. You can't really expect the Battalion mechanic to trigger often, so if the above cards don't see heavy play, he'll be a vanilla 3/3 more often than not.
To be clear, I'm not saying to replace him with Malcontents (although I do like Malcontents) but that it's possible neither are going to be optimal.
It depends on what your definition of "more often than not" is. I do not believe the odds of you opening up with them together are all that large. For the times you don't draw CotP, Experiment One will do a decent impersonation. In the end it has a lot to do with how your deck is structured. Something like a play set of Loxodon Smiter can go a long way it making him more viable.
A couple of people over in the Boros Sligh thread have been extremely disappointed with Medic (against control) thus far. They felt like he acted as mere speed bump that could easily be played around. I'm still optimistic, especially since it can be utilized a bit better in these builds, but admittedly much less so then at the moment it was spoiled.
Whether or not Medic is MB material is going to be totally dependent on how saturated the meta is with Aurelia's Fury and Bonfire (and to a lesser extent Entreat) in conjunction with Sphinx's Revelation. You can't really expect the Battalion mechanic to trigger often, so if the above cards don't see heavy play, he'll be a vanilla 3/3 more often than not.
To be clear, I'm not saying to replace him with Malcontents (although I do like Malcontents) but that it's possible neither are going to be optimal.
I've tested Wolfbitten Captive a lot recently, and I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with it. When it DOES flip into a 2/2, it doesn't get buffed by the human side of Mayor, and the pump effect on its flipped side is really expensive and only good VERY late game (which we don't really want to get to anyways, ideally).
A lot of decks can flip him back easily, and overall every time I've played him I've wished he were an Avacyn's Pilgrim instead.
I still haven't tested Experiment One, but as of right now I feel it's the only other viable 1 drop next to Pilgrim. I'm probably going to stick with Pilgrim because we ARE running 22 lands, and it just makes certain hands a lot more keepable and overall improves the consistency of the deck I feel. However, since I haven't tested Experiment One yet, I'm not going to make a final decision until I've seen it in action.
As for Frontline Medic, to be honest with you I absolutely love this guy. I've actually been considering dropping Silverblade to 3x and upping Medic to 3x mainboard. It's not even the X spell counter effect that I love him for -- it's seriously just having a 3/3 for 3 with an amazing batallion effect. He makes combat so profitable for us and is really one of the only 'beefy' creatures you can play in this deck outside of a Champion that's grown huge.
He also makes Lightning Mauler feel way better, and enables lines of play like T1 Pilgrim > T2 Medic > T3 mauler (or mauler + Mayor since we have 4 mana from pilgrim ideally, or BTE + craziness because BTE is amazing), swing with batallion enabled.
That being said, I may very well keep Medic at 2x and drop Silverblade down to 3x just to find some room for Aurelia's Fury mainboard. It's been playtesting extremely well and I find myself bringing it in from the sideboard in almost every match. I may not find room for 2 of it mainboard, but I'll probably try to sneak 1 in somewhere.
Been playing this deck on cockatrice today with 2 medics and 1 hellrider, 3 thalias, and 4-of the rest of the stuff.
Observations:
1. A 22 land 3 colour deck has a lot of bad mana draws. Even with the shocks and caverns, we're likely only going to have 2 land hands most of the time - and when its stomping ground + sunpetal grove we can't play t1 champion. Also if you keep a 3 lander and topdeck 2 lands you pretty much lose on the spot.
2. Bonfire is still extremely painful. The entire deck is 1 and 2 toughness except for the medics and rider(s). We have medic and charm, but early on you can't leave charm mana up and if we only run 2 medics we often won't have them on t3. Turn 1 pillar on champion also slows us down a lot in the t2 bte-mauler draw.
3. Staticaster shuts down about half the deck and we play 0 maindeck answers to it... I desperately missed o-ring and the bigger bodies from the GW version here.
In summary while I think the BTE+Mauler combo is explosive, it also creates a lot of weaknesses that need to be shored up. I don't know if the deck can afford to be a 3 colour all-in-aggro deck when our guys have such horiffically small toughness. A straight zoo deck will do similar damage and have way more resilience early on.
Been playing this deck on cockatrice today with 2 medics and 1 hellrider, 3 thalias, and 4-of the rest of the stuff.
Observations:
1. A 22 land 3 colour deck has a lot of bad mana draws. Even with the shocks and caverns, we're likely only going to have 2 land hands most of the time - and when its stomping ground + sunpetal grove we can't play t1 champion. Also if you keep a 3 lander and topdeck 2 lands you pretty much lose on the spot.
2. Bonfire is still extremely painful. The entire deck is 1 and 2 toughness except for the medics and rider(s). We have medic and charm, but early on you can't leave charm mana up and if we only run 2 medics we often won't have them on t3. Turn 1 pillar on champion also slows us down a lot in the t2 bte-mauler draw.
3. Staticaster shuts down about half the deck and we play 0 maindeck answers to it... I desperately missed o-ring and the bigger bodies from the GW version here.
In summary while I think the BTE+Mauler combo is explosive, it also creates a lot of weaknesses that need to be shored up. I don't know if the deck can afford to be a 3 colour all-in-aggro deck when our guys have such horiffically small toughness. A straight zoo deck will do similar damage and have way more resilience early on.
I'll address your post point by point, but first and foremost I would recommend running 3x Hellrider instead of just 1x. Anyways, here goes
1. My list has 13 available sources for T1 Champion. 12 sources available for T1 Pilgrim. 11 white sources, 12 green sources, 10 red sources, and 4 Caverns where 28 out of 31 creatures (in my list) are Humans. 22 land and 4 Pilgrims, in a deck where the highest thing on the curve is three 4-drops.
I'm not sure your sample size for testing is large enough to call the mana "bad" because statistically it's sound, and in over 100 games playtested for me I haven't noticed any more mana issues than I would expect with any 3 color deck (roughly 5% of games). Yes, 3 color aggro is statistically less consistent than 2 color aggro, no one is going to debate that point. However, after extensive playtesting I'm confident in the manabase and I'm really not sure what else to say other than to ask for a statistical analysis on how many games you played, what the mana issues were, etc.
Mono red aggro decks can run 23 lands with no mana dorks and still top off their curve with 4x Hellrider and 2x Thundermaw Hellkite. Your theoretical situations where you get stuck on 2 land or get flooded after keeping a 3 lander can happen to any aggro deck.
2. Topdecked bonfire destroys a lot of aggro decks. A hardcast bonfire for 1 can hurt this deck if you have certain draws, but it certainly doesn't destroy it outright. If anything, this deck is one of the more resilient aggro decks to bonfire on the basis of maindecked Thalias, Frontline Medics, and Boros Charms. Early on we're not keeping up Boros Charm mana, this is true, but early on bonfire doesn't really do anything unless it's miracled at a convenient time - and there's no merit in discussing things like getting miracle Bonfired or miracle Terminus'd because you can't typically play around perfectly timed miracles.
Yes, a Champion getting pillar'd slows us down. A Stromkirk Noble getting pillared slows RDW down too, and while Champion is a stronger and more explosive one drop in most cases, the point remains the same: both decks can still get there if their early aggression is met with some removal. Also, T2 BTE into Mayor or BTE into Mauler is a strong play regardless of having a Champion out; it's just absurd when you DO have a Champion out though.
3. We have a decent amount of 1 toughness targets for Staticaster, yes, but I fail to see how Fiend Hunter or O-ring are good answers for that? You still wind up losing a creature to Staticaster by then. And besides, what deck are you up against that has Staticaster mainboard? Typically, the answer is a deck that also has Peddler, in which case you're already fighting an uphill battle as ANY creature based deck, regardless of the toughness your creatures have.
I'm not sure I understand the train of thought behind saying that having low toughness creatures makes this deck not viable. Does that mean RDW isn't a real deck? It's weak to bonfire, staticaster (albeit less so than this deck), etc. A straight Zoo deck has bigger creatures but less speed, and is a solid deck, but I wouldn't possibly be able to say which deck is 'better' because we don't have a meta formed yet, we have no results to back up a claim for either one, and they operate differently.
This deck isn't just good because of the nut draws; I already outlined several lines of play in the primer that are slower than blazing fast but still solid. The deck is good because of its consistency, average speed, and resilience, but I never stated it's invulnerable or uncounterable. No deck IS uncounterable in this meta, and it's somewhat awkward and come in and say "this fast aggro deck loses to X spell that wipes the board early when you don't have an answer to it in hand/mana untapped!" when everyone pretty much already knows that.
Speaking of mana bases, how often have you been able to cast Hellrider on curve with 10 R sources? Are you naming Devil with Cavern quite often?
Statistically, you have only have a 53% chance of hitting RR on the play.
Furthermore, if you don't count Cavern, you have 22% chance of drawing Hellrider but not having sufficient R sources by T4.
I understand this is 3C and the mana base is hard to work but not being able to cast Hellrider in about 1 in every 4-5 (4.5) times you draw him is going to be unacceptable in the long run. You will notice something like this.
Speaking of mana bases, how often have you been able to cast Hellrider on curve with 10 R sources? Are you naming Devil with Cavern quite often?
Statistically, you have only have a 53% chance of hitting RR on the play.
Furthermore, if you don't count Cavern, you have 22% chance of drawing Hellrider but not having sufficient R sources by T4.
I understand this is 3C and the mana base is hard to work but not being able to cast Hellrider in about 1 in every 4-5 (4.5) times you draw him is going to be unacceptable in the long run. You will notice something like this.
This is definitely the biggest concern I had when I brought in the 3x Hellrider, and overall the only concern I have with the manabase at all. I do find myself naming Devil with Cavern every now and then when I don't have 2 red sources out (and when naming human with it isn't relevant in the matchup).
I'm pretty sure I'm going to wind up replacing the basic plains with a Clifftop Retreat or something along those lines. Going down to 12 sources for T1 champion is not a big deal, and having 11 red sources available (before Caverns) to improve the odds of casting T4 Hellrider on the play seems well worth it.
The manabase might even need further adjusting, in order to really make sure we avoid having to name Devil with Cavern when we don't want to. Something like this:
This gives us (without Caverns) 12 red sources, 11 white sources, and 11 green sources. Without the Pilgrims you'd probably want to shuffle it around slightly so you have more white than green (12 white - 10 green, drop 1 Rootbound for another Clifftop) due to Silverblade Paladin.
This still keeps us with 12 sources each for T1 Champion/T1 Pilgrim and should alleviate most of the concerns about the Hellrider casting cost.
Let me know if you have any alternative manabase configurations that would be better, I'm admittedly not the best at it.
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What is Naya Human Aggro?
Naya Humans is a deck that saw play pre-Gatecrash as an aggro/midrange hybrid list. It had the potential for explosive starts (Champion > Mayor > Silverblade) and also a very strong midgame in the form of Huntmaster, Restoration Angel, Zealous Conscripts, and many Gavony Townships.
With the release of Gatecrash, I feel that two cards in particular encourage the Naya Human list towards more all-in aggro:
Boros Charm
Burning-Tree Emissary (hereafter referred to as BTE for brevity's sake)
These two cards allow for incredibly explosive starts, with many lines of play leading to T4 kills and there are a couple possible T3 kills as well.
UPDATE: Boros Charm is being relegated to the sideboard more and more, but BTE has obviously proven itself to be an all-star of this format.
The other card that definitely deserves a maindeck spot from GTC is Frontline Medic. It makes combat very profitable if it stays around and is also an excellent way to deal with top deck Bonfires, Aurelia's Fury, Sphinx's. It's also just a 3/3 for 3, which fits the curve very solidly.
What makes this deck good?
The deck is super fast and consistent. There are many good opening hands and lines of play that result in T4 goldfish kills, and a couple lines of play are T3 kills.
Examples:
T3 Goldfish
But sadly, we don't always get to live in magical christmasland. However, not all hope is lost! There are plenty of consistent T4 goldfish kills available and other very solid opening plays:
Not every hand is going to be blazing fast, but the general line of thinking is that by the time you hit 4 mana, you should have already established a great board presence and have mana up for Boros Charm or Hellrider to close out the game. Frontline Medic and Boros Charm provide resiliency and power simultaneously to the deck, and BTE is just absurdly explosive in this deck.
Keep in mind that if you don't have a T1 play, you REALLY want a BTE available along with something to play out with the RG mana from it. You can still get there without that, but hey, you're playing an aggro deck. T1 land-go is not exactly your bread and butter here.
If you're playing the version of the deck without Hellriders and with Giant Growths, you have a lot more options open to you for a kill on T3 but if your initial assault is blunted, you have very little recovery in the midgame (T4+).
Core Cards:
Experiment One
Champion of the Parish
Boros Elite
Burning-Tree Emissary
Lightning Mauler
Mayor of Avabruck
Frontline Medic
Searing Spear
Decklists
GP Quebec City 1st place - Naya Humans by Nico Christiansen
4 Boros Elite
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Experiment One
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Frontline Medic
1 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Giant Growth
4 Searing Spear
Lands [20]
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Rootbound Crag
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
3 Boros Charm
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Gruul Charm
2 Nearheath Pilgrim
3 Pacifism
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Keep in mind that Brad Nelson's suggested changes to the above list are -1 Frontline Medic, -1 Ghor-Clan Rampager, +1 land, +1 Giant Growth.
I agree with the -1 Medic, +1 land, but I like the Ghor-Clan Rampager as a 1 of. It makes your opponent have to play around it, and if they see it once they'll suspect you have more than just 1.
My decklist (as of 3/1):
The tappedout.net list if people prefer the formatting there
Please keep in mind that the sideboard below is based on my own local meta and should be adjusted to your own accordingly!
4x Experiment One
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Boros Elite
4x Mayor of Avabruck
4x Lightning Mauler
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Frontline Medic
3x Hellrider
3x Boros Charm
4x Searing Spear
Land (22)
4x Cavern of Souls
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Stomping Ground
4x Temple Garden
1x Slayers' Stronghold
2x Rootbound Crag
3x Clifftop Retreat
2x Domri Rade
2x Gruul Charm
3x Pacifism
2x Fiend Hunter
2x Rest in Peace
1x Boros Charm
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Anthony Rodes' Naya Humans (11th place at SCG:ATL)
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Lightning Mauler
3 Nearheath Pilgrim
4 Silverblade Paladin
2 Frontline Medic
3 Boros Reckoner
Other (7)
1 Faith's Shield
2 Rancor
4 Boros Charm
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
2 Clifftop Retreat
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Bonfire of the Dammed
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Rest in Peace
2 Skullcrack
2 Selesnya Charm
1 Riders of Gavony
Paul Brown's Naya Human Aggro - 7th at SCG:Edison
4 Boros Elite
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Experiment One
2 Frontline Medic
3 Hellrider
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Silverblade Paladin
Instants
3 Boros Charm
3 Searing Spear
1 Forest
1 Plains
Lands
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Clifftop Retreat
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Stomping Ground
1 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
3 Boros Reckoner
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 War Priest of Thune
1 Zealous Conscripts
2 Bonds of Faith
2 Rest in Peace
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Potential Card Options (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
1 CMC:
2 CMC:
3 CMC:
4 CMC:
Sideboard Options (Under construction)
Almost Mandatory
Other really good options
Other possibilities
Sideboarding (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
VS. Esper Control
+2 Domri Rade
+2 Faith's Shield
+1 Boros Charm
-2 Searing Spear
-1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
-1 Frontline Medic
-1 Lightning Mauler
We want to protect our Champions/Thalias/Silverblades/Mayors etc. from spot removal with Faith's Shield and bring in our card advantage (Domri Rade) and our best card vs. control (Boros Charm)
Lightning Mauler is really bad against Augur unless you have a Mayor out too, and we're taking out Searing Spears too so we really don't want to play BTE into Lightning Mauler and just sit there doing nothing vs. Augur of Bolas. We want to keep a couple Frontline Medics in even though the batallion won't often be relevant so we can counter late game Sphinx's after a board wipe. Pilgrim we're reducing by 1 because we don't really want to see more than 1, ever, in this matchup.
You really want to play a T2 Thalia vs. Esper whenever possible, so keep that in mind when analyzing your opening hand. You need to be ready for T4 (T5 with Thalia out) Supreme Verdict so have a Boros Charm ready if possible. Also watch out for Resto Angel.
VS. R/X aggro (R/G, R/W, mono R)
ON THE DRAW
+3 Nearheath Pilgrim
+2 Oblivion Ring
-3 Thalia
-2 Rancor
ON THE PLAY
+3 Nearheath Pilgrim
+2 Oblivion Ring
-3 Thalia
-2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
Matchups (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
This is my first try at a primer, so please feel free to supply constructive criticism! I'm really excited for Naya humans in GTC, and I want to brainstorm with the community to come up with the best list possible.
Standard Deck Creation thread I started here:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=482224
Hope this helps!
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
Thank you for linking me your thread! I searched the Competitive forum for Naya Humans and found basically 0 good results, I didn't think to search Standard Deck Creation.
Also your sample decklist turned up some cards I'd completely forgotten about:
Wolfbitten Captive
Skargg Guildmage
Skullcrack
I'm definitely going to add those to the Potential Card section. Skargg seems like a great 2-drop to board in for potentially longer matches, and especially if Thalia seems to not be relevant.
Skullcrack, I can't believe I forgot to put in the sideboard. I had it in there originally and just forgot to add it back in later apparently.
Other thoughts on your list:
- I can't part with Thalias from the mainboard (they turn so many game 1s into auto-wins), so that makes Gather the Townsfolk and especially Thatcher Revolt less appealing.
- Boros Charm can never be less than a 4-of. I'm 100% positive on this one.
- Searing Spear seemed like a weaker option than Rancor to me but I'm adding it to the Potential Card section.
- I'm not sure if Gavony's what we want to be doing with this kind of list but if the board does get clogged I agree it can get us there. I still like a 1-of Slayers' Stronghold for a lot of reasons though.
- You have Hellriders in your list, which as I noted in the Primer are one of the strongest options I'm considering right now.
Thanks again for contributing!
My GW experience boiled down to two major problems:
1. Sweepers.
2. Rakdos is faster and better vs sweepers.
rootborn defenses was just too much to ask for on t3/4 - not only do I have to actually draw it at the right time, I have to pass the turn and keep three mana open.
The changes I see in your naya list look to me like they seriously address these two issues. Boros charm and frontline medic (bonfire/aurelias) are our answers to board wipes, while also pulling other regular duties that rootborn defenses never could. Medic is even respectable post-verdict since he keeps them from doing their revelation for 3+.
I'm also hopeful that your move towards the mauler and BTE can make our speed compete with rakdos decks. My issue in that matchup was facing down guys who were faster and bigger than mine, and their deck having cheap effective burn/removal in searing spear while I durdled around with ineffective o-rings (awesome as they are in many other matchups like predator ooze). At the end I had 4 centaur healer and 4 bonds of faith in the board in a desperate attempt to shore up the rakdos match.
One major question - where are the gavony townships? Were they too hard on the mana base?
4 Experiment One
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Burning Tree Emissary
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Wojek Halberdiers
3 Lightning Mauler
4 Silverblade Paladin
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Rancor
4 Boros Charm
Lands (22)
4 Temple Garden
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Slayers' Stronghold
I really wanted to give Experiment One a try. Although he's at best going to be a 4/4 in this list (excluding possible Mayor pump), human builds have settled for MUCH less next to CotP in the past. He can also survive sweepers if need be.
Wojek Halberdiers seems sub-par. However, I figure with BTE and Mauler I'll have better odds at triggering Battalion but more importantly he helps trigger Evolve for Experiment One, something other 2-drops just cannot do.
Ghor-Clan Rampager is primarily going to be a pump, an extremely scary pump.
So yeah, it's a fast list, with a very low average CMC. This makes me think it's more akin to Zoo. Whenever someone says Naya Humans now I automatically think towards the Midrangey list featuring Huntmaster, Reto and Conscripts.
Gavony has a few major problems in this deck:
1. I run 22 land, and Gavony requires 5 mana (total, including itself) to activate. I do run Pilgrim, which can help, but honestly this is an aggro deck and it usually relies on cards like Frontline Medic, and Boros Charm (and as I'm testing more, Hellrider) to break through board stalls vs. a midrange matchup. Remember, we don't even want the game to go beyond turn 5 ideally, so hitting our 5th land isn't really in our game plan.
In the more midrangey Naya human list with Huntmasters/Resto Angels/etc, 2-3x Gavony made so much more sense than it does in a pure aggro deck.
Gavony is a sweet card though, and I can potentially see including it, but with this deck you really have to be wary about messing with the manabase too much. With the mana how I have it right now, I almost never run into issues, and I'd like to keep it that way. If you do some testing with Gavony please let me know how it turns out! I plan on testing it in the future as well but so far things have been smooth sailing without it.
Experiment One seems fine, although most of the time he's going to be a 1 drop 2/2 in this deck. I've noticed that in this deck, getting to 4 mana can be pretty vital (especially if you run Hellriders; more on that below) for plays like Mayor + keeping Boros Charm open. Pilgrim can really help get you there, and also helps fix your Silverblade WW cost on occasion. I'm definitely not averse to replacing him though, and I think Experiment One and Wolfbitten Captive are both fine options for doing so.
Hell, even Reckless Waif might be an option... although I wouldn't mainboard her unless you use rigged dice to win the roll every time.
I agree that Ghor-Clan Rampager is a potential option, but I have a feeling in the end it'll be too susceptible to getting blown out compared to other options. However, maybe if you bring them in alongside a couple Faith's Shields, they'll shine a bit more.
I would absolutely cut Wojek Halberdiers though. You can't cast them off BTE mana and they're just pretty bad overall without Batallion. =/ I would definitely mainboard Thalias instead - they give you so many G1 wins vs. control, and they can really slow down midrange Farseek decks when you're on the play too.
As for the discrepancy with the current Naya Human list in terms of titling, that's why I included the word "Aggro" although I do see the current RTR list touted as Naya Aggro a lot too. This is more like.. Naya Humans Win (NHW?) in terms of style. Either way, I'm not too worried, I think the other list really deserves the title Naya Human Midrange anyways.
I've been doing more testing with 3x Hellrider (I took out 1 Rancor, 1 Frontline Medic, and 1 Lightning Mauler) and it's been pretty spectacular so far. I do notice that the mana becomes slightly more unreliable (especially when you have to Cavern naming Human so often) but he's such a beastly T4 play, and if you have Frontline Medic already in play it gets bonkers.
What's nice is that you can occasionally use BTE to help cast Hellrider when you only have 1 real red source available (since you can spend Human Cavern / Temple Garden / Sunpetal Groves only to cast BTE and get the R mana added to your pool), but usually BTE will be dropped way earlier than that, so it's not super reliable. I've still done it in a few matches though, so it's something to consider.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far!
I've playtested a LOT vs. the new RDW (splashing white for Reckoner/Boros Charm) lists, and I can outrace 1 Stromkirk Noble. 2 Nobles is... difficult, yes.
Reckoner can be pretty brutal, I agree. You need to have a Boros Charm or Faith's Shield at the ready to invalidate one if they shoot one of your creatures with it, but if they respond with their own Boros Charm you're still left at a disadvantage (since that thing sitting on the board is just really bad for us). However you have a lot more options post side-board for dealing with it (Faith's Shield, O-ring, Fiend Hunter) and you do have to keep in mind that Frontline Medic with Batallion helps combat it to some extent.
The worst part about it is if they're doing well in the race, and they leave it back to block something particularly strong of yours (like a double-striking, Rancored Champion) and then they just bolt you to the face with it for 5+ damage. That HURTS a lot, and it's possible that we may need to look at options like Nearheath Pilgrim in the sideboard to swing the race drastically in our favor. There's also Gift of Orzhova (1WW, +1/+1 flying and lifelink enchant) but ehhhhhh. It seems slower and more vulnerable than a Nearheath.
One thing I've noticed in the aggro mirrors is that Aurelia's Fury is just super sweet (it makes Boros Reckoner not nearly as scary - they usually can't kill anything off with a ping of 1 damage from Aurelia's hitting it). In fact, that card's been playtesting pretty well in most match-ups, so much so that I was considering maindecking 1-2 for awhile.. but I have no idea what I'd cut. It's a great finisher, and very versatile for the Silence effect vs. control, but one of the great things about this list is its consistency. I really don't want to compromise that too much.
If hasty RDW-style decks are super popular in the meta, I would be pretty open to running 2x Blind Obedience in the sideboard. If you land one of those T2 on the play, it's VERY difficult to lose the race. Even T2 on the draw it's pretty damn good against that deck, and the extort can actually be relevant too.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
If your turn 2 is emissary-mauler that means a t3 paladin basically only rocks if you had t1 champ. You don't really want to pair him with a pilgrim :/ It may not be a big deal if it just means we play other things on t3 - another mauler, a mayor, thalia, + rancor or medic. But playing too much soulbond can hurt. Perhaps fewer than 4 maulers?
Still, let me comment on the deck. I would personally replace 4 of the Mayors to 3x Ghor Clan Rampager and 1 more Rancor. Why? Well first, if you're looking for a technically 2CMC spell (let's say bloodrush mechanics acts as a spell in this kind of deck), Ghor Clan Rampager is a better card value(it's a creature, with an uncounterable ability/pump spell) than your anthem from Mayor of Avabruck. Second, you would always want to see a Rancor. That card, even top decked, wins most of the time. Let's just compare the cards per turn I mentioned to your list:
Let's assume your hand has:
2 Champion
1 Mayor
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Temple Garden
1 Rancor
T1: Land. You play 1 Champion of the Parish, pass turn.
T2: Land. You play the Mayor, attack for 3 or 4 damage. (Or cast both champ and pilgrim, or Rancor + Pilgrim= 4dmg)
T3: Assuming no land drops and let's say you drew another Mayor, you play the drawn Mayor(or other possible/better card plays), attack for 7 damage max, depending on how you play out.
Total of 11 damage tops by playing it that way on turn 3 and hoping you have another Rancor.
Now compare it to this hand:
2 Champion
1 Ghor-Clan Rampager
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Temple Garden
1 Rancor
T1: Land. You play Champion of the Parish
T2: Land. Play Avacyn's Pilgrim, and Rancor. Attack for 4.
T3: Assuming no land drops, and not drawing a Rancor. You play the Champion via Avacyn's Pilgrim. Now you have a 5/3 Champion attacking, waiting to get bloodrushed for a total P/T of 9/7 which will always save your creature if ever it is blocked.
Left unblocked, that's total 13 damage by turn 3. And that 2 damage difference is significant enough for reach, imo. Next turn, if ever you'd draw a Rancor or another Ghor-Clan Rampager, that's the W for you via a single Champion of the Parish(see how significant that 2 damage this hand made?)
(Please correct me if my math is wrong. Thanks)
My only concern is that if anything happens to that Champ, you have no board, and in my experience something will usually happen to that Champ. You are over-committed to it. Mayor spreads the board as a permanent, threatens to become problematic with the inevitability of transform, baits removal/burn that would otherwise hit your face, powers Gather the Townsfolk, (a card missing from this discussion which I believe is a mistake).. The hyper-aggro-do-as-much-damage-as-quickly-as-possible approach is better suited for decks running a burn suite imo.
The best thing about humans is that it's not invested in any one thing aside from battlefield presence. Our biggest threat is Champ which we invest practically nothing into. It's a turn 1 play! I've played all sorts of finishers and alpha strike enablers with this archetype ranging from buffed Champion of Lambholt to Overrun to morbid triggered Brimstone Volley.. the results are always mixed.
And while I do think Ghor Clan is a fine pump smasher, I think I'd rather run Revenge of the Hunted in the sideboard.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
Wolfbitten Captive however, is solid on his own. He's a mana dump that can also be a Isamaru, Hound of Konda.
Standard-
WRG-Naya Humans
EDH-
RUG- Animar
RW- Brion Stoutarm
I personally don't consider a 2-card combo a legitimate answer to a single card. It's statistically unlikely that you'll have the Rancor AND Selesnya Charm in hand by the time they drop a Reckoner even if you run 4 of each.
Also, it's very difficult to find room for both S.Charm AND Rancor in this list. When I feel that S.Charm is more relevant I'm usually siding Rancors out to bring them in.
I think there are plenty of answers to Reckoner post sideboard (O-Ring, Fiend Hunter, Aurelia's Fury [to an extent], etc) but it definitely is one of the most powerful creatures they can play against this deck.
I did a gauntlet of testing against the deck last night again though, and honestly the RDW/Boros aggro deck doesn't really scare me too much. I won about 70% of the matches, despite facing several T1 Stromkirk Noble plays. This deck tends to be much more explosive, and RDW/Boros really only beat it when they had all the right removal at the right time.
Domri is too slow to maindeck. We're not looking for card advantage in most matchups and his -2 is pretty bad when the biggest creature in the deck is a 3/3.
However, he's a very legitimate option to bring in from the sideboard vs. control, so I will add him to the list of 3CMC potentials.
This is never really the issue you make it out to be. In general, if your hand is Champion, Mauler, Silverblade are your only creatures it winds up depending on the match. If I'm vs. control or a deck with a lot of removal/bounce, I'll usually just pair the Mauler with Champion T2 and swing for 4 because there's a good chance they're going to kill one of the two and leave the other open for pairing with Silverblade.
If you have Pilgrim, BTE, Mauler, Silverblade, then the play is typically T1 Pilgrim, T2 Silverblade (no bond), T3 BTE + Mauler, bond Mauler to Silverblade and swing for 8 (hopefully you have a Rancor in hand too to use with the last mana so you can swing for 12 instead).
In all the games I've played I've never really had an issue of Mauler and Silverblade colliding unfavorably. Bonding Silverblade to Mauler or BTE is fine.
Yes, I've occasionally had to resort to bonding a Silverblade to a Pilgrim or Mayor, but Rancor or flipping Mayor makes this a decent play still. Soulbond decisions are a very important part of playing this deck and it really hinges on the matchup you're playing and how critical it is to get early damage in. Sometimes I'll play T1 Champion, T2 mauler (no bond), T3 silverblade on Champion, and T4 frontline medic (bond to mauler). Sometimes getting in with Mauler+Champion on T2 is more important. Much like most of Magic, you'll start recognizing the right plays vs. each deck you face as you practice the matchups more.
Restoration Angel is a great creature in a deck looking to play out the mid-late game. Restoration Angel is NOT a great creature in the deck looking to kill someone by T4/T5. Also, this is a thread to discuss Naya Humans, there is a Naya Zoo primer in this forum for alternate discussions.
Have you played with Mayor of Avabruck much? It is absolutely critical to this deck. I get what you're trying to do with the Ghor-Clan Rampager examples but you're focusing too much on achieving the fastest goldfish result. What happens when you use +4/+4 trample bloodrush and they Orzhov Charm/Ultimate Price/Selesnya Charm/bounce your attacker? Now you're down a card and way behind. You can wait til they're tapped out, but I can assure you it's not going to happen vs. control, or really
Mayor of Avabruck is one of the few cards that can actually carry the deck through the midgame in the case of a board stall. If you've never seen the work that Howlpack Alpha (Mayor's flipped side) does, it's quite amazing.
On top of that, it also makes Thalia and anything bonded with Silverblade just that much better. In fact, it makes your entire BOARD better and makes combat way more profitable for you in pretty much every case. I pretty much can't overstate how vital Mayor is to this deck.
In a theoretical world where everyone plays creature based decks with no instant speed removal, Ghor-Clan Rampager would be the go-to pick for sure. But even then, I still wouldn't replace Mayor with it in the deck.
As for mentioning 1 more Rancor, I love Rancor to death, trust me. But when I made the change to the maindeck to include 3x Hellrider (which is a far more powerful card in this deck), I had to cut a few things, and honestly 1x Rancor is one of the better choices. It was either that or cut Silverblade to 3, but I prefer keeping the threat density higher in the deck.
That being said, if you want to cut something else for the 4th Rancor, go ahead - it's an amazing card. Just keep in mind that you have to give up some other amazing card to fit it in the list.
It seems to a decent amount of reach. And it has three power to help force damage through.
Standard-
WRG-Naya Humans
EDH-
RUG- Animar
RW- Brion Stoutarm
I wanted him to work in the last block incarnation of Naya Humans, but he was only ever a bolt following Gather the Townsfolk. With GTC Humans, I will be running Gather plus the BTE + Mayor/Mauler line of play. This also enables Malcontent to bolt, making him a bit more viable.
Deserves testing me thinks.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
I have it listed as a potential card for the 3CMC slot, and it's definitely not bad if you feel you need the extra reach on top of Boros Charm, but there are quite a few things working against it.
You could try to make a case for replacing Frontline Medic with it mainboard, but with all the Bonfire/Aurelia's Fury/Sphinx's Revelations we're probably going to see in the meta, on top of Frontline's batallion ability being awesome, I'll personally be sticking with Medic for now.
Good analysis. As a B/x player, I would also add that Tragic Slip is being talked about a lot right now. Expect to see it everywhere early GTC.
Modern
RBig RedR
GMean GreenG
WWW AlliesW
BGScavengeBG
WUVenser SilenceWU
EDH
RWAurelia 1 vs 1RW
GWURoonGWU
GWSaffiGW
Completely fair points against it. I do agree medic is by the far the better creature, it was just an idea.
I'm really liking this deck so far, I haven't encountered a bad match-up with it. Against other aggro decks you tend to outsize, out explode, or first strike them to death. Against control/tempo they can't afford to miss a turn durdleling for lands or cards as you can very easily win a game in two or three attack steps. Not to mention with boros charm and battlefield medic your board is surprisingly resilient.
Standard-
WRG-Naya Humans
EDH-
RUG- Animar
RW- Brion Stoutarm
It depends on what your definition of "more often than not" is. I do not believe the odds of you opening up with them together are all that large. For the times you don't draw CotP, Experiment One will do a decent impersonation. In the end it has a lot to do with how your deck is structured. Something like a play set of Loxodon Smiter can go a long way it making him more viable.
A couple of people over in the Boros Sligh thread have been extremely disappointed with Medic (against control) thus far. They felt like he acted as mere speed bump that could easily be played around. I'm still optimistic, especially since it can be utilized a bit better in these builds, but admittedly much less so then at the moment it was spoiled.
Whether or not Medic is MB material is going to be totally dependent on how saturated the meta is with Aurelia's Fury and Bonfire (and to a lesser extent Entreat) in conjunction with Sphinx's Revelation. You can't really expect the Battalion mechanic to trigger often, so if the above cards don't see heavy play, he'll be a vanilla 3/3 more often than not.
To be clear, I'm not saying to replace him with Malcontents (although I do like Malcontents) but that it's possible neither are going to be optimal.
I've tested Wolfbitten Captive a lot recently, and I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with it. When it DOES flip into a 2/2, it doesn't get buffed by the human side of Mayor, and the pump effect on its flipped side is really expensive and only good VERY late game (which we don't really want to get to anyways, ideally).
A lot of decks can flip him back easily, and overall every time I've played him I've wished he were an Avacyn's Pilgrim instead.
I still haven't tested Experiment One, but as of right now I feel it's the only other viable 1 drop next to Pilgrim. I'm probably going to stick with Pilgrim because we ARE running 22 lands, and it just makes certain hands a lot more keepable and overall improves the consistency of the deck I feel. However, since I haven't tested Experiment One yet, I'm not going to make a final decision until I've seen it in action.
As for Frontline Medic, to be honest with you I absolutely love this guy. I've actually been considering dropping Silverblade to 3x and upping Medic to 3x mainboard. It's not even the X spell counter effect that I love him for -- it's seriously just having a 3/3 for 3 with an amazing batallion effect. He makes combat so profitable for us and is really one of the only 'beefy' creatures you can play in this deck outside of a Champion that's grown huge.
He also makes Lightning Mauler feel way better, and enables lines of play like T1 Pilgrim > T2 Medic > T3 mauler (or mauler + Mayor since we have 4 mana from pilgrim ideally, or BTE + craziness because BTE is amazing), swing with batallion enabled.
That being said, I may very well keep Medic at 2x and drop Silverblade down to 3x just to find some room for Aurelia's Fury mainboard. It's been playtesting extremely well and I find myself bringing it in from the sideboard in almost every match. I may not find room for 2 of it mainboard, but I'll probably try to sneak 1 in somewhere.
Observations:
1. A 22 land 3 colour deck has a lot of bad mana draws. Even with the shocks and caverns, we're likely only going to have 2 land hands most of the time - and when its stomping ground + sunpetal grove we can't play t1 champion. Also if you keep a 3 lander and topdeck 2 lands you pretty much lose on the spot.
2. Bonfire is still extremely painful. The entire deck is 1 and 2 toughness except for the medics and rider(s). We have medic and charm, but early on you can't leave charm mana up and if we only run 2 medics we often won't have them on t3. Turn 1 pillar on champion also slows us down a lot in the t2 bte-mauler draw.
3. Staticaster shuts down about half the deck and we play 0 maindeck answers to it... I desperately missed o-ring and the bigger bodies from the GW version here.
In summary while I think the BTE+Mauler combo is explosive, it also creates a lot of weaknesses that need to be shored up. I don't know if the deck can afford to be a 3 colour all-in-aggro deck when our guys have such horiffically small toughness. A straight zoo deck will do similar damage and have way more resilience early on.
I'll address your post point by point, but first and foremost I would recommend running 3x Hellrider instead of just 1x. Anyways, here goes
1. My list has 13 available sources for T1 Champion. 12 sources available for T1 Pilgrim. 11 white sources, 12 green sources, 10 red sources, and 4 Caverns where 28 out of 31 creatures (in my list) are Humans. 22 land and 4 Pilgrims, in a deck where the highest thing on the curve is three 4-drops.
I'm not sure your sample size for testing is large enough to call the mana "bad" because statistically it's sound, and in over 100 games playtested for me I haven't noticed any more mana issues than I would expect with any 3 color deck (roughly 5% of games). Yes, 3 color aggro is statistically less consistent than 2 color aggro, no one is going to debate that point. However, after extensive playtesting I'm confident in the manabase and I'm really not sure what else to say other than to ask for a statistical analysis on how many games you played, what the mana issues were, etc.
Mono red aggro decks can run 23 lands with no mana dorks and still top off their curve with 4x Hellrider and 2x Thundermaw Hellkite. Your theoretical situations where you get stuck on 2 land or get flooded after keeping a 3 lander can happen to any aggro deck.
2. Topdecked bonfire destroys a lot of aggro decks. A hardcast bonfire for 1 can hurt this deck if you have certain draws, but it certainly doesn't destroy it outright. If anything, this deck is one of the more resilient aggro decks to bonfire on the basis of maindecked Thalias, Frontline Medics, and Boros Charms. Early on we're not keeping up Boros Charm mana, this is true, but early on bonfire doesn't really do anything unless it's miracled at a convenient time - and there's no merit in discussing things like getting miracle Bonfired or miracle Terminus'd because you can't typically play around perfectly timed miracles.
Yes, a Champion getting pillar'd slows us down. A Stromkirk Noble getting pillared slows RDW down too, and while Champion is a stronger and more explosive one drop in most cases, the point remains the same: both decks can still get there if their early aggression is met with some removal. Also, T2 BTE into Mayor or BTE into Mauler is a strong play regardless of having a Champion out; it's just absurd when you DO have a Champion out though.
3. We have a decent amount of 1 toughness targets for Staticaster, yes, but I fail to see how Fiend Hunter or O-ring are good answers for that? You still wind up losing a creature to Staticaster by then. And besides, what deck are you up against that has Staticaster mainboard? Typically, the answer is a deck that also has Peddler, in which case you're already fighting an uphill battle as ANY creature based deck, regardless of the toughness your creatures have.
I'm not sure I understand the train of thought behind saying that having low toughness creatures makes this deck not viable. Does that mean RDW isn't a real deck? It's weak to bonfire, staticaster (albeit less so than this deck), etc. A straight Zoo deck has bigger creatures but less speed, and is a solid deck, but I wouldn't possibly be able to say which deck is 'better' because we don't have a meta formed yet, we have no results to back up a claim for either one, and they operate differently.
This deck isn't just good because of the nut draws; I already outlined several lines of play in the primer that are slower than blazing fast but still solid. The deck is good because of its consistency, average speed, and resilience, but I never stated it's invulnerable or uncounterable. No deck IS uncounterable in this meta, and it's somewhat awkward and come in and say "this fast aggro deck loses to X spell that wipes the board early when you don't have an answer to it in hand/mana untapped!" when everyone pretty much already knows that.
Statistically, you have only have a 53% chance of hitting RR on the play.
Furthermore, if you don't count Cavern, you have 22% chance of drawing Hellrider but not having sufficient R sources by T4.
I understand this is 3C and the mana base is hard to work but not being able to cast Hellrider in about 1 in every 4-5 (4.5) times you draw him is going to be unacceptable in the long run. You will notice something like this.
This is definitely the biggest concern I had when I brought in the 3x Hellrider, and overall the only concern I have with the manabase at all. I do find myself naming Devil with Cavern every now and then when I don't have 2 red sources out (and when naming human with it isn't relevant in the matchup).
I'm pretty sure I'm going to wind up replacing the basic plains with a Clifftop Retreat or something along those lines. Going down to 12 sources for T1 champion is not a big deal, and having 11 red sources available (before Caverns) to improve the odds of casting T4 Hellrider on the play seems well worth it.
The manabase might even need further adjusting, in order to really make sure we avoid having to name Devil with Cavern when we don't want to. Something like this:
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Slayers' Stronghold
2 Rootbound Crag
1 Sunpetal Grove
2 Clifftop Retreat
This gives us (without Caverns) 12 red sources, 11 white sources, and 11 green sources. Without the Pilgrims you'd probably want to shuffle it around slightly so you have more white than green (12 white - 10 green, drop 1 Rootbound for another Clifftop) due to Silverblade Paladin.
This still keeps us with 12 sources each for T1 Champion/T1 Pilgrim and should alleviate most of the concerns about the Hellrider casting cost.
Let me know if you have any alternative manabase configurations that would be better, I'm admittedly not the best at it.