The deck aims to develop our board while at the same time emptying our opponent's, draw lots of cards and quickly bring them to 0. Our Priest is able to do all of this as just a 2 drop, which is insane. How do we take full advantage of her wide array of abilities?
First things first: we need sac fodder - a lot of it. Hunted Witness is our premium 1 drop, leaving behind a lifelinking token. Orzhov Enforcer does the same thing but is a lot better as a deathtoucher and with 2 toughness. Doomed Dissenter is less exciting but does the job well. No Imperious Oligarch as the mana cost is a bit clunky, especially with the Priest producing BB. At three mana we have Ministrant of Obligation which leaves behind not one but two flying bodies! These sixteen cards are not just cattle, they work well as early chip damage and gainst spot removal and mass removal. Midnight Reaper gives us an insane amount of cards, transforming our sacced creatures in fresh new meat to offer the Priest. The combination of these two cards quickly refill our hands letting us capitalize on the BB we get for the effort.
To top it all, Gruesome Menagerie lets us rebuy up to three of our previously sacced creatures, generating a ridiculous amount of value. In fact, the rest of the deck is built around Menagerie, rather than the Priest. We need an almost equal amount of 1,2 and 3 drops in the deck to fully get the best out of it, here is where Pilfering Imp, Deadeye Tracker and Militia Bugler come into play.
The Imp and the Tracker are both 1 drops that are still relevant in the late game. The Imp is Thoughtseize on a flying body, while the Tracker can hit some relevant spell in our opponent's graveyard while generating even more value for us. Militia Bugler finds every creature in the deck save for Midnight Reaper and is very powerful when recurred with Menagerie.
Two copies of Conclave Tribunal to have some kind of non-creature interaction, and that's it.
Feel free to leave suggestions and test it out yourself, this deck is fun and very good, I promise!
Brought a tweaked list to FNM tonight for the first time and got first place with 2 wins and a draw against Jeskai Drakes, Esper Control and Sultai Midrange. Here's the current deck and a quick report:
Match 1 against Jeskai Drakes (2-1): Conclave Tribunal on his first Drake followed by a Plaguecrafter taking care of a Teferi; a Pilfering Imp taking out their Settle the Wreckage before attacking for lethal take care of game 1.
Game 2 I'm stuck on two lands for too long and can't get anything on board, easy scoop.
Game 3 goes really well with two Tithe Taker on the board, forcing him to play Chemister's Insight on his turn, letting me play out a massive board. I take his Syncopate with an Imp and cast a Priest that deal the last 2 points of damage through a Settle the following turn.
Match 2 against Esper Control (1-1):
I mulligan to 5 the first game, flood out and lose miserabily to Nexus of Fate.
Game 2 he mulligans to 5 (thanks karma) but manages to wipe my board twice with Kaya's Wrath. Even then, a perfectly timed topdecked Menagerie brings back the team and the Plaguecrafter takes care of a Deputy of Detention, he concedes the next turn.
Game 3 was incredibly long, between me taking care of two Thieves with a Mortify and Priestand he wiping the board again a couple times. I bring back the whole thing with Menagerie but it's too late for both of us to win. We shake hands.
Match 3 against Sultai Midrange (2-0):
Game 1 I absolutely demolish him. The deck curved perfectly and managed to make him sac his whole board with a combination of Priest, Plaguecrafeter and Menagerie. In three turns with an unanswered Priest on the board he lost 2 Llanowar Elves, 2 Merfolk Branchwalker, 1 Carnage Tyrant and 1 Hydroid Krasis. It was great.
Game 2 was extremely grindy with his 2 Wildgrowth Walker and Jadelight Ranger taking him back to 20 more than once. With 5 spirits on board I had a real clock though. His Walkers were huge and had to chump a couple times. With both of us drawing one too many lands, a miraculous Gruesome Menagerie bring back a whole lot of spirits and a Priest. The game is won in a couple turns and I am stunned that my deck was able to outgrind the best deck in competitive standard. What a joy!
The deck felt amazing honestly. Gruesome Menagerie is an incredibly powerful card when paired with such an arsenal of persistent creatures. Plaguecrafter is insane, especially when recurred and when you virtually lose nothing. In a control meta, Pilfering Imp overperformed. Being able to pack hand disruption alongside Tithe Taker and not-targeted removal all in the main deck, without it being "forced", is crazy; it gives us the edge G1 against virtually any deck. The resiliance of this list is absurd: it laughs at spot removal and can rebuild incredibly fast after a boardwipe.
After tonight, I think the deck has definitely legs and I'm gonna bring it next friday too. See you then!
What's up! It's been quite some time since my latest update and I feel after WAR this deck has received some really good cards, mainly Cruel Celebrant and God-Eternal Bontu. So let's get to the new list.
Quick recap on my experiences with the deck: I love it to death. So much so that I played with it every single Standard Showdown and FNM at my store through both good and horrible times. The meta is filled with control decks, which doesn't really favor this archetype, Cry of the Carnarium is damn near unbeatable and is seeing play MD these days. The only time I played against Sultai or any midrange deck, I won fairly often. I got to play against Mono U three times piloted by the same guy which was so freaking slow he dragged every match to a 1-1 every single time, even though the MU is definitely favorable. Pretty flipping tilting, since it denied me some top finishes. All in all, the results were so average I didn't feel the need to update the list here; still the deck is good and a lot of fun. If you're reading this, thank you for your time and interest, love ya.
About the new cards: Cruel Celebrant doesn't really need to be discussed, does she? Well, if you insist... She's the only Blood Artist available in Standard currently and every Aristocrat deck isn't an Aristocrat deck without good ol' Artist. Oh, she also survives that damn Goblin Chainwhirler which is a nice upside. God-Eternal Bontu does a couple good things. She digs for more pieces while losing practically nothing. She can one-shot people thanks to Cruel Celebrant and if she doesn't, there's a 5/6 Menace recursive body on the battlefield. There's also a really cool trick with her: sacrifice her to Priest of Forgotten Gods with the ETB still on the stack, put her back as the third card and then resolve Bontu's ETB, which let us draw her again. That is so neat, I love it.
About some other new cards: Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord is very good and I would advise you to run it, but I personally prefer Gruesome Menagerie, since this deck was born with it as a centerpiece. Despark is a phenomenal sideboard piece of interaction. Run 2x-3x.
Can't wait to bring this list to the next tournament, this format looks really exciting right now.
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4x Hunted Witness
4x Pilfering Imp
2x Deadeye Tracker
4x Priest of Forgotten Gods
4x Doomed Dissenter
4x Orzhov Enforcer
4x Midnight Reaper
4x Ministrant of Obligation
3x Militia Bugler
3x Gruesome Menagerie
Enchantment:
2x Conclave Tribunal
Lands:
4x Godless Shrine
3x Isolated Chapel
1x Memorial to Folly
9x Swamp
5x Plains
The deck aims to develop our board while at the same time emptying our opponent's, draw lots of cards and quickly bring them to 0. Our Priest is able to do all of this as just a 2 drop, which is insane. How do we take full advantage of her wide array of abilities?
First things first: we need sac fodder - a lot of it. Hunted Witness is our premium 1 drop, leaving behind a lifelinking token. Orzhov Enforcer does the same thing but is a lot better as a deathtoucher and with 2 toughness. Doomed Dissenter is less exciting but does the job well. No Imperious Oligarch as the mana cost is a bit clunky, especially with the Priest producing BB. At three mana we have Ministrant of Obligation which leaves behind not one but two flying bodies! These sixteen cards are not just cattle, they work well as early chip damage and gainst spot removal and mass removal.
Midnight Reaper gives us an insane amount of cards, transforming our sacced creatures in fresh new meat to offer the Priest. The combination of these two cards quickly refill our hands letting us capitalize on the BB we get for the effort.
To top it all, Gruesome Menagerie lets us rebuy up to three of our previously sacced creatures, generating a ridiculous amount of value. In fact, the rest of the deck is built around Menagerie, rather than the Priest. We need an almost equal amount of 1,2 and 3 drops in the deck to fully get the best out of it, here is where Pilfering Imp, Deadeye Tracker and Militia Bugler come into play.
The Imp and the Tracker are both 1 drops that are still relevant in the late game. The Imp is Thoughtseize on a flying body, while the Tracker can hit some relevant spell in our opponent's graveyard while generating even more value for us. Militia Bugler finds every creature in the deck save for Midnight Reaper and is very powerful when recurred with Menagerie.
Two copies of Conclave Tribunal to have some kind of non-creature interaction, and that's it.
Feel free to leave suggestions and test it out yourself, this deck is fun and very good, I promise!
4x Hunted Witness
3x Pilfering Imp
4x Priest of the Forgotten Gods
4x Orzhov Enforcer
4x Tithe Taker
3x Doomed Dissenter
4x Plaguecrafter
3x Midnight Reaper
2x Militia bugler
2x Ministrant of Obligation
3x Gruesome Menagerie
Enchantments:
2x Conclave Tribunal
Lands:
4x Godless Shrine
3x Isolated Chapel
7x Swamps
7x Plains
1x Memorial to Folly
4x Vicious Offering
4x Kitesail Freebooter
3x Mortify
2x Plague Mare
2x Inspiring Cleric
Match 1 against Jeskai Drakes (2-1):
Conclave Tribunal on his first Drake followed by a Plaguecrafter taking care of a Teferi; a Pilfering Imp taking out their Settle the Wreckage before attacking for lethal take care of game 1.
Game 2 I'm stuck on two lands for too long and can't get anything on board, easy scoop.
Game 3 goes really well with two Tithe Taker on the board, forcing him to play Chemister's Insight on his turn, letting me play out a massive board. I take his Syncopate with an Imp and cast a Priest that deal the last 2 points of damage through a Settle the following turn.
Match 2 against Esper Control (1-1):
I mulligan to 5 the first game, flood out and lose miserabily to Nexus of Fate.
Game 2 he mulligans to 5 (thanks karma) but manages to wipe my board twice with Kaya's Wrath. Even then, a perfectly timed topdecked Menagerie brings back the team and the Plaguecrafter takes care of a Deputy of Detention, he concedes the next turn.
Game 3 was incredibly long, between me taking care of two Thieves with a Mortify and Priestand he wiping the board again a couple times. I bring back the whole thing with Menagerie but it's too late for both of us to win. We shake hands.
Match 3 against Sultai Midrange (2-0):
Game 1 I absolutely demolish him. The deck curved perfectly and managed to make him sac his whole board with a combination of Priest, Plaguecrafeter and Menagerie. In three turns with an unanswered Priest on the board he lost 2 Llanowar Elves, 2 Merfolk Branchwalker, 1 Carnage Tyrant and 1 Hydroid Krasis. It was great.
Game 2 was extremely grindy with his 2 Wildgrowth Walker and Jadelight Ranger taking him back to 20 more than once. With 5 spirits on board I had a real clock though. His Walkers were huge and had to chump a couple times. With both of us drawing one too many lands, a miraculous Gruesome Menagerie bring back a whole lot of spirits and a Priest. The game is won in a couple turns and I am stunned that my deck was able to outgrind the best deck in competitive standard. What a joy!
The deck felt amazing honestly. Gruesome Menagerie is an incredibly powerful card when paired with such an arsenal of persistent creatures. Plaguecrafter is insane, especially when recurred and when you virtually lose nothing. In a control meta, Pilfering Imp overperformed. Being able to pack hand disruption alongside Tithe Taker and not-targeted removal all in the main deck, without it being "forced", is crazy; it gives us the edge G1 against virtually any deck. The resiliance of this list is absurd: it laughs at spot removal and can rebuild incredibly fast after a boardwipe.
After tonight, I think the deck has definitely legs and I'm gonna bring it next friday too. See you then!
4x Hunted Witness
4x Priest of Forgotten Gods
4x Cruel Celebrant
4x Tithe Taker
4x Orzhov Enforcer
4x Plaguecrafter
4x Ministrant of Obligation
2x God-Eternal Bontu
4x Conclave Tribunal
Sorceries:
3x Gruesome Menagerie
Lands:
4x Godless Shrine
4x Isolated Chapel
8x Plains
7x Swamp
About the new cards:
Cruel Celebrant doesn't really need to be discussed, does she? Well, if you insist... She's the only Blood Artist available in Standard currently and every Aristocrat deck isn't an Aristocrat deck without good ol' Artist. Oh, she also survives that damn Goblin Chainwhirler which is a nice upside.
God-Eternal Bontu does a couple good things. She digs for more pieces while losing practically nothing. She can one-shot people thanks to Cruel Celebrant and if she doesn't, there's a 5/6 Menace recursive body on the battlefield. There's also a really cool trick with her: sacrifice her to Priest of Forgotten Gods with the ETB still on the stack, put her back as the third card and then resolve Bontu's ETB, which let us draw her again. That is so neat, I love it.
About some other new cards:
Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord is very good and I would advise you to run it, but I personally prefer Gruesome Menagerie, since this deck was born with it as a centerpiece.
Despark is a phenomenal sideboard piece of interaction. Run 2x-3x.
Can't wait to bring this list to the next tournament, this format looks really exciting right now.