I'm really digging the afterlife mechanic and with not too many ways to exile creatures efficiently in standard, I feel like it could make a pretty strong and resilient deck. Some combination of the following:
I'm not on the Elenda, the Dusk Rose hype train. Without a free sacrifice outlet to grow Elenda quickly, I think I'd rather be playing Seraph of the Scales with 4 mana all the time.
The main plan of the deck is to be resilient and gain advantage early by sacrificing your own creatures and then taking over the game with Seraph of the Scales or Divine Visitation. Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants also helps bring back afterlifer's that haven't been exiled.
Ideally, there will be a couple more creatures printed with afterlife in Ravnica Allegiance. A one mana and three mana afterlife option would be awesome to replace Hunted Witness and maybe History of Benalia. With this base, you can also fill open spots with Pitiless Pontiff for an additional sac outlet or even try something like Teysa Karlov. Lyra Dawnbringer would work very well with Seraph of the Scales and Divine Visitation. Splashing would also be an interesting option as going Abzan opens up the door to Assassin's Trophy and Trostani Discordant while going Mardu gives access to Bedevil, Judith, the Scourge Diva, and a sideboard Deafening Clarion that could end up very one-sided. I'm excited to see the rest of the set spoiled next week, but before that happens, what do people think of this idea? I'm not an overly experienced standard player, especially in the current meta. Per Standard forum rules, new cards should be discussed in New Card Discussion until full set is spoiled. Moving. Thanks! - hoser2
CMC 1:
4 Hunted Witness
2-4 Legion's Landing
CMC 2:
4 Imperious Oligarch
4 Tithe Taker
2-4 Costly Plunder
CMC 3:
2-4 History of Benalia
2-4 Mortify
CMC 4:
4 Seraph of the Scales
0-2 Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants
I'm not on the Elenda, the Dusk Rose hype train. Without a free sacrifice outlet to grow Elenda quickly, I think I'd rather be playing Seraph of the Scales with 4 mana all the time.
CMC 5:
0-2 Divine Visitation
The main plan of the deck is to be resilient and gain advantage early by sacrificing your own creatures and then taking over the game with Seraph of the Scales or Divine Visitation. Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants also helps bring back afterlifer's that haven't been exiled.
Ideally, there will be a couple more creatures printed with afterlife in Ravnica Allegiance. A one mana and three mana afterlife option would be awesome to replace Hunted Witness and maybe History of Benalia. With this base, you can also fill open spots with Pitiless Pontiff for an additional sac outlet or even try something like Teysa Karlov. Lyra Dawnbringer would work very well with Seraph of the Scales and Divine Visitation. Splashing would also be an interesting option as going Abzan opens up the door to Assassin's Trophy and Trostani Discordant while going Mardu gives access to Bedevil, Judith, the Scourge Diva, and a sideboard Deafening Clarion that could end up very one-sided. I'm excited to see the rest of the set spoiled next week, but before that happens, what do people think of this idea? I'm not an overly experienced standard player, especially in the current meta.
Per Standard forum rules, new cards should be discussed in New Card Discussion until full set is spoiled. Moving. Thanks! - hoser2