BBBRRRAAAIIINNNSSS in New Standard

Hello Everyone!

This is my favorite time of the year! In fact, I get this 4 times a year! One of the amazing benefits of being a Magic player is you get so many more Christmases than everyone else. First comes the new cards, then comes the new ideas, then comes the new euphoria of discovery, then comes the amazing feeling of those ideas being successful. I love it especially because I am always met with a new wave of exciting and inspiring things to talk about, it's so much easier to pour out what I'm really thinking.

Today I decided I wanted to explore Zombies post Gatecrash. I have a bit of history with BRains, last year during the Delver era I played the deck non stop and had some solid finishes with the deck, making the most of the few opportunities I had to play. Since then it has always held a little place in my heart and I always look to see what Bx aggressive decks we can roll out next.

The first card I have been dying to pair with Geralf's Messenger for the longest time is Restoration Angel. These two are a pair made to bring a disaster. Having Restoration Angel in your deck with Messenger gives you the opportunity to trade more aggressively knowing that an Angel can restore your death machine to its former glory and kill again. Finally with Godless Shrine in the mix we have a solid enough mana base to pursue it.

BW Zombies

4x Diregraf Ghoul

4x Gravecrawler

2x Thrull Parasite

4x Knight of Infamy/Glory

4x Geralf's Messenger

4x Restoration Angel

4x Lingering Souls

4x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

3x Ultimate Price

3x Oblivion Ring

1x Sign in Blood

4x Cavern of Souls

4x Godless Shrine

4x Isolated Chapel

2x Plains

7x Swamp

2x Vault of the Archangel

Cards to consider for Sideboard:

Underworld Connections

Faith's Shield

Purify the Grave

Unburial Rites

Blood Artist

Duress

Sever the Bloodline

Obzedat, Ghost Council

Blind Obediance

Fronline Medic

One cool thing about this deck is how you can play either Knight of Infamy or Knight of Glory depending on the metagame without having to make any other changes to the deck. With Thrull Parasite and Restoration Angel both only profitably working with Geralf's Messenger, keeping him around is key! I really like Sorin in this deck because he will be incredibly aggressive, making emblems whenever possible while also allowing the deck to grind out longer games if necessary. The maindeck otherwise feels strong to me, and I want to keep the sideboard open to adjust for the expected new meta.

Underworld Connections, Duress, and Obzedat are all for longer, grindier games vs control decks. Frontline Medic is good there too, to counter their Sphinx's Revelations, but he also comes in vs Bonfire of the Damned. Faith's Shield is if Sever the Bloodline gets played to protect our Geralf's Messenger. Unburial Rites, Blood Artist, and Sever the Bloodline are all for creature matchups to win the long game. Finally Purify if for the graveyard decks, and Blind Obediance is something worth considering for red decks and haste creatures.

Grixis Zombies

4x Diregraf Ghoul

4x Gravecrawler

4x Knight of Infamy

4x Geralf's Messenger

4x Diregraf Captain

4x Duskmantle Seer

3x Rakdos's Return

4x Skullcrack

2x Searing Spear

1x Bonfire of the Damned

3x Ultimate Price

4x Cavern of Souls

4x Dragonskull Summit

4x Drowned Catacombs

4x Blood Crypt

4x Watery Grave

1x Steam Vents

1x Sulfur Falls

1x Swamp

Possible Sideboard Cards:

Pillar of Flame

Duress

Negate

Dreadbore

Izzet Charm

Blood Artist

This deck is designed to make Duskmantle Seer work. I forsee it as a fantastic closer for aggressive decks that can punish other decks for playing expensive cards like Thragtusk, Terminus, Angel of Serenity, Thundermaw Hellkite, and Unburial Rites. The average converted mana cost of this deck is 1.35. Compare that to the Human Reanimator deck that just won the last SCG Open whose average mana cost is 1.93 or 43% higher. This means that deck will take 43% more damage off Duskmantle Seer while we also attack for 4 a turn. Using cards like Rakdos's Return and Skullcrack, we can leverage our advantage over the opponent and end the game quickly.

Looking at the sideboard, the card I'm actually most excited about is Izzet Charm. Specifically I want to use it as a Spell Pierce to hit a Planeswalker or an X spell when we put the opponent under pressure, but its other abilities is what makes it better than a Negate. In fact, that may be good enough reason to earn a slot in the main deck!

If I had to choose between one of these two decks to play at the first FNM with Gatecrash, I would probably lean towards the BW list. It's a much simpler deck, which means it is better in a new format, but as the format matures it can quickly become outclassed by the options the more complicated decks bring to the table. Despite that, it plays a lot of inherently powerful cards, and I think it may have legs to be a viable deck in the long run!

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie

Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com

@ThingsILack