Deck Spotlight #1: The Wrath of Keranos

So, a wee bit of history.

I'm a student, on a student's budget. This doesn't necessarily translate well into a Magic hobby. But, a budget means that every so often, I can treat myself by shaking up my hobby, and opening up avenues of play that I have not previously experienced. Here is my most recent addition to my main deckbox, hopefully to be a faithful friend for a while yet.

The link to 'The Wrath of Keranos' is here.

This deck happened more by mistake than anything; I was working on another deck and improving its consistency in particular. A combo was brought to my attention involving Flamespeaker Adept and Aqueous Form which, supported by other things, meant a guaranteed 4 damage to the face a turn. On top of fixing your draws. On top of other buffs you may give it. The fact that I hadn't even seen this combo before, after the 15 or so weeks the Theros set had been in Standard, blew my mind. I needed to capitalise on this discovery - and capitalise I did.

First, I laid out my thought process; what did I want this deck to do? My mind instantly settled on Aggro; all face smashing, all the time. That's what this interaction does, and sets of Aggro backup shall make it stronger. So naturally, in went a ton of Aggro tools, particularly those with scry. Titan's Strength was a no brainer; +3/+1 is good, slapped onto an adept makes +5/+1 and FIRST STRIKE, for 1 red mana. My little combo-creating heart leapt for joy. My next thought was removal. Could I remove threats, and make my creatures more formidable? Of course I could. Magma Jet was added without a second thought. Of course, there's a better way of removal; countering spells before they resolve. Dissolve seemed foolish not to add. And thus, my core was born.
decks need some removal too, this much was certain.


But, a deck doesn't only have 4 creatures, does it? I flicked backwards and forwards through standard legal contenders, which left me with 4 eligible addins:

 - Guttersnipe. This nasty little goblin has been milling around my collection almost since I started my expedition into Magic last year but it was only until now his purpose became relevant. With so many instants
and sorceries flying around, his trigger generates a lot of free damage.

 - Young Pyromancer. He's been used in burn decks since he was first spoiled in Magic 2014 a few months back, and I knew what he was capable of. Churning out a token whenever Guttersnipe would smack the opponent for two. Nice thought, but 1) budget is a deciding factor, I have precisely none of these on hand, 2) he fills a role similar to the goblin in Red. The search continued.

 - Nivix Cyclops. A powerful common if ever there was one, people have been trying (and some succeeding) in creating combo's for this monolith to one shot an opponent. Shenanigans aside, being at common he's a very flexible addition to a spell heavy deck.

 - Spellheart Chimera. A late addition to the Izzet creature party, this card provides some flying  utility for the deck. In built with evasion, it poses a large threat should the game carry on late, in a deck with 20+
noncreature spells. Instant inclusion.

That was the creature base covered, but one thing remained; interweaving core combo and support cards. To do this was simple: I added in cards from the Return to Ravnica set, where the Izzet Guild (and style of play) holds its roots. An old tournament staple, Mizzium Skin were added. This card is all kinds of useful at dodging targetted removal, and at common is a great budget pick. But after that,  my final 4 spells needed to be chosen. Eventually I settled on Teleportal for the following reasons. 1) Boardwide
unblockable. Nothing's stopping your dudes. 2) Another instant/sorcery to boost everything you have, save Flamespeaker. 3) Flexibility. It could be an aggressive early play, or a late game finisher. I have no words to describe the handiness of
this card.

And thus, the story of The Wrath of Keranos was told. Join me next time when I find something that has grabbed my poor attention span long enough to write a meaningful piece on it!