Cowboy Neal Behind the Wheel

Just as we get to a place where I feel like I know what's happening in Historic, another massive change is around the corner. Amonkhet was an interesting block with some really busted stuff like Hazoret and The Scarab God, and also solid midrange stuff I liked quite a bit. There's also apparently some other goodies in the remaster set for some reason, so let's take a look.

Yeah, this gets to be in Historic for some reason. This would have been useful before Nexus of Fate and Wilderness Reclamation were banned. It's certainly a 4-of in the list, but the life loss is pretty crucial, since we can't play Blackcleave Cliffs or Blooming Marsh, and we also aren't fetching Swamp on turn one. Starting the game at 16 isn't ideal, but will be necessary sometimes. Thoughtseize certainly makes me want to lower the mana curve of the deck, for two reasons. One is that we're going to be doing additional damage to ourselves, so there will be an increased need to play shocklands tapped. The other is that we need to keep pace with the more aggressive decks, or at least aggressive hands, since we're starting the game at 18 instead of 20. That, and having cheap cards is just good to do.

What else does Thoughtseize do for the deck? To be fair, I'm already playing Agonizing Remorse in the deck and it's been okay but not great, so it's an effect that I'm looking for. Thoughtseize speeds us up considerably though. The fact that you're spending one mana instead of two is crucial, because no matter what card you take, your opponent has spent 0 mana on it. You're only losing half the tempo you otherwise would from Thought Erasure or Agonizing Remorse.

I think that Thragtusk still stays in the deck, because it's so good to counteract the shocklands, Thoughtseizes, and Castle Locthwains that we're running. I think it'll be necessary since it enables all those cards, but also is a straight up two for one against removal and attackers and blockers. Moreso than in decks in the past, this deck actually utilizes lifegain even when the opponent isn't pressuring you, since you have Locthwain, and life total management is going to be key going forward.

The Triomes were appealing to me a while back and Canyon Slough is just a strict upgrade from Savai Triome. I dislike Barren Moor, but I also dislike how much mana it costs to cycle a Triome. I'll start by trying three of these.

I was really high on this card back when it was in Standard. It's cheap removal but not extremely flexible, and it has some upside in the late game that actually does come up pretty often. In matchups where you want a cheap creature removal spell, changing the math of the race can be a big deal, since they can't attack you if you're going to crack back, put them to seven or whatever, and then Ribbons them out. So in that instance, it's just the threat of the card that gains you advantage and you can continue to play normally but it'll change your opponent's decisions. It hits all the goblins, all the Gruul creatures, and all the mono-blue creatures. I like it better than Abrade, but that depends on whether there's artifacts in the format or not.

This is also in here for some reason. I like the idea that you can pick off small creatures and then get some value, but there really isn't a ton in the way of 1 toughness creatures that are still sticking around by turn four. It's certainly worth a shot, but Liliana and Vraska are already sort of on their way out in my mind.

Does Glory Banger have a slot here? I'm not sure but I think it's a very, very good card. It hits everything in the format, nails planeswalkers, and races very well. It might be necessary just in order to fight against opposing Glorybringers that the Gruul decks will likely start running. What really sells this card for me is how good it is with Chevill, whether we're exerting and nuking a creature or hitting a planeswalker with the haste and evasion. It's almost got to have a place in the deck, if it weren't for the Thragtusks that are already there. I think we'll just have to see if we want one or the other, or some kind of split. How many five drops can we reasonably have in the deck? I guess we'll find out.