In the forums for my last article, some one suggested Rancor for my Aggro-Control Deep Dog deck. I stubbornly dismissed the card, citing that it did not have synergy and that the deck did not run enough creatures to support one of the best commons ever.

What was I thinking?

The deck, as presented, was a nice package, but had numerous flaws pointed out in the comments. One of the reasons I wanted to write about the deck was to elicit comments, to see what the masses thought. A lot of times the best way to get results and foster discussion is to put something out there that you know people will see from a different angle. I could not just go out and say “Counterspell is a good card. Here's a deck.” No, I had to make bold claims. And then sound foolish in the forums.

The things I do for the readers.

So, first things first, I looked at the forums surrounding the Deep Dog deck and noticed a couple of changes straightaway. First, I could switch to a better card draw suite, and one that interacted better with the deck as a whole. This meant moving away from Think Twice and instituting more Deep Analysis. Of course, since I was running good Blue cards, I decided to also run Mulldrifter, which is on theme in that it is good and Blue. It also goes to the yard, which is on theme...right?

Replacing weak spells with strong creatures met my self imposed threshold for wanting to run Rancor, so I mixed up the counter suite and ended up with this sixty:

Aggro Dastard

 

Creatures 4 Mulldrifter 4 Werebear 2 Krosan Avenger 4 Basking Rootwalla 2 Springing Tiger 4 Wild Mongrel 4 Looter il-Kor 24 cards Other Spells 2 Deep Analysis 3 Whiplash Trap 4 Rancor 4 Mana Leak 9 cards

Lands 2 Simic Growth Chamber 8 Island 9 Forest 4 Terramorphic Expanse 23 cards

This is by no means a perfectly tuned deck. I got sidetracked and quickly moved on to something else (patience, it is coming, I promise). However, this deck is far better at attacking than Deep Dog. There are not many things in life that are more fun than going “Oh, Rancor on this guy. Swing.” Rancor is like, the ultimate burn spell. You draw it, cast it, and then continue to do damage as long as you have dudes in play. Given that most creatures in Pauper are of a relatively small stature, it is not hard to see that a creature with Rancor will trade with just about anything while attacking.

So I played this deck a few times, and enjoyed running with the Dog. It has potential, but frankly, it just reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing Rancor and how I wanted to run it in a strong aggressive deck.

But Alex, you might be saying, Pauper has had access to Rancor all along in the form of Bonesplitter.

Well, yes and no. Bonesplitter is great in that it too is a burn spell that keeps on giving as long as you have creatures in play. However, the big difference is that Rancor gives Green decks something they sorely need: evasion. Trample provides Green a way to punch through otherwise stalemated boards, allowing for some late game breakthroughs. Given the majority of creatures seeing play today have a low toughness, Trample becomes more and more attractive.

So, after seeing how much fun it was to attack with a Looter il-Kor with the Aura attached, I set out to find a way to apply the beats. I still had to keep my mind on public enemy number one: Goblins. I had been dying to run Rancor in a traditional RG Beatz list, but the times call for something different.

This, in turn, led me to a list of cards I have been keeping in the back of my mind as a way to fight the Red menace. One card that keeps jumping to the front of my list is Subterranean Shambler. I really like this card because unlike the other creature sweepers in Red, Martyr of Ashes and Bloodfire Dwarf, this guy sticks around as a pretty solid blocker. A 2/3 is nothing to sneeze at, as it can profitably block most creatures in the Goblin deck and even if it dies, it will still reduce their army by a significant amount. The Shambler is not a perfect Wrath, but it is pretty darn good. That being said, it does have two pretty steep drawbacks: it has Echo and it hits your creatures. The former means that the Elemental better be at the top of your curve and the latter means you must plan accordingly.

Going with the plan of Rancor Red-Green, I now had the top end of my curve and my anti-Goblins tool (which is none to shabby against White Weenie at the same time). I wanted to populate my list with cards that are good in general, but also would be able to stand up to the Goblin hordes.

One of the big problems I have seen in decks recently is the lack of early targeted removal. A card like Firebolt saves you quite a few life points over the course of the game, especially when backed up with a decent blocker. Four of them were an absolute must. Same with Lightning Bolt. It decks like these, I want to run between 12 and 16 burns spells, but four slots were taken by Rancor, so I moved to the new kid on the block, Burst Lightning. I like this super-Shock because it can pick of threats early and does a great instant speed Torch impression late.

My love affair with Vithian Stinger is well known, but as much as I wanted to run him here, I could not bring myself to do so. This deck wants a board control element, again, against Goblins, and wants it to be active as soon as possible- turn four was too late most of the time. I originally doubled up on pingers, with two Granger Guildmage (more of him later) and three Fireslinger. Eventually, I wanted to max out on two drops since my first turn was either spent fixing mana or taking a threat off the table, and Guildmage was not ideal here. I also wanted to cut some cards to make room for a three drop. Finally, I did not like having to pay every time to use Granger; the pingers are at their best early while this deck was trying to develop a board position. Granger did not work ideally here. At the same time, I really did enjoy the ability to grant First Strike (since I was running the singleton Plains, but the benefit was so small in my testing that I eventually moved to the full four Slingers. Still, I wish I could run Stinger, just to mitigate how rough it is to Shamble away my own army. Shame.

First Strike is pretty good against Goblins, so I did a quick search for aggressive Red and Green creatures that were so gifted. Of course, Plated Geopede came into view, and I smiled. The deck would already be running Terramorphic Expanses to help enable Wild Nacatls, at least in the initial version. Being able to put pants on the 'Pede is even more exciting, as swinging with a 5/3 Trample, First Strike beast...insect...whatever...is pretty imposing. The best part was that with a land in hand he would not have to die to my own Shambler on turn four. Swinging with a 3/3 First Strike feels good. Holding back an Expanse to ensure I would be able to block with one feels almost as good. Even as a 1/1, the Geopede does a decent job of holding off attackers until a better position can be established.

Running the Landfall beater led me to the final “odd” choice. I wanted a blocker with benefits, and found one in Borderland Ranger. I will not lie- I was skeptical of Civic Wayfinder and his ilk for a long time. But that was before I ever cast a Borderland Ranger with a Geopede in play, fetched a Forest to play and Rancor up my bug to swing for five big points of damage. Now, I am in love. This was the card I ended up cutting a Granger for, and am still trying to find a way to shoehorn a fourth one into the deck. I may eventually drop to three Wild Mongrels as a way to get this guy in there. He does so much well. He blocks rather well and draws you a card. Additionally, since he is a creature, he has pretty good synergy with Rancor.

That is what I like to call a bad joke and a bad attempt at poking fun at myself.

The deck rounds out with the Wild twins of Nacatl and Mongrel. I would not want to get rid of Nacatl, as 3/3s are quite good still. I am not sold on Mongrels yet, but I am very attached to them (unhealthily so). Mogg War Marshal has been suggested, but I did not like the way it felt, but it might have been my own pro-Dastard leanings.

Here is the deck as I currently have it:

Red Green Aggro

 

Creatures 3 Borderland Ranger 4 Wild Nacatl 4 Plated Geopede 4 Subterranean Shambler 4 Fireslinger 4 Wild Mongrel 23 cards Other Spells 2 Burst Lightning 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Rancor 4 Firebolt 10 cards

Lands 7 Snow-Covered Mountain 1 Snow-Covered Plains 8 Snow-Covered Forest 1 Gruul Turf 2 Teetering Peaks 4 Terramorphic Expanse 23 cards Sideboard 4 Pyroblast 4 Ancient Grudge 3 Armadillo Cloak 11 cards

The sideboard is not perfect. The Armadillo Cloaks probably want to be (Glazing Gladehart)s, as they block better than the Cloaks and could gain life without actually doing anything. The Blastoderms are there to come in any time you really want to take the Shamblers out. If the meta shifts to a point where Goblins are no longer every where to be found, I could see moving the Derms main, as they are just a house. I have had success siding them in against both Blue and Black based control decks- they have a rather hard time dealing with the 5/5.

Pyroblast and Ancient Grudge are there for the usual suspects. They will usually come in for Lightning Bolt.

Goblins is a good match-up, but not overwhelmingly so. You want to play out Mountains first to pick off their early creatures with burn. Getting rid of Intimidator Initiates should be a top priority as they can stop you from blocking profitably. Do not be afraid to block to absorb damage and lose creatures, as Rancor will promise to make any creature you drop later into a decent threat. If you can get the Shambler mana while at a decent life total, things should slowly swing your way. Do not hold out on Shambler longer than you have to- casting it on turn four, even if it only trades with one creature, is probably correct as it makes all their subsequent attacks less likely to succeed. Do not be afraid to lose a Slinger to your own Elemental, but try to hold on to them until after you go for the Wrath to maximize your chances to control the field of play.

My sample against Goblins is not statistically significant- around ten matches. While I always feel like I should win and can win, sometimes Goblins just gets Bushwhacker and goes “I win.” That being said, if the next batch of Weekend Challenges feature a large number of aggro decks, this, or something like it, is what I would want to take into battle.

Keep slingin' commons-

-Alex