Red/White Humans Deck (Top 8 Finish)

May 10, 2012 | Posted by Dee

Out of the top 32 decks from the Starcitygames Standard Open in Providence, I think Justin Schibanoff’s 6th place Red/White (RW) Humans deck was the most original one.

He took advantage of the mana fixing from Cavern of Souls to add red to the Humans tribe. He only added two red cards in the main deck, Lightning Mauler and Stormblood Berserker, but these cards add a lot to the deck. They shore up the two-drop spot, which was lacking, and they make the deck faster and more aggressive.

Check out his decklist below.

RW Humans
Creatures (27)
Spells (9)
Lands (24)
Sideboard (15)

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Red Creatures and Silverblade Paladin

It may seem weird to have 4 Honor of the Pure along with six copies of red creatures. But when you think about it, the red creatures don’t really need the buff bonus from Honor.

Stormblood Berserker is a 3/3 for two mana so it really doesn’t need +1/+1 from Honor. Lightning Mauler is mainly there to give haste to the creatures that deal a lot of damage like Silverblade Paladin, Hero of Bladehold, or a Champion of the Parish with a couple +1/+1 counters.

Just remember that soulbond is an optional ability. For example, in the screenshot below, you don’t want to use soulbond because the only creatures you can soulbond with just have one power.

It’s better to wait until you draw a better creature, something like Hero of Bladehold or Mirran Crusader.

Silverblade Paladin is another great addition from Avacyn Restored. It’s comparable to Mirran Crusader because it’s a 2/2 for three mana with double strike. It doesn’t have the protection abilities. Instead, it gives you explosive starts by giving another creature double strike through soulbond.

For example, turn one Champion, turn two Gather, and turn three Silverblade Paladin that soulbonds with Champion is 13 damage by turn three.

Sword of War and Peace

Some Humans decks don’t have Sword of War and Peace but in my testing, it fits the deck because it’s a good card against mass removal. The deck is vulnerable to cards like Slagstorm and Day of Judgment. The deck doesn’t Moorland Haunt to fight these cards so Sword is a welcome addition.

For example, here’s a situation that came up in a game versus Esper Control.

In the previous turn, he spent all four of his mana to exile Thalia with Oblivion Ring.

I feared Day of Judgment so I didn’t play Hero of Bladehold. Instead, I cast Sword of War and Peace. I was glad to have a card that advanced the board but didn’t leave me open to card disadvantage from mass removal.

Sword is also good because there are many decks that rely on white creatures. For example, you’ve got BW Tokens, Esper Control with Lingering Souls and Sun Titan, and other Humans decks.

Zealous Conscripts

Moving to the sideboard, Zealous Conscripts is really good against decks that rely on planeswalkers.

In the screenshot below, I was in a very bad position but a topdecked Zealous Conscripts swung the game back to my favor.

I played a land, cast Zealous Conscripts, and stole Tamiyo. Next, I attacked Gideon with everyone. Then, I activated Tamiyo’s -2 ability to put her at zero loyalty and draw three cards.

For only five mana and one card, I killed a planeswalker, drew three cards, and got a 3/3 haste creature!

In another game, I was up against Gideon Jura. Check out the screenshot below.

I played Zealous Conscripts, borrowed Gideon, activated his -0 ability, and attacked for nine damage. He went down to five life.

On his turn, he cast Day of Judgment and attacked with Gideon. Then, he tapped out to cast two Ponders.

I showed him the second Zealous Conscripts in my hand and he scooped but not before revealing the top card of his library, Temporal Mastery. :)

Filed Under Standard 

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