Mono-White Humans has been a well-established archetype in Pioneer for a long time at this point. With a solid mix of aggressive threats and creature-based disruption, the Humans deck does a good job using tempo to its advantage.
However, prior to the August ban announcement, the Humans deck had mostly fallen by the wayside. Competing with Abzan Amalia combo proved to be extremely difficult for the archetype.
Luckily, with Abzan Amalia and Rakdos Vampires out of the equation, this strategy has been able to rise from the ashes. Interestingly, though, the most popular variant by far is now Azorius Humans. Thanks to an incredibly powerful Bird from Bloomburrow, the Humans deck is back and better than ever. To help identify what makes this new addition so impactful, we first need to revisit the deck as a whole.
The Humans Core
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/1
- MTG Sets: Shadows Over Innistrad, Commander 2020
- Card Text: When Thalia’s Lieutenant enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on each other Human you control. Whenever another Human enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Thalia’s Lieutenant.
At its base, this is a typical aggro deck with a rewarding typal theme. Your goal is to curve out as quickly as possible. In the one-drop slot, Hopeful Initiate and Recruitment Officer are elite early plays. Getting the first +1/+1 counter on Hopeful Initiate is incredibly easy, as there are plenty of two-power creatures in the deck. Recruitment Officer acts as a new Savannah Lions with upside in attrition battles.
Dauntless Bodyguard rounds out the one-mana slot. It’s another 2/1 you can play on turn one. In this case, though, it’s also a nice follow-up play to your potent two-drops and three-drops. In some matchups, like against Izzet Phoenix, protecting your Thalia, Guardian of Thraben can be a nuisance for the opponent. Now, in order to remove Thalia, they have to spend extra mana to first kill the Dauntless Bodyguard.
Other elite cards worth defending include Adeline, Resplendent Cathar and Brutal Cathar. Both three-mana plays can be devastating if the opponent can’t get rid of them immediately.
By filling your deck almost entirely with Humans, you also have the ability to abuse multiple Lords. At the top of that list, we have Thalia’s Lieutenant. Thalia’s Lieutenant is even better than your typical Lord, because it puts +1/+1 counters on your other Humans right away. It threatens to grow super large over the course of the game, so your opponent is still incentivized to kill it. Yet, even if they do, you still got a bunch of value out of it assuming you have other creatures in play.
In addition to Thalia’s Lieutenant, Coppercoat Vanguard is a nice inclusion. Coppercoat Vanguard isn’t as strong versus Fatal Push decks but giving your Adelines and Brutal Cathars Ward 1 can be quite annoying for the opponent. If you ever land two copies of Coppercoat Vanguard, all of your opponent’s removal will be taxed regardless of what Human they target.
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Mockingbird’s Role
- Mana Value: XU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/1
- MTG Sets: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Flying. You may have Mockingbird enter as a copy of any creature on the battlefield with mana value less than or equal to the amount of mana spent to cast Mockingbird, except it’s a Bird in addition to its other types and it has flying.
Where this deck differentiates itself from Humans decks in the past is that it splashes blue. The blue splash is very minor. In fact, the only blue card in the whole deck is Mockingbird. At first glance, this may seem a bit silly. Why go out of your way to add a blue card? Is the card really strong enough to warrant missing out on some cool utility lands like Castle Ardenvale?
In short, the answer is actually yes. Mockingbird may not be a Human on the surface, but it does everything you want. At minimum, you can use Mockingbird to copy one of your one-drops and make it more likely you get to play three one-drops in the first two turns. This only makes your Lords more impactful.
Speaking of which, if you already have one-drops lined up, you have the luxury of saving Mockingbird to copy your Thalia’s Lieutenants and Coppercoat Vanguards. Against creature-heavy decks like Selesnya Company, this can help break open board stalls. On top of that, your copy will have Flying as a bonus, making it especially excellent in matches like the Humans mirror where the ground gets gummed up.
You even have the opportunity to copy opposing threats. Sometimes, your opponent will play a Skyclave Apparition or a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse that is very enticing. This isn’t the primary use for Mockingbird, but it only adds to the card’s flexibility. Mockingbird acts as one-drops 13 through 16, while simultaneously giving you a stronger play in the late game. The value in this cannot be overstated.
Finally Well-Positioned
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/1
- MTG Sets: Dark Ascension, Masters 25, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Multiverse Legends
- Card Text: First strike. Noncreature spells cost 1 more to cast.
At the end of the day, while the addition of Mockingbird to the archetype helped the Humans archetype make a recent surge, metagame shifts likely played an even bigger part. Creature-based combo decks that can give this deck the fits aren’t too popular (though the Acererak the Archlich Dungeon combo deck being on the rise is worth mentioning).
Meanwhile, strategies like Azorius control and Izzet Phoenix that have increased their presence can be susceptible to the fast draws from Humans. Blazing starts backed up by Thalia give you a great shot at beating these matchups, as well as decks like five-color Enigmatic Incarnation and Lotus Field combo.
It makes sense why Humans is on the up and up, and Mockingbird only helps the cause. So, if you’ve been looking for a good time to get on the white weenie bandwagon, now’s your chance!
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