Over the past few days, a number of unique Standard strategies have put up surprisingly strong results. For instance, we mentioned the elite performance of a Simic spells deck that works great on a budget.
Today, we’re going to discuss another sweet archetype with a decent showing. This time around, it’s an unusual Gruul Storm deck that made top eight of a Magic Online Standard Challenge.
This strategy relies on chaining tons of spells together in order to close the game. Obviously, actual Storm win conditions like Grapeshot aren’t Standard legal. Thanks to the power of Urabrask, though, “storming off” is a realistic path to victory.
Building Around Urabrask
- Mana Value: 2RR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 4/4
- Card Type: Legendary Creature- Phyrexian Praetor
- MTG Sets: March of the Machine
- Card Text: Urabrask: First strike. Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Urabrask deals 1 damage to target opponent. Add R. R: Exile Urabrask, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner’s control. Activate only as a sorcery and only if you’ve cast three or more instant and/or sorcery spells this turn.
- The Great Work: (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.) I: The Great Work deals 3 damage to target opponent and each creature they control. II: Create three Treasure tokens. III: Until end of turn, you may cast instant and sorcery spells from any graveyard. If a spell cast this way would be put into a graveyard, exile it instead. Exile The Great Work, then return it to the battlefield (front face up).
Urabrask is an interesting card that has never really found a home in Constructed. In order to maximize it, you need a high density of efficient instants and sorceries in your deck to give yourself the best chance of either transforming it or pinging the opponent for tons of damage. This is all assuming Urabrask doesn’t die, which is a real possibility.
Luckily, this deck does a good job of not only abusing Urabrask’s front side but also enabling you to spam spells before the opponent has a chance to untap. Once you get to five mana, if the opponent taps out to let their guard down, they may be in a world of trouble.
Of course, in some games, this comes from the threat of flipping Urabrask, as the back side is absolutely brutal. Against aggro decks, the immediate mini-Wrath effect you get when Urabrask transforms can be absolutely devastating.
Because Urabrask nets you a red mana anytime you cast an instant or sorcery, it’s quite realistic to cast Urabrask with a mana remaining, cast three one-mana spells, and use your last floating mana to transform Urabrask all in one go. Both Shock and Burst Lightning serve as solid one-mana spells alongside Urabrask that act as cheap removal in the early game.
Notably, this process gets even easier if you had Plotted Highway Robbery on a prior turn, since you can cast it for free the same turn you cast Urabrask and actually net mana in the transaction. Urabrask ties the whole deck together, and we’re just getting started.
There’s a Storm Surging
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment – Class
- MTG Sets: Bloomburrow
- Card Text: Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card. (2R): Level 2: Noncreature spells you cast cost (1) less to cast. (2R): Level 3: If a source you control would deal noncombat damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, it deals that much damage plus 2 instead.
As strong as Urabrask can be as we described above, its real potential becomes unlocked when you have access to Artist’s Talent. Artist’s Talent is a two-mana enchantment that is making waves in Pioneer for its ability to let you churn through your library in no time. Once you factor in Level 2, though, the card becomes a massive threat alongside Urabrask.
With a single Artist’s Talent in play on Level 2 and Urabrask on the battlefield alongside it, you’re now able to cast as many instant and sorcery spells that cost 1R as you want in a row. Artist’s Talent reduces the cost of these spells to just R, and Urabrask provides a rebate of R for each spell you cast.
This opens the door for you to abuse a multitude of card draw spells. Highway Robbery, Wrenn’s Resolve, plus the adventure portions of Questing Druid and Hearth Elemental all fit the mold perfectly. Between all this card draw and Artist’s Talent letting you rummage with each spell you cast, you may be able to draw your whole deck in one go!
What’s nice is that you don’t actually need to find a separate win condition. All you need is to cast enough spells with Urabrask in play to burn the opponent out.
You won’t always need to go this route. Questing Druid, Hearth Elemental, and Urabrask all make for decent attackers. Meanwhile, you have some burn spells you can point at the opponent’s face. Nonetheless, having access to a combo kill out of nowhere is a huge boon.
Flexibility at its Finest
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Common
- Card Type: Sorcery
- MTG Sets: March of the Machine
- Card Text: Exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.
This brings us to discussing an important factor that helps contribute to the deck’s success: its flexibility. Against slower decks, like Demon shells or Domain, you have time to use your Wrenn’s Resolves and Questing Druids as value engines, since you aren’t typically under a ton of pressure.
In these matchups, even if sticking Urabrask long enough to combo is tough in the face of Leyline Binding or Go for the Throat, you’re capable of grinding through your opponent’s removal with card draw. From there, your Adventure creatures can help you turn the corner.
Meanwhile, against aggro decks like mono-red, you have eight one-mana removal spells. Additionally, transforming Urabrask will often wipe the opponent’s entire board.
The biggest concern this deck has is versus decks that both apply pressure and disrupt your gameplan. Dimir tempo, for instance, has clean removal for Urabrask, Counterspells, and cheap creatures to Flash in and attack with.
Regardless, it’s surprising how resilient this deck can be, especially when you’re given time. Seeing a combo deck like this perform well out of nowhere in Standard is awesome, and we’re excited to see if it makes any noise moving forward.
