In our fast-paced modern world, the time needed to properly sink into games is hard to come by. Even with the advent of MTG Arena, complex Midrange matchups can easily eat up your vital, finite hours. For that reason, quality Aggro decks are like gold dust right now. These decks can get in, get out, and, most importantly, get wins. If you’re looking for a deck like this, then you’ll be pleased to hear that there’s now a viable Pirate Typal MTG deck in Standard.
Pirates have had a significant presence in the format since Ixalan, but MTG Foundations provided a lot of excellent new tools for the strategy. According to the deck’s creator, this list can regularly finish off games in three minutes or less. Have you got three minutes to spare, sailor?
Pirate Typal In MTG Standard
The Pirate Typal deck in question comes to us via MTG Content Creator Ashlizzle, who’s been piloting the list to great early success in Standard. Like most Typal decks, its core strategy is fairly simple. You play Pirates, enjoy the synergies between them, and attack early to try and close out the game. The unique gimmick for Pirates, if you want to call it that, is its additional synergy with artifacts.
Since Treasures are artifacts, this makes a lot of thematic sense. It also makes the deck a bit more interesting than your average turn-creatures-sideways list. Whether or not you have an artifact in play determines whether your Goblin Tomb Raider is a 2/2 Haste or a regular 1/2. Having artifacts in your deck also increases the hit rate of Staunch Crewmate, one of your best draw pieces.
To support these key cards, the deck plays plenty of artifacts and artifact generators. Spyglass Siren, Breeches, and Kitesail Larcenist can all create artifacts for you with ease. Patchwork Banner and Subterranean Schooner then come into play as your in-deck artifacts. Both support your core game plan well, Schooner in particular. It’s also worth noting just how good Breeches is in this deck. Preventing blocks, making Treasures, and drawing cards, sometimes all in one turn is pretty incredible for an on-rate creature.
An interesting addition to Ashlizzle’s list, and the only non-Pirate in the deck, is Duskmourn’s Piggy Bank. It feels a bit out of place at first, but think about it and it makes perfect sense. It’s a two maa 3/2, an artifact, and it leaves behind a Treasure when it dies. It’s such a good fit, in fact, that I’m surprised the artist didn’t throw in an eyepatch.
Friends From Foundations
These cards have all been around for a while. What makes Pirate Typal such a good prospect in Standard now are the new additions from MTG Foundations. The most important of these by far is Corsair Captain. If you asked someone to design the perfect card for a Pirate Typal deck, this is what they’d come up with.
It’s a three-mana lord for the type, which is great right out of the gate. It also makes a Treasure on entry, which can either power out a one-drop or fuel your Tomb Raider. Alongside Breeches, this is the most important creature in the deck.
Foundations also brought back an old friend from the original Ixalan block: Fanatical Firebrand. Honestly, just the ‘1/1 Pirate with Haste’ part of the card would probably be enough reason to run it here. The fact that you can also sacrifice it to ping any target gives it a huge array of uses, however. Closing out a game after your opponent has gummed up the board is an obvious one. There are also plenty of important one-toughness creatures this can clean up in Standard right now. Deep-Cavern Bat and Faerie Mastermind, to name but a couple.
The last big addition from Foundations is Soulstone Sanctuary. This card is cropping up all over the place right now, but it shines particularly brightly in Typal decks. The creature this land becomes once you use its ability has all creature types, which means it’s a Pirate too. A 3/3 Vigilance Pirate for four isn’t exciting by any means, but getting it stapled to a land with no opportunity cost certainly is. The fact that the transformed Sanctuary dodges Temporary Lockdown is a major upside, too.
A Real Contender?
So that’s Ashlizzle’s Pirate Typal list. In the gameplay video she created for the deck, Ashlizzle notes that she managed to pilot it to a 9-2 record at Mythic rank on Arena. Clearly, the list has got something going for it. Is it the real deal in the current Standard meta, however?
In my opinion, yes and no. Usually, when I’m evaluating a new deck for Standard, I look at how it handles hyper-Aggro lists like Gruul Prowess. These tend to be the biggest gatekeepers for the format, after all. Pirate Typal is actually fairly well-suited to these matchups. While it’s not quite as explosive, it still has plenty of potential for early wins. It can also challenge Prowess decks on board and interact via spells like Torch the Tower. In summary, the Aggro matchups are pretty well-balanced for this deck.
Where things get trickier is when we get into the realm of Midrange/Control matchups. Standard is absolutely loaded with Midrange right now, with Dimir and Golgari Midrange consistently jostling for the top spots. These are both decks that can grind Pirate Typal to a halt, then stabilize with cards like Sheoldred to close out the game. Ashlizzle’s sideboard includes cards to help this matchup, like Urabrask’s Forge and Zoetic Glyph, but they’re still uphill struggles. The same goes for Token Control variants running Beza, as well.
Overall, Pirate Typal is a pretty solid Standard list. It’s fairly linear, as all aggressive Typal decks tend to be, but it has enough disruptive elements to give it a fighting chance in most matchups. Unless your local meta is entirely Midrange, this is a great budget option to plunder some wins at FNM.
