Secrets of Strixhaven cards have finally come to MTG Arena and Magic Online, and they’re quickly making an impact. While it’s obviously still quite early, seeing players succeed with an array of new tools is refreshing. That said, for the most part, most of this set’s impactful cards are just one-off upgrades to existing archetypes. So far, only one card seems to have shifted an existing archetype in an entirely different direction.
A New Home for an Old Combo
Tireless Tribe Combo is a classic Pauper archetype centered around the namesake card and Inside Out. Together, these two cards can kill an opponent on turn two, so long as you have five cards in hand to discard. Unfortunately, as powerful as this sounds, Tireless Tribe Combo in its traditional form has fallen out of favor. Fighting through efficient removal like Snuff Out has proven to be difficult for the deck’s one-dimensional game plan.
Secrets of Strixhaven gives this archetype renewed potential, however, thanks to a Boros build of Tireless Tribe Combo. Rather than focusing on blue cantrips to dig for your combo, this deck utilizes Thrilling Discovery and the newly printed Pursue the Past. While more mana-intensive, these discard outlets open the door for some interesting synergies.
Unlike the old archetype, this Tireless Tribe variant gets to play a ton of persistent threats. First of all, with Faithless Looting, and the other new discard outlets, you should have no problem continuously resurrecting Sneaky Snacker. As multicolor spells, casting these sorceries will also trigger the return of Aurora Eidolon or Sandstorm Eidolon from your graveyard to your hand. By continuously rummaging away and returning these creatures, you can consistently keep your hand stocked. While not ideal, you can also cast these cards in slower games to beat down your opponent.
On top of that, because these Eidolons and Sneaky Snacker keep leaving your graveyard, the new Spirit Mascot can grow into a massive threat. Between your Spirits and Flashback spells, this Tireless Tribe combo deck is less one-dimensional. Thanks to taxing your opponent’s removal, this deck can pressure the opponent, creating openings for itself.
Advantages and Disadvantages
While it’s still too early to tell if Boros Tireless Tribe Combo is poised for a breakout, the deck does have some key strengths. Like the Azorius version, this deck is fully capable of setting up a fast combo kill versus slower archetypes like Tron or Elves. Even in the face of chump blockers, Escape Tunnel and Sejiri Steppe help you get through combat unscathed.
At the same time, though, this deck is much better at fighting against the wave of kill spells that decks like Golgari Gardens bring to the table. Even in the event you can’t stick Tireless Tribe or Spirit Mascot, a pack of Sneaky Snackers is capable of closing games on their own.
Still, this deck does still have some weaknesses to keep in mind. For example, without access to blue, you do miss out on Circular Logic, which shines versus fast combo decks. Additionally, your Eidolon and Sneaky Snacker package is more vulnerable to graveyard hate.
Despite how viable it is, this does look like an upgrade for an otherwise retired archetype. Hopefully, this Pauper brew won’t be the last breakout Secrets of Strixhaven brew that makes waves.
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