One of the more intriguing mechanics from Duskmourn when it first came out was Survival. Finding ways to tap your creatures outside of combat so you can generate value without your creatures getting blocked down is an interesting concept. Unfortunately, most Survival cards didn’t live up to expectations, and building around the mechanic in Constructed proved difficult.
Fast forward to today, though, and an archetype dedicated to tapping creatures outside of combat has emerged. With an undefeated Magic Online Standard League run under the deck’s belt, this shell utilizes three Edge of Eternities creatures that each facilitate your gameplan perfectly. This includes a rare two-drop that hasn’t made much of a splash up to this point. In such a hostile environment, it’s nice to see some innovative archetypes emerge.
Tapping Creatures for Value
Most of the creatures in this deck fall into one of two categories. Some serve as enablers, allowing you to tap any other creatures of your choice at will. Others are payoffs, which reward you for tapping them turn after turn.
In the enabler slot, we have two one-drops that each appear in playsets in the maindeck. The first is District Mascot. District Mascot is a simple 1/1. Thanks to its cheap Saddle ability, you’re free to tap any of your other creatures at sorcery speed as you please. From there, attacking with District Mascot will grow it, and you can remove counters when necessary to blow up an opposing artifact. This is very useful given the popularity of Agatha’s Soul Cauldron.
The other one-drop is Gene Pollinator. Gene Pollinator is weaker as an attacker, but producing extra mana comes in handy when you want to double spell or cast your bigger spells ahead of schedule. Between these two creatures and Voyager Glidecar, you have plenty of cheap ways to tap your Survival creatures.
Speaking of Survival creatures, your payoffs are what make your deck tick. Both Reluctant Role Model and Defiant Survivor are threatening creatures when you can tap them the turn they come down.
In addition to creatures that actually feature the Survival keyword, Wylie Duke, Atiin Hero and the new Sunstar Chaplain function similarly as payoffs. Wylie Duke is a card advantage machine. Meanwhile, Sunstar Chaplain is an efficient creature that threatens to buff any creature of your choice so long as you can tap two creatures during the same turn.
As a 3/2, Sunstar Chaplain is strong on rate. Voyager Glidecar and Gene Pollinator synergize perfectly with it, since they both make it trivial to tap multiple creatures at once. Putting +1/+1 counters on District Mascot helps you keep opposing artifacts and enchantments in check, and pumping Wylie Duke makes it more threatening as an attacker. Sunstar Chaplain and Gene Pollinator make this strategy much more consistent and powerful.
Game Breaking Plays
As you continue to generate value, eventually, you’ll need a way to turn the corner. Luckily, there are two cards that will singlehandedly take over the game.
The first is Ouroboroid. Ouroboroid is just a strong card in any green creature deck, so it isn’t too surprising to see it here. As you continue to build up your board, Ouroboroid will break a board stall wide open in no time. This Plant Wurm is a great place to sink +1/+1 counters from Sunstar Chaplain, since the bigger Ouroboroid gets, the more +1/+1 counters will be placed on all of your creatures at the beginning of combat on your turn.
In some games, protecting Ouroboroid with Defend the Rider is a strong gameplan. Defend the Rider doubles as a cheap way to produce a Pilot to pair with Gene Pollinator and any of your Vehicles, making it a versatile option.
Your second card that will break creature matchups wide open is Split Up. Split Up is one of your most exciting cards, and one that is extremely difficult for your opponent to play around. If they decide to attack with a bunch of creatures, you’re free to take some damage, then use Split Up to destroy all tapped creatures and make way for a big attack of your own.
If your opponent chooses to leave their creatures back to block, Split Up may still blow them out if you have a Mount or Vehicle in play. Just tap all of your important creatures to Crew your Vehicle or Saddle up your Mount, then cast Split Up to destroy all untapped creatures.
Just the threat of Split Up will often force your opponent to make awkward plays, such as attacking with only one or two creatures to prevent a blowout. The issue is that only buys you more time to maximize your Survival synergies. There’s a lot to like about how this deck is constructed.
Impactful Sideboard
As cool as this archetype is, though, it has a number of weaknesses that prevent it from being a top competitor. First and foremost, your lack of removal makes mono-red a tough matchup. Needing to tap your creatures to pull ahead also means that you aren’t in great shape to block, which only makes things worse.
Meanwhile, Izzet Cauldron doesn’t have a ton of removal of their own, but the combination of Proft’s Eidetic Memory and cheap creatures on their side can be hard to race. Generating value is nice but giving the Izzet deck extra time to find their combo elements is never a good idea.
The good news is that your sideboard is built to shore up specific weaknesses from matchup to matchup. Doorkeeper Thrull shuts down enters-the-battlefield triggers from Fear of Missing Out, Steamcore Scholar, and beyond. This in turn makes Proft’s Eidetic Memory less concerning and makes it harder for your Izzet opponent to get Vivi Ornitier into the graveyard.
Sheltered by Ghosts then improves your position against mono-red. Your creatures are capable of growing quite large, and Defend the Rider works to protect whatever creature you suit up from opposing removal spells.
Overall, this shell is still more on the casual side. The deck has some strong features, and perhaps a ban in November could make Selesnya Survival a stronger option. For now, it makes for a fun option on the MTG Arena ladder and at least showcases that in a world dominated by Izzet Cauldron and red aggro, players haven’t given up their desire to brew.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage!