During Aetherdrift spoiler season, one of the cards that received a lot of hype was Brightglass Gearhulk. In spite of the tough color requirement, this potent value engine has a lot going for it.
However, since the release of Edge of Eternities, the card has made nearly no impact on the Standard format. Well, that is until now. A cool Selesnya Gearhulk shell utilizing a multitude of new cards managed to finish top four in a Magic Online Standard Challenge out of nowhere. This deck has some strengths against both Izzet Cauldron and mono-red aggro, the two strongest decks in the format. Let’s see what it has going in its favor.
Building Around Brightglass Gearhulk
As expected, a full playset of Brightglass Gearhulk makes an appearance, and there is a wealth of options to tutor for to maximize the powerful Construct. In the creature slot, if you just want to add to the board, Novice Inspector is a fine option. The process of cracking Clues can feel a bit slow, but against decks like Azorius control, accruing card advantage while adding to the board is a decent strategy.
Against decks like Dimir midrange that have a lot of targeted removal, Pawpatch Recruit is a nice card to search up. If your opponent wants to start killing your bigger threats like the Gearhulk itself, you’ll be able to distribute +1/+1 counters to your other creatures to make them more threatening.
Where this deck got a decent upgrade is with its removal suite. You still have access to Dusk Rose Reliquary as a selection with Brightglass Gearhulk. In the event you don’t have anything on board you’re willing to sacrifice, though, you now have other choices.
For smaller permanents, Seam Rip is a perfect addition. It handles anything from Emberheart Challenger to Agatha’s Soul Cauldron. Seam Rip does a good job buying you time so you can relish your card advantage.
Meltstrider’s Resolve also appears as a cool one-of. As long as you can set up a window to cast the aura and not get blown out by an opposing removal spell, you’ll be able to kill most opposing threats by suiting up Gearhulk itself.
From there, you get a toughness boost, and your Gearhulk becomes significantly harder to block down in combat. Unlike Dusk Rose Reliquary or Seam Rip, you don’t have to worry about your opponent eventually blowing up the artifact or enchantment and getting their creature back.
If you expect Brightglass Gearhulk to perish after resolving it, searching for Phoenix Down as a cheap way to resurrect it and get more value will be a nuisance for the opponent. Finally, you have some solid silver bullet options, including Soul-Guide Lantern as a way to contain Izzet Cauldron or keep various self-Mill decks in check.
Closing Games
As strong as Brightglass Gearhulk is, previous Brightglass Gearhulk decks have suffered from a major weakness. In games where you didn’t draw Brightglass Gearhulk or it didn’t resolve, actually closing games could be tough. Thanks to a few new inclusions from Edge of Eternities, this shell does a good job solving that issue.
First, in the three-drop slot, Cosmogrand Zenith is an incredible finisher. Llanowar Elves lets you accelerate towards Cosmogrand Zenith. With such a high density of one-mana cards to facilitate Gearhulk, you’ll usually be able to set up a window where you can play this card, immediately follow up with a spell, and get your trigger. That way, even if the opponent kills it, you still gained an advantage.
Of course, if the opponent can’t kill it, they’re in a world of trouble. Brightglass Gearhulk only finds you more cheap spells to work with to keep your engine churning.
Then, at four mana, Ouroboroid threatens to turn all of your small creatures into massive beaters. It’s a bit vulnerable to removal, but once again, getting a single trigger makes the exchange well worth it. Phoenix Down can even return this card to play if you’re looking to break open a board stall.
Between Gearhulk, Zenith, Ouroboroid, and Sentinel of the Nameless City, you have plenty of strong attackers to get the game over with.
Underrated Position
Despite the fact that Selesnya Gearhulk hasn’t made much noise until now, there’s reason to believe it’s an underrated strategy. In the current metagame, Izzet Cauldron and mono-red make up a huge percentage of the field. Selesnya Gearhulk presents a decent gameplan against both decks at once, which is a huge luxury to have.
Versus Izzet Cauldron, you have a multitude of ways to get rid of Agatha’s Soul Cauldron and prevent yourself from losing to a combo kill. Gearhulk provides a ton of flexibility, since it can search for answers to Cauldron or removal spells for problematic attackers.
As Izzet players have begun gearing towards the mirror match, they’ve begun utilizing less one-mana removal in the maindeck. This only makes it more likely Llanowar Elves will live and speed up your plays significantly. Sentinel and Zenith both have four toughness, too, so they successfully dodge Abrade.
Moving onto mono-red, the presence of Seam Rip is a game-changer. After sideboarding, you’ll have access to Sheltered by Ghosts to pair with all of your massive creatures. Having Authority of the Consuls as a tutor target to keep hasty threats like Nova Hellkite in check makes things even easier.
This doesn’t mean the deck is perfect by any stretch. Facing board wipes out of Azorius control is tough, especially given how many dead pieces of interaction you have game one. However, with the metagame so heavily skewed towards Izzet and mono-red, Selesnya Gearhulk has a lot of appeal. Consider giving the deck a whirl if you’re looking for something fun and different.
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