Pioneer, a format long dominated by Rakdos Vampires, has been seeing a surprising number of intriguing archetypes overperform in recent weeks. This past weekend, we discussed the emergence of a sweet Golgari crimes deck that abuses the power of Iridescent Vinelasher. We also focused on the sudden surge of Rakdos Sacrifice, an archetype that had laid dormant for quite some time.
Today, we’re going to talk about one of the sweetest brews we’ve seen in a while. In a big event in Germany, one player made top eight and qualified for the upcoming Regional Championship in Prague with Boros Dwarves of all decks! This deck is absolutely wild, but the result speaks for itself. The Dwarf and Vehicle packages add a whole new element to an otherwise mediocre Boros aggro deck. Let’s start by looking at the rewards you get for sticking to a Dwarf theme.
Dwarf Payoffs
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/1
- Text: Other Dwarves you control get +1/+0. Whenever a Dwarf you control becomes tapped, create a Treasure token. Sacrifice five Treasures: Search your library for an artifact or Dragon card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
The best payoff this deck has available for flooding the board with Dwarves is undoubtedly Magda, Brazen Outlaw. Magda is a very powerful card. Even by itself, you get a decent mana advantage when Magda attacks. When combined with other Dwarves, though, things can get out of hand rather quickly.
Not only does Magda pump all of your other Dwarves (of which there are plenty, as we will see in the next section), but it makes Treasures for EACH Dwarf that becomes tapped. Typically, this is done by just attacking the opponent. However, if you have a Vehicle like Smuggler’s Copter at the ready, you can simply tap your Dwarves one by one to crew said Vehicle and net a Treasure in each transaction.
These Treasures really come in handy. As always, you can use the excess mana to flood the board with creatures and overwhelm the opponent. On top of that, though, you can sink your mana into Depala, Pilot Examplar, which lets you dig for more Dwarves and Vehicles when it becomes tapped. Depala is an excellent Dwarf payoff in its own right. It further buffs your Dwarves and Vehicles, making your attacks even scarier.
If you’re fortunate enough to get up to the five-Treasure threshold, you have the luxury of tutoring up a busted artifact. Both Portal to Phyrexia and Embercleave serve as one-ofs to grab when applicable. Obviously, drawing Portal naturally is a risk, but at least Smuggler’s Copter can help you loot it away.
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Dwarf Support
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Text: Whenever you commit a crime, create a tapped Treasure token. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.) Sacrifice three Treasures: Create a 4/4 red Scorpion Dragon creature token with flying and haste. Activate only as a sorcery.
As you might expect, the majority of the rest of the deck is made up of Dwarves to help you maximize Magda and Depala. In the one-drop slot, we have Toolcraft Exemplar. Toolcraft Exemplar is quite aggressive, and easily enabled by Smuggler’s Copter and Treasure tokens.
At two mana, Veteran Motorist and Magda, the Hoardmaster join Magda, Brazen Outlaw as cheap Dwarves to play to the board. Veteran Motorist isn’t the strongest card in the world but getting to come down and buff you Smuggler’s Copters is strong. This can be especially useful against three-damage removal spells, such as Fiery Impulse out of Izzet Phoenix.
As for Magda, the Hoardmaster, it doesn’t have the same upside as Magda, Brazen Outlaw, yet it can still produce Treasure tokens and lets you cash them in for a potent reward. Removal spells like Torch the Tower are your best bet for committing crimes.
Beyond just the creature spells this deck utilizes, one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle that helps this deck succeed is Mutavault. Mutavault acting as all creature types makes it the perfect “man-land” for this deck. Its activation cost is cheap, and it provides excellent flood protection. You can even use it to crew your Vehicles when needed.
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Dwarves in a Vampires World
- Mana Value: 3BBB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 6/5
- Text: Flying. Ward- Sacrifice a creature. Whenever a creature dies, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
At the end of the day, as cool as this deck looks, I’m skeptical of its ability to have long-term success with how prevalent Rakdos Vampires is. The Dwarf synergies are very strong when uninterrupted, but Fatal Push and Path of Peril can make it difficult to gain much traction. On top of that, this deck isn’t well equipped to deal with a quick Vein Ripper.
With regards to Abzan Amalia, it’s not always easy to race the combo. This deck doesn’t play much removal, and attacking on the ground as an aggro deck against a deck with lots of life gain and roadblocks is tough. The good news, at least, is that Abzan Amalia also doesn’t run much removal for Magda, which can singlehandedly run away with the game.
When unimpeded, this deck can close the game in short order. Its elite performance clearly shows there’s some room for exploration here. It’s possible the upcoming ban announcement on August 26 helps open the door for this deck to have additional success.
Overall, my guess is that this archetype’s reliance on Magda coupled with the lack of other elite, cheap Dwarves will make it difficult for it to ascend into the top tier. Regardless, playing Boros Dwarves looks like a blast. So, if you’re looking for something to catch people off guard at your next FNM, Boros Dwarves has proven that it has what it takes to spike an event.
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