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Aggro and midrange decks with Duress and Thoughtseize

I think some UB optimists welcomes the reprinting of Duress in the new set but I would like to remind them one thing: over the past decade, whenever Duress was reprinted and there was another effective discard spell, aggro and midrange decks with discard spells performed much better than pure control decks. You may go and check the past data of top 8 decks for the real situations.

In this Standard, it's likely that a GB deck is splashed with another color so that we get Abzan, Sidisi or the long-forgotten Jund. I 'll first make a GB shell for us to fill in other colors:

Duress 2-4
Thoughtseize 2-4

Elvish Mystic 4
Silumgar Assassin 4
Den Protector 4
Rakshasa Deathdealer 4 / Pain Seer 4
Deathmist Raptor 4

Hero's Downfall 4
Bile Blight 3
Ultimate Price ?

Collected Company?
Whisperwood Elemental ?
Tasigur, the Golden Fang ?
Doomwake Giant ?
Sidisi, Undead Vizier ?

The synergy among the following cards looks powerful, but does it work in reality?


Den Protector can bring back discard spells and removals. Silumger Assassin clears blockers like Courser of Kruphix. Both of them keep getting Deathmist Raptor back to the battlefield. The plan sounds solid. I 'll test it out. (see the result at the bottom of this page)

How far are we form a Modern level Jund or Junk deck? During turn 1-4 we may disrupt opponent's hand with Duress and Thoughtseize while building up our forces consisted of Rakshasa Deathdealer, Den Protector, Deathmist Raptor, Silumgar Assassin and Pain Seer. I think Warden of the First Tree is a bit too costly to be in the deck for casting removals/discard spells in the first few turns. Elvish Mystic can be included in this deck as we want to put Morphs into the battlefield.

The good thing is that we have some many cards to choose from for splashing. Why not trying them out yourself?

Creatures:
Anafenza, the Foremost, Wingmate Roc, Fleecemane Lion
Siege Rhino

Spells:
Valorous Stance, Abzan Charm
Lightning Strike, Roast
Dromoka's Command, Kolaghan's Command, Silumgar's Command
Crater's Claw

Planeswalkers:
Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Xenagos the Reveler

The result:
I have tested the deck once and it was disgusting enough to stop me from building a GB aggro deck with Den Protector, Silumger Assassin and Deathmist Raptor. It's too slow!
I think Den Protector can be in Abzan control deck, but not in any aggro deck. Also, Deathmist Raptor doesn't rock the game as expected before.
Instead, I will try Temur aggro with Den Protector and Collected Company, hope it goes well. You can read the result in this page.

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