Last week, I wrote about a Rakdos aggro deck that tried to gain an edge against larger creatures by using Madcap Skills and Civic Saber to power up small creatures, equipping them to tangle with larger threats. This week, I'm trying a different approach to being aggressive in Standard. Rather than go big with small creatures, I'll go wide with them, putting an entire army on the board to ensure that something makes it through.

Normally, this kind of strategy suffers from one major problem. Since your opponent's creatures are larger, they'll pick off a few of yours each time you attack. Eventually, you won't have enough creatures to make it past the blockers. Fortunately, there's a card in Standard right now that goes a long way toward solving that problem: Xathrid Necromancer. Here's the deck I built to abuse this power.

"W/B Humans"

• Creatures (31)
• 3 Imposing Sovereign
• 4 Banisher Priest
• 4 Boros Elite
• 4 Daring Skyjek
• 4 Pain Seer
• 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
• 4 Tormented Hero
• 4 Xathrid Necromancer

• Spells (7)
• 4 Orzhov Charm
• 3 Spear of Heliod

• Lands (22)
• 10 Plains
• 8 Swamp
• 4 Orzhov Guildgate

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

Soldier of the Pantheon is able to blow right past some creatures that would otherwise pose a problem, such as Frostburn Weird and Nightveil Specter. When it's not embarrassing multicolored creatures, it's still an Elite Vanguard, a good turn-one threat for any aggro deck.

Tormented Hero gives you another 2/1 you can cast on the first turn, helping ensure you always come blazing out of the starting gate. Although with only Orzhov Charm to trigger heroic it doesn't have much upside, the aggression of this deck means entering the battlefield tapped isn't much of a downside either.

Boros Elite is somewhat unimpressive on turn one, but by turn four, it can be attacking for more than any other 1-drop in the deck can. Unlike the others, it won't be stopped by a Sylvan Caryatid, and with some help from Spear of Heliod, it can even take down Courser of Kruphix.

Speaking of being unable to block, Imposing Sovereign buys you a turn against every creature your opponent casts. Since you only really care about what's untapped and ready to block your attackers, the Sovereign is almost like a Time Walk that comes on a 2/1.

Pain Seer is a card that was the subject of some excitement for a brief period of time until people realized it's actually not very good. Although my evaluation of the card hasn't changed, if any deck is going to make it work, it's this one. Much of the time, the Seer is going to be blocked and killed on the first attack, but here, that means other creatures such as Daring Skyjek and Imposing Sovereign are punching through, and you might even get a Zombie out of the deal.

Banisher Priest is a pretty great removal spell right now. It's among the few removal spells that can kill both Nightveil Specter and Master of Waves, and it comes with a 2/2 Human as well. Although your opponent can gain his creature back by killing the Priest, just one turn of having that blocker out of the way can clear the path to victory.

The Spells

Spear of Heliod may just be a Glorious Anthem, but Anthem effects are the heart and soul of white-based aggro. Throw this onto the board, and your opponent might suddenly be facing lethal damage. Sylvan Caryatid and Nightveil Specter won't be able to block anything without dying, and thanks to the Spear's tap ability, racing is nearly impossible.

Playtesting

U/w Devotion – Game 1

My opponent played Frostburn Weird and ended his turn. I drew a Plains, cast Imposing Sovereign, and passed.

He cast Nightveil Specter and passed back. I drew a Swamp and cast Spear of Heliod. I attacked with both creatures, and my opponent blocked one, taking 3. I ended my turn.

My opponent paid 2 life for an untapped Hallowed Fountain and cast Master of Waves, making six tokens. He passed the turn. I drew Soldier of the Pantheon, cast it, and passed back.

My opponent cast Ephara, God of the Polis. I killed Nightveil Specter with Orzhov Charm in response, preventing Cloudfin Raptor from evolving. He passed the turn. I drew Tormented Hero and attacked with everything. Thassa killed Boros Elite, and Frostburn Weird blocked Imposing Sovereign. My opponent dropped to 3, and I ended my turn.

My opponent cast another Nightveil Specter, turning Ephara into a creature. He ended his turn, drawing a card from the God. I drew my third Spear of Heliod and passed the turn.

My opponent cast Master of Waves, making nine tokens, and passed back. I drew Pain Seer and conceded.

Game 2

I drew Xathrid Necromancer and cast Pain Seer before ending my turn. My opponent cast Frostburn Weird and passed, and I drew Soldier of the Pantheon.

I attacked with Pain Seer, which was blocked by the Weird, and I then cast both Soldiers and passed the turn. My opponent cast Tidebinder Mage and passed back.

Pain Seer found Imposing Sovereign, and I drew a Guildgate. I attacked with both Soldiers, and my opponent took the damage. I cast Imposing Sovereign and passed the turn. My opponent cast Thassa, God of the Sea and ended his turn.

I drew Daring Skyjek and cast Banisher Priest, exiling Frostburn Weird. I attacked with everything, and my opponent blocked Imposing Sovereign with Tidebinder Mage, taking 6. I passed the turn. My opponent cast Frostburn Weird and ended his turn.

I drew another Banisher Priest with Pain Seer, and I drew a Swamp for my turn. I exiled the Weird with Banisher Priest and dropped my opponent to 2. He drew his card and conceded.

Game 3

My opponent paid 2 life for another Fountain and then cast Tidebinder Mage, evolving Cloudfin Raptor. He ended his turn. I drew a Plains and attacked with the Hero, which traded with Cloudfin Raptor. I cast Imposing Sovereign and ended my turn.

My opponent played a Mutavault and cast another Tidebinder Mage. He passed the turn. I cast Daring Skyjek and Tormented Hero before passing back.

My opponent cast Cloudfin Raptor and evolved it with a third Tidebinder Mage. He ended his turn, and I drew Xathrid Necromancer. I cast the Necromancer and attacked with everything. My opponent traded a Tidebinder Mage with Imposing Sovereign. He took 5, and I made a Zombie token. I passed the turn.

My opponent cast Nightveil Specter, evolving Cloudfin Raptor. He ended his turn. I drew another Xathrid Necromancer, cast it, and attacked with everything. My opponent killed a Zombie token with Nightveil Specter and a Necromancer with Cloudfin Raptor, making two more Zombies. He took 5, and I ended my turn.

My opponent cast Rapid Hybridization to kill Banisher Priest, bringing back Thassa and evolving Cloudfin Raptor again. He played a land and passed the turn. I drew Spear of Heliod and cast it. I attacked with everything. Thassa killed the Frog Lizard, Cloudfin Raptor killed a Zombie, and Mutavault and Nightveil Specter each traded with a 2/1. He dropped to 1 life, and I ended my turn.

He played a Mutavault and passed back. I drew Soldier of the Pantheon, cast it, and ended my turn.

My opponent cast Frostburn Weird and passed the turn. I drew Imposing Sovereign and cast it before passing back.

He drew Master of Waves and cast it, making five tokens and ended his turn. I drew Banisher Priest, exiled Cloudfin Raptor, and attacked for the win.

Wrap-Up

I really like this deck's chances in the current format. Banisher Priest's ability to exile Gods can be pretty huge, and decks like various blue-based devotion builds and R/G Monsters don't pack enough removal to deal with it much of the time. The second game really shows how fast this deck can be, especially with the Priests exiling key creatures. It never felt as though my opponent was even in that game.

On the other hand, the deck can struggle a bit if you make a mistake or don't draw well. I couldn't close out Game 1 despite my opponent being at 3 life, and it took a couple lucky draws to close out Game 3, despite my opponent being at 1.

Although Xathrid Necromancer isn't quite the game-ending powerhouse it was when Blood Artist was in Standard, this deck still packs a big punch, and cards like Imposing Sovereign and Banisher Priest can make it hard for your opponent to stabilize. If you're looking for an aggro deck that can laugh off Gods and Supreme Verdicts alike, give this one a try.