Hello, everyone! One of my favorite cards from Throne of Eldraine is Embercleave. The way it can swing the tide of a game is incredible. This week I have for you a few of my favorite decks from tournaments that took place the past few weeks that feature Embercleave. Let's get started.

Gruul Aggro

The first deck I have for you is an aggressive deck in Gruul colors. Let's take a look at the deck:

Gruul Aggro | Eldraine Standard | NOTORIOUSGHP, (5-0) MTGO

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Skarrgan Hellkite
• 2 Pelt Collector
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Edgewall Innkeeper
• 4 Kraul Harpooner
• 4 Lovestruck Beast
• 4 Questing Beast
• 4 Rimrock Knight

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Domri's Ambush

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 The Great Henge
• 3 Embercleave

• Lands (25)
• 10 Mountain
• 11 Forest
• 4 Stomping Ground

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Cindervines
• 3 Embereth Shieldbreaker
• 2 Experimental Frenzy
• 2 Lava Coil
• 2 Shock
• 2 Sorcerous Spyglass
• 1 The Great Henge

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This deck also includes a copy of The Great Henge, which acts as both a means of ramping your mana and a way to gain extra life. By using it, you'll be able to potentially play more creatures than your opponent. This, in turn, will allow you to attack with more creatures at once, which enables you to play Embercleave easier.

Rakdos Knights

The next deck I have for you features some of the best Knights in Red and Black. Let's take a look at the deck:

Rakdos Knights | Eldraine Standard | BOIN, (5-0) MTGO

• Creatures (29)
• 1 Weaselback Redcap
• 4 Blacklance Paragon
• 4 Fervent Champion
• 4 Gutterbones
• 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion
• 4 Murderous Rider
• 4 Rotting Regisaur
• 4 Stormfist Crusader

• Instants (4)
• 4 Shock

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 Embercleave

• Lands (23)
• 8 Mountain
• 9 Swamp
• 2 Tournament Grounds
• 4 Blood Crypt

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Drill Bit
• 2 Duress
• 3 Embereth Shieldbreaker
• 2 Massacre Girl
• 2 Noxious Grasp

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Embercleave is also very useful with a couple of other creatures that have a static size. By equipping it to Rotting Regisaur, you'll be able to deal a massive amount of damage in one attack. And by massive, I mean a total of sixteen points of damage. That amount of damage can allow you to win the game from out of nowhere. You can also equip Embercleave to Murderous Rider to take advantage of its lifelink, allowing you to gain a minimum of six points of life with each attack.

Mono-Red Aggro

The final deck I have for you this week is potentially the fastest build I have for you this week. Let's take a look at it:

Mono-Red Aggro | Eldraine Standard | FLOATIUS, 15th Place, Standard PTQ 11/22/2019

• Creatures (28)
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Embereth Paladin
• 4 Fervent Champion
• 4 Legion Warboss
• 4 Rimrock Knight
• 4 Runaway Steam-Kin
• 4 Scorch Spitter

• Instants (4)
• 4 Shock

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Light Up the Stage

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Embercleave

• Lands (21)
• 18 Mountain
• 3 Castle Embereth

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Embereth Shieldbreaker
• 4 Experimental Frenzy
• 3 Fry
• 4 Lava Coil
• 2 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

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After sideboarding, Torbran, Thane of Red Fell can help you win games quickly. Torbran allows your Red sources to deal an additional two points of damage whenever that Red source would deal damage. Since Embercleave gives the creature it's equipped to double strike, you'll be dealing an additional four points of damage when the equipped creature attacks. That's one-fifth of a player's starting life total. Torbran also works well alongside Scorch Spitter for a similar reason.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, in the right deck, Embercleave allows you to attack for crazy amounts of damage. While it can't go in every deck, it can go in a variety of different decks easily, making it an all-star artifact in my opinion.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes