Hey everyone! Nick Rausch, or Nrausch1 as you may know me, here. I was invited to share a unique deck of my design that I personally used to climb this season from Platinum to Mythic. So without further ado, I present to you, Kiora Aggro!
Wait. Hold on. Wut?
You read that correctly. Kiora Aggro. You won’t find any ramp or 8+ drop creatures here. Just good, old fashioned, get the opponent dead beatdown. So why Kiora? Well, it’s no secret that green’s early package is one of the best in the game. With the addition of Helvault Unsealed, the nerfs (and buffs!) to cards in patch v1.03, and blue’s pre-existing flexible cards blue-green becomes a very potent aggro/tempo oriented deck. Also, surprisingly enough, the fish plays an important role. Having a free chump blocker really helps in situations when you are racing. Let’s take a look.
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As stated previously, the plan is to get the opponent dead. Apply as much early pressure with a ton of stats and push the damage through with a variety of removal spells, stuns, and bounce. We have an incredibly low curve to make sure we always have something to play in the early game and can start playing two things per turn as early as possible to leverage the early pressure.
Tolarian Academy – Let’s start with the land. It has been one of, if not THE, most broken cards in the game the entire time and is the sole reason this deck can exist.That being said, one of the most frustrating things about Academy decks was when it proc’d on turn 5 leaving you holding your deck in your hand with minimal to play. This deck’s low curve allows it to mitigate that issue as it has no problem playing with just four mana. Take a look at the adjusted curve of the deck, taking into account Tolarian Academy’s discount.
0-cost – 5 (yes i’m cheating a bit including aether figment)
1-cost – 4
2-cost – 13
3-cost – 5
4-cost – 3
Believe it or not, this card got a buff in the most recent patch. Okay, not exactly, but there is alot to like about the new version. If Academy procs and the game goes later than you typically intend it to, you now have a chance to draw some great late game artifacts, like Survivor’s Regalia or The Helvault, to close it out.
Thought Provoker – One of the cards that got a nerf. Only a single copy as drawing one past turn 2 is pretty bad, but the explosive draws that +2 mana in your opening hand enables are too good to ignore.
Traveler’s Supplies – +4/+4 for four mana. As with most aggro decks, the game progresses into the mid game and your creatures start to get outstatted by your opponent’s. In addition to the obvious artifact synergies, Traveler’s Supplies lets us scale up as well instead of being forced to play higher cost cards to achieve the same effect.
Tasty Morsel – Another buffed card! 3/2 worth of stats is not something most 1 drops can boast about. While its current 3/2 is less than its previous 3/3 (sorry Vraska), getting this shroom’s 2/1 upfront makes it better for beating down.
Unsummon – Simple. Effective. Great tempo when played alongside another card in the mid game. Not much to say here.
Isochron Scepter – Another one of the best cards in the game. The flexibility of this card is incredible. 1 cost. Enables 0 cost Aether Figment. More obvious artifact synergies. Make sure to analyze what you are taking carefully. Based on the state of the game, the most common things to draft are either removal cards or pump effects. Oh, and Tinker because it’s incredibly fun and powerful.
When you have a single activation left, don’t just auto activate your Isochron Scepter and cash it in. Have a reason to activate it:
- a specific card you’re looking for
- an artifact in the graveyard for Tarmogoyf
- you have a second Isochron Scepter to play
- you want the draft that turn for Aether Figment
If you don’t have one of these conditions, and you already plan on using all your mana developing the board with other cards, DON’T activate the scepter. Wait. You may draw an Aether Figment or another card or your opponent may play a card that could influence what card you take. Give yourself the maximum information possible before drafting.
Ambitious Scholar – Few things feel more satisfying than swinging with a 5/3 on turn 2. Scholar can be a little awkward at times when you don’t have an artifact alongside him, but the explosiveness is well worth it. Be aware of times when you don’t need to cast an artifact. In those cases, it’s often better to hold it in case you draw an Ambitious Scholar. Also, based on the matchup, it can be correct to hold Ambitious Scholar until you can play and transform it in the same turn to prevent it from dying easily to common removal spells like Grudge Match, Drain Blood, Shock, or Warding Flame.
Tarmogoyf – This is easily the best Tarmogoyf deck I’ve ever played. Only fifteen other creatures and plenty of cheap spells and artifacts to feed the graveyard. Good ol’ Goyf commonly comes down as a 6/7 or larger as early as turn 3. Aggressively chump block with your fish when you have Tarmogoyf in hand.
Krosan Tusker/Grudge Match/Wurm’s Wake – I’m lumping these together because there isn’t much to say here. They are the core of every green deck and have been since the game’s release.
Adaptive Frill-neck – This little buddy is easily one of my favorite cards in Helvault Unsealed. Extremely flexible. Stats or evasion are always solid choices but there are plenty of times when you should consider other options. Have a Grudge Match or plan on rumbling in combat? Relentless and Armor are great. Relentless is also good when expecting removal spells or a sweeper. Don’t forget to play the lizard pre-combat too in case you roll haste.
Icy Manipulator – Two-cost, remove a blocker for 2 turns. A common sequence is to play icy and stun a blocker, then the following turn, combine that stun with another removal to clear the way for the final blow. Icy is a little clunky if drawn in multiples so that’s why we’re only playing one.
Aether Figment – Boom or bust. We only have four total cards that draft (2x Adaptive Frill-neck, 2x Isochron Scepter), but like Ambitious Scholar the explosiveness of it outweighs the bad.
Befuddling Merfolk – For such an amazing card, this creature gets no respect. Merfolk adds stats to the board while simultaneously “removing” a blocker by removing opposing stats making it difficult for the opponent to trade. Exactly the effect you are looking for in an aggro/tempo deck. A total all-star and MVP of the deck.
Decorative Armor – Basically this deck’s Blitzing Minotaur. Remember what I said about getting to a point where you can do multiple things in a turn. This artifact is slightly weak the turn you play it, but the upside for the next two turns is worth it when you can use your mana for more creatures or removal and still apply significant pressure. A single copy because (you guessed it) it’s bad to draw in multiples.
Dungeon Geists – Another one of my favorite cards in Helvault Unleashed. Removal and an evasive body all in one. Hopefully the stun pushes enough damage that even if the opponent adds enough blockers to the board, the flying spirit can finish them off. This is the #1 creature you are hoping Traveler’s Supplies buffs land on. Be careful though. A timely removal spell from the opponent can interrupt your plans.
Momir Vig – I think Momir Vig is just too good not to play. BossMTG says it best in his top10 mythics to craft article. “At minimum you’re getting 5/5 of stats for four mana. The opponent has to deal with either Kraj or the Momir else you get a buff every turn from then on out. Many of the random upgrades you can receive include more stats like an extra +2/+1, +0/+3, etc., in addition to the +1/+1 Kraj normally gets, making for a creature that can get out of hand really quickly.”
Cards that didn’t make the cut:
Pir, the Dreamer – While Pir is one of the more aggressive 1 drops in the game, there is too much liability in getting blown out by cheap removal spells. I much prefer my creatures be able to survive an early Shock, Drain Blood, Grudge Match and even Pactbound Quasit . While Pir’s power can get quite large, it’s still hard to punch through in the early turns as you are typically adding more to the board instead of playing the removal spell.
Tinker – I go back and forth on this one. It’s another draft card for Aether Figment and you can high roll five and six-cost artifacts on turn one. However, Tinker does not inherently add stats to the board or remove blockers. For that reason I think it’s proper to not play with Tinker.
Although, I would not fault anyone fitting a copy in the deck as it is incredibly fun to play with.
Mist Raven – Five-cost is just a little too high on the curve to warrant playing. If I knew 100% that Thought Provoker and Traveler’s Supplies would hit this bird I would make room, but that isn’t the case.
Blighthoof Boar – This beast is a total brick wall and is becoming almost ubiquitous in green decks. In this Kiora deck there is only so much room for 4 drops. Many boar decks want to roadblock the opponent and accompany this with evasive creatures or use Blighthoof Boar to bridge the game to more late game cards. Neither of those things are what is going on with this deck.
That’s it for this deck tech. Let me know what you think. I do have some gameplay up in my twitch videos if you’d like some more Kiora Aggro content. You can also follow me on twitter, @Nrausch1, where I post about Spellslingers often.
If you’re looking for something a little bit different to try on the ladder, give Kiora Aggro a shot!