Hey guys! Last week I talked about a deck that was seeing some success at a few events and I did fairly well with it myself, but this week I got a new deck that I believe is way more versatile and can protect itself from all the things that the Mono-Green aggro just couldn't do. Today I'm going to talk a bit about the Naya Auras deck.
I decided to give this deck a test run myself at our FNM last night at Wizard Den and I really like it. Despite a few consistency flaws it may have(as any deck could), it's super difficult to deal with whether your answers for creatures are spot removal a la Doom Blade, or board sweepers a la Supreme Verdict. A majority of the creatures are hexproof, can't be targeted by Black/Red spells or they just make another creature when they die. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a basic list of the deck that most people seem to be leaning towards in the lists online.
Naya Hexproof/Auras:
Creatures: 16
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Hero of Iroas
4 Witchstalker
2 Fiendslayer Paladin
Enchantments: 16
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Madcap Skills
4 Unflinching Courage
4 Chained to the Rocks
Spells: 6
4 Boros Charm
2 Selesnya Charm
Lands: 22
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Temple of Plenty
2 Forest
1 Plains
16 Creatures is a little on the low side, but you generally only need one out to get this going so it's not too bad. In a pinch, Selesnya Charm can make a creature for you too. After you have a guy out and suited up with some enchantments, all you have to do is protect it. The creatures themselves are already difficult to deal with and highly resistant to spot removal, so wrath effeccts are what's going to be your downfall. Luckily, one of Boros Charm's modes gives your creatures Indestructible for the turn! If you don't need to use your Boros Charm for the wrath protection, you can always give your big guy double strike, or just finish off your opponent with the 4 damage.
Not only are these creatures tough to deal with, but Voice of Resurgence and Witchstalker both make control players cringe. Acting out on your turn proves to make things worse for them and on top of that, you're still left with a guy ready to swing after they drop the wrath. Control players aren't the only ones that have a hard time though. Black/x mid-range/control shells struggle a bit without a set of Devour Flesh to get around those hexproof guys. Even then though, there's generally a Voice or another creature out that can be used as Devour fodder. Blood Baron can be a little bit of a problem as it blocks Voice, Hero and Fiendslayer Paladin favorably, but any other creature you have swings without fear(probably with first strike).
Domri fighting is a good way to beat this deck since it can sometimes be hard to get your creature's toughness big enough to spar with a Polukranos. The hexproof helps, but for the ones without hexproof(or Fiendslayer Paladin), you have to be especially careful with when playing against the R/G/x monsters decks out there.
If you're looking for an aggro deck that can dodge spot removal and have some defense against wrath spells, this might be your deck! I know I've been frustrated with aggro variations because you could usually only protect against one or the other, but Naya Auras seems to handle both masterfully. This deck has also been performing quite well in the competitive circuit and I'm interested to see if it keeps going on this route. If so, you just might see me at the next PTQ with this deck! Regardless of how this deck will perform in the future for the pro scene, I've really enjoyed the deck and if you like to beat face with huge First Strike-Trample-Lifelinkers that your opponent can't do anything about, than maybe this deck is for you too!
Give it a try and let me know what you think of the archetype or if should be shelved!
Until next time,
DannyO
WizardDen.com
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