A combo in the combat phase in white and blue. Does it look strange? Yes. Does it matter? No, as it is an absolute beast of a deck that can win as early as turn two! White-Blue Tribe is a glass-cannon type of combo deck, but it can answer interaction with the help of its blue cards.
The main interaction is to cast , wait a turn so it can attack, discard until it gets to 1/21, then swap power and toughness with . If necessary target Tribe with so it can connect a lethal attack. Discarding cards can be an expensive endeavor and running out of cards before you reach lethal is a real possibility, thus the deck has two copies of to guarantee there will be enough cards.
The turn two kills are extremely strong, though normally you want to delay by a turn so can be used as protection. In spite of its turbo capabilities, most of the time the deck's looking to play things like or on the first turn, then something like the next turn to set up a small board that can absorb some damage, while the hand is sculpted by cards like and . Once the coast is clear, Tribe can easily win the game over the usual pieces of interaction.
One thing to be aware of is that Inside Out works in the last layer. To not make things complicated, this just means that afterward further discarding cards will net an increase in power instead of toughness. It's relevant in case the opponent gains a couple of life to get out of range. Just keep discarding cards.
Even though the deck has plenty of cantrips to sculpt a hand with interaction in or , another spell is extremely important: . It is a catch-all protection that answers almost any removal on the other side, with the exception of and . One or two copies of this protection spell are enough, but against decks like Black Gardens you should be looking to bring sideboard cards like , which can help make the Tribe unblockable. is a solid alternative as it allows you to double down when the meta requires more ways to make a creature unblockable.
Postboard the deck brings even more ways to defend the combo, but the most important one is as it can completely tap down the opponent and work like . Cards to be worried about then will be , , and a flashbacked as they require no mana. Overall Gigadrowse is the premier answer against any control and midrange decks. If Tribe survives long enough, Gigadrowse will win the game.
If you intend to play this deck and your meta has too much removal, you should consider running so you can potentially bring back from the graveyard. Because the Priest only triggers from spells targeting, the deck should run over then. You can even take these ideas and morph the deck into an build with and . It can look clunky, but the Brazilian player Diego, also known as carvs on Magic Online, used to run such lists in past metas to great success.
| White-Blue Tribe by EhDM, 5-0 in Pauper League, November 29
|
|---|
| Main Deck | Sideboard |
|---|
| | |
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, not of Cardmarket.
