Leading the Charge
What’s Power without the time to wield it?
Tenth District Legionnaire illustrated by Victor Adame Minguez
In a format defined by power and restrictions, everyone is looking to resolve game-ending spells. We have seen control decks that stifle their opponent’s power while protecting their own, midrange Arcanist decks outvaluing their opponents by replaying these singleton cards, and combo decks bringing these pieces together to win on the spot. However, many of the popular restricted cards require time for their full value to bloom. Naya Heroic arguably runs the reasonable minimum amount of power it can, but makes up for it by taking advantage of the turns other decks spend setting up their own power.
The Cost of Power
— by u/GetTooasted
“It doesn’t matter how many cards you have in hand if you are dead,” and Naya Heroic keeps the game short. Spending mana to draw cards with Ancestral, Demonic Tutor, Narset or Karn costs valuable tempo that doesn’t affect the board state. Spending colored mana to deploy Sol Ring or Time Vault is mana that isn’t left up for interaction. Yes, the efficiency of these cards means that they may only cost a turn to deploy, but Naya Heroic makes every turn hurt. The explosivity of the deck even attacks the generally accepted “free spells” of Mental Misstep and Gitaxian Probe—casting one could leave you dead a turn earlier than normal against this blitz strategy. And don’t even think about casting Wheel of Fortune or Timetwister, as they’ll likely be empty-handed when you do—your frantic digging may just be fueling their fire.
The Heroes…
Creatures amplify the spells while Bolt finishes the job
So how does Naya Heroic beat down so effectively? The deck plays creatures that amplify its combat tricks to get the most out of every card. Adorned Pouncer’s Double Strike ability doubles the potency of all buffs to it. Burning Prophet and Tenth District Legionnaire each grow larger when buffs are cast, and they search for additional action. If the opponent looks to establish a defense, the deck has ways to push damage through. Blockers can be disabled, creatures have trample or haste or can be given those abilities, and the deck can always cast Lightning Bolt to finish off an opponent within range.
…And Their Triumphant Return
Returning creatures and returning spells!
Even if its initial aggression is subdued, Naya Heroic has fight left in it. Adorned Pouncer and Earthshaker Khenra return as some of the largest creatures in the format with the Eternalize mechanic, magnifying their abilities while sneaking past counter-magic. Dreadhorde Arcanist slowly turns the graveyard into a second hand of spells. While a little slow, recurring creatures and spells help prevent the archetype from running into situations where it has only pump spells and no creatures, and vice-versa.
Conclusion
Berserk illustrated by Dan Frazier
Naya Heroic seeks to punish decks that revolve their game plan around the format’s restricted cards by reducing the amount of turns in an average game and attacking through the underutilized mechanic of combat. The deck can hit hard and early, but has a plan for a longer game if they are intercepted in the first couple of turns. Congratulations to Michael for noticing the value in this blitz strategy and taking it to a 4-0 finish.
