Much Abrew: Roaming Isshin Humans (Standard)
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Much Abrew About Nothing! Roaming Throne might be my favorite card from Lost Caverns of Ixalan, and it's certainly one of the best Panharmonicons of all time. Today, we're going to take the artifact out for a spin in a deck full of Humans with powerful attack triggers, like Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, Mishra, Claimed by Gix, and Inti, Seneschal of the Sun, which also lets us play Isshin, Two Heavens as One as a backup to Roaming Throne for even more attack-trigger shenanigans! What absurd things can Roaming Throne and Isshin do together in new Standard? Let's find out on today's Much Abrew About Nothing!
Much Abrew: Roaming Isshin Humans
Discussion
- Record-wise, we want 6-0 with Roaming Isshin Humans, hitting Mythic on Magic Arena with the deck! It actually felt super powerful and like it could be a real contender in new Standard.
- The deck's idea is pretty simple: overload with Humans with powerful attack triggers, like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon, Inti, Seneschal of the Sun, and Mishra, Claimed by Gix, and then double or triple up their triggers with Roaming Throne and Isshin, Two Heavens as One. The end result is a deck that is shockingly aggressive and can win out of nowhere by making a massive board of tokens or draining the opponent out of the game directly with Mishra in one massive attack!
- The other big upside of Humans in Standard is that they are pretty good at protecting themselves from removal thanks to Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Coppercoat Vanguard (whose ward double-triggers if we have Roaming Throne on the battlefield, which is pretty hilarious). While neither card does anything directly with our attack-trigger Roaming Throne plan, both are essential for keeping our big payoffs, like Anim Pakal, Adeline, and Mishra, on the battlefield. Plus, Roaming Throne is a Human on the battlefield, and when its natural ward two is stacked with additional protection from Thalia and Coppercoat Vanguard, it becomes super difficult for opponents to kill.
- Oh yeah, one quick note about playing the deck on Arena: for some reason, if you let Arena auto-order triggered abilities, it will stack Inti, Seneschal of the Sun and Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon in the wrong order. Ideally, we want Inti to resolve first in order to put a counter on Anim Pakal to make even more tokens, but Arena likes to have Anim Pakal resolve first. If you decide to try the deck, turn off Auto Order Triggered Abilities in the options menu so you can maximize the deck's power.
- Also, shout-out to Mishra, Claimed by Gix. So far, the massive Brothers' War from a year ago has mostly fallen flat in Standard, with neither Urza nor Mishra making much of an impact, but this might be changing. Mishra, Claimed by Gix is actually pretty absurd in this deck since we can stack our triggers in a way so that Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon and / or Adeline, Resplendent Cathar make a bunch of tokens that are tapped and attack, and then Mishra triggers for a huge amount of drain. With an Isshin or Roaming Throne on the battlefield, it's very possible to win with Mishra in a single attack without even needing to deal any combat damage!
- So, should you play Roaming Isshin Humans in Standard? I think the answer is an easy yes! While our sample size is small at six matches, we went undefeated with the deck and ran it all the way up to Mythic! Doubling and tripling up attack triggers can do some hilariously powerful things. If you like Panharmonicons but also like being aggressive, this just might be the Lost Caverns of Ixalan Standard deck for you!
Conclusion
Anyway, that's all for today. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.
