Gradually becoming my favorite deck I've played in historic (right next to Phylactery Lich control), this toolbox deck offers many lines of play and, additionally, many opportunities for mistakes. The deck is reactive and allows for you to constantly adjust to your opponent's strategy/boardstate, a characteristic that's particularly attractive in a more unpredictable format like historic. 

The Tutors 

These are the backbone of the deck and all should be run at 4x copies. Knight of the Reliquary, aside from being a big hitter later in the game, is able to fetch utility in the form of lands--utility like Bojuka Bog, Field of Ruin or Field of the Dead. I find that opponents thus far have mostly forgotten her ability in conjunction with Fabled Passage, enabling some sneaky combat tricks: You can block with an untapped 3/3 Knight, tap to sac a land and fetch Fabled Passage, crack it, and fetch another land, buffing Knight of the Reliquary to 5/5 during the damage phase. This card is also beneficial for mana-fixing and especially helpful when fetching Field of Ruin in FotD matchups. 

Fauna Shaman is your bread-and-butter tutor, allowing you to pull any creature from your deck provided you have a creature in hand. This ability synthesizes absurdly well with adventure cards, as it allows you to basically fetch removal from your deck in the form of Realm-Cloaked Giant or Giant Killer. I find that waiting to use her ability until the end of your opponent's turn is best, as you don't expose your line of play or what you have in your deck until after they've tapped out. 

Ranger of Eos is terrific value, especially in a deck that runs multiple 1-drops. Giant Killer can be pulled for removal, Dragonmaster Outcast can apply pressure, and Elvish Reclaimer can either apply pressure or fix lands/pull utility in the event that Knight of the Reliquary isn't on board. Further, this card helps put creatures into our hand for Fauna Shaman to discard. If you board out 1-drops for game 2 and 3, you can drop this down to 3x. 

The Staple Tools 

These are cards that I would run in the mainboard always. Because we run very few instants/sorceries, there's little downside to mainboarding Thalia, and her disruption helps maintain pressure in control matchups (and morphs Teferi into a marginally-more acceptable 4 drop). While I wouldn't necessarily fetch Thalia in every control matchup, she's good to have in hand. Knight of Autumn is flexible--it can remove enchantments/artifacts, gain life in a tough spot, or ward off/apply pressure. While I typically board her out in matchups where I need quick pressure, she undeniably shines in a variety of situations, making her a great fetch target. Realm-Cloaked Giant is your panic board clear, often used when against lifegain/boros weenies. You can certainly board it out, but it's necessary just in case. Kenrith, the Returned King is another one I would keep mainboarded regardless of other changes, as being able to fetch a mass-haste 5/5 can unexpectedly close out games. 

The Flex Tools 

These are cards that you can change out to fit your tastes/the meta. While you don't always want to open with these cards, they're uniquely-suited for different late-game scenarios. I pull Tolsimir if there's a pesky target I can't hit with Giant Killer or Bonecrusher Giant and/or want to go wider. Lyra simply finishes games if there's no answer from your opponent. Trostani Discordant shuts down any Agent of Treachery shenanigans, helps you go wide/gain some life. 

The nice part about toolbox decks in general is the potential for adaptibility--if you find that Tolsimir sits in your hand most games, simply trade it out for a card that you think might fit your playstyle better. They're very easy to personalize. 

Lands and Sideboard 

Like most players, I groan when I see hyper-ramp into 4x Field of the Dead. However, I find playing one copy enables some nice, constantly-recurring pressure once Knight of the Reliquary or Elvish Reclaimer are on board. If you're too pure to abuse FotD, try Blast Zone instead. Bojuka Bog is sideboarded in any matchup that benefits from the graveyard (like those hyper-ramp FotD Cavalier Uro abominations plaguing historic). I won't go over every single sideboard option, as most of them are fairly obvious. Tajic, Legion's Edge may seem a strange inclusion, but I like being able to fetch him with Fauna and then launch into unexpected aggression against control in games 2/3. 

Like toolbox decks in general, sideboards are really just a reflection of your tastes and what you most hate playing against (hence my 2x Field of Ruin). Customize it to your own playstyle I suppose. 


Hope you guys enjoy this, it's been fun to concoct and finalize--maybe you'll master it before I do!