After netdecking for Historic for this past season, I finally decided to attempt to put something together on my own, pulling in from my favorite wedge Sultai. Sultai has fantastic options for control, and some very high-end planeswalkers, which led me to attempt to build a functional superfriends deck here. I tried to build a similar list in Standard, but losing Uro really hurt, and it ended up just being safer to play Dimir control there. Hopefully Historic is a bit more forgiving when it comes to decklists (probably not though since from what I understand about 20% of the meta is Jund Sacrifice). Anyway, on to the cards!
Creatures
Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath - Super important to any list running Simic colors, Uro helps us keep pace with faster decks by bolstering our life total and letting us dig for answers (ramp as well which is always welcome). Started at a full boat and cut to 3 to make a little bit of room for more interaction.
Hydroid Krasis - The flying squid is a great drop after you resolve a Nissa, Who Shakes the World, thanks to all the shocks we have in the list. Draw+Lifegain+a big body is a fantastic deal in this deck, especially since there aren't a ton of ways to draw cards for the most part until you hit 5 or 6 mana. Don't be afraid to drop this boy as a 2/2 in order to draw a card to keep up with your opponent. 2/2 flyers chump well, and can toss in chip damage after all.
Questing Beast - Probably the second best overall green creature currently seeing play, he serves multiple purposes, hitting planeswalkers on a normal attack as well as sticking around as a fantastic blocker. Could probably use another copy here, and I'll update after doing some more testing.
Elder Gargaroth - Hot take here, I think this is the best overall green creature currently seeing play. He may not do anything upon entering play, but if he sticks, he will outright win games on his own. Such a fantastic card.
Instants / Sorceries
Removal Suite
Assassin's Trophy - Needing BG to cast this keeps it from being truly broken, but hitting any permanent (lands included) makes this top tier, premium removal. 3-of due to the possible inability to cast it turn 2 thanks to the mana cost.
Maelstrom Pulse - Another great removal option in Golgari (they really seem to get the best removal spells in the game), these also serve to hit token decks and if you ever run into a Scute Swarm in Historic, you'll be praying for this off the top. Being versatile enough to hit any permanent (barring lands) is also a nice bonus. 3rd copy in the board in case you need it in game 2.
Extinction Event - The mainboard sweeper. Not fantastic, but I prefer this mainboard to other cards like Bontu's Last Reckoning or Ritual of Soot thanks to it's easier to hit casting cost, along with possibly missing part of our board. Only running 10 creatures means it really hurts to hit our own stuff, especially if we end up exiling them. Other sweepers can come in as replacements out of the board if they have a more favorable matchup.
Casualties of War - Kill all the things. Game two you can kill all the things twice with a second copy out of the board.
Permission
Essence Scatter - Due to the lack of early creatures, I decided this was a better option than Negate mainboard, and the hard counter status it gives means it's relevant all game long, unlike Mystical Dispute for example.
Neutralize - Probably our best option for hard counters thanks to it's cycling ability in case you stall out.
Planeswalkers
Narset, Parter of Veils - She'll hit more often than not, and with all the high-powered walkers and removal spells, she more than holds her own. Shutting down additional draws is nice, but more often than not, a non-factor.
Tamiyo, Collector of Tales - A single copy of Tami found a slot here, thanks to her ability to both feed Uro, and pull spells out of the bin for a second use as needed. I don't think that utility justifies more than a 1-of however,
Nissa of Shadowed Boughs - Mostly inferior to Nissa, Who Shakes the World, she does bring a bit of extra utility by giving you some recursion along with buffing the creature she drops into play. The fact that her lands don't stay creatures also keeps them safe from sorcery speed removal and sweepers which can be very good as well.
Ashiok, Nightmare Muse - I'm always surprised at how well Ashiok controls the board. His tokens are legitimate blockers and can be really annoying for the opponent to deal with since they'll either exile at least one card from your opponents library or eat a removal spell that would probably be better spent elsewhere. 2/3 is a viable body as well.
Nissa, Who Shakes the World - This card is still pretty much broken. Doubling your mana off of forests, while dropping legitimate threatening board states from nowhere, she is a game ender if she sticks.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General - Biggest Lili is great. She clogs the board, acts as removal, and her ult will cause almost every player to scoop as soon as she gets it off. Drawing off of creature death is also extremely powerful. She's really good guys.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - Still one of the best top ends in the game, even with the expanded card pool. I don't think I need to say anything else since it's all been said already.
Mana Base
I went with lands that enter untapped here to help with our control suite as well as playing things on curve. Triomes are great, but dropping one turn 4 or 5 and staring longingly at one of the 4 or 5 drops in the list feels really bad. I'm sure it can use a bit more work here, but it currently seems to be pretty efficient. 25 feels a bit short at times, and I may make some adjustments in the future.
Conclusion
Superfriends as an archetype is one of my favorites, and while Grixis probably has better PW options, Sultai has the better control options (in my humble opinion), and the capacity to play cards like Uro. This is still very much a rough draft, but I feel like it has the capacity to be a decent player in the Historic meta right now. Let me know what you think and if you export it I hope it performs well for you! Cheers!
Edit 1: -1 Elder Gargaroth, -1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General, +1 Hinterland Harbor, +1 Woodland Cemetery. Going to 27 lands and cutting 2 big drops to improve efficiency. Thanks for the suggestion Patty!
Edit 2: Quick QOL update. -1 Neutralize, -1 Hinterland Harbor, -1 Woodland Cemetery, -1 Fabled Passage, +1 Essence Scatter, +3 Zagoth Triome. Trimming the Neutralize for more early game creature interaction since this list really has a tough matchup against aggro. Triomes coming in to replace a lost cycle and fix a little bit more consistently. We REALLY want to get to T4 or T5 with this list and I feel like this will get us there a little bit more often.
3 comments
Creature (9) | |||
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$4.19€6.870.87 | |||
$4.56€4.220.55 | |||
$12.25€13.820.97 | |||
$1.20€1.620.06 | |||
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (13) | |||
$2.98€2.020.13 | |||
$0.86€0.840.45 | |||
$0.55€0.350.02 | |||
$1.33€0.950.02 | |||
$0.23€0.170.03 | |||
Land (27) | |||
$16.91€15.270.17 | |||
$12.08€10.340.15 | |||
$14.39€13.130.29 | |||
$1.20€0.920.02 | |||
$1.65€1.160.02 | |||
$2.40€1.790.02 | |||
$5.48€4.020.15 | |||
1
Island
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$0.500.03 | ||
2
Swamp
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2
Forest
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$1.000.03 | ||
$19.81€17.460.57 | |||
Planeswalker (12) | |||
$0.99€0.640.04 | |||
$15.01€9.390.07 | |||
$3.33€2.440.02 | |||
$0.50€0.340.02 | |||
$20.32€21.400.03 | |||
$3.93€2.660.02 | |||
$2.26€1.630.03 |
$0.42€0.260.02 | |||
$0.55€0.350.02 | |||
2
Negate
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$0.24€0.110.04 | ||
$0.23€0.190.03 | |||
$1.33€0.950.02 | |||
$0.35€0.300.02 |
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I absolutely adore Tamiyo and seeing her get some love here warms up my heart.