New Phyrexia - War of Attrition

The "War of Attrition" deck combines efficient, aggressive creatures with versatile Equipment, including several with living weapon, to overwhelm your opponent with an unrelenting stream of threats. From the very first turn, smaller creatures like Elite Vanguard and Kor Duelist put you in the driver's seat. Then cards like Flayer Husk and Sickleslicer help you add pressure without exposing yourself to removal—if your opponent has a kill spell, the Equipment sticks around!

Even though your deck is fast, it's important not to overextend your forces on the battlefield. Most games will be a marathon, not a sprint. Slower opposing decks use mass removal spells like Day of Judgment and Pyroclasm to wipe the battlefield clean and erase any advantage you may have had. You can prepare for this by holding a creature or two in your hand, especially if it looks like your opponent isn't doing anything—after all, with your powerful Equipment, any creature can become lethal in a heartbeat. Against other creature-based decks, try and trade your Germ tokens for the creatures they cast, and then suit up your survivors after the way is clear. You only have a few cards that directly deal with opposing threats, like Journey to Nowhere or Leonin Relic-Warder, so make sure it counts when you decide to pull the trigger.

Your sideboard is largely packed with answers to specific opposing threats: Revoke Existence for artifact-based strategies, Celestial Purge for red or black decks, and so on. However, with this deck, it's important not to get carried away and bring in too many answers—if you do, you won't have enough threats left to defeat your opponent in a reasonable amount of time! Still, the right card at the right time can completely swing some matchups in your favor. Kor Firewalker can single-handedly shut down a monored strategy. The extra copies of the fragile-but-powerful Kor Duelist, meanwhile, help you "race" combination decks that ignore your creatures in favor of executing their own plans.

Tailoring the deck involves balancing personal preferences and responding to what your opponents are playing. If green and black decks are popular in your area, more cards like Mirran Crusader and Sword of Feast and Famine can shut your opponents down completely, rendering your creatures unblockable and invulnerable. Alternatively, for aggression against a wide-open field, Hero of Bladehold brings its own army and allows your attacking creatures to enjoy a boost in power.

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