With Pro Tour Dominaria about to unfold this weekend, the Standard landscape is becoming increasingly unsteady. While U/W Control and B/R Aggro are still ubiquitous, more divergent strategies are emerging as players choose “beat ’em” over “join ’em.” The most talked-about deck of these is B/W Vehicles, which our own Chris VanMeter took out for a spin this past week.
Chris VanMeter’s B/W Vehicles
4 Karn, Scion of Urza
4 History of Benalia
3 Knight of Malice
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Shefet Dunes
2 Ifnir Deadlands
3 Gideon of the Trials
3 Cast Out
2 Thopter Arrest
4 Heart of Kiran
3 Walking Ballista
2 Fatal Push
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Toolcraft Exemplar
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Swamp
8 Plains
Sideboard
2 Lyra Dawnbringer
2 Arguel’s Blood Fast
1 Ifnir Deadlands
2 Thopter Arrest
1 Fatal Push
3 Fumigate
4 Duress
The deck piqued Chris’s interest after it earned an endorsement from his friend Gerry Thompson, but he also wanted to tinker with two of Standard’s major players: Karn, Scion of Urza, and Heart of Kiran. While the two cards shine in B/R Vehicles decks, Chris wanted to try them out in a different shell to see if they could beam even brighter.
Karn, Heart, and Scrapheap Scrounger teamed up to make many 3/3 construct tokens in Chris’s games, but he was also impressed with Knight of Malice. “It is great on defense in aggressive match-ups, but also dodges some of the prevalent spot removal that U/W Control plays,” he said. “Seal Away, Cast Out, Teferi, and Thopter Arrest are all no go’s.”
While he described games against red-based Aggro decks as “an uphill battle,” Chris felt favored against G/B Constrictor and U/W Control decks. He cautioned that games against U/W Control are particularly skill intensive, especially if an opponent has enough early interaction or access to sweepers like Settle the Wreckage and Fumigate. With the right pacing and knowledge of U/W’s game plan, however, Karn & Co. can slog through and come out on top.
When asked what changes he might make to the deck, Chris said he’d like to test out some more enchantment removal for the Control match-up. He’d also like to try out some other support color options besides black – “You can always splash for Scrapheap Scrounger,” he pointed out. “Heart of Kiran, Scrapheap Scrounger, and Karn, Scion of Urza is one of the most powerful engines in Standard, so finding the best deck to utilize those cards is going to be the trick!”
If you’re looking for a fun deck to try out in your next tournament, give this one a shot. And as always, if there’s a deck that you’d like to see featured on Deck of the Week, tweet at us at @Card_Kingdom!
Header image: “Karn, Scion of Urza” by Chase Stone