Whisper Bant in Standard

Zzup babes! Hi I’m Rap and this is my first time writing an article here in Magic Iloilo which is I’m proud to be one of the players in the community. This is about my deck which is nicknamed BANT and this deck ended up at 4th place last tournament. What’s with the initials “BANT”? Well, it means Beat All Near Targets (actually a double-striking menace) and let me tell you how it works. Let’s start with:

Rafiq of the Many and Finest Hour. The powerhouse of the deck that can win games single-handedly. The turn he comes down, he turns your strongest creature into a more powerful, double-striking menace, capable of tearing through opponent’s creatures, players and planeswalkers alike.

The Stoneforge Mystic is one of the BOSS, searching for Whispersilk Cloak which gives your critters an unstoppable overflowing attacks. No worries on spot removals because of shroud and unblockability in it that you could say “I leave my b*tch in your table”. For a reason that most of your creatures have lifelink, with whispersilk cloak equipped to it means a massive lifegain madness.

For the speed of the deck? We got Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise but not only that. The combination of Lotus Cobra and Knight of Reliquary will accelerate the deck’s big spells which can be played as early as 4th turn.

Let’s talk about spot removal. Path to Exile is a common spell choice among deck’s with white splash. One of the most powerful removal in Standard, this lets you deal with hard to kill creatures, stops Bloodghasts from returning to play and Sprouting Thrinax from leaving behind tokens. This kind of card has all the advantage for another reason on helping you fix your mana if ever you get mana problems. Three is the preferred number of PtE to include in the deck but a fourth Path is also recommended depending on your metagame.

Master of the Wild Hunt a another good inclusion in the deck. This card is a GREAT offense and defense creature for it can produce 2/2 Wolf token every upkeep and can also act as a removal especially for flying creature which is the deck’s weakness. This also helps you get rid of those creatures with protection from white, specifically Malakir Bloodwitch and Black Knight. *hmpf*

Oh and before I forget, my favorite card on the deck is Admonition Angel. This “Nuker of Bant” works well with Knight of Reliquary, getting fetch lands for her Landfall trigger and surely it will be a total disaster for your opponent.

The final cards we’ll add are just a couple creatures to ensure we have enough to take advantage of the exalted bonus granted by most of the creatures in the deck. The addition of Rhox War Monk and Baneslayer Angel (Viva Hotbabes) will do nicely for this job. Also, always pay attention in your manlands as they can win the game for you. (which is I always forgot >_< )

This is my deck list:

 

For the sideboard, I hope you won’t get confused if most cards that you see is for Red, Green, and Black. It’s because Jund colors is Bant’s biggest weakness. In the weeks of tournament I played this deck but didn’t win against Jund that is why I made this new storm of sideboard for them. Their tokens (from the thrinax) causes delay in your attacks and waiting for their removals by killing your creatures one by one, even if you have Whispersilk Cloak they still have answer with Maelstrom Pulse.

If you are thinking “How about facing other tier 1 decks like U/W control, RDW, Vamps, Naya and Boros?” That is not much of a problem. You play the game like outracing the speed of RDW and Boros as gain life is your big advantage. As for control, just don’t forget to save your Negates for Day of Judgment. I hope you liked my list. Until my next article, chao I’m out.