By Melissa DeTora
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Melissa is a former Magic pro player and strategy writer who is now working in R&D on the Play Design team.
Pro player Craig Wescoe is well-known for playing white creatures in every format, and last weekend at Grand Prix Indianapolis was no different. No matter what the top decks of the format are, Craig has great talent for piloting not-so-popular decks. Craig managed an eighteenth-place finish with this interesting white-black aggro deck that is looking to beat down early and disrupt the opponent with removal and discard spells.
Craig's one-drops are pretty interesting, in that they provide utility in different ways. Mardu Woe-Reaper can stop the beating against Atarka Red or other aggressive decks and even help out against a Rally the Ancestors deck by removing a key creature from your opponent's graveyard. Kytheon, Hero of Akros is pretty easy to transform and can take over a game once he's a planeswalker.
One of the cool combos in this deck is Wasteland Strangler plus any way to exile a card. Craig's deck plays four Silkwraps and four Transgress the Minds, which can provide disruption and also fuel Wasteland Strangler.
The top end of Craig's deck consists of two of the most powerful white fliers in Standard. Wingmate Roc has been a Standard powerhouse for over a year now. It's pretty easy to turn on raid with this deck, and having two 3/4 flyers is very hard to beat. Archangel of Tithes is a card that sees much less play in Standard due to its heavy white mana requirement, but it's great in a disruptive aggro deck like this one. Your opponent will not be able to tap out with this in play, as they won't be able to block your creatures.
The mana base is mostly fetch lands, which allows you to play a Prairie Stream and a Sunken Hollow in the deck. Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand can fetch either black or white mana, so it's pretty rare that you'll be without one of your colors. Playing these blue-producing lands also allows you to play Dispel and Disdainful Stroke in the sideboard, which will really help against control decks.
Craig Wescoe’s White-Black Aggro
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