Forging the Frontier

Hi everyone and welcome to the first edition of Forging the Frontier. In this article series we will be featuring the winning or interesting decks of the "Battle on the Frontier" tournament each week, and be exploring all things about the new format Frontier.

First a little about myself. I go by the handle TinyTim123 on mtgo. I currently host 2 great free entry tournaments on mtgo, sponsored with real prizes by Manatraders.com.  I stream a variety of formats currently focusing on pauper, frontier, penny dreadful, and standard. If you would like any information about the free tournaments or my stream I will leave links at the bottom of this page for you.

For those of you who may not already know, Frontier is a new player created format where cards from the sets M15 and newer are legal.  The format is gathering a lot of momentum and is quickly becoming a fun gap closer between modern and standard. If you'd like more information about the format itself or the tournament please follow the links at the bottom of the page.

On to the tournament.  The first "Battle on the Frontier" tournament was held yesterday, Feb 19, and was a pleasure to host and a great time for all who attended.  There were a lot of cool decks to be seen but for this article we will focus in on the winning deck and first ever champion of the event.

ML_Berlin and his "RW Vehicles" deck take the throne with a record of 5-1-1.  This deck beat a lot of the tier 1 decks of the tournament and truly earned it's spot at the top.  Let's take a look at the deck.

[[deck: 16372]]

The deck starts out by having a typical white beat down feel to it but it also adds elements that greatly increase the power and win potential.  With 20 creatures at 2 cmc or lower you are applying pressure from the very start of the match.  [[card_link: Thraben Inspector]] and [[card_link: Toolcraft Exemplar]] work very well together in the early stages of the match. Getting down any of the 1 and 2 drop creatures early game allows you to get in a few points of damage against slower decks and may stall the faster agro decks at least giving you blockers.

[[card: Toolcraft Exemplar]] [[card: Gearshift Ace]]

Where this deck really excels is it's play on vehicles.  A lot of the creatures in the deck have effects that either buff the vehicles or give you a bonus effect when they're tapped or when they pilot.  Having a turn 2 [[card_link: Smuggler's Copter]] followed by either [[card_link: Depala, Pilot Exemplar]] or a [[card_link: Veteran Motorist]] can set you up for a very good game.  This decks ability to draw is what really sets it apart from other aggro decks in the format.

[[card: Smuggler's Copter]] [[card: Depala, Pilot Exemplar]]

For those games when both you and your opponent are at a standstill with a board full of creatures, [[card_link: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar]] can break the silence. He is so versatile, he can either be a great blocker, add tokens to help you get the creature advantage, or immediately ultimate giving your creatures +1/+1 and helping your flyers and beat down guys with that extra damage to hopefully finish your opponent off.  Gideon also shines when you have a [[card_link: Heart of Kiran]] down, giving you a way to consistently pilot the big flyer.

[[card: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar]] [[card: Heart of Kiran]]

[[card_link: Ride Down]] is really your only form of removal in the deck but this deck doesn't really need removal as it's goal is just to run over you opponent with your flying and trample vehicles.

All in all I think this was a great choice to bring into the format as it has a lot of versatility and a clear path to victory.  Kudos to ML_Berlin for this submission, it was a really fun deck to watch and thanks to everyone who came out to play.

Thank you all for reading and see you next week when we will discuss another deck from our frontier tournament. If you would like to learn more please follow the links below.

If you would like to join in on the action and take your shot at victory, join us here http://battleonthefrontier.weebly.com/

If you would like to test decks and socialize with the growing frontier community click here, discord.gg/K2bQKue

If you would like to watch TinyTim123 play some magic and hang out click here, https://www.twitch.tv/tinytim123mtgo


[[published_at: 20 Feb 2017, 4:00 pm]]
[[preview_image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1RJD4EQTjJLY8YwlbL9aqWy8jpozoooTma6LT_lnc0nrcdRMSYYr1wuPUTriQBHVw3mzaE54J9Pc3vDN0ke5JWk2LsahjmKFYfDv0Ueyvs8yHKh1lTKm2sc3p-Z5GhaBcjjPGQuYA8s/s1600/depala__pilot_exemplar_by_greg_opalinski-dagq16x.jpg]]
[[category: article]]
[[preview_content: An overview of the weekly Frontier tournament and deck spotlight]]