For today's article, I'll be looking at Human related decks. There are currently three main categories of Human decks; G/W Tokens, G/W and Mono-White.
Here is a G/W Token list that recently made top 8 of Grand Prix Brisbane:
Razorverge Thicket x 4
Sunpetal Grove x 4
Gavony Township x 4
Forest x 8
Plains x 4
Avacyn's Pilgrim x 3
Birds of Paradise x 4
Blade Splicer x 4
Geist-Honored Monk x 2
Hero of Bladehold x 4
Mikaeus, the Lunarch x 2
Viridian Emissary x 2
Wurmcoil Engine x 1
Elspeth Tirel x 3
Garruk Relentless x 3
Mortarpod x 2
Oblivion Ring x 4
Overwhelm x 2
The deck looks pretty reliable as the mana is based around dual-lands and creatures such as Birds of Paradise to produce any colour required.
Outside of the mana producing creatures, Blade Splicer and Hero of Bladehold are the heavy hitters of the deck. The former gives a 3/3 artifact creature with first strike whilst the latter churns out soldier tokens upon every attack.
It is nice to see that Elspeth MK.II has seen some genuine constructed play. She may not be as good as her previous incarnation but now it appears that the tools she requires are entering the meta-game.
In terms of Innistrad's impact it is nice to see Mikaeus, the Lunarch see constructed play. Combined with Greens ability to mana ramp this cleric can enter the battlefield as a significant threat. Not just in his power and toughness levels but in his team pumping ability as well.
Geist-Honored Monk is another card that, in this build, can bring about an opponent's demise. On its own, its a 3/3 with vigilance for five mana that also produces two 1/1 flyers. The downside, with both of these cards, is that they are susceptible to removal but then, that's a fairly obvious statement to make.
Probably the greatest asset to the deck is Gavony Township. As a land, it provides an un-counterable pump to your team and can only really be stopped by Acidic Slime and Ghost Quarter (both being land destruction cards that are standard playable).
With regards to Garruk Relentless, it is interesting to see him being used in constructed builds. His main purpose in the tournament was to churn out 2/2 wolf tokens to keep applying pressure to control decks. This is all well and good but his better abilities are on his cursed side and this can be difficult enough to achieve let alone maintain.
Other G/W builds pretty much keep the same mana base but go for more offensive creatures such as Mirran Crusader, Champion of the Parish and Hamlet Captain. I've seen some builds that also include Mayor of Avabruck which seems like a reasonable choice as he pumps other humans. If he transforms, he is a 3/3 that produces 2/2 wolves (well, 3/3's from his wolf buffing ability).
For a purely White build here's what I've been thinking:
Contested Warzone x 3
Plains x 19
Champion of the Parish x 4
Doomed Traveller x 4
Mentor of the Meek x 4
Mirran Crusader x 3
Hero of Bladehold x 3
Mikaeus, the Lunarch x 2
Blade Splicer x 4
Geist-Honored Monk x 2
Spectral Rider x 3
Oblivion Ring x 3
Honor of the Pure x 4
Sword of War and Peace x 2
Creature featurally, the deck follows the same lines as the other builds because these guys are cheap and efficient. I included Doomed Traveller as he gives you extra value when his uppance comes. Mentor of the Meek gives the deck a bit of card advantage as you should hopefully be able to draw a few cards off of him for added value whilst Spectral Rider can hit home thanks to intimidate.
Honor of the Pure offers an essential pump to your guys for only two mana. The problem with it is it can prevent Mentors ability from being activated as the creatures will enter the battlefield with the increased power level.
I didn't include Elite Inquisitor because although he is a 2/2 for WW with first strike and vigilance, his protection attributes are a tad narrow unless your opponent happens to be playing a creature heavy deck based around 'Gothic monsters'.
I hope this has proved useful for any Human oriented players. Don't be afraid to leave any comments or queries. If you want any advice on a deck that you're working on or planning to build, let me know and I can mention it in a future article.
John, Mentor of the Meek.
