Shenanigans. (Press-Gang, Reweave, etc. etc.)

This deck originated here, I think. Shad0ws Tasbu Toolbox At least, that's where I first saw it. It looks like the oldest version is actually Your Sweeper is my Draw Engine (Masters).

Everything else is what I've done via tweaking and personal preference. It's top 100, but it's early in the month. There's a bit of a learning curve on it, but there's a lot to love:

- The deck can do several different things, depending on who your opponent is. You can be the beatdown, or can play towards inevitability.
- The deck has flex spots, which means that you can tailor the deck a bit to how you play, what you like to do, and how you like to do it.

There's a larger version running our out there as well that I ran into on ladder quite a bit, and I had a good success rate in beating it as I climbed. That deck is here: (NEW) Makto and Crownwatch on the Street (With Tabsu)

In comparison to that deck, this version is lower and leaner, and should allow you to do more on each turn as you get more power. It also helps when balancing out against the large amount of aggro I've seen on the ladder, recently (which is why there's some cards in this version that might be surprising).

The staples of this deck are using Crownwatch Press-Gang to get Street Urchins, building card advantage all the way. Slowly build a wideish board, find a tech tool that fits best in your situation, and secure the win. When the beatdown, that's quick (obviously enough), but technical play can lead to longer games, and you're looking for those piece of advantage).

Some cards and some thoughts:

Ghar, Master Sandmage: So, running this card means that you have to give up the insignia. Which means that it better do work. And I think that it does. This card beats Hooru fliers (don't attack, don't attack, don't let that defiance ruin this card. attack with other things, please!). It is a brutal drop against several other decks, including those looking to go over top of you.

Embargo Officer: Okay, so this one looks odd, I'll admit it. Ideally, you want things going in and out of your graveyard, right? But you are not as dependent on that fact as other decks are. It's possible to win without, with pressure of your early beaters. Hurts the waystone combo, and is great against Feln Control as well as many peaks decks. It may be some of the fact that no one plays the card, so no one is thinking about it. But there are decks out there where the ONLY creatures they are playing are merchants. Overperformed when I put one in for giggles, and so it's still there. If you want a more classic pick, you can go with Direfang Spider.

Blackhall Warleader: Draws so much hate -- and rightfully so. The thing is, it makes all of your other cards better when it lands, but also makes your card advantage engine better when the opponent uses a one for one removal on it. It's nice when it survives, and it can take over a game, but it's also not integral to your overall plan. It is, however, pretty much the only card in the deck that doesn't impact the board directly when it hits. Everything else does something, and so it will feel underpowered as you play the deck. It's not, it is just trying to pressure along a slightly different axis than the rest of the deck, which makes your opponent have to figure out how to tackle that. If you were to drop one of these for a fourth Stonepowder Alchemist, it might be the right call, but in terms of what you're doing on turn two you're giving up some flexibility (as well as when you hit 5 power and are looking to do two things at once

The three drops are spread out over a couple of different cards: Rhysta, Acantha's Herald, Stonepowder Alchemist, and Vishni, Lethrai Highblood.

Rhysta is there to help get to that 5th shadow that is so important in this deck. Despite the lower curve of this version, it is still power hungry. Rhysta also does a good job of pressuring and making some poor blocking choices for opponents. But because of lack of blocking, I've cut back a little due to the influx of aggro.

Alchemist is more card advantage, easy reweave fodder, etc. etc. Classic staple in the deck. Powerhouse with Blackhall.

Older versions of the deck tended to have more Vishni, but for me one was enough. Powerful in the right spot, but often something else is more important -- power fixing or life gain or market needs. I found that a late game pull is great and synergizes well with Tasbu. Can stabilize games, but didn't always do enough.

Crownwatch Press-Gang rewoven into Vara, Vengeance-Seeker is your favorite thing to do. Like, super fun. For you, of course, not for them. (in case you don't know, because a shifted card cannot be interacted with, your opponent is forced to sacrifice a creature. And typically, they've been doing cleanup, put out a large creature to stabilize, and then are forced to sac the creature despite them having some in hand threat if they were to let Vara get big. If there's a long pause when you do this, do not assume the opponent is salty and not playing; they are most likely trying to figure out why they can't click on Vara).

Most of the time, you are pressing urchin's into service (which, by they way -- this this like Dickensian on purpose? Because that's what it feels like). Occasionally, you'll want one of your other choices, like when you draw that Time Power and can hard cast Ghar on turn five, or planned that via Seek Power.

Tasbu, the Forbidden is your topper, and you should be able to get five Shadow by turn five consistently. Remember as you are looking for power that there is only one card that needs two Justice influence, and it is in your market (Pristine Light). There's one more piece to the whole justice thing, and I'll get to that in the sideboard.

After turn four, your job is to figure out how to grind down the resources of your opponent, as your deck will be gaining ground on almost everything. Extra threats on the board can work well, as many people are running one to one answers. And Harsh Rule is lass of a problem here as compared to other go wide strategies. I haven't seen a whole lot of Hailstorm -- but the same considerations apply (those revenge creatures aren't gone, just ... waiting).

Market:

There's room for improvement here, but the five cards seem to cover most of the situations I ran into playing this deck (played it to master last month as well, so not just the past 6 days).

Cards in:

Adjudicator's Gavel: Good against reanimator as well as mirror matches. Again, you are less dependent on your void compared to the heavier version of the deck.

Pristine Light: When the're going big, you go small! Keep your creatures low to the ground, blow the top off the opponent. Check your influence on this! There have been games where this is the perfect answer -- and I realize I didn't plan for the second Justice needed. So ... yeah.

Malediction: This was a concession to the yeti's running around everywhere. It's not perfect, but saved me a few times. You can restart much fast than they can usually.

In Cold Blood: Concession to Valkyries. Losing your justice isn't that big a deal? Especially if you know that you're playing to this and save one in hand. And removing a key piece of the deck for someone else is wonderful. But still, you're playing with fire here (proverbially, not in reality. if you prefer that in reality, I've got a Grenadin deck that is just terrible in this meta ... but it's fun), and if you want to be a little safer, you could replace with Slay.

Dizo's Office: My choice for top end. Does a lot of work, but I don't want it every game, nor do I want it in my opening hand. Is VERY powerful, but not what I'm looking to do every time.

Other cards to consider:

Xenan Insignia, Regent's Tomb, Avigraft (though same issue with JJ required), Burglarize.

Anyway, there you go. Hope this was helpful -- any questions, let me know.

Good luck out there.