I finally decided to give Exert a whirl. Wanted to do Naya for the piper Champion, but there's really not enough incentive to use Green (wasn't feeling the other Exert options in that color). Doing Boros instead. Some stuff I'm using is kinda cute and for the theme, but there are some very strong elements compatible for a general Boros human goodstuff deck. As cute as it is, it's actually performing pretty well.

3 x Cartouche of Solidarity
1 x Kytheon, Hero of Akros

2 x Glory-Bound Initiate
3 x Lone Rider
4 x Gust Walker
3 x Honored Crop-Captain
3 x Blessed Alliance

2 x Devoted Crop-Mate
3 x Ahn-Crop Crasher
2 x Always Watching
2 x Trial of Solidarity
2 x Trial of Zeal

1 x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 x Cast Out

2 x Glorybringer

9 x Plains
7 x Mountian
2 x Needle Spires
2 x Clifftop Retreat
4 x Stone Quarry



EDIT: -1 Tah-Crop Elite, -1 Trueheart Twins, +1 Gideon AoZ, +1 Ahn-Crop Crasher


Some fun synergies going on here. AW is the card that really makes it hum, but we can still work if not drawing. Kytheon flipped can untap exerted creatures and make them indestructible blockers until next attack. Blessed Alliance is super utility here - flipping Riders, surprise untapping Exerted creatures, and making opp sac an attacker (got a Blue God an opponent thought it was safe to attack with during testing). White Trials buff and vigilance is nice, and Cartouches keep it coming back. Fine to balls out with Honored Crop-Captains because Crop-Mates can fetch them back into play.

Obviously to Spike up the build you should run Gideon AoZ instead of Tah-Crop Elite, and Avacyn instead of Trueheart Twins. Some other changes maybe to Trials and Cartouches - but it's not a bad deck as is. Exert is better than I expected TBH.

Anybody else messing around in Exert? Any different takes or cards I'm missing that are worth running?

I think this is the 2º deck I did after the release, lol

I have some differences, later I'll post the full list:

2 Thalia Liutenant (most of my creatures are humans)

2 Selfless Spirit, combs hugely with the Mates

2 Ride Down

2 Hanweir Garrison (more humans!)

2 Thalia

4 CC Gideon

2 Rocs (good for Garrisons, Zev, the tapping subtheme etc)

1 Karin Zev

Yeah, I'd like to see how your list looks.

I ran another quick test game vs AI after doing -/- deck change tests on the ladder last night. It continues to impress me how explosive it is. Have only tested vs AI so far so the ladder might crush early impressions, but I'm ready to take it there now. It's certainly been goldfishing extremely well vs AI.

I haven't felt the need to play Selfless Spirits in mine. I don't (need to) go very wide, and I can get back dead 2 drops with Crop-Mate (I'll keep it in mind tho for combo with the Mates if ladder demands it). My build doesn't try to gum up the board with bodies, but rather tries to do strong T2/3 plays and keep tempo attacking with Trials helping me burn/crush blockers or Crasher neutralizing blockers (and Cartouches recurring Trials so I can keep repeating that rather than investing more bodies to a board that might get swept). Ideally I want to drop a creature T2 that gets bigger than opps 2 drop or is evasive, then spend T3 giving it vigilance or flipping it (Rider) and then trying to maintain that advantage. Like I don't really want to get more than 3 bodies on the board at any one time (usually 2 is fine). My 2 drops get big quick - exerting with G-BI and Gust Walker, plus flipping Lone Rider has been a breeze so far. I thought Gust Walker would be pretty good with Always Watching, and he's been proving that suspicion to be correct. With AW T3 he's a flying 4/4 every turn, with Solidarity Trial T3 he's a flying 5/4 who's ready to go again next turn.

Cast Out has also been great here. It's been very solid as a T4 play to keep my T2-3 creatures attacking unhindered. Or squashing any T3/4 Planeswalkers opp thinks will help stabilize.

I did have a hard time leaving Thalia out. Truehearts seem win-more at best but I haven't cut them yet because I want to get them to jumbo pump at least once (only game I had them in hand to cast T5 I also had Glorybringer who won the game on the spot rather than waiting a turn to jumbo pump). Maybe will swap 1 Thalia in place of that (maybe the other in place of Tah-Crop Elite too) once I've had my fun one time. Maybe Trueheart trades for Avacyn tho. Not sure yet, but Trueheart is def the worst card in the deck.

I don't have all the earlier expansion cards (sadly no Always Watching ), but I have a similar deck. I'm running Djeru's Resolve to untap, it's been really performing well to refresh my exerters and throw a surprise blocker out there.

And Gideon, Battle-Forged's +1... wow that feels like it was just made for Exert!

I love the little interactions, like lil'Gideon +1 with exert creatures, in absence of AW


1 x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
2 x Magma Spray

2 x Glory-Bound Initiate
1 x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
2 x Thalia's Lieutenant
2 x Selfless Spirit
2 x Honored Crop-Captain
2 x Harnessed Lightning
3 x Ride Down

3 x Devoted Crop-Mate
3 x Ahn-Crop Crasher
2 x Hanweir Garrison
2 x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 x Always Watching

2 x Aetherstorm Roc
2 x Cast Out
1 x Gideon

2 x Glorybringer

7 x Plains
5 x Mountian

2 x Needle Spires
2 x Clifftop Retreat
2 x Aether Hub
4 x Stone Quarry

1 x Westvale Abbey
1 x Hanweir Battlements


Funny things:

Lieutenants go really well with the high human count. Kytheon loves Crashers to help him flip t3, and then Crashers love his +1...let's not talk about Glory etc

Kari is good, and rocks pumped... also, she goes ok with Rocs (ey, what an eufonic sentence...)

Ride down is a star here, so maxed...we really want to attack most of the time, and RD is just perfect...lovely for Garrisons etc

Garrisons are bananas with Lieutenants too, as usual...and Crashers, Gideon emblems, Rocs etc And Captains and Kari
I love how all the creatures have crossed synergies

Talking about Rocs, they fit surprisingly well...think of HLs, Hubs, Kari, Garrisons...also with the tapping subtheme of Crashers, really good for the Garrisons, again...and they can grow to enormous proportions, giving you huge air superiority coupled with the Glories

Gideons emblems obviously are awesome, as always with AW builds, just better this time given so many tokens

But my fav new adition, so maxed too, has to be the Crop-Mate...bringing back Captains, Initiates or Kari is nice...but what is way better, is Lieutenants that if get killed, can be brought back again, and if not, they grow huge with Garrisons and the rest

And even better, Selfless Spirits...that's an engine in itself with AW on the field, that makes all your creatures almost permanently indestructible, bringing him back from the dead just for your attack phase...or to save you from Avacyn Flames etc next turn

With Garrisons, 1 Abbey and 1 Battlements

The removal besides RD can be tailored, of course...but Cast Out performs, and Magmas are nice with all the Scroungers and embalms around...and HLs get awesome with Rocs

24 lands, even with a somewhat low curve...but if I try to play with 23, the droughts are even more frecuent by a fair bit...

If we had 4 AW, this would be a Tier 1 build hands down, imo...it's pretty good as it is already, the combination of exert and AW is bordering on the busted



Lol you beated me while I was writing the rant haha

With all the zombie token decks running around, the indestructable gods and Scrounger and friends... You really should be playing declaration in stone again...

Anyway, I posted my version in another thread. Pretty good so far, still undefeated. I went with Sram and harvesters for a little extra draw from the cartouches. Actually my deck looks sort of like a mix of TIMH and maggit's decks.
viewtopic.php?f=61&t=18643

Magmas can easily be Declarations, why not? Tho the instant speed is awesome for the Garrisons, Thalias etc

Scrounger gets shot by them too... but the gods and the swarms can be a problem, so you are probably right


You know what I have to try? 1 copy of Haunted Cloack, lol. No, srly.

@Vito111 - Always Watching is amazing in this deck, whenever you unlock that you'll be happy. Do you have any Blessed Alliance? It's worth a look as an untap option (all the utility!). I've been looking forward to Gideon untapping my exerters since building but haven't even drawn him yet.

@Maggit - your build is a more Boros goodstuff humans than I wanted to do. Maybe is straight better but I'm trying to mess with new cards (Trials/Cartouches/heavier-on-Exert) more still. If my current idea busts on the ladder I'll likely change up something closer to what you're doing. I started with 3x Crop-Mate, but cut to 2 after a couple test games. Found I like him as emergency bailout option, but games weren't going long enough that I cared to try to draw him early every time. Crasher on the other hand has been very relevant every time I've drawn him and I'll prob be trying to work in that 3rd copy soon.

@Haven - lol, good description (and nice list). It does look like a blend of maggot/my builds. I'm loving the way G-BI and Trial of Solidarity can flip Lone Rider T3. I'm also running Blessed Alliance partially to make sure he flips asap after getting him on board (and partly because every mode can be useful in the build). How's Sram been doing? Seems a little light on things that trigger him (5x Aura, 2x Vehicles). I really wish he triggered on Trials too


I'm surprised I'm the only one trying Gust Walker. That dood is doing Work for me. Probably isn't right for Maggits, but for Haven I'd think about trading out Sram for him. You've got Trial of Strength for a T2 GW, T3 ToS attack with 5/4 flyer who's ready to attack as a 3/3 flyer at worst T4. He's been a big part of my explosive starts with the deck.

Took it for a quick spin on the ladder and went 2-0. Beat an Orzombie deck from a rank 40 player who thought it could race me (it couldn't), and an Izzet Mill deck (Cast Outs and Needle Spires FTW).

I finally pulled the two weakest cards and replaced with Gideon AoZ and the 3rd Crasher. I'm pretty pleased with it TBH. Worlds better than I expected an Exert heavy deck to be. Very explosive and fun to pilot. Not saying it's T1, but it seems to hold its own very well despite not being packed full of goodstuff.

I wasn't sure how much I'd like Crasher during spoiler season. I figured it'd be a great card for RDW, but wasn't sure how good it'd be outside that. He's been pretty amazing here tho, and I'm def a fan of the card now.

Good changes...but srly, 15 of your 20 creatures are humans...ThLiut really would makes a difference, more so with the Mates and cartouched Raiders

Good point. I'll see if I can work them in. Want to do more testing on the ladder to see what isn't pulling weight. Honestly right now I'd say Crop-Mates, but I think they'll be important for certain matchups. Right now I'm getting wins before I really need Mates to resurrect. Twice now I've had him out and attacking advangeously but haven't had any dead creatures in the yard, so it was kind of a bummer not to be able to use it. The game vs Izzet Mill I could have used him but Spires got the kill anyways before I drew him.

I'm starting to half think about doing a build with Oketra's Monument. Thinking it would have T.Lieutenants, Garrisons, Honored Captains etc to go really wide and pump.

I played against a monowhite exert Human deck that went 1-1 vs. my Esper deck (random chance matched us against each other twice).

My feeling is that it really needs to move more like weenie, which means you need to move down to include 1-drops to really get moving faster. Devoted Crop Mate can be a bomb.

They ran Dusk // Dawn which I think worked very well in the deck, especially against control.

Sram's been ok... The deck lacks draw, which is the deck's main flaw. Sram helps to get some early card advantage. The only other options for draw would be Bishop or Abbot, but I may just go with Copter... Flooding is bad...
I went on a 8 game streak with it, then lost 3.
2 thanks to the amazing shuffler that made me flood heavily and the other loss was against a vehicle deck who pulled off a really lucky Alpha strike for 13 damage the turn before he would die, because I got cocky and took a risk.
The deck is pretty good.
Trials and cartouches are good, but it's a shame you have a tendency to play the cartouches early and the Trials later...
Crashers may be good, especially with always Watching. Could even add a Glorybringer for good measure.
Harvesters are great for flipping Lone riders.
New Gideon hasn't been up to snuff though. Kind of win-more most of the time.
Selfless Spirit is huge, especially with the garrisons. Lets you attack with impunity and do some damage from the air, not to mention sweeper Defense.

Yeah, I'm always feeling reluctant to cast a Cartouche early when I could be recurring Trials later. Repeating Trials has been a backbreaker in several games played. Some circumstances will get me to play them out early but usually I'm trying to hold them till post-Trial

I'm quickly becoming an evangelist for Crasher. Making doods unable to block is important for those strong T2 into T3 plays, and with Always Watching out it's amazing. Even just having Crasher on board to threaten a no-block is useful and alters the way your opponent attacks.

@Vert - I'm sure your Esper control deck would crush this. Fortunately I've not been getting paired up against high quality control lists on the ladder so I can play a little jank and not suffer much. RE Dusk // Dawn - did you even have anything to get swept, or Opp just got good value off Dawn side?

Took out a Gearhulk the game he lost. I played it as a Combat trick, flashing back Anguished to take out Always Watching and then eat a Devoted Crop-Mate.

It could've been a big swing in some control match-ups, but it was too late in the game and I just ran him over from there because I had a resolved Sorin. Maybe that is an issue with it. It reloads you late game, but it's still going to hard to not be hopelessly behind by the time it gets useful.

Even better with Crop-Mate and Always Watching, again

Sacrifice SS to make all your critters indestructible, attack happily, exert mate, bring SS back for additional invulnerability next turn too, to block with your untaped creatures with abandon or hold him for the next turn... rinse and repeat every turn...that's devastating, a free SS each of your turns than even can be used in the attack phase too

Op can pray to have/topdeck 2 instant removal ...and if you play with Djeru's Resolve, as you should do cause it's awesome in any exert build, make it 3... or exile removal etc



Yep, it's pretty awesome...I liked him from the begining, and ended being even better. And with AW, retarded

I wanted to try something different, so I made a Jeskai humans version of my deck. I mainly wanted to try out the blue Cartouche and Trial, because they are exactly what this deck lacks and added in reflector mage, spell queller and Skyship Plunderers. The mana is jankier, but the extra draw helps somewhat and its actually been having a good run, haven't lost a game yet (4-0 so far). Not so much an exert deck atm, but still has a lot in Common with the decks in this thread.

That's funny. After liking Crasher so much and having the blue cartouche being something I'd like to try w/ Trials (and enjoying Blue Trial in a deck I have it in), I thought a Jeskai version for Reflector Mage and maybe a cartouche/Trial or two might be worth exploring. Just **** with opps tempo with Crashers and Reflectors. I hadn't gotten around to putting a list on paper yet though. Can you share what you've got going on?

I'm on my phone, so I'm not sure if this list is exactly right, especially the mana, but its a test build anyway and far from tuned:

Jeskai Humans
Creature(23)
1 x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
2 x Selfless Spirit
2 x Glory-Bound Initiate
3 x Lone Rider
2 x Thalia's Lieutenant
2 x Skyship Plunderer
2 x Honored Crop-Champion
2 x Stormchaser Mage
2 x Hanweir Garrison
2 x Reflector Mage
2 x Spell Queller
1 x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

Sorcery(3)
2 x Declaration in Stone
1 x Collective Effort

Enchantment(8)
1 x Cartouche of Knowledge
2 x Always Watching
2 x Trial of Zeal
1 x Trial of Knowledge
2 x Cartouche of Solidarity

Planeswalker(2)
1 x Gideon of the Trials
1 x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Artifact(2)
2 x Aethersphere Harvester

Land(22)
5 x Plains
2 x Prairie Stream
1 x Island
3 x Mountain
2 x Needle Spires
2 x Clifftop Retreat
2 x Glacial Fortress
1 x Sulfur Falls
1 x Hanweir Battlements
3 x Aether Hub

To view this deck go to: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... cb43aa1135

Created using Magic Duels Helper: http://www.magicduelshelper.com

Always wanted to put Stormchaser in a humans deck.
The Trials are good, but you don't want to overloaded on them. The cartouches are more tempting... Maybe there's a sigil/cartouche/Trial deck to be built?
Plunderers work great with Thalia's Lieutenants and Collective Effort, but I actually added them in to see if I could spam the gideons. Also a cheap evasive human...
Quellers are for the unexpected surprise value.
Reflector mage... Everyone knows what those are for...

No crashers in this list, but I guess they could replace the Stormchasers.