Do you want to crush you enemies with the overwhelming power of the horde? Well now you can with the Mardu Raiders Intro Pack from Magic: The Gathering. One of the five new intro decks from the latest set Khans of Tarkir, they aim to be the corner stone for new players that are both fun to play and easy to use. This one in particular is geared to hit the ground running from the get go with the powerful Raid mechanic which allows you to get additional effects if you attacked with a creature this turn.

25 Lands

  • 1 Bloodfell Caves
  • 2 Nomad Outpost
  • 1 Scoured Barrens
  • 1 Wind-Scarred Crag
  • 8 Mountain
  • 5 Plains
  • 7 Swamp

21 Creatures

  • 1 Firehoof Cavalry
  • 1 Mardu Hateblade
  • 2 Borderland Marauder
  • 1 Valley Dasher
  • 2 War-Name Aspirant
  • 1 Gurmag Swiftwing
  • 2 Mardu Skullhunter
  • 2 Goblin Roughrider
  • 2 Mardu Hordechief
  • 1 Carrion Crow
  • 1 Necrogen Scudder
  • 2 Mardu Warshrieker
  • 1 Timely Hordemate
  • 1 Ankle Shanker
  • 1 Mardu Roughrider
I came, I saw, I Conquered!
I came, I saw, I Conquered!

The main focus of this deck is to hit your opponent as early as turn one and keep the pressure up until all resistance crumbles before you. This intro pack combines the army buffing colour of White, the all in rush of Red, and the death and decay colour of Black. These three colours allow you to strike fast, remove enemy threats, and ensure your strategy snowballs to victory. And this deck has the creatures to back up this claim, too.

The early game can be controlled relatively easy with Mardu Raiders. A turn one Mardu Hateblade or Firehoof Cavalry keeps the board in check with Deathtouch and Trample threats respectively. When keeping the opponent under pressure, be sure to take advantage of the plethora of Raid mechanic cards. After you have trampled creatures on that turn, you can drop cards such as Mardu Hordechief, Timely Hordemate, and Mardu Skullhunter. These cards are excellent for keeping the advantage by summoning warrior tokens, reviving fallen creatures, and discarding the opponent’s cards.

14 Spells

  • 1 Crippling Blight
  • 1 Lightning Strike
  • 1 Raise the Alarm
  • 1 Mardu Banner
  • 2 Trumpet Blast
  • 1 Hordeling Outburst
  • 1 Mardu Charm
  • 1 Bring Low
  • 1 Smite the Monstrous
  • 1 Crackling Doom
  • 1 Arrow Storm
  • 1 Flesh to Dust
  • 1 Heat Ray
First you charm them... then you blast them into oblivion!
First you charm them… then you blast them into oblivion!

To back up the physical assault, there is a great selection of spells to wreak havoc on enemy lines and to reinforce your own. They include creature removal, life point damage, token summons, and creature buffs. It is vital to keep your war machine turning with healthy, unending waves of soldiers, and cards such as Raise the Alarm, Mardu Banner, and Hordeling Outburst all summon tokens to your field ready to crash in battle.

The best cards in this deck, in my opinion, are the Mardu Charm and Crackling Doom. The former has three effects to choose from. You can either deal four damage to a creature, summon two 1/1 warrior tokens to the battlefield which have First Strike until the end of the turn, or you can make your opponent reveal their hand and you can discard a spell from among them. This is a great multipurpose tool for either offense or defence. The latter allows you to deal two damage to each opposing player and makes them sacrifice a creature. Again, this is versatile enough to be used offensively or defensively and can be used to get over big threats or to push for the win.

Other Key Cards

The round 10 one-two punch!
The round 10 one-two punch!

Other cards that work well in this deck are Trumpet Blast and Ankle Shanker. Both of these cards, albeit one is an instant spell and the other a creature, allow for big finishers and problem removal. Trumpet Blast is a one Red two Colourless instant that grants all attacking creatures +2/+0 until the end of turn. This can turn all of your 1/1 tokens into murdering machines. As for Ankle Shanker, apart from having an awesome and flavoursome name, is a five mana creature with Haste that grants all your creatures First Strike and Deathtouch when it attacks. It doesn’t matter how big or small, the opponent will suffer if they block.

In conclusion, the Mardu Raiders Intro Pack is built for fast paced destruction and it certainly delivers. It contains many early gain pressure creatures with the spells to keep control. It is fun to play with friends on a casual basis, but it is by no means a competitive deck. It possesses almost no draw power and no search power.