The Project
I've become mildly obsessed with LCI rare Roaming Throne and its potential as the basis for a wide variety of decks. This will be the first of a short series of posts about the decks I've been making with it. I'm targeting casual 1v1 Standard, and all cards other than Roaming Throne will be common or uncommon (frankly, I don't have the Arena wildcards for anything else).
I've tested and tuned the decks I'm posting. You probably shouldn't bring any of them to a tournament, but I've been jamming them in Bo1 Standard Play on Arena, and I promise that they're at least capable of winning sometimes.
If you have cheap Roaming Throne lists of your own (for Standard or any format), I'd love to see them!
About Roaming Throne
A few mechanical notes to be aware of as you play (or brew):
- Roaming Throne only duplicates triggered abilities, not activated abilities. Triggered abilities are those that start with "When", "Whenever", or "At" (see rule 603.1).
- Some keyword abilities, such as Backup, Training, and Ward, are triggered abilities.
- Roaming Throne does become a team member, but its wording specifically precludes it from duplicating its own triggered abilities. However, multiple Thrones will duplicate each other's abilities (assuming they name the same creature type). For starters, if you have two Thrones in play, they each effectively have Ward 4.
UG Merfolk/Scouts
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6011513
4 Cenote Scout
4 Skyclave Aerialist
4 Nicanzil, Current Conductor
4 Merfolk Cave-Diver
2 Waterwind Scout
4 Roaming Throne
4 Glowcap Lantern
2 Twists and Turns
4 Brackish Blunder
4 Gaea's Gift
8 Forest
8 Island
4 Thornwood Falls
4 Secluded Courtyard
This list is actually not that far off from the Merfolk deck that everybody and their mother seems to be playing in the casual queue.
My initial build had only three copies each of Cave-Diver and Glowcap Lantern. I thought that drawing multiples would be awkward. How wrong I was. Combining those two cards is the most powerful thing this deck can do, and you should do it as often as possible. If you also have a Roaming Throne out, an equipped Cave-Diver that explores a nonland will get two counters and +4/+0, adding up to 8 unblockable damage.
Skyclave Aerialist might seem awkward in this deck, since it doesn't particularly interact with the Explore mechanic. It's also, disappointingly, the only member of its cycle whose power doesn't increase when it transforms. But I think it's a good fit: it provides a needed two-drop, it has evasion, and getting to double up its transform trigger is very nice.
I originally had Royal Treatment in the combat trick slot, but after I lost a game where my 35/36 Nicanzil kept getting chump-blocked by tokens, I decided that Trample might be important, and switched to Gaea's Gift.
I experimented with Tatyova, Steward of Tides in early builds. Her ability is a fun one to double if you can, but I've found that games are usually over, one way or the other, before you reach seven lands.
As it is, every creature in this deck is both a Merfolk and a Scout, so name whichever type you think is cooler (but be consistent, so your Roaming Thrones can boost each other).
My biggest complaint about this deck is that it wants a lot of set-up time. You can attack with an equipped Nicanzil on turn 3, and that's a pretty powerful thing to do, but it means you didn't do anything else with your first three turns, and your opponent probably didn't spend that time twiddling their thumbs. A single Go for the Throat could leave you starting turn 4 with a pretty sad board state. So with this deck, even more so than usual, I think it's important to try to get a read on what your opponent is planning, and adjust the goals you're working towards accordingly. Is this a one-big-creature kind of match-up, or do you need to get out some blockers to stabilize first?
UB Faeries
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6011516
4 Faerie Dreamthief
4 Faerie Vandal
4 Obyra, Dreaming Duelist
4 Spellscorn Coven
4 Roaming Throne
4 Combat Research
4 Consider
4 Spell Stutter
4 Go for the Throat
8 Island
8 Swamp
4 Waterfront District
4 Secluded Courtyard
There are some powerful, rare-filled Faeries decks floating around, but this economy build has surprised me with some games where it made winning look easy. There's a lot of good synergy in here.
Because Combat Research grants its ability to the enchanted creature, Roaming Throne can double it. Obyra, as a legend, is your best researcher, but the whole team has flying, so someone should be able to connect with it.
Faerie Dreamthief, Consider, Combat Research, and Waterfront District all offer ways to proc Faerie Vandal.
The removal slot could be a lot of things. Go for the Throat, Infernal Grasp, and Bitter Triumph all seem fine to me. It could even be Faerie Fencing, although that's a card I wish I liked more than I do. It's great when it's a half-price Last Gasp but unexciting the rest of the time.
I tested a couple of copies of Invasion of Eldraine -- Roaming Throne doesn't duplicate the front-side trigger, but it works on the back. Ultimately, I felt it was more fun than good. You don't have room for very many additional four-drops in a Throne deck, and there's too high a chance that the ability either won't trigger or won't matter.
If you're looking to upgrade, Talion's Messenger costs one less mana than Spellscorn Coven, and its ability is probably more worth duplicating. Faerie Mastermind might seem like an obvious inclusion, but I'm skeptical that this is the right deck for it -- maybe in a more controlling build, or in the sideboard (if you're making one) for opponents who can be counted on to draw a lot of cards on their own.
GW Warriors
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/6011517
4 Ironpaw Aspirant
4 Botanical Brawler
4 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
4 Serpent-Blade Assailant
4 Roaming Throne
2 Homestead Courage
4 Gaea's Gift
2 Roaring Earth
4 Ossification
4 Seal from Existence
7 Forest
9 Plains
4 Blossoming Sands
2 Captivating Cave
2 Secluded Courtyard
Botanical Brawler and Kutzil are the heart of this deck: both reward you for putting +1/+1 counters on creatures, so that's what we want to do. Note that Kutzil only triggers once per damage step no matter how many creatures deal damage, which is a little disappointing, but fortunately Roaming Throne can still duplicate that trigger.
Outside of those two, we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for common or uncommon playables; this deck has literally every green or white triggered-ability-having Warrior that I considered vaguely worthwhile. You could improve it a lot by spending money: I'd replace Ironpaw Aspirant with Quirion Beastcaller, and Serpent-Blade Assailant with Sentinel of the Nameless City or maybe Doomskar Warrior.
The good news is that there was enough extra space for some real removal. I've picked some options that don't care about toughness, but I also looked pretty hard at Malamet Battle Glyph.
Honestly, this deck may not be the most powerful, but it's good, clean, fun Magic. You grow some big creatures, attack with them, maybe cast a combat trick or draw an extra card once in a while. As Garfield Intended™.