Pirates: Spicy Brew
Each Rishadan pirate makes the opponent sacrifice a permanent when it enters unless they pay (1 for Cutpurse, 2 for Footpad, 3 for Brigand). This build works hard to keep them from having that mana. Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors and Mox Diamond get a pirate down a turn early, Rishadan Port taps their lands, and Winter Orb lets each player untap only one land a turn, which hurts them more: Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors make two mana each, and Mox Diamond and Mind Stone aren't lands. Tangle Wire then makes each player tap an untapped artifact, creature or land for each fade counter in their upkeep. Chain of Vapor bounces your own pirate so it can collect again. Black Vise punishes the cards that pile up in their hand, and Upheaval resets the board at a moment when you have more mana left than they do. Pirate decks used to run Parallax Tide; this is the version for after its ban in January 2026. Mattias Tuuvas played this 75 at Mälardalens Premodernmästerskap at Röda Goblinens Spelbutik on 8 June 2026 and went 3-3 in a field of 35.
Mainboard
- 4× Rishadan Brigand
- 4× Rishadan Footpad
- 3× Rishadan Cutpurse
- 4× Tangle Wire
- 4× Winter Orb
- 4× Mox Diamond
- 4× Mind Stone
- 2× Black Vise
- 3× Upheaval
- 2× Chain of Vapor
- 1× Flash of Insight
- 1× Impulse
- 1× Stroke of Genius
- 7× Island
- 4× Ancient Tomb
- 4× City of Traitors
- 4× Rishadan Port
- 2× Treva's Ruins
- 1× Dromar's Cavern
- 1× Crosis's Catacombs
Sideboard
- 3× Hydroblast
- 2× Chain of Vapor
- 2× Black Vise
- 2× Cursed Totem
- 2× Propaganda
- 2× Masticore
- 1× Seal of Removal
- 1× Douse
