Hi, and welcome back to the Single Spotlight – the series in which I cover some of the most powerful cards to show up in Standard, and break down what they have to offer the format.

The Rivals of Ixalan are here! By the time you read this, your local game stores will be busily unwrapping their new product and lining their shelves with the many deadly Dinosaurs, meddling Merfolk and vicious Vampires that Ixalan has to offer. Last week, I looked at what new tools RIX had to offer the budding Poseidons of Rivals Standard – and tools there were aplenty! Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca is a Lord in every sense of the word, and Merfolk Mistbinder is already being touted worldwide for Modern play.

You may have noticed that I missed a pretty important tribe above. That’s because this week, we move from the fish to the fishermen. Today, we’re looking at the swashbuckling and bloodthirsty adventurers of the high seas – the Pirates. IXN brought us a couple of Pirate tribal payoffs, notably in Fell Flagship and Admiral Beckett Brass, but they weren’t quite enough to make a dent in the small but powerful Standard environment of Ixalan. RIX may not offer new Lords as such, but it does offer one thing for our dashing villains of the waves: efficiency. Starting with the one drops and working our way up, let’s take a look!

The Cards

Now, bear with me. I realise this is not the most groundbreaking card to lead on, but I promise, it offers more than it may suggest on first glance! The Grasping Scoundrel is pretty straight-forward – as a one mana 1/1, it’s not exactly a stellar blocker. What the Scoundrel does well is just what it’s text suggests: it gets in there.

Like Night Market Lookout before it, it’s a one power creature that smacks the opponent for two each turn. Unlike the Lookout or it’s Vampiric counterpart the Vicious Conquistador, the Scoundrel does not get in for any unblockable damage. What it does do? It gets into the red zone with x/2s all day long. Your opponent lands a Rogue Refiner? Scoundrel is going to slice right through. Servant of the Conduit in your way? They’re either trading it away, or taking two. I know which I’d prefer that early! Scoundrel offers Black an aggressive one drop that pairs with Siren Stormtamer or Deadeye Tracker to lay the beatdowns from as early as turn one.

You’ll note that I didn’t mention any red one drops for the Scoundrel to heist with? That’s because Red doesn’t need any help in that department!

Fanatical Firebrand may not be in the same space as Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear or even Zurgo Bellstriker, but it offers one thing those cards don’t – utility.

The Firebrand can come down on turn one and start pecking for points of damage, and as anyone who’s been on the wrong side of Bomat Courier can attest, those points add up. That’s fine, but modern Magic one-drops are expected to do just a touch more – Raging Goblin just isn’t cutting it these days! Thankfully, the Firebrand brings a whole lot more to the table.

Due to the combination of a tap ability and Haste, Firebrand does four things well. Firstly, it makes x/1s look pretty silly. Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, that means you. Second, it helps your creatures finish a larger threat. The first time an opponent blocks your Hazoret the Fervent with a Torrential Gearhulk and gets their Gearhulk pinged off the board, they are going to feel silly. Thirdly, Firebrand helps finish off any pesky Planeswalkers that are wrecking your day. Chandra, Torch of Defiance took down your Captain Lannery Storm, and a Whirler Virtuoso is preventing you from retaliating? Firebrand has your back. Lastly, it provides a little extra reach when the opponent has managed to stabilise, effectively adding copies of ‘R: deal one damage to target opponent. Also, do other stuff’ to your deck. Between Shock, Lightning Strike and the Firebrand, opposing life totals are going one way fast.

Now we’re at the good stuff. Daring Buccaneer provides something Pirates didn’t have prior to RIX – a two power one drop on turn one. This one even avoids ping effects with a second toughness!

There’s not too much to say about the Buccaneer. It doesn’t perform all that well without an extra Pirate to flash, but how many hands are you keeping that just have a single creature in your aggro decks? Between the Buccaneer, Ixalans’ Rigging Runner and Fanatical Firebrand, Red Pirate decks now have a whopping twelve one drops to play, and that’s even before you consider potential Bomat Couriers! Are you a Red mage with a penchant for both melting face and drinking rum? Get excited.

Moving up the curve, we start adding a good bit of power to our threats. The toxicity provided by Dire Fleet Poisoner is not to be sniffed at (or otherwise ingested).

The Poisoner is a harder card to break down than our one drop fare, as it’s up to a couple of cool things. To begin, let’s look at the card by itself, and disregard it’s enter the battlefield text. It’s a two mana 2/2 with Deathtouch and Flash. While this isn’t lighting the world on fire, it’s pretty spicy – Flash lets it play around opposing countermagic, it attacks reasonably well as a Deathtoucher, and it blocks excellently. It even ambushes attackers! Your opponent is starting to turn the corner with a nigh unkillable Bristling Hydra? Poisoner has just the ‘tonic’ for that.

So, Poisoner doesn’t come to us empty-handed on the stack. Well, it’s ETB ability delivers too. As a Flash creature, it can provide this ability at the last moment, after your opponent has declared blocks, and really cause havoc! Imagine your Daring Buccaneer sends into a 2/2 Longtusk Cub with two Energy lying around. Your opponent will smell something’s up, but most of the time, they’re going to block. You pass priority, threatening the trade. They pump it up, and down comes the Poisoner – suddenly, your one drop traded for their two, and you wasted their Energy! This doesn’t even take into account what happens when they don’t have that Energy spare, as now your Buccaneer gets to cut the cat to ribbons. I invision many Whirler Virtuoso’s getting an unexpected shot of Deathtouch in the near future.

Meet Snatchcaster Mage.

Dire Fleet Daredevil is a weird design. As a two mana 2/1 First Striker, it does the Pirate thing of getting in for damage early, and even blocks pretty well. Imagine the above scenario with Poisoner and Cub, except replace Buccaneer with this? Your opponent wouldn’t dare to block.

Once you get to turn three and onwards, the Daredevil starts getting interesting. An actual Snapcaster Mage effect would certainly be better, as it’s easier to control – rebuying a Shock on three or Lightning Strike on four can be pretty devastating – but this is Constructed. Everyone is playing good instants. Harnessed Lightning, Abrade, Fatal Push, and even Glimmer of Genius, Hieroglyphic Illumination or Opt out of Control decks? Daredevil is a good play on turn two and a great play on turn four and beyond, and that’s a pretty great place to be. Don’t try dancing with this guy, pale moonlight or no.

Storm Fleet Sprinter is basically everything UR wants to be doing in Captain Jack Sparrow form. A three mana 2/2 with Haste and Unblockable is already no joke in a deck that’s looking to get damage in early and often, but alongside any buffs the Sprinter will end games quickly. While it doesn’t provide immediate value on entry as does the Poisoner or Daredevil, alongside a bunch of cheap threats, your opponent’s removal is going to be overloaded; while they’re taking time to kill this, your Rigging Runners and Daring Buccaneers are going to work on their life total. If they’ve already cast their removal? I hasten to think!

The Clone of the set, Protean Raider does a lot. As a 2/2 body, it doesn’t need other threats to be castable. If you’ve just a Fell Flagship in play against an empty board, Raider can come down and crew your ship just fine. What it also does? Everything. It can be The Scarab God, a Bristling Hydra, or even a Torrential Gearhulk – whatever the situation demands.

It’s worth noting that Raider does require you trigger Raid to get it’s doppelganger on, which isn’t an absolute given. When you’re behind, the Raider isn’t helping you. That said, have you read the rest of this article? Does Pirates look like a deck that’s winning a game that it’s behind? When you’re ahead, the Raider is fantastic, and that’s good enough for me. Move over Vizier of Many Faces, there’s a new kid in town.

The Deck

Well, we’ve looked at a number of new scallywags tearing their way into Standard. Honestly, I’ve no idea what the best Pirates build is going to look like, whether it’s UR, UB, BR, or even full Grixis. Between all the cards I’ve already mentioned, Kitesail Freebooter, Fathom Fleet Captain, Captain Lannery Storm, Daring Saboteur and Hostage Taker along with support cards in March of the Drowned and Lookout’s Dispersal, there’s too much for me to take in!

That in mind, let’s simplify things a little, and take a look at a new archetype I wouldn’t be surprised to see in RIX Standard: mono-Red Pirates.

This deck really does not mess around. With a whopping eleven one drops and eleven two drops, expect to be putting the hurt on your opponent before they’ve even drawn their opener. Metallic Mimic and Fell Flagship allow for some explosive starts, and Daredevil and Ruins give you plenty to do with your mana in the late game. Once your opponent has landed a reasonable board and started to stabilise, Hazoret the Fervent can come down and hammer the coffin shut.

The sideboard package is pretty straight forward, but one inclusion I really enjoy? Captain Lannery Storm. While your opponent is busy bringing in Sweltering Suns and Magma Sprays, you’re casting turn four Glorybringers.

Summary

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy a good swashbuckler, whether that features Orlando Bloom and his ensemble of ragabouts, or the wily adventures of Peter Pan against the fearsome but bumbling Captain Hook. With RIX, you can now sleeve up Pirates and spend your Friday nights tarnishing booty!

Next week, we’ve another tribe to tackle – will life find a way, or will I be dead by dawn? Join me to find out! As always, thanks for reading, and good luck.