Watch out Standard players! A new threat has emerged from Streets of New Capenna by the name of Workshop Warchief. But this card brings back memories of a much older card. That’s because, in another life, the Rhino Warrior was a wildebeest called Thragtusk who once dominated the Standard format. Workshop Warchief may do the same!
Workshop Warchief
Compared to the OG Thragtusk, Warchief offers something a little different. You won’t gain as much life when Workshop Warchief enters the battlefield as Thragtusk gives you. But the tradeoff is that Workshop Warchief makes a bigger token when it dies.
The best part about Thragtusk is it makes a Beast token whenever it “leaves play” meaning you could flicker it in and out of play with Restoration Angel to make multiple tokens and gain multiple instances of life. Wizards of the Coast neutered this aspect with Workshop Warchief as it only makes a token when it dies. But Workshop Warchief has a brand new ability that Thragtusk does not have.
Blitz allows Workshop Warchief to enter the battlefield with haste. You’ll have to sacrifice it at the end of your turn. But when you do, you draw a card and make a 4/4 Rhino Warrior token.
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Where Does Workshop Warchief Fit in Standard?
Today’s Standard metagame looks far different than the metagame when Thragtusk roamed free. But there are already a few homes in which Workshop Warchief is a natural addition.
Selesnya Midrange
Storm the Festival
Storm the Festival
Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put up to two permanent cards with mana value 5 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Flashback {7}{G}{G}{G} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
was big when Innistrad: Midnight Hunt was first released. And it resurged when Ao, the Dawn Sky, and
The Wandering Emperor
The Wandering Emperor
Flash
As long as The Wandering Emperor entered this turn, you may activate her loyalty abilities any time you could cast an instant.
+1: Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature. It gains first strike until end of turn.
−1: Create a 2/2 white Samurai creature token with vigilance.
−2: Exile target tapped creature. You gain 2 life.
came out in Neon Dynasty. Workshop Warchief makes yet another good addition to this deck which Storm the Festival can hit.
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Golgari Control
Workshop Warchief can make a sticky, top-of-the-curve threat in Golgari Control. This deck aims to control the board with a full suite of removal spells and board wipes such as Binding the Old Gods and
Culling Ritual
Culling Ritual
Destroy each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less. Add {B} or {G} for each permanent destroyed this way.
, clearing the way for Warchief to attack. And even if Warchief dies, you can recur it from your graveyard using Shigeki’s channel ability.
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