Art by Steve Prescott
Manticore Constructed is a 60-card 4-of 1v1 format based on the Manticore cube list. The constructed list deviates from the original cube list in a few ways. Firstly, certain cards have been banned or adjusted for power level reasons. Secondly, new cards have been added through what's known as Manticore Anthologies to enable new decks and strategies.
Tags:
CustomReplaced: For custom cards
Exclusive: For cards not available in the draft list
Anthologies(1/2): For cards added through their respective anthology
Manticore supports a wide variety of decks and strategies and it is in no way a solved format. The following provides introductions and sample decklists for the key decks in the format. The list is not comprehensive and more powerful decks exist. But it should give an idea about the types of decks to keep in mind when brewing.
Aggro Burn (
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Burn is a solid strategy in many formats and Manticore is one of them. The deck gets some exciting tools in Everkindle and Call to War. There is an option to splash blue for Treasure Cruise, although the simpler RW version has been the most successful thus far. No need to get fancy if you can get them dead!
Madness (
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Do you like bringing out 20 power on t2? Madness is the fastest creature deck in the format and with good draws it can really feel like you are just cheating. The deck is susceptible to both graveyard hate and removal, but the sheer power of this deck should not be underestimated, both in early and late game situations.
Reanimator (
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This deck is just not fair. Tyrranax Rex on turn one is not supposed to be a thing. The price is consistency and vulnerability to interaction, the the reward is unmatched raw power and speed.
Midrange and Tempo Humans (
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Humans is a simple creature deck that floods and pumps the board at an impressive rate. You get to take advantage of some of the most powerful custom cards like Call to War, Seed of Desire and Katilda, Dawnheart Prime+.
Robots (
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Robots is a disruptive aggro deck that relies on artifact synergies. The deck has many subtle advantages including a painless manabase, getting to play mutavault, having sideboard cards like Haywire Taxbot and Relentless Reaver in the maindeck. The majority of the deck is colorless so variations exists in all colors. The most successful so far has been a mono red version with Galvanic Blast and Lightning Bolt.
Green Stompy ()
Early game ramp and strong midrange threats, a simple recipe and perfectly viable. You can play mono green, splash for any other color, and three color options even exist if you are feeling courageous. Just remember, more colors means taking more damage from your lands.
GW Stompy by Lily
GR Lotus Dance by Albert
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If you like blue tempo decks like Delver, this is for you. An extremely powerful tempo shell that rewards good decision making.
Playing more colors is an option, but don't underestimate the the consistent painless manabase. And there is no shortage on powerful blue interaction and threats.
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The deck gets it's name from the combination of Death's Shadow and Profane Wish. Call to War finds your namesake card, and playing 3-color is natural since you want to fetch + shock every turn anyway. Profane Wish provides access to niche but gameending cards like Berserk and Reanimate from the sideboard.
Esper DeathWish by Albert
Mardu DeathWish by Albert
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Various versions exist, but this covers a variety of midrange decks that utilize Dark Ritual and Incarnation Technique to get out strong midrange threats faster than normal. If you are just looking for fun and nonsense, definitely try one of these decks.
Rakdos Dragons by Lily
BW Incarnation Midrange by Albert
Control Bant Control (
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This is the current best true control deck in the format. Control the board with board wipes, countermagic and removal. Win with powerful finishers like Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Harvest Moon Beast.
Legendary Catch ()
Goes all in on abusing the custom card Legendary Catch. Ramp as fast as possible, use cards like Frantic Search to generate large amounts of mana and Catch some big threats like Harvest Moon Beast and Deep Forest Hermit.
Additional decks
If none of the above peak your interest, maybe one of these will. These are not quite top tier or lack testing, but are perfectly resoectable and deserve a mention.
Winota ()
Winota is one of the less explored archetypes in Manticore. But the card is very powerful, and combos with Eyeless Oracle to allow t2 Winota triggers.
Mardu Winota Madness by Albert
Zombies ()
At it's core Mono Black Zombies is a Seed of Desire go-wide aggro deck. It recently got new toys in Dread Inquisitor, which combined with Profane Wish leads to some of the cutest interactions the format.
The deck is fairly underexplored but there is potential.
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Naya Double Strike plays similar to a modern infect deck since the pump spells are essentially doubled. The deck has consistency issues, but it theoretically capable of turn 3 kills with protection, and can play a reasonable tempo game.