SINCLAIR: With "Code Name: Equipment" the first thing I tried to do was get the best equipment from Standard. Thinking to myself, I knew that three of the sets had draft archetypes focused in red/white: Throne of Eldraine, Zendikar Rising, and Kaldheim. While I was formulating the deck in my head, I initially did not realize that although those sets did have equipment archetypes, there weren't a whole lot of equipment overall, clocking in at around 20.

That was when I decided the best course of action was to run Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith as one of the commanders to try and artificially inflate the number of equipment I play. The next step I had was figuring out who would make the most sense as the partner. Rebbec, Architect of Ascension came to mind immediately, until I realized that she would "nombo" with any artifact creatures I would want to run. I decided upon Akiri, Line Slinger as a more synergy oriented partner with her ability stacking very nicely with the Rocks Toggo crafts. For removal, I decided on some Pacifism effects and Elspeth Conquers Death as the largest portion of targeted removal. With the almost zero cost of playing Shatterskull Smashing, I thought I was pretty solid at killing individual creatures. I generally like putting around two Wrath of God effects in any given deck and with the limited options I picked Doomskar. Which is one of (if not the best) Wraths printed in the last few years. Along with Realm-Cloaked Giant, because sometimes you just want a Wrath that demands you eat your vegetables. 

With the creatures, I picked those who naturally have some form of evasion like Gingerbrute and Baneslayer Angel, or who had some friends join them like Alpine Houndmaster and its good pups, or got some benefit by being equipped like "double strike"-ing Kor Blademaster.

Due to the nature of equipment decks and their mana greediness, I tried to pick mana rocks (not Toggo's Rocks, mind you) that would self-replicate overtime like Replicating Ring or Skyclave Relic kicked for three indestructible Manaliths. While Boros has very little card advantage (which in my opinion is the largest issue for Boros players today), I've tried to counter that with some of my inclusions, as well as tutors like the Houndmaster and Forging the Tyrite Sword and card replacement effects like Valakut Awakening and Acclaimed Contender. 

The secret that I have found with this deck is that when playing in the early game, try and get as much damage in as possible before your opponents build their defenses. Then, swing in with evasion creatures over the course of the mid/late game. If the board gets stalled, start throwing Rocks at whatever you can and if things get really bad, fling Akiri to take out the player whom you feel is the biggest issue. Alternatively, you can even play politics with your Rocks; Toggo makes Rocks for sharing.

Yikes, we better watch out for those incoming rocks! Thanks Sinclair! 

Last up is David, let's jump right in!

DAVID: I chose Tormod, The Desecrator  for a few reasons: He's flavorful, flexible, and he's built around graveyard hate. When I realized that his signature card, Tormod's Crypt was legal in Standard, my choice was made for me. Ravos, Soultender is Tormod's loyal subordinate. He gives access to white, has a nice global buff for all the Zombie tokens, and he can make a Zombie for free every turn. 

The deck follows a simple cycle: put cards in the graveyard, bring them back to hand for card advantage, get a large number of Zombies. Destroy.

Filling the Pits

In order to build your grinding engine, you'll need to fill your crypt with corpses, much like Tormod. The deck suffers from the lack of blue here, but thankfully there are still some good options. Egon, God of Death/Throne of Death is probably the best card of the 98. For one mana, it gets you a card in the graveyard every turn, and later can get you cards and Zombies cheaply. On the flipside, Egon, God of Death is also useful as a threat that can get you a Zombie or draw you a card. 

Mindwrack Harpy is another fine pick, it mills each player for three and is a Zombie to boot. Ironically, Burning-Rune Demon's downside is a huge help to this deck. Fetch up two creatures, and your opponent's choice doesn't matter. Syr Konrad, the Grim is slow, but thankfully he brings so much more value than just a mill engine. 

The Graveyard Hate

What would a Tormod deck be without Tormod's Crypt? Crypt is your nuclear weapon against all other reanimator decks, and the deck is built so that Tormod's Crypt can be a regular feature at your table. Necromancers can be petty and Tormod is no exception. At the very least, you get a free Zombie for your troubles. 

You can recur it with Lurrus of the Dream-Den if you need to. Wishclaw Talisman and Grim Tutor were added solely to get Crypt. Soul-Guide Lantern serves a similar purpose to the Crypt. On entering it gets you a Zombie, and later you can either cycle it or exile your opponent's graveyard.  Tymaret, Chosen from Death is another great addition. For two mana, he can get you a Zombie, some life, and get rid of your enemies best reanimation target. Tormod synergizes well with escape. Every time you escape, you get two free Zombies. The downside is that escape usually requires five or so other cards in the graveyard. Use with caution. 

Going Wide and Bringing it All Back

As with any token deck, keeping your army strong is a must. Ravos helps a bit with his global buff, but there's more. Glorious Anthem seems a bit heretical to use on Zombies but it sure is effective. Rally The Ranks is more thematic and cheaper. Liliana's Devotee buffs your boys a bit and brings them back. Tormod gets you Zombies whether you bring cards back or have them hit the graveyard and return. Thankfully Standard is filled with creatures that let us build reanimation engines. Luminous Broodmoth is great here, giving all out nontoken creatures double duty. Athreos, Shroud-Veiled gives our best tools a second shot as well. The deck doesn't have as many sac outlets as I would like, but Standard is fairly limiting. We have Woe Strider, Erebos Bleak-Hearted, Witch's Cauldron and a few others.

Winning

One of the deck's biggest strengths is its resilience and adaptability. Having your board wiped just means that you have more things to bring back later. Rise of the Dread Marn gives you a valuable deterrent to board wipes, or incentive to set off your own. You can adjust your pace based on the state of the board, or you can set up a grinding value engine with Ravos and death triggers. Or, go all-in and escape Woe Strider to give you the last tokens you need to go wide.  

Even exile is not the end. If you get Kaya, the Inexorable out long enough, you can bring back all the things you've exiled to create your Zombie horde. If your hoards aren't doing the trick, then your last hope is to fetch up Gray Merchant of Asphodel and replay him until your opponents beg for mercy. It's not very original, but Gary has won more games than I can count. 

Tormod may not be the strongest deck, but I hope he gives you some interesting ideas and at the very least, makes you the only necromancer at your table. 

Thanks David, what a graveyard bash! There you have it folks, all of our deckbuilders in all of their creative glory. Now dear readers, I want you to really think about which person grabbed your attention the most. Which deck excites you, inspires you or even makes you want to go to your local game store (online or in person if it's safe!) and purchase the entire deck! Vote for your favorite below and join us in the next installment to see who will face off in Round 2 of CUT! 

If you are interested in participating in a future CUT! article feel free to email the.only.travis.stanley@gmail.com. Remember, if you don't love it, CUT it!

Thanks for reading and we will see you in the next one!