Mardu Heroic Aristocrats (War of the Spark) (Standard)

This deck is a 3 in one deck. What I mean is the core of the deck fits into three different archetypes, that all coexist in one deck simultaneously. Here is what I mean:

1) Pure Aggro deck
-small, low costed creatures.
-7 anthem effects
-token generators to help go wide

2) Aristocrats
-7 life draining aristocrat creatures
-Fireblade Artist is an excellent sac engine.
-8 creatures that cause life loss just for dying on their own.
-your creatures will simply die in combat, however the opponent must be very careful with their blocks.
*a point to remember is that Judith and Reaper have abilities that do not trigger for your tokens. Still powerful, but takes away the broken factor.

3) Go wide tokens deck.
-19 of the 29 core cards trigger Hero.
-26 total cards in final deck list that trigger Hero.
-the deck has the explosive Hero + Heroic Reinforcements combo.
*again, 7 anthem effects.

The Core of the deck is pretty sweet (I've listed in order of importance):

1) Cruel Celebrant
the reason I went back to look at aristocrats again. This was the piece the deck was missing in Allegiance standard.
playing this over Priest of Forgotten Gods is a major upgrade for this deck. Not only is it better for Hero, but it requires much less of a commitment to your resources to have a positive effect.

2) Fireblade Artist
*a great aggro creature that doubles as a fantastic life loss sac engine. The true (must answer) card in the deck.

3) Judith, the Scourge Diva
she might actually be the most important, but she is definitely the most powerful. Anthem and aristocrat all in one.
The perfect card to play turn three after a Hero.

4) Heroic Reinforcements
the best blowout card. So your playing against Aristocrats and wham, midgame Heroic Reinforcements. Most people not seeing that coming.
amazing with Hero.
*tokens are sac fodder afterwards, but have 2 power with Judith also.

5) Hero of Precinct One
you can go in other directions with the deck, but a token generator that goes off just for casting cards on curve is pretty sweet.
awesome once you start casting midgame removal and you get a bonus creature.

6) Midnight Reaper
provides a great engine when creatures start dying.
excellent insurance policy against spot removal and even better against sweepers.

7) Gutterbones
*2 powered one drop is great for aggro and having sac fodder with recursion can help finish off games late.

8) Footlight Fiend
*not exactly scaring opponents to death, however it is a nice turn 1 play that can later help kill a creature, do an extra damage without attacking, gets a token from Hero, and is perfect sac fodder. That's a lot for 1cmc.

After building the core I looked at how many lands I would need to support the deck. This hinged mainly on which support cards I meant to play:

1) If I play a burn package I could cut a couple lands in favor of Light up the Stage. This would however weaken Hero.

2) The other package plays a variety of card draw and removal. I'm thinking Carnival, Mortify, and card draw. These would greatly increase the power of Hero, but would mean I'd need to play 23/24 lands.

I think the for this deck it is best to have a more varied support package. I went with Carnival and Mortify for my removal.
-Carnival is great for picking off Llanowar Elves, mono white pests, and blue targets that can wear a Curious Obsession. Cracking a Carnage in the midgame can also be a pretty devastating top deck.
-Mortify is just really good and there are a ton of enchantments worth riding yourself of.

For the card draw, I had two slots left to utilize. I looked at Rix-Maadi Reveler and Theater of Horrors. I choose Rix for three reasons a) it is another body, b) Loading up with three cards late game could finish things off, and c)Theater takes time, and I would rather not waste turn three playing an enchantment in an aggro deck. Rix also is useful as early as turn 2, to smooth out your draws. It is just the better card for the deck.

Cards left out and why:

1) Spawn of Mayhem
*big time powerhouse, but is a heavy commitment to a black mana base. Would be better in a non Hero deck.

2) Priest of Forgotten Gods
*too slow. Great in the late game, but I prefer creatures that can be aggressive turn two. The deck is already playing Cruel Celebrant.