Bant Humans By Oliver Tiu - Standard Check-in Article By MTG - 17.06.2016 (Standard)

Game plan: Pressure the opponent with cheap Humans, while getting card and board advantage from Collected Company, Duskwatch Recruiter, and Tireless Tracker.

This is the next evolution of the Bant Company decks, and in fact shares a lot of the same creature base (notably Duskwatch Recruiter and Reflector Mage). Bant Humans does a great job of putting the opponent on a clock while still having a good late game, which is something of a common refrain among successful decks. The combination of Collected Company and Ojutai's Command is also a potent one, as both of these instants mask the other, leading the opponent to play into one if they aren't careful. The deck also plays nicely at instant speed as a result, making it that much more likely it can flip its Duskwatch Recruiters and Lambholt Pacifists.

Weaknesses: Bant Humans doesn't fear much, but efficient removal is annoying to deal with. Cards like Fiery Impulse and Ultimate Price can slow down Humans, and make it so Thalia's Lieutenant is less of a threat than it would be otherwise. Sweepers like Radiant Flames and Languish have their moments as well, though in all of these cases Collected Company does a very good job of keeping the pressure on. Bant Humans is a consistent deck, and one without glaring weaknesses.