[MM] In The Spotlight: Rebels

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Rebels, as piloted by Spills at MPDC 2.10

Creatures
4 Amrou Scout
4 Amrou Seekers
4 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Blade of the Sixth Pride
4 Blightspeaker
4 Ivory Giant
4 Rathi Trapper
4 Zealot il-Vec

Spells
3 Gaze of Justice
3 Grim Harvest

Lands
9 Plains
9 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse

SIDEBOARD
4 Kjeldoran War Cry
4 Terror
3 Cloudchaser Kestrel
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Grim Harvest

Rebels has been a tried, but not necessarily tuned strategy since Amrou Scout and Blightspeaker were printed in Timespiral block. Alongside fellow Rebel Aven Riftsweeper they have made numerous decks, but usualy failed when combined with their autority-defying fellows. Amrous Scout has been seen in White Weenie mostly, finding buddies or Avian Changelings or even Riftsweepers after boards. The Riftsweeper is one of the formats defining cards, corking aggro and burn decks before they become meta-warping. He was mostly seen in Blink packing decks. Finally, Blightspeaker was run in certain Orzhov Blink lists as a must-be-answered threat against control (finding buddies, then pinging him to death) and a way to find blinkable Riftsweepers against aggro.

The list(s) Spills made two play-offs are different than the one that won MPDC 1.10, which splashed for Momentary Blink, or the Rebel Teachings lists that ran them as winconditions, just as in Orzhov Blink. Spills made a "White Weenie" deck, with a lot more reach. Starting of with a few quality beaters, like Scout or Sixth Pride, and combine these with suitable disruption and a Rebel chain. This will result in both early game damage and a lategame army to alfa strike for the win. Riftwatchers, Seekers and Zealot give the deck the necessary evasion to get in for the middle points of life, before the alfa strike. Both Zealot and Trapper are here for defensive purposes; removing a pesky blocker or x/1 utility creature standing between you and the win.

Grim Harvest can start the chain all over again late. And behold, this might be the only deck that Gaze of Justice is somewhat usuable, because the Rebels can find their white buddies to be able to pay for it.

Wait a minute, strike that last sentance, I just found out it is a sorcery. That makes it unusable once again.

The fact that it has more reach, doesn't necessarily make it better than WW. Looking at the results, this deck loses to Storm and anti-aggro-Grimdrifter just like WW. I even found the matchup easier, because all the creatures are x/1 and the only dangerous ones are the fetches, the rest can be ignored untill very late in the game. The added reach doesn't solve it's fundamental problem against these control decks; that once the control deck takes over, not a single creature will be left alive. Burn can go straight to the head, but Rebels need to stay in play, where they die to removal before they can fetch anything at all.

If I'd wanted to play Rebels, I would take a long look at the two previous incarnations mentioned above. Straight up Rebels should use a lot more disruption and a lot less Rebels. Let's start with the core of Scout and Speaker, the reason we started building the deck. A singleton Trapper and two to three (the rest in the board, depending on the meta) Riftwatchers to be fetched. I'd keep at least two Grim Harvest, they are very good in these type of aggro-control decks (like Classics RnR). To beat Storm you should have a lot of disruption, so in go 4 Ravenous Rats and 3 Mournwhelk, maybe 4 Augur of Skulls. This will also go a long way to beating Grimdrifter.

You need early game protection against White Weenie or an early threat to control. Maby Pit Keeper and Phyrexian Rager? If we are including this much CIP creatures, why not splash blue for Blink? It doubles as disruption for your opponents removal. And when you have blue, why not Mulldrifter?

See what I just did? I added a Rebel chain to Dark Evocation. Not very original, but it illustrates my point. There are too little Rebels to make a chain like the original, non-pauper, Rebels deck did. They started turn one with a fetcher, than fetched all the way up to Jhovall Queen, never playing another non-land. Got an answer? Start the chain again from your hand. Therefore, you can't go full aggro, you need disruption. And when you add in disruption, you will end up at a deck packing only the necessary and playable Rebels; Amrou Scout, Blightspeaker, Aven Riftwatcher and in corner cases Rathi Trapper and Zealot il-Vec.

Previous decks:
Pyramid Scheme
Burnt Blink
Fearie Rogues
Blinkdrifter
Gruul Warriors
Dreamspore Rock
Lorwyn Season:
Red Deck Wins
Storm Control
New Tricks and Grimdrifter
Use UR Illusion
GW Changelings