Ever since Innistrad, I've always liked the human archetype. My friend tasked me with making a WU weenie deck. I build one with the new humans, and it did shockingly well. Time moved on, new sets came out, but I never got rid of the humans; I loved 'em. However, they've always felt really fringe. I really want to change that, so I'm always trying to make the best human tribal deck possible.
This deck I built is my first true 3 color deck. I've always been terrible at it, so I avoided it. However, splashing a third color just gives so many advantages that it's worth learning how to do well.
For this deck in particular, and how I usually play humans in general, I play a fast wide aggro beginning with small elements of control if pushed into the mid-range.
I have to say, I'm terrible at balancing mana with 3+ colors. So, I'd also like to ask for tips on my land base.
This deck doesn't need to be legal in any format; I'm just making this for fun :D
If anyone is interested, the meta I face is: Merfolk, Grixis control, Grixis Delver, Jund, Affinity, Tron, Zombies, and Exalted.
This deck is an updated version of http://www.mtgvault.com/compking876/decks/modern-naya-humans/
After play-testing that deck over 10 duels I found the following. I'm still not good at running 3 colors :(, Warden of the First Tree is terrible as he just gets bolted the second I waste mana on him, grindy matches/ one-for-one matches shut me down, Lightning Mauler is fun but useless if i've no other creature/ 4 mana, and Kytheon, Hero of Akros never flips.
As such, I've taken out the warden for Noble Hierarch. The exalted helps, and the mana acceleration lets me play bigger cmc stuff.
I took out lightning mauler for Hanweir Battlements. At least it's a land, and not a dead card if I've no other creatures.
I took out Burning Tree Emissary for Thalia to slow down my opponents, and Noble Hierarch stops her from slowing me down.
I added Lightning Helix to the mainboard to provide more interaction with opponents creatures and for the lifelink to keep me alive.
Lastly, modern legal or no, I added Mother of Runes because she is brutal against field control, and she makes my creatures unblockable.
EDIT:
I took Mother of Runes out for more Mayors and more Thalia making this modern.
EDIT 2:
I took out Kytheon, and thinned Thalia, for Thraben Inspector.
Kytheon never has his battalion activate to warrant him, and 3 copies of a Thalia are enough.
EDIT3:
I took out 2x Herons Grace Champion and 1x Lighting Helix for 3x Renegade Rallier. He helps keep me in the game via resurrections .
Took out 1x Voltaic Brawler and 1x Mayor for 2x Channeler Initiate. He mana pumps early game, can sac a Hierarch or Thraben Inspector mid game for him to be a fattie.
Took out the voltaic and helix as their mana costs are difficult to pay for early game
LISTED BELOW ARE POSSIBLE CARDS I'M NOT SURE ON YET:
LAND:
Gavony Township (Good Combat tricks)
CREATURES:
Town Gossipmonger (Can attack as a 2/3 Turn 2 as long as I play anything)
Glory-Bound Initiate (Swings for a lot of damage, helps against burn)
Fencing Ace (Does great damage with lords, none by himself)
Doomed Traveler (Good chump blocker + card advantage)
Avacyn's Pilgrim (If i need 5-8 mana dorks)
Honored Crop-Captain (Good body + Battle Cry)
Kari Zev, Skyship Raider (Very hard to block all damage, activates revolt well)
Monastery Swiftspear (Good in an aggro build)
Tireless Tracker (card draw and a fattie)
Grand Abolisher (Sideboard Only)
Duskwatch Recruiter( Mana sink + can "draw" creatures)
Thalia, Heretic Cathar (Played on turn 2 can ruin 3+ color/fetches)
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy (For the card draw, and flashback bolt/helix?)
Meddling Mage (Stop combo decks)
Reflector Mage (Slow down creature decks)
Mantis Rider (Built in Haste and evasion makes it a good beater)
-These 4 seem odd, but technically I do have 8 blue mana sources-
HIGH MANA STUFF:
Always Wathcing (Acts like a hard to kill lord, Vigilance is usefull)
Mirran Crusader ( Massive damage with lords, only dies to blot + path)
Sigarda, Host of Herons (flying fattie that won't die)
Sun Titan (Fattie that resurrects everything)
Herons Grace Champion (Good combat tricks, helps against burn)
Huntmaster of the fells (card advantage + helps during mid range)
Restoration Angel (Protect mons, abuse etb of Voltaic Brawler and Thalia's Lieutenant)
Hero of Bladehold ( Fattie that survives bolt, battle cry, and makes tokens)
COCO:
I know about Collected Company, and I do love it. I don't currently use it here because then I'd feel far more inclined to add way more 3 cmc monsters and take out most of my interaction spells.
That and I also have another deck that uses coco...
http://www.mtgvault.com/compking876/decks/coco-humans-3/
This is a fairly simple aggro deck. Throw down your creatures fast and hard to smash the opponent before they can build up a resistance.
Turn 1: Play Noble Hierarch, Champion of the Parish, or Thraben Inspector. Noble Hierarch speeds up the mana, and is probably the least important to be turn 1 bolted, so I say play her first.
Turn 2: Play a Lieutenant to pump whatever you played turn 1, or if you played Noble Hierarch first, play a champion and a lieutenant if you can. Depending on opponent, Thalia might be a far better t2 play.
Turn 3: At this point, you've more or less curved off, so play as needed: Bolt/Helix/Path their early defense creatures, resurrect whatever died with Rallier, flash in Heron as a fun combat trick.
For the sideboard, my ideas are pretty simple.
Use Kataki, War's Wage to fight Affinity.
Use Stony Silence against Affinity and Tron.
Use Rest in Pieces for your graveyard hate.
Mark of the Asylum stops red sweepers and bolt.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Gather the townsfolk, and Return to the Ranks help against control and mid-range; making more creatures than they can deal with. Or, they can let you chump aggro.