It's time to talk about the fresh new archetype on the block made possible by Streets of New Capenna, Fight Rigging. This deck has been popping up in both Explorer and Pioneer and is an absolute blast to play. The core concept is to use a cheap, bulky beater like Rotting Regisaur to turn on Rigging's Hideaway effect. Doing so enables casting a massive spell like Titan of Industry for free as early as turn three. These cards go over the top of what opponents are trying to do, and come down before they can stabilize.

What I Like

I'm a sucker for a good combo deck, and Magic has no shortage of them. However, decks like these struggle when the combo is disrupted or the right pieces don't come together on time.

I like that Rigging doesn't rely heavily on its titular card to function. Mana dorks like Llanowar Elves accelerate out midrange bombs like Elder Gargaroth and Rotting Regisaur, then force opponents to remove them immediately. Often times, they simply can't.

And Rigging itself is a strong card even without immediate access to the free spell. Buffing mana dorks to give them respectable stats turns them into real cards in a drawn out game. Opponents will need to kill every creature played, which is much easier said than done.

Additionally, this build of the deck is able to accommodate Obosh, the Preypiercer as a companion. Between Gargaroth, Verdurous Gearhulk, and Titan of Industry, there are plenty of high-power trample threats that can work with Obosh to close out just about any board state in a single swing.

What I Don't Like

While Regisaur is an excellent enabler, it's not enough to reliably turn on the one-two punch of the combo. There's a significant drop off in strength for the next-best enabler, Shakedown Heavy.

Sometimes, we can fail to draw a dork, or the turn one dork is removed. Such games may often be too slow to develop, and the deck gets run over. Similarly, it's possible to draw a few too many of the expensive spells and end up a sitting duck to curve outs from across the table.

Ditching Obosh for Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor may end up being the right call to smooth out the curve in future builds of the deck. I do wish there was some form of card draw or card selection to more reliably hit that turn three/four combo sweet spot. This will be a priority as I continue to iterate on the archetype.

The Deck

End Step

I had a great time this week and I absolutely think the Fight Rigging deck is here to stay. It's hard-hitting and creates threats on multiple axes that opponents can struggle to interact with.

If you want to keep up to date with me as I continue to tinker with the deck, make sure to follow me on Twitter at @AdamECohen. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on what other decks I should play, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a DM. Catch you all next time!