I wasn't able to attend FNM last week, so I haven't been able to test any new changes to my standard deck. Instead, I want to run through the skeleton of a new deck I've been toying with.
With the Born of the Gods spoilers that have been trickling in, it's starting to look like minotaur tribal might be a serious competitor. With the two minotaur spoilers that we've seen (Felhide Spiritbinder and Ragemonger), the minotaur archetype is already getting some serious support.
With that in mind, I've thrown together a minotaur tribal deck with standard legal cards that I already own. After the decklist, which I think is pretty straightforward, I'll comment on big changes that I think would make the deck more competitive.
Creatures:
4 Deathbellow Raider
3 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Felhide Minotaur
4 Kragma Warcaller
4 Minotaur Skullcleaver
3 Rageblood Shaman
Instants:
4 Chandra's Outrage
2 Doom Blade
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
Sorceries:
2 Act of Treason
Land:
2 Blood Crypt
14 Mountain
2 Rakdos Guildgate
6 Swamp
Perhaps the most obvious improvement is replacing those Guildgates with additional Blood Crypts, but as of now I only have the two. Act of Treason is also probably pretty weak, but I'm not sure what I have to replace it. Similarly, Chandra's Outrage may be a little costly; by the time I have 4 mana, I'm probably going to want to devote it to developing my board state, not removing a random creature. Again, though, I'm not sure what to stick in there instead.
Maybe the biggest addition to this deck would be Door of Destinies. Buffing all your minotaurs, which likely have trample and haste due to the Warcaller and the Shaman, seems to enable huge burst damage. If I owned any copies, I'd definitely make some room for them.
The most serious threat against this setup is clearly wrath effects, as a swift win requires having a couple creatures already on the board the turn you drop a Warcaller. I'm not totally sure how to avoid that problem other than to try to brute force your way through it. It certainly deserves some consideration, though.
To make this kind of deck competitive, there are some significant obstacles to overcome and a lot of tweaking to do. At this point, this decklist is simply meant as a basic shell for revisions once Born of the Gods is officially released and we know what new goodies this kind of deck may get. As such, I'll leave it there for now; something to think about rather than something to bust out at FNM anytime soon.
Showing posts with label constructed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label constructed. Show all posts
Monday, January 20, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Monday Magic - Building a Standard Deck Part III
After last week's standard experiences, I didn't feel like the deck list itself needed a whole lot of tweaking. Instead, it seemed like I needed to work on aggressive mulligans, smarter play, and better sideboarding.
Minor Sideboard Change
That said, I did change my deck list a little bit, removing Electrickery from the board entirely. The issue is that Electrickery serves a very specific purpose, wiping tokens and possibly clearing the board in a mirror match. I already have a set of Legion Loyalists to ignore tokens, and killing creatures in the mirror match is a defensive move, which seems like a terrible idea with this super aggressive deck. If I'm really worried about tokens, it's worth running something that has wider applicability. I decided to go with Weapon Surge - at the cost of an attack, Weapon Surge can accomplish the same goal as Electrickery, but it can also help deal with bigger blockers or be used for another 2-4 damage in a successful combat phase. It has greater utility, so I think it's a stronger choice.
Aside from that change, the list that I took to last week's Friday Night Magic was the same as before:
Main Deck
Creatures:
3 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Goblin Shortcutter
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
4 Titan's Strength
Enchantments:
4 Madcap Skills
Lands:
18 Mountain
Minor Sideboard Change
That said, I did change my deck list a little bit, removing Electrickery from the board entirely. The issue is that Electrickery serves a very specific purpose, wiping tokens and possibly clearing the board in a mirror match. I already have a set of Legion Loyalists to ignore tokens, and killing creatures in the mirror match is a defensive move, which seems like a terrible idea with this super aggressive deck. If I'm really worried about tokens, it's worth running something that has wider applicability. I decided to go with Weapon Surge - at the cost of an attack, Weapon Surge can accomplish the same goal as Electrickery, but it can also help deal with bigger blockers or be used for another 2-4 damage in a successful combat phase. It has greater utility, so I think it's a stronger choice.
Aside from that change, the list that I took to last week's Friday Night Magic was the same as before:
Main Deck
Creatures:
3 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Goblin Shortcutter
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
4 Titan's Strength
Enchantments:
4 Madcap Skills
Lands:
18 Mountain
Sideboard
2 Act of Treason
2 Peak Eruption
2 Seismic Stomp
4 Shock
3 Skullcrack
2 Weapon Surge
Holy crap, life gain
Last week's FNM was an even smaller affair than the previous one, with only 8 people in attendance. As such, we only played three rounds. I finished with a disappointing 1-2 record, falling pretty spectacularly to a couple decks with significant life gain abilities. Some details:
Round one pitted me against a red white deck that dominated me 0-2. It was actually the same midrange red player I had beaten the week before, but he had made a number of important modifications. Most notably, Spark Trooper and Warleader's Helix. As soon as either of those spells resolved, the game was effectively over, as the six point life gain from the Trooper and the 4 life plus removal of the Helix each put him solidly beyond my reach.
In round two, I defeated a mono blue devotion deck 2-1. Weapon Surge really shines in this matchup (and really any matchup without much spot removal), as I was able to use it to blow him out in game three. I think his deck list was a little stronger than the mono blue deck I played a few weeks ago, but it still didn't give me a whole lot of trouble - my one loss was the result of really weak draws during the game.
The final round brought an unexpected green monster deck featuring a number of planeswalkers, which knocked me down 1-2. Post-board, Seismic Stomp and Act of Treason do a good job dealing with Sylvan Caryatid and Polukranos, but Scavenging Ooze's life gain proved too much to handle. In each of the games I lost, I was able to get my opponent down under 3 life, but the Ooze allowed him to stabilize and counter any burn I might throw at him.
Despite the frustrating loss in round three, I took the close games as a great sign: my $25 deck was still pretty competitive against a deck that cost well over $100. I think that's a good indication that you don't need to drop a ton of money to succeed in a given standard environment (at least at the FNM level), you just need to have a pretty finely-tuned deck.
Lessons
The two big concerns I had noticed in the past - mid-game life gain and Boros Reckoner - are still significant problems for this deck. I unfortunately didn't get to test any recent changes against Reckoner, so I still have some hope that more aggressive play can help mitigate the minotaur's damage. On the other hand, the deck undeniably needs better tech against life gain.
I think there are two major options for dealing with that problem. The first is to run more answers to those specific threats. Stick Skullcrack and Shock in the main deck and plan to leave mana up for the relevant spells once my opponent is able to cast their unfortunate life gain spells. A secondary benefit of such changes is that I may be more likely to win game one against Esper or Azorius control decks, but it comes with a pretty damning downside - playing like this seems like it would slow me down quite a bit, making it harder to compete with most decks. I don't think it's a great option in its entirety, but it might be worth running a couple Shocks in place of a couple Lightning Strikes in the main deck.
The second option is much more appealing but certainly not without its disadvantages as well. Running Akroan Crusader could help build a strong board state relatively quickly and cheaply; Dynacharge could push through a few extra points of damage or end the game in a hurry, if it reaches that point. Really the idea here would be to lower the average converted mana cost of the deck (which is already 1.5) to try to force more damage through earlier.
While this kind of modification might be able to deal more damage more quickly, I doubt that it would work out to be as consistent as the list I've been using (I'm too lazy to work through the math on that right now). I'm a fan of the Dynacharge bit, though, so it might be worth investigating as an alternative to something like Madcap Skills.
Basically, it seems like I need to come up with some clever way of dealing with life gain. I'll probably only get one more shot with this deck before the next expansion, Born of the Gods, hits shelves, so here's hoping I can solve this life gain problem soon!
2 Peak Eruption
2 Seismic Stomp
4 Shock
3 Skullcrack
2 Weapon Surge
Holy crap, life gain
Last week's FNM was an even smaller affair than the previous one, with only 8 people in attendance. As such, we only played three rounds. I finished with a disappointing 1-2 record, falling pretty spectacularly to a couple decks with significant life gain abilities. Some details:
Round one pitted me against a red white deck that dominated me 0-2. It was actually the same midrange red player I had beaten the week before, but he had made a number of important modifications. Most notably, Spark Trooper and Warleader's Helix. As soon as either of those spells resolved, the game was effectively over, as the six point life gain from the Trooper and the 4 life plus removal of the Helix each put him solidly beyond my reach.
In round two, I defeated a mono blue devotion deck 2-1. Weapon Surge really shines in this matchup (and really any matchup without much spot removal), as I was able to use it to blow him out in game three. I think his deck list was a little stronger than the mono blue deck I played a few weeks ago, but it still didn't give me a whole lot of trouble - my one loss was the result of really weak draws during the game.
The final round brought an unexpected green monster deck featuring a number of planeswalkers, which knocked me down 1-2. Post-board, Seismic Stomp and Act of Treason do a good job dealing with Sylvan Caryatid and Polukranos, but Scavenging Ooze's life gain proved too much to handle. In each of the games I lost, I was able to get my opponent down under 3 life, but the Ooze allowed him to stabilize and counter any burn I might throw at him.
Despite the frustrating loss in round three, I took the close games as a great sign: my $25 deck was still pretty competitive against a deck that cost well over $100. I think that's a good indication that you don't need to drop a ton of money to succeed in a given standard environment (at least at the FNM level), you just need to have a pretty finely-tuned deck.
Lessons
The two big concerns I had noticed in the past - mid-game life gain and Boros Reckoner - are still significant problems for this deck. I unfortunately didn't get to test any recent changes against Reckoner, so I still have some hope that more aggressive play can help mitigate the minotaur's damage. On the other hand, the deck undeniably needs better tech against life gain.
I think there are two major options for dealing with that problem. The first is to run more answers to those specific threats. Stick Skullcrack and Shock in the main deck and plan to leave mana up for the relevant spells once my opponent is able to cast their unfortunate life gain spells. A secondary benefit of such changes is that I may be more likely to win game one against Esper or Azorius control decks, but it comes with a pretty damning downside - playing like this seems like it would slow me down quite a bit, making it harder to compete with most decks. I don't think it's a great option in its entirety, but it might be worth running a couple Shocks in place of a couple Lightning Strikes in the main deck.
The second option is much more appealing but certainly not without its disadvantages as well. Running Akroan Crusader could help build a strong board state relatively quickly and cheaply; Dynacharge could push through a few extra points of damage or end the game in a hurry, if it reaches that point. Really the idea here would be to lower the average converted mana cost of the deck (which is already 1.5) to try to force more damage through earlier.
While this kind of modification might be able to deal more damage more quickly, I doubt that it would work out to be as consistent as the list I've been using (I'm too lazy to work through the math on that right now). I'm a fan of the Dynacharge bit, though, so it might be worth investigating as an alternative to something like Madcap Skills.
Basically, it seems like I need to come up with some clever way of dealing with life gain. I'll probably only get one more shot with this deck before the next expansion, Born of the Gods, hits shelves, so here's hoping I can solve this life gain problem soon!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Monday Magic - Building a Standard Deck Part II
After last week's analysis of the first iteration of a cheap red deck wins setup, I made a couple small changes and took it to another Friday Night Magic event. Here's what happened:
Deck Tweaks
The biggest problems that appeared in the first FNM experience were Boros Reckoner, Chained to the Rocks, and Fleecemane Lion, so the modifications should try to handle those types of threats a bit better. That was the main focus of my first deck revisions.
On my end, one weakness I noticed was Gore-House Chainwalker- a 3-power creature for 2 mana is pretty sweet, but he's my only 2-drop permanent that doesn't do something on turn 2. Ash Zealot swings on turn 2, Goblin Shortcutter nullifies a blocker, Burning-Tree Emissary enhances overall mana efficiency, and Madcap Skills allows for some pretty serious burst damage. Chainwalker is a scary dude to be sure, but if I'm not securely in control by the end of turn 2, I have a hard road ahead, and I don't think Chainwalker makes that ordeal any easier.
As such, I replaced my Chainwalkers with Magma Jets. The extra burn is a much more immediate benefit for my spent mana, but the Scry 2 effect is a big deal for smoothing out my play. It lets me ship extra lands to the bottom of my deck if I can't use them, and it might allow me to plan the next couple draws. I think this change makes the deck a bit more consistent, and it increases the potential damage on earlier turns.
This increased consistency may be able to avoid Reckoner altogether, as it increases the odds that I'd just be able to end the game before he can wipe my side of the board. I think it will also help against the Lion, though he could hit the table a turn earlier. To deal with the Chains, I think Peak Eruption is a solid choice as it frees the bound creature, deals some damage, and screws with my opponent's mana base (and it may be able to slow Reckoner by a turn sometimes, too). Eruption fits pretty nicely in the sideboard, then.
For the rest of the sideboard, I still see some benefit to Electrickery (wipes Elspeth and Master tokens), Shock (burn is burn), Act of Treason (which might be my best answer to Reckoner), and Seismic Stomp (helps me end the game against a stalled boardstate), and Skullcrack is absolutely necessary, so I decided to include just two copies of Eruption in place of one Electrickery and one Shock.
With those small changes, here's the complete deck I took to last week's FNM:
Main Deck
Creatures:
3 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Goblin Shortcutter
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
4 Titan's Strength
Enchantments:
4 Madcap Skills
Lands:
18 Mountain
Deck Tweaks
The biggest problems that appeared in the first FNM experience were Boros Reckoner, Chained to the Rocks, and Fleecemane Lion, so the modifications should try to handle those types of threats a bit better. That was the main focus of my first deck revisions.
On my end, one weakness I noticed was Gore-House Chainwalker- a 3-power creature for 2 mana is pretty sweet, but he's my only 2-drop permanent that doesn't do something on turn 2. Ash Zealot swings on turn 2, Goblin Shortcutter nullifies a blocker, Burning-Tree Emissary enhances overall mana efficiency, and Madcap Skills allows for some pretty serious burst damage. Chainwalker is a scary dude to be sure, but if I'm not securely in control by the end of turn 2, I have a hard road ahead, and I don't think Chainwalker makes that ordeal any easier.
As such, I replaced my Chainwalkers with Magma Jets. The extra burn is a much more immediate benefit for my spent mana, but the Scry 2 effect is a big deal for smoothing out my play. It lets me ship extra lands to the bottom of my deck if I can't use them, and it might allow me to plan the next couple draws. I think this change makes the deck a bit more consistent, and it increases the potential damage on earlier turns.
This increased consistency may be able to avoid Reckoner altogether, as it increases the odds that I'd just be able to end the game before he can wipe my side of the board. I think it will also help against the Lion, though he could hit the table a turn earlier. To deal with the Chains, I think Peak Eruption is a solid choice as it frees the bound creature, deals some damage, and screws with my opponent's mana base (and it may be able to slow Reckoner by a turn sometimes, too). Eruption fits pretty nicely in the sideboard, then.
For the rest of the sideboard, I still see some benefit to Electrickery (wipes Elspeth and Master tokens), Shock (burn is burn), Act of Treason (which might be my best answer to Reckoner), and Seismic Stomp (helps me end the game against a stalled boardstate), and Skullcrack is absolutely necessary, so I decided to include just two copies of Eruption in place of one Electrickery and one Shock.
With those small changes, here's the complete deck I took to last week's FNM:
Main Deck
Creatures:
3 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Goblin Shortcutter
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
2 Magma Jet
4 Titan's Strength
Enchantments:
4 Madcap Skills
Lands:
18 Mountain
Sideboard
2 Act of Treason
3 Electrickery
2 Peak Eruption
2 Seismic Stomp
3 Shock
3 Skullcrack
Trial by Fire... Again
Last week's FNM was much smaller affair than my first, with only about 10 people playing standard. I placed fifth overall with a record of only 2-2, but let's go through the individual matchups.
Round one put me against a black red minotaur deck, which I knocked down 2-0. He was running a lot of cheap removal (Shocks and Pharika's Cure), which proved to be a problem, but he ended up falling to me in two games due to troublesome mana draws. We played a couple games after the round result was officially reported, and when he wasn't starved for mana, his deck was actually pretty nasty. The removal is obviously bad for me, but he could also play his creatures and hold them back as blockers until he was able to deal lethal damage in one blow. I think my biggest problem in this matchup was deciding when to mulligan (which will be a common theme), because I need the power to rush through 12+ damage in the first few turns to be able to survive against that kind of deck. It wasn't an issue in this tournament, but it's certainly something to think about.
The second round put me up against a more midranged red deck, which fell to me 2-0. This deck seemed to revolve around burn spells and Chandra's Phoenix, though it didn't survive long enough to teach me anything important about our deck's matchups.
My deck really started having troubles in round three, where we lost to Esper control 1-2. This matchup is one of the few that I tested with friends (though my friend was running a somewhat different version of this deck), and it seemed like the two decks are reasonably balanced.
The first two games were pretty lopsided - before sideboarding, one Sphinx's Revelation is the end for me, but after sideboard Skullcrack shuts the relevant part of Revelation down pretty hard. Seeing that the Esper control win conditions are typically late-game players (Aetherling, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and Blood Baron of Vizkopa in this particular deck), my strategy seems to get a little bit of leeway early on. I think that's a dangerous assessment, though, because Supreme Verdict can rob me of all momentum. Game one probably wouldn't have been such a devastating loss if I'd been more aggressive with mulligans, so super aggressive play from turn one is still essential in this matchup.
Game three, on the other hand, was incredibly close. I ended up losing after sitting on a bunch of burn and Skullcrack for several turns - enough to end the game and prevent Revelation from saving him - I unfortunately didn't have the mana to burn and hold up Skullcrack support, so he was able to build up a ton of Elspeth tokens and overwhelm me. I don't think there were any significant misplays or deck issues in that game; bad luck kept me from securing the win.
The fourth and final round stuck me up against what seemed to be a generic "good stuff" deck, which finished me off 1-2. Desecration Demon made an appearance in this deck, as did the Blood Baron, but he didn't have quite the same early game control to make those creatures too troubling. Boros Reckoner, on the other hand, ruined everything once again, and I lost each game where that minotaur wizard resolved. I still think Act of Treason is a solid response, though I never drew it at a relevant time during the post-board games. Peak Eruption definitely has some potential to slow the Reckoner down, though this opponent was casting the Reckoner off Plains; in this particular match, Eruption just delayed Anger of the Gods- relevant, but not nearly as important in the long run. In retrospect, I also think I probably should have mulliganed in game one (which I lost), though I'm not sure if it would have changed the outcome.
This Week's Lessons
The moral of the whole story sounds very similar to the last one: I need a better answer to Boros Reckoner, and I need to work on mulligans and sideboarding. For the former, I'm running our of ideas; I actually haven't played Seismic Stomp, so that might be another solution, or maybe I should replace Stomp with a couple more Acts to make the stealing effect more likely. For the latter, I may need to exchange Stomp, but I also think I should drop another Electrickery in favor of a fourth Shock. Electrickery has a much more niche use, but extra Shocks might help seal the deal when I'm running out of steam. And, of course, I need to figure out a way to practice mulligans specifically, as I figure I'll only get better at that by doing it.
Regardless, I have some more ideas for tweaks, and I hope to take it to another FNM this week. Maybe I can come up with something rather consistent before the next set, Born of the Gods, is released at the beginning of February...
3 Electrickery
2 Peak Eruption
2 Seismic Stomp
3 Shock
3 Skullcrack
Trial by Fire... Again
Last week's FNM was much smaller affair than my first, with only about 10 people playing standard. I placed fifth overall with a record of only 2-2, but let's go through the individual matchups.
Round one put me against a black red minotaur deck, which I knocked down 2-0. He was running a lot of cheap removal (Shocks and Pharika's Cure), which proved to be a problem, but he ended up falling to me in two games due to troublesome mana draws. We played a couple games after the round result was officially reported, and when he wasn't starved for mana, his deck was actually pretty nasty. The removal is obviously bad for me, but he could also play his creatures and hold them back as blockers until he was able to deal lethal damage in one blow. I think my biggest problem in this matchup was deciding when to mulligan (which will be a common theme), because I need the power to rush through 12+ damage in the first few turns to be able to survive against that kind of deck. It wasn't an issue in this tournament, but it's certainly something to think about.
The second round put me up against a more midranged red deck, which fell to me 2-0. This deck seemed to revolve around burn spells and Chandra's Phoenix, though it didn't survive long enough to teach me anything important about our deck's matchups.
My deck really started having troubles in round three, where we lost to Esper control 1-2. This matchup is one of the few that I tested with friends (though my friend was running a somewhat different version of this deck), and it seemed like the two decks are reasonably balanced.
The first two games were pretty lopsided - before sideboarding, one Sphinx's Revelation is the end for me, but after sideboard Skullcrack shuts the relevant part of Revelation down pretty hard. Seeing that the Esper control win conditions are typically late-game players (Aetherling, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and Blood Baron of Vizkopa in this particular deck), my strategy seems to get a little bit of leeway early on. I think that's a dangerous assessment, though, because Supreme Verdict can rob me of all momentum. Game one probably wouldn't have been such a devastating loss if I'd been more aggressive with mulligans, so super aggressive play from turn one is still essential in this matchup.
Game three, on the other hand, was incredibly close. I ended up losing after sitting on a bunch of burn and Skullcrack for several turns - enough to end the game and prevent Revelation from saving him - I unfortunately didn't have the mana to burn and hold up Skullcrack support, so he was able to build up a ton of Elspeth tokens and overwhelm me. I don't think there were any significant misplays or deck issues in that game; bad luck kept me from securing the win.
The fourth and final round stuck me up against what seemed to be a generic "good stuff" deck, which finished me off 1-2. Desecration Demon made an appearance in this deck, as did the Blood Baron, but he didn't have quite the same early game control to make those creatures too troubling. Boros Reckoner, on the other hand, ruined everything once again, and I lost each game where that minotaur wizard resolved. I still think Act of Treason is a solid response, though I never drew it at a relevant time during the post-board games. Peak Eruption definitely has some potential to slow the Reckoner down, though this opponent was casting the Reckoner off Plains; in this particular match, Eruption just delayed Anger of the Gods- relevant, but not nearly as important in the long run. In retrospect, I also think I probably should have mulliganed in game one (which I lost), though I'm not sure if it would have changed the outcome.
This Week's Lessons
The moral of the whole story sounds very similar to the last one: I need a better answer to Boros Reckoner, and I need to work on mulligans and sideboarding. For the former, I'm running our of ideas; I actually haven't played Seismic Stomp, so that might be another solution, or maybe I should replace Stomp with a couple more Acts to make the stealing effect more likely. For the latter, I may need to exchange Stomp, but I also think I should drop another Electrickery in favor of a fourth Shock. Electrickery has a much more niche use, but extra Shocks might help seal the deal when I'm running out of steam. And, of course, I need to figure out a way to practice mulligans specifically, as I figure I'll only get better at that by doing it.
Regardless, I have some more ideas for tweaks, and I hope to take it to another FNM this week. Maybe I can come up with something rather consistent before the next set, Born of the Gods, is released at the beginning of February...
Monday, December 30, 2013
Monday Magic - Building a Standard Deck (Budget Red Deck Wins)
While traveling for the holidays, I decided to check out a Friday Night Magic event at a game shop near where I grew up. Unfortunately, when I looked into FNM venues, it seemed that none of them featured any drafts, and I had never played standard in a sanctioned event. Determined to attend an FNM at a new place, I opted to put together a cheap deck just to give it a shot.
I had wanted to build a hyper aggro deck for a while, so this setup seemed to be the perfect opportunity to make it work. As this is the first competitive deck I've really tried to put together, I thought I'd describe the design process in some detail. I'm not much of a deckbuilder, but it might be a nice jumping off point for further discussions, and it might be fun to see the evolution of a novice deck designer.
Design
The basic premise is simple: Overwhelm your opponent early in the game, forcing damage through with quick, efficient creatures, sprinkling burn spells as necessary. In line with that strategy, the deck needs to focus on mana-efficient damage. We want each mana that we spend to deal damage almost immediately, and we need to avoid drawing lands as much as possible - we want to be able to dump our hand in the first few turns and draw only spells beyond that. If we even reach the midgame, a win may already be beyond reach.
To blast through the first couple turns, we need all of our spells to be cheap - two converted mana cost or less - otherwise we run the risk of being unable to do much of anything early on. Combine that with the need for fast bursts of damage, and we have a narrow gameplan.
Since we want to burst out of the gate, we definitely need several one-costing creatures. Rakdos Cackler seems like a good choice, as it gives us two power for one mana; Firedrinker Satyr fits the bill, too. We're planning to drop a bunch of creatures in the first few turns, so Foundry Street Denizen may even deal more damage than a Cackler on turns two and three, depending on the plays we have available. Legion Loyalist is great because it can smash through on turn one, plus its Batallion effect makes for more efficient attackers later on (with the added bonus of nullifying creature tokens from Pack Rat, Master of Waves, and Elspeth, if the game goes that far).
We want to follow that up with powerful two-drops. Ash Zealot is a fantastic choice for two hasty damage. Burning-Tree Emissary can make the Denizens huge for only two mana, as you can chain them on turn two (and then have even more power on turn three). Another two-power-for-two creature, Goblin Shortcutter, can force some extra damage through an opponent's blocker, so it seems like a nice addition. A two-drop that can bring more than two power to the field is pretty important, and Gore-House Chainwalker seems like a nice fit.
With a little army of efficient one- and two-costing creatures, we need some more ways to boost their damage. Titan's Strength is a great choice, as it not only pumps but the extra Scry can help avoid unwanted land draws. As a red, offensive-only Giant Growth, Rubblebelt Maaka's Bloodrush ability is an excellent combat trick. Madcap Skills is a bit of a risk, as most Auras are, but it not only gives three extra power, but it can take a blocker out of the fight, too, so it has a pretty big payoff. And, of course, Lightning Strike is just a solid burn spell, and it can eliminate most early-game blockers in the format.
Putting all those spells together makes for a pretty solid main deck, and none of those cards are too expensive, so it's a lot cheaper to throw together than a deck with Sphinx's Revelations or Nightveil Specters.
Main Deck
Creatures:
3 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Goblin Shortcutter
2 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
4 Titan's Strength
Enchantments:
4 Madcap Skills
Lands:
18 Mountain
Sideboard
Sideboarding is another benefit of my first real excursion into standard. I had never really thought much about designing a sideboard for any constructed decks I've put together (mostly because I primarily play casual, and it's impossible to have sideboard options for every random matchup I could have), so this gave me a nice chance to think about how to prepare for specific matchups.
This deck's single biggest worry, I think, is lifegain; if our opponent is able to gain life, even if just enough to stay alive for one more turn, we may be dead in the water. Skullcrack is therefore an important part of the sideboard, as it can inhibit Revelation's ability to buy more time (while also giving a way to sneak past Master of Waves' protection in some circumstances).
The next biggest problem is blockers. Seismic Stomp seems useful, too, particularly when dealing with weenie decks, as it gets blockers out of the way of our relentless assault. Some additional burn spells give us a little less longevity, but they can clear out some of the peskier early-game creatures. Shock and Electrickery are thus useful additions, too. To round out the anti-blocker suite, Act of Treason can both open the path for our side of the board to wreak havoc and increase our damage output by stealing a powerful creature - a nice option against a deck with some really problematic creatures.
Sideboard
2 Act of Treason
4 Electrickery
2 Seismic Stomp
4 Shock
3 Skullcrack
Trial by Fire
Last Friday, I took this deck to an FNM, where a total of 28 people registered. While it wasn't the biggest event, I know that some of the participants are pretty competitive, so I figure it was probably a decent example of your average FNM environment (which, of course, is almost purely speculation).
My overall record for the five rounds was 3-2. Here's how it performed:
In round 1, I played a blue-green flash deck, which fell to our deck 2-1. Even with Prophet of Kruphix, the only real threat in my opponent's deck was Polukranos, World Eater because a 5/5 blocker by turn four plus its Sylvan Caryatid backup stop our aggressive creatures without much trouble. Act of Treason can turn the hydra against its master, nullifying that threat, and nothing else posed much of a problem, so I think our deck was pretty well suited against this one.
Round 2 brought a red devotion deck that slaughtered ours 0-2. Boros Reckoner really ruins our day, especially when a couple hit the field on turn three thanks to Burning-Tree Emissaries and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Again I think Act of Treason is our best option, but I ended up mana flooded in game two, bringing the match to a close. He also splashed white to play Chained to the Rocks, which effectively slowed our early game to allow the Reckoner blowout. It's probably worth thinking about the mono-red matchup in some more detail and adjusting the sideboard accordingly.
I thoroughly trounced a black green deck 2-0 in round 3. Both games were incredibly quick, and I only saw a total of three nonland cards in his list. Abrupt Decay kills all our creatures, but losing a dude doesn't slow our gameplan too much, and his defensive creatures were too slow to stop once we get going. His deck may have been terrible, but whether it was or not, it didn't give enough resistance to influence deck design.
In round 4, I faced the mono-blue devotion deck and ultimately won 2-1. Lightning Strike clears Nightveil Specter and Skullcrack can handle Master of Waves, so I think we're in a good position against mono-blue post-board. We lost game two because we couldn't answer Master without losing our entire board presence, allowing our opponent to whittle us down. I probably misplayed somewhere along the line, but I still think that matchup is pretty solid.
It all came tumbling down in round 5, though, with a quick 0-2 loss. Fleecemane Lion turn two, Unflinching Courage on the Lion turn three, and Boros Charm to give him double strike on turn four is pretty much the worst possible scenario for our deck - gaining 10 life puts our opponent pretty solidly out of our range. The biggest problem here, I think, is that I just wasn't prepared to deal with this kind of deck.
Outlook
The overall future of this deck is good, though. A 3-2 record isn't bad (particularly for my first ever standard event), and I think the main deck is pretty solid. The sideboard needs some work, as Electrickery doesn't seem to be too useful (it's probably best for the mirror-match or for wiping Master tokens, so a couple copies are likely worth having), and I never even considered using Seismic Stomp except against the Reckoners, where I think Act would've been a better choice.
Basically, while the sideboard definitely needs to be tweaked, I think this performance serves as a proof-of-concept for this particular deck. It's nice to see a deck that costs less than $20 compete with some of the dominant archetypes in the current metagame, and I'm excited to see how this particular deck evolves in the future.
For now, I have some deck tweaking to do.
I had wanted to build a hyper aggro deck for a while, so this setup seemed to be the perfect opportunity to make it work. As this is the first competitive deck I've really tried to put together, I thought I'd describe the design process in some detail. I'm not much of a deckbuilder, but it might be a nice jumping off point for further discussions, and it might be fun to see the evolution of a novice deck designer.
Design
The basic premise is simple: Overwhelm your opponent early in the game, forcing damage through with quick, efficient creatures, sprinkling burn spells as necessary. In line with that strategy, the deck needs to focus on mana-efficient damage. We want each mana that we spend to deal damage almost immediately, and we need to avoid drawing lands as much as possible - we want to be able to dump our hand in the first few turns and draw only spells beyond that. If we even reach the midgame, a win may already be beyond reach.
To blast through the first couple turns, we need all of our spells to be cheap - two converted mana cost or less - otherwise we run the risk of being unable to do much of anything early on. Combine that with the need for fast bursts of damage, and we have a narrow gameplan.
Since we want to burst out of the gate, we definitely need several one-costing creatures. Rakdos Cackler seems like a good choice, as it gives us two power for one mana; Firedrinker Satyr fits the bill, too. We're planning to drop a bunch of creatures in the first few turns, so Foundry Street Denizen may even deal more damage than a Cackler on turns two and three, depending on the plays we have available. Legion Loyalist is great because it can smash through on turn one, plus its Batallion effect makes for more efficient attackers later on (with the added bonus of nullifying creature tokens from Pack Rat, Master of Waves, and Elspeth, if the game goes that far).
We want to follow that up with powerful two-drops. Ash Zealot is a fantastic choice for two hasty damage. Burning-Tree Emissary can make the Denizens huge for only two mana, as you can chain them on turn two (and then have even more power on turn three). Another two-power-for-two creature, Goblin Shortcutter, can force some extra damage through an opponent's blocker, so it seems like a nice addition. A two-drop that can bring more than two power to the field is pretty important, and Gore-House Chainwalker seems like a nice fit.
With a little army of efficient one- and two-costing creatures, we need some more ways to boost their damage. Titan's Strength is a great choice, as it not only pumps but the extra Scry can help avoid unwanted land draws. As a red, offensive-only Giant Growth, Rubblebelt Maaka's Bloodrush ability is an excellent combat trick. Madcap Skills is a bit of a risk, as most Auras are, but it not only gives three extra power, but it can take a blocker out of the fight, too, so it has a pretty big payoff. And, of course, Lightning Strike is just a solid burn spell, and it can eliminate most early-game blockers in the format.
Putting all those spells together makes for a pretty solid main deck, and none of those cards are too expensive, so it's a lot cheaper to throw together than a deck with Sphinx's Revelations or Nightveil Specters.
Main Deck
Creatures:
3 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Goblin Shortcutter
2 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Rubblebelt Maaka
Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
4 Titan's Strength
Enchantments:
4 Madcap Skills
Lands:
18 Mountain
Sideboard
Sideboarding is another benefit of my first real excursion into standard. I had never really thought much about designing a sideboard for any constructed decks I've put together (mostly because I primarily play casual, and it's impossible to have sideboard options for every random matchup I could have), so this gave me a nice chance to think about how to prepare for specific matchups.
This deck's single biggest worry, I think, is lifegain; if our opponent is able to gain life, even if just enough to stay alive for one more turn, we may be dead in the water. Skullcrack is therefore an important part of the sideboard, as it can inhibit Revelation's ability to buy more time (while also giving a way to sneak past Master of Waves' protection in some circumstances).
The next biggest problem is blockers. Seismic Stomp seems useful, too, particularly when dealing with weenie decks, as it gets blockers out of the way of our relentless assault. Some additional burn spells give us a little less longevity, but they can clear out some of the peskier early-game creatures. Shock and Electrickery are thus useful additions, too. To round out the anti-blocker suite, Act of Treason can both open the path for our side of the board to wreak havoc and increase our damage output by stealing a powerful creature - a nice option against a deck with some really problematic creatures.
Sideboard
2 Act of Treason
4 Electrickery
2 Seismic Stomp
4 Shock
3 Skullcrack
Trial by Fire
Last Friday, I took this deck to an FNM, where a total of 28 people registered. While it wasn't the biggest event, I know that some of the participants are pretty competitive, so I figure it was probably a decent example of your average FNM environment (which, of course, is almost purely speculation).
My overall record for the five rounds was 3-2. Here's how it performed:
In round 1, I played a blue-green flash deck, which fell to our deck 2-1. Even with Prophet of Kruphix, the only real threat in my opponent's deck was Polukranos, World Eater because a 5/5 blocker by turn four plus its Sylvan Caryatid backup stop our aggressive creatures without much trouble. Act of Treason can turn the hydra against its master, nullifying that threat, and nothing else posed much of a problem, so I think our deck was pretty well suited against this one.
Round 2 brought a red devotion deck that slaughtered ours 0-2. Boros Reckoner really ruins our day, especially when a couple hit the field on turn three thanks to Burning-Tree Emissaries and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Again I think Act of Treason is our best option, but I ended up mana flooded in game two, bringing the match to a close. He also splashed white to play Chained to the Rocks, which effectively slowed our early game to allow the Reckoner blowout. It's probably worth thinking about the mono-red matchup in some more detail and adjusting the sideboard accordingly.
I thoroughly trounced a black green deck 2-0 in round 3. Both games were incredibly quick, and I only saw a total of three nonland cards in his list. Abrupt Decay kills all our creatures, but losing a dude doesn't slow our gameplan too much, and his defensive creatures were too slow to stop once we get going. His deck may have been terrible, but whether it was or not, it didn't give enough resistance to influence deck design.
In round 4, I faced the mono-blue devotion deck and ultimately won 2-1. Lightning Strike clears Nightveil Specter and Skullcrack can handle Master of Waves, so I think we're in a good position against mono-blue post-board. We lost game two because we couldn't answer Master without losing our entire board presence, allowing our opponent to whittle us down. I probably misplayed somewhere along the line, but I still think that matchup is pretty solid.
It all came tumbling down in round 5, though, with a quick 0-2 loss. Fleecemane Lion turn two, Unflinching Courage on the Lion turn three, and Boros Charm to give him double strike on turn four is pretty much the worst possible scenario for our deck - gaining 10 life puts our opponent pretty solidly out of our range. The biggest problem here, I think, is that I just wasn't prepared to deal with this kind of deck.
Outlook
The overall future of this deck is good, though. A 3-2 record isn't bad (particularly for my first ever standard event), and I think the main deck is pretty solid. The sideboard needs some work, as Electrickery doesn't seem to be too useful (it's probably best for the mirror-match or for wiping Master tokens, so a couple copies are likely worth having), and I never even considered using Seismic Stomp except against the Reckoners, where I think Act would've been a better choice.
Basically, while the sideboard definitely needs to be tweaked, I think this performance serves as a proof-of-concept for this particular deck. It's nice to see a deck that costs less than $20 compete with some of the dominant archetypes in the current metagame, and I'm excited to see how this particular deck evolves in the future.
For now, I have some deck tweaking to do.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Monday Magic - Black Devotion Template
At major Magic events over the last couple weekends, Master of Waves focused blue devotion decks have been blowing people away in Standard. The success of these decks combined with my assumption that devotion will continue to be relevant throughout the remainder of the Theros block has inspired me to start testing devotion in some other (cheaper) colors.
On the table right now is a black devotion template. Using only cards from Theros, I'm hoping this list can serve as the template for a block-constructed deck once the full block has been released.
As usual, I'm building this deck only from cards I actually own. I'd like, for example, to run several copies of Hero's Downfall in place of Lash of the Whip for much cheaper, much more effective removal, but I only have one of the former. I'd also like to run a couple copies of Insatiable Harpy to help deal with evasion and Whip of Erebos to recur my enters-the-battlefield devotion effects. I'd also love to have a couple copies of Rescue from the Underworld for further ETB shenanigans; alas, I have none.
Here's the current list. It's a little heavy on the upper end of the mana curve, but hopefully I can fill some of the gaps mentioned above and the next couple sets will provide a bit more for surviving the early game.
Creatures:
2 Abhorrent Overlord
3 Baleful Eidolon
4 Disciple of Phenax
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Insatiable Harpy
2 Keepsake Gorgon
4 Mogis's Marauder
1 Nighthowler
Instants:
1 Hero's Downfall
3 Lash of the Whip
4 Pharika's Cure
Sorceries:
4 Read the Bones
3 Sip of Hemlock
Artifacts:
1 Whip of Erebos
Lands:
23 Swamp
At this point, the basic strategy is pretty straightforward: Build up my devotion by dropping permanents until I can hit Gray Merchant or Mogis's Marauder to deal tons of damage. The Overlord is an alternate win condition, plus a sac outlet so I can recur the ETB effects if I can't win with some burst damage a bit earlier in the game. Read the Bones helps control my draws and look for what I need, with Pharika's Cure offsetting the life cost.
To form a more effective baseline for future modifications, the changes I'm hoping to make within Theros are:
On the table right now is a black devotion template. Using only cards from Theros, I'm hoping this list can serve as the template for a block-constructed deck once the full block has been released.
As usual, I'm building this deck only from cards I actually own. I'd like, for example, to run several copies of Hero's Downfall in place of Lash of the Whip for much cheaper, much more effective removal, but I only have one of the former. I'd also like to run a couple copies of Insatiable Harpy to help deal with evasion and Whip of Erebos to recur my enters-the-battlefield devotion effects. I'd also love to have a couple copies of Rescue from the Underworld for further ETB shenanigans; alas, I have none.
Here's the current list. It's a little heavy on the upper end of the mana curve, but hopefully I can fill some of the gaps mentioned above and the next couple sets will provide a bit more for surviving the early game.
Creatures:
2 Abhorrent Overlord
3 Baleful Eidolon
4 Disciple of Phenax
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Insatiable Harpy
2 Keepsake Gorgon
4 Mogis's Marauder
1 Nighthowler
Instants:
1 Hero's Downfall
3 Lash of the Whip
4 Pharika's Cure
Sorceries:
4 Read the Bones
3 Sip of Hemlock
Artifacts:
1 Whip of Erebos
Lands:
23 Swamp
At this point, the basic strategy is pretty straightforward: Build up my devotion by dropping permanents until I can hit Gray Merchant or Mogis's Marauder to deal tons of damage. The Overlord is an alternate win condition, plus a sac outlet so I can recur the ETB effects if I can't win with some burst damage a bit earlier in the game. Read the Bones helps control my draws and look for what I need, with Pharika's Cure offsetting the life cost.
To form a more effective baseline for future modifications, the changes I'm hoping to make within Theros are:
- Add more Hero's Downfall, removing Lash of the Whip
- Add another Whip of Erebos, probably removing a copy of Read the Bones
- Add another early-game creature or two, removing either Pharika's Cure or Nighthowler
I intend to play a few matches with this setup to see how it goes, with particular care going towards tweaking the overall speed (this may end up being too damn slow) and seeing whether Nighthowler and Insatiable Harpy are even useful. Either way, I think this deck will be pretty fun to play, so here's hoping it's somewhat effective, too!
Monday, September 9, 2013
Monday Magic - Dragonshift!
Since I opened my first copy of Dragonshift during the Dragon's Maze pre-release, I have wanted to build a nasty Izzet deck with Dragonshift as the main win condition. During my various Dragon's Maze shenanigans, I managed to acquire a full playset, which makes the dragon deck even more appealing.
The final straw came from seeing my favorite Magic Online streamer, callmechalk, build a pretty cheap (and surprisingly effective) Dragonshift deck, so I've given in and ordered my first set of singles online (it's not a huge investment, though, as some friends had given me a monetary gift with the provision that I only spend it to order cards).
Anyway, here's the deck, with primary credit going to chalk for smashing face with a very similar deck online.
Creatures:
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Young Pyromancer
Instants:
4 Battle Hymn
4 Dragonshift
4 Shock
4 Think Twice
Sorceries:
4 Faithless Looting
4 Krenko's Command
4 Molten Birth
1 Teleportal
Lands:
7 Island
12 Mountain
4 Sulfur Falls
The basic strategy is pretty straightforward: Generate a bunch of tokens using the Pyromancers, Krenko's Command, and Molten Birth; use the Electromancer to make those spells cheaper, then Overload Dragonshift to end the game in a hurry.
Cards like Think Twice and Faithless Looting not only help find pieces of the combo that you need, they do double duty with the Pyromancers, making tokens when flashed back. Battle Hymn raises the funds necessary to blast Dragonshift, and Shock cheaply generates tokens through Pyromancers while serving as early-game protection from pesky creatures.
While this deck is generally aggressive, looking just to get 5 or 6 tokens in play to overwhelm your opponent in one attack, Teleportal serves as a slower late-game win condition, if you can get to the point of having ten creatures in play (and you're desperate).
Teleportal is probably weakest link, followed perhaps by the Electromancers or Shocks, as those don't contribute as directly to the game plan, but I think it works pretty well as is. Plus I don't have anything that seems to fit better, so I'll run with this for now.
As for the dual lands - I included some copies of Sulfur Falls primarily because they're pretty cheap right now; the more recently printed Steam Vents is nearly three times more costly. I think Steam Vents are really only preferable if your starting hand has only nonbasic lands, as in that case, the Falls are guaranteed to play slowly. Otherwise, I think Vents would be unnecessary, so I can justify the cost.
For an added bonus, this deck is currently Standard-legal, at least for a couple more weeks. Get in there and dominate Friday Night Magic while you can!
To close it out, I want to plug callmechalk again, both for his fun stream and for the deck inspiration (and most, if not all, of the list, I honestly can't remember exactly what his Dragonshift deck runs). Check him out if you're into Magic Online streams.
The final straw came from seeing my favorite Magic Online streamer, callmechalk, build a pretty cheap (and surprisingly effective) Dragonshift deck, so I've given in and ordered my first set of singles online (it's not a huge investment, though, as some friends had given me a monetary gift with the provision that I only spend it to order cards).
Anyway, here's the deck, with primary credit going to chalk for smashing face with a very similar deck online.
Creatures:
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Young Pyromancer
Instants:
4 Battle Hymn
4 Dragonshift
4 Shock
4 Think Twice
Sorceries:
4 Faithless Looting
4 Krenko's Command
4 Molten Birth
1 Teleportal
Lands:
7 Island
12 Mountain
4 Sulfur Falls
The basic strategy is pretty straightforward: Generate a bunch of tokens using the Pyromancers, Krenko's Command, and Molten Birth; use the Electromancer to make those spells cheaper, then Overload Dragonshift to end the game in a hurry.
Cards like Think Twice and Faithless Looting not only help find pieces of the combo that you need, they do double duty with the Pyromancers, making tokens when flashed back. Battle Hymn raises the funds necessary to blast Dragonshift, and Shock cheaply generates tokens through Pyromancers while serving as early-game protection from pesky creatures.
While this deck is generally aggressive, looking just to get 5 or 6 tokens in play to overwhelm your opponent in one attack, Teleportal serves as a slower late-game win condition, if you can get to the point of having ten creatures in play (and you're desperate).
Teleportal is probably weakest link, followed perhaps by the Electromancers or Shocks, as those don't contribute as directly to the game plan, but I think it works pretty well as is. Plus I don't have anything that seems to fit better, so I'll run with this for now.
As for the dual lands - I included some copies of Sulfur Falls primarily because they're pretty cheap right now; the more recently printed Steam Vents is nearly three times more costly. I think Steam Vents are really only preferable if your starting hand has only nonbasic lands, as in that case, the Falls are guaranteed to play slowly. Otherwise, I think Vents would be unnecessary, so I can justify the cost.
For an added bonus, this deck is currently Standard-legal, at least for a couple more weeks. Get in there and dominate Friday Night Magic while you can!
To close it out, I want to plug callmechalk again, both for his fun stream and for the deck inspiration (and most, if not all, of the list, I honestly can't remember exactly what his Dragonshift deck runs). Check him out if you're into Magic Online streams.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Monday Magic - Possibility Storm Revised
I've had several chances to play with my Possibility Storm deck, and I've identified a couple major flaws. The biggest is that my deck is terribly weak against strong ramping abilities leading to massive creatures or spells. If you can sneak a Darksteel Colossus or a similarly big creature into play before I can get the Possibility Storm/Curse of Exhaustion combo running (usually turn 4 or 5), I'm pretty much screwed.
I went up against a nasty Elf deck that managed just that, and I think biggest flaw is that the low end of my mana curve was designed to deter creature aggression or set up profitable trades; if my opponent's not attacking with his or her creatures, mine can't do anything. As such, I have replaced some of the low-costing creatures with more burn spells so I can stop a player from sitting back on tricky creatures in the early game.
Another problem was generally running out of gas. I had one game where I managed to get my combo off, but my opponent's board state was slightly better than mine, and he was slowly able to whittle me down. The above changes will help (more burn will help me clear the board or end the game), but I've also dropped some of the ramping spells I had before. The ramp never really seemed necessary, and it just gave me crappy spells to grab with the Storm, so they've gotta go.
One more problem is the fact that my enchantments become dead weight once my combo is on the board. I'd love to play a couple copies of something like Faithless Looting so I can cycle my enchantments out of my hand, but I also want to keep the total number of spell types low to keep from getting caught with only one card of a particular type left in my deck (which means Storm will prevent me from ever playing it). It may be worth inserting a few Sorcery burn spells and Faithless Looting, but for now, I want to stick with Instant-speed burn and see how that matches up.
I also had the fortune of getting a few extra Curses of Exhaustion from a friend, making the total shutdown combo a bit easier to pull off. All in all, I think the Possibility Storm deck is becoming a powerful option.
Anyway, here's the current form of the deck:
Creatures:
1 Ashmouth Hound
2 Blistercoil Weird
2 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Chancellor of the Forge
2 Goblin Arsonist
2 Melek, Izzet Paragon
1 Mercurial Chemister
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Somberwald Vigilante
1 Utvara Hellkite
Instants:
2 Annihilating Fire
4 Incinerate
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Punish the Enemy
2 Thunderous Wrath
Artifacts:
2 Boros Cluestone
2 Boros Signet
Enchantments:
4 Curse of Exhaustion
3 Possibility Storm
Lands:
2 Boros Guildgate
4 Island
13 Mountain
2 Plains
2 Sulfur Falls
I can't wait to see this newest version in action!
I went up against a nasty Elf deck that managed just that, and I think biggest flaw is that the low end of my mana curve was designed to deter creature aggression or set up profitable trades; if my opponent's not attacking with his or her creatures, mine can't do anything. As such, I have replaced some of the low-costing creatures with more burn spells so I can stop a player from sitting back on tricky creatures in the early game.
Another problem was generally running out of gas. I had one game where I managed to get my combo off, but my opponent's board state was slightly better than mine, and he was slowly able to whittle me down. The above changes will help (more burn will help me clear the board or end the game), but I've also dropped some of the ramping spells I had before. The ramp never really seemed necessary, and it just gave me crappy spells to grab with the Storm, so they've gotta go.
One more problem is the fact that my enchantments become dead weight once my combo is on the board. I'd love to play a couple copies of something like Faithless Looting so I can cycle my enchantments out of my hand, but I also want to keep the total number of spell types low to keep from getting caught with only one card of a particular type left in my deck (which means Storm will prevent me from ever playing it). It may be worth inserting a few Sorcery burn spells and Faithless Looting, but for now, I want to stick with Instant-speed burn and see how that matches up.
I also had the fortune of getting a few extra Curses of Exhaustion from a friend, making the total shutdown combo a bit easier to pull off. All in all, I think the Possibility Storm deck is becoming a powerful option.
Anyway, here's the current form of the deck:
Creatures:
1 Ashmouth Hound
2 Blistercoil Weird
2 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Chancellor of the Forge
2 Goblin Arsonist
2 Melek, Izzet Paragon
1 Mercurial Chemister
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Somberwald Vigilante
1 Utvara Hellkite
Instants:
2 Annihilating Fire
4 Incinerate
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Punish the Enemy
2 Thunderous Wrath
Artifacts:
2 Boros Cluestone
2 Boros Signet
Enchantments:
4 Curse of Exhaustion
3 Possibility Storm
Lands:
2 Boros Guildgate
4 Island
13 Mountain
2 Plains
2 Sulfur Falls
I can't wait to see this newest version in action!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday Magic - Golem Tribal FTW!
This week's deck is a little bit older than the others I've posted, but it was one that I had a lot of fun designing and playing back when New Phyrexia was the latest and greatest.
The inspiration for this deck comes from the fun mechanic introduced by Phyrexia's splicers - when a splicer comes into play, it brings with it one or more 3/3 Golem tokens, and the splicers buff all your Golems, making for a very powerful combination.
This overall plan made the deck construction pretty simple: include Golems, splicers, and a bunch of mana ramp (because splicers tend to be a bit on the expensive side). The following was born of these ideas:
Creatures:
1 Adaptive Automaton
2 Blade Splicer
2 Darksteel Sentinel
1 Etched Monstrosity
2 Master Splicer
1 Maul Splicer
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Saberclaw Golem
2 Sensor Splicer
2 Vital Splicer
2 Wing Splicer
Sorceries:
1 Nature's Lore
4 Rampant Growth
2 Untamed Wilds
Artifacts:
3 Manalith
Enchantments:
2 Arachnus Web
1 Ice Cage
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Pacifism
1 Tempered Steel
1 Wild Growth
Lands:
8 Forest
6 Island
8 Plains
1 Sunpetal Grove
There are a bunch of big nasty Golems (my opponents always squirm when Etched Monstrosity hits the field) and things that synergize directly with Golems (splicers, Tempered Steel), plus some ways to deal annoying stuff on my opponent's end of the battlefield. Phyrexian Metamorph gives a little more flexibility (copying Master Splicer of Maul Splicer can end the game, while copying a Darksteel Sentinel can buy some time when I'm desperate), and Adaptive Automaton gets all the benefits of the splicers. It's a pretty nasty combo, if it can get off the ground.
The biggest problem with this deck is the slow start. Not being able to play anything for the first couple turns is common, and there aren't any drawing options to refill your hand once you've spent all the ramping cards. As such, really aggressive decks can be a problem, and super controlling decks can be a pain, too, but this setup works pretty well for mid-range opponents. Plus it's exciting to pull counters off Etched Monstrosity every once in a while (the Manaliths provide the extra colors).
I always find tribal decks to be pretty fun to play, and this one is no exception. Crushing your enemies under tons of Golems is definitely an entertaining way to do it.
The inspiration for this deck comes from the fun mechanic introduced by Phyrexia's splicers - when a splicer comes into play, it brings with it one or more 3/3 Golem tokens, and the splicers buff all your Golems, making for a very powerful combination.
This overall plan made the deck construction pretty simple: include Golems, splicers, and a bunch of mana ramp (because splicers tend to be a bit on the expensive side). The following was born of these ideas:
Creatures:
1 Adaptive Automaton
2 Blade Splicer
2 Darksteel Sentinel
1 Etched Monstrosity
2 Master Splicer
1 Maul Splicer
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
2 Saberclaw Golem
2 Sensor Splicer
2 Vital Splicer
2 Wing Splicer
Sorceries:
1 Nature's Lore
4 Rampant Growth
2 Untamed Wilds
Artifacts:
3 Manalith
Enchantments:
2 Arachnus Web
1 Ice Cage
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Pacifism
1 Tempered Steel
1 Wild Growth
Lands:
8 Forest
6 Island
8 Plains
1 Sunpetal Grove
There are a bunch of big nasty Golems (my opponents always squirm when Etched Monstrosity hits the field) and things that synergize directly with Golems (splicers, Tempered Steel), plus some ways to deal annoying stuff on my opponent's end of the battlefield. Phyrexian Metamorph gives a little more flexibility (copying Master Splicer of Maul Splicer can end the game, while copying a Darksteel Sentinel can buy some time when I'm desperate), and Adaptive Automaton gets all the benefits of the splicers. It's a pretty nasty combo, if it can get off the ground.
The biggest problem with this deck is the slow start. Not being able to play anything for the first couple turns is common, and there aren't any drawing options to refill your hand once you've spent all the ramping cards. As such, really aggressive decks can be a problem, and super controlling decks can be a pain, too, but this setup works pretty well for mid-range opponents. Plus it's exciting to pull counters off Etched Monstrosity every once in a while (the Manaliths provide the extra colors).
I always find tribal decks to be pretty fun to play, and this one is no exception. Crushing your enemies under tons of Golems is definitely an entertaining way to do it.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Monday Magic - WG Token Generators
I spent a lot of time watching the Pro Tour Dragon's Maze broadcast, and I was generally inspired by a lot of the decks that I saw. In particular are the two decks that survived to the final round: a white-blue-black control deck (that one lost the final pretty convincingly) and a white-green Selesnya deck. Naturally, since the white-green deck won, I thought I'd throw one of those together.
Sadly, I don't have the collection or the cash required to use all the powerful stuff in that Pro Tour winner's deck (Voice of Resurgence and Advent of the Wurm were big players in his deck), but I have the benefit of not being restricted to the Return to Ravnica block (not exactly a great trade-off, but whatever; I'll make it work).
I don't have too many options for creating or maintaining tokens, and I'm not totally sure how powerful the Pro Tour decks are compared to our casual playgroup (obviously they're much, much better, but I don't know how badly a slow mana curve compared to the champion's really quick curve would hurt me in casual matches), so I'm going to throw one out there and hope to iron it out a bit with a few test games.
When looking through my collection, I noticed two pretty serious problems for the type of deck I wanted to build: I don't have any copies of Selesnya Charm, the utility of which is incredibly important, and I only have one copy of Call of the Conclave, which would be an awesome early creature spell for this deck. I'd love to have four copies of both in this deck, so maybe I can pick some up at some point.
To balance my lack of cheap utility spells like those two, I'm including some higher-end stuff that synergizes with token generation - Emmara Tandris and my copy of the classic Verdant Force. I don't know that I'll ever get to play either of those spells, but they could be pretty strong finishers if I can get them out.
Still, the goal of this deck is to generate tons of tokens (Parallel Lives can make some of the other spells quite silly, although I only have one copy of that) and then overwhelm my opponent with dudes for miles. Druidic Satchel can both generate tokens and give me some mana ramp to get the big hitters out, Intangible Virtue and Phantom General make my tokens stronger, and various Populate cards can copy my strongest tokens while having other beneficial effects (like exiling something nasty with Trostani's Judgment).
Anyway, here's the current state of the thing:
Creatures:
2 Emmara Tandris
2 Experiment One
3 Geist-Honored Monk
2 Phantom General
1 Precinct Captain
2 Trostani's Summoner
1 Verdant Force
2 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wayfaring Temple
Instants:
1 Advent of the Wurm
2 Druid's Deliverance
1 Eyes in the Skies
2 Rootborn Defenses
2 Trostani's Judgment
Sorceries:
1 Call of the Conclave
1 Coursers' Accord
1 Increasing Devotion
Artifacts:
2 Druidic Satchel
Enchantments:
3 Intangible Virtue
1 Parallel Lives
Planeswalkers:
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Lands:
8 Forest
1 Grove of the Guardian
10 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Temple Garden
Clearly the archetype has serious promise, but I don't know if I have the collection to support it right now. Hopefully a few games will indicate whether this deck is really worth pursuing given my limited resources.
Sadly, I don't have the collection or the cash required to use all the powerful stuff in that Pro Tour winner's deck (Voice of Resurgence and Advent of the Wurm were big players in his deck), but I have the benefit of not being restricted to the Return to Ravnica block (not exactly a great trade-off, but whatever; I'll make it work).
I don't have too many options for creating or maintaining tokens, and I'm not totally sure how powerful the Pro Tour decks are compared to our casual playgroup (obviously they're much, much better, but I don't know how badly a slow mana curve compared to the champion's really quick curve would hurt me in casual matches), so I'm going to throw one out there and hope to iron it out a bit with a few test games.
When looking through my collection, I noticed two pretty serious problems for the type of deck I wanted to build: I don't have any copies of Selesnya Charm, the utility of which is incredibly important, and I only have one copy of Call of the Conclave, which would be an awesome early creature spell for this deck. I'd love to have four copies of both in this deck, so maybe I can pick some up at some point.
To balance my lack of cheap utility spells like those two, I'm including some higher-end stuff that synergizes with token generation - Emmara Tandris and my copy of the classic Verdant Force. I don't know that I'll ever get to play either of those spells, but they could be pretty strong finishers if I can get them out.
Still, the goal of this deck is to generate tons of tokens (Parallel Lives can make some of the other spells quite silly, although I only have one copy of that) and then overwhelm my opponent with dudes for miles. Druidic Satchel can both generate tokens and give me some mana ramp to get the big hitters out, Intangible Virtue and Phantom General make my tokens stronger, and various Populate cards can copy my strongest tokens while having other beneficial effects (like exiling something nasty with Trostani's Judgment).
Anyway, here's the current state of the thing:
Creatures:
2 Emmara Tandris
2 Experiment One
3 Geist-Honored Monk
2 Phantom General
1 Precinct Captain
2 Trostani's Summoner
1 Verdant Force
2 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wayfaring Temple
Instants:
1 Advent of the Wurm
2 Druid's Deliverance
1 Eyes in the Skies
2 Rootborn Defenses
2 Trostani's Judgment
Sorceries:
1 Call of the Conclave
1 Coursers' Accord
1 Increasing Devotion
Artifacts:
2 Druidic Satchel
Enchantments:
3 Intangible Virtue
1 Parallel Lives
Planeswalkers:
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Lands:
8 Forest
1 Grove of the Guardian
10 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Temple Garden
Clearly the archetype has serious promise, but I don't know if I have the collection to support it right now. Hopefully a few games will indicate whether this deck is really worth pursuing given my limited resources.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Monday Magic - Putting Possibility Storm to Use
Following last week's release of Dragon's Maze, I have acquired three copies of the bizarre Possibility Storm. At first glance, the card seems downright terrible - it has the potential to transform a low-costing spell into a high-costing one, but it's random and could benefit your opponent, so it doesn't seem like a consistent or controllable win condition.
However, the card's nuances give some interesting possibilities. First, Possibility Storm triggers off of casting a spell (which doesn't resolve), and then allows you to cast a second spell instead, so it plays very well with a card like Curse of Exhaustion - if your opponent can only cast one spell each turn, Possibility Storm will stop them from playing any spells ever. It's a two-card combo for total shutdown.
Second, Possibility Storm only affects spells cast from your hand. Alternatives like Flashback (casting from your graveyard), effects like Melek, Izzet Paragon's (casting from your library), or creature abilities can all be controlled to avoid the downside of random casting. Melek is a particularly nice partner for the Storm because it could help you cast non-instants and sorceries predictably as well; if the revealed card at the top of your library is a creature, you can cast a different creature knowing what you're going to get.
The more I've thought about Possibility Storm, the more I think it's an awesome card - if you can control it
Building a deck around the Storm requires a number of features: early game aggression (or pure defense, although aggression helps win), expensive spells to Storm into (it is silly to cast a 3-drop creature and get a 1-drop instead), and some way to manipulate the Storm to remove the chance of it. A card like Curse of Exhaustion is a huge plus, as it turns the random downside into a fatal condition for your opponent, but I don't think it's entirely necessary.
Anyway, I put together a Possibility Storm deck that showed some promise. I unfortunately never really got to use the Storm (I only got it into play once in seven games, and I lost that game...), but I think this serves as a proof-of-concept. Here's the current form of the deck:
Creatures:
3 Blistercoil Weird
4 Goblin Arsonist
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Somberwald Vigilante
1 Ashmouth Hound
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Mercurial Chemister
2 Melek, Izzet Paragon
1 Chancellor of the Forge
1 Utvara Hellkite
Instants:
2 Geistflame
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Battle Hymn
2 Annihilating Fire
2 Thunderous Wrath
Artifacts:
2 Boros Signet
2 Boros Cluestone
Enchantments:
1 Curse of Exhaustion
3 Possibility Storm
Lands:
2 Boros Guildgate
5 Island
14 Mountain
2 Sulfur Falls
I tried to balance early aggression with the Possibility Storm finish, which, as it turns out, is rather difficult. In most of the games I won, it was primarily due to the hardcore aggression in the early game. The main goal of this deck is to pack the board with tons a creatures to overwhelm my opponent's defenses once Storm screws up their plans.
When Storm is in play, I can use Melek's ability to control it a bit or avoid it altogether, I can cheat some of the big creatures into play for much lower costs, and I can (hopefully) get the Curse out to stop my opponents entirely.
The biggest flaw I found is that this deck doesn't really ramp up very well. All the power comes from relatively low-costing creatures, so the probability of Storm helping me play something expensive is pretty low. As such, Storm's value is primarily in its ability to disrupt my opponent's plans, although it may benefit them, too, as they might end up casting Kozilek, Butcher of Truth.
Still, I think there's something to the Possibility Storm deck. I'm hoping that it can become a beast with some more tweaking.
However, the card's nuances give some interesting possibilities. First, Possibility Storm triggers off of casting a spell (which doesn't resolve), and then allows you to cast a second spell instead, so it plays very well with a card like Curse of Exhaustion - if your opponent can only cast one spell each turn, Possibility Storm will stop them from playing any spells ever. It's a two-card combo for total shutdown.
Second, Possibility Storm only affects spells cast from your hand. Alternatives like Flashback (casting from your graveyard), effects like Melek, Izzet Paragon's (casting from your library), or creature abilities can all be controlled to avoid the downside of random casting. Melek is a particularly nice partner for the Storm because it could help you cast non-instants and sorceries predictably as well; if the revealed card at the top of your library is a creature, you can cast a different creature knowing what you're going to get.
The more I've thought about Possibility Storm, the more I think it's an awesome card - if you can control it
Building a deck around the Storm requires a number of features: early game aggression (or pure defense, although aggression helps win), expensive spells to Storm into (it is silly to cast a 3-drop creature and get a 1-drop instead), and some way to manipulate the Storm to remove the chance of it. A card like Curse of Exhaustion is a huge plus, as it turns the random downside into a fatal condition for your opponent, but I don't think it's entirely necessary.
Anyway, I put together a Possibility Storm deck that showed some promise. I unfortunately never really got to use the Storm (I only got it into play once in seven games, and I lost that game...), but I think this serves as a proof-of-concept. Here's the current form of the deck:
Creatures:
3 Blistercoil Weird
4 Goblin Arsonist
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Somberwald Vigilante
1 Ashmouth Hound
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
1 Mercurial Chemister
2 Melek, Izzet Paragon
1 Chancellor of the Forge
1 Utvara Hellkite
Instants:
2 Geistflame
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Battle Hymn
2 Annihilating Fire
2 Thunderous Wrath
Artifacts:
2 Boros Signet
2 Boros Cluestone
Enchantments:
1 Curse of Exhaustion
3 Possibility Storm
Lands:
2 Boros Guildgate
5 Island
14 Mountain
2 Sulfur Falls
I tried to balance early aggression with the Possibility Storm finish, which, as it turns out, is rather difficult. In most of the games I won, it was primarily due to the hardcore aggression in the early game. The main goal of this deck is to pack the board with tons a creatures to overwhelm my opponent's defenses once Storm screws up their plans.
When Storm is in play, I can use Melek's ability to control it a bit or avoid it altogether, I can cheat some of the big creatures into play for much lower costs, and I can (hopefully) get the Curse out to stop my opponents entirely.
The biggest flaw I found is that this deck doesn't really ramp up very well. All the power comes from relatively low-costing creatures, so the probability of Storm helping me play something expensive is pretty low. As such, Storm's value is primarily in its ability to disrupt my opponent's plans, although it may benefit them, too, as they might end up casting Kozilek, Butcher of Truth.
Still, I think there's something to the Possibility Storm deck. I'm hoping that it can become a beast with some more tweaking.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Monday Magic - Minor Werewolf Revisions
Despite not playing a single game with last week's werewolf deck, I've already reconsidered some of my decisions. The big change that I want to make is simple: instead of splitting my attention between wolves and a little bit of removal, I'm going to scrap pure removal and focus instead on overwhelming my opponent with big scary monsters.
The biggest change is an addition: Gruul Planeswalker Domri Rade. I like Domri in this deck for a couple reasons. First, I'm not planning on building a pure Gruul deck at any point (I feel like Bloodrush is a nice support mechanic, but not worthy of being the focus of a deck); second, Domri gives me more options for getting big creatures (his +1 ability) while also providing the option of removal (his -2). To make it that much sweeeter, if I happen to get to a point where I could pop his ultimate, I'll basically win the game right there, so he could be a solid win condition, too. He feels like a good fit for a werewolf deck.
And that's the basic idea: if I'm going to include some removal, I want it to be one of several options (so I can avoid wasting a card killing a creature when it doesn't matter) or be a beatstick in itself (which is why I'm also including a copy of Clan Defiance). Other than that, the goal is hit you with tons of dudes every turn, overwhelming your defenses and Moonmisting whenever necessary.
So, here's what I'm running now:
Creatures:
1 Wolfbitten Captive
2 Young Wolf
1 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Scorned Villager
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Hanweir Watchkeep
1 Kruin Outlaw
2 Lambholt Elder
1 Villagers of Estwald
1 Wolfir Avenger
2 Afflicted Deserter
2 Briarpack Alpha
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Instigator Gang
1 Mondronen Shaman
1 Ulvenwald Mystics
2 Grizzled Outcasts
1 Wolfir Silverheart
Instants:
4 Moonmist
Sorceries:
1 Clan Defiance
Enchantments:
2 Full Moon's Rise
1 Decendants' Path
Planeswalker:
1 Domri Rade
1 Garruk Relentless
Lands:
17 Forest
6 Mountain
1 Rootbound Crag
Sadly, although I'm excited to test this deck in several matches, I probably won't get a chance for a few weeks, seeing as the Dragon's Maze release is coming up. At least there's going to be a ton of great Magic stuff happening in the coming weeks.
The biggest change is an addition: Gruul Planeswalker Domri Rade. I like Domri in this deck for a couple reasons. First, I'm not planning on building a pure Gruul deck at any point (I feel like Bloodrush is a nice support mechanic, but not worthy of being the focus of a deck); second, Domri gives me more options for getting big creatures (his +1 ability) while also providing the option of removal (his -2). To make it that much sweeeter, if I happen to get to a point where I could pop his ultimate, I'll basically win the game right there, so he could be a solid win condition, too. He feels like a good fit for a werewolf deck.
And that's the basic idea: if I'm going to include some removal, I want it to be one of several options (so I can avoid wasting a card killing a creature when it doesn't matter) or be a beatstick in itself (which is why I'm also including a copy of Clan Defiance). Other than that, the goal is hit you with tons of dudes every turn, overwhelming your defenses and Moonmisting whenever necessary.
So, here's what I'm running now:
Creatures:
1 Wolfbitten Captive
2 Young Wolf
1 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Scorned Villager
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Hanweir Watchkeep
1 Kruin Outlaw
2 Lambholt Elder
1 Villagers of Estwald
1 Wolfir Avenger
2 Afflicted Deserter
2 Briarpack Alpha
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Instigator Gang
1 Mondronen Shaman
1 Ulvenwald Mystics
2 Grizzled Outcasts
1 Wolfir Silverheart
Instants:
4 Moonmist
Sorceries:
1 Clan Defiance
Enchantments:
2 Full Moon's Rise
1 Decendants' Path
Planeswalker:
1 Domri Rade
1 Garruk Relentless
Lands:
17 Forest
6 Mountain
1 Rootbound Crag
Sadly, although I'm excited to test this deck in several matches, I probably won't get a chance for a few weeks, seeing as the Dragon's Maze release is coming up. At least there's going to be a ton of great Magic stuff happening in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Monday Magic - Werewolves!
I'm a little behind schedule on this one (and "Tuesday Magic" doesn't have quite the same ring to it), but I've decided to head back in time a bit for my next constructed deck. But first, a quick update:
I've had a bit of a chance to play with my shiny new Extort deck, and it seems to work pretty well. My biggest concern is dealing with a bunch of little creatures - if my opponent can swarm me with tokens, for example, I'm in a lot of trouble. As such, it may be worth including a Merciless Eviction or two, but I want to get some more playtesting in before making that kind of call.
This week's deck of choice, however, is coming primarily from the Innistrad block: red-green werewolves.
Creatures:
1 Wolfbitten Captive
2 Young Wolf
1 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Scorned Villager
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Hanweir Watchkeep
1 Kruin Outlaw
2 Lambholt Elder
1 Villagers of Estwald
1 Wolfir Avenger
2 Afflicted Deserter
2 Briarpack Alpha
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Instigator Gang
1 Mondronen Shaman
1 Ulvenwald Mystics
1 Grizzled Outcasts
1 Wolfir Silverheart
Instants:
2 Incinerate
4 Moonmist
2 Pit Fight
Enchantments:
2 Full Moon's Rise
1 Decendants' Path
Planeswalker:
1 Garruk Relentless
Lands:
17 Forest
6 Mountain
1 Rootbound Crag
The overall strategy here is pretty simple: play tons of wolves and werewolves, then transform them with Moonmist for super combat tricks. It's obviously really creature heavy, so the focus is definitely on hitting hard and often, but I have a few little choices for removal (Moonmist and Full Moon's Rise can help when used defensively). Garruk can help by making more creatures or by searching for some big hitters, and Descendants' Path can keep growing the board presence.
My biggest concerns are my limited removal options (big nasty opponents might ruin my day if I can't draw into some Moonmists), counterspells (if I can't play my creatures, I'm dead), and decks with their own Fog effects (I'm sort of banking on dealing huge damage in small bursts).
I'd really like to add some Immerwolves, because I'm also worried about getting stuck on the human side of my werewolves, but I don't have any at present. I'm looking into some trades, though, so I may be able to throw some of those in soon.
I've had a bit of a chance to play with my shiny new Extort deck, and it seems to work pretty well. My biggest concern is dealing with a bunch of little creatures - if my opponent can swarm me with tokens, for example, I'm in a lot of trouble. As such, it may be worth including a Merciless Eviction or two, but I want to get some more playtesting in before making that kind of call.
This week's deck of choice, however, is coming primarily from the Innistrad block: red-green werewolves.
Creatures:
1 Wolfbitten Captive
2 Young Wolf
1 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Scorned Villager
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Hanweir Watchkeep
1 Kruin Outlaw
2 Lambholt Elder
1 Villagers of Estwald
1 Wolfir Avenger
2 Afflicted Deserter
2 Briarpack Alpha
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Instigator Gang
1 Mondronen Shaman
1 Ulvenwald Mystics
1 Grizzled Outcasts
1 Wolfir Silverheart
Instants:
2 Incinerate
4 Moonmist
2 Pit Fight
Enchantments:
2 Full Moon's Rise
1 Decendants' Path
Planeswalker:
1 Garruk Relentless
Lands:
17 Forest
6 Mountain
1 Rootbound Crag
The overall strategy here is pretty simple: play tons of wolves and werewolves, then transform them with Moonmist for super combat tricks. It's obviously really creature heavy, so the focus is definitely on hitting hard and often, but I have a few little choices for removal (Moonmist and Full Moon's Rise can help when used defensively). Garruk can help by making more creatures or by searching for some big hitters, and Descendants' Path can keep growing the board presence.
My biggest concerns are my limited removal options (big nasty opponents might ruin my day if I can't draw into some Moonmists), counterspells (if I can't play my creatures, I'm dead), and decks with their own Fog effects (I'm sort of banking on dealing huge damage in small bursts).
I'd really like to add some Immerwolves, because I'm also worried about getting stuck on the human side of my werewolves, but I don't have any at present. I'm looking into some trades, though, so I may be able to throw some of those in soon.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Monday Magic - Winning Through Excessive Taxation
I've been excited by Extort since I first saw it in action, and I'm finally getting around to crafting a deck built around this interesting mechanic. The goal is pretty simple: focus on removal (and survival in general) while Extorting everything like mad.
As such, the basic strategy is as follows: get as many permanents with Extort into play as possible, then cast tons of cheap spells for an annoying win by Extort. It's pretty straightforward.
Here's what I slapped together:
Creatures:
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Basilica Screecher
2 High Priest of Penance
2 Syndic of Tithes
2 Vizkopa Guildmage
3 Kingpin's Pet
2 Alms Beast
1 Guardian of the Gateless
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Treasury Thrull
Instants:
2 Shielded Passage
2 Smite
2 Doom Blade
2 Geth's Verdict
2 Orzhov Charm
Sorceries:
2 Lingering Souls
Enchantments:
1 Blind Obedience
1 One Thousand Lashes
Lands:
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
10 Plains
12 Swamp
I think the mana curve is low enough and I have enough Extorters that I should be able to start Extorting consistently by turn three or four, culminating in four or five Extorts on top of each spell in the late game. Assuming I can keep my Extorters going through the game, I think I'll be in a great defensive position to Extort my enemies to death.
I'm really looking forward to testing this one out and finding all the major weaknesses; it'll be a good time.
As such, the basic strategy is as follows: get as many permanents with Extort into play as possible, then cast tons of cheap spells for an annoying win by Extort. It's pretty straightforward.
Here's what I slapped together:
Creatures:
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Basilica Screecher
2 High Priest of Penance
2 Syndic of Tithes
2 Vizkopa Guildmage
3 Kingpin's Pet
2 Alms Beast
1 Guardian of the Gateless
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Treasury Thrull
Instants:
2 Shielded Passage
2 Smite
2 Doom Blade
2 Geth's Verdict
2 Orzhov Charm
Sorceries:
2 Lingering Souls
Enchantments:
1 Blind Obedience
1 One Thousand Lashes
Lands:
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
10 Plains
12 Swamp
I think the mana curve is low enough and I have enough Extorters that I should be able to start Extorting consistently by turn three or four, culminating in four or five Extorts on top of each spell in the late game. Assuming I can keep my Extorters going through the game, I think I'll be in a great defensive position to Extort my enemies to death.
I'm really looking forward to testing this one out and finding all the major weaknesses; it'll be a good time.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Monday Magic - Blue-Black Milling Revisions
I had a couple chances to use last week's mill deck, and I came away with a couple basic observations:
First, I had some trouble getting the card advantage I really need for this deck to work. I need one or two more cheap draw effects to avoid stagnating early on.
Second, I found that my biggest difficulty was dealing with lots of creatures in an aggressive deck. I have a few good blockers, but it's still easy to get overwhelmed. Unfortunately, I don't want to sacrifice any of the defensive spells I already have, and I definitely don't want to lose any card draw, so I really just need more efficient blockers.
Third, as much as I love it, the Giant Oyster is just too slow to be really effective. It's permanent lockdown, but it can only start doing the job on turn five, by which point the tempo of the game is pretty much determined.
On top of those considerations, I came into another Invisible Stalker, who serves as a recurring source of direct milling (Paranoid Delusions) and card draw (Last Thoughts). It may be worth tweaking the number of Cipher cards at some point, but for now, I'll just add the extra Stalker and see what happens.
With those things in mind, I'm only replacing three cards. I'm removing the Giant Oyster, Mind Unbound (it's too expensive to be useful - if my win condition were just Jace's Erasure, Mind Unbound could end the game, but with Mind Grind being my bomb, Unbound doesn't much matter), and the Grindstone (similar to Mind Unbound, I find that it doesn't help me in the early-game because I want to spend all my mana on other things, and by the late-game, I have other, better options).
In their place, I'm adding another Invisible Stalker, another Ponder, and an Undead Alchemist. I think the Alchemist is a great addition because he can easily generate tons of blockers, and if I have superior board presence, he can speed the milling.
Here's the current version:
Creatures:
2 Invisible Stalker
2 Hover Barrier
1 Wall of Frost
2 Balustrade Spy
1 Undead Alchemist
2 Deadeye Navigator
Instants:
2 Power Sink
1 Thought Scour
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
2 Crippling Chill
Sorceries:
3 Ponder
1 Portent
1 Mind Grind
2 Paranoid Delusions
2 Divination
2 Last Thoughts
2 Sleep
Enchantments:
4 Jace's Erasure
Lands:
3 Dimir Guildgate
15 Island
5 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
It may even be worth shifting the focus of the deck away from Mind Grind and the Balustrade Spy, instead playing a bunch of zombies and relying on the Alchemist (I have 3 copies anyway). Call to the Grave plus a mixture of zombies and milling may very well be a winning combination. Perhaps it's even worth building another annoying mill deck with the zombie emphasis...
First, I had some trouble getting the card advantage I really need for this deck to work. I need one or two more cheap draw effects to avoid stagnating early on.
Second, I found that my biggest difficulty was dealing with lots of creatures in an aggressive deck. I have a few good blockers, but it's still easy to get overwhelmed. Unfortunately, I don't want to sacrifice any of the defensive spells I already have, and I definitely don't want to lose any card draw, so I really just need more efficient blockers.
Third, as much as I love it, the Giant Oyster is just too slow to be really effective. It's permanent lockdown, but it can only start doing the job on turn five, by which point the tempo of the game is pretty much determined.
On top of those considerations, I came into another Invisible Stalker, who serves as a recurring source of direct milling (Paranoid Delusions) and card draw (Last Thoughts). It may be worth tweaking the number of Cipher cards at some point, but for now, I'll just add the extra Stalker and see what happens.
With those things in mind, I'm only replacing three cards. I'm removing the Giant Oyster, Mind Unbound (it's too expensive to be useful - if my win condition were just Jace's Erasure, Mind Unbound could end the game, but with Mind Grind being my bomb, Unbound doesn't much matter), and the Grindstone (similar to Mind Unbound, I find that it doesn't help me in the early-game because I want to spend all my mana on other things, and by the late-game, I have other, better options).
In their place, I'm adding another Invisible Stalker, another Ponder, and an Undead Alchemist. I think the Alchemist is a great addition because he can easily generate tons of blockers, and if I have superior board presence, he can speed the milling.
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| This is an awesome board state for this deck. |
Here's the current version:
Creatures:
2 Invisible Stalker
2 Hover Barrier
1 Wall of Frost
2 Balustrade Spy
1 Undead Alchemist
2 Deadeye Navigator
Instants:
2 Power Sink
1 Thought Scour
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
2 Crippling Chill
Sorceries:
3 Ponder
1 Portent
1 Mind Grind
2 Paranoid Delusions
2 Divination
2 Last Thoughts
2 Sleep
Enchantments:
4 Jace's Erasure
Lands:
3 Dimir Guildgate
15 Island
5 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
It may even be worth shifting the focus of the deck away from Mind Grind and the Balustrade Spy, instead playing a bunch of zombies and relying on the Alchemist (I have 3 copies anyway). Call to the Grave plus a mixture of zombies and milling may very well be a winning combination. Perhaps it's even worth building another annoying mill deck with the zombie emphasis...
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday Magic - An Attempt at a Blue-Black Milling Deck
After my first loss to a mill deck, I have been intrigued by the idea. I always like looking for new, different ways to solve puzzles or complete challenges, so alternate win conditions in Magic are quite appealing. I put together a decent mill deck a few years ago, but I haven't kept up with the newest cards that could find a home in a mill deck.
I have therefore decided to scrap the old deck completely and start anew. This time, I'm inspired by Gatecrash's Mind Grind and the possibility of using cipher to mill my opponents, so I want to try to make a blue-black milling monster. What follows is the first iteration of this proposed deck.
Mind Grind is brutal, and the grinding mechanic (revealing cards from a player's library until they reveal a land card, then dropping all those cards into their graveyard) can be potent. I'd like to focus on grinding my opponents out, as that seems to be the most efficient way to do it, but there aren't enough grinding options to make a full deck at this point. I also want to avoid cards like Undercity Informer, because I don't want to divide my efforts between grinding and creature generation, which further limits my grinding options.
So, as it stands, my best bet is probably to sprinkle some grinding cards into a deck, the primary focus of which is Jace's Erasure and card draw - I can mill using Erasure and deal the killing blow with Mind Grind.
That said, one tricky thing I'd still like to try is combining Balustrade Spy with Deadeye Navigator. It's a nasty two-card combo with near unlimited grinding potential, but it's a bit expensive to get off the ground (4UU for the Navigator is rough). Still, if I can set it up (and keep both creatures alive), it becomes a good "1U: grind" ability. I'd like to see how reasonable it is to get this combo up and running, so I'll give it a shot in this first attempt at the deck.
So, here's the current version of this deck:
Creatures:
1 Invisible Stalker
2 Hover Barrier
1 Wall of Frost
2 Balustrade Spy
1 Giant Oyster
2 Deadeye Navigator
Instants:
2 Power Sink
1 Thought Scour
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
2 Crippling Chill
Sorceries:
2 Ponder
1 Portent
1 Mind Grind
2 Paranoid Delusions
2 Divination
2 Last Thoughts
2 Sleep
Artifacts:
1 Grindstone
Enchantments:
4 Jace's Erasure
1 Mind Unbound
Lands:
3 Dimir Guildgate
15 Island
5 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
Invisible Stalker is there for recurring drawing and milling with Last Thoughts and Paranoid Delusions. The walls and Sleep are purely defensive, while the counter spells give me some power to control the battlefield. Giant Oyster aids in the lockdown and can slowly destroy my opponent's creatures. Everything else works towards the milling in one way or another.
My biggest concern here is getting trapped halfway between my milling options. If, for example, I end up with a bunch of card draw but no Jace's Erasures (not too likely), I'm pretty much screwed. Similarly, getting Mind Grind and a bunch of counterspells screws me, too.
What I really need is a full playset of Invisible Stalkers - play Invisible Stalker, cipher everything onto him, and then cast eight spells each time he deals damage. Paranoid Delusions mills directly, Last Thoughts mills through Jace's Erasure, and Hands of Binding locks my opponent's creatures down. It's a beautiful concept, but I only have one copy of Invisible Stalker, so this is the best I can do...
I will obviously tweak the deck after playing with it a few times. I'm mostly looking to see how the mana curve and card draw pan out; if I'm able to draw into my power cards pretty easily, I may try to shift more towards emphasizing the Mind Grind by including some mana ramp of some sort (Keyrunes might work out well). If I'm having trouble drawing the cards I need, I may remove the Oyster, Stalker, and all the cipher cards and try to focus more on triggering Jace's Erasure.
I think a blue-black deck with Invisible Stalkers, cipher cards, Balustrade Spies, and Mind Grind, filling the rest of the deck with control, removal, and card draw spells could be really strong, but it's not something I can manage just now. Maybe if I can come into a few more Stalkers...
Still, this deck serves as a test of a weird concept given my collection. It has some potential, but I need to see how it works out in practice before making any further modifications.
I have therefore decided to scrap the old deck completely and start anew. This time, I'm inspired by Gatecrash's Mind Grind and the possibility of using cipher to mill my opponents, so I want to try to make a blue-black milling monster. What follows is the first iteration of this proposed deck.
Mind Grind is brutal, and the grinding mechanic (revealing cards from a player's library until they reveal a land card, then dropping all those cards into their graveyard) can be potent. I'd like to focus on grinding my opponents out, as that seems to be the most efficient way to do it, but there aren't enough grinding options to make a full deck at this point. I also want to avoid cards like Undercity Informer, because I don't want to divide my efforts between grinding and creature generation, which further limits my grinding options.
So, as it stands, my best bet is probably to sprinkle some grinding cards into a deck, the primary focus of which is Jace's Erasure and card draw - I can mill using Erasure and deal the killing blow with Mind Grind.
That said, one tricky thing I'd still like to try is combining Balustrade Spy with Deadeye Navigator. It's a nasty two-card combo with near unlimited grinding potential, but it's a bit expensive to get off the ground (4UU for the Navigator is rough). Still, if I can set it up (and keep both creatures alive), it becomes a good "1U: grind" ability. I'd like to see how reasonable it is to get this combo up and running, so I'll give it a shot in this first attempt at the deck.
So, here's the current version of this deck:
Creatures:
1 Invisible Stalker
2 Hover Barrier
1 Wall of Frost
2 Balustrade Spy
1 Giant Oyster
2 Deadeye Navigator
Instants:
2 Power Sink
1 Thought Scour
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
2 Crippling Chill
Sorceries:
2 Ponder
1 Portent
1 Mind Grind
2 Paranoid Delusions
2 Divination
2 Last Thoughts
2 Sleep
Artifacts:
1 Grindstone
Enchantments:
4 Jace's Erasure
1 Mind Unbound
Lands:
3 Dimir Guildgate
15 Island
5 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
Invisible Stalker is there for recurring drawing and milling with Last Thoughts and Paranoid Delusions. The walls and Sleep are purely defensive, while the counter spells give me some power to control the battlefield. Giant Oyster aids in the lockdown and can slowly destroy my opponent's creatures. Everything else works towards the milling in one way or another.
My biggest concern here is getting trapped halfway between my milling options. If, for example, I end up with a bunch of card draw but no Jace's Erasures (not too likely), I'm pretty much screwed. Similarly, getting Mind Grind and a bunch of counterspells screws me, too.
What I really need is a full playset of Invisible Stalkers - play Invisible Stalker, cipher everything onto him, and then cast eight spells each time he deals damage. Paranoid Delusions mills directly, Last Thoughts mills through Jace's Erasure, and Hands of Binding locks my opponent's creatures down. It's a beautiful concept, but I only have one copy of Invisible Stalker, so this is the best I can do...
I will obviously tweak the deck after playing with it a few times. I'm mostly looking to see how the mana curve and card draw pan out; if I'm able to draw into my power cards pretty easily, I may try to shift more towards emphasizing the Mind Grind by including some mana ramp of some sort (Keyrunes might work out well). If I'm having trouble drawing the cards I need, I may remove the Oyster, Stalker, and all the cipher cards and try to focus more on triggering Jace's Erasure.
I think a blue-black deck with Invisible Stalkers, cipher cards, Balustrade Spies, and Mind Grind, filling the rest of the deck with control, removal, and card draw spells could be really strong, but it's not something I can manage just now. Maybe if I can come into a few more Stalkers...
Still, this deck serves as a test of a weird concept given my collection. It has some potential, but I need to see how it works out in practice before making any further modifications.
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