JaceTheMindsculptor

Wow, it's really funny that I would come across this now. I've been running Gruul Midrange this season so far and this is the list I'm taking to a PTQ this weekend. http://www.mtgvault.com/jacethemindsculptor/decks/gruul-superfriends/

As for comments, it's possible your deck is trying to do too much. You should either choose an aggro game or a midrange game, and fully support that. Ex: Ghor-Clan Rampager is a fantastic creature in a R/G Aggro deck, but not so good in midrange. Boon Satyr does the same job but is just more resilient, so I'd probably cut him. I'm running two witchstalkers maindeck (although many decks I've seen run Kalonian tusker) just because it's never a bad creature against any deck and it can just be insane g1 against monoblack and Esper. I also am running the Ruric-Thar's sideboard, but I don't think there's a problem with running them maindeck. Nylea might also be a consideration, since giving Polukranos trample is basically insane, especially in the case of a gummed-up board state.

Also, the classic planeswalker configuration is 4x Domri Rade, 2x Xenagos, the Reveler. Not sure why these numbers were decided upon. Probably just because Domri comes down earlier so it's better to see him in multiples? I don't know. I considered cutting a Domri for a Chandra just because of the legend rule (and they do the same thing a lot of the time), and it seems like a good idea.

Oh and DON'T LOSE THE MORTARS. Overloaded mortars is really easy to do here and can win the game on the spot. While Polukranos can get bigger, it's silly to rely on him as "removal" and ticking down Domri is a big sacrifice as well. Mortars is just great.

Overall, I wish you luck with the deck and I hope my comments have been somewhat helpful!

I actually like this deck a lot. A few quick comments--it needs more land, and it definitely needs shocks. The mana base here is pretty rough, even given the number of artifacts.

Thoughtseize says no to everything.

Lol that doesn't mean that every player in the world needs to buy a playset of Thoughtseize, and it certainly doesn't mean that a deck needs it to function. But, if you happen to come across a few or find yourself in a position to buy... it's quite an investment.

I can see rejecting Thoughtseize for budgetary purposes, but you can't knock the card. If it read "Destroy any nonland permanent (bypass hexproof and indestructible) or counter target spell" for one black mana, it would be the most played card on the face of the planet. That's basically what it says.

As was said at the pro tour, "Thoughtseize is the best card in standard. It's good against nonlands. I hear magic decks sometimes play nonlands."

Ornithopter doesn't actually deal combat damage so any effects that trigger when he deals combat damage wouldn't go off.

Birthing Pod is what gives the deck its consistency, and it is much more combo centric. There are several infinite life combos as well as infinite damage combos, and it has multiple ways to tutor up the pieces of the combo. It won the last 3 grand prix's. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

See: Melira Pod. Exact same idea.

Honestly, in constructed, Heroic isn't a subtheme that you want to try to make work, and tormented hero probably wouldn't be the creature to make it work with anyway. I would swap them out for Purphoros, since he makes this combo tick pretty well. Precinct captain might also be hard to cast with this deck. Without Heroic, I would find better spells then God's Willing and Martial Glory (or at least don't run 4 and 3), and 24 lands might be too many. I'd also consider running temples and/or gates, since having 12 basics is going to give you a lot of mana problems.

Of course, casual magic can be whatever you want it to be. I understand that. My friend once made a deck with 11 of each basic land, 4 coalition victories and a progenitus. My comments were geared entirely towards making the deck modern competitive.

Well then you need to shuffle your deck lol the numbers don't lie.

Well of course all of this assumes you don't stack the deck. Which is frowned upon. So don't do it.

This is a combo that I'm surprised hasn't seen more play. It's a very hard to beat combo and can actually go off quite quickly. But, combos are about math, and you have to understand your odds of getting it online quickly and in the scope of longer games.

The chances of drawing Blistercoil Weird in your opening hand or second turn are as follows.

You calculate the chances of drawing it by multiplying the probabilities of drawing it for each consecutive card. You have a 56/60 chance of not drawing it first, and 55/59 second, so on and so forth. The odds of not drawing it in the first 8 cards are:

56/60 * 55/59 * 54/58 * 53/57 * 52/56 * 51/55 * 50/54 * 49/53 = 55.5 %, or 44.5% of drawing the weird.

The chances of drawing paradise mantle given that you've already drawn a weird are as follows.

55/59 * 54/58 * 53/57 * 52/56 * 51/55 * 50/54 * 49/53 = 59.4% chance of missing it, or a 40.6% chance of drawing one.

Now, the chances of drawing an island:

48/58 * 47/57 * 46/56 * 45/55 * 44/54 * 43/53 = 30.3% chance of mana screw, or 70% chance of drawing an island.

These are the bare minimum elements to get the combo online. You can calculate the probability of a turn 2 kill by multiplying all three probabilities together.

70% * 40.6% * 44.5% = 12.6% chance of combo on turn 2. And that's assuming that every other card in your hand feeds your combo. These odds aren't really good. That's a record of about 1-7.

Given that, I don't think you should try to shoot for the turn 2 combo. Granted, it's fun when it happens, but it just doesn't happen consistently enough. I think you could give this deck a lot more reliance by adding in more control or deck manipulation. I understand that if you add in too many non-cantrips it can fizzle out, but you do need to think about the long game. In the modern format, most combo decks use turn 4 as the critical turn, so if you can even spend your first few turns setting up and then combo off turn 4, that's quick enough to win and will definitely make the deck more consistent.

As for specific cards, I don't have a lot. Past in Flames is an amazing card in Storm and I could see it pulling a lot of weight here. When/if you fizzle out of cantrips or just never hit a grapeshot, you could cast it and just keep cantripping until you hit a spell.

Good luck!

Door of Destinies only trigger when you cast a spell of the type, so the goal of populating and creating tokens won't actually buff any of them.

And Jelenn Sphinx isn't a bird either... all it does is give a conditional anthem for 5 mana... there's no good reason not to play Spear of Heliod.

Silence isn't good enough in this deck. You can't utilize the tempo that it gives you well enough.

And you really need to run more lands--Aggro decks run more than this. You will almost never be able to cast Supreme Verdict, much less a 6 mana call. It will also be hard to get double white for celestial flare.

Oh, and good call on including anger of the gods. Wraths are particularly hard for new players to understand why they're good. This will be a good way to teach.

I honestly wouldn't throw Aetherling at a new player lol it is a super skill intensive card and requires a lot of thought to be played well. I say toss in either Spellheart Chimera or Fluxcharger in the spot and the deck is good to go.

Control is probably a good deck to start out with. Makes them feel powerful and encourages a lot of decision-making. Scry is also a great mechanic to include. Well done.

This deck really wants a Sacrifice outlet to abuse the Voice of Resurgence + Gift of Immortality interaction.

The price of a Booster pack: $4.00
Average ratio of mythics to booster packs: 1/8
Ratio of Elspeth to all mythics: 1/15

4 / (1/8) / (1/15) = 4 * 8 * 15 = $480

If we assume you pull Elspeth about halfway through your mythic search, the total actually comes to
$480 / 2 = $240 to try and pull an Elspeth from boosters.

$240 * 4 = $960 for a playset.

Just buy the singles.

You've got a lot of really good suggestions here. Domri has been underperforming, so Xenagos could be really cool here. Clan Defiance is cool and a great mana sink, but I might just want to spend that mana on Zameck Guildmage and Savageborn Hydra. I just really like the card Voyage's End, since I believe bounce to be an amazing effect, and scry 1 on top is even better. But yes, you're right, simic charm is by far the better card here.

Ordeal of Thassa is a cute and interesting combo for this deck. I'm thinking that if it got swapped out, it would be with Zameck Guildmage, since they are both card draw engines. I think Zameck is more reliable right now and the ordeal does kind of set up a two for one. I will keep it in mind moving forward, however.

Thanks for the comment!

It's Naya... the color combo is called Naya...