You say you want opinions, and you are taking this to a (T2=Standard) tournament. So here's my honest assessment of your deck (sorry if I am sometimes a bit blunt): Overall, cool Idea, it has some great conceptual synergy. But the power level is lacking in this high-power Standard Format. If you go up against other homebrews... like at an FNM with mostly casual decks, it could do ok. But it will get blown out by any of the good decks with advantage cards. Aggro decks will crush you fast. With other decks like Jund, as soon as they resolves a spell they will probably win. Because the spell is so powerful. Any deck running powerful cards like BSA + Planswalkers + Removal + Advantage Cards will beat you. You have good utility, and if you are an amazing player and play really well, you might be able to take some matches. Most of the really powerful decks in the format (Jund, Naya, Vampires, Bant Aggro/Eldrazi Bant) can win even if they are being piloted by morons - because the decks are simple and powerful. Your deck has the possibility of winning, but besides Vengevine, all the creatures are insanely weak. Narcolepsy and counterspells are good 1-for-1 spells. But they will get their cards out. Especially since there are manlands in Standard again. Vengevine is your only advantage card. A 2 for 1. And you can't really cast him, so he's more like 1.25 for 1. All of your other cards are like a 1/2 for 1. Compared to other things. Sure Ponder and Distortion Strike can be nutty. With other cards. But Ponder without fetchlands is bad. And only 1-of does nothing overall. Distortion Strike is great with really good, fast aggro decks, but bad with slow decks or weak creatures. Cards that would be reallllllly good for this concept: Sphinx of Lost Truths. Cheap cards with Unearth. Like the 1B Rat that makes both players discard a card. Jace 2.0. Maybe good blue Creatures like Calcite Snapper or... well there aren't very many good blue creatures. Especially small ones. Honestly, I'd go Blue Green (UG) or Blue Black (UB) or UGB with this concept. Or even UW. And if you splash another color, and if you can, get some manlands. They make almost any deck better. Good Luck. ~Loki3
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DoJ and BtE end up being not used/not necessary often, so I took them out. In terms of expense, I try to make the best virtual decks. I may still try for a budget one, though :)
OK. I was on the verge of doing a truth spill before, because it seems like you want to make this competitive: As an aggro deck, it is not particularly aggressive. It needs Time of Heroes or many turns before your creatures become threats. It looks cool, no doubt. But good cards can easily blow you out (Baneslayer Angel, Knight of the Reliquary, Vampire Nighthawk, Malakir Bloodwitch, Doom Blade/Deathmark/Terminate, Maelstrom Pulse, Lightning Bolt, Path, O-Ring, Ajani Vengant, Day of Judgement, Pinger + Basilisk Collar). Consume the Meek also wrecks your day (though I haven't really seen it in any top decks yet). Every mainstream deck has ways of dealing with your threats, while fiding ways to damage you. It has lots of trouble with decks that can quickly generate advantage, because Venerated Teacher and Time of Heroes are your advantage cards, and they only matter when you have lots of dudes on the field. Against fast aggro: you seem like a slow puppy. Against WW/UW control: O-ring, Planeswalkers, and Wraths own you. Against Jund: Every card in their deck hurts you. Blightning hurts. Thrinax hurts. Bolts/Terminate/Maelstrom Pulse Hurts. Hell, Putrid Leech is bigger than all of your guys until turn 4/5 if they don't use removal. Against Midrange Aggro: their dudes are better immediately, and their removal really hurts your leveling. Mono-Blue dies to removal, too, but evasion (flying, unblockable, Spreading Seas + Islandwalk) gets dudes in there and Spreading Seas slows down 3-color decks enough to get beats in quickly. However, both decks won't be seeing the top8 of (m)any tournaments. ------------------------------------ To try to fix this: Go extremely control, go extremely aggro, get more evasion, add some more powerful cards, or find answers to the other decks in the format. A great post-wrath advantage card you could use, is Ranger of Eos. ------------------------------------ Cheers, Loki
Also... you have 62 cards. Cut 2.
There's a reason I went with mono-blue. Evasion. Your dudes can be big, no doubt, but you might tinker with Brave the Elements over Smite to let your team swing in for the win, or to counter a targeted removal. At the very least, you can put it in the sideboard. Also, people can tell how serious of a builder you are by looking at your land. UW and no Glacial Fortress?? If you are going to build in a vacuum (using cards you don't own to convey a deck idea), then use the best! :)
Black removal is pretty good most of the time, but fails miserably when Corpsehatch and Vendetta can't kill black creatures. Or Vendetta can't Kill an Eldrazi because the lifeloss will kill you. My list of removal is also weighted by rarity. Black has tons of great removal, but many of them are rare. In my opinion, Vendetta is being drafted too agressively for what it is worth, right now. Currently the Rankings of all varieties of creature removal that can happen at instant speed(commons have *s): #3 - Magmaw (R) #4 - Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief (BB) #9 - Consuming Vapors (B) #12 - Gideon Jura (WW) #13 - Consume the Meek (BB) - Instant #16 - All is Dust #24 - Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre #26 - Corpsehatch (BB) #31 - Domestication (UU) #46 - *Staggershock* (R) - Instant #48 - Disaster Radius (RR) #51 - Forked Bolt (R) #56 - *Heat Ray* (R) - Instant #58 - *Flame Slash* (R) #62 - Oust (W) #74 - *Induce Despair* (B) - Instant #78 - *Vendetta* (B) - Instant #79 - *Narolepsy* (U) #94 - *Smite* (W) - Instant #100 - *Last Kiss* (B) - Instant #106 - *Puncturing Light* (W) - Instant #119 - *Spawning Breath* (R) - Instant #126 - Virulent Swipe (B) - Instant #129 - *Regress* (U) - Instant #135 - *Bala Ged Scorpion* (B) #139 - Explosive Revelation (RR) #154 - *Wrap in Flames* (R) #161 - *Deprive* (UU) - Instant #176 - Leaf Arrow For your info... currently: Deathless Angel is #1, and the top rare. Brimstone Mage is #11, and the top uncommon. Gideon Jura is #12, and the top mythic. Staggershock is #46, and the top common.
Archatype 4: GW Can be anywhere from just solid cards (like the 2GG 4/3 that has 8: target creature gets +5/+5 and trample, the white equivalent, Pelakka Wurm, ROE's tapper, lone missionary, etc.) If it goes the route of Aura Gnarlid/the rare aura girls, it tends to be inconsistent and weak to removal. Especially, Induce Despair (target creature gets -X/-X), because auras can stop it. And all the auras get lost. Strengths: Can be very solid. Best midrange creatures. Lots of good rare and uncommon creatures in W and G, too. Weaknesses: Less removal options with green. Can be really powerful if you can draft hard enough in white to keep others near you from also taking white.
Archetype 3: Eldrazi/Pelakka Wurm/Fatty Ramp GGG, GR, GB, or GRB - usually RG or BG Self explanatory. Strengths: Powerful, and with bomb rares, even better. Weaknesses: Needs a critical mass of bombs/fatties and ramp to be successful. Fatties decks are weak to white decks with fliers, the 8: tap their team dude, and Smite. Umbras help. Fliers help. Often removal-lite due to the nature of green.
Archetype 2: UB leveler Uses Venerate Teacher (and Training Ground, if you are lucky enough). Uses levelers that end up 5/5, only blockable by black creatures, 7/3, B:Regenerate, 4/2, flying, 6/6, islandwalk, and of course if you get the good uncommons... 5/4, first strike, deathtouch, 3/3 shroud, unblockable. Also uses Distortion strike to make a dude unblockable (twice). Also can use the blue 3/3 flier that has 8: all creatures you control get flying till EOT. This deck is seen more in sealed. Nobody really tries to draft UB unless they just happen to get the right bombs. Or the levelers just happen to fall in their lap. The only way I ever go hard in blue in draft is if I open Sphinx of 3UUU pack 1 and no red removal. Blue is not really a first-pick, and if you end up going blue, you probably are using it as support, or you picked up some nice spells late that people passed up early. In draft this archetype bleeds over into UW, because white has good levelers and solid cards. Strengths: against decks running low removal (green-notred-notwhite), it can be hugely explosive. Venerated teacher is really efficient when it levels up 3 or more guys twice (decent for 2). Weakness: Tends to get 2-for-1-ed by removal. Has few options for life gain. Can never win if your opponent plays Linvala Keeper of Silence. Even the bombs in blue and black depend on their activated abilities to be any good.
Archetype 1: RW weenie swarm with removal. Curves well and works well with good big bombs too. See my list for an example. Uses Goblin Tunnelers to make anything (including Valakut Fireboar) unblockable. Has white fliers. Also uses Dawnglare Invoker to keep the opponent tapped down late game to swing in for win (use DI's ability to at the beginning of combat before attackers are declared). Has good common removal. Bomb make this deck crazy, especially if they fly. Strengths: Has tons of access to lifegain, if necessary, and stall. Solid all around. Strong creatures, strong removal. Weakneses: mass removal (only rares and mythics), can be weak to burn. Especially if there are lots of levelers. Level them wisely. And keep mana open for Smite (hopefully you have some) or the Smite bluff. With enough good creatures, this deck loses the tunneler motif. And just wins.
Archetypes I see (based in the commons, bombs finish the job):
My take on ROE: Removal (Best - Worst): Red White Black (pretty bad against black decks) Blue (not much, though Narcolepsy is really nice) Green Commons (Best - Worst): White Red Green Black (Arguably better than Green) Blue Uncommons are patchy, depending on what you get. Same with rares. Regardless, I think white is the best color in ROE all around. White is easiest to pick up good cards in because there are so many. Especially in the common slots. Also, white has Smite, Oust, and Guard Duty (listed in order of power, imo - Oust is great against levelers, not against bombs, and it is not instant speed).
Before making cuts, decide which route you want to go. more 3-4 drops for survival, or mass removal. Seer's Sundial will almost assuredly come out for other stuff. Once Rise of the Eldrazi comes in you will probably use Eldrazi, too, especially Emrakul if you go to the prelease. 15/15 flier who is hard to kill, with tons of amazing abilities that you can cast off of Maelstrom Angels attack. It also gives you an extra turn when you cast it. Also, you will Probably use the following Draw Spell, if it is not too expensive: Momentous Fall 2GG Instant Rare As an additional cost to cast Momentous Fall, sacrifice a creature. You draw cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power, then you gain life equal to the its toughness. (It wasn't long until the elves had developed a use for every part of the Eldrazi.) It is best used when someone targets one of your creatures to blow it up, and instead you get a ton of cards and life. Example with a new card: Pelakka Wurm 4ggg Creature - Wurm Uncommon Trample When Pelakka Wurm enters the battlefield, you gain 7 life. When Pelakka Wurm is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, draw a card. 7/7 Use the instant to save this guy from annihilation, and in total, you draw 8 cards and gain 14 life. Though he is more for a different kind of deck. Maybe if you became one extreme or the other... super-control with few creatures and lots of tech/life gain/board wiping. Or if you became really aggressive with a high threat density so that you are alive by the time you cast this, and by then, they've used up their removal. Link to RoE Spoiler: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/rise-of-the-eldrazi-spoilers-0249/
From your words, it sounds like you are trying to make a competitive deck on a budget. So I'll try to analyze this as I would any other competitive T2 deck. -------------------------- Suggestions: Lands: Anchient Ziggurat could work. It hurts your 8 spells a bit, but they only cost 2. And you can get an AZ for under $1; SSG is $1.25, but they are always the most expensive. Also they way to go if you ever get 4 Birds of Paradise and 2-4 Nobel Hierarch. Creatures: You should run a 4th MA because MA is important. Also, I think you should run some lifelink guys like Rhox War Monk ($0.99 - though you should prob own 2 or 3 of these puppies). And Mycoid Shepard ($0.59). Or board wiping spells. 1 drop accelerators can work if you go more traditional with less 5+ mana guys. BSA if you ever get the money. But then... you'd never play this deck, I think. Spearbreaker Behemoth (5GG 5/5 indestructible, makes other fatties indestructible) may be good as a supplememnt for MSA and the other fatties, to help them survive... I dunno... Sorceries/Spells: If you don't end up running birds and Hierarch and lifegaining 3 and drops, then you will need Day of Judgement. I know it's expensive... ------------------ Analysis: If you don't get a turn 4 Maelstrom Angel, or your angel is removed... against good decks, you lose most of the time. The reason Maelstrom Angel is also really weak to removal.. is by Turn 4-5, when everyone else's decks are starting to peak, you haven't really started. And at that Point, MA is your biggest/only real threat. If you ran more/better 3 and 4 drops, and accelerators, that would change. You can try, but without Turn 1 acceleration into a turn 2 3-drop like RWM, KotR, or WT, and turn 3 BBE or something else good for 4, and... without BSA... these 5 color creature decks... kinda suck. ------- Matchup Predictions: The advantage of this deck is that it is Janky. Nobody has seen it before, so they might play against it wrongly and end up helping you win. Like they might wait if you had some big Dudes Spreading Seas: Um... auto-loss if they have any good win conditions. This goes for good Artifact-Open the Vaults decks, to good Grixis once they board. So far, Jund will use its Maelstrom Pulses on the MA, and game 2 they will side in Deathmark also. And possibly also Malakir Bloodwitch. W/Wx: Oblivion Ring/Path will hit her as well, and yes Path Accelerates you, but I still would rather have the Angel then a land. A single Jace in UW/Grixis Control can make problems for you. As would Wrath/Deathmark and BSA/Nighthawk accordingly. Vampires running Mind Sludge will almost get a free pass at you. They essentially get to fill up the board, then empty your hand, then win. And you have no way to defeat them. Especially because 2-3 Malakir Bloodwitches will be in their Main. Boss Naya will try to race you game 1, and might fail, but then game 2 and 3, you lose badly to Sparkmage + Basilisk Collar. Boros and RDW will probably beat you quickly, but you have some decent chances against them. Because your dudes are huge. But if they maindeck or sideboard Earthquake, they should be able to finish you off. Even janky allies will smash you in the face. And Polymorph Decks running Iona, Progenitus, or soon... Emrakul, will completely obliterate you. You have decent chances against Bant control decks, but BSA against you is pretty much gg. -------------------------- Maybe you can hone this an get it to the point where, when the Eldrazi cycle in, you can stick them into your deck. But as of now... I am leery. -------------------------- I'm going to try to help you face the facts that this deck is not as good/reliable as you seem to claim it is. If you always had a turn 4 (or even 5) MSA and they had the normal probabilities of creatures/removal/landscrew... this deck would be pretty good. I don't mean to be evil, but when you say, "Typically this deck sees a Turn 4 Maelstrom Angel." You are flat out lying to yourself. It is not that good. The words "typical" or "reliable" suggest to me, >50% chances. You may have ~50% chance of MA by turn 7 or 8 but definitely not by turn 4. If you are hitting >50%, then congratulations! You have mastered the art of non-random, probably unintentional, cheaty-pants shuffling. Or you have amazing luck. More likely is you only remember the good times, and you probably haven't been playing against only Top Tier Decks. You would need to hit all of your land drops and get 1/8 cards by turn 3 with the right/untapped lands, and 1/3 by turn 4. The chances of hitting an accelerator turn 2, and again turn 3 is really low, especially considering all your tap lands. If you had 4 MSA in the deck, your chances of getting a Turn 4 MSA in hand would be 53%. You have 3, so it is less. Your chances of drawing 4 lands by turn 4 is 63% (excluding deck thinning from Rampant Growth, so maybe we can call it 68%). Your chance of drawing a Rampant Growth or Trace by turn 3 is 74%. Even pretending all of your lands come into play untapped (which 15/24 don't)... the probability that you have the cards you need when you need them to get a t4 MSA is 25% (using 4 in your deck, with 3 its prob < 20%). And that's without taking into account the times that you could have tapped for acceleration but needed to cast one of your other creatures so you don't lose against decks that hit you for say 16+ damage over those 4 turns. ---------- Final Analysis: The deck runs only 24 lands (and some acceleration, yes) but if you can't stick a maelstrom angel, or if they drop a Baneslayer or Vampire Nighthawk, or use removal at all... your deck has about 9 other creatures to help you survive while they beat you. BASICALLY: You have ZERO reliable board presence until turn 4-5. And by then, your shenanigans won't be enough to swing the game back in your favor. If you really want to use the fatties, use more 3 drops and life gain or stall or Board Sweepers. Your biggest issue is not winning... it's surviving to the point where you win. You could change that completely if you ran better early threats like BBE, Wooly Thoctar, KotR, BSA, Rhox War Monk, and Mycoid Shephard. And maybe even Bloodbraid Elf and Captured Sunlight to help you find acceleration or other fatties. --------- Sorry for the long post, any spelling/grammer/clarity errors. Also, sorry for the direct, critical analysis of your deck. I'm just trying to help :P I hope you don't take offense to anything I said, and I hope this analysis helps you as you further develop your deck. Also, here's an example of a deck that is similar to yours, but more reliable early-game (especially read the comments, because the original deck is somewhat lacking): http://www.magic-league.com/phpBB/post-135158.html Good Luck! :D
I approve :) I have a deck like this but with more elves. Skullclamp variant (frowned on), and one like this. I definitely need to include Elvish Guidance. Good work.
It is an optional rule, apparently: "Players may then sideboard if the *optional rules for sideboards* are being used. " Words in stars linked to the quote I mentioned above.
Quoted from EDH rules: "EDH Sideboards Rather than filling every deck with banal responses, it is preferable to allow some flexibility in the composition of a deck. * Players may bring a 10 card sideboard in addition to their 99 cards and 1 General. * After generals are announced, players have 3 minutes to make 1-for-1 substitutions to their deck. * Any cards not played as part of the deck may be retrieved by "wishes". "
Comment and Rate :)
I also Have run this deck with a Boggart Ram-Gang Instead of the Phantom Centaur. It is much better in my opinion. I've also considered going +1 Suq'Ata Lancer, -1 Woolly Mammoths. Bloodbraid-able haste is very nice.
Ball Lightning was released during a set called the Dark without the happy gold an silver symbols. When it was released, the Dark cards were considered by Wizards to come in two rarities, common and uncommon. However, since then, Wizards has changed its mind (and the Gatherer database) and listed some of these cards, such as Ball Lightning, as rare. The official "the Dark" spoiler: http://www.wizards.com/magic/generic/cardlists/The_Dark.txt lists Ball Lightning as "Uncommon 1". I was using the rarity from the spoiler, Magic Work Station, and other online references, and it considers it an uncommon during "the Dark". StarCityGames does too. As do many other sites that sell cards. But if you really push, I swap them for 4 Flames of the Blood Hand (2R: 4 damage to target player. Unpreventable damage, the player can't gain life this turn. Still can be countered, but a good spell.) I like this version less than any of the Iso-Burn builds. I'll load one of those for you. And Control: all decks have a weakness. It is unfortunate, though true. There is no almighty win deck. Partially because it has to play other decks that are similar to it.
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