thekraken

I had a chance to test this for real in paper against other players this weekend rather than just doing electronic sample draws. I don't have all of the cards yet that it was exactly as represented here, but pretty close to it. What I learned: The Rally mechanic is incredibly fun AND the Awaken mechanic is incredibly fun BUT together it just doesn't work. The allies want you to up the pace, but the awaken needs things to slow down. My hope was the awaken cards could play as combat tricks and just awaken at the end, but the problem in play is as sorceries instead of instants primarily they aren't very effective combat tricks. Planar Outbursting all of your own allies isn't lots of fun either. Ultimately, I think these two mechanics require their own individual decks targeted at just one mechanic each.

Haha, love it. Ranger's Guile to protect the turntimber from getting hit with an instant that breaks the combo?

Inspired by Ranlander's Allied Scales deck (http://www.mtgvault.com/ranlander/decks/allied-scales/) I shuffled some numbers to fit in a few Hardened Scales. Should be extra fun for the creatures entering with counters and for Infuse with the Elements. I'm unsure about the land base. The Ally Encampment helps for Skyrider Elf and Tajuru Stalwart, but actually could hurt against everything else because it is otherwise colorless. I'm considering dropping it or at least reducing the count. I'm also considering either some of the tri lands form the khans block or some of the new dual lands from BFZ that don't tap if you already have multiple basic lands. It's a debate between more mana option vs the slow down of enters tapped.

Thanks. I'll check some of those out. I got out of magic for a long while and only got back into it at the Theros block, so I lack a lot of knowledge (and cards!) for the beast that is modern.

Yeah, it definitely needs testing to see if it needs more instant/sorcery support or more ally presence. For most of the awaken cards the plan actually isn't to cast them for their awaken cost. They are in here more for the synergy of Halimar Tidecaller bringing them back from the graveyard when she enters the battlefield letting you use a clutch or rush twice. If I can cast them for awaken cost later game it's bonus mostly. Ondu Rising and Planar Outburst are the two most likely to actually get cast as awaken. Noyan Dar helps make all of the sorceries and instants essentially awaken as a bonus too.

Thanks. I am trying to go for Standard. I thought about Expedition Envoy over Coralhelm Guide for the one less CMC, but I was trying to keep some color balance. The guide also has a combat trick of sorts. The retreats I'm not sure on. They may be too slow. I might drop those for more clutches or rushes, or maybe some more just straight low cost ally creatures.

Aura Gnarlid? All of the other cards I can think of that abuse auras are white or blue.

I like this deck the best of your two ally decks. I'm a fan of Hardened Scales, so I like that combo with the ally +1/+1. Solidarity of Heroes could be fun in this, especially with Harabaz Druid providing some juice to pay for the strive cost.

Main decked Polymorphist's Jest in my new take on an artifact deck for standard with fate cards: http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/artificers-assault/

Here is a swing at Thaumaturge in modern: http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/miracle-grow/

I suppose the untap is worth more than the the one extra toughness as scourge food and probably warrants the one more mana as well. Adjustment made to the deck list.

Beer + Keyboard = Rant

Actually, what I'm telling you is a lot more like a vegan saying, "Hey, I'm sure you really like that bacon. That's great for you. Me an my vegan buddies are pretty happy with our roasted asparagus and don't feel the need to try bacon. Please stop hating just because I don't want to eat a strip of your bacon." (For the record I love me some bacon)

Frankly bub, I don't think you "understand it." You don't need to play tournaments to enjoy the game, and that's the point. If it weren't for all the "low quality" "cheap" casual players there would be no magic. There aren't enough players like yourself to actually make the thing commercially viable. When you get to the point of telling people you "can comment" more than them because you are more high and mighty or their way of playing is just "an excuse to play bad decks", you've made it pretty clear you are just being an arrogant arse. I think we're done here. Carry on being annoyed that people enjoy the game differently than you...

Guys, if you want to have a $500 competitive deck, then do it up. Nobody is keeping you from doing so, but there are a lot of people who probably don't care to have the same. I'd wager there are more budget decks on the hot page because there are a lot more people who play magic casually just to have fun than there are people who play it to be seriously competitive. I am in no way knocking you guys for wanting to make those kinds of decks, nor saying your wrong in that they have their own version of being fun. However, for me (and I would go out on a limb saying this covers a chunk of other folks as well) the buzz of a win is not why I play. I have never played in a tournament, and I never intend to. I play on kitchen tables with friends, and I enjoy it because it is a fun way to hang out with my friends. I could over time spend $500 on a deck, but for me what would be the point? My friends would be annoyed that I just auto win every game, and I'd have only one deck to play with. That would get pretty boring for me. I like to play a variety of decks cycling through totally different strategies. Usually my friends and I build decks around themes or certain mechanics or combos rather than the competitive collection of "I win" cards. My friends and I will even put all our decks on the table then roll a die and count off to see what deck we play (which means you could end up playing one of your buddy's deck). That $500 deck could be 25 $20 decks. By my definition of fun those 25 "weaker" decks are going to net a lot more fun for myself and my friends than that one $500 deck ever could. For your definition of fun it's the exact opposite because a variety of budget decks doesn't do you any good at your tournaments. For you that's just a variety of no-fun losing decks. That's cool, you are entitled to having fun with the game in whatever way works for you. It would be cool if you understood others are entitled to enjoy the game their own way as well. There will probably always be more players that enjoy the game casually than there are truly competitive players, so I wouldn't get hot and bothered about the time of budget decks needing to pass. There's no point in hating northy either. Yeah he seems to be a pretty nice guy to everyone, and crazy thing, people like people who are nice to them. It's a wild concept you could give a whirl sometime. At the end of the day why are you even putting decks up on a site like this? If you are looking to get advice on improving your deck you probably shouldn't even care about the hot page. It sounds like you are pretty experienced players and would do better just having the closer knit group whose opinion you trust help each other with your decks. The casual shlubs like me looking at decks on the hot pages probably don't know enough to actually be of any help to you.

Riot Control maybe? Use it if some does attack you to prevent that damage and get some life gain too. In multiplayer the life gain could be decent as it counts creatures of all opponents. Aegis of the Gods could also be good to help cover your butt from direct burn.

I have been giving the prophet consideration, though I was looking at it as prophet vs dragonscale boon. The reason I leaned toward the boon was even though the prophet gives a repeating untap the boon brings +1/+1 counters with it. Ranger's Guile has a pretty specific purpose in keeping the scourge from getting smacked with removal after you've already sac'd most of your other creatures to him.

Baleful Eidolon maybe? If you have bond-kin and him down then drop ascendancy you have the first strike + death touch combo. If you don't have bond-kin but have ascendancy down he becomes a "I kill your creature an get a 1/1 flyer to replace my dying creature." Later game he could bestow on the primadox maybe. The other option for similar if you don't care about the bestow would be pharika's chosen for the one less mana.

Here is the try around using Vanguard and the Eidolon for the token shell: http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/thaumassturge-v2/

Yeah, a lot of what I'm using the vault for is brainstorming. Helps me get it visually put together then use the sample draws to try to see where it is going and of it can be tweaked to something being worth building. I haven't spent much time on this one yet since the initial brainstorm to see if it can be tweaked better or if it is destined to be sac'd. Checked out yours, I like the ascendancy synergy. I hate trying to play three colors in a deck, so I've yet to really embrace khans.