ThauMASSturge

by thekraken on 23 December 2014

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (3 cards)

Instants (3)

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Deck Description

I would really like to build a deck around Battlefield Thaumaturge. I currently have three concepts I'm working on virtually to see which is the best bet to buy for and build. Please check them all out and vote on the one you think has the most promise:

http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/thaumatic-effect/
http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/heroic-miracles/
http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/thaumassturge/

This version is schemed around using the Launch the Fleet combo to make a massive army followed up with Hour of Need for a sphinx swarm.

How to Play

Battlefield Thaumaturge - The miracle maker that lets this all happen.

Raise the Alarm, Triplicate Spirits and Take Up Arms - Get the bodies on the floor, get the bodies on the floor, get the bodies on the floor.

Launch the Fleet - Thanks to Thaumaturge that'll be a doubling of the attack force for the mighty cost of a single white. See above objective.

Hour of Need - Now that we have all these soldiers in our army, send in the sphinxes to snatch them up and show them how a real arial beatdown goes. Thanks to Thaumaturge that'll be for the low low cost of a single blue per soldier swapped out (after the 1U paid for the first).

Seraph of the Masses - If we have all these bodies we might as well convoke in a lovely angel to lead our sphinxes into battle. Did I mention arial beatdown?

Retraction Helix - A nice little bounce spell that happens to also be a cheap way to trigger Thaumaturge's heroic ability and keep him safe.

Icy Blast - A single blue to tap down the opponents entire board thanks to Thaumaturge, what could be better than that? Oh that the sphinxes and the seraph will mean those guys are tapped for two rounds, you're right that is better.

Devouring Light - Thaumaturge makes it an exile for two white plus you should have some white creatures kicking around to convoke with, so we'll just call this a free exile spell here.

Pull from the Deep - Late game, get back whatever instant and sorcery spell you need to finish the job.

Ajani's Presence in the sideboard in case you face a deck with mass removal.

Deck Tags

  • Budget
  • Token
  • Standard

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

3
Likes

This deck has been viewed 1,000 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

3018000

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Not Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Not Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for ThauMASSturge

Alright Kraken- I'm on board. I'm posting here because this was the last build I looked at and I think between the 2 u\w builds, you've got some serious fun with this idea. When I read the first u\w list, my first thought was that you missed Icy Blast- I'm glad it's here. My question is this- why not run both it and the Glimpse the Sun God in the same build? Really abuse that Thaumaturge. The trick is going to be to build a shell that works without the Thaumaturge- if the deck is built around one card and we never see it, then the deck get slaughtered every time. But since the deck is obviously blue, we can draw a ton of cards- Divanation, Jace's Ingenuity, Treasure Cruise- just to name the cheap ones. And Launch the Fleet is a must. All those spells makes the X = the number of creatures on the board, which could\should be excessive.

4x Thaumaturge, 4x Glimpse the Sun God, 4x Icy Blast, 4x Launch the Fleet

The Blast and the Glimpse will be good early or late- to help hold on to find the Thaumaturge, or ideally go off when he's on the board. So the question is- heroic shell, or heavy tokens? The problem with tokens is Bile Blight is running rampant in the format. The plus to tokens are cheap, pop up instantly, and in multiples. I also like the Hour of Need- just one of those cards I'd like to play with\ break. It does fit the deck with either shell, but it's 4 power triggers Ferocious and that could be key with the Blast. And I really like the Angel attacking with Launch the Fleet- then maybe the Phalanx Formation on said Angel? Lot's of potential there. Probably some Ajani's Presence? Maybe Feat of Resistance?

What do you think?

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Posted 29 December 2014 at 22:37

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Launch the Fleet really does make you want to go u\w wit thaurmaturge. The reason I hadn't dropped Icy Blast into the heroic deck was because I was focusing on cards that I was willing to cast against my own guys to trigger the heroic. I was a little concerned about the ferocious aspect if one of the dudes beefed up to 4. It could still fit though being used as an early game heroic trigger and a late game lockdown. Perhaps actually a better card than Aerial Formation for that deck.

One of my big concerns is what exactly goes down if I don't have a Thaumaturge up near the top of the deck. I hadn't given a lot of thought to stuffing in some card draw to help improve the odds. Honestly, the card draw tactics isn't something I do well with in building or playing and need to get better about given how much I tend to play decks with blue. I'm going to give some serious thought to how card draw might fit in here.

I had Devouring Light in this build and some toughness heavy heroic creatures in the other build with Triton Tactics as my stall methods because I tend to face up against more midrange than aggro. Against aggro having a full set of Glimpse the Sun God and Icy Blast could perhaps be better. Maybe a good SB vs MB thing? Play Devoruing Light against mid range and swap them out for Glimpse the Sun God against aggro?

The token hate is an issue and would ruin the day for this deck. Aetherspouts would suck pretty hard too. One idea I've been batting around is pulling the Retraction Helix out for Negates. My thought being a Negate could stop a Bile Blight or a direct removal to the Thaumaturge or the Seraph. What do you think about that idea? I think on the heroic build your idea of Feat of Resistance would be better as it would give the protection, a counter, and a heroic trigger. That's pretty money right there.

Hour of Need is actually part of the reason I got stuck on Thaumaturge. In a pack I opened they were back to back the uncommon then rare. I started out just trying to figure out a deck around those two cards and in the process became a bit obsessed with Battlefield Thaumaturge. If I go the token route Hour of Need needs to find a home in it.

Thanks for the advice!

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Posted 30 December 2014 at 03:29

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I made some tweaks to the heroic version of the build based on your comment if you want to give a looksie. Still noodling on how best to incorporate some of the concepts into the token build.

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Posted 30 December 2014 at 05:28

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HAHA- I def understand your concern about Icy Blast and your own guys. That would be awful if you had one heroic guy trying to Blast your on dudes..... although, at the point in the game if you have a 4+ power guy, you don't need to target your guys- you're def tapping them down.

So I have a couple ideas on card drawing.... there's the budget and the non-budget. The non budget is easy- you run 4x Dig Through Time. That's just a good card in general, but it's a bit pricy. But looking at the top 7 and picking 2 will certainly help find the Thaumaturge... or a tap spell if you already have him out. Otherwise it's probably a combination on Divination, Jace's Ingenuity, and\or Treasure Cruise- which isn't terrible. The Cruise might actually be better than the Dig, esp with this deck and all it's instants. We'll just have to check and see what kind of space we're looking to fill...

And I like the Devouring Light with a heavy token build. Free spells are good. With the BT on the field and facing 3 attackers you can Raise the Alarm, block 2, and then Devouring Light the 3rd... all for 2 mana. That's pretty efficent.... and with 3 or 4 more mana, change those tokens into 4\4's? I like it. Plus after you do it once, it makes the opponent worry about attacking into it the rest of the game.

I think this deck would def run Negate in the SB. I'm wondering if Stubborn Denial in the main would work, or even be worth it. I don't know how consistantly there would be a 4+ power creature out. But I agree, protecting the Angel or the BT is key. But don't forget, the BT has heroic that gives him hexproof as well. Additionally, with an Hour of Need in hand, you can respond to a Bile Blight targeting a spirit or soldier by making it a Sphnix.

I really like Hour of Need, but the need for creatures on the board is paramont for it to be useful. In fact, this whole deck requires to from the convoke cards to the Hour of Need to the Angel being a win condition. I'm wondering what other sources of token generators there are- Chasm Skulker comes to mind... esp if we're adding card draw... Coral Barrier is a good stall card, gives you 2 guys, and then 2 HoN targets... First Response seems really slow.... God Favored General seems ok, and at the same time the Herald of Anafenza... Heliod put's cleric tokens, but that's even more expensive... perhaps we change the build to make it support Spirit Bonds.... hmmmm.... or in the heroic build the Vanguard of Brimaz... I think some testing to see how difficult it is to keep tokens on the board may be in order... I think I'm getting stuck on the Spirit Bonds though... to shift the build in that direction... that's another one of those cards that I want to play but couldn't find the deck for it...... hmm....

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Posted 30 December 2014 at 15:15

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I think if I went Treasure Cruise I'd need to drop Pull from the Deep. Part of my plan was having those instants and sorceries sitting there to be snatched back and reused. Maybe the card draw would be more valuable though? The other card draw engine I found that I'm wondering about if it would work for the token build is Military Intelligence. Wing two tokens at the opponent get a draw? Otherwise maybe it is just a case of dropping the Take Up Arms and sticking in two Jace's Ingenuity in that 5 drop slot. Dig Through Time won't be happening. I'm simply a casual player that likes to have a variety of fun decks to play with, so I as a rule just don't sink that much money into any one deck. I think if someone wanted to make this more competitive they could go that way. I figure they'd probably also include Elspeth as a token generator, but again I'm not dropping that kind of coin on a card.

I love me some Skulker, but you really need a sac outlet also. I'm actually trying to work out another deck for him (http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/budget-you-can-count-on-me/), but I'm not sure I dig him this build. Spirit Bonds also looks like a really cool card to build around, but I'm not sure it fits here. Not enough non token creatures. Might be another deck for another day (brain is already starting to churn on that, damn you!) I tried God Favored General in a tribal soldier/token build, and I didn't like him. He lost his spot to Akroan Horse which gave me more reliable token generation and was also hilarious. Coral Barrier might be a fit. I dislike First Response. I'll have to go check out the Herald, I don't know that one. I actually had the Vanguard in the heroic build to start with but pulled him because I decided I was being more about the counter build up than the token creation. Launch the Fleet is more an epic heroic trigger that happens to create some disposable bodies is my thought on that build.

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Posted 30 December 2014 at 16:21

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Of course my main issue with God Favored General is I had to attack to tap him, and he'd just get blocked and die. Maybe if I worked Glimpse the Sun God in it would give a gimmicky way to tap him down without putting him at risk? Hmm....

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Posted 30 December 2014 at 16:45

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I totally understand not sinking tons of money into a deck- ain't nobody got time for that :-) So casual budget style it is. I like that too.

And I think the Pull, the Take up Arms, and the Helix can all come out. Maybe for 4x Divination and 3x Military Intelligence\ Jace's Ingenuity\ Treasure Cruise. And you know, I was looking at the Horse... lol He is halarious. The Herald is a one drop 1\2 for W that can outlast for 2W- when you outlast, put a 1\1 Warrior token into play. A little slow, but not terrible... it might be that with the token spells we have and the launch the fleet, there are enough tokens...

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Posted 30 December 2014 at 17:02

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Added the draw cards. I'm thinking not Military Intelligence because of not wanting to put the tokens at risk before building a mass. Leaned Treasure Cruise over Jace's Ingenuity thinking there will be a lot of intant and sorcery cards in the graveyard to delve with.

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Posted 31 December 2014 at 15:32

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I'm liking the way this is shaping up. Hopefully it will work the way we want it to. Re: God Favored General- there are items like the SpringLeaf Drum that let you tap a creature to produce mana... or in this deck, he could be tapped to convoke the Angel, Devouring Light, or the Spirit... or tapped with the Glimpse would be a creative way as well.

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Posted 31 December 2014 at 16:55

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Hmm.... running into some issues... just taking a few practice draws. We have no way to protect the BT and we don't have enough early drops besides Raise the Alarm to make the HoN useful. In order to get a substancial number of creatures, we HAVE to do RtA into Trip Spirits and then have the BT and Launch... grumble, we need more early guys.

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Posted 31 December 2014 at 17:25

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Made a couple of spin off decks from this conversation.

A different deck for Hour of Need:
http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/economy-class/

A deck for Spirit Bonds:
http://www.mtgvault.com/thekraken/decks/the-spirit-of-battle/

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Posted 04 January 2015 at 20:44

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