Yeah, I could add white- but I think they call that deck Abzan Midrange or Abzan Agro... :-) Adding Seige Rhinos, Abzan Charms, Wingmate Rocs, and maybe the Fleecemane Lions- all good cards, and all work really well with the theme. However, they blow the budget tag right out of the water and make it a deck that's already been built. I prefer to go rogue with my brews...
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So I did some testing this weekend and the Dictates did very well. It's still a very grindy style game though. It's tough to take a turn off to play it on their turn\ end step, but it's not very often you see it in an opening hand... and mid to late game you have the mana to do more than one thing a turn- aka play the Dictate, play a Wall, sac a wall.... also, the Bloodsucker is amazing late game. With a rather large board stalemate vs Abzan midrange and against an opponents 24 life total, I played a second Bloodsucker- 6 sacraficed creatures late the game was over. I hadn't seen a Dictate that game either... also, I don't have all the sideboard cards for MTGO so it's tough to get an accurate feel for how they work. I def get to 5 black devotion so the Erebos plays a role that I don't get to see online.
well, not quite any spell... just non creature... and you have to have a 4 power creature in play...otherwise they just pay one.... I'm not saying it isn't a good card, I'm just saying it's circumstantial...
In order to have a chance to play any of your cards, you need to run mana producers. Elven Mystic, Sylvan Carytaid, Frontier Seige, etc. These cards allow to to have more mana available to cast your big spells sooner. And you probably only need 24 land tops. Some control decks will run more, but your deck will want to put down some early mana guys, and then play some big monsters. It's akin to using the Cruicble of Spirits or the Nykthos. Those lands help but you still need the early guys to give you that quick start. Additionally, when you build a deck, the cards that do the most of what you want should have 4 copies in the main deck- well, at least 3. This increases the chance you draw them. For example, Stormbreath Dragon is probably one of the better cards in the format right now- 4\4 flying, haste, pro white, AND has a monstrous ability ? For 5 mana? That's a really good card... you'll probably want to see him every game. Run 4 of him. On the other hand, by comparison, the Shivan dragon is a 5\5 flyer for 6 that can do more damage for each R you pay- not as good. Maybe you take the Shivan Dragon count down by 2 and add 2 more of the Stormbreath Dragon. And typically speaking, you want a maximum of 60 cards in the deck. Those are some deck building basics- different decks will be built differently, but if I were just getting started with deck building, I would try and keep things simple.
Minor adjustments- removed the Chasm Skulker- too much of a removal magnet...
I wouldn't say much better... sure, U is better than 1U but it's the difference between conditional\ force spike and a hard counter to non creature spells. Although I'd have to wonder how often the deck would have ferocious...
I like the idea, but main deck or SB? and what to swap out for them if in the main?
I think it's better than where it started :-) I'm not sure if you want to hold the Master of the Feast until late game- he is just a super aggressive creature- and if they can't draw an answer early, they lose. You hold him until mid- late game and they have time to set up land, and maybe even get some defenses into play... I say get him on the board as early as you can and make them deal with him or lose. If you want to put more cards in the opponents hand for discard purposes you might want to try Fascination or Dictate of Kruphix... but a 5\5 flyer ends the game pretty quickly...
I think I might- once I can get my hands on a couple... after the pre-release is done online, and the cards are available I can't imagine it'll be more than .15 of a ticket... I have to wonder if I'll swap out the Dictates (they're getting tested first since I already have them) for the Seiges, or maybe find a way to fit in a pair with the Dictates... a pair of 5cc enchantments are a pain in the ass, but I don't think I could lose if I have both out and a Wall of Mulch.... you'd have to play 2+ creatures a turn to do anything... but it still is 2 5cc enchantments...... it's possible that the pair of Dictates is enough to break through the stalemates, but we'll see.
LOL I totally forgot I had the budget tag on it.... I suppose I should remove that tag since it's crept up to almost $80.... not that $80 is expensive compared to the majority of other decks. That won't even cover the land in some decks... and that would explain why I didn't include the Temple either... >facepalm< I wonder how much they would bump the cost.... again >facepalm< (just did a check- w Garruk and the lands it bumps the cost about $50) But I do agree with you about the 1 of at least replaceing itself... and the Sage is a really good example. Truth be told, I've been running this online but w\o the Dictates yet... I added them because the board state does typically get mucked up and they are cheap as well. I was considering Palace Seige to get the last few points of damage through, but wasn't too sure about it.
I like this deck idea... I was toying with a Trail of Mystery\ Secret Plan style deck but hadn't revisited since FRF. I do like how this buiold looks. Here are some of my thoughts. I understand why the Lens is on the list, but there has to be a better way to do that- Lens is not a good card lol. I think more things that scry will go a long way to replacing the Lens and get better value. For example, I think Write into Being should be a x4- It let's you pick your manifest card and then set up your next draw... that seems really good to me in a deck that wants to manifest\ morph everything- or as much as possible. So maybe the Sigiled Starfish? If we're going expensive- Coursar of Kruphix too. I think a deck full of morph cards should run the Elvish Mystics. Turn one mystic into turn 2 everything is pretty good. I like the ideal situation of elf into Write into Being that finds the Hooded Hydra... Turn 3 secret plans into a 5\5 Hydra and draw a card... sure, that's a perfect draw but if you bump the count of each to 4- I'm sure it could happen... and a 5\5 on turn 3? Even w\o the Plans, that's still amazing. I also think the deck will need 24 land... or at least 22 and the 4 elves. If you don't get the Trail and 2-3 lands in the opening hand, it could be difficult to get the engine going. Another card worth considering is Peel From Reality instead of Force Away. It will allow you to pick up any manifested spells or lands, as well as comboing really nicely with the Icefeather Aven and the Trail of Mystery. And Temur Sabertooth could have the same effect as well as being a 4\3 beater. Ghostfire blade might be worthy of a x2 spot. With all the manifesting and morph creatures, +2\+2 for 1 mana to equip also seems really strong.
If you're going to play Waste Not, you really should be playing Dark Deal....
So here's another question-if we're considering a "1 of", is it worth it to run him as a 1 of- compared to say.... Nissa, or Garruk? Typically I feel a random 1 of should be of the game changer value... otherwise you should probably run more than just 1 of him and try to make him a more consistant part of the deck...
Hmmm- I beleive you are correct that he wouldn't be my first creature on the board, but he will always be the easiest to kill... granted, if they were worried about my drawing cards they would have to spend their removal on him instead of the Bloodsucker.... and I'd be reluctant to cut a Blooduscker- mid to late game he really is an all-star... I guess the question would be is he better than a Read the Bones? A definite 2 cards w\ the scry of 2 for 3 mana and 2 life vs a 2\1 for 3 that will give me an extra card when I have the greatest toughness on the board......
I love drawing cards- it's probably my favorite thing, and passive card draw is great... but without the Dictate or the Reaper, he's an overcosted 2\1. I guess the question is how many cards do you need to draw off him for him to be considered "good"- 1 just replaces him.... maybe 2? And there's no way, aside from being the only creature on the board that he ever triggers himself.... but to entertain the idea, what would you swap out?
I like the beast master, but he just seems so fragile... a 3 drop for a 2\1 body? Also in my playtesting I found that I don't typically have a lack of cards with the Read the Bones, Wall of Mulch, and Scrying from Reaper...
I like the Deciple, that's a pretty neat idea, but how do you tap him? Maybe if you were running some convoke cards, or an enchantment or two from Journey that allows for tapping for scry or life drain.. but any time mid game and on you'll have to send them into combat, and that's not so good. The Deciple of Phenax is good for discard and devotion... I tried a Waste Not devotion deck here with mixed results... http://www.mtgvault.com/bellz76/decks/mono-black-waste-not/ but that was way before Dark Deal. You may need to find a way to give that Howler evasion somehow... maybe the Herald of Torment? Helps devotion as well as gives flying- triggers your Doomwake Giant...
what happens when you don't draw Waste Not or Dark Deal? Or one without the other? You need better support cards for the deck. IF you're depending on the combo, the deck will only win when you have the combo... ideally you need other cards that work with drawing cards, or hurt your opponent when they draw cards.... or gives you more options for multi card discard (other than the cat and seize). Here's my attempt: http://www.mtgvault.com/bellz76/decks/ub-waste-not/
both morph creatures and manifested cards count as colorless, so the -X would have no effect on them.
I was toying with a build like this.... not sure how viable it is, but it feels like it would be fun. I was thinking the Burnished Heart would fit and help accelerate, as well as the Steelleaf Drum... and the Doom Engine, a playset of Shrap blast, and maybe Colateral Damage... it would probably have to be R\U? Red for the above mentioned stuff, and blue to keep the hand full... too bad the Dark Steel Forge rotated out... lol Just not sure how successful it will be... maybe some manifest and morph cards?
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