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For some reason, I really like Ephara, God of the Polis. I know many other people don't, and she's certainly not as good as say Mogis or Xenagos, but I think she does have a very specific, but very powerful, place in Bant decks. Her ability says on EACH upkeep, if a creature entered the battlefield under your control during the last turn, draw a card. So, if you play a creature on your turn, draw a card on your opponent's upkeep. If you play a creature on your opponent's turn...draw a card on your upkeep. U/W does not have a lot of flash at this time, but there is another color that can help there...Prophet of Kruphix will really make this deck go. Other cards that can trigger Ephara for your upkeep include, besides the obvious Advent of the Wurm and Horizon Chimera, Voice of Resurgence (if killed on the enemy turn, you get the token and thus a draw), and Brimaz (whenever he blocks, you get a token). Even Selesnya Charm if need be, can give you a token, though the main reason the charm is there is to handle big fatties. This is an initial build, but the main idea with this deck is to have a mid-range deck that always keeps your hand full of cards.EDIT - I am leaving the title as it is, but I've decided to call this deck The Stratagem after some discussion with friends :)
Ramp up! You've got a strong early game to handle aggro decks and, even though the shtick is with Ephara, all these creatures are threats on their own, especially Voice of Resurgence and Brimaz. Once you get into mid game, you'll ideally have a fair hand size and a few good threats on the battlefield.
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Voices are very bad in the meta right now, last breath and anger of the gods are seen a lot. Perhaps boon satyrs for the flash? Iono, looks fun though
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There are very specific cards like the ones you mentioned that take care of the Voice pretty nicely, yeah. As far as I'm concerned, though, the Voice will be quite powerful more often than not, and still put the opponent in an awkward position when it comes to getting rid of it. Boon Satyr was very, very, veryyyyy close to being in this deck, and I'm still considering whether or not I can find a way to squeeze him in there. I'll have to play test the deck more to decide. Thanks for the feedback :)
No problem, only brought the voices up because my last deck was naya with strionic resonators, and even getting three tokens at once rarely led to a voice beat down haha; obviously they're OP by themselves, themewise turn 2 control turn 3 boon satyr flash gives you huge board position. Best of luck with it
what about deputy of acquittals to replace voice? another flash creature and also works great with ephara
Deputy of Acquittals was actually in the initial build, and part of me still wants to put that card in. We'll see though :)
this deck looks amazing.if its cool im going to build this deck and playtest it on saturday at a std tournamentmaybe think about courser of kruphix? helps with the ramp and a 2/4 3 drop isnt badseeing as youll be drawing at least 2 extra once the combo is out playing that top deck land or shipping it with the temples will be SHAmazingnice job!!
Thanks!Go right ahead, and let me know how it goes! Not that I could stop you over the internet B)Courser is certainly a good option. It's a beefy answer to aggro, and it does have good synergy with the sheer draw power that this deck has. I'm just concerned about whether or not there are simply better options...ramp is good, but not essential. Yes, the Caryatid is in there, but I think that is just enough to speed the deck up a little bit...nothing costs more than 5, and that's just the Prophet - only 3! On the other hand, more land = bigger Sphinx's Revelation. I'll keep the Courser in mind for sure :) Thanks for the feedback!
awesome! only things im missing are a couple of the temples, the new b/w god, and brizmaz but that shouldnt be too big a problemi hear what youre saying about courser and i totally understand. just another option if you find yourself behind in the draw or the land drops because of those pesky mono black devotion decks or mill decksthanks!
Sideboards: -2 Glare of Heresy; -1 Rapid Hybranization... ...+1 Revoke Existence; +2 Curse of the Swine...The deck is pretty good... ...I can see these type of decks appear on mayor tournaments, but won'T make top-8 probably... ...we'll see.......Here are my 2 new decks since BOTG came out:http://www.mtgvault.com/poetmasterx/decks/sphinxs-verdict/http://www.mtgvault.com/poetmasterx/decks/agressive-enlightment/
Thanks for the feedback! I might as well just replace the Glare of Heresy with Revoke Existence entirely, so I appreciate the idea there.Curse of the Swine is certainly good, I'm just not convinced since it is a sorcery. Rapid Hybridization is there to deal with big targets that I cannot easily otherwise get rid of, such as Stormbreath Dragon or Blood Baron, and - most importantly - Obzedat. Yeah, Selesnya Charm is in there but I'd like more than one quick, low cost answer for these cards.
Well said! It's certainly true... ...especially for Obzedat...The issue here is Gruul Devotion-ramp... ...Curse of the Swine destroyes the flow of it & especially in this deck, where you have many not too small creatures, those 2/2 bigs won't matter much on the other isde... ...his Devotion will perish, if you exile 3-4 creatures with Curse... ...imagine taking out Arbor Colossus, Polukranos & 1 or more Emissary at the same time!.. :)Selesnya Charm is good enough for Obzedat, but not for Stormbreath, tough 4 damage usually won'T matter before taking that dude out via Detention Sphere, since you have a nice deal of life-gain here...
That does sound rather fun! Gruul decks are certainly a pain, and it should definitely get late enough into the game to justify the curse of the swine. Color me convinced! :DStormbreath has protection from white though! Can't hit it with the detention sphere :( Yea, I can eat the 4 damage, but I'd rather not have to keep eating it XD
Supreme Verdict is just better than curse of the swine.
Not when it kills my own dudes though!
If you're really in a tight spot where its verdict or bust, I'd want an uncounterable definite 4 mana wipe everything and restart spell. That's just my view though! I built a simic flash version if you want to take a look on my page (won't link because I think its a bit obnoxious to link another deck!)
I will certainly take a look! :) Thanks for your feedback of course.The uncounterable bit is relevant in only a couple of cases, and generally speaking I would rather have to take on a few 2/2's with my own big creatures instead of just wiping the entire thing! It sets the game up towards my advantage rather than just resetting the board. That being said, I did originally think that I wanted maybe 1 Verdict in the main and 1 in the side, simply because it is an incredibly powerful spell. My main deck is American control, and I am quite fond of verdict B)
Curse of the Swine exiles, not destroyes, wich means it can take out gods as well... ...like Nylea, or Xenagos in Gruul... :)
Gothy... ...to link another deck isn't considered spamming on this site as far as you also provide help within the same comment... ...any time you want to share your builds with others, it's fine... ...it's what this site is for anyway... ...what other reason would we put decks up here for?......There is no such thing as being modest... ...because being modest is the same as being at modest... ...it's the same thing... ...especially when you state that you're not being obnoxious, because you don't do something for that reason... ...it's just so transparent.......No reason for speaking about a deck you want others to see & give their thoughts on & not post a link, because you want to look fair so bad... ...if you did post a link, people wouldn't had to search for your deck on your profile... ...you'd spare some time for everyone.......
Sorry just sometimes annoys me when people only post a link to a deck!
I always delite those comments... ...no help, nor opinion at all, only spamming... ...that's stupid & characterless.......
I actually made a deck really similar to this and proxied it and it works ok but a big thing I found that helps a lot it running a couple of spells like rootborn defense or ready and willing to protect everything against supreme verdict or anger of the gods, it's very useful and what constantly happens is I play a prophet and then I end my turn and I get all y lands back ready to cast one of those indestructible spells, it help a lot o keep yourself safe while sometimes screwing your opponent more if you have any tokens on the field and cast rootborn defense or cast ready and willing and then just have some unexpected indestructible blockers. Just what I've learned from my experience play testing.
Thanks for the feedback!I fully agree that creature heavy decks need a form of answer for a board wipe, especially verdict! I have a couple of different theories, being an experienced control player who throws around board wipes like it's going out of style (spoiler: it's not!), about a couple of these answers, and I want to see how well it works with this deck before I commit to putting in some Rootborn Defenses (The populate will come in handy, you see.)The main power behind a board wipe is the card advantage. If a deck plays 3 creatures and I cast verdict, my opponent just lost 3 cards to my 1 card. His tempo is more often than not set back entirely, thus his momentum is gone. I'm sitting pretty with a nice hand of answers for whatever else he brings out!However, if one creature alone is enough to bring out that board wipe (Brimaz, Advent) then card advantage is not gained for the opponent nor lost for you. But the bigger creatures that REALLYmake that work are Blood Baron and Stormbreath, for example. Another theory lies with Ephara herself: I really only want to play one creature a turn with this deck, and if Ephara is giving me cards back for every creature I play, then I'm maintaining card advantage! We'll see how it goes, of course. I could just be talking utter BS right now but hey, I'm a dreamer :p
I like you're deck a lot! I've run sample draws, and it's fairly consistent with creature drops. The only thing I would consider is SB centaur healer and put in loxodon smiter; despite the centaur healing you for 3, the smiter is bigger and can't be countered, so he provides a bigger threat and is more likely to survive against more creatures, burn spells, minus effects than the centaur. If you can take a look at my deck, I would appreciate it: http://www.mtgvault.com/dobledanger/decks/either-way-youre-gonna-die/
Why thank you! :DCentaur healer is just very strong in general, honestly. Yea, he's susceptible to a lightning strike, but that's not my biggest concern at the end of the day, since I'm still up 3 life. And if that does not happen, a 3/3 is nothing to sneeze at! The Smiter is in the sideboard, though, and I'd probably replace the healers with the smiter against a control deck, as that is the much better choice in such a match-up.Thanks for your feedback though! I can take a look indeed B)
I like this deck a lot. Very nice work with Ephara and every card a powerhouse too. But I have one complaint, and it really bothers me: Your mana is all over the damn place. You want to play Brimaz, Advent of the Wurm, and Sphinx's Revelation? That just seems greedy! Like this deck is so high on power that I regret having to say it, but if I were you I would try to reduce the number of mana symbols. Blue is by far the lightest splash which draws my attention towards a card that most people would be loathe to elminate from their deck: Sphinx's Revelation. But I actually think it distracts from this deck, and I really really think it should go. In it's place I would put another Ephara and maybe two Rootborn Defences. The thing is that this deck is most like a G/W midrange deck, and that deck didn't really need much of a push to be Tier 1. It seems to me the draw power of Ephara and the ridiculousness of Brimaz take care of that beautifully. So the other blue cards are more of just add-ons that complicate mana to me.
Thanks!The power behind Ephara lies in playing creatures on your opponent's turn, which means that Prophet of Kruphix and Horizon Chimera are INCREDIBLY potent. With the Prophet, I'm not just waiting on Voice to die or Brimaz to block to trigger Ephara: I'm playing them on my opponent's turn. And the Chimera has flash on his own, and I'm gaining steady life every upkeep whenever this deck starts to stabilize - typically by turn 5. Not to mention Detention Sphere being a very powerful removal card.I'm not really concerned about the mana being all over the place, mostly because it's relatively balanced with the dual lands. Why splash blue just for Ephara when I can put in those other cards that REALLY make the deck go! Also, generally speaking, if you're playing a deck with U/W involved and you're not running Sphinx's Revelation then you better have a very good reason! This deck is very mid-range, which means that I have the capacity to drop a Sphinx's very comfortably. With Prophet on the field I can play something on my turn and then happily drop a sphinx on the opponents. With the Chimera on the field I gain double life (essentially) off of the sphinx.The blue aspect of the deck certainly dropped once I decided to add green, but I don't think the deck would do what it does without the few cards that I mentioned here. At least, not as effectively.
I know full well the power level of Sphinx's Revelation, I just don't think you actually need it. With Ephara drawing you cards constantly and all your creatures being powerhouses, I see no reason to run revelation. But to each their own. The deck is very good already, I'm mostly just nitpicking
And thanks for your feedback of course! I'm just explaining my reasoning to keep the sphinx's in there, is all :)In a case where I don't happen to have Ephara, a Sphinx's will certainly help, especially if I somehow have blown everything I've got or if I need the sudden life. I simply find it to be useful in that regard :D
When i saw the title of this build i was skeptical but after looking at it i like it. I love it when people have original decks that are actually good and not some kitchen table brainstorm. This deck is very solid and well rounded. It is probably the best bant deck since prime speaker bant and for that i commend you.
Why, thank you sir! :D
I would really appretiate if you would look at my deck? i need some input and you seem to have a nack for deck building! :)http://www.mtgvault.com/prestonf/decks/blue-white-enchantmenthelp/
Thanks! I shall do so now! :)
This deck certainly looks good, i think it only needs one change. put a copy or two of your boy Daxos in there. he kicks so much butt and is insanely good against decks with big creatures. I think he deserves a shot in this meta and I think your deck can give him that shot.
noooo. just no... It has nothing to do with the theme, there is nothing to pump him, and he's not very good either... Putting him in over any of these cards would make the deck worse. If you want him in standard go ask the person who has Bant Hexproof on the front page to put him in. That's where he fits best. And if he doesn't work there then I gotta be honest with you and say he's never going to see the light in standard. Sometimes you just have to let your pet card die. That was me with Soul Ransom. Never could make that card worthwhile.
While I do like Daxos, I'm afraid I have to agree with kmk. He simply doesn't fit the deck :/
I built a control version of this actually, it's pretty fun! http://www.mtgvault.com/waferlawrence/decks/bant-spiral/ Im still doing the play testing and all, but alot of what you did was in my head when I was trying to figure out how to abuse Prophet and Ephara. My version really takes advantage of the Horizon Chimera's, but it's difficult to get devotion on Ephara. I may need to wedge stuff out to get the D Sphere's for devotion. Selesnya Charm seems wonderfull. It deals with some stuff real nicely and can crack out that tomen when need be. Love the deck!