On the world of Theros, mortals have long worshipped the gods in the starlit sky. Many wars have raged across the plane, amongst man and minotaur, satyr and centaur, mortal against mortal.
But these are strange times on Theros. The stars have begun winking out in the sky, and new ghostly images replace them. For the first time in millennia, a new god has appeared, and wages war on man and god alike. Some follow this strange new being with fanatical devotion, but many others now stand up to fight for their very existence, raging not at each other any longer, but at the heavens themselves.
And they are not alone. Another stranger has arrived in Theros... not a god, though she carries a weapon forged by them. She leads humans from across the plane in their new war, and has led them to victory in many battles. It is rumored that she is a champion destined to defeat this new usurper in the stars. But when it comes time for mortal to face immortal, who will emerge victorious? The fate of the entire plane rests on the outcome....
This is half of a new Duel Deck I have cooked up. (The other half, highlighted by Elspeth, is here: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/duel-deck-elspeth-vs-xenagos).
Just like Wizards' Duel Decks, this is centered around one mythic and features primarily Modern-legal cards with some older ones mixed in (which, if printed, would get the new, current border and in some cases updated art as well). It also sticks to just a handful of rares and tends to go with a lot of one-ofs among other cards, with a small handful of key cards that may get multiple copies (and even then, usually only two). Also, unlike Event Decks and other feature decks from Wizards, Duel Decks lack sideboards. I tried very hard to keep with all those restrictions here... believe me, if this were your more typical constructed deck, it would look a lot different!
The mythic is obviously Xenagos (the planeswalker version), and the rares are Firedrinker Satyr, Legion Loyalist, Shared Animosity, Revel of the Fallen God, and Temple of Abandon. Not much in the way of money-makers, but very thematic. This deck is about amassing a large force of creatures and bashing face... attack, attack, attack! Coincidentally this is basically the same strategy as Elspeth's deck... who needs defense? :-P
You may find it odd that I included cards like Shared Animosity and Roar of the Crowd, but notice how many Satyrs there are...and then remember that the tokens you create from Xenagos and Revel of the Fallen God are Satyrs as well. Nasty! Really only the widespread first strike of Elspeth's Soldiers can keep that kind of power in check, but you have your own counter with widespread pingers like Scouring Sands, Simoon, and Rollick of Abandon. It's a nice race to see if you can get those out before they start boosting their creatures up.
In that and many other ways, I tried very hard to make these decks really counter each other well. They both have the same number of rares and uncommons. And if you compare the two decks, you'll see that there are many cards that really mirror each other. For example:
Gruul Keyrune & Thunder Totem
Satyr Nyx-Smith & God-Favored General
Archetype of Aggression & Archetype of Courage
Nyxborn Rollicker & Nyxborn Shieldmate
Respite & Riot Control
Yavimaya Kavu & Crusader of Odric
Destructive Revelry & Solemn Offering
Roar of the Crowd & Coordinated Barrage
Temple of Abandon & New Benalia
...and others.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun creating these decks. I have a few more Duel Deck ideas I'm kicking around, but if you like this and have other suggestions, please throw them out there and I'll see what I can do!
I appreciate any feedback you can provide here, good or bad. Anything I can improve? Any gaping holes that you see? How about the balance? Useful comments will get you +1 rep points and a virtual slap on the back. :-P Thanks for reading...hope you like it!