On the mana-rich plane of Zendikar, two planeswalkers, one young and one immeasurably ancient, find themselves as uneasy allies with the same goal: saving the plane. One calls Zendikar home, living among several Elven tribes and keeping her planeswalker spark hidden. The other flaunts it openly and travels much further around the multiverse, but seeks Zendikar's salvation, as he and two long-lost companions saved the plane eons ago from an ancient, now-buried power....
Though they could scarcely be more different, these planeswalkers, Nissa Revane of the Joraga Elves and Sorin Markov of an ageless vampire family from across the multiverse, joined together with a mixed band of elves, vampires, and other allies to face the threat of the mighty Eldrazi. But their trust in each other was only skin deep, and eventually their distrust resulted in the Eldrazi's release from their prison, putting Zendikar--and indeed, the entire multiverse--in grave peril. Deep-seated resentment boiled over, and they parted in anger, Sorin abandoning the "foolish" Elf and her world to their fate.
Now, as Nissa seeks Sorin, will their reunion be another begrudging alliance against a common foe, or will their past broken partnership lead to another fateful duel...and if so, who will emerge victorious?
*** (The opposing deck is here: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/duel-decks-nissa-vs-sorin) ***
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). Each deck has the same number of rares and even uncommons in an attempt to keep them balanced. 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 here is Sorin Markov...not the nobler B/W version that dueled with Tibalt on Innistrad, but the more selfish mono black original. He's surrounded himself with vampires in this deck, including rares Anowon, the Ruin Sage (one of few survivors of the ill-fated company Sorin led with Nissa), Malakir Bloodwitch, Butcher of Malakir, Bloodghast, and vampire wannabe Ophiomancer. Other rares fitting the overall theme are Sorin's Vengeance, Monomania, and Crypt of Agadeem. There are some decent chase cards among those rares, but mainly they're here to fit the theme.
And what is that theme? Vampires doing what they do best: feeding on others--especially the opponent--to get stronger. Many of them beef up when the opponent hits 10 (or less) life...and conveniently, Sorin himself has two abilities that get the opponent below that critical threshold over time or right away. Sorin's Vengeance and Malakir Bloodwitch can trigger an instant 10-or-less-life as well, and a number of other spells (and even lands with Leechridden Swamp) trickle that life total ever downward.
This deck is adept not just at going right at the opponent, but also at removing their creatures, with numerous ways to eliminate creatures or force the opponent to make a hard choice and sacrifice them. Then your own creatures can rush the enemy and steal away that last bit of their life total.
I appreciate any feedback you can provide here, good or bad. How did I do with the balance between the two decks? Anything I can improve? Any gaping holes that you see? Useful comments will get you +1 rep points and a virtual slap on the back. :-P
If you liked this, check out my other duel decks at "http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/duel-deck". I have many already and they're expanding quickly. If you have any specific requests (planeswalker vs. planeswalker, theme vs. theme, race vs. race, or anything else), let me know and I'll see what I can put together.
Thanks for reading!