Trom1324

Not that I am aware of. I think Dark Ritual & Seething Song are the only cards that do that kind of thing. It doesn't make any sense for any of the other colors to have a card that functions like that.

This deck looks pretty good. One question - how do you plan on casting Harbor Bandit? You have no black mana generation.

I think Veteran Explorer would work only if you're not worried about giving your opponent lands too.

Definitely need to mana ramp. X cost creatures do no good if you can't pump them up. Cheap options are Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves, plus they double as chump blockers if your opponent tries to overwhelm you with creature tokens. Cultivate, Explore, or Explosive Vegetation are good for mana. You can search for forests with Evolving Wilds. Vernal Bloom would double each forest and Boundless Realms wouldn't be bad if you can get it early.

You'll also need something to protect from instant kills, i.e. black. Splashing some white for Obsidian Acolyte is a decent option. Or if you want to go old-school, check out Willow Priestess.

Seems like a fun idea. I was surprised that one of my decks qualified. Mono-black Exalted:

http://www.mtgvault.com/trom1324/decks/the-exalted-ones/

I'm a fairly casual player, but definitely appreciate insights from you more serious players out there :)

Thanks! I can see including both of the cards you suggested - especially Champion of the Parish (basically a White Champion of Lambholdt, but for humans). I'll definitely have to look into getting one. I haven't been able to run this deck much, and it was my first attempt at an EDH. I wish I had some of the cards you've got in yours to add into here too :)

That's a good point. I took your suggestion about the Staff, since I don't have a lot of cards that generate a draw, the only reason to have to put my library back in the deck would be if all the demons ended up in the graveyard.

Also - I removed Liliana to add 2 more of the Lord of the Void. Since the Diabolic Tutors were in there to specifically search for Liliana I took those out as well and added 4 Desecration Demon (from r2r). I think that should give enough options for demons from the library and also a fall-back in my hand once I run out of the Shadowborn.

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the Underworld Connections/Crypt Incursion combo. Crypt Incursion was a card that I was considering back when I was also looking at -Dark Prophecy- I am a bit leery about including Crypt Incursion though in case I need to recycle the Apostle's back in. I also considered several different Demons, but it made more sense to me to just go with one and play off of that.

But if I use just Underworld Connections, I could gain life back with the Elixir or throwing in a Staff of the Death Magus.

I was trying to avoid the Innistrad block as they aren't going to be standard for much longer. That's why Killing Glare is in the sideboard, I should be able to generate a lot of mana (esp. if I use your draw mechanic), then Glare can kill any large creatures that are in the way.

And yes you're correct - the Demon is intended for play from the library using the Apostle.

http://www.mtgvault.com/trom1324/decks/beware-the-shadowborn/

Not everyone here plays Standard, and just because a deck is "Standard legal" doesn't mean it has to be played in tournaments or anything like that, it just means that it can be. In my opinion, this is a good (and cheap) deck that a beginning player could easily replicate for casual use with his/her friends - AND it employs a couple of different win cons to give newer players the chance to see other aspects of the game other than "get this guys life to 0 before mine does".

As a casual player myself, I wish I would have had a resource like this (mtgvault) to look for deck ideas and have a template to build an affordable deck when I was just beginning. I enjoy seeing different takes on all sorts of decks here - no 2 are exactly the same - and it's a fantastic resource for any type of player, in any format, at any level of competition.

Building a deck is a science, so take the time to appreciate what other players can do with the cards that you may or may not have thought of, and there's no need to criticize a deck just because the current "meta game" or whatever is SOOOOOO much better.

I didn't even consider Elixir of Immortality - but that's a really good idea. It also allows me to throw my other spells back into the deck for use again. I added the Elixir and Life from the Loam and took out Sylvan Scrying. I also reduced my Explore's by 1 but I didn't want to take them out completely just because they let me draw a card - I know the Scrying lets me put a land in my hand but the payoff from being able to draw anything is better in my opinion.

Thanks for the suggestion! I've put Budoka into the sideboard as a card under consideration. I think I'll hold off on Hold the Gates at the moment as I don't want the deck to become reliant on too many mana colors. That being said, multiple gates would provide more colors of mana if I go that route, so I will have to consider that as an option.

Were there any cards I have in the sideboard that you think would fit better in the main deck in place of ones I have there already? I'm leaning towards Life from the Loam and Ancient Stirrings as more lands in my hand would be more beneficial to the abilities of the Oracle & Explore.

I like this deck overall - there's a lot of pieces that an opponent has to be aware of. I second what Jace said above - Urban Evolution would be killer in any Maze deck, but since you do have a enchantment sub-theme going on I don't think it quite fits what you want. Maybe try to work in Unexpected Results instead. If you don't draw a land, it's not a big deal cause you get to play the card for free (i.e. you could possibly play your Rubblehulk for 4 cmc). And if you do get a land it goes straight to the battlefield & you get the card back to cast again.

I've got a prototyped Maze's End deck that I'm looking for help on. It's not Standard (I typically only play casually) but there may be some cards I have that would help in your deck.

http://www.mtgvault.com/trom1324/decks/mazes-end-prototypesimic/

Made some adjustments (new deck list above!) based on your suggestions. I'm going to try and run this a few times before making any further edits, but additional comments/suggestions are appreciated.

I've been meaning to add Jace, just haven't had the $ for it yet. At this point it's a question of how many copies. In my other decks with Planeswalkers I only have 1 copy because I am comfortable with the rest of the deck dynamic - it seems here that I might need to go with 2+ just because the ability is so good.

It does seem like the Ghost Quarter/Trap would be situational - but they're both still good cards in and of themselves. If they don't search I destroy a land, and a higher cost spell that mills 13 isn't as big of a deal since I have so many other lower cost cards.

Purely on a whim, I am considering tossing in 1 or 2 Grafdigger's Cage in. This way I can trigger the fetch but it would be unplayable if they choose (I've played a few people who like to scout their decks) & it takes away any reanimate type cards as well... basically once I mill a card to the graveyard it stays there. Thoughts?

After some quick looks I've decided on some preliminary adjustments:

- Harbor Serpent, Stormtide Leviathan, & Wall of Frost are coming out. Adding 2 more Fog Bank so only creatures will be those, the Phantasms & Shriekgeists. All flying, and all cheap for blocking.
- Curse of the Bloody Tome is coming out and I'm taking out 2 Islands.
- Per suggestion above (thanks MTGnerdrage!) I am going to add 4 each of Archive Trap & Ghost Quarter. And also add copies of Dream Twist (love the flashback on this card) and Tome Scour to bring those up to 4 each.

I'm hoping those changes make it flow a little better. It was frustrating having a decent mill-style deck and pulling a hand full of (expensive) creatures. I'm hoping with the new set up it will flow much nicer. Will update the deck list as soon as it is ready.

Other comments/suggestions are appreciated as I continue to tinker with this deck.

That's a nice little combo - not sure if I have any copies of either of those. I'll definitely consider working it in.

That is pretty nice - and does almost the same thing as the Lantern. I kinda like the Lantern at this point as an additional mana source, and since it adds the ability, I don't have to worry about doubling mana (like keeper of Progenitus does).

I'll definitely look into it - still need more PT with the deck as is before I make any serious adjustments, so far it flows pretty good.

Steel Hellkite doesn't really fit in this deck. Its first ability is too expensive for what it does, and I already have Moonveil Dragon which does the same thing, for all my creatures, for less. And its second ability is limited to creatures that block it. I can do significant damage to my opponents creatures with both Balefire's & Scourge's abilities.