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May is here and so is summer. In celebration of the arrival of this sun stricken season we have an article full of decks that are of a color represented by the sun itself.
Decks:
Starting us off today is a continuation of our foray into Legacy's Stompy decks. Soldier Stompy hits hard, working like a combination of traditional Stompy lists and Legacy's goblin decks to give you something truly unique.
Deck Name: Soldier Stompy
Deck Type: Aggro
Cost: 195
| DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Creatures [30] 4 Ballyrush Banneret 4 Captain of the Watch 4 Daru Warchief 4 Enlistment Officer 4 Field Marshal 2 Phyrexian Revoker 4 Preeminent Captain 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben | Spells [12] 4 Chalice of the Void 4 Chrome Mox 4 Suppression Field Lands [18] 4 Ancient Tomb 12 Plains 2 Remote Farm |
Key Interactions-
Preeminent Captain + Captain of the Watch or Enlistment Officer
Chalice of the Void and Suppression Field are your hopeful turn one plays, made possible by Ancient Tomb and Chrome Mox. The chalice and its strength should be nothing new to most of you, usually being set to one to stop spells like Swords to Plowshares, Thoughtseize, Brainstorm and Lightning Bolt, to name a select few. Suppression Field may need some explaining though. The card is much more powerful than most give it credit, especially in this most recent Legacy meta. The main draw of Suppression Field is that fetch lands actually cost mana to use when it is out. This can effectively mana screw many opponents much in the same way that a Blood Moon would in Dragon Stompy. It does more than this however, as Mother of Runes, Deathrite Shaman, Grim Lavamancer, Knight of the Reliquary and any equipment's equip cost all cost mana to activate as well. This can be detrimental to many decks and their strategies. Even many rogue decks are affected. Aggro Loam having to pay mana to hit you with Seismic Assault is a great example. Phyrexian Revoker more or less plays the same role, only in nifty-difty creature form.
After getting some disruption and soft lock cards on to the field you want to start playing your enablers. Ballyrush Banneret will more often than not be your initial enabler. Not much to him besides his surface role. Banneret makes your bigger hitters cost less, and his ability stacks. Daru Warchief serves the same purpose, but costs more and can be considered a big hitter himself, especially considering the fact that he comes with a lord buff that he gives to himself! Without question though, the most powerful enabler in the deck is Preeminent Captain. Captain is a Goblin Lackey on steroids. Not only is it not required that he actually hit your opponent before he cheats another soldier into play, but the creature that comes out does so attacking with him! He also comes as a respectable 2/2 first striker, which is only made better by the lords that can buff him when he calls them out.
Speaking of lords, this deck has three full play sets of creatures that provide a buff just for sitting on the table! We already touched on Daru Warchief, who gives a slightly larger buff to defense than most lords do. The Warchief is not alone in his endeavors though. Field Marshal gives a boost while also providing first strike to all your creatures, which is a very underrated ability as anyone who had played with Thalia can tell you. The big hitter for you in terms of lords, and really in terms of creatures in general, is Captain of the Watch. It's hot Captain on Captain action when you use Preeminent Captain to cheat Captain of the Watch into play, who brings along three of her good friends to the party as well, buffing everyone and giving them vigilance. This sort of play is extremely entertaining, and is not all too rare either. Enlistment Officer is another great creature to cheat into play, as he will find you more creatures to party down later on.
Sideboard Suggestions-
Playing against control is a strange fight to be in with this deck, as it could go either way depending on who can resolve what first. Oblivion Ring is probably your best choice to get rid of Jace. Beyond this, Armageddon is a potential bomb, but you need to really be comfortable using it. In the same vein, Winter Orb may be another good option.
For combo, as always graveyard hate is usually a must. Tormod's Crypt or Rest in Peace are probably what should be used, as any one cost spell will be inhibited by your Chalices. Leyline of Sanctity can help with storm as well as against anything that runs discard, which is usually a decent problem for Soldier Stompy considering the deck has no card selection or draw to speak of. Rule of Law is another great card that most players won't see coming that works great with Thorn of Amethyst.
Intrepid Hero can be used for some of your more fringe aggro match ups. Keep in mind he can kill an Emrakul. Along the same lines, white has Oblivion Ring. There is also plenty of artifact and enchantment destruction to choose from, Abolish being one that I have seen more so than others in this archetype. Absolute Law may or may not be needed, depending on how much RUG and Punishing Fire is in your meta. Other notable cards are Serenity, Cursed Totem and Umezawa's Jitte.
Deck Name: Mono White Tokens
Deck Type: Aggro/White Weenie
Cost: 205
Mono White tokens is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. White has quite a few cards that produce multiple tokens, so it seems only natural that a deck that uses most or all of them exists.
Key Interactions-
Intangible Virtue or Honor of the Pure + any of your tokens
This deck functions on the idea that every card should produce two or more "cards" as a result of resolving. In this way, it can generate card advantage without ever casting a draw spell. Through this, one can fill the field with tokens, which you will buff through a variety of ways and swarm your opponent out of the game.
Your most basic token producing spells are Raise the Alarm and Gather the Townsfolk. For each, you spend one card to produce two tokens, which results in a net gain of "cards." While minor, there are differences between the two. Alarm is an instant, which means you can cast it during your opponent's end phase for some combat tricks. Gather has Fateful hour, which causes it to produce a whopping five tokens for two mana in dire situations. Spectral Procession is one of your more powerful man makers, working in the same way as a non-faithful Gather Townsfolk, only giving you an extra token for the added cost. Three tokens at the cost of one card is pretty darn good when you think about it, and the fact that these guys have flying only adds to its cool factor. Timely Reinforcements is a potential Spectral Procession (sadly producing tokens of the non-flying variety) that can also gain you life should you be behind. Basically, the card is your safety net and can save you if a board wipe happens, or if you are getting out aggro'd.
Speaking of Hour of Reckoning, every deck needs some kind of protection, and this guy is perfect for the job. The synergy here is pretty awesome, as the fact that you are producing multiple tokens constantly means the convoke can get this thing down for pretty cheap, plus it doesn't even kill your tokens! Swords to Plowshares is the staple removal card of the format, and anything less than four in this deck is criminal. In fact, with Path to Exile we effectively have six! These guys are pretty important for getting rid of large or otherwise troublesome enemies that we can't normally deal with. Another way of dealing with creatures that are bigger than your tokens is by making your tokens bigger to compete. Intangible Virtue and Honor of the Pure are your players in this regard, with virtue giving the additional vigilance buff. With these guys out your token makers bring out 2/2 fighters instead of 1/1, or even 3/3 and on depending on how many you have in play. It's pretty easy to see how this works. Getting the enchantments out increases your clock and allows for more favorable combat in general. Umezawa's Jitte plays more or less the same role, as well as a couple others. Not much to say about that card that I have not already said before.
Sideboard Suggestions-
Control should be a pretty simple match for you. Each of your spells holds with it the value of two or more spells for the most part, meaning your threat density is much more than most control decks can handle. Silence can be used to make key spells uncounterable and Oblivion Ring can deal with planeswalkers, but for the most part your sideboard should prepare you for other match ups.
Red is a pretty big threat to your creatures, so Absolute Law is a pretty key card for your aggro games. Meekstone is another nifty tool for your aggro opponents that you will see more of soon. You could also keep some extra Path to Exile in here to deal with creatures that you otherwise would not be able to handle. Ghostly Prison should stop other swarm decks cold while Disenchant and its friends help against anything that uses equipment.
As far as combo goes, Oblivion Ring can help your Show and Tell matches, as well as others like control. Keep that graveyard hate up and consider Silence for the storm matches. Ethersworn Canonist and Leyline of Sanctity can also help there.
Deck Name: White Weenie
Deck Type: Aggro
Cost: 245
This is a list based on a white weenie deck that placed 18th at a recent SCG on 2/3/2013. I know, I know, I've talked about white weenie before. In fact, my very first article was on White Weenie as an archetype. This specific list however, is one that did not exist at the time. From what I can tell, this is because the deck has been constructed in a very meta driven way.
| DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
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Creatures [22] 4 Dryad Militant 3 Serra Avenger 4 Knight of Meadowgrain 3 Mirran Crusader 4 Mother of Runes 4 Squadron Hawk | Spells [18] 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 3 AEther Vial 3 Path to Exile 3 Meekstone 4 Swords to Plowshares 2 Umezawa's Jitte 1 Sword of War and Peace | Lands [20] 20 Plains |
Key Interactions-
Serra Avenger + MeekStone
Mirran Crusader + Umezawa's Jitte
This white weenie list is all about trumping aggro decks. Meekstone is the key player in this area. RUG specifically has a nightmare against this card, as every creature they own gets stuck under its weight. Serra Avengers don't ever tap when they attack, the rest of your creatures have less than two power, so stone really fits like a glove in this list. The four Swords to Plowshares and three Path to Exile means you have seven of the most efficient removal spells every printed to use against any creatures bigger than yours. Elspeth, Knight-Errant gives you infinite blockers should you need them, but she can certainly put you in the aggro seat as well. Mother of Runes can act as a wall herself, or protection for your key creatures. Knight of Meadowgrain gives you the ever important lifelink to keep burn and battle damage to a minimum as well. This all goes without mentioning the strength of Umezawa's Jitte in any creature match up.
Sideboard Suggestions-
Against control decks you want to bring in cards like Oblivion Ring or Pithing Needle for Jace and friends. Disenchant could find its way in here as well, depending on exactly which control deck you are going up against. Really, Jace should not be too much of a problem as you have a decent number of fliers, and in a 1v1 Elspeth kills Jace every time.
Your aggro match ups are by far your best, so there is not much for you to bring in. You could have a fourth Meekstone if you really want. Something like Disenchant could be used against opposing equipment and if you are really afraid of red Kor Firewalker is probably your best bet in the creature department while Absolute Law sticks around to protect everything you own.
Combo rough for you, so the majority of your board should be made to fight it. Silence and Ethersworn Canonist are your storm trumps. Oblivion Ring is your best answer for Show and Tell. Finally, Tormod's Crypt and friends can handle anything graveyard related that your main deck Dryad Militant can't.
Conclusion:
Thus ends another weenie heavy white article. What did you think of this month's lists? Let me know in the comment section and I'll see you all next time!
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