Catapult Squad could take one of your tappers's place (i don't think you need that many). Can lock down weenies from attacking and can hit bigger threats with to arms!
Added the new innistrad soldiers, Mentor of the Meek, Champion of the Parish, and Elite Inquisitor. All look to be highly promising, especially the mentor and the Inquisitor.
This is my first real weenie deck. I've been playing since Onslaught, but I stopped playing in the same set. I picked the game up back when Scars of Mirrodin came out. I've been collecting since. Everything I have has been from booster packs except for one card, the Hero of Bladehold. I'd really like some critique for the deck and any comments or additions I should make.
The artifact subtheme in your deck seems grafted on, with no real reason to be there. Yes, it's cool to get all of the Empires artifacts out at once. This deck really isn't going to be able to do that with only one copy of each and no search abilities.
As for the rest of your deck, it appears to have the same core issue as many casual decks that are brought here: so many 1x's and 2x's that you have no real consistency.
So asking some questions will help with the direction you want to take this in.
Which cards in this deck are you finding most effective at helping you to win or deal with your opponent's threats? Which are least effective? Are there cards in the deck you're frequently finding it not worth the mana to cast?
What would you like this deck to do that you don't feel it can do now? (i.e. kill faster, maintain better board control, etc.)
For now, I want to get more Buried Ruins in and more control enchantments. Any ideas on improvement?
Buried Ruins doesn't really seem like it's doing anything for you here. Your deck only contains five artifacts. Why not just run more copies of the artifacts you want to make sure stay on the battlefield, namely your equipment?
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Do you like more Elite Vanguards, and Honor the Pure? I think you want Silence here too. Take a look at my build, you might want to have some of those cards, Serra's Blessing is a very good cheap card.
Then you want Field Marshal and Benalish Commander. I agree with Binary, you want a simple deck. If you are running only 1x and 2x then you probably are making it more for fun and inconsistency than winning?
Mobilization actually seems really cool here. It gives you a cheaper way to grant vigilance to all your soldiers, as well as somewhere to throw three extra mana if you've got nothing better to do with it.
Probably the next most efficient token creator after that is Militia's Pride. But you'll need a healthy number of non-token soldiers to get the most out of it.
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I am no longer on MTGS staff, so please don't contact me asking me to do staff things. :|
Captain of the Watch SCREAMS to be cheated into play somehow. You basicly have to run either a way to cheapen it (Banneret, Warchief), a way to ramp to it (Tithe, KotWO, Land Tax) or Preeminent Captain. Token gen is not bad, but captain of the watch is way to expensive to run in weenie decks with out a back up plan.
Worship - As long as you have creatures on the field damage dealt to you is reduced to 1 great card as long as it's not against lifeloss.
Martyr's Cause - Damage prevention by saccing that 1 token you chould have been chumping with to prevent all damage from a source of your choice.
Angel's Grace - Great against those last ditch efforts to kill you and keep them from winning, buys you a turn. great card
Justice - Problem with red. justice will make them pay for hurtin you
Eye for an Eye - Yea same as Justice but works against any color.
Intervention Pact - getting trampled by a fattie?, or how about a massive burn spell against you for the win.... No problem Intervention pact has ya covered.... take that impressive amount of would be damage and turn it into lifegain.... your opponents will hate ya but you get to live.
I notice a LOT of threads where people are building tribal decks, which are my personal favorite but also want to build on a budget, and people are posting the most expensive cards possible.
So I put into consideration of throwing my 'custom' budget building decks as I go through them, and I thought I'd start off one that a lot of people ask about, the exciting weenie white soldiers.
The total came out to be about $10.73, now that's budget and for the look of the deck, I think it's quite worth the money, but of course, if you want to go a little higher, you could always switch some things out yourself.
Down to the dirty bits of the deck. In my honest opinion, a lot of people think Gideon's Avenger and Gideon's Lawkeeper are great cards to have in but I feel like it's too slow of a combo, and on top of that, I prefer having removal over Lawkeeper and Veteran of the Depths instead of Avenger, as I feel if you're gonna go aggro, you keep attacking with Depths and he gets stronger each time you do, the Avenger is for when their creatures tap.
Cenn's Tactician and Loyal Sentry is an amazing combo for cheap. I consider it 'removal' because all you need is ONE +1/+1 counter on the Sentry and you'll be able to block 2 creatures and kill them with just a 1/1. Great combo with 2 Sentry's out, makes it harder for your opponents to attack.
Kithkin Zephyrnaut is by far the best and most underrated soldier creature in the game. In a soldier deck, he is pretty much a +4/+4 with flying and vigilance for 3 mana. How can you pass that up? Plus any added bonuses from your 'lords'.
About the choice of the lords, Captain of the Watch is way too expensive imo both budget wise and mana wise, so I always skip out on him, Mobilization is Captain of the Watch for cheaper, plus you can get tokens as much as you need to. As for the Field Marshal, he's expensive so I throw in at least one, as he is the best lord.
The best 1 mana soldier in the game is for sure Icatian Javelineers, cost 1, and can easily remove first couple turns of the game creatures and still be on the board to attack later and make room for your other creatures to pass through. As well as Elite Javelineer who is great for defense to block as well as deal damage to your opponents creatures, and if you have a couple on the field, you can easily kill some extra creatures by just blocking like you normally would do.
Catapult Master is a great removal card, especially thrown in with To Arms!, then you can do it multiple times or attack as well. With soldiers costing so little it's easy to do his effect and can be great for removing those creatures that are a little too strong for your soldiers. Another great control card that no one seems to talk about is Loxodon Gatekeeper, he's great to get your opponents creatures down tapped so you have better chances of getting through.
Ballyrush Banneret is a no brainer, but I disagree with having none in, and I disagree with having 4 in, 2 should be enough with the amount of high costing cards that are in the deck. Another no brainer is Elite Vanguard, definite 4 as he is a 1 drop for 2/1 which is great for some bashing.
The support cards imo are great. I can't pass on the equipment since you're going to be playing soldiers left and right, and when attacking getting those extra soldiers with Militia's Pride for only 1 mana. Brave the Elements is great for some protection for your creatures as well as some unblocked moments. Then you have Silence which is a card not many people talk about either. Play that on an Elf deck at the start of their turn, and instead of them getting out several creatures, they're getting out none...it's a great control card so you can get ahead of the game before your opponents do.
The main thing I want to get across is mana, I feel like people assume they're playing decks where they are constantly getting their mana destroyed, but I don't think it's necessary. I use in weenie decks a max of 16, with no problems ever. 16 plains is plenty enough as it's all mainly low cards plus the Ballyrush Banneret gets your cards to cost less. And the Forbidding Watchtower is great for defense when you need it, can not only have the chance of easily killing creatures if you have lord out, but the defense is great. If you have the time, throw the 1/5 out and use Tactician to get him to block them all.
That's about all for soldiers on my end, if you have any questions, comments or ideas to throw in, go right ahead.
Remember though, this is for more 'budget' based groups. I think 10+ bucks for a magic card is a joke, and that's why I make these types of decks.
The main thing I want to get across is mana, I feel like people assume they're playing decks where they are constantly getting their mana destroyed, but I don't think it's necessary. I use in weenie decks a max of 16, with no problems ever.
-2 Silence, -2 Veteran of the Depths, -1 Catapult Master
+5 Plains
Play the new version of the deck against the old version a few times, no free mulligans, then come back and say again that 16 lands never gives you problems. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to illustrate an important point.
Also, Cenn's Tactician only allows a creature to block 1 additional creature, not all creatures.
-2 Silence, -2 Veteran of the Depths, -1 Catapult Master
+5 Plains
Play the new version of the deck against the old version a few times, no free mulligans, then come back and say again that 16 lands never gives you problems. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to illustrate an important point.
Also, Cenn's Tactician only allows a creature to block 1 additional creature, not all creatures.
Mmmm, I never have problems with that mana, I tend to never have to mulligan and have enough mana to do what I need to do. I still stand strongly with 16 - 18 mana depending what the build is, I have never seen no reason to have over 18 mana, especially for 1 color tribe decks.
And yeah, I totally forgot about it being one additional creature, still a great combo though, if both Loyal Sentry's are out, and you can kill a couple creatures with just a 1/1, pretty nice touch still.
Mmmm, I never have problems with that mana, I tend to never have to mulligan and have enough mana to do what I need to do. I still stand strongly with 16 - 18 mana depending what the build is, I have never seen no reason to have over 18 mana, especially for 1 color tribe decks.
I know you haven't, that's why I'm recommending that you play you deck with more and see how it affects what you're able to do. I used to think 20 was the perfect number. I was wrong.
so im trying to make some final touches to a soldier deck i have and the issue i think i have is that i have a strong early but if it doesnt steamroll then it doesnt really have a late game. sadly, im not entirely sure what i could modify that would still give me the feel i wated. hoped to possibly get some comments?
so im trying to make some final touches to a soldier deck i have and the issue i think i have is that i have a strong early but if it doesnt steamroll then it doesnt really have a late game. sadly, im not entirely sure what i could modify that would still give me the feel i wated. hoped to possibly get some comments?
After some experimentation, I added Thalia. I don't think any of the other DKA soldiers are really all that new or exciting, not like mentor of the meek or elite inquisitor.
My take on Kitchen table MW Soldiers. I like this deck, but get the feeling something is just missing. I would love to abuse skullclamps, or Aether Vials but not sure what I would drop. I would like Mother of Runes but it just doesn't seem feasible.
If anyone has some suggestions, I also have more than enough other soldier cards to make a token deck, and/or an equipment deck abusing stoneforge Mystic
After a year or so break from MtG and a missing soldier deck. I'm attempting to rebuild a soldier deck. My deckcrafting experience is novice and most decks end up sucking..... help welcomed!!
Catapult Squad could take one of your tappers's place (i don't think you need that many). Can lock down weenies from attacking and can hit bigger threats with to arms!
field marshal or shared triumph would be better than glorious anthem.
Soldier Primer
Sig by ol MISAKA lo
My Trades
It's in the primer, I promise.
Soldier Primer
Sig by ol MISAKA lo
My Trades
For now, I want to get more Buried Ruins in and more control enchantments. Any ideas on improvement?
As for the rest of your deck, it appears to have the same core issue as many casual decks that are brought here: so many 1x's and 2x's that you have no real consistency.
So asking some questions will help with the direction you want to take this in.
Which cards in this deck are you finding most effective at helping you to win or deal with your opponent's threats? Which are least effective? Are there cards in the deck you're frequently finding it not worth the mana to cast?
What would you like this deck to do that you don't feel it can do now? (i.e. kill faster, maintain better board control, etc.)
Buried Ruins doesn't really seem like it's doing anything for you here. Your deck only contains five artifacts. Why not just run more copies of the artifacts you want to make sure stay on the battlefield, namely your equipment?
Silence and Honor of the Pure look like great options for me as well.
If that's the case, then you have 24 cards which are White-only and produce Soldier tokens.
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&color=+@(+[W])&text=+[%22soldier%20creature%20token%22]
Mobilization actually seems really cool here. It gives you a cheaper way to grant vigilance to all your soldiers, as well as somewhere to throw three extra mana if you've got nothing better to do with it.
Probably the next most efficient token creator after that is Militia's Pride. But you'll need a healthy number of non-token soldiers to get the most out of it.
Soldier Primer
Sig by ol MISAKA lo
My Trades
Worship - As long as you have creatures on the field damage dealt to you is reduced to 1 great card as long as it's not against lifeloss.
Martyr's Cause - Damage prevention by saccing that 1 token you chould have been chumping with to prevent all damage from a source of your choice.
Angel's Grace - Great against those last ditch efforts to kill you and keep them from winning, buys you a turn. great card
Justice - Problem with red. justice will make them pay for hurtin you
Eye for an Eye - Yea same as Justice but works against any color.
Intervention Pact - getting trampled by a fattie?, or how about a massive burn spell against you for the win.... No problem Intervention pact has ya covered.... take that impressive amount of would be damage and turn it into lifegain.... your opponents will hate ya but you get to live.
I collect Squirrel Token Let me know if you have any you want to sell or trade
Currently Playing
:symw:Humans:symw:
Casual
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My Trade Thread
So I put into consideration of throwing my 'custom' budget building decks as I go through them, and I thought I'd start off one that a lot of people ask about, the exciting weenie white soldiers.
14 Plains
2 Forbidding Watchtower
// CREATURES (32)
01 Field Marshal
03 Veteran Swordsmith
02 Veteran Armorsmith
02 Cenn's Tactician
01 Catapult Master
03 Icatian Javelineers
02 Elite Javelineer
02 Loyal Sentry
04 Kithkin Zephyrnaut
02 Veteran of the Depths
04 Elite Vanguard
02 Benalish Commander
02 Loxodon Gatekeeper
02 Ballyrush Banneret
02 Silence
01 Militia's Pride
02 To Arms!
03 Veteran's Armaments
03 Brave the Elements
01 Mobilization
The total came out to be about $10.73, now that's budget and for the look of the deck, I think it's quite worth the money, but of course, if you want to go a little higher, you could always switch some things out yourself.
Down to the dirty bits of the deck. In my honest opinion, a lot of people think Gideon's Avenger and Gideon's Lawkeeper are great cards to have in but I feel like it's too slow of a combo, and on top of that, I prefer having removal over Lawkeeper and Veteran of the Depths instead of Avenger, as I feel if you're gonna go aggro, you keep attacking with Depths and he gets stronger each time you do, the Avenger is for when their creatures tap.
Cenn's Tactician and Loyal Sentry is an amazing combo for cheap. I consider it 'removal' because all you need is ONE +1/+1 counter on the Sentry and you'll be able to block 2 creatures and kill them with just a 1/1. Great combo with 2 Sentry's out, makes it harder for your opponents to attack.
Kithkin Zephyrnaut is by far the best and most underrated soldier creature in the game. In a soldier deck, he is pretty much a +4/+4 with flying and vigilance for 3 mana. How can you pass that up? Plus any added bonuses from your 'lords'.
About the choice of the lords, Captain of the Watch is way too expensive imo both budget wise and mana wise, so I always skip out on him, Mobilization is Captain of the Watch for cheaper, plus you can get tokens as much as you need to. As for the Field Marshal, he's expensive so I throw in at least one, as he is the best lord.
The best 1 mana soldier in the game is for sure Icatian Javelineers, cost 1, and can easily remove first couple turns of the game creatures and still be on the board to attack later and make room for your other creatures to pass through. As well as Elite Javelineer who is great for defense to block as well as deal damage to your opponents creatures, and if you have a couple on the field, you can easily kill some extra creatures by just blocking like you normally would do.
Catapult Master is a great removal card, especially thrown in with To Arms!, then you can do it multiple times or attack as well. With soldiers costing so little it's easy to do his effect and can be great for removing those creatures that are a little too strong for your soldiers. Another great control card that no one seems to talk about is Loxodon Gatekeeper, he's great to get your opponents creatures down tapped so you have better chances of getting through.
Ballyrush Banneret is a no brainer, but I disagree with having none in, and I disagree with having 4 in, 2 should be enough with the amount of high costing cards that are in the deck. Another no brainer is Elite Vanguard, definite 4 as he is a 1 drop for 2/1 which is great for some bashing.
The support cards imo are great. I can't pass on the equipment since you're going to be playing soldiers left and right, and when attacking getting those extra soldiers with Militia's Pride for only 1 mana. Brave the Elements is great for some protection for your creatures as well as some unblocked moments. Then you have Silence which is a card not many people talk about either. Play that on an Elf deck at the start of their turn, and instead of them getting out several creatures, they're getting out none...it's a great control card so you can get ahead of the game before your opponents do.
The main thing I want to get across is mana, I feel like people assume they're playing decks where they are constantly getting their mana destroyed, but I don't think it's necessary. I use in weenie decks a max of 16, with no problems ever. 16 plains is plenty enough as it's all mainly low cards plus the Ballyrush Banneret gets your cards to cost less. And the Forbidding Watchtower is great for defense when you need it, can not only have the chance of easily killing creatures if you have lord out, but the defense is great. If you have the time, throw the 1/5 out and use Tactician to get him to block them all.
That's about all for soldiers on my end, if you have any questions, comments or ideas to throw in, go right ahead.
Remember though, this is for more 'budget' based groups. I think 10+ bucks for a magic card is a joke, and that's why I make these types of decks.
Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
-2 Silence, -2 Veteran of the Depths, -1 Catapult Master
+5 Plains
Play the new version of the deck against the old version a few times, no free mulligans, then come back and say again that 16 lands never gives you problems. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to illustrate an important point.
Also, Cenn's Tactician only allows a creature to block 1 additional creature, not all creatures.
360-cube - Suggestions welcome!
Mmmm, I never have problems with that mana, I tend to never have to mulligan and have enough mana to do what I need to do. I still stand strongly with 16 - 18 mana depending what the build is, I have never seen no reason to have over 18 mana, especially for 1 color tribe decks.
And yeah, I totally forgot about it being one additional creature, still a great combo though, if both Loyal Sentry's are out, and you can kill a couple creatures with just a 1/1, pretty nice touch still.
Thanks, I'll edit that in a wee-bit!
I know you haven't, that's why I'm recommending that you play you deck with more and see how it affects what you're able to do. I used to think 20 was the perfect number. I was wrong.
360-cube - Suggestions welcome!
no really, you don't have enough. You need at least 22, and even then that might not cut it. For lands, I'd cut
loxodon gatekeeper
veteran of the depth
loyal sentry
cenn's tactician
and consider upping the swordsmith and armorsmith count
I collect Squirrel Token Let me know if you have any you want to sell or trade
Currently Playing
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Casual
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My Trade Thread
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Chaimpion of the Parish
4 Cenn's Tactician
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
2 Longbow Archer
2 Elite Inquisitor
3 Veteran Armorer
4 Field Marshal
4 Mentor of the Meek
1 Swords to Plowshares
Equipment:
1 Jitte
i'd cut the elite inquisitor for 2 more swords to plowshare or maybe even switch those for path to exiles.
20 Lands is a bit rough for this deck, try 22
Soldier Primer
Sig by ol MISAKA lo
My Trades
If anyone has some suggestions, I also have more than enough other soldier cards to make a token deck, and/or an equipment deck abusing stoneforge Mystic
21 Plains
Creatures
4 Loyal Sentry
4 Catapult Squad
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Field Marshal
2 Knight- Captain of Eos
2 Captain of the Watch
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Land Tax
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Mobilization
4x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4x Ballyrush Banneret
4x Preeminent Captain
3x Mirror Entity
4x Captain of the Watch
4x Deftblade Elite
4x Field Marshal
4x Catapult Squad
4x Mutavault
16x Plains
4x Windbrisk Heights
2x Swords to Plowshares
2x Path to Exile
2x Honor of the Pure
I'm considering the following... And playing with ratios...
Daru Warchief
Enlistment Officer
Raise the Alarm
This really helps me out with my mono white commander. Thank you
Epic Signature by the one and only Ace in Ace of Spades Studio
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BGW Teneb, the Harvester [Primer]
R Márton Stromgald
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{Writing and Rants}
WUBRG The Primeval Dragon's influence on EDH
3x Æther Vial
3x Coat of Arms
3x Daru Warchief
3x Preeminent Captain
3x Field Marshal
3x Loyal Sentry
2x Knight-Captain of Eos
4x Captain of the Watch
2x Rhox Pikemaster
3x Elite Vanguard
3x Grand Abolisher
3x Spirit Mantle
4x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
18x Plains
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4x Raise the Alarm
4x Dawn Charm