Not entirely sold on the manabase yet but I haven't tested this all that much.
Before the banning of SFM, I played GW. After, I still played GW a bit and switched over to UW eventually, as it seemed to be a stronger force, especially in the control matchup and mirror. GW without SFM felt too... weak for midrange aggro. It just didn't work the way I wanted it to... and Celestial Colonnade beats out Stirring Wildwood every time.
Midnight Haunting might be one of the most exciting cards in the set for me. Well, that and Invisible Stalker. What better way to wield a sword than on a 1/1 white flyer you can summon in droves. At instant speed. Combining that with Snapcaster Mage seemed like the best way to reproduce the Squadron Hawk/Emeria Angel, equip and swing tactic. Its synergy with Sword of Feast and Famine has been recognized by all, I'm sure.
That lead me to leaning toward UW. However, green has received one of the greatest, highest value creatures since Vengevine was relevant.
A lot of people hate on it... but damn, this card is great. Trampling for 4 on turn 2 is a great way to put a clock on control. Having a 0/8 wall on t2 is a great way to lock out aggro/burn. When you combine this with t3 sword, t4 swing or t4 sword/swing, everything gets a lot scarier for your opponent, especially when your gameplan is to hold up counter mana and flash in two Squadron Hawks as chump blockers or possible sword wielders on the next turn.
Garruk and Gideon act as ways to control the board and recover after Day of Judgment. Against Solar Flare, having them DoJ on t4 to wipe out Skinshifter/Bird of Paradise, to only have you drop Garruk and give make a 2/2 is a great way to keep tempo and make them sweat. Barring a t5 Unburial Rites for Sun Titan + Phantasmal Image, it's probably the most eye-opening play you can make with a control deck.
And if you choose to hold off, you can drop two birds EOT, pick up your sword and swing unencumbered into their face, giving you the ability to play both Garruk (1st main phase) and Gideon (2nd main phase), within a turn of your board getting wiped.
These are nut draws at times... but the chance of you having Midnight Hauntings EOT after a Day of Judgment is too good to pass up playing white, in addition to Gideon, Day and O-Ring. Blue generates card draw, threatens counters and gives us Snapcaster. Green gives us Skinshifter and Garruk... and my favorite "anti-control" card: Thrun, the Last Troll.
I really like the overall idea of this deck and I like playing all the cards I love. Midnight Haunting and Snapcaster Mage produces more value than Squadron Hawk ever could, in my honest opinion, and that's a good enough reason to be playing UW, and that's where I started when I went to build this week. But it's too tough to pass up cards like Garruk and Skinshifter.
And thus, my deck. Probably not the most original deck. I'm sure others have posted similar cards in similar arrangements. And if that's the case, I would love to hear ideas on how to improve the list and make it more solid overall.
I think Abolisher would be the first card I cut. I'm not too sold on him but he's great in control matchups.
Am I wrong in thinking this card isn't going to go anywhere with this set? With the amount of graveyard synergy, it seems pretty stupid to exile cards you could feasibly bring back.
Then again, maybe I'm not looking at everything correctly. I guess in a mill strategy, where you're digging for answers and flashing back what you can use, he'd be a good way to deal with creatures and planeswalkers on the battlefield and ping your opponent down.
Wouldnt this be perfect with Mentor of the Meek and Solemn Simulacrum ???? You could get free draws and land, super stupid, that way the mana cost per turn of mentor wouldnt hurt and you could use it while playing all your other creatures and spamming them as well?
I was thinking of Solemn as well but I don't know where to fit him in.
Pentavus is a good card in this deck, I think. It has synergy with Venser and Mentor of the Meek (basically: pay 2, draw a card). Treasure Mage fetches him and Spine of Ish Sah, as well as being a 2-power creature for Mentor.
Other than that, it's typical Venser targets that can also be used to draw off of Mentor (Exarch, Splicer, Snapcaster). I chose Gideon as a lock but Elspeth might be better here, as she can create tokens (that you can then draw off of), but I think Pentavus + Mentor is the best option for drawing. Considering adding a second.
Given the fact that it cantrips and adds counters to the shrine it seems very good. Also consider what decks it is good against in the current meta.
Caw-Blade = Spellskite (Sometimes)
Tempered Steel = Signal Pest
Valakut = Birds / Overgrown Battlements
Pod Decks = Birds
It would be difficult to play a full 4 or 5 rounds without seeing at least one of these at, literally, every FNM you attend. If they're no good, side em out. At least it gets you to that combo that much quicker game 1.
caw doesn't play skite. valakut doesn't play birds and it's rare to see people using battlement over something like rampant growth.
I'm really digging Lavamancer, I think he's a solid card. He gets sided out against Valakut and other big-dude decks but he really is a bomb against general aggro, Elves, Cawblade, Tempered Steel, etc.
I think I had need to add a third Depths; I very rarely see it when I play.
The sideboard is all over the place because my local meta is weird. 4 Flashfreeze, 3 Misstep, 2 Shatter, 1 Jace, a few other things. I'm trying to solidify it but the decks change every week.
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Grand Abolisher
3 Skinshifter
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
// Instants & Sorceries
4 Mana Leak
3 Midnight Haunting
3 Think Twice
2 Dismember
2 Dissipate
1 Day of Judgment
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
//Planeswalkers [3]
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Gideon Jura
//Lands [25]
4 Forest
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Sunpetal Grove
3 Plains
2 Island
1 Seachrome Coast
Not entirely sold on the manabase yet but I haven't tested this all that much.
Before the banning of SFM, I played GW. After, I still played GW a bit and switched over to UW eventually, as it seemed to be a stronger force, especially in the control matchup and mirror. GW without SFM felt too... weak for midrange aggro. It just didn't work the way I wanted it to... and Celestial Colonnade beats out Stirring Wildwood every time.
Midnight Haunting might be one of the most exciting cards in the set for me. Well, that and Invisible Stalker. What better way to wield a sword than on a 1/1 white flyer you can summon in droves. At instant speed. Combining that with Snapcaster Mage seemed like the best way to reproduce the Squadron Hawk/Emeria Angel, equip and swing tactic. Its synergy with Sword of Feast and Famine has been recognized by all, I'm sure.
That lead me to leaning toward UW. However, green has received one of the greatest, highest value creatures since Vengevine was relevant.
Skinshifter.
A lot of people hate on it... but damn, this card is great. Trampling for 4 on turn 2 is a great way to put a clock on control. Having a 0/8 wall on t2 is a great way to lock out aggro/burn. When you combine this with t3 sword, t4 swing or t4 sword/swing, everything gets a lot scarier for your opponent, especially when your gameplan is to hold up counter mana and flash in two Squadron Hawks as chump blockers or possible sword wielders on the next turn.
Garruk and Gideon act as ways to control the board and recover after Day of Judgment. Against Solar Flare, having them DoJ on t4 to wipe out Skinshifter/Bird of Paradise, to only have you drop Garruk and give make a 2/2 is a great way to keep tempo and make them sweat. Barring a t5 Unburial Rites for Sun Titan + Phantasmal Image, it's probably the most eye-opening play you can make with a control deck.
And if you choose to hold off, you can drop two birds EOT, pick up your sword and swing unencumbered into their face, giving you the ability to play both Garruk (1st main phase) and Gideon (2nd main phase), within a turn of your board getting wiped.
These are nut draws at times... but the chance of you having Midnight Hauntings EOT after a Day of Judgment is too good to pass up playing white, in addition to Gideon, Day and O-Ring. Blue generates card draw, threatens counters and gives us Snapcaster. Green gives us Skinshifter and Garruk... and my favorite "anti-control" card: Thrun, the Last Troll.
I really like the overall idea of this deck and I like playing all the cards I love. Midnight Haunting and Snapcaster Mage produces more value than Squadron Hawk ever could, in my honest opinion, and that's a good enough reason to be playing UW, and that's where I started when I went to build this week. But it's too tough to pass up cards like Garruk and Skinshifter.
And thus, my deck. Probably not the most original deck. I'm sure others have posted similar cards in similar arrangements. And if that's the case, I would love to hear ideas on how to improve the list and make it more solid overall.
I think Abolisher would be the first card I cut. I'm not too sold on him but he's great in control matchups.
Mind posting your list?
Then again, maybe I'm not looking at everything correctly. I guess in a mill strategy, where you're digging for answers and flashing back what you can use, he'd be a good way to deal with creatures and planeswalkers on the battlefield and ping your opponent down.
Any useful strategies evolving with him in mind?
I was thinking of Solemn as well but I don't know where to fit him in.
2 Gideon Jura
3 Venser, the Sojourner
//Creatures [17]
4 Mentor of the Meek
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Blade Splicer
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Sun Titan
2 Treasure Mage
1 Deceiver Exarch
1 Pentavus
//Intants & Sorceries [9]
4 Mana Leak
3 Dissipate
3 Think Twice
2 Mental Misstep
1 Day of Judgment
2 Spine of Ish Sah
//Lands [24]
6 Island
5 Plains
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Fiend Hunter
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Razor Hippogriff
2 Stonehorn Dignitary
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Deceiver Exarch
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Day of Judgment
Pentavus is a good card in this deck, I think. It has synergy with Venser and Mentor of the Meek (basically: pay 2, draw a card). Treasure Mage fetches him and Spine of Ish Sah, as well as being a 2-power creature for Mentor.
Other than that, it's typical Venser targets that can also be used to draw off of Mentor (Exarch, Splicer, Snapcaster). I chose Gideon as a lock but Elspeth might be better here, as she can create tokens (that you can then draw off of), but I think Pentavus + Mentor is the best option for drawing. Considering adding a second.
Any thoughts?
caw doesn't play skite. valakut doesn't play birds and it's rare to see people using battlement over something like rampant growth.
and she's down to ~$20 now. it's the same with every walker. lots of hype at first and eventually, they get down to a price that isn't stupid.
wizards learned their lesson with jtms. they're not going to make that mistake again.
4 Splinter Twin
4 Deceiver Exarch
//OTHER DUDES
3 Grim Lavamancer
// COUNTERS
4 Dispel
3 Spell Pierce
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Shrine of Piercing Vision
3 Into the Roil
2 Twisted Image
9 Island
8 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Halimar Depths
I'm really digging Lavamancer, I think he's a solid card. He gets sided out against Valakut and other big-dude decks but he really is a bomb against general aggro, Elves, Cawblade, Tempered Steel, etc.
Anybody have an opinion on Into the Roil vs. Twisted Image? Every time I draw Image, I wish I had Roil. I understand the cantrip that Image provides but what does it hit, really? Spellskite? Overgrown Battlement? Phantasmal Image?
I think I had need to add a third Depths; I very rarely see it when I play.
The sideboard is all over the place because my local meta is weird. 4 Flashfreeze, 3 Misstep, 2 Shatter, 1 Jace, a few other things. I'm trying to solidify it but the decks change every week.
the first one is the general artwork for the set. the last one is the artwork for her.
this artwork is for garruk. guaranteed.
looks like he's going to be GB.
source: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/788