I was looking at my current pool of rares from drafts and this archetype seems to be the least rare-intensive. I adjusted a net-deck I have found to include only the rares I have (and the quantity)
Now I do not mind buying a few more rares to even it out but I really don't want to got over $10 from what I already have. Is this going to be somewhat competitive for the daily events?
That looks like a solid starting point. With a constructed deck though, you want to have mostly 4x copies unless you have good reason otherwise - that list looks unfocussed to me. When I looked at this archetype in my article series, the list I liked most was this:
No chained to the rocks seems insane, but I found it the worst card in the deck by a significant margin - your creatures can generally get big enough to fight through blockers, and chained makes your hands overall significantly worse because you now need to have the right ratio of THREE types of cards in your deck, creatures, buffs and removal (see some of the opening hand screenshots in that article).
I personally prefer the UW heroic version of the deck, I discuss it here. Here's a sample list:
I went 1-1 with this deck today at a daily THS (I lost to the guy who went 3-0, but I was the only player to win a round on him and he was running at least 2 Xenagos, THS Dragon and 2 World Eaters).
I bought 2 Chained to the Rocks and I have to say that after my loss, they are absolutely required. My opponent was dropping World Eaters, 6/6 Giants, Dragon etc that slowed me down and ultimately allowed him to overpower me. The thing I love about the RW version is that small combat tricks can be bomb spells in conjunction with Anax, Phalanx Lead, Hoplites, etc...
The rate at which this deck combos and chews life really catches opponents off-guard, especially vs. control decks.
Now I noticed your preferred RW runs no Crusaders. I personally love the utility these guys bring and they they balance off the Pantheon/Favored Hoplite making for an even 1-drop pool of creatures.
I replied to your initial post, but didn't seem to take any of the suggestions into account in your updated list. I don't like the lightning strikes, the chained to the rocks (although I could see the case for them) or the fact that most of your cards have 2-3x for no apparent reason.
Arena athlete gets used in the pure mono red versions for lack of better options, but isn't needed in RW. You should be aiming to make your creatures big enough that they can litrally take on polukranos etc. in a one on one fight (or fly over him with pegasus), arena doesn't work with that gameplan. You shold focus on your best threats (favored hoplite, akroan hoplite, pegasus, phalanx leader and fabled hero) and your best pumps (coordinated assault, ordeal of purphoros and and god's willing) and max out on them to have a consistent gameplan.
PS. if you do want to try mono red, it's a very different style of deck. You want to go small and wide rather than all in on a few threats. Akroan crusader is very good there, and that's the type of deck where you do want burn for reach because you do a bunch of early damage but get outclassed on board eventually.
The key point that I would stress is that this is a white weenie deck with some combo elements via heroic, not a heroic combo deck. You absolutely need to get 4 of for the creatures, because the power level in creatures drops off rather radically in this format. I also want to minimize the red splash as much as possible to provide some stability to the list. The reason I put this list down is that there are far too many games where the deck does just suicide itself, and you have to work harder for your wins compared to the other decks in the format. As anger of the gods continues to be pushed out of the format by the ramp mirrors, I will be taking this deck out again for more games. Hammer and Heliod are particularly nice in the control matchups. Monoblack in particular has a very hard time dealing with noncreature permanents that make creatures, much like in standard. I would put them as essential sideboard material due to this.
As for your list, you need to decide what game plan you actually are on. You don't have room for lots of tricks in your deck because you need creatures to be able to play those tricks on. I would recommend at least 4 more creatures. I would max out on the white one drop creatures, and cut the akroan crusader. You can't keep hands without plains, and the crusader just tempts you to do that.
Sidenote: Is this for a local paper tournament, or the magic online events? If you are playing online, you should be able to pick up all the cards you want for the list for about 10 tix. That includes your soldier of the pantheons, heliods, and chained to the rocks.
This is for MTGO and I am beginning to understand why you don't want to cut the R/W cards down the middle: initial hands become a huge problem. As much as I love the Crusaders I think you guys are right in that I should drop the red one-drops and Lightning Strikes from the mainboard.
Now as for Chained, I want to have a couple on the side to deal with otherwise game-ending creatures that I just cannot handle without removal.
yup, the mana in this deck is pretty rough. Also it's literally impossible to go turn 1 akroan crusader into turn 2 pahalnx leader, which is a not irrelevant factor to note. I found that chained to the rocks severely exacerbated the opening hand issue too. Not only is the colour requirement annoying (particularly if you have plains and a temple, but no mountain), but it increases the number of effectively unkeepable hands that don't have a mix of threats and pumps/protection (and without pumps, phalanx leader and basically all of your heroic guys get hugely worse). Plus, chained doesn't deal with the white-base deck's biggest weakness which is stormbreath dragon.
I highly recommend running up to the full set of portent of betrayal in the sideboard to give you an out against dragon btw. It can be difficult to beat. I'd use it over strike (in fact I'd have the 4th magma jet there before the first strike too, magma kills all those deathtouchers just fine).
Just so you know, that list was pre-BNG. I'm unsure exactly what from BNG you'd include in the deck (hero of iroas? Nyxborn rollicker? Everflame eidolon? Akroan Skyguard?), I haven't really looked at the archetype since then, but I'm sure there's new cards you'd want to include.
First things first,
The deck list that will follow is NOT a block constructed deck! But it could very well be a shell for what you are trying to achieve.
This deck runs with solid consistency at FNM and has even won for me. You cannot incorporate all the strategies from this deck but you can run several of them.
I only list my deck here to illustrate how I approached the heroic mechanic and offer up some ideas.
3 Akroan Crusader
3 Akroan Hoplite
2 Favored Hoplite
2 Anax and Cymede
3 Cavalry Pegasus
2 Fabled Hero
4 Phalanx Leader
1 Soldier of the Pantheon
Other Spells
2 Chained to the Rocks
3 Coordinated Assault
2 Dauntless Onslaught
3 Gods Willing
1 Ordeak of Heliod
4 Ordeal of Purphoros
2 Spear of Heliod
8 Mountain
11 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Magma Jet
3 Glare of Heresy
1 Gods Willing
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Peak Eruption
Now I do not mind buying a few more rares to even it out but I really don't want to got over $10 from what I already have. Is this going to be somewhat competitive for the daily events?
Not sure if Heliod himself is fast enough for this deck, same with Divine Verdict and Hundred-Handed One.
He is the only one who sees the patterns in the overlapping maps and conflicting reports.
1 Anax and Cymede
4 Cavalry Pegasus
4 Fabled Hero
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
2 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Coordinated Assault
4 Gods Willing
4 Ordeal of Purphoros
2 Spear of Heliod
Lands
8 Mountain
11 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Lightning Strike
4 Portent of Betrayal
15 cards
No chained to the rocks seems insane, but I found it the worst card in the deck by a significant margin - your creatures can generally get big enough to fight through blockers, and chained makes your hands overall significantly worse because you now need to have the right ratio of THREE types of cards in your deck, creatures, buffs and removal (see some of the opening hand screenshots in that article).
I personally prefer the UW heroic version of the deck, I discuss it here. Here's a sample list:
4 Battlewise Hoplite
3 Cavalry Pegasus
2 Daxos of Meletis
4 Fabled Hero
4 Favored Hoplite
3 Omenspeaker
Other Spells
4 Aqueous Form
1 Dauntless Onslaught
4 Gods Willing
4 Ordeal of Heliod
4 Ordeal of Thassa
2 Voyage's End
10 Island
11 Plains
1 Curse of the Swine
3 Dissolve
3 Glare of Heresy
2 Ray of Dissolution
3 Artisan of Forms
2 Spear of Heliod
1 Triton Tactics
2 cards
Budget's not really a factor with these decks btw, there's nothing you really want that actually costs any amount of tix.
I bought 2 Chained to the Rocks and I have to say that after my loss, they are absolutely required. My opponent was dropping World Eaters, 6/6 Giants, Dragon etc that slowed me down and ultimately allowed him to overpower me. The thing I love about the RW version is that small combat tricks can be bomb spells in conjunction with Anax, Phalanx Lead, Hoplites, etc...
The rate at which this deck combos and chews life really catches opponents off-guard, especially vs. control decks.
Now I noticed your preferred RW runs no Crusaders. I personally love the utility these guys bring and they they balance off the Pantheon/Favored Hoplite making for an even 1-drop pool of creatures.
Updated:
3 Akroan Crusader
4 Akroan Hoplite
2 Favored Hoplite
2 Anax and Cymede
2 Cavalry Pegasus
2 Fabled Hero
4 Phalanx Leader
1 Soldier of the Pantheon
Other Spells
2 Chained to the Rocks
3 Coordinated Assault
2 Dauntless Onslaught
3 Gods Willing
3 Ordeal of Purphoros
3 Lightning Strike
1 Spear of Heliod
1 Hammer of Purphoros
8 Mountain
10 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Magma Jet
4 Glare of Heresy
1 Gods Willing
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Peak Eruption
He is the only one who sees the patterns in the overlapping maps and conflicting reports.
He is the only one who sees the patterns in the overlapping maps and conflicting reports.
Arena athlete gets used in the pure mono red versions for lack of better options, but isn't needed in RW. You should be aiming to make your creatures big enough that they can litrally take on polukranos etc. in a one on one fight (or fly over him with pegasus), arena doesn't work with that gameplan. You shold focus on your best threats (favored hoplite, akroan hoplite, pegasus, phalanx leader and fabled hero) and your best pumps (coordinated assault, ordeal of purphoros and and god's willing) and max out on them to have a consistent gameplan.
PS. if you do want to try mono red, it's a very different style of deck. You want to go small and wide rather than all in on a few threats. Akroan crusader is very good there, and that's the type of deck where you do want burn for reach because you do a bunch of early damage but get outclassed on board eventually.
7 Mountain
4 Temple of Triumph
12 Plains
Creatures
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Akroan Hoplite
2 Anax and Cymede
4 Cavalry Pegasus
3 Fabled Hero
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
3 Coordinated Assault
3 Gods Willing
2 Spear of Heliod
4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Gods Willing
2 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Hopeful Eidolon
2 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Coordinated Assault
2 Portent of Betrayal
1 Dauntless Onslaught
2 Ordeal of Purphoros
The key point that I would stress is that this is a white weenie deck with some combo elements via heroic, not a heroic combo deck. You absolutely need to get 4 of for the creatures, because the power level in creatures drops off rather radically in this format. I also want to minimize the red splash as much as possible to provide some stability to the list. The reason I put this list down is that there are far too many games where the deck does just suicide itself, and you have to work harder for your wins compared to the other decks in the format. As anger of the gods continues to be pushed out of the format by the ramp mirrors, I will be taking this deck out again for more games. Hammer and Heliod are particularly nice in the control matchups. Monoblack in particular has a very hard time dealing with noncreature permanents that make creatures, much like in standard. I would put them as essential sideboard material due to this.
As for your list, you need to decide what game plan you actually are on. You don't have room for lots of tricks in your deck because you need creatures to be able to play those tricks on. I would recommend at least 4 more creatures. I would max out on the white one drop creatures, and cut the akroan crusader. You can't keep hands without plains, and the crusader just tempts you to do that.
Sidenote: Is this for a local paper tournament, or the magic online events? If you are playing online, you should be able to pick up all the cards you want for the list for about 10 tix. That includes your soldier of the pantheons, heliods, and chained to the rocks.
Now as for Chained, I want to have a couple on the side to deal with otherwise game-ending creatures that I just cannot handle without removal.
Here is my revised version:
4 Akroan Hoplite
4 Favored Hoplite
1 Anax and Cymede
4 Cavalry Pegasus
4 Fabled Hero
4 Phalanx Leader
2 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Coordinated Assault
2 Dauntless Onslaught
4 Gods Willing
4 Ordeal of Purphoros
2 Spear of Heliod
Lands
7 Mountain
10 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Magma Jet
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Lightning Strike
2 Chained to the Rocks
2 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Hopeful Eidolon
I'll let you guys knows the results of my next daily.
He is the only one who sees the patterns in the overlapping maps and conflicting reports.
I highly recommend running up to the full set of portent of betrayal in the sideboard to give you an out against dragon btw. It can be difficult to beat. I'd use it over strike (in fact I'd have the 4th magma jet there before the first strike too, magma kills all those deathtouchers just fine).
The deck list that will follow is NOT a block constructed deck! But it could very well be a shell for what you are trying to achieve.
This deck runs with solid consistency at FNM and has even won for me. You cannot incorporate all the strategies from this deck but you can run several of them.
I only list my deck here to illustrate how I approached the heroic mechanic and offer up some ideas.
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Hero of Iroas
4x Akroan Skyguard
4x Fabled Hero
Spells
4x Gods Willing
4x Titan's Strength
4x Boros Charm
4x Madcap Skills
3x Armed // Dangerous
2x Ajani, Caller of the Pride
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
Land
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph
7x Plains
6x Mountains
3x Spirit of the Labyrinth
3x Silence
3x Martial Glory
3x Brave the Elements
1x Armed // Dangerous
1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1x Chandra, Pyromaster