My friend and I play casual magic for a year. But now he bulit a vintage deck which made not fun to play aginst him. I'ts a more competetive deck but I am playing casual so I don't know what to do about this. Can you help me?
The deck he is playing is a U W Tron but I have alrady a deck which has some very very expensive cards, I just want to know how to deal with the change without changing the format that I am which is modern.
Your deck seems to be built around Kaalia of the Vast, which is an awesome card. From what I'm guessing your plan seems to be getting Kaalia out then dropping some big creatures out, is that right? I see a lot of cards in here that don't seem to have any synergy with any other cards or with Kaalia. I also see your deck is over 60 cards. Your deck seems to be going in a lot of different directions. Two big things that I feel make a magic deck good are synergy and consistency. At the end of the day it's your deck so you can do whatever you want with it, but I would suggest focusing more on your Kaalia theme and reducing your deck to 60 cards for consistency.
If you drop your deck to 60 cards, you'll be much more likely to draw a Kaalia of the Vast. I would consider dropping cards that don't have much synergy with what you're trying to do like Crypt Ghast, Vampire Hexmage, Nyxathid, etc. Really, I would try to limit your creature pool to creatures that you can reliably cheat out with Kaalia, or at least start with that. Pick some of your favorite Angels/Demons/Dragons that you'd like to play with and cut the rest out of the deck for now. From there, you could consider adding some support for Kaalia. Lightning Greaves seems like really nice protection for Kaalia, and it lets you attack with her the turn you cast her. You could also consider adding a few more cards that let you cheat creatures into play, in case you don't draw into Kaalia or she gets destroyed. Something like Quicksilver Amulet can be nice for the deck. I think doing this can help give you a nice foundation/base for the deck and will allow you to branch the deck in a different direction from there (i.e. maybe you could build a nice toolbox/utility deck with big creatures that can take care of any problem).
Playing 10 tapped lands + 6 bouncelands is good to fix colors but really slows the deck down. Ideally, you want to be able to cast Kaalia of the Vast on turn 4 (or on turn 3 with a signet). This may be difficult to do if most of your lands enter the battlefield tapped. If you working with a tight budget, I suggest adding more City of Brass/Ancient Ziggurat or adding Battlefield Forge/Sulfurous Springs/Caves of Koilos.
o.O thats alot of one-of's. You're playing Kaalia so the deck is already legacy banlist, so some of the older demons and dragons will probably be good.
Can you describe your goal with this? Something like "Land big creatures and swing" or "Burn the opponent's life down with vexing devil and use Kaalia for card advantage if the game lasts too long". With the current list its really hard to see any coherent theme or game plan. Playing 4 copies of your cheaper cards that you want to see every game will improve consistency, and even your bombs probably should be two-of's. Crispy is right about the mana base being slow currently, but without a solid strategy with the other cards, the manabase is the least of your worries.
Because overall the deck is trash. People gave you suggestions to be somewhat legacy competitive and you shrugged them aside to try and tune this janky pile. I'm surprised anybody assisted you after you posted your list.
Well, I am trying to get help, and you know what, I agree with what you are saying, if you have an idea or anybody have an idea how to improve the deck I will love to hear that and no shrugging and I accapt the offers, I drop cards that don't have synergy with the deck, I removed cards that are hard to cast and I accept any offers. I am really trying to help and will love to hear any ideas how. Thank you helping me realize that so if anyone ave an offer I will love to hear and accept the idea. Sorry if I look like I am shrugging ideas because that's the last thing I will do.
The biggest problem I see with your deck is that it is not very streamlined. You have a vague idea of what you want to do (play big creatures, sometimes using Kaalia) but the deck is a little bit everywhere with how it does it, and what the results will be like. If you want to make the deck better there are a few things that will need to be done. First off, you need to decide exactly what kind of deck you are playing. Is this a combo deck centered on kaalia? If so, you need to maximize your chances of playing her, and add in search cards to find her, as well as spells to protect her. Is this a ramp deck that is focused on casting large creatures as early as possible? If so, get some signet and other multi-color mana ramp cards into the deck, as well as early removal and protection spells to keep you alive while you ramp.
Also, you need to cut back on some things. Your deck has waaay too many 1-ofs. That's all fine if you want flavor over power. A deck with variety means every game will be different from the last. However, if you want your deck to be stronger, that wont do. The strongest decks play the strongest cards. If you want to make your deck as powerful as it can be you need to figure out which dragons, demons, and angels are the best and ONLY play those few, with copies of 3 or 4 of each.
If you would like, I could provide you with a list or two on how I would play a kaalia deck. Keep in mind though, it may be different from your original list, or from what you would like to play. All in all though, I would LOVE to help you out in any way I can, just let me know what direction you want to take the deck.
Thanks, the point of this deck is centered about Kaalia(just like you said, a combo deck centered aroud her). So I can put some tutors(demonic/enlightment/vampiric tutor and mabey Demonic Collusion) and put aside Liliana of the Veil and Slaughter games seince they don't fit to the stradegy, put copies of scry land to get Kaalia more fast and to get rid of cards that I don't need(maby to replace the bump lands to scry land), give kaalia more protection with Lightning Greaves and things to make her indestuctible (see Avacyn, Angel of Hope), shut down colors that interupt Kaalia (see Iona, Shield of Emeria), maby to put things that make Kaalia can't be countered (see Boseiju, Who Shelters All and Cavern of Souls). I will reduce the number of 1-ofs I have and I will search the best demons,angels,and dragons and put 3 copies on it (I have some cards like Avacyn, angel of hope, Griselbrand, Iona, Shield of Emeria and Stormbrath Dragon but the cards can change). Thank you for the help, I will start working and see how it is. Again, thanks. If you have something to change about the ideas I have or offer more advices or put some cards I said that will enter my deck but if you think they will not do well in my deck out or offer to put some cards in, just say and I will love to hear and change.
You right, I should put Thoughtseize and Path to Exile but the problem with nonbasic land hate like you mantioned is that I have a lot of non basic land cards (and no there are who are not enter tapped) in my deck and some of them are ment to produce many variations of mana and protect Kaalia from counters (see Cavern of Souls as the combonations of what my lands do). But I should put Thoughtsieze and Path to Exile, espacily with it's synergy with Ob Nixilis, Unshackled and maby put Pacifism,Oblivion Ring and some Stone Rain But how many creaturs my deck need and what is the best amount of lands, creatures and other spells? I have my list of creatures ready but how many should I have? And how many artifact, lands and another spells I should have?
BTW about the Boseiju, Who Shelters All I didn't saw that only instnt and sorcery spells but hey it can help me with some my other instents and sorceries
By the way Stone Rain can destroy very good lands that are not urza lands (City of BrassMeteor Crater, scry/shock lands and that's the beginning). But maby I will use it as sidebord aginst tron.
I'm going to try to trim the list that JD posted down to something a little more streamlined.
I cut all of the non-basics to support bloodmoon. Tron lists will fold to this card unless they have a forest and a nature's claim in hand, and alot of competitive decks have no answers to it once it hits the field. The fact that it messes up your own ancient tombs isn't an issue. The ancient tombs are there to land this faster.
You'll note that the above list is incomplete. I'm not sure of your budget and banlist. Griselbrand is expensive, but is quite possibly the most powerful creature you can put into play for free in magic. As for banlist, Vampiric Tutor or Demonic Tutor are very powerful cards that are not legal in legacy. Ancient Tomb and Blood moon are also around $10 each.
Cards that I think should be cut:
Aurelia, The warleader - Great ability if you have other stuff on the field. If not shes a 3/4 for 6 mana.
Mirran Crusader - This puzzled me. Why was this in the deck in the first place?
Vexing Devil - Uh, what? Spend turn 1 and 2 getting mana, not playing devils.
Angelic Skirmisher - This card doesnt' do much by itself. Leave it for edh players.
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls - Good card, but doesn't play nice with Kaalia, and has to survive a turn to use its ability. I'd leave it for a different deck.
Baneslayer Angel - Fabulous card. I cut most of the white mana so double white might be hard to hit. There's better things for Kaalia's ability.
Rakdos, Lord of Riots - This card is only good if you're already ahead. Play something that will get you ahead instead.
Well, here is the deck. I played it a few of my matches aginst my friend with the UW Tron deck and did very well. I also had a match aginst a Jund deck and I did very well. Opinion? Thoughts? Advices to improvment? I will love to hear.
now he bulit a vintage deck which made not fun to play aginst him.
I'm gonna throw out a different option. If he is playing vintage (which I assume means he is running a bunch of banned/restricted cards) and you don't want to play vintage (which I assume form your decks lack of banned/restricted cards) why not be like "Hey, I don't want to play vintage format, its not fun. Lets make the decks we use legacy legal"?
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You right, that's what I thought at first, but since I improved my deck it was fun playing aginst him because my deck is much better then before, so when I played aginst his deck it was a fair game to me because one was not overpowerd aginst the other. But thanks for the advice!
1x Liliana of the Veil
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Sin Collector
1x Necropolis Regent
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Rakdos, Lord of Riots
1x Nyxathid
1x Fiendslayer Paladin
1x Olivia Voldaren
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Ashenmoor Liege
1x Mirran Crusader
1x Vexing Devil
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Boros Reckoner
1x Tajic, Blade of the Legion
1x Aegis of the gods
4x Kaalia of the Vast
1x Angelic Skirmisher
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Ob nixilis, the Fallen
1x Twilight Shepherd
1x Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1x Lord of the Void
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Auralia, the Warleader
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Obzedat, Ghost Council
1x Urabrask the Hidden
1x Deathbringer Liege
1x Desecration Demon
1x Debtors' Knell
2x Orzhov Signet
2x Boros Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Mountain
1x Temple of Malice
2x Lavaclaw Reaches
2x Ancient Ziggurat
2x Boros Garrison
1x Urborg, Tomb Of Yawgmoth
2x Plains
1x Temple of Silence
1x Transguild Promenade
2x Rakdos Carnarium
2x Swamp
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Crumbling Necropolis
2x City of Brass
2x Akoum Refuge
1x Kabira Crossroads
2x Orzhov Basilica
If you drop your deck to 60 cards, you'll be much more likely to draw a Kaalia of the Vast. I would consider dropping cards that don't have much synergy with what you're trying to do like Crypt Ghast, Vampire Hexmage, Nyxathid, etc. Really, I would try to limit your creature pool to creatures that you can reliably cheat out with Kaalia, or at least start with that. Pick some of your favorite Angels/Demons/Dragons that you'd like to play with and cut the rest out of the deck for now. From there, you could consider adding some support for Kaalia. Lightning Greaves seems like really nice protection for Kaalia, and it lets you attack with her the turn you cast her. You could also consider adding a few more cards that let you cheat creatures into play, in case you don't draw into Kaalia or she gets destroyed. Something like Quicksilver Amulet can be nice for the deck. I think doing this can help give you a nice foundation/base for the deck and will allow you to branch the deck in a different direction from there (i.e. maybe you could build a nice toolbox/utility deck with big creatures that can take care of any problem).
Also note that both Kaalia of the Vast and Tariel, Reckoner of Souls are not modern legal.
Kaalia set & legality: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Printings.aspx?multiverseid=338444
Tariel set & legality: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Printings.aspx?multiverseid=236995
Can you describe your goal with this? Something like "Land big creatures and swing" or "Burn the opponent's life down with vexing devil and use Kaalia for card advantage if the game lasts too long". With the current list its really hard to see any coherent theme or game plan. Playing 4 copies of your cheaper cards that you want to see every game will improve consistency, and even your bombs probably should be two-of's. Crispy is right about the mana base being slow currently, but without a solid strategy with the other cards, the manabase is the least of your worries.
2x Swamp
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Akoum Refuge
1x Mountain
2x City of Brass
2x Temple of Malice
1x Boros Garrison
4x Ancient Ziggurat
1x Orzhov Basilica
2x Plains
1x Lavaclaw Reaches
1x Blood Crypt
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Crumbling Necropolis
2x Boros Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
2x Lightning Greaves
1x Quicksilver Amulet
4x Kaalia of the Vast
1x Aurelia, The warleader
2x Akroma, Angel of Fury
2x Lord of the void
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Mirran Crusader
2x Urabrask the Hidden
2x Vexing Devil
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Angelic Skirmisher
1x Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
2x Baneslayer Angel
1x Rakdos, Lord of Riots
2x Numot, the Devastator
2x Demon of Death's Gate
1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1x Sheoldred, whispering one
1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1x Slaughter Games
spam warning. -RabidVacin
Also, you need to cut back on some things. Your deck has waaay too many 1-ofs. That's all fine if you want flavor over power. A deck with variety means every game will be different from the last. However, if you want your deck to be stronger, that wont do. The strongest decks play the strongest cards. If you want to make your deck as powerful as it can be you need to figure out which dragons, demons, and angels are the best and ONLY play those few, with copies of 3 or 4 of each.
If you would like, I could provide you with a list or two on how I would play a kaalia deck. Keep in mind though, it may be different from your original list, or from what you would like to play. All in all though, I would LOVE to help you out in any way I can, just let me know what direction you want to take the deck.
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BTW about the Boseiju, Who Shelters All I didn't saw that only instnt and sorcery spells but hey it can help me with some my other instents and sorceries
That deck is mono-red though, and can't function as a multi-colored deck. It tries to rush out a turn 2 Magus of the Moon and follow it with big creatures.
I'm going to try to trim the list that JD posted down to something a little more streamlined.
I cut all of the non-basics to support bloodmoon. Tron lists will fold to this card unless they have a forest and a nature's claim in hand, and alot of competitive decks have no answers to it once it hits the field. The fact that it messes up your own ancient tombs isn't an issue. The ancient tombs are there to land this faster.
12 mountain
4 Ancient tomb
2 Swamp
2 Plains
Artifacts
2x Orzhov Signet
2x Boros Signet
2x Rakdos Signet
2x Lightning Greaves
1x Quicksilver Amulet
4x Blood Moon
4x Kaalia of the Vast
2x Akroma, Angel of Fury
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2x Stormbreath Dragon
2x Urabrask the Hidden
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Numot, the Devastator (legendary, only need one)
1x Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1x Balefire dragon
2x blazing archon
4x Bloodgift Demon (If you have the money, make these Griselbrand)
1x Slaughter Games
You'll note that the above list is incomplete. I'm not sure of your budget and banlist. Griselbrand is expensive, but is quite possibly the most powerful creature you can put into play for free in magic. As for banlist, Vampiric Tutor or Demonic Tutor are very powerful cards that are not legal in legacy. Ancient Tomb and Blood moon are also around $10 each.
Cards that I think should be cut:
4x Kaalia of the Vast
4x Rune-Scarred Demon
2x Nicol Bolas
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
2x Angel of Despair
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Empyrial Archangel
1x Griselbarnd
2x Balefire Dragon
4x Ancient Ziggurat
4x City of Brass
2x Battelfield Forge
4x Sulfurous Springs
4x Reflecting Pool
3x Caves of Koilos
2x Rakdos Signet
2x Orzhov Signet
2x Boros Signet
4x Duress
4x Sword to the Plowshers
4x Demonic Tutor
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Spellskite
1x Drown in Sorrow
1x Mortify
1x Mizzium Mortars
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Red Elemental Blast
1x Rule of Law
1x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Leyline of the Void
2x Rest in peace
Well, here is the deck. I played it a few of my matches aginst my friend with the UW Tron deck and did very well. I also had a match aginst a Jund deck and I did very well. Opinion? Thoughts? Advices to improvment? I will love to hear.
I'm gonna throw out a different option. If he is playing vintage (which I assume means he is running a bunch of banned/restricted cards) and you don't want to play vintage (which I assume form your decks lack of banned/restricted cards) why not be like "Hey, I don't want to play vintage format, its not fun. Lets make the decks we use legacy legal"?
4x Kaalia of the Vast
4x Rune-Scarred Demon
2x Nicol Bolas
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
2x Angel of Despair
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Empyrial Archangel
1x Griselbrand
2x Balefire Dragon
Lands:
4x Ancient Ziggurat
4x City of Brass
2x Battlefield Forge
4x Sulfurous Springs
4x Reflecting Pool
3x Caves of Koilos
4x Lightning Greaves
2x Rakdos Signet
2x Orzhov Signet
2x Boros Signet
Spells:
4x Duress
4x Sword to the Plowshers
4x Demonic Tutor
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Spellskite
1x Drown in Sorrow
1x Mortify
1x Mizzium Mortars
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Red Elemental Blast
1x Rule of Law
1x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Leyline of the Void
2x Rest in peace