MTG Salvation

The other idea floating about in my head right now.
I have playsets of Magus of the Moat and Wave of Reckoning waiting to be cracked out for use. The Magus is a known quantity in my playgroup, but Wave is not - sure, it's not the world's most perfect reset, but it can be almost one-sided, and no-one in my group is going to be expecting it (and for those who've played along with my decks for a while, they'll know that frequent resets are frowned upon in my meta... potentially-flawed ones like Wave will work around this).
Magus of the Moat conveniently survives Wave. From there, I need fliers to win, and I suspect token generation might be the way to go - Lingering Souls, Spectral Procession et al. If we head down an Orzhov build, I also have a playset of Unburial Rites waiting in the wings to keep a Magus on the table at all times (as well as whatever other unsightly gorillas we choose to put in here). I can have the tokens survive via Rootborn Defenses, splash blue for Sprite Noble, splash red for Gisela, keep it white and use Light of Sanction, or even (get ready to laugh)... splash green and use Emmara Tandris (who lives through Wave).
Thoughts?

One word: Songstitcher...

For the rest I'll ponder on it.

Timmy suggests adding black and running Demon of Death's Gate.

Though he likes Devouring Strossus better, the demon can be cast for "free".

Every time I hear of flying tokens, I think of Dovescape for some reason.

Not sure if it would fit into you deck, but I felt it was worth mentioning

While it's a) not a token and b) dies to Wave, Pride of the Clouds is a sweet token generator, and beater after a Wave.

Blue/White also offers Drogskol Captain, which is a good lord-type creature if you plan on making lots of Spirits as your tokens.

Opposition can be a total nightmare for your opponents if you're able to produce more permanents than they are.

I like Spirit Noble a lot in this deck since it works so well with Wave. There are lots of enchantment-type cards that will do something similar, but I think Noble is pretty spot-on.

:symu::symw: might be a good idea > Blue for the draw (which seems important given the Magus token theme) and stuff like Control Magic-type cards to steal opponents' flyers.

I know I know... everyone was already thinking of it, but Luminarch Ascension springs to mind too...

I wonder, since you're playing with a lot of small tokens that will have you playing the attrition game, what about Quietus Spike?
Glory & Valor are kinda cool with numerous tokens too.

Linvala, Keeper of Silence (price check?!?) and Godhead of Awe might add some flying and control to the flying control deck. Archetype of Imagination seems expensive at 6 mana.

Celestial Colonnade and Faerie Conclave might also fit into the deck.

I'm sure you're already well aware of the good stuff blue and white flyers.

They're not tokens, but if you're looking for fliers to play with Wave of Reckoning, you should absolutely consider Stillmoon Cavalier and Swans of Bryn Argoll. And depending on what else is floating around in your meta, Deathless Angel and Spirit of the Hearth are interesting options to top out your curve.

Hi!

For token production i can suggest Battle Screech, same league as Lingering Souls.
If you go dual-colored you can think about Hold the Gates. In mono white, best thing is Mark of Asylum. But Angelic Shield, Lumithread Field, Parapet or Builder's Blessing/Castle are other options.

Godhead of Awe could be interesting for you, it will allow your Wave of Reckoning to kill all. The Godhead iss a spirit, so it opens up other synergies.

As a finisher for a deck with flying tockens i strongly suggest Mirrorweave. Just attack unblocked, then copy the meanest thing at the table to go lethal. And in times of need, you can "downgrade" attackers. With Manlands like Faerie Conclave you can even fog the combat.

Wow, so many options, and so many good suggestions...
Let's have a first try. Forgive me for three colours...


True Conviction is a silly win-more card, yes, but it will kill faster (and have a think about the luls it produces with a Wave of Reckoning going off).
Sphinx as the kill card because I have some lying about. Frites to resurrect the key pieces or reanimate the Sphinx for the win.

Sprite Noble seems unreliable here. It only protects against Wave of Reckoning if you can get at least two on the table or drop a Mirrorweave.

The deck makes no sense.

First of all splashing Blue for one UU card that isn't even good is absurd. Intangible Virtue is a million times more powerful and should be played as a 4-of. This deck need to drop Blue like a bad habit and keep a light Black splash for Vault of the Archangel, Lingering Souls and maybe something like Syphon Mind. Vault is essential in my mind because otherwise it can be far too difficult to handle large threats. I also really like splashing for Syphon Mind because White has no playable draw and Syphon Mind is good in 4 player games and completely amazing in 5+ player games.

Why run Rootborn Defenses if Wraths are uncommonly played? 1 or 2, ok, maybe, but 4?

Unburial Rites in a deck that has exactly 1 worthwhile target that it can reliably recur (I'm not counting an 8 mana Sphinx)?

Wave of Reckoning seems horrendous. Just run Hour of Reckoning. You don't need to keep Magus of the Moat around when you can just Plague Wind everyone with an army of 2/2 fliers out.

No Luminarch Ascension or Sacred Mesa? Again, when your plan is to cast Moat and win you may as well play cards that take advantage of the situation.

I imagine that Spec Proc and Screech should both be played as 4-ofs. 8 total token producers doesn't seem like enough to me. Turn 2 Intangible Virtue turn 3 Spec Proc/Souls turn 4 Screech/Spec Proc/Souls is very strong.

How common are Wraths/removal? I know that White has a bunch of ****ty "tap 50, 000 creatures you control: exile something" removal effects. Would something like that be playable? I know why you'd want to run spot removal (such as StP) but does it have to be the cheap 1-for-1 stuff or are you worried about slower, bigger threats? Something to consider anyways.

Quote from Prid3

The deck makes no sense.

Yup, dead right, and that's why it's here. It needed a few guys like you to pull it in the right direction (and the right combination of colours).
(... and look at you with your funky new username!)

To cover a couple of the easy explanations...

Quote from Prid3

Wave of Reckoning seems horrendous. Just run Hour of Reckoning. You don't need to keep Magus of the Moat around when you can just Plague Wind everyone with an army of 2/2 fliers out.

This comes down to how acceptable each will be in my meta. Spamming tokens and then casting Hour of Reckoning will get me punched. Managing to have my own stuff live through Wave of Reckoning is likely going to end up a two-card combo, and is a fairer reset to boot. Having to work harder for the same effect will see my meta give me a begrudging smile and a pat on the shoulder for pulling it off. So we could no doubt do it better, but it's about getting a version of this deck up that I can keep trotting out and not have blackbanned. And making the inevitable two-card combo consistent enough to win routinely.

Quote from Prid3

Why run Rootborn Defenses if Wraths are uncommonly played? 1 or 2, ok, maybe, but 4?
Unburial Rites in a deck that has exactly 1 worthwhile target that it can reliably recur (I'm not counting an 8 mana Sphinx)?
No Luminarch Ascension or Sacred Mesa? Again, when your plan is to cast Moat and win you may as well play cards that take advantage of the situation.

Rootborn Defenses is here for double-duty. It helps my guys live through the Wave, and can also save my guys at a pinch.
Unburial Rites is here partly for a reanimation trick and partly because I expect the Magus to die early and often (given my meta is looooaded with removal), and I'd like to keep one on the board.
I thought about Luminarch and Mesa. I have three Luminarchs and a Mesa available if we want to throw them in, though I tend to shy away from Mesa these days due to its mana-intensiveness (you need to hold mana spare to keep this out, unlike Luminarch).

But yes, dead right on the rest of it.
So... if we're committing to Orzhov, what's the other card in our two-card combo with Wave of Reckoning, given just relying on Rootborn Defenses is probably not going to be reliable enough?

Quote from CadaverousBl00m

So... if we're committing to Orzhov, what's the other card in our two-card combo with Wave of Reckoning, given just relying on Rootborn Defenses is probably not going to be reliable enough?

You're asking the wrong questions lol. I don't get it. You want to play Plague Wind but you don't want to use Hour of Reckoning because it does the job. Rather, you're looking for a 2 card combo version so... what...? So you can tell people "look, it's ok because I used 2 cards to do it"? That's going to make people feel better or something? I dunno, like I said, I don't get it. If I want a one-sided Wrath in token deck I run Hour of Reckoning because it's the right card for the job. If that's somehow oppressive... I dunno... I don't think it matters what goes in to your deck at that point. If people are drawing dead to a couple mass removal spells in a multiplayer setting then they're inexperienced players with extremely marginal decks and pretty much anything could work. You could play Hold the Gates and random Guildgates as your "toughness booster" and it would be fine. You could probably play Fortify and it would be fine. Nothing really matters when you're not actually facing real opponents. Like I get that some players just aren't very good or whatever but I mean it's tough to have a meaningful discussion when cards like Hour of Reckoning have to omitted for power-level reasons.

Going to have to agree with Prid here, this is a terrible deck.

Just because you have 4 of a bad card does mean that you have to play it. That said if you are determined to play Wave of Reckoning then at least build around it. This deck lack serious focus. Tokens have no synergy with WoR. Play tokens or play defensive creatures but don't try to force the two to work together.

Quote from CadaverousBl00m

Frites to resurrect the key pieces or reanimate the Sphinx for the win.

This isn't close to Frites. Frites played Faithless Looting to get Unburial Rites and a key card in the bin. Without the looting the deck does not work.

For reference, here's my own Wave of Reckoning deck:



Every creature in the deck can survive Wave of Reckoning. The Wave triggers the card draw on Swans of Bryn Argoll, as do Judge Unworthy and Repentance. Card draw fuels Empyrial Armor. Dawn Charm, Oblivion Ring and Return to Dust provide a range of defensive and removal options.

This deck design should adapt well to Magus of the Moat, as most of the creatures have flying. On the other hand, the deck's current main vulnerabilities are to direct damage and spot removal, and the Magus does nothing to alleviate this.

With the number of tokens these types of decks can create, you could consider running something like Martyr's Cause. It might not look like much but it can be super useful. Especially vs large tramplers (even with hexproof) and direct damage.

Quote from noodle

Tokens have no synergy with WoR. Play tokens or play defensive creatures but don't try to force the two to work together.

Quote from Quendalon

This deck design should adapt well to Magus of the Moat, as most of the creatures have flying. On the other hand, the deck's current main vulnerabilities are to direct damage and spot removal, and the Magus does nothing to alleviate this.

Truthery again - thanks for pushing this deck in the right direction, guys. Let's drop the tokens.
Now, I could keep this in Orzhov, and we can come up with a decent decklist that way, but I actually have a Boros deck that I could cull and fit this quite nicely. Gisela plays really well here. I don't even want to pretend this is a final list yet, but let's have a stab at things.


Initial problems I can see - very high curve and not much early game, creatures are still pretty vulnerable to removal. Might have to add some smaller gippers and a bit of protection.

Hmm, Palisade Giant + Swans of Bryn Argoll appears to be a bit of a non-bo. The Giant can go overboard. What for, I'm not sure yet. Heat Shimmer is lying around in my current deck, and is handy...