This is a thread for documentation and discussion of my Battle Box. My Battle Box contains thirty different sixty card decks that are relatively balanced, like duel decks. I use a D30 to select a deck, my opponent does the same, and we battle. Having so many decks leads to a fresh and fun environment. The decks are built to have a power level near that of Standard, but what is most important is that they are balanced.
So what exactly is a Battle Box?
A Battle Box is simply a box of decks that are designed to be played against each other, similar to duel decks. A Battle Box can have any number of decks and be any power level. The only thing that really matters is that they are fun to play against each other.
My battle box started with around five decks, then moved to ten, to eighteen, and then to twenty. Finally, I ended up at 30.
My thirty deck Battle Box includes:
A deck for each mono color.
A deck for each two color combination (Ravnica Guild).
A deck for each three color combination (Shards and Wedges).
Five more decks of my choosing.
All decks are still being tuned. Some are more tuned than others. Sometimes I have to scrap a deck and try something new.
UW: Tempest Plains D Mirage Island D
UB: Ice Age Island C Mirage Swamp B
BR: Mirage Swamp C Mirage Mountain A
GR: Mirage Mountain C Ice Age Forest A
GW: Mirage Plains C Tempest Forest D
WB: Tempest Plains A Urza's Saga Swamp 341
BG: Mirage Swamp A Tempest Forest A
GU: Urza's Saga Island 338 Mirage Forest C
UR: Urza's Saga Island 335 Mirage Mountain A
RW: Tempest Plains C Tempest Mountain C
Looks very nice, looks like product, product that would very largely benefit from some unique printings. Could benefit from EXHAUSTIVE gatherer search of full stringency type of increase of power level from medium-good to high-medium-good, shaving some of the more robust numbers to something a bit more powerful and variant, but not stupidly so. Like something other than Flametongue Kavu level of card, you could look at typical vintage/legacy cubes on cubetutor for that. Could easily spend a full year on obsessive compulsive perfecting a project like this. Seen, known, duel decks, but way more, yeah... would be tough. Awful lot of things to find out, if that possibility were put in. Therefore, no "do this, and it'd be easy ENOUGH" suggestion is entailed.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Warning: Um, warning. This is going to be a game state violation. And a taking extra turns and drawing extra cards violation, pretty much, a whole bunch of violations. Look at me, I'm the DCI."
Oh wow, this looks fun. Since you have so many decks, it would be cool if you had players choose (or get dealt) 3 decks and play a best of three match with them. It reminds me of this card game I played once (I think it was called Mash Up?) where players could choose two from a bunch of decks and shuffle them together for a unique experience every time.
This looks like a blast to play. Some matchups naturally won't be great but the power levels seem pretty even. I would say polymorph looks like the weak link here. Have you thought about including etter eldrazi or something else more devastating? It seems like it's doing a lot of work for a big beater right now.
Thanks for the input worldleviathan, I will look into some cube lists. I've actually been slowly developing these decks for 2-3 years. It is a wonderful time sink.
We mostly play best 2 of 3 matches. Sometimes we will run one deck against 5 other decks, kind of like a gauntlet or mtgo league. We usually play a few match ups so a lot of time it is best 2 out of 3 matches rather than games, similar to what you suggested BlazingRagnarok.
Oh wow, this looks fun. Since you have so many decks, it would be cool if you had players choose (or get dealt) 3 decks and play a best of three match with them. It reminds me of this card game I played once (I think it was called Mash Up?) where players could choose two from a bunch of decks and shuffle them together for a unique experience every time.
Smash up, and it is super cool.
That is actually a pretty good idea though...
Instead of 60 card decks you build 30 card semi-functional decks and then pick 2 each.
Overall it is a really neat idea. I thought optimizing my cube was hard...
I have five french vanilla mono colored 40 card decks that I've been working on as a sort of introductory aid. The kids pick a deck and go head to head or my son will take the box to school during game day. It's a big hit wherever it goes. Adding a colorless means I can use a D6 to avoid the whole "it's my favorite color" nonsense.
I agree that Polymorph needs some work. I have been trying to figure out how to improve it. It definitely needs a bigger payoff. I'm just not sure what that giant creature is right now. Emrakul, The Aeons Torn would be perfect but costs too much. I'll look into other Eldrazi.
I agree that Polymorph needs some work. I have been trying to figure out how to improve it. It definitely needs a bigger payoff. I'm just not sure what that giant creature is right now. Emrakul, The Aeons Torn would be perfect but costs too much. I'll look into other Eldrazi.
Updated a bunch of decks. Shuffling some things around for various reasons. Small Improvements too. Removed all proxies from decks. As a result, Naya could no longer remain the same deck. I've made it into a Big Zoo.
Polymorph
In:
Beast Attack
2 Swords to Plowshares
Planar Collapse
Valorous Stance
Vivid Grove
Opt
Miscalculation
Deck generates a lot of value, so it has a strong late game. I wanted to remove the reanimate a fatty gameplan to strengthen the early to mid game allowing it to pull ahead late.
They make a d30, and I'd be inclined to go for 30 decks. The toolbox I carry around just happens to have 29 decks in it at the moment. For my 30 I would want:
5: 1 deck for each Alara Shard
5: 1 deck for each Tarkir Wedge
10: 1 deck for each Ravnica Guild
5: 1 deck for each single color
5: 5 decks of whatever, colorless, Tron/Post, or double up on one or more of the previous.
Yeah 30 sounds sweet. I like the idea of all the mono, two, and three color combinations plus 5 of whatever. I will probably work on getting 10 added once I get these ones all finalized. The key is making sure they are all competitive and that there is good variety.
What sort of decks are in your box? Anything cool?
Yeah 30 sounds sweet. I like the idea of all the mono, two, and three color combinations plus 5 of whatever. I will probably work on getting 10 added once I get these ones all finalized. The key is making sure they are all competitive and that there is good variety.
What sort of decks are in your box? Anything cool?
It's still a work in progress. I don't have any real three color decks yet, I haven't had the necessary land but I'm in the process of purchasing them. I have 29 decks at the moment, 6 of which are garbage decks I built out of random stuff I had laying around but are fair vs newbies. The rest vary between semi-competitive, jank decks that work on their own terms but are easily disrupted, decks that still need a little work, and a mono-black midrange deck that doesn't work and needs to be rebuilt.
That is how my box started. It was a lot of scraps leftover from years of drafting and collecting. I just level it up over time. It's nice because I can always find something to work on in the decks.
I am in the process of adding ten decks to the box. There will be one of each color, the Ravnica Guilds, the Wedges and Shards, then 5 additional decks for a total of 30. The second post of the thread has been updated with possible decks to add to the box.
If you have any deck ideas, please feel free to make a suggestion. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
Heres a short response to your 'proposed' section:
Mardu;
If youre not going with Haakon, Butcher seems like the perfect finisher against an empty hand, but I cant help but wonder if 8 'discard twos' could be too many, as there are quite a few decks aggressively trying to empty their hands in your format. I would cut a GV for somethind beyond Asylum Visitor that can be played proactively. Seeker of the Way, perhaps? I think this shell is deceptively strong and while not as flashy could easily be better than a Haakon list. (this of course not knowing exactly how well those lists would function although the power level of crib swap/inversion from the yard is extremely high) The vampires list seems like the worst one by quite a large margin.
If you are going with Haakon, the 'madness vampires' list and the demigod list are both awesome. It's hard to say which would be better, but I think the version that plays more like a control deck would be better variety for your box.
Abzan;
My favorite is hands down the Necroskitter/O. Viper list. Getting use out of Doran's ability should absolutely be a part of the deck and I think the advantage those two provide far outweights the usefulness of creatures that you can invest mana in later in the game. I would suggest one more necroskitter. Crime/Punishment is perfect for the grindy game this deck plays.
Temur;
This list looks like it could get clunky. If its going all in on yavimaya/ascendancy, perhaps it should include the Temur Sabertooth combo that was ran in standard? To reward a player for setting it up and drawing a bunch of cards?
Gruul;
I think the Gruul version of madness looks a lot more fun than that Mardu version but because one has the Haakon engine and one doesnt I don't think that would be too much overlap to not include one because of the other. Very different playstyle. I don't know much about the strategy but the gruul version looks like in runs itself. Get efficient cards in mongrel and lightning axe with no downside because your cards have madness. Thats awesome.
Of course, the fires of yavimaya version is awesome as well. It looks more insistent than the Temur version because saprling burst and temur asendency together don't mesh quite the way fires does.
Selesnya;
Even though im huge fan of beastmaster ascension, the populate mechanic looks incredibly well utilized in that second list and giving powerful tokens an intangible virtue to work with would be great. I feel as though 4 advent and 3 beast attack is too much at the top though, perhaps Cast Out? Garruk Wildpeaker would be amazing here if you could find a cheap copy.
Orzhov;
The other Haakon lists in other colors look much more functional although the knights themselves are quite strong so perhaps im not evaluating them properly. Additionally if youre removing the zombie theme from Abzan then keeping the archtype in the box but in orzhov is probably best for the diversity of the box. Not to mention is looks really strong. No Sarcomancy? Risen Executioner has a big body but otherwise doesnt seem that great, perhaps im wrong.
Simic;
This deck almost certainly needs probe or manamorphose or maybe both to be competitive and the lack of vapor snag stands out to me. Without fetchlands threshold is tough without a lot of help. Cryptic servant and all the threshold guys need stuff in the yard and narcolepsy/control magic sit in play. The powerful counters help this deck but right now I dont think it matches well against much in the box.
Boros;
10/10 the sligh gods are happy.
Blue;
I love the standard port. Is frostburn weird good enough in such a mana hungry deck? seems likw a better place for control magic
black;
awesome way to fill another niche in the box. infect is at its coolest with the phyrexian overlord cards, in my opinion. still feels like mono black. Otherwise a smallpox thing could be cool.
Green;
Boring but effective stompy deck. Looks like it could use a Fight card or two though.
Oathwalkers is awesome but I feel like including some sort of mana accell beyond fertile ground would make the deck play a lot smoother. Utopia sprawl or Verdant growth? Im assuming Ajani's oath is expensive otherwise that would should be a four of
I love the wall deck but it needs way more perimter captain. I would also max out on vent sentinal. akroan horse seems bad. Guard Duty is a great removal card for the deck I imagine. Fog Bank is pretty much the best blocker. Hover Barrier is great at cleaning up after an Assault Formation, but really a strategy that involves Assault Formation and Wall of Denial could be really, really, really good. I would look into that.
The domain deck looks like its off to a good start but i would like to see something like rhox war monk here that adds some more staying power fairly early. Collective Restraint looks pretty good if you wanted it to be slower. I love draco but I would probably limit it to just one, youll never want to draw two.
So a lot of cards were included in those decks so that I didn't forget them. They are mostly rough drafts.
For Mardu, I have a couple things going on in my head. First is that Boros is probably ending up as Sligh so I need to rework it. Second is I was Butcher of the Horde to be in the box. Third, Mardu is probably the best bet for Haakon. The looting is also great to abuse Demigod, so I am leaning towards the Demigod Haakon version. The Haakon Vamps could be good, or terrible. There is a lot of synergy there, but it could be a bust and I don't want to build it and find out it is terrible. The Blighning/GV version is probably really good, but both of those cards can find different homes and Demigod will be sweet in Mardu. I'll have to rework Mono Red, but I figure without Figure of Destiny, it doesn't have the same long game that the standard version did.
I agree on Abzan. The Ohran Viper Doran Version of the deck seems best to me. I'll have to work on tweaking the numbers. All of these lists will get tweaked before I officially add them.
Temur Sabertooth would be good in the Temur Fires Deck. I saw Temur Ascendency when I was building the Gruul Version and thought it was awesome. I like the current version of Temur Ninjutsu more, but it is a cool backup if I ever need it.
I'm torn on Gruul. I think I want the madness deck but Fires looks fun. I'm leaning towards Madness. Faithless Looting will be in Mardu most likely, but some overlap between decks is fine. Especially when they are enabling cool synergy.
I also prefer the populate version of this deck. Populating 5/5s will be good. It also has so many two for ones. Some of the one ofs are there just so I remember them, there will definitely be some trimming. Cast Out does seem good here. I probably need a little bit of removal.
Orzhov is almost for sure Zombies. It will benefit from a smoother manabase since it is so black heavy. Losing Putrid Leech is tough because it is such a good early card, so the deck is a little slower, but the new lord helps. I'll definitely be playing with the numbers here.
Simic should definitely have probe and vapor snag. Do you think I should be adding 4 more cantrips to the deck, or remove one of the other ones? I'm not sure if the deck is fast enough to take full advantage of vapor snag, so some of the enchantments might be necessary. Snag should be included in some number though. Perhaps Simic Charm also.
Boros should be sweet. A lot of good attackers and the battle cry will add up.
Mono Blue Devotion should be a fairly fast deck, so it will need the two drops. The Weird might be better off as something else that costs UU. I'll just have to figure out what. However it is a good early blocker and then can finish quickly. But control magic would definitely fit nicely in this deck.
Mono Black infect came together pretty quickly, I think it will work well. I'm not sure if I got it perfect, but with a few tweaks this should be great.
Mono Green is nothing fancy but fills a niche. Prey Upon is probably great and gives the deck some play. Good suggestion.
For the walkers deck, Oath of Ajani is actually cheap, it just doesn't color fix so I'm not sure how good it will be. It depends on the manabase. It's really good if I can make the mana work. I am concerned about the price of the deck. All these walkers are the cheap ones, but still 2-4 dollars. It adds up. Oaths are really cheap though, so maybe I trim to less walkers and take advantage of the Oaths.
Walls is another deck that will really be shaped by how the mana works. I might choose to make it 4 colors just to help with that. That's also part of the reason I chose colorless walls where I could. Assault Formation is really good with the fliers. Assualt Formation into Wall of Denial will be very strong. Akroan Horse is a weird choice. I put it there because it is easy to cast and because if this deck stalls out the board, the horse will end up making a lot of tokens. Probably better as something else though, you're right.
Domain is a little weird. I think it should work well. The creatures are efficient if I have the lands out. It has good removal, accel, Counterspells, and card selection. I'm thinking it will play kinda like a tempo deck but with a really powerful top end. Draco is really good if I have domain where he only costs 6 and Ordered Migration is pretty good. I could see adding the enchantment if I needed to slow the deck down. I'm hoping I will assemble domain consistently. A Rhox War Monk or something similar could be good, I was also considering Savage Knuckleblade.
I'll be finalizing archetypes soon and then start tuning the individual decklists.
Right now I'm looking at:
Mardu Demigod Haakon
Abzan Doran with Viper
Gruul Madness
Selesnya Populate
Boros Sligh
Simic Grow
Orzhov Zombies
Mono Blue Devotion
Mono Black Infect
Mono Green Stompy
The rest of the mono, bi, and trim color archetypes would remain the same.
Then the extra 5 decks including the ones already in the box I'm thinking:
Tempered Steel
Cascade
Domain
Walls
And Superfriends if the cost is reasonable. Otherwise I'll need soemthing else. Perhaps a 4 color Fires deck.
I finally added my 30th deck, but I still don't have any real three color decks. I'll be adding 10 of those, and I have another 10 or so 2-color decks waiting to be built, so this list is very temporary:
B
Mono-black control
Mono-black midrange
Mono-black Necropotence/Gary aggro
U
Mono-blue control
W
Humans aggro
Life Gain
G
Mono-green big aggro
Mono-green ramp
10 land stompy
R
Old school Sligh
WU
Azorius Midrange Control
GW
Selesnya Novablast Wurm
RG
Gruul Atarka ramp
Fires of Yavimaya
Crappy Planeswalkers midrange that is better than it has any right to be
BR
Rakdos Tempo
UB
Dimir aggro control--I'm rebuilding this deck and probably moving it more towards pure control
The following decks are just garbage made out of cards I had laying around, and these decks pretty much all really suck:
GW aggro WUB suicide R big control UB big blue midrange BW Wb midrange G Eldrazi
I haven't built any of the three color decks yet, though two are designed and I just need the cards for them. The others are just concepts at the moment:
Abzan 3cmc midrange w/Rhonas--this is designed, and will probably be the next deck I buy the cards for, I already have 3 Rhonas
Temur Amonkhet Enchantress--enchantress+trials and cartouches, this is designed just need to buy the cards
Esper Dragons
Bant ?(having a lot of trouble deciding what to build in bant)
Sultai Superfriends--actually have all the PWs I need for this except Kiora
Mardu aggro/sligh
Jund big midrange
Naya Company
Grixis Delver
Jeskai Tempo(I actually like the idea of your Jeskai better than anything I was coming up with, but I'll probably use Reflector Mage and Spell Queller)
These all sound pretty cool. You've got some good variety.
Spell Queller would be really good in Jeskai. Reflector Mage is pretty good too lol. For Bant, I've been enjoying the Bant Blink deck. The old version was pretty cool too. Turn 2 Rhox War Monk is nice. Bant control from RTR standard with Thragtusk and Prime Speaker Zeganna could be fun.
So what exactly is a Battle Box?
A Battle Box is simply a box of decks that are designed to be played against each other, similar to duel decks. A Battle Box can have any number of decks and be any power level. The only thing that really matters is that they are fun to play against each other.
My battle box started with around five decks, then moved to ten, to eighteen, and then to twenty. Finally, I ended up at 30.
My thirty deck Battle Box includes:
A deck for each mono color.
A deck for each two color combination (Ravnica Guild).
A deck for each three color combination (Shards and Wedges).
Five more decks of my choosing.
All decks are still being tuned. Some are more tuned than others. Sometimes I have to scrap a deck and try something new.
WUB
3 Plumeveil
1 Draining Whelk
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
Enchantments (3)
3 Kirtar's Desire
Instants (25)
2 Disfigure
3 Condemn
1 Agony Warp
4 Impulse
4 Rune Snag
1 Remove Soul
1 Exclude
1 Stroke of Genius
1 White Sun's Zenith
2 Dismiss
1 Rewind
3 Mystical Teachings
1 Second Thoughts
1 Decree of Justice
Lands (26)
1 Swamp
2 Plains
5 Islands
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Underground River
2 Caves of Koilos
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid Marsh
3 Vivid Creek
4 Arcane Sanctum
1 City of Brass
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Glacial Fortress
4 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Man-o'-War
1 Flametongue Kavu
4 Mulldrifter
4 Shriekmaw
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Spitebellows
Enchantments (1)
1 Diabolic Servitude
Instants (9)
1 Izzet Charm
3 Terminate
4 Makeshift Mannequin
1 Consume the Meek
1 Firebolt
2 Flame Slash
2 Compulsive Research
2 Barter in Blood
1 Whelming Wave
1 Cruel Ultimatum
Lands (24)
3 Mountain
3 Island
3 Swamp
1 Vivid Crag
2 Vivid Marsh
4 Crumbling Necropolis
2 Underground River
1 Shivan Reef
1 City of Brass
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Shadowblood Ridge
4 Rakshasa Death Dealer
2 Troll Ascetic
4 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Reaper of the Wilds
3 Broodmate Dragon
Instants (7)
1 Doom Blade
4 Terminate
2 Putrefy
4 Night's Whisper
4 Ruinous Path
4 Blightning
1 Harmonize
1 Assault/Battery
Lands (24)
4 Savage Lands
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Grove
2 Karplusan Forest
1 Llanowar Wastes
3 Sulfurous Springs
3 City of Brass
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Mountain
4 Forest
3 Swamp
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Llanowar Elves
2 Mother of Runes
4 Watchwolf
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
4 Spawnwrithe
4 Woolly Thoctar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Battlegrace Angel
1 Unflinching Courage
1 Curse of Predation
Instants (8)
2 Dromoka's Command
3 Incinerate
3 Naya Charm
Lands (22)
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Jungle Shrine
4 Aether Hub
2 City of Brass
1 Mossfire Valley
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Omenspeaker
4 Wall of Blossoms
4 Wall of Omens
4 Reflector Mage
4 Blade Splicer
2 Fiend Hunter
1 Reveillark
4 Mulldrifter
4 Momentary Blink
4 Ghostly Flicker
1 Eerie Interlude
Lands (24)
4 Plains
3 Forest
3 Vivid Meadow
4 Seaside Citadel
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 City of Brass
2 Adarkar Wastes
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Brushland
4 Mantis Rider
4 Lightning Angel
3 Dungeon Geists
1 Prognostic Sphinx
Enchantments (1)
1 Darksteel Mutation
Sorceries (4)
4 Roast
Instants (18)
4 Lightning Strike
2 Izzet Charm
4 Mana Leak
2 Prohibit
3 Electrolyze
1 Jeskai Charm
2 Fact or Fiction
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 City of Brass
2 Mountain
1 Plains
6 Island
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Shivan Reef
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
4 Mystic Monastery
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Hooting Mandrills
2 Gurmag Angler
4 Tombstalker
3 Necropolis Fiend
Instants (24)
4 Mental Note
4 Thought Scour
1 Victim of Night
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Anticipate
4 Smother
3 Sultai Charm
4 Opulent Palace
1 Llanowar Wastes
3 Underground River
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Swamp
2 Forest
3 Island
3 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
2 Olivia, Mobilized for War
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Demigod of Revenge
Instants (10)
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Crib Swap
2 Mardu Charm
4 Faithless Looting
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Lingering Souls
Lands (24)
2 Caves of Koilos
1 Battlefield Forge
2 Sulfurous Springs
3 Vivid Marsh
4 Swamp
4 Mountain
4 City of Brass
4 Nomad Outpost
4 Phantasmal Bear
4 Cloudfin Raptor
1 Cloud of Faeries
2 Elvish Visionary
4 Coiling Oracle
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Fire Imp
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
4 Mistblade Shinobi
2 Burst Lightning
2 Vapor Snag
4 Counterspell
2 Incinerate
Sorceries (1)
1 Firebolt
Lands (20)
1 Forest
2 Island
1 Mountain
2 Karplusan Forest
1 Shivan Reef
3 Yavimaya Coast
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Frontier Bivouac
3 City of Brass
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Putrid Leech
4 Doran, the Siege Tower
4 Ohran Viper
1 Necroskitter
3 Chameleon Colossus
Instants (11)
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Abzan Charm
3 Mortify
4 Gerrard's Verdict
2 Crime // Punishment
Lands (23)
4 Murmuring Bosk
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Llanowar Wastes
2 City of Brass
2 Caves of Koilos
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Sunpetal Grove
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
1 Plains
2 Swamp
UW
1 Worldspine Wurm
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Pathrazer of Ulamog
Enchantments (1)
1 Planar Collapse
Instants (16)
2 Peek
3 Opt
1 Dispel
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Miscalculation
1 Valorous Stance
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Portent
3 Sunlance
4 See Beyond
4 Polymorph
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Lands (24)
4 Khalni Garden
4 Azorius Chancery
4 Flood Plain
4 Prairie Stream
3 Plains
5 Island
4 Nightshade Stinger
4 Faerie Miscreant
2 Inkfathom Witch
4 Oona's Blackguard
4 Oona's Prowler
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Stinkdrinker Bandit
2 Latchkey Faerie
1 Ultimate Price
1 Last Gasp
1 Doom Blade
1 Smother
1 Murder
1 Psionic Blast
4 Thieve's Fortune
6 Island
6 Swamp
3 Sunken Hollow
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Choked Estuary
2 Goblin Bushwacker
1 Knucklebone Witch
4 Foundry Street Denizen
1 Goblin Piledriver
4 Mogg War Marshal
1 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Warchief
1 Goblin Matron
3 Mad Auntie
1 Goblin King
1 Wort, Boggart Auntie
1 Goblin Ringleader
1 Shared Animosity
Instants (4)
3 Tarfire
1 Nameless Inversion
Sorceries (14)
2 Goblin Grenade
2 Warren Wierding
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Krenko's Command
2 Fodder Launch
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Foreboding Ruins
1 Goblin Burrows
4 Auntie's Hovel
9 Mountain
4 Swamp
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Noose Constrictor
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
3 Bloodmad Vampire
4 Reckless Wurm
4 Arrogant Wurm
3 Lightning Axe
4 Fiery Temper
Sorceries (5)
4 Faithless Looting
1 Roar of the Wurm
Lands (24)
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Temple of Abandon
2 Rootbound Crag
7 Mountain
7 Forest
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Precinct Captain
4 Wayfaring Temple
Enchantments (5)
3 Intangible Virtue
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Growing Ranks
2 Rootborn Defenses
4 Advent of the Wurm
1 Beast Attack
Sorceries (12)
4 Wake the Reflections
4 Call of the Conclave
4 Call of the Herd
4 Brushland
2 Sungrass Prairie
4 Fortified Village
8 Forest
6 Plains
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Wayward Servant
4 Cemetery Reaper
4 Lord of the Accursed
4 Undead Warchief
4 Skinrender
4 Victim of Night
Lands (24)
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Temple of Silence
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Tainted Field
2 Plains
8 Swamp
2 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 Wolf-Skull Shaman
2 Devoted Druid
3 Quillspike
3 Elvish Harbinger
1 Elvish Archdruid
4 Imperious Perfect
1 Masked Admirers
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Eyeblight's Ending
Lands (23)
8 Swamp
5 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Tainted Wood
2 Woodland Cemetery
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Werebear
3 Cryptic Serpent
Enchantments (2)
2 Narcolepsy
4 Thought Scour
4 Brainstorm
4 Opt
2 Dispel
1 Simic Charm
4 Censor
4 Counterspell
4 Gitaxian Probe
Lands (16)
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Yavimaya Coast
5 Island
3 Forest
3 Paradise Mantle
1 Runechanter Pike
Creatures (12)
4 Blistercoil Weird
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Spellheart Chimera
Instants(15)
4 Brainstorm
4 Crimson Wisps
3 Cerulean Wisps
1 Mizzium Skin
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Frantic Search
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
1 Careful Study
2 Assault Strobe
Lands (18)
10 Island
3 Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
1 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Falkenrath Gorger
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Dryad Militant
4 Wojek Halberdiers
4 Honored Crop-Captain
4 Accorder Paladin
4 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Incinerate
4 Boros Charm
Sorcery (4)
4 Mugging
Lands (20)
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Needle Spires
2 Boros Garrison
7 Mountain
5 Plains
W
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Figure of Destiny
1 Goldmeadow Harrier
4 Knight of the Meadowgrain
4 Wizened Cenn
2 Thistledown Liege
2 Celestial Crusader
2 Cloudgoat Rangers
3 Honor of the Pure
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
Instants (5)
2 Brave the Elements
2 Unmake
1 Mirrorweave
4 Spectral Procession
Lands (23)
19 Plains
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Harbinger of Tides
4 Tidebinder Mage
4 Shorecrasher Elemental
4 Grand Architect
3 Master of Waves
2 Glen Elendra Liege
2 Curse of Chains
2 Bident of Thassa
Instants (3)
2 Rapid Hybridization
1 Gigadrowse
24 Island
3 Whispering Specter
4 Phyrexian Vatmother
4 Hand of the Praetors
2 Reaper of Sheoldred
4 Smother
4 Devour Flesh
4 Murder
2 Dead Drop
4 Distress
4 Wrench Mind
Lands (25)
25 Swamp
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Ashenmoor Gouger
4 Hellrider
4 Shock
4 Lightning Strike
4 Incinerate
4 Flame Javelin
23 Mountains
1 Looming Spires
4 Arbor Elf
4 Experiment One
4 Kalonian Tusker
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Leatherback Baloth
4 Imperiosaur
4 Rancor
Instants (8)
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Aspect of Hydra
2 Prey Upon
Lands (22)
22 Forest
WUBRG
1 Savage Knuckleblade
1 Yidris, Maelstrom Wanderer
1 Glint-Eye Nephilim
2 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Enlisted Wurm
1 Etherium-Horn Sorcerer
Enchantments (9)
4 Fertile Ground
4 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Bant Charm
1 Mardu Charm
1 Abzan Charm
1 Sultai Charm
4 Bituminous Blast
Sorceries (8)
4 Captured Sunlight
4 Deny Reality
Lands (25)
3 Plains
1 Island
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
3 Forest
3 Vivid Meadow
2 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Marsh
2 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Grove
2 Shimmering Grotto
2 Temple Bell
Creatures (1)
1 Spore Frog
Instants (25)
2 Crop Rotation
1 Ethereal Haze
1 Holy Day
4 Fog
4 Druid's Deliverance
4 Moment's Peace
4 Riot Control
4 Clinging Mists
1 Aetherize
4 Explore
1 Nostalgic Dreams
Lands (27)
3 Azorius Guildgate
2 Dimir Guildgate
2 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Gruul Guildgate
3 Selesnya Guildgate
2 Orzhov Guildgate
2 Golgari Guildgate
2 Simic Guildgate
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Boros Guildgate
4 Maze's End
1 Saltcrusted Steppe
4 Springleaf Drum
1 Bonesplitter
1 Skullclamp
Creatures (30)
4 Ornithopter
1 Memnite
4 Court Homunculus
4 Arcbound Worker
1 Signal Pest
1 Myr Retriever
1 Arcbound Stinger
4 Chief of the Foundry
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
1 Indomitable Archangel
1 Metalwork Colossus
4 Tempered Steel
2 Mishra's Factory
4 Ancient Den
4 Darksteel Citadel
10 Plains
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Matca Rioters
1 Woodland Wanderer
2 Draco
Instants (12)
4 Worldly Counsel
4 Evasive Action
4 Drag Down
4 Farseek
4 Tribal Flames
2 Ground Assault
3 Ordered Migration
Lands (24)
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Forest
2 Prairie Stream
2 Sunken Hollow
1 Smoldering Marsh
3 Cinder Glade
2 Canopy Vista
4 Perimeter Captain
4 Steel Wall
4 Consulate Skygate
4 Wall of Tanglecord
3 Axebane Gaurdian
2 Wakestone Gargoyle
4 Vent Sentinel
3 Assault Formation
Sorceries (8)
4 Commune with Nature
4 Commune with the Gods
Lands (24)
4 Vivid Grove
4 Vivid Meadow
4 Jungle Shrine
1 Sungrass Prairie
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Mountain
5 Forest
4 Plains
5/15/17: Added 10 Decks. Battle Box now contains 30 decks. Change Log Reset.
UW: Tempest Plains D Mirage Island D
UB: Ice Age Island C Mirage Swamp B
BR: Mirage Swamp C Mirage Mountain A
GR: Mirage Mountain C Ice Age Forest A
GW: Mirage Plains C Tempest Forest D
WB: Tempest Plains A Urza's Saga Swamp 341
BG: Mirage Swamp A Tempest Forest A
GU: Urza's Saga Island 338 Mirage Forest C
UR: Urza's Saga Island 335 Mirage Mountain A
RW: Tempest Plains C Tempest Mountain C
We mostly play best 2 of 3 matches. Sometimes we will run one deck against 5 other decks, kind of like a gauntlet or mtgo league. We usually play a few match ups so a lot of time it is best 2 out of 3 matches rather than games, similar to what you suggested BlazingRagnarok.
Smash up, and it is super cool.
That is actually a pretty good idea though...
Instead of 60 card decks you build 30 card semi-functional decks and then pick 2 each.
Overall it is a really neat idea. I thought optimizing my cube was hard...
I have five french vanilla mono colored 40 card decks that I've been working on as a sort of introductory aid. The kids pick a deck and go head to head or my son will take the box to school during game day. It's a big hit wherever it goes. Adding a colorless means I can use a D6 to avoid the whole "it's my favorite color" nonsense.
Your best budget bets for a Polymorph target are probably Worldspine Wurm and/or Kozilek, the Great Distortion. They fall into the $3-4 range, but if you don't mind going up to $7-8 then Emrakul, the Promised End and Progenitus become options.
Polymorph
In:
Beast Attack
2 Swords to Plowshares
Planar Collapse
Valorous Stance
Vivid Grove
Opt
Miscalculation
Out:
2 Delay
Whelming Wave
4 Growth Spasm
1 Sejiri Refuge
Small improvements. Streamlining with cantrips. Has no trouble making tokens, Growth Spasm has been poor. More efficient removal.
Grixis
In:
Vivid Marsh
Vivid Crag
Spitebellows
Man-o'-War
Mnemonic Wall
Whelming Wave
Out:
Evolving Wilds
Swamp
Frost Titan
Nicol Bolas
2 Frantic Search
Deck generates a lot of value, so it has a strong late game. I wanted to remove the reanimate a fatty gameplan to strengthen the early to mid game allowing it to pull ahead late.
Rogues
In: Smother
Out: Ruinous Path
Smother is good. I wanted 4 RP in Jund.
Jund
In: 3 Ruinous Path
Out:
Heroes Downfall
Branching Bolt
Roast
Streamlining decks. I want to have more 4 ofs.
Bant
In:
2 Fyndhorn Elves
Avacyns Pilgrim
Plains
Sunpetal Grove
Out: 3 Birds of Paradise
2 Windswept Heath
Removing fetch proxies. Birds went to Naya.
Elves:
In: 4 Elvish Mystic
Out:
2 Llanowar Elves
2 Fyndhorn Elves
Making 4 of where I can.
Jeskai
Out: 4 Battlegrace Angel
In: 3 Lightning Angel
1 Prognostic Sphinx
BGA went to Naya. Lightning Angel and Prog Sphinx are more on theme.
Naya is pretty much all new. Check it out.
OP updated to reflect these changes.
Cascade
In: Ydris, Maelstrom Wanderer
Out: Tower Gargoyle
I've wanted this guy in there for a while. He's cheap enough now.
Tempered Steel
In: Ancient Den, Metalwork Colossus
Out: Tree of Tales, Glint Hawk
Finally got the Den. We will see how Colossus is.
Elves
In: Masked Admirers, Imperious Perfect
Out: Wiredwood Herald, Rhys the Exiled
Perfect is great. Admirers is great. May try to fit more. Rhys is not very good. Wirewood is poor without a way to reliably trigger it.
I got more than those in the mail, but I need to figure out the changes to make.
I have a Worldspined Wurm now. I need to decide which creature to cut from Polymorph.
I am also considering adding Spellstutter Sprite and Faerie Miscreant to Rogues to give it some more interaction.
5: 1 deck for each Alara Shard
5: 1 deck for each Tarkir Wedge
10: 1 deck for each Ravnica Guild
5: 1 deck for each single color
5: 5 decks of whatever, colorless, Tron/Post, or double up on one or more of the previous.
What sort of decks are in your box? Anything cool?
It's still a work in progress. I don't have any real three color decks yet, I haven't had the necessary land but I'm in the process of purchasing them. I have 29 decks at the moment, 6 of which are garbage decks I built out of random stuff I had laying around but are fair vs newbies. The rest vary between semi-competitive, jank decks that work on their own terms but are easily disrupted, decks that still need a little work, and a mono-black midrange deck that doesn't work and needs to be rebuilt.
If you have any deck ideas, please feel free to make a suggestion. All feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
Mardu;
If youre not going with Haakon, Butcher seems like the perfect finisher against an empty hand, but I cant help but wonder if 8 'discard twos' could be too many, as there are quite a few decks aggressively trying to empty their hands in your format. I would cut a GV for somethind beyond Asylum Visitor that can be played proactively. Seeker of the Way, perhaps? I think this shell is deceptively strong and while not as flashy could easily be better than a Haakon list. (this of course not knowing exactly how well those lists would function although the power level of crib swap/inversion from the yard is extremely high) The vampires list seems like the worst one by quite a large margin.
If you are going with Haakon, the 'madness vampires' list and the demigod list are both awesome. It's hard to say which would be better, but I think the version that plays more like a control deck would be better variety for your box.
Abzan;
My favorite is hands down the Necroskitter/O. Viper list. Getting use out of Doran's ability should absolutely be a part of the deck and I think the advantage those two provide far outweights the usefulness of creatures that you can invest mana in later in the game. I would suggest one more necroskitter. Crime/Punishment is perfect for the grindy game this deck plays.
Temur;
This list looks like it could get clunky. If its going all in on yavimaya/ascendancy, perhaps it should include the Temur Sabertooth combo that was ran in standard? To reward a player for setting it up and drawing a bunch of cards?
Gruul;
I think the Gruul version of madness looks a lot more fun than that Mardu version but because one has the Haakon engine and one doesnt I don't think that would be too much overlap to not include one because of the other. Very different playstyle. I don't know much about the strategy but the gruul version looks like in runs itself. Get efficient cards in mongrel and lightning axe with no downside because your cards have madness. Thats awesome.
Of course, the fires of yavimaya version is awesome as well. It looks more insistent than the Temur version because saprling burst and temur asendency together don't mesh quite the way fires does.
Selesnya;
Even though im huge fan of beastmaster ascension, the populate mechanic looks incredibly well utilized in that second list and giving powerful tokens an intangible virtue to work with would be great. I feel as though 4 advent and 3 beast attack is too much at the top though, perhaps Cast Out? Garruk Wildpeaker would be amazing here if you could find a cheap copy.
Orzhov;
The other Haakon lists in other colors look much more functional although the knights themselves are quite strong so perhaps im not evaluating them properly. Additionally if youre removing the zombie theme from Abzan then keeping the archtype in the box but in orzhov is probably best for the diversity of the box. Not to mention is looks really strong. No Sarcomancy? Risen Executioner has a big body but otherwise doesnt seem that great, perhaps im wrong.
Simic;
This deck almost certainly needs probe or manamorphose or maybe both to be competitive and the lack of vapor snag stands out to me. Without fetchlands threshold is tough without a lot of help. Cryptic servant and all the threshold guys need stuff in the yard and narcolepsy/control magic sit in play. The powerful counters help this deck but right now I dont think it matches well against much in the box.
Boros;
10/10 the sligh gods are happy.
Blue;
I love the standard port. Is frostburn weird good enough in such a mana hungry deck? seems likw a better place for control magic
black;
awesome way to fill another niche in the box. infect is at its coolest with the phyrexian overlord cards, in my opinion. still feels like mono black. Otherwise a smallpox thing could be cool.
Green;
Boring but effective stompy deck. Looks like it could use a Fight card or two though.
Oathwalkers is awesome but I feel like including some sort of mana accell beyond fertile ground would make the deck play a lot smoother. Utopia sprawl or Verdant growth? Im assuming Ajani's oath is expensive otherwise that would should be a four of
I love the wall deck but it needs way more perimter captain. I would also max out on vent sentinal. akroan horse seems bad. Guard Duty is a great removal card for the deck I imagine. Fog Bank is pretty much the best blocker. Hover Barrier is great at cleaning up after an Assault Formation, but really a strategy that involves Assault Formation and Wall of Denial could be really, really, really good. I would look into that.
The domain deck looks like its off to a good start but i would like to see something like rhox war monk here that adds some more staying power fairly early. Collective Restraint looks pretty good if you wanted it to be slower. I love draco but I would probably limit it to just one, youll never want to draw two.
For Mardu, I have a couple things going on in my head. First is that Boros is probably ending up as Sligh so I need to rework it. Second is I was Butcher of the Horde to be in the box. Third, Mardu is probably the best bet for Haakon. The looting is also great to abuse Demigod, so I am leaning towards the Demigod Haakon version. The Haakon Vamps could be good, or terrible. There is a lot of synergy there, but it could be a bust and I don't want to build it and find out it is terrible. The Blighning/GV version is probably really good, but both of those cards can find different homes and Demigod will be sweet in Mardu. I'll have to rework Mono Red, but I figure without Figure of Destiny, it doesn't have the same long game that the standard version did.
I agree on Abzan. The Ohran Viper Doran Version of the deck seems best to me. I'll have to work on tweaking the numbers. All of these lists will get tweaked before I officially add them.
Temur Sabertooth would be good in the Temur Fires Deck. I saw Temur Ascendency when I was building the Gruul Version and thought it was awesome. I like the current version of Temur Ninjutsu more, but it is a cool backup if I ever need it.
I'm torn on Gruul. I think I want the madness deck but Fires looks fun. I'm leaning towards Madness. Faithless Looting will be in Mardu most likely, but some overlap between decks is fine. Especially when they are enabling cool synergy.
I also prefer the populate version of this deck. Populating 5/5s will be good. It also has so many two for ones. Some of the one ofs are there just so I remember them, there will definitely be some trimming. Cast Out does seem good here. I probably need a little bit of removal.
Orzhov is almost for sure Zombies. It will benefit from a smoother manabase since it is so black heavy. Losing Putrid Leech is tough because it is such a good early card, so the deck is a little slower, but the new lord helps. I'll definitely be playing with the numbers here.
Simic should definitely have probe and vapor snag. Do you think I should be adding 4 more cantrips to the deck, or remove one of the other ones? I'm not sure if the deck is fast enough to take full advantage of vapor snag, so some of the enchantments might be necessary. Snag should be included in some number though. Perhaps Simic Charm also.
Boros should be sweet. A lot of good attackers and the battle cry will add up.
Mono Blue Devotion should be a fairly fast deck, so it will need the two drops. The Weird might be better off as something else that costs UU. I'll just have to figure out what. However it is a good early blocker and then can finish quickly. But control magic would definitely fit nicely in this deck.
Mono Black infect came together pretty quickly, I think it will work well. I'm not sure if I got it perfect, but with a few tweaks this should be great.
Mono Green is nothing fancy but fills a niche. Prey Upon is probably great and gives the deck some play. Good suggestion.
For the walkers deck, Oath of Ajani is actually cheap, it just doesn't color fix so I'm not sure how good it will be. It depends on the manabase. It's really good if I can make the mana work. I am concerned about the price of the deck. All these walkers are the cheap ones, but still 2-4 dollars. It adds up. Oaths are really cheap though, so maybe I trim to less walkers and take advantage of the Oaths.
Walls is another deck that will really be shaped by how the mana works. I might choose to make it 4 colors just to help with that. That's also part of the reason I chose colorless walls where I could. Assault Formation is really good with the fliers. Assualt Formation into Wall of Denial will be very strong. Akroan Horse is a weird choice. I put it there because it is easy to cast and because if this deck stalls out the board, the horse will end up making a lot of tokens. Probably better as something else though, you're right.
Domain is a little weird. I think it should work well. The creatures are efficient if I have the lands out. It has good removal, accel, Counterspells, and card selection. I'm thinking it will play kinda like a tempo deck but with a really powerful top end. Draco is really good if I have domain where he only costs 6 and Ordered Migration is pretty good. I could see adding the enchantment if I needed to slow the deck down. I'm hoping I will assemble domain consistently. A Rhox War Monk or something similar could be good, I was also considering Savage Knuckleblade.
I'll be finalizing archetypes soon and then start tuning the individual decklists.
Right now I'm looking at:
Mardu Demigod Haakon
Abzan Doran with Viper
Gruul Madness
Selesnya Populate
Boros Sligh
Simic Grow
Orzhov Zombies
Mono Blue Devotion
Mono Black Infect
Mono Green Stompy
The rest of the mono, bi, and trim color archetypes would remain the same.
Then the extra 5 decks including the ones already in the box I'm thinking:
Tempered Steel
Cascade
Domain
Walls
And Superfriends if the cost is reasonable. Otherwise I'll need soemthing else. Perhaps a 4 color Fires deck.
B
Mono-black control
Mono-black midrange
Mono-black Necropotence/Gary aggro
U
Mono-blue control
W
Humans aggro
Life Gain
G
Mono-green big aggro
Mono-green ramp
10 land stompy
R
Old school Sligh
WU
Azorius Midrange Control
GW
Selesnya Novablast Wurm
RG
Gruul Atarka ramp
Fires of Yavimaya
Crappy Planeswalkers midrange that is better than it has any right to be
BR
Rakdos Tempo
UB
Dimir aggro control--I'm rebuilding this deck and probably moving it more towards pure control
WR
Boros Exert/Always Watching
Boros midrange haste
RU
$10 trash combo deck
Izzet Control/pinger
UG
Simic disruptive aggro
GB
Golgari Delirium/Goyf(not Tarm)
BW
Orzhov cleric tribal
The following decks are just garbage made out of cards I had laying around, and these decks pretty much all really suck:
GW aggro
WUB suicide
R big control
UB big blue midrange
BW Wb midrange
G Eldrazi
I haven't built any of the three color decks yet, though two are designed and I just need the cards for them. The others are just concepts at the moment:
Abzan 3cmc midrange w/Rhonas--this is designed, and will probably be the next deck I buy the cards for, I already have 3 Rhonas
Temur Amonkhet Enchantress--enchantress+trials and cartouches, this is designed just need to buy the cards
Esper Dragons
Bant ?(having a lot of trouble deciding what to build in bant)
Sultai Superfriends--actually have all the PWs I need for this except Kiora
Mardu aggro/sligh
Jund big midrange
Naya Company
Grixis Delver
Jeskai Tempo(I actually like the idea of your Jeskai better than anything I was coming up with, but I'll probably use Reflector Mage and Spell Queller)
Spell Queller would be really good in Jeskai. Reflector Mage is pretty good too lol. For Bant, I've been enjoying the Bant Blink deck. The old version was pretty cool too. Turn 2 Rhox War Monk is nice. Bant control from RTR standard with Thragtusk and Prime Speaker Zeganna could be fun.
Nvm just looked at bant control and bant prime speaker. Two different decks, but I'll combine them and build something.
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Mystic Snake
2 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
2 Prime Speaker Zegana
Spells(21)
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Censor
3 Absorb
3 Detention Sphere
1 Dovin Baan
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
4 Wrath of God
2 Venser, the Sojourner
2 Hinterland Harbor
2 Irrigated Farmland
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Forest
4 Plains
4 Seaside Citadel
5 Island