**New!** You can test the latest Angry Birds list here for free, no account or software necessary. You can also pit it up against a small test gauntlet I have here.
Angry Birds is a blue and white aggro/aggro-control deck that utilizes cheap, expendable, evasive fliers to drop your opponent to zero before they do the same to you. It is being developed on the premise that competitive legacy decks can be built on a budget and that your budget shouldn't limit your choices to Burn or Dredge or Elves, etc.
This is a deck for anyone who is interested in playing aggro but not willing to fork hundreds for Zoo or Merfolk or something similar. This is also a deck for the Legacy players who enjoy running rogue decks that are just a bit different than what everyone else is playing. Angry Birds uses unique cards, synergies and abilities that aren't seen in other, popular Legacy decks.
While Angry Birds won't cost you much more than $170 (for the most expensive list here) to put together, it also will have, we hope, potential to be competitive in an environment where other players are running decks that cost two, three or even five times as much.
If this interests you, read on!
2) Card Choices
Here, we will look at different card choices for Angry Birds and begin to explain how the deck functions. Cards are grouped under 'must run', 'optional' and 'other'. Must run cards are staple to the functioning of the deck. Optional cards are potentially good but not necessary and 'other' cards are those that have either been rejected, didn't fit the theme of the deck, or simply haven't been explored yet as viable options.
Regardless, what cards the reader chooses to run are subject to personal opinion and meta choices. Building a deck to your tastes is not only satisfying but helps you become a better pilot of the deck too. There may be many potentially competitive ways to build a deck such as this so comments and suggestions from others are welcomed.
Creatures:
Strongly consider running:
Sky Hussar: Hussar is your primary source of card advantage. His forecast ability is brilliant for a number of reasons. In a deck such as this, the cost of tapping two creatures is fairly minimal. Hussar does this every turn and in a fashion that is remarkably difficult to counter. Forecast abilities can be stifled for a turn but that's about it. Sky Hussar is also a decent mid to late-game drop. He lets you attack all out the turn you play him and still have blockers and then, next turn, he swings in for four. Hussar should always be run as a three or four-of. His synergy is amazing with Island Sanctuary (explained further below), another key card of the deck.
Pride of the Clouds: This is the Tarmogoyf of the deck. Pride usually demands an immediate answer when cast either by nuking other fliers or by nuking him. That's because he's that good and can end the game quickly. Late game he has the potential of being larger than Tarmy and, of course, flying generally ensures that the damage gets in. Like Hussar, however, Pride is also important in this deck for his forecast ability. While it's a pretty costly ability--four mana for a 1/1 flier hardly sounds competitive on paper--it's the fact that it is a repeatable forecast ability that makes it great. Pride lets you drop near uncounterable birds onto the field without expending cards from your hand. Like, Hussar, Pride's synergy with Island Sanctuary is huge. He's an auto four-of.
Squadron Hawk: Here's a favorite of many Magic players. Squadron Hawk is probably the most well-known bird that Wizards has currently published and that's for a good reason. Squadron Hawk costs only two mana, has flying, lets you fill up your hand, stall against your opponent and has great synergy with Island Sanctuary. On top of that, he lets you shuffle your library whenever you play him, should you ever want to. He's an auto four-of. Squadron Hawk is an all-or-nothing card. You either run a playset or your run none.
Augury Owl: Augury Owl might seem like the weakest of the must-run creatures but he's indispensable. He sets up your draw (and in a typical Angry Birds list, he is your one and only form of deck stacking) all while being a 1/1 evasive attacker/chumper. On top of that, he's not often countered and opponents rarely waste removal on him, from my experience. You'd be surprised how much damage a lone Augury Owl, played on the second or third turn of the game, can get in before the game is over. An easy four-of.
Cloud of Faeries: New to the list of creatures to consider, Cloud of Faeries, is a better enabler than Stormscape Familiar. These Faeries let you do fun things like drop two birds on turn two so that Sky Hussar is an active draw source on turn three. You can also drop Faeries and Sanctuary or Jitte or with any other strong two-drop to get a head start on the game.
Judge's Familiar: All hail the flying merfolk! Just kidding. Anyways, this is probably the best one-drop flyer we have in our arsenal. He's easy to cast (with either color), has a great ability and he also serves to accelerate our game like Cloud of Faeries. If we drop him on turn one, and another bird on turn two. We're able to use Hussar on turn three. The ability to assemble the Sanctuary/Hussar lock sooner cannot be ignored.
[SPOILER=Optional] Stormscape Familiar: Stormscape is a strong choice for Angry Birds. While it is not imperative to run Stormscape, his benefit can really accelerate the deck if he sticks. One Squadron Hawk, immediately becomes three all in one turn, thanks to Stormscape. Stormscape also makes Sky Hussar a much more reasonable card to cast. If you run him, he's probably best as a three or four-of.
Aven Mindcensor: This is another good, but optional choice. Mindcensor screws up your opponent's tutors, fetch lands, Stoneforge Mystics, etc. His flash ability is also often disregarded, though it really makes him that much better. He can be played in response to your opponent tutoring something, to make them waste a spell and he can also be a surprise blocker in a pinch. Plus, he lets you save your mana in case you may need to respond to your opponent by dropping a Swords to Plowshares or other instant. If nothing comes up, he can be played on the end of your opponent's turn. He's worth running as at least a two-of. He could also be a potential sideboard card.
Kor Skyfisher: Skyfisher is simply a solid choice if you're looking for a good, inexpensive flier. He comes with a nice 2/3 body and an ability that allows you to pull off some nice tricks. If you've got an Augury Owl down, you can bounce and replay it. Also, it lets you bounce and replay lands to use with StP or PtE.
Cloudreach Cavalry: He serves as a good attacker to help speed up the clock of Angry Birds should you choose to run him. A 3/3 flier for two is definitely aggressively priced but his drawback does deserve some consideration. In a deck filled with birds, he's almost guaranteed to be a 3/3. However, your opponent can exploit his weakness by taking out your other birds and crippling him. On his own he sucks and this means you have to be able to keep him company. Against decks packing lots of removal (particularly mass removal similar to Pyroclasm), this could be a problem.
Stonecloaker: This guy is similar to Aven Mindcensor in several ways. He has flash which gives you flexibility to decide when he would be best played. He has a nice 3/2 body which is decent compared to the other fliers we run in Angry Birds. He also has a situationally useful ability. Though, I feel graveyard sniping is more situational and less useful than Mindcensor's ablity. Stonecloaker's bounce requirement can be an advantage or a drawback depending on how you use him. Bouncing someone like Augury Owl is potentially useful because it lets you play those creatures again for their 'enters the battlefield' abilities.
Aven Mimeomancer: Mimeomancer is an interesting card, to say the least. He can swing in for good damage, lets you potentially boost your other birds (worth noting: Cloudreach Cavalry becomes a 5/3) on the field and also lets you sometimes minimize your opponent's threats. Giving your opponent's creatures flying is pretty anti-synergistic but when they've dropped a 10/10 on the field, turning them into 3/1's can be helpful.
Keeper of the Nine Gales: This guy's potentially awesome in a more control, more bird-type oriented build. If you can get enough of your birds to stick, Keeper can really control the field.
Beacon Hawk: Beacon Hawk is a pretty nice card. If you choose not to run Kor Skyfisher or Cloudreach Cavalry, this guy might be your alternate choice. He's a decent chump blocker and his ability is very useful because it lets you attack with a fatty like Hussar or Pride and still have them untapped to block. His ability could be potentially abusable with the right cards.
Stoneforge Mystic: Mystic is such an incredible card that it deserves consideration in this list even though it is not a flier. It allows you the possibility of running an equipment toolbox and gives you a chumper all in one.
Coast Watcher: This guy's probably the best of the birds with protection from a color, at least IMHO. He isn't protected from removal but he does handle popular legacy creatures like Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary. Strictly a meta game choice and possibly only as a SB card.
Thrummingbird: This birdy has synergy with Jitte and other bird related cards like Soulcatcher's Aerie. While I haven't been a fan of him in my testing in the past, he's got the potential to be powerful.
Azorious First-Wing: There is no other more efficiently costed flier that has been printed. This guy is straight up a 2/2 flier for two mana and no real drawbacks than his dual-color cost. Hard to argue with that, even if his protection from enchantments is kind of obscure. Running him with three or four Hussars and Prides each could potentially hurt the performance of this deck depending on your mana base.
Spellstutter Sprite: In the right deck, this one's pretty awesome thanks to the fact that she's a counterspell and an evasive chumper/attacker all in one.
Mindshrieker: The new kid on the block. Haven't had much time to test him but this guy could turn out to be a "big" hitter, if a little flaky. Time and testing will tell if he's worth running.[/SPOILER]
Island Sanctuary - In my opinion, this is the card that really makes this deck tick. That's not to say that Angry Birds relies so heavily on this card that it can't perform without it, but I do think Sanctuary really gives this deck some kick. Sky Hussar, Pride of the Clouds and Squadron Hawk are the cards that make it possible to run something like this. In Angry Birds, Sanctuary is kind of like a half-price Moat.
Umezawa's Jitte - This card kills and is pretty awesome in just about any deck. In this Angry Birds it is awesome because it helps keep the board clean of any real threats so we don't have to chump with all of our birds. Probably a four-of or even just a one-of if you are using Stoneforge Mystic.
Oblivion Ring - While you might not run this in your MB, this one certainly deserves to see a place in your SB. Mark my words. You will play against decks where you need a 'remove anything' card to keep from eating it.
Leyline of Sanctity - This one's a necessary SB card against combo decks because it stops many dead in their tracks. Combo decks are faster than us and we don't pack answers to it in the MB so we need to have a our sideboard loaded with anti-combo cards like this.
Meekstone - This is the newest guy to get tested. It does potentially screw with some of the creatures you might choose to run but it's also a pretty good prison card too. With this down, you only have to worry about chumping each fatty once.
AEther Vial - It's not exactly a budget card but other bird decks have utilized Vial in the past to speed up birdie production and protect against counterspells. This could definitely be a viable card to consider.
Reconnaissance - This is the card that truly started it all. I came across this one on Gatherer and decided to build a bird deck around it. While, I don't think it's optimal in this list any more, it's a fun, rarely used card.
Honor of the Pure - This one's a nice buff for your creatures. Enough said. Is it worth a slot in your list? That's a tough call.
Quetus Spike - If you're running Stoneforge Mystic, this might be worth a look as a one-of because if it sticks, it speeds the game up quite a bit.
Crackdown - Same as Meekstone except more expensive and it doesn't affect white critters.
Mana Maze - This is definitely experimental but it may be a good card to run when facing combo. Possibly a good SB card.
Leyline of the Void - This is also a great SB card to run if you see a lot of graveyard decks in your meta. IMHO, it is better than Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus in many situations.
Flickering Ward - Giving your key guys protection from a color can be life saving in some games. Plus this combos with Livewire Lash below.
Livewire Lash - This is a great, cheap equipment card that can easily be abused in a deck running Flickering Ward. Play Flickering Ward, deal 2 damage, bounce and repeat.
Opposition - It comes online a bit late thanks to the 4 cmc but this can be a great Enchantment to control the board. It potentially combos well with Meekstone.
Plumes of Peace - Here's another enchantment that works well with Meekstone. Thanks to the forecast cost, it's nigh uncounterable and it's repeatable for a cheap cost. [/SPOILER]
Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile - These are the best creature removal spells in the game and this deck relies on them. I prefer to run at least 5 (usually a 3-2 split: 3 Path, 2 Swords). In a bird tribal deck, your creatures are small and, thus, targeted removal is huge in a deck like this. These instants help get you off the ground (no pun intended) in the first few turns of the game when your opponent is likely to play more, bigger creatures than you.
[SPOILER=Other Options]
Siren's Call - Here's an interesting instant that could be useful in a list that runs Island Sanctuary and either Meekstone or some other prison card. Although, this could also be a win-more card since their creatures are already unable to attack.
Smite - This one's an optional removal spell if StP/PtE are too expensive to come by.
Brave the Elements - This card can be a life saver for your birdies as well as an attack tool if you are playing against another deck with fliers.
Wrath of God - A great card that deserves to be mentioned. If you play against a lot of decks that pump out armies of creatures, this might be a good SB card.
Sunscour - This sorcery is a budget alternative to Wrath of God that works quite well in an Angry Birds list thanks to Squadron Hawk and Sky Hussar providing so much card advantage. A good SB card.
Mindbreak Trap - This one is a potentially good SB card if you run into a lot of Storm combo in your meta.
Preordain/Ponder/Brainstorm - These are all great cards for library manipulation, should you feel you need them. Personally, I feel like Augury Owl is enough. Brainstorm should not be used if you are not running fetchlands. [/SPOILER]
Lands: The mana base is built for a deck that is friendly on the wallet. While fetches and original dual lands may be the most optimal mana base for this deck, they will not be discussed here.
Must Run:
Glacial Fortress/Mystic Gate/Hallowed Fountain/[CARD]Adarkar Wastes - These are the two best cheap dual lands we can run, IMHO. A combination of either one or both should be run to avoid getting color screwed.[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Optional]
Seaside Haven - This gains you card advantage off of birds that are about to die as they are chumping. You could also just sac a bird to it in a pinch. This land has nice synergy with Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk.
Mistveil Plains - This land has great synergy with both Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk. It helps you recur them over and over to be used as chump blockers.[/SPOILER]
3) Deck Lists
Finally! We've made it to the deck lists. These are categorized to make it easy for you to find what you are looking for.
The Latest Lists - These are the latest lists that are undergoing testing. They are not proven to be competitive yet and they're highly theoretical. However, we are all about exploring unique ideas and improving here so the latest ideas are offered below, whether good or bad.
This list is a test of Back to Basics and also marks me re-testing the validity of running something like Stoneforge Mystic in Angry Birds. I have not tested conclusively to make a decision about the deck.
Weltkrieg's variation of Angry Birds also uses Back to Basics and is a strong list.
The new list makes subtle changes over the 2011 list below but these make all the difference. Angry Birds is now better equipped to deal with threats that previously were a struggle for it. The new list is also slightly less expensive thanks to a change-up in the mana base that has not diminished consistency in all my testing.
This is the most solid list tested, thus far. It was concocted before the banning of MM, so the only concern for this list is the fact that it is a slow-build list. If your format is running fast, fast aggro, this list may need to be adjusted. This is is quite solid, however.
This was the last build of Angry Birds before 4x Jitte became standard. It's a great list for someone who doesn't have the budget for the Jitte list.
Alternative/Casual - These lists explore different ideas and even more budget friendly options for building a fun Bird Tribal deck that you can play at the kitchen table with friends.
There are a lot of things that are really fun about running a deck like this. Let me run through the list.
First, I got to start with Reconnaissance. That one is really the star of the show. That's the card that inspired me to put this white weenie list together. It lets you do degenerate things like attack with all of your birds and untap them after damage is dealt to serve as blockers. It's like having pseudo-vigilance. Even better than that, you are able to withdraw and protect any birds that might be blocked.
And with birds like Welkin Hawk, Squadron Hawk, and Soulcatcher, your birds are pretty expendable blockers because you're almost guaranteed to have another in your hand to replace the lost one. Soulcatcher gets bigger whenever a bird or other flyer chokes. Unless your opponent is packing removal, they have to think twice about how many birds they want you to lose because he can get big fast.
Running through the other birds you've got at your disposal... Suntail Hawk is a great turn one drop if you don't have a Reconnaissance in hand. Courier Hawk is a bit of a weak link but, again, he comes in handy if you don't have a Reconnaissance out. Cloudreach Cavalry is a bit touchy and that's why I'm only running two. It's hard to argue with 3/3 flier for two. My only reservation is that some well placed creature removal can really kill him.
Honor of the Pure helps speed up the clock on your opponents and Brave the Elements is a handy toolbox card that protects your birds and ensures they get through to do their damage. Guardian's Pledge is the only card in the deck that hits a cmc 3 and it too helps speed up your clock. Smite is fantastic in this deck and I actually like it better than Path to Exile in many situations. Either way, you've got four of each and that makes for a pretty decent removal suite.
The awesome thing about birds is that they are inexpensive to cast, are nearly guaranteed to get through for damage since few Legacy decks play flyers, and running both Welkin Hawk and Squadron Hawk, theoretically helps thin your deck to improve your draws.
This list drops Reconnaissance but adds Flickering Ward and Livewire Lash, both cards that are decent on their own but a lot of fun when used together. Enchanting Flickering Ward on the bird that has Lash equipped triggers Lash to deal two damage to target creature or player. Ward can then be returned to your hand and played again as many times as you can afford the mana. Spamming this allows you to wipe creatures off the board and deal good damage to your opponent without even attacking.
As you read through all of the posts on Angry Birds, you will come to find that there are huge variations in the lists that people run, therefore it's difficult to provide piloting tips for all lists. I will provide tips for the basic deck lists that are available on the primer. Angry Birds is a deck that gets its power from card synergy rather than individual card power. Therefore, while the individual cards may look weak, they are all doing crucial things to help you grind out an advantage on the field for the win.
Here's the stuff to consider.
How to use Sky Hussar: This is your primary draw engine for the deck. While weaker against decks packing a lot of discard, Sky Hussar is quite an asset when playing against blue-based control decks. This is uncounterable, repeatable, free (as in no mana) card-draw. First, it plays well with Island Sanctuary which is a soft lock that Angry Birds uses to shut down fast aggro and other mean permanents (like an opposing Umezawa's Jitte). Sanctuary's ability requires you to skip one of your draws which is where Hussar comes in handy. He allows you to continuing drawing with an active Sanctuary on the field. He also comes in handy when games grow long and you need that last beater to swing in for the win or its beneficial to attack with everything and drop him to still have blockers. It's not a situation that comes up often but sometimes that's what you need to do to win.
Here's the important piece to remember with this deck and with Sky Hussar. You have to consider his cost. You must have two creatures on the field to forecast. This must factor into the choices you make when you evaluate the board. A lot of players want to pilot Angry Birds defensively by chumping their 1/1 flyers away when something nasty swings in. Seven times out of ten, you want to take the damage with this deck in the early game. This is counter-intuitive for some players but crucial to piloting the deck successfully. This deck tends to stabilize the board in the mid-game which means that your early game is working to build up into the mid-game. Your early game should be about building creatures and card advantage before starting to control the game. So do yourself a favor and take the damage. You can afford to lose the life most times in those first few turns as you build up an unstoppable force of angry flyers.
How to use Pride of the Clouds: Here's the other forecaster in your deck. He also serves a dual purpose. Angry Birds really is capable of being played two different ways based on your matchup. It can get aggressive or it can slow down and slow roll the opponent, grinding them out for the win. Against blue-ish control decks (like Esper Blade for instance) I have found myself holding Pride in hand and forecasting a token in every turn. Don't forget you can use those tokens with Hussar's forecast ability as well. There are games I've won by stalling behind Island Sanctuary and grinding out card advantage and tokens for the win. The other awesome thing is that Pride of the Clouds is a real beat stick. He can get huge quick and end the game quick when you need to seal the deal. His ability to help you race is important some games. Against heavy control decks with lots of counter and removal, he is often best in the hand as a forecaster, however.
... to be continued.
5) Matchup-Analysis
Rather than just list decks we are strong against, I have listed all of my recorded play testing and tournament showings with this deck so you can get an idea of how it fairs against other major Legacy decks.
[SPOILER= Random Matches]
Quote from Testing against a few decks on 11/22/11 »
Zoo:
Quote: Originally Posted by Win (2-1)
I have actually piloted Angry Birds against Zoo in the past so I had some experience here. I did manage to win two of the three games but I'd say this is a tough match. Zoo is faster and packs heaps and heaps of removal. This match up is even at best and probably slightly in favor of Zoo in pre-sideboard games.
Blue Zoo:
Quote: Originally Posted by Win (2-1)
I went two and one against Blue Zoo as well. However, Blue Zoo packs more counterspells and less removal and generally doesn't feel quite as aggressive as regular Zoo. All in all, I feel like Angry Birds has the advantage against Blue Zoo in the pre-sideboard games.
Merfolk:
Quote: Originally Posted by Win (3-0)
Birds eat Merfolk for breakfast. I've also had experience with this match up in the past and while the Merfolk list I tested against is a little dated (but still solid), I can tell that Angry Birds has a pretty strong match up against it. Merfolk doesn't pack enough control to stop the relentless birds coming down each turn and it doesn't pack enough threats to keep up.
U/B Control:
Quote: Originally Posted by Loss (0-3)
This was an abysmal match up for Birds. U/B Control quickly locked me out of doing anything relevant for the rest of the game and then powered through wins with Tombstalker, Jace, or Creeping Tar Pit. I'm wondering what I can do to improve this match up. Even though I only played three games against it, I could tell losing would be a trend.
Quote from Playtesting online on 01/16/12 »
The first match I played was against a guy who was trying to adapt his Vintage combo deck to Legacy. To be fair, I think it was a really cool deck but feel it suffered from making the jump to Legacy in terms of consistency and speed. It used lots of free creatures in conjunction with Glimpse of Nature to mill out an opponent with Brain Freeze. It also packed a few of the swords to play a very mild aggro game until comboing off.
Game 1: I had no idea he was even running a combo deck. For all intents and purposes, it looked like some weird aggro deck at first so I just played as usual, dropping birds and swinging in while keeping back a blocker to protect from his Sword of Body and Mind equipped Birds of Paradise. He tried to combo off a little later but could only mill me for 21. I swung for the kill a turn or so later.
Game 2: We both decided not to use sideboards. Turn 2 he drops Glimpse and goes for the kill but fizzles without getting a Brain Freeze. He drops a creature and equips a sword to it. I drop an Island Sanctuary at some point, to his surprise, and then keep swinging in while he top decked for cards needed to combo off again. He never gets the cards he needs and that's game.
Next night, I play against another guy who's playing Affinity.
Game 1: I've had good luck against Affinity with Birds in the past but luck was not in my favor this game. I made a couple of play errors and also was drawing nothing but lands for days. I ran out of threats and he overwhelmed me with a supercharged Vault Skirge and Tezzy. I spent a lot of that game chump blocking instead of developing a board presence. This was to my fault and I attribute it to being a little rusty playing against a faster aggro deck.
When facing fast aggro decks like Affinity, you need to let them swing in for damage while you drop birds on the floor and gain card and board advantage. It sounds risky but it's okay to let them swing in for damage the first few turns while you build up. I had a Hussar in hand and everything, but I chose to stave off damage by chumping my birds away and assuming I would top deck more birds. He was top decking too because he had literally burned through his hand. That was my opportunity to come back. Unfortunately I traded all my birds away and top decked lands.
Game 2: We didn't finish this one because he got disconnected. He made a play error and could have killed my 5/5 Pride with a pumped up Ornithopter but instead did not. At this point it was a toss up but I feel that I had a pretty strong hand and board and had a definite but not certain chance to win.
He reconnected and decided to switch decks.
Game 1: He won the roll and started off the game by passing the turn without playing anything. Immediately, I assumed he was playing Dredge and I was right. I dropped an island and passed turn. His second turn he drew and then discarded a Golgari, passing the turn. I drop a Glacial Fortress and Augury Owl and set up Island Sanctuary for my next draw. He starts doing his combo thing which I know very well but found somewhat hard to follow when watching Cockatrice. Can't remember what all he had going for him but I know he didn't combo off and he passed turn. I drop Island Sanctuary and prayed he wouldn't combo next turn because I might have a chance. He combos off. GG.
Game 2: I side out the O-Rings and 1 StP and PtE for 4 Leyline of the Void. I also side out Cloud of Faeries and 1 Skyfisher for 4 Rootwater Thief. Why not, right? Starting hand I've got a Leyline so I keep. I put it into play and he concedes to game three.
Game 3: My starting hand is dump for dealing with combo so I mull. I mull again. Down to five cards, I draw a god hand with double Leylines, two lands and an Augury Owl. I keep. Both Leylines begin in play and he starts us off. He uses Chain of Vapor on one and I proceeded to drop birds and swing while he hopes to top deck another. He never does and I win. Phew!
[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Tournament Reports]
Quote from Tournament 1 (02/11/12) »
Match 1: Maverick with Punishing Fire
Game 1: We started game 1 and I was feeling pretty confidant I could beat this guy when he started dropping Knight of the Reliquaries, etc. I'm thinking, ok, this is a ground pounder aggro deck. I'm strong against this. We play it out and I start overwhelming him and drawing lots of cards off of Hussar. We're also trading creatures with StPs but GSG helps him keep a Knight out. Long story short, he uses Knight to grab Grove of the Burnwillows and starts abusing Punishing Fire to clean up my board. I continue to drop birds like crazy and get him down to 2 life before he ends up with two Groves, loads of other lands and two Punishing Fires in his hand that he was just blazing through my birds with. I couldn't keep up and he locked me down with Punishing Fire. He pulled a Scavenging Ooze and I nuked it with StP before he could do anything with it. He then dropped a third Knight and proceeded to win. That first game lasted 55 minutes.
Game 2: We started for the heck of it with the 5 minutes we had left in the round. I was playing quick and ended up keeping a shoddy hand. We played out a few turns and I could tell he was getting the upper hand so I conceded.
0-1
Not a good start for Angry Birds but that's ok.
Match 2: U/B Deedstill
Before the tournament, I was talking with my friend who also played that day and was explaining that I really didn't want to see any control decks with strong abilities that cripple decks holding to the curve. IE, Angry Birds. Most of my deck sits in at 2 CMC. The irony.
Game 1: We start off and my opponent begins by countering just about everything I play and/or wiping my hand with Thoughtseize, etc. Ok. I'm up against control. That's not the worst thing in the world. He spent a lot of time trading cards with me and therefore wasn't really doing much on his side of the board. I get a couple guys to stick and swing in for some damage before he removes them with Diabolic Edict. He's played enough fetches and Thoughtseize that he's down to about 10-12 life. But then he drops Liliana of the Veil and keeps my hand pretty much clean. He starts fueling his Life from the Loam engine and also drops Pernicious Deed. Ouch. I'm pretty sure he ended up killing me with Mishra's Factory.
Game 2: I side in all 4x O-Rings and all 4x Leyline of Sanctity, siding out my StP and PtE (I think... can't remember). I keep my starting hand which had neither simply because it was a golden hand with two Prides and other birdies. Can't remember this game too well other than he dropped three of his four Deeds on me fairly early on in the game. That pretty much neutered me and he ended up pulling through with Jace 2.0.
0-2
Well, I'm feeling a bit deflated at this point because it's not going too well and I simply hadn't prepared my SB for these decks. Fair enough, though. This was my first time seeing the meta for myself. This last round I'm just going to have fun.
Match 3: Stasis
Irony of all ironies! I got placed against my friend who decided to run his Stasis deck that week for kicks. I have to be honest, I had nothing valid to run against that deck to give me a chance. We played it out, the games were terribly un-fun and I lost the first two games again.
0-3
That was a painful day. I've never had a blowout tournament like that so it was pretty deflating. Either way, another buddy of mine talked me into running Birds again this past week. Glad I did. I did MUCH better this second time around.
Then came the second tourny with Angry Birds.
Quote from Tournament 2 (02/20/12 »
This tournament was a lot more positive. I felt pretty rusty playing in the last tournament because it was my first in several months. I also had no clue what the meta was like. Even though, I started this tournament off with less confidence, I felt like I played smarter and made better informed choices in the games because I had more accurate expectations of what I was going to see.
Match 1: Dreadstill (or something like that)
Game 1 - I knew immediately after pairing up with this player that it was going to be a tough first match. I've played against the guy in past tournaments. His brother, cousin and father also all play in Legacy tournaments and they have all the money cards so the decks they run are some of the best. He told me he was running an old deck so he wasn't sure how he would fair. We start game one, and I keep a pretty shoddy hand of one bird (can't remember which), one removal and lands. I was afraid that if I took a mulligan, I'd end up getting color screwed with my land draws so I kept. Probably a bad choice, and again the result of me being rusty from playing tournaments. We play it out, he drops Jace 2.0, FoW's some stuff, drops a Tarmogoyf and powers out the end of the game with Phyrexian Dreadnought. Really, I was not building up fast enough to be competitive. Besides, his Engineered Explosives really did me in. Mass removal like that screws me up.
I know after seeing my cheap, weird deck in the first game, he was not worried at all. He even talked about my creatures being crappy and terrible during the first game.
Game 2 - I gave him a run for his money that I don't think he expected. By the end of the game, a crowd had piled in around us to see the fight between the birds and a deck with $1000+ worth of cards in it. Anyways, I side in O-Rings to combat his Jaces and other crap, siding out a few of my PtE and StPs.
This time I'm not stupid and I mull down to five to get a hand that's actually decent. It's got an StP, a Kor Skyfisher, Augury Owl and two good lands (that allowed me to produce either color). We start playing lands and dropping stuff. I drop Augury Owl to set up my draw. Can't remember what all was in that top three but I know I drew an O-Ring early on. We continue playing stuff and I get a good sized Pride down on the field. He Path's it and I drop another Pride down next turn. Somewhere early on, he also cheated a Dreadnought which I responded to with StP. This was countered by FoW and he passed turn. I promptly dumped O-Ring targeting the 'nought and it resolved.
The next few turns involves me drawing ridiculous amounts of cards with Hussar and swinging in for some damage. He asked to look at Hussar and was like 'dang'. He drops a Jace 2.0 and that slows me down some. He also gets down a Vedalken Shackles which gives me some grief as he takes my Kor Skyfisher and I end up exiling it with my own Path so I can swing in for damage. By now, I've dumped four Squadron Hawks on the field and Pride is like a 6/6. Sheer card advantage and numbers have overwhelmed my opponent but he bounces his Trinket Mage with Jace, replays it and grabs Engineered Explosives. Dang. I swing in to get him down to 7 life, ignoring the two Tarmagoyfs he got out recently as I cast a second Hussar I've drawn and untap. He dumps Engineered Explosives, bounces one Tarmagoyf with Jace and sets the Explosives off. Everything but my Hussar goes to my grave and things are looking pretty grim. Basically he drops a bunch of stuff and I can't recover. It was a close match though. I will say that.
0-1
Match 2: Mono-W Equipment Stoneblade
Second match, I'm placed against my friend who runs his mono white Stoneblade deck with all of the swords. It's a pretty good deck but we've playtested Birds and his deck many times in the past and I know I generally have the upper hand if I play right. Unfortunately for him and unbeknown to me, he did not prepare anything in his SB to deal with enchantments.
Game 1: I drop a Sanctuary on turn three with creatures to back it up and a Hussar in hand. He concedes.
Game 2: I do pretty much the same thing as last game and when Sanctuary resolves, he concedes.
I asked him what was up and he said he had nothing to remove it with. I shake my head in disbelief and suggest he add some form of enchantment removal to his SB, at least. Even with the removal, I was just ramping way to fast for him to deal with, so it probably wouldn't have mattered too much.
1-1
Match 3: U/B Painter/Grindstone Extirpate
This match, I'm paired against a weird deck running the Painter combo in combination with other mill cards and a heck ton of Extirpate/Surgical Extraction.
Game 1: He drops lands the first three turns and so do I. I play Island Sanctuary on turn two. On turn three he drops Painter's Servant and Grindstone. I've got no removal in hand but I'm thinking I do have the Sanctuary out so that might be able to stall long enough as long as he doesn't have forced draw spells in his deck. No need to worry however as I top deck a Path to Exile and remove it before he can pull off his combo. Phew! I do lots of damage with my birdies and there's nothing he really does about it. He's dead before I see him attempt his combo again.
Game 2: I side in a playset of Leyline of Sanctity but never use it. Before I could blink, I was suddenly without Prides, StPs, etc as he milled them away then Surgically Extracted them. I dropped creatures nonetheless and enough got through to bring him to zero. I never saw the Painter combo this game.
His deck seemed kinda janky, IMHO. It was cool to win but it wasn't tier 1 or anything so... eh.
2-1
Match 4: Dredge
Ok. I'm looking around the field and I'm hoping I get paired up with a guy I see playing Dredge because I know how to play against it and I've beaten it plenty of times IRL (playtesting with another buddy of mine) and online with this deck. Luck of the gods, I get matched against him!
Game 1: I know exactly what I need to do. Keep a hand with Sanctuary. A turn two Sanctuary might be just fast enough to prevent him from winning game 1. Dredge focuses on speed that first game and generally doesn't pack answers to a resolved Sanctuary. I mull down to five looking for one and never see it. I almost mull to 4 but chicken out and keep, knowing that if I don't draw one, I'm screwed. I never see Sanctuary and that's the end of the game.
Game 2: I side in Leyline of the Void and Sunscour, siding out Jittes and StPs. Starting hand has a Leyline, Sanctuary, Familiar and Squadron Hawk, plus lands. I keep and start off the game. Turn two I drop Sanctuary and he picks up the card to look at it. In the next few turns, I drop Familiar and two Hawks, keeping two in hand because I drew a Sunscour. He bounces Void and later on Sanctuary. I've got five birds out and a Hussar in my hand. He's got two Bridges in the grave and could easily combo off next turn. I debate attacking and dropping Hussar for blockers or attacking and Sunscouring to get those two Bridges out. I was really hoping he would have had more Bridges in his grave but no dice. I get greedy and swing, bringing him down to 4 life and dropping Hussar to untap my birds. Should have Sunscoured... and I knew it. Next turn he gets his other Bridges in the grave and gets 28 hasted zombies onto the field. No bueno!
2-2
I was kicking myself after the match up with Dredge. I knew I could beat it but I made some poor choices and those cost me the match. If I had pulled off winning that match, I would have placed in Top 4 to keep playing (possibly for first!) and would have cashed in on store credit. Oh well, it was a good run for a budget deck.
Quote from Tournament for a Taiga (05/20/12) »
Match 1: U/B Painter/Grindstone
I've played this guy and his deck before. Leyline of Sanctity gave him fits. Never got to drop a Suppression Field on him but that would have slowed him down too. Anyways, I won this matchup.
1-0
Match 2: Mono-B Reanimator
He did the usual cheat in crazy fatties turn two or three and I did my usual aggro-ramp. A combination of removal and Leyline of the Void post-sb won me this match.
2-0
Match 3: U/W Snapcaster/Countertop Control
This guy's deck was packing Snapcaster, the usual counter package with Force, Vedalken Shackles, Jace, and Terminus. I've had more practice playing against control with Birds so I knew what to do. Basically, it came down to me dropping tokens with Pride of the Clouds forecast ability. Later on I was dropping two tokens with two Prides in my hand. Vedalken Shackles was literally the only thing keeping him alive because I could not find an O-Ring to get rid of it. I made a play mistake because I could have been drawing cards with Sky Hussar in hand by tapping the two tokens with summoning sickness. Literally, I could have been drawing an extra card a turn for like five turns because he had no threats on the field other than the bird token he kept taking and blocking with with Shackles. I feel like an idiot but oh well. Other than that I played well. I whittled him down to 1 life before he stabilized with two shackles and two Mishra's Factory. I've got four life and five token birds and an Augury Owl out. He's going to lose next turn. So he brainstorms. Then tops and smiles as he grabs his Snapcaster and proceeds to hardcast a Terminus from the grave. He then activates both Mishra's and swings in for four. Dang.
We finished this one game 40 seconds before time was up for the match. He won 1-0. Lol. I seriously gave it a good fight, though. We had a huge crowd around us with everyone wondering what the heck I was playing and how I'd managed to hold out against his deck with my jank for so long. It was pretty epic.
2-1
Match 4: Dredge
I'm pitted against my friend for the last game and I just groan. I pushed him to run Flayer of the Hatebound as his new finisher and was suddenly wishing I'd never shown him that card. I used to have a pretty fair matchup against him but Island Sanctuary no longer helps me.
Game 1, he draws and keeps the crappiest hand ever. I have no idea why he kept it. Basically he did nothing all game and I smashed his face in. Weird.
Game 2, I bring in all eight Leylines siding out the Sanctuaries and some other stuff. Probably should have kept the Sanctuaries in but oh well. I keep a great starting hand with one of each Leyline. He does stuff, I ramp real quick. He bounces Void and starts doing his stuff. I had a StP in my starting hand and the opportunity to wipe his Putrid Imp off the map early on with some extra mana but I didn't for some reason. I think fatigue was starting to get to me at this point. Anyways, I'm one turn too slow and he swings in with zombies and Ichorids for the win. Afterwards, I said to him, "If I had StP'd your Putrid Imp earlier on, it probably would have delayed you a turn or so, huh?" And he said yes. Too bad! One extra turn was all I needed.
Game 3, I mulligan... couldn't find a good hand and kept a mediocre one at five. He does his thing, comboing off very quickly and steam rolling me.
2-2
All in all, while I personally made some play errors, I left feeling pretty confidant that had I played better, my deck could easily have gotten me into the top four and with a bit of luck maybe won me the tournament and a nice Taiga for my collection. Good fun, nonetheless!
I posted all of the tournament reports both good and bad because I want interested players to see how the deck has progressed and also what the deck struggles against. In the last two tournaments, I definitely had a shot at top four but I made a few play errors that cost me. All in all, the deck is shaping up to be pretty competitive and a better player could easily take this to the top four with some practice. [/SPOILER]
I have heard vague rumors of a moustache-dispensing vending machine in a distant laundromat, across the street from a tattoo parlor. However, this information is shaky, and time is of the essence.
For some time now, I've wanted to create a tribal bird deck. I set about putting a list together awhile ago but I've recently had a renewed interest in working on it. And I thought, what the heck, I'd post my ideas on here to hopefully enlist the creative minds of others. =)
I don't know how competitive this could be but my testing has shown that this deck ramps pretty quickly so I think it could have some potential.
There are a lot of things that are really fun about running a deck like this. Let me run through the list.
First, I got to start with Reconnaissance. That one is really the star of the show. That's the card that inspired me to put this white weenie list together. It let's you do degenerate things like attack with all of your birds and untap them after damage is dealt to serve as blockers. It's like having pseudo-vigilance. Even better than that, you are able to withdraw and protect any birds that might be blocked.
And with birds like Welkin Hawk, Squadron Hawk, and Soulcatcher, your birds are pretty expendable blockers because you're almost guaranteed to have another in your hand to replace the lost one. Soulcatcher gets bigger whenever a bird or other flyer chokes. Unless your opponent is packing removal, they have to think twice about how many birds they want you to lose because he can get big fast.
Running through the other birds you've got at your disposal... Suntail Hawk is a great turn one drop if you don't have a Reconnaissance in hand. Courier Hawk is a bit of a weak link but, again, he comes in handy if you don't have a Reconnaissance out. Cloudreach Cavalry is a bith touchy and that's why I'm only running two. It's hard to argue with 3/3 flier for two. My only reservation is that some well placed creature removal can really kill him.
Honor of the Pure helps speed up the clock on your opponents and Brave the Elements is a handy toolbox card that protects your birds and ensures they get through to do their damage. Guardian's Pledge is the only card in the deck that hits a cmc 3 and it too helps speed up your clock. Smite is fantastic in this deck and I actually like it better than Path to Exile in many situations. Either way, you've got four of each and that makes for a pretty decent removal suite. Finally Flagstones of Trokair helps thin the deck, if you run across two.
The awesome thing about birds is that they are inexpensive to cast, are nearly guaranteed to get through for damage since few Legacy decks play flyers, and running both Welkin Hawk and Squadron Hawk, theoretically helps thin your deck to improve your draws.
This list drops Reconnaissance but adds Flickering Ward and Livewire Lash, both cards that are decent on their own but a lot of fun when used together. Enchanting Flickering Ward on the bird that has Lash equipped triggers Lash to deal two damage to target creature or player. Ward can then be returned to your hand and played again as many times as you can afford the mana. Spamming this allows you to wipe creatures off the board and deal good damage to your opponent without even attacking.
Any thoughts or suggestions for the deck and/or sideboard? I'd love to hear the suggestions of other Legacy players. I'm trying to keep this list budget priced but non-budget suggestions are welcome. I would love to see if this has competitive potential.
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andrewgk, that's exactly why I'm running 4x Flagstones of Trokair. It's a legendary land, meaning both are sent to the graveyard when you play a second one. Both trigger and you are able to search for and put two plains into play tapped. This helps you thin your deck out a bit to improve your draws.
It may be a bit much, but I used to run a BW version back then that used Soulcatcher's Aerie as well, along with Dredge and Reprocess. The black route would be on a different path, but maybe the Aerie could be played around with. Dredge and Reprocess would work well with your Flagstones, too, though.
I could be wrong, but Reconnaissance doesn't work the way you think it does. You can respond to damage on the stack, so you can either remove them from combat if they are blocked, or deal damage, but you cannot deal damage and then untap them. Unless you meant something entirely different. Then I just feel stupid.
I could be wrong, but Reconnaissance doesn't work the way you think it does. You can respond to damage on the stack, so you can either remove them from combat if they are blocked, or deal damage, but you cannot deal damage and then untap them. Unless you meant something entirely different. Then I just feel stupid.
You can actually untap your creatures during the end of battle step, after the damage step, but before Main Phase 2. It's a complicated rule, but the Oracle ruling explains it pretty well. Don't feel bad.
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"It's actually quite simple, but since you've only recently begun to walk upright, it may take some time to explain."
—Jace Beleren, to Garruk Wildspeaker
You can actually untap your creatures during the end of battle step, after the damage step, but before Main Phase 2. It's a complicated rule, but the Oracle ruling explains it pretty well. Don't feel bad.
What an obscure ruling. That seems like it was made solely for this card. Eh, whatever. Combat tricks is combat tricks. Carry on, then.
beacon hawk (better than a lot of vigilants, in my opinion. can untap someone big for a blocker)
On the other hand, the deck really needs a draw engine, at least I think so. The real reason I would add blue is for [card]seaside haven
[/card]. Birds tend to die, so might as well turn them into cards.
there are some other potential card drawers to add, but even though it's not necessary to run blue, you could conceivably add sky hussar. If you cast it, hits late game, but he's a 4/3 flier that untaps everything and in the early game, he can help you out-draw your opponents.
Also, the ruling is Rule 511 in the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules. The active player gets priority after all "at end of combat step" triggers have gone on the stack, meaning the active player may untap their creatures with Reconnaissance.
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"It's actually quite simple, but since you've only recently begun to walk upright, it may take some time to explain."
—Jace Beleren, to Garruk Wildspeaker
beacon hawk (better than a lot of vigilants, in my opinion. can untap someone big for a blocker)
On the other hand, the deck really needs a draw engine, at least I think so. The real reason I would add blue is for [card]seaside haven
[/card]. Birds tend to die, so might as well turn them into cards.
there are some other potential card drawers to add, but even though it's not necessary to run blue, you could conceivably add sky hussar. If you cast it, hits late game, but he's a 4/3 flier that untaps everything and in the early game, he can help you out-draw your opponents.
weltkrieg, I always really appreciate your input. So I just want to say that these are some good suggestions that merit time and thought on my part. I'll do a little play testing and see if I can't put a decent W/U list out here soon.
If I were to splash for blue, how would you adjust the mana base? My first idea would be to shove some fetches in. Unfortunately, the only good fetches I currently own are a set of Misty Rainforest and Scalding Tarn which I suppose could work with some blue/white duals. However, I'm still working on acquiring the last few cards for my Four Horsemen deck so they aren't really in my budget right now. Long-term, though, that seems most ideal.
I really like Coast Watcher because that deals with Goyf, Knight of the Reliquary and Elves, all of which I see in my meta. Thrumming Bird seems like it would be great with Soul Catcher's Aerie and Soulcatcher. I play tested the Aerie in my list before and wasn't a fan of it because it wasn't immediately useful and took time to build up. However, with a little help from Thrumming Bird, it might be worth taking a second look at it.
Cloudchaser Kestrel seems like more of a SB card to me but still worth noting. Keeper of the Nine Gales could potentially be amazing. I can just imagine bouncing an Emrakul back to someone's hand. That would be funny. Additionally, Sky Hussar seems a little expensive to cast but his ability is pretty nice, especially when a Reconnaissance is in play.
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Force of Will is kind of like duct tape. Stick it in a deck and it will fix all your problems.
What would a game of Magic between Harry Potter and Voldemort look like?
honestly, I think I'd just run a couple of islands and maybe some nimbus maze or glacial fortress. I figure that your base can handle these easily enough.
The suggestions are made based on the slightly casual blue/white flying deck I've had around for ages. I actually made mine using isperia, the inscrutable as a sort of late game card advantage engine. That, in addition to 4 sky hussar, really powered out my mid to late game. On the other hand, that particular deck has top 8ed a few times at the local legacy tourney and one top 4 long ago.
For the fairly aggressive build you're looking at, if you're going to play white/blue, then maybe kjeldoran war cry is worth a look. a growth effect that's cheap to 3 or 4 creatures can absolutely win games.
On thrumming bird, well, if you have any laying around, then I'd automatically suggest umezawa's jitte. It's just beyond nuts combined with proliferate and it's pretty darned good on it's own.
I threw a quick W/u list together last night but haven't gotten much chance to test it yet. For now it's something to toy around with. At first glance, I'm thinking it's going to be a bit slow to deal good damage to the opponent but we'll see.
The benchmark deck that I usually play test all my deck ideas against is Zoo. I've still been struggling to consistently beat Zoo so it still needs work, IMHO. Anyone packing a ton of creature removal in the form of PtE, StP, Burn and Grim Lavamancer is going to be a tough opponent for this deck, there's no doubt about that.
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Force of Will is kind of like duct tape. Stick it in a deck and it will fix all your problems.
What would a game of Magic between Harry Potter and Voldemort look like?
Swords to Plowshares>>smite, in my personal opinion. I still think blue/white is the way to go. However, one thing I forgot to mention was that my deck was definitely midrange. Zoo was zero issue for it, as I was packing serra angel, mahamoti djinn, and at least 2 isperia, not to mention similar large ish fliers like silver drake and the sky hussar. My curve started with azorious first wing and stormscape familiar (another good reason to run blue, actually).
In fact, most creature decks were zero issue for it, as between the large fliers, I was also making hash out of creatures with 4 stp, devouring light (good when I used it..still not terrible in a defensive flier deck), and something like 2 to 4 reprisal in the sideboard. Nowadays, you have path to exile to replace one of those, of course.
However, there are some ways to take this deck. I did a quick search. If you were to run keeper of the gales, have you considered crackdown? Outside of knight of the reliquary, I can't think of too many critters it wouldn't be helpful against.
In essence, I'll have to find the deck and take it apart for a complete list. Let me know if you're still interested, and I'll get it out. It's definitely not quite what you're expecting!
Weltkrieg, I was actually just messing around with my Blue/White list and have a few of the cards you just suggested in it. I'm really starting to think you might be right. Running blue seems to give this a lot of extra power and a lot of nice choices.
Quote from "weltkrieg" »
Swords to Plowshares>>smite, in my personal opinion.
Agreed. The only reason I was using Smite is that it seemed to work well with Reconnaissance and also because I was afraid that too many Swords in a game would put my opponent out of range, since my creatures are all relatively small.
That said, while my focus hasn't really been to build a midrange deck I'd still be really interested to see your list! You're definitely using some intriguing cards.
Without further ado, here's what I've been toying around with. I ventured outside of Bird "territory" a bit with this list:
Pride of the Clouds seems like a strong choice since I'm packing nothing but fliers in here. I also threw in Stormscape Familiar which I really like, although in this list I think he's a little weak because I don't feel like I have enough cards in here that really benefit from his effect. Azorius First-Wing is definitely a nice 2/2 flying bear, although, I'm thinking about swapping him back out for Cloudreach Cavalry since he's a potential 3/3 for one with Stormscape Familiar out.
Other cards of interest include Spectral Procession which offers a lot of value for the cost. Island Sanctuary got shoehorned in to fill the last two slots and also because I've been wondering about how it would perform in this deck. My thinking was that between Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk, I'd have enough fuel to go a few turns without needing to draw. That said I really like Crackdown a lot. And like you were saying, that could be a lot of fun in combination with Keeper of the Gales. I'm definitely open to adding a control element to this deck.
There's so many different directions I feel like this deck could go. I guess that's part of the fun in deck building. Until next post, I'll be busy exploring all my options. =)
I know it seems a bit random, but I had no idea what I would be facing at the time and that sweepers could be a problem. but it worked very well indeed (the last time I used it, at least!).
it is also important to note that this was a bit of a 10 dollar budget challenge. At the time, that was about all this deck was worth. Now I would include stonecloakers to go with the silver drakes, and probably chuck the suntail hawks. They were rarely worth it. I would also likely include some form of equipment or maybe glorious anthem.
I thought about Meekstone earlier and was wondering about it. I'd have to make sure I didn't play too many Honor of the Pure or other boosters, though, so as not to pump my birds into the Meekstone's range.
That's a decent looking deck you put together, considering the age of the cards and small budget. The more I think about it, the more I like your idea of running Sky Hussar as card advantage and a late-game beater
In fact, I keep thinking about your use of Sky Hussar and I think I may have hit on an idea. Instead of Meekstone, imagine a deck list using Island Sanctuary and Sky Hussar, Pride of the Clouds, and Squadron Hawk to keep the hand and field full of birds without the need of the draw step. It's sort of a combination of all the ideas that have been tossed around so far but it would certainly give a lot of decks a hard time.
The mana base may need to be adjusted and I'm thinking about dropping the Welkin Hawk for more card draw like Preordain. Anyways, I'm off to play test and see how this list performs.
Well, I must admit that decklist is quite old. I made it after Time Spiral, but pre Planar Chaos. I've kept it around because it is crazy amounts of fun to beat down in blue/white with fliers, removal, and none of the expected card draw or counterspells.
No, I wouldn't bother with Preordain. Augury owl should be quite enough, though backing off 1 welkin hawk for 1 augury owl might be the wiser course of action.
Sky Hussar is a card you really only want to see once per game. Once you have it, you have your extra card draw per turn. After you've flooded the board, you don't need to draw anymore. Instead, you cast it, untap everything, and swing for the win. This deck tends to alphastrike pretty well.
Pride of the Clouds is a card I love. However, it tends to be most useful for it's forecast ability. While it isn't fast, it is steady and very hard to counter most of the time. Also, when you do cast it, it is rather large. 5/5 to 8/8 is not uncommon. For that, Swords to Plowshares must be your removal spell of choice over path to exile. you really don't want them getting those darned lands to out tempo you.
Yeah, I really do like that list of yours! The great thing about playing fliers in Legacy is that no one else is. You should consider making some of those updates you mentioned earlier and running it in a local tourney. =)
Okay, I made a couple tweaks and play tested a few games against Zoo with the Island Sanctuary list and it is the first to really catch my attention. This one has the best match-up against Zoo of all the lists so far. That, to me, means it definitely has potential and merits further testing against a few other Tier 1 decks.
EDIT:
This list continues to feel solid in testing and I'm getting more confident in its ability to compete. I made a few small changes to the MB and am working on a rudimentary SB now.
Island Sanctuary with either Sky Hussar in your hand and some fliers on the board or Pride of the Clouds/Squadron Hawk in your hand puts you in a pretty sweet position to beat your opponent down under. If you don't get an Island Sanctuary, you can simply try to out aggro them.
I dropped Flagstones of Trokair from the list because they seem like an unnecessary expense. If you get two, they help you thin your deck of lands but the benefit hardly makes them worth running, IMO. In some situations they could actually end up hurting you (IE, your opponent plays Back to Basics). Cloudreach Cavalry is still the most questionable guy in the list but every time I remove him I end up putting him back in. A 3/3 flier for two, or even one with Stormscape Familiar, is hard to argue with.
The side board is rough right now but combo certainly seems like it will cause the most issues so I feel like the SB needs to address that. It's just figuring out what cards to run and how many of them. To me, Leyline of Sanctity is a must. Storm decks are faster than us and we need a way to interact with them. Aven Mindcensor is in here because he just fits so well in the deck and his uses extend beyond dealing with combo decks that utilize tutors. Decks that rely heavily on fetches get hurt by this guy too. In fact, I'm not so certain he shouldn't take the place of Cloudreach in the MB.
Oblivion Ring is there to deal with about anything else that comes up and Mindbreak Trap is additional defense against storm decks. If you have the budget, I think it'd be pretty funny to shove FoW in the SB in its place. But that's probably heresy to run Forces in the side.
Also, call me crazy but I disregarded GY hate because of Island Sanctuary. Dredge is the most common grave deck I see in my meta and I feel like Sanctuary gives it enough trouble. If you can get Sanctuary out soon enough the first game, you'll probably win. After that, you've just got to hope you can hold them off long enough with it in the second and third games. Remember, Sanctuary's ability stays in effect until the beginning of your next turn, even if it's destroyed. If you see a lot of Reanimator or Cephalid Breakfast or something like that, you might want to consider siding in GY removal.
Another card that I couldn't fit into my SB but am considering is Meddling Mage.
I think I prefer either stonecloaker or silver drake over cloudreach cavalry. there is no condition with either one. Stonecloker is flying graveyard hate, and silver drake is just 3/3 with a bounce effect (sometimes useful at that). If you're looking for other good fliers, then you could likewise consider
Honestly, while these cards are good, I still far prefer more old school options. Also, you realize that honor of the pure only affects your white fliers, right?
As far as combo goes, well, you're in blue. Counterspells?
The only draw back I do not like with Stonecloaker and Silver Drake is that they both require a creature to be returned to your hand and that hurts your tempo. That said Stonecloaker is really nice for the cost and is useful in multiple capacities. The cool thing about him is you can play him and then return him to your hand to play him again. Another card I came across with a similar effect is Sawtooth Loon. He's a little expensive for what he does but there's definitely synergy between him and Island Sanctuary. If I actually take the time to test him, it will probably only be as a one-of. More than anything, I was just noticing the synergy.
All of the other cards you suggested are amazing cards that I really love, but if I replace Cloudreach Cavalry, it needs to be replaced with something white as I do realize Honor of the Pure only helps out my white fliers. I could use Glorious Anthem but I'm really trying to keep a low mana curve for this deck.
That said, I really think I might swap Cloudreach Cavalry out for Aven Mindcensor. He screws with fetches which see a lot of play in Legacy, he screws with Stoneforge Mystic somewhat which I see in my meta and he minimizes the drawback of Path to Exile. There's just a lot of uses he fills. It certainly makes him a target but that just gives me time ramp with my other birds.
As for counters, I'm going to spend more time looking into that. I just dropped Mindbreak in there because it was the first thing I thought of.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Force of Will is kind of like duct tape. Stick it in a deck and it will fix all your problems.
What would a game of Magic between Harry Potter and Voldemort look like?
Well, I had a nice long post, but thanks to a kindly page reset....., well, let's try this again.
On returning creatures, there are a couple of reasons I like to be able to do so.
1. Reuse Enter Battlefield abilities. Mostly this is augury owl, but if there were others, it's pretty mean.
2. Reset for 2nd main. Swinging with an early guy, then returning and replaying for at least 2 untapped critters on your opponents turn? beautiful! That said, your island sanctuary idea may negate the need for this advantage somewhat. I still like it, though.
3. Negate the drawback of using sky hussar card draw. you draw a card, you tap your critters. now, you get one back and recast! You're up +1 critter and up +1 card and will have more to untap next turn. Beautiful in my opinion.
4. Return an early cast pride of the clouds to go from early beatdown to late game card advantage/attrition war. That's one capability of this deck almost all people completely miss. This deck can shift from ultra aggressive to late game card happy.
5. I think you already mentioned it, but stonecloaker by himself is awesome graveyard removal for this deck. Yeah, ok, he costs 3 (2 with a familiar), but he is repeatable and that can win games big time.
Honor the Pure is sort of meh, in my opinion. If you're looking for a lord effect, then I would actually prefer to see Celestial Crusader in here. He flashes, flies, is 2/2, and allows you to thumb your nose at counterspells. In all honesty, you only want 2, but that's generally all you want for honor of the pure anyways. You want to see one later game, and that often allows the swing for the win.
Sawtooth Loon is an interesting find. If you were doing pure birds, I might actually say go for it. It would have beautiful synergy with squadron hawk. IE, you play it with a hand full of squawks, put two of the verdammten things on the bottom, and return one. Now, you find a way to get another sawtooth loon. This would, in fact, have obnoxious synergy with a bird control build that you might consider with keeper of the nine gales. (guess what you bounce? :D) That said, sky hussar is just better here. That's all there is to it, in my opinion.
Speaking of that, how has the hussar been testing? I used to run 4, but went back to three when I started drawing cards faster than I could use them.
For counterspells and anti combo: Well, there are a few to consider. Some good, some terrible, others just downright funny.
Force of will. T1 counter, yada yada Mental Misstep Spell Snare Spell pierce Counterspell Forbid Finally! A good use for a hand full of squawks! Mana Tithe You're in white, and this is a t1 counter. Better known as "surprise!!!!" before it loses all use! Spell Stutter Sprite I mentioned this before, but does good things similar to misstep/force of will/spell snare (if lucky). Swift Silence Terrible, I know! But i wanna do it, just once! sooooo funny!!!
For anti combo that's not a counterspell, well, you get:
Storm Crow is just too overpowered for this deck. I mean, I could run it but I just feel like that wouldn't be fair for other Legacy players.
Weltkrieg, I don't have time to write a detailed reply tonight but I wanted to toss another card I found earlier today into the mix. Emeria Angel. Could be a fun card with the right mana base.
Private Mod Note
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Force of Will is kind of like duct tape. Stick it in a deck and it will fix all your problems.
What would a game of Magic between Harry Potter and Voldemort look like?
Angry Birds
**Contents**
1. Introduction
2. Card Choices
3. Decklists
4. Piloting Tips
5. Matchup-Analysis
------------------------------------------------------
1) Introduction
Angry Birds is a blue and white aggro/aggro-control deck that utilizes cheap, expendable, evasive fliers to drop your opponent to zero before they do the same to you. It is being developed on the premise that competitive legacy decks can be built on a budget and that your budget shouldn't limit your choices to Burn or Dredge or Elves, etc.
This is a deck for anyone who is interested in playing aggro but not willing to fork hundreds for Zoo or Merfolk or something similar. This is also a deck for the Legacy players who enjoy running rogue decks that are just a bit different than what everyone else is playing. Angry Birds uses unique cards, synergies and abilities that aren't seen in other, popular Legacy decks.
While Angry Birds won't cost you much more than $170 (for the most expensive list here) to put together, it also will have, we hope, potential to be competitive in an environment where other players are running decks that cost two, three or even five times as much.
If this interests you, read on!
2) Card Choices
Here, we will look at different card choices for Angry Birds and begin to explain how the deck functions. Cards are grouped under 'must run', 'optional' and 'other'. Must run cards are staple to the functioning of the deck. Optional cards are potentially good but not necessary and 'other' cards are those that have either been rejected, didn't fit the theme of the deck, or simply haven't been explored yet as viable options.
Regardless, what cards the reader chooses to run are subject to personal opinion and meta choices. Building a deck to your tastes is not only satisfying but helps you become a better pilot of the deck too. There may be many potentially competitive ways to build a deck such as this so comments and suggestions from others are welcomed.
Creatures:
Strongly consider running:
Sky Hussar: Hussar is your primary source of card advantage. His forecast ability is brilliant for a number of reasons. In a deck such as this, the cost of tapping two creatures is fairly minimal. Hussar does this every turn and in a fashion that is remarkably difficult to counter. Forecast abilities can be stifled for a turn but that's about it. Sky Hussar is also a decent mid to late-game drop. He lets you attack all out the turn you play him and still have blockers and then, next turn, he swings in for four. Hussar should always be run as a three or four-of. His synergy is amazing with Island Sanctuary (explained further below), another key card of the deck.
Pride of the Clouds: This is the Tarmogoyf of the deck. Pride usually demands an immediate answer when cast either by nuking other fliers or by nuking him. That's because he's that good and can end the game quickly. Late game he has the potential of being larger than Tarmy and, of course, flying generally ensures that the damage gets in. Like Hussar, however, Pride is also important in this deck for his forecast ability. While it's a pretty costly ability--four mana for a 1/1 flier hardly sounds competitive on paper--it's the fact that it is a repeatable forecast ability that makes it great. Pride lets you drop near uncounterable birds onto the field without expending cards from your hand. Like, Hussar, Pride's synergy with Island Sanctuary is huge. He's an auto four-of.
Squadron Hawk: Here's a favorite of many Magic players. Squadron Hawk is probably the most well-known bird that Wizards has currently published and that's for a good reason. Squadron Hawk costs only two mana, has flying, lets you fill up your hand, stall against your opponent and has great synergy with Island Sanctuary. On top of that, he lets you shuffle your library whenever you play him, should you ever want to. He's an auto four-of. Squadron Hawk is an all-or-nothing card. You either run a playset or your run none.
Augury Owl: Augury Owl might seem like the weakest of the must-run creatures but he's indispensable. He sets up your draw (and in a typical Angry Birds list, he is your one and only form of deck stacking) all while being a 1/1 evasive attacker/chumper. On top of that, he's not often countered and opponents rarely waste removal on him, from my experience. You'd be surprised how much damage a lone Augury Owl, played on the second or third turn of the game, can get in before the game is over. An easy four-of.
Cloud of Faeries: New to the list of creatures to consider, Cloud of Faeries, is a better enabler than Stormscape Familiar. These Faeries let you do fun things like drop two birds on turn two so that Sky Hussar is an active draw source on turn three. You can also drop Faeries and Sanctuary or Jitte or with any other strong two-drop to get a head start on the game.
Judge's Familiar: All hail the flying merfolk! Just kidding. Anyways, this is probably the best one-drop flyer we have in our arsenal. He's easy to cast (with either color), has a great ability and he also serves to accelerate our game like Cloud of Faeries. If we drop him on turn one, and another bird on turn two. We're able to use Hussar on turn three. The ability to assemble the Sanctuary/Hussar lock sooner cannot be ignored.
[SPOILER=Optional]
Stormscape Familiar: Stormscape is a strong choice for Angry Birds. While it is not imperative to run Stormscape, his benefit can really accelerate the deck if he sticks. One Squadron Hawk, immediately becomes three all in one turn, thanks to Stormscape. Stormscape also makes Sky Hussar a much more reasonable card to cast. If you run him, he's probably best as a three or four-of.
Aven Mindcensor: This is another good, but optional choice. Mindcensor screws up your opponent's tutors, fetch lands, Stoneforge Mystics, etc. His flash ability is also often disregarded, though it really makes him that much better. He can be played in response to your opponent tutoring something, to make them waste a spell and he can also be a surprise blocker in a pinch. Plus, he lets you save your mana in case you may need to respond to your opponent by dropping a Swords to Plowshares or other instant. If nothing comes up, he can be played on the end of your opponent's turn. He's worth running as at least a two-of. He could also be a potential sideboard card.
Kor Skyfisher: Skyfisher is simply a solid choice if you're looking for a good, inexpensive flier. He comes with a nice 2/3 body and an ability that allows you to pull off some nice tricks. If you've got an Augury Owl down, you can bounce and replay it. Also, it lets you bounce and replay lands to use with StP or PtE.
Cloudreach Cavalry: He serves as a good attacker to help speed up the clock of Angry Birds should you choose to run him. A 3/3 flier for two is definitely aggressively priced but his drawback does deserve some consideration. In a deck filled with birds, he's almost guaranteed to be a 3/3. However, your opponent can exploit his weakness by taking out your other birds and crippling him. On his own he sucks and this means you have to be able to keep him company. Against decks packing lots of removal (particularly mass removal similar to Pyroclasm), this could be a problem.
Stonecloaker: This guy is similar to Aven Mindcensor in several ways. He has flash which gives you flexibility to decide when he would be best played. He has a nice 3/2 body which is decent compared to the other fliers we run in Angry Birds. He also has a situationally useful ability. Though, I feel graveyard sniping is more situational and less useful than Mindcensor's ablity. Stonecloaker's bounce requirement can be an advantage or a drawback depending on how you use him. Bouncing someone like Augury Owl is potentially useful because it lets you play those creatures again for their 'enters the battlefield' abilities.
Aven Mimeomancer: Mimeomancer is an interesting card, to say the least. He can swing in for good damage, lets you potentially boost your other birds (worth noting: Cloudreach Cavalry becomes a 5/3) on the field and also lets you sometimes minimize your opponent's threats. Giving your opponent's creatures flying is pretty anti-synergistic but when they've dropped a 10/10 on the field, turning them into 3/1's can be helpful.
Keeper of the Nine Gales: This guy's potentially awesome in a more control, more bird-type oriented build. If you can get enough of your birds to stick, Keeper can really control the field.
Beacon Hawk: Beacon Hawk is a pretty nice card. If you choose not to run Kor Skyfisher or Cloudreach Cavalry, this guy might be your alternate choice. He's a decent chump blocker and his ability is very useful because it lets you attack with a fatty like Hussar or Pride and still have them untapped to block. His ability could be potentially abusable with the right cards.
Stoneforge Mystic: Mystic is such an incredible card that it deserves consideration in this list even though it is not a flier. It allows you the possibility of running an equipment toolbox and gives you a chumper all in one.
Coast Watcher: This guy's probably the best of the birds with protection from a color, at least IMHO. He isn't protected from removal but he does handle popular legacy creatures like Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary. Strictly a meta game choice and possibly only as a SB card.
Thrummingbird: This birdy has synergy with Jitte and other bird related cards like Soulcatcher's Aerie. While I haven't been a fan of him in my testing in the past, he's got the potential to be powerful.
Azorious First-Wing: There is no other more efficiently costed flier that has been printed. This guy is straight up a 2/2 flier for two mana and no real drawbacks than his dual-color cost. Hard to argue with that, even if his protection from enchantments is kind of obscure. Running him with three or four Hussars and Prides each could potentially hurt the performance of this deck depending on your mana base.
Spellstutter Sprite: In the right deck, this one's pretty awesome thanks to the fact that she's a counterspell and an evasive chumper/attacker all in one.
Mindshrieker: The new kid on the block. Haven't had much time to test him but this guy could turn out to be a "big" hitter, if a little flaky. Time and testing will tell if he's worth running.[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER= Other]
Notable Others:
Big List O' Birdies:
[/SPOILER]
Enchantments/Artifacts:
Strongly consider:
Island Sanctuary - In my opinion, this is the card that really makes this deck tick. That's not to say that Angry Birds relies so heavily on this card that it can't perform without it, but I do think Sanctuary really gives this deck some kick. Sky Hussar, Pride of the Clouds and Squadron Hawk are the cards that make it possible to run something like this. In Angry Birds, Sanctuary is kind of like a half-price Moat.
Umezawa's Jitte - This card kills and is pretty awesome in just about any deck. In this Angry Birds it is awesome because it helps keep the board clean of any real threats so we don't have to chump with all of our birds. Probably a four-of or even just a one-of if you are using Stoneforge Mystic.
Oblivion Ring - While you might not run this in your MB, this one certainly deserves to see a place in your SB. Mark my words. You will play against decks where you need a 'remove anything' card to keep from eating it.
Leyline of Sanctity - This one's a necessary SB card against combo decks because it stops many dead in their tracks. Combo decks are faster than us and we don't pack answers to it in the MB so we need to have a our sideboard loaded with anti-combo cards like this.
Suppression Field - Depending on your meta, this may be a necessary evil. While Suppression Field is doesn't play nice with Jitte or our forecast abilities, this card is sometimes life or death for us. Against any decks with fetches, Jace, Pernicious Deed, Engineered Explosives, Knight of the Reliquary, Vedalken Shackles, Sensei's Divining Top, Stoneforge Mystic, etc, this card is the nuts and hurts our opponent far worse than us if we play this card right. You can bounce it if need be with Kor Skyfisher as long as you are running him.
[SPOILER=Other Options]
Meekstone - This is the newest guy to get tested. It does potentially screw with some of the creatures you might choose to run but it's also a pretty good prison card too. With this down, you only have to worry about chumping each fatty once.
AEther Vial - It's not exactly a budget card but other bird decks have utilized Vial in the past to speed up birdie production and protect against counterspells. This could definitely be a viable card to consider.
Reconnaissance - This is the card that truly started it all. I came across this one on Gatherer and decided to build a bird deck around it. While, I don't think it's optimal in this list any more, it's a fun, rarely used card.
Honor of the Pure - This one's a nice buff for your creatures. Enough said. Is it worth a slot in your list? That's a tough call.
Quetus Spike - If you're running Stoneforge Mystic, this might be worth a look as a one-of because if it sticks, it speeds the game up quite a bit.
Crackdown - Same as Meekstone except more expensive and it doesn't affect white critters.
Mana Maze - This is definitely experimental but it may be a good card to run when facing combo. Possibly a good SB card.
Leyline of the Void - This is also a great SB card to run if you see a lot of graveyard decks in your meta. IMHO, it is better than Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus in many situations.
Flickering Ward - Giving your key guys protection from a color can be life saving in some games. Plus this combos with Livewire Lash below.
Livewire Lash - This is a great, cheap equipment card that can easily be abused in a deck running Flickering Ward. Play Flickering Ward, deal 2 damage, bounce and repeat.
Opposition - It comes online a bit late thanks to the 4 cmc but this can be a great Enchantment to control the board. It potentially combos well with Meekstone.
Plumes of Peace - Here's another enchantment that works well with Meekstone. Thanks to the forecast cost, it's nigh uncounterable and it's repeatable for a cheap cost. [/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Other]
- Luminarch Ascension
- Rhystic Study
- Gravitational Shift
[/SPOILER]Sorceries/Instants:
Strongly Consider:
Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile - These are the best creature removal spells in the game and this deck relies on them. I prefer to run at least 5 (usually a 3-2 split: 3 Path, 2 Swords). In a bird tribal deck, your creatures are small and, thus, targeted removal is huge in a deck like this. These instants help get you off the ground (no pun intended) in the first few turns of the game when your opponent is likely to play more, bigger creatures than you.
[SPOILER=Other Options]
Siren's Call - Here's an interesting instant that could be useful in a list that runs Island Sanctuary and either Meekstone or some other prison card. Although, this could also be a win-more card since their creatures are already unable to attack.
Smite - This one's an optional removal spell if StP/PtE are too expensive to come by.
Brave the Elements - This card can be a life saver for your birdies as well as an attack tool if you are playing against another deck with fliers.
Wrath of God - A great card that deserves to be mentioned. If you play against a lot of decks that pump out armies of creatures, this might be a good SB card.
Sunscour - This sorcery is a budget alternative to Wrath of God that works quite well in an Angry Birds list thanks to Squadron Hawk and Sky Hussar providing so much card advantage. A good SB card.
Mindbreak Trap - This one is a potentially good SB card if you run into a lot of Storm combo in your meta.
Preordain/Ponder/Brainstorm - These are all great cards for library manipulation, should you feel you need them. Personally, I feel like Augury Owl is enough. Brainstorm should not be used if you are not running fetchlands. [/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Other]
- Spectral Procession
- Reprisal
- Battlescreech
- Silence
- Orim's Chant
- Abeyance
- Peace Talks
[/SPOILER]Lands: The mana base is built for a deck that is friendly on the wallet. While fetches and original dual lands may be the most optimal mana base for this deck, they will not be discussed here.
Must Run:
Glacial Fortress/Mystic Gate/Hallowed Fountain/[CARD]Adarkar Wastes - These are the two best cheap dual lands we can run, IMHO. A combination of either one or both should be run to avoid getting color screwed.[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Optional]
Seaside Haven - This gains you card advantage off of birds that are about to die as they are chumping. You could also just sac a bird to it in a pinch. This land has nice synergy with Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk.
Mistveil Plains - This land has great synergy with both Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk. It helps you recur them over and over to be used as chump blockers.[/SPOILER]
3) Deck Lists
Finally! We've made it to the deck lists. These are categorized to make it easy for you to find what you are looking for.
The Latest Lists - These are the latest lists that are undergoing testing. They are not proven to be competitive yet and they're highly theoretical. However, we are all about exploring unique ideas and improving here so the latest ideas are offered below, whether good or bad.
3x Augury Owl
4x Cloud of Faeries
4x Judge's Familiar
4x Pride of the Clouds
3x Sky Hussar
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Stoneforge Mystic
4x Swords to Plowshares
Land (22)
4x Adarkar Wastes
8x Island
10x Plains
Enchantment (6)
3x Back to Basics
3x Island Sanctuary
1x Batterskull
1x Umezawa's Jitte
This list is a test of Back to Basics and also marks me re-testing the validity of running something like Stoneforge Mystic in Angry Birds. I have not tested conclusively to make a decision about the deck.
Weltkrieg's variation of Angry Birds also uses Back to Basics and is a strong list.
3 Land tax
3 Island Sanctuary
3 Back to basics
Instants
4 Path to exile
Artifacts
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Empyrial plate
12 Plains
4 Hallowed fountain
6 Island Creatures
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Cloud of Faeries
3 Augury Owl
3 Sky Hussar
4 Pride of the clouds
4 Squadron Hawk
Proven List - This is the new budget list I have used that I feel most comfortable with and believe is the most fine-tuned and test
Creature (28)
3x Augury Owl
4x Cloud of Faeries
3x Aven Mindcensor (this is a flex spot for Stoneforge, Back to Basics, etc)
4x Judge's Familiar
3x Kor Skyfisher
4x Pride of the Clouds
3x Sky Hussar
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Glacial Fortress
6x Island
10x Plains
3x Path to Exile
2x Swords to Plowshares
Enchantment (5)
4x Island Sanctuary
1x Oblivion Ring
Artifact (2)
3x Umezawa's Jitte
(adjust to your meta)
4x Enlightened Tutor
1x Grafdigger's Cage
4x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Oblivion Ring
2x Pithing Needle
1x Rest in Peace
This is the older budget list I have used that I feel was the most fine-tuned and tested.
3x Aven Mindcensor
3x Stormscape Familiar
4x Pride of the Clouds
3x Sky Hussar
4x Kor Skyfisher
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Augury Owl
Instant (5)
2x Swords to Plowshares
3x Path to Exile
6x Island
10x Plains
4x Glacial Fortress
Enchantment (7)
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Suppression Field
4x Island Sanctuary
Artifact (4)
4x Umezawa's Jitte
2x Oblivion Ring
4x Leyline of the Void
3x Suppression Field
2x Swords to Plowshares
4x Leyline of Sanctity
The new list makes subtle changes over the 2011 list below but these make all the difference. Angry Birds is now better equipped to deal with threats that previously were a struggle for it. The new list is also slightly less expensive thanks to a change-up in the mana base that has not diminished consistency in all my testing.
Angry Birds Through the Ages
4x Augury Owl
1x Aven Mimeomancer
3x Aven Mindcensor
4x Kor Skyfisher
4x Pride of the Clouds
3x Sky Hussar
4x Squadron Hawk
3x Stormscape Familiar
4x Glacial Fortress
5x Island
4x Mystic Gate
6x Plains
Instant (7)
3x Path to Exile
4x Swords to Plowshares
Enchantment (4)
4x Island Sanctuary
Artifact (4)
4x Umezawa's Jitte
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Sunscour
4x Leyline of the Void
This is the most solid list tested, thus far. It was concocted before the banning of MM, so the only concern for this list is the fact that it is a slow-build list. If your format is running fast, fast aggro, this list may need to be adjusted. This is is quite solid, however.
4x Augury Owl
3x Aven Mindcensor
4x Cloudreach Cavalry
2x Meddling Mage
4x Pride of the Clouds
3x Sky Hussar
4x Squadron Hawk
2x Stonecloaker
3x Stormscape Familiar
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Island
10x Plains
Enchantment (6)
2x Honor of the Pure
4x Island Sanctuary
3x Path to Exile
4x Swords to Plowshares
This was the last build of Angry Birds before 4x Jitte became standard. It's a great list for someone who doesn't have the budget for the Jitte list.
Alternative/Casual - These lists explore different ideas and even more budget friendly options for building a fun Bird Tribal deck that you can play at the kitchen table with friends.
[SPOILER]
2x Cloudreach Cavalry
3x Courier Hawk
3x Soulcatcher
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Suntail Hawk
4x Welkin Hawk
3x Guardians' Pledge
3x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
4x Smite Enchantment (7)
4x Reconnaissance
3x Honor of the Pure
19x Plains
There are a lot of things that are really fun about running a deck like this. Let me run through the list.
First, I got to start with Reconnaissance. That one is really the star of the show. That's the card that inspired me to put this white weenie list together. It lets you do degenerate things like attack with all of your birds and untap them after damage is dealt to serve as blockers. It's like having pseudo-vigilance. Even better than that, you are able to withdraw and protect any birds that might be blocked.
And with birds like Welkin Hawk, Squadron Hawk, and Soulcatcher, your birds are pretty expendable blockers because you're almost guaranteed to have another in your hand to replace the lost one. Soulcatcher gets bigger whenever a bird or other flyer chokes. Unless your opponent is packing removal, they have to think twice about how many birds they want you to lose because he can get big fast.
Running through the other birds you've got at your disposal... Suntail Hawk is a great turn one drop if you don't have a Reconnaissance in hand. Courier Hawk is a bit of a weak link but, again, he comes in handy if you don't have a Reconnaissance out. Cloudreach Cavalry is a bit touchy and that's why I'm only running two. It's hard to argue with 3/3 flier for two. My only reservation is that some well placed creature removal can really kill him.
Honor of the Pure helps speed up the clock on your opponents and Brave the Elements is a handy toolbox card that protects your birds and ensures they get through to do their damage. Guardian's Pledge is the only card in the deck that hits a cmc 3 and it too helps speed up your clock. Smite is fantastic in this deck and I actually like it better than Path to Exile in many situations. Either way, you've got four of each and that makes for a pretty decent removal suite.
The awesome thing about birds is that they are inexpensive to cast, are nearly guaranteed to get through for damage since few Legacy decks play flyers, and running both Welkin Hawk and Squadron Hawk, theoretically helps thin your deck to improve your draws.
2x Cloudreach Cavalry
3x Courier Hawk
3x Soulcatcher
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Suntail Hawk
4x Welkin Hawk
4x Livewire Lash
Instant (10)
3x Brave the Elements
3x Path to Exile
4x Smite Enchantment (7)
4x Flickering Ward
3x Honor of the Pure
19x Plains
This list drops Reconnaissance but adds Flickering Ward and Livewire Lash, both cards that are decent on their own but a lot of fun when used together. Enchanting Flickering Ward on the bird that has Lash equipped triggers Lash to deal two damage to target creature or player. Ward can then be returned to your hand and played again as many times as you can afford the mana. Spamming this allows you to wipe creatures off the board and deal good damage to your opponent without even attacking.
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Island
4x Island Sanctuary
4x Kor Skyfisher
4x Mana Tithe
10x Plains
3x Pride of the Clouds
3x Sky Hussar
4x Spellstutter Sprite
4x Spiketail Hatchling
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Swords to Plowshares
3x Umezawa's Jitte
4) Piloting Tips (to be completed)
As you read through all of the posts on Angry Birds, you will come to find that there are huge variations in the lists that people run, therefore it's difficult to provide piloting tips for all lists. I will provide tips for the basic deck lists that are available on the primer. Angry Birds is a deck that gets its power from card synergy rather than individual card power. Therefore, while the individual cards may look weak, they are all doing crucial things to help you grind out an advantage on the field for the win.
Here's the stuff to consider.
How to use Sky Hussar: This is your primary draw engine for the deck. While weaker against decks packing a lot of discard, Sky Hussar is quite an asset when playing against blue-based control decks. This is uncounterable, repeatable, free (as in no mana) card-draw. First, it plays well with Island Sanctuary which is a soft lock that Angry Birds uses to shut down fast aggro and other mean permanents (like an opposing Umezawa's Jitte). Sanctuary's ability requires you to skip one of your draws which is where Hussar comes in handy. He allows you to continuing drawing with an active Sanctuary on the field. He also comes in handy when games grow long and you need that last beater to swing in for the win or its beneficial to attack with everything and drop him to still have blockers. It's not a situation that comes up often but sometimes that's what you need to do to win.
Here's the important piece to remember with this deck and with Sky Hussar. You have to consider his cost. You must have two creatures on the field to forecast. This must factor into the choices you make when you evaluate the board. A lot of players want to pilot Angry Birds defensively by chumping their 1/1 flyers away when something nasty swings in. Seven times out of ten, you want to take the damage with this deck in the early game. This is counter-intuitive for some players but crucial to piloting the deck successfully. This deck tends to stabilize the board in the mid-game which means that your early game is working to build up into the mid-game. Your early game should be about building creatures and card advantage before starting to control the game. So do yourself a favor and take the damage. You can afford to lose the life most times in those first few turns as you build up an unstoppable force of angry flyers.
How to use Pride of the Clouds: Here's the other forecaster in your deck. He also serves a dual purpose. Angry Birds really is capable of being played two different ways based on your matchup. It can get aggressive or it can slow down and slow roll the opponent, grinding them out for the win. Against blue-ish control decks (like Esper Blade for instance) I have found myself holding Pride in hand and forecasting a token in every turn. Don't forget you can use those tokens with Hussar's forecast ability as well. There are games I've won by stalling behind Island Sanctuary and grinding out card advantage and tokens for the win. The other awesome thing is that Pride of the Clouds is a real beat stick. He can get huge quick and end the game quick when you need to seal the deal. His ability to help you race is important some games. Against heavy control decks with lots of counter and removal, he is often best in the hand as a forecaster, however.
... to be continued.
5) Matchup-Analysis
Rather than just list decks we are strong against, I have listed all of my recorded play testing and tournament showings with this deck so you can get an idea of how it fairs against other major Legacy decks.
[SPOILER= Random Matches]
[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Tournament Reports]
Then came the second tourny with Angry Birds.
I posted all of the tournament reports both good and bad because I want interested players to see how the deck has progressed and also what the deck struggles against. In the last two tournaments, I definitely had a shot at top four but I made a few play errors that cost me. All in all, the deck is shaping up to be pretty competitive and a better player could easily take this to the top four with some practice. [/SPOILER]
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
Edit: I, sir, am dumb. My mistake.
I don't know how competitive this could be but my testing has shown that this deck ramps pretty quickly so I think it could have some potential.
Here's the list I've had in mind:
2x Cloudreach Cavalry
3x Courier Hawk
3x Soulcatcher
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Suntail Hawk
4x Welkin Hawk
3x Guardian's Pledge
3x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
4x Smite
4x Reconnaissance
3x Honor of the Pure
Land (19)
4x Flagstones of Trokair
15x Plains
There are a lot of things that are really fun about running a deck like this. Let me run through the list.
First, I got to start with Reconnaissance. That one is really the star of the show. That's the card that inspired me to put this white weenie list together. It let's you do degenerate things like attack with all of your birds and untap them after damage is dealt to serve as blockers. It's like having pseudo-vigilance. Even better than that, you are able to withdraw and protect any birds that might be blocked.
And with birds like Welkin Hawk, Squadron Hawk, and Soulcatcher, your birds are pretty expendable blockers because you're almost guaranteed to have another in your hand to replace the lost one. Soulcatcher gets bigger whenever a bird or other flyer chokes. Unless your opponent is packing removal, they have to think twice about how many birds they want you to lose because he can get big fast.
Running through the other birds you've got at your disposal... Suntail Hawk is a great turn one drop if you don't have a Reconnaissance in hand. Courier Hawk is a bit of a weak link but, again, he comes in handy if you don't have a Reconnaissance out. Cloudreach Cavalry is a bith touchy and that's why I'm only running two. It's hard to argue with 3/3 flier for two. My only reservation is that some well placed creature removal can really kill him.
Honor of the Pure helps speed up the clock on your opponents and Brave the Elements is a handy toolbox card that protects your birds and ensures they get through to do their damage. Guardian's Pledge is the only card in the deck that hits a cmc 3 and it too helps speed up your clock. Smite is fantastic in this deck and I actually like it better than Path to Exile in many situations. Either way, you've got four of each and that makes for a pretty decent removal suite. Finally Flagstones of Trokair helps thin the deck, if you run across two.
The awesome thing about birds is that they are inexpensive to cast, are nearly guaranteed to get through for damage since few Legacy decks play flyers, and running both Welkin Hawk and Squadron Hawk, theoretically helps thin your deck to improve your draws.
Another alternate list I've come up with follows:
2x Cloudreach Cavalry
3x Courier Hawk
3x Soulcatcher
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Suntail Hawk
4x Welkin Hawk
4x Livewire Lash
Instant (10)
3x Brave the Elements
3x Path to Exile
4x Smite
4x Flickering Ward
3x Honor of the Pure
Land (19)
4x Flagstones of Trokair
15x Plains
This list drops Reconnaissance but adds Flickering Ward and Livewire Lash, both cards that are decent on their own but a lot of fun when used together. Enchanting Flickering Ward on the bird that has Lash equipped triggers Lash to deal two damage to target creature or player. Ward can then be returned to your hand and played again as many times as you can afford the mana. Spamming this allows you to wipe creatures off the board and deal good damage to your opponent without even attacking.
I haven't come up with a full sideboard for the deck yet but I'm tempted to try out Island Sanctuary. Welkin Hawk and Squadron Hawk really let you keep the heat on your opponent without having to draw. However, if I run Island Sanctuary, I'm almost tempted to run Angel's Trumpet and Enlightened Tutor to create a transformational SB of sorts. Aven Mindcensor also warrents a few SB slots, IMHO.
Any thoughts or suggestions for the deck and/or sideboard? I'd love to hear the suggestions of other Legacy players. I'm trying to keep this list budget priced but non-budget suggestions are welcome. I would love to see if this has competitive potential.
-------------------------------
andrewgk, that's exactly why I'm running 4x Flagstones of Trokair. It's a legendary land, meaning both are sent to the graveyard when you play a second one. Both trigger and you are able to search for and put two plains into play tapped. This helps you thin your deck out a bit to improve your draws.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
You can actually untap your creatures during the end of battle step, after the damage step, but before Main Phase 2. It's a complicated rule, but the Oracle ruling explains it pretty well. Don't feel bad.
—Jace Beleren, to Garruk Wildspeaker
What an obscure ruling. That seems like it was made solely for this card. Eh, whatever. Combat tricks is combat tricks. Carry on, then.
On the other hand, the deck really needs a draw engine, at least I think so. The real reason I would add blue is for [card]seaside haven
[/card]. Birds tend to die, so might as well turn them into cards.
there are some other potential card drawers to add, but even though it's not necessary to run blue, you could conceivably add sky hussar. If you cast it, hits late game, but he's a 4/3 flier that untaps everything and in the early game, he can help you out-draw your opponents.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
You can also do this in-between first strike and normal damage steps if your creatures have first strike. It's very similar to the //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?name=+[gustcloak">"]gustcloak ability, but the creature doesn't have to be blocked and it can untap at anytime during combat.
Also, the ruling is Rule 511 in the Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules. The active player gets priority after all "at end of combat step" triggers have gone on the stack, meaning the active player may untap their creatures with Reconnaissance.
—Jace Beleren, to Garruk Wildspeaker
weltkrieg, I always really appreciate your input. So I just want to say that these are some good suggestions that merit time and thought on my part. I'll do a little play testing and see if I can't put a decent W/U list out here soon.
If I were to splash for blue, how would you adjust the mana base? My first idea would be to shove some fetches in. Unfortunately, the only good fetches I currently own are a set of Misty Rainforest and Scalding Tarn which I suppose could work with some blue/white duals. However, I'm still working on acquiring the last few cards for my Four Horsemen deck so they aren't really in my budget right now. Long-term, though, that seems most ideal.
I really like Coast Watcher because that deals with Goyf, Knight of the Reliquary and Elves, all of which I see in my meta. Thrumming Bird seems like it would be great with Soul Catcher's Aerie and Soulcatcher. I play tested the Aerie in my list before and wasn't a fan of it because it wasn't immediately useful and took time to build up. However, with a little help from Thrumming Bird, it might be worth taking a second look at it.
Cloudchaser Kestrel seems like more of a SB card to me but still worth noting. Keeper of the Nine Gales could potentially be amazing. I can just imagine bouncing an Emrakul back to someone's hand. That would be funny. Additionally, Sky Hussar seems a little expensive to cast but his ability is pretty nice, especially when a Reconnaissance is in play.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
The suggestions are made based on the slightly casual blue/white flying deck I've had around for ages. I actually made mine using isperia, the inscrutable as a sort of late game card advantage engine. That, in addition to 4 sky hussar, really powered out my mid to late game. On the other hand, that particular deck has top 8ed a few times at the local legacy tourney and one top 4 long ago.
For the fairly aggressive build you're looking at, if you're going to play white/blue, then maybe kjeldoran war cry is worth a look. a growth effect that's cheap to 3 or 4 creatures can absolutely win games.
On thrumming bird, well, if you have any laying around, then I'd automatically suggest umezawa's jitte. It's just beyond nuts combined with proliferate and it's pretty darned good on it's own.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
4x Augury Owl
2x Coast Watcher
3x Sky Hussar
3x Soulcatcher
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Welkin Hawk
3x Honor of the Pure
4x Reconnaissance
Land (19)
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Island
7x Plains
3x Brave the Elements
3x Kjeldoran War Cry
4x Path to Exile
4x Smite
By any chance would you be willing to share the list you've put together, weltkrieg?
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
RBU
Splinter Twin (RIP)/DelverRBUUUUMono U TronUUU
GRGGR TronGRG
GWURKnight FallGWUR
Legacy
GWBDark MaverickGWB
--> EDH <--
BWUErtai, the CorruptedBWU
Lately I've been trying out another mono-white list that is a touch more aggressive than any of the lists I've posted previously.
4x Beacon Hawk
2x Celestial Gatekeeper
4x Cloudreach Cavalry
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Suntail Hawk
4x Welkin Hawk
3x Sunscour
Enchantment (8)
4x Honor of the Pure
2x Reconnaissance
2x Shared Triumph
4x Flagstones of Trokair
15x Plains
Instant (8)
4x Path to Exile
4x Smite
The benchmark deck that I usually play test all my deck ideas against is Zoo. I've still been struggling to consistently beat Zoo so it still needs work, IMHO. Anyone packing a ton of creature removal in the form of PtE, StP, Burn and Grim Lavamancer is going to be a tough opponent for this deck, there's no doubt about that.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
In fact, most creature decks were zero issue for it, as between the large fliers, I was also making hash out of creatures with 4 stp, devouring light (good when I used it..still not terrible in a defensive flier deck), and something like 2 to 4 reprisal in the sideboard. Nowadays, you have path to exile to replace one of those, of course.
However, there are some ways to take this deck. I did a quick search. If you were to run keeper of the gales, have you considered crackdown? Outside of knight of the reliquary, I can't think of too many critters it wouldn't be helpful against.
In essence, I'll have to find the deck and take it apart for a complete list. Let me know if you're still interested, and I'll get it out. It's definitely not quite what you're expecting!
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Agreed. The only reason I was using Smite is that it seemed to work well with Reconnaissance and also because I was afraid that too many Swords in a game would put my opponent out of range, since my creatures are all relatively small.
That said, while my focus hasn't really been to build a midrange deck I'd still be really interested to see your list! You're definitely using some intriguing cards.
Without further ado, here's what I've been toying around with. I ventured outside of Bird "territory" a bit with this list:
4x Augury Owl
4x Azorius First-Wing
4x Pride of the Clouds
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Stormscape Familiar
4x Welkin Hawk
4x Honor of the Pure
2x Island Sanctuary
Land (19)
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Island
7x Plains
4x Path to Exile
4x Smite
Sorcery (3)
3x Spectral Procession
Pride of the Clouds seems like a strong choice since I'm packing nothing but fliers in here. I also threw in Stormscape Familiar which I really like, although in this list I think he's a little weak because I don't feel like I have enough cards in here that really benefit from his effect. Azorius First-Wing is definitely a nice 2/2 flying bear, although, I'm thinking about swapping him back out for Cloudreach Cavalry since he's a potential 3/3 for one with Stormscape Familiar out.
Other cards of interest include Spectral Procession which offers a lot of value for the cost. Island Sanctuary got shoehorned in to fill the last two slots and also because I've been wondering about how it would perform in this deck. My thinking was that between Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk, I'd have enough fuel to go a few turns without needing to draw. That said I really like Crackdown a lot. And like you were saying, that could be a lot of fun in combination with Keeper of the Gales. I'm definitely open to adding a control element to this deck.
There's so many different directions I feel like this deck could go. I guess that's part of the fun in deck building. Until next post, I'll be busy exploring all my options. =)
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
ye olde (very old) decklist:
4 mistral charger
2 isperia, the Inscrutable
4 Stormscape Familiar
4 Serra Angel
4 Suntail Hawk
4 Silver Drake
2 Mahamoti Djinn
3 Sky Hussar
1 Cloudchaser Kestrel
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Kjeldoran War Cry
10 Plains
6 Island
4 Azorious Chancery
4 devouring light
2 Faiths fetters
1 Sea Sprite
2 Cerulean Wyvvern
1 Treetop Sentinel
1 Disenchant
4 Bathe in light
I know it seems a bit random, but I had no idea what I would be facing at the time and that sweepers could be a problem. but it worked very well indeed (the last time I used it, at least!).
it is also important to note that this was a bit of a 10 dollar budget challenge. At the time, that was about all this deck was worth. Now I would include stonecloakers to go with the silver drakes, and probably chuck the suntail hawks. They were rarely worth it. I would also likely include some form of equipment or maybe glorious anthem.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
That's a decent looking deck you put together, considering the age of the cards and small budget. The more I think about it, the more I like your idea of running Sky Hussar as card advantage and a late-game beater
In fact, I keep thinking about your use of Sky Hussar and I think I may have hit on an idea. Instead of Meekstone, imagine a deck list using Island Sanctuary and Sky Hussar, Pride of the Clouds, and Squadron Hawk to keep the hand and field full of birds without the need of the draw step. It's sort of a combination of all the ideas that have been tossed around so far but it would certainly give a lot of decks a hard time.
Here's a rough list:
3x Augury Owl
4x Keeper of the Nine Gales
4x Pride of the Clouds
4x Sky Hussar
4x Squadron Hawk
3x Stormscape Familiar
4x Welkin Hawk
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Island
7x Plains
Enchantment (7)
4x Island Sanctuary
4x Shared Triumph
3x Swords to Plowshares
The mana base may need to be adjusted and I'm thinking about dropping the Welkin Hawk for more card draw like Preordain. Anyways, I'm off to play test and see how this list performs.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
No, I wouldn't bother with Preordain. Augury owl should be quite enough, though backing off 1 welkin hawk for 1 augury owl might be the wiser course of action.
Sky Hussar is a card you really only want to see once per game. Once you have it, you have your extra card draw per turn. After you've flooded the board, you don't need to draw anymore. Instead, you cast it, untap everything, and swing for the win. This deck tends to alphastrike pretty well.
Pride of the Clouds is a card I love. However, it tends to be most useful for it's forecast ability. While it isn't fast, it is steady and very hard to counter most of the time. Also, when you do cast it, it is rather large. 5/5 to 8/8 is not uncommon. For that, Swords to Plowshares must be your removal spell of choice over path to exile. you really don't want them getting those darned lands to out tempo you.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Okay, I made a couple tweaks and play tested a few games against Zoo with the Island Sanctuary list and it is the first to really catch my attention. This one has the best match-up against Zoo of all the lists so far. That, to me, means it definitely has potential and merits further testing against a few other Tier 1 decks.
EDIT:
This list continues to feel solid in testing and I'm getting more confident in its ability to compete. I made a few small changes to the MB and am working on a rudimentary SB now.
3x Augury Owl
3x Cloudreach Cavalry
4x Pride of the Clouds
4x Sky Hussar
4x Squadron Hawk
4x Stormscape Familiar
Sorcery (3)
3x Preordain
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Island
11x Plains
Enchantment (8)
4x Honor of the Pure
4x Island Sanctuary
Instant (8)
4x Path to Exile
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Aven Mindcensor
3x Oblivion Ring
4x Mindbreak Trap
4x Leyline of Sanctity
Island Sanctuary with either Sky Hussar in your hand and some fliers on the board or Pride of the Clouds/Squadron Hawk in your hand puts you in a pretty sweet position to beat your opponent down under. If you don't get an Island Sanctuary, you can simply try to out aggro them.
I dropped Flagstones of Trokair from the list because they seem like an unnecessary expense. If you get two, they help you thin your deck of lands but the benefit hardly makes them worth running, IMO. In some situations they could actually end up hurting you (IE, your opponent plays Back to Basics). Cloudreach Cavalry is still the most questionable guy in the list but every time I remove him I end up putting him back in. A 3/3 flier for two, or even one with Stormscape Familiar, is hard to argue with.
The side board is rough right now but combo certainly seems like it will cause the most issues so I feel like the SB needs to address that. It's just figuring out what cards to run and how many of them. To me, Leyline of Sanctity is a must. Storm decks are faster than us and we need a way to interact with them. Aven Mindcensor is in here because he just fits so well in the deck and his uses extend beyond dealing with combo decks that utilize tutors. Decks that rely heavily on fetches get hurt by this guy too. In fact, I'm not so certain he shouldn't take the place of Cloudreach in the MB.
Oblivion Ring is there to deal with about anything else that comes up and Mindbreak Trap is additional defense against storm decks. If you have the budget, I think it'd be pretty funny to shove FoW in the SB in its place. But that's probably heresy to run Forces in the side.
Also, call me crazy but I disregarded GY hate because of Island Sanctuary. Dredge is the most common grave deck I see in my meta and I feel like Sanctuary gives it enough trouble. If you can get Sanctuary out soon enough the first game, you'll probably win. After that, you've just got to hope you can hold them off long enough with it in the second and third games. Remember, Sanctuary's ability stays in effect until the beginning of your next turn, even if it's destroyed. If you see a lot of Reanimator or Cephalid Breakfast or something like that, you might want to consider siding in GY removal.
Another card that I couldn't fit into my SB but am considering is Meddling Mage.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
- Vendilion Clique
- Spellstutter sprite
- Sower of Temptation
- Pestermite
.Honestly, while these cards are good, I still far prefer more old school options. Also, you realize that honor of the pure only affects your white fliers, right?
As far as combo goes, well, you're in blue. Counterspells?
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
All of the other cards you suggested are amazing cards that I really love, but if I replace Cloudreach Cavalry, it needs to be replaced with something white as I do realize Honor of the Pure only helps out my white fliers. I could use Glorious Anthem but I'm really trying to keep a low mana curve for this deck.
That said, I really think I might swap Cloudreach Cavalry out for Aven Mindcensor. He screws with fetches which see a lot of play in Legacy, he screws with Stoneforge Mystic somewhat which I see in my meta and he minimizes the drawback of Path to Exile. There's just a lot of uses he fills. It certainly makes him a target but that just gives me time ramp with my other birds.
As for counters, I'm going to spend more time looking into that. I just dropped Mindbreak in there because it was the first thing I thought of.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB
On returning creatures, there are a couple of reasons I like to be able to do so.
1. Reuse Enter Battlefield abilities. Mostly this is augury owl, but if there were others, it's pretty mean.
2. Reset for 2nd main. Swinging with an early guy, then returning and replaying for at least 2 untapped critters on your opponents turn? beautiful! That said, your island sanctuary idea may negate the need for this advantage somewhat. I still like it, though.
3. Negate the drawback of using sky hussar card draw. you draw a card, you tap your critters. now, you get one back and recast! You're up +1 critter and up +1 card and will have more to untap next turn. Beautiful in my opinion.
4. Return an early cast pride of the clouds to go from early beatdown to late game card advantage/attrition war. That's one capability of this deck almost all people completely miss. This deck can shift from ultra aggressive to late game card happy.
5. I think you already mentioned it, but stonecloaker by himself is awesome graveyard removal for this deck. Yeah, ok, he costs 3 (2 with a familiar), but he is repeatable and that can win games big time.
Honor the Pure is sort of meh, in my opinion. If you're looking for a lord effect, then I would actually prefer to see Celestial Crusader in here. He flashes, flies, is 2/2, and allows you to thumb your nose at counterspells. In all honesty, you only want 2, but that's generally all you want for honor of the pure anyways. You want to see one later game, and that often allows the swing for the win.
Sawtooth Loon is an interesting find. If you were doing pure birds, I might actually say go for it. It would have beautiful synergy with squadron hawk. IE, you play it with a hand full of squawks, put two of the verdammten things on the bottom, and return one. Now, you find a way to get another sawtooth loon. This would, in fact, have obnoxious synergy with a bird control build that you might consider with keeper of the nine gales. (guess what you bounce? :D) That said, sky hussar is just better here. That's all there is to it, in my opinion.
Speaking of that, how has the hussar been testing? I used to run 4, but went back to three when I started drawing cards faster than I could use them.
For counterspells and anti combo: Well, there are a few to consider. Some good, some terrible, others just downright funny.
Force of will. T1 counter, yada yada
Mental Misstep
Spell Snare
Spell pierce
Counterspell
Forbid Finally! A good use for a hand full of squawks!
Mana Tithe You're in white, and this is a t1 counter. Better known as "surprise!!!!" before it loses all use!
Spell Stutter Sprite I mentioned this before, but does good things similar to misstep/force of will/spell snare (if lucky).
Swift Silence Terrible, I know! But i wanna do it, just once! sooooo funny!!!
For anti combo that's not a counterspell, well, you get:
For creature based options, well, I found an old friend. Look up Rootwater thief. Between that and the Aven Mindcensor, well....
There is also spiketail hatchling and spiketail drake and [CARD]spiketail drakeling
[/CARD]
Incidentally, to protect your fliers from removal, how about Kira, Great Glass Spinner?
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Storm Crow is just too overpowered for this deck. I mean, I could run it but I just feel like that wouldn't be fair for other Legacy players.
Weltkrieg, I don't have time to write a detailed reply tonight but I wanted to toss another card I found earlier today into the mix. Emeria Angel. Could be a fun card with the right mana base.
BGSpanish InquisitionGB
GFood Chain ElvesG
WUAngry BirdsUW
BUThe Four Horsemen (RIP)UB