MTG Salvation

So I go to the pre-release, crack my packs, and find some VERY appealing white and Red rares.

POOL:


I was INFURIATED by my pool. No mythic? Check. A third of my rares were in White, where I had ONLY TWELVE CARDS? Check. Two of the rares I got in playable colors completely sucked? Check. Of all my cards, I only got a couple decent fatties, and the closest I got to a bomb was Mayor of Avabruck/Spider Spawning? Check.

So clearly, I was gonna have to rely on synergy for the deck to work.

I wanted dearly to make W/R(g) work; but the lack of good White made it tough. I felt like G/B(w) would be safer. I was bothered that I got no good Red Fatties, kind of gimping that color, and I got nowhere near enough decent Blue to play that, so I was closed to Blue. I was left with Green as the only viable standalone color, with utility, weenies, and utility. I then had to choose between black and red as my support color, and then between black and white as splash colors.

There was way more synergy between Green and Black than Green and White in my opinion. I also had experience with the color combination after the last pre-release, where I ran a similar deck. I knew I would be relying on swarming the opponent in a midrange strategy, and then utilizing combat tricks and tight play to edge out decks that had higher power. I decided to splash white because with Avacyn's Pilgrims, Traveler's Amulet, and Shimmering Grotto, I was easily able to sustain the two cards with single white costs that I needed. Slayer of the Wicked was too good to pass on, and Lingering Souls had an on-color flashback, along with loads of synergy with the strategy I was already hauling.

Here's the deck I built:
(by color)


I was rather dissatisfied with some of it, such as the 2 plains and the Ray of Revelations (which changed every single match, between a bunch of other crap, including Black Cat and [card]Lost in the Woods[/card[). I had to add in those two after the first match, when I realized that my deck was only 38 cards.

I went 4-3, and all three match losses were against U/x Aggro. There was U/B Zombie Mill, which I couldn't cope with. He got the perfect curve and lineup of fatties, including the one 5/5 for 6 with undying, and the 2/1 for B. I got completely overwhelmed, even though I managed to get him to 2. Game 2, I rode an Avabruck for the win. Game 3 I successfully answered all his threats and bombs, and I nearly 10 on the board- then he dropped a Curse of Death's hold. Suddenly I had just enough to avoid dying each turn once he dropped the 5/5 for 6. I managed to stall it out, but he got lucky as hell- my only out (the ray) was on the bottom of my library. For reference; I had generated nearly 25 tokens that game, and had cast every creature in my library. He was down to three cards in his library when he topdecked the only kill spell in his deck, and broke the board stall.

Second loss was against U/W flyers. I failed to pull my bombs, removal, or utility either match, leaving me with gimpy weenies to try and stop him. I got him to 3 both games, but he pulled all but two of the same cards, both games.

Third loss was the result of vodoo magic. Someone commented that I had no sleeves, and that my cards were going to rebel. And rebel they did; I got manascrewed game one, he pulled all three flyers in his deck and just dragged out a win. Game two, I managed to pull both my bombs...but I got mana flooded (Mayor of Avabruck, Spider Spawning, and Slayer of the Wicked were in my opening hand; and I never saw a non-land card after that).

I felt as though that was the best deck, or close to the best deck, I could build using such a mediocre pool. I still feel like I should have forced white though.

I would not maindeck ray of revelations.

I had fox in my maindeck just as a grizzly bear and I never got to use his ability in 9 rounds... but at least it bashes for 2..

Ray of revelations just sits in your hand as a dead card a lot of the time.

Edit: Also, I don't like your lands. I think 2 plains is 1 too many and I don't think you have a need for grotto with 2 pilgrims and 1 traveler's amulet when you only need the white for 2 spells.


I think I would be white..

you have.. 9 playable cards in white, 3 of them rares, 2 of them are bomby (increasing devotion and the 5/5 angel) and champion can be kinda bomby depending on how/when u play it...

Curious, Why did you play ray of revalation main deck and not requiem angel?

Quote from LucidVision

Curious, Why did you play ray of revalation main deck and not requiem angel?

Looks like he had 2 Plains. White was just a splash. EDIT> I forgot that it is 5W and not 3WWW. I probably would have gone GW, splashing Red for Rolling Temblor, Brimstone Volley, and Blasphemous Act, myself. It is a pretty poor pool though.

Maybe something like this



It's probably even better to put 2 Mountain, cut a Forest, and put in Burning Oil too. I can imagine some nut draws with Champion of the Parish, Avacyn's Pilgrims, Increasing Devotion, and Hamlet Captain. The main problem is consistency with mana problems, but I think Traveler's Amulet, Shimmering Grotto (for Black too), and Mulch (usually I hate Mulch) should help.

Quote from LucidVision

Curious, Why did you play ray of revalation main deck and not requiem angel?

This.

Ignoring its ability, it's a 5/5 with evasion for 6, and you're already splashing its colour (which at 6cmc, 1w will almost always trigger). Throw in its ability and its incredible.

You also played two Chosen of Markov but only had one vampire?

Red has TWO sweepers (act and temblor) along with a host of solid removal. Green has two bombs (Mayor and Briarpack). Both colours want you to splash white, and you have a Slayer AND an angel waiting for you and the mana fixing to allow it. In what way is this a difficult pool?



Differences from your build in WG.

I can't understand why you left out Requiem Angel. It's a bomb.

On to comparing red vs black.

I can kind of see why you went for the black, since it had more creatures. The thing is, removal spells are really good, and if you are killing all of their good creatures, then even hill giants are solid win conditions.

Skirsdag high priest is a bomb, so is Requiem Angel. You're not playing your rares.

1.) The Ray was something I threw in in a pinch, because I never had more than 5 minutes between matches. I didn't even realize the angel was 5W, thought it was like 4WW. Ugh.

2.) The Grotto kept my mana base consistent, so I have no complaints.

3.) I didn't want the other plains, but it was all I could come up with in a pinch.

4.) I definitely see where you're coming from Merl. The second I finished my last match, I was flipping through my pool and thought, "****. Should've gone for naya colors." I was still in the Innistrad "Midrange," mindset though, and wasn't expecting the aggro-control meta, consisting almost entirely of R/G Wolves, U/B zombies, and U/W Fliers. Ech.

Really wish that stores had regularly scheduled sealed events, since it's almost impossible to practice before a pre-release. Appreciate the feedback though. I just saw that my white was incredibly small and discounted it; plus I had what I thought were "few," humans.

I wrote that it was a pretty good pool then I looked back over it more closely.. Dude that's a REALLY good pool. I got first with FAR far worse. I ran 3 color without mana fix to barely eek out some games. You've got bombs for days in strong colors and good synergy. Since when can you expect a mythic from 6 packs? I did 2 sealeds and got zero. Not to mention a lot of the mythics are unplayable anyway.

Anyway these cars alone are crazy good to play:
You run travelers amulet and shimmering grotto and you have 50% of your mana base in green and splash white and red and call it a day. You can't go wrong. You've got tons of creatures, ton's of mana fix, guys in the air, and removal. Didn't bother tweaking the little details but all of those cards are quite good cards. 17 land including grotto + 20 cards + amulet. Pick 2 more cards.. probably doesn't even matter which at this point.

• 1 Burden of Guilt - removal
  
• 1 Increasing Devotion - bomb
  
• 1 Champion of the Parish - synergy
  
• 1 Abbey Griffin - evasion
  
• 1 Requiem Angel - huge splashable evasiony bomb - WHY DID YOU NOT PLAY THIS CARD
  
• 1 Faith's Shield - counter removal
  
• 1 Lingering Souls - 4 fliers with shimmering grotto out
  
• 1 Slayer of the Wicked - removal
  
• 1 Mayor of Avabruck - bomb
  
• 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim - mana fix
  
• 1 Hunger of the Howlpack - combat tricks (this card is really strong btw)
  
• 1 Kessig Recluse - death touch much
  
• 1 Briarpack Alpha - combat tricks.. removal x2 sometimes
  
• 1 Hamlet Captain - synnnnnnergy
  
• 1 Clinging Mist - never undervalue fog in limited.. wins games
  
• 1 Burning Oil - removal x2.. in your colors no less
  
• 1 Brimstone Volley - removal again or game ender
  
• 1 Blasphemous Act - why not include it
  
• 1 Wrack with Madness - removal

you played brain weevil... whyyyyyyy