MTG Salvation

Went 3-2, still got 8th. Played Jeskai, with a black splash for Silumgar, the Drifting Death (which in the end wasn't worth it - I never played him. Either had one of two black sources I splashed on the field, or had him in my hand but never both. Lesson learned.) It really screwed me my last round when in my 2nd game I ended up with both black sources on the battlefield but only one R/W tapland for a R/W source. I guess that's the definition of getting greedy and it coming back to bite you, huh? Anyway, I'm curious if you guys would have done anything differently here. There were several cards I wanted to put in the deck but couldn't bring myself to make cuts for (*) in my sideboard.

Anyway, here's my deck


In retrospect I feel that if I had better fixing, I could have possibly gone Esper instead of Jeskai. But then again, I only had one GB tapland for mana fixing with Black, so that would have sucked. Mardu Scout was a MVP in this deck though, as was Ride Down. Smashing through 6-9 damage in the first few turns via Dash before finally landing on the battlefield full time to open mana up for answers in the mid-game. The amount of removal in the deck was just absurd and made almost every opponent go on tilt. I actually ended up drawing a sketch after a guy went full tilt following my countering his Ugin, the Spirit Dragon with Raskshasa's Disdain (among all the other answers I had for him).

The easiest cut would be Sage-Eye Harrier to play Efreet Weaponmaster. I'm a huge fan of Will of the Naga after playing it in Sultai and Jeskai this weekend and would cut both Rakshasa's Disdain to play both of them.

With the black splash you could also add Mardu Roughrider possibly over a Kill Shot and just put in the 2nd Kill Shot if you are the control deck.

This leaves you with a better tempo deck game 1 with the option to side in more control if needed.

I think your biggest problem is that you leave bombs in your sideboard. Supplant Form is incredible, and arguably the best card in your pool.

I was going to list the differences between my build and yours but there are too many, so I'll just build the deck I would have made from your pool:



U 4+4 sources for 8/1 cards/morphs
W 3+6 sources for 11/2 cards/morphs
R 4+2 sources for 5/1 cards/morphs

I don't think I love the Temur Battle Rages you're running, merl. Here's what I'd have built:


It's a bit top heavy, so I've even cut Ride Down. I'm not 100% sure that is correct, but it seems to me like a card this deck doesn't particularly need. Will of the Naga also does not excite me all that much in a deck like this; it is simply not aggressive enough as far as I'm concerned.

So I have ride down, 2 temur battle rage, will of the naga, while you have the 18th land, fierce invocation, cunning strike, kill shot.

All of those are viable options, although I think that Cunning Strike is the worst of them. It looke a little like a poor man's Electrolyze but in reality it plays much worse than that. This is basically 2 damage to a creature for 5 mana, and that's just way overpriced to me. I definitely think that Will of the Naga is better.

I have the complete opposite impression of Cunning Strike: that it is actually a quite good card. That's my experience with it so far, albeit limited experience admittedly.

Why? I think that the damage to the player is basically irrelevant, and drawing a card on a 5-drop seems to be fairly low impact as well.

Even if it kills something, why is that better than taking two creatures out of action for two combat cycles?

Quote from magicmerl »

Why? I think that the damage to the player is basically irrelevant, and drawing a card on a 5-drop seems to be fairly low impact as well.

Even if it kills something, why is that better than taking two creatures out of action for two combat cycles?

Because this is a grindy value format, not a beatdown format, and Cunning Strike is +1 card while Will of the Naga is -1 card. Frost Breath effects are usually quite bad in decks that aren't aggro, and I think this deck is better suited for taking a long-game approach than going for quick wins.

Once again, I'm not saying anything definite, none of us here have played the format at all, essentially

If your supposition is correct, then I agree with your choice. I still think that Sage of the Inward Eye and Enhanced Awareness are enough CA though.

Quote from Xenphire »

Went 3-2, still got 8th. Played Jeskai, with a black splash for Silumgar, the Drifting Death (which in the end wasn't worth it - I never played him. Either had one of two black sources I splashed on the field, or had him in my hand but never both. Lesson learned.) It really screwed me my last round when in my 2nd game I ended up with both black sources on the battlefield but only one R/W tapland for a R/W source. I guess that's the definition of getting greedy and it coming back to bite you, huh? Anyway, I'm curious if you guys would have done anything differently here. There were several cards I wanted to put in the deck but couldn't bring myself to make cuts for (*) in my sideboard.

Anyway, here's my deck

Valanarch's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands: 2 Swiftwater Cliffs 1 Mystic Monastery 1 Tranquil Cove 1 Wind-Scarred Crag 4 Island 4 Plains 2 Mountain 2 Swamp 1CC 1 Wild Slash 2CC 1 Mardu Scout 1 Valorous Stance 1 Reality Shift 1 Force Away 1 Temur Battle Rage 1 Ride Down 3CC 2 Dragon Bell Monk 2 Sandsteppe Outcast 1 Jeskai Infiltrator 2 Gore Swine 2 Kill Shot 2 Rakshasa's Disdain 5CC 1 Sage-Eye Harrier 1 Sage of the Inward Eye 6CC 1 Sage-Eye Avengers 1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death	Sideboard White: 1 Abzan Advantage 2 Abzan Runemark 1 Brave the Sands(*) 1 Great-Horn Krushok 1 Mardu Hordechief 1 Siegecraft 1 Soul Summon Blue: 1 Enhanced Awareness(*) 2 Refocus 1 Supplant Form(*) 1 Waterwhirl 1 Whirlwind Adept 2 Will of the Naga	Black: 1 Alesha's Vanguard 1 Ancestral Vengeance 1 Douse in Gloom 1 Disowned Ancestor 1 Fearsome Awakening 1 Grave Strength 2 Gurmag Angler 1 Noxious Dragon 1 Orc Sureshot 1 Qasari High Priest 1 Reach of Shadows 1 Sultai Runemark Red: 1 Break Through the Line(*) 1 Bloodfire Enforcers 1 Bring Low 2 Collateral Damage 2 Defiant Ogre 1 Fierce Invocation 2 Shatter 1 Temur Battle Rage 1 Tormenting Voice 1 Abzan Beastmaster 1 Archers of Qarsi 1 Battlefront Krushok 1 Feral Krushok 2 Formless Nurturing 1 Frontier Mastodon 1 Hunt the Weak 1 Map the Wastes 1 Whisperer of the Wilds 1 Wildcall 1 Woolly Loxodon Multicolor: 1 Cunning Strike 1 Efreet Weaponmaster 1 Mardu Roughrider 1 Secret Plans 1 Warden of the Eye	Artifact: 1 Jeskai Banner 1 Temur Banner Lands: 1 Jungle Hollow

In retrospect I feel that if I had better fixing, I could have possibly gone Esper instead of Jeskai. But then again, I only had one GB tapland for mana fixing with Black, so that would have sucked. Mardu Scout was a MVP in this deck though, as was Ride Down. Smashing through 6-9 damage in the first few turns via Dash before finally landing on the battlefield full time to open mana up for answers in the mid-game. The amount of removal in the deck was just absurd and made almost every opponent go on tilt. I actually ended up drawing a sketch after a guy went full tilt following my countering his Ugin, the Spirit Dragon with Raskshasa's Disdain (among all the other answers I had for him).

I'd cut Sage-Eye Harrier for Efreet Weaponmaster and cut Silumgar for Supplant Form. Supplant Form is probably better than Silumgar anyways.