MTG Salvation

I really like the heroic mechanic and decided to try and build a deck that utilizes it.
As I'm new to the game I obviously don't expect the deck to be competitive but rather to be fun to play and good enough to beat my friends.

Here is my current build:


Other cards I consider using: Distortion Strike (instead of Artful Dodge), Hidden Strings, Aqueous Form, High Sentinels of Arashin, Livewire Lash, Redeem, Spirit Loop, Tethmos High Priest, Abzan Falconer, Seeker of the Way, Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest, Hyena Umbra, Triton Fortune Hunter, Vanguard of Brimaz.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated as I'm looking to learn and get better in the game and deckbuilding in general.

Some changes that I consider making:
-1x Ephara's Enlightenment, -2x Akroan Skyguard, -1x Dawnbringer Charioteers
+3x Abzan Falconer, +1x Favored Hoplite

Abzan Falconer seems like a great fit for my deck:
1. It is a soldier like most of my creatures (except for Artisan of Forms) which works with Field Marshal.
2. The combo with Phalanx Leader which can grant Flying to all my creatures seems like a powerful one.
3. A 2/3 soldier for 3cmc which can become a 3/4 flyer next turn seems good enough on his own anyway.

Another change I'm thinking about:
-2x Launch the Fleet, +2x Feat of Resistance
-2x Artful Dodge, +2x Distortion Strike (I get the extra +1/0 and the second activation is free but Flashback allows me to time it whenever I choose compared to Rebound so it's a tough choice).

Another idea I thought about is to replace Launch the Fleet with Bioshift.
This can be an efficient way to trigger Heroic twice for 1 mana and a great combo between Abzan Falconer (or another creature)and Phalanx Leader.


Is it a good idea? What do you think?

No one here plays Heroic at all ?
I know it has never been a top tier deck archtype but it seems fun and I would like to build at least a competent deck based on the concept.

^^

I think your list needs a lot more protection. Everything will die, and your hard work will be fruitless.
I was able to win Standard FNM yesterday (12 pts) with this mono-white heroic deck.
It is literally like $20 and that is why I like Standard most seasons.



The deck needs to be fast to have any remote success in modern so I would stick with the one-drops and low overall curve.
Myth Realized was a powerhouse in this deck that dodges sorcery speed and I think would be a must.
If I were to attempt to make this deck as Modern viable as possible, I would swap in the Emerge Unscathed and also try to swap in Stave Off as it can also target opposing creatures.. possibly saving you from Splinter Twin and Infect match-ups. I would possibly add something like Bandage to assist in the turns protection/indestructible isn't required. The deck wants to top out at 3-4 lands so I would also use a lot of fetch lands as well. Gitaxian Probe might be a good idea and can put a free trigger on Myth Realized. Same with Mutagenic Growth which could be sided in when there isn't as much opposing creature hate.

Maybe I'll go rogue and try this next week in the modern Tourney.

Talking about protection, should I play Feat of Resistance or Hyena Umbra or Redeem ?

Maybe I should look for Hexproof granting Auras ?

What do think about Bioshift or Launch the Fleet in this deck?

I'm trying to play spells that let me push damage through quickly to offset the risk of removal blowing me out of the game.
Spirit Mantle, Artful Dodge (or maybe Distortion Strike instead ) and Emerge Unscathed can help me with that.
And on an aggressive creature like Fabled Hero it can lead to a quick win.

That is also the reason I run so many creatures as to have replacements ready in case of removal.

What do you think ?

The deck that you posted here and discribed (even if upgraded to Modern) seems like a weaker Bogle deck to me and I'm trying to do something which is a bit different.
I just don't know if it can be any good or viable this way.

I took your advice and made some changes to the deck:

I removed: 2x Dawnbringer Charioteers (too slow), 2x Artful Dodge (sorcery speed and doesn't protect my creature), 3x Spirit Mantle (protects only from creatures and only triggers Heroic once) and 2x Bioshift (offers no protection or unblockability and relies on having two creatures out).

Instead I inserted: 2x Feat of Resistance, 3x Center Soul, 2x Gods Willing and 2x Defiant Strike (I'm still considering 2x Ajani's Presence in it's place).

The deck looks like this now:



I'm still unsure about Artisan of Forms (it can be great but also a dead card in certain matchups) and consider replacing it with 2x Seeker of the Way (or maybe add more Phalanx Leader, Abzan Falconer or Field Marshal).

I consider splashing some Green for cards like: Prey's Vengeance, Hardened Scales and Vines of Vastwood, is it a good idea ?

Also are there any worthwhile Green Heroic creatures ?
Centaur Battlemaster seems good but too slow and the rest seem overcosted and underpowered.
Another creature that seems interesting is Hero of Leina Tower, is she worth including?

Here is the new G/W/U version:



I am still unsure about 2x Gods Willing and wonder whether 2x more Vines of Vastwood or 2x Ranger's Guile or maybe 2x Defiant Strike or 2x Warriors' Lesson will be a better idea.

I'm also trying to find room for Rancor but am not sure whether it is worth taking out any of the instants for.
Hardened Scales seems great here and I consider playing more than 2x but I'm afraid to draw too many of them.

How is the deck now?

Wild Defiance seems like a great addition to the deck, should I include it (if so then instead of what?) ?
Or will it slow the deck down too much?

Are Mutant's Prey or Prey Upon worth including here as pump+removal ?
Dromoka's Command is even better but costs more mana (and is rather expensive at 6$)

I think you should do naya heroic blitz

What does it include?

What about my current deck composition ? Any ideas on how to improve it ?

Quote from D90Dennis14 »

Here is my G/W/U version:

D90Dennis14's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Instant (16) 2x Gods Willing 4x Emerge Unscathed 4x Feat of Resistance 4x Prey's Vengeance 2x Vines of Vastwood	Land (20) 4x Sunpetal Grove 3x City of Brass 1x Ancient Ziggurat 12x Plains Creature (22) 3x Abzan Falconer 3x Avatar of the Resolute 4x Battlewise Hoplite 4x Fabled Hero 4x Favored Hoplite 4x Phalanx Leader	Enchantment (2) 2x Hardened Scales

How is this build ?

1. I am still unsure about 2x Gods Willing and wonder whether:
2x more Vines of Vastwood or 2x Ranger's Guile or maybe 2x Defiant Strike or 2x Warriors' Lesson will be a better idea.

2. I'm also trying to find room for Rancor but am not sure whether it is worth taking out any of the instants for.

3. Hardened Scales seems great here and I consider playing more than 2x but I'm afraid to draw too many of them.

4. Wild Defiance seems like a great addition to the deck, should I include it (if so then instead of what?) ?
Or will it slow down the deck too much ?

5. Are Mutant's Prey or Prey Upon worth including here as pump+removal ?
Dromoka's Command is even better but costs more mana (and is rather expensive at 6$)

6. Does Artisan of Forms have a place in this deck ? Is it any good ?

^
Any ideas for my deck ?

I'm going to replace Battlewise Hoplite (one of the better Heroic creatures but the only card in my deck which requires blue mana) with Quirion Dryad,
is it a good idea ?

I will lose the Scry ability and start with a slightly weaker creature, but it will be able to grow faster (and even when I pump my other creatures with non-green spells or even play other non-green creatures).

The new build looks like this:


Is it any good ? Any changes worth making ?

For a full heroic deck Seeds of Strength might be interesting. For just WG you get to trigger heroic three times, even on a single creature. Pretty amazing with Phalanx Leader imo.

GustavBDK, these are very interesting ideas:

1. Noble Hierarch is obviously very good but is too expensive for me (1 copy cost over half of my entire deck) and I don't really need the mana acceleration most of the time.
2. Qasali Pridemage is indeed very good for my deck as I don't have a way to deal with artifacts or enchantments so I'll definitely get some for the SB.
3. Rancor, I also want to put it in but the only card I can cut for it seems to be Hardened Scales which can also be really good in the deck, which one do you think I should include in the deck ?
4. Mutagenic Growth, I considered it but I prefer to pay 1 green mana and get 2 heroic activations with Prey's Vengeance.
5. Seeker of the Way is a great idea (which I considered before) but I think that Quirion Dryad belongs in the deck as it can get really big very fast.
I'll probably cut Avatar of the Resolute instead as getting double green mana isn't very reliable in the deck and the card doesn't perform that well in the deck anyway.
6. For card draw I thought about cards like: Defiant Strike or Warriors' Lesson (instead of a 3cmc cost creature like Ohran Viper) but I'm not sure if I want to cut any instants for them.
7. I don't really think that removal is that necessary for this deck as it relies on "Protection from Color" cards to push through damage (so I don't really need to remove blockers) and surviving targeted removal.
What I have problems with are Planeswalkers, what can I use (probably in the SB) to deal with them ?
I thought about Mana Tithe (or maybe Beast Within or Oblivion Ring ).

Quote from Elrias »

For a full heroic deck Seeds of Strength might be interesting. For just WG you get to trigger heroic three times, even on a single creature. Pretty amazing with Phalanx Leader imo.

This is an awesome idea I had not heard of yet. Very cool Elrias.

I agree that 4x Noble Heirarch would really be beneficial to the speed of the deck. I would also suggest a one of Qasali Pridemage because of it's utility. Rancor is also a must in any voltron style green deck.

There are so many ways you can go. This is a fun style deck to build. I would suggest maybe going with a few less instant spells and several auras as well to keep the creatures large. I would cut Gods Willings one of each of the other instants (except vines of vastwood) and add a two or so umbras- hyena umbra and/or spider umbra. I would also suggest a keen sense and/or spirit mantle. This way you can have the instant speed combat tricks as well as long term affects. I also agree with GustavBDK that some removal is probably need. Possibly two Path to Exile and a Valorous Stance. To make room I would just cut the Abzan Falconers. This is all just theory based and I haven't tested the deck so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

This looks like a really fun deck to play. You know me, I love me some rebound spells! Very cool deck D90Dennis14. I look foward to seeing it evolve.

Heroic only triggers once per cast, so Seeds of Strength only triggers Heroic once per dude.

I thought about it but ultimately decided to only use instants that both pump and protect my creatures with the only exception is Prey's Vengeance which is very efficient with it's Rebound.

I tried to use Auras in the deck but it didn't work very well, the instant speed combat tricks work much better for dealing high amounts of damage and trigger heroic twice with Rebound spells.
Rancor does seem rather good because it is reusable and grants me additional evasion but it doesn't protect my creature (like Gods Willing/Vines of Vastwood or even Prey's Vengeance against direct damage).

Abzan Falconer is an important evasion source here (and I already cut them from 3x to 2x) and a rather solid creature on it's on.

What is your opinion on Hardened Scales in the deck ?

^^
Here is the updated version of the deck btw:

I haven't played a ton of Heroic, but I have played a ton of prowess style decks that are very similar. When I worked on a bant deck I loved Prey's Vengeance so I am very glad to see it here. I was also very interested in the interaction between Perilous Research with Flagstones of Trokar. I am always looking for card draw and this is a great way to get instant speed card draw into a deck without any major drawback. I would really like to find one additional thing that gains value (like Hatching Plans) from the perilous research and still works well in normal play, but haven't found it yet.

I also feel like Rancor would be a good additional at least as a one of because of its resiliency.

Agian, I haven't delved too far into Heroic, but will definitely take a look and test with the deck so I can give better feedback. Awesome start to the deck and an awesome guy running the primer!

After not playing the deck for some time I want to get back to it and improve it.

1. Any new cards from the last sets that can be good in this ?

2. To speed up the deck
(cast Fabled Hero earlier, or cast a creature and hold mana for Emerge Unscathed/Prey's Vengeance)
I consider adding Birds of Paradise (Noble Hierarch is better but too expensive and without evasion),
is it a good idea ?

3. Here are some interesting Heroic-enablers that I came across:
Cauldron Haze, Bathe in Light, Test of Faith, Apostle's Blessing, Faith's Shield, Warriors' Lesson and Travel Preparations, are any of them worth playing ? (in Mb/Sb)

4. Are Runechanter's Pike and Wild Defiance good in this deck or are they too slow ?


I've made some small changes to the deck:
1. Abzan Falconer was replaced with Bramblewood Paragon which is cheaper and synergises with Seeker of the Way.
2. Feat of Resistance was replaced by the more versatile Dromoka's Command.

Here is the current version of the deck: