I'm looking to get back into Modern, and would love some direction. I've played Merfolk in the past, and while it is a ton of fun, I'm thinking I may want to move more towards a control, tempo or Midrange strategy. At first I thought about American Delver, but part of me sees that as a bit cliche. While I do want to win, I'd prefer something with a little more style and flair. The U/W Tron lists look fun, but I'm not sure exactly how competitive they are.
Budget isn't a major consideration, but I'd like to keep things relatively cheap, especially as far as Mana Bases go. I'm thinking primarily in the direction of a W/U build, since i own all the necessary lands (Fasts, Shocks, and Filters, Fetches (U/G) and Celestial Colonnade.
What do you all suggest? What lists should I check out?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
----------------------------------
Modern: Merfolk
Commander:Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Standard: Rabble/Dash Red
I'm looking to get back into Modern, and would love some direction. I've played Merfolk in the past, and while it is a ton of fun, I'm thinking I may want to move more towards a control, tempo or Midrange strategy. At first I thought about American Delver, but part of me sees that as a bit cliche. While I do want to win, I'd prefer something with a little more style and flair. The U/W Tron lists look fun, but I'm not sure exactly how competitive they are.
Budget isn't a major consideration, but I'd like to keep things relatively cheap, especially as far as Mana Bases go. I'm thinking primarily in the direction of a W/U build, since i own all the necessary lands (Fasts, Shocks, and Filters, Fetches (U/G) and Celestial Colonnade.
What do you all suggest? What lists should I check out?
Twin is reasonably cheap and the list that won GP Antwerp plays a lot like a tempo deck that wins with a combo most games. I've been happy with my investment.
Is there an established WBRmidrange deck in the format? That's what I'm currently playing in Standard, it's my favorite color combination, and I like winning with 5-6 CMC creatures that are hard to deal with. Is the format too fast for that stuff?
Competition level: Tournament Practice on MTGO, FNM.
Budget: Good, but probably not going to buy LotV.
Play style: Kill spells+hand disruption+wall aggro to set up for a threat = win
Is there an established WBRmidrange deck in the format? That's what I'm currently playing in Standard, it's my favorite color combination, and I like winning with 5-6 CMC creatures that are hard to deal with. Is the format too fast for that stuff?
Competition level: Tournament Practice on MTGO, FNM.
Budget: Good, but probably not going to buy LotV.
Play style: Kill spells+hand disruption+wall aggro to set up for a threat = win
Yes, the format is too fast for that kind of deck. 5-6 CMC creatures that you'd see in the Standard RWB decks are just way too slow. The creatures are also much more reasonable to deal with via cards like Cryptic Command, Path to Exile, Karn Liberated, etc. The deck you want to play just doesn't exist. I can't stress this enough, there is no midrange deck that's playing expensive cards. The best midrange deck in the format is Jund, and they typically top out at 4, and only a couple of 4-drops. Decks just don't have the time to play expensive cards unless they specifically design to play HUGE threats. This comes mostly because there are really fast aggro decks and combo decks that can win before you can get going.
RG Tron is probably the best deck for you. It's ramp into huge threats like Wurmcoil Engine and Karn, with Emrakul top end. It's probably the best in terms of playing difficult to deal with threats. You play Tron lands, which are Urza's Tower, Power Plant, and Mine. Individually they give 1 mana, combined they give 7. So you play all 3, get 7 mana, and drop a huge Karn or Wurmcoil. Just keep going until you get to Emrakul or even Mindslaver lock.
You can find more about this deck from the primer or go a few back to see my discussion on the blue-based versions of this deck. The RG version is mostly the same in terms of the top-end except that the mid-game is ramp + threats.
Favorite Playstyle: Midrange
How Competitive: Local Tournament
Favorite Cards/Colors: White/Green
Budget: $200
Staples Owned: None
I was looking at some primers and found Soul Sisters an interesting playstyle. I kind of like control, just not creatureless, counter-everything-no-player-interaction-at-all control like UW/Esper Control in current Standard.
Is there an established WBRmidrange deck in the format? That's what I'm currently playing in Standard, it's my favorite color combination, and I like winning with 5-6 CMC creatures that are hard to deal with. Is the format too fast for that stuff?
Competition level: Tournament Practice on MTGO, FNM.
Budget: Good, but probably not going to buy LotV.
Play style: Kill spells+hand disruption+wall aggro to set up for a threat = win
Hey, you may want to check out my post. I'm attempting at a WRB midrangy deck at the moment.
Is there an established WBRmidrange deck in the format? That's what I'm currently playing in Standard, it's my favorite color combination, and I like winning with 5-6 CMC creatures that are hard to deal with. Is the format too fast for that stuff?
Competition level: Tournament Practice on MTGO, FNM.
Budget: Good, but probably not going to buy LotV.
Play style: Kill spells+hand disruption+wall aggro to set up for a threat = win
A guy (girl?) named Bahra got a lot of 4-0/3-1 finishes back in September and October with a BWR Midrange deck. Here was his most recent version from 10/28/13 (scroll down to find it):
Sadly, 5-6 mana finishers are a bit too slow for Modern midrange decks. It's more efficient to use the different Swords and then just stick them on smaller creatures to turn them into serious threats. Manlands (Lavaclaw Reaches in this case) are also an option.
Favorite Playstyle: Midrange
How Competitive: Local Tournament
Favorite Cards/Colors: White/Green
Budget: $200
Staples Owned: None
I was looking at some primers and found Soul Sisters an interesting playstyle. I kind of like control, just not creatureless, counter-everything-no-player-interaction-at-all control like UW/Esper Control in current Standard.
You might like GW Hatebears if you liked Soul Sisters. It's solidly GW, fairly affordable, and quite competitive. It's probably the only competitive, green-based creature deck in the format that doesn't use Goyf because of antisynergy with the rest of its deck. The manabase is on the expensive side, but the deck will still only cost around $600 even with the lands. Hatebears lets you play either an aggressive or a controlling game, and is very interactive. Check out the thread here:
I'm thinking about getting back into Magic via Modern. I've set budget of 180$ to buy a deck. I'm doing my reading but I thought it would be nice to get a first-hand opinion.
I like control and I hate decks that play themselves. My intention is to find a modest deck that can be competitive if I put in a lot of practice and then practice the hell out of it.
The Souls Sisters primer looks interesting and seems to be within my budget, but non-interactiveness may be an issue.
I'd appreciate feedback on the matter. I'll gather as much information as I can before buying in.
You might like some of the tier 2 control decks like Cruel Control and Tezzeret Control. They are fairly cheap, interactive, skill-intensive, and pretty decent against a lot of decks in the format. Take a look at the threads here:
A guy (girl?) named Bahra got a lot of 4-0/3-1 finishes back in September and October with a BWR Midrange deck. Here was his most recent version from 10/28/13 (scroll down to find it):
Sadly, 5-6 mana finishers are a bit too slow for Modern midrange decks. It's more efficient to use the different Swords and then just stick them on smaller creatures to turn them into serious threats. Manlands (Lavaclaw Reaches in this case) are also an option.
You might like GW Hatebears if you liked Soul Sisters. It's solidly GW, fairly affordable, and quite competitive. It's probably the only competitive, green-based creature deck in the format that doesn't use Goyf because of antisynergy with the rest of its deck. The manabase is on the expensive side, but the deck will still only cost around $600 even with the lands. Hatebears lets you play either an aggressive or a controlling game, and is very interactive. Check out the thread here:
You might like some of the tier 2 control decks like Cruel Control and Tezzeret Control. They are fairly cheap, interactive, skill-intensive, and pretty decent against a lot of decks in the format. Take a look at the threads here:
I'm curious, do you folks believe getting into RWU control to be worth the while at the moment? I've been eyeing the Modern format for a while looking for control decks to play, and decided RWU will be my entry point.
I play red Affinity and love it because of the immense amount of pressure it has. I either win T3-5 or my opponent stabilizes in the single didgets while i am sitting pretty at 20+ life. I also run 36 points of burn between 8 cards so i can top deck a win any moment.
r/g Tron is probably the hardest matchup. Mainboard pyroclasm hurts a lot.
Get both? Really the reason for people come to hate decks is often they are burnt out from playing them. I played Legacy Goblins for 9 years, I just don't open the box now.
Grab both, your not looking at it coming to that much more than just finishing Fish or building Bots. Grab both and play the one your liking more at the given moment. Variety and spice and stuff.
Nope. Liliana is one of the best cards in the format. There's a reason that every GBx deck plays both of them, it's simply too good.
But if you absolutely must, I've seen some versions of Melira Pod play a couple Goyfs MB because he's so good and then Thoughtseizes in the MB.
If you were looking for 4 and 4 MB though, you're out of luck. You can certainly just play some GBx deck without her, but she would otherwise be in the stock list.
I'm curious, do you folks believe getting into RWU control to be worth the while at the moment? I've been eyeing the Modern format for a while looking for control decks to play, and decided RWU will be my entry point.
If you want control in this format it's certainly the best deck available. It's tier 1, maybe tier 1.5, but it's still a solid deck in the format nonetheless. The bottom line is if you're trying to build control, it's really your only option for a competitive deck, except for maybe Grixis Control, and it's not necessarily any better or worse, just a difference of opinion as far as I'm concerned. I would just go for UWR Control if I were building control.
Affinity is much stronger as a whole. Even if the coloured artifact lands are banned, the deck has surprising resiliency for an aggro deck and can dish out quite a bit of damage very quickly. Affinity consistently places well in tournaments while Merfolk has maybe one decent showing a year. I don't think Merfolk has top 8'd a GP ever, while for sure Affinity has won a GP.
Affinity has a way better chance of winning, but also a way better chance of getting hated out. Turn 2 Stony Silence is often unbeatable.
Merfolk I find to be more interesting and different, and you can build it in wildly different ways. You can have more creatures or more counter magic. You can splash white for Path to Exile, or black for Thoughtseize, or red for Lightning Bolt or ever Blood Moon.
You can try to be more aggressive and try cards like Cosi's Trickster or Cloudfin Raptor, or even go deep with a card like Ninja of the Deep Hours. Or you can go more control with countermagic and then drop Master of Waves.
Affinity is great, but there are only small tweaks in the best builds, and while there is room for innovation in a 5 color deck, there is less room than in Merfolks core package. Merfolk is also way harder to hate out.
And as an ironic last thought, one of Merfolk's hardest matchups is Affinity, which is why you see things like 3 Hurkyl's Recall or 3 Steel Sabotage in the sideboard.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Whether frozen or fertile, the land is our ally. It awaits the call to battle."
I am looking to build a new deck, and I have narrowed it down to R/B/W burn or death and taxes. I have most of the essential cards for both but I want to know what will do better so I can finish one off. I like burn because I feel in control when I play it and not a lot can stop it (besides LoS). I have a wonderful time playing DnT because I love the flickerwisp tricks, land destruction, and overall build of it. I can pilot both well as I have play tested both. What do you guys think would be the best choice?
Moved to official "What Deck Should I Play" thread
-ktkenshinx-
i really get bored playing this deck. And more than 1 year ago i wanted to stop playing
In my opinion you've answered your own question here. Don't sell your cards, cause you might want to play it again, but if you're not having fun, you absolutely need to change it up.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Affinity is the best aggro deck in the format. It's only weakness is a vulnerability to hate, but quite a few top decks suffer from that, and Affinity has the resilience to power through. Cranial Plating is just ridiculous.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The imagination is not a State: it is the Human existence itself." - William Blake
Yea it sounds like you need a new deck for a while. I wouldn't sell anything you have (I always regret selling my staples) but affinity seems like a sweet deck. I'm currently picking up the cards to build it myself.
Yeah, I never recommend selling cards you already have that are perfectly playable. Affinity is a really good deck though, I, just today, finally purchased the remaining cards for it.
Favorite Playstyle (Aggro, Midrange, Control, Combo): Aggro/Midrange
How Competitive (For Fun, Local Tournament, MTGO, PTQ/GP): Probably Local Tourney
Favorite Cards/Colors: No Strong Preference
Budget: 100-200 I probably wont go all in with the lands right away Until I get some experience.
Staples Owned: Some Lorwyn Merfolk, some BW Tokens stuff
Im looking at BW Tokens, Merfolk, or Affinity. I want to be fairly competitive and not get blown away every time. If someone could give me a breakdown of pros and cons of each I would Appreciate it, I don't know much about modern. Im leaning towards Affinity and taking out the mox opals for now. Im not really sure how good BW tokens is and Im excited over merfolk and I don't know how good they are either. Thanks alot!
Affinity > Merfolk > Tokens
Tokens is really weak to combo decks. It has disruption, but no clock, so your combo opponent can very well draw out of the situation after you've casted some discard on him.
Merfolk is an emerging deck. It has yet to T8 a GP, but managed to put 9 players into Day 2 of the most recent one. You'll see it quite a bit on MTGO too.
Affinity is, and always has been, tier 1. The funny thing is that the winning build kept changing over the years: from mono-red with Fling/Atog, to RW with Steelshaper's Gift. Right now it's stabilized (for almost a year) as UR with Thoughtcast and Galvanic Blast.
If you just want to win, play Affinity. Keep these things in mind:
1) Don't play an outdated list (like the mono-red or RW ones).
2) Don't look to Legacy for inspiration. Some of the cards in the Legacy version are only playable because artifact lands are legal in that format (e.g. Myr Enforcer, Tezzeret). Artifact lands (other than Darksteel Citadel) are banned in Modern, so those cards have to take a back seat.
Hey guys,
I need a little help deciding what to play.
I currently play standard but want to try and play some modern as well.
I have a modern legal vampire deck with bloodline keeper, olivia voldaren but I doubt the deck will be powerfull enough.
These are just some ideas I have, I'm not an expert in the modern format. I want to keep the deck relatively cheap.
Thanks
Vampires I know for a fact isn't powerful since I had a friend that tries it still. Back when I was playing UW Tron, I don't think I even dropped a game let alone a match, and they were rarely close. Your creatures just don't impact hard enough. That said his deck probably wasn't ideal but still...
GR Ramp is going to be bad, Primeval Titan doesn't do nearly enough in this format, and I could care less about Loxodon Warhammer. Dungrove Elder is cool and all but when he has to compete with Goyf, who comes a whole turn earlier, he ends up not doing so hot.
GW Hexproof is a deck though. It's a combo deck that plays 1-drop hexproof creatures and then a bunch of totem armor cards to buff them up, and then Ethereal Armor to tie it all together. It's not that great of a deck, and I haven't heard anything of it since Reid Duke lost in the finals of the Player's Championships with it. That said, it's not a bad budget deck; you'll obviously be budgeting fetches, though I think the other lands are completely necessary. I also don't know what the deck costs right now, it fluctuates based on whether people play it or not (it was cheap before Reid almost won with it, it was expensive shortly after, probably cheap now but not sure).
I'm looking to get back into Modern, and would love some direction. I've played Merfolk in the past, and while it is a ton of fun, I'm thinking I may want to move more towards a control, tempo or Midrange strategy. At first I thought about American Delver, but part of me sees that as a bit cliche. While I do want to win, I'd prefer something with a little more style and flair. The U/W Tron lists look fun, but I'm not sure exactly how competitive they are.
Budget isn't a major consideration, but I'd like to keep things relatively cheap, especially as far as Mana Bases go. I'm thinking primarily in the direction of a W/U build, since i own all the necessary lands (Fasts, Shocks, and Filters, Fetches (U/G) and Celestial Colonnade.
What do you all suggest? What lists should I check out?
Modern: Merfolk
Commander:Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Standard: Rabble/Dash Red
Twin is reasonably cheap and the list that won GP Antwerp plays a lot like a tempo deck that wins with a combo most games. I've been happy with my investment.
Competition level: Tournament Practice on MTGO, FNM.
Budget: Good, but probably not going to buy LotV.
Play style: Kill spells+hand disruption+wall aggro to set up for a threat = win
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Yes, the format is too fast for that kind of deck. 5-6 CMC creatures that you'd see in the Standard RWB decks are just way too slow. The creatures are also much more reasonable to deal with via cards like Cryptic Command, Path to Exile, Karn Liberated, etc. The deck you want to play just doesn't exist. I can't stress this enough, there is no midrange deck that's playing expensive cards. The best midrange deck in the format is Jund, and they typically top out at 4, and only a couple of 4-drops. Decks just don't have the time to play expensive cards unless they specifically design to play HUGE threats. This comes mostly because there are really fast aggro decks and combo decks that can win before you can get going.
RG Tron is probably the best deck for you. It's ramp into huge threats like Wurmcoil Engine and Karn, with Emrakul top end. It's probably the best in terms of playing difficult to deal with threats. You play Tron lands, which are Urza's Tower, Power Plant, and Mine. Individually they give 1 mana, combined they give 7. So you play all 3, get 7 mana, and drop a huge Karn or Wurmcoil. Just keep going until you get to Emrakul or even Mindslaver lock.
You can find more about this deck from the primer or go a few back to see my discussion on the blue-based versions of this deck. The RG version is mostly the same in terms of the top-end except that the mid-game is ramp + threats.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
How Competitive: Local Tournament
Favorite Cards/Colors: White/Green
Budget: $200
Staples Owned: None
I was looking at some primers and found Soul Sisters an interesting playstyle. I kind of like control, just not creatureless, counter-everything-no-player-interaction-at-all control like UW/Esper Control in current Standard.
Hey, you may want to check out my post. I'm attempting at a WRB midrangy deck at the moment.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=574242
Check it out!
Modern:
BR Control
Grixis Bloo
EDH:
Food Chain Prossh
Land Wipe Maelstrom Wanderer
Selvala, Hearth of the Wilds Eldrazi
A guy (girl?) named Bahra got a lot of 4-0/3-1 finishes back in September and October with a BWR Midrange deck. Here was his most recent version from 10/28/13 (scroll down to find it):
https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/6162872
Sadly, 5-6 mana finishers are a bit too slow for Modern midrange decks. It's more efficient to use the different Swords and then just stick them on smaller creatures to turn them into serious threats. Manlands (Lavaclaw Reaches in this case) are also an option.
You might like GW Hatebears if you liked Soul Sisters. It's solidly GW, fairly affordable, and quite competitive. It's probably the only competitive, green-based creature deck in the format that doesn't use Goyf because of antisynergy with the rest of its deck. The manabase is on the expensive side, but the deck will still only cost around $600 even with the lands. Hatebears lets you play either an aggressive or a controlling game, and is very interactive. Check out the thread here:
GW Hatebears
You might like some of the tier 2 control decks like Cruel Control and Tezzeret Control. They are fairly cheap, interactive, skill-intensive, and pretty decent against a lot of decks in the format. Take a look at the threads here:
Cruel Control
UBx Tezzeret
Tezzerator
Mono U Tron should also be considered as T2 Control imo. If control is your playstyle mono u tron is a cheap option that can do powerful things.
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
RWU Numot, the Devastator
WUB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
WB Athreos, God of Passage
r/g Tron is probably the hardest matchup. Mainboard pyroclasm hurts a lot.
Posted from MTGsalvation.com App for Android
Grab both, your not looking at it coming to that much more than just finishing Fish or building Bots. Grab both and play the one your liking more at the given moment. Variety and spice and stuff.
Current decks of choice:
Vintage: Shops.
Legacy: Lands.
Modern: Lantern.
Nope. Liliana is one of the best cards in the format. There's a reason that every GBx deck plays both of them, it's simply too good.
But if you absolutely must, I've seen some versions of Melira Pod play a couple Goyfs MB because he's so good and then Thoughtseizes in the MB.
If you were looking for 4 and 4 MB though, you're out of luck. You can certainly just play some GBx deck without her, but she would otherwise be in the stock list.
If you want control in this format it's certainly the best deck available. It's tier 1, maybe tier 1.5, but it's still a solid deck in the format nonetheless. The bottom line is if you're trying to build control, it's really your only option for a competitive deck, except for maybe Grixis Control, and it's not necessarily any better or worse, just a difference of opinion as far as I'm concerned. I would just go for UWR Control if I were building control.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Merfolk I find to be more interesting and different, and you can build it in wildly different ways. You can have more creatures or more counter magic. You can splash white for Path to Exile, or black for Thoughtseize, or red for Lightning Bolt or ever Blood Moon.
You can try to be more aggressive and try cards like Cosi's Trickster or Cloudfin Raptor, or even go deep with a card like Ninja of the Deep Hours. Or you can go more control with countermagic and then drop Master of Waves.
Affinity is great, but there are only small tweaks in the best builds, and while there is room for innovation in a 5 color deck, there is less room than in Merfolks core package. Merfolk is also way harder to hate out.
And as an ironic last thought, one of Merfolk's hardest matchups is Affinity, which is why you see things like 3 Hurkyl's Recall or 3 Steel Sabotage in the sideboard.
Moved to official "What Deck Should I Play" thread
-ktkenshinx-
In my opinion you've answered your own question here. Don't sell your cards, cause you might want to play it again, but if you're not having fun, you absolutely need to change it up.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
"Stoned players can't attack, block, or play spells or abilities."
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
How Competitive (For Fun, Local Tournament, MTGO, PTQ/GP): Probably Local Tourney
Favorite Cards/Colors: No Strong Preference
Budget: 100-200 I probably wont go all in with the lands right away Until I get some experience.
Staples Owned: Some Lorwyn Merfolk, some BW Tokens stuff
Im looking at BW Tokens, Merfolk, or Affinity. I want to be fairly competitive and not get blown away every time. If someone could give me a breakdown of pros and cons of each I would Appreciate it, I don't know much about modern. Im leaning towards Affinity and taking out the mox opals for now. Im not really sure how good BW tokens is and Im excited over merfolk and I don't know how good they are either. Thanks alot!
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=467049
Tokens is really weak to combo decks. It has disruption, but no clock, so your combo opponent can very well draw out of the situation after you've casted some discard on him.
Merfolk is an emerging deck. It has yet to T8 a GP, but managed to put 9 players into Day 2 of the most recent one. You'll see it quite a bit on MTGO too.
Affinity is, and always has been, tier 1. The funny thing is that the winning build kept changing over the years: from mono-red with Fling/Atog, to RW with Steelshaper's Gift. Right now it's stabilized (for almost a year) as UR with Thoughtcast and Galvanic Blast.
If you just want to win, play Affinity. Keep these things in mind:
1) Don't play an outdated list (like the mono-red or RW ones).
2) Don't look to Legacy for inspiration. Some of the cards in the Legacy version are only playable because artifact lands are legal in that format (e.g. Myr Enforcer, Tezzeret). Artifact lands (other than Darksteel Citadel) are banned in Modern, so those cards have to take a back seat.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Glimmervoid
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Island
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Steel Overseer
3 Etched Champion
1 Master of Etherium
4 Cranial Plating
1 Galvanic Blast
3 Thoughtcast
Sideboard
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Spellskite
1 Whipflare
1 Thoughtseize
2 Spell Pierce
1 Etched Champion
1 Galvanic Blast
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Torpor Orb
1 Master of Etherium
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Vampires I know for a fact isn't powerful since I had a friend that tries it still. Back when I was playing UW Tron, I don't think I even dropped a game let alone a match, and they were rarely close. Your creatures just don't impact hard enough. That said his deck probably wasn't ideal but still...
GR Ramp is going to be bad, Primeval Titan doesn't do nearly enough in this format, and I could care less about Loxodon Warhammer. Dungrove Elder is cool and all but when he has to compete with Goyf, who comes a whole turn earlier, he ends up not doing so hot.
GW Hexproof is a deck though. It's a combo deck that plays 1-drop hexproof creatures and then a bunch of totem armor cards to buff them up, and then Ethereal Armor to tie it all together. It's not that great of a deck, and I haven't heard anything of it since Reid Duke lost in the finals of the Player's Championships with it. That said, it's not a bad budget deck; you'll obviously be budgeting fetches, though I think the other lands are completely necessary. I also don't know what the deck costs right now, it fluctuates based on whether people play it or not (it was cheap before Reid almost won with it, it was expensive shortly after, probably cheap now but not sure).
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer