The reanimator deck http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10782050&postcount=8 might be a good start since the WUR could fuel this deck's graveplay. one problem is that it could help it too well--sure WUR has Essence Scatter and some other ways to deal with creatures, but it would need an answer to Whip of Erebos and the plethora of reanimation spells it plays (Negate, Wear // Tear, et al), a faster sweeper (Aetherize, Lavinia of the Tenth to some extent). Skullcrack's anti-lifegain can help, but imo, this matchup would require a lot of sideboarding since the Junk deck is so resilient. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you want a second decl to play against, i think it'd be best if they balanced each other out like the Duel Decks.
ok, i'll be thinking out loud in this post, but it;s for me and you to see my line of thinking as i consider which decks are best. Oh, I should note that the decks i'm looking at are in the OP's list, whic haven't bee nupdated since november, so...
anyway, the UWR really likes stopping creatures. The absence of such can turn this deck into a Burn deck, but a deck to match this should have creatures in it for interaction's sake. Also, the opposing deck should have some form of balanced resilience against the UWR's control so it can still survive the anslaught of spells. the Nivmagus Heroic Deck seems to have the creatures and the resilience in Boros Charm, but i'd also add Gods Willing and/or Brave the elements for additional protection. that said, this one looks like a good one for an opposing deck.
Rajun Cajun Cows also looks like a wonderful creature-based build, especially with new tools such as Kragma Butcher and Ragemonger. My only concern in terms of fighting the UWR deck is that it might be a little fast for UWR to handle
You're right about everything you said. The reanimator deck seems to be the oposite and maybe resilient against removal and board wiping, I'll test it tonight.
I've tested the Nivmagus deck, the UWR Control did 3x1 against it, but maybe the Nivmagus deck just need some updates and adjustments.
The other decks I'll test tonight. It's wonderful to see how good those budget decks can be so good and fun
The reanimator deck http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10782050&postcount=8 might be a good start since the WUR could fuel this deck's graveplay. one problem is that it could help it too well--sure WUR has Essence Scatter and some other ways to deal with creatures, but it would need an answer to Whip of Erebos and the plethora of reanimation spells it plays (Negate, Wear // Tear, et al), a faster sweeper (Aetherize, Lavinia of the Tenth to some extent). Skullcrack's anti-lifegain can help, but imo, this matchup would require a lot of sideboarding since the Junk deck is so resilient. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you want a second decl to play against, i think it'd be best if they balanced each other out like the Duel Decks.
ok, i'll be thinking out loud in this post, but it;s for me and you to see my line of thinking as i consider which decks are best. Oh, I should note that the decks i'm looking at are in the OP's list, whic haven't bee nupdated since november, so...
anyway, the UWR really likes stopping creatures. The absence of such can turn this deck into a Burn deck, but a deck to match this should have creatures in it for interaction's sake. Also, the opposing deck should have some form of balanced resilience against the UWR's control so it can still survive the anslaught of spells. the Nivmagus Heroic Deck seems to have the creatures and the resilience in Boros Charm, but i'd also add Gods Willing and/or Brave the elements for additional protection. that said, this one looks like a good one for an opposing deck.
Rajun Cajun Cows also looks like a wonderful creature-based build, especially with new tools such as Kragma Butcher and Ragemonger. My only concern in terms of fighting the UWR deck is that it might be a little fast for UWR to handle
I've finally finished the tests in most of the decks from this topic, using Virtual Playtable. The best decks, in my opinion , are Death in a blink of an eye and UWR Control. Most of these decks deserve some updates, they are a bit outdated. I don't have enough knowledge and experience for that, but I expect people can continue posting budget decks.
***BACKGROUND***
There was a day where I felt like making something that was affordable. More affordable than Maze's End. I loved that deck, but getting some of the cards like Supreme Verdict kind of gets to some people. So, behold this deck. You fog and win. The last thing I want to do is hurt the opponent because of the amounts of life they gain or because the way they end up controlling the board. Here we have the solution that bypasses the element of making them go to 0. We mill them to their death. Did you forget to mb Elixir of Immortality or Rest in Peace? Oh well. The thing I liked about this deck is that it tries to do something different by just trying to stay alive and aiming for that combo interaction instead of just playing creatures to then swing for lethal. We're building something that is harder to disrupt. Building something to be fun and that is able to win.
Of course, the deck does have its days where it doesn't go, but that's when we sideboard and make it up on game 2/3. What the deck tries to do is tutor the lands and play them, build up enough mana and play a combo to win. It's simple. All that you really have to know is the metagame and how the opponent is running their deck or what they are even running. Keep track of the amount of lands in your hand, in play, in your library, and in your graveyard. Play wisely.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS
If you have one land on the opening hand, it's golden.
If you don't have one land on the hand, mulligan. The chances of drawing that one land to start it all off is difficult. Mulligan until maybe 4 cards. Ride out the storm and don't give away the plan if you're going to lose. See what the opponent is trying to do. Game 2/3, we'll be better.
Fog: Helps us stay alive. Try to keep a hold of them until you think it is right to use it based on the board-state. Lay of the Land / Traveler's Amulet: Tutors the lands. Need there be elaboration on their amazing ability... Springleaf Drum: Taps our low of amount of creatures when they enter and helps us to cast without really spending the mana. For example, you play Elvish Mystic. You tap it to add mana to play a Lay of the Land or hold on to the creature and tap it to Fog. We build up the creature count (not so much a priority) to help self-mill with Undercity Informer. If at any time you see that you have enough mana to play your spells, then do it. In case we run low of fogs or are trying to stabalize, we can use Springleaf to tap a creature like Gatecreeper Vine that is blocking a threat, add the mana, and then sac it for Undercity. The closer we get to less land in the deck, the closer we are to winning. Undercity Informer + Psychic Spiral: We win the game.
There is a lot of money for us to use. You can try making the deck fancier with the full art Zendikar basics or actually spice up the deck with things that would be of use. Maybe we can run some boardwipes...
***BACKGROUND***
so I love the challenge of making a crappy card work. So the challenge that came to me was possibility storm. started with a U/R burn deck using the double cast of the spells to trigger things like guttersnipe and young pyromancer. But it didnt seem like it really needed possibility storm to do well on its own. So I began to look for a combo that possibility storm could work in and with a little luck I found one. Here is the list
If you haven't spotted the combo. You get possibility storm on board casting an sorcery. Possibility storm exiles it and you hope you flip into the enter the infinite drawing your deck and putting borborygmos as the one card for your deck. then cast a mana dork which with possibility storm you get to put borborygmos on board and then you begin to discard land to victory. as you can tell the sideboard replaces the instants in the deck depending on what you need to counter and aegis is in there so you can stop things like the burn deck and any discard effects that target you.
Timestamp: 27/05/14
Name: Boros Heroic Aggro
Type of Deck: Aggro
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 20 / 12 / 8 / 0 / 0 / 0
CURRENT COST: $3.37
REMAINING BUDGET: $6.53
Background: It doesn't really have one. I just saw how many cheap and low mana red and white heroic creatures there were and it was surprisingly fun
to put them togther and see they actually work.
Strategy: It's actually pretty straight forward: just throw some 1 or 2 drops and make them bigger with the spells. There isn't much of an order toplay any of them as they are pretty much the same,however it's wise to try to play Phalanx Leader as soon as possible,since it can make your other creatures bigger. Thanks to Coordinated Assault and Dauntless Onslaught you can activate multiple heroic effects,which is pretty good. Since all your cards cost really small amounts of mana,later in the game this deck can get pretty ridiculous,and can easily recover form a boardwipe(something that mosst aggro decks can't handle). It's not exactly the best deck i could put together,but then again there's $6.50 left,so there's plenty of room to work around.
Other information: Gods Willing with Akroan Line Breaker might be a neat combo,but i still haven't tested it. Also,if you have the money to spare,you can replace the guildgates for temples and this deck will last even after the return to ravinica block rotates.
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Background:
This deck is actually inspired by the deck I quoted above. It is supposed to be a more aggressive variant. The Bestow mechanic gives you a lot of resiliance not unlike the way that Undying or Persist did. Basically what you want to do is build Voltron, suit up one guy and swing for the fences. If they remove him it will hopefully leave you with another guy on the field to continue the onslaught.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
Creatures + Ethereal Armor: All of our creatures are Enchantments which makes Ethereal Armor outrageous. 1cmc for +2/+2 & First Strike.
Ethereal Armor/Eidolon of Countless Battles + Murder Investigation: Murder Investigation is like a Bestow creature kind of. The bigger the creature the more doods we get back. This works best with Eidolon of Countless Battles because when the Eidolon becomes a creature after being Bestowed it is buffed by all the tokens.
Orzhov Charm + 1 drops: This card is maximized in this list. We will be enchanting lots of guys, we have plenty of one drops to recur, and it serves as a source of unrestricted removal.
NON-BUDGET UPGRADES: (in order)
-2 Gift of Orzhova, -1 Murder Investigation, +3 Spear of Heliod: This card is really the heart and soul of the deck. I hated to cut it for budget reasons, its really not that pricey though, but it makes the deck tick. It really helps out our aggro plan, combos extremely well with Ethereal Armor, and provides additional removal. Also, it is awesome with Murder Investigation. Oh, your 3/3 died? Get 3 more 2/2s. Go from 3 power on board to 6. When combined with Ethereal Armor and/or Eidolon of Countless Battles it gets out of hand really fast. Your opponent ends up better off letting you keep your creature at that point.
-3 Murder Investigation, +3 Heliod, God of the Sun: Heliod is another win condition. Getting the 5 devotion is actually not as hard as you think. Gift of Orzhova + Spear of Heliod is all it takes. Also with all the little 1 drops you can just hand dump to get him online if needed. He is also an enchantment which works to our plan and his ability pumps out more enchantments which works really well with Ethereal Armor and Eidolon of Countless Battles. If you do manage to get Gift of Orzhova and Spear of Heliod online with Heliod you should win the game no matter how grindy. At that point you have infinite instant speed removal and infinite instant speed 3/2 Vigilant tokens both of which are limited only by your mana. That's inevitibility if I ever saw it.
The best part about these two upgrades is that even with them you can purchase this deck for less than $35 (I know, I did it lol).
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This deck is untested, so be careful. The deck is built essentially around discard and resource denial. You want to leave them with no options, first by making them discard, then by hitting as many of their creatures as you can. Finally, after you've exhausted their resources, Indulgent Tormentor comes out to win the game. However, Liliana's Reaver and Gray Merchant are other strong wincons. Some tips: Because we have a lot of creature kill, unless the creature is going to be a big problem with no other way for us to deal with it, take the artifacts and enchantments before the creatures with any targeted discard. Black has a harder time dealing against that than it does against most creatures.
I'm going to make this long-ish and go through the list of cards in this deck to explain their function. I'll put it in a spoiler, so you can skip it if you like.
The Spells
Duress: The budget one drop discard spell. Unfortunately doesn't take creatures, but will take planeswalkers, or instants and sorceries. Costing B makes this worth the inclusion.
Devour Flesh: One of our kill spells. It helps us kill Blood Baron and anything with hexproof. It's a bit of a non-bo with Indulgent Tormentor, but not enough to make it not an include.
Doom Blade: A two mana kill spell. Self Explanatory.
Sign in Blood: This card is amazingly good. It draws us into more discard, and makes sure we have a hand full of options against our opponent's dwindling resources.
Mind Rot: Two cards for three mana. Not the best deal, but I wanted another discard spell and figured it was worth a space.
Whip of Erebos: The 'ole whip. Works pretty nicely with most of our creatures, and can give us some life boosting. If it turns into a real war of attrition, the Whip can help us win it.
The Creatures
Brain Maggot: Any card in their hand for two mana. Of course, Brain Maggot needs to stay alive, but if they need to burn removal on this guy, they're probably not in a great position.
Disciple of Phenax: The most interesting thing about him is he can hit land. That's pretty awesome, honestly, but maybe a bit too late at a four drop. It'll probably gut the rest of their hand, though.
Liliana's Reaver: A deathtouch 4/3 that makes its own army. This card is surprisingly decent. Making your opponent discard at that point probably won't mean much, but it's nice to have a constant source of discard (provided it can hit each turn.)
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: A powerful card for mono black. Gray Merchant can swing games pretty easily. I don't think I really need to go into how good it is.
Indulgent Tormentor: Usually, I'd say he's not great for standard, even in a budget deck, but protected by plenty of discard, I think the Tormentor is just the wincon we need. If we can keep their creature count down, they'll have to either be taking 8 each turn or letting us draw. If not, we can take out creatures.
Other Cards
Encroaching Wastes: I wanted a pair in the deck to shut down Nykthos. After that, it's not really that good, but it can also sometimes hit important nonbasics. I think it's fine as a two-of.
Nonbudget Options
Thoughtseize is the first card to consider of course. Desecration Demon is actually surprisingly budget nowadays, so you could replace the Reaver with him if you want. You could also try Liliana Vess. I don't think Waste Not is that good in this deck, but props to you if you want to try it. Finally, Hero's Downfall is a much more reliable way to keep Planeswalkers off the field.
Sorry about that! I'm still playing this deck and its shockingly good. I hate saying that because everyone says that about their deck but Jund Monsters and other G devotion/ramp decks are really popular online and I feel like this deck does extremely well against them. I don't even really have a sideboard plan, let's just put it that way. I'll post the version I am currently playing even though it is not necessarily a budget version. I do highly recommend the deck and am willing to offer play advice if you want it.
PLAY TIPS:
-You deck is faster than your opponent's unless you are playing hyper aggressive R/x. Your goal is to land a single threat and suit it up Voltron style. There is, typically, no need to have more than 1 or 2 creatures on the field at any given time. Normally you will have a Hopeful Eidolon/Hero of Iroas + Underworld Coinsmith and that will be all the board presence you have. Build your threat and use removal against revelevant blockers.
-The guys you will want to prioritize for your buffs are Hero of Iroas > Hopeful Eidolon > Herald of Torment > Everyone else.
-If you can play a Hopeful T1 and have to choose between Hero or Ethereal T2, always play the Ethereal Armor. You want to force your to have the removal. It may be a 2-for-1 if they do but it protects your Hero. Also, if they don't have the removal you will often get in for 1 or 2 good hits and put yourself so far ahead it won't matter what they do.
-Gods Willing should only be used to protect your creatures. Do NOT use it to give your guy evasion unless that hit will win the game.
-Rogue's Passage is REALLY good here. Try and hold it in hand until you plan on using its ability/you have no other land drops. It works kind of like a combat trick and holding it in hand means your opponent cannot prepare for your game plan.
SIDEBOARD:
-Divine Favor is for burn.
-Orzhov Charm is for aggro.
-Revoke Existence is for decks with scary Gods or maybe the mirror match.
-If you have Thoughtseize that is good against control.
OTHER:
-Xathrid Slyblade is for testing purposes. Hexproof is huge and the Deathtouch+First Strike combo is great against larger blockers. 3 mana is steep though and we would usually rather be doing anyting else.
-Underworld Coinsmith is a good card. He is better in this deck than a lot of decks. There was a time when he was one of the best cards in the deck. As it has evolved his usefulness has also diminished. His reach is very nice to have in the deck. The lifegain doesn't hurt either. He does get a little worse with the rotation of Ethereal Armor which worked quite well with him.
ROTATION:
-We lose Ethereal Armor, Ultimate Price, Orzhov Charm, and Rogue's Passage.
-Ethereal Armor + Hopeful Eidolon is pretty much an "I Win" button mostly because of the lifegain. If there is a W or B enchantment that can produce +2 power and is playable on turn 2, that should be good enough. It's not quite the same as dropping a Nyxborn + Ethereal on Turn 2 and swinging for 4 Lifelink but still. I almost never play this card on Hero or Iroas and Hero wins me 90% of my games. This deck can survive without this card.
-Ultimate Price and Orzhov Charm are our biggest loss. Courser of Kruphix is everywhere and Ultimate Price handles it nicely. That fact alone is a big deal. Hero's Downfall is okay but 3 mana is a lot for what this deck wants to do. It will work in a pinch but we really need Doomblade or something in KTK. 4 Doomblade + 2 Ulcerate would be alright. Oppressive Rays is searchable with Heliod's Pilgrim but otherwise the card simply isn't good enough being both Sorcery speed and crappy against ramp decks. Honestly, if we don't get AT LEAST a Doom Blade/Go for the Throat in the next set this deck is dead in the water.
-Rogue's Passage is not likely to see any sort of replacement. I cannot stress how good this card has been for me. The fact that it is a land and repeatable is crucial. It doesn't take up a turn to play it, it taps for mana even when you don't need it, and it doesn't take slots away from other cards. Too good. It helps you to push through damage against those G/x Ramp decks that try to stabalize with Courser of Kruphix or other resilient blockers. This deck can survive without this card but only if our removal options in the next set DRASTICALLY improve. The options available in Theros and M15 are simply not good enough.
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Nath'd. Shipping prices add a lot to the budget, even doubling the prices sometimes, so I at least am considering their low prices as some sort of "local retailer" (you buy your cards from your LGS, and since you buy it "in person", you're not charged with shipping prices).
***BACKGROUND***
With the metagame changing and Standard shaping around Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Boros Reckoner amongst others, I believe Dega Midrange will be a powerful contender. We lack the money to pack both of those cards in our deck, but we have some other budget options we can use to build our deck in this color combination and ride it to victory.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS: Deathpact Angel & Sire of Insanity: These are both bomby, valuable creatures that are hard to deal with: Angel keeps coming, where Sire can't be taken out without a miraculous topdeck. Both beat face pretty hard. Ember Swallower & Alms Beast: Our valuable 4-drops. Both clog the ground and are fat for their mana cost. If Ember Swallower manages to get monstruous active, he grows a lot and destroys the opponent manabase (yours too, but you are left with at least a 7/8 body). Both dodge damage based removal, and Alms Beast dodges Doom Blade. High Priest of Penance: Tough blocker since turn 2, this can blow up permanents backed up by some removal. Aurelia's Fury: If done in the opponent's upkeep, this can be pretty backbreaking: fog effect + silence is practically a timewalk. On top of it, it burns face and removes creatures. Flames of the Firebrand, Magma Jet & Read the Bones: Our 2-for-1 cards. Rakdos Keyrune & Haunted Plate Mail: Both dodge removal and sweepers and can defend fairly well. Keyrune also ramps, while Mail can be equipped, so they're never dead.
Hey guys! Just wanted to take a few moments to talk about something really quick.
So, it looks like Shinbatsu, the creator of this thread, isn't doing standard stuff anymore. They've been absent from this thread for awhile, and their signature seems to state that they don't want much to do with Standard.
Rotation is coming up in a few months, and at that point, all of these decks will be obsolete. At that point, would anyone be interested in continuing the legacy of this thread? I'd be happy to help, as long as I wasn't the only one with an interest.
I guess before we get ahead of ourselves, if anyone knows Shinbatsu or has talked to them in the past, would you mind sending them a PM or talk to them in some way and see if they plan on continuing this thread, or if they'd be fine with seeing someone else do something like it for next standard?
I think having this kind of thread is important for the community. I make a habit of checking back to it every so often. It has dwindled off in activity lately though.
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@shinbatsu, may I give an advice? Why don't we start a new topic for the next rotation decks? There are so many people interested in "rotation safe decks", maybe it's the time to we start a new topic for it. Btw, this topic is awesome, I own 3 decks from here and they are great
I wouldn't spend your time trying to talk to shinbatsu in this thread. I haven't seen them for awhile D:
I think more people should POST rotation safe decks, but there's not too much reason to do it now.
So, I haven't really heard a huge response, but I would like to know if people are interested in talking to Shinbatsu about what they plan to do with the thread.
Very true, but I meant about starting a new budget thread.
If the original person/people who ran the thread is no longer present, my vote is for a new thread. As for me, I've been away from MTG for a second, but I love brewing and testing builds, especially budget ones, so when I get back in soon, I could help out.
Okay! A new thread has been discussed, but was never really acted on or planned out. I may message the creator of this thread to see if they plan to make a new one.
Okay guys, update, I talked to Shinbatsu and he gave me his blessing to create a spiritual successor to this thread. Expect it to be up in a few days time.
ok, i'll be thinking out loud in this post, but it;s for me and you to see my line of thinking as i consider which decks are best. Oh, I should note that the decks i'm looking at are in the OP's list, whic haven't bee nupdated since november, so...
anyway, the UWR really likes stopping creatures. The absence of such can turn this deck into a Burn deck, but a deck to match this should have creatures in it for interaction's sake. Also, the opposing deck should have some form of balanced resilience against the UWR's control so it can still survive the anslaught of spells. the Nivmagus Heroic Deck seems to have the creatures and the resilience in Boros Charm, but i'd also add Gods Willing and/or Brave the elements for additional protection. that said, this one looks like a good one for an opposing deck.
Rajun Cajun Cows also looks like a wonderful creature-based build, especially with new tools such as Kragma Butcher and Ragemonger. My only concern in terms of fighting the UWR deck is that it might be a little fast for UWR to handle
This Shadowborn apostle deck might be yet another option. I would also recommend Rakdos, Lord of Riots to cheat into play with the apostles (not really a big cheat but it does get around the double-red and the casting restriction, but again, it might be too fast for UWR to handle, but it relies on Immortal servitude + Door of Destinies and no Boros Charm for its resilience so it's that much more vulnerable to Planar Cleansing
enchanting Witchstalker with Raised by Wolves
I've tested the Nivmagus deck, the UWR Control did 3x1 against it, but maybe the Nivmagus deck just need some updates and adjustments.
The other decks I'll test tonight. It's wonderful to see how good those budget decks can be so good and fun
There was a day where I felt like making something that was affordable. More affordable than Maze's End. I loved that deck, but getting some of the cards like Supreme Verdict kind of gets to some people. So, behold this deck. You fog and win. The last thing I want to do is hurt the opponent because of the amounts of life they gain or because the way they end up controlling the board. Here we have the solution that bypasses the element of making them go to 0. We mill them to their death. Did you forget to mb Elixir of Immortality or Rest in Peace? Oh well. The thing I liked about this deck is that it tries to do something different by just trying to stay alive and aiming for that combo interaction instead of just playing creatures to then swing for lethal. We're building something that is harder to disrupt. Building something to be fun and that is able to win.
Of course, the deck does have its days where it doesn't go, but that's when we sideboard and make it up on game 2/3. What the deck tries to do is tutor the lands and play them, build up enough mana and play a combo to win. It's simple. All that you really have to know is the metagame and how the opponent is running their deck or what they are even running. Keep track of the amount of lands in your hand, in play, in your library, and in your graveyard. Play wisely.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS
If you have one land on the opening hand, it's golden.
If you don't have one land on the hand, mulligan. The chances of drawing that one land to start it all off is difficult. Mulligan until maybe 4 cards. Ride out the storm and don't give away the plan if you're going to lose. See what the opponent is trying to do. Game 2/3, we'll be better.
Fog: Helps us stay alive. Try to keep a hold of them until you think it is right to use it based on the board-state.
Lay of the Land / Traveler's Amulet: Tutors the lands. Need there be elaboration on their amazing ability...
Springleaf Drum: Taps our low of amount of creatures when they enter and helps us to cast without really spending the mana. For example, you play Elvish Mystic. You tap it to add mana to play a Lay of the Land or hold on to the creature and tap it to Fog. We build up the creature count (not so much a priority) to help self-mill with Undercity Informer. If at any time you see that you have enough mana to play your spells, then do it. In case we run low of fogs or are trying to stabalize, we can use Springleaf to tap a creature like Gatecreeper Vine that is blocking a threat, add the mana, and then sac it for Undercity. The closer we get to less land in the deck, the closer we are to winning.
Undercity Informer + Psychic Spiral: We win the game.
Here's the deck:
***THE DECKLIST***
TIMESTAMP: 30/03/2014
8 Forest
1 Swamp
Creatures
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Gatecreeper Vine
4 Undercity Informer
Instants
3 Defend the Hearth
4 Druid's Deliverance
4 Fog
4 Riot Control
4 Psychic Spiral
3 Diabolic Tutor
4 Lay of the Land
1 Seek the Horizon
Artifacts
2 Springleaf Drum
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Traveler's Amulet
Enchantments
2 Nylea's Presence
4 Revoke Existence
4 Dispel
4 Negate
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Island
1 Plains
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 18 / 17 / 8 / 4 / 4 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 2.2
CURRENT COST: $3.77
REMAINING BUDGET: 6.23
There is a lot of money for us to use. You can try making the deck fancier with the full art Zendikar basics or actually spice up the deck with things that would be of use. Maybe we can run some boardwipes...
so I love the challenge of making a crappy card work. So the challenge that came to me was possibility storm. started with a U/R burn deck using the double cast of the spells to trigger things like guttersnipe and young pyromancer. But it didnt seem like it really needed possibility storm to do well on its own. So I began to look for a combo that possibility storm could work in and with a little luck I found one. Here is the list
*** Time Stamp 05/25/14 ***
Cost: 8.81
4x Satyr Hedonist
2x Sigiled Starfish
1x Borborygomos the enraged
4x Possibility Storm
4x Enter the Infinite
3x Serene remembrance
3x Uncovered Clues
2x Divination
3x Izzet Charm
3x Magma Jet
3x Lightning Strike
4x Izzet Guildgate
4x Gruul Guildgate
4x Forest
4x Island
4x Mountain
3x Negate
3x Dispel
3x Gainsay
3x Aegis of the Gods
3x essence Scatter
If you haven't spotted the combo. You get possibility storm on board casting an sorcery. Possibility storm exiles it and you hope you flip into the enter the infinite drawing your deck and putting borborygmos as the one card for your deck. then cast a mana dork which with possibility storm you get to put borborygmos on board and then you begin to discard land to victory. as you can tell the sideboard replaces the instants in the deck depending on what you need to counter and aegis is in there so you can stop things like the burn deck and any discard effects that target you.
22 Plains
//Creatures
4 Loyal Pegasus
4 Daring Skyjek
4 Oreskos Swiftclaw
4 Sightless Brawler
2 Boros Elite
4 Boros Mastiff
4 Archetype of Courage
2 Banisher Priest
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Ajani's Presence
2 Gods Willing
4 Boros Guildgate
8 Mountain
8 Plains
4 Coordinated Assault
4 Dauntless Onslaught
4 Fall of the Hammer
2 Mortal Obstinacy
2 Mortal's Ardor
4 Akroan Line Breaker
4 Akroan Skyguard
4 Nyxborn Rollicker
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Satyr Hoplite
Timestamp: 27/05/14
Name: Boros Heroic Aggro
Type of Deck: Aggro
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 20 / 12 / 8 / 0 / 0 / 0
CURRENT COST: $3.37
REMAINING BUDGET: $6.53
Background: It doesn't really have one. I just saw how many cheap and low mana red and white heroic creatures there were and it was surprisingly fun
to put them togther and see they actually work.
Strategy: It's actually pretty straight forward: just throw some 1 or 2 drops and make them bigger with the spells. There isn't much of an order toplay any of them as they are pretty much the same,however it's wise to try to play Phalanx Leader as soon as possible,since it can make your other creatures bigger. Thanks to Coordinated Assault and Dauntless Onslaught you can activate multiple heroic effects,which is pretty good. Since all your cards cost really small amounts of mana,later in the game this deck can get pretty ridiculous,and can easily recover form a boardwipe(something that mosst aggro decks can't handle). It's not exactly the best deck i could put together,but then again there's $6.50 left,so there's plenty of room to work around.
Other information: Gods Willing with Akroan Line Breaker might be a neat combo,but i still haven't tested it. Also,if you have the money to spare,you can replace the guildgates for temples and this deck will last even after the return to ravinica block rotates.
Background:
This deck is actually inspired by the deck I quoted above. It is supposed to be a more aggressive variant. The Bestow mechanic gives you a lot of resiliance not unlike the way that Undying or Persist did. Basically what you want to do is build Voltron, suit up one guy and swing for the fences. If they remove him it will hopefully leave you with another guy on the field to continue the onslaught.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
Creatures + Ethereal Armor: All of our creatures are Enchantments which makes Ethereal Armor outrageous. 1cmc for +2/+2 & First Strike.
Ethereal Armor/Eidolon of Countless Battles + Murder Investigation: Murder Investigation is like a Bestow creature kind of. The bigger the creature the more doods we get back. This works best with Eidolon of Countless Battles because when the Eidolon becomes a creature after being Bestowed it is buffed by all the tokens.
Orzhov Charm + 1 drops: This card is maximized in this list. We will be enchanting lots of guys, we have plenty of one drops to recur, and it serves as a source of unrestricted removal.
THE DECKLIST
TIMESTAMP: 06/05/2014 @ 9:41am
10 Plains
8 Swamp
CREATURES (18)
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Nyxborn Shieldmate
4 Gnarled Scarhide
2 Baleful Eidolon
4 Spiteful Returned
4 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Orzhov Charm
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Murder Investigation
4 Gift of Orzhova
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 16 / 14 / 4 / 4 / 0 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 2.08
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: $ 9.54
REMAINING BUDGET: $ 0.46
NON-BUDGET UPGRADES: (in order)
-2 Gift of Orzhova, -1 Murder Investigation, +3 Spear of Heliod: This card is really the heart and soul of the deck. I hated to cut it for budget reasons, its really not that pricey though, but it makes the deck tick. It really helps out our aggro plan, combos extremely well with Ethereal Armor, and provides additional removal. Also, it is awesome with Murder Investigation. Oh, your 3/3 died? Get 3 more 2/2s. Go from 3 power on board to 6. When combined with Ethereal Armor and/or Eidolon of Countless Battles it gets out of hand really fast. Your opponent ends up better off letting you keep your creature at that point.
-3 Murder Investigation, +3 Heliod, God of the Sun: Heliod is another win condition. Getting the 5 devotion is actually not as hard as you think. Gift of Orzhova + Spear of Heliod is all it takes. Also with all the little 1 drops you can just hand dump to get him online if needed. He is also an enchantment which works to our plan and his ability pumps out more enchantments which works really well with Ethereal Armor and Eidolon of Countless Battles. If you do manage to get Gift of Orzhova and Spear of Heliod online with Heliod you should win the game no matter how grindy. At that point you have infinite instant speed removal and infinite instant speed 3/2 Vigilant tokens both of which are limited only by your mana. That's inevitibility if I ever saw it.
The best part about these two upgrades is that even with them you can purchase this deck for less than $35 (I know, I did it lol).
10 Plains
8 Swamp
CREATURES (25)
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Nyxborn Shieldmate
4 Gnarled Scarhide
2 Baleful Eidolon
4 Spiteful Returned
4 Eidolon of Countless Battles
3 Heliod, God of the Sun
4 Orzhov Charm
4 Ethereal Armor
2 Gift of Orzhova
3 Spear of Heliod
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*** BACKGROUND ***
This deck is untested, so be careful. The deck is built essentially around discard and resource denial. You want to leave them with no options, first by making them discard, then by hitting as many of their creatures as you can. Finally, after you've exhausted their resources, Indulgent Tormentor comes out to win the game. However, Liliana's Reaver and Gray Merchant are other strong wincons. Some tips: Because we have a lot of creature kill, unless the creature is going to be a big problem with no other way for us to deal with it, take the artifacts and enchantments before the creatures with any targeted discard. Black has a harder time dealing against that than it does against most creatures.
I'm going to make this long-ish and go through the list of cards in this deck to explain their function. I'll put it in a spoiler, so you can skip it if you like.
The Spells
Duress: The budget one drop discard spell. Unfortunately doesn't take creatures, but will take planeswalkers, or instants and sorceries. Costing B makes this worth the inclusion.
Devour Flesh: One of our kill spells. It helps us kill Blood Baron and anything with hexproof. It's a bit of a non-bo with Indulgent Tormentor, but not enough to make it not an include.
Doom Blade: A two mana kill spell. Self Explanatory.
Ultimate Price: Same as above.
Sign in Blood: This card is amazingly good. It draws us into more discard, and makes sure we have a hand full of options against our opponent's dwindling resources.
Mind Rot: Two cards for three mana. Not the best deal, but I wanted another discard spell and figured it was worth a space.
Whip of Erebos: The 'ole whip. Works pretty nicely with most of our creatures, and can give us some life boosting. If it turns into a real war of attrition, the Whip can help us win it.
The Creatures
Brain Maggot: Any card in their hand for two mana. Of course, Brain Maggot needs to stay alive, but if they need to burn removal on this guy, they're probably not in a great position.
Disciple of Phenax: The most interesting thing about him is he can hit land. That's pretty awesome, honestly, but maybe a bit too late at a four drop. It'll probably gut the rest of their hand, though.
Liliana's Reaver: A deathtouch 4/3 that makes its own army. This card is surprisingly decent. Making your opponent discard at that point probably won't mean much, but it's nice to have a constant source of discard (provided it can hit each turn.)
Gray Merchant of Asphodel: A powerful card for mono black. Gray Merchant can swing games pretty easily. I don't think I really need to go into how good it is.
Indulgent Tormentor: Usually, I'd say he's not great for standard, even in a budget deck, but protected by plenty of discard, I think the Tormentor is just the wincon we need. If we can keep their creature count down, they'll have to either be taking 8 each turn or letting us draw. If not, we can take out creatures.
Other Cards
Encroaching Wastes: I wanted a pair in the deck to shut down Nykthos. After that, it's not really that good, but it can also sometimes hit important nonbasics. I think it's fine as a two-of.
Nonbudget Options
Thoughtseize is the first card to consider of course. Desecration Demon is actually surprisingly budget nowadays, so you could replace the Reaver with him if you want. You could also try Liliana Vess. I don't think Waste Not is that good in this deck, but props to you if you want to try it. Finally, Hero's Downfall is a much more reliable way to keep Planeswalkers off the field.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
4x Brain Maggot
2x Disciple of Phenax
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
3x Indulgent Tormentor
3x Liliana's Reaver
3x Devour Flesh
4x Doom Blade
3x Ultimate Price
Sorcery (9)
4x Duress
2x Mind Rot
3x Sign in Blood
1x Whip of Erebos
Land (24)
2x Encroaching Wastes
22x Swamp
TIMESTAMP: 7/27/14 @ 2:56 AM
CURVE (0-1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6+): 4 / 17 / 2 / 6 / 7 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 2.86
TYPE: BDC10 ($10.00 LIMIT)
CURRENT COST: $6.67
REMAINING BUDGET: $3.33
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Sig Credit: Pegasus Bishop
4 Caves of Kolios
8 Plains
8 Swamp
2 Rogue's Passage
CREATURES (22)
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Nyxborn Shieldmate
4 Hero of Iroas
4 Underworld Coinsmith
1 Xathrid Slyblade
2 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 Herald of Torment
3 Gods Willing
2 Orzhov Charm
4 Ultimate Price
4 Ethereal Armor
2 Spectra Ward
1 ???
2 Orzhov Charm
3 Revoke Existence
3 Divine Favor
3 ???
3 ???
PLAY TIPS:
-You deck is faster than your opponent's unless you are playing hyper aggressive R/x. Your goal is to land a single threat and suit it up Voltron style. There is, typically, no need to have more than 1 or 2 creatures on the field at any given time. Normally you will have a Hopeful Eidolon/Hero of Iroas + Underworld Coinsmith and that will be all the board presence you have. Build your threat and use removal against revelevant blockers.
-The guys you will want to prioritize for your buffs are Hero of Iroas > Hopeful Eidolon > Herald of Torment > Everyone else.
-If you can play a Hopeful T1 and have to choose between Hero or Ethereal T2, always play the Ethereal Armor. You want to force your to have the removal. It may be a 2-for-1 if they do but it protects your Hero. Also, if they don't have the removal you will often get in for 1 or 2 good hits and put yourself so far ahead it won't matter what they do.
-Gods Willing should only be used to protect your creatures. Do NOT use it to give your guy evasion unless that hit will win the game.
-Rogue's Passage is REALLY good here. Try and hold it in hand until you plan on using its ability/you have no other land drops. It works kind of like a combat trick and holding it in hand means your opponent cannot prepare for your game plan.
SIDEBOARD:
-Divine Favor is for burn.
-Orzhov Charm is for aggro.
-Revoke Existence is for decks with scary Gods or maybe the mirror match.
-If you have Thoughtseize that is good against control.
OTHER:
-Xathrid Slyblade is for testing purposes. Hexproof is huge and the Deathtouch+First Strike combo is great against larger blockers. 3 mana is steep though and we would usually rather be doing anyting else.
-Underworld Coinsmith is a good card. He is better in this deck than a lot of decks. There was a time when he was one of the best cards in the deck. As it has evolved his usefulness has also diminished. His reach is very nice to have in the deck. The lifegain doesn't hurt either. He does get a little worse with the rotation of Ethereal Armor which worked quite well with him.
ROTATION:
-We lose Ethereal Armor, Ultimate Price, Orzhov Charm, and Rogue's Passage.
-Ethereal Armor + Hopeful Eidolon is pretty much an "I Win" button mostly because of the lifegain. If there is a W or B enchantment that can produce +2 power and is playable on turn 2, that should be good enough. It's not quite the same as dropping a Nyxborn + Ethereal on Turn 2 and swinging for 4 Lifelink but still. I almost never play this card on Hero or Iroas and Hero wins me 90% of my games. This deck can survive without this card.
-Ultimate Price and Orzhov Charm are our biggest loss. Courser of Kruphix is everywhere and Ultimate Price handles it nicely. That fact alone is a big deal. Hero's Downfall is okay but 3 mana is a lot for what this deck wants to do. It will work in a pinch but we really need Doomblade or something in KTK. 4 Doomblade + 2 Ulcerate would be alright. Oppressive Rays is searchable with Heliod's Pilgrim but otherwise the card simply isn't good enough being both Sorcery speed and crappy against ramp decks. Honestly, if we don't get AT LEAST a Doom Blade/Go for the Throat in the next set this deck is dead in the water.
-Rogue's Passage is not likely to see any sort of replacement. I cannot stress how good this card has been for me. The fact that it is a land and repeatable is crucial. It doesn't take up a turn to play it, it taps for mana even when you don't need it, and it doesn't take slots away from other cards. Too good. It helps you to push through damage against those G/x Ramp decks that try to stabalize with Courser of Kruphix or other resilient blockers. This deck can survive without this card but only if our removal options in the next set DRASTICALLY improve. The options available in Theros and M15 are simply not good enough.
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Hey! I really like this list but I'd like to update it and focus it more around Sire of Insanity. Any suggestions?
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24 Island
Creatures
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Crystalline Nautilus
2 Water Servant
4 Paragon of Gathering Mists
2 Faerie Impostor
4 Triton Shorestalker
2 Blistercoil Weird
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Void Snare
4 Inaction Injunction
4 Military Intelligence
2 Nullify
1 Negate
1 Dispel
Current Cost: $9.92
So, it looks like Shinbatsu, the creator of this thread, isn't doing standard stuff anymore. They've been absent from this thread for awhile, and their signature seems to state that they don't want much to do with Standard.
Rotation is coming up in a few months, and at that point, all of these decks will be obsolete. At that point, would anyone be interested in continuing the legacy of this thread? I'd be happy to help, as long as I wasn't the only one with an interest.
I guess before we get ahead of ourselves, if anyone knows Shinbatsu or has talked to them in the past, would you mind sending them a PM or talk to them in some way and see if they plan on continuing this thread, or if they'd be fine with seeing someone else do something like it for next standard?
Thanks!
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I think more people should POST rotation safe decks, but there's not too much reason to do it now.
So, I haven't really heard a huge response, but I would like to know if people are interested in talking to Shinbatsu about what they plan to do with the thread.
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Marath, Will of the Wild
Friendly Kess Twin Combo
Tatyova - Sir Bounce A Lot
Gonti's Luxury Pie
Prime (Eldrazi) Speaker Zegana (Retired)
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Turn Sagu Mauler sideways?
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If the original person/people who ran the thread is no longer present, my vote is for a new thread. As for me, I've been away from MTG for a second, but I love brewing and testing builds, especially budget ones, so when I get back in soon, I could help out.
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New thread has been made!
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