Standard needs a good, competitive combo deck. The reign of Thoughtseize has understandably put a bit of a damper on combo, but I feel that if one just made a deck that was resilient enough, that you could just pretty much disregard the influence of Thoughtseize.
The goal here is pretty straightforward: Cast Enter the Infinite, then Psychic Spiral your opponent on their upkeep after you've pitched your entire hand of cards... OR Blast of Genius your opponent for huge amounts of damage until they die.
The heavy amounts of scrying and card draw lead to a deck that is surprisingly consistent, while also being very flexible. Every card here serves at least two different functions as well. Additionally, Unexpected Results and scrylands are an obscenely high-value combo, allowing you to dig deep and fast whilst also ramping out.
The deck can also just randomly win the game on turn 3/4, which is a plus.
The sideboard is currently configured to go up against aggro and control... Sphinx of the Chimes offers an alternate win-con and defensive blocker when needed, whereas Serene Remembrance allows you to go toe-to-toe with something like Azorius Control, giving you the freedom to spend all of your counters early on and then recur them the turn you drop Enter the Infinite.
OKK so I've been working on this for like 3 weeks now and it's my favorite deck in standard next to Orzhov Midrange as far as playing cards I enjoy and having decent play against top tables. Keeping this in mind this deck needs a lot of work
Lemme fill you in on where I am with it:
I started with a much more midrange feel to it, with no 1 drops and Phalanx Leader and Fiendslayer Paladin. This was a a bit to slow, but the devotion was really strong! Heliod was always a creature and at this time I played 4 Nykthos and God's Willing for the Leaders.
This was a really squishy version and even in testing against my friends Junk Auras deck knew it would get owned by a strong hand of removal and any decent threat. SOO we worked and worked and finally got the cards we needed. I added the removal and took it to FNM and got 2nd place. It was practically a blizzard out though. My friend won with J auras and we continued to test. I'd love some input on it at this point.
Here is my opinion:
For Devotion you really want a strong curve no matter the permanents, Phalanx Leader is not good enough without additional triggers to support his ability (WHICH is really good btw). However cards like Blood Baron and Stormbreath demand you play Elspeth and Mortars so the all in aggro R/W decks placing right now are somehow getting underneath all that. I believe the control decks WILL rise to beat these strong creatures and therefor a more midrange approach is really nice to have the flexbility.
First on Soldier and Captain are really strong with Ajani and I would like to know a good number of Ajani to play, I currently don't have more than 1.
Hopefully I can curve out, get a Nykthos and try to land a Heliod, Elspeth or Stormbreath early and use Brave the Elements to push through damage.
After looking over the list these are what I would like to do to the main board
-2 Familar - 1 Pegasus
1 Brave, 1 Elspeth and 1 Ajani.
5 Walkers main. Shes the best reason to play this version of boros.
4 Color Planeswalker Control. Pretty much need to slim it down and get some spot removal in, but I don't what to cut.
Cut the treasured find. Against aggro it's pretty bad and against most other decks it's decent at best. Yes, it can get back verdict or revalation, but against mono white you just don't have the time to recur your cards.
Here's a W/B 1-drop.dec. The theme is to blitz them early on with a whopping 26 1 mana creatures and to later cast a Immortal Servitude for 1 and return ~5 creatures.
I don't think Mutavault fits into the deck given how explosively this deck develops its hand; you can't cast any creature in the deck off of Mutavault, and that alone is reason enough to not run it. I run every playable 1 mana creature (including every 2 power 1 drop in our colors) in WB. Spear is in there for obvious reasons; this deck has 2-4 creatures out at a time on average, and the boost from spear is too powerful. A similar reasoning is behind Righteous Charge; while the card can be bad at times, this deck rarely has fewer than three creatures out at once and it can lead to massive alpha strikes. Doom Blade and Orzhov charm get rid of pesky creatures. I really like Orzhov Charm in this deck because it functions both as an unconditional kill spell as well as a way to recur a creature at instant speed. The first mode that allows you to save a creature is also relevant, especially if it has a sweet aura on it. Immortal Servitude is insane in this deck; it's kind of like a four mana Rise of the Dark Realms for your graveyard only. I haven't decided on a sideboard yet, but it would have things like Thoughtseize for control and other things. Obviously the deck falls apart if your opponent plays enough sweepers (Ratchet Bomb, Supreme Verdict, Drown in Sorrow, Anger of the Gods, etc), but it performs very well against Hero's Downfall effects.
Here's a W/B 1-drop.dec. The theme is to blitz them early on with a whopping 26 1 mana creatures and to later cast a Immortal Servitude for 1 and return ~5 creatures.
I don't think Mutavault fits into the deck given how explosively this deck develops its hand; you can't cast any creature in the deck off of Mutavault, and that alone is reason enough to not run it. I run every playable 1 mana creature (including every 2 power 1 drop in our colors) in WB. Spear is in there for obvious reasons; this deck has 2-4 creatures out at a time on average, and the boost from spear is too powerful. A similar reasoning is behind Righteous Charge; while the card can be bad at times, this deck rarely has fewer than three creatures out at once and it can lead to massive alpha strikes. Doom Blade and Orzhov charm get rid of pesky creatures. I really like Orzhov Charm in this deck because it functions both as an unconditional kill spell as well as a way to recur a creature at instant speed. The first mode that allows you to save a creature is also relevant, especially if it has a sweet aura on it. Immortal Servitude is insane in this deck; it's kind of like a four mana Rise of the Dark Realms for your graveyard only. I haven't decided on a sideboard yet, but it would have things like Thoughtseize for control and other things. Obviously the deck falls apart if your opponent plays enough sweepers (Ratchet Bomb, Supreme Verdict, Drown in Sorrow, Anger of the Gods, etc), but it performs very well against Hero's Downfall effects.
Deck looks interesting, think you are missing 2 cards tho (nm was only playing 18 lands, think 19 might be sweet spot). Deck reminds me a lot of Blitz.
edit:
Just thought of an idea, Springleaf Drum.. since this deck has a lot in common with affinity, seems like its worth testing
nm, its terrible
Do think 3rd Righteous Charge is needed (such a blowout) and maybe side 4th vs green/creature matchups. Not sure how much I like Doom Blade, maybe Pacifism? I wish we could use Brave the Elements in here or like effect in here.
I am considering cutting the 2 Judge's Familiar for 2 Imposing Sovereign (I know CMC is 2 but effect can be so backbreaking for opponent and I never play Familiar turn 1 at least in my testing so far), also throwing oddball idea of Thrull Parasite and Deathrite Shaman in that spot which are prob too crazy.
A card I would love to fit in (prob side) is Xathrid Necromancer which could give us some resiliency and allow us to side into a somewhat different package.
Here's a Jund midrange deck I'm working on. I don't see a lot from Journey that warrants inclusion other than Temple of Malady and Mana Confluence but I only have a mainboard right now, haven't put too much thought into the side so I'm open to suggestions. It might even just be strictly worse than Monsters.
At the very least, I'd chop the Mogis, God of Slaughter entirely and replace with Polukranos or a planeswalker.
Very greedy mana, but I don't know how you get around that with Jund.
That was supposed to be 3 Mogis, I updated it to a 4th Hero's Downfall. I've never been a big fan of Polukranos, World Eater, but you could be right about a planeswalker. I feel like Mogis puts a lot of pressure on control decks to deal with him and he's very easy to turn on in this build. I plan to do some testing tonight so I'll report back on any changes. Thanks for the input and if anyone has any other input or ideas for the board, I'm still following this.
Edit, I forgot, that's not supposed to be a Downfall, it's actually supposed to be a 1-of Vraska the Unseen. Updated the list again!
Deck I'm Currently brewing up.
American Burn - Based off of a Burn Shell, splashed blue for new god and jace for card draw. Izzet charm is very flexible.
I'm always working on green aggressive midrange decks. I've been playing Jund mostly since Theros Block came out (I was playing Jund before that too but that has no relevance). After early testing with Mana Confluence I found myself wanting to curve down slightly with Jund and that the 2 to 4 plan was suddenly a lot worse. A card like Reaper of the Wilds or even Polukranos wasn't doing as much as I'd like. In face in the best games I played I played Mystic first, and Courser of Kruphix was an effective 4 drop. This led me back to GW sketches I was working on around December. GW had 4 big problems mind you:
1. It was clunky curving into it's big drops on time (high colour cost requirements). It always felt like my Archangel of Thunes came after their Dragons. This pushed GW to be much better as a Experiment One deck. But then the 3 drops weren't quick enough to exploit it. Brimaz didn't live up to expectations (something I don't expect it to often do until there is a 1 mana dork that produces white perhaps) but even then it wasn't particularly good. In the same sort of way I don't think Boros Reckoner is very good right now. Mana Confluence led me there but this is a very point and shoot format, your threat better have haste, or better have hte potential for immediate value.
2. The removal was awkward. I found I needed to have a small 3rd color splash (black seemed the best) to even compete against certain decks, but at he same time couldn't afford double black realistically with all the other double mana requirements. I found myself main decking some combination of Abrupt Decay/Golgari Charm and having no real good way to deal with just random threat. There was Glare out of the board for Control but the deck wouldn't beat random deck. This brought me back to Jund. Dreadbore was so important.
3. No way to come back well from behind. The decks could critical mass but the opportunity only arose in board stalls. If I committed to far one way I could not beat Supreme Verdict. If I went the other way there was no release. No Mizzium Mortars, GW with it's creature set has the distinct issue that most sweepers you could run canabilize yourself too badly. Even if you consider double red or double black later game reasonable, Drown kills even things that might regenerate, Anger kills Voice and it exiles everything so you can't use the graveyard to your advantage, Gaze would be ok for higher curve lists but it kills Advent and Voice tokens when you cast it at the sweet spot of x=2 against aggressive Devotion strategies.
4. You have to build your deck very much with Tidebinder Mage and Lifebane Zombie in mind. Jund sort of side steps Lifebane with Dragon at it's top and it's ability to play better removal and walkers. Tidebinder the small problem to be sure also got shored up in Jund by stuff like Mortars Overload. In GW while Advent dodges Lifebane, not much else did. And Tidebinder Mage makes taking a more aggressive tact harder. With Tidebinder you want your cards tapped down to still have great effect.
I think all these problems have a reasonable solution now mind you.
1. Mana Confluence gets rid of the clunkiness. The key is to cut down temples, and focus on the 2 mana base, and take it that Caryatid, and Confluence shore up the 3rd color readily enough. You can comfortably play 3 drops on T2. I still think some 3's are not as good, but it seems like a good time to be jamming Dreg Mangler. I've said that before, but that 3 damage before the opponent probably reacts or just having another early body on board makes a difference. The Scavenge leverages dorks well. Elvish Mystic becomes so much better with Confluence I think it's more beneficial than maxing out on Experiment Ones.
2. Removal is still not great, but with Banishing Light GW can have access to similar hit all removal game one. This opens tons up. I expect enchantment hate to be rampant but it's all about finding the opening and Banishing Light does that.
3. This is still true. Mind you I did come across something interesting when I was playing Jund, (and Chromanticore for a while). With 7-8 blue sources (counting Caryatid) I could pretty consistenly cast Cyclonic Rift Overload. Your odds by T6 to have drawn one are like 86%. Even if you just consider the 4 lands, it's like 63%. The latter is not good enough mind you but really you only want Rift where they can't kill Carytid easily (like they have to Mortars you). It's for Gx decks and devotion decks. I having been running 8 blue sources in Jund and it's worked great. Best thing about Rift is it isn't dead anywhere since it is a hit all. And even as a 2 mana instant it opens up games this sort of deck has no business doing so. Bouncing a planeswalker, enchantment, or artifact game 1. It's even more out of character for Jund granted. So why not just play 3rd colour blue. Mainly because Simic sucks. There are no good early drops. You don't need more Caryatids. You need to put on pressure to win the game, if you aren't topping with Dragon, and even if you are you need more substance. Kiora is the wrong pacing. Dreg Mangler by my estimate is that important. It gives Junk almost a Naya like feel for aggression while giving access to a whole different dimension.
The other key part of this is Setessian Tactics. It's more like Mortars. Good for clearing out smaller threats, as you stabilize, and also instant. It's less of a good game 1 card but it let's you shore up numbers in a reasonable way. You can't really play more than a couple Rifts since the combinatorics get worse. At 2 you only have a 39% chance of drawing it by T6, which means that probability of having it and the source is like 32%, and in so having it and no source when you want to cast it is only like 7% of the time and slowly decreases each turn after.
4. This is really hard to do. Cards good against Lifebane are bad against Tidebinder and vice versa. The only consistent thing is being aggressive against both cards plays out reasonably. The best cards against Lifebane are Advent, Dreg Mangler, Voice of Resurgence, Scavenging Ooze .. you are pretty much stuck having valid targets and boarding to really beat this, so you have to beat the deck not the threat. Against Tidebinder the best cards are Courser of Kruphix, Trostani, Selesyna's Voice, and Archangel of Thune. These cards get tapped down (or not) and they still provide value every turn. That value might not matter if you don't have a way to drastically reverse their tempo, but Cyclonic Rift basically blows that sort of deck open.
Anyway enough Theory Crafting this is the list I'm thinking:
The mainboard uses Ajani, and Eidolon as a way to keep pressure on and get it's free wins. The sideboard is a bit of an experiment. The removal is probably pretty obvious. But I'm trying this Sin Collector, Athreos sort of loop. I might be playing too many especially if Deicide is a thing. But basically the deck is able to put on enough early pressure to knock a control opponent down, and has enough enchantment removal to deal with Banishing Lights and D-Sphere's so, so if Sin Collector is stripping the rest out it might be very hard not to pay the life.. recurring 2 for 1 Duress seems good. Athreos more than anything lets you go heavy on the board, say holding up Golgari Charm or Advent of the Wurm. When you get to the critical point you play Athreos. The hope is that it then takes them 2 turns to effectively deal with your board (if they have the answer, especially if you have Sin Collector). I don't like Athreos as a build around, because in most matchups it pushes you to ineffectual 1 and 2 drops. But if you see it as sort of a T4/T5 sort of play it's a lot more powerful.
EDIT: Atheros was a bust. This is where the list currently is:
Here's another idea I've been trying. I went back to my Gyre Sage Jund lists that I came up with last year that eventually became Unfriendly Skies. Some of my early sketches were much closer to Saito's Naya lists. Basically forgoing the 1 drop. It became clear especially with the impact of Bonfire of the Damned that Arbor Elf was correct but we don't have Arbor Elf. That's a blessing and curse til now since it meant inadequate fixing but it also frees up the number of forest constraint the deck was working with. When the new format came around with Theros it was obvious the fixing was inadequate to play such a deck on time. How to do you play enough black sources and BTE. Gyre Sage just dies to everything and people are intent on one for ones. The first big missing part was there was no adequate replacement for Borderland Ranger. Seemingly small card but had a very important effect in that deck for curving and thinning purposes. Courser pretty easily replaces that. The other is the fixing, which I believe Mana Confluence solves. We've had the kill condition since the summer but it hasn't been good enough because the cards haven't been good enough on their own. Finally with confluence is Exava actually on curve in a 3 colour deck where black is the 3rd colour. As for Sage itself maybe it looks like it should just be Elf. The thing is I tried lower curve Jund Aggro decks. You need the threat density. The fact Sage can be a threat on it's own actually makes the BTE the only air card in the deck. Sure you could cut BTE along with Sage but the choices in the early curve and the explosiveness aren't really paralleled there. It's the inclusion of BTE that actually makes the difference.
That threat density is largely why this is the first list I've made where Kalonian Hydra is actually good enough. It's possible it should be split with Stormbreath main, because let's face it you pretty much never hook up Exava + Hydra, but you can usually run them out of removal. Being able to curve tightly enough has finally made that possible.
Anyway here is a rough idea. The board is probably wrong, and I'm not sold on the removal suite. I'm basically using Bow of Nylea in the place of Bonfire in a sense. It's the decks' Overrun. It looks pretty crappy but it deals a lot of damage quickly. You basically get there on the density of your 2 drops game 1. Postboard the deck can slow down a bit.
I have seen brews from all different color combinations and styles except for one. I have been a long time Dega player and with all the hype around the new cards and all I still haven't seen any attempts at even a competitive build from these colors. The only attempts I've seen were bw midrange and aggressive decks that try to unsuccessfully splash red for no reason. The biggest problem is that red is a highly aggressive color and has little to no midrange support outside of card that share another color with it Chandra, and Stormbreath Dragon. I know any other person would shy away at such an idea but I have a fascination with finding possible from the impossible. It's difficult but I'm going to try a few test lists for this build. The main things so far I've found that were at least competitive about this build was the option for early disruption, burn and strong finishers as well as a very diverse 1-3 drop slot which can allow this deck to function both aggressively or if need be more controlling. But the damage and disruption is the most appealing aspects of this wedge.
There are still so many options to consider, Obzedat, Iroas, Boros Charm, more removal, Thoughtseize, Brain Maggot, any 2 drop creature. But I am thinking with cards that this deck can play with that can have an impact on this meta. Here are my creature choice reasoning.
Soldier of the Pantheon - One drop that doesn't die to D-sphere or Abrupt Decay. Backed by 2 drop removal can stay on field and hit for 4-10 damage easily.
Boros Reckoner - Deck Staple. Turn on all gods of this color except for Erebos. Devotion builder. Pain in the neck for GR players to play around. He alone give this archetype a tool against one of the Big Four
Brimaz - Very strong card. Has good matchups against anything. Shines the most against Blue decks especially one's running Jace, Architect of Thought. Complements Reckoner in the devotion department and triggers nicely with Purphoros. Used to stabilize board position until fatties land.
Atheros - Not much has been proven about this card in tourneys and opens, but it's ability is attractive. If paired around an aggressive shell, can be a 3 drop fattie beatstick. Makes up for the limited 4 drop spot options.
Chandra's Phoenix - Still testing on this one. But a RELIABLE, recurrable creature is definitely what this deck needs. Wait isn't that what Atheros is there for? Partially. Phoenix's trigger makes Atheros ability kinda interesting. Do you take three and hope it stays in the yard long enough for it not to matter, or just save yourself the life and give it to the player anyways. Does crowd up the three drop slot with Brimaz, Reckoner and the God though. But being able to grab this with Chandra or Burn can make this deck threatening especially late game.
Purphoros - Strong static ability goes with the recursion capabilities of the deck. Atheros goes great with him, Brimaz and Phoenix can constantly trigger him (with the latter working towards activating him) Reckoner gives three devotion to him, and he can turn cards like Elspeth and Brimaz into one card wincons. He's worthless on an empty board however so just one of him but with this shell built around his abilities, one is all you'll need.
Stormbreath Dragon - Control's biggest thorn to deal with. Gives immediate value with haste, hits hard and his monstrous ability can cause nightmares when resolved. Pro white also makes this nightmare a threat for UW based decks to deal with
Blood Baron of Vizkopa - Mono Black's biggest thorn to deal with. Pro white and black shuts off a lot of removal that can answer him, and his lifelink is vital for stabilization. Helps the deck to combat another of the Big four archetypes.
The deck is also running a healthy suite of ramp with Rakdos keyrune, Planeswalkers with Chandra and Elspeth, and if I can fit it in somewhere I'd like to add a small draw package like 2 Connections or Read the Bones to support the deck and ensure that it can progress to the late game. Of course this is just a sample list but if you guys have any suggestions on better card options I'd love to hear it. It has the tools to combat all 4 of the major standard archetypes, it just needs the list that can execute it all effectively.
The main idea is to Whip/Skybind to perform a recurring "Obzedadt" trick by coming back for good. In addition you can blink scrylands, flash opponent's creatures when they attack, etc. Sideboard against aggressive decks or if you win first game. Then you can just go the turbo Grim while still blinking things for control elements. In both versions your best friend will be Heliod himself as a recurring source of Constellation. Please give feedback/suggestions. I look forward to it. (I do plan to add at least 2 Temple of Malady as soon as I get them in place of one Overgrown Tomb and one Forest.)
Edit: went 1-3 at local FNM, Took out an Esper control first round, lost to a Good Junk Deck (Aggro Style), a BG Golgari Enchantment deck (R2 & 3 two of the best in the area.) and Mono Black Devotion in the last round. Partial misplays 3rd round, but the joys of the night included locking out the Esper control G3 with Ashen Rider, Skybind and Heliod on a hard Blink Rider lock, along with last round blinking Pack Rat tokens.
After stopping by as a fan at a GP near my place, I found that I like the atmosphere, and would like to try my hand at the tourney. Another GP is coming up next month, and I'm thinking of bringing this deck:
Now I know great players would be there with decks far more superior and thought out than mine. But hey, if I'm entering the game, might as well try and do my best.
I haven't test it a lot. The first draft of this (without all the enchanments, and with tons of instants/sorceries instead) wins 4 out of 8 games.
The deck as it is now, have only been tested online. It win and lose depends on the lands and creature/spell combinations on my first hand.
If I start with lands of 1 color each, a creature, and 2-3 spells/enchantment then we start running. Most of the time, I either got all lands for turns, or can only play 1 color for turns. This maybe due to the shuffling mechanism of said program (Or I hope so XD).
I'm considering multicolor lands, but have never used it before and wonders what would be the correct number to add in...
Considering all of the above, and many more, all your insights and advices are most welcome and most appreciated.
Thanks anyway, and have a great day/night ahead!
I think this deck has serious potential to be one of the best red aggro decks in standard (and I actually play Boros when I play aggro), but if you're open to the criticism I have a few suggestions that I think would make the deck a lot better. First and foremost, Fabled Hero just comes in with a huge target on his back and gets removed within a couple of turns. Try Eidolon of Countless Battles in his place. Doubles as a creature and an enchantment and can be really potent with so many cheap creatures. Second, the Ordeal of Purphoros is great, but the board in this deck is super volatile, potentially replace them with the fourth Coordinated Assault, fourth Titan's Strength, and 4th Favored Hoplite. With 7 1 drops not counting hopeful eidolon, the curve can survive a little more. Replace them with Prophetic Flamespeaker. This is the perfect deck for that card. Or replace the Phalanx Leaders. Unless you really switch up the mana base, hitting red on turn 1 for akroan crusader and ww for phalanx leader the second turn is straight up impossible. Then mana base. If you can get them sacred foundries and mana confluences should be in there somewhere. If you cant get confluences Temple of Triumphs are almost as good. Hopefully this helps a bit!
Deck I'm Currently brewing up.
American Burn - Based off of a Burn Shell, splashed blue for new god and jace for card draw. Izzet charm is very flexible.
Brews on the Brain. The first one I have built, the second one it a brainstorm that I'm thinking about building.... Please let me know what you guys think.
This one is made to control the board till you can Mana Bloom/Skybind control your opponent into submission with the best card for the situation. Other options include swapping in one or two Heliod, God of the Sun for an instant enchantment engine, but I'm not sure what I would take out at the moment. Not as big and flashy as the first one, but has potential...... (I do have to say that I do love blinking Scrylands... lol)
Please let me know your thoughts on these and how they could be improved.
Jace can put reanimation targets in the graveyard. Pack Rat also does this well and is very hard to answer. The other cards round out the deck by removing threats and drawing cards. The land base is very strong.
Deck is built around creating a recurring source of card advantage with Pack Rat and Chandra's Phoenix. Pitch two Phoenixes to Pack Rat, and you get two Rats. Burn the opponent, and you get the Phoenixes back and get to make two more Rats. Prophetic Flamespeaker and Chandra help provide more cards, and Return, an already brutal card, is just nuts when you get a Phoenix back with it. Pitching Soul of Shandalar to Pack Rat is also adorable. The card advantage engines are supplemented by evasive damage and additional reach from the burn spells.
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Well, I'm here to provide that deck.
Introducing.... Spiral.
4 Quicken
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Omenspeaker
4 Izzet Charm
4 Unexpected Results
2 Psychic Spiral
1 Toil // Trouble
3 Plasm Capture
4 Blast of Genius
3 Opportunity
4 Enter the Infinite
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Stomping Ground
4 Breeding Pool
4 Steam Vents
3 Island
4 Gainsay
2 Sphinx of the Chimes
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Fog
3 Druid's Deliverance
1 Serene Remembrance
The goal here is pretty straightforward: Cast Enter the Infinite, then Psychic Spiral your opponent on their upkeep after you've pitched your entire hand of cards... OR Blast of Genius your opponent for huge amounts of damage until they die.
The heavy amounts of scrying and card draw lead to a deck that is surprisingly consistent, while also being very flexible. Every card here serves at least two different functions as well. Additionally, Unexpected Results and scrylands are an obscenely high-value combo, allowing you to dig deep and fast whilst also ramping out.
The deck can also just randomly win the game on turn 3/4, which is a plus.
The sideboard is currently configured to go up against aggro and control... Sphinx of the Chimes offers an alternate win-con and defensive blocker when needed, whereas Serene Remembrance allows you to go toe-to-toe with something like Azorius Control, giving you the freedom to spend all of your counters early on and then recur them the turn you drop Enter the Infinite.
WotC, please hire me already.
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
2 Judge's Familiar
4 Precinct Captain
2 Imposing Sovereign
1 Cavalry Pegasus
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Banisher Priest
3 Heliod, God of the Sun
INST/SORC 7
2 Brave the Elements
3 Boros Charm
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
2 Spear of Heliod
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
LAND 24
3 Nykthos, Shrine To Nyx
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry
1 Boros Guildgate
12 Plains
2 Pithing Needle
2 Gideon, Champion of Justice
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Wear/Tear
3 Last Breath
2 Celestial Flare
1 Cavalry Pegasus
1 Boros Charm
OKK so I've been working on this for like 3 weeks now and it's my favorite deck in standard next to Orzhov Midrange as far as playing cards I enjoy and having decent play against top tables. Keeping this in mind this deck needs a lot of work
Lemme fill you in on where I am with it:
I started with a much more midrange feel to it, with no 1 drops and Phalanx Leader and Fiendslayer Paladin. This was a a bit to slow, but the devotion was really strong! Heliod was always a creature and at this time I played 4 Nykthos and God's Willing for the Leaders.
This was a really squishy version and even in testing against my friends Junk Auras deck knew it would get owned by a strong hand of removal and any decent threat. SOO we worked and worked and finally got the cards we needed. I added the removal and took it to FNM and got 2nd place. It was practically a blizzard out though. My friend won with J auras and we continued to test. I'd love some input on it at this point.
Here is my opinion:
For Devotion you really want a strong curve no matter the permanents, Phalanx Leader is not good enough without additional triggers to support his ability (WHICH is really good btw). However cards like Blood Baron and Stormbreath demand you play Elspeth and Mortars so the all in aggro R/W decks placing right now are somehow getting underneath all that. I believe the control decks WILL rise to beat these strong creatures and therefor a more midrange approach is really nice to have the flexbility.
First on Soldier and Captain are really strong with Ajani and I would like to know a good number of Ajani to play, I currently don't have more than 1.
Hopefully I can curve out, get a Nykthos and try to land a Heliod, Elspeth or Stormbreath early and use Brave the Elements to push through damage.
Anyway it will be easier if you ask me questions!
-2 Familar - 1 Pegasus
1 Brave, 1 Elspeth and 1 Ajani.
5 Walkers main. Shes the best reason to play this version of boros.
2x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2x Gideon, Champion of Justice
2x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
2x Vraska the Unseen
Instant (5)
2x Abrupt Decay
3x Sphinx's Revelation
Artifact (4)
4x Chromatic Lantern
Sorcery (7)
4x Supreme Verdict
3x Treasured Find
4x Courser of Kruphix
4x Sylvan Caryatid
Land (25)
4x Breeding Pool
2x Forest
3x Godless Shrine
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Temple Garden
4x Watery Grave
2x Azorius Charm
3x Detention Sphere
2x Golgari Charm
3x Hero's Downfall
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
2x Jace, Memory Adept
2x Pithing Needle
4 Color Planeswalker Control. Pretty much need to slim it down and get some spot removal in, but I don't what to cut.
Cut the treasured find. Against aggro it's pretty bad and against most other decks it's decent at best. Yes, it can get back verdict or revalation, but against mono white you just don't have the time to recur your cards.
4x Loyal Pegasus
4x Boros Elite
4x Dryad Militant
2x Judge's Familiar
4x Tormented Hero
2x Spear of Heliod
2x Righteous Charge
4x Orzhov Charm
2x Doom Blade
4x Godless Shrine
4x Temple of Silence
8x Plains
4x Swamp
I don't think Mutavault fits into the deck given how explosively this deck develops its hand; you can't cast any creature in the deck off of Mutavault, and that alone is reason enough to not run it. I run every playable 1 mana creature (including every 2 power 1 drop in our colors) in WB. Spear is in there for obvious reasons; this deck has 2-4 creatures out at a time on average, and the boost from spear is too powerful. A similar reasoning is behind Righteous Charge; while the card can be bad at times, this deck rarely has fewer than three creatures out at once and it can lead to massive alpha strikes. Doom Blade and Orzhov charm get rid of pesky creatures. I really like Orzhov Charm in this deck because it functions both as an unconditional kill spell as well as a way to recur a creature at instant speed. The first mode that allows you to save a creature is also relevant, especially if it has a sweet aura on it. Immortal Servitude is insane in this deck; it's kind of like a four mana Rise of the Dark Realms for your graveyard only. I haven't decided on a sideboard yet, but it would have things like Thoughtseize for control and other things. Obviously the deck falls apart if your opponent plays enough sweepers (Ratchet Bomb, Supreme Verdict, Drown in Sorrow, Anger of the Gods, etc), but it performs very well against Hero's Downfall effects.
Deck looks interesting, think you are missing 2 cards tho (nm was only playing 18 lands, think 19 might be sweet spot). Deck reminds me a lot of Blitz.
edit:
Just thought of an idea, Springleaf Drum.. since this deck has a lot in common with affinity, seems like its worth testing
nm, its terrible
Do think 3rd Righteous Charge is needed (such a blowout) and maybe side 4th vs green/creature matchups. Not sure how much I like Doom Blade, maybe Pacifism? I wish we could use Brave the Elements in here or like effect in here.
I am considering cutting the 2 Judge's Familiar for 2 Imposing Sovereign (I know CMC is 2 but effect can be so backbreaking for opponent and I never play Familiar turn 1 at least in my testing so far), also throwing oddball idea of Thrull Parasite and Deathrite Shaman in that spot which are prob too crazy.
A card I would love to fit in (prob side) is Xathrid Necromancer which could give us some resiliency and allow us to side into a somewhat different package.
4x Temple of Malady
3x Temple of Abandon
3x Temple of Malice
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Blood Crypt
3x Stomping Ground
2x Mana Confluence
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Herald of Torment
4x Desecration Demon
4x Stormbreath Dragon
3x Mogis, God of Slaughter
2x Whip of Erebos
3x Hero's Downfall
2x Dreadbore
3x Abrupt Decay
3x Rakdos's Return
Planeswalkers
1x Vraska the Unseen
BEEEES!
Rabble Red
Modern
Burn
Infect
Very greedy mana, but I don't know how you get around that with Jund.
4 Xathrid Necromancer
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 High Priest of Penance
4 Hero's Downfall
3 Mogis's Marauder
3 Bile Blight
4 Temple of Silence
4 Godless Shrine
2 Swamp
2 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Plenty
3 Temple Garden
3 Imposing Sovereign
3 Mutavault
4 Experiment One
1 Spear of Heliod
2 Unravel the AEther
2 Selesnya Charm
3 Fiendslayer Paladin
1 Dark Betrayal
2 Devour Flesh
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
2 Renounce the Guilds
waiting for athreos, god of passage to splash in. thoughts?
STDRD: Orzhov Control
That was supposed to be 3 Mogis, I updated it to a 4th Hero's Downfall. I've never been a big fan of Polukranos, World Eater, but you could be right about a planeswalker. I feel like Mogis puts a lot of pressure on control decks to deal with him and he's very easy to turn on in this build. I plan to do some testing tonight so I'll report back on any changes. Thanks for the input and if anyone has any other input or ideas for the board, I'm still following this.
Edit, I forgot, that's not supposed to be a Downfall, it's actually supposed to be a 1-of Vraska the Unseen. Updated the list again!
BEEEES!
Rabble Red
Modern
Burn
Infect
What do you think about Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch?
American Burn - Based off of a Burn Shell, splashed blue for new god and jace for card draw. Izzet charm is very flexible.
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
2x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
*Creature* (7)
1x AEtherling
2x Keranos, God of Storms
4x Chandra's Pheonix
*Instant* (22)
4x Boros Charm
4x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
2x Skullcrack
4x Warleader's Helix
2x Spite of Mogis
*Land* (24)
4x Mutavault
4x Temple of Epiphany (U/R)
4x Steam Vents (U/R)
4x Temple of Triumph (W/R)
4x Sacred Foundry (W/R)
4x Temple of Enlightenment (U/W)
3x Assemble the Legion
2x Blind Obedience
2x Chained to the Rocks
3x Deicide
2x Peak Eruption
1x Pithing Needle
2x Spite of Mogis
1. It was clunky curving into it's big drops on time (high colour cost requirements). It always felt like my Archangel of Thunes came after their Dragons. This pushed GW to be much better as a Experiment One deck. But then the 3 drops weren't quick enough to exploit it. Brimaz didn't live up to expectations (something I don't expect it to often do until there is a 1 mana dork that produces white perhaps) but even then it wasn't particularly good. In the same sort of way I don't think Boros Reckoner is very good right now. Mana Confluence led me there but this is a very point and shoot format, your threat better have haste, or better have hte potential for immediate value.
2. The removal was awkward. I found I needed to have a small 3rd color splash (black seemed the best) to even compete against certain decks, but at he same time couldn't afford double black realistically with all the other double mana requirements. I found myself main decking some combination of Abrupt Decay/Golgari Charm and having no real good way to deal with just random threat. There was Glare out of the board for Control but the deck wouldn't beat random deck. This brought me back to Jund. Dreadbore was so important.
3. No way to come back well from behind. The decks could critical mass but the opportunity only arose in board stalls. If I committed to far one way I could not beat Supreme Verdict. If I went the other way there was no release. No Mizzium Mortars, GW with it's creature set has the distinct issue that most sweepers you could run canabilize yourself too badly. Even if you consider double red or double black later game reasonable, Drown kills even things that might regenerate, Anger kills Voice and it exiles everything so you can't use the graveyard to your advantage, Gaze would be ok for higher curve lists but it kills Advent and Voice tokens when you cast it at the sweet spot of x=2 against aggressive Devotion strategies.
4. You have to build your deck very much with Tidebinder Mage and Lifebane Zombie in mind. Jund sort of side steps Lifebane with Dragon at it's top and it's ability to play better removal and walkers. Tidebinder the small problem to be sure also got shored up in Jund by stuff like Mortars Overload. In GW while Advent dodges Lifebane, not much else did. And Tidebinder Mage makes taking a more aggressive tact harder. With Tidebinder you want your cards tapped down to still have great effect.
I think all these problems have a reasonable solution now mind you.
1. Mana Confluence gets rid of the clunkiness. The key is to cut down temples, and focus on the 2 mana base, and take it that Caryatid, and Confluence shore up the 3rd color readily enough. You can comfortably play 3 drops on T2. I still think some 3's are not as good, but it seems like a good time to be jamming Dreg Mangler. I've said that before, but that 3 damage before the opponent probably reacts or just having another early body on board makes a difference. The Scavenge leverages dorks well. Elvish Mystic becomes so much better with Confluence I think it's more beneficial than maxing out on Experiment Ones.
2. Removal is still not great, but with Banishing Light GW can have access to similar hit all removal game one. This opens tons up. I expect enchantment hate to be rampant but it's all about finding the opening and Banishing Light does that.
3. This is still true. Mind you I did come across something interesting when I was playing Jund, (and Chromanticore for a while). With 7-8 blue sources (counting Caryatid) I could pretty consistenly cast Cyclonic Rift Overload. Your odds by T6 to have drawn one are like 86%. Even if you just consider the 4 lands, it's like 63%. The latter is not good enough mind you but really you only want Rift where they can't kill Carytid easily (like they have to Mortars you). It's for Gx decks and devotion decks. I having been running 8 blue sources in Jund and it's worked great. Best thing about Rift is it isn't dead anywhere since it is a hit all. And even as a 2 mana instant it opens up games this sort of deck has no business doing so. Bouncing a planeswalker, enchantment, or artifact game 1. It's even more out of character for Jund granted. So why not just play 3rd colour blue. Mainly because Simic sucks. There are no good early drops. You don't need more Caryatids. You need to put on pressure to win the game, if you aren't topping with Dragon, and even if you are you need more substance. Kiora is the wrong pacing. Dreg Mangler by my estimate is that important. It gives Junk almost a Naya like feel for aggression while giving access to a whole different dimension.
The other key part of this is Setessian Tactics. It's more like Mortars. Good for clearing out smaller threats, as you stabilize, and also instant. It's less of a good game 1 card but it let's you shore up numbers in a reasonable way. You can't really play more than a couple Rifts since the combinatorics get worse. At 2 you only have a 39% chance of drawing it by T6, which means that probability of having it and the source is like 32%, and in so having it and no source when you want to cast it is only like 7% of the time and slowly decreases each turn after.
4. This is really hard to do. Cards good against Lifebane are bad against Tidebinder and vice versa. The only consistent thing is being aggressive against both cards plays out reasonably. The best cards against Lifebane are Advent, Dreg Mangler, Voice of Resurgence, Scavenging Ooze .. you are pretty much stuck having valid targets and boarding to really beat this, so you have to beat the deck not the threat. Against Tidebinder the best cards are Courser of Kruphix, Trostani, Selesyna's Voice, and Archangel of Thune. These cards get tapped down (or not) and they still provide value every turn. That value might not matter if you don't have a way to drastically reverse their tempo, but Cyclonic Rift basically blows that sort of deck open.
Anyway enough Theory Crafting this is the list I'm thinking:
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Godless Shrine
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Forest
3 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Mana Confluence
Creatures (25):
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Voice of Resurgence
4 Dreg Mangler
3 Courser of Kruphix
2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
2 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Archangel of Thune
1 Golgari Charm
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Banishing Light
2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
4 Advent of the Wurm
1 Golgari Charm
2 Settesian Tactics
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Sin Collector
3 Athreos, God of Passage
1 Vraska the Unseen
The mainboard uses Ajani, and Eidolon as a way to keep pressure on and get it's free wins. The sideboard is a bit of an experiment. The removal is probably pretty obvious. But I'm trying this Sin Collector, Athreos sort of loop. I might be playing too many especially if Deicide is a thing. But basically the deck is able to put on enough early pressure to knock a control opponent down, and has enough enchantment removal to deal with Banishing Lights and D-Sphere's so, so if Sin Collector is stripping the rest out it might be very hard not to pay the life.. recurring 2 for 1 Duress seems good. Athreos more than anything lets you go heavy on the board, say holding up Golgari Charm or Advent of the Wurm. When you get to the critical point you play Athreos. The hope is that it then takes them 2 turns to effectively deal with your board (if they have the answer, especially if you have Sin Collector). I don't like Athreos as a build around, because in most matchups it pushes you to ineffectual 1 and 2 drops. But if you see it as sort of a T4/T5 sort of play it's a lot more powerful.
EDIT: Atheros was a bust. This is where the list currently is:
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Godless Shrine
2 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Malady
1 Forest
3 Plains
4 Mana Confluence
Creatures (25):
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Voice of Resurgence
4 Dreg Mangler
3 Courser of Kruphix
2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
2 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Archangel of Thune
2 Thoughtseize
2 Banishing Light
2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
4 Advent of the Wurm
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Vraska, the unseen
2 Golgari Charm
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Sin Collector
1 Vraska the Unseen
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Garruk, Caller of Beasts
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
That threat density is largely why this is the first list I've made where Kalonian Hydra is actually good enough. It's possible it should be split with Stormbreath main, because let's face it you pretty much never hook up Exava + Hydra, but you can usually run them out of removal. Being able to curve tightly enough has finally made that possible.
Anyway here is a rough idea. The board is probably wrong, and I'm not sold on the removal suite. I'm basically using Bow of Nylea in the place of Bonfire in a sense. It's the decks' Overrun. It looks pretty crappy but it deals a lot of damage quickly. You basically get there on the density of your 2 drops game 1. Postboard the deck can slow down a bit.
4 Stomping Ground
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Mana Confluence
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Abandon
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creature(31):
4 Gyre Sage
4 Burning Tree Emmissary
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Courser of Kruphix
2 Dreg Mangler
4 Ghor Clan Rampager
3 Exava, Blood Witch
4 Kalonian Hydra
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
2 Dreadbore
2 Domri Rade
2 Bow of Nylea
2 Thoughtseize
3 Golgari Charm
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Domri Rade
2 Vraska, the unseen
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Mistcutter Hydra
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Atheros, God of Passage
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
3 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Banishing Light
1 Whip of Erebos
2 Rakdos Keyrune
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Warleader's Helix
There are still so many options to consider, Obzedat, Iroas, Boros Charm, more removal, Thoughtseize, Brain Maggot, any 2 drop creature. But I am thinking with cards that this deck can play with that can have an impact on this meta. Here are my creature choice reasoning.
Soldier of the Pantheon - One drop that doesn't die to D-sphere or Abrupt Decay. Backed by 2 drop removal can stay on field and hit for 4-10 damage easily.
Boros Reckoner - Deck Staple. Turn on all gods of this color except for Erebos. Devotion builder. Pain in the neck for GR players to play around. He alone give this archetype a tool against one of the Big Four
Brimaz - Very strong card. Has good matchups against anything. Shines the most against Blue decks especially one's running Jace, Architect of Thought. Complements Reckoner in the devotion department and triggers nicely with Purphoros. Used to stabilize board position until fatties land.
Atheros - Not much has been proven about this card in tourneys and opens, but it's ability is attractive. If paired around an aggressive shell, can be a 3 drop fattie beatstick. Makes up for the limited 4 drop spot options.
Chandra's Phoenix - Still testing on this one. But a RELIABLE, recurrable creature is definitely what this deck needs. Wait isn't that what Atheros is there for? Partially. Phoenix's trigger makes Atheros ability kinda interesting. Do you take three and hope it stays in the yard long enough for it not to matter, or just save yourself the life and give it to the player anyways. Does crowd up the three drop slot with Brimaz, Reckoner and the God though. But being able to grab this with Chandra or Burn can make this deck threatening especially late game.
Purphoros - Strong static ability goes with the recursion capabilities of the deck. Atheros goes great with him, Brimaz and Phoenix can constantly trigger him (with the latter working towards activating him) Reckoner gives three devotion to him, and he can turn cards like Elspeth and Brimaz into one card wincons. He's worthless on an empty board however so just one of him but with this shell built around his abilities, one is all you'll need.
Stormbreath Dragon - Control's biggest thorn to deal with. Gives immediate value with haste, hits hard and his monstrous ability can cause nightmares when resolved. Pro white also makes this nightmare a threat for UW based decks to deal with
Blood Baron of Vizkopa - Mono Black's biggest thorn to deal with. Pro white and black shuts off a lot of removal that can answer him, and his lifelink is vital for stabilization. Helps the deck to combat another of the Big four archetypes.
The deck is also running a healthy suite of ramp with Rakdos keyrune, Planeswalkers with Chandra and Elspeth, and if I can fit it in somewhere I'd like to add a small draw package like 2 Connections or Read the Bones to support the deck and ensure that it can progress to the late game. Of course this is just a sample list but if you guys have any suggestions on better card options I'd love to hear it. It has the tools to combat all 4 of the major standard archetypes, it just needs the list that can execute it all effectively.
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram
4 Sylvan Caryatid
3 Courser of Kruphix
3 Boon Satyr
3 Eidolon of Blossoms
3 Heliod, God of the Sun
2 Pharika's Mender
Spells
2 Skybind
Reanimator Shell
4 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Sylvan Primordial
2 Ashen Rider
3 Whip of Erebos
Lands
2 Mana Confluence
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Godless Shrine
3 Temple of Silence
3 Temple Garden
2 Temple of Plenty
3 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Nyx-Fleece Ram
2 Underworld Coinsmith
4 Grim Guardian
1 Courser of Kruphix
2 Bow of Nylea
2 Polukeranos, World Eater
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
2 Skybind
The main idea is to Whip/Skybind to perform a recurring "Obzedadt" trick by coming back for good. In addition you can blink scrylands, flash opponent's creatures when they attack, etc. Sideboard against aggressive decks or if you win first game. Then you can just go the turbo Grim while still blinking things for control elements. In both versions your best friend will be Heliod himself as a recurring source of Constellation. Please give feedback/suggestions. I look forward to it. (I do plan to add at least 2 Temple of Malady as soon as I get them in place of one Overgrown Tomb and one Forest.)
Edit: went 1-3 at local FNM, Took out an Esper control first round, lost to a Good Junk Deck (Aggro Style), a BG Golgari Enchantment deck (R2 & 3 two of the best in the area.) and Mono Black Devotion in the last round. Partial misplays 3rd round, but the joys of the night included locking out the Esper control G3 with Ashen Rider, Skybind and Heliod on a hard Blink Rider lock, along with last round blinking Pack Rat tokens.
I think this deck has serious potential to be one of the best red aggro decks in standard (and I actually play Boros when I play aggro), but if you're open to the criticism I have a few suggestions that I think would make the deck a lot better. First and foremost, Fabled Hero just comes in with a huge target on his back and gets removed within a couple of turns. Try Eidolon of Countless Battles in his place. Doubles as a creature and an enchantment and can be really potent with so many cheap creatures. Second, the Ordeal of Purphoros is great, but the board in this deck is super volatile, potentially replace them with the fourth Coordinated Assault, fourth Titan's Strength, and 4th Favored Hoplite. With 7 1 drops not counting hopeful eidolon, the curve can survive a little more. Replace them with Prophetic Flamespeaker. This is the perfect deck for that card. Or replace the Phalanx Leaders. Unless you really switch up the mana base, hitting red on turn 1 for akroan crusader and ww for phalanx leader the second turn is straight up impossible. Then mana base. If you can get them sacred foundries and mana confluences should be in there somewhere. If you cant get confluences Temple of Triumphs are almost as good. Hopefully this helps a bit!
UW Approach UW
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls U
What do you think this deck's aggro match up is like? Seems very vulnerable to fast starts.
UW Approach UW
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls U
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Kiora's Follower
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Desecration Demon
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
3 Grey Merchant of Asphodel
3 Arbor Colossus
Spells
4 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Hero's Downfall
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3 Mana Confluence
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Watery Grave
3 Breeding Pool
2 Temple of Mystery
3 Temple of Malady
3 Temple of Deceit
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Pithing Needle
2 Plummet
2 Golgari Charm
3 Bile Blight
2 Agent of Erebos
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
2 Whip of Erebos
This deck is basically a mashup of MBD and G/x Monsters with revs thrown in. A hodge podge mashup for sure, but ideas/thoughts are welcome.
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
3 Ember Swallower
2 Sylvan Primordial
2 Angel of Serenity
Spells
3 Chained to the Rocks
3 Desecration Plague
3 Bramblecrush
2 Skybind
3 Mana Bloom
3 Mana Confluence
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Temple of Triumph
1 Ember Swallower
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Angel of Serenity
4 Nyx-Fleece Ram
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Demolish
5 other cards
This one is made to control the board till you can Mana Bloom/Skybind control your opponent into submission with the best card for the situation. Other options include swapping in one or two Heliod, God of the Sun for an instant enchantment engine, but I'm not sure what I would take out at the moment. Not as big and flashy as the first one, but has potential...... (I do have to say that I do love blinking Scrylands... lol)
Please let me know your thoughts on these and how they could be improved.
Thank you,
-B
1 Shadowborn Demon
2 Lifebane Zombie
4 Pack Rat
3 Whip of Erebos
1 Breaking // Entering
3 Izzet Charm
3 Thoughtflare
1 Dreadbore
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Hero's Downfall
3 Jace, the Living Guildpact
1 Liliana Vess
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Shivan Reef
4 Steam Vents
2 Temple of Deceit
1 Temple of Epiphany
2 Temple of Malice
4 Blood Crypt
4 Watery Grave
3 Swamp
Jace can put reanimation targets in the graveyard. Pack Rat also does this well and is very hard to answer. The other cards round out the deck by removing threats and drawing cards. The land base is very strong.
3 Duress
3 Dreadbore
2 Ulcerate
2 Ultimate Price
4 Pain Seer
3 Spike Jester
4 Pack Rat
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple of Malice
2 Mana Confluence
5 Mountain
6 Swamp
7 Hand Disruption
7 Removal
23 Creatures
23 Land
Inspired by "Wildspeaker Jund"
4 Pack Rat
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
1 Soul of Shandalar
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Dreadbore
3 Magma Jet
2 Rakdos's Return
3 Stoke the Flames
3 Thoughtseize
3 Ultimate Price
1 Mana Confluence
8 Mountain
4 Mutavault
1 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Swamp
4 Temple of Malice
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Doom Blade
3 Duress
3 Magma Spray
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Perilous Vault
1 Rakdos's Return
3 Slaughter Games
Deck is built around creating a recurring source of card advantage with Pack Rat and Chandra's Phoenix. Pitch two Phoenixes to Pack Rat, and you get two Rats. Burn the opponent, and you get the Phoenixes back and get to make two more Rats. Prophetic Flamespeaker and Chandra help provide more cards, and Return, an already brutal card, is just nuts when you get a Phoenix back with it. Pitching Soul of Shandalar to Pack Rat is also adorable. The card advantage engines are supplemented by evasive damage and additional reach from the burn spells.