i don't run brave the elements because it doesn't protect my akroan crusader or the army he makes. There were too many times when i had him suited up and i was stuck with a useless brave in my hand. Anax and cymede is a very good card, i just thought that in the 3 slot Eidolon of countless battles was better because he usually gets big quick and unlike anax and cymede he can double as an enchant hero trigger.
However i do want to say right now that especially with RW burn being a deck and RG monsters adding black for removal, UW control adding B for removal, and U devotion adding white for D-Sphere all the decks in the format just have too much spot and blanket removal to make this deck good. However of a shift occurs to less removal (which i think will happen soon), then this deck will be able to capitalize on that and be good again.
I chose to drop akroan..dont want to waste my enablers just to get a token..would rather use favored. with the list below..do u think its best to run god's will or brave in the main deck..as the only red creature I have id probably use as an enabler instead..also should I add gift of orzhav?
The troops:You pick, they all have a bestow/ heroic relation. Bestow creatures are seen as enchantments as they target the heroic creatures. But if behind can be casted as low cmc creatures.
Soldier of the Pantheon has no bestow/ heroic relation..maybe favored hoplite or hopeful eidolon would be more synergistic
Kekule_the_Magician on the inclusion of Devouring Light in a TurboFog Deck:
Quote from Kekule_the_Magician »
As a person who typically plays very creature oriented decks, I HATE when an opponent has Devouring Light. It is infuriating to finally get through with a creature on to have it exiled.
I've come to hate White in general now because it gets everything to the point where it is almost unfair. White has boardwipes (Wrath of God, End Hostilities), targeted exile and removal (Devouring Light, Banishing Light, Last Breath), lifegain spells, lifelink, low cost/high power enchantments and auras, flying creatures; my goodness what don't they get!?
I'm contemplating swapping Nivmagus Elemental for Akroan Skyguard; due to the Nivmagus Elemental not having heroic, but it seems handy to be able to sac spells into it if the spell target gets destroyed.
The skyguard though will give added reach as it has good evasion
This is a straight white version, something I've been testing and tweaking... In playing solitaire, it wins on turn 5 fairly reliably, often on turn 4 if you get a perfect curve. Rarely it goes to turn 6 due to poor mana distribution. Also, this is Theros block only. I wanted to see how good I could make the deck removing all the cards that are rotating out in the fall.
Some things I have experimented with that didn't work well:
Brimaz: He doesn't interact at all with the Heroic/Bestow component of the deck, and competes with Fabled Hero and Eidolon of Countless Battles in the curve. I found in testing I was almost always ending the game with him still in my hand.
Elspeth: By the time you cast this, the game should be over. Phalanx Formation: As an alternative to Dauntless Onslaught. The damage potential is pretty high, but it is severely weakened if Fabled Hero is in play. Also, I don't think it's worthwhile to use it only on one creature, and I don't want to need 5 mana for anything in this deck. Nyxborn Shieldmate: This is okay. I was divided on choosing between this and Hopeful Eidolon. You could go either way.
The deck has no maindeck removal, mainly because it's difficult to test that in solitaire (I've mainly been using tappedout.net's browser-based playtester since I can do that from my work computer). I'm not really sure if I want any. This can be explosively fast, and any removal spells will act against that if they are drawn. But I would also not be surprised if it ends up being worthwhile to play a couple Reprisal, probably at the expense of 2 Hopeful Eidolons.
There are basically two ideal routes to a turn 4 win:
Turn 1: Soldier of the Pantheon
Turn 2: Hero of Iroas (attack for 2)
Turn 3: Bestow Eidolon of Countless Battles on Hero of Iroas (attack for 8)
Turn 4: Attack using either Dauntless Onslaught or playing a couple cheap creatures/spells targeting Hero to get extra 2 damage to win.
Turn 1: Soldier of the Pantheon
Turn 2: Phalanx Leader (attack for 2)
Turn 3: Fabled Hero (attack for 3)
Turn 4: Attack, play Dauntless Onslaught targeting Phalanx Leader and Fabled Hero (for 19 damage)
The other stuff in the deck basically all support stuff for when you can't get these plays.
I don't think the deck is quite Tier 1 level yet (it can suffer terribly from having only 2 land or too many land, both of which happen often enough), but the results are pretty impressive considering it is Theros block only.
The third Mana Confluence as a 61st card was a last second change. After getting in 4 rounds with the deck then another 4 rounds in games before/after I'm pretty unimpresed with Mutavault so I believe I'll be removing one for the Mana Confluence permanently. It may even be right to abandon Mutavault completely as it's really bad before 4 lands (25% of the land in the deck). Hero of Leina Tower and Zameck Guildmage make for much better mana sinks, and they don't require me to run colorless lands so they improve the mana. Every card felt like it pulled it's own weight though so I'm happy with where the deck is at.
My thoughts behind it are that green offers a lot and blue is super good for ciphers. Both white and red are deep enough that you can get by without both of them. I have a RUG list I would like to test as well, the protection and removal is worse but the creatures are much more aggressive.
Very Straight-Forward, 100% dedicated to Heroically beating face ASAP. I do wish there were another 1 mana enchantment to replace Ordeal of Purphors, but I think this has the capacity to blitz the opponent, and has the protection spells to squeeze in that quick damage. Thoughts?
I'm having some difficulty with mana issues with this deck. I usually will keep a 1-land hand due to the number of 1-cc creatures, but occasionally I just don't get anymore land. Other games I am getting completely mana flooded. The variance is way too high. If half the time you get too much land, and the other half the time you don't get enough, does that imply you are playing with the correct number of land?
Changed the sideboard a bit. Reprisal is a lot less useful than I was hoping. Can't target Stormbreath Dragon, can't target Blood Baron. This is my current sideboard:
Acolyte's Reward seems like a potentially strong card in against any Rx Aggro deck. I have not gotten to use it yet, though.
I have identified a few problems this deck encounters. Since I am testing this deck to see how well positioned it is without RTR block, I am pleased that nearly everything that kills my deck is rotating out in the fall. The problem cards are Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Stormbreath Dragon, Ruric Thar, The Unbowed, Pack Rat, Mizzium Mortars, and Anger of the Gods. Anger of the Gods and Mizzium Mortars can be somewhat mitigated by playing conservatively, holding mana open to play Gods Willing or Ajani's Presence.
For the big creatures, two are rotating and I'm not going to adapt the deck to deal with those. But in general, the deck does have a weakness against large creatures that have either protection from white or an ability that hoses my deck. I am considering adding solutions to the sideboard for these. I am currently deciding between 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion or 2 Fated Retribution. Elspeth seems the better choice for a couple reasons: reduced casting cost is important in a deck with limited lands, doesn't always wipe my own creatures, and she provides token generation which can get out of hand with Phalanx Leader triggers.
If I had a critique of your deck, it would be that for a heroic deck it is too creature-heavy, meaning you won't get all that many heroic triggers going. Also, as you're not going to reach the mana count consistently, I would warn against Elspeth and Fated. Since you're playing an aggro deck, your solutions should be pro-active aggro solutions rather than reactive solutions.
I'm curious as to how Dauntless Onslaught, Eidolon of Countless Battles, and Launch the Fleet have worked out for you. I've played around with Launch, but I'm usually unimpressed, as you really need to flood the board for it to work out. My problem is that my heroic decks have not been real creature-heavy like yours.
My Boros Heroic has taken on a slightly different look:
Akroan Crusader: I initially shied away from this guy, but he's been rock solid. When you're facing down a lot of Devour Flesh, this guy can really save your bacon. The fact that the tokens come out with haste creates a lot of opportunity to get in extra damage.
Dragon Mantle: This card is so underrated it's not even funny. For the longest time, I turned my nose up at it, but after I saw that SCG Columbus Invitational winner ran 4 in his sligh deck, I figured I would give it a shot. So far, I am impressed and surprised. In the deck, it's worst case scenario is generally heroic trigger + draw a card. That extra card is actually huge, as it prevents you from taking negative CA, and digs to your next land drops, etc. Also, the firebreathing is underrated, as it gives your creatures the strength to punch through all kinds of popular blockers, including, most notably, Courser of Kruphix and Sylvan Caryatid.
Titan's Strength: Usually, this acts as +4/+2 and a scry. Again, punches through blockers. The scry is very useful.
Mortal Obstinacy: Another sleeper card that's really useful with all of the enchantments floating out there now. Personally, I like this better than Ethereal Armor, as I'm seldom stacking a million auras onto the field. I've been going back and forth whether to put this into the main deck in place of Titan's Strength.
Ordeal of Heliod: This sideboard card has been great against burn and other aggro decks. With all of my guys getting heroic counters, popping it off for 10 life is usually a cinch.
I am currently running 18 lands and, oddly enough, it has hardly been an issue at all. I think the difference has been from running so many different scry effects, and Dragon Mantle, as well. However, I am on the verge of going to 19 lands, just to make sure I don't have to take too many mulligans. Any more lands than that would be out of the question, for me. This deck fires on all cylinders with 3 land out, and no card costs more than 2.
So far, the deck has been not just fun, but downright competitive. It has solid matchups against Courser decks, UW control, and it's explosive enough to outpace most other aggro decks. I sometimes still have trouble against Black Devotion decks. Getting hit with Thoughtseize and then a removal string can be completely backbreaking, especially since I'm a little creature-thin at the outset. Akroan Crusader performs well in the matchup, but it's still very tough. I'm looking for some advice on how to strengthen this matchup.
If I had a critique of your deck, it would be that for a heroic deck it is too creature-heavy, meaning you won't get all that many heroic triggers going. Also, as you're not going to reach the mana count consistently, I would warn against Elspeth and Fated. Since you're playing an aggro deck, your solutions should be pro-active aggro solutions rather than reactive solutions.
I'm curious as to how Dauntless Onslaught, Eidolon of Countless Battles, and Launch the Fleet have worked out for you. I've played around with Launch, but I'm usually unimpressed, as you really need to flood the board for it to work out. My problem is that my heroic decks have not been real creature-heavy like yours.
Yeah, I agree that Fated Retribution and Elspeth are not optimal solutions, for the reason you mention. But Stormbreath Dragon is a problem. The deck is creature-heavy, but 8 of those creatures have bestow, and if I have Hero of Iroas they bestow on turn 3.
Eidolon of Countless Battles has been hit or miss for me. It's frequently not big enough to justify the casting cost as a creature, but bestowing it on something is almost always good. Launch the Fleet has been decent. It swings the game in my favor more often than it fails. As for Dauntless Onslaught... I know this card is not terribly popular, but it has almost always been a game-ender when I have played it.
Your deck has given me some ideas. I like Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, Moral Obstinacy, and Ordeal of Heliod. And they're all very cheap. I'm thinking about dropping down to 20 land and trying this:
Only 6 spells that cost 3 now, everything else is 2 or less and there are still 8 1-drop creatures. This still offers no protection from Stormbreath Dragon, but I believe this will be faster, and the increase in Gods Willing and Ajani's Presence offers me the ability to keep alive whatever is blocked by the dragon.
EDIT: Hm, tested this with a dozen or so solitaire runs on tappedout... it seems to be considerably slower. I'm not getting enough triggers for the Lagonna-band guy. I'll see how it works replacing him with Soldier of the Pantheon, even though that doesn't have Heroic.
Take Ordeal of Heliod out, and add Hopeful Eidolon. It will gain you more life on average, and survive creature removal if bestowed. I agree with putting the Soldier in. Remember your goal is damage, not heroics, and there are only so many times you can target something with a spell before you run out of spells to spread around. So getting a good cheap beater and saving your targeting spells for something else (like Phalanx Leader) is double goodness.
Eidolon of Countless Battles is a good combo with Hopeful Eidolon because either can enchant the other, and if you have both of those then Ethereal Armor becomes very good as well.
Just so you all understand if you're going to run 18 creatures you're going to get hosed. Any one removal spell is going to end you when it lands, and remember you're going to be thoughtseized and lifebaned every other match several times a game. The reason I've been winning consistently (bronze on paper and over $600 in tickets on mtgo) is that I can switch from all in to swarm on a dime and im resistant to removal. also Ajani is a must have. You need a finisher against the midrange decks. trust me id probably have won another silver event had I made the adjustment on paper in time. And for testing sake Ive been beating all-in versions like the ones above for months with my version due to consistency.
Yeah, I'd totally play Ajani (and Ethereal Armor) but I am limiting myself to stuff that will still be available after rotation (just because I don't think it makes much sense at this point to try to pick up cards I will only be able to use for a couple months).
I'm inclined to agree with lajube and Derek049 after trying out the version with less creatures. I think the nice thing about the bestow creatures is that you have the flexibility to use them as creatures if you are otherwise low for some reason, or to use them as heroic triggers if you have plenty of creatures already. I also agree that the deck needs to be able to swarm sometimes. You could build up one creature to be really huge and then get stopped dead by Stormbreath Dragon if you fail to draw additional Gods Willing.
Ethereal Armor is common. Get 4 for less than a dollar. Heck ask any player at FNM they probably have a bunch at home they aren't using.
Derek: I've had a lot of success with this deck, but UW control always gets me. The local control players are very tight and I can never quite reach 0. First it's Supreme Verdict, and then all their lifegain, and then Elspeth or Archangel of Thune clinches it. I think maybe I'm playing it wrong because my list isn't far off from your Bronze list.
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Current Awesome Deck: UWAll-In GiftsWU Consistent, Resiliant, and way overpowered, making multiple 4/4s per turn.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWUFree Stuff MidrangeUWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
Ethereal Armor is common. Get 4 for less than a dollar. Heck ask any player at FNM they probably have a bunch at home they aren't using.
This is true... but it's not really what I meant. I don't see the value in trying to build a deck that's only going to be legal for a couple months during a time of the year when major events are being run in Modern. I think a more valuable thing to do with this time as far as Standard goes is to look at the post-rotation setting. Find a deck that's legal post-rotation that can come close to even breaking even at FNM and that deck is certainly in a good place for post-rotation. Winning $10 at FNM or whatever is not as important as getting information early. At least, that's my aim.
For me, Jund has been pretty hard so far. It's too much removal to deal with. They cast Dreadbore on my Fabled Hero, I respond with Ajani's Presence, they respond with Hero's Downfall, I respond with Gods Willing, they respond with Mizzium Mortars. So I lose my creature along with 2 other very useful spells, and although they have probably run out of removal cards, I have also run out of targeted instants, and I'm left with a hopeful eidolon and favored hoplite in play to face Polukranos next turn. That actually happened, and it seems to happen like that often enough. The game consistently lasts long enough to enable them to do that because they drop early blockers like Caryatid and Courser that can handle non-pumped early weenies just fine.
You might as well ignore standard then, as it won't change for over 3 months. When it does, all decks will lose power and gain new stuff. Some will be wrecked and some will be born. You really can't plan for that now.
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Current Awesome Deck: UWAll-In GiftsWU Consistent, Resiliant, and way overpowered, making multiple 4/4s per turn.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWUFree Stuff MidrangeUWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
Wbite heroic Aggro is the best deck I've played (out of 2, because I'm new) but it really is a powerful deck. I feel favored against other Aggro, good against midrange, and less good against control, though a set of Mutavault would probably have fixed that.
I moved on to UG simply because I wanted interactive magic instead of being the guy with Gods Willing and Brave that does a very good job of ignoring the opponent while going in for the kill.
Anyway, this week is the last hurrah for the deck before the M15 shakeup and I'm going back for one last kick at the can. I think M15 is going to turbo-charge UG so I'm not playing that until the new cards are legal. Who out there is still running white heroes?
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Current Awesome Deck: UWAll-In GiftsWU Consistent, Resiliant, and way overpowered, making multiple 4/4s per turn.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWUFree Stuff MidrangeUWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
I think Gods Willing and Boros Charm and Ajani's Presence and Ephemeral Shields is too many protection cards. Take out the Ajani's Presence, and put in Dragon Mantle. Ordeal of Heliod is not great, but maybe Ordeal of Purphoros? I would remove Lagonna Band Trailblazer for something more aggressive.
I think Inferno Fist is underwhelming until rotation, so I'm trying to decide if I want Madcaps or Ordeal of Porpheros. I'm down for cutting 2 Presence for 2 mantle, but this deck's weakness is its creatures so I figured the more targeted ways to protect the more stable it is.
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Currently Playing
Standard UB UB Midrange UB
Modern GRWUBTribal Flames ZooGRWUB
RUGTemur DelverRUG
Legacy UW Stoneblade UW
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However i do want to say right now that especially with RW burn being a deck and RG monsters adding black for removal, UW control adding B for removal, and U devotion adding white for D-Sphere all the decks in the format just have too much spot and blanket removal to make this deck good. However of a shift occurs to less removal (which i think will happen soon), then this deck will be able to capitalize on that and be good again.
4 Favored Hoplite
2 Nyxborn Rollicker
3 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Hero of Iroas
4 Phalanx Leader
3 Fabled Hero
3 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Boros Charm
4 Gods Willing
4 Madcap Skills
Lands: 21
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry
8 Plains
5 Mountain
Standard Decks
WR Boros Heroic
Soldier of the Pantheon has no bestow/ heroic relation..maybe favored hoplite or hopeful eidolon would be more synergistic
Standard Decks
WR Boros Heroic
I took it to a Super IQ and came in 4th.
SO fun lol
3 Artisan of Forms
2 Nivmagus Elemental
4 Pain Seer
4 Tormented Hero
4 Xathrid Necromancer
4 Island
5 Swamp
3 Mutavault
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Watery Grave
3 Boon of Erebos
3 Mizzium Skin
2 Retraction Helix
4 Triton Tactics
1 Ultimate Price
4 Hidden Strings
3 Desecration Demon
2 Bile Blight
2 Dispel
2 Doom Blade
2 Negate
2 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
The SB is very WiP
2x Eidolon of Countless Battles
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Hopeful Eidolon
4x Nivmagus Elemental
3x Nyxborn Rollicker
4x Satyr Hoplite
Enchantment (7)
3x Chained to the Rocks
4x Madcap Skills
3x Boros Charm
4x Coordinated Assault
1x Gods Willing
4x Titan's Strength
Land (20)
2x Mana Confluence
4x Mountain
6x Plains
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph
4x Aegis of the Gods
1x Chained to the Rocks
3x Gods Willing
4x Swift Justice
This deck can get a turn 3 win.
Turn 1: Any 1/1 heroic creature
Turn 2: Madcap skills, swing for 5
Turn 3: Boros Charm + Titan's Strength. Swing for 18.
I'm contemplating swapping Nivmagus Elemental for Akroan Skyguard; due to the Nivmagus Elemental not having heroic, but it seems handy to be able to sac spells into it if the spell target gets destroyed.
The skyguard though will give added reach as it has good evasion
SB choices
Gods Willing: To help vs burn and control
Chained to the Rocks: vs other aggro
Swift Justice: replaces [[Coordinated Assault]] against aggro
Aegis of the Gods: vs Black and burn.
not sure about the last 3 slots, maybe anger of the gods?
3 spots left, possibly anger of the gods for when my heroic creatures get past 3 defense?
Thought and SB help would be fantastic, thanks!
WU$50 Budget UW heroicUW
Modern
WR Boros Burn RW
Commander/EDH
(WiP) RNorin the TrollR
4x Fabled Hero
4x Phalanx Leader
4x Hero of Iroas
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Hopeful Eidolon
2x Gods Willing
4x Dauntless Onslaught
2x Spear of Heliod
Some things I have experimented with that didn't work well:
Brimaz: He doesn't interact at all with the Heroic/Bestow component of the deck, and competes with Fabled Hero and Eidolon of Countless Battles in the curve. I found in testing I was almost always ending the game with him still in my hand.
Elspeth: By the time you cast this, the game should be over.
Phalanx Formation: As an alternative to Dauntless Onslaught. The damage potential is pretty high, but it is severely weakened if Fabled Hero is in play. Also, I don't think it's worthwhile to use it only on one creature, and I don't want to need 5 mana for anything in this deck.
Nyxborn Shieldmate: This is okay. I was divided on choosing between this and Hopeful Eidolon. You could go either way.
The deck has no maindeck removal, mainly because it's difficult to test that in solitaire (I've mainly been using tappedout.net's browser-based playtester since I can do that from my work computer). I'm not really sure if I want any. This can be explosively fast, and any removal spells will act against that if they are drawn. But I would also not be surprised if it ends up being worthwhile to play a couple Reprisal, probably at the expense of 2 Hopeful Eidolons.
There are basically two ideal routes to a turn 4 win:
Turn 1: Soldier of the Pantheon
Turn 2: Hero of Iroas (attack for 2)
Turn 3: Bestow Eidolon of Countless Battles on Hero of Iroas (attack for 8)
Turn 4: Attack using either Dauntless Onslaught or playing a couple cheap creatures/spells targeting Hero to get extra 2 damage to win.
Turn 1: Soldier of the Pantheon
Turn 2: Phalanx Leader (attack for 2)
Turn 3: Fabled Hero (attack for 3)
Turn 4: Attack, play Dauntless Onslaught targeting Phalanx Leader and Fabled Hero (for 19 damage)
The other stuff in the deck basically all support stuff for when you can't get these plays.
I don't think the deck is quite Tier 1 level yet (it can suffer terribly from having only 2 land or too many land, both of which happen often enough), but the results are pretty impressive considering it is Theros block only.
It's more of the Greg Hatch/AJ Sacher style but with green.
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple Garden
4 Breeding Pool
3 Mana Confluence
2 Mutavault
Creatures 21
4 Favored Hoplite
2 Hero of Leina Tower
4 Nivmagus Elemental
3 Judge's Familiar
3 Akroan Skyguard
1 Zameck Guildmage
4 Sage of Hours
4 Gods Willing
4 Hidden Strings
4 Trait Doctoring
2 Ajani's Presence
4 Mutant's Prey
3 Warriors' Lesson
2 Bioshift
3 Selesnya Charm
2 Ordeal of Heliod
2 Ordeal of Thassa
3 Mizzium Skin
2 Naturalize
3 Azorius Charm
The third Mana Confluence as a 61st card was a last second change. After getting in 4 rounds with the deck then another 4 rounds in games before/after I'm pretty unimpresed with Mutavault so I believe I'll be removing one for the Mana Confluence permanently. It may even be right to abandon Mutavault completely as it's really bad before 4 lands (25% of the land in the deck). Hero of Leina Tower and Zameck Guildmage make for much better mana sinks, and they don't require me to run colorless lands so they improve the mana. Every card felt like it pulled it's own weight though so I'm happy with where the deck is at.
My thoughts behind it are that green offers a lot and blue is super good for ciphers. Both white and red are deep enough that you can get by without both of them. I have a RUG list I would like to test as well, the protection and removal is worse but the creatures are much more aggressive.
Proven winner- http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck_search_result.asp?Location=MaxPoint Bronze - Myth Adventures - 4/19/14
4 Sacred Foundry
6 Mountain
8 Plains
4 Satyr Hoplite
4 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 Hero of Iroas
4 Madcap Skills
4 Ordeal of Purphoros
4 Gods Willing
4 Ajani's Presence
4 Boros Charm
Very Straight-Forward, 100% dedicated to Heroically beating face ASAP. I do wish there were another 1 mana enchantment to replace Ordeal of Purphors, but I think this has the capacity to blitz the opponent, and has the protection spells to squeeze in that quick damage. Thoughts?
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Hero of Iroas
4 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Fabled Hero
2 Gods Willing
2 Launch the Fleet
2 Dauntless Onslaught
2 Spear of Heliod
2 Ajani's Presence
2 Gods Willing
2 Banishing Light
4 Deicide
3 Reprisal
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
*Theros block only
2 Gods Willing
2 Banishing Light
4 Deicide
3 Acolyte's Reward
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
Acolyte's Reward seems like a potentially strong card in against any Rx Aggro deck. I have not gotten to use it yet, though.
I have identified a few problems this deck encounters. Since I am testing this deck to see how well positioned it is without RTR block, I am pleased that nearly everything that kills my deck is rotating out in the fall. The problem cards are Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Stormbreath Dragon, Ruric Thar, The Unbowed, Pack Rat, Mizzium Mortars, and Anger of the Gods. Anger of the Gods and Mizzium Mortars can be somewhat mitigated by playing conservatively, holding mana open to play Gods Willing or Ajani's Presence.
For the big creatures, two are rotating and I'm not going to adapt the deck to deal with those. But in general, the deck does have a weakness against large creatures that have either protection from white or an ability that hoses my deck. I am considering adding solutions to the sideboard for these. I am currently deciding between 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion or 2 Fated Retribution. Elspeth seems the better choice for a couple reasons: reduced casting cost is important in a deck with limited lands, doesn't always wipe my own creatures, and she provides token generation which can get out of hand with Phalanx Leader triggers.
If I had a critique of your deck, it would be that for a heroic deck it is too creature-heavy, meaning you won't get all that many heroic triggers going. Also, as you're not going to reach the mana count consistently, I would warn against Elspeth and Fated. Since you're playing an aggro deck, your solutions should be pro-active aggro solutions rather than reactive solutions.
I'm curious as to how Dauntless Onslaught, Eidolon of Countless Battles, and Launch the Fleet have worked out for you. I've played around with Launch, but I'm usually unimpressed, as you really need to flood the board for it to work out. My problem is that my heroic decks have not been real creature-heavy like yours.
My Boros Heroic has taken on a slightly different look:
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Mountain
3 Plains
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Satyr Hoplite
4 Akroan Crusader
4 Hero of Iroas
3 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 Madcap Skills
4 Dragon Mantle
1 Titan's Strength
2 Magma Jet
2 Lightning Strike
4 Gods Willing
3 Ajani's Presence
3 Boros Charm
1 Ajani's Presence
1 Boros Charm
3 Mortal Obstinacy
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Magma Spray
2 Titan's Strength
Some notes on card choices/strategies:
Akroan Crusader: I initially shied away from this guy, but he's been rock solid. When you're facing down a lot of Devour Flesh, this guy can really save your bacon. The fact that the tokens come out with haste creates a lot of opportunity to get in extra damage.
Dragon Mantle: This card is so underrated it's not even funny. For the longest time, I turned my nose up at it, but after I saw that SCG Columbus Invitational winner ran 4 in his sligh deck, I figured I would give it a shot. So far, I am impressed and surprised. In the deck, it's worst case scenario is generally heroic trigger + draw a card. That extra card is actually huge, as it prevents you from taking negative CA, and digs to your next land drops, etc. Also, the firebreathing is underrated, as it gives your creatures the strength to punch through all kinds of popular blockers, including, most notably, Courser of Kruphix and Sylvan Caryatid.
Titan's Strength: Usually, this acts as +4/+2 and a scry. Again, punches through blockers. The scry is very useful.
Mortal Obstinacy: Another sleeper card that's really useful with all of the enchantments floating out there now. Personally, I like this better than Ethereal Armor, as I'm seldom stacking a million auras onto the field. I've been going back and forth whether to put this into the main deck in place of Titan's Strength.
Ordeal of Heliod: This sideboard card has been great against burn and other aggro decks. With all of my guys getting heroic counters, popping it off for 10 life is usually a cinch.
I am currently running 18 lands and, oddly enough, it has hardly been an issue at all. I think the difference has been from running so many different scry effects, and Dragon Mantle, as well. However, I am on the verge of going to 19 lands, just to make sure I don't have to take too many mulligans. Any more lands than that would be out of the question, for me. This deck fires on all cylinders with 3 land out, and no card costs more than 2.
So far, the deck has been not just fun, but downright competitive. It has solid matchups against Courser decks, UW control, and it's explosive enough to outpace most other aggro decks. I sometimes still have trouble against Black Devotion decks. Getting hit with Thoughtseize and then a removal string can be completely backbreaking, especially since I'm a little creature-thin at the outset. Akroan Crusader performs well in the matchup, but it's still very tough. I'm looking for some advice on how to strengthen this matchup.
Yeah, I agree that Fated Retribution and Elspeth are not optimal solutions, for the reason you mention. But Stormbreath Dragon is a problem. The deck is creature-heavy, but 8 of those creatures have bestow, and if I have Hero of Iroas they bestow on turn 3.
Eidolon of Countless Battles has been hit or miss for me. It's frequently not big enough to justify the casting cost as a creature, but bestowing it on something is almost always good. Launch the Fleet has been decent. It swings the game in my favor more often than it fails. As for Dauntless Onslaught... I know this card is not terribly popular, but it has almost always been a game-ender when I have played it.
Your deck has given me some ideas. I like Lagonna-Band Trailblazer, Moral Obstinacy, and Ordeal of Heliod. And they're all very cheap. I'm thinking about dropping down to 20 land and trying this:
2 Spear of Heliod
4 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Hero of Iroas
2 Fabled Hero
4 Ajani's Presence
4 Ordeal of Heliod
4 Moral Obstinacy
2 Dauntless Onslaught
2 Launch the Fleet
Only 6 spells that cost 3 now, everything else is 2 or less and there are still 8 1-drop creatures. This still offers no protection from Stormbreath Dragon, but I believe this will be faster, and the increase in Gods Willing and Ajani's Presence offers me the ability to keep alive whatever is blocked by the dragon.
EDIT: Hm, tested this with a dozen or so solitaire runs on tappedout... it seems to be considerably slower. I'm not getting enough triggers for the Lagonna-band guy. I'll see how it works replacing him with Soldier of the Pantheon, even though that doesn't have Heroic.
Eidolon of Countless Battles is a good combo with Hopeful Eidolon because either can enchant the other, and if you have both of those then Ethereal Armor becomes very good as well.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
I'm inclined to agree with lajube and Derek049 after trying out the version with less creatures. I think the nice thing about the bestow creatures is that you have the flexibility to use them as creatures if you are otherwise low for some reason, or to use them as heroic triggers if you have plenty of creatures already. I also agree that the deck needs to be able to swarm sometimes. You could build up one creature to be really huge and then get stopped dead by Stormbreath Dragon if you fail to draw additional Gods Willing.
Derek: I've had a lot of success with this deck, but UW control always gets me. The local control players are very tight and I can never quite reach 0. First it's Supreme Verdict, and then all their lifegain, and then Elspeth or Archangel of Thune clinches it. I think maybe I'm playing it wrong because my list isn't far off from your Bronze list.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
This is true... but it's not really what I meant. I don't see the value in trying to build a deck that's only going to be legal for a couple months during a time of the year when major events are being run in Modern. I think a more valuable thing to do with this time as far as Standard goes is to look at the post-rotation setting. Find a deck that's legal post-rotation that can come close to even breaking even at FNM and that deck is certainly in a good place for post-rotation. Winning $10 at FNM or whatever is not as important as getting information early. At least, that's my aim.
For me, Jund has been pretty hard so far. It's too much removal to deal with. They cast Dreadbore on my Fabled Hero, I respond with Ajani's Presence, they respond with Hero's Downfall, I respond with Gods Willing, they respond with Mizzium Mortars. So I lose my creature along with 2 other very useful spells, and although they have probably run out of removal cards, I have also run out of targeted instants, and I'm left with a hopeful eidolon and favored hoplite in play to face Polukranos next turn. That actually happened, and it seems to happen like that often enough. The game consistently lasts long enough to enable them to do that because they drop early blockers like Caryatid and Courser that can handle non-pumped early weenies just fine.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
I moved on to UG simply because I wanted interactive magic instead of being the guy with Gods Willing and Brave that does a very good job of ignoring the opponent while going in for the kill.
Anyway, this week is the last hurrah for the deck before the M15 shakeup and I'm going back for one last kick at the can. I think M15 is going to turbo-charge UG so I'm not playing that until the new cards are legal. Who out there is still running white heroes?
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
4 Akroan Crusader
4 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 Favored Hoplite
2 Phalanx Leader
4 Gods Willing
4 Inferno Fist
4 Hammerhand
4 Ephemeral Shields
4 Ajani's Presence
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Plains
2 Mountains
Standard
UB UB Midrange UB
Modern
GRWUBTribal Flames ZooGRWUB
RUGTemur DelverRUG
Legacy
UW Stoneblade UW
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/coverage/deck_tech_uw_heroic_with_chris.html
Standard
UB UB Midrange UB
Modern
GRWUBTribal Flames ZooGRWUB
RUGTemur DelverRUG
Legacy
UW Stoneblade UW
Standard
UB UB Midrange UB
Modern
GRWUBTribal Flames ZooGRWUB
RUGTemur DelverRUG
Legacy
UW Stoneblade UW