I played against Esper Control (2-1), Orzhov Midrange (2-0), Selesnya Aggro (2-0), and Boros Aggro (0-2)
My thoughts/observations on specific cards:
Hopeful Eidolon: Surprisingly useful as a turn 1 play. Slammed Selesnya with this on turn 1, followed by double Ethereal Armor on turn 2.
Triton Tactics: I was never sad to see this card. In fact, I wish I had more copies of these in the sideboard against Boros.
Rootborn Defenses: Thinking of cutting these, as they were just dud cards. I'm more confident with just playing smarter and not overextending than belching my hand onto the field and hoping to have one of these for the inevitable Supreme Verdict.
Aqueous Form: There was only one in the maindeck, but it won me every game it showed up in. Might keep it as a 1-of, though - I want the Gridlock to become the 4th Ethereal Armor.
Gift of Orzhova: Sensational out of the board. This card broke games open.
Fabled Hero: Solid, as expected. A 2/2 double strike on turn 3 is plenty scary, and demands an answer. I was not afraid to tap out for one of these; if I got to untap with it, things got real.
I played against Esper Control (2-1), Orzhov Midrange (2-0), Selesnya Aggro (2-0), and Boros Aggro (0-2)
My thoughts/observations on specific cards:
Hopeful Eidolon: Surprisingly useful as a turn 1 play. Slammed Selesnya with this on turn 1, followed by double Ethereal Armor on turn 2.
Triton Tactics: I was never sad to see this card. In fact, I wish I had more copies of these in the sideboard against Boros.
Rootborn Defenses: Thinking of cutting these, as they were just dud cards. I'm more confident with just playing smarter and not overextending than belching my hand onto the field and hoping to have one of these for the inevitable Supreme Verdict.
Aqueous Form: There was only one in the maindeck, but it won me every game it showed up in. Might keep it as a 1-of, though - I want the Gridlock to become the 4th Ethereal Armor.
Gift of Orzhova: Sensational out of the board. This card broke games open.
Fabled Hero: Solid, as expected. A 2/2 double strike on turn 3 is plenty scary, and demands an answer. I was not afraid to tap out for one of these; if I got to untap with it, things got real.
Gonna bring this to FNM again tomorrow. Such a blast to play!
Congrats man I really like what you built out there. I agree about 4 Ethereal Armors, the t2 plays with eidolon are just insane, almost gg (because the life swing is nasty enough). Fiendslayer Paladin would be the one I'd have priority to add in the deck, it is always worth it, since the included lifelink and first strike, I never saw this one as a dead draw (even if opponent wasn't playing red or black). I will update the primer with the results seen in here too, I can imagine how the battles were already, and I hope you get 4-0 tomorrow
Well, today i will try this deck on local shop tournament and tomorrow i'll write about results and impressions.
I'm playing a UW Heroic and i want to play it more budget as possible, i started from Theros Event Deck (25€) and added more or less 8€.
By firsts tests matches i see UW version is more solid than RW because we can play more flying creatures and Aqueous form.
I'm going playing this list today:
Yes, I also saw the article; I may dare to say that this person would have been inspired of what we made in here list just looks kind of the same as many others here.
If this one manages to get good tournament results, I can already see many cards inflating price (more likely Battlewise Hoplite and Fabled Hero)
Good luck with your FNM, we expect a 3-1 or 4-0 from this deck it seems pretty solid and consistent indeed
Most of your sideboard is self-explanatory, but which opponents call for the Judge's Familiars or Gift of Orzhovas to be mainboarded?
I suppose maybe the Gifts are for putting damage in the air, probably vs RDW/AIR, and the Familiars are for postponing removal vs Izzet/Orzhov/MonoB.
When do you find them most useful?
The Gift of Orzhovas were nice for keeping pace with Boros and Selesnya, as I was able to ignore the trouble creatures (Fleecemane Lion and Boros Reckoner) and race with lifelink. I think I only brought in the Judge's Familiars against Esper, to increase threat density and better help recover from Verdicts.
Daxos is probably better than Familiar against control, but I never saw him when I boarded him in, so I can't offer much commentary there. I'm going to play around with some other goodies in my sideboard tomorrow.
What are your thoughts on Give/Take? Likewise, Murder Investigation might be worth mentioning. If they want to take out your fat heroic creature/board wipe, they'll be left with a smattering of soldier tokens. Mending Touch is probably the better sideboard option to Supreme Verdict. The targeting synergizes with heroic triggers, and lets us save our most enchanted creature.
What are your thoughts on Give/Take? Likewise, Murder Investigation might be worth mentioning. If they want to take out your fat heroic creature/board wipe, they'll be left with a smattering of soldier tokens. Mending Touch is probably the better sideboard option to Supreme Verdict. The targeting synergizes with heroic triggers, and lets us save our most enchanted creature.
Give/Take is a kind of slow card. I can see it on midrange strategies, but not aggro. If it were at instant speed, it would be a "must have", so you could trade your +1/+1 counters for card advantage, but sadly it is not.
Murder Investigation seems interesting indeed, and would synergyze well in an auras-type strategy. For control, dealing on with 4-8 1/1 tokens after they just verdicted is hard enough, so I would give it a chance and see how it performs before judging it Maybe is a better SB than Daxos or regeneration abilities, but let's see first.
What are your thoughts on Give/Take? Likewise, Murder Investigation might be worth mentioning. If they want to take out your fat heroic creature/board wipe, they'll be left with a smattering of soldier tokens. Mending Touch is probably the better sideboard option to Supreme Verdict. The targeting synergizes with heroic triggers, and lets us save our most enchanted creature.
Give/Take doesn't sit too well with me. Giving 3 counters is pretty nice on something like Fabled Hero, but if you're casting Give then you're in green, and I'd sooner play the two cards I mentioned earlier than a three-mana sorcery. Take is okay, but I think the cost of making our guy smaller (in addition to being a 3cc sorcery) is too high for what would realistically be only 2-3 cards. Ordeal of Thassa plays smoother.
And forget about fusing it, if you have six mana in this deck you're flooded and probably losing.
Murder Investigation is very intriguing. I can see it being useful against control like you suggested. Could be worth testing.
EDIT: Aoi, why is it that I'm always drawn to decks that you brew? First Izzet Burn, now this. xP
We're talking about a 7 mana verdict. If you're relying on it to kill aggro, you are dead 2-3 turns ago, only posibility I see for it is playing some white devotion and have one free blue mana, and that all is already complex. Lifelink is what kills aggro eventually, as well as killing their creatures slowly (Triton Tactics and first strike buffs work well for the cause... Swift Justice anyone?).
We're talking about a 7 mana verdict. If you're relying on it to kill aggro, you are dead 2-3 turns ago, only posibility I see for it is playing some white devotion and have one free blue mana, and that all is already complex. Lifelink is what kills aggro eventually, as well as killing their creatures slowly (Triton Tactics and first strike buffs work well for the cause... Swift Justice anyone?).
The issue we face here is that Swift Justice plays second fiddle to Coordinated Assault in red. If you ask me, each color has its one or two big heroic enablers. If you're playing the U/W version, you eschew first strike (assuming you don't play Ethereal Armor) and pick up delicious enablers like Hidden Strings. Really adds a kind of combo feel to the deck.
There are some good draw card effects for these decks. W/g has Warrior's Lesson and W/u has a cipher card that allows you to draw cards. If you couple that cipher card with Aqueous Form it could be very good. I think W/r is the one lacking in the drawing of cards and probably runs out of gas soon if you are not running some burn spells to finish the opponent off.
I took my first draft of a previous to FNM. Played a RDW and beat him 2-0. I then played four Mono-Black Controls and went 1-8-0. This deck is as-of-yet untested. I felt I needed more removal or control-counters.
The lone Soldier of the Pantheon is there because I felt four Imposing Sovereigns redundant. I'm also unsure of my number of Imposing Sovereigns, Precinct Captains, Boros Reckoners, and Fabled Heroes.
The Magma Jets are new additions: I felt I needed some removal. I'm considering shocks or lightning bolts instead.
I've ordered some Wear//Tears to counter Mono-Black Whips/Connections, Skullcracks for Gray Merchants, and am considering Madcap skills instead of Martial Glory.
If you've any modifications, mind giving some turn examples? I'm still trying to think in terms of T1/T2/T3 plays... kind of playing on the fly atm.
Madcap skills is penetration and beats out martial glory by far. But first and foremost, you need to decide if you want to play weenie plus phalanx or "build something scary" heroic.
Main Boarded 2 Rootborn Defense against esper heavy meta.
Sideboard is still tricky, I don't know what to put yet. Solidly, Brave the elements is a tricky topic. It can be pretty tricky if you are using Enchantment based heroic triggers as the enchantments can fall off due to protection effects. In this case, I opted for more instantaneous triggers as I don't like being 2-for-1'd.
I may prefer the latter option. Heroic Weenies seems a bit too... Fragile?
Decided on some changes and took this new deck to FNM. Came in 6th out of 22 people. The core of the deck wasn't bad by any means but I felt as though I had some dead-weight.
I'm still a scrub at this and have a tendancy to mash devotion/WW/heroics into one, so again, I ask for direction and an outside perspective.
The main strategy, as it's lined out in the Primer is...
T1: Favored Hoplite
T2: Madcap Skill on Hopelite
T3: More Targetting Spells + Boros Charm
I figured Ajani could provide similar penetration to Boros Charm and benefit my non-heroics. I have a second one to run. If I run a second Ajani I pay -2 Imposing Sovereign and run +2 Precinct Captain.
Also considering Banisher Priest or Fiendslayer Paladin instead of Soverign/Captain or even Spear of Heliod. I've Priests and Paladins incoming.
I like Spear of Heliod but it may not fit well with Heroics. The mana for it's activated ability doesn't jive well with my deck's speed, either. It has helped me the few times I did play it, however. Swap candidates include another Ajani or Chained to the Rocks.
I've flirted with the idea of Heliod, God of the Sun himself but he seems to benefit more from WW/Devotion Decks, or at least decks with Nykthos. I've no mana-ramping strategy but he'd be a great wall or target for Ajani.
Sorry for the chaos. Typed this up quickly while at work.
@Ruzhyo I would definitely suggest moving Soldier of the Pantheon and Imposing Sovereign to your sideboard. They seem too situational to be mainboard imo. Instead put Anax and Cymede and Chained to the Rocks mainboard. Also you may want to consider running Ethereal Armor, it is a powerhouse in my deck, but that's probably because I run 18 enchantments mainboard, haha
I managed to get my first 4-0 at my FNM out of 24 people with this list:
Anex and Cymede may work. Slapping T4 Madcap Skills/Boros Charm would be a quick deal-sealer with whatever else I've out, and It'd be a good wall should I need one.
The problem is justifying it over Fabled Hero, dropping Ajani after a T2 Precinct Captain/Buffed Hoplite, or a Phalanx Leader+Coordinated Assault on a Favoured Hoplite... but I can see uses as a T4 drop. T4 Anax+Coordinated Assault with a Fabled Hero would be sexy in some ways.
It's temporary heoric ability's issue: A defensively-used instant wouldn't carry anything over to my turn. Another issue could be my lack of field-presance outside of one or two other creatures, assuming that I don't have any impediments.
I'll give AnC a shot and see if it fits, though I know it'd much better suit a Boros-Weenies sort of deal.
Ethereal Armor I've ordered a few days ago. I've considered Enchantments over Combat Tricks, but I would most likely move into an Enchantment-Based Mono-White Heroic/Devotion deal. The big advantage to combat-tricks is dropping them defensively where as enchantments broadcast your intent: I much prefer the "surprise wall" or mid-combat powerhouse that instants can create.
Also, sorry for not reviewing your deck. Still getting into the game and I've decided to focus on Boros-related cards. Part of why I took to Heroics is because it was cheap and interesting.
EDIT: Actually... Looking into Hopeful Eidolon, Ethereal Armor, and more Chained to the Rocks... Hmm.
I really like this list, and it reminds me of my deck construction.
For me, my AnC was Daxos of Meletis. I really wanted to play him, he seemed neat, but after some testing I didn't like him. And I also started seeing the power of enchantments and started putting more and more in, haha.
I admit I didn't put much thought into AnC, and I think this new list looks really good. If you go to FNM this week, be sure to post results! I'm interested in playing W/r just for a change of pace.
I did not play the second, enchantment based deck, no. I played the original and quickly swapped out the Anax and Cymedes. 5-Round Swiss, 3-0 on three, dragged the other two matched to three rounds. Came in 6th out of 18. My Chained to the Rocks finally arrived so I'll be giving the enchantment-based version a shot. I'm still unsure wether or nto I should run 1-2 of Heliod and his Spears. I'll post here with deck-list and results.
A general problem problem I have is bad hands. I'll get mana locked or flooded, have all or none of my heroic triggers. I'm not sure if it's Creature/Trigger/Land Balance, bad shuffling, or just bad luck.
Slightly unrelated: What are some ways for a W/r to shut-down a Corpsejack deck? I've gotten some Rest in Pieces, but that style of deck can always one-up me in one way or another with Regeneration and sudden-buffs. I've added a couple Rest in Piece to my sideboard but don't know of other options.
Hello. was using a deck similar to Aoi(Page 7) on B/U. Don't have any thoughtseize though. Just 1 Godless Shrine.
My FNM - 3-2.
1st Round - Me vs Opponent(R/U/W control) 2-0. 1st match, it was a long match. He kept countering and killing my creatures. I used Orzhov charm to get rid of Boros Reckenor. He had Aetherling on the board, and was all tapped out. I manage to use Agent of the Fates and use his ability to destroy Aetherling. After that, Agent finished opponent off. 2nd match, He lacked any creatures to use, and only manage to summon one, but again use Orzhov charm to get rid of him. Had Fabled Hero at 6/6 and won me the game.
2nd Round - Opponent(U/G) 2-1 He had mostly weenies, and used Imposing sovering, the pantheon(multicolor protection), loxodon smiter, experimental(The evolve with regenerate by removing 2 +1/+1 counters. 1st match I had fliers lifelink that won me the game. 2nd match he overwhelmed me with his creatures and evolved experimental twice along with having two additional creatures. 3rd match he decided to keep his hand telling me he should have probably mulligan. I started with two lands as well, and took a while to draw 3 lands. Once I had 3 lands, I was able to summon fabled hero. Enchanted him a few turns later and with lack of protection from flying, won me the game.
3rd Round - Opponent(Green/Black) 1-2. He had lots of removal spells, mostly abrupt decay which is this deck's weakness pretty much unless I have cards to protect it quickly. He had Loleth troll and I just could not get rid of troll and won him the game. 2nd match, it was a slightly long battle, I manage to use Agent of the Fates to get rid of Loleth troll, but he hero downfall agents later. We were top decking pretty much. He had dreg mangler scavenge 6/6, but I had use orhzov charm to get rid of it. Dryad M he also scavenged later. What won me the game was using Fabled Hero and giving him gift of orzhova and swing in for 10 lifelink total. Could not block fliers. so won match 2. Match 3, was horrible on my part. Had to mulligan twice because only had 1 land. the third time, I still had one land, and just went with it. I had no shot winning. Did not summon creatures at all, while he did with loleth troll, and showed me he had two abrupt decays ready if I did summon a creature, it was over.
4th Round - Opponent(Black devotion splash green) 1-2. Tough match. The 1st match I won, Fiendslayer Paladin he had no chance of getting rid of with his removal spells. Attempted to destroy fabled hero twice, but managed to protected twice. Fiendslayer was 6/6 and was enough to win. 2nd match, he had sideboarded more removals. Every time I kept bringing creatures out, he used Abrupt Decay/hero'sdownfall/doomblade. He had control and finished me off with desc demon and pack rats. 3rd match, he just overwhelmed me with pack rats. I initially killed his 1st pack rat with Orzhov on turn 3. Turn 4, he summoned two additional pack rats, and knew this was going to be tough, with lack of removals on this deck. He had too much pack rats and swung for the game.
5th round - Opponent(B/W/G) - I can't recall much, was tired lol. I can only recall the last match because of how ridiculous Agent of the Fates were. I summoned him on turn 3. Jeused that creature that Banished white/green creatures in my hand. Had none, but he saw I had ethereal armor/gods willing. All I know is the four turns, he summoned three times that banished creature, and a loxodon smiter. Agent of the Fates destroyed all 4 of them each turn as I drew another Gods Willing, and hopeful eidolon to bestow Agent, and swing for the game. He just never had the chance to draw his removal spells.
Overall I enjoyed this deck. I was using duress and well, thoughtseize would have been the preferred choice. Mostly aggro decks are being used in the tournament. Next week, I might try the White/Blue hero deck. It's cheap/budget and nobody in the tournament as I recall, was using that type of deck. Was the only person in the tournament out of 24 people that was using Agent of the Fates/Nighthowler. They both rock. Weakness of this deck is lack of removing spells. Rely on O.Charm and I usually want to bounce my creature/aura against their removals. The matches I didn't win, I lack to use my sideboard. Against the 3rd match, the boon of E would have helped, my opponent told me that as I showed what cards I had in sideboard, and recommend that I should have sided that card in with his massive amount of removal spells. the 2nd match I loss, I should have sided ratchet bomb to get rid of his rat pack tokens.
Hello. was using a deck similar to Aoi(Page 7) on B/U. Don't have any thoughtseize though. Just 1 Godless Shrine.
My FNM - 3-2.
1st Round - Me vs Opponent(R/U/W control) 2-0. 1st match, it was a long match. He kept countering and killing my creatures. I used Orzhov charm to get rid of Boros Reckenor. He had Aetherling on the board, and was all tapped out. I manage to use Agent of the Fates and use his ability to destroy Aetherling. After that, Agent finished opponent off. 2nd match, He lacked any creatures to use, and only manage to summon one, but again use Orzhov charm to get rid of him. Had Fabled Hero at 6/6 and won me the game.
2nd Round - Opponent(U/G) 2-1 He had mostly weenies, and used Imposing sovering, the pantheon(multicolor protection), loxodon smiter, experimental(The evolve with regenerate by removing 2 +1/+1 counters. 1st match I had fliers lifelink that won me the game. 2nd match he overwhelmed me with his creatures and evolved experimental twice along with having two additional creatures. 3rd match he decided to keep his hand telling me he should have probably mulligan. I started with two lands as well, and took a while to draw 3 lands. Once I had 3 lands, I was able to summon fabled hero. Enchanted him a few turns later and with lack of protection from flying, won me the game.
3rd Round - Opponent(Green/Black) 1-2. He had lots of removal spells, mostly abrupt decay which is this deck's weakness pretty much unless I have cards to protect it quickly. He had Loleth troll and I just could not get rid of troll and won him the game. 2nd match, it was a slightly long battle, I manage to use Agent of the Fates to get rid of Loleth troll, but he hero downfall agents later. We were top decking pretty much. He had dreg mangler scavenge 6/6, but I had use orhzov charm to get rid of it. Dryad M he also scavenged later. What won me the game was using Fabled Hero and giving him gift of orzhova and swing in for 10 lifelink total. Could not block fliers. so won match 2. Match 3, was horrible on my part. Had to mulligan twice because only had 1 land. the third time, I still had one land, and just went with it. I had no shot winning. Did not summon creatures at all, while he did with loleth troll, and showed me he had two abrupt decays ready if I did summon a creature, it was over.
4th Round - Opponent(Black devotion splash green) 1-2. Tough match. The 1st match I won, Fiendslayer Paladin he had no chance of getting rid of with his removal spells. Attempted to destroy fabled hero twice, but managed to protected twice. Fiendslayer was 6/6 and was enough to win. 2nd match, he had sideboarded more removals. Every time I kept bringing creatures out, he used Abrupt Decay/hero'sdownfall/doomblade. He had control and finished me off with desc demon and pack rats. 3rd match, he just overwhelmed me with pack rats. I initially killed his 1st pack rat with Orzhov on turn 3. Turn 4, he summoned two additional pack rats, and knew this was going to be tough, with lack of removals on this deck. He had too much pack rats and swung for the game.
5th round - Opponent(B/W/G) - I can't recall much, was tired lol. I can only recall the last match because of how ridiculous Agent of the Fates were. I summoned him on turn 3. Jeused that creature that Banished white/green creatures in my hand. Had none, but he saw I had ethereal armor/gods willing. All I know is the four turns, he summoned three times that banished creature, and a loxodon smiter. Agent of the Fates destroyed all 4 of them each turn as I drew another Gods Willing, and hopeful eidolon to bestow Agent, and swing for the game. He just never had the chance to draw his removal spells.
Overall I enjoyed this deck. I was using duress and well, thoughtseize would have been the preferred choice. Mostly aggro decks are being used in the tournament. Next week, I might try the White/Blue hero deck. It's cheap/budget and nobody in the tournament as I recall, was using that type of deck. Was the only person in the tournament out of 24 people that was using Agent of the Fates/Nighthowler. They both rock. Weakness of this deck is lack of removing spells. Rely on O.Charm and I usually want to bounce my creature/aura against their removals. The matches I didn't win, I lack to use my sideboard. Against the 3rd match, the boon of E would have helped, my opponent told me that as I showed what cards I had in sideboard, and recommend that I should have sided that card in with his massive amount of removal spells. the 2nd match I loss, I should have sided ratchet bomb to get rid of his rat pack tokens.
It seems it went pretty well at all, even considering some sideboarding mistakes. I'm glad you have found fun the deck (and powerful xD) I really love what Agent and howler can do against midrange and aggro, is just nuts.
It seems that, having 3 Hero's Downfall on sidebard shall be a must in order to have more creature removal as you have stated (or to get rid of planeswalkers against control decks), sometimes you just don't draw the agent. I hope Born of the Gods bring us more black/white auras/instants to play with our heroes, who knows, maybe they make a black/white heroic with some nutsy mechanic, although it is very unlikely
I will try to update the primer with this info and other FNM results I had seen in here, unfortunately work is pretty demanding and I sometimes don't find the time. Thank you for posting your results
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Hopeful Eidolon
3 Artisan of Forms
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Fabled Hero
2 Battlewise Hoplite
Hero Braces(18)
3 Ethereal Armor
1 Gridlock
4 Gods Willing
4 Ordeal of Thassa
1 Aqueous Form
2 Triton Tactics
3 Hidden Strings
4 Hallowed Fountain
10 Plains
7 Island
2 Detention Sphere
2 Daxos of Meletis
3 Mizzium Skin
4 Judge's Familiar
2 Rootborn Defenses
2 Gift of Orzhova
I played against Esper Control (2-1), Orzhov Midrange (2-0), Selesnya Aggro (2-0), and Boros Aggro (0-2)
My thoughts/observations on specific cards:
Hopeful Eidolon: Surprisingly useful as a turn 1 play. Slammed Selesnya with this on turn 1, followed by double Ethereal Armor on turn 2.
Triton Tactics: I was never sad to see this card. In fact, I wish I had more copies of these in the sideboard against Boros.
Rootborn Defenses: Thinking of cutting these, as they were just dud cards. I'm more confident with just playing smarter and not overextending than belching my hand onto the field and hoping to have one of these for the inevitable Supreme Verdict.
Aqueous Form: There was only one in the maindeck, but it won me every game it showed up in. Might keep it as a 1-of, though - I want the Gridlock to become the 4th Ethereal Armor.
Gift of Orzhova: Sensational out of the board. This card broke games open.
Fabled Hero: Solid, as expected. A 2/2 double strike on turn 3 is plenty scary, and demands an answer. I was not afraid to tap out for one of these; if I got to untap with it, things got real.
Things I wish I had include: Banisher Priest, Fiendslayer Paladin, and Glare of Heresy.
Gonna bring this to FNM again tomorrow. Such a blast to play!
Congrats man I really like what you built out there. I agree about 4 Ethereal Armors, the t2 plays with eidolon are just insane, almost gg (because the life swing is nasty enough). Fiendslayer Paladin would be the one I'd have priority to add in the deck, it is always worth it, since the included lifelink and first strike, I never saw this one as a dead draw (even if opponent wasn't playing red or black). I will update the primer with the results seen in here too, I can imagine how the battles were already, and I hope you get 4-0 tomorrow
Yes, I also saw the article; I may dare to say that this person would have been inspired of what we made in here list just looks kind of the same as many others here.
If this one manages to get good tournament results, I can already see many cards inflating price (more likely Battlewise Hoplite and Fabled Hero)
Good luck with your FNM, we expect a 3-1 or 4-0 from this deck it seems pretty solid and consistent indeed
Weird Idea of the Month (Standard)
RGWNaya Token CommandoWGR
Rate/discuss my decks :D(almost all formats)
Standard
Orzhov Voltron Superheroes
Modern
Infectors
Legacy
UGBack to Square OneGU
EDH
GWURafiq of the Many Wins (1vs1)UWG
Jarad's Turbo Suicidal Squad (Multiplayer)
Pauper
Are you Afraid of Ghosts? You Better Be!
Most of your sideboard is self-explanatory, but which opponents call for the Judge's Familiars or Gift of Orzhovas to be mainboarded?
I suppose maybe the Gifts are for putting damage in the air, probably vs RDW/AIR, and the Familiars are for postponing removal vs Izzet/Orzhov/MonoB.
When do you find them most useful?
The Gift of Orzhovas were nice for keeping pace with Boros and Selesnya, as I was able to ignore the trouble creatures (Fleecemane Lion and Boros Reckoner) and race with lifelink. I think I only brought in the Judge's Familiars against Esper, to increase threat density and better help recover from Verdicts.
Daxos is probably better than Familiar against control, but I never saw him when I boarded him in, so I can't offer much commentary there. I'm going to play around with some other goodies in my sideboard tomorrow.
Give/Take is a kind of slow card. I can see it on midrange strategies, but not aggro. If it were at instant speed, it would be a "must have", so you could trade your +1/+1 counters for card advantage, but sadly it is not.
Murder Investigation seems interesting indeed, and would synergyze well in an auras-type strategy. For control, dealing on with 4-8 1/1 tokens after they just verdicted is hard enough, so I would give it a chance and see how it performs before judging it Maybe is a better SB than Daxos or regeneration abilities, but let's see first.
Weird Idea of the Month (Standard)
RGWNaya Token CommandoWGR
Rate/discuss my decks :D(almost all formats)
Standard
Orzhov Voltron Superheroes
Modern
Infectors
Legacy
UGBack to Square OneGU
EDH
GWURafiq of the Many Wins (1vs1)UWG
Jarad's Turbo Suicidal Squad (Multiplayer)
Pauper
Are you Afraid of Ghosts? You Better Be!
I really like Mending Touch. If I were to go Bant, that and Unflinching Courage are what I'd splash.
Give/Take doesn't sit too well with me. Giving 3 counters is pretty nice on something like Fabled Hero, but if you're casting Give then you're in green, and I'd sooner play the two cards I mentioned earlier than a three-mana sorcery. Take is okay, but I think the cost of making our guy smaller (in addition to being a 3cc sorcery) is too high for what would realistically be only 2-3 cards. Ordeal of Thassa plays smoother.
And forget about fusing it, if you have six mana in this deck you're flooded and probably losing.
Murder Investigation is very intriguing. I can see it being useful against control like you suggested. Could be worth testing.
EDIT: Aoi, why is it that I'm always drawn to decks that you brew? First Izzet Burn, now this. xP
We're talking about a 7 mana verdict. If you're relying on it to kill aggro, you are dead 2-3 turns ago, only posibility I see for it is playing some white devotion and have one free blue mana, and that all is already complex. Lifelink is what kills aggro eventually, as well as killing their creatures slowly (Triton Tactics and first strike buffs work well for the cause... Swift Justice anyone?).
Weird Idea of the Month (Standard)
RGWNaya Token CommandoWGR
Rate/discuss my decks :D(almost all formats)
Standard
Orzhov Voltron Superheroes
Modern
Infectors
Legacy
UGBack to Square OneGU
EDH
GWURafiq of the Many Wins (1vs1)UWG
Jarad's Turbo Suicidal Squad (Multiplayer)
Pauper
Are you Afraid of Ghosts? You Better Be!
The issue we face here is that Swift Justice plays second fiddle to Coordinated Assault in red. If you ask me, each color has its one or two big heroic enablers. If you're playing the U/W version, you eschew first strike (assuming you don't play Ethereal Armor) and pick up delicious enablers like Hidden Strings. Really adds a kind of combo feel to the deck.
My deck needs a little bit of direction if anyone has any comments.
4x Favored Hopelite
1x Soldier of the Pantheon
3x Imposing Sovereign
4x Phalanx Leader
4x Precinct Captain
2x Boros Reckoner
1x Fabled Hero
Artifact: 1
1x Spear of Heliod
4x Boros Charm
4x Coordinated Assaut
4x Gods Willing
2x Martial Glory
4x Magma Jet
Land: 22
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph
9x Plains
5x Mountains
3x Skullcrack
2x Fabled Hero
1x Spear of Heliod
2x Wear//Tear
3x Soldier of the Pantheon
2x Celestial Flare
2x Glare of Heresy
I took my first draft of a previous to FNM. Played a RDW and beat him 2-0. I then played four Mono-Black Controls and went 1-8-0. This deck is as-of-yet untested. I felt I needed more removal or control-counters.
The lone Soldier of the Pantheon is there because I felt four Imposing Sovereigns redundant. I'm also unsure of my number of Imposing Sovereigns, Precinct Captains, Boros Reckoners, and Fabled Heroes.
The Magma Jets are new additions: I felt I needed some removal. I'm considering shocks or lightning bolts instead.
I've ordered some Wear//Tears to counter Mono-Black Whips/Connections, Skullcracks for Gray Merchants, and am considering Madcap skills instead of Martial Glory.
If you've any modifications, mind giving some turn examples? I'm still trying to think in terms of T1/T2/T3 plays... kind of playing on the fly atm.
Main Boarded 2 Rootborn Defense against esper heavy meta.
Sideboard is still tricky, I don't know what to put yet. Solidly, Brave the elements is a tricky topic. It can be pretty tricky if you are using Enchantment based heroic triggers as the enchantments can fall off due to protection effects. In this case, I opted for more instantaneous triggers as I don't like being 2-for-1'd.
You can put in some Detention Spheres for the SB and slap on some Rapid Hybridization for cards that are tricky to remove.
Any Suggestions for the Other 8 cards?
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Azorius Guildgate
2 Mutavault
10 Plains
4 Islands
Creatures[23]
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Favored Hoplite
2 Judge's Familiar
3 Phalanx Leader
3 Battlewise Hoplite
3 Precinct Captain
2 Fiendslayer Paladin
2 Fabled Hero
3 Dauntless Onslaught
3 Gods Willing
3 Hidden Strings
2 Spear of Heliod
2 Ordeal of Thassa
2 Rootborn Defenses
3 Imposing Sovereign
2 Fiendslayer Paladin
3 Keening Apparation
3x Boros Elite
2x Cavalry Pegasus
2x Fabled Hero
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Phalanx Leader
4x Precinct Captain
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
3x Bioshift
4x Burst of Strength
3x Gods Willing
3x Ranger's Guile
4x Warriors' Lesson
4x Forest
13x Plains
3x Temple Garden
Decided on some changes and took this new deck to FNM. Came in 6th out of 22 people. The core of the deck wasn't bad by any means but I felt as though I had some dead-weight.
I'm still a scrub at this and have a tendancy to mash devotion/WW/heroics into one, so again, I ask for direction and an outside perspective.
4x Favored Hopelite
4x Soldier of the Panteon
4x Phalanx Leader
2x Precinct Captain*
2x Imposing Sovereign*
3x Fabled Hero
4x Boros Charm
4x Coordinated Assault
4x Gods Willing
4x Madcap SKills
Artifacted (2)
2x Spear of Heliod*
1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride*
Lands (22)
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph
9x Plains
5x Mountains
The main strategy, as it's lined out in the Primer is...
T1: Favored Hoplite
T2: Madcap Skill on Hopelite
T3: More Targetting Spells + Boros Charm
I figured Ajani could provide similar penetration to Boros Charm and benefit my non-heroics. I have a second one to run. If I run a second Ajani I pay -2 Imposing Sovereign and run +2 Precinct Captain.
Also considering Banisher Priest or Fiendslayer Paladin instead of Soverign/Captain or even Spear of Heliod. I've Priests and Paladins incoming.
I like Spear of Heliod but it may not fit well with Heroics. The mana for it's activated ability doesn't jive well with my deck's speed, either. It has helped me the few times I did play it, however. Swap candidates include another Ajani or Chained to the Rocks.
I've flirted with the idea of Heliod, God of the Sun himself but he seems to benefit more from WW/Devotion Decks, or at least decks with Nykthos. I've no mana-ramping strategy but he'd be a great wall or target for Ajani.
Sorry for the chaos. Typed this up quickly while at work.
I managed to get my first 4-0 at my FNM out of 24 people with this list:
4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
2 Battlewise Hoplite
2 Fabled Hero
Enchantments (14+(4))
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Ordeal of Thassa
2 Aqueous Form
2 Thassa, God of the Sea
2 Detention Sphere
3 Gods Willing
3 Triton Tactics
Sorcery (3)
3 Hidden Strings
Land (21)
4 Hallowed Fountain
10 Plains
7 Island
1 Brave the Elements
3 Celestial Flare
2 Imposing Sovereign
2 Artisan of Forms
2 Banisher Priest
2 Spear of Heliod
1 Bident of Thassa
2 Gift of Orzhova
Round 1: Golgari Desecration Demon (2-1)
Round 2: Selesnya Aggro (2-0)
Round 3: 3/5 color Slivers (2-1)
Round 4: Gruul Devotion (2-0)
I plan to put in Rootborn Defenses instead of Celestial Flare in my SB.
The problem is justifying it over Fabled Hero, dropping Ajani after a T2 Precinct Captain/Buffed Hoplite, or a Phalanx Leader+Coordinated Assault on a Favoured Hoplite... but I can see uses as a T4 drop. T4 Anax+Coordinated Assault with a Fabled Hero would be sexy in some ways.
It's temporary heoric ability's issue: A defensively-used instant wouldn't carry anything over to my turn. Another issue could be my lack of field-presance outside of one or two other creatures, assuming that I don't have any impediments.
I'll give AnC a shot and see if it fits, though I know it'd much better suit a Boros-Weenies sort of deal.
Ethereal Armor I've ordered a few days ago. I've considered Enchantments over Combat Tricks, but I would most likely move into an Enchantment-Based Mono-White Heroic/Devotion deal. The big advantage to combat-tricks is dropping them defensively where as enchantments broadcast your intent: I much prefer the "surprise wall" or mid-combat powerhouse that instants can create.
Using your advice I made this adjustment:
4x Favored Hopelite
3x Hopeful Eidolon
3x Phalanx Leader
4x Precinct Captain
2x Anax and Cymede
3x Fabled Hero
Spells (18)
4x Boros Charm
2x Chained to the Rocks
4x Coordinated Assault
4x Gods Willing
4x Madcap SKills
2x Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Lands (22)
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph
9x Plains
5x Mountains
2x Wear/Tear
2x Imposing Sovereign
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Banisher Priest
2x Brave the Elements
2x Celestial Flare
2x Skull Crack
1x Fabled Hero
2x Spear of Hleiod
2x Chained to the Rocks
Also, sorry for not reviewing your deck. Still getting into the game and I've decided to focus on Boros-related cards. Part of why I took to Heroics is because it was cheap and interesting.
EDIT: Actually... Looking into Hopeful Eidolon, Ethereal Armor, and more Chained to the Rocks... Hmm.
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Hopeful Eidolon
3x Phalanx Leader
2x Precinct Captain
3x Fabled Hero
4x Boros Charm
3x Gods Willing
Enchantments (11) - 19 w/ creatures/spear
4x Ethereal Armor
3x Chained to the Rocks
4x Madcap Skills
2x Spear of Heliod
Lands (22)
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph
9x Plains
5x Mountains
How's that look?
I really like this list, and it reminds me of my deck construction.
For me, my AnC was Daxos of Meletis. I really wanted to play him, he seemed neat, but after some testing I didn't like him. And I also started seeing the power of enchantments and started putting more and more in, haha.
I admit I didn't put much thought into AnC, and I think this new list looks really good. If you go to FNM this week, be sure to post results! I'm interested in playing W/r just for a change of pace.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/wu-hidden-heroes-4-0-fnm/
I did not play the second, enchantment based deck, no. I played the original and quickly swapped out the Anax and Cymedes. 5-Round Swiss, 3-0 on three, dragged the other two matched to three rounds. Came in 6th out of 18. My Chained to the Rocks finally arrived so I'll be giving the enchantment-based version a shot. I'm still unsure wether or nto I should run 1-2 of Heliod and his Spears. I'll post here with deck-list and results.
A general problem problem I have is bad hands. I'll get mana locked or flooded, have all or none of my heroic triggers. I'm not sure if it's Creature/Trigger/Land Balance, bad shuffling, or just bad luck.
Slightly unrelated: What are some ways for a W/r to shut-down a Corpsejack deck? I've gotten some Rest in Pieces, but that style of deck can always one-up me in one way or another with Regeneration and sudden-buffs. I've added a couple Rest in Piece to my sideboard but don't know of other options.
My FNM - 3-2.
1st Round - Me vs Opponent(R/U/W control) 2-0. 1st match, it was a long match. He kept countering and killing my creatures. I used Orzhov charm to get rid of Boros Reckenor. He had Aetherling on the board, and was all tapped out. I manage to use Agent of the Fates and use his ability to destroy Aetherling. After that, Agent finished opponent off. 2nd match, He lacked any creatures to use, and only manage to summon one, but again use Orzhov charm to get rid of him. Had Fabled Hero at 6/6 and won me the game.
2nd Round - Opponent(U/G) 2-1 He had mostly weenies, and used Imposing sovering, the pantheon(multicolor protection), loxodon smiter, experimental(The evolve with regenerate by removing 2 +1/+1 counters. 1st match I had fliers lifelink that won me the game. 2nd match he overwhelmed me with his creatures and evolved experimental twice along with having two additional creatures. 3rd match he decided to keep his hand telling me he should have probably mulligan. I started with two lands as well, and took a while to draw 3 lands. Once I had 3 lands, I was able to summon fabled hero. Enchanted him a few turns later and with lack of protection from flying, won me the game.
3rd Round - Opponent(Green/Black) 1-2. He had lots of removal spells, mostly abrupt decay which is this deck's weakness pretty much unless I have cards to protect it quickly. He had Loleth troll and I just could not get rid of troll and won him the game. 2nd match, it was a slightly long battle, I manage to use Agent of the Fates to get rid of Loleth troll, but he hero downfall agents later. We were top decking pretty much. He had dreg mangler scavenge 6/6, but I had use orhzov charm to get rid of it. Dryad M he also scavenged later. What won me the game was using Fabled Hero and giving him gift of orzhova and swing in for 10 lifelink total. Could not block fliers. so won match 2. Match 3, was horrible on my part. Had to mulligan twice because only had 1 land. the third time, I still had one land, and just went with it. I had no shot winning. Did not summon creatures at all, while he did with loleth troll, and showed me he had two abrupt decays ready if I did summon a creature, it was over.
4th Round - Opponent(Black devotion splash green) 1-2. Tough match. The 1st match I won, Fiendslayer Paladin he had no chance of getting rid of with his removal spells. Attempted to destroy fabled hero twice, but managed to protected twice. Fiendslayer was 6/6 and was enough to win. 2nd match, he had sideboarded more removals. Every time I kept bringing creatures out, he used Abrupt Decay/hero'sdownfall/doomblade. He had control and finished me off with desc demon and pack rats. 3rd match, he just overwhelmed me with pack rats. I initially killed his 1st pack rat with Orzhov on turn 3. Turn 4, he summoned two additional pack rats, and knew this was going to be tough, with lack of removals on this deck. He had too much pack rats and swung for the game.
5th round - Opponent(B/W/G) - I can't recall much, was tired lol. I can only recall the last match because of how ridiculous Agent of the Fates were. I summoned him on turn 3. Jeused that creature that Banished white/green creatures in my hand. Had none, but he saw I had ethereal armor/gods willing. All I know is the four turns, he summoned three times that banished creature, and a loxodon smiter. Agent of the Fates destroyed all 4 of them each turn as I drew another Gods Willing, and hopeful eidolon to bestow Agent, and swing for the game. He just never had the chance to draw his removal spells.
Overall I enjoyed this deck. I was using duress and well, thoughtseize would have been the preferred choice. Mostly aggro decks are being used in the tournament. Next week, I might try the White/Blue hero deck. It's cheap/budget and nobody in the tournament as I recall, was using that type of deck. Was the only person in the tournament out of 24 people that was using Agent of the Fates/Nighthowler. They both rock. Weakness of this deck is lack of removing spells. Rely on O.Charm and I usually want to bounce my creature/aura against their removals. The matches I didn't win, I lack to use my sideboard. Against the 3rd match, the boon of E would have helped, my opponent told me that as I showed what cards I had in sideboard, and recommend that I should have sided that card in with his massive amount of removal spells. the 2nd match I loss, I should have sided ratchet bomb to get rid of his rat pack tokens.
It seems it went pretty well at all, even considering some sideboarding mistakes. I'm glad you have found fun the deck (and powerful xD) I really love what Agent and howler can do against midrange and aggro, is just nuts.
It seems that, having 3 Hero's Downfall on sidebard shall be a must in order to have more creature removal as you have stated (or to get rid of planeswalkers against control decks), sometimes you just don't draw the agent. I hope Born of the Gods bring us more black/white auras/instants to play with our heroes, who knows, maybe they make a black/white heroic with some nutsy mechanic, although it is very unlikely
I will try to update the primer with this info and other FNM results I had seen in here, unfortunately work is pretty demanding and I sometimes don't find the time. Thank you for posting your results
Weird Idea of the Month (Standard)
RGWNaya Token CommandoWGR
Rate/discuss my decks :D(almost all formats)
Standard
Orzhov Voltron Superheroes
Modern
Infectors
Legacy
UGBack to Square OneGU
EDH
GWURafiq of the Many Wins (1vs1)UWG
Jarad's Turbo Suicidal Squad (Multiplayer)
Pauper
Are you Afraid of Ghosts? You Better Be!