After seeing the JOU spoilers and being quite disappointed to not see anything interesting for my UG Prophet of Kruphix deck, I decided to start brewing in those colours to see if I can put my Kioras and temples to use. So far, I've come up with this, though I know it's very far from complete.
The plan is: Sage of Hours enabled by: Vorel, Master Biomancer, Forced Adaptation, Solidarity of Heroes.
The wincons are: Kiora, Aetherling.
I know it's going to take a lot of work to get it from here to a place where it works properly, but it's a start of something I think could be really neat. It's Christmasland, yes, but I think it could happen.
Wincons are: Kalonian Hydra, Kiora emblem, and occasionally Medomai, for fun. Also, you attack with the giant sage of hours before you sac the tokens, naturally.
While the combo itself will be viable (at FNM level at least), you still want to keep CMCs down to prevent losing due to heavy removal packages in standard.
Biomancer is too slow to help at 4 IMO, and while Mutavault is awesome in most decks right now, I don't think it fits here.
My thoughts:
-1 Jace
-4 Biomancer
-1 Aetherling
-4 Kiora's Follower
-2 Mutavault
-1 Forest
-1 Island
+2 Kalonian Hydra. Works well with the Sage, and can end games by itself
+4 Elvish Mystic. Helps get the combo on board ahead of removal packages. This allows you to drop Sage on Turn 2 while keeping either Mizzium Skin or Ranger's Guile open to protect it.
+2 Ranger's Guile. In a format of spot removal, 8 ways to stop your combo pieces from dying is needed.
+2 Either Ordeal of Thassa or Give//Take. Give can almost give Sage 5 counters by itself, or Ordeal can supply counters plus draw power.
+4 Breeding Pool. Mana fixing is important.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 1 Judge
"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
It looks a bit light on dependable win conditions. You can ramp into extra turns, but you might have a hard time finishing them off on that extra turn.
mistcutter hydra seems pretty useful here. Lots of counters to push around, stands a chance at two-turn clocking someone if there's enough ramp and a few dork jabs in the early game.
I'm a sucker for the Time walk mechanic. So when I saw Sage of Hours, I knew I had to try brewing with him! Glad to see you start this thread, UltraLunch. I'm starting with a UG base, and will evolve it from here:
I was actually working on an article for the site during spoiler season for Journey into Nyx. The article has been in que for a while and I figure I might as well post it here so it can be viewed (at least the part of it which is relevant to this)
Our Journey into Nyx has begun and with the full block ready to roll in the Standard format I am eager to see where things will go from here! I have spent a lot of time observing the format as Theros takes hold, and I have seen a number of seemingly powerful interactions go completely unnoticed. It is hard to say if this is simply because some of the Scry lands were missing, if maybe it is because there is just oversight due to straight forward interactions being easier to see, or if perhaps this format is just dry. As I watch this block unfold and standard grow, I cannot help but feel intrigued by some of these interactions when the format is so rewarding for decks that have cards which play well together and splatter in non-creature spells that are high impact. With removal dominating the format, high impact creatures sit on the fringes and creature based strategies struggle to push through the final home stretch of the race to victory. Today I want to talk about a few interaction I have observed which I feel are interesting concepts from which decks can build upon and perhaps take advantage of a format so littered with removal perhaps by playing a robust and resilient creature package, or synchronizing high impact spells to squeeze enough value out of non creature spells to close out a game. Hopefully by the end of this article, you have something to sit on and get your gears going during this exciting time in the format.
Playing With Bant
The biggest color appeal to me through Theros block has been UG because it has some of the most potential for crazy card interaction that is generally lost within the shuffle of "good stuff". The biggest question I have had while exploring this block is whether or not there are any powerful interactions we can build off of in these colors that truly are wanting to do some unique things within this format, in many ways. Bant is one of those 3 color combinations that has appealed to me as it often has a lot of power appeal in in while offering a unique way of slinging spells and turning dudes sideways. The color combination often times likes to power through combat in very quirky ways.
When we first saw the spoiling of Brimaz, King of Oreskos, I certainly wanted to keep and eye on him. While he has not shown up much on the competitive scene, the card's inherent power certainly draws me to it. He is a great card that offers a lot of sweet features and he can help take over a board on his own, however simply running good cards is not really enough most of the time. Brimaz is capable of really commanding a board state and controlling the flow of combat. One of the obvious interactions is the ability to trigger Ephara, God of the Polis to continue drawing cards each turn he puts a token out. With a bit of green, you can even help boost Voice or Resurgence's Elemental tokens. The ability to provide board presence on the offense by himself is a pretty big upper hand against control decks as it helps you avoid any over extension into a board sweeper such as Supreme Verdict, and that is really where these interactions start building for me during the creative process. If Brimaz can draw out a sweeper on his own, how can I quickly recover in the event a sweeper takes my board away?
Voice of Resurgence is a pretty sweet card, but after playing GW for a bit, sometimes a sweeper can catch you off guard and you are left with a dinky Elemental token and very little board presence. Without the ability to draw cards you begin to flounder and it really leaves you running cards like Rootborn Defenses to help avoid this situation. Enter Master of Waves, which seems like a fairly odd card to include if there is little blue permanents to help boost his trigger. Even without any extra blue for his devotion trigger, Master of Waves can almost instantly recover you from a sweeper and has somewhat of a Huntmaster of the Fells feel to him. Four mana for two 2/X bodies is not a bad buy, and if there is a Voice of Resurgence Elemental token on the board, you go from having 1 power to having 8 and 4 of it is able to swing in for an attack that same turn. I am really drawn to these few interactions and they seem powerful at a glance.
Simply having ways to beat blow out plays that can reset you to ground zeros is not really enough in today's Standard. Removal helps define this format and the disparity between good creatures and good removal is astounding and having a game plan to beat out removal is essential, but what about those situations where you are in a creature based battle? Decks like GR Monsters and White Weenie or Mono Blue Devotion are matches where simply having a means to deal with removal is not going to win you the game if they can efficiently deploy their game plan against you. Simply having small tokens all day every day is not how you beat cards like Polukranos, World Eater or well curved Stormbreath Dragon's, and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is one of the most powerful endgames available in the format who can quickly match and raise you. Having a game plan to go bigger becomes vital to combating other creature based strategies.
In drafting Theros block, I have discovered a love for UG. The deck is capable of playing a tempo game plan extremely well, allowing it to control a board while progressing it's creature based game plan. The take home from my experience in Theros limited, is that tempo is king and if you can command it - the world is yours. In Standard, we see that removal is defining the format and allowing decks like Mono Black and UWx Control to consistently be a force. The removal is so good that it just does not care about anything... as long as your opponent continues to put things on the board, you are able to deal with almost any situation that could actually crop up, giving you an insane amount of consistency. We previously covered the interaction between Voice of Resurgence and Master of Waves as a means of capitalizing on the removal aspect of the format, but I honestly would not rely on them to be my endgame. Creatures are going to die and that is just how this format is.
With Journey into Nyx we get a bit of extra fluff in what I consider to be one of the best card types in the format right now - a Planeswalker. Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is an incredibly efficient card in many ways and while I have openly claimed that paying 4GG for Garruk, Caller of Beasts is better than splashing W in GR Monsters, some decks favor the ability to put counters on existing creatures more than simply digging for more creatures. With small and pretty squishy creatures, Ajani seems much better because it allows you to jam the board until something sticks and build up after an opponent is exhausted, or it allows your small early game to turn into a big late game. Being able to peel you out of a top deck situation is what makes these two Planeswalkers so robust and while I love both of them, I believe they are two very different cards depending on your deck. On the otherhand, Elspeth, Sun's Champion supports Ajani in jamming the board, giving him a constant stream of targets to exhaust an opponent and she is probably the best endgame you can have if you are in white. These two are very supportive of creature strategies and allow you to play along with the tempo of the game, and when your strategies of the format are as polar as goodremoval.dec and goodcreatures.dec tempo is king.
Overall, it may be a stretch building up individual creatures with things like Ajani, Mentor of Heroes or Give // Take, but the pay out can be huge and the ability to recover from board wipes with even the smallest creature can leave your opponent with combat concerns.
Here's my current list that i am trying out. Have yet to really play it. Wish I had the stuff to make it Bant, but I think this has a lot of synergy.
To me, the fun trick is trying to have Sage of Hours enter the field with five +1/+1 counters (with a pumped up Master Bromancer) or move counters with a Bioshift in response to a creature kill because I think Sage will eat it quickly once it hits the field.
As no one thought about using dead bridge goliath? I know in standard it rotates out soon, but heroes bane and bios hit are also great to pop off sage. DBG is cheap to play at 4 if your using mana dorks such as elvish mystic, sylvan caryatid, or voyaging satyr. Not only is DB a beat stick at 5/5 but to instantly give sage 5 counters is too good to pass up. Drop in a solidarity of hero's and boom 2 turns. DB swings every turn., help it die, you'll either keep the opposition creature count low and once they figure out what's going on they defiantly won't try to kill it if it can be helped. Run Karametras favor for add heroic tiger and mana bump. I run eidol ones of blossoms with forced adaptation, aqueous form, and Thassa. Cards come quick and so do the turns.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
After seeing the JOU spoilers and being quite disappointed to not see anything interesting for my UG Prophet of Kruphix deck, I decided to start brewing in those colours to see if I can put my Kioras and temples to use. So far, I've come up with this, though I know it's very far from complete.
4 Sage of Hours
4 Master biomancer
2 Vorel of the hull clade
4 kiora's follower
1 Ætherling
3 courser of kruphix
2 kiora, the crashing wave
1 jace, architect of thought
spells
4 forced adaptation
4 mizzium skin
2 ranger's guile
2 simic charm
2 cyclonic rift
2 solidarity of heroes
4 temple of mystery
2 mutavault
9 island
8 forest
The plan is: Sage of Hours enabled by: Vorel, Master Biomancer, Forced Adaptation, Solidarity of Heroes.
The wincons are: Kiora, Aetherling.
I know it's going to take a lot of work to get it from here to a place where it works properly, but it's a start of something I think could be really neat. It's Christmasland, yes, but I think it could happen.
UPDATE: here's the most current version
3x Courser of Kruphix
4x elvish mystic
2x Kalonian Hydra
1x Medomai the Ageless
4x Sage of Hours
2x Vorel of the Hull Clade
Planeswalker
1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
2x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
4x Mizzium Skin
2x Ranger's Guile
2x Simic Charm
2x Solidarity of Heroes
2x give // take
Enchantment
1x Ephara's Enlightenment
4x Forced Adaptation
1x ordeal of thassa
4x Forest
3x Island
4x breeding pool
4x Temple of Enlightenment
4x Temple of Mystery
4x Temple of Plenty
Maybeboard (9)
4x Detention Sphere
3x Divination
Wincons are: Kalonian Hydra, Kiora emblem, and occasionally Medomai, for fun. Also, you attack with the giant sage of hours before you sac the tokens, naturally.
Biomancer is too slow to help at 4 IMO, and while Mutavault is awesome in most decks right now, I don't think it fits here.
My thoughts:
-1 Jace
-4 Biomancer
-1 Aetherling
-4 Kiora's Follower
-2 Mutavault
-1 Forest
-1 Island
+2 Kalonian Hydra. Works well with the Sage, and can end games by itself
+4 Elvish Mystic. Helps get the combo on board ahead of removal packages. This allows you to drop Sage on Turn 2 while keeping either Mizzium Skin or Ranger's Guile open to protect it.
+2 Ranger's Guile. In a format of spot removal, 8 ways to stop your combo pieces from dying is needed.
+2 Either Ordeal of Thassa or Give//Take. Give can almost give Sage 5 counters by itself, or Ordeal can supply counters plus draw power.
+4 Breeding Pool. Mana fixing is important.
"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
In the meantime I shifted it to Bant, looking like this prior to me seeing your advice:
3x Courser of Kruphix
4x Kiora's Follower
4x Master Biomancer
1x Medomai the Ageless
4x Sage of Hours
2x Vorel of the Hull Clade
Planeswalker
1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
2x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
4x Mizzium Skin
2x Ranger's Guile
2x Simic Charm
2x Solidarity of Heroes
Enchantment
1x Ephara's Enlightenment
4x Forced Adaptation
Land
6x Forest
5x Island
4x Temple of Enlightenment
4x Temple of Mystery
4x Temple of Plenty
4x Detention Sphere
3x Divination
And looking like this with your modifications:
3x Courser of Kruphix
4x elvish mystic
2x Kalonian Hydra
1x Medomai the Ageless
4x Sage of Hours
2x Vorel of the Hull Clade
Planeswalker
1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
2x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
4x Mizzium Skin
2x Ranger's Guile
2x Simic Charm
2x Solidarity of Heroes
2x give // take
Enchantment
1x Ephara's Enlightenment
4x Forced Adaptation
1x ordeal of thassa
4x Forest
3x Island
4x breeding pool
4x Temple of Enlightenment
4x Temple of Mystery
4x Temple of Plenty
Maybeboard (9)
4x Detention Sphere
3x Divination
I just didn't put in the 2 extra rangers guiles because #s 3 and 4 are simic charm (works as hexproof, also works as a tempo bounce for scary threats)
There are a tonne of directions this thing can go in. Anyone who wants to weigh in, please do!
mistcutter hydra seems pretty useful here. Lots of counters to push around, stands a chance at two-turn clocking someone if there's enough ramp and a few dork jabs in the early game.
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Kiora's Follower
4x Sage of Hours
4x Mistcutter Hydra
4x Polukranos, World Eater
4x Kalonian Hydra
4x Give // Take
Instant (8)
4x Bioshift
4x Solidarity of Heroes
Land (24)
4x Breeding Pool
8x Forest
4x Island
4x Mana Confluence
4x Temple of Mystery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iVuEIOFUZE
Not the same kind of mix, but some parallels.
Cast Sage of Hours, he enters with 5 +1+1 counters on him, remove and take an extra turn.
Cast Progenitor Mimic, take infinite extra turns.
This is a deck my friend has been championing at FNM recently and it's so good. it's a Bant control deck with this combo built in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Journey into Nyx has begun and with the full block ready to roll in the Standard format I am eager to see where things will go from here! I have spent a lot of time observing the format as Theros takes hold, and I have seen a number of seemingly powerful interactions go completely unnoticed. It is hard to say if this is simply because some of the Scry lands were missing, if maybe it is because there is just oversight due to straight forward interactions being easier to see, or if perhaps this format is just dry. As I watch this block unfold and standard grow, I cannot help but feel intrigued by some of these interactions when the format is so rewarding for decks that have cards which play well together and splatter in non-creature spells that are high impact. With removal dominating the format, high impact creatures sit on the fringes and creature based strategies struggle to push through the final home stretch of the race to victory. Today I want to talk about a few interaction I have observed which I feel are interesting concepts from which decks can build upon and perhaps take advantage of a format so littered with removal perhaps by playing a robust and resilient creature package, or synchronizing high impact spells to squeeze enough value out of non creature spells to close out a game. Hopefully by the end of this article, you have something to sit on and get your gears going during this exciting time in the format.
Playing With Bant
The biggest color appeal to me through Theros block has been UG because it has some of the most potential for crazy card interaction that is generally lost within the shuffle of "good stuff". The biggest question I have had while exploring this block is whether or not there are any powerful interactions we can build off of in these colors that truly are wanting to do some unique things within this format, in many ways. Bant is one of those 3 color combinations that has appealed to me as it often has a lot of power appeal in in while offering a unique way of slinging spells and turning dudes sideways. The color combination often times likes to power through combat in very quirky ways.
When we first saw the spoiling of Brimaz, King of Oreskos, I certainly wanted to keep and eye on him. While he has not shown up much on the competitive scene, the card's inherent power certainly draws me to it. He is a great card that offers a lot of sweet features and he can help take over a board on his own, however simply running good cards is not really enough most of the time. Brimaz is capable of really commanding a board state and controlling the flow of combat. One of the obvious interactions is the ability to trigger Ephara, God of the Polis to continue drawing cards each turn he puts a token out. With a bit of green, you can even help boost Voice or Resurgence's Elemental tokens. The ability to provide board presence on the offense by himself is a pretty big upper hand against control decks as it helps you avoid any over extension into a board sweeper such as Supreme Verdict, and that is really where these interactions start building for me during the creative process. If Brimaz can draw out a sweeper on his own, how can I quickly recover in the event a sweeper takes my board away?
Voice of Resurgence is a pretty sweet card, but after playing GW for a bit, sometimes a sweeper can catch you off guard and you are left with a dinky Elemental token and very little board presence. Without the ability to draw cards you begin to flounder and it really leaves you running cards like Rootborn Defenses to help avoid this situation. Enter Master of Waves, which seems like a fairly odd card to include if there is little blue permanents to help boost his trigger. Even without any extra blue for his devotion trigger, Master of Waves can almost instantly recover you from a sweeper and has somewhat of a Huntmaster of the Fells feel to him. Four mana for two 2/X bodies is not a bad buy, and if there is a Voice of Resurgence Elemental token on the board, you go from having 1 power to having 8 and 4 of it is able to swing in for an attack that same turn. I am really drawn to these few interactions and they seem powerful at a glance.
Simply having ways to beat blow out plays that can reset you to ground zeros is not really enough in today's Standard. Removal helps define this format and the disparity between good creatures and good removal is astounding and having a game plan to beat out removal is essential, but what about those situations where you are in a creature based battle? Decks like GR Monsters and White Weenie or Mono Blue Devotion are matches where simply having a means to deal with removal is not going to win you the game if they can efficiently deploy their game plan against you. Simply having small tokens all day every day is not how you beat cards like Polukranos, World Eater or well curved Stormbreath Dragon's, and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is one of the most powerful endgames available in the format who can quickly match and raise you. Having a game plan to go bigger becomes vital to combating other creature based strategies.
In drafting Theros block, I have discovered a love for UG. The deck is capable of playing a tempo game plan extremely well, allowing it to control a board while progressing it's creature based game plan. The take home from my experience in Theros limited, is that tempo is king and if you can command it - the world is yours. In Standard, we see that removal is defining the format and allowing decks like Mono Black and UWx Control to consistently be a force. The removal is so good that it just does not care about anything... as long as your opponent continues to put things on the board, you are able to deal with almost any situation that could actually crop up, giving you an insane amount of consistency. We previously covered the interaction between Voice of Resurgence and Master of Waves as a means of capitalizing on the removal aspect of the format, but I honestly would not rely on them to be my endgame. Creatures are going to die and that is just how this format is.
With Journey into Nyx we get a bit of extra fluff in what I consider to be one of the best card types in the format right now - a Planeswalker. Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is an incredibly efficient card in many ways and while I have openly claimed that paying 4GG for Garruk, Caller of Beasts is better than splashing W in GR Monsters, some decks favor the ability to put counters on existing creatures more than simply digging for more creatures. With small and pretty squishy creatures, Ajani seems much better because it allows you to jam the board until something sticks and build up after an opponent is exhausted, or it allows your small early game to turn into a big late game. Being able to peel you out of a top deck situation is what makes these two Planeswalkers so robust and while I love both of them, I believe they are two very different cards depending on your deck. On the otherhand, Elspeth, Sun's Champion supports Ajani in jamming the board, giving him a constant stream of targets to exhaust an opponent and she is probably the best endgame you can have if you are in white. These two are very supportive of creature strategies and allow you to play along with the tempo of the game, and when your strategies of the format are as polar as goodremoval.dec and goodcreatures.dec tempo is king.
Overall, it may be a stretch building up individual creatures with things like Ajani, Mentor of Heroes or Give // Take, but the pay out can be huge and the ability to recover from board wipes with even the smallest creature can leave your opponent with combat concerns.
3 Artisan of Forms
4 Sage of Hours
4 Master Biomancer
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Master of Waves
Planeswalker
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Enchantment
4 Detention Sphere
2 Ephara, God of the Polis
3 Give // Take
Instant
3 Retraction Helix
Land
4 Breeding Pool
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Mana Confluence
3 Plains
3 Island
3 Forest
2 Deicide
2 Negate
1 Gainsay
3 Archangel of Thune
3 Ajani's Presence
2 Nylea's Disciple
2 Banishing Light
4x Sage of Hours
2x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Courser of Kruphix
3x Master Biomancer
2x Vorel of the hull clade
3x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2x Ranger's Guile
3x Mizzium Skin
3x Solidarity of Heroes
3x Forest
2x Island
2x Plains
4x Breeding Pool
2x Temple Garden
2x Hallowed Fountain
3x Temple of Mystery
3x Temple of Plenty
2x Temple of Enlightenment
I have been thinking about taking out the master biomancer for the 1x sylvan caryatid and 2x simic charm or maybe Rootborn Defenses. any suggestion would be great
To me, the fun trick is trying to have Sage of Hours enter the field with five +1/+1 counters (with a pumped up Master Bromancer) or move counters with a Bioshift in response to a creature kill because I think Sage will eat it quickly once it hits the field.
4x Elvish Mystic
2x Fathom Mage
2x Kalonian Hydra
4x Master Biomancer
3x Sage of Hours
4x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Vastwood Hydra
2x Vorel of the Hull Clade
9x Forest
7x Island
4x Temple of Mystery
3x Bioshift
2x Triton Tactics
2x Hidden Strings