MTG Salvation

Oh dang. Scratch all pending deck lists!

Quote from lajube »

Quote from LeoninKha »

So, doesn't seem like we gained much from DTK.

I like the mythic raptor and Surrak though. Icefall Regent seems cool

Here's a card I've been playing with lately Fated Intervention, it gives you 2 blockers against fast decks (which we need) its an end step threat against control, and the tokens are enchantments, so they trigger Eidolon of Blossoms. Pretty neat

I think there's actually a ton of cards to consider. For one, given Prophet and his generous donation of mana, I think you need to strongly consider the morphs. Deathmist Raptor is the start, but then Den Protector to reclaim any killed card. For example, somebody kills prophet, you flash in Den Protector face down, later flip it up and reclaim your prophet from the grave. Or any other card.
Pair these with Whisperwood Elemental and you have a never-ending resilience Raptor.

Profaner of the Dead could be huge with its ability to vacate the opposition at the cost of a card. Imagine something with a Boon Satyr on it, and you sac that creature. And that's just the start of the Exploit possibilities. If you jump into Sultai, flashing in the new Sidisi, Undead Vizier is bonkers. Saccing Sidisi to Profaner is bonkers. Recurring Sidisi with Den Protector or Sidisi's Faithful is bonkers.

I'm looking mainly for upgrades. Those cards could be good but right now I wouldn't know what to cut for them, thats all

Quote from LeoninKha »

Stayed up 'til 3 am tuning and preparing this list to hit a very aggressive meta, and I ended up taking a wild chance doing a Turbo-Fog impression without fogs:

lajube's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures 29 1 Clever Impersonator 3 Elvish Mystic 3 Eidolon of Blossoms 4 Courser of Kruphix 2 Kiora's Follower 4 Prognostic Sphinx 1 Thassa, God of the Sea 2 Boon Satyr 3 Nylea's Disciple 3 Sylvan Caryatid 3 Prophet of Kruphix	Other 7 1 Chord of Calling 2 Dictate of Kruphix 2 Bow of Nylea 2 Curse of the Swine Lands 24 2 Thornwood Falls 4 Yavimaya Coast 4 Temple of Mystery 4 Island 10 Forest	Sideboard 15 2 Singing Bell Strike 1 Windstorm 2 Negate 2 Quickling 3 Reclamation Sage 1 Hypnotic Siren 3 Arbor Colossus 1 Polukranos, World Eater

Is this about the list you're still on? I was thinking recently with this weekend's breakout G/R aggro list featuring 10 dragons, that perhaps G/U devotion would be the ticket to coming out on top. My thought, which you fostered, is to play board control. My approach comes from my recent experience with G/R devotion. That deck overpowers so many decks with it's many card advantage creatures:

Courser, Polukranos, Deathmist, Whisperwood, Den Protector, Arbor Colossus, and (splashing red) Atarka.

So to beat green you must race ahead of the game, get the damage in before the board gets clogged, or else get going with evasion, or else a really effective control strategy. G/R dragons uses high powered flyers to achieve exactly that. Crater's Claws is not exactly an efficient answer. So I'm thinking blue instead. Whatever green creatures can't handle, blue spells and creatures will control.

Blue offers cheap high-toughness blockers and tempo plays to slow down aggressive decks, as well as counterspells to stop any card-advantage plays the enemy might make.
Together, it seems the color pair should be very strong in this metagame.

Roughly:

Not quite the same list but a similar one. I'm only running 1 Kiora's Follower as a Chord target (Caryatids are just so much better when you're facing monored since they can't stop you from ramping with her).

I'm still heavy on the constellation theme. Its pretty damn powerful and that's why I have a hard time changing stuff in the list.

Dropped Dictates and Nylea's Disciple long ago.

So its more like:

Thanks to the rise of UB control, I'm looking to jump into GU devotion. For a long time I've been jamming GR devotion to great success. To illustrate, see this list:


Here's how it worked: I gum up the board, play for card advantage, and then Crater's Claws or Atarka. Notice that Red is mostly used when the game is already won to end it. When I crater for 20, I also easily have 20 power on the ground, if it could just break through.

But here's how it failed:
Control decks would do their thing, and although some threats are difficult to contain, generally they get their way and it's difficult to do anything about it. Silumgar stealing Atarka is so awful I have to board the dragon out.

Aggro decks rush in, kill my blockers with Roast or Murderous Cut, etc. Usually they fail, but Abzan in particular had a strong punch. Siege Rhino drain was potent. Crater's Claws had some defensive ability, but not much.

Midrange usually loses, but they can manage to combine a few value cards, like Tasigur, with removal to close things down before I can master the board.

--------------

The point of the above is to discuss switching red to blue. Since the red does little to control the game pace, I can drop it and shove in any other color with a good finishing plan and good midgame answers. I'm thinking like this:

-Crater's Claws, -Atarka, -Voyaging Satyr (because my most expensive card is now 5).

+Disdainful Stroke, +Stubborn Denial, +Boon Satyr, +Torrent Elemental (or maybe Prognostic Sphinx?)

I fear not having removal main (except Poluk and Arbor)


So do you think this adds up? Anything that should be different? I wish I had more instant creatures, so maybe Chord, but not sure where to cut. I love the idea of Den Protector recurring counter spells at instant speed.

Both Nissa, Worldwaker and Temur Sabertooth have been allstars in the U/B control matchup for me. Playing out dudes while always keeping up two mana for a bounce can make a lot of their removal dead in hand, which is huge considering their card advantage.
I truly believe that Negate is the better choice over Stubborn Denial, even if you run Boon Satyrs as a ferocious enabler.

The two cards I am getting the worst feelings about are Torrent Elemental and Bow of Nylea. Without any way to exile it, Torrent Elemental is probably not such a strong card. Icefall Regent and Prognostic Sphinx are both really good resilient options.
You have a pretty good chip damage theme going on with your Den Protector and Bow of Nylea's deathtouch ability, and I think bestowing a Boon Satyr on a Den Protector is simply hilarious, but it doesn't really need Bow of Nylea to work. If those were Deathmist Raptors, you could keep with that theme just as well.
I do see the deathtouch + Polukranos combo in there, but it looks somewhat inconsistent. Bow of Nylea does too little on it's own just for that interaction.

Overall, your list looks solid, albeit more Deathmist Raptors seem like a very worthwhile addition.

Nissa is good, i just dont have any. Sabertooth I soured on because of Bile Blight. Also, very often you don't have other creatures to bounce. Sphinx I can jive with. I like its Whisperwood synergy.

Deathmists I can't get a hold of, or they would be in there, replacing Bow I guess. But until then Bow is very broadly useful. In a board stall, i can send any creature in, and it will always trade up. Life gain wrecks aggro strategies. Adding counters affects combat math, stresses burn, and aids Den Protector. Counters also make threats better against control. I'm open to other replacements. Maybe Prophet, Monastery Siege (cards or shielding), Chord, ???.

EDIT: Results!
Went 4-1 tonight. Too soon to say for sure, but I got a lot of matches that are ideally suited to my deck. The previous deck also often went 4-1, but I feel so much more solid being able to pick some spots when I want to stop a play, and then executing that. Also, this was a week of brews as everybody was trying new stuff, presumably to address the new Esper Control menace. Normally most people play known decks.

I subbed in the Sphinxes per above, but never needed to cast it. Bow was excellent main. All the counterspells were excellent, except one time vs RG aggro and my disdainful stroke wasn't ready for the only time he cast Stoke. Neutering a dragon before it lands, stopping removal so as to hold a crucial blocker seems to be all it takes for the game to swing decisively in my favor.

vs RG aggro, 1-2 (but I probably could have done better)
vs RGB midrange, 2-0.
vs RGB midrange again, 2-0.
vs RB tokens (Impact Tremors). 2-0. No chance once I counter the enchantment.
vs RB midrange 2-1. Thunderbreak and Kolaghan got in once.

This is what I won game day with Sunday. Went 3-0-1 in Swiss, and didn't drop a game in top 8. This was the most fun I have had playing standard in a long time. Stole a ugin against g/w devotion...Turn 4 hydra into prophet against jeskai tokens for the scoop...

Still running hot. Scored 4-1 with the deck, losing only to a really good player (on Sidisi Whip) whom I had on the ropes game 3. He said he played the game of his life. For my part, I flubbed so many plays it was ridiculous (as a start, I missed about 4 Whisperwood triggers).

So:
2-1 vs RGB dragons (lost on a mull to 5)
2-0 vs RGB dragons
2-1 vs BG Strength constellation (Collected Company into Master of Feasts and Herald of Torment. ouch.)
1-2 vs BUG whip
2-1 vs UB control.

Last game against UB control was insane! Got him in a bad place with endless Boon Satyrs and countering all the draw, forcing a Crux of Fate. Eventually a Courser on the board persuaded him to cast Silumgar, the Drifting Death. I responding by Clever Impersonator copying his Silumgar, then stealing his Silumgar (legend rule killed it) and getting Courser back. Next he plays Dragonlord Silumgar. My Silumgar has deathtouch so freely attacks through. He taps down to cast Ice Regent, (after fighting counters) tapping my Silumgar, but I flip up a Den Protector, retrieving a counterspell and Deathmist. Next turn, I bestow Boon Satyr on Den Protector, attacking for an unblockable 7 damage, and Deathmist for a blockable 3, and he must block. Regent dies, my Silumgar is released, and he can do nothing.

Yep, green devotion bested 3 dragons from an empty board. After the game, the other guy goes, "I don't know what happened there."

One card I still want to squeeze in: Prophet of Kruphix. I'm sure it would have made those midrange matches even better, but on the other hand going 4-1 and should have gone 5-0 doesn't really call for improving the deck.

I think you got your Silumgar's mixed up there, but still, a cool play. What's your build now?

My newest list. Gather Courage is amazing vs monored decks.

I love it !


My plays today:

Cast Clever Impersonator, copy my opponents Dragonlord Silumgar then steal his Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver…

On a later turn, bestow Hypnotic Siren his Dragonlord to legend-rule it out of the game

I am totally stealing that Fated Intervention tech for my Sultai Constellation deck. Two instant enchantments when Doomwake is on the field will wreck combat.

Actually also for my UG tempo list. I've been seeking instant threats besides Boon Satyr that I can hold until I see there's no Dragon or Crux to counter. Also seeking 2 for 1 cards, and this fits both. The only trouble is it eats into my 5-drop budget. Whisperwood is better than free card draw every turn, and Sphinx is everything Whisperwood lacks.

I can definitely buy into Gather Courage as anti-burn tech.

I like Fated Intervention even with all the Bile Blight running around. After all my deck is full of targets for that removal so there's no guarantee they'll have one when I cast the centaur spell.

Plus its really cool to cast it on your turn with an Eidolon in the field > Put 2 3/3's, scry 2, then draw 2.

And another key aspect to the card is that it gives you 2 blockers against mono-red.

My deck is playing absolutely amazing now. Since I started playing the build weeks ago, I went 3-1 or 4-1 at every Monday and Friday night event, and most matches go 2-0. And I'm definitely not the best player either! I think the only weakness at present is Aggro, and that's a 50/50, while control is easy street. (e.g. after going 2-0, 2-0, 2-0, today, I finally went 1-2 against white soldiers.) We'll see if I can shore things up.

Everyone in my area seems to be looking for copies of Den Protector and Deathmist Raptor, its ridiculous…

Another missed opportunity for me xD, next time I'm preordering no matter what.

I'm looking at Abzan Aggro now, and it still seems to be a problem. Any insights on stopping them?

Curse of the Swine kills them (you already know this)

Ugin makes sense, I just don't have any and never tested it. You do have to watch out for very aggressive decks more than anything else. My current suite of main deck spells is 2 Negate, 2 Ranger's Guile, and 2 Setessan Tactics. I think I want even more Tactics main.

Stubborn Denial is too inconsistent in this list, but being able to turn 3 Raptor, and then Guile against Abzan Charm makes a huge difference in stopping decks like Abzan Aggro.

Effectively 4 counters main with the 2 Guiles countering removal. I find them essential against abzan aggro as without them my first decent blocker dies and my life gets too low.

If I could find a 4th Raptor I would play it. Kiora's useless in a world of hasty dragons.

Aetherspouts I can't see working. Nobody will attack us with everything so the ground remains cluttered and whatever two creatures we remove come back. I could be wrong.

Hello! First MTGSalvation post, so apologies in advance for errors. I've been lurking on this primer and the last for a while now, and thought I'd try to contribute.



It's conceptually similar to lajube's deck. However, instead of the deathmist raptor/den protector engine, I've got icefeather aven & stratus dancer as "pivot" cards. Early evasive aggro against control, or more expensive spell effects to ensure late game impact.

I'm also using Kiora, the crashing wave in the main deck, because she fits right into the card advantage topdeck abuse engine set up by courser of kruphix, prognostic sphinx, and whisperwood elemental

I've obviously got some "4 of a kind" blinders on, so I could use some help with substitutions. If I do drop in the Deathmist Duo, I would swap out the tiny fliers.

You never want 4 Kiora because 2 of them at once is lame. I suggest a Polukranos or two, or some instants.

Thanks! I was thinking that Kiora's +1 and Prognostic would be enough in the main deck to stave off most dragons, but it really is a poor answer to Atarka and Ojutai.

Generally Kiora on turn 3-5 just turns into a double explore, unless I'm trying to force them to deal with her. So maybe swap in a 2-2 split of Polukranos/Surrak?

Should I put some Hornet Queen in the main deck too to deal with dragons? Or just the Arbor Colossus?

RE: Deathmist/Den Protector... The plan is to replace Icefeather/Stratus with them... but y'know... $$$$$$$...

You could go with Hornet Queen or Arbor Colossus or both. My last FNM I went 4-1, losing to Jeskai with Mantis Rider and Thunderbreak Regent. Final game, Arbor Colossus or Sphinx might have saved me but I was stuck at 4 mana. Still, I ran 3 of them, and was glad to have them other games.