Hi all I just returned to playing MTG after around 12+ years. I feel basically like a new player now since there are so many new cards and abilities. Also when I used to play it was pretty casual between a few friends so there was probably a lot that I was missing. A couple weeks ago I joined MTGO and started playing again. I used to play a 3/4 Green-1/4 Black deck but when I signed up with MTGO and received my starter deck I ended up with more and better White cards so I went with a White deck and eventually added a little Blue. I win about 1/4 of the games I play usually when my cards come good for me. Other times I lose pretty badly. I have tried to add more consistency to my deck but it hasnt been working out to well. I wanted to list my deck and the strategy behind it and maybe some of you could help me improve it. I plan at least for now to keep playing White since I like it and have already invested into some cards for it. Budget wise I dont mind to spend a little on it but I dont want to get crazy with it. Probably keep it between $20-$50 at the max.
Overall my strategy has sort of been to have a lot of Life gaining cards and Creatures that increase in power as the game goes on so I can get out Creatures early but have some powerful Creatures later in the game. I tried to pick Enchantments that I can use with different creatures depending on which come out. Some of the main cards that the deck is built around are Ajani's Pridemate and Sunbond to take advantage of the Life giving cards I added Blue Cancel cards to counter opponents that use direct creature damage, exile, or destroy creature cards.
Creatures:
1)Herald of Anafenza (its cheap to get out, it increases in power, plus it gives me some 1/1 fodder creatures)
1)Hopeful Eidolon (for the Lifelink and +1/+1 I can add to any creature)
1) Nyx-Fleece Ram(For the life gaining and it also makes a good blocker and also works well with Enchantments like Sunbond
1) Archetype of Courage(Mainly for the First Strike an adaption I made to counter Creatures with Deathtouch. Plus it another Creature I can use Sunbondon if need be)
1)Ajani Steadfast(He was the cheapest White Planeswalker I found but the First Strike, Vigilance, and Lifelink are very helpful.
1) Celestial ArchonI can use it as is or give the abilities to another creature. I have had games where Ajani's Pridematehas become 6/6 then enchant with this and I have a 10/10 flier with first strike)
1) Resolute Archangel(This card has saved the day for me. It has also worked great giving a huge bonus to a creature with Sunbondit has added to that creature +16/+16 plus reset my health to 20)
1) Battlewise Hoplite (A new addition after I learned the value of scry)
3) Sunbond(Main focus of the deck. I tried to combine this with the best Creature I can then use it with the different life giving cards I have. I have had a couple times that I had a Creature with Sunbondwhile also having Ajani SteadfastI use the Ajani lifelink ability so that the Creature with Sunbonddoubles in strength every turn. I had a Creature get up to like 42/42 before winning the game. Works great when the cards fall right.)
1) Eidolon of Rhetoric(I have this mainly to slowdown Blue and Red decks that keep casting multiple spells. It has helped some.)
2) Deflecting Palm (This has won a few games for me against opponents that were going to deal X damage and that number was very high. Was very satisfying to use VS opponent that had been building up and waiting to hit me with 1 hit of huge damage.)
What do you think about the deck and overall strategy? What do I have right or wrong? What should I change? Like I said when the cards fall right I can win big vs any color but most of the time I lose vs any color. What sort of tips would you give me?
First, what is the strategy or your deck? The reason you have hit or miss wins/losses is because every game you play, you wind up with something different. You will never get a consistent draw because you don't have a consistent deck. If you browse most other decks on the net right now, most cards in a deck will have 3-4 of each type. This lends itself to consistency in the draw. The best players are the ones who don't just play what's in their hand but can bank on the card they will most likely draw. It's the anticipation of how the deck plays, and knowing that the next 1-2 draws will have interaction with the rest of the deck to generate the win-con. If you're going to play the life-gain/sunbond interaction, you have to commit to it. Every card in your deck should have a defined purpose relative to your defined strategy.
So, with that in mind, I'd take a hard look at your deck and try to narrow it down yourself, then post again. Make most cards in your deck a quantity of 3-4, although some cards are better as 1-offs (like perhaps Resolute Archangel, because of the high casting cost). After you post a more refined version with a defined strategy and cards that you think fit in the strategy, I'll take another look at it.
Cool thanks Daniel! I get what your saying. I'll start working on it right away. How did you lay the cards out in that box format so that I can do the same and follow the format everyone else uses. I have had a hard time trying to reduce the number of different cards you have any suggestions on which I should keep? I do want to keep the Life building Sunbond combo going.
I've refined the deck some. I basically went through the whole thing removed some stuff and add more of others. It did pretty good. Then I made a few more changes. Hopefully I can post the new deck this evening. I dont get much time during the week for MTG because of work. I'd post the deck know except I have to leave and dont have time. Thanks for the help.
How did you lay the cards out in that box format so that I can do the same and follow the format everyone else uses.
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I've played a few games with this deck (6) and over all was 4/2. The deck I lost to was a Red deck that managed to kill my creatures before I could power them up and since I didnt draw any counter spells I couldn't do much about it. The last 2 games was VS a Black/Green deck with a lot of very good cards, I managed to win but they were tough fights the last one in particular. I wish I could post that whole game. Usually I try to hold onto a counter spell to stop any instant kills on my creatures which worked out good on those games also Devouring Light and Solemn Offering. Sunbond worked really good with Sungrace Pegasus that and Ajani's Pridemateseems to be the best things to focus my deck on. Basically those, things that gain life and cards to protect them with. A few of these cards I think I will remove. I have Preeminent Captainand other Soldiers just because the Captain can bring them into play. I might get rid of those add a few more counter spells.
Over all I have somewhat refined my strategy to use creatures that gain +/+ when I gain life and cards to counter or stop anything that would damage them directly.
I've played a few games with this deck (6) and over all was 4/2. The deck I lost to was a Red deck that managed to kill my creatures before I could power them up and since I didnt draw any counter spells I couldn't do much about it. The last 2 games was VS a Black/Green deck with a lot of very good cards, I managed to win but they were tough fights the last one in particular. I wish I could post that whole game.
What decks did you win against? This just as important as the decks you lost to. A winning deck is not just one that can win against a few decks. It's one that can win against the majority of decks in the meta, and do so consistently.
Usually I try to hold onto a counter spell to stop any instant kills on my creatures which worked out good on those games also Devouring Light and Solemn Offering. Sunbond worked really good with Sungrace Pegasus that and Ajani's Pridemateseems to be the best things to focus my deck on. Basically those, things that gain life and cards to protect them with. A few of these cards I think I will remove. I have Preeminent Captainand other Soldiers just because the Captain can bring them into play. I might get rid of those add a few more counter spells.
A control deck is one that attempts to maintain board control by preventing his opponent from establishing his board and when his opponent is out of threats, come in for the win. Current win-con cards in control strategies are Pearl Lake Ancient and Prognostic Sphinx or various planeswalkers like Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver or Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Check out a few of these control deck lists for ideas on how they are typically constructed: UR ControlEsper Control. While most control decks rely on the one-for-one cards in a pinch (Dissolve, Lightning Strike, Thoughtseize), they optimize their value with board wipes like End Hostilities, Perilous Vault, or Drown in Sorrow. The key here is that you can let your opponent get a little bit of the board, enough to make them think they're winning, and then completely demolish what board they've established with one card, giving you serious card advantage. My point here is that trying to split your deck between a one-for-one control strategy and a life-gain aggro will not end well. A house divided cannot stand. Pick a strategy (control or aggro) and try to focus on that.
Over all I have somewhat refined my strategy to use creatures that gain +/+ when I gain life and cards to counter or stop anything that would damage them directly.
What do you think?
I like the idea of using cards to keep your creatures around, but I don't think counterspells is what you want for that. Why spend 3 mana when you only need to spend 1? Compare Dissolve to Gods Willing. Dissolve prevents the spell from ever resolving by countering it directly. Gods Willing, on the other hand, gives your creature protection from the spell, still grants you the coveted scry 1, is in your primary color of white, costs only W instead of 1UU, and still accomplishes the function you want, i.e. keeping your creature around for another day. That being said, here's a different approach to your deck in the same colors as well as an approach utilizing Abzan colors instead of Jeskai:
Going for consistency and synergy. I splashed Jeskai so you can get Rabblemaster and Jeskai Charm, both of which have good advantages, but you could probably turn this into a decent mono white if you wanted to cut those. As mentioned, Gods Willing is good protection, as is Ajani's Presence. The rest is just working towards that life gain beatdown strategy. While Rabblemaster doesn't have synergy with your life gain strategy, he does present a constant threat that your opponents will have to deal with. They can't not deal with Rabblemaster, which means your other threats like Ajani's Pridemate can continue to grow. Alternatively, if you want to try a more aggressive (and more red-centered approach), you could consider adding Monastery Swiftspear.
This has a little bit different synergy. Dropped Hopeful Eidolon as a one-drop in favor of trying some heavier cards, so I had to up the land count by one. Same level of protection afforded by the instants. Added a Whip of Erebos for creature reanimation and everyone gets lifelink. Sorin is also a nice lifelink addition for your creatures.
Downside of both decks is that they don't interact with your opponent. That's where the sideboard would come in. For example, if you play someone who maindecks Erebos, God of the Dead, these decks are dead in the water. A good sideboard card would be Erase. 1 CMC removal for Erebos, and you're back to gaining life and kicking butt.
Thanks. I like both of those decks the 1st one a little better I think plus I already have most of those cards. The decks I seem to do the best against are slower decks that dont start off with low mana direct damage. The Black/Green deck I vs had a lot of premium cards but luckily I had the right cards at the right time to counter whatever they did. I like having Sungrace Pegasusto go with Sunbondbecause it has Life Link and Flying every turn that it attacks it doubles it power so it can quickly become +16/+17 and will be +32 after that attack and I am gaining health at that rate also. One game I had Ajani's Pridemateplus Sungrace Pegasuswith Sunbondthey played a couple exile card but I had a couple counter spells to stop them. Once the Pegasus was +16/+17 (something like that) and I stopped both their spells they conceded the game but I had been down to 4 health vs 16 at one point in that game. I would like to keep the Pegasus for the Lifelink maybe trade out Soldier of the Pantheonfor Sungrace Pegasusin your 1st list? I didnt even thing about using Gods Willingto protect my creatures that is much better than what I have been using. I can use that after they cast an Exile card and it works?
Edit: Whip of Erebosis great and would make Sunbondwork awesome with any creature. I like the idea of using that.
Thanks. I like both of those decks the 1st one a little better I think plus I already have most of those cards. The decks I seem to do the best against are slower decks that dont start off with low mana direct damage. The Black/Green deck I vs had a lot of premium cards but luckily I had the right cards at the right time to counter whatever they did. I like having Sungrace Pegasusto go with Sunbondbecause it has Life Link and Flying every turn that it attacks it doubles it power so it can quickly become +16/+17 and will be +32 after that attack and I am gaining health at that rate also. One game I had Ajani's Pridemateplus Sungrace Pegasuswith Sunbondthey played a couple exile card but I had a couple counter spells to stop them. Once the Pegasus was +16/+17 (something like that) and I stopped both their spells they conceded the game but I had been down to 4 health vs 16 at one point in that game. I would like to keep the Pegasus for the Lifelink maybe trade out Soldier of the Pantheonfor Sungrace Pegasusin your 1st list? I didnt even thing about using Gods Willingto protect my creatures that is much better than what I have been using. I can use that after they cast an Exile card and it works?
Edit: Whip of Erebosis great and would make Sunbondwork awesome with any creature. I like the idea of using that.
Thanks
It all depends on what you're playing against and how you can best respond. If your opponent is running a lot of direct exile (Utter End, Glare of Heresy), then Gods Willing and Feat of Resistance are the cards to go with. They're also good against Hero's Downfall and Murderous Cut. Where they don't help, however, is Anger of the Gods, Drown in Sorrow, and End Hostilities, which is why I added Ajani's Presence. Technically speaking, indestructible doesn't save a creature from 0 toughness (if you have a creature with 1 toughness, they cast Drown in Sorrow, you respond with Ajani's Presence, your creature will have 0 toughness after Drown in Sorrow resolves and go to the graveyard as a state-based action), but Ajani's Presence also gives your creature +1/+1 until EOT and if you have enough mana can be striven (strived?) to multiple creatures.
Sunbond is a great card, but its downfall (as with any Aura) is that if your can opponent can remove the creature, you lose two cards for their one card. That's why you want to have the proper protection spells, so you can keep your creature around to continue to be a threat.
Ive been working on uilding the deck you suggested. The first one. It has taken awhile and I have most of the cards but Goblin Rabblemasteris going for 19 Tickets 19$. I dont want to spend basically 80$ on 4 cards. Do you have any suggestions for a replacement?
Ive been working on uilding the deck you suggested. The first one. It has taken awhile and I have most of the cards but Goblin Rabblemasteris going for 19 Tickets 19$. I dont want to spend basically 80$ on 4 cards. Do you have any suggestions for a replacement?
Thanks.
Rabblemaster is a pretty strong aggro creature, so if you're gonna cut it, I'd add in some flying and cut Jeskai Charm to make it a mono white deck (which means cut the non-Plains lands and perhaps add in some Radiant Fountains). You could go back with your original Sungrace Pegasus. Other cards to consider are Akroan Skyguard (extra +1/+1 counters for targeting with your protection spells and Sunbond) or Cavalry Pegasus (gives your humans flying when they attack together). If you're trying to get Sunbond out as early as possible, Hero of Iroas isn't a bad choice and would allow you to replace Jeskai Charm with Ordeal of Heliod. The revamped deck might look something like this:
I built this last deck you suggested except I switched out Hero of Iroaswith Sungrace Pegasusbecause Hero is pretty expensive. The deck has been doing pretty good. I have VS some pretty powerful decks and against those there wasnt much I could do. One deck I vs didnt have any creatures at all. Just a bunch of cards that took from my library they won by emptying my library. I dont think there was anything I could do about that. Against mid-range creature decks I have done good. Seems though I get unlucky with the cards a lot. Like drawing nothing but land 4-6 turns in a row. Or starting with 2 lands then not drawing another until turn 7. What I am wondering is what is a decent win rate? It seems that luck has a big role in winning. Like I may have the cards fall poorly and it seem that my opponents fall perfect for them. I guess even the best deck is going to lose if the cards fall poorly. How much can you attribute to luck vs just not having a good deck. I often change my deck after a couple loses but I dont know if the problem is the deck or just bad luck. How do you decide if a lose or loses is the deck or just bad luck?
I built this last deck you suggested except I switched out Hero of Iroaswith Sungrace Pegasusbecause Hero is pretty expensive. The deck has been doing pretty good. I have VS some pretty powerful decks and against those there wasnt much I could do. One deck I vs didnt have any creatures at all. Just a bunch of cards that took from my library they won by emptying my library. I dont think there was anything I could do about that. Against mid-range creature decks I have done good. Seems though I get unlucky with the cards a lot. Like drawing nothing but land 4-6 turns in a row. Or starting with 2 lands then not drawing another until turn 7. What I am wondering is what is a decent win rate? It seems that luck has a big role in winning. Like I may have the cards fall poorly and it seem that my opponents fall perfect for them. I guess even the best deck is going to lose if the cards fall poorly. How much can you attribute to luck vs just not having a good deck. I often change my deck after a couple loses but I dont know if the problem is the deck or just bad luck. How do you decide if a lose or loses is the deck or just bad luck?
Not buying expensive cards when you're unsure about a deck is a good idea... The only benefit you gain is that you would have cards to trade, assuming you could find interested parties.
If you can run a 2-1 or 3-x record most of the times you play, then the deck is decent. One of the most interesting things about the meta right now is that there is no "best" deck. Pre-Khans rotation, there were a few decks that were by and far the top decks. I ran into a lot of them in my meta and my rogue decks wouldn't win just about no matter what I did. Those decks were not only consistent, they could pull out bad hands into wins because they had so much disruption and legitimate threats.
So, to answer your question, if you keep a bad hand or get bad draws, you can't always "count" that loss when evaluating the deck. However, a really good deck (as mentioned above) can often overcome getting bad hands/draws through disruption or fixing. One of the downsides of your deck is that you don't have any means of fixing your hand through card draw or tutoring, and you have definitive key cards that make your deck run. If you don't draw Sunbond, for example, it's a lot harder for your deck to be a significant threat. That's one of the things that makes the U/W Heroic deck(s) such a potent threat in this meta. Every creature is a threat in and of itself because they all have extra abilities that synergize with all the targeting spells so the deck can put pressure on with almost any hand.
But honestly, you just have to play the deck enough to determine if it's good or not. If you consistently get 1-x or 2-x wins in rounds where you play a large variety of deck styles, probably not the best deck and it's back to the drawing board. Sometimes, it's as simple as tweaking one or two cards. Hero of Iroas, for example, is a good card for your deck because it allows you to get Sunbond out earlier. If you want a cheaper card that will do a similar job, Heliod's Pilgrim won't get it out earlier, but will allow you to search for it... at which point you don't have run 4x Sunbond, maybe just 2x, and now you have room for other cards.
At the end of the day, though, just have fun with it. I've been playing for a little over a year now and I've been doing so-so (usually 2-x or 3-x records) for most of that year because I don't spend the same amount of time and money as some of the more dedicated MTG players in my area. But I'm having fun. If you're deck isn't fun to play, scrap it and build a new one. Sometimes, it's about trying something fun and fresh!
Overall my strategy has sort of been to have a lot of Life gaining cards and Creatures that increase in power as the game goes on so I can get out Creatures early but have some powerful Creatures later in the game. I tried to pick Enchantments that I can use with different creatures depending on which come out. Some of the main cards that the deck is built around are Ajani's Pridemate and Sunbond to take advantage of the Life giving cards I added Blue Cancel cards to counter opponents that use direct creature damage, exile, or destroy creature cards.
Creatures:
1)Herald of Anafenza (its cheap to get out, it increases in power, plus it gives me some 1/1 fodder creatures)
1)Hopeful Eidolon (for the Lifelink and +1/+1 I can add to any creature)
2)Soulmender (for the life gain I use with Ajani's Pridemate and Sunbond enchanted creatures)
3)Ajani's Pridemate (One of the main focus of this deck. Cheap to get out and works really good with cards like Soulmender. On a good start I am dealt Soulmender and Ajani's Pridemate with a couple Plains. I play Soulmenderfirst turn then Ajani's Pridemate second turn and have a 3/3 creature on the second turn.
1) Nyx-Fleece Ram(For the life gaining and it also makes a good blocker and also works well with Enchantments like Sunbond
1) Archetype of Courage(Mainly for the First Strike an adaption I made to counter Creatures with Deathtouch. Plus it another Creature I can use Sunbondon if need be)
1)Ajani Steadfast(He was the cheapest White Planeswalker I found but the First Strike, Vigilance, and Lifelink are very helpful.
1)High Sentinels of Arashin (For flying plus it works with the other creatures that gain +1/+1)
1) Celestial ArchonI can use it as is or give the abilities to another creature. I have had games where Ajani's Pridematehas become 6/6 then enchant with this and I have a 10/10 flier with first strike)
1) Resolute Archangel(This card has saved the day for me. It has also worked great giving a huge bonus to a creature with Sunbondit has added to that creature +16/+16 plus reset my health to 20)
1) Battlewise Hoplite (A new addition after I learned the value of scry)
1)Dexos of Meletis (This becomes a really good card if combined with Sunbond)
1) Ephara, God of the Polis (Helps keep cards in my hand plus later becomes a nice Creature)
1) Iroas, God of Victory(Works good against opponents with a lot of Creature vs my fewer Creatures that have a lot of +1/+1's)
Enchantments:
1) Ephara's Radiance( For gaining life and building up Creatures with Sunbondor Ajani's Pridemate)
3) Sunbond(Main focus of the deck. I tried to combine this with the best Creature I can then use it with the different life giving cards I have. I have had a couple times that I had a Creature with Sunbondwhile also having Ajani SteadfastI use the Ajani lifelink ability so that the Creature with Sunbonddoubles in strength every turn. I had a Creature get up to like 42/42 before winning the game. Works great when the cards fall right.)
1) Eidolon of Rhetoric(I have this mainly to slowdown Blue and Red decks that keep casting multiple spells. It has helped some.)
Instants:
1) Erase
2) Cancel(These I added mostly to protect my hand and Creatures and just general defense.)
2) Dissipate
2) Dissolve
2) Deflecting Palm (This has won a few games for me against opponents that were going to deal X damage and that number was very high. Was very satisfying to use VS opponent that had been building up and waiting to hit me with 1 hit of huge damage.)
Other Cards:
1) Solemn Offering
1) Godsend
1) Excoriate
1) Staff of the Sun Magus (Another life builder to work with Sunbondect.
1) Prowler's Helm
Lands:
2) Blossoming Sands (Gains life)
2) Mystic Monastery (Mostly for the splash of Red mana)
1) Sandsteppe Citadel
3) Tranquil Cove(Gains life. Gives mana of both of my main types)
1) Radiant Fountain (Gains life)
4) Wind-Scarred Crag (Gains life plus give Red)
5) Island
6) Plains
What do you think about the deck and overall strategy? What do I have right or wrong? What should I change? Like I said when the cards fall right I can win big vs any color but most of the time I lose vs any color. What sort of tips would you give me?
Thanks.
So... your deck looks like this?
1x Herald of Anafenza
1x Hopeful Eidolon
2x Soulmender
3x Ajani's Pridemate
1x Nyx-Fleece Ram
1x Archetype of Courage
1x High Sentinels of Arashin
1x Celestial Archon
1x Resolute Archangel
1x Battlewise Hoplite
1x Daxos of Meletis
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Ephara, God of the Polis
1x Iroas, God of Victory
1x Ajani Steadfast
Enchantments (4)
1x Ephara's Radiance
3x Sunbond
Instants/Sorceries (11)
1x Erase
2x Cancel
2x Dissipate
2x Dissolve
2x Deflecting Palm
1x Solemn Offering
1x Excoriate
Artifacts (3)
1x Godsend
1x Staff of the Sun Magus
1x Prowler's Helm
2x Blossoming Sands
2x Mystic Monastery
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
3x Tranquil Cove
1x Radiant Fountain
4x Wind-Scarred Crag
5x Island
6x Plains
First, what is the strategy or your deck? The reason you have hit or miss wins/losses is because every game you play, you wind up with something different. You will never get a consistent draw because you don't have a consistent deck. If you browse most other decks on the net right now, most cards in a deck will have 3-4 of each type. This lends itself to consistency in the draw. The best players are the ones who don't just play what's in their hand but can bank on the card they will most likely draw. It's the anticipation of how the deck plays, and knowing that the next 1-2 draws will have interaction with the rest of the deck to generate the win-con. If you're going to play the life-gain/sunbond interaction, you have to commit to it. Every card in your deck should have a defined purpose relative to your defined strategy.
So, with that in mind, I'd take a hard look at your deck and try to narrow it down yourself, then post again. Make most cards in your deck a quantity of 3-4, although some cards are better as 1-offs (like perhaps Resolute Archangel, because of the high casting cost). After you post a more refined version with a defined strategy and cards that you think fit in the strategy, I'll take another look at it.
Daniel
Thanks.
Press the "Quote" button at the bottom of my post and you can see how it was formatted in the reply box. Just like bolding surrounds the text with [ b ] [ /b ] (less the spaces), the deck list surrounds the text with [ deck ] [ /deck ] (also less the spaces). The rest is just text, and it automatically spaces it.
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Daniel
4x Ajani's Pridemate
1x Nyx-Fleece Ram
4x Sungrace Pegasus
1x Wall of Essence
1x Akroan Skyguard
2x Preeminent Captain
1x Fabled Hero
1x Daxos of Meletis
1x Heliod, God of the Sun
1x Avacyn, Guardian Angel
1x Aegis Angel
1x Resolute Archangel
1x Iroas, God of Victory
1x Ajani Steadfast
Enchantments (5)
1x Spear of Heliod
4x Sunbond
Instants/Sorceries (11)
1x Dissipate
2x Dissolve
2x Negate
1x Nullify
2x Deflecting Palm
1x Solemn Offering
Lands (24)
2x Blossoming Sands
2x Mystic Monastery
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
3x Tranquil Cove
1x Radiant Fountain
4x Wind-Scarred Crag
5x Island
6x Plains
I've played a few games with this deck (6) and over all was 4/2. The deck I lost to was a Red deck that managed to kill my creatures before I could power them up and since I didnt draw any counter spells I couldn't do much about it. The last 2 games was VS a Black/Green deck with a lot of very good cards, I managed to win but they were tough fights the last one in particular. I wish I could post that whole game. Usually I try to hold onto a counter spell to stop any instant kills on my creatures which worked out good on those games also Devouring Light and Solemn Offering. Sunbond worked really good with Sungrace Pegasus that and Ajani's Pridemateseems to be the best things to focus my deck on. Basically those, things that gain life and cards to protect them with. A few of these cards I think I will remove. I have Preeminent Captainand other Soldiers just because the Captain can bring them into play. I might get rid of those add a few more counter spells.
Over all I have somewhat refined my strategy to use creatures that gain +/+ when I gain life and cards to counter or stop anything that would damage them directly.
What do you think?
What decks did you win against? This just as important as the decks you lost to. A winning deck is not just one that can win against a few decks. It's one that can win against the majority of decks in the meta, and do so consistently.
A control deck is one that attempts to maintain board control by preventing his opponent from establishing his board and when his opponent is out of threats, come in for the win. Current win-con cards in control strategies are Pearl Lake Ancient and Prognostic Sphinx or various planeswalkers like Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver or Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Check out a few of these control deck lists for ideas on how they are typically constructed: UR Control Esper Control. While most control decks rely on the one-for-one cards in a pinch (Dissolve, Lightning Strike, Thoughtseize), they optimize their value with board wipes like End Hostilities, Perilous Vault, or Drown in Sorrow. The key here is that you can let your opponent get a little bit of the board, enough to make them think they're winning, and then completely demolish what board they've established with one card, giving you serious card advantage. My point here is that trying to split your deck between a one-for-one control strategy and a life-gain aggro will not end well. A house divided cannot stand. Pick a strategy (control or aggro) and try to focus on that.
I like the idea of using cards to keep your creatures around, but I don't think counterspells is what you want for that. Why spend 3 mana when you only need to spend 1? Compare Dissolve to Gods Willing. Dissolve prevents the spell from ever resolving by countering it directly. Gods Willing, on the other hand, gives your creature protection from the spell, still grants you the coveted scry 1, is in your primary color of white, costs only W instead of 1UU, and still accomplishes the function you want, i.e. keeping your creature around for another day. That being said, here's a different approach to your deck in the same colors as well as an approach utilizing Abzan colors instead of Jeskai:
4x Ajani's Pridemate
4x Hopeful Eidolon
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Seeker of the Way
4x Goblin Rabblemaster
2x Ajani Steadfast
Enchantments (4)
4x Sunbond
Artifacts (2)
2x Spear of Heliod
Instants (10)
4x Gods Willing
2x Jeskai Charm
4x Ajani's Presence
4x Tranquil Cove
4x Wind-Scarred Crag
4 Mountains
10 Plains
Going for consistency and synergy. I splashed Jeskai so you can get Rabblemaster and Jeskai Charm, both of which have good advantages, but you could probably turn this into a decent mono white if you wanted to cut those. As mentioned, Gods Willing is good protection, as is Ajani's Presence. The rest is just working towards that life gain beatdown strategy. While Rabblemaster doesn't have synergy with your life gain strategy, he does present a constant threat that your opponents will have to deal with. They can't not deal with Rabblemaster, which means your other threats like Ajani's Pridemate can continue to grow. Alternatively, if you want to try a more aggressive (and more red-centered approach), you could consider adding Monastery Swiftspear.
4x Ajani's Pridemate
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Seeker of the Way
3x Courser of Kruphix
3x Siege Rhino
1x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Ajani Steadfast
2x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Enchantments (4)
4x Sunbond
Artifacts (2)
1x Spear of Heliod
1x Whip of Erebos
Instants (8)
4x Gods Willing
4x Ajani's Presence
4x Blossoming Sands
4x Scoured Barrens
4x Sandsteppe Citadel
7 Plains
2 Forests
2 Windswept Heath
This has a little bit different synergy. Dropped Hopeful Eidolon as a one-drop in favor of trying some heavier cards, so I had to up the land count by one. Same level of protection afforded by the instants. Added a Whip of Erebos for creature reanimation and everyone gets lifelink. Sorin is also a nice lifelink addition for your creatures.
Downside of both decks is that they don't interact with your opponent. That's where the sideboard would come in. For example, if you play someone who maindecks Erebos, God of the Dead, these decks are dead in the water. A good sideboard card would be Erase. 1 CMC removal for Erebos, and you're back to gaining life and kicking butt.
Hope this helped and happy brewing!
Daniel
Edit: Whip of Erebosis great and would make Sunbondwork awesome with any creature. I like the idea of using that.
Thanks
It all depends on what you're playing against and how you can best respond. If your opponent is running a lot of direct exile (Utter End, Glare of Heresy), then Gods Willing and Feat of Resistance are the cards to go with. They're also good against Hero's Downfall and Murderous Cut. Where they don't help, however, is Anger of the Gods, Drown in Sorrow, and End Hostilities, which is why I added Ajani's Presence. Technically speaking, indestructible doesn't save a creature from 0 toughness (if you have a creature with 1 toughness, they cast Drown in Sorrow, you respond with Ajani's Presence, your creature will have 0 toughness after Drown in Sorrow resolves and go to the graveyard as a state-based action), but Ajani's Presence also gives your creature +1/+1 until EOT and if you have enough mana can be striven (strived?) to multiple creatures.
Sunbond is a great card, but its downfall (as with any Aura) is that if your can opponent can remove the creature, you lose two cards for their one card. That's why you want to have the proper protection spells, so you can keep your creature around to continue to be a threat.
Daniel
Thanks.
Rabblemaster is a pretty strong aggro creature, so if you're gonna cut it, I'd add in some flying and cut Jeskai Charm to make it a mono white deck (which means cut the non-Plains lands and perhaps add in some Radiant Fountains). You could go back with your original Sungrace Pegasus. Other cards to consider are Akroan Skyguard (extra +1/+1 counters for targeting with your protection spells and Sunbond) or Cavalry Pegasus (gives your humans flying when they attack together). If you're trying to get Sunbond out as early as possible, Hero of Iroas isn't a bad choice and would allow you to replace Jeskai Charm with Ordeal of Heliod. The revamped deck might look something like this:
4x Ajani's Pridemate
4x Hopeful Eidolon
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Seeker of the Way
4x Hero of Iroas
2x Ajani Steadfast
Enchantments (7)
4x Sunbond
3x Ordeal of Heliod
Artifacts (2)
2x Spear of Heliod
4x Gods Willing
4x Ajani's Presence
Lands (21)
4x Radiant Fountain
17x Plains
Not buying expensive cards when you're unsure about a deck is a good idea... The only benefit you gain is that you would have cards to trade, assuming you could find interested parties.
If you can run a 2-1 or 3-x record most of the times you play, then the deck is decent. One of the most interesting things about the meta right now is that there is no "best" deck. Pre-Khans rotation, there were a few decks that were by and far the top decks. I ran into a lot of them in my meta and my rogue decks wouldn't win just about no matter what I did. Those decks were not only consistent, they could pull out bad hands into wins because they had so much disruption and legitimate threats.
So, to answer your question, if you keep a bad hand or get bad draws, you can't always "count" that loss when evaluating the deck. However, a really good deck (as mentioned above) can often overcome getting bad hands/draws through disruption or fixing. One of the downsides of your deck is that you don't have any means of fixing your hand through card draw or tutoring, and you have definitive key cards that make your deck run. If you don't draw Sunbond, for example, it's a lot harder for your deck to be a significant threat. That's one of the things that makes the U/W Heroic deck(s) such a potent threat in this meta. Every creature is a threat in and of itself because they all have extra abilities that synergize with all the targeting spells so the deck can put pressure on with almost any hand.
But honestly, you just have to play the deck enough to determine if it's good or not. If you consistently get 1-x or 2-x wins in rounds where you play a large variety of deck styles, probably not the best deck and it's back to the drawing board. Sometimes, it's as simple as tweaking one or two cards. Hero of Iroas, for example, is a good card for your deck because it allows you to get Sunbond out earlier. If you want a cheaper card that will do a similar job, Heliod's Pilgrim won't get it out earlier, but will allow you to search for it... at which point you don't have run 4x Sunbond, maybe just 2x, and now you have room for other cards.
At the end of the day, though, just have fun with it. I've been playing for a little over a year now and I've been doing so-so (usually 2-x or 3-x records) for most of that year because I don't spend the same amount of time and money as some of the more dedicated MTG players in my area. But I'm having fun. If you're deck isn't fun to play, scrap it and build a new one. Sometimes, it's about trying something fun and fresh!
Daniel