Hi all, ive been playing mtg for about 6 months, just designed my first serious deck and could do with some advice. Not looking for the best deck around, just something viable and so have designed this list. The deck is built around the abzan outlast mechanic, and id like to keep it centred around that. On another note, id rather not spend ridiculous amounts of money on this So heres the list that I have and am using ATM (img attached as well;
Main goal of the deck is to try and get a nice field with some counters to make it bigger, try and have some first strike/flying/deathtouch. Main problem im having is that it cant really cope with the creatures dying very well. All tips appreciated! Thx in advance for ur help.
Welcome!
How well that deck works is relative to your expectations.
One thing you should know is that a few of your cards are not legal in standard currently,specifically Blessings of Nature and Cathar's Crusade.
Beyond that, taking your creatures out of commission for a turn and spending mana just to get a counter is not competitive with most constructed decks. The generals are OK if you put the counters on them by other means. As long as you don't expect to win much, this deck will teach you a lot.
With that deck, Charm and ascendency seem good. If you were to tweak the manabase to give you ~18 W sources, I would recommend Citadel Siege. With ~20 W sources, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit would be interesting.
Another +1/+1 counter card I never see mentioned is Reap what is Sown, Although both Abzan Charm and Dromoka's Command are way more useful, I did wonder a bit when the +1/+1 counter gernerals were printed if Reap might see play.
In addition to the excellent information you've already gotten, gatherer.wizards.com has a field for "Card Format" that can be set to "Standard". As mentioned above, it is currently the last seven "normal" expansions (not Conspiracy and not Modern Masters).
You point out that removing creatures is the bane of your deck. Unfortunately, every deck is set up to remove creatures. However, if all your cards need removing, then some will hopefully survive. In line with that, you may want to reconsider any card that can be safely ignored by your opponents. I suspect Disowned Ancestor and Tuskguard Captain may fall into that category, but your testing will tell you more than my armchair quarterbacking. Since you have 13 lands that enter the battlefield tapped, you have turn 1 plays without Disowned Ancestor. Against aggressive decks you might even want to have Disowned Ancestor in your sideboard, as it could be a good blocker that fits in with the deck's plan.
There are expensive rare lands that provide multiple colors without tapping or provide a benefit like scrying: Windswept Heath, Caves of Koilos, Temple of Plenty, etc. How ever many of those that you can afford to put in your deck to replace the lifegain dual lands will help your deck be faster or you to have the cards you need. Speed kills.
And finally, another card to consider for your deck would be Dromoka's Command as mentioned by the above poster. .
Printing your own copies or using your own art is cool for casual games, but I'd ask your local game store what their policy is on using those when playing your deck in events they organize. I know my local store won't allow it in any event they supply prize support for. I just thought I'd tell you so you don't find yourself accidentally getting disqualified.
Hi all, ive been playing mtg for about 6 months, just designed my first serious deck and could do with some advice. Not looking for the best deck around, just something viable and so have designed this list. The deck is built around the abzan outlast mechanic, and id like to keep it centred around that. On another note, id rather not spend ridiculous amounts of money on this So heres the list that I have and am using ATM (img attached as well;
Creatures 20;
Instants/Sorceries 13;
Enchantments 3;
Mana Base 24;
Main goal of the deck is to try and get a nice field with some counters to make it bigger, try and have some first strike/flying/deathtouch. Main problem im having is that it cant really cope with the creatures dying very well. All tips appreciated! Thx in advance for ur help.
How well that deck works is relative to your expectations.
One thing you should know is that a few of your cards are not legal in standard currently,specifically Blessings of Nature and Cathar's Crusade.
Beyond that, taking your creatures out of commission for a turn and spending mana just to get a counter is not competitive with most constructed decks. The generals are OK if you put the counters on them by other means. As long as you don't expect to win much, this deck will teach you a lot.
With that deck, Charm and ascendency seem good. If you were to tweak the manabase to give you ~18 W sources, I would recommend Citadel Siege. With ~20 W sources, Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit would be interesting.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
@Jbeachum where do i check?
@fettpett, ill look into it
Thx all
Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey into Nyx, M15, Khans of Tarkir, Fate Reforged and Dragons of Tarkir.
Check out www.magiccards.info and they have an option (under advanced) to display only standard legal cards.
Here are some suggestions for spells
Echoes of the Kin Tree
Gleam of Authority
Pinion Feast
Scale Blessing
Sunbringer's Touch
You point out that removing creatures is the bane of your deck. Unfortunately, every deck is set up to remove creatures. However, if all your cards need removing, then some will hopefully survive. In line with that, you may want to reconsider any card that can be safely ignored by your opponents. I suspect Disowned Ancestor and Tuskguard Captain may fall into that category, but your testing will tell you more than my armchair quarterbacking. Since you have 13 lands that enter the battlefield tapped, you have turn 1 plays without Disowned Ancestor. Against aggressive decks you might even want to have Disowned Ancestor in your sideboard, as it could be a good blocker that fits in with the deck's plan.
There are expensive rare lands that provide multiple colors without tapping or provide a benefit like scrying: Windswept Heath, Caves of Koilos, Temple of Plenty, etc. How ever many of those that you can afford to put in your deck to replace the lifegain dual lands will help your deck be faster or you to have the cards you need. Speed kills.
And finally, another card to consider for your deck would be Dromoka's Command as mentioned by the above poster. .
Hope this helps!
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
@Hiss, I made and printed them myself... I just put paper in the sleeves over the cards themselves.
@FettPett, thx very much, will prolly put some in an updated list.
@Scribe, Ill think about it, only problem i see with it is the fact that it has to be 3 different creatures.
@Hoser, very helpful thx, will definitely touch up mana base and take a closer look at ancestor and captain.
Updated list coming soon!