First off I would like to start out with explaining why most heroic decks don't take off; you can't just stuff 12 creatures in a deck and say " I'm going to protect them all with my 20 instants so I don't need more creatures". The game doesn't work that way and even with your perfect hand early on, mid game you run out of creatures and all you draw is juice and lands, by then they stabilize and it's over. So what I am trying to do here is set up a deck where every single card you draw is a threat in and of itself.
Green and white have always been my favorite colors to run and I've decided that I want to stay out of the meta and try something that people aren't running or even thinking about. I have been testing and this deck has been doing really well as of now but I would love some help from the community to see if I can make it better for tonight's Standard tournament.
Also if anyone has any sidedeck ideas please let me know because as of now it's pretty much blank.
Yeah, I was contemplating Phalanx Leader until I realized that I never really have more than 1 or 2 creatures on the board and I want to be targeting other creatures with protection or pumps, not Phalanx. I will try him out as a 2 of to see how that goes though.
Phalanx Leader is much better in my deck, which has generally smaller creatures and Hardened Scales. But he could be good for you, particularly with Mentor tokens.
Yeah, sideboarding. Hard to find solutions that fit with the way the deck works. In theory, first strike should help against hornets, but if they remove the creature that gives first strike ... Mortal Obstinacy is cute, though. Bond-kin is to kill hornets, Devouring Light for the nests.
Obviously you are not running Hardened Scales, so your optimal list will be different, but I will include my list for reference.
Phalanx Leader is much better in my deck, which has generally smaller creatures and Hardened Scales. But he could be good for you, particularly with Mentor tokens.
Yeah, sideboarding. Hard to find solutions that fit with the way the deck works. In theory, first strike should help against hornets, but if they remove the creature that gives first strike ... Mortal Obstinacy is cute, though. Bond-kin is to kill hornets, Devouring Light for the nests.
Yeah, I've decided after testing at yesterday's standard tournament, that Mentor is more of a win more card/eat removal, which would be much better used as Defiant srtrikes in the main and Seeker is a little subpar to have him as a 4 of.
I swear to you that Warden was completely amazing every time I drew him early and still alright when drawn late. I never used his 4 or 5 mana level ups. I literally just used him as a 1 drop fleecemane which they needed to waste removal on that opened up the field to my fabled hero. Fabled Hero is such a house dude, I hit for 28 in one turn thanks to Hero and a Seeker on board, Turn 4.
I'm going to try Phalanx as a 2 of see how it works, I'm just worried about the double white on turn 2 as well as not having enough creatures to take advantage of him early.
I definitely will add some Silk Wrap to the side just for hornets nest.
You really do need that card draw and it lets you have an effect that you are allowed to use early on without feeling like you wasted something you might need later so I will include 2 Defiant Strike for now to see how it goes.
So my new test list is going to look like this:
-3 Monastery Mentor
-1 Seeker of the Way
+2 Defiant Strike
+2 Phalanx Leader
and this is what my Sideboard is looking like:
4x Plummet
2x Silkwrap
1x Abzan Falconer
2x Ordeal of Heliod
2x Mastery of the Unseen
2x Surge of Righteousness
2x Valorous Stance
Those plummets are just so necessary in the Mardu Dragons match up. Literally lose to Stormbreath dragon alone.
Let me know what you think and thanks for your suggestions. Also, how does anafenza work for you? She looks like she would work wonders if not for the double white.
Guys, once again I really urge you to try this deck out. I guarantee you it will beat everything out there 70%+ of the time.
I have no idea why no one is playing it. I've been trying to get people to get on the band wagon with my deck but unfortunately no one is willing to test it out
Try it out guys, play a few games with it, get the feel for it and see the raw power of this deck. When played right its pretty much takes game 1 every time, and game 2 and 3 are still just as easy.
Then come to this thread and lets toss around some ideas on how to make the deck better, even though I think it's already in its best form.
Yeah, I have been playing G/W aggro with heroic splash since before KtK and it is honestly one of the best decks out there.
I wanted to ask though, why do you have so many 2 of's? Don't you think it would be better instead of having random 2 of's you could just play 4 of your value cards?
Well I prefer some variety in my decks in general. Phalanx/Anafenza both give your team counters but in different ways. Anafenza is a better body but limits you if in multiples.
Arashin Foremost and Fabled hero are also the same idea. Sometimes no spell to trigger heroic sometimes no warriors on the board. I just like the versatility in general.
DenProtect and Hidden Dragonslayer speak for themselves. I needed lifelink someway (seeker) and since they're warriors I can have them as Bolstered Flying Double Striking Lifelink Tramplers. With vigilance if I put in Dromokas Herald.
The Fleecemane doesnt do much and is a late mana sink, but theyre there instead of hooded hydras cuz 3/3 is better than 2/2.
The deck can also transform into a morph/manifest deck with whisper wood Elemental and Mastery of the Unseen and all that but it requires a more mana dork strategy which I dont want. Daghatar is the only 4 drop.
A board would consist of manifest cards above as well as those Ordeal cards. Citadel Siege and Elitescale Gaurd are amazing in this deck but require that extra mana. Also Mardu Woe Reaper to exile Deathmists.
What I tried to do is minimize bad top decks and keep the deck as efficient and streamline as possible. Cutting creatures makes the deck more reliant on the few creatures it has instead of making them deal with multiple threats until they can't anymore and we make one stick.
Spells like solidarity of heroes and hardened scales have a fit in other decks but in decks like mine they just aren't anything but dead weight. Also terrible top decks with no creatures on the board. No matter how many protection spells you have, you will have 0 creatures on the board at some point and neither of those cards will do you any good.
Hey Everyone!
Cool thread. I have an affinity for white and been playing mostly mono white since I started playing MTG at the beginning of Fate Reforged.
Here is the deck that I will be running this upcoming FNM:
Hey Everyone!
Cool thread. I have an affinity for white and been playing mostly mono white since I started playing MTG at the beginning of Fate Reforged.
Here is the deck that I will be running this upcoming FNM:
The deck looks solid dude, but I think you are in need of some creatures because you are a little light. I wouldn't go into a game without at least 18 creatures. No matter how many protection spells you have, they aren't enough to keep creatures on the board. Eventually you will run out of gas or you will just have the wrong lands or you will be tapped out, there are just too many scenarios.
As of right now I am running the following to HUGE success and I dare anyone to play this deck vs all the meta decks right now and watch how hard you win:
The deck looks solid dude, but I think you are in need of some creatures because you are a little light. I wouldn't go into a game without at least 18 creatures. No matter how many protection spells you have, they aren't enough to keep creatures on the board. Eventually you will run out of gas or you will just have the wrong lands or you will be tapped out, there are just too many scenarios.
Thanks. And what you say about having more creatures is legit as it reduces the chances muligans too. But what do I cut?? The 22 land base feels very solid and reliable. Also, Mardu Aggro and Bant Heroic run only 16 creatures. How are they making it work?
Bant heroic makes it work by having reliable and good draw engines plus scry. Mardu Afro makes it work because they also have burn to interact with the board. That reach is just as good S having more creatures. Gw doesn't have either of those luxuries.
I'm trying to see if I can change the deck up a little so I can turn it into Naya so we can run Titan's strength and have better sideboard options, as it stands right now all we have is plummet against storm breath
Titans strength is just so damn good dude it literally single handededly changes how the deck works.
That's what I'm trying to figure out, the mana. The thing about Titan's Strength is that it's only 1 mana and its just amazing, gets in for 5 turn 2 with hoplite or 4 with warden, plus a mana up for protection or another 1 drop PLUS it scry's. The 1 mana symbol is the most important in there. Also if I did try and succeed in making the mana work then I would use both titanic strength and Lightning strike. If we had mutagenic growth, berserk, or Giant growth, then it would be a different story, but we don't
My biggest issue with the deck, even though it works amazingly well, is that we have no way to interact with ramp creatures, and thats the only thing that can really bring them back in the game; if they can go fast enough.
Black would be good but I would rather splash red because you have that extra reach. Also at that point just go BW Warriors or humans or something.
I usually use cockatrice to test when I have no one to test with in person. Or just take the deck to your tournaments and post some tournament reports, that would be cool. I haven't been able to go to standard tournaments lately since I hav had to work which sucks because I could be going infinite :'(
Alright, so we didnt perform well at all Friday night. So there going to be some changes to list.
Although when I was able to combo Fabled Hero + Gods Willing + Titanic Growth or Become Immense opponents died suddenly. Brutal combo thats almost impossible to counter. It hits anywhere from 18 - 20 damage.
However the deck is a bit narrow. With keeping it W/g, here is a new list for next FNM (updated from post #15)
Launch the Fleet will allow me to go wide while getting a lot more utility from Phalanx Leader. And there are many ways to trigger his heroic ability.
With Phalanx Leader and Favored Hoplite move to attacks and target them both with Fleet. After blockers are declared, target Phalanx leader with a defiant strike or Gods Willing. You could then even Titanic Growth one of your soldier tokens that go unblocked.
First off I would like to start out with explaining why most heroic decks don't take off; you can't just stuff 12 creatures in a deck and say " I'm going to protect them all with my 20 instants so I don't need more creatures". The game doesn't work that way and even with your perfect hand early on, mid game you run out of creatures and all you draw is juice and lands, by then they stabilize and it's over. So what I am trying to do here is set up a deck where every single card you draw is a threat in and of itself.
Green and white have always been my favorite colors to run and I've decided that I want to stay out of the meta and try something that people aren't running or even thinking about. I have been testing and this deck has been doing really well as of now but I would love some help from the community to see if I can make it better for tonight's Standard tournament.
Also if anyone has any sidedeck ideas please let me know because as of now it's pretty much blank.
Creatures
4x Warden of the First Tree
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Fleecemane Lion
4x Seeker of the Way
3x Fabled Hero
3x Monastery Mentor
Spells
4x Gods Willing
3x Ajani's Presence
2x Warriors' Lesson
4x Titanic Growth
3x Dromoka's Command
2x Feat of Resistance
1x Become Immense
Land
4x Windswept
4x Temple of Plenty
2x Mana Confluence
6x Plains
3x Forest
Any help would be appreciated and I would love to have any discussion about card selection.
Obviously you are not running Hardened Scales, so your optimal list will be different, but I will include my list for reference.
1 Forest
4 Mana Confluence
7 Plains
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Windswept Heath
Creatures (19)
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4 Akroan Skyguard
1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Phalanx Leader
1 Seeker of the Way
1 Fabled Hero
4 Defiant Strike
2 God's Willing
4 Hardened Scales
4 Warrior's Lesson
4 Feat of Resistance
1 Inspiring Call
2 Reap What is Sown
1 Launch the Fleet
2 Ainok Bond-Kin
2 Gods Willing
2 Mortal Obstinacy
1 Ordeal of Heliod
1 Abzan Falconer
2 Devouring Light
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Abzan Battle Priest
1 Ajani Steadfast
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.
Yeah, I've decided after testing at yesterday's standard tournament, that Mentor is more of a win more card/eat removal, which would be much better used as Defiant srtrikes in the main and Seeker is a little subpar to have him as a 4 of.
I swear to you that Warden was completely amazing every time I drew him early and still alright when drawn late. I never used his 4 or 5 mana level ups. I literally just used him as a 1 drop fleecemane which they needed to waste removal on that opened up the field to my fabled hero. Fabled Hero is such a house dude, I hit for 28 in one turn thanks to Hero and a Seeker on board, Turn 4.
I'm going to try Phalanx as a 2 of see how it works, I'm just worried about the double white on turn 2 as well as not having enough creatures to take advantage of him early.
I definitely will add some Silk Wrap to the side just for hornets nest.
You really do need that card draw and it lets you have an effect that you are allowed to use early on without feeling like you wasted something you might need later so I will include 2 Defiant Strike for now to see how it goes.
So my new test list is going to look like this:
-3 Monastery Mentor
-1 Seeker of the Way
+2 Defiant Strike
+2 Phalanx Leader
and this is what my Sideboard is looking like:
4x Plummet
2x Silkwrap
1x Abzan Falconer
2x Ordeal of Heliod
2x Mastery of the Unseen
2x Surge of Righteousness
2x Valorous Stance
Those plummets are just so necessary in the Mardu Dragons match up. Literally lose to Stormbreath dragon alone.
Let me know what you think and thanks for your suggestions. Also, how does anafenza work for you? She looks like she would work wonders if not for the double white.
I have no idea why no one is playing it. I've been trying to get people to get on the band wagon with my deck but unfortunately no one is willing to test it out
Try it out guys, play a few games with it, get the feel for it and see the raw power of this deck. When played right its pretty much takes game 1 every time, and game 2 and 3 are still just as easy.
Then come to this thread and lets toss around some ideas on how to make the deck better, even though I think it's already in its best form.
2 Anafenza KinTre Spirit
2 Phalanx Leader
2 Seeker of the Way
2 Fleecemane Lion
3 Den Protector
2 Hidden DragonSlayer
2 Arashin Foremost
2 Fabled Hero
3 Abzan Falconer
2 Tuskgaurd Captain
1 Daghatar
3 Hardened Scales
3 Gods Willing
1 Feat of Resistance
2 Dromokas Command
2 Valorous Stance
1 Solidarity of Heroes
1 Inspiring Call.
Built Abzan Heroic before Abzan or Heroic were a thing. Dropped the Black cuz Mana Issues so now Ive been on this G/W Heroic Morphing Warriors.
Its a real deal deck that can Stabilize against Red or Control.
I wanted to ask though, why do you have so many 2 of's? Don't you think it would be better instead of having random 2 of's you could just play 4 of your value cards?
Arashin Foremost and Fabled hero are also the same idea. Sometimes no spell to trigger heroic sometimes no warriors on the board. I just like the versatility in general.
DenProtect and Hidden Dragonslayer speak for themselves. I needed lifelink someway (seeker) and since they're warriors I can have them as Bolstered Flying Double Striking Lifelink Tramplers. With vigilance if I put in Dromokas Herald.
The Fleecemane doesnt do much and is a late mana sink, but theyre there instead of hooded hydras cuz 3/3 is better than 2/2.
The deck can also transform into a morph/manifest deck with whisper wood Elemental and Mastery of the Unseen and all that but it requires a more mana dork strategy which I dont want. Daghatar is the only 4 drop.
A board would consist of manifest cards above as well as those Ordeal cards. Citadel Siege and Elitescale Gaurd are amazing in this deck but require that extra mana. Also Mardu Woe Reaper to exile Deathmists.
Also sorry this was in my mobile
Spells like solidarity of heroes and hardened scales have a fit in other decks but in decks like mine they just aren't anything but dead weight. Also terrible top decks with no creatures on the board. No matter how many protection spells you have, you will have 0 creatures on the board at some point and neither of those cards will do you any good.
Cool thread. I have an affinity for white and been playing mostly mono white since I started playing MTG at the beginning of Fate Reforged.
Here is the deck that I will be running this upcoming FNM:
1 Forest
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Blossoming Sands
2 Mana Confluence
4 Windswept Heath
11 Plains
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Fabled Hero
Spells - 22
4 Defiant Strike
4 Gods Willing
4 Dromoka's Command
4 Valorous Stance
3 Titanic Growth
1 Become Immense
2 Center Soul
C Long Live Eldrazi C
The deck looks solid dude, but I think you are in need of some creatures because you are a little light. I wouldn't go into a game without at least 18 creatures. No matter how many protection spells you have, they aren't enough to keep creatures on the board. Eventually you will run out of gas or you will just have the wrong lands or you will be tapped out, there are just too many scenarios.
As of right now I am running the following to HUGE success and I dare anyone to play this deck vs all the meta decks right now and watch how hard you win:
4 Forest
4 Temple of Plenty
2 Mana Confluence
4 Windswept Heath
6 Plains
Creatures - 19
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Warden of the First Tree
4 Fleecemane Lion
2 Phalanx Leader
2 Seeker of the Way
3 Fabled Hero
2 Ajanis Presence
4 Defiant Strike
4 Gods Willing
3 Dromoka's Command
3 Titanic Growth
1 Become Immense
2 Center Soul
2 Raise the Alarm
Thanks. And what you say about having more creatures is legit as it reduces the chances muligans too. But what do I cut?? The 22 land base feels very solid and reliable. Also, Mardu Aggro and Bant Heroic run only 16 creatures. How are they making it work?
C Long Live Eldrazi C
I'm trying to see if I can change the deck up a little so I can turn it into Naya so we can run Titan's strength and have better sideboard options, as it stands right now all we have is plummet against storm breath
Titans strength is just so damn good dude it literally single handededly changes how the deck works.
If you really want to go Naya, why not for Lightning Strike instead?
C Long Live Eldrazi C
My biggest issue with the deck, even though it works amazingly well, is that we have no way to interact with ramp creatures, and thats the only thing that can really bring them back in the game; if they can go fast enough.
But yeah the mana is the only issue for naya.
At the bare minimum you would need the 4 x Battlefield Forge and 4 x mana confluence.
You could always proxy it and test draw.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
How do we do that? Im not much of a fan on online MtG.
As far as dealing with ramp creaturs, white does not have great removal. There is Valorous Stance, Pacifism, Radiant Purge and a few others. This is why I have considered splashing black. Black removal is better. This would give access to self-inflicted wound and ultimate price.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
I usually use cockatrice to test when I have no one to test with in person. Or just take the deck to your tournaments and post some tournament reports, that would be cool. I haven't been able to go to standard tournaments lately since I hav had to work which sucks because I could be going infinite :'(
Although when I was able to combo Fabled Hero + Gods Willing + Titanic Growth or Become Immense opponents died suddenly. Brutal combo thats almost impossible to counter. It hits anywhere from 18 - 20 damage.
However the deck is a bit narrow. With keeping it W/g, here is a new list for next FNM (updated from post #15)
1 Forest
4 Temple of Plenty
2 Mana Confluence
4 Windswept Heath
11 Plains
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Phalanx Leader
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Fabled Hero
Spells - 22
4 Defiant Strike
4 Gods Willing
4 Dromoka's Command
4 Launch the Fleet
3 Titanic Growth
3 Become Immense
Launch the Fleet will allow me to go wide while getting a lot more utility from Phalanx Leader. And there are many ways to trigger his heroic ability.
With Phalanx Leader and Favored Hoplite move to attacks and target them both with Fleet. After blockers are declared, target Phalanx leader with a defiant strike or Gods Willing. You could then even Titanic Growth one of your soldier tokens that go unblocked.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
- 1 Become Immense
- 1 Plains
+ 2 Raise the Alarm
C Long Live Eldrazi C