MTG Salvation

Sideboard
For now, I have x2 Worst Fears, x4 Plummet, x2 Hornet Queen, and x3 Mistcutter Hydra.

As you may be able tell, I'm pretty new to the forums, and I just wanted some feedback/advice on this deck and its sideboard. Thanks!

EDIT: Updated for better viewing. Responses of any kind appreciated... .-.

Quote from Tyupo »

EDIT: Updated for better viewing. Responses of any kind appreciated... .-.

Since you're new to the forums, this is typically the easiest layout to critique



And before I make any competitive suggestions, is this deck for casual or competition?

Thanks ton, and also competitive more than anything else.

Okay, well if you want to be competitive, first you must know what kind of archetypes you could possibly be up against and what kinds of cards work well against them. Or even better against multiple archetypes.

Control is typically a matchup made to go into the long game by using cheap and efficient answers and incredibly difficult to overcome win conditions. To beat them the better cards are discard, counterspells, and planeswalkers. In your colors the best cards you could choose are Thoughtseize, Nissa, Worldwaker, and Garruk, Apex Predator. Thoughtseize allows you to deal with the most problematic card your opponent has before they can use it, whether it be a win condition or an answer to your next play. For example, removing your opponent's counterspell before you play your planeswalker. If you can stick a planeswalker against control, you've removed half of their answers for it (counterspells). Post rotation (as I see your building), they still have access to Hero's Downfall and Banishing Light, but not much else. They lose Detention Sphere after rotation.

Midrange can often play an agressive or contolling approach, but they're always based on playing many big and powerful threats. It's called midrange because they're strongest in the midgame. The deck you're working on would be in this category, so you want to play with the biggest and best threats available without overbearing the casting costs. If you use too many high cc threats you'll lose more games to aggro decks. Right now I can see you're making a post-rotation (after M14 and Return to Ravnica rotate out) build. So your best threats are Polukranos, World Eater, Nissa, Garruk, and maybe Reaper of the Wilds. And if devotion isn't your thing, you could always try a 1-of Soul of New Phyrexia. The paragon seems like a nice card, but 4 mana for only +1/+1 is too weak when you don't even have 20 creatures in your deck. And if you want trample, you could play Nylea, God of the Hunt instead. I also wouldn't play more than 2 Garruk because of the 7cc. And your 3 Nissa is a good number. Also a lot of really good removal is rotating out, so I would try Setassan Tactics and Hero's Downfall until something better is spoiled in M15 or the next set. Setassan Tactics will allow your big green fatties to take down things like Stormbreath Dragon.

Against aggro opponents you want to have cheap and efficient ways to block or remove their creatures. So cards like Polukranos that can essentially do both are great here. Courser of Kruphix is great because it's cheap, has a big but, fixes your draws, and gains you life. Sylvan Caryatid can perform some of these duties as well in the early game when its not being used as a mana source.

I've made a thread with a deck list I've come up with in this sub forum. Check it out if you need ideas.

Not to burst your bubble, but I'm not new to Magic, just the forums I can at least tell you what control, midrange is, etc.. But I do thank you for your input. My logic behind the Garruks and Paragon is the fact that, God willing, I can have Nissa out turn three, and 16 4/4 Forests turn seven. The other creatures are only there for support, but don't become obsolete, as Bow gives them somewhat of a purpose after their initial is served. I do want more removal, should I take out Defend the Hearth, or what would you suggest in place?
(EDIT; Also, I know evidence is very much to the contrary, but I am on a somewhat budget, I just happen to have most of these cards already. The walkers will be enough, and that's if I can trade for some of them. Thoughtseize is a good option, I admit, but it's a definite maybe at this point, unless I win the lotto.)
(EDIT 2; Also also, I hadn't thought of Setessan Tactics yet, I think I like it.)

Quote from Tyupo »

Not to burst your bubble, but I'm not new to Magic, just the forums I can at least tell you what control, midrange is, etc.. But I do thank you for your input. My logic behind the Garruks and Paragon is the fact that, God willing, I can have Nissa out turn three, and 16 4/4 Forests turn seven. The other creatures are only there for support, but don't become obsolete, as Bow gives them somewhat of a purpose after their initial is served. I do want more removal, should I take out Defend the Hearth, or what would you suggest in place?

I wouldn't really call Elvish Mystic, Sylvan Caryatid, and Courser of Kruphix a support set. They're the backbone because without ways to bring down your big spells fast enough, aggro tramples you and control's efficient answers become that much more efficient.

And Bow is good, but I would definitely have more creatures. I would actually remove the Defend the Hearth and at least most of the artifact/enchantment hate to add Thoughtseize, Setassan Tactics and Hero's Downfall. Artifacts and Enchantments aren't so abundant that you need to use 6 slots for them. 1 or 2 should be fine if they see lots of play in your area. Otherwise they're typically better in the sideboard.

Yea. My main reason for those is A. The slew of artifacts come M15, and B. God cards. They're indestructible, but not hexproof. That'll give a slight edge over decks that use Iroas or Mogis.

Tyupo - it's true that the enchantment hate cards you have hit gods, but the gods are not really seeing a whole lot of play right now (at least where I live and in competitive tournaments). You might want to consider keeping those in the sideboard, and keep your mainboard full of cards that are always good, instead of just good in certain situations. Things you might want to consider are Polukranos, World Eater, or the very budget-friendly Arbor Colossus.

Oh, I already dropped this idea I thought everyone would just let this thread die out. Sadly, after all the effort I put into it, it did pretty poorly in testing, even with some pretty drastic changes (no enchantment hate, more/less creatures, etc...), it only did mediocre at best. My biggest problem was that Nissa wasn't really able to hold up as well as I thought, even though this is deck is pretty ramp-y. Garruk did just fine, but thats when I I actually lived long enough to get him out/draw him. As for the gods, I see a lot of gods in play at my local tournaments (FNM in Ohio), enough that the enchantment hate I have in there isn't overkill by too many stretches. I really wanted this deck to work out, but in the end, I just couldn't get a good strategy. That, and the fact that it dawned on me later that I wouldn't be able to afford half this stuff, I'm basically relying on trades and booster pulls for anything good.

I did end up going back to my roots with a good old-fashioned mono-red Burn deck with artifacts from M15 and the like, I'd love if you could give me some feedback on that as well (http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-new-card-discussion/565173-post-m15-and-rtr-mono-red-fire-nation-deck-advice), but even still I'm doubting it's efficiency compared to a regular old Burn deck. Anyways, thanks.

I think 3 apex predator is too much, yes you have mana ramp but is 7cc to cast and will take up a turn to cast. 4 tombs is also too much because of the legendary rule. Hero's Downfall is a great removal card that should find it's way in the deck along with Polukranos, World Eater,. I actually don't see much of a win condition, nissa and maybe Garruk with those 3/3 beasts. here is a list that has a bit more win conditions.

It doesn't really matter, I've given up on this deck. I very much appreciate your feedback, though. I just can't make it work to my favor, and with a small(-ish) budget at that.