Each player starts the game with 20 life just like normal magic, your pre-loaded deck will consist of 2 of each land type that's all you need to start the game. once you enter there will be 5 piles each consisting of 30 cards per pile. each pile will have the top card revealed to all players. When a player starts their turn they will "flip" the top card of each deck revealing the newest card on the top. If that card is hollow-foil it goes immediately to that players graveyard and is considered a gift from the gods. On mtgo or cockatrice a dice will be rolled on every player turn to determine if a card is hollow-foil. You have a 1 in 10 chance of this happening so good luck! When your turn starts you play with all of your cards in your hand out on the field. Omniscience is a good example of how this will work. You spend mana to "buy" cards off of the top of any of the 5 decks in play, you may also buy lands out of any of the land piles there are 20 of each basic for purchase, 1 mana for one land is the standard cost/price. when that card is purchased it goes immediately into your graveyard. Lands tap for mana just like in normal magic. All cards cast and or put into play at the end of your turn go into your grave, you then draw 5 cards from your library. when you can no longer draw any more cards shuffle your graveyard into your library then draw until you have 5 cards in hand. Instants, sorceries, and creatures are all cast like in normal magic, flash can apply and can be used as a combat trick. Only artifacts stay in play and can be removed from play via normal means. creatures in this format play and act as if they have haste and attack normally, there are normal block and damage steps. Enchantments and planeswalkers do not play a role in this deck-building game. When your life total hits 0 you lose the game. Specialty Rules, when you buy a split card off of the top of a library specify which version of the card you are buying, or if you are buying both. if you have only paid for one half of a split card then that is the part of the card that will be cast every time you cast the spell. x spells are bought for their initial value then cast for their initial value being free and x being paid for with mana. Split cards need to be specified which version of the card you are paying for or if you are paying for both. When you cast a split card you are only casting the side you paid for when you bought it, if you paid for both then both sides of it are cast. x spells are bought for their initial cost without the x added on. when you cast an x spell the initial cost is free the x variant is not. for instance if I cast Sphinx's Revelation If I paid 3 I would pay 3 to draw 3 and gain 3 life.
How to Make your Own Decks
Each deck should consist of 150 cards that's 5 piles and 30 cards in each pile. Set aside a pile of 20 of each land that players can buy from for mana fixing/ramp/etc. Non basic lands can be put into the pile of 150 of you feel the need to include them. Enchantments are not used in this game-variant due to the odd board states they create. keep in mind that deck-building games aren't supposed to be long and drawn out! Players don't want to sit down and have 2 hour matches to ultimately be killed by a celestial colonnade, being put into play via an amulet of vigor. That means make sure to include lots of creatures! Don't fill the decks with nothing but, creatures but provide enough routes and plans in the decks that players can play different styles. Highly acidic mechanics are frowned upon such as infect. Counter spells are not banned but aren't a good suggestion, like I said games want to be fast and fun, not super fast but not really long and drawn out either, and the way the game sets up counterspells aren't usually very beneficial. Try to include artifacts in decks considering they are the only perms to stick around, keeping in big artifact defenders for players to have a chance against the aggro decks is recommended. What cards you want to use from what sets you enjoy or particularity like is up to you. However, I do have some suggestions and a ban list for current standard cards for standard deck builds. Any cards that exile or perform mass exile are highly frowned upon, considering that anything that gets exiled in this game goes to what is considered the hell-vault to never return. if you do prefer to use exile cards make sure there is a huge drawback behind them that way you don't have people firing them off silly nilly. These cards are not altogether banned just really good ones are, for instance path to exile in this game is a lot better than swords to plowshares is. therefore path would most likely be banned over swords due to drawback issues. 4 is still the max amount of cards you can put in each deck, try to limit certain cards especially rares or choice removal. 15 hollow-foils are recommended in the 150 card selection. 5 to 6 is also the recommended limit to the cmc of the card you are putting in the deck 5 is honestly the real limit but if you want to put in some super bombs at 6 mana then go for it!
This is my first Modern Deck creation thread so I'm hoping you all like the deck idea and can possibly add some ideas to it that will make the deck Become quite the noise in the community. Because, in my opinion with all the other moon decks running about this one seems to have some true potential.
The Jist
Okay, so basically the whole point of the deck is to out resource your opponent. Now there are multiple ways to do it but the best way is to simply throw down an AEther Vial, follow up with some counters ticking it upwards and then on turn 4 drop the hurt with Blood Moon. Since you have a Vial in play, have the potential to draw more Vials, and have plenty of ways to draw or fetch basics, this deck will very easily and quickly out play other decks that are reliant on a heavy mana base. For decks that don't rely on a heavy mana base and are just plain old beat em up decks combo decks, or whatever, the creatures in this deck average anywhere from 2/2's be 4/4's with the potential to become large after sideboarding. This means you will generally have the upper hand against other creature decks with cards like lightning bolt, oust, and path to exile for spot removal. That's pretty much the basics, down below I'm going to go into further detail about how to specifically play the deck, and how to handle other types of decks.
The Specifics
This might be kinda long and detailed but I hope this will provide you with the info and tools you need to properly play the deck and sculpt out opening hands and board states that will make you the dominant victor of as many matches as possible.
So I'm going to line this up in groupings of what in the deck does what based off of: Threats, Advantage Cards, Spot Removal, and Nifty Tricks.
Threats
All of the above creatures are going to be the key way your dishing out your damage to your opponents face. All of them have their added benefits, of course. Tarmogoyf was a bit of an iffy add in this deck, but he's necessary with all of the anger affects running around and is usually bigger than most deployable threats in modern, well other than himself. Make sure you get him out with a toughness of at least above 3 so he doesn't die to bolt or anger, your opponent 2 for oneing themselves over goyf is also fine, don't get worked up about it let the exchange happen. This deck is all about having an advantage so these types of exchanges are welcomed. Smiter is another fantastic creature that fits well in this type of deck, most of the creatures in it sit at a cmc of around 2 so ticking vial up for him isn't a must considering he is already uncounterable. Smiter is not only here for the 4/4 body but the goody text that comes with him. A lot of other moon decks tend to fall victim to discard spells, I'm not saying all of them but quite a few can't handle their combos being wrenched from their hands with thoughtsieze. Smiter is the threat that sticks, and he also makes liliana borderline impossible for your opponent to comfortably deploy. Voice is just another creature in here that is well, fantastic. a 2/2 body for 2 is great and this majestic deer looking thing prevents a lot of shenanigans from happening on your turn. If people decide to kill voice then fine let them. You get a body back which is also great, like I said we want 2 for 1's to occur as much as possible. If anger is a worry for you, sideboarding out voice is fine. Bring in a bigger creature or a creature from the sb you feel will have a more on board presence/value. Wilt-Leaf Liege is a sideboard card but a very important one. Discard spells are still very annoying and this deck doesn't want to face them, if you felt like your opponent hasn't sideboarded out most of their discards by game 2 then bring liege in, she makes smiters 6/6 and voice a 4/4 and really makes all of your creatures into serious threats. Her being a 4/4 is also relevant since she is out of burn range, for the most part.
I might as well have named this portion sideboard cards, but these are your main advantage sources in this deck. These cards are as important as sphinx's rev is in control decks and kik-jiki is in twin decks. Most of these cards, although seeming very subtle will make or break the way the game plays out, so treat them with care before deploying them. Try reading your opponent for small hints as to what their game plan is or what cards they might have in hand. These small advantages will stack up eventually in a game and provide you with the overall advantage for winning. As I explained previously AEther Vial is the card in this deck that really makes it shine, most of your creatures are 2 mana and have awesome utilities. A turn one Vial is something that although is important will not make or break how you play out your hand DO NOT I repeat DO NOT aggressively mulligan your hand to find a vial. This deck plays out fairly well without it and can survive off of casting spells. Blood moon is 2nd runner up for first place in advantage cards for this deck. Try to land a moon asap but if you feel like it will run into a abrupt decay or mana leak hold on to it for a while. Moon is important and is a good threat in this deck so knowing when to cast moon and when not to cast moon is important. Using moon for counter bait is also not something this deck needs or wants to do, we have vial so having mana up isn't required and all of the spot removals are 1 mana so be patient with moon. I know some times it can be hard to do but it's with it in the long run. Thalia is another great addition to the deck. She makes a lot of decks just iddly sit for additional turns and can punish control decks that mulligained with few lands in hand/play. Running Thalia out is fine but she is a large target for removal. throwing her out on your opponents end step or your upkeep with voice backup is a strong play. Phyrexian Revoker is another very powerful creature in this deck but is again susceptible to removal. keep him in hand and wait for your opponent to be vulnerable, he can blank a lot of permanents that can turn the tides for your opponent. keep in mind you can't blank man lands with revoker so making careful decisions about what you are going to play him for makes him extremely powerful. Leonin sits strong in the sideboard and is an exceptional form of permanentish removal for artifacts. He is a great way to stop Batterskull and one of the only ways to get yourself out of a Knowledge Pool/Teferi lock, which more than a few decks are currently running. Teg is a choice card against control decks. He forces early removal spells and stops all of the board wipes. Late game Tegg is a great way to blank your opponent's revs when they have few cards in hand and puts them in top deck mode hopping for a burn spell to put them back into the game. Last but not least in any way shape or form is Escort. This guy is pretty amazing in this deck against control all you have to do is tick vial up to 3 wait for them to wipe slap this guy in play and tada verdict became a whole lot less appealing. He also blanks Anger too which hurts a few creatures in the deck that are best used for saving. For the most part this guy is just mindless fodder but when he isn't, he's standing strong and swinging in for 3. Lastly lastly, I mean it this time, we have Horizon Canopy. I know its just a land and there are only 2 in the deck but this land is downright Amazing. using this in response to an opponents moon or your own moon basically gives you a free card. Or if you are in late game mode turning your land into a draw spell is simply fantastic. I've been in scenarios where I've had to dig for a spell and it either happens or it doesn't, you get lucky sometimes. No mater what way you put it in this land is a very welcomed and nice addition to this deck.
Spot Removal
This section is pretty straight forward. Sometimes your opponent is going to out creature you and you are going to be in a rough spot. Path and bolt are pretty standard removal spells and by now I'm going to say that if you are interested in playing this deck you probably know how and when to cast these spells. Oust is a bit different it doesn't see much play but in this deck it has a nice home. Oust gets rid of bigger threats your opponents have and is somewhat relevant against tron, Buh-Bye Wurmcoil see you in a few turns. Path is obviously more straight forward and an instant but keeping your opponents off lands is what we want to do and blanking draws is a nice addition/feature behind oust.
Trickery
If there is one thing thes deck does well, its creating really interesting and complicated board states. I can't go over all the scenarios this deck will face but I can provide you with tricks that I've used to gain advantage over a situation. Militant is the odd one out here its a one of simply to taunt a removal spell from control decks and if not it blanks snapcaster mage nicely. Pridemage is quite the tricker. You can flash him in before combat and make a single attacking dude bigger, then sac him to blow up an annoying artifact/enchantment. Rest in peace seems pretty straight forward but can be a little devious. A nice trick with this when going against other decks with goyf or snapcaster (this being only if you lost game 1)is to sideboard out goyf in replacement for 3 RIP (if you win game 2) then sideboard again take it out and bring back in goyf. This can trick your opponent mentally they will think oh hes got RIP better take out goyf/snapcaster and bring in removal or whatever. I've had it happen before and its a fun strategy to use. Using Vial to sneak in blockers or things like voice of resurgence at the end of your opponents turn are things that will lean scenarios in your favor as well. You can Also flash in Wilt-Leaf Liege for added up unblocked damage or to buff your blockers as well. Like I said there are tons of scenarios that will pop up you just have to look for them so you can take advantage of them.
Overall I feel like this deck is pretty well positioned for modern play. It's obviously not the best deck out there, no deck is. However, this deck does stand strong against a majority of the meta and blood moon and AEther Vial stack up extremely well together. Thanks for the read everyone! hope to hear feedback soon
(all images used above are property of Wizards of the Coast and their accompanied artists.)
Currently we have only 15 Gods, all of them belong to one megacycle divided among three set and all of them are "Legendary Enchantment Creature - God" and if you look at those cards there's just no space remaining for other types so your question is pointless.
Then the above statement is pointless I've very clearly stated that there is a reason behind why I didn't throw the god label onto these cards. I do my best to accommodate everyone's suggestions into the creation process, but I can't make everyone happy.
I can help with wording, but not with balance or quality in general. Asking the other planeswalkers for help is allowed (and so is helping in thread), but people may be skimpy with help (due to the game structure.)
Like I said, I was just making sure you didn't confuse missions 1 and 2. I'll allow any card, anyways. I'll just let the general voters decide; the wording of the polls will be: "Which card is the best response for Mission X?" with Mission X being the main post.
Alright, I wasn't confused about the missions, I guess it was just the perspective at which I was looking at mission one, that lead me to design a card like this. Oh well I think the design fits. Hopefully others will agree with me.
Agni: This is probably fine. If there's anything too good about it, the first ability seems kind of strong. And why does it specifically target things you don't own?
Ah Muzen Cab: You can consolidate the first two abilities into "3gg: Put a [token] onto the battlefield." I know this doesn't let you split the cost, but it makes the card much simpler and actually readable. Green doesn't get flying nowadays, so the fact this is a 4/4 flier for 3 (which is better than any color normally gets) and also makes additional fliers (that have infect) pushes this way over the top.
Anhur: Enfeeble should read something like: "Whenever a creature that blocked or was blocked by this creature this turn dies, this creature deals 2 damage to another creature controlled by the same player." I don't see why this needs to not work on other enfeeble creatures, it just makes it randomly parasitic like flanking. Unlike the previous card, this is probably a bit underpowered, it would be fine at uncommon.
Anubis: I'm pretty sure these need to be block triggers, otherwise Anubis will just die before he gets his bonus. I'd also switch them back to being equal, +2/+2 and -2/-2 sound fair at this cost, but making them not match does not look good. This is a cool design, though it'll probably just end up meaning he's unblockable.
Ao Kuang: This card is trying to do way too much. It needs at least one fewer ability, then maybe you can justify it with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage. Direct damage is not blue, so that's the easiest one to cut. Also, mana costs come before the tap
The wording on Agni is placed so that you don't decide "hey I'm gonna steal this creature then shoot it with Agni" obviously there are many other things you can do with stolen creatures but without this wording I think people would still give it a try, its to be very clear on what he can and cannot target.
As far as I know Enfeeble is properly worded, as far as power is concerned it used to be Enfeeble 3 people said it was too strong bring it to 2 and I did gaining 2 life and killing a small creature each turn seems fine as is.
Anubis is worded slightly confusingly and it was for a reason, damage gets dealt, lets say the creature does not die the -3 -3 effect would then kill the creature. Since a creature dies after damage checks and this ability would trigger as damage is being dealt not during the point in time damage is being checked which is at the end of the damage step, the ability would trigger and he would live. A good example and currently in Standard which is hard for a lot of people to grasp, is at the end of a damage step if pack rat is a 2/2 the creature blocking is 2/2 then after damage is dealt I turn pack rat into a 3/3 with vault rat is only dealing 2 damage to the creature but will live since its becoming a 3/3 afterwards. I wanted the pump after damage so the power thing isn't as good its kinda blehh right now and needs a bit of reworking. Also this is only what I've been told by a judge not 100% on that ruling.
Ao Kuang does do a bit but I think its fine they are all priced evenly I think for what they do and the damage is part of ao kuang not blue just a thing for him not the color, I try to incorporate what each color does into the colors i make them but that doesn't mean they have to be solely focused on that specific color.
On a last note I am later hoping to use hive counters in the future, so removing that feature from him I think would be a bad decision. (the flying is more of a character thing as well, that is moving away slightly from what that color does to support the character in general.)
Thanks for all the help and ideas I Like quite a few of them and am trying to rework each god so they seem both fun, playable and not overpowered or too much all in one package, thanks again.
I've explained the reasoning for my designs above, I understand not everyone can agree on the same opinions here but I stand strong in the way that I wanted to label the cards. Although I appreciate the suggestion and I will take it into consideration I'm still however fine with the way their creature types appear. Also have you seen any of the God cards with subytypes? no I haven't it would seem a tad strange to place a subtype on something that is a god which is another reason I felt like the type "God" would not fit very well.
The wording reads a bit ambiguous. I think the correct template would be something more akin to:
Target opponent may reveal his or her hand. If he or she does, choose a nonland card from it, and that player discards that card. If he or she doesn't, that player discards two cards at random.
On another note, Truth be Told appears to be a perfect fit for Mission 2, I hope you didn't confuse them? But it could also fit Mission 1, so disregard this if you made it for Mission 1.
I thought of it as a sense of learning about the enemy. From a sense I had a nice back-story around this card if anyone wanted an explanation. It was initially going to place a counter on their creature and if that creature wasn't sacrificed during your end step then that player had to reveal their hand and you make them discard 2 cards. My friend and I discussed it and we thought it would be a bit confusing for people so I went with something like this. I'm not apposed to using it for mission 2 if it would fit better, but I thought this would be a perfect info based card to learn more about your enemy in a sense.
Was also thinking about bumping the casting cost of it down by one? not sure if that would make the card too good or not but for now I think it seems balanced, also thanks for the wording I''l fix that.
If you are simply referring to the type labeled as "God" as far as I know they would also have to retain the part (Legendary Enchantment Creature). Which would then require some unique way to define at what state they are creatures and in what state they are enchantments. Just like the current gods do this by using the Devotion Mechanic, I would then need to design a mechanic that each of these characters shared, so that the change between enchantment and creature could occur. I could simply label them as the type (God) but I thought that using sub-types, and in some occasions different creature types, would add a bit more personality to each Smite character. I didn't want the design to feel linear in any way either, they are all supposed to have something unique about them. Having a linear change among them that defines creature and enchantment, would move away from the uniqueness factor. But that's just my personal preference in this case.
Truth Be Told1B
Sorcery - Rare
Target player may reveal his or her hand. If he or she does, choose a nonland card from it, and that player discards that card. If he or she doesn't, that player discards two cards at random. "Shall we cut of his tongue?"
"No, let him suffer."
Only got one vote on this but none the less it was a vote soooo 2 cmc it is.
Personally I didnt think that these characters would envelope the devotion mechanic very well and would create rather wonky board states, also if you are a poster from reddit I would please ask you not ask the same question in both forums as to not flood me with the same questions over and over, this goes for any visiting here from reddit, thanks.
I understand what the card is supposed to do, and I'm agreeing with you. I like that you can "copy" a Gigantic Growth and target another creature with it although you aren't actually copying the card you are just replacing a words instance of "target" with "2 targets" which I think seems balanced enough if it is in the right constructed format. Right now with all of the Heroic creatures? This would seem nuts but also fun. Also how would this card interact with spells that already target 2 of your creatures? would it target 4 creatures now or just 3?
Each player starts the game with 20 life just like normal magic, your pre-loaded deck will consist of 2 of each land type that's all you need to start the game. once you enter there will be 5 piles each consisting of 30 cards per pile. each pile will have the top card revealed to all players. When a player starts their turn they will "flip" the top card of each deck revealing the newest card on the top. If that card is hollow-foil it goes immediately to that players graveyard and is considered a gift from the gods. On mtgo or cockatrice a dice will be rolled on every player turn to determine if a card is hollow-foil. You have a 1 in 10 chance of this happening so good luck! When your turn starts you play with all of your cards in your hand out on the field. Omniscience is a good example of how this will work. You spend mana to "buy" cards off of the top of any of the 5 decks in play, you may also buy lands out of any of the land piles there are 20 of each basic for purchase, 1 mana for one land is the standard cost/price. when that card is purchased it goes immediately into your graveyard. Lands tap for mana just like in normal magic. All cards cast and or put into play at the end of your turn go into your grave, you then draw 5 cards from your library. when you can no longer draw any more cards shuffle your graveyard into your library then draw until you have 5 cards in hand. Instants, sorceries, and creatures are all cast like in normal magic, flash can apply and can be used as a combat trick. Only artifacts stay in play and can be removed from play via normal means. creatures in this format play and act as if they have haste and attack normally, there are normal block and damage steps. Enchantments and planeswalkers do not play a role in this deck-building game. When your life total hits 0 you lose the game. Specialty Rules, when you buy a split card off of the top of a library specify which version of the card you are buying, or if you are buying both. if you have only paid for one half of a split card then that is the part of the card that will be cast every time you cast the spell. x spells are bought for their initial value then cast for their initial value being free and x being paid for with mana. Split cards need to be specified which version of the card you are paying for or if you are paying for both. When you cast a split card you are only casting the side you paid for when you bought it, if you paid for both then both sides of it are cast. x spells are bought for their initial cost without the x added on. when you cast an x spell the initial cost is free the x variant is not. for instance if I cast Sphinx's Revelation If I paid 3 I would pay 3 to draw 3 and gain 3 life.
How to Make your Own Decks
Each deck should consist of 150 cards that's 5 piles and 30 cards in each pile. Set aside a pile of 20 of each land that players can buy from for mana fixing/ramp/etc. Non basic lands can be put into the pile of 150 of you feel the need to include them. Enchantments are not used in this game-variant due to the odd board states they create. keep in mind that deck-building games aren't supposed to be long and drawn out! Players don't want to sit down and have 2 hour matches to ultimately be killed by a celestial colonnade, being put into play via an amulet of vigor. That means make sure to include lots of creatures! Don't fill the decks with nothing but, creatures but provide enough routes and plans in the decks that players can play different styles. Highly acidic mechanics are frowned upon such as infect. Counter spells are not banned but aren't a good suggestion, like I said games want to be fast and fun, not super fast but not really long and drawn out either, and the way the game sets up counterspells aren't usually very beneficial. Try to include artifacts in decks considering they are the only perms to stick around, keeping in big artifact defenders for players to have a chance against the aggro decks is recommended. What cards you want to use from what sets you enjoy or particularity like is up to you. However, I do have some suggestions and a ban list for current standard cards for standard deck builds. Any cards that exile or perform mass exile are highly frowned upon, considering that anything that gets exiled in this game goes to what is considered the hell-vault to never return. if you do prefer to use exile cards make sure there is a huge drawback behind them that way you don't have people firing them off silly nilly. These cards are not altogether banned just really good ones are, for instance path to exile in this game is a lot better than swords to plowshares is. therefore path would most likely be banned over swords due to drawback issues. 4 is still the max amount of cards you can put in each deck, try to limit certain cards especially rares or choice removal. 15 hollow-foils are recommended in the 150 card selection. 5 to 6 is also the recommended limit to the cmc of the card you are putting in the deck 5 is honestly the real limit but if you want to put in some super bombs at 6 mana then go for it!
Standard Ban list
This is my first Modern Deck creation thread so I'm hoping you all like the deck idea and can possibly add some ideas to it that will make the deck Become quite the noise in the community. Because, in my opinion with all the other moon decks running about this one seems to have some true potential.
The Jist
Okay, so basically the whole point of the deck is to out resource your opponent. Now there are multiple ways to do it but the best way is to simply throw down an AEther Vial, follow up with some counters ticking it upwards and then on turn 4 drop the hurt with Blood Moon. Since you have a Vial in play, have the potential to draw more Vials, and have plenty of ways to draw or fetch basics, this deck will very easily and quickly out play other decks that are reliant on a heavy mana base. For decks that don't rely on a heavy mana base and are just plain old beat em up decks combo decks, or whatever, the creatures in this deck average anywhere from 2/2's be 4/4's with the potential to become large after sideboarding. This means you will generally have the upper hand against other creature decks with cards like lightning bolt, oust, and path to exile for spot removal. That's pretty much the basics, down below I'm going to go into further detail about how to specifically play the deck, and how to handle other types of decks.
The Specifics
This might be kinda long and detailed but I hope this will provide you with the info and tools you need to properly play the deck and sculpt out opening hands and board states that will make you the dominant victor of as many matches as possible.
So I'm going to line this up in groupings of what in the deck does what based off of: Threats, Advantage Cards, Spot Removal, and Nifty Tricks.
Threats
All of the above creatures are going to be the key way your dishing out your damage to your opponents face. All of them have their added benefits, of course. Tarmogoyf was a bit of an iffy add in this deck, but he's necessary with all of the anger affects running around and is usually bigger than most deployable threats in modern, well other than himself. Make sure you get him out with a toughness of at least above 3 so he doesn't die to bolt or anger, your opponent 2 for oneing themselves over goyf is also fine, don't get worked up about it let the exchange happen. This deck is all about having an advantage so these types of exchanges are welcomed. Smiter is another fantastic creature that fits well in this type of deck, most of the creatures in it sit at a cmc of around 2 so ticking vial up for him isn't a must considering he is already uncounterable. Smiter is not only here for the 4/4 body but the goody text that comes with him. A lot of other moon decks tend to fall victim to discard spells, I'm not saying all of them but quite a few can't handle their combos being wrenched from their hands with thoughtsieze. Smiter is the threat that sticks, and he also makes liliana borderline impossible for your opponent to comfortably deploy. Voice is just another creature in here that is well, fantastic. a 2/2 body for 2 is great and this majestic deer looking thing prevents a lot of shenanigans from happening on your turn. If people decide to kill voice then fine let them. You get a body back which is also great, like I said we want 2 for 1's to occur as much as possible. If anger is a worry for you, sideboarding out voice is fine. Bring in a bigger creature or a creature from the sb you feel will have a more on board presence/value. Wilt-Leaf Liege is a sideboard card but a very important one. Discard spells are still very annoying and this deck doesn't want to face them, if you felt like your opponent hasn't sideboarded out most of their discards by game 2 then bring liege in, she makes smiters 6/6 and voice a 4/4 and really makes all of your creatures into serious threats. Her being a 4/4 is also relevant since she is out of burn range, for the most part.
Advantage Cards
I might as well have named this portion sideboard cards, but these are your main advantage sources in this deck. These cards are as important as sphinx's rev is in control decks and kik-jiki is in twin decks. Most of these cards, although seeming very subtle will make or break the way the game plays out, so treat them with care before deploying them. Try reading your opponent for small hints as to what their game plan is or what cards they might have in hand. These small advantages will stack up eventually in a game and provide you with the overall advantage for winning. As I explained previously AEther Vial is the card in this deck that really makes it shine, most of your creatures are 2 mana and have awesome utilities. A turn one Vial is something that although is important will not make or break how you play out your hand DO NOT I repeat DO NOT aggressively mulligan your hand to find a vial. This deck plays out fairly well without it and can survive off of casting spells. Blood moon is 2nd runner up for first place in advantage cards for this deck. Try to land a moon asap but if you feel like it will run into a abrupt decay or mana leak hold on to it for a while. Moon is important and is a good threat in this deck so knowing when to cast moon and when not to cast moon is important. Using moon for counter bait is also not something this deck needs or wants to do, we have vial so having mana up isn't required and all of the spot removals are 1 mana so be patient with moon. I know some times it can be hard to do but it's with it in the long run. Thalia is another great addition to the deck. She makes a lot of decks just iddly sit for additional turns and can punish control decks that mulligained with few lands in hand/play. Running Thalia out is fine but she is a large target for removal. throwing her out on your opponents end step or your upkeep with voice backup is a strong play. Phyrexian Revoker is another very powerful creature in this deck but is again susceptible to removal. keep him in hand and wait for your opponent to be vulnerable, he can blank a lot of permanents that can turn the tides for your opponent. keep in mind you can't blank man lands with revoker so making careful decisions about what you are going to play him for makes him extremely powerful. Leonin sits strong in the sideboard and is an exceptional form of permanentish removal for artifacts. He is a great way to stop Batterskull and one of the only ways to get yourself out of a Knowledge Pool/Teferi lock, which more than a few decks are currently running. Teg is a choice card against control decks. He forces early removal spells and stops all of the board wipes. Late game Tegg is a great way to blank your opponent's revs when they have few cards in hand and puts them in top deck mode hopping for a burn spell to put them back into the game. Last but not least in any way shape or form is Escort. This guy is pretty amazing in this deck against control all you have to do is tick vial up to 3 wait for them to wipe slap this guy in play and tada verdict became a whole lot less appealing. He also blanks Anger too which hurts a few creatures in the deck that are best used for saving. For the most part this guy is just mindless fodder but when he isn't, he's standing strong and swinging in for 3. Lastly lastly, I mean it this time, we have Horizon Canopy. I know its just a land and there are only 2 in the deck but this land is downright Amazing. using this in response to an opponents moon or your own moon basically gives you a free card. Or if you are in late game mode turning your land into a draw spell is simply fantastic. I've been in scenarios where I've had to dig for a spell and it either happens or it doesn't, you get lucky sometimes. No mater what way you put it in this land is a very welcomed and nice addition to this deck.
Spot Removal
This section is pretty straight forward. Sometimes your opponent is going to out creature you and you are going to be in a rough spot. Path and bolt are pretty standard removal spells and by now I'm going to say that if you are interested in playing this deck you probably know how and when to cast these spells. Oust is a bit different it doesn't see much play but in this deck it has a nice home. Oust gets rid of bigger threats your opponents have and is somewhat relevant against tron, Buh-Bye Wurmcoil see you in a few turns. Path is obviously more straight forward and an instant but keeping your opponents off lands is what we want to do and blanking draws is a nice addition/feature behind oust.
Trickery
If there is one thing thes deck does well, its creating really interesting and complicated board states. I can't go over all the scenarios this deck will face but I can provide you with tricks that I've used to gain advantage over a situation. Militant is the odd one out here its a one of simply to taunt a removal spell from control decks and if not it blanks snapcaster mage nicely. Pridemage is quite the tricker. You can flash him in before combat and make a single attacking dude bigger, then sac him to blow up an annoying artifact/enchantment. Rest in peace seems pretty straight forward but can be a little devious. A nice trick with this when going against other decks with goyf or snapcaster (this being only if you lost game 1)is to sideboard out goyf in replacement for 3 RIP (if you win game 2) then sideboard again take it out and bring back in goyf. This can trick your opponent mentally they will think oh hes got RIP better take out goyf/snapcaster and bring in removal or whatever. I've had it happen before and its a fun strategy to use. Using Vial to sneak in blockers or things like voice of resurgence at the end of your opponents turn are things that will lean scenarios in your favor as well. You can Also flash in Wilt-Leaf Liege for added up unblocked damage or to buff your blockers as well. Like I said there are tons of scenarios that will pop up you just have to look for them so you can take advantage of them.
Deck List
4 Blood Moon
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Plains
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Tarmogoyf
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Oust
1 Dryad Militant
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Arid Mesa
3 Temple Garden
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Mountain
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Forest
3 Dauntless Escort
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
4 Rest in Peace
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
Wrapping Things Up
Overall I feel like this deck is pretty well positioned for modern play. It's obviously not the best deck out there, no deck is. However, this deck does stand strong against a majority of the meta and blood moon and AEther Vial stack up extremely well together. Thanks for the read everyone! hope to hear feedback soon
(all images used above are property of Wizards of the Coast and their accompanied artists.)
Then the above statement is pointless I've very clearly stated that there is a reason behind why I didn't throw the god label onto these cards. I do my best to accommodate everyone's suggestions into the creation process, but I can't make everyone happy.
Alright, I wasn't confused about the missions, I guess it was just the perspective at which I was looking at mission one, that lead me to design a card like this. Oh well I think the design fits. Hopefully others will agree with me.
The wording on Agni is placed so that you don't decide "hey I'm gonna steal this creature then shoot it with Agni" obviously there are many other things you can do with stolen creatures but without this wording I think people would still give it a try, its to be very clear on what he can and cannot target.
As far as I know Enfeeble is properly worded, as far as power is concerned it used to be Enfeeble 3 people said it was too strong bring it to 2 and I did gaining 2 life and killing a small creature each turn seems fine as is.
Anubis is worded slightly confusingly and it was for a reason, damage gets dealt, lets say the creature does not die the -3 -3 effect would then kill the creature. Since a creature dies after damage checks and this ability would trigger as damage is being dealt not during the point in time damage is being checked which is at the end of the damage step, the ability would trigger and he would live. A good example and currently in Standard which is hard for a lot of people to grasp, is at the end of a damage step if pack rat is a 2/2 the creature blocking is 2/2 then after damage is dealt I turn pack rat into a 3/3 with vault rat is only dealing 2 damage to the creature but will live since its becoming a 3/3 afterwards. I wanted the pump after damage so the power thing isn't as good its kinda blehh right now and needs a bit of reworking. Also this is only what I've been told by a judge not 100% on that ruling.
Ao Kuang does do a bit but I think its fine they are all priced evenly I think for what they do and the damage is part of ao kuang not blue just a thing for him not the color, I try to incorporate what each color does into the colors i make them but that doesn't mean they have to be solely focused on that specific color.
On a last note I am later hoping to use hive counters in the future, so removing that feature from him I think would be a bad decision. (the flying is more of a character thing as well, that is moving away slightly from what that color does to support the character in general.)
Thanks for all the help and ideas I Like quite a few of them and am trying to rework each god so they seem both fun, playable and not overpowered or too much all in one package, thanks again.
I thought of it as a sense of learning about the enemy. From a sense I had a nice back-story around this card if anyone wanted an explanation. It was initially going to place a counter on their creature and if that creature wasn't sacrificed during your end step then that player had to reveal their hand and you make them discard 2 cards. My friend and I discussed it and we thought it would be a bit confusing for people so I went with something like this. I'm not apposed to using it for mission 2 if it would fit better, but I thought this would be a perfect info based card to learn more about your enemy in a sense.
Was also thinking about bumping the casting cost of it down by one? not sure if that would make the card too good or not but for now I think it seems balanced, also thanks for the wording I''l fix that.
Sorcery - Rare
Target player may reveal his or her hand. If he or she does, choose a nonland card from it, and that player discards that card. If he or she doesn't, that player discards two cards at random.
"Shall we cut of his tongue?"
"No, let him suffer."
Only got one vote on this but none the less it was a vote soooo 2 cmc it is.
I Quite like this idea there hasn't been an affect like that since Zendikar and I truly miss it.
I understand what the card is supposed to do, and I'm agreeing with you. I like that you can "copy" a Gigantic Growth and target another creature with it although you aren't actually copying the card you are just replacing a words instance of "target" with "2 targets" which I think seems balanced enough if it is in the right constructed format. Right now with all of the Heroic creatures? This would seem nuts but also fun. Also how would this card interact with spells that already target 2 of your creatures? would it target 4 creatures now or just 3?
Edit: Derp thought that this was OP's comment