As for Grave Birthing vs Seer's Lantern, I like that it cantrips and have synergy with Goblin Dark-Dwellers but would prefer the more consistent Seer's Lantern instead. The more consistent source of colorless mana can help activate Slaughter Drone's deathtouch ability more often.
Would maybe consider running the 2 Zada's Commando main too if we are going aggro but not sure what to take out. I think FTW1987's build looks pretty fine though.
Yeah it seems like Seer's Lantern should be included maindeck, the Witness the End can come in if we are playing against slower decks. Was tempted to splash blue due to the UR and UB lands, but I'm glad that I didn't splash blue in the end
As for being aggressive as suggested by FTW1987, I like the starting decklist. I did side in the 2 Zada's Commando against more controlling strategies and it worked well. Just not sure if Sparkmage's Gambit should be main, the one time I brought it in it was awesome, killing one creature and allowing my other guys to punch through.
I like the sideboard too as it has cards that fit an aggressive strategy as well as some which are better in slower games like Ruin Processor and Scour from Existence.
I have a soft spot for Ruin Processor, I feel that card wins long games and I even got to cast Mirrorpool on it in one game. I suppose that requires 18 lands though, 17 may not be enough to be able to cast a 7-drop reliably on curve. And if we are going the aggressive route, 17 lands I agree that both Ruin Processor and Mirrorpool should be in the sideboard.
Looking at the pool, it seems most of my good cards were in Black/Red/Blue so I dismissed White and Green as unplayable. Some questions however I would like to ask:
1. I have an aggressive build in 2 Reaver Drone and 2 Zada's Commando, but chose to leave those in the sideboard against slower decks as I feel they can be outclassed easily by creatures with X/3 or X/4 in this format. Should I include them main instead?
2. There are a lot of cards requiring colorless mana like Kozilek's Shrieker and 3 Maw of Kozilek, and Mirrorpool. Also the 3 Slaughter Drones would be nice to have deathtouch from colorless mana. Is the colorless mana/land ratio correct? I have 3 lands producing colorless and 1 Hedron Crawler, but on hindsight maybe I should have included the Seer's Lantern in place of Witness the End for more colorless. What do you think?
3. Should I splash Blue instead for the 3 fliers: Cloud Manta and 2 Jwar Isle Avenger? I have 3 fixing lands in Blue which is quite tempting to splash but I feel it can hurt the colorless ratio in the deck. If so, what are the cards to take out for the fliers?
4. How would you build the deck differently, if any changes?
Thank you so much for your opinions. Greatly appreciated.
First of all, thank you 3drinks for a wonderful primer on Kaalia.
I am liking the following cards, however I am not sure if it is good enough (and possibly what to cut for it):
Price of Glory - anti blue strategy, perfect to go along with Defense Grid. Probably replace Stranglehold in multiplayer? (Stranglehold is strong, but it may make you the prime target at the table as nobody likes to play against it)
Ruination - another mass land destruction (for those who cannot afford Ravages of War and maybe replacing Cataclysm in Duel commander since it is banned)
Withering Boon - black Remove Soul. I don't have it yet but plan on getting one. I think someone already mentioned this before in the discussions and I like this.
High Market in place of Arcane Lighthouse - my metagame has not much hexproof effects and as someone pointed out, it is another sac outlet for Yosei.
Thank you everyone for any feedbacks/opinions. Much appreciated
I chose green as it had a better mana curve overall and lots of early plays. It was not just the Orchard Spirit and Undercity Troll, I tend to value Rhox Maulers pretty highly too in green.
As such, looking at your UW decklist it seems that the curve is quite decent as well. I like all your choices except on the Clash of Wills, I would rather substitute a defensive creature like Guardians of Meletis over it. The other cards seem fine. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like counterspells in limited.
NoSuchReality I agree with you, I also tend to struggle in building blue decks which is one reason I went with green. Bonded Construct is unspectacular but fills the curve pretty well. I'm not sure but if I were to include Sigil and Kytheon's tactics, I would take out both Might of the Masses instead. Most of the games I played they were just a Gather Courage or Giant Growth at most.
Seems like both of you agree that Sigil of Valor is the superior equipment to Throwing Knife. I have never played with Sigil but it is something I should consider.
Hi and thanks for reading. Wish everyone a good day ahead.
This was my pool at the prerelease and would like to ask your opinions on whether it is built correctly?
I went with WG but should I have gone WU or UG instead?
(All cards are 1 copy each unless specified)
Seems like my original build except maybe -1 Territorial Roc for +1 Swamp. While opinions may differ, I think the consensus is that 18 lands is a must for this deck. I guess there is a lot to consider during sideboarding as well, fortunately this pool has a flexible sideboard. Thanks a lot warplord and magicmerl for your input
Thanks for pointing it out warplord. Sorry I forgot to include the fixing land. It was actually a Swiftwater Cliffs. (already edited my initial list to include it) Since the packs were 5DTK and 1FRF I only got one fixing land.
If I were to consider playing Pristine Skywise, could I have splashed for other cards like Silumgar Spell-Eater and Reduce in Stature as well? But I would rather play Scion of Ugin in a more consistent 2-color deck if I need a 6-drop. And as magicmerl pointed out, the high casting cost can be an issue if I am not careful.
I see your point on Arashin Cleric and Territorial Roc being poor attackers and such Coat is preferred over Glee due to its casting cost. Center Soul is a great card as well, it can be played maindeck or sideboard but I would prefer to start it in the sideboard and board it in accordingly since I have other good cards to fill up the spell slots. And Enduring Victory is indeed powerful, I would love to find a slot for it if at all possible.
Speaking of spicier brews, for a moment I did consider playing GU splashing R for Sarkhan Unbroken but decided against it as the green and blue commons were not very powerful on their own.
How would you build the deck then or what changes would you have made in regard to either my or magicmerl's build?
Thanks a lot magicmerl for the feedback. I see your point in adding the additional land for megamorph. The deck needs to hit seven mana on time and the extra land helps.
If I were to build again I would try to find room for the extra land. Just I am not sure if removing the Scion of Ugin actually helps. Since the evasion is useful and his 6 cmc does not interfere with the 7 mana cost of Marsh Hulk and Deathbringer Regent.
Seems like the deck you built is actually 41 cards instead of 40. There was also Shambling Goblin in the additional card list.
Having said that I would probably cut a Butcher's Glee from the 41 card list. Don't get me wrong, the card is powerful, but leaving 3 mana up and having to play during the opponent's combat phase (most of the time) increases the risk of 2-for-1 as the opponent also has open mana for tricks of their own. The same could be said for Coat with Venom but at least it is cheaper. Which card would you rather take out?
Any additional comments are most welcome.
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong or if you have a different opinion.
Thanks again.
Hi everyone, wishing everyone a very nice day ahead. Thank you for reading this post.
I recently opened a sealed deck pool (5 Dragons of Tarkir and 1 Fate Reforged boosters). Was playing at the prerelease of Dragons of Tarkir but my local game store ran out of prerelease packs and instead offered me those boosters to build my sealed pool. Anyway these are the cards I opened and would love to hear from you guys on what is the optimum build.
The black in this pool looks strong but I have questions on the following:
1. How would you build differently (if any) based on the pool above?
2. What other color should I pair black with? I chose white because it has lots of strong removal (although Pacifism is a bit weak in this set, it is still decent removal) but the white creatures are quite subpar other than the fliers. Green looks okay but not enough playables, Blue seems decent as well and has more synergy with the exploit theme in the Palace Familiar and Jeskai Sage.
3. Is Echoes of the Kin Tree worth maindecking? It performed well in one of my matches where it went to lategame but other than that I feel I could have substituted it with other cards. I brought in Mind Rot and Shambling Goblin from the sideboard as well in some of my matches replacing it. I have included Echoes because I thought my deck would be slow and controlling, needed some late game reach.
4. Is Butcher's Glee or Coat with Venom good in this deck? Since it often gets a slow start I feel that either one of these should replace the Echoes? I think I overlooked the Glee here, it seems good but maybe a bit slow. Venom might be better due to my high toughness creatures.
5. Hewed Stone Retainers looks strong as well, is it playable in maindeck?
Thank you for your opinions guys. Really appreciate your time to read and help me out. Thanks again!
As for Grave Birthing vs Seer's Lantern, I like that it cantrips and have synergy with Goblin Dark-Dwellers but would prefer the more consistent Seer's Lantern instead. The more consistent source of colorless mana can help activate Slaughter Drone's deathtouch ability more often.
Would maybe consider running the 2 Zada's Commando main too if we are going aggro but not sure what to take out. I think FTW1987's build looks pretty fine though.
Yeah it seems like Seer's Lantern should be included maindeck, the Witness the End can come in if we are playing against slower decks. Was tempted to splash blue due to the UR and UB lands, but I'm glad that I didn't splash blue in the end
As for being aggressive as suggested by FTW1987, I like the starting decklist. I did side in the 2 Zada's Commando against more controlling strategies and it worked well. Just not sure if Sparkmage's Gambit should be main, the one time I brought it in it was awesome, killing one creature and allowing my other guys to punch through.
I like the sideboard too as it has cards that fit an aggressive strategy as well as some which are better in slower games like Ruin Processor and Scour from Existence.
I have a soft spot for Ruin Processor, I feel that card wins long games and I even got to cast Mirrorpool on it in one game. I suppose that requires 18 lands though, 17 may not be enough to be able to cast a 7-drop reliably on curve. And if we are going the aggressive route, 17 lands I agree that both Ruin Processor and Mirrorpool should be in the sideboard.
This was the pool:
1 Kor Bladewhirl
1 Fortified Rampart
2 Shoulder to Shoulder
1 Makindi Aeronaut
1 Allied Reinforcements
1 Isolation Zone
1 Inspired Charge
1 Dazzling Reflection
1 Spawnbinder Mage
Blue
1 Coralhelm Guide
1 Salvage Drone
1 Blinding Drone
3 Umara Entangler
1 Rush of Ice
1 Roiling Waters
1 Slip Through Space
1 Horribly Awry
2 Jwar Isle Avenger
1 Cloud Manta
Black
1 Mire's Malice
2 Reaver Drone
1 Grave Birthing
1 Flaying Tendrils
1 Sludge Crawler
3 Slaughter Drone
1 Kozilek's Shrieker
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Complete Disregard
2 Oblivion Strike
1 Witness the End
1 Lavastep Raider
1 Reckless Cohort
2 Zada's Commando
1 Sparkmage's Gambit
3 Maw of Kozilek
1 Akoum Firebird
1 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
1 Devour in Flames
1 Boulder Salvo
1 Turn Against
Green
1 Rot Shambler
1 Netcaster Spider
1 Eyeless Watcher
3 Loam Larva
1 Scion Summoner
2 Plummet
2 Natural State
1 Unnatural Aggression
1 Ruin in Their Wake
1 Nissa's Judgment
1 Lead by Example
Colorless
1 Seer's Lantern
1 Scour from Existence
1 Hedron Crawler
1 Endless One
1 Ruin Processor
1 Catacomb Sifter
1 Relentless Hunter
1 Reflector Mage
1 Forerunner of Slaughter
Lands
1 Wandering Fumarole
1 Mirrorpool
1 Crumbling Vestige
1 Holdout Settlement
2 Submerged Boneyard
1 Skyline Cascade
1 Sandstone Bridge
1 Wastes
Prerelease promo
1 Hissing Quagmire
This was the deck I built:
1 Sludge Crawler
1 Hedron Crawler
1 Forerunner of Slaughter
3 Slaughter Drone
1 Kozilek's Shrieker
1 Endless One
3 Maw of Kozilek
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Akoum Firebird
1 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
1 Ruin Processor
1 Devour in Flames
1 Complete Disregard
1 Witness the End
2 Oblivion Strike
1 Boulder Salvo
1 Turn Against
Lands (18)
1 Crumbling Vestige
1 Holdout Settlement
1 Mirrorpool
8 Swamp
7 Mountain
Looking at the pool, it seems most of my good cards were in Black/Red/Blue so I dismissed White and Green as unplayable. Some questions however I would like to ask:
1. I have an aggressive build in 2 Reaver Drone and 2 Zada's Commando, but chose to leave those in the sideboard against slower decks as I feel they can be outclassed easily by creatures with X/3 or X/4 in this format. Should I include them main instead?
2. There are a lot of cards requiring colorless mana like Kozilek's Shrieker and 3 Maw of Kozilek, and Mirrorpool. Also the 3 Slaughter Drones would be nice to have deathtouch from colorless mana. Is the colorless mana/land ratio correct? I have 3 lands producing colorless and 1 Hedron Crawler, but on hindsight maybe I should have included the Seer's Lantern in place of Witness the End for more colorless. What do you think?
3. Should I splash Blue instead for the 3 fliers: Cloud Manta and 2 Jwar Isle Avenger? I have 3 fixing lands in Blue which is quite tempting to splash but I feel it can hurt the colorless ratio in the deck. If so, what are the cards to take out for the fliers?
4. How would you build the deck differently, if any changes?
Thank you so much for your opinions. Greatly appreciated.
Wishing everyone a pleasant day!
I am liking the following cards, however I am not sure if it is good enough (and possibly what to cut for it):
Price of Glory - anti blue strategy, perfect to go along with Defense Grid. Probably replace Stranglehold in multiplayer? (Stranglehold is strong, but it may make you the prime target at the table as nobody likes to play against it)
Ruination - another mass land destruction (for those who cannot afford Ravages of War and maybe replacing Cataclysm in Duel commander since it is banned)
The diamonds - Charcoal Diamond, Fire Diamond, Marble Diamond as additional mana rocks. (in place of Surveyor's Scope maybe - I don't know if the Scope is fast enough to ramp into Kaalia, haven't tried it yet)
Swiftfoot Boots as another Lightning Greaves?
Standard Bearer as a white Spellskite? (best in Duel Commander I guess)
Withering Boon - black Remove Soul. I don't have it yet but plan on getting one. I think someone already mentioned this before in the discussions and I like this.
High Market in place of Arcane Lighthouse - my metagame has not much hexproof effects and as someone pointed out, it is another sac outlet for Yosei.
Thank you everyone for any feedbacks/opinions. Much appreciated
I chose green as it had a better mana curve overall and lots of early plays. It was not just the Orchard Spirit and Undercity Troll, I tend to value Rhox Maulers pretty highly too in green.
As such, looking at your UW decklist it seems that the curve is quite decent as well. I like all your choices except on the Clash of Wills, I would rather substitute a defensive creature like Guardians of Meletis over it. The other cards seem fine. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like counterspells in limited.
NoSuchReality I agree with you, I also tend to struggle in building blue decks which is one reason I went with green. Bonded Construct is unspectacular but fills the curve pretty well. I'm not sure but if I were to include Sigil and Kytheon's tactics, I would take out both Might of the Masses instead. Most of the games I played they were just a Gather Courage or Giant Growth at most.
Seems like both of you agree that Sigil of Valor is the superior equipment to Throwing Knife. I have never played with Sigil but it is something I should consider.
WG
Creatures (16)
Bonded Construct
Topan Freeblade
Relic Seeker
2x Elvish Visionary
2x Dwynen's Elite
Undercity Troll
Orchard Spirit
Yeva's Forcemage
Blessed Spirits
War Oracle
Totem-Guide Hartebeest
Conclave Naturalists
2x Rhox Maulers
Spells (7)
Throwing Knife
2x Enshrouding Mist
2x Might of the Masses
2x Suppression Bonds
Lands (17)
Evolving Wilds
8x Plains
8x Forest
This was my pool at the prerelease and would like to ask your opinions on whether it is built correctly?
I went with WG but should I have gone WU or UG instead?
(All cards are 1 copy each unless specified)
White
Relic Seeker
Topan Freeblade
Blessed Spirits
Auramancer
War Oracle
Heavy Infantry
Totem-Guide Hartebeest
Mighty Leap
Hallowed Moonlight
2x Enshrouding Mist
2x Suppression Bonds
3x Kytheon's Tactics
Starfield of Nyx
Valor in Akros
Healing Hands
Blue
Disciple of the Ring
Tower Geist
Separatist Voidmage
Screeching Skaab
Watercourser
Ringwarden Owl
Sigiled Starfish
Claustrophobia
Aspiring Aeronaut
Disperse
Maritime Guard
Calculated Dismissal
Nivix Barrier
2x Dreadwaters
Artificer's Epiphany
Bone to Ash
Clash of Wills
Black
Catacomb Slug
Touch of Moonglove
Eyeblight Assassin
Nightsnare
3x Reave Soul
Deadbridge Shaman
Rabid Bloodsucker
Undead Servant
Red
2x Ghirapur Gearcrafter
2x Prickleboar
Subterranean Scout
Mage-Ring Bully
2x Infectious Bloodlust
Act of Treason
Bellows Lizard
Demolish
Ghirapur Aether Grid
Green
2x Elvish Visionary
2x Dwynen's Elite
2x Rhox Maulers
Orchard Spirit
Undercity Troll
Yeva's Forcemage
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Conclave Naturalists
2x Might of the Masses
2x Aerial Volley
Reclaim
Zendikar's Roil
Multicolor/Land
2x Mage-Ring Network
Yavimaya Coast
Evolving Wilds
Reclusive Artificer
Artifacts
Runed Servitor
Bonded Construct
Guardians of Meletis
Veteran's Sidearm
Throwing Knife
2x Sigil of Valor
Feedbacks are greatly appreciated. Thank you!
If I were to consider playing Pristine Skywise, could I have splashed for other cards like Silumgar Spell-Eater and Reduce in Stature as well? But I would rather play Scion of Ugin in a more consistent 2-color deck if I need a 6-drop. And as magicmerl pointed out, the high casting cost can be an issue if I am not careful.
I see your point on Arashin Cleric and Territorial Roc being poor attackers and such Coat is preferred over Glee due to its casting cost. Center Soul is a great card as well, it can be played maindeck or sideboard but I would prefer to start it in the sideboard and board it in accordingly since I have other good cards to fill up the spell slots. And Enduring Victory is indeed powerful, I would love to find a slot for it if at all possible.
Speaking of spicier brews, for a moment I did consider playing GU splashing R for Sarkhan Unbroken but decided against it as the green and blue commons were not very powerful on their own.
How would you build the deck then or what changes would you have made in regard to either my or magicmerl's build?
If I were to build again I would try to find room for the extra land. Just I am not sure if removing the Scion of Ugin actually helps. Since the evasion is useful and his 6 cmc does not interfere with the 7 mana cost of Marsh Hulk and Deathbringer Regent.
Seems like the deck you built is actually 41 cards instead of 40. There was also Shambling Goblin in the additional card list.
Having said that I would probably cut a Butcher's Glee from the 41 card list. Don't get me wrong, the card is powerful, but leaving 3 mana up and having to play during the opponent's combat phase (most of the time) increases the risk of 2-for-1 as the opponent also has open mana for tricks of their own. The same could be said for Coat with Venom but at least it is cheaper. Which card would you rather take out?
Any additional comments are most welcome.
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong or if you have a different opinion.
Thanks again.
I recently opened a sealed deck pool (5 Dragons of Tarkir and 1 Fate Reforged boosters). Was playing at the prerelease of Dragons of Tarkir but my local game store ran out of prerelease packs and instead offered me those boosters to build my sealed pool. Anyway these are the cards I opened and would love to hear from you guys on what is the optimum build.
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
Gold and Multicolor and Colorless
Artifacts
This is the deck I built:
2 Territorial Roc
1 Arashin Cleric
1 Lightwalker
2 Marang River Skeleton
1 Misthoof Kirin
1 Student of Ojutai
1 Sandstorm Charger
1 Marsh Hulk
2 Rakshasha Gravecaller
1 Acid-Spewer Dragon
1 Scion of Ugin
1 Deathbringer Regent
1 Echoes of the Kin Tree
2 Pacifism
1 Sandblast
1 Flatten
1 Death Wind
1 Enduring Victory
8 Swamp
9 Plains
The black in this pool looks strong but I have questions on the following:
1. How would you build differently (if any) based on the pool above?
2. What other color should I pair black with? I chose white because it has lots of strong removal (although Pacifism is a bit weak in this set, it is still decent removal) but the white creatures are quite subpar other than the fliers. Green looks okay but not enough playables, Blue seems decent as well and has more synergy with the exploit theme in the Palace Familiar and Jeskai Sage.
3. Is Echoes of the Kin Tree worth maindecking? It performed well in one of my matches where it went to lategame but other than that I feel I could have substituted it with other cards. I brought in Mind Rot and Shambling Goblin from the sideboard as well in some of my matches replacing it. I have included Echoes because I thought my deck would be slow and controlling, needed some late game reach.
4. Is Butcher's Glee or Coat with Venom good in this deck? Since it often gets a slow start I feel that either one of these should replace the Echoes? I think I overlooked the Glee here, it seems good but maybe a bit slow. Venom might be better due to my high toughness creatures.
5. Hewed Stone Retainers looks strong as well, is it playable in maindeck?
Thank you for your opinions guys. Really appreciate your time to read and help me out. Thanks again!