MTG Salvation

The gifts idea is actually an interesting one, and something I never thought of. Also..mulldrifter is a good replacement. As stated, I already have the Solemn Simularcrums, which is why I run them. Mulldrifters would lower the already $70.00 construction to an even more budget-frendly level. Anyway, I do have a question for you. I've seen some builds of this running oblivion stone as mass removal. Now it may not be -that- budget, but I already own three copies. Seeing this, what would you suggest would be good cuts for 2 oblivion stones as I would like to test them a bit?

As the title says. Wanted to see what I could come up with for a budget-y battle of wits deck. Decided to go U/B for this, to avoid needing too much moneymana. Gameplan is to pack the deck with as much removal, control, tutors and card draw/deck stacking as humanly possible...ideal game you stall till you can drop battle of wits and win, which ideally should be turn five(you win on turn 7, however, since the effect dosen't go off until your next upkeep.)....Anyway, the deck is VERY, VERY, VERY rough right now...so if anybody has any ideas on how to improve it please post them here! Deck list is below..



So...any ideas for this that won't totally break the bank?

Yeah, I said in my other post that Mutilate was certainly an option if you want a more budget version...and third Lashwrithe would not be bad, either. Could also be Runechanter's Pike, too. Also, I am not sure -Phyrexian Arena- is necessary, here. If you want even fewer rares cut the Arenas for Night's Whisper #4 and 2 copies of Devour Flesh...

Yeah, I am thinking about cutting the raven's crimes entirely and adding in either 3 Phyrexian Arenas(Cutting a single night's whipser for the third one) or 2 Devour Flesh. Thoughts on this? Also..for a more budget-frendly version...try this...

After testing, I agreed. I updated the list with what I am currently testing....trying more removal + damnations main deck and focusing the discard entirely on targeted effects instead of bulk discard. I'm also testing skittles over vatmother and some of the more high-end/stronger equipment I have laying around as appose to the pike. I am also testing Phyrexian Arena as a "budget bob" too. If anybody has more suggestions for this I'd be grateful!

Have you considered also testing the Infect version? I have tested various budget-y mono B Infect control. Anyway, I have my own version that is semi-budget(No Lilianas, but has the damnations and sword because I already own them so why not) and I'd like help with it if at all possible...this is the list...



Anyway, for a more budget-y version the damnations can be replaced with Mutilate and the singleton sword can be either a third lashwrithe or some other kind of removal or discard spell...or possibly even a singleton Runechanter's Pike...

Anyway, any ideas on how to improve this list without adding the Liliana's?

As the title says. I just saw that the enchantment Mortal Combat is in fact modern legal. It just so happens that Iname, Death Aspect is also modern legal. These two cards togther can, more or less, instantly win the game. However, in a format as fast as modern Iname is going to be tricky to get into play quickly. That, however, is where I am turning all to you. Part of me finds alt-winning with Iname + Mortal Combat absolutely hilarious, and I have a casual deck that does just that which is W/B and packs a ton of spirits that help stall and control things. However, Modern is far more competitive and -fast- then casual and thus I am turning to you all for ideas on how to make this work -if it can- at all? I was thinking maybe run either a -reanimator- build that tries to "cheat" Iname into play early, a control build that uses spirits that slow down the game like Eidolon of Rhetoric, Souls of the Faultless etc.. or possibly some kind of mana excell build, either going B/G or maybe mono B utilizing cards like Crypt Ghast, Extraplanar Lense, Crypt of Agadeem etc.. along with spirits that either like to go to the graveyard, can sacrifice themselves or like to be sacrificed and/or controll-y spirits?

If anybody has ideas on which of these ideas would be best for modern, and how to go about building the deck, I'd be grateful!

@ Plowshares to Swords: I can't afford Liliana of the Veil, though. She is just WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY TOO **** EXPENSIVE for my budget right now. So please, don't suggest her...AT ALL. This deck is in the budget board for a reason, thank you.

Anyway..back to addressing everybody....I actually used to run the hideaway land, but everybody said it was bad so I cut it. I may try it again, though. Anyway, any other suggestions for this that are NOT ungodly expensive like Liliana or thoughtseize?

I don't have an exact list and can't give much advice sadly, but I can tell you that the first thing you should -invest- in are dual lands. Dual lands are important for any non-mono color deck and thankfully a lot of them are more budget then you think if your just going 2-color. You don't need the fetches. Yeah, they will make your deck a lot better, but you don't -need- them. Watery Graves, however, you'll want if you don't already own them, though they are somewhat pricy(not terribly so, they hover anywhere from $10.00-$13.00). If you can afford them, pick them up ASAP. If not Darkslick Shores is uber cheap and pretty solid, as is Drowned Catacombs. Also, I am sure the U/B painland(I forget what it's called) is not that pricy either, and if you'd prefer that to the other options I've listed it is there for the taking. Creature wise, you don't want to go too heavy. You'll want delver, ruinator, tombstalker and that's most likely -it- unless you ditch delver. You want a good amount of instants/sorceries for delver, so the less creatures, the better. As for your non-creature cards, it should depend on what you want to be doing. since your U/B you most likely want some mix of counters, draw, removal and discard. Since you said your interested in smallbox, thats a start. After the pox you'll want to decide which kind of control you want to use most, counters, discard or removal, and build accordingly. No matter what, you'll want some degree of removal, as some threats WILL reach the board, even through your wall of discard and counters. Your also likely to want some draw-type cards too. Finding the right balance can be hard and unfortunately, I don't know what that would be for you because I don't know how you play. I am also -brand new- to the modern format(long time casual player, though!) so I don't really know yet what would be best against most decks in the format.

Also, as for snapcasters, if you can't get them easily I happen to own -2- that I am not using at all. I know this is not the right forum, but if you -really- want the snapcasters we could always go make a thread in the trading post where we could possibly arrange something. I have specific, weird needs, so you may not have what I am looking for but hey, doesn't hurt to check!

Yeah. Thats good advice, though I must ask how many damnations are necessary? Is 2 enough in the main deck? Or do you think I'd need three? Also, I was thinking maybe swapping out some of the removal for 2x Devour Flesh, to deal with heaxproof things. Would this be adviseable? I was thinking going down to maybe 3x raven's crime, 2x Pike, 3x funeral charm and 3x Disfigure to add in 2x Damnation and 2x Devour Flesh? Also, would 2x Victim of Night be better then 1x Doom Blade and 1x Go for the Throat? Any advice would be appreciated!

EDIT: Tried adding more removal instead of mass removal and it worked out -fairly well-...the OP is edited accordingly..

As the title says. I have a rough list for MBI and I am looking for ideas on how to improve it. The basic idea of the deck is that it is a control build that uses plentiful discard and removal to keep your opponent out of options while it kills them with poison. Phyrexian Crusader is the "all star" creature, dodging path to exile, lightning bolt and pretty much all the common removal in modern. Anyway, the deck could use some work, so I'd like ideas on how to improve it....



Anyway...The main issue I'm finding in testing is, despite the fact I have a lot of it, I always feel like I need more removal, or, at least, some form of mass removal that can hit 2+ creatures at once and/or more removal that can hit creatures with toughness of 3 or more. Perhaps move some of the damnations to the main deck? If so, what should be cut for them? Also, just so you know, the damnations I already own, so while they may not be "budget" I have them and will use them because I have them. If you don't have them, drown in sorrow is a worthy replacement. Anyway...any ideas, thoughts and opinions that could help this deck would be great!

If you wait for M15, you may want to look at the infamous discard deck 8Rack. While it's a bit out of your budget now due to needing ensnaring bridge at four, once M15 hits there will be a less-expensive replacement which is actually viable called Wasted Not. Anyway, here is the list I'll be maybe running once Waste Not comes out..



That's what I may be running...feel free to change it up as you wish! If you don't know, the point of the deck is to control the game by totally stripping your opponent's hand into oblivion and then killing them with the rack + shrieking affliction + waste not zombie tokens. It's slower then the infect list, but better at just hard controlling your opponent due to how well it can strip their hand. The biggest downside of the deck is that it basically just auto-loses to leyline of sanctity, so if your meta has a lot of the leyline you may want to try the infect build instead...however, if your meta is lite on the leyline this deck is probably stronger then the infect list as far as being a control deck is concerned.

If you want more advice and ideas for assembling your own budget 8Rack deck, check out this thread.

As the title says. I have a deck I've been testing and I am looking specificly for ideas for the sideboard, though suggestions for the mainboard are certainly welcome as well! The idea of the deck is that it controls the game with plentiful removal and Isochron Scepter, often times imprinting Silence on the scepter to completely stop your opponent from playing -anything-. Instead of using search and draw like the America version to get scepter + silence going, this deck uses the sheer volume of removal it has to stall out until it can assemble the pieces. In fact, it has so much removal and burn that it doesn't even -need- to see silence + scepter to win, though it certainly helps! Anyway, yeah, the America version is most likely stronger, but I tested it extensively and it's impossible to build a solid manabase for it and keep it within the range of being "budget" so Boros looked like the next best option! Anyway, here is the deck...without a sideboard..



As you can see, I would greatly appreciate help with constructing an effective yet -budget- sideboard for this deck. If anybody could help me with this, or has more general suggestions for this deck I'd be grateful!

Yeah, I am likely to wait for Waist Not. I just don't want a -useless- deck and do want some kind of actual control deck to play with in modern, since I can't really call mono U tron true control even if it has counterspells and bounce. Do you have any other suggestions for budget-y control decks? The main one I am looking at right now is, admittedly, the mono white deck.....counterburn could also be a possibility, as mentioned. Would upping the Necrogen mists count be a good idea to combat the leyline so we have a stand-in for Lilly? Would that help at all?

Then how do you suggest we combat leyline without Lilly? I want to be able to play this deck, but if Want Not makes the leyline a common card, I am just not sure how this deck can adapt without the w or g splash for the enchantment destruction. I'm not even sure bitterblossom post event deck will be enough to combat Leyline. Do you have any ideas on what do do if/when Leyline becomes I thing? Should I just abandon the deck entirely and stick solely with Tron? Or switch to another control style deck that can be made fairly cheaply like, say, U/R counterburn or a mono W stax-style control deck(I've seen this done before and without smokestacks itself being a legal card in modern the deck is fairly budget-ish. Not as cheap as this deck, but enough where it is at least -something- that is controlling enough for me and doesn't require expensive walkers like lilly or fetches.)?