Another funky deck, just for fun. Here you want to unload each of the Jinxed artifacts onto your opponents, then use Ayesha's ability to keep them from giving them back to you. Just stall your opponents until your artifacts can finish the job. Azorius Guildmage provides backup just in case they have access to white mana. Any suggestions?
Poor Ben-Ben. Saddled with a flavorful ability in a color that does not like to play into such restrictions, he's been forced into seclusion in favor of flashier generals. Well to heck with double-striking knights and germinating dragons - it's Ben-Ben's time to shine!
The thing with Ben-Ben is that you have to bend the game state in such a way that his ability matters - so let's deconstruct. First of all, we want creatures to be attacking. That's all well and good, creatures usually do that anyway. However, they might not be so inclined with Ben-Ben on the board: they could hang back with their precious general or some annoying utility creatures. So let's make them attack:
Okay, Step 1 is complete. Now Ben-Ben can spring his well-laid traps on some unsuspecting goons. But here's where things start to get sticky: the damage he deals is contingent on the number of Mountains you control. Not only that, but your mountains have to be untapped. I sense a challenge. We'll start by getting a load of Mountains into play:
Now let's find some non-land mana sources so we can have the max number of Mountains untapped at all times, plus some cards that increase the amount of mana produced by Mountains:
And the rest of the deck builds itself: goblins and their appropriate tutors; spells that take advantage of a multitude of Mountains; traps (for flavor); and Goblin Charbelcher as the big finisher. Thanks for viewing, and any thoughts?
Removed token generators for a more straightforward and streamlined version. Any comments on the amended version? Feel like it's missing something. More equipments for bigger Kataki maybe?
Diaochan, Artful Beauty: now there's an interesting ability. Destroy a creature, and then an opponent gets to destroy another creature. That offers such great possibilities for a multiplayer environment that I had to try to build a deck around her. The goal here is to play politics among those at your table. "Sure, I'll kill your Weathered Wayfarer, but now you get to kill the Darigaaz that's been thrashing you the last few turns FOR FREE!" "Oh, may I borrow Zur for a second? I'll just attack the player you attacked last turn with it and fetch out Aggravated Assault. Everybody wins!" "Is she aiming that lethal Corrupt at you? That would inconvenience me, so I'll do you a favor and have it target this other guy." "Someone just smashed your small army? Here's three Knight tokens!" And so forth.
Now, Diaochan is not the most imposing specimen, so I'm hoping that she can avoid being the target of her own ability. If worse comes to worse, to keep Diaochan online or any of my own creatures safe I saddle 'em up with a shroud-granting equipment or Shield of Kaldra. Once the ranks have been thinned somewhat, just try to control the board with Diaochan and thrash them with their own creatures, turn their own spells against them, overwhelm them with Firecat Blitz, burn them out with Banefire, what-have-you. What do you think?
I'm going on the assumption that I'd have much more mana available (from Gauntlet/Lens/artifacts/Ruins/Vale) that it wouldn't have as draining an effect on my board postion than on those of my opponents; i.e. I'd still be able to cast spells and such. Basically, I want to tie up their resources before I let fly on the token production. Anyway, if it ended up backfiring, I could just not pay the one mana for either the Lattice or Kataki. Kataki I can always re-cast and I have plenty of ways to get the Lattice back from the yard.
This is not a token deck per se; tokens is more of a backup plan. I just threw this list together in my mind, so it is not a polished deck. I could definitely drop them for more Lark targets and angels and whatnot. Any other thoughts?
Fiddled around with my Xira Arien deck; the basic idea is to punish people for drawing cards with Kederekt Parasite, Underworld Dreams and Spiteful Visions, punish them for discarding with Megrim, and force them to do both with Xira, Wheel of Fate/Fortune, Command, etc. Supplemented with a team of Shamans, Sensation Gorger mops up with a cadre of kinship triggers. The Words enchantments help you avoid taking too much damage from your own Visions, all the while padding you with chumps, dishing out two damage a pop, or destroying your opponents' hands. Any suggestions? I thought about adding Primordial Sage or Regal Force, but not sure what to cut. Thanks fellas!
1 Defiler of Souls
2 Jenara, Asura of War
2 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (one foil)
1 Maelstrom Nexus
3 Sen Triplets
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Thraximundar
2 Uril, the Miststalker
1 Aven Mimeomancer
3 Cloven Casting (one foil . . . gross.)
1 Dauntless Escort
2 Deathbringer Thoctar
3 Enigma Sphinx
4 Fight to the Death (one foil)
1 Filigree Angel
2 Finest Hour
2 Glory of Warfare
2 Identity Crisis
1 Knight of New Alara
3 Knotvine Paladin
2 Lavalanche
2 Lightning Reaver
2 Madrush Cyclops
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Mayael's Aria
1 Meddling Mage
2 Necromancer's Covenant
3 Nemesis of Reason
1 Predatory Advantage
3 Retaliator Griffin
1 Sages of the Anima
3 Soulquake (yuck)
2 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
2 Spellbound Dragon
3 Spellbreaker Behemoth
1 Thought Hemorrhage
2 Time Sieve
1 Unscythe, Killer of Kings
1 Vedalken Heretic
3 Wargate
So you get a mix - lots of high-quality cards mixed with some fodder. I'd say it's worth it taking into account the many playable commons and uncommons. On a side note, out of two boxes I only got four Bloodbraid Elfs. Interesting.
Mind Funeral is kind of disgusting, though. My buddy likes to break out a U/B mill deck once in while, and I have a sinking feeling that I'll be seeing a lot of this card. Gross.
It seems they are moving to two foil rares per box instead of one. Almost everyone on this thread has listed two foil rares in their box. Mine had two foil rares as well, Master Transmuter and Knight of the Reliquary. It would be interesting to test out this hypothesis.
That's so funny! Those are the exact two foil rares that were in my booster box as well! I also pulled:
2 Knight of the Reliquary (yes, three altogether in one box)
2 Banefire
1 Cliffrunner Behemoth
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Master Transmuter
1 Exotic Orchard (with foil Knight of the Reliquary in the same pack)
4 Path to Exile
4 Volcanic Fallout
00 Ayesha Tanaka
Creatures (14)
01 Aphetto Alchemist
02 Auriok Salvagers
03 Azorius Guildmage
04 Drift of Phantasms
05 Eternal Dragon
06 Pride of the Clouds
07 Pulsemage Advocate
08 Silent Arbiter
09 Soldevi Sentry
10 Spirit of the Hearth
11 Spurnmage Advocate
12 Trinket Mage
13 True Believer
14 Walking Archive
Walkers (2)
15 Jace Beleren
16 Tezzeret the Seeker
Spells (26)
17 Condemn
18 Copy Artifact
19 Decree of Justice
20 Dizzy Spell
21 Donate
22 Enlightened Tutor
23 Evacuation
24 Exhaustion
25 Fabricate
26 Gigadrowse
27 Hinder
28 Ivory Mask
29 Juxtapose
30 Legerdemain
31 Meishin, the Mind Cage
32 Muddle the Mixture
33 Mystical Tutor
34 Oblivion Ring
35 Open the Vaults
36 Prosperity
37 Reshape
38 Stifle
39 Transmute Artifact
40 Vision Skeins
41 Words of Worship
42 Wrath of God
43 Aether Spellbomb
44 Avarice Totem
45 Barbed Wire
46 Bottled Cloister
47 Ebony Owl Netsuke
48 Ensnaring Bridge
49 Erratic Portal
50 Ivory Crane Netsuke
51 Jinxed Choker
52 Jinxed Idol
53 Jinxed Ring
54 Lightning Greaves
55 Magewright's Stone
56 Scrabbling Claws
57 Sculpting Steel
58 Skullcage
59 Sunbeam Spellbomb
60 Tel-Jilad Stylus
61 Thousand-Year Elixir
62 Urza's Armor
Land (37)
63 Academy Ruins
64 Azorius Chancery
65 Deserted Temple
66 Glacial Fortress
67 Hallowed Fountain
68 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
69 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
70 Mistveil Plains
71 Nimbus Maze
72 Prahv, Spires of Order
73 Reliquary Tower
74 Tolarian Academy
75 Tolaria West
- Metalworker
- Puppet Strings
+ Bogardan Hellkite
+ Vedalken Orrery
- Goblin War Drums
+ Mogg Maniac
+ Thornbite Staff
How could I forget the Staff? Thanks for the suggestions!
00 Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit
Creatures (18)
01 Bogardan Hellkite
02 Covetous Dragon
03 Fumiko the Lowblood
04 Goblin Matron
05 Goblin Razerunners
06 Goblin Recruiter
07 Goblin Ringleader
08 Goblin Snowman
09 Goblin Welder
10 Goblin Wizard
11 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
12 Iron Myr
13 Moggcatcher
14 Mogg Maniac
15 Siege-Gang Commander
16 Silent Arbiter
17 Solemn Simulacrum
18 Stuffy Doll
Spells (19)
19 Banefire
20 Browbeat
21 Burning Inquiry
22 Downhill Charge
23 Furnace of Rath
24 Gamble
25 Goblin Festival
26 Goblin Lore
27 Gratuitous Violence
28 Jaws of Stone
29 Lavaball Trap
30 Puppet's Verdict
31 Runeflare Trap
32 Seismic Strike
33 Siege of Towers
34 Spire Barrage
35 Trash for Treasure
36 War's Toll
37 Wheel of Fortune
38 Angel's Trumpet
39 Crucible of Worlds
40 Darksteel Ingot
41 Elsewhere Flask
42 Erratic Portal
43 Extraplanar Lens
44 Gauntlet of Power
45 Gilded Lotus
46 Goblin Charbelcher
47 Heart of Ramos
48 Lightning Greaves
49 Magewright's Stone
50 Mind's Eye
51 Paradise Plume
52 Planar Portal
53 Staff of Domination
54 Thornbite Staff
55 Thousand-Year Elixir
56 Thunderstaff
57 Urza's Armor
58 Vedalken Orrery
59 Voltaic Key
60 Wayfarer's Bauble
61 Balduvian Trading Post
62 Blasted Landscape
63 Keldon Megaliths
64 Shivan Gorge
65 Smoldering Crater
66 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
The thing with Ben-Ben is that you have to bend the game state in such a way that his ability matters - so let's deconstruct. First of all, we want creatures to be attacking. That's all well and good, creatures usually do that anyway. However, they might not be so inclined with Ben-Ben on the board: they could hang back with their precious general or some annoying utility creatures. So let's make them attack:
Fumiko the Lowblood, War's Toll, Angel's Trumpet
Okay, Step 1 is complete. Now Ben-Ben can spring his well-laid traps on some unsuspecting goons. But here's where things start to get sticky: the damage he deals is contingent on the number of Mountains you control. Not only that, but your mountains have to be untapped. I sense a challenge. We'll start by getting a load of Mountains into play:
Solemn Simulacrum + Erratic Portal and/or Goblin Welder
Wayfarer's Bauble + Goblin Welder
Now let's find some non-land mana sources so we can have the max number of Mountains untapped at all times, plus some cards that increase the amount of mana produced by Mountains:
Iron Myr, Darksteel Ingot, Paradise Plume, Gauntlet of Power etc.
Finally, let's give Ben-Ben a little extra oomph:
Furnace of Rath, Gratuitous Violence, Magewright's Stone, Thousand-Year Elixir, etc.
And the rest of the deck builds itself: goblins and their appropriate tutors; spells that take advantage of a multitude of Mountains; traps (for flavor); and Goblin Charbelcher as the big finisher. Thanks for viewing, and any thoughts?
I think Pianna, Nomad Captain would like to be part of your band. Maybe consider Death or Glory to recoup after a sweep. Jareth, Leonine Titan would be a beast in a defensive band.
Perhaps Pulsemage Advocate? Good for making friends in multiplayer.
Also, Cooperation. Prolly not the best card you could add, but the art's just great - plus your General supplies the flavor text!
00 Diaochan, Artful Beauty
Creatures (14)
01 Anger
02 Bogardan Hellkite
03 Boldwyr Heavyweights
04 Capricious Efreet
05 Darksteel Colossus
06 Dragon Tyrant
07 Greater Gargadon
08 Hateflayer
09 Hellkite Charger
10 Hunted Dragon
11 Imperial Hellkite
12 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
13 Mannichi, the Fevered Dream
14 War Elemental
Spells (33)
15 Act of Treason
16 Aggravated Assault
17 Banefire
18 Blind With Anger
19 Confusion in the Ranks
20 Dragon Roost
21 Fatal Frenzy
22 Firecat Blitz
23 Flame Fusillade
24 Fork
25 Grab the Reins
26 Grip of Chaos
27 Heat Shimmer
28 Insurrection
29 Lavaball Trap
30 Mana Flare
31 Mark of Mutiny
32 Mindmoil
33 Molten Disaster
34 Radiate
35 Reiterate
36 Reroute
37 Reversal of Fortune
38 Savage Beating
39 Seize the Day
40 Shunt
41 Spire Barrage
42 Temporary Insanity
43 Threaten
44 Twist Allegiance
45 Unwilling Recruit
46 Wild Ricochet
47 Word of Seizing
48 Chimeric Staff
49 Cloak and Dagger
50 Extraplanar Lens
51 Foriysian Totem
52 Gauntlet of Power
53 General's Kabuto
54 Lightning Greaves
55 Mind's Eye
56 Mirari
57 Puppet Strings
58 Shell of the Last Kappa
59 Shield of Kaldra
60 Staff of Domination
61 Whispersilk Cloak
62 Xanthic Statue
Land (37)
63 Hall of the Bandit Lord
64 High Market
65 Madblind Mountain
66 Mercadian Bazaar
67 Miren, the Moaning Well
68 Rishadan Port
69 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Now, Diaochan is not the most imposing specimen, so I'm hoping that she can avoid being the target of her own ability. If worse comes to worse, to keep Diaochan online or any of my own creatures safe I saddle 'em up with a shroud-granting equipment or Shield of Kaldra. Once the ranks have been thinned somewhat, just try to control the board with Diaochan and thrash them with their own creatures, turn their own spells against them, overwhelm them with Firecat Blitz, burn them out with Banefire, what-have-you. What do you think?
This is not a token deck per se; tokens is more of a backup plan. I just threw this list together in my mind, so it is not a polished deck. I could definitely drop them for more Lark targets and angels and whatnot. Any other thoughts?
00 Kataki, War's Wage
Creatures (20)
01 Adarkar Valkyrie
02 Angelic Curator
03 Argivian Archaeologist
04 Baneslayer Angel
05 Dawn Elemental
06 Devout Witness
07 Emissary of Hope
08 Karmic Guide
09 Fountain Watch
10 Leonin Abunas
11 Magus of the Disk
12 Magus of the Tabernacle
13 Mirror Entity
14 Reveillark
15 Spectral Guardian
16 Treasure Hunter
17 Triskelion
18 Twilight Shepherd
19 Weathered Wayfarer
20 Windborn Muse
Spells (24)
21 Altar's Light
22 Argivian Find
23 Aura of Silence
24 Austere Command
25 Catastrophe
26 Condemn
27 Day of Judgment
28 Dust to Dust
29 Enlightened Tutor
30 Ghostly Prison
31 Golden Wish
32 Hanna's Custody
33 Metal Fatigue
34 Mine Excavation
35 Oblivion Ring
36 Open the Vaults
37 Pull from Eternity
38 Purge
39 Return to Dust
40 Reverent Mantra
41 Ritual of Restoration
42 Roar of Reclamation
43 Runed Halo
44 Second Sunrise
45 Blinkmoth Urn
46 Doubling Cube
47 Extraplanar Lens
48 Gauntlet of Power
49 Gilded Lotus
50 Leonin Sun Standard
51 Mangara's Tome
52 Mycosynth Lattice
53 Planar Portal
54 Sculpting Steel
55 Skyship Weatherlight
56 Sol Ring
57 Thran Dynamo
58 Whispersilk Cloak
59 Worn Powerstone
Lands (40)
60 Deserted Temple
61 Eiganjo Castle
62 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
63 Icatian Store
64 Kor Haven
65 Lotus Vale
66 Mistveil Plains
67 Petrified Field
68 Scorched Ruins
69 Springjack Pasture
70 Temple of the False God
71 Thawing Glaciers
72 Tower of the Magistrate
73 Vesuva
Aha! Excellent suggestion - in it goes!
00 Xira Arien
Creatures (28)
01 Barbed Shocker
02 Rage Forger
03 Sensation Gorger
04 Taurean Mauler
05 Crater Hellion
06 Ashenmoor Liege
07 Boartusk Liege
08 Creakwood Liege
09 Troll Ascetic
10 Eternal Witness
11 Dowsing Shaman
12 Woodfall Primus
13 Sapling of Colfenor
14 Kederekt Parasite
15 Hag Hedge-Mage
16 Vexing Shusher
17 Feral Animist
18 Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro
19 Gilt-Leaf Seer
20 Masked Admirers
21 Master of the Wild Hunt
22 Dragon Mage
23 Boggart Harbinger
24 Cairn Wanderer
25 Sakura-Tribe Elder
26 Chameleon Colossus
27 Wolf-Skull Shaman
28 Leaf-Crowned Elder
29 Dimir Machinations
30 Brainspoil
31 Demonic Tutor
32 Beseech the Queen
33 Worldly Tutor
34 Primal Command
35 Chord of Calling
36 Weird Harvest
Pain (6)
37 Underworld Dreams
38 Spiteful Visions
39 Megrim
40 Incendiary Command
41 Wheel of Fortune
42 Wheel of Fate
Sweet, Sweet Words (5)
43 Sylvan Library
44 Fecundity
45 Words of War
46 Words of Waste
47 Words of Wilding
Destruction/Recursion Suite (8)
48 Dregs of Sorrow
49 Decree of Pain
50 Desert Twister
51 Violent Ultimatum
52 Haunted Crossroads
53 Bone Harvest
54 Reclaim
55 Restock
56 Teferi's Puzzle Box
57 Journeyer's Kite
58 Loxodon Warhammer
59 Akroma's Memorial
60 Memory Jar
Land (39)
61 Fire-Lit Thicket
62 Graven Cairns
63 Twilight Mire
64 Dragonskull Summit
65 Rootbound Crag
66 Savage Lands
67 Jund Panorama
68 Highland Weald
69 Tresserhorn Sinks
70 Terramorphic Expanse
71 Slippery Karst
72 Polluted Mire
73 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
74 Mirrodin's Core
75 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
8 Swamp
7 Mountain
9 Forest
1 Defiler of Souls
2 Jenara, Asura of War
2 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund (one foil)
1 Maelstrom Nexus
3 Sen Triplets
1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
1 Thraximundar
2 Uril, the Miststalker
1 Aven Mimeomancer
3 Cloven Casting (one foil . . . gross.)
1 Dauntless Escort
2 Deathbringer Thoctar
3 Enigma Sphinx
4 Fight to the Death (one foil)
1 Filigree Angel
2 Finest Hour
2 Glory of Warfare
2 Identity Crisis
1 Knight of New Alara
3 Knotvine Paladin
2 Lavalanche
2 Lightning Reaver
2 Madrush Cyclops
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Mayael's Aria
1 Meddling Mage
2 Necromancer's Covenant
3 Nemesis of Reason
1 Predatory Advantage
3 Retaliator Griffin
1 Sages of the Anima
3 Soulquake (yuck)
2 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
2 Spellbound Dragon
3 Spellbreaker Behemoth
1 Thought Hemorrhage
2 Time Sieve
1 Unscythe, Killer of Kings
1 Vedalken Heretic
3 Wargate
So you get a mix - lots of high-quality cards mixed with some fodder. I'd say it's worth it taking into account the many playable commons and uncommons. On a side note, out of two boxes I only got four Bloodbraid Elfs. Interesting.
Mind Funeral is kind of disgusting, though. My buddy likes to break out a U/B mill deck once in while, and I have a sinking feeling that I'll be seeing a lot of this card. Gross.
That's so funny! Those are the exact two foil rares that were in my booster box as well! I also pulled:
2 Knight of the Reliquary (yes, three altogether in one box)
2 Banefire
1 Cliffrunner Behemoth
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Master Transmuter
1 Exotic Orchard (with foil Knight of the Reliquary in the same pack)
4 Path to Exile
4 Volcanic Fallout
Along with five Mythic rares in one box:
1 Malfegor
1 Thornling
1 Ethersworn Adjudicator
1 Apocalypse Hydra
1 Conflux