Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this, I have been trying to learn MTG to be a good girlfriend to my partner who has played his whole life. I have a black/green deck that I have been playing which has been fun, however my partner has an epic black 8-rack deck that I want to build a deck to beat (or be competitive at least) but I have no idea- the guys at Good Games suggested green white with Leyline of Sanctity and loxodon smiter?
Can anyone help me build a deck that will beat him? or suggest some possible options?
This is his deck:
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Dismember
1 Nezumi Shortfang
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Nyxathid
2 Quest for the Nihel Stone
4 The Rack
2 Typhoid Rats
4 Ravens Crime
4 Shrieking Affliction
2 Waste Not
1 Stabwhisker the Odious
2 Augur of Skulls
4 Thoughtseize
2 Geier Reach Sanitarium
18 Swamps
Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this, I have been trying to learn MTG to be a good girlfriend to my partner who has played his whole life. I have a black/green deck that I have been playing which has been fun, however my partner has an epic black 8-rack deck that I want to build a deck to beat (or be competitive at least) but I have no idea- the guys at Good Games suggested green white with Leyline of Sanctity and loxodon smiter?
Can anyone help me build a deck that will beat him? or suggest some possible options?
Man, what a barrage of discard. You are not going to have cards in hand for long. Not much you can do about that. But let's see ...
First, some general play advice, I think:
1) If you can choose to play first, play first. An extra card drawn will not really help you, but the tempo advantage might.
2) Hold on to your lands if you can. You want enough of them in play to cast whatever you draw when you are in top deck mode, which will be very soon. Thus his mostly sorcery timing dicard effects will be dead.
3) Play whatever you can right away. This will empty your hand even sooner, and thus also helps to neutralize many of his discard cards.
Second, some ideas for upgrading your decks, or for new decks:
4) Make sure, that your deck has enough lands. He's playing only 20 lands, which may be the right number for his deck, or it may be an obsolete artifact of ancient deckbuilding "theory". Because 20 usually is not enough for any but the most aggressive of decks. The general rule of thumb nowadays is to start with 24 lands in your 60 card pile, and only play less if that proves to really be too much. Being greedy with lands does not pay off.
5) His Geier Reach Sanitarium fuels his Waste Not and lets him cycle away his useless discard spells. You want that land gone. Luckily, land destruction is available in land form, like Ghost Quarter, Wasteland, etc., so you can add such an effect essentially for free to any of your decks.
6) You want lots artifact and enchantment removal, and green offers plenty of that for your b/g deck. It is the color of Naturalize, Seal of Primordium, Thrashing Brontodon, Reclamation Sage, Acidic Slime, etc., after all.
7) What cards you do get to play should give you a 2-for-1 of sorts, preferably creatures with enters-the-battlefield triggers or dies triggers. Reclamation Sage and Acidic Slime are examples. But you don't want to draw cards that he can make you discard, rather you want something that is a threat while getting rid of one of his cards. Creature removal can be had in the form of creatures with ETB triggers, too, so that you can kill his dudes and attack Liliana. Ravenous Chupacabra, Keening Banshee, Skinrender, the list is quite long. If you can kill two or more of his cards with just one of yours, that's good, too.
8) Graveyard based abilities are your friend. Your cards will hit the bin for sure, so if you can use them from the yard, you haven't lost as much. Flashback, retrace, and escape are just three of the top of my head. Like Ancient Grudge to remove The Rack, or Savage Conception to turn drawn lands into creatures for attacking. Polukranos, Unchained is not only big (and even bigger when escaping), he's also immune to deathtouch and lifelink (damage prevention nerfs both abilities), so he can take quite a bite out of your opponent's forces.
9) Cycling lands may be worthwhile. They are mostly free cantrips, that virtually make your deck smaller, thus making it more likely to draw into your artifact/enchantment removal. Manlands, otoh, are immune to many of his discard spells, and give you some board presence with which to threaten his Liliana, for example.
10) A discard war of sorts could also be an idea. Pick his hands clean of his key cards, or force him to use his discard on those spells. You don't have to overdo that, it doesn't even have to be the primary function of the card. The newest Theros set brought us Elspeth's Nightmare, which is good for killing his lifelink/deathtouch creatures, but can also nab that Rack, Liliana, and other stuff. Plus it may also exile a Raven's Crime. Creatures with ETB discards effects may be useful for that approach as well.
11) And a last idea, though I don't know how viable that might be, is to drain him right back. He's going to mostly durdle, hiding behind his creatures while his cards make you lose life. By gaining life while simultaneously making him lose life you might actually be able to win before you lose. At least you will prolong the game and increase your chances of drawing an answer. Or more life drain.
Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this, I have been trying to learn MTG to be a good girlfriend to my partner who has played his whole life. I have a black/green deck that I have been playing which has been fun, however my partner has an epic black 8-rack deck that I want to build a deck to beat (or be competitive at least) but I have no idea- the guys at Good Games suggested green white with Leyline of Sanctity and loxodon smiter?
Can anyone help me build a deck that will beat him? or suggest some possible options?
This is his deck:
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Dismember
1 Nezumi Shortfang
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Nyxathid
2 Quest for the Nihel Stone
4 The Rack
2 Typhoid Rats
4 Ravens Crime
4 Shrieking Affliction
2 Waste Not
1 Stabwhisker the Odious
2 Augur of Skulls
4 Thoughtseize
2 Geier Reach Sanitarium
18 Swamps
Man, what a barrage of discard. You are not going to have cards in hand for long. Not much you can do about that. But let's see ...
First, some general play advice, I think:
1) If you can choose to play first, play first. An extra card drawn will not really help you, but the tempo advantage might.
2) Hold on to your lands if you can. You want enough of them in play to cast whatever you draw when you are in top deck mode, which will be very soon. Thus his mostly sorcery timing dicard effects will be dead.
3) Play whatever you can right away. This will empty your hand even sooner, and thus also helps to neutralize many of his discard cards.
Second, some ideas for upgrading your decks, or for new decks:
4) Make sure, that your deck has enough lands. He's playing only 20 lands, which may be the right number for his deck, or it may be an obsolete artifact of ancient deckbuilding "theory". Because 20 usually is not enough for any but the most aggressive of decks. The general rule of thumb nowadays is to start with 24 lands in your 60 card pile, and only play less if that proves to really be too much. Being greedy with lands does not pay off.
5) His Geier Reach Sanitarium fuels his Waste Not and lets him cycle away his useless discard spells. You want that land gone. Luckily, land destruction is available in land form, like Ghost Quarter, Wasteland, etc., so you can add such an effect essentially for free to any of your decks.
6) You want lots artifact and enchantment removal, and green offers plenty of that for your b/g deck. It is the color of Naturalize, Seal of Primordium, Thrashing Brontodon, Reclamation Sage, Acidic Slime, etc., after all.
7) What cards you do get to play should give you a 2-for-1 of sorts, preferably creatures with enters-the-battlefield triggers or dies triggers. Reclamation Sage and Acidic Slime are examples. But you don't want to draw cards that he can make you discard, rather you want something that is a threat while getting rid of one of his cards. Creature removal can be had in the form of creatures with ETB triggers, too, so that you can kill his dudes and attack Liliana. Ravenous Chupacabra, Keening Banshee, Skinrender, the list is quite long. If you can kill two or more of his cards with just one of yours, that's good, too.
8) Graveyard based abilities are your friend. Your cards will hit the bin for sure, so if you can use them from the yard, you haven't lost as much. Flashback, retrace, and escape are just three of the top of my head. Like Ancient Grudge to remove The Rack, or Savage Conception to turn drawn lands into creatures for attacking. Polukranos, Unchained is not only big (and even bigger when escaping), he's also immune to deathtouch and lifelink (damage prevention nerfs both abilities), so he can take quite a bite out of your opponent's forces.
9) Cycling lands may be worthwhile. They are mostly free cantrips, that virtually make your deck smaller, thus making it more likely to draw into your artifact/enchantment removal. Manlands, otoh, are immune to many of his discard spells, and give you some board presence with which to threaten his Liliana, for example.
10) A discard war of sorts could also be an idea. Pick his hands clean of his key cards, or force him to use his discard on those spells. You don't have to overdo that, it doesn't even have to be the primary function of the card. The newest Theros set brought us Elspeth's Nightmare, which is good for killing his lifelink/deathtouch creatures, but can also nab that Rack, Liliana, and other stuff. Plus it may also exile a Raven's Crime. Creatures with ETB discards effects may be useful for that approach as well.
11) And a last idea, though I don't know how viable that might be, is to drain him right back. He's going to mostly durdle, hiding behind his creatures while his cards make you lose life. By gaining life while simultaneously making him lose life you might actually be able to win before you lose. At least you will prolong the game and increase your chances of drawing an answer. Or more life drain.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
bala ged recovery should be a 4 of, play as More lands, but gets things from graveyard.
nature’s spiral
Wildest dreams
if you add black
hogaak, arisen necropolis
And also cards with delve, madness, and dredge mechanics since they allow you to benefit off discard.