MTG Salvation

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Stuff this Deck Does

I'm going to be brief at first and just post the thread for now, but I'll expand the thread if I end up really liking the deck.

It's a "draw-go" (heavily instant-speed) deck. In case you aren't familiar with the draw-go archetype, these decks don't like committing to sorcery-speed cards on their turn when they have responses in their hand. With cards like Leyline of Anticipation and Vedalken Orrery, feel free to hold that equipment in your hand, and if you ended up needing the mana for a counterspell, then great, and if you didn't, then just drop the sword at the end of your last opponent's turn, and you haven't lost any tempo.

It abuses ETB triggers. With sources of flash, like those mentioned above, ETB creatures like Karmic Guide and Angel of Serenity become combat tricks. There are also a few sources of repeatable blink, like Mistmeadow Witch, Brago, King Eternal and Venser, the Sojourner to get further value.

It draws a hell of a lot of cards, mostly off Ephara. There are a few sources of repeatble, off-turn creatures like Sacred Mesa, Custodi Soulbinders and Trading Post to draw cards reliably off Ephara. Blink cards mentioned also increases the reliability of her ability. Finally, reliable flying weenies are great sword-carriers. Note that all these arhcetypes work off one another.

It swings with wizards carrying magical swords.


Ephara Tech I'm Trying

Nobody's tried Custodi Soulbinders or Meloku the Clouded Mirror?








Advice I'm Looking For

Mainly what I'll be looking for when I play this deck is the balance between creature and non-creatures. Ephara differs from traditional draw-go-voltron generals like Wydwen, the Biting Gale in that she needs a heavier creature count to reliably draw cards. This is not as bad as it sounds as Ephara draws cards SO well that you'll still have reliable access to responses, but I still don't want to run too many creatures. What have people found to be a good balance?

Tech I'm Considering

Archaeomancer + Ghostly Flicker is really cool, but I'm not sure what to cut.

Words of Wind seems like rad tech here.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite probably deserves a slot in here if I get my hands on a second one. In the mean time, Gravitational Shift could be a budget option as most of my dudes fly.

For now though, I'll sign off. Cheers!

Reserved.

Bump. No comments or advice at all?

Looks fun but I dont really have any advice for you.

Thraben Doomsayer can draw you a card every turn on your opponent's turns, so you can draw 2 extra cards every turn if you drop a creature on your turn.

Gift of immortality and mimic vat have been good for me. words of wind is a core card in my build as well. chasm skulker. is a card i have high hopes for, but have yet to draw in to.

Crib Swap can be tutored at instant speed by Vedalken Æthermage, might be worth a slot.

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What are the wellsprings for? You don't seem to have many ways of sacrificing them.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

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Quote from bloodghasts »

Thraben Doomsayer can draw you a card every turn on your opponent's turns, so you can draw 2 extra cards every turn if you drop a creature on your turn.

I'm surprised I've been glancing over Doomsayer, now that you mention it. He really is an efficient token generator. I'm just not sure what I would cut. I don't want to go overboard on just abusing Ephara, as I feel the deck is already drawing plenty of cards, and the generators I have now either have additional utility (Trading Post) or can be used on reach turn (Meloku and the Soulbinders (sounds like a band name), Luminarch Ascension, etc. (they also spit out fliers, which is rad).

Quote from BEDERNDERN »

Gift of immortality and mimic vat have been good for me. words of wind is a core card in my build as well. chasm skulker. is a card i have high hopes for, but have yet to draw in to.

I'm an old school fan of the Vat and I'm surprised I missed it. Also hoses graveyards. Love Gift too. Two great suggestions.

Quote from trancer99 »

Crib Swap can be tutored at instant speed by Vedalken Æthermage, might be worth a slot.

It totally is. Fun trick too! Thanks.

Quote from metagame »

What are the wellsprings for? You don't seem to have many ways of sacrificing them.

I prefer these guys over regular mana rocks in terms of Venser and Brago abuse. Even without abuse, the Ichor wellspring basically says "You have one less card in your deck so long as you have 2". That said, I think I might prefer Pilgrim's Eye over the Mycosynth as it can carry swords, and they only synergise with two cards.

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Changes.

Sacred Mesa -> Mimic Vat. I've got enough pure Ephara abuse in here. Vat is just rad.
Path to Exile -> Crib Swap. Neat trick and I dislike giving people lands.
Mycosynth Wellspring -> Pilgrim's Eye
Ichor Wellspring -> Gift of Immortality

another thing to look into (especially now that your playing gift and vat) are the guys with sac effects. stuff like children of korlis and ronom unicorn have been extremely good for me.

walking atlas has been an important card in my build as well, serving as a way to get those lands into play that you draw off ephara triggers.

Quote from BEDERNDERN »

another thing to look into (especially now that your playing gift and vat) are the guys with sac effects. stuff like children of korlis and ronom unicorn have been extremely good for me.

They're okay on their own, but I'm hesitant to run cards because they synergise with only one or two others in the deck.

walking atlas has been an important card in my build as well, serving as a way to get those lands into play that you draw off ephara triggers.

I actually really like this idea. Thanks.

I hope that you're still paying attention to this thread. I'm thinking about a similar build, but with less creatures and more enchantments. My meta shifts between playing against lots of wraths or no wraths, so I like that Ephara is indestructible.

Like you, I want to include the equipment package since Ephara is a huge attacker. Have you considered Tatsumasa, Dragon's Fang? Card is long forgotten but still cool as hell. Makes a creature to trigger Ephara or pumps Ephara enough to two shot opponents.

Best budget Elesh-Norn impersonation is probably Archetype of Imagination. Does a lot of nonsense, and tutors off of Vedalken Aethermage and Enlightened Tutor.

Side note: Your mana rock and land count seems a little low to support Avacyn. For a lot of reasons it is a good idea to err on the side of 2-mana ramp spells when trying to accelerate into a 4CMC general and it's ideal for it to be mana producing.

Ramp stuff I've liked:

• Ancient Tomb
  
• Fellwar's Stone
  
• Marble Diamond
  
• Sky Diamond
  
• Gold Myr
  
• Silver Myr
  
• Wayfarer's Bauble
  
• Pearl Medallion
  
• Talisman of Progress
  
• Azorius Signet
  
• Walking atlas
  

And another one:
I think you might want to play Sensei's Divning Top and Æther Vial if you're playing Trinket Mage. Both are fantastic. Obviously not super budget though

no cyclonic rift?

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I admit I'm more active elsewhere these days but I'm happy to help anyone interested in my decks.

Quote from umtiger »

Like you, I want to include the equipment package since Ephara is a huge attacker. Have you considered Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang? Card is long forgotten but still cool as hell. Makes a creature to trigger Ephara or pumps Ephara enough to two shot opponents.

You're speaking to someone for whom, at least from a casual perspective, Tatsumasa is one of my favourite cards of all time. I do appreciate the versatility and I do like the instant speed creature trigger. I'm afraid my meta has just grown to outpace this card, however. This deck lacks the mana acceleration to get to the available to make an immediate, pumped swing or the to cast it without fear of Disenchantment. There's lots of artifact hate in my meta and in practice, it's simply never done much work. I liked it in my old Rubinia Populate deck, for the ability to populate the Dragon Spirit, but I just had to cut it, to my chagrin.

Thank you for the response, though!

Quote from Pokken »

Advice

Some great stuff in here Pokken, thank you. I agree that Archetype is underrated, however I have actually got my hands on an additional Elesh Norn, so she's in.

I completely agree with you about Avacyn, and in retrospect I've strayed away from an initial goal of keeping this deck's creature curve down. Elesh does that slightly already but I'll be looking into it further.

I actually do have a spare Vial, and good god, that would work well in this deck. I'll look into including it.

Quote from Phillerup »

no cyclonic rift?

Gee whiz, how did that happen. Thanks Phillerup.

Incidentally, two cards I'm experimenting with right now in this deck are Ojutai Exemplars and Skywise Teachings, both of which have plenty of noncreature fuel and synergize nicely with Ephara. I haven't looked strongly at Neo Zendikar yet but I'm honestly doubtful there's much there for her.

Feel free to prove me wrong though, guys.

Exemplars is amazing if your spell quotient is high enough which yours seems to be. Especially good with artifacts and such with orrery/leyline. I really wanted to try it out.

It does compete with the really desirable 4-drop slot though, with cards like Sakashima's student and venser, shaper savant.

Teachings just feels like a slower, worse, more conditional sacred mesa to me. More ways to tutor for mesa probably superior.

I think your missing Deadeye Navigator or Venser, the Sojourner

Quote from Pokken »

Teachings just feels like a slower, worse, more conditional sacred mesa to me. More ways to tutor for mesa probably superior.

Thanks for your continued interest, Pokken. I'm honestly kicking myself for not including Vial sooner... Trinket Mage grabs it, it fits the flash theme and I have some prime, low-curve CMC slots in the deck. Can't wait to see it in action.

Exemplars immediately shot into my Top 10 favourite creatures as soon as they were spoiled. They're fun, they're toolboxy, they have great art and are my favourite creature tribe. I was thrilled to realize one of my decks could actually accommodate the card viably. They trigger Ephara, they work brilliantly with equipment of any kind, and just generally do what you need them to do.

Honestly, you're right about Mesa vs. Teachings on the whole. Do you have a problem with your meta hating on Mesa, watching you like hawk and wrathing if you don't have 1W open? I feel like the card locks away an extra two mana which can be irritating. I'd just love an alternative to it that flies under my meta's radar more, but I agree as a card Teachings is inferior.

Quote from Kylar »

I think your missing Deadeye Navigator or Venser, the Sojourner

Ha, if you had checked the thread yesterday you would have seen Venser II on the list. I've cut him for now to give Æther Vial a try. He's obviously very nice in this deck, but in practice, planeswalkers get dogpiled something fierce in my meta. He's been high on the chopping block for a while now and I'm excited to try new cards as I've been out of the game for a while. He may very well make a comeback at some point.

Obviously DEN would be good here, but I enjoy the slight extra challenge of creating ETB decks without that dumb card.

Thanks again for the input guys.

Holy *****, I nearly forgot about Blade of Selves... I think that needs to find a slot somewhere.

With mesa you can untap and make a token during upkeep before paying the sac,if that's what you mean about hating on Mesa. People do prioritize it for removal but that's why we've got counterspells and sun titan. Deck can win quite easily without it but I play more threats than you. With all your counterspells it ought to be super easy to protect.

Recursion is another angle to use to protect Mesa actually, just watch out for return to dust. Not a huge number of enchantment exiles in the format though.

Blade of selves is a card I just do not understand the hype about--it's so ridiculously slow from a tempo perspective. I'd strongly consider it if I were playing Stonehewer Giant as a finisher, but not likely otherwise.

Also: DEN is another card that is too slow tempo-wise for Ephara in my opinion. Ephara doesn't want to ramp super hard most of the time because it's hard to ramp with creatures in UW.

The only serious staple creature I would consider that you've not included is Palinchron, since his infinite combo with Phantasmal image is very hard to interact with and fairly cheap to get started.

Ugh, of course I untap first, that was a silly brain fart. Yeah, Mesa is still pretty unbeatable for sure.

As to Blade of Selves, I'm wary about it for the same reason I'm wary about cards like Akroma's Memorial, in that you're not actually adding a lot of extra power to finish the game at that converted cost, inviting your opponents to destroy it without much short term loss.

However I think there are more arguments for it than against. Unlike Memorial it's recoverable with Sun Titan and can be snuck out early with, say, Stoneforge Mystic for an impressive head start. At least in the brainstorming phase I'm actually impressed with how many different circumstances the will be a worthwhile amount of mana in the mid to late game if I just play it, slap it on something and swing; there are plenty of creatures at 5 or below on the curve where having two or three additional triggers (as well as a bit of extra damage) is not unreasonable for . On some dudes like Angel of Serenity it may be a game-winner. I think I'll give it a try.