Hey guys! I just started collecting and playing Magic last week and I've been doing pretty well with this Black/White lifelink deck that I recently constructed, but I'm wanting to take it to the next level with some stronger/better suited card replacements. The basic goal I had in mind when I began putting it all together was to destroy opponent's life while keeping my own life boosted. I have a lot of cards to deal with threats (soceries, instants, creatures with deathtouch, etc.), and my secret weapons are my three Gray Merchant Of Asphodel cards and several cards to have them re-enter the battlefield (Cloudshift, Ghoulcaller's Chant, Rescue From The Underworld) to seal the deal. Plus, I think Triad Of Fates is a really sweet card. Once again, I'm brand new to MTG so I know this deck may seem strange and scattered, but I'm open to any suggestions, thanks!
Just as example, of course. I run something pretty close, but mostly for MP games so my list is a bit different. But this list should offer some aggro elements, drain, and some control.
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I'm sorta new to Magic too, and im running a black white lifegain deck atm. My deck is a little card heavy, but it works good enough. Hope this helps
Lands 26
10 X plains
10 X swamps
4 X sandsteppe Citadel
1 X blighted fen
1 X evolving winds
Creatures 23
1 X indulgent tormenter
1 X pestilence demon
1 X sheoldred, whispering one
1 X rune-scarred demon
1 X pharika's chosen
1 X silent skimmer
1 X rotfeastor maggot
1 X reiver demon
1 X palisade giant
2 X felidar soverign
1 X serene steward
1 X akroma, angel of wrath
1 X savannah lions
1 X kor cartographer
1 X soul warden
1 X mother of runes
1 X rhox faithmender
1 X mageta the lion
1 X mentor of the meek
1 X wall of omens
1 X celestial force
1 X viseling
Artifacts 2
1 X expidition map
1 X armillary sphere
Sorcerys 7
1 X vicious hunger
1 X assassinate
1 X monomania
1 X transgress the mind
1 X mind rot
1 X day of judgement
1 X balance
Enchantments 10
Sanguine bond X 2
Aura of silence X 1
Angelic gift X 1
Arrest X 1
Asha's favor X 1
Spirit link X 1
Banishing light X 1
Darksteel mutation X 1
Rule of law X 1
Instants 9
Tribute to hunger X 1
Grip of destruction X 1
Scour from existance X 1
Cloudshift X 1
Safe passage X 1
Cursebreak X 3
Rebuff the wicked X 1
Angels mercy X 1
Devouring light X 1
Not only is this not budget, but telling someone who's new to the game to go out and spend $100 on their first casual deck is unhelpful and intimidating.
Try to get something close to this. 4-of's make your deck run more smoothly. A few rules of thumb for card count include:
*3-ofs for legendaries, planeswalkers, and cards you want to see once a game, or high cost cards that don't need to be in your starting hand.
*1-ofs for conditional cards (things you won't need to see every game).
*4-ofs for things you want in your starting hand, or things you'll want to play more than once.
*2-ofs for utility spells (artifact/enchantment hate, support cards, etc.)
If you can't find or can't afford anything, just use what you have.
Hi and welcome to Magic and the MTG Salvation Forums!
First, you absolutely want to cut down to 60 cards. You should aim for about 24 lands and 36 other cards (creatures, spells, etc.). Your deck currently has 21 lands (too few) and 48 other cards (way too many!). You'll notice your deck will run more smoothly when you add a few more lands and trim down some other cards. It's not easy to make cuts. You'll have to be exacting and get rid of some cards that might seem fun to try out. But overall you'll find the deck works better when your land ratios are better, and then you'll have more fun with the cards overall.
Speaking of lands, here are some lands you should get. Grab 4 copies of each. They are commons, very cheap to get, and they will make it much easier to play both black and white:
4 Orzhov Guildgate
4 Scoured Barrens
Next, the best creature in your deck is Vampire Nighthawk. So you should try to get 4 copies of that if possible! It will be a heavy player every single game! You'll notice that Nighthawk is strictly better than Deathgaze Cockatrice and Insatiable Harpy, so they are easy cuts to make to make room for more Nighthawks. Aerial Responder is another great lifelink creature and probably better than Seraph of Dawn.
A few cards are not very good here and could be cut outright: Corrupt - this card is great in monoblack, bad when playing 2 colors
Ring of Xathrid - this card is also for monoblack, not 2 colors
Mark of the Vampire - your best creatures already have lifelink, so this is 4 mana for only +2/+2
Angel's Mercy - Pure lifegain is bad. It would be like a regular phone when you could have a smartphone. If a card gives you life, you want it to do something else too (e.g. be a good creature, kill something, draw cards).
Burnished Hart - This is good in some decks, but tour deck doesn't really need the extra lands out. Most of your costs are between 2-4 mana.
Try cutting out some of the worse cards and getting your hands on multiple copies of those good creatures and lands. You should notice your deck performing better!
Good luck and have fun!
@Combat_Strix and others: You guys should avoid suggesting Terramorphic Expanse-type lands to new players. These are "expert" level budget lands. They outperform regular tapped duals only when your deck can abuse shuffle effects and cards in the graveyard or is trying to dodge nonbasic hate. Otherwise, they are worse. They also force you to plan ahead to think whether Plains or Swamp will be more useful not just this turn but in the long run. You can end up making the wrong choice and having your mana punish you for it later. That's not fun. There are many cycles of ETB tapped duals, so it should be easy for players to get their hands on some.
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69 Cards Total (obviously wanting to cut back)
10 Swamp
6 Plains
4 Transguild Promenade
1 Seraph Sanctuary
Creatures:
3 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2 Seraph Of Dawn
2 Child Of Night
2 Deathgaze Cockatrice
2 Insatiable Harpy
1 Triad Of Fates
1 Nearheath Pilgrim
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Village Bell-Ringer
1 Ajani’s Sunstriker
1 Bloodhunter Bat
1 Tormented Soul
1 Burnished Hart
1 Cathedral Sanctifier
1 Lagonna-Band Elder
1 Goldnight Redeemer
4 Pacifism
2 Murder
2 Doom Blade
2 Stab Wound
2 Sip Of Hemlock
2 Corrupt
1 Cloudshift
1 Ghoulcaller’s Chant
1 One Thousand Lashes
1 Rescue From The Underworld
1 Ring of Xathrid
1 Angel’s Mercy
1 Tribute To Hunger
1 Ray Of Dissolution
1 Mark Of The Vampire
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Essence Drain
1 Pharika’s Cure
I will try and keep things relatively low for a budget:
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Orzhov Guildgate
4 Godless Shrine
4 Tainted Field
4 Swamp
4 Plains
4 Nip Gwyllion
4 Tithe Drinker
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Souls of the Faultless
2 Divinity of Pride
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
4 Edge of Divinity
4 Pillory of the Sleepless
Spells 8
4 Go for the Throat
4 Path to Exile
Just as example, of course. I run something pretty close, but mostly for MP games so my list is a bit different. But this list should offer some aggro elements, drain, and some control.
Lands 26
10 X plains
10 X swamps
4 X sandsteppe Citadel
1 X blighted fen
1 X evolving winds
Creatures 23
1 X indulgent tormenter
1 X pestilence demon
1 X sheoldred, whispering one
1 X rune-scarred demon
1 X pharika's chosen
1 X silent skimmer
1 X rotfeastor maggot
1 X reiver demon
1 X palisade giant
2 X felidar soverign
1 X serene steward
1 X akroma, angel of wrath
1 X savannah lions
1 X kor cartographer
1 X soul warden
1 X mother of runes
1 X rhox faithmender
1 X mageta the lion
1 X mentor of the meek
1 X wall of omens
1 X celestial force
1 X viseling
Artifacts 2
1 X expidition map
1 X armillary sphere
Sorcerys 7
1 X vicious hunger
1 X assassinate
1 X monomania
1 X transgress the mind
1 X mind rot
1 X day of judgement
1 X balance
Enchantments 10
Sanguine bond X 2
Aura of silence X 1
Angelic gift X 1
Arrest X 1
Asha's favor X 1
Spirit link X 1
Banishing light X 1
Darksteel mutation X 1
Rule of law X 1
Instants 9
Tribute to hunger X 1
Grip of destruction X 1
Scour from existance X 1
Cloudshift X 1
Safe passage X 1
Cursebreak X 3
Rebuff the wicked X 1
Angels mercy X 1
Devouring light X 1
Not only is this not budget, but telling someone who's new to the game to go out and spend $100 on their first casual deck is unhelpful and intimidating.
Consider this:
4x Orzhov Guildgate
7x Plains
9x Swamp
4x Tithe Drinker
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Voracious Hatchling
4x Divinity of Pride
4x Pillory of the Sleepless
2x Oblivion Ring
4x Terror
2x Read the Bones
Try to get something close to this. 4-of's make your deck run more smoothly. A few rules of thumb for card count include:
*3-ofs for legendaries, planeswalkers, and cards you want to see once a game, or high cost cards that don't need to be in your starting hand.
*1-ofs for conditional cards (things you won't need to see every game).
*4-ofs for things you want in your starting hand, or things you'll want to play more than once.
*2-ofs for utility spells (artifact/enchantment hate, support cards, etc.)
If you can't find or can't afford anything, just use what you have.
First, you absolutely want to cut down to 60 cards. You should aim for about 24 lands and 36 other cards (creatures, spells, etc.). Your deck currently has 21 lands (too few) and 48 other cards (way too many!). You'll notice your deck will run more smoothly when you add a few more lands and trim down some other cards. It's not easy to make cuts. You'll have to be exacting and get rid of some cards that might seem fun to try out. But overall you'll find the deck works better when your land ratios are better, and then you'll have more fun with the cards overall.
Speaking of lands, here are some lands you should get. Grab 4 copies of each. They are commons, very cheap to get, and they will make it much easier to play both black and white:
4 Orzhov Guildgate
4 Scoured Barrens
Next, the best creature in your deck is Vampire Nighthawk. So you should try to get 4 copies of that if possible! It will be a heavy player every single game! You'll notice that Nighthawk is strictly better than Deathgaze Cockatrice and Insatiable Harpy, so they are easy cuts to make to make room for more Nighthawks. Aerial Responder is another great lifelink creature and probably better than Seraph of Dawn.
Child of Night is not bad, but Tithe Drinker is a nice upgrade to it.
Sip of Hemlock costs too much mana. You are better off playing Murder or Hideous End.
Pillory of the Sleepless is usually better than Stab Wound or One Thousand Lashes or Pacifism.
Essence Drain and Pharika's Cure are outclassed by Essence Extraction, but you probably already have enough kill spells in the deck, so I would just cut them.
A few cards are not very good here and could be cut outright:
Corrupt - this card is great in monoblack, bad when playing 2 colors
Ring of Xathrid - this card is also for monoblack, not 2 colors
Mark of the Vampire - your best creatures already have lifelink, so this is 4 mana for only +2/+2
Angel's Mercy - Pure lifegain is bad. It would be like a regular phone when you could have a smartphone. If a card gives you life, you want it to do something else too (e.g. be a good creature, kill something, draw cards).
Cathedral Sanctifiers - Same problem. You'll find that 1/1s are not that good.
Burnished Hart - This is good in some decks, but tour deck doesn't really need the extra lands out. Most of your costs are between 2-4 mana.
Try cutting out some of the worse cards and getting your hands on multiple copies of those good creatures and lands. You should notice your deck performing better!
Good luck and have fun!
@Combat_Strix and others: You guys should avoid suggesting Terramorphic Expanse-type lands to new players. These are "expert" level budget lands. They outperform regular tapped duals only when your deck can abuse shuffle effects and cards in the graveyard or is trying to dodge nonbasic hate. Otherwise, they are worse. They also force you to plan ahead to think whether Plains or Swamp will be more useful not just this turn but in the long run. You can end up making the wrong choice and having your mana punish you for it later. That's not fun. There are many cycles of ETB tapped duals, so it should be easy for players to get their hands on some.