MTG Salvation

NEW! - 9/22/12, Updated Deck List

Hello, all! From the moment I laid my eyes upon the glory of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, I was in love. The card does everything I want in a boros-colored angel, and at an expensive-but-totally-reasonable 7 CMC! She has certainly earned her high cost. Anyway, let's get right to the deck, listed by card type alphabetically (except for including lands):



Well, there it is. The list isn't overly surprising or exciting, it just has all the aggro/Voltrony goodness that I want in a Boros list. While it's primarily a Voltron list, that doesn't mean Gisela is the only means of victory. Given the density of equipment in the deck, essentially any of my creatures can become a relevant threat if needed. The Sunforger package is insanely strong with several answers to search for, as always bolstered by plenty of equipment search (I'm seriously considering the addition of Steelshaper's Gift as well, for even further redundancy). I'll probably update with a card-by-card breakdown sometime in the near future. The deck has a few areas I'd like to work on, such as its low creature count (which I'm not entirely convinced is necessarily a problem, since Gisela herself most often closes things for me) and perhaps certain sub-optimal or ill-fitting choices. Then again, that's where playtesting comes in. I've only actually been able to play this list in-person on two separate gaming nights, and so far its win/loss ratio is about 1:4, though that doesn't really mean much given the small sample size.

Still, I'm really dedicated to making Gisela work, so I fully expect this list to evolve somewhat over time. Oh, and a shout-out to ChimericPisces for building the most flavorful Gisela list(s) I've ever seen; I was able to pick up quite a few useful tidbits from his excellent primer thread.

Slayers' Stronghold should probably be in here as another land that can grant haste to Gisela. In addition, it makes her kill in two hits rather than three, essentially making your general kill two turns faster.

Quote from Kenjiblade

I'm seriously considering the addition of Steelshaper's Gift as well, for even further redundancy).

Given that you've taken the Voltron/aggro route, I think that Gift is an auto-include. Perhaps you could drop Savage Beating or Aggravated Assault to make room? By the way, what's your rationale for not including Insurrection?

Quote from Kenjiblade

Then again, that's where playtesting comes in. I've only actually been able to play this list in-person on two separate gaming nights, and so far its win/loss ratio is about 1:4, though that doesn't really mean much given the small sample size.

Quote from ChimericPisces

If you'd like to test…play a few games on Cockatrice (for free).

I have the same screen name there, too!

Quote from Kenjiblade

Still, I'm really dedicated to making Gisela work, so I fully expect this list to evolve somewhat over time. Oh, and a shout-out to ChimericPisces for building the most flavorful Gisela list(s) I've ever seen; I was able to pick up quite a few useful tidbits from his excellent primer thread.

Thanks for the love, Kenji!

Quote from DTrain5742

Slayers' Stronghold should probably be in here as another land that can grant haste to Gisela. In addition, it makes her kill in two hits rather than three, essentially making your general kill two turns faster.

I run the Stronghold myself, however, Kenji is already running almost 10 lands that don't provide access to colored mana. On another note, with the number of fetches he's got, Crucible of Worlds is worth consideration.

Kenji, I love that you run as many mana sources as you do. I learned the hard way that our decks don't take kindly to missed land drops. I got overconfident based on several games where I had Land Tax to rely on, but I've since learned the error of my ways and upped my land counts to at least 36.

I look forward to our decks' evolution!

Check the OP for a newly revamped list! I haven't actually tried out this version of the deck in my playgroup yet, but I'm hoping it works out well. Here's a rundown of some of the more "iffy" choices:

- Radiate: I know, I know. It seems really situational, and rarely is it going to do anything super explosive. However, I've heard really good things about this card, and I'm excited to see what it can do for me. The fact that I can copy something I've fetched up via Sunforger is certainly relevant, as well.

- Oblation: Technically, I shouldn't have to defend this, but I will just because. Oblation is a great political tool, and being able to tutor for it via Sunforger is really good. In a pinch, I can use it as an emergency draw spell by tucking one of my own permanents, or "save" something that is being targeted for destruction. Pretty solid, I think.

Actually, those are the only ones that need mention, after checking my list again. If you have individual questions about any card choices here, feel free to ask.

Oh, and Chimeric, I never answered your question about Insurrection before. Primarily, the reason it's not in here is because I don't have any extras on-hand. I suppose it's also the fact that lethal creature swarms in my playgroup tend to come with haste, which makes Insurrection quite slow - my contingency plan for dealing with "hasty death" is including Starstorm and Rout in this iteration of the deck. Here's hoping it works!

Spazz: Gah, this deck was lying dormant for too long. After all this time, I still don't have a copy of Gratuitous Violence, somehow! Clearly, it's a savage card and I need to get one in here soon.

How about Repercussion for a slot?

Quote from Kenjiblade

Check the OP for a newly revamped list! I haven't actually tried out this version of the deck in my playgroup yet, but I'm hoping it works out well.

Actually, those are the only ones that need mention, after checking my list again. If you have individual questions about any card choices here, feel free to ask.

Am I to assume there's no/few blue mages in your meta?

Funny story -- I was once primarily a blue player! Actually, there are a couple of players in the group that use blue in one or more of their decks, but I wouldn't call it a blue-heavy metagame.

Or maybe I'm wrong about that... Earlier tonight, one game consisted of my opponents running Riku, Mimeoplasm, and Sakashima. That one was a bit of a nightmare. :/

I really like the looks of this deck! I might have to try it out. I'm nearly finished putting together my deck built around merieke ri berit it's a control creature stealing deck but yours looks really fun.

Just realized how expensive this deck is!!! Wowza! Did the math $350.88.

Aether Flash! It begs to be in here!

Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, Boil, Boiling Seas, Overmaster, Shattering Spree, Cavern of Souls, Defense Grid and Banefire are some more ways to fight blue.