*** BACKGROUND ***
This is a deck centered around Mystical Teachings, one of my favourite cards in the Modern pool and one I feel that's criminally underplayed, perhaps due to the lack of good Control tools in the format. It's a seemingly confusing pile of cards tied together by the backbone of the deck: the Teachings themselves. With teachings, you can fetch for the silver bullet or the correct answer you need and control the board and hand of the opponent. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir makes you able to also fetch creatures with Teachings and he's fetchable himself, all while providing disruption against other decks. Since the deck is a toolbox deck (thus you are able to fetch whatever you need with Teachings), I decided to include 61 cards instead of the regular 60.
CURVE (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / X): 0 / 10 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 2 / 0 / 3 (I included Far // Away in the 5 CMC slot)
AVERAGE CMC: 3.16
CURRENT COST: $ 54.82 (had to play back and forth with the removal suite to have it fit)
Also I didn't say it in my previous post, but feel free to test all the builds I post here!
Miracle Gro was designed to put out an early threat (e.g., Quirion Dryad) and then keep tempo with the opponent (counter their spells, bounce their permanents, etc.) while Quirion Dryad got bigger and also beat the opponent to death.
A few problems with this plan: Most of the cards from Mircle Gro aren't Modern legal. Also, there are some really good new options that are way out of budget (e.g., Snapcaster Mage). Let's not let this dissuade us from making an awesomely fun deck!
The core plan of the deck should remain the same: Drop Quirion Dryad or Vinelasher Kudzu. These cards will get big naturally as spells are cast. This means that drawing cards, countering the opponents spells, and bouncing their permanents gives more bang for the buck than usual. So, at least 1 of these should be in your opening hand. It might be correct to keep other hands, but I'd usually recommend against it.
I also really like the interaction with the borderposts (e.g., Fieldmist Borderpost). Basically, when the borderpost is cast for its alternative cost it counts as a spell and pumps Quirion Dryad. It also returns a land which can then come in and pump Vinelasher Kudzu. Coiling Oracle is also a great value card as it pumps Quirion Dryad, then can cheat a land into play pumping Vinelasher Kudzu. "Worst" case, it doesn't hit a land and draws a card, the horror. Coiling Oracle is also the primary target for Familiar's Ruse as it turns the drawback into a boon. However, if Coiling Oracle isn't in play, it's generally a bad idea to return Quirion Dryad or Vinelasher Kudzu to hand as they probably have counters on them and are the deck's win condition. That's the main reason Judge's Familiar is in the deck, but it also helps with tempo and pumps Quirion Dryad. Ideally I'd be using Snapcaster Mage, but it's too expensive.
Bounce and counter spells will generally be played on the opponent and their permanents/spells. However, keep in mind that these can also function as combat tricks or value plays.
Example 1: the opponent is at 8 life and all of their creatures are tapped. We have a 5/5 Quirion Dryad on the board, but we'll die next turn. It's entirely reasonable to cast Path to Exile on our Quirion Dryad, counter it with Rune Snag, and then Condescend the Path to Exile for 0 (4 mana total). The Quirion Dryad becomes an 8/8 and lives, we get to Scry 2, and then swing in for lethal damage.
Example 2: You have a Coiling Oracle and 2 Vinelasher Kudzu's in play, the Vinelasher Kudzu's are both 3/3, and the opponent has 10 life. Let's just assume you are once again dead next turn. You can cast Unsummon on your Coiling Oracle, respond by casting Condescend for 0 on Unsummon, pay the 0 cost. You get back your Coiling Oracle and Scry 2, keep a land on top of your Library. Cast Coiling Oracle, this puts the land in play, which triggers your Vinelasher Kudzus' abilities. In response, your opponent casts Lightning Bolt on your Vinelasher Kudzu which would kill one of them. You respond by casting Path to Exile on your Coiling Oracle, fetching a basic land. This pumps your Vinelasher Kudzu's up to 4/4, the Bolt does 3 damage but they live, then the triggered ability resolves pumping your Vinelasher Kudzu's up to 5/5. Swing in for lethal.
These are just two examples, but I think they illustrate how clever play can really impact the game with this deck.
Lastly, the average cost of this deck's spells is under 2. So, you don't need too much mana for this deck to function. The most expensive spell is 4 cmc and that's in the sideboard. In the main deck, there's only a 4 cmc spell if Into the Roil is kicked. Feel free to keep land-light hands. The borderposts may as well count as land and help to fix mana while keeping the deck cheap. I'm honestly wondering if 24 lands is too much.
Card choices without regard for budget:
1. Lands! This is a very obvious inclusion on almost any budget deck's want list. Fetch lands would help thin the deck, doubly pump Vinelasher Kudzu, and help fix mana. Shocklands are less important, but a few wouldn't hurt.
2. Snapcaster Mage is super strong. He can flashback whatever spell you need, so you can play a wider range of spells. He will doubly pump Quirion Dryad. He acts as card advantage. And he can start swinging in for 2 damage.
3. Slightly better spells. The deck is actually naturally cheap. Quirion Dryad and Vinelasher Kudzu are "budget Tarmogoyf", we aren't relying on any super rare cards, and most of our spells are a bit uncommon in popular decks. Still, some improvements could probably be made: Remand, Cryptic Command, Vendilion Clique, Meddling Mage, Serum Visions, Path to Exile, etc. I'm not sure if all of these would be good for the deck, but I think adding some as 1-2 of's would help.
Let me know if you have any suggestions as this isn't a finished product.
This is a basic Mono-Black Affinity deck. You throw out your hand of low cmc artifact dudes, then hope to equip a Cranial Plating to them. You also have Myr Enforcer to beat with. The mono-black enables you to move plating around at instant speed in case of blockers or opposing removal. You can also cast Vault Skirge and Dismember without taking as much damage. Black also gives you access to some removal spells and hand disruption.
The sideboard is a catch-all for a generic meta. It has some uncounterable graveyard hate in the form of Bojuka Bog, Tron / manland hate with Ghost Quarter, more hand disruption, a way to deal with low cost enchantments or swarms of tokens via Ratchet Bomb, and a bit of burn / targeted discard protection with Witchbane Orb.
Here is a pretty easy deck to pilot that is great for players that enjoy a lot of red zone action. I built this deck for a friend of mine, using the M14 Event Deck as a starting shell. It goes in hard like the name says with a complete frontal assault. The trick is to jam so much early damage on the opponent that you can finish them off with burn or a command. My favorite part of the deck is how good the nut draws can be, as people playing standard remember the power of Burning-Tree Emissary. While it won't win a GP, you will steal quite a bit of games from the unprepared and have a blast doing it.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) Burning-Tree Emissary: This combo explains itself. In multiples it's deadly
SPECIFIC CARD DISCUSSION:
1) Hellrider: Pretty much the top of the deck's curve, as you will be using Ghor Clan for its bloodrush most of the time
2) Atarka's Command: This and the singleton Gruul Charm allow a bit of flexibility for the midgame
3) Skarrg Guildmage: Another singleton along with Pyrewild Shaman for utility, also does work against tokens if they don't have an anthem yet
This is based on a Pauper deck of the same name (aka, Azorius Kitty). The idea is to generate advantage in the early game with creatures that give you an additional benefit: Lone Missionary + 4 Life, Wall of Omens + 1 Card, Blade Splicer + a 3/3 Golem. These cards can then be brought back to your hand and re-played with help from Ninja of the Deep Hours + 1 Card, Kor Skyfisher, and Dream Stalker. Wall of Omens, Dream Stalker, and the Golems created by Blade Splicer, will also help to stall the battlefield until you can get setup for the degenerate use of Reality Acid and Cloudstone Curio.
The real fun comes when you start destroying the opponent's creatures, enchantments, and even lands with Reality Acid. Normally, after playing Reality Acid you would need to wait 3 turns before it "Vanished" and took the enchanted permanent along with it. This is too slow, plus you lose your Reality Acid. So, instead we bounce it back to our hand with Dream Stalker or Kor Skyfisher (we can also use Momentary Blink on those creatures, if needed). Then when Reality Acid "leaves play" the permanent it was enchanting must be sacrificed. You can continue doing this turn after turn until you run out of ways to bounce it back to your hand.
This is where Cloudstone Curio really helps. With it in play, any creature can be played to return a bounce creature to our hand which can then be played to bounce Reality Acid. For example, we have Reality Acid and Lone Missionary in hand and a Dream Stalker on the battlefield. We can cast Reality Acid targeting the opponent's land, cast Lone Missionary which triggers Cloudstone Curio (and we get 4 life), then return Dream Stalker to our hand, play Dream Stalker and return both Lone Missionary (via Cloudstone Curio's trigger) and Reality Acid (via Dream Stalker's trigger) to our hand and the opponent must sacrifice their land. Rinse, repeat.
Cloudstone Curio is a huge mana sink, but if we have enough mana we can chain together all sorts of plays to help us beat our opponent. 2 Lone Missionary's can gain us 4 life for every 2 mana. As we saw above, we can gain 4 life and destroy a permanent for 7 mana. Wall of Omen's lets us draw a card for 2 mana. Blade splicer gives us a 3/3 Golem for 3 mana. Mulldrifter gives us at least 2 cards for 5 mana (usually 4 cards! More on this in a second). We can also re-buy our Reality Acid with Detention Sphere which if we target one of our creatures with D-Sphere can also net us 4 life, 1 card, 2 cards, or a 3/3 Golem. If we have multiples in play, we benefit even more! Imagine D-Sphere exiling 3 Mulldrifters and returning Reality Acid to your hand, the opponent then sacrifices whatever Reality Acid was enchanting. Now you play Reality Acid on another one of their permanents return D-Sphere to your hand. All 3 Mulldrifters return to the battlefield and you draw 6 cards. All of this for 6 mana!!
A couple of notes on Momentary Blink:
1. If you Evoke Mulldrifter, you can stack the triggers to draw 2 cards before sacrificing Mulldrifter. You can then draw 2 and in response cast Momentary Blink on your Mulldrifter. When it comes back into play you will get 2 more cards and you won't have to sacrifice it.
2. We will never hard-cast Akroma, Angel of Fury or Sagu Mauler, but we can put them into play as a Morph creature. Then if we case Momentary Blink targeting Akroma or Sagu, they will come back as a huge creatures that are hard to kill (protection and hexproof).
Also, some games you will just go aggro. Chaining Blade Splicer, Momentary Blink, and Kor Skyfisher can really get the job done.
Sideboard:
1. Spreading Seas is to cut players off from their mana quicker than in game 1. Mostly I'm thinking this would help versus Junk (or other greedy mana bases) and Tron.
2. Rest in Peace is obviously for graveyard based decks that we otherwise can't interact with: Storm, Dredgevine, etc.
3. Akroma, Angel of Fury and Sagu Mauler are for when our slow, value-based gameplan isn't good enough and we need a fast clock.
4. Disenchant is mostly for Splinter Twin, but any other Artifact or Enchantment that's annoying can be dealt with too.
5. Lastly, Familiar's Ruse is for everything else that we need to stop. It's a hard counter and the draw-back doesn't affect us much, if at all, and many times helps us.
Card choices without regard for budget:
1. Lands... as usual. I wouldn't just jam in full playsets of Fetches and Shocks as we're trying to gain incremental advantage from our plays, but thinning the deck a bit would be helpful. I'd lean towards Fetchlands and Glacial Fortress but maybe leave the Hallowed Fountains out.
2. Æther Vial seems right at home in a deck like this. We're bouncing creatures to our hand, so putting them back into play for free is awesome! Also, it allows us to play creatures at instant speed, which when combined with Cloudstone Curio means we can bounce creatures at instant speed too! This means we can chump block and save our guy without taking damage. Or, evoke Mulldrifter and then bounce it back to our hand netting 2 cards. And more!! This is probably the best addition you could make to this deck.
3. I would want to change Sagu Mauler into a second Akroma, Angel of Fury as a finisher. I would look into Restoration Angel, which seems like it could have really good synergy. Path to Exile might not be necessary, but having a couple in the sideboard would make me feel safer.
Let me know if you have any suggestions as this isn't a finished product.
BW Tokens has always been one of my favorite T2 decks. I can't believe this can be done for <$55. Nice find!!
Have you considered Charge Across the Araba? I've always found this to be a win condition that can take players by complete surprise and it's less than a quarter. : )
I tried this out a few times and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but even if you go off turn 1 (which I did once!) or turn 2, you still usually need 2 more turns to beat the opponent down with your 1/1's - I was generating about 12-14 goblins. Don't you usually just lose games 2 and 3 to sideboard hate? I get blown out by Pyroclasm, Golgari Charm, or even Zealous Persecution very consistently. Since the deck has no draw, I can't put enough tokens on the board for a one hit kill and I definitely can't come back from a board wipe. Am I missing something?! It's a cool list, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts.
I tried this out a few times and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but even if you go off turn 1 (which I did once!) or turn 2, you still usually need 2 more turns to beat the opponent down with your 1/1's - I was generating about 12-14 goblins. Don't you usually just lose games 2 and 3 to sideboard hate? I get blown out by Pyroclasm, Golgari Charm, or even Zealous Persecution very consistently. Since the deck has no draw, I can't put enough tokens on the board for a one hit kill and I definitely can't come back from a board wipe. Am I missing something?! It's a cool list, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts.
You are playing it right if you are generating about 12-14 goblins turn 1/2, it's the plan. I wrote that it's a deck that tries to win turn 1/2 but I should have written that tries to go off t1/2. It's very hard to race 10+ goblin, but sadly if your opponent is playing maindeck pyroclasm (aka Tron) sometimes you are going to lose. But that doesn't mean that you can't win through some hate, for example if you belive that your opponent is going to side in some hate-cards you can change your plan cutting some Empty the Warrens for some alternative win-con (and often people side out removals against storm, so trying to stick a fatty like Arc-Slogger, Moltensteel Dragon or Deus of Calamity isn't a too crazy plan). This is a strange deck, the hardest choices are mulligan decisions and sideboarding decisions. Gameplay decisions instead are pretty linear.
Okay, cool. Glad I was doing things more or less correctly. It does make sense that they would board in pyroclasm, et al. that they would side out targeted removal, so we can bring in a big beater like Deus of Calamity to finish the game quickly. I also saw that your sideboard had Ignite Memories which also makes sense. Appreciate the help!
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Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm, UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TE
Modern: Twin, Jund, Eggs, Pod, Balance, Uxx Control
Legacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Zwei, that has to be one of the craziest decks I've seen in a while. Amazing build... couldn't help but give it a foil stamp
Thanks!
Glad you like it. I've been playing it a bit on MTGO and it's a blast when it goes off. Cool interaction I didn't see when I was making the list: Cloudstone Curio + Spreading Seas also bounces Reality Acid. Hah!
Anyway, I'll be sure to post something else next time creativity strikes. : )
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Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm, UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TE
Modern: Twin, Jund, Eggs, Pod, Balance, Uxx Control
Legacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
As someone brand new to modern I just picked up your caw blade list you posted (minus two cards my LGS didn't have), if I was going to up the budget an extra 50 or so what would you recommend getting for it? Anyones opinions are welcome since I don't know most of the modern cards since I usually play limited and a bit of standard. I've already got the lands, including fetches, just looking for a few strictly better cards. Thanks
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Trying to make crappy pet cards work since 2002.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
As someone brand new to modern I just picked up your caw blade list you posted (minus two cards my LGS didn't have), if I was going to up the budget an extra 50 or so what would you recommend getting for it? Anyones opinions are welcome since I don't know most of the modern cards since I usually play limited and a bit of standard. I've already got the lands, including fetches, just looking for a few strictly better cards. Thanks
I'm glad you asked! I'm currently turning it into a $100 build and trying to make it more competitive. Here is the tappedout link, it's called Caw/Hoot Blade:
Thanks! I actually had alot of fun with my tweaked version of your $50 list. Went 2 and 2 so not to shabby, especially since one of my wins came against a guy who resolved Emrakul and Progenitus in the same turn against me.
I'm pretty sure at this point paths and remands will be my first purchases, but how do you like only having 2 swords in the build? I only saw mine two or three times the whole night and felt like I wanted more in the deck all night.
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Trying to make crappy pet cards work since 2002.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
Thanks! I actually had alot of fun with my tweaked version of your $50 list. Went 2 and 2 so not to shabby, especially since one of my wins came against a guy who resolved Emrakul and Progenitus in the same turn against me.
I'm pretty sure at this point paths and remands will be my first purchases, but how do you like only having 2 swords in the build? I only saw mine two or three times the whole night and felt like I wanted more in the deck all night.
Swords are a bit expensive, so I'm guessing it was a budget decision. Ideally you want to hit one sword, so without having a way to tutor for them, you probably want 3-4 in the deck. Bonesplitter is one of my favorite budget equipments, +2 is pretty relevant and it's super cheap to cast/equip.
*** BACKGROUND ***
Similar to Delver/Fiend/Cylcops decks in Pauper, this is all about getting Prowess-type creatures down, especially Kiln Fiend, and getting them pumped a few times, add Double Strike, and kill your opponent before they can do anything. Deck archetype got a huge boost from Temur Battle Rage in FRF, because it is a single card that gives Double Strike and Trample. Manamorphose is also a good cycler that helps build up the power of your creatures.
It's actually your choice between Manamorphose and Gitaxian Probe, the two cards cost about the same and have the same function in the deck. Perhaps it might even be worth it, as a slight price upgrade consideration, to try and figure out how to put in a few more copies of that effect.
I'm adding this to the thread because I saw it on MTG Goldfish and it has gone 3-1 in a Modern Daily 3 times. In Magic Online tickets it's less than $10, and in paper it's only $46 shipped.
The sideboard also seems a bit make-shift, and in fact one of the 3-1s on Goldfish had no sideboard. Optimized price for the main deck 60 is only $33.28.
Thanks! I actually had alot of fun with my tweaked version of your $50 list. Went 2 and 2 so not to shabby, especially since one of my wins came against a guy who resolved Emrakul and Progenitus in the same turn against me.
I'm pretty sure at this point paths and remands will be my first purchases, but how do you like only having 2 swords in the build? I only saw mine two or three times the whole night and felt like I wanted more in the deck all night.
I've since updated the deck and yes zwei is right it's a budget thing.
But to be honest, two swords is enough from my standpoint, because even though there are no dedicated "tutors" the deck runs a lot of scry and card draw. Also, having too many swords tends to clog your hand, they are clunky and slow the tempo of the deck down so you really don't want to see more than 1 per game, and usually not in your opening hand.
If you want to improve the equipment consistency without spiking the budget, try Runechanter's Pike or Loxodon Warhammer to bring you up to 3 total equipment cards.
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BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
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This deck uses some efficient (both in CMC and $$$) creatures to put as much damage as possible down and uses burn spells to either clear a path through blockers or to get that last little bit of reach needed to end the game. It draws heavily from this list that 4-0'd a daily last month with some budget changes to push the deck under $50.
Some notables about the deck: First, and most importantly to the budget sensitive player like myself, this deck is cheap (it would not be in this thread otherwise, but still involves many format staples that will maintain their value. Boros Charm, Monastery Swiftspear, Lightning Helix and Lightning Bolt are all stables in Modern Burn, and this deck gets you closer to eventually owning that deck if that is your goal.
Figure of Destiny is the only card in the deck that actually dies to Volcanic Fallout, and even he can dodge it if he gets big enough, making this a great card for clearing out chump blockers and continuing to push through damage.
The 2x Searing Blood and 4x Volcanic Fallout are your slots to metagame with. I personally run into a lot of decks that are looking to chump, so these cards are great for letting me continue to push damage through, but other cards like Pillar of Flame or Rending Volley can be put in those slots if you want to hate on a certain deck or strategy.
Unfortunately, there is not quite enough room in the budget to include a better mana-base, which does make the double colored mana of Kor Firewalker and Volcanic Fallout a little bit worse.
*** BACKGROUND ***
Deck plays like any other infect list. Aim to turn 1 or 2 play an infect creature (glistener elf and ichorclaw myr are best) then pump it and if they have a blocker, give it protection with apostle's blessing or trample with rancor or llanowar augur. Rush opponent to 10 infect then rinse and repeat. Main strategy is mulling until you have an infect source (although i don't usually go below 5) and choosing the correct time to alpha strike with winning fast being the primary objective. Wild defiance helps save your guys from burn and get through for those big swings if the game progresses to mid game Deck certainly has game at FNMs.
So i got some questions to this:
1st: Aren't Dryad and Kudzu very vulnerable to removal nowadays? It seems that without a threat the Deck runs out of gas quickly ?!? Spellskite is worth SB Slots?
4th: Remand over Snag would be fine, but Ruse seems narrow.
It doesn't get value out of Oracle if it isn't on the Field. Maybe there's sth. in addition to Coiling Oracle that gives us value? Augur of Bolas or Wall of Omens first came to my mind. I'm not sure, maybe there's a valueable 1-Drop?
5th: Why do Borderposts trigger Dryad? Are they colored or colorless?
6th: Does this Deck have a Plan B? If Dryad or Kudzu doesn't stick it seems pretty Dead to me?!?
which leads me to point 7:
Why not run Hooting Mandrills here?
8-10 Fetchlands, 20+ Instants / Sorceries, our Grave is filled pretty quickly i assume.
I can't look up the price on tcg right now but it should come out to around $50. Wilt leaf should be the most expensive card at ~$7. If it's more, you can take out some Wilt Leafs and add more Knight of New Alara.
EDIT: The price came out to $55.66. You can cut the Qasali Pridemage for your favorite Selesnya 2-drop, or drop a Wilt-Leaf Liege for another Knight of New Alara if you want to make it cheaper. You can also cut Sunpetal Groves for guildgates.
*** BACKGROUND ***
This is a deck centered around Mystical Teachings, one of my favourite cards in the Modern pool and one I feel that's criminally underplayed, perhaps due to the lack of good Control tools in the format. It's a seemingly confusing pile of cards tied together by the backbone of the deck: the Teachings themselves. With teachings, you can fetch for the silver bullet or the correct answer you need and control the board and hand of the opponent. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir makes you able to also fetch creatures with Teachings and he's fetchable himself, all while providing disruption against other decks. Since the deck is a toolbox deck (thus you are able to fetch whatever you need with Teachings), I decided to include 61 cards instead of the regular 60.
Besides on improving and optimizing the manabase with fetchlands, shocklands and even filterlands, the deck could use quite a shakeup. Core cards include Path to Exile, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, Cryptic Command, Thoughtseize and Wurmcoil Engine, alongside perhaps another copy of Teferi. 2-3 copies of Sphinx's Revelation substituting Blue Sun's Zenith and something else would also be really good
*** THE DECKLIST ***
3 Plumeveil
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Grave Titan
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Backbone (4)
4 Mystical Teachings
Spot removal (5)
1 Doom Blade
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Smother
2 Murderous Cut
Counterspells (5)
2 Mana Leak
2 Condescend
1 Negate
Utility Toolbox (7)
1 Consume the Meek
1 Far // Away
1 Devour Flesh
1 Rest for the Weary
1 Ojutai's Command
1 Silumgar's Command
4 Esper Charm
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
3 Castigate
Wrath effects (2)
2 Day of Judgment
Lands (25)
1 Calciform Pools
2 Dreadship Reef
2 Underground River
2 Adarkar Wastes
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Drowned Catacomb
7 Island
2 Plains
3 Swamp
3 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Flashfreeze
2 Slay
3 Duress
3 Dispel
2 Rest for the Weary
CURVE (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / X): 0 / 10 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 2 / 0 / 3 (I included Far // Away in the 5 CMC slot)
AVERAGE CMC: 3.16
CURRENT COST: $ 54.82 (had to play back and forth with the removal suite to have it fit)
Also I didn't say it in my previous post, but feel free to test all the builds I post here!
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 3:27 p.m. May 9th 2015.
9 Island
6 Forest
1 Plains
SORTA LANDS - 8
4 Wildfield Borderpost
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
CREATURES - 15
4 Quirion Dryad
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
4 Coiling Oracle
3 Judge's Familiar
2 Path to Exile
2 Unsummon
4 Into the Roil
4 Think Twice
4 Rune Snag
3 Familiar's Ruse
2 Condescend
2 Rancor
3 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Timely Reinforcements
3 Disenchant
CURVE (0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 ): 0 / 11 / 35 / 3 / 2
AVERAGE CMC: 1.92
CURRENT COST: $50.94
*** BACKGROUND ***
Miracle Gro was designed to put out an early threat (e.g., Quirion Dryad) and then keep tempo with the opponent (counter their spells, bounce their permanents, etc.) while Quirion Dryad got bigger and also beat the opponent to death.
A few problems with this plan: Most of the cards from Mircle Gro aren't Modern legal. Also, there are some really good new options that are way out of budget (e.g., Snapcaster Mage). Let's not let this dissuade us from making an awesomely fun deck!
The core plan of the deck should remain the same: Drop Quirion Dryad or Vinelasher Kudzu. These cards will get big naturally as spells are cast. This means that drawing cards, countering the opponents spells, and bouncing their permanents gives more bang for the buck than usual. So, at least 1 of these should be in your opening hand. It might be correct to keep other hands, but I'd usually recommend against it.
I also really like the interaction with the borderposts (e.g., Fieldmist Borderpost). Basically, when the borderpost is cast for its alternative cost it counts as a spell and pumps Quirion Dryad. It also returns a land which can then come in and pump Vinelasher Kudzu. Coiling Oracle is also a great value card as it pumps Quirion Dryad, then can cheat a land into play pumping Vinelasher Kudzu. "Worst" case, it doesn't hit a land and draws a card, the horror. Coiling Oracle is also the primary target for Familiar's Ruse as it turns the drawback into a boon. However, if Coiling Oracle isn't in play, it's generally a bad idea to return Quirion Dryad or Vinelasher Kudzu to hand as they probably have counters on them and are the deck's win condition. That's the main reason Judge's Familiar is in the deck, but it also helps with tempo and pumps Quirion Dryad. Ideally I'd be using Snapcaster Mage, but it's too expensive.
Bounce and counter spells will generally be played on the opponent and their permanents/spells. However, keep in mind that these can also function as combat tricks or value plays.
Example 1: the opponent is at 8 life and all of their creatures are tapped. We have a 5/5 Quirion Dryad on the board, but we'll die next turn. It's entirely reasonable to cast Path to Exile on our Quirion Dryad, counter it with Rune Snag, and then Condescend the Path to Exile for 0 (4 mana total). The Quirion Dryad becomes an 8/8 and lives, we get to Scry 2, and then swing in for lethal damage.
Example 2: You have a Coiling Oracle and 2 Vinelasher Kudzu's in play, the Vinelasher Kudzu's are both 3/3, and the opponent has 10 life. Let's just assume you are once again dead next turn. You can cast Unsummon on your Coiling Oracle, respond by casting Condescend for 0 on Unsummon, pay the 0 cost. You get back your Coiling Oracle and Scry 2, keep a land on top of your Library. Cast Coiling Oracle, this puts the land in play, which triggers your Vinelasher Kudzus' abilities. In response, your opponent casts Lightning Bolt on your Vinelasher Kudzu which would kill one of them. You respond by casting Path to Exile on your Coiling Oracle, fetching a basic land. This pumps your Vinelasher Kudzu's up to 4/4, the Bolt does 3 damage but they live, then the triggered ability resolves pumping your Vinelasher Kudzu's up to 5/5. Swing in for lethal.
These are just two examples, but I think they illustrate how clever play can really impact the game with this deck.
Lastly, the average cost of this deck's spells is under 2. So, you don't need too much mana for this deck to function. The most expensive spell is 4 cmc and that's in the sideboard. In the main deck, there's only a 4 cmc spell if Into the Roil is kicked. Feel free to keep land-light hands. The borderposts may as well count as land and help to fix mana while keeping the deck cheap. I'm honestly wondering if 24 lands is too much.
Card choices without regard for budget:
1. Lands! This is a very obvious inclusion on almost any budget deck's want list. Fetch lands would help thin the deck, doubly pump Vinelasher Kudzu, and help fix mana. Shocklands are less important, but a few wouldn't hurt.
2. Snapcaster Mage is super strong. He can flashback whatever spell you need, so you can play a wider range of spells. He will doubly pump Quirion Dryad. He acts as card advantage. And he can start swinging in for 2 damage.
3. Slightly better spells. The deck is actually naturally cheap. Quirion Dryad and Vinelasher Kudzu are "budget Tarmogoyf", we aren't relying on any super rare cards, and most of our spells are a bit uncommon in popular decks. Still, some improvements could probably be made: Remand, Cryptic Command, Vendilion Clique, Meddling Mage, Serum Visions, Path to Exile, etc. I'm not sure if all of these would be good for the deck, but I think adding some as 1-2 of's would help.
Let me know if you have any suggestions as this isn't a finished product.
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
This is a basic Mono-Black Affinity deck. You throw out your hand of low cmc artifact dudes, then hope to equip a Cranial Plating to them. You also have Myr Enforcer to beat with. The mono-black enables you to move plating around at instant speed in case of blockers or opposing removal. You can also cast Vault Skirge and Dismember without taking as much damage. Black also gives you access to some removal spells and hand disruption.
The sideboard is a catch-all for a generic meta. It has some uncounterable graveyard hate in the form of Bojuka Bog, Tron / manland hate with Ghost Quarter, more hand disruption, a way to deal with low cost enchantments or swarms of tokens via Ratchet Bomb, and a bit of burn / targeted discard protection with Witchbane Orb.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 05/12/2015 - 20:10:00 EST
4 Darksteel Citadel
14 Swamp
Spells - 22
2 Bile Blight
4 Cranial Plating
2 Despise
2 Dismember
2 Duress
2 Smother
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Tragic Slip
4 Memnite
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
1 Appetite for Brains
3 Bojuka Bog
2 Duress
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Witchbane Orb
CURVE (0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7): 8 / 16 / 12 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 4
AVERAGE CMC: 1.67
CURRENT COST: $34.49
***Upgrades***
This can ultimately be upgraded to a more standard modern robots list with the addition of money cards like Mox Opal, Arcbound Ravager, Etched Champion, Blinkmoth Nexus, Inkmoth Nexus, etc... You could also keep with the Mono-Black and add Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Leyline of the Void, Liliana of the Veil, etc...
Pioneer:
EDH:
*** BACKGROUND ***
Here is a pretty easy deck to pilot that is great for players that enjoy a lot of red zone action. I built this deck for a friend of mine, using the M14 Event Deck as a starting shell. It goes in hard like the name says with a complete frontal assault. The trick is to jam so much early damage on the opponent that you can finish them off with burn or a command. My favorite part of the deck is how good the nut draws can be, as people playing standard remember the power of Burning-Tree Emissary. While it won't win a GP, you will steal quite a bit of games from the unprepared and have a blast doing it.
KEY CARDS & INTERACTIONS:
1) Burning-Tree Emissary: This combo explains itself. In multiples it's deadly
SPECIFIC CARD DISCUSSION:
1) Hellrider: Pretty much the top of the deck's curve, as you will be using Ghor Clan for its bloodrush most of the time
2) Atarka's Command: This and the singleton Gruul Charm allow a bit of flexibility for the midgame
3) Skarrg Guildmage: Another singleton along with Pyrewild Shaman for utility, also does work against tokens if they don't have an anthem yet
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 5/12 @ 1708 HST
7 Forest
9 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Stomping Ground
CREATURES - 32
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Experiment One
4 Fanatic of Xenagos
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Hellrider
2 Kalonian Tusker
1 Pyrewild Shaman
4 Rakdos Cackler
1 Skarrg Guildmage
1 Atarka's Command
1 Gruul Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
CURVE (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7): 14 / 13 / 5 / 6 / 0 / 0 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 2.08
CURRENT COST: $45.13
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 3:47 p.m. PDT May 16th 2015.
4 Tranquil Cove
10 Island
8 Plains
Creatures - 24
4 Dream Stalker
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Lone Missionary
4 Mulldrifter
2 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Blade Splicer
3 Wall of Omens
4 Detention Sphere
4 Reality Acid
Spells - 6
3 Momentary Blink
3 Cloudstone Curio
4 Spreading Seas
4 Familiar's Ruse
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Sagu Mauler
2 Rest in Peace
3 Disenchant
CURVE (0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8): 0 / 0 / 31 / 14 / 2 / 4 / 1 / 0 / 1
AVERAGE CMC: 2.75
CURRENT COST: $53.43
*** BACKGROUND ***
This is based on a Pauper deck of the same name (aka, Azorius Kitty). The idea is to generate advantage in the early game with creatures that give you an additional benefit: Lone Missionary + 4 Life, Wall of Omens + 1 Card, Blade Splicer + a 3/3 Golem. These cards can then be brought back to your hand and re-played with help from Ninja of the Deep Hours + 1 Card, Kor Skyfisher, and Dream Stalker. Wall of Omens, Dream Stalker, and the Golems created by Blade Splicer, will also help to stall the battlefield until you can get setup for the degenerate use of Reality Acid and Cloudstone Curio.
The real fun comes when you start destroying the opponent's creatures, enchantments, and even lands with Reality Acid. Normally, after playing Reality Acid you would need to wait 3 turns before it "Vanished" and took the enchanted permanent along with it. This is too slow, plus you lose your Reality Acid. So, instead we bounce it back to our hand with Dream Stalker or Kor Skyfisher (we can also use Momentary Blink on those creatures, if needed). Then when Reality Acid "leaves play" the permanent it was enchanting must be sacrificed. You can continue doing this turn after turn until you run out of ways to bounce it back to your hand.
This is where Cloudstone Curio really helps. With it in play, any creature can be played to return a bounce creature to our hand which can then be played to bounce Reality Acid. For example, we have Reality Acid and Lone Missionary in hand and a Dream Stalker on the battlefield. We can cast Reality Acid targeting the opponent's land, cast Lone Missionary which triggers Cloudstone Curio (and we get 4 life), then return Dream Stalker to our hand, play Dream Stalker and return both Lone Missionary (via Cloudstone Curio's trigger) and Reality Acid (via Dream Stalker's trigger) to our hand and the opponent must sacrifice their land. Rinse, repeat.
Cloudstone Curio is a huge mana sink, but if we have enough mana we can chain together all sorts of plays to help us beat our opponent. 2 Lone Missionary's can gain us 4 life for every 2 mana. As we saw above, we can gain 4 life and destroy a permanent for 7 mana. Wall of Omen's lets us draw a card for 2 mana. Blade splicer gives us a 3/3 Golem for 3 mana. Mulldrifter gives us at least 2 cards for 5 mana (usually 4 cards! More on this in a second). We can also re-buy our Reality Acid with Detention Sphere which if we target one of our creatures with D-Sphere can also net us 4 life, 1 card, 2 cards, or a 3/3 Golem. If we have multiples in play, we benefit even more! Imagine D-Sphere exiling 3 Mulldrifters and returning Reality Acid to your hand, the opponent then sacrifices whatever Reality Acid was enchanting. Now you play Reality Acid on another one of their permanents return D-Sphere to your hand. All 3 Mulldrifters return to the battlefield and you draw 6 cards. All of this for 6 mana!!
A couple of notes on Momentary Blink:
1. If you Evoke Mulldrifter, you can stack the triggers to draw 2 cards before sacrificing Mulldrifter. You can then draw 2 and in response cast Momentary Blink on your Mulldrifter. When it comes back into play you will get 2 more cards and you won't have to sacrifice it.
2. We will never hard-cast Akroma, Angel of Fury or Sagu Mauler, but we can put them into play as a Morph creature. Then if we case Momentary Blink targeting Akroma or Sagu, they will come back as a huge creatures that are hard to kill (protection and hexproof).
Also, some games you will just go aggro. Chaining Blade Splicer, Momentary Blink, and Kor Skyfisher can really get the job done.
Sideboard:
1. Spreading Seas is to cut players off from their mana quicker than in game 1. Mostly I'm thinking this would help versus Junk (or other greedy mana bases) and Tron.
2. Rest in Peace is obviously for graveyard based decks that we otherwise can't interact with: Storm, Dredgevine, etc.
3. Akroma, Angel of Fury and Sagu Mauler are for when our slow, value-based gameplan isn't good enough and we need a fast clock.
4. Disenchant is mostly for Splinter Twin, but any other Artifact or Enchantment that's annoying can be dealt with too.
5. Lastly, Familiar's Ruse is for everything else that we need to stop. It's a hard counter and the draw-back doesn't affect us much, if at all, and many times helps us.
Card choices without regard for budget:
1. Lands... as usual. I wouldn't just jam in full playsets of Fetches and Shocks as we're trying to gain incremental advantage from our plays, but thinning the deck a bit would be helpful. I'd lean towards Fetchlands and Glacial Fortress but maybe leave the Hallowed Fountains out.
2. Æther Vial seems right at home in a deck like this. We're bouncing creatures to our hand, so putting them back into play for free is awesome! Also, it allows us to play creatures at instant speed, which when combined with Cloudstone Curio means we can bounce creatures at instant speed too! This means we can chump block and save our guy without taking damage. Or, evoke Mulldrifter and then bounce it back to our hand netting 2 cards. And more!! This is probably the best addition you could make to this deck.
3. I would want to change Sagu Mauler into a second Akroma, Angel of Fury as a finisher. I would look into Restoration Angel, which seems like it could have really good synergy. Path to Exile might not be necessary, but having a couple in the sideboard would make me feel safer.
Let me know if you have any suggestions as this isn't a finished product.
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
I really like this idea for a budget deck. Have you looked here for some inspiration: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/220257-assault-loam ? I think a few of your cards (e.g., Lotleth Troll) don't really go well in this type of deck (I guess you could cast Worm Harvest and then make your Lotleth Troll huge, but that seems unnecessary.
BW Tokens has always been one of my favorite T2 decks. I can't believe this can be done for <$55. Nice find!!
Have you considered Charge Across the Araba? I've always found this to be a win condition that can take players by complete surprise and it's less than a quarter. : )
Best deck tech ever.
I tried this out a few times and maybe I'm doing it wrong, but even if you go off turn 1 (which I did once!) or turn 2, you still usually need 2 more turns to beat the opponent down with your 1/1's - I was generating about 12-14 goblins. Don't you usually just lose games 2 and 3 to sideboard hate? I get blown out by Pyroclasm, Golgari Charm, or even Zealous Persecution very consistently. Since the deck has no draw, I can't put enough tokens on the board for a one hit kill and I definitely can't come back from a board wipe. Am I missing something?! It's a cool list, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts.
This (almost) exact list was like the Standard deck to beat during the Gate Crash time frame. Super fast and consistent!
Glad this thread has returned for Modern! I really grew out of Standard and I love seeing the cool builds people brew. Keep it up, Shinbatsu!
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Okay, cool. Glad I was doing things more or less correctly.
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
Zwei, that has to be one of the craziest decks I've seen in a while. Amazing build... couldn't help but give it a foil stamp
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
Thanks!
Glad you like it. I've been playing it a bit on MTGO and it's a blast when it goes off. Cool interaction I didn't see when I was making the list: Cloudstone Curio + Spreading Seas also bounces Reality Acid. Hah!
Anyway, I'll be sure to post something else next time creativity strikes. : )
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
I'm glad you asked! I'm currently turning it into a $100 build and trying to make it more competitive. Here is the tappedout link, it's called Caw/Hoot Blade:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/mdn100uw-modern-cawhoot-blade/
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
I'm pretty sure at this point paths and remands will be my first purchases, but how do you like only having 2 swords in the build? I only saw mine two or three times the whole night and felt like I wanted more in the deck all night.
I'm usually typing quickly at work or on my phone so I appolize from the crummy grammar
Swords are a bit expensive, so I'm guessing it was a budget decision. Ideally you want to hit one sword, so without having a way to tutor for them, you probably want 3-4 in the deck. Bonesplitter is one of my favorite budget equipments, +2 is pretty relevant and it's super cheap to cast/equip.
I'd read this if you want some more ideas for Caw-blade: http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Caw-blade
Pauper: Delver, Familiar Storm,
UR 8Post, Elves, Affinity, TEModern: Twin, Jund,
Eggs,Pod, Balance, Uxx ControlLegacy: Painter, Delver, Stoneblade, Elves, High Tide, Lands
*** BACKGROUND ***
Similar to Delver/Fiend/Cylcops decks in Pauper, this is all about getting Prowess-type creatures down, especially Kiln Fiend, and getting them pumped a few times, add Double Strike, and kill your opponent before they can do anything. Deck archetype got a huge boost from Temur Battle Rage in FRF, because it is a single card that gives Double Strike and Trample. Manamorphose is also a good cycler that helps build up the power of your creatures.
It's actually your choice between Manamorphose and Gitaxian Probe, the two cards cost about the same and have the same function in the deck. Perhaps it might even be worth it, as a slight price upgrade consideration, to try and figure out how to put in a few more copies of that effect.
I'm adding this to the thread because I saw it on MTG Goldfish and it has gone 3-1 in a Modern Daily 3 times. In Magic Online tickets it's less than $10, and in paper it's only $46 shipped.
The sideboard also seems a bit make-shift, and in fact one of the 3-1s on Goldfish had no sideboard. Optimized price for the main deck 60 is only $33.28.
Goldfish Archetype page: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-all-in-red
Videos of the deck in action: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-57-and-7-tix-blistering-rage-for-modern
Travis Woo article: http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/modern-dirty-red/
Travis Woo videos: http://www.channelfireball.com/videos/channel-twoo-modern-dirt-cheap-red/
Note: CMC for curve at bottom is based on "actual" since it's what you pay with the 16 Mountains in the deck (i.e. Growth = 0, Blessing = 1)
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 6/13 11:00 EDT
16 Mountain
CREATURES - 12
4 Blistercoil Weird
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Monastery Swiftspear
SPELLS - 32
4 Assault Strobe
4 Apostle's Blessing
4 Brute Force
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Manamorphose
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Temur Battle Rage
4 Titan's Strength
4 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Smash to Smithereens
1 Akroan Crusader
CURVE (0 / 1 / 2): 4 / 24 / 16 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 1.75
CURRENT COST: $46.46
I've since updated the deck and yes zwei is right it's a budget thing.
But to be honest, two swords is enough from my standpoint, because even though there are no dedicated "tutors" the deck runs a lot of scry and card draw. Also, having too many swords tends to clog your hand, they are clunky and slow the tempo of the deck down so you really don't want to see more than 1 per game, and usually not in your opening hand.
If you want to improve the equipment consistency without spiking the budget, try Runechanter's Pike or Loxodon Warhammer to bring you up to 3 total equipment cards.
BUDGET DECK BUILDER SINCE 93'
Modern ------------------------- WU Azorius Titan Midrange
Commander ------------------- WUG Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
***Are you looking for cards priced below TCG NM "LOW" and with FREE SHIPPING? - Click HERE! for my sales thread - 485 Feedback 100% positive!***
*** BACKGROUND ***
This deck uses some efficient (both in CMC and $$$) creatures to put as much damage as possible down and uses burn spells to either clear a path through blockers or to get that last little bit of reach needed to end the game. It draws heavily from this list that 4-0'd a daily last month with some budget changes to push the deck under $50.
Some notables about the deck: First, and most importantly to the budget sensitive player like myself, this deck is cheap (it would not be in this thread otherwise, but still involves many format staples that will maintain their value. Boros Charm, Monastery Swiftspear, Lightning Helix and Lightning Bolt are all stables in Modern Burn, and this deck gets you closer to eventually owning that deck if that is your goal.
Figure of Destiny is the only card in the deck that actually dies to Volcanic Fallout, and even he can dodge it if he gets big enough, making this a great card for clearing out chump blockers and continuing to push through damage.
The 2x Searing Blood and 4x Volcanic Fallout are your slots to metagame with. I personally run into a lot of decks that are looking to chump, so these cards are great for letting me continue to push damage through, but other cards like Pillar of Flame or Rending Volley can be put in those slots if you want to hate on a certain deck or strategy.
Unfortunately, there is not quite enough room in the budget to include a better mana-base, which does make the double colored mana of Kor Firewalker and Volcanic Fallout a little bit worse.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 12:27 PDT 6/14
11 Mountain
11 Plains
CREATURES - 16
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Kor Firewalker
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Niveous Wisps
2 Searing Blood
4 Volcanic Fallout
CURVE (0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7): 0 / 16 / 18 / 4 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 1.68
CURRENT COST: $45.18
Side note: The deck is weirdly almost 4 dollars cheaper than normal today, leaving a bit of room for improving the mana base.
*** BACKGROUND ***
Deck plays like any other infect list. Aim to turn 1 or 2 play an infect creature (glistener elf and ichorclaw myr are best) then pump it and if they have a blocker, give it protection with apostle's blessing or trample with rancor or llanowar augur. Rush opponent to 10 infect then rinse and repeat. Main strategy is mulling until you have an infect source (although i don't usually go below 5) and choosing the correct time to alpha strike with winning fast being the primary objective. Wild defiance helps save your guys from burn and get through for those big swings if the game progresses to mid game Deck certainly has game at FNMs.
Sideboard contains all our tailored removal depending on the match-up, as well as pithing needle as our deterrent to spellskite (which hoses this deck) and ranger's guile as extra removal protection. To bring this deck to the next level, sub out 2 forests for 2 pendelhaven, 2 forests and 2 necropede for 4 inkmoth nexus, 4 giant growth for 4 might of old krosa, and if you can afford to fill the deck with fetches, 2 llanowar augur for 2 become immense. Oh and ofcourse you can find room for spellskite and gitaxian probe for sure.
*** THE DECKLIST ***
TIMESTAMP: 6/17/2015 1:18 PM UTC-5
LANDS - 18
18x Forest
CREATURES - 16
4x Blight Mamba
4x Glistener Elf
4x Ichorclaw Myr
2x Llanowar Augur
2x Necropede
4x Apostle's Blessing
4x Giant Growth
4x Groundswell
4x Mutagenic Growth
4x Vines of Vastwood
4x Rancor
2x Wild Defiance
4x Dismember
4x Nature's Claim
2x Pithing Needle
1x Ranger's Guile
4x Tormod's Crypt
CURVE (1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7): 26 / 14 / 2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
AVERAGE CMC: 1.43
CURRENT COST: $39.99
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/budget-modern/601023-50-shinbatsus-budget-modern-challenge-more-deck?comment=26
So i got some questions to this:
1st: Aren't Dryad and Kudzu very vulnerable to removal nowadays? It seems that without a threat the Deck runs out of gas quickly ?!?
Spellskite is worth SB Slots?
2nd: I got Windswept Heath and Flooded Strand. Playset of each, plus Delta. How many you advice to run?
3rd: Why there's no Repeal over Into the Roil? Too expensive in casting?
4th: Remand over Snag would be fine, but Ruse seems narrow.
It doesn't get value out of Oracle if it isn't on the Field. Maybe there's sth. in addition to Coiling Oracle that gives us value?
Augur of Bolas or Wall of Omens first came to my mind. I'm not sure, maybe there's a valueable 1-Drop?
5th: Why do Borderposts trigger Dryad? Are they colored or colorless?
6th: Does this Deck have a Plan B? If Dryad or Kudzu doesn't stick it seems pretty Dead to me?!?
which leads me to point 7:
Why not run Hooting Mandrills here?
8-10 Fetchlands, 20+ Instants / Sorceries, our Grave is filled pretty quickly i assume.
Does anybody test this list for some time?
Green @ it's best
tested the Deck a bit on 'Trice.
I think Delver of Secrets along with Quirion Dryad are the ways to go.
Hooting Mandrills are the 3rd Beater of Choice adding up to 10-11 Beaters.
Disrupting Shoal is necessary to protect our Threats with only 20-22 Lands.
Familiar's Ruse works fine with Tiago, Augur of Bolas, but not
so well with Coiling Oracle because it hits Lands only in rare cases.
Simic Charm is just Bonkers as it protects, pumps and Bounces all-in-one-Card!!!
Think Twice sets to 0 (never had Mana open), Spell Pierce and
Spell Snare should come in for some serious protection.
Logic Knot hard-counters along with Condescend which shouldn't
be more than 2 copies.
Vinelasher Kudzu is just to much investment to put up serious damage.
He needs at least 22 Lands to get constantly counters.
Hooting Mandrills needs food, so run 10 Fetchlands at least.
Green @ it's best
4 Dryad Militant
1 Slippery Bogle
3 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Naya Hushblade
4 Bant Sureblade
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
2 Knight of New Alara
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Dauntess Escort
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Unflinching Courage
4 Rancor
-- 22 Lands --
9 Forest
9 Plains
4 Sunpetal Grove
I can't look up the price on tcg right now but it should come out to around $50. Wilt leaf should be the most expensive card at ~$7. If it's more, you can take out some Wilt Leafs and add more Knight of New Alara.
EDIT: The price came out to $55.66. You can cut the Qasali Pridemage for your favorite Selesnya 2-drop, or drop a Wilt-Leaf Liege for another Knight of New Alara if you want to make it cheaper. You can also cut Sunpetal Groves for guildgates.