From the moment the spoilers for Dragons of Darkir were released, Assault Formation stood out to me. I said to myself, "Can a deck composed of solely toughness creatures with low CMC work?" I didn't know so I went ahead put a concept deck together. The deck featured many Defender-based creatures with high toughness and evasive abilities like flying or unblock-ability. But after testing it out online and in person, I realized it was too slow to keep up with today's Modern meta. So I went back to the drawing board and found plenty of one and two drop creatures from older sets and the Theros block.
In the end, I came up with a deck that dishes out low costing but high-toughness creature spells, evasion/buff spells, and fetch spells catered to drawing out Doran, the Siege Tower or Assault Formation for the win.
Birds of Paradise (G) - This is for early mana ramping, chump blocking, and aerial attacking. This allows me to cast more creatures early game or cast a Doran turn two.
Doran, the Siege Tower (BGW) - Doran is one of two cards that makes this deck work. Other than the obvious, Doran swings hard as a 0/5 attacker.
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer (W) - This is just one of few cards with high toughness for one mana. It's heroic ability is great but I run no cards that target.
Ornithopter (0) - These expensive creatures are perfect for early harassment, chump blocking, and aerial attacking as soon as turn two. Having a few of these with Birds of Paradise can do serious damage with Tower Defense.
Siege Rhino (1WBG) - This is a great card when Doran or Assault Formation are failing. It is strong and siphons life when ETB.
Spellskite (2) - Most decks would run it mainly for its ability but its cheap casting cost and high 0/4 toughness makes it ideal for this deck. This has helped me disrupt my opponent or saved Doran (and sometimes Assault Formation) from removal.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang (5B) - This is great card on its own. It feeds off [cards]Commune with the Gods[/card] to delve it in.
Treefolk Harbinger (G) - This unique creature can fetch any Forest or Doran from the deck and set up my next play.
Yoked Ox (W) - This is another one drop 0/4 creature to dish out early game.
Assault Formation (1G) - The second most vital card in deck. Without this or Doran, none of these creatures will do damage.
Commune with the Gods (1G) - Since I need either Doran or Assault, this sorcery is perfect for fetching one of the two.
Spare from Evil (1W)- Since Humans seem to be the lease played creature type on Modern except as utility here and there, my creatures become nearly unblock-able. Having just a few of these creatures deal damage can be detrimental to my opponent.
Tower Defense (1G) - This is the best instance I found that works well with this deck. It only cost two mana and gives each creature +0/+5. This makes any airborne creature monsters in the air.
Murmuring Bosk - I have more than enough treefolks in the deck to have this enter the battlefield untapped. Its mana production is ideal for this Abzan deck.
Temple Garden - The best shock land since a majority of my cast requires either green or white mana.
Torpor Orb - This is meant for strong ETB-based decks like Hatebear or Splinter Twin. This does affect Treefolk Harbinger but its worth it if I can disrupt my opponent.
**Other Worthy Cards**
-Will Soon Add-
Play Scenarios
**Turn 3 Win**
Turn 1 - Play a Land. Cast Birds of Paradise and two Ornithopter.
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast Assault Formation. Attack with all creatures. Swing for 5 damage.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Attack with all creatures. Cast Tower Defense. Swing for 20 aerial damage.
-OR-
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast Doran, the Siege Tower. Attack with all creatures. Swing for 4 damage.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Attack with all creatures. Cast Tower Defense. Swing for 30 damage overall (20 aerial & 10 ground) .
**Turn Two Early Harassment**
Turn 1 - Play a Land. Cast any number of Ornithopters. Let say all four. Cast Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast Assault Formation. Attack with creatures. Swing for 12 damage.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Cast a one drop creature. Attack with creatures. Cast Tower Defense. Swing for 37 damage.
A few comments about your deck. This is a "fair" deck in that it doesn't win by combo or some other broken mechanic. What worries is me is that your deck hinges on Doran and Assault formation. If you don't get one of those (it happens) you are dead in the water. You have a ton of 1 drops, which is fine, but I would generate some card advantage for them. Consider Dark Confidant as a replacement for Yoked Ox, as it can beat with out doran or formation and keeps you going. Another option would be Wall of Omens. It is a two drop, which is nice, gets you a card and can attack with Assault formation action.
Scourge of Skola Vale is cute, but I see a creature that takes 2-3 turns to do something significant, and then if it eats an abrupt decay/lightning bolt/path etc you just got 2-for-1'd. If you wanna keep your mana curve low check out Skinshifter. I have been debating about working him into my deck as well. A little more mana intensive, but can do straight 4/4 beats with trample, deal with tokens in the air, or just go huge as an 0/8, which is beautiful in this deck.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
We really need to get a unified thread for all this Doran brewing. There are at least 3-4 different threads with almost the same idea floating around.
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A few comments about your deck. This is a "fair" deck in that it doesn't win by combo or some other broken mechanic. What worries is me is that your deck hinges on Doran and Assault formation. If you don't get one of those (it happens) you are dead in the water. You have a ton of 1 drops, which is fine, but I would generate some card advantage for them. Consider Dark Confidant as a replacement for Yoked Ox, as it can beat with out doran or formation and keeps you going. Another option would be Wall of Omens. It is a two drop, which is nice, gets you a card and can attack with Assault formation action.
Scourge of Skola Vale is cute, but I see a creature that takes 2-3 turns to do something significant, and then if it eats an abrupt decay/lightning bolt/path etc you just got 2-for-1'd. If you wanna keep your mana curve low check out Skinshifter. I have been debating about working him into my deck as well. A little more mana intensive, but can do straight 4/4 beats with trample, deal with tokens in the air, or just go huge as an 0/8, which is beautiful in this deck.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
We really need to get a unified thread for all this Doran brewing. There are at least 3-4 different threads with almost the same idea floating around.
I completely disagree with you. This is an amazing deck, it might need like 2-3 substitutes but it works. I would consider having more Commune With the Gods to fix the problem where you don't draw the enchantment. Also, if you added 2-3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx you could put in some kind of high costing cards to search for your Doran, the Siege Tower. So yeah get reeeeekt.
I like the Skinshifter idea as he has the potential to get to 8/8 (for a 3 mana total investment). That's insane. He's completely wrecked by red-based removal however and Lightning Bolt is everywhere. The question is whether the upside is worth the gamble? One can just side him out against red decks, perhaps? Or side him in against other decks? The meta is full of red tho...
@TrueFFIke @Sephon19 I've used Skinshifter in a previous built but like you said its very fragile to burn.
In another note, the "evolve" ability works well with this deck. Experiment One can get pretty big in a few turns. Other honorable mentions but requires a splash of blue: Cloudfin Raptor, Elusive Krasis, and Gyre Sage.
Overall, I would gladly remove Scourge for something more resilient. I just can't find the right card. I use to run Lingering Souls and Mardu Ascendancy since the token production can benefit from Tower Defense or Mardu's second ability.
I can't imagine why you would want to run Nykthos in a three-color aggro deck. Not only will you not have much devotion of any particular color, you don't need much mana. As an aggro deck you want to drop cheap, efficiently costed creatures, not expensive things that require you go out of your way to cast.
@OP: I think Noble Hierarch would be a better mana dork than Birds of Paradise for this deck. The exalted trigger and be pretty relevant. I'm not sure why you aren't playing Tarmogoyf and Siege Rhino; they both are excellent creatures without Doran/Assault Formation and are even better with it. Tasigur, the Golden Fang is also an excellent card for grindy matchups and I think he merits testing.
I make these suggestions because basically every creature you're running outside of Doran himself is really subpar if you don't have Assault Formation or Doran, the Siege Tower out. Running creatures that are good on their own is important.
@OP: I think Noble Hierarch would be a better mana dork than Birds of Paradise for this deck. The exalted trigger and be pretty relevant. I'm not sure why you aren't playing Tarmogoyf and Siege Rhino; they both are excellent creatures without Doran/Assault Formation and are even better with it. Tasigur, the Golden Fang is also an excellent card for grindy matchups and I think he merits testing.
I make these suggestions because basically every creature you're running outside of Doran himself is really subpar if you don't have Assault Formation or Doran, the Siege Tower out. Running creatures that are good on their own is important.
I agree with you that I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket. Relying solely on Doran & Assault places me in a predicament. I have considered Tarmogoyf but at the moment they are very inaccessible to me. I have some reservations about Noble Hierarch. I will have to test it out and see if it works for me. Having exalted is great but an evasive mana dork I feel benefits me much more. Fliers like (Birds of Paradise & Ornithopter) have won me games.
In the next revision of this deck, I will increase the number of Commune with the Gods and trade out a few creatures to make room for Tasigur, the Golden Fang and possibly another creature while still retaining a relatively low CMC.
I have considered Tarmogoyf but at the moment they are very inaccessible to me.
If you want this thread to be a primer (and you have tagged it as such) you should provide information an optimized non-budget deck regardless of your own financial restrictions.
Fliers like (Birds of Paradise & Ornithopter) have won me games.
I think Ornithopter is a poor choice for this deck. It's great in Affinity where basically every card in your deck synergizes with it in some way or another, but in this deck, while it's excellent with Doran/Assault Formation, it's basically useless without them. I think that when you're evaluating cards for this deck you should try to run as few creatures as possible that are useless/bad without Doran/Assault Formation, and I think Ornithopter is one of those cards.
I said it before, and it's worth saying it again: Siege Rhino seems like the perfect curve-topper for this deck. It's incredibly powerful and efficiently costed, can hold its own without Doran and co. and is even better with them.
Finally, a note on your manabase: Mana Confluence seems wholly unnecessary. With the almost-full-compliment of fetches and shocks you're running, I can't imagine you having such significant color issues that you're forced to run such a bad land. I'd look at instead running some combination of Stirring Wildwood (even better with Assault Formation!), Gavony Township, and maybe a singleton Tectonic Edge.
I've been running Forbidding Watchtower and its pretty good, 5/5 man land activates for just 2 mana. For me Wall Of Omens is an absolute no-brainer. Wall Of Roots has been pretty good as well, because it can pay for it's own Assault Formation activation and attack the same turn. I'm also running Wargate to find Assualt Formation when needed, or singletons such as Tree Of Redemption and Worship
A single blue splash for Wargate seems odd. That is a fairly expensive card, especially to grab a 4 mana card at sorcery speed.
I do like the forbidding watchtower, with a doran or formation out it could be devastating.
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My thoughtprocess:
I want 1 drops that don't die to bolt, helix, anger etc, to get some more resilience for the threats.
It should be aggressive and quick, with some disruption against the most popular decks.
I also wanted to mainboard ensnaring bridge, so I only include creatures that can attack through it.
The sideboard is also a work in progress, with some transformative properties against decks like control, where you'd board out the bridges for phenax etc.
This is a rough draft which needs testing and cuts, but I figure having too many cards and cutting down is better.
This also goes for the sideboard as it's currently just all usefull cards in different matchups thrown in.
Spellskite is great, I think 4 is a must. It also disrupts many decks, so maybe we can cut down on disruption because of it.
I'm on the fence about blue as a color, it might be better to drop it, though I like the very light splash for the sideboard phenax.
So, my issues. I am wondering if Treefolk Harbinger is good enough. It makes you able to cut down on Doran's pherhaps, but it's basicly useless if you don't need one and it dies easily. Maybe it's better to run 4/4 of Doran, the Siege Tower and Assault Formation because if they live you are probably winning.
Collected company is also very interesting in this deck. But I suspect I might have to cut some non creature spells in that case, and maybe 4 mana is too slow for modern?
It would be a good spell against control in sideboard though.
I avoided the whole defender theme, since I don't want to have to pay 1 mana to attack, and they don't work with Doran.
The removal/disruption suite is a bit hastily thrown together and should probably be optimised.
First of all, I want to thank everyone for their feedback and input. Now for my thoughts:
@Kalynis You are right. I shouldn't restrict this deck of cards that may optimize it. Tarmogoyf will make an excellent addition. I can see them replacing the Ornithopters. However, Tasigur, the Golden Fang is also an excellent card too. I can bring it out as early as Turn 2. And there lies the conflict, Tarmogoyf needs the graveyard intact while Tasigur needs to delve off of it. What do you guys think? By the way, the Mana Confluence are remnants from my previous build. They will be replaced with a few more fetch lands and etc. Stirring Wildwood is curious. I will have to test that out. A couple of Siege Rhino are now mainboard. Having two does not upset the mana curve as predicted.
@Psammead Wall of Roots is curious. I am not sure if Assault Formation's "target defender can attack this turn" ability partially negates summoning sickness. Can anyone verify that? On another note, I'm trying to maintain a defender-free strategy. They are too depended on Assault Formation to function. I think it's too much of a weakness, especially when this deck aims for early aggro. Wargate is too expensive to cast. Commune with the Gods does an excellent job for two mana and helps with Tasigur's delve cost. Besides, the odds of fetching, drawing Doran, or drawing Assault is 1:6 Remem I'm trying to maintain a relatively low CMC. Forbidding Watchtower is a cool card but it might slow me down for a turn since it comes in tapped. I'll keep it in mind though.
@Complex Pants I agree. Splashing blue is unnecessary. I think this deck can function without blue or walls.
@Swindley Ensnaring Bridge is an excellent card. I thought about having it as sideboard against aggressive decks. I will simply switch out Tasigur or Siege Rhinos for Ensnaring. I still agree with Kalynis about having independent creatures that can attack without Doran or Assault. However, that is my realization after testing this particular deck. Even though Treefolk Harbinger is within a Lightning Bolt's reach, he still great for fetching Doran or any Forest. I did reduce it two copies. Four would have been too much in this build.
Goyf and Tasigur are ok cards for this deck. If you use Commune with the Gods they are solid, as you will get cards in your yard, but otherwise you may find it hard to get cards in your graveyard for them, as you are playing mostly creatures.
If I had to choose between the two I would go with Goyf, as it will be more consistent than Tasigur and you can have multiples out.
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@Psammead Wall of Roots is curious. I am not sure if Assault Formation's "target defender can attack this turn" ability partially negates summoning sickness. Can anyone verify that? On another note, I'm trying to maintain a defender-free strategy. They are too depended on Assault Formation to function. I think it's too much of a weakness, especially when this deck aims for early aggro. Wargate is too expensive to cast. Commune with the Gods does an excellent job for two mana and helps with Tasigur's delve cost. Besides, the odds of fetching, drawing Doran, or drawing Assault is 1:6 Remem I'm trying to maintain a relatively low CMC. Forbidding Watchtower is a cool card but it might slow me down for a turn since it comes in tapped. I'll keep it in mind though.
@Complex Pants I agree. Splashing blue is unnecessary. I think this deck can function without blue or walls.
@Swindley Ensnaring Bridge is an excellent card. I thought about having it as sideboard against aggressive decks. I will simply switch out Tasigur or Siege Rhinos for Ensnaring. I still agree with Kalynis about having independent creatures that can attack without Doran or Assault. However, that is my realization after testing this particular deck. Even though Treefolk Harbinger is within a Lightning Bolt's reach, he still great for fetching Doran or any Forest. I did reduce it two copies. Four would have been too much in this build.
What are your thoughts?
I don't think it can attack as it's still affected by summoning sickness. Formation's ability simply allows it to attack if it has defender and all the other criteria to be able to attack is met.
How does your list work in your local meta? Here you need to be really quick so I'd be running some 1CMC/2CMC dorks myself. Since you're not running defenders at all Overgrown Battlement is out of the question but Sylvan Caryatid still fits nicely. Can't be removed without a boardwipe and can turn into a decent blocker/attack with formation out.
Your list also lack any draw effects. What do you do if you empty out your hand and opponent deals with your board? Drawing a card per turn seems awfully slow.
If a creature assigns damage equal to its toughness and has reach, that doesn't make it flying damage, does it?
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
If a creature assigns damage equal to its toughness and has reach, that doesn't make it flying damage, does it?
No. It just means it can block creatures with flying.
Didn't think so. I thought that the whole aerial damage angle in the OP was BSy, then, but it turns out that I can't read at all.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
So, I've actually tested this version locally, against some t1 and t2 decks, and it performed quite well.
The maindeck ensnaring bridges really does work, and gives you time to get the pieces. Without it, the deck would crumble against many top decks.
The deck plays sometimes more like a combo deck than an aggro deck, though you are certainly capable of turn 3 kills.
Though some games you just sit there with a bunch of 0/4's, waiting for doran or assault formation, and ensnaring bridge is helping you survive.
Tower defence has been amazing, as it's a +5/+5 overrun for 2 mana when you have your pieces out! Maybe I should play more than 2 mainboard (usually board them out game 2/3 though)
(17 sideboard cards, but I might drop the 2 Eidolons, golgari charm and path might be enough against storm and 3 mana is a bit slow..)
One thing, I'd like some sideboard/mainboard against burn and aggro. Nyx-Fleece rams are fine, although a bit slow. Wall of essence that require you to block wont work. Spellskite is of course amazing!
Is Kor Firewalker or Auriok Champion really worth a spot?
Another Doran Assault thread had me trying out a Doran Assault deck on Cockatrice. From my (limited) experience, I can offer this advice:
TheEmgee, since you run only 1 fewer black mana source than white mana source, I highly recommend taking a pointer from Swindley's build and swapping out all your one-W-cost 0/4's for Disowned Ancestors. Unlike the white 0/4's (your build doesn't run Heroic enablers), Disowned Ancestor can actually trade with or win against X/5's when you have Doran out. You can Outlast while you can't find Doran/Assault Formation.
Since your mana base has so many Forests in it, 1 Dungrove Elder doesn't look bad in your build as a fatty that Treefolk Harbinger can tutor for, especially when you already have Doran out.
A card I have been testing with some good success is Skinshifter. Super cheap to play, and is just a monster with AF or Doran out. Also consider Order of Whiteclay. Plays well with Doran and recurs most of your creatures, which makes removal less of a big deal.
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A card I have been testing with some good success is Skinshifter. Super cheap to play, and is just a monster with AF or Doran out. Also consider Order of Whiteclay. Plays well with Doran and recurs most of your creatures, which makes removal less of a big deal.
I tried Order of Whiteclay, and while it was pretty fun against some grindy decks, it was a bummer against basically every deck with at least 8 X/4+'s in it (that would be all Goyf decks, all Loxodon Smiter decks...) because it was stuck trading with something or, worse, getting walled. I swapped mine out for Fiend Hunter (which boots said X/4+'s) and haven't regretted it yet, even though it dies to Bolt and is a juicy Cryptic Command target (mana dorks are tempting enough Bolt targets, I run Tidehollow Sculler in my version and it's a juicy Bolt target, everyone guns for Doran first with all their Decay/PtE-grade removal).
More testing! Current list.
This list can beat most of the T1 decks I've tested against.
I've won against affinity, abzan, tron etc. But it's not perfect and could use some tweaking.
The important part is that bolt/helix is practically dead against you, and usually only path works as a removal.
Also, wondering if ensnaring bridge should be a 4-of. Only you being able to attack is great and sometimes necessary to stall when you can't find your Doran/formation, or more than one, if it gets removed.
Feel free to try the list and give me some feedback. (sideboard is a work in progress, cards get removed if they are not used much under testing)
It's funny, sometimes the decks worst enemy is something like a birds of paradise + exalted. So golgari charm is an all star sideboard card (also kills lingering souls, blood moon, twin, regenerates from engineered explosives, etc etc)
when we face to a heavy counter control, what is our bullet?
Last time I meet a Sultai control. He counter and kill everything...feel very hard to beat this kind of deck
Collected company in side helps against both counters and kill. Either counter it and let you resolve something on your turn, or you get 2 dudes usually, and 2 for 1 him.
Thank you two for continuing this discussion. I have not been available lately to share my thoughts. Even so, I still have my Doran Formation deck. I have been testing it out at local shops and FNMs. Though we can agree the core of our decks consist of Doran, the Siege Tower, Assault Formation, Treefolk Harbinger, Spellskite, and Tower Defense, the rest are creatures and spells which synergies with Doran/AF or provides support. This deck has gone through many variations and changes during testing. You two hit the nail on mark about the struggle I've been having. Should I sink or swim with pure cheap high-toughness creatures? Or should I have removals/beaters as backup when Doran/AF fails? Here are my thoughts on this.
from my experience you don't need a backup plan, what it does it just makes it weaker version of another deck. Best way IMO is to bet all on Doran/formation, even if one gets destroyed I have another one in hand a lot of times.
This is originally my line of thinking when creating Doran Formation. This aggressive variant gave me the quickest damage output to defeat my opponent. I was happy for a while till I had matches with heavy removal/disruptive decks like Jund, true Abzan, Grixis Control, and Grixis Delver. I ran a set of Spellskites but it wasn't enough to hold so much disruption/removal. I found myself passing turns with a field of 0/X creatures but no Doran/AF. You have to admit that sucks a lot. As a remedy, I added Commune with the Gods to draw out my wincons but it only helped a little. So I decided to try a new design with beaters and removal mainboard.
nice vids dude
I'm not that all-in on the Doranstuff because I want to have some Backup-plans. Last Modern Event I managed to beat down several decks with a Stirring Wildwood and KotR.
Though I enjoyed my original build, it suffered against very controlling tier decks. I change had to made. My creatures were useless without their champion Doran or Assault Formation. I needed a few creatures to hold out on their own till my wincons came out. By taking lessons from popular Abzan decks, I found some interesting options for beaters within my color range: Anafenza, the Foremost, Loxodon Smiter, Knight of the Reliquary, Scavenging Ooze, and Siege Rhino. Removal was obvious like Path to Exile, Abrupt Decay, Murderous Cut, Dismember, Maelstrom Pulse, and Beast Within. If you wanted to get cute, Crib Swap, Nameless Inversion, and Lignify are all fetch-able with Treefolk Harbinger. By adding 4 or 6 beaters among my cheap-high toughness creatures, I was more consistent in my matches. I also included a set of removal (like 2 PtE and 2 AD) to remove board threats or disrupt combos that would normally cost me the game. In the end, I had 14 or less non-creature spells and 23 or so creatures. The spells were simply there for support.
My current build consists of 2/3 white creatures with a couple of Brave the Elements to guarantee my win or to protect Doran (he is white afterall). I have 6 beaters, 4 removals, 2 BtEs, and 3 TDs.
For your scrutiny, I will post up my deck list later today.
Why is indomitable ancients not here? Back in Lorwyn I played treefolk and used him. Throw an evasion and ten damage a turn is pretty lethal. Even if you don't attack nothing gets to you.
Value is good. But Dredgevine isn't supposed to be about value. It's supposed to be about V-8; 2000 pounds of nitro boosted war vegetables. The more velocity, the better.
Modern:
DredgeVine EDH:
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Description
From the moment the spoilers for Dragons of Darkir were released, Assault Formation stood out to me. I said to myself, "Can a deck composed of solely toughness creatures with low CMC work?" I didn't know so I went ahead put a concept deck together. The deck featured many Defender-based creatures with high toughness and evasive abilities like flying or unblock-ability. But after testing it out online and in person, I realized it was too slow to keep up with today's Modern meta. So I went back to the drawing board and found plenty of one and two drop creatures from older sets and the Theros block.
In the end, I came up with a deck that dishes out low costing but high-toughness creature spells, evasion/buff spells, and fetch spells catered to drawing out Doran, the Siege Tower or Assault Formation for the win.
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Doran, the Siege Tower
2x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
3x Ornithopter
2x Siege Rhino
4x Spellskite
3x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Treefolk Harbinger
2x Yoked Ox
4x Assault Formation
Sorcery (3)
3x Commune with the Gods
Instant (6)
2x Spare from Evil
4x Tower Defense
Lands (21)
3x Forest
4x Murmuring Bosk
3x Overgrown Tomb
4x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
3x Wooded Foothills
3x Abrupt Decay
3x Leyline of Lifeforce
3x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Path to Exile
2x Pithing Needle
2x Torpor Orb
Previous Builds
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Doran, the Siege Tower
2x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4x Ornithopter
2x Siege Rhino
4x Spellskite
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Treefolk Harbinger
2x Yoked Ox
4x Assault Formation
Sorcery (3)
3x Commune with the Gods
Instant (6)
2x Spare from Evil
4x Tower Defense
Lands (21)
2x Forest
4x Mana Confluence
4x Murmuring Bosk
3x Overgrown Tomb
4x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
3x Abrupt Decay
3x Leyline of Lifeforce
3x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Path to Exile
2x Pithing Needle
2x Torpor Orb
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Doran, the Siege Tower
2x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4x Ornithopter
2x Scourge of Skola Vale
4x Spellskite
3x Treefolk Harbinger
3x Yoked Ox
Enchantment (4)
4x Assault Formation
2x Commune with the Gods
Instant (7)
3x Spare from Evil
4x Tower Defense
Lands (21)
2x Forest
4x Mana Confluence
4x Murmuring Bosk
3x Overgrown Tomb
4x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
3x Abrupt Decay
3x Leyline of Lifeforce
3x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Path to Exile
2x Pithing Needle
2x Torpor Orb
Link to my deck @ TappedOut.net
If you have any suggestions, please post them up. Thanks.
Why These Cards?
**Creatures**
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Doran, the Siege Tower
2x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4x Ornithopter
2x Siege Rhino
4x Spellskite
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Treefolk Harbinger
2x Yoked Ox
Birds of Paradise (G) - This is for early mana ramping, chump blocking, and aerial attacking. This allows me to cast more creatures early game or cast a Doran turn two.
Doran, the Siege Tower (BGW) - Doran is one of two cards that makes this deck work. Other than the obvious, Doran swings hard as a 0/5 attacker.
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer (W) - This is just one of few cards with high toughness for one mana. It's heroic ability is great but I run no cards that target.
Ornithopter (0) - These expensive creatures are perfect for early harassment, chump blocking, and aerial attacking as soon as turn two. Having a few of these with Birds of Paradise can do serious damage with Tower Defense.
Siege Rhino (1WBG) - This is a great card when Doran or Assault Formation are failing. It is strong and siphons life when ETB.
Spellskite (2) - Most decks would run it mainly for its ability but its cheap casting cost and high 0/4 toughness makes it ideal for this deck. This has helped me disrupt my opponent or saved Doran (and sometimes Assault Formation) from removal.
Tasigur, the Golden Fang (5B) - This is great card on its own. It feeds off [cards]Commune with the Gods[/card] to delve it in.
Treefolk Harbinger (G) - This unique creature can fetch any Forest or Doran from the deck and set up my next play.
Yoked Ox (W) - This is another one drop 0/4 creature to dish out early game.
**Enchantment / Sorcery / Instant**
4x Assault Formation
3x Commune with the Gods
2x Spare from Evil
4x Tower Defense
Assault Formation (1G) - The second most vital card in deck. Without this or Doran, none of these creatures will do damage.
Commune with the Gods (1G) - Since I need either Doran or Assault, this sorcery is perfect for fetching one of the two.
Spare from Evil (1W)- Since Humans seem to be the lease played creature type on Modern except as utility here and there, my creatures become nearly unblock-able. Having just a few of these creatures deal damage can be detrimental to my opponent.
Tower Defense (1G) - This is the best instance I found that works well with this deck. It only cost two mana and gives each creature +0/+5. This makes any airborne creature monsters in the air.
**Lands**
3x Forest
4x Murmuring Bosk
3x Overgrown Tomb
4x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
3x Wooded Foothill
Forest - I run one or two in case of Path to Exile or Ghost Quarter
Murmuring Bosk - I have more than enough treefolks in the deck to have this enter the battlefield untapped. Its mana production is ideal for this Abzan deck.
Temple Garden - The best shock land since a majority of my cast requires either green or white mana.
Overgrown Tomb - This gives me a splash of black to help cast Doran or Thoughtseize.
Windswept Heath - This can fetch any of my Forest lands, especially Murmuring Bosk.
Wooded Foothill - Another Forest fetch.
**Sideboard**
3x Abrupt Decay
3x Leyline of Lifeforce
3x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Path to Exile
2x Pithing Needle
2x Torpor Orb
Path to Exile - This helps me deal with disrupting or threatening creatures in play.
Abrupt Decay - A versatile card against creatures, enchantment, and artifacts.
Nyx-Fleece Ram - I felt this was more like a sideboard card than Spellskite. It is perfect to side in against burn.
Pithing Needle - This is meant to disrupt my opponent from using activated abilities that might otherwise win them the game.
Thoughtseize - It disrupts your opponent.
Torpor Orb - This is meant for strong ETB-based decks like Hatebear or Splinter Twin. This does affect Treefolk Harbinger but its worth it if I can disrupt my opponent.
**Other Worthy Cards**
-Will Soon Add-
Play Scenarios
**Turn 3 Win**
Turn 1 - Play a Land. Cast Birds of Paradise and two Ornithopter.
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast Assault Formation. Attack with all creatures. Swing for 5 damage.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Attack with all creatures. Cast Tower Defense. Swing for 20 aerial damage.
-OR-
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast Doran, the Siege Tower. Attack with all creatures. Swing for 4 damage.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Attack with all creatures. Cast Tower Defense. Swing for 30 damage overall (20 aerial & 10 ground) .
**Turn Two Early Harassment**
Turn 1 - Play a Land. Cast any number of Ornithopters. Let say all four. Cast Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast Assault Formation. Attack with creatures. Swing for 12 damage.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Cast a one drop creature. Attack with creatures. Cast Tower Defense. Swing for 37 damage.
**Turn Four Spare From Evil Rumble**
Turn 1 - Play a Land. Cast Birds of Paradise.
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast three Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Cast three more Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 4 - Play a Land. Cast Assault Formation or Doran, the Siege Tower. Attack with all creatures. Before opponent declares blockers, cast Spare from Evil. Swing for 24 nearly unblock-able damage.
-OR-
Turn 1 - Play a Land. Cast Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 2 - Play a Land. Cast two more Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 3 - Play a Land. Cast three more Lagonna-Band Trailblazer or Yoked Ox.
Turn 4 - Play a Land. Cast Assault Formation. Attack with all creatures. Before opponent declares blockers, cast Spare from Evil. Swing for 24 nearly unblock-able damage.
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
A few comments about your deck. This is a "fair" deck in that it doesn't win by combo or some other broken mechanic. What worries is me is that your deck hinges on Doran and Assault formation. If you don't get one of those (it happens) you are dead in the water. You have a ton of 1 drops, which is fine, but I would generate some card advantage for them. Consider Dark Confidant as a replacement for Yoked Ox, as it can beat with out doran or formation and keeps you going. Another option would be Wall of Omens. It is a two drop, which is nice, gets you a card and can attack with Assault formation action.
Scourge of Skola Vale is cute, but I see a creature that takes 2-3 turns to do something significant, and then if it eats an abrupt decay/lightning bolt/path etc you just got 2-for-1'd. If you wanna keep your mana curve low check out Skinshifter. I have been debating about working him into my deck as well. A little more mana intensive, but can do straight 4/4 beats with trample, deal with tokens in the air, or just go huge as an 0/8, which is beautiful in this deck.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
We really need to get a unified thread for all this Doran brewing. There are at least 3-4 different threads with almost the same idea floating around.
I completely disagree with you. This is an amazing deck, it might need like 2-3 substitutes but it works. I would consider having more Commune With the Gods to fix the problem where you don't draw the enchantment. Also, if you added 2-3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx you could put in some kind of high costing cards to search for your Doran, the Siege Tower. So yeah get reeeeekt.
Decks:
Modern
RGWBU Amulet Bloom
G Infect
Screw other formats.
@Complex Pants I agree with the assessment about Scourge of Skola Vale. This was just one of few contingency creatures I considered adding. These are others: Experiment One, Skinshifter, Gurmag Angler, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Dungrove Elder, Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Scavenging Ooze, and Voice of Resurgence. As far as Wall of Omens, I am trying to stay away from Defenders even though this lets me draw. They prolong the game and rely to heavily on Assault to attack. My initial build did include Dark Confidant but it didn't last long.
@TrueFFIke I've considered adding another Commune with the Gods but I am feeling that 8 combined copies of Doran & Assault, 3 Treefolk Harbinger, and 2 Commune with the God might be enough. Then again, it would help delving for Gurmag Angler or Tasigur, the Golden Fang easier. Scavenging Ooze can also benefit from Commune. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx will be something to test.
@TrueFFIke @Sephon19 I've used Skinshifter in a previous built but like you said its very fragile to burn.
In another note, the "evolve" ability works well with this deck. Experiment One can get pretty big in a few turns. Other honorable mentions but requires a splash of blue: Cloudfin Raptor, Elusive Krasis, and Gyre Sage.
Overall, I would gladly remove Scourge for something more resilient. I just can't find the right card. I use to run Lingering Souls and Mardu Ascendancy since the token production can benefit from Tower Defense or Mardu's second ability.
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
I can't imagine why you would want to run Nykthos in a three-color aggro deck. Not only will you not have much devotion of any particular color, you don't need much mana. As an aggro deck you want to drop cheap, efficiently costed creatures, not expensive things that require you go out of your way to cast.
Very mature.
@OP: I think Noble Hierarch would be a better mana dork than Birds of Paradise for this deck. The exalted trigger and be pretty relevant. I'm not sure why you aren't playing Tarmogoyf and Siege Rhino; they both are excellent creatures without Doran/Assault Formation and are even better with it. Tasigur, the Golden Fang is also an excellent card for grindy matchups and I think he merits testing.
I make these suggestions because basically every creature you're running outside of Doran himself is really subpar if you don't have Assault Formation or Doran, the Siege Tower out. Running creatures that are good on their own is important.
I agree with you that I shouldn't put all my eggs in one basket. Relying solely on Doran & Assault places me in a predicament. I have considered Tarmogoyf but at the moment they are very inaccessible to me. I have some reservations about Noble Hierarch. I will have to test it out and see if it works for me. Having exalted is great but an evasive mana dork I feel benefits me much more. Fliers like (Birds of Paradise & Ornithopter) have won me games.
In the next revision of this deck, I will increase the number of Commune with the Gods and trade out a few creatures to make room for Tasigur, the Golden Fang and possibly another creature while still retaining a relatively low CMC.
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
If you want this thread to be a primer (and you have tagged it as such) you should provide information an optimized non-budget deck regardless of your own financial restrictions.
I think Ornithopter is a poor choice for this deck. It's great in Affinity where basically every card in your deck synergizes with it in some way or another, but in this deck, while it's excellent with Doran/Assault Formation, it's basically useless without them. I think that when you're evaluating cards for this deck you should try to run as few creatures as possible that are useless/bad without Doran/Assault Formation, and I think Ornithopter is one of those cards.
I said it before, and it's worth saying it again: Siege Rhino seems like the perfect curve-topper for this deck. It's incredibly powerful and efficiently costed, can hold its own without Doran and co. and is even better with them.
Finally, a note on your manabase: Mana Confluence seems wholly unnecessary. With the almost-full-compliment of fetches and shocks you're running, I can't imagine you having such significant color issues that you're forced to run such a bad land. I'd look at instead running some combination of Stirring Wildwood (even better with Assault Formation!), Gavony Township, and maybe a singleton Tectonic Edge.
A single blue splash for Wargate seems odd. That is a fairly expensive card, especially to grab a 4 mana card at sorcery speed.
I do like the forbidding watchtower, with a doran or formation out it could be devastating.
My thoughtprocess:
I want 1 drops that don't die to bolt, helix, anger etc, to get some more resilience for the threats.
It should be aggressive and quick, with some disruption against the most popular decks.
I also wanted to mainboard ensnaring bridge, so I only include creatures that can attack through it.
The sideboard is also a work in progress, with some transformative properties against decks like control, where you'd board out the bridges for phenax etc.
This is a rough draft which needs testing and cuts, but I figure having too many cards and cutting down is better.
This also goes for the sideboard as it's currently just all usefull cards in different matchups thrown in.
Spellskite is great, I think 4 is a must. It also disrupts many decks, so maybe we can cut down on disruption because of it.
I'm on the fence about blue as a color, it might be better to drop it, though I like the very light splash for the sideboard phenax.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/i-love-big-butts-and-i-cannot-lie/
1x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
4x Marsh Flats
4x Murmuring Bosk
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
1x Stirring Wildwood
1x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
4x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
4x Disowned Ancestor
3x Doran, the Siege Tower
3x Grizzled Leotau
4x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
4x Spellskite
4x Treefolk Harbinger
4x Yoked Ox
2x Tower Defense
3x Thoughtseize
3x Assault Formation
3x Ensnaring Bridge
3x Choke
4x Collected Company
2x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Lingering Souls
1x Path to Exile
3x Phenax, God of Deception
1x Tree of Redemption
So, my issues. I am wondering if Treefolk Harbinger is good enough. It makes you able to cut down on Doran's pherhaps, but it's basicly useless if you don't need one and it dies easily. Maybe it's better to run 4/4 of Doran, the Siege Tower and Assault Formation because if they live you are probably winning.
Collected company is also very interesting in this deck. But I suspect I might have to cut some non creature spells in that case, and maybe 4 mana is too slow for modern?
It would be a good spell against control in sideboard though.
I avoided the whole defender theme, since I don't want to have to pay 1 mana to attack, and they don't work with Doran.
The removal/disruption suite is a bit hastily thrown together and should probably be optimised.
@Kalynis You are right. I shouldn't restrict this deck of cards that may optimize it. Tarmogoyf will make an excellent addition. I can see them replacing the Ornithopters. However, Tasigur, the Golden Fang is also an excellent card too. I can bring it out as early as Turn 2. And there lies the conflict, Tarmogoyf needs the graveyard intact while Tasigur needs to delve off of it. What do you guys think? By the way, the Mana Confluence are remnants from my previous build. They will be replaced with a few more fetch lands and etc. Stirring Wildwood is curious. I will have to test that out. A couple of Siege Rhino are now mainboard. Having two does not upset the mana curve as predicted.
@Psammead Wall of Roots is curious. I am not sure if Assault Formation's "target defender can attack this turn" ability partially negates summoning sickness. Can anyone verify that? On another note, I'm trying to maintain a defender-free strategy. They are too depended on Assault Formation to function. I think it's too much of a weakness, especially when this deck aims for early aggro. Wargate is too expensive to cast. Commune with the Gods does an excellent job for two mana and helps with Tasigur's delve cost. Besides, the odds of fetching, drawing Doran, or drawing Assault is 1:6 Remem I'm trying to maintain a relatively low CMC. Forbidding Watchtower is a cool card but it might slow me down for a turn since it comes in tapped. I'll keep it in mind though.
@Complex Pants I agree. Splashing blue is unnecessary. I think this deck can function without blue or walls.
@Swindley Ensnaring Bridge is an excellent card. I thought about having it as sideboard against aggressive decks. I will simply switch out Tasigur or Siege Rhinos for Ensnaring. I still agree with Kalynis about having independent creatures that can attack without Doran or Assault. However, that is my realization after testing this particular deck. Even though Treefolk Harbinger is within a Lightning Bolt's reach, he still great for fetching Doran or any Forest. I did reduce it two copies. Four would have been too much in this build.
What are your thoughts?
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
If I had to choose between the two I would go with Goyf, as it will be more consistent than Tasigur and you can have multiples out.
I don't think it can attack as it's still affected by summoning sickness. Formation's ability simply allows it to attack if it has defender and all the other criteria to be able to attack is met.
How does your list work in your local meta? Here you need to be really quick so I'd be running some 1CMC/2CMC dorks myself. Since you're not running defenders at all Overgrown Battlement is out of the question but Sylvan Caryatid still fits nicely. Can't be removed without a boardwipe and can turn into a decent blocker/attack with formation out.
Your list also lack any draw effects. What do you do if you empty out your hand and opponent deals with your board? Drawing a card per turn seems awfully slow.
Sadly only bolt-proof options are Wall of Omens and Carven Caryatid.
Also how about a Sigarda, Host of Herons or two in sideboard? Almost impossible to remove and deals with Liliana and other sacrifice effects.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
No. It just means it can block creatures with flying.
Didn't think so. I thought that the whole aerial damage angle in the OP was BSy, then, but it turns out that I can't read at all.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
The maindeck ensnaring bridges really does work, and gives you time to get the pieces. Without it, the deck would crumble against many top decks.
The deck plays sometimes more like a combo deck than an aggro deck, though you are certainly capable of turn 3 kills.
Though some games you just sit there with a bunch of 0/4's, waiting for doran or assault formation, and ensnaring bridge is helping you survive.
Tower defence has been amazing, as it's a +5/+5 overrun for 2 mana when you have your pieces out! Maybe I should play more than 2 mainboard (usually board them out game 2/3 though)
My current list:
2x Razorverge Thicket
2x Forbidding Watchtower
1x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
4x Murmuring Bosk
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
1x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Windswept Heath
4x Disowned Ancestor
3x Doran, the Siege Tower
4x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
3x Nyx-Fleece Ram
4x Spellskite
4x Treefolk Harbinger
4x Yoked Ox
Instant (5)
3x Path to Exile
2x Tower Defense
Sorcery (1)
1x Thoughtseize
3x Assault Formation
3x Abrupt Decay
2x Collected Company
2x Eidolon of Rhetoric
3x Golgari Charm
3x Lingering Souls
1x Path to Exile
3x Thoughtseize
(17 sideboard cards, but I might drop the 2 Eidolons, golgari charm and path might be enough against storm and 3 mana is a bit slow..)
One thing, I'd like some sideboard/mainboard against burn and aggro. Nyx-Fleece rams are fine, although a bit slow.
Wall of essence that require you to block wont work. Spellskite is of course amazing!
Is Kor Firewalker or Auriok Champion really worth a spot?
TheEmgee, since you run only 1 fewer black mana source than white mana source, I highly recommend taking a pointer from Swindley's build and swapping out all your one-W-cost 0/4's for Disowned Ancestors. Unlike the white 0/4's (your build doesn't run Heroic enablers), Disowned Ancestor can actually trade with or win against X/5's when you have Doran out. You can Outlast while you can't find Doran/Assault Formation.
Since your mana base has so many Forests in it, 1 Dungrove Elder doesn't look bad in your build as a fatty that Treefolk Harbinger can tutor for, especially when you already have Doran out.
Last time I meet a Sultai control. He counter and kill everything...feel very hard to beat this kind of deck
I tried Order of Whiteclay, and while it was pretty fun against some grindy decks, it was a bummer against basically every deck with at least 8 X/4+'s in it (that would be all Goyf decks, all Loxodon Smiter decks...) because it was stuck trading with something or, worse, getting walled. I swapped mine out for Fiend Hunter (which boots said X/4+'s) and haven't regretted it yet, even though it dies to Bolt and is a juicy Cryptic Command target (mana dorks are tempting enough Bolt targets, I run Tidehollow Sculler in my version and it's a juicy Bolt target, everyone guns for Doran first with all their Decay/PtE-grade removal).
This list can beat most of the T1 decks I've tested against.
I've won against affinity, abzan, tron etc. But it's not perfect and could use some tweaking.
The important part is that bolt/helix is practically dead against you, and usually only path works as a removal.
Also, wondering if ensnaring bridge should be a 4-of. Only you being able to attack is great and sometimes necessary to stall when you can't find your Doran/formation, or more than one, if it gets removed.
Feel free to try the list and give me some feedback. (sideboard is a work in progress, cards get removed if they are not used much under testing)
It's funny, sometimes the decks worst enemy is something like a birds of paradise + exalted. So golgari charm is an all star sideboard card (also kills lingering souls, blood moon, twin, regenerates from engineered explosives, etc etc)
2x Forbidding Watchtower
1x Forest
1x Godless Shrine
2x Marsh Flats
4x Murmuring Bosk
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
1x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Windswept Heath
4x Disowned Ancestor
3x Doran, the Siege Tower
4x Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
3x Nyx-Fleece Ram
4x Spellskite
4x Treefolk Harbinger
4x Yoked Ox
Instant (5)
3x Path to Exile
2x Tower Defense
Enchantment (3)
3x Assault Formation
Artifact (4)
4x Ensnaring Bridge
3x Abrupt Decay
2x Collected Company
2x Dromoka's Command
2x Eidolon of Rhetoric
3x Golgari Charm
2x Lingering Souls
1x Path to Exile
3x Thoughtseize
Collected company in side helps against both counters and kill. Either counter it and let you resolve something on your turn, or you get 2 dudes usually, and 2 for 1 him.
Thank you two for continuing this discussion. I have not been available lately to share my thoughts. Even so, I still have my Doran Formation deck. I have been testing it out at local shops and FNMs. Though we can agree the core of our decks consist of Doran, the Siege Tower, Assault Formation, Treefolk Harbinger, Spellskite, and Tower Defense, the rest are creatures and spells which synergies with Doran/AF or provides support. This deck has gone through many variations and changes during testing. You two hit the nail on mark about the struggle I've been having. Should I sink or swim with pure cheap high-toughness creatures? Or should I have removals/beaters as backup when Doran/AF fails? Here are my thoughts on this.
This is originally my line of thinking when creating Doran Formation. This aggressive variant gave me the quickest damage output to defeat my opponent. I was happy for a while till I had matches with heavy removal/disruptive decks like Jund, true Abzan, Grixis Control, and Grixis Delver. I ran a set of Spellskites but it wasn't enough to hold so much disruption/removal. I found myself passing turns with a field of 0/X creatures but no Doran/AF. You have to admit that sucks a lot. As a remedy, I added Commune with the Gods to draw out my wincons but it only helped a little. So I decided to try a new design with beaters and removal mainboard.
Though I enjoyed my original build, it suffered against very controlling tier decks. I change had to made. My creatures were useless without their champion Doran or Assault Formation. I needed a few creatures to hold out on their own till my wincons came out. By taking lessons from popular Abzan decks, I found some interesting options for beaters within my color range: Anafenza, the Foremost, Loxodon Smiter, Knight of the Reliquary, Scavenging Ooze, and Siege Rhino. Removal was obvious like Path to Exile, Abrupt Decay, Murderous Cut, Dismember, Maelstrom Pulse, and Beast Within. If you wanted to get cute, Crib Swap, Nameless Inversion, and Lignify are all fetch-able with Treefolk Harbinger. By adding 4 or 6 beaters among my cheap-high toughness creatures, I was more consistent in my matches. I also included a set of removal (like 2 PtE and 2 AD) to remove board threats or disrupt combos that would normally cost me the game. In the end, I had 14 or less non-creature spells and 23 or so creatures. The spells were simply there for support.
My current build consists of 2/3 white creatures with a couple of Brave the Elements to guarantee my win or to protect Doran (he is white afterall). I have 6 beaters, 4 removals, 2 BtEs, and 3 TDs.
For your scrutiny, I will post up my deck list later today.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Modern
C Colorless Eldrazi Stompy C
WUGC Bant Eldrazi CGUW
WBG Doran Formation GBW
Legacy
C Eldrazi Stompy C
Multiplayer Commander
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage RG
WU Brago, King Eternal UW
BG Slimefoot, the Stowaway GB
Modern:
DredgeVine
EDH:
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Anima
Standard: