MTG Salvation

Please post your decks for critique here!

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Here is my decklist I went 6-2 with at a PTQ, with my only losses coming from U/G/W Delver and Mono-green aggro.

Here is my list:



There are a few tweaks I want to make but I am ambivalent towards some of them. First off is Lol Troll and Healer; I am debating whether or not I want to keep the MD spread 2-2 or go 4-0 of one. In any event, here is what I was thinking of running now:



To sum it up, for the MB I was thinking -2 Healer, -1 Vault, -1 Obzedat +1 Township, + 1 Lol Troll, + 1 LS, +1 Pilgrim. For the Sideboard -3 Slips, -1 Slime, -1 Rhox, +1 Vraska , +2 Healer, +2 Sever. Let me know what you guys think, and feel free to tear into the list.

Hey guys, I'm a newbie to Junk Rites, but I have fallen in love with it in playtesting.

Was wondering if I could get some feedback on this deck (its based off of forum user ajw's list he posted in tournament results, with some slight changes for my meta)

Main changes being -2 Deathrite Main Deck +1 obzedat +1 Lingering Souls, reason being my meta is infested with aggro, so the souls throw up more chumps, and, I have a love for obzedat (SB runs a second obzedat as this deck will see a lot of extended play as well, which has 4 control decks whom will have issues with obzedat as a constant beater with the Vault)



Questions:
Centaur Healer vs Loxodon Smiter against aggro Smiter seems a better choice, though taking in the Serenities Flash I guess healer is better?
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad any good for Junk Rites? +1/+0 seems useful, and free tokens for Baeloth pumping.
Griselbrand Seems beneficial to the deck, possibly even as a one of for reanimation life gain vs aggro, though harder to hardcast due to :symb::symb::symb::symb:

Thanks for any help with this

Maybe try putting in 2-3 more mana dorks (ie-Arbor Elf) in the main. In my experience 6-7 are better than just 4 since they make your quicker starts occur more frequently, and can fix mana in some cases. Plus it means that you can ramp into your bigger threats more consistently and just hard cast em if necessary. Not to mention I've fed dorks to my trolls before when I needed a solid body and not necessarily ramp on turns 3/4.

-1 Lingering Souls -1 Lotleth Troll the best way to add 2 more? Or would it be better to drop something besides the troll?

Quote from AmbientRaven

-1 Lingering Souls -1 Lotleth Troll the best way to add 2 more? Or would it be better to drop something besides the troll?

Not that I'm saying it's better cause a lot of these decks can change from meta to meta, but here's my deck to look at:


... so yeah, I guess you can try -1 Lol Troll and -1 LS, and see how it does and if you like how it plays. Something to keep in mind is that this deck has the ability to act like a midrange deck when we need it to.

Also, I guess my deck is here, so comments, suggestions, etc. would be nice to here from you guys.

@smittengoose

The only thing I would change with your deck is the 2 x Abrupt Decay and I also wonder how good the Loxodon Smiters are.

Abrupt Decay is generally bad G1 and does not help you execute the game plan of overpowering your opponents. I would:
+1 Grisly Salvage
+1 Angel of Serenity

What is your goal with the Smiters? Is it to combat aggro? If so, I think the troll is better. Do you find that 2 of each is consistent enough?

Quote from ajw

@smittengoose

The only thing I would change with your deck is the 2 x Abrupt Decay and I also wonder how good the Loxodon Smiters are.

Abrupt Decay is generally bad G1 and does not help you execute the game plan of overpowering your opponents. I would:
+1 Grisly Salvage
+1 Angel of Serenity

What is your goal with the Smiters? Is it to combat aggro? If so, I think the troll is better. Do you find that 2 of each is consistent enough?

ajw I definitely see your point about the Abrupt Decays, but they are main for a reason. My meta is unfortunately extremely aggro heavy with a handful of other decks rounding things out. Up until last weekend, they were purely side board, but when I kept getting overrun by Naya nut draws and other suck things, I put 2 in the main in an attempt to keep their early threats to a minimum while I try to gain board position.

The Smiters are there for a similar reason. I used to run 2 Centaur Healer main, 2 side, but they were usually one and done creatures in terms of blocking and the 3 life seemed negligible. The Smiters are too big to simply burn out for those aggro decks, unless they get 2 of their Searing Spears and want to 2-for-1 him. I agree the troll is invaluable in the Smiter's place actually, but he was very frequently taken out if I played him turn 2, which is where I would want him for not only discard but also for a repeatable blocker. Because of that I find it hard to convince myself he deserves 4 spots, and I know the extra Smiters don't need to be main to make 4.

This isn't to say that I don't want 3-4 Lol Trolls main, I just don't think it'll work that well against the massive beatdown that can come from of those decks. And if I survive with a comfortable amount of life to turn 4-5, then he's only used as a discard outlet or, if I'm really hurting or playing Esper, a beat stick.

Anyway, I hope this didn't appear like I was just disregarding your ideas, as I was only explaing my thought process for the card placement. Assuming I get time, I will test with your suggestion with my play group and see if it's better than I'm thinking.

Edit: Right, to address the large amount of 2-ofs. I think some of the cards are self-explanatory, but the Restos, Trolls, and Smiters are all 2-ofs for different reasons. The restos are because outside of surprise blockers ans blinking Tusk, she wasn't what I usually wanted to see past turn 4, but I still want her in the main as she does really shine where she's good. The Smiters are 2 because I never want more than 1 or 2 early on unless I'm facing aggro. At the same time the 2 main/side because I want the first game against aggro to go better than it had been (it also sometimes surprises an opponent playing Lili if I discard him), and I want the option for more after game 1 if needed, which I've used. I think I've explained the Trolls above, and my conflict with them, but if not, then please say so and I will be happy to explain myself better.

I will also add that I'm relatively new to this deck. I've been playing since the end of Feb/beginning of March, and only at FNMs at that since I unfortunately didn't have all of the deck when the SCG open was held near my town. If I'm f***king something up with the strategy hard core or no, please say something. I would prefer to fix that sort of thing now, than find out further into the season.

How does this look?
been playtesting it vs Bant-run Control, Junk Councils (HUGE lifegain midrange) and a very fast RDW and its been performing very well.

Edit: List updated



Though I am finding the Obzedat's aren't doing much for me. Could be worth dropping them for another AoS MD and not sure what SB, any recommendations?
Could it be worth running Golgari Charms to deal with Aggro/Aristocrats?

@smittengoose

If your meta is super aggro then your choices seem correct, I would agree with you that smiters are a good choice when you need that reliable turn 2 blocker. Just a random thought, but you may want to consider upping the arbor elfs to 4. That way you could cast troll and have regen mana up on turn 2 occasionally.

I agree with you on 2 resto angels, you don't really want to see multiples of it but it is a great blocker/lifegain outlet.

My meta currently seems to be an even split of aggro/midrange/control and that is why I am running 4 trolls. I feel they are good enough in each matchup, where healer and smiter are not as good in certain matchups but better in some. So I just went with the reliable choice.

@ambientraven

I found Obz was not suited to the play style of this deck. He doesn't win games out of nowhere like AoS or Hoof. He just kind of sits there; he is too slow vs aggro and does nothing against control decks that run sphinx's (which is almost every control deck).

I have tested with Griselbrand and I play him at FNM for the lols. I would not play him at a major event, he gets replaced by the 4th AoS. He just doesn't do much when he hits the board, but you can get extreme value out of him IF he sticks around. For major events I want to win when I cast Rites or hard cast a fatty, sadly he just doesn't accomplish that (he is one of my favourite cards).

current list:


mainly moving away somewhat from the mana dorks since people are adopting strategies like bonfire and electrickery. I'm moving more towards powerful 3-drops to effectively stall me into the mid-game.

I'm pretty certain that having a spare land in the SB for strategies where you want to cut mana dorks is correct.

I'm testing jarad right now pretty much straight off of brad nelson's suggestion as a tool against fog. Not sure if he's any good or not. He could also potentially be used as a sac outlet against control or possibly jund, letting me re-use my creatures and dome them for a bunch of damage. I don't have any games with him though.

Here's my deck, mostly unchanged from week to week.



Vs. Aggro, I put in 3 Rhox Faithmender, 1 Sever the Bloodline, and 3 Abrupt Decay. I take out 2 Craterhoof Behemoth, 1 Angel of Serenity, 2 Lotleth Troll, 1 Unburial Rites, and maybe a Mulch.


Vs. Midrange, I put in 4 Acidic Slime and sometimes Sever the Bloodline. I take out 3 Centaur Healer and some combination of 1 Behemoth, 1 Angel of Serenity, or Lotleth Troll/Thragtusk.


Vs. Control, I put in 4 Acidic Slime to keep them from BIG Sphinx's Revelations and kill hate like RIP or Grafdigger's Cage.


Vs. Mirror, I put in 4 Acidic Slime, 2 Deathrite Shaman, 1 Purify the Grave, and 1 Sever the Bloodline. I also put in Abrupt Decay for their Deathrite Shaman or Mana Dorks in a pinch. I take out some Behemoth, Centaur Healer, Lotleth Troll, and maybe 1 Thragtusk. It is tough to determine whether Acidic Slime or Thragtusk is more important here.


Vs. the Aristocrats. This deck has gained more steam recently. I honestly just have Curse of Death's Hold for them, but it is really unanswerable. I could side in Abrupt Decay or even go Rhox Faithmender if I feel they're going "Aggro" on me.

Thinking it has a solid Aggro matchup with my early stalls and removal and the deck that once gave it fits (Bant-Chantments) I think post sideboard it is actually fine. Control seems a tad hard but I wanted to throw it up here for people to look at. I am taking this to the Florida tcgplayer States event this weekend.

Jund I think is what scares me the most and I could use some help in that department.

So far I enjoy the build, straightforward Junk Rites with a couple different critters.

Vs. Aggro Pithing Needle for bloodrushers, Abrupt Decay, Putrefy, and Golgari Charm for additional spot removal. Blind Obedience is finding limited use for me in local meta as many R/x players are phasing out Hellrider and Thundermaw.

Vs. Graveyard Hate Essence Harvest, Advent of the Wurm, Elixir of Immortality go in for Mulch, Grisly Salvage to be more aggressive. I keep Jarad's Orders maindecked to get synergy between either Desecration Demon or Thragtusk and Essence Harvest.

Here's my list for the new meta



More removal and a more playable curve for all the midrange decks aiming to hate with Ooze and whatnot.