I am trying to get better at making decks. I have had trouble creating more competitive decks as I only really build with the cards I have. I dont have that many value cards, in function or expense. I (almost) never play at FNM type events so its not like im playing against $2k decks. If I do usally play at one, Its a draft or limited game. Any advice on building decks is greatly supported! DMs are appreciated.
Thank you!
To put it more simply, it's like saying, "I can prove Jesus is real and loves you. See? Here's my Hispanic friend Jesus. He's had a crush on you for a long time. Tell em' Jesus."
Here's a joke! Whats the internal temperature of a Taun-Taun?
Cant remember what the name of the card is off top of my head, but there is a 2 drop red instant that has trample too, and its well worth it.
Personally I would suggest a bit less counters and in general blue in main deck and focus more on the aggression and pump spells.
I'd also suggest at least 3x Uncaged Fury, if not 4. It's too good.
Also, a thing that was toyed with in the other prowess thread which has gone a few pages back now was the use of Draconic Roar, which can be amazing in this deck. Using that, and having 4x Thunderbreak Regent as the top of the curve is awesome, and worked really well for folks.
Cant remember what the name of the card is off top of my head, but there is a 2 drop red instant that has trample too, and its well worth it.
Personally I would suggest a bit less counters and in general blue in main deck and focus more on the aggression and pump spells.
I'd also suggest at least 3x Uncaged Fury, if not 4. It's too good.
Also, a thing that was toyed with in the other prowess thread which has gone a few pages back now was the use of Draconic Roar, which can be amazing in this deck. Using that, and having 4x Thunderbreak Regent as the top of the curve is awesome, and worked really well for folks.
In the link, I updated the maindeck to 3 counters total + Just the Wind. The deck does very badly against coco and disruption decks. So having them in the main deck help a lot.
Thunderbreak + Roar seems to be filler in this deck with the addition of SOI to the mix.
What is your opinion of the creatures? Is there an efficient way to tutor for them?
I am trying to get better at making decks. I have had trouble creating more competitive decks as I only really build with the cards I have. I dont have that many value cards, in function or expense. I (almost) never play at FNM type events so its not like im playing against $2k decks. If I do usally play at one, Its a draft or limited game. Any advice on building decks is greatly supported! DMs are appreciated.
Thank you!
To put it more simply, it's like saying, "I can prove Jesus is real and loves you. See? Here's my Hispanic friend Jesus. He's had a crush on you for a long time. Tell em' Jesus."
Here's a joke! Whats the internal temperature of a Taun-Taun?
Unfortunately there isnt really a good way to get a good tutor curve, and that IMO is why prowess isnt a top tier deck as it has some natural conflicts.
You need a critical mass of spells, probably at least 18-20 to get good prowess value. Of those spells, over half need to be pump spells IMO prowess on its own is nice, but still not enough.
This leaves you with about 12-18 creatures, which means in some games you have to mulligan, sometimes twice.
Brute Strength is the card I was talking about, and IMO I run it in addition to Rush of Adrenaline. The trample is very important to get damage through, it doesnt really matter too much if you lose your guy because, you're going to anyways, the goal is just damage.
For creatures in a Prowess deck, you have the 2 that I consider auto includes: Stormchaser Mage & Elusive Spellfist. I'd suggest having 2-3 others tops. Abbot of Keral Keep is a good card, but I dont like him on T2, or even that much in a prowess deck. If you hit a pump spell, you sometimes cant use it because hes your only creature. If you hit a land on T2 its a waste. If you hit another creature, thats probably best, but then eats mana. I'd keep him as maybe a 2-of. Jhessian Thief is a good card, especially with both the trample cards, and the unblockable spell. IMO if you run 8 trample pumps, and 2 unblockable, run 4 of this lady. Thunderbreak Regent hes a big bad dragon, and the meta doesnt have many fliers. Cast this guy after an empty hand and you can hopefully finish them off with him, though the Draconic Roar combo does take away some of the surprise. Reality Smasher this guy would LOVE to be in this deck, only problem is hitting that 5 mana mark. However, most folks assume that after the early turns (t4-t5) prowess is pretty dead and in topdeck mode meaning they'll expect another 1/3 haste guy... not a 5/5 trample haste. Still the mana is a big issue. Avaricious Dragon is another card that I like a lot in this deck simply because of the card advantage. Sure most of our stuff is Instant speed, but its all super cheap, and we play it on our mainphase, so the downside of the dragon doesnt usually hit us. Hes a good 2-of IMO, helps Draconic Roar, flies, and is decent body. Cast him late though. Goldnight Castigator 4 flying hasty damage to close out the game. Similar to Smasher, but a bit easier and quicker.
Spells... Prowess is imo a hyper aggressive boggles/burn style deck. It wants to hit early, hit fast, and win. It fizzles out hard in the late game. Here are my take on spells for it. Titan's Strength = Auto include a playset. Rush of Adrenaline = Auto include a playset. Brute Strength = I like at least 3 of em in there. Doubling up on trample is useless, but better to have 2 tramples than none IMO, and the stats are good. Uncaged Fury = Again, I'd almost demand at least 3, and usually suggest 4 for the same reasons as above. Draconic Roar = Most of your guys are evasive, and quick, you dont need much removal, and this has the searing effect if you play dragons. Its also similar to lightning strike, which we miss out on this standard. Fiery Impulse = Good card, cheap, you should have spell mastery. Solid choice. Fiery Temper = Could be OK, but I'm not really a fan of it, just too expensive to hardcast. synergy with Avaricious Dragon, but not enough IMO. Exquisite Firecraft = Probably the only TRUE burn card you'd want to run, 3 mana for an uncounterable finisher. Thats my sweet spot.
So... having said all that, I think that there are really only 2 ways to build a prowess deck this standard... Dragons + Draconic Roar combo OR more traditional with burn finish. I think both are probably equal in powerlevel, Dragon version being a bit slower but more likely to win, burn being the hyper aggro version.
This deck obviously has some weaknesses, as you REALLY want to have one of the 2 drops in your opener. It also only runs 4x Removal spells, but they are likely to hurt the opponent too. This will likely play a bit slower on T1-T4 than a normal prowess deck, however you should still get them down to about 4-8 life, then you drop a T5/T6 Dragon that puts a 1-2 turn clock on them, and hopefully top deck a pump for it. Blighted Gorge and Wandering Fumarole are there as the last resort kills, and will be well worth it when you get them.
Keypoints: Mulligan if needed, the deck needs a pretty good opener. Dont overextend, 2 creatures at most early game, holding them back tricks the opponent into thinking they're pumps anyways.
Very similar to the first deck, however it is a bit heavier on spells and a bit lighter on creatures. Has 2 Goldnight Castigators to help in the air, but the main finisher is Exquisite Firecraft. Ravaging Blaze could replace the Goldnight's as well if you want, but a bit less mana efficient. Its definitely got a few more early creatures so you may not need to mulligan as much, but I would suspect it fizzles out a bit earlier.
Keypoints: Dont get trapped by Abbot, play him later if possible so you dont waste his CA. Dont overextend, 2-3 creatures at most. Hold the exquisite's for finishers to the face if at all possible.
Those are my takes on Prowess. Sideboard on both would have a few counters, not many though. Probably mostly Dispels and/or Negates at most. A few extra burns in the counter, Fiery Impulse is good there, and use the last couple spots to round out your creatures if you want.
Remember, while counters and bounces may seem pretty good to get in damage, they only trigger prowess for 1/1, which can be a bit slow sometimes, especially if they just cast the creature again next turn. Its much better usually to use a pump spell +2/1 in addition to the +1/1 to deal more damage. This deck WILL NOT go long, after T8 you've probably lost if you havent won already.
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I wanted to make a standard prowess deck and it seems to work very well. Here is my list:
3 Abbot of Keral Keep
4 Elusive Spellfist
1 Jhessian Thief
2 Niblis of Dusk
4 Stormchaser Mage
Instant (24)
3 Anticipate
3 Expedite
1 Just the Wind
2 Negate
4 Rush of Adrenaline
3 Sure Strike
4 Titan's Strength
2 Uncaged Fury
2 Void Shatter
2 Slip Through Space
Land (20)
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
6 Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
1 Abbot of Keral Keep
1 Anticipate
2 Dispel
1 Jhessian Thief
2 Just the Wind
2 Negate
1 Ravaging Blaze
1 Void Shatter
1 Zada, Hedron Grinder
It seems to be very streamlined. What else should I do to make it better?
Money is not an issue
Thank you!
Thank you!
Personally I would suggest a bit less counters and in general blue in main deck and focus more on the aggression and pump spells.
I'd also suggest at least 3x Uncaged Fury, if not 4. It's too good.
Also, a thing that was toyed with in the other prowess thread which has gone a few pages back now was the use of Draconic Roar, which can be amazing in this deck. Using that, and having 4x Thunderbreak Regent as the top of the curve is awesome, and worked really well for folks.
You mean Brute Strength? I had it but Rush of Adrenaline is a better alternative as it allows for more triggers.
In the link, I updated the maindeck to 3 counters total + Just the Wind. The deck does very badly against coco and disruption decks. So having them in the main deck help a lot.
Thunderbreak + Roar seems to be filler in this deck with the addition of SOI to the mix.
What is your opinion of the creatures? Is there an efficient way to tutor for them?
Thank you!
You need a critical mass of spells, probably at least 18-20 to get good prowess value. Of those spells, over half need to be pump spells IMO prowess on its own is nice, but still not enough.
This leaves you with about 12-18 creatures, which means in some games you have to mulligan, sometimes twice.
Brute Strength is the card I was talking about, and IMO I run it in addition to Rush of Adrenaline. The trample is very important to get damage through, it doesnt really matter too much if you lose your guy because, you're going to anyways, the goal is just damage.
For creatures in a Prowess deck, you have the 2 that I consider auto includes: Stormchaser Mage & Elusive Spellfist. I'd suggest having 2-3 others tops.
Abbot of Keral Keep is a good card, but I dont like him on T2, or even that much in a prowess deck. If you hit a pump spell, you sometimes cant use it because hes your only creature. If you hit a land on T2 its a waste. If you hit another creature, thats probably best, but then eats mana. I'd keep him as maybe a 2-of.
Jhessian Thief is a good card, especially with both the trample cards, and the unblockable spell. IMO if you run 8 trample pumps, and 2 unblockable, run 4 of this lady.
Thunderbreak Regent hes a big bad dragon, and the meta doesnt have many fliers. Cast this guy after an empty hand and you can hopefully finish them off with him, though the Draconic Roar combo does take away some of the surprise.
Reality Smasher this guy would LOVE to be in this deck, only problem is hitting that 5 mana mark. However, most folks assume that after the early turns (t4-t5) prowess is pretty dead and in topdeck mode meaning they'll expect another 1/3 haste guy... not a 5/5 trample haste. Still the mana is a big issue.
Avaricious Dragon is another card that I like a lot in this deck simply because of the card advantage. Sure most of our stuff is Instant speed, but its all super cheap, and we play it on our mainphase, so the downside of the dragon doesnt usually hit us. Hes a good 2-of IMO, helps Draconic Roar, flies, and is decent body. Cast him late though.
Goldnight Castigator 4 flying hasty damage to close out the game. Similar to Smasher, but a bit easier and quicker.
Spells... Prowess is imo a hyper aggressive boggles/burn style deck. It wants to hit early, hit fast, and win. It fizzles out hard in the late game. Here are my take on spells for it.
Titan's Strength = Auto include a playset.
Rush of Adrenaline = Auto include a playset.
Brute Strength = I like at least 3 of em in there. Doubling up on trample is useless, but better to have 2 tramples than none IMO, and the stats are good.
Uncaged Fury = Again, I'd almost demand at least 3, and usually suggest 4 for the same reasons as above.
Draconic Roar = Most of your guys are evasive, and quick, you dont need much removal, and this has the searing effect if you play dragons. Its also similar to lightning strike, which we miss out on this standard.
Fiery Impulse = Good card, cheap, you should have spell mastery. Solid choice.
Fiery Temper = Could be OK, but I'm not really a fan of it, just too expensive to hardcast. synergy with Avaricious Dragon, but not enough IMO.
Exquisite Firecraft = Probably the only TRUE burn card you'd want to run, 3 mana for an uncounterable finisher. Thats my sweet spot.
So... having said all that, I think that there are really only 2 ways to build a prowess deck this standard... Dragons + Draconic Roar combo OR more traditional with burn finish. I think both are probably equal in powerlevel, Dragon version being a bit slower but more likely to win, burn being the hyper aggro version.
4x Stormchaser Mage
4x Elusive Spellfist
4x Jhessian Thief
4x Thunderbreak Regent
2x Avaricious Dragon
4x Titan's Strength
4x Rush of Adrenaline
2x Slip Through Space
3x Brute Strength
3x Uncaged Fury
4x Draconic Roar
4x Wandering Fumarole
4x Shivan Reef
5x Island
6x Mountain
3x Blighted Gorge
This deck obviously has some weaknesses, as you REALLY want to have one of the 2 drops in your opener. It also only runs 4x Removal spells, but they are likely to hurt the opponent too. This will likely play a bit slower on T1-T4 than a normal prowess deck, however you should still get them down to about 4-8 life, then you drop a T5/T6 Dragon that puts a 1-2 turn clock on them, and hopefully top deck a pump for it. Blighted Gorge and Wandering Fumarole are there as the last resort kills, and will be well worth it when you get them.
Keypoints: Mulligan if needed, the deck needs a pretty good opener. Dont overextend, 2 creatures at most early game, holding them back tricks the opponent into thinking they're pumps anyways.
4x Stormchaser Mage
3x Abbot of Keral Keep
2x Goldnight Castigator
4x Elusive Spellfist
3x Jhessian Thief
4x Titan's Strength
4x Rush of Adrenaline
3x Slip Through Space
3x Brute Strength
4x Uncaged Fury
4x Exquisite Firecraft
4x Wandering Fumarole
4x Shivan Reef
5x Island
6x Mountain
3x Blighted Gorge
Very similar to the first deck, however it is a bit heavier on spells and a bit lighter on creatures. Has 2 Goldnight Castigators to help in the air, but the main finisher is Exquisite Firecraft. Ravaging Blaze could replace the Goldnight's as well if you want, but a bit less mana efficient. Its definitely got a few more early creatures so you may not need to mulligan as much, but I would suspect it fizzles out a bit earlier.
Keypoints: Dont get trapped by Abbot, play him later if possible so you dont waste his CA. Dont overextend, 2-3 creatures at most. Hold the exquisite's for finishers to the face if at all possible.
Those are my takes on Prowess. Sideboard on both would have a few counters, not many though. Probably mostly Dispels and/or Negates at most. A few extra burns in the counter, Fiery Impulse is good there, and use the last couple spots to round out your creatures if you want.
Remember, while counters and bounces may seem pretty good to get in damage, they only trigger prowess for 1/1, which can be a bit slow sometimes, especially if they just cast the creature again next turn. Its much better usually to use a pump spell +2/1 in addition to the +1/1 to deal more damage. This deck WILL NOT go long, after T8 you've probably lost if you havent won already.