Is there a reason that you want to go five colors other than to run all of the blades? I know you pretty much dismissed my suggestion about going GW, but I still think you would be much better served dropping down to at least Bant colors (UWG) or Naya (WGR) That would still let you run three of the blades, along with Marisi's Twinclaw and Transguild Courier. Twinclaw in particular is ridiculous in this kind of deck.
And almost any of the on-color charms will be decent in this list - especially ones that 1. clear the way for attacks, 2. draw cards, or 3. give evasion.
Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it a lot!
What do you suggest? to run lots of removals/discard cards or evasion cards? I find myself in problems when my opponent runs many removals
Which charms do you suggest? boros? azorius?
Well I'll give it a try. What do you suggest as removals?
And as mana base? do you agree with the one a previously posted?
What type of format are you playing? Are you playing low-budget because of your finances or because it is an enforced rule. BBE is only banned in Modern. If you are not playing Modern, I'd suggest putting a playset of BBE in your deck as well, since it will extremely increase the power level of it. I'd suggest more removal spells, and Terminate sounds like it will match your deck's flavor.
Restricting yourself to $2.50 based on overpriced SCG prices sounds painful. Pillar is a $2 card in my shop, and it looks like it would be a perfect fit in your deck for your budget.
Well, they call it "casual" but it has nothing related to it, because the main rule is cards only $2.50 and below. That rule sucks, as you said because the prices aren't sometimes right, and there are broken cards such as Flash that cost less than $2.50 and are painful as hell.
Do you suggest any charm? Grixis Charm Can be used as a dismbember for example, would you add them?
And about the lands, what do you think about the triple-land taplands? They make the deck hella slow!
This is the deck as it is now, with some painlands to make it more aggresive :
I included Dauntless Escort because I got sick of getting my creatures killed with removals such as Go for the Throat and such.
I removed the Blessing of the Nephilim in order to avoid getting 2v1'd . However, I'm afraid I won't be able to pump my creature's defence.
Included Azorius Charm mainly because of lifelink ( I will probably lose a considerable quantity of life due to painlands), may replace it with Boros Charm, what do you think?
Included the Terminates you recommended me, advice on which I completely agree.
Is there a way to pump my creature's defence?
What do you think of the lands now?
Thanks for your reply, and feedback, it's deeply appreciated!!
This deck is begging for Bloodbraid Elf. Every 5 color aggro deck should be playing 4 of them. It's the most unfair "fair" card to play in these types of brews. Casting it and hitting any "Blade" creature is just going to be utterly back-breaking for your opponent after all. It's an easy auto include and I personally feel as though you could blindly remove 4 random cards for 4 BBEs and the result will still be far superior to the original.
I would probably also field a Bituminous Blast or two as removal. Broodmate Dragon would make for a fine finisher as well. I basically think that you need more "2-for-1s." They are so powerful and so much fun to play with.
Well, sadly for me Bloodbraid Elf is banned and it costs more than $2.50 so accordingly to the tournament I'll play, I not allowed to use it!
I admit, I always feel this deck archetype works best in GW:
Deck
4 Bant Sureblade
4 Naya Hushblade
4 Transguild Courier
4 Marisi's Twinclaws
4 Knight of New Alara
make for a fine creature base. Add in some equipment (Civic Saber is fine, though really any good equipment will do) + a few tutors like Eladrami's Call or Green Sun's Zenith to make sure you pull up a copy of Knight of New Alara and you have a pretty solid shell of a deck.
mmm, I don't like Naya Hushblade because I can't pump her!
What do you people think about including painlands instead of the triple lands? so the deck would be faster.
Mana dorks! Birds of Paradise, Utopia Tree, Druid of the Anima, Urborg Elf, Pygmy Hippo, Noble Hierarch, Deathrite Shaman....
Then there's land acceleration:
Knight of the Reliquary, Coiling Oracle
Hope that helps on the mana fixing
Well, many of them exceed the maximum prize available (can't have cards that cost more than 2.50)
And the creatures aren't multicolor so, I don't know if I would benefit a lot from that
I like blades.
YOu should Consider 1 or 2 All suns dawn for massive card advantage and recurring lategames, Earnest Fellowship for protection and evasion and Noxious Vapors for disruption.
Reflecting pools really smoothe your mana out, I'd think about them. Theres also the VividLands, which should be cheap and go well along with it.
Also an Idea is Pyroconvergence to turn your critters into removal on legs, or for the last few points of damage.
I don't think you neccessarily need blessing of the nephilim if you've got the civic saber. I'also cut Sigil Blessing for more disruption.
Have you considered an all 5 color guy? 1 or two in the mix could proove well.
Which blades are you talking about?
I' think I'll add those earnest fellowship , they seem quite useful. But that would give protection to my opponent's creatures...
Do you prefer the vivid lands instead of the triple ones?
gloryscale viashino?
I may add one or two, I could use him as a heavy drop in the deck. Thank you.
Pillar of the Paruns and Reflecting Pool. I don't really like Giltspire Avenger. Maybe Rhox War Monk[/c] or Wooly THoctar instead. 20 lands isn't enough by the way. Get to 22-24. By the war, all of these enchantments are setting you up for getting 3 for one'd. If I doomblade your enchanted creature, you just lost 2 cards for one of mine. Doesn't seem too effective.
Thanks for your reply!
Please notice that one of the main rules are that any card can't cost more than 2.50 bucks (thats the rule we use) So The pillar of the Paruuns and reflecting pool are out of my budget.
Why do you prefer the War Monk instead of the Giltspire avenger?.
In addition, Woolly thoctar seems a very aggresive card, I liked it.
Last but not least, I didn't run any Blessing of the nephilim before, but the fact that the Civic Saber only pumped my attack, made me feel sick of getting my creatures killed by gutshot!
So, I've got a recommendation but I'm not sure how much anyone will like it. This is UW Artifacts, so I see no reason to not try out Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek. Both of the cards satisfy budget constraints and are extremely powerful.
They're cheap, and once you get both into play, for every one mana you spend (you sacrifice Sword of the Meek to Thopter Foundry, netting you a 1/1 token and bringing Sword of the Meek back into play) you get a 1/1 flying Thopter artifact token and 1 life: That's a huge deal. It gives you things to put Steel of the Godhead on, and makes Cranial Plating huge, and you can activate it at instant speed, so you can use your leftover mana each turn to make flying chump blockers or tap 5 mana at the end of your opponent's turn to gain 5 life and attack them for 5 on your next turn, etc. for a win condition.
I'd also recommend some draw cards, like Thirst for Knowledge, though. Drawing 3 at 3 and only pitching 1 card is pretty good, and if things like Ancestral Vision are out of price range, Thirst for Knowledge or Fabricate are probably going to be your best bet at drawing cards outside of things like Preordain, Ponder, Serum Visions, etc..
That combo worked fine for me, thanks, the deck is better now! thanks a lot!
Drop some multicolored creatures which benefit from each other ;
Drop any "pumping" card
and keep hitting the enemy.
I'm quite stuck with this deck I must confess, because I don't know many multicolored cards, so I looking forward your feedback in order to improve this deck.
There are others card that may or may not be included:
Skyknight Legionnaire : 3 mana 2/2 fly haste is fairly good. However, I don't know if its good enough to replace Giltspire Avenger because he makes my opponent think twice before attackiing, also he's 3 colors, and exalted, quite nice.
Please bear in mind that this deck can't have cards that cost more than $2.50.
Thanks for your help in advance, any advice or feedback is deeply appreciated!
I agree with dropping black. You're using it to splash minor effects, you're deck will run better with UW replacements for those few cards.
Well, at first the deck was only WU, as you suggested.
The cards I replaced where Esper Cormorants . A 3/3 flier for 4 manas is not such a good thing, the only thing on its favour its that it is a u/w artifact.
That's why I think with black the general cmc is lower than the original UW version of the deck.
Well, as the title sums up, I made a WUB deck, composed mainly by artifacts.
-Why artifacts?
To abuse of artifacts lands in order to get massive pump with Cranial Plating.
-Why White and Blue?
To abuse of Steel of the Godhead . Giving any creature I enchant +2/+2 lifelink unblockable.
Having that explained, now I shall tell you my friends, my big conflict with this deck.
First of all, I can't run cards that cost more than $2.50. That leaves me without the really good non-basic lands.
Secondly, I'm not so sure about the quantity of the cards I'm now running, specially the instant spells (the more instant spells the less artifacts I have)
Last but not least, I think I lack of cards that may turn the game on my favour.
I run Thistledown Liege because for 4 mana instant +2/+2 to all my creature is quite nice, in spite of the fact that it's not an artifact itself.
Azorius Charm is placed because I really like giving all my creatures lifelink, or maybe the card, or why not unsummoning enemy creatures.
Etherwrought Page is quite mid-late game, because it allows me to see what I would draw (avoiding those mid-late lands we'll never need). Secondly, It can give me 2 points of health which might be critical.
What do you think about this? which changes would yo make?
Just so you know, you cannot cheat Odric, Master Tactician into play and have his ability activate, unlike Captain of the watch which her +1+1 and tokens, the vigilance takes play on the next turn.
In terms of budget removal, Condemn is about the best your going to find along with Journey to Nowhere.
I just don't like Hero of Bladehold, I have found her useless in my version of the deck.
If you fear creatures with shroud, change your deck into running something along the lines of 28 creatures like mine, then put in 2 Wrath of God, shroud won't save them from that and they cannot be brought back.
EDIT: Can you provide the decklist that your friend uses? If we can see what kinds of creatures/spells that are being run, we can work a soldier deck to slap it down. I will say though that building a deck around another deck is not a smart move, but if you want to do that we can try.
Hi there! first of all, happy new year! I hope 2013 brings all of you happiness and joy!
Yes, I'm aware that Odric's ability triggers when he's declared as an attacker. So you suggest that I shouldn't run Odric? I havent tested much yet, but in a recent game, I was with 10 life against 3 flying creatures 6/6 , and I alpha striked with all my creatures and chose that they wouldn't be able to block, and that meant the game for me. What should I run instead of him? 2 more Captains of the Watch?
I've not considered Condemn to be honest, because, well, it cost 1 mana, which is good, but on the other side, the creature won't get exiled, and I'll give my enemy life.
Is there something wrong with Unmake, or Devouring Light ? Apart from their relatively high mana cost? does that justify the use of Condemn or Journey to nowhere?
Don't worry about my friend's decks because my goal is not to counter them, because they play lots of deck quite competitive (for example, an 1 turn win infect deck).
Doesn't Reanimator use creatures? And if you're playing against that, then why not run Tormod's Crypt in your sideboard?
Also, while Catapult Squad and Deftblade Elite aren't truly amazing unless you play against creatures, they're both really good cards. Unless your meta is literally entirely creature-less, you will always be happy to have them against any creature, and the Elite is solid on its own.
Anyways, here are the changes I would make (assuming a creature-empty meta).
Usually, the creatures they reanimate have shroud, or they reanimate creatures which combo with another creatures in their graveyard in order to get an instant win (also with Anger in his graveyard)
I see you don't like Hero of Bladehold as a "boss" or "finisher" is it because she's not a soldier? What do you think of including Odric on her place?
Sadly, in my country (Argentina), our currency is quite devualued, so, cards prices in here cost x5 more than in the US
I can remove brave the elements in order to make place to a removal, a more budget friendly one, for example, Unmake or Devouring Light I might run 2 of each.
I also like Bonds of Faith because it can act as an Arrest and also, it can pump my creatures, I found this card quite versatile.
I also removed -1 Captain of the Watch and -3 Precinct captain and replaced them for +2 Odric, Master tactician
Here's some advice:
Remove 2 or at least 1 Thalia, as she's legendary, so you drawing more than 1 is not a good thing if you are NOT playing against deck with many removal spells.
Remove as many noncreature spells as you can, in order to be able to play Thalia in a more efficient way and to make room for MORE creatures.
Remove suppression field as well as faith shield
Add brave the elements to replace faith's shield, as it gives protection to ALL your creatures so you can make massive attacks, as well as protect all your creatures
I hope to have helped you.
Could anybody answer my post? I need ideas, my goal is to have better synergy in my deck, as well as an other finishing card,
Now that you mention it, Yosho, the deck is kinda casual, I may play it in modern, but I just can't afford cards like Swords to Plowshares or Path to exile . In addition, my friends don't play many deck with creatures (they play decks like reanimator, por example) , so i think that the Deftblade Elite and Catapult Squad combo , won't be very efficient in my case. What I need is speed and efficiency, I need synergy and something like a finisher (for example Captain of the Watch ) that's why I've included someHero of Bladehold but tthe fact that she's not soldier is quite important, also, she doesn't combo with anything, and I think that that's critical for me.
What do you think?
Oh, and thank you very much for your reply and support!
Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it a lot!
What do you suggest? to run lots of removals/discard cards or evasion cards? I find myself in problems when my opponent runs many removals
Which charms do you suggest? boros? azorius?
Well I'll give it a try. What do you suggest as removals?
And as mana base? do you agree with the one a previously posted?
Whops, I didn't mention that it is NM prices only
Well, they call it "casual" but it has nothing related to it, because the main rule is cards only $2.50 and below. That rule sucks, as you said because the prices aren't sometimes right, and there are broken cards such as Flash that cost less than $2.50 and are painful as hell.
Do you suggest any charm? Grixis Charm Can be used as a dismbember for example, would you add them?
And about the lands, what do you think about the triple-land taplands? They make the deck hella slow!
This is the deck as it is now, with some painlands to make it more aggresive :
I included Dauntless Escort because I got sick of getting my creatures killed with removals such as Go for the Throat and such.
I removed the Blessing of the Nephilim in order to avoid getting 2v1'd . However, I'm afraid I won't be able to pump my creature's defence.
Included Azorius Charm mainly because of lifelink ( I will probably lose a considerable quantity of life due to painlands), may replace it with Boros Charm, what do you think?
Included the Terminates you recommended me, advice on which I completely agree.
Is there a way to pump my creature's defence?
What do you think of the lands now?
Thanks for your reply, and feedback, it's deeply appreciated!!
I don't know if i can say this, but we use starcitygame's prices as reference
Well, sadly for me Bloodbraid Elf is banned and it costs more than $2.50 so accordingly to the tournament I'll play, I not allowed to use it!
mmm, I don't like Naya Hushblade because I can't pump her!
What do you people think about including painlands instead of the triple lands? so the deck would be faster.
Well, many of them exceed the maximum prize available (can't have cards that cost more than 2.50)
And the creatures aren't multicolor so, I don't know if I would benefit a lot from that
Which blades are you talking about?
I' think I'll add those earnest fellowship , they seem quite useful. But that would give protection to my opponent's creatures...
Do you prefer the vivid lands instead of the triple ones?
I may add one or two, I could use him as a heavy drop in the deck. Thank you.
Are you Argentinian by the way? So am I
Thanks for your reply!
Please notice that one of the main rules are that any card can't cost more than 2.50 bucks (thats the rule we use) So The pillar of the Paruuns and reflecting pool are out of my budget.
Why do you prefer the War Monk instead of the Giltspire avenger?.
In addition, Woolly thoctar seems a very aggresive card, I liked it.
Last but not least, I didn't run any Blessing of the nephilim before, but the fact that the Civic Saber only pumped my attack, made me feel sick of getting my creatures killed by gutshot!
What do you think?
Also, do you agree in playing Sigil Blessing?
Why not Boros Charm?
That combo worked fine for me, thanks, the deck is better now! thanks a lot!
This is the deck as it is :
Well, I assume that you know how this works :
Drop some multicolored creatures which benefit from each other ;
Drop any "pumping" card
and keep hitting the enemy.
I'm quite stuck with this deck I must confess, because I don't know many multicolored cards, so I looking forward your feedback in order to improve this deck.
There are others card that may or may not be included:
Naya Hushblade : Shroud means that the only way I'm able to pump her is with my Knight of new Alara , certainly not good IMO.
Skyknight Legionnaire : 3 mana 2/2 fly haste is fairly good. However, I don't know if its good enough to replace Giltspire Avenger because he makes my opponent think twice before attackiing, also he's 3 colors, and exalted, quite nice.
Please bear in mind that this deck can't have cards that cost more than $2.50.
Thanks for your help in advance, any advice or feedback is deeply appreciated!
I might try to find some space to dispatch because is quite a good card, I don't know what to take out first.
Is there any card that would make my deck take more profit from being composed mainly by artifacts? I'm quite a noob with artifacts I'm afraid!
Secondly, I'm answering all of the above, just that I don't know how to multiquote
Well, at first the deck was only WU, as you suggested.
The cards I replaced where Esper Cormorants . A 3/3 flier for 4 manas is not such a good thing, the only thing on its favour its that it is a u/w artifact.
That's why I think with black the general cmc is lower than the original UW version of the deck.
Yes, I think I should remove Etherwrought Page , let us not forget how it combos with the Windwright Mage
Adding black to the deck was a risky move, to be sincere. I might get frustraded if I draw multi Vault of Whispers haha.
What suggestions do you have for a UW version of the deck? You prefer Esper Cormorants instead of Windwright Mage.
You suggest running more removals? if so, which ones should I run ? (considering that I can't afford cards such as Path to Exile
-Why artifacts?
To abuse of artifacts lands in order to get massive pump with Cranial Plating.
-Why White and Blue?
To abuse of Steel of the Godhead . Giving any creature I enchant +2/+2 lifelink unblockable.
Having that explained, now I shall tell you my friends, my big conflict with this deck.
First of all, I can't run cards that cost more than $2.50. That leaves me without the really good non-basic lands.
Secondly, I'm not so sure about the quantity of the cards I'm now running, specially the instant spells (the more instant spells the less artifacts I have)
Last but not least, I think I lack of cards that may turn the game on my favour.
I run Thistledown Liege because for 4 mana instant +2/+2 to all my creature is quite nice, in spite of the fact that it's not an artifact itself.
Dramatic Rescue proved to make quite an interesting combo with Ethersworn Shieldmage allowing me to control the board.
This is the deck list as it is now :
Azorius Charm is placed because I really like giving all my creatures lifelink, or maybe the card, or why not unsummoning enemy creatures.
Etherwrought Page is quite mid-late game, because it allows me to see what I would draw (avoiding those mid-late lands we'll never need). Secondly, It can give me 2 points of health which might be critical.
What do you think about this? which changes would yo make?
Any feedback is appreciated.
Looking forward for your reply,
Keku.
Hi there! first of all, happy new year! I hope 2013 brings all of you happiness and joy!
Yes, I'm aware that Odric's ability triggers when he's declared as an attacker. So you suggest that I shouldn't run Odric? I havent tested much yet, but in a recent game, I was with 10 life against 3 flying creatures 6/6 , and I alpha striked with all my creatures and chose that they wouldn't be able to block, and that meant the game for me. What should I run instead of him? 2 more Captains of the Watch?
I've not considered Condemn to be honest, because, well, it cost 1 mana, which is good, but on the other side, the creature won't get exiled, and I'll give my enemy life.
Journey to nowhere is not a bad card, truth is I've never used it.
Is there something wrong with Unmake, or Devouring Light ? Apart from their relatively high mana cost? does that justify the use of Condemn or Journey to nowhere?
Don't worry about my friend's decks because my goal is not to counter them, because they play lots of deck quite competitive (for example, an 1 turn win infect deck).
Thanks for your reply! It helps a lot!
I don't know how to quote both of you, so, this is also for you yosho! ^^
Usually, the creatures they reanimate have shroud, or they reanimate creatures which combo with another creatures in their graveyard in order to get an instant win (also with Anger in his graveyard)
I see you don't like Hero of Bladehold as a "boss" or "finisher" is it because she's not a soldier? What do you think of including Odric on her place?
Sadly, in my country (Argentina), our currency is quite devualued, so, cards prices in here cost x5 more than in the US
I can remove brave the elements in order to make place to a removal, a more budget friendly one, for example, Unmake or Devouring Light I might run 2 of each.
I also like Bonds of Faith because it can act as an Arrest and also, it can pump my creatures, I found this card quite versatile.
I also removed -1 Captain of the Watch and -3 Precinct captain and replaced them for +2 Odric, Master tactician
This is the deck as it is now :
I don't like the idea of not running Brave the elements, but oh well, I can't have it all, can I? ahah.
What do you think now?
Thanks again for your replies and help, in so grateful! and excuse me for my poor English
Here's some advice:
Remove 2 or at least 1 Thalia, as she's legendary, so you drawing more than 1 is not a good thing if you are NOT playing against deck with many removal spells.
Remove as many noncreature spells as you can, in order to be able to play Thalia in a more efficient way and to make room for MORE creatures.
Remove suppression field as well as faith shield
Add brave the elements to replace faith's shield, as it gives protection to ALL your creatures so you can make massive attacks, as well as protect all your creatures
I hope to have helped you.
Could anybody answer my post? I need ideas, my goal is to have better synergy in my deck, as well as an other finishing card,
What do you think?
Oh, and thank you very much for your reply and support!