What about some copies of runed halo between main and side? It is good against scapeshift naming valakut, but it is a versatile card in general since it can stop whatever is being annoying in a particular moment.
I would also be interested in a manabase that could support slaughter games in sideboard. I think something like sewall's manabase -4 temples, - 1 mountain, +4 fetches +1 blood crypt.
You are probably right, and i was also thinking that too many 0 power creatures would make my flying crane technique look silly sometimes....
If i focus too much on on walls/defending maybe i could also play that villainous wealth as a finisher rather than technique... but i will start with the setting you suggested at first and see how it goes.
Of course i understand i need to have a decent mana curve. Basically i just prefer to run 2 parapet archers instead of 2 highland games, and something else instead of the bounce spells. This is just because since i will be running a lot of big morphs or bombs, in the early game i'm more worried about blocking than attacking.
if i were to run all the "aggressive" 2 drops and bounce spells, i would add also the grizzlies and the deck would basically be temur tempo. I will post my final build when i have some more time so that you can tell me if it's at least reasonable
Ken, if you could elaborate a bit more i would be grateful... but i'm not sure i will be able to blitz my opponents with a small aggro deck.
Magicmerl : probably i'm misunderstanding something, but the first list you posted has 43 cards ( i don't know if that was meant to be a deck or just a list of playable cards.
Anyway, i agree about the potential of a U/G base and i have to admit i didn't consider 3 embodiment of springs very good at first glance.
I think though that the final deck you posted has a bit of tension between wanting to play a lot of bombs and wanting to play a proactive beatdown plan. Just to clarify... why run smoke teller, jeskai windscout and 2 x force away in a deck that is anyway going to be slow? (bounce spells are notoriously bad when your plan is not to tempo out your opponent). I think i would rather play the 2 parapet archers (great blockers that double as finishers), and also the ponyback brigades you cut. Or, if you want to have a more aggressive plan, i would run less bombs and try to fit in the 2 alpine grizzlies.
Another potential problem is that i would run 18 lands and 3 embodiments of spring... i fear i could flood out too much, but maybe this is not a real problem if i want to play the long game.
My store khans of tarkir league is going to start and i have to build a deck with these 7 booster packs (that will then be improved with 1 new pack each week). I'm posting my pool looking for some advices because i don't have a lot of experience with multi colored formats.
I played two prereleases and chose abzan in both.
First one my rares were the promo abzan ascendancy and crater's claw which made me splash red. I crushed everyone, losing in the final to another abzan deck that had two siege rhynos and played both of them in both matches.
Second one i had the 5 mana wrath of god, hooded hydra and sagu mauler that made me splash blue. I won.
I didn't prepare a lot for the prerelease and i didn't know anything about the abzan hype, but i came to the conclusion that it was the best color combination by simply looking at the cards and at the mechanics. Outlast is the most consistent mechanic... it may be clunky, but it wins long games and is not conditional. Prowess is good only if you have the perfect creature/spells ratio. Delve is bad in multiples. Ferocious is ok but you won't be able to always have a big creature on the field. The only other mechanic i really liked was raid, but i figured out that heavy aggro deck are less likely to come together in sealed, and so i think mardu will be better in draft than in sealed.
I think the most important thing in both the events was that i had good manafixing that made me able to even splash a 4th color without many issues.
If you want a land for the late game there is Keldon Megaliths ..... you can never understand how good is killing your opponent by pinging him with a land until you actually do it. I do think though that burn in general is not an archetype where you can afford play tapped lands.
Sarkhan Dragospeaker is a new playable 5 drop, best friend of hellkite and stormbreath. Downside is that he doesn't trigger purphoros when entering the battlefield..... upside is that he can also shoot creatures and draw cards if he reaches the ultimate.
Besides Goblin Rabblemaster which is for sure a nice creature in this deck, i think the common Generator Servant is nothing to scoff at. Not everyday red gets mana ramp.... and he even gives haste to creatures!
Well , at least people would buy booster packs and draft m15 with fetchlands. The set looks really crappy right now with five mythic rare slots wasted for the souls cycle and no chase rare.
First conspiracy draft yesterday. First picked Hydra Omnivore , then went almost mono black with green splash . The key cards were hidden agendas... i had the one that let me draw a card whenever i cast Assassinate (with 3 copies of assassinate) , The one that copied my Tragic Slip (3 of them too) , plus the green/black enchantment that let me draw a card in each turn a creature dies, and Skeletal Scrying . Finishers were the hydra (with haste due to hidden agenda), Pelakka Wurm , plus the black guy which enters the battlefield with a counter for each creature in any graveyard. The deck was extremely sinergistic and consistent (35 cards) and nobody could beat my heavy removal suite plus fantastic card advantage. I risked to be overwhelmed in the early game because i was quite slow, but fortunately the aggro players didn't totally focus on killing me and then i started wiping the board with assassinates and double tragic slips while drawing cards. The only opponent that caused me troubles had a flying tokens deck with double favorable winds... tokens were too much for my removal and in the end i won a close race thanks to hasty hydra and pelakka wurm.
I could be playing red/black with heavy removal suite , especially because some black cards are goblin -related and go well with sparksmith. But then I saw a white card called "crown of something" wich gives enchanted creature protection from black and from red .... so is it better to avoid playing red/black due to that card or i shouldn't concern ?
I would also be interested in a manabase that could support slaughter games in sideboard. I think something like sewall's manabase -4 temples, - 1 mountain, +4 fetches +1 blood crypt.
If i focus too much on on walls/defending maybe i could also play that villainous wealth as a finisher rather than technique... but i will start with the setting you suggested at first and see how it goes.
if i were to run all the "aggressive" 2 drops and bounce spells, i would add also the grizzlies and the deck would basically be temur tempo. I will post my final build when i have some more time so that you can tell me if it's at least reasonable
Ken, if you could elaborate a bit more i would be grateful... but i'm not sure i will be able to blitz my opponents with a small aggro deck.
Magicmerl : probably i'm misunderstanding something, but the first list you posted has 43 cards ( i don't know if that was meant to be a deck or just a list of playable cards.
Anyway, i agree about the potential of a U/G base and i have to admit i didn't consider 3 embodiment of springs very good at first glance.
I think though that the final deck you posted has a bit of tension between wanting to play a lot of bombs and wanting to play a proactive beatdown plan. Just to clarify... why run smoke teller, jeskai windscout and 2 x force away in a deck that is anyway going to be slow? (bounce spells are notoriously bad when your plan is not to tempo out your opponent). I think i would rather play the 2 parapet archers (great blockers that double as finishers), and also the ponyback brigades you cut. Or, if you want to have a more aggressive plan, i would run less bombs and try to fit in the 2 alpine grizzlies.
Another potential problem is that i would run 18 lands and 3 embodiments of spring... i fear i could flood out too much, but maybe this is not a real problem if i want to play the long game.
1 Hooting Mandrills
1 Become Immense
1 Hardened Scales
1 Feed the Clan
1 Naturalize
1 Smoke Teller
2 Highland Game
2 Alpine Grizzly
2 Archer's Parapet
1 Awaken the Bear
1 Seek the Horizon
1 Sagu Archer
2 Jeskai Student
1 Mardu Hateblade
1 Abzan Battle Priest
1 Ainok Bond-Kin
1 Take Up Arms
1 Mardu Hordechief
1 Smite the Monstrous
1 Brave the Sands
2 Erase
1 Defiant Strike
1 Rush of Battle
1 watcher of the Roost
1 Jeering Instigator
1 Bring Low
1 Trumpet Blast
1 Bloodfire Expert
1 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Tormenting Voice
1 Swift Kick
1 War-Name Aspirant
2 Arrow Storm
1 Burn Away
1 Arc Lightning
1 Canyon Lurkers
1 Sidisi's Pet
1 Bellowing Saddlebrute
1 Throttle
1 Debilitating Injury
1 Unyielding Krumar
1 Rite of the Serpent
1 Rakshasa's Secret
1 Bitter Revelation
1 Molting Snakeskin
1 Rotting Mastodon
1 Dead Drop
1 Kheru Dreadmaw
1 Mistfire Weaver
1 Monastery Flock
1 Crippling Chill
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Jeskai Windscout
1 Taigam's Scheming
1 Cancel
1 Disdainful Stroke
3 Embodiment of Spring
1 Waterwhirl
2 Force Away
1 Winterflame
1 Ride Down
1 Flying Crane Technique
2 Warden of the Eye
2 Ponyback Brigade
2 Snowhorn Rider
1 Armament Corps
1 Siege Rhino
1 Abzan Guide
1 Rakshasa Vizier
1 Villainous Wealth
1 Abomination of Gudul
1 Ghostfire Blade
1 Cranial Archive
1 Briber's Purse
1 Lens of Clarity
1 Temur Banner
2 Sultai Banner
1 Abzan Banner
1 Frontier Bivouac
1 Wind-Scarred Crag
1 Blossoming Sands
1 Thornwood Falls
1 Scoured Barrens
1 Rugged Highlands
1 Tranquil Cove
All the help will be appreciated.
First one my rares were the promo abzan ascendancy and crater's claw which made me splash red. I crushed everyone, losing in the final to another abzan deck that had two siege rhynos and played both of them in both matches.
Second one i had the 5 mana wrath of god, hooded hydra and sagu mauler that made me splash blue. I won.
I didn't prepare a lot for the prerelease and i didn't know anything about the abzan hype, but i came to the conclusion that it was the best color combination by simply looking at the cards and at the mechanics. Outlast is the most consistent mechanic... it may be clunky, but it wins long games and is not conditional. Prowess is good only if you have the perfect creature/spells ratio. Delve is bad in multiples. Ferocious is ok but you won't be able to always have a big creature on the field. The only other mechanic i really liked was raid, but i figured out that heavy aggro deck are less likely to come together in sealed, and so i think mardu will be better in draft than in sealed.
I think the most important thing in both the events was that i had good manafixing that made me able to even splash a 4th color without many issues.
Also a new koth would be nice