Thanks for the ideas - I originally stopped playing and buying stuff back when Mirrodin came out, thus I'm not familiar with all the new stuff.
I still have a bunch of Dance of the Dead lieing around, but will have to dig through my friend's collections for the cards you have suggested - gonna give it a try!
After having dug up my cards again, I disposed of my R/B Machine Head deck, which I didn't really get to work, and transformed it into a Dragon Reanimator deck. This is what I've got so far:
Just wanted to drop by and say that your 'project' - if you wanna call it that way - is awesome!
I also was looking for a way to teach newbies (such as my GF) MTG, but my Legacy decks are way too complicated for someone never having played a TCG. Your decks look like a great starting point and I will continue following your optimizations!
While my current Rock deck is pretty straightforward, consisting of discard, tons of mana acceleration and Spiritmongers / Pernicious Deed to shut down the opponent, it plays a bit boring and repetitive. To spice things up, I thought about adding some White to the mix:
I've been thinking of building a B/U control deck for multiplayer games centered around Spreading Plague to control the board state and go for artifacts / artifact creatures, being immune to the Plague.
This is a very rough and quick outline of what I was thinking about, with tons of room for improvements.
Already did some of the changes you suggested, the big problem is that I stopped playing with the end of Onslaught - while I have a pretty huge collection of old stuff, I miss all the new ones, and won't get my hands on em anytime soon I guess. Which is sad, since the War Monk looks incredibly awesome!
Having cut the Armadillo Cloak I still would live to add some form of life-gain into the deck other than Treva...
With some friends picking up on MTG I decided to return to it after roughly 15 years of absence (stopped playing with the release of Mirrodin) and discovered the (at least to me) "new" EDH/Commander format, which I find to be immensely interesting as a Multiplayer format!
Did some research on how this whole format works, its rules and read some tutorials on how to build a proper deck.
I don't own any of those post Onslaught cards and know I might be horribly outclassed by the power level of newer cards, but to get a hang of the format I'd like to start with building an EDH deck with the old cards I still own and give it a try.
Loved the flavour of the Invasion block back in the days and decided to go with a Domain deck featuring Cromat as its Commander.
I would greatly appreciate any tips on how to improve general deckbuilding (like how many lands of which type, amount of mana accelerators/fixers, ...) and possible improvements to the Deck I've built specifically. And since I've got no experience with and never played EDH, I guess there will be tons of room for improvements!
So many ideas and options... Army Ants are a great idea too, used to own lots of them back in the days, though I never really played 'em then...
To blow this thing up even more, I've stumbled over this Championship Deck from Janosch, which is looking extremely interesting and would bring us back to R/G Land Destruction, though ditching the Magnivore:
Karplusan Forest sure would be an upgrade over the Hollows and 2x Strip Mine would fit in as well, still need to get my hands on them though. Thought about weaving in Flametongue Kavu, what could be dropped for it though? Would it be even necessary?
Tvtyrant, what exactly would the "Loam route" be? Do you mean Life from the Loam? Interesting, but without any other form of graveyard-extraction, wouldn't this lead to too much discard?
I also like Befoul and Dingus Egg, although the Egg might be a bit unnecessary, when Magnivore is supposed to deal the finishing blow damage wise?
I through in 2x Befoul for the 2x Blackmails, but i still feel the B/R version might be a bit slow still?
Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys, much to consider!
First off, I wouldn't wanna go Mono - though it might be more efficient, it just lacks the variety and fun of Multicolored decks for me personally.
Going Red/White is an interesting idea as well, I will go and have a look if I could build something with the cards I have left, there's 2 or 3 Armageddons left for shure!
I like the current version, but it indeed needs to be faster - Llanowar Elves will be subbed for the Elders, although I feel that there's still some card draw missing!
Another idea I had was to go B/R keeping Magnivore and Land Destruction and adding forms of Discard - or could this be wanting too much?
Thought of something like this:
Got another deck I'm currently rebuilding, but I gotta admit I'm quite struggling on this one. It's supposed to be a Sorcery-based land destruction deck featuring Magnivore, but I feel that it's still lacking quite a bit. Does anyone maybe have an idea on how to improve/change this one?
I kinda feel that it's missing some kind of draw mechanic, i was thinking about Browbeat there, further increasing the pressure on the opponent should he choose to take the damage, but don't know what I should cut for it - maybe 2x Call of the Herd?
I know that Shivan Oasis and Mogg Hollows ain't the best dual lands, but that's all I got at the moment...
Noose Constrictor is an interesting option, though I feel it's redundant to Wild Mongrel which I feel is a tad superior, giving the option to gain immunity to color-specific spells.
Honored Hydra on the other hand is a definite upgrade over Roar, mean thingy! But... did Wizards run out of ideas that they renamed Flashback and put in on creatures? :-D
Rebuilding more and more of my older decks, currently sitting at my old U/G Madness Threshold deck, which used to be a lot of fun. Would love to hear some modern ideas about it, since I'm still not very fond yet of all the stuff post Onslaught cycle.
Thanks for the ideas - I originally stopped playing and buying stuff back when Mirrodin came out, thus I'm not familiar with all the new stuff.
I still have a bunch of Dance of the Dead lieing around, but will have to dig through my friend's collections for the cards you have suggested - gonna give it a try!
After having dug up my cards again, I disposed of my R/B Machine Head deck, which I didn't really get to work, and transformed it into a Dragon Reanimator deck. This is what I've got so far:
4 Putrid Imp
4 Bladewing's Thrall
2 Bladewing the Risen
2 Shivan Dragon
2 Rorix Bladewing
4 Animate Dead
Instant
4 Dark Ritual
4 Terminate
Sorcery
4 Duress
4 Exhume
4 Buried Alive
4 Mountain
12 Swamp
4 Sulfurous Springs
2 Shadowblood Ridge
It's fun to play so far, but doesn't feel too reliable. Another idea was to give it a more controlly touch and go for U/B:
4 Bladewing's Thrall
4 Quicksilver Dragon
2 Ebon Dragon
Enchantment
4 Animate Dead
4 Undermine
4 Frantic Search
Sorcery
4 Duress
4 Exhume
4 Buried Alive
4 Careful Study
7 Island
9 Swamp
2 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Underground River
What do you guys think? Would love to hear some feedback!
I also was looking for a way to teach newbies (such as my GF) MTG, but my Legacy decks are way too complicated for someone never having played a TCG. Your decks look like a great starting point and I will continue following your optimizations!
While my current Rock deck is pretty straightforward, consisting of discard, tons of mana acceleration and Spiritmongers / Pernicious Deed to shut down the opponent, it plays a bit boring and repetitive. To spice things up, I thought about adding some White to the mix:
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Yavimaya Elder
2 Necravolver
4 Spectral Lynx
4 Spiritmonger
2 Armadillo Cloak
2 Pernicious Deed
4 Phyrexian Arena
Sorcery
4 Duress
4 Gerrard's Verdict
2 Vindicate
3 Plains
4 Swamp
5 Forest
4 Brushland
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Llanowar Wastes
I just get the feeling from playing around with the Hand Draw Simulator, that the mana base could need some improvement...
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Spectral Lynx
1 Desolation Angel
2 Dromar, the Banisher
Enchantment
2 Collective Restraint
1 Yawgmoth's Agenda
4 Absorb
4 Recoil
2 Repulse
4 Dromar's Charm
Sorcery
2 Lobotomy
4 Probe
2 Vindicate
5 Island
4 Plains
3 Adarkar Wastes
3 Underground River
4 Swamp
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Grand Coliseum
I'm still unsure about the Manabase though...
I've been thinking of building a B/U control deck for multiplayer games centered around Spreading Plague to control the board state and go for artifacts / artifact creatures, being immune to the Plague.
This is a very rough and quick outline of what I was thinking about, with tons of room for improvements.
Would love to hear you thoughts and ideas!
1x Karn, Silver Golem
3x Phyrexian Colossus
2x Shield Sphere
Instants:
4x Undermine
2x Capsize
4x Whispers of the Muse
1x Tinker
2x Argivian Restoration
Enchantments:
4x Spreading Plague
4x Propaganda
Artifacts:
1x Sol Ring
4x Worn Powerstone
4x Voltaic Key
2x Thran Dynamo
2x Crystal Vein
2x Stalking Stones
4x Underground River
8x Island
6x Swamp
Already did some of the changes you suggested, the big problem is that I stopped playing with the end of Onslaught - while I have a pretty huge collection of old stuff, I miss all the new ones, and won't get my hands on em anytime soon I guess. Which is sad, since the War Monk looks incredibly awesome!
Having cut the Armadillo Cloak I still would live to add some form of life-gain into the deck other than Treva...
Back with another deck... My girlfriend wanted to learn Magic (weee!), saw Treva in my collection and demanded to get a deck built around him. ;-)
This is what I've come up with in a hurry, some kind of controlly build.
3x Treva, the Renewer
4x Mystic Snake
4x Ravenous Baloth
4x Utopia Tree
2x Sunscape Familiar
Instants:
3x Repulse
3x Exclude
4x Treva's Charm
4x Temporal Spring
3x Deep Analysis
Enchantments:
2x Collective Restraint
Land:
3x Yavimaya Coast
2x Adarkar Wastes
1x Sungrass Prairie
1x Grand Coliseum
7x Forest
6x Island
4x Plains
With some friends picking up on MTG I decided to return to it after roughly 15 years of absence (stopped playing with the release of Mirrodin) and discovered the (at least to me) "new" EDH/Commander format, which I find to be immensely interesting as a Multiplayer format!
Did some research on how this whole format works, its rules and read some tutorials on how to build a proper deck.
I don't own any of those post Onslaught cards and know I might be horribly outclassed by the power level of newer cards, but to get a hang of the format I'd like to start with building an EDH deck with the old cards I still own and give it a try.
Loved the flavour of the Invasion block back in the days and decided to go with a Domain deck featuring Cromat as its Commander.
I would greatly appreciate any tips on how to improve general deckbuilding (like how many lands of which type, amount of mana accelerators/fixers, ...) and possible improvements to the Deck I've built specifically. And since I've got no experience with and never played EDH, I guess there will be tons of room for improvements!
1x Cromat
Creatures:
1x Draco
1x Spiritmonger
1x Desolation Angel
1x Gurzigost
1x Mystic Snake
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Utopia Tree
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Desolation Giant
1x Reya Dawnbringer
1x Radiant Kavu
1x Tsabo Tavoc
1x Crosis, the Purger
1x Darigaaz, the Igniter
1x Dromar, the Banisher
1x Rith, the Awakener
1x Treva, the Renewer
1x Genesis
1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Instants:
1x Allay
1x Shattering Pulse
1x Whispers of the Muse
1x Spinal Embrace
1x Capsize
Sorceries:
1x Global Ruin
1x Harrow
1x Rampant Growth
1x Far Wanderings
1x Insurrection
1x Vindicate
1x Restock
1x Savage Twister
1x Collective Restraint
1x Overgrown Estate
1x Pernicious Deed
1x Spirit of Resistance
1x Rancor
1x Rhystic Study
1x Aura Shards
1x Propaganda
1x Fervent Charge
1x Fires of Yavimaya
1x Yavimaya's Embrace
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Powerstone Minefield
1x Armadillo Cloak
Artifacts:
1x Predator, Flagship
1x Legacy Weapon
1x Planar Portal
1x Sol Ring
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Chromatic Sphere
1x Mana Cylix
1x Star Compass
1x Bloodstone Cameo
1x Drake-Skull Cameo
1x Seashell Cameo
1x Tigereye Cameo
1x Troll-Horn Cameo
Lands:
8x Forest
3x Mountain
3x Island
3x Swamp
3x Plains
1x Grand Coliseum
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Underground River
1x Sulfurous Springs
1x Karplusan Forest
1x Brushland
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Shivan Reef
1x Llanowar Wastes
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Yavimaya Coast
1x Terminal Moraine
1x School of the Unseen
1x Bad River
1x Flood Plain
1x Grasslands
1x Mountain Valley
1x Rocky Tar Pit
1x Mossfire Valley
1x Sungrass Prairie
To blow this thing up even more, I've stumbled over this Championship Deck from Janosch, which is looking extremely interesting and would bring us back to R/G Land Destruction, though ditching the Magnivore:
4x Avalanche Riders
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Blastoderm
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Masticore
2x Priest of Titania
4x Arc Lightning
1x Creeping Mold
4x Plow Under
4x Stone Rain
Enchantments:
2x Saproling Burst
1x Phyrexian Processor
Lands:
2x Dust Bowl
10x Forest
4x Karplusan Forest
4x Mountain
4x Rishadan Port
From what I own, I thought about something like this:
4x Avalanche Riders
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Ravenous Baloth
4x Llanowar Elves
2x Savage Firecat
4x Arc Lightning
2x Creeping Mold
2x Hammer of Bogardan
4x Plow Under
4x Stone Rain
2x Saproling Burst
2x Fires of Yavimaya
Lands:
4x Mogg Hollows
10x Forest
8x Mountain
Karplusan Forest sure would be an upgrade over the Hollows and 2x Strip Mine would fit in as well, still need to get my hands on them though. Thought about weaving in Flametongue Kavu, what could be dropped for it though? Would it be even necessary?
I also like Befoul and Dingus Egg, although the Egg might be a bit unnecessary, when Magnivore is supposed to deal the finishing blow damage wise?
I through in 2x Befoul for the 2x Blackmails, but i still feel the B/R version might be a bit slow still?
First off, I wouldn't wanna go Mono - though it might be more efficient, it just lacks the variety and fun of Multicolored decks for me personally.
Going Red/White is an interesting idea as well, I will go and have a look if I could build something with the cards I have left, there's 2 or 3 Armageddons left for shure!
I like the current version, but it indeed needs to be faster - Llanowar Elves will be subbed for the Elders, although I feel that there's still some card draw missing!
Another idea I had was to go B/R keeping Magnivore and Land Destruction and adding forms of Discard - or could this be wanting too much?
Thought of something like this:
4x Magnivore
4x Avalanche Riders
2x Blazing Specter
Sorceries:
4x Stone Rain
4x Pain // Suffering
4x Slice and Dice
4x Firebolt
4x Duress
2x Diabolic Tutor
2x Befoul
4x Chainer's Edict
2x Strip Mine
4x Sulfurous Springs
4x Cinder Marsh
6x Mountain
6x Swamp
Got another deck I'm currently rebuilding, but I gotta admit I'm quite struggling on this one. It's supposed to be a Sorcery-based land destruction deck featuring Magnivore, but I feel that it's still lacking quite a bit. Does anyone maybe have an idea on how to improve/change this one?
I kinda feel that it's missing some kind of draw mechanic, i was thinking about Browbeat there, further increasing the pressure on the opponent should he choose to take the damage, but don't know what I should cut for it - maybe 2x Call of the Herd?
I know that Shivan Oasis and Mogg Hollows ain't the best dual lands, but that's all I got at the moment...
Thanks!
4x Magnivore
4x Avalanche Riders
2x Yavimaya Elder
Sorceries:
4x Stone Rain
4x Winter's Grasp
4x Slice and Dice
4x Volcanic Hammer
4x Firebolt
4x Call of the Herd
4x Rampant Growth
4x Shivan Oasis
4x Mogg Hollows
7x Mountain
7x Forest
Noose Constrictor is an interesting option, though I feel it's redundant to Wild Mongrel which I feel is a tad superior, giving the option to gain immunity to color-specific spells.
Honored Hydra on the other hand is a definite upgrade over Roar, mean thingy! But... did Wizards run out of ideas that they renamed Flashback and put in on creatures? :-D
Rebuilding more and more of my older decks, currently sitting at my old U/G Madness Threshold deck, which used to be a lot of fun. Would love to hear some modern ideas about it, since I'm still not very fond yet of all the stuff post Onslaught cycle.
4x Wild Mongrel
4x Aquamoeba
4x Arrogant Wurm
4x Basking Rootwalla
2x Wonder
Instants:
4x Circular Logic
2x Mana Leak
4x Aether Burst
1x Moment's Peace
4x Careful Study
2x Roar of the Wurm
2x Deep Analysis
1x Quiet Speculation
Land:
4x Yavimaya Coast
7x Island
7x Forest
2x Centaur Garden
2x Cephalid Coliseum
EDIT:
After some playtesting I ditched the Threshold portion of the deck and went straight for Madness!