MTG Salvation

I actually feel like I got a steal on one of these repacks today. Mine contained a sealed in box copy of the "Spirit Flames" deck from Saviors of Kamigawa, the 60-card deck included with the Archenemy product "Trample Civilization Underfoot", and the 100-card decks included in the Commander products "Devour for Power" and "Political Puppets". Just one of those Commander decks retails at $30, granted they include oversized foils of the Commanders in the decks. Two is gravy (one each for my wife and I!!!) and the Archenemy deck packs a few nice EDH cards like Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Primal Command. I wouldn't have touched those other ones with 4 random precons though for $30.

I've been pondering this for a few days and I'm gonna go ahead and put this up for you guys to blast at.

I came up with a format I like to call Guild Wars, of course named after my favorite MMORPG. It is a Ravnica Block Constructed format that is limited to only cards of a specific guild watermark.

Confused? Okay, let me lay out the rules.


Guild Wars

• Constructed Casual Format
• Minimum 60 cards, no maximum deck size
• Typical deck construction rules apply (no more than 4 of a non-basic land card and such)
• Before you build, choose a guild.
• Your deck can contain only basic lands that provide your guild's colors and cards with the watermark of your chosen guild. (This includes colorless and land cards. For example, Azorius can use Hallowed Fountain and Azorius Signet. Rakdos can use Rakdos Carnarium and Rakdos Riteknife. This also includes Dissension's split cards, but you may only use the half that has your guild's watermark. For example, Izzet can use the Development half of Research//Development, but not the Research half.)
• Your deck must contain at least one copy of a legendary creature with your guild's watermark.
• A banned/restricted list has not been made, but may be if the format begins to become solved/stale or if cards become totally broken in the card pool available.

I will be posting an official list of what cards are legal in what guilds for those of you who do not understand what I mean by guild watermarks.

Mark Rosewater said that the Return to Ravnica block is going to play well with the Ravnica block, which is exactly why I'm making this format as a way to combine the two in a fun way come October. Also, this format will get people back in the Ravnica spirit, which I know is one of the most cherished blocks in MTG history.

If you'd like to give Guild Wars a try, friend me on MTGO (username: The_DK) and PM me if you see me online. Also, feel free to play amongst yourselves and leave some feedback on how the games go and suggestions that you might come up with as well.

Have fun guys!

I think both cards there are great suggestions and I've more or less settled on G/W Plants w/ Treefollk. Reach seems like an awesome card for this.

More good suggestions there, zzzxya. I'm looking through a lot of options for the plant deck right now and I'm coming up with G/W feeling the most natural. (Plants with the power of the sun on their side. :D)

I'm also more and more tempted to break norms for these community decks as long as we keep the cost low. I love Avenger of Zendikar, but I also like the possibility of Garruk Wildspeaker and Tree of Redemption.

I think Plants + Saprolings + Fungi is a very interesting way to go. Also Plants + Treefolk. But I can't seem to find a good balance including all four so I might be trying one of each to see how we go from here. Either way G/W stands out as a terrific color combo. White picked up a few Thallids of its own back in Time Spiral and allows for the awesome Photohydra. White is also the secondary color of the Treefolk in the Lorwyn block.

I'm putting off Zombies for the moment because it's too easy to build competitive B/U deck. What I'd like to get an awesomely made Plants deck, then build a Zombie deck specifically made to match the power level of the Plants deck. Seems like the best course of action I can think of.

EDIT: Thanks for testing Tahotai! I really feel that Tranquilo is onto something with the B/U Zombies deck, but G/B Plants feels awkward to me. Maybe that's just me though. Glad to see Avenger is doing as expected. Have a few ideas for Zombies, such as Mikaeus, the Unhallowed being a proper retort to Avenger of Zendikar and a nice finisher as well. I agree with the addition of some removal in the Zombies deck.

@Winddancer As with Garruk, we're gonna have to decide as a community whether or not we can break the norm of one mythic per deck. It's definitely a possibility, thanks for the input.

@urweak Wow. Didn't realize I'd been beat to the punch quite a few times already. But it seems like no one ever really produced a final product that they were completely satisfied with which is what we still aim to be the first to do. Regardless, these links are great. There's a lot to work with from these threads even though they aren't very recent. Still an excellent find!

@zzzxya thanks for the suggestions. Svogthos is a bit of a wildcard at the moment. I'm not completely sold on the B/G color combo for either deck. Obviously plants are green and zombies are black. Meshing one while the other must fend for itself just doesn't feel right at the moment. This may come to change in time though.

Harmonize was one I haven't thought of yet. Would be a definite inclusion for plants.

As for Garruk and Liliana, they could be tested. I suppose a community deck could break tradition because I really think Avenger of Zendikar is an auto-include in Plants. Two mythics per deck isn't the norm for Wizards, but we could see how well they work and make an exception for a community duel deck set.

Brewing my own first drafts as I post this. Will be posting soon! Thanks for the input so far everyone and keep it up!

@artscrafter Excellent suggestions. The Trailblazer does indeed make a lot of sense but if we decide to go 2 colors for each deck as was suggested by Tranquilo then the triple black cost may be too prohibitive. We'll see how it goes there. Cobbled Wings is an excellent idea too. Love how it ties in with the balloon zombie. Endless Ranks can be a good card that will certainly fit well in the deck, balance being my only concern, short of a few Naturalize effects on the plant side.

@Tranquilo Love the drafts. There's a bit less variety (one-ofs) thank most duel decks, but it is a great starting point. When I get home tonight, I'll build these and try to get a test in somehow and let you know what I think.

Keep those entries coming!

Glad to see someone has jumped on the idea. Thanks for the input MatPress. Grave Bramble was a very obvious inclusion once I looked it up. Basically the Zombies would have to burn a removal to get rid of it. Severed Legion actually does feel in theme for me. The Zombies that dig under, swim under, and float over your Plants really remind me of this guy. I'm gonna post a rough draft of my own soon so keep checking in. I'll need someone to test with me.

Hi all. I haven't posted on here in quite a while. Been bouncing in and out of Magic from time to time. Recently, I've been writing a few articles here and there for PureMTGO.com (you'll find me as "The D.K." on there). Mostly I write about budget fun decks, which has always been what I've played since I started Magic back in the days of Judgment. Well, recently my wife and I were driving and both of us had a strange yet awesome idea for a fan-brewed Duel Deck set:



For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last few years, Plants vs. Zombies (or PvZ) is one of casual-game megamind Popcap's new IPs. Popcap has a way of making casual games that can appeal to hardcore gamers while just about any other company fails to make us even get past the introduction. With games like Peggle and Bejeweled that excel at killing time quicker than you can say "EXTREME FEVER!" with Ode to Joy playing in the background, it's no surprise that PvZ caught on so quickly.

Plants vs. Zombies is a tower-defense game. You use solar power to plant flora who are able to defeat, defend you from, or support against the hordes of brain-hungry zombies desparately trying to cross your lawn and make it inside of your house to chow down on your gray matter. It has a quirkyness to it that lends itself to casual gamers, but the meme-ability, depth, and challenge of the title is where hardcore gamers strike gold. (What meme-ability? Look up the music video "Zombies on Your Lawn" on YouTube. You'll be singing it for weeks.)

Turns out that plants and zombies can be found pretty easily throughout the available cards of Magic. If you accept Treefolk and Saprolings as plants, you can make a good deck out of each as well. So, naturally, the idea just sprung forward one night after I played a little PvZ.

Like I said though, I like to write for PureMTGO, and any excuse I can find to do so is just awesome. So I had the idea to start making Community Duel Decks, fan-made decks that are built to have evenly matched duels against each other just like the ones Wizards puts out twice a year now. So now is the time to put the assignment out there: Help become a part of the first CDD!

Here's what we need:

1) First drafts: Think you got a good idea on how to build the two decks yourself? Send them to me in a PM or post them here to be discussed immediately by the community. Any deck ideas will be important to the creation process. They give a sense of what belongs in deck according to most players and what feels the most natural. They also provide a nice starting point to work with.

2) Critiquing of drafts: Individual insight on certain card choices and themes will help immensely on deciding what is right and wrong.

3) Suggestions: Got a card you think has been overlooked that you want to be included? Tell us what and why! If you can make a case, it can be tried and possibly used in the final product.

4) Testers: These decks are designed to be inexpensive, so any testers shouldn't have much problems obtaining the cards to try it out. And of course there are the "free" programs as well. Real testing is the bread and butter of finding out what works and what won't, and also helps in balancing the power levels of the two decks.

5) Anything else you think you can help with! If you can come up with some way to be of assistance, let us know! All people associated with this project will be acknowledged, no matter how miniscule their effort.

Before you get to jumping in though, I want to go over a few key points of Duel Deck design.

1) Balance: The two decks are always designed to give each player (assuming equal player strength) an even chance of winning. If one deck is consistently more powerful, the product will only be enjoyable for the powerful deck pilot.

2) Variety: There are always a lot of one-ofs and just a smattering of two-ofs in most Duel Decks. This drives a high amount of variety, ensuring most games don't end the same way almost every single time.

3) Nostalgia: Duel Decks aren't afraid to reach way back in time to grab some of the oldest cards in Magic history if they fit the theme of the deck. Don't worry about formats. The only format is how well the decks play against each other.

4) Theme: Duel Decks always adhere to a theme. While you don't have to slavishly adhere all 60 to the overall theme of the deck, if a card is too far out of flavor, it'll stick out like a sore thumb.

5) Obtainability/Value: Duel Decks aren't really known for their profitablility. Sure Elspeth plus 119 other cards was awesome, but look at the others and you're pretty much coming out even or under the amount of money you paid for the cards. The decks are supposed to be easy to build with your own money. No uber expenive cards is the norm.

If you can think of any other guidelines (such as the usual Rare/Uncommon/Common count) let me know and I'll edit them in up here.

That's about all I can think of for now. This lead post will evolve along with the community's progress on the project. I look forward to any brews and suggestions! Hopefully this project will take off. See you guys later!

Flavor-wise, Commander Eesha is really the leader of the birds, but in practice (and in serious EDH gameplay) would fall short compared to the likes of Soraya and Kangee.

New to the game and you own a playset of Wraths??? O.o I've been playing for years and haven't owned ONE.

Either way, it looks alright... But there is a thread in the competitive forum about this same deck. Check it out for some help.

Thought so. Thanks Jack.

That's what I thought. Too bad people in backwoods Mississippi don't believe any rules that aren't in their favor. I hate stupid people.

Just to double check that I have the rules right...

If I were to block a creature with Loyal Sentry and Momentary Blink it while its triggered ability is on the stack, would the blocked creature be the only one destroyed?

I've heard deviations. Some say both die, some say neither dies. But I thought since Sentry comes back into play as a new creature, it wouldn't be destroyed.

Am I right in thinking the blocked creature would die and the Sentry wouldn't?

Okay, I tried W/G. No draw power and a horrible curve. Harmonize didn't do much either. So I'm back to W/U. Here's the deck. (I found out how expensive Deserts really are so Quicksands it is...)



Any improvements on this build?

Quote from pokerbob1

I would consider Desert or Quicksand in the mana base as early defense if you don't get the combo up fast enough.

I always liked the play of flipping Akroma, Angel of Fury with Momentary Blink. That strategy would want you to play more moprhs though so people don't know what is coming. Maybe a Willbender in the board to stop Sudden Death on the Magus.

This is what I wanted. Someone who wouldn't force me to run another color. So let's see. Deserts in my opinion are better than Quicksand as they're reusable, so maybe I can try a few copies. Akroma flip was in my mind after reading Ben Bleiweiss' A Blink In Time deck on mtg.com. But I don't know what to take out. Akroma, Angel of Wrath is not coming out any time soon, it beats face way too well after resetting, and I'm skeptical about taking them down to one copy... Ironically, we live in Mississippi so no one here runs a sideboard. Willbender main might be a decent idea, but again, its issue is what to take out. I can't wait until these guys actually understand that even though they're registered with the DCI, if we don't have 8+ people best-2-out-of-3 match tourneys, our ratings will NEVER change. Thanks for your help Pokerbob.