I find the Mana curve too high for my taste, with only two 4 Mana ramping spell, that only searches for Nissa at that point...
CMC 1: 6 Cards
CMC 2: 7 Cards
CMC 3: 11 Cards
CMC 4: 4 Cards
CMC 5: 5 Cards
CMC 6+: 4 Cards
TOTAL: 37 Cards
I see that you have too many high CMC spells, that will see too much late play
I might want to add some Removal spells: If you want to teach somebody to play, you should teach them how to deal with the cards of your opponent, even if it is only a 1 for 1 card. If you go for the budget way, maybe a Divine Verdict, Immolating Glare or Rebuke.
I do not see that much Life gain to have an excuse to have Felidar Sovereign. I know it is a Cat Tribal deck, but that is the card that does not fit the theme as much.
Also Nissa and the spell to search for her does not fit the theme...
Also, the deck dies to evasion Creatures (Flying)
I would add some Creatures to help against this strategy: Qasali Ambusher if you want to teach the Keywords Reach and Flash Leonin Skyhunter cheap both in Mana and money for a Cat with evasion Kemba's Skyguard if you want to add some Life gain for the Sovereign Skyhunter Skirmisher if you want to teach what Fist Strike and Double Strike is
If you do not want to go through the Life gain route, Savannah Lions is much better than Sacred Cat, and you get rid of the new ability, Embalm, that might confuse the new player
Just some ideas
Please, feel free to dismantle them and tell me why they do not fit what you wanted for this deck
Edit: Added the bars to represent better the Mana Curve
I am making some decks using only Common and Uncommon cards, since I am away from my home country and I do not have access to all of my cards.
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
I would like this deck to be from Kaladesh and so on (AEther Revolt, Amonkhet & Hour of Devastation, for now)
Easy: Ramp and Bash
Use Mana Creatures and other spells to ramp into big threats
Then, cast any Creature with Rhonas's Monument on the Battlefield to bash with huge Trampling damage Creatures
This deck is almost self explained
I am making some decks using only Common and Uncommon cards, since I am away from my home country and I do not have access to all of my cards.
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
Looks pretty good for what it is. Why not throw in a couple copies of harnessed lightning to take advantage of the energy that the champions and chasers grant you (and to possibly give them more resources if your non-rare format is light on kill)?
First of all, thank you very much for replying, Rosy Dumplings.
I like the idea. I will try to get my hands on them, although they do not have any left at the store I usually attend to...
I believe the best spot to replace would be the Magma Spray
I would like to find a replacement for Sure Strike, Uncaged Fury and Strider Harness for when BFZ-OGW-SOI-EMN rotates... Do you have any suggestion, please?
I am making some decks using only Common and Uncommon cards, since I am away from my home country and I do not have access to all of my cards.
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
This deck is based on the Improvise mechanic
I like playing Two-Color decks, and going Grixis would hurt the Mana base a lot...
Full set of Bone Saws and Cathar's Shields to use Improvise a lot Inventor's Goggles is a 1 CMC Artifact (Which helps Improvise Ramping) that attaches to 12 of the 14 Creatures in this deck for free Pacification Array is helpful for controlling the board and big threats until the Player "improvises" his/her strategy Consulate Dreadnought is a big finisher just in case that our improvised Creatures cannot deal with everything by themselves Reverse Engineer is a cheap Card Draw spell Shock against pesky small Creatures or maybe Planeswalkers Metallic Rebuke against big threats and mass removals Brute Strength provides Trample to help damaging the opponent in case of chump blockers
Creatures: Sweatworks Brawler: Menace dude, difficult to block, with Brute Strength Maverick Thopterist: Artificer that provides Flying tokens to chump block or attack with evasion, that also help to "improvise" Bastion Inventor: Hexproof. Big dude. Use Brute Strength to deal Damage with it. Gearseeker Serpent: Cheap to summon due to the big amount of Artifacts in the deck. Unblockable in the late game.
Thoughts:
1.- I do not know if having only 2x Shock, 2x Brute Strength and 2x Metallic Rebuke is enough... But lowering the number of cheap artifacts will ruin the improvise strategy
2.- The Creatures, without the Goggles, are quite small for their CMC
3.- I believe that Reverse Engineer is really good, but if I add more, the number of combat tricks to help my Creatures will not be enough.
4.- Open into Wonder will allow me to Alpha Strike with all my Creatures... But I do not know if it is worth the slot... Maybe blocking until I have the Mana to do it?
5.- I managed to get a playset of the Freejam Regent, but I am not so sure about them... Maybe replacing the Bastion Inventors?
The "maybe" board are the cards that I have to try...
I want to keep it in a very cheap budget
I usually buy cards from a pile of Commons & Uncommons that there is at the store, so I do not expect to find anything very useful there...
I am making some decks using only Common and Uncommon cards, since I am away from my home country and I do not have access to all of my cards.
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
What do you think, guys?
Any thoughts?
I would like to find a replacement for Sure Strike, Uncaged Fury and Strider Harness for when BFZ-OGW-SOI-EMN rotates... Do you have any suggestion, please?
Thank you for your Time in reading this post
(EDIT: Typo in Brute Strength for Brute Force... Dah (u_u))
Instead of haste you might want to focus on the first strike. Something like Kight of the Meadowgrain or Leonin Shikari would give another first strike + lifelink creature. Whats the budget for this? Jitte would be amazing here.
I have the same thoughts...
First Strike is better for the Lifegain of the Lone Rider
And Bonesplitter is better First Strike than with Haste, I agree that Sai of the Shinobi is better with Haste...
But I feel that the First Strike approach is better, and it fits the theme of the Lone Rider
Maybe this can help for the image of the Slime Mitotic Slime
To do so, inside the CARD tag, you need to write an equals '=' a tube '|' and the name of the expansion, for instance 'Magic 2011 (M11)'
So this card tag will look like:
For the sideboard, I would have a Mold Shambler, maybe... Or run 2 in Main, just in case.
Since you cast it with Descendants' Path, you can always kick it, just in case
The problem I see is that you have 8 cards that cost 5 Mana... You might have lost when you can cast them.
I believe you need a way to survive until you get your Mycoloth, for instance Feed the Clan or Life Goes On
Well, as I said before, here is my analysis or Amonkhet Zombies
(Should I merge it with the previous post? If that is required, I will do it and a Moderator can delete this post)
We have 15 Zombies in Amonkhet (I do not count the Embalm Creatures)
1.- Blighted Bat Another Flying Zombie. This one can get Haste, and that makes it interesting. I value them almost the same as Carrion Crow
2.- Cursed Minotaur 3/2 for 3 Mana. They are switching from Fear, to Intimidate and to Menace... They do not like the old evasion abilities, it seems. I like this Zombie. Menace is a powerful ability; maybe less powerful than Fear/Intimidate, but still good.
3.- Dessicated Naga 3/2 for 3 Mana with a conditional drain activated ability. Just interesting, but not anything out of this world.
4.- Festering Mummy Our new Festering goblin but with a resilient -1/-1 on a Creature of an opponent. Much better than the Festering Goblin and its cousin Shambling Goblin
5.- Dread Wanderer Our new Gravecrawler 2.0, hehe! Good thing, you do not cast it from the Graveyard, so it cannot be countered. Bad thing, costs 3 to recover from the Graveyard, and also requires you to have almost no Hand. It enters the Battlefield tapped, so it cannot block the first turn, Gravecrawler could.
6.- Gravedigger It is back! (Copy-Paste of the OP) Returns a zombie from your grave to your hand, not much used, except for specific decks like Korlash, since there are faster cards that have the same function. For me, wonderful for Limited. In Constructed, it is a little bit different... It is too expensive, from my point of view. I would rather use Lord of the Undead or Unholy Grotto for the same result.
7.- Lord of the Accursed NEW LORD! OMG, OMG, OMG! Stop the Hype... Buffs the Zombies. Check. Extra Ability. Check. It is a 2/2... Wait! it is a 2/3! So, with another Lord, it can resist a Lightning Bolt. Nice! Its activated ability is wonderful. the same, they are switching from Fear/Intimidate to Menace
8.- Miasmic Mummy 2/2 for 2 Mana. Ability that could be a drawback or a plus, depending on your strategy.
9.- Plague Belcher At worst, it is a 3/2 Menace for 3 Mana. At best, it is a 5/4. In both cases, whenever one of your Zombies dies, each of your opponents loses 1 Life. So, if the two -1/-1 counters kill one of your own Zombies, you already drain your opponent. Use the counters on Creatures that can returnfrom the Graveyard, or tokens, or have DeathTriggers.
10.- Tattered Mummy I definitely like this Zombie. Wonderful in Multiplayer or to use in a Horde deck.
1.- Binding Mummy Wonderful Grizzly Bears in White that lets you tap blockers. Great in Black-White Zombies
2.- Fan Bearer Great in Limited. Wonderful card for constructed Control deck. Tap their Creatures before they attack. Avoid an attack and get rid of one blocker.
3.- Sparring Mummy 3/3 for 4 Mana. Hill Giant that untaps one Creature. Interesting, but not good unless you want to activate an ability of a Creature twice in a turn and enough Mana.
4.- Those Who Serve 2/4 for 3 Mana. Vanilla. Nothing special to see here.
1.- Wayward Servant Each Opponent lose one Life and you only gain 1 Life in total in Multiplayer. But thetrigger is for each Zombie that enters the Battlefield, not when you cast a Zombie spell. So it works wonderful with tokens.
So, Hour of Devastation comes out this week (I Hope I can post about the cards of that set even if it is not out yet)
We have a bunch of new Zombies and I would like to share my thoughts on them, both for Casual gameplay (My favourite format) as for other formats.
These are some of my opinions, and I would like to share them with you. I Hope you find them interesting and that they receive constructive criticism.
I will not mention any Creature with Eternalize, only the ones that are actually Zombies.
1.- Ammit Eternal Forces your Opponents to cast spells to kill it. 3 Damage for free when Blocked. Add Evasion to get profit by removing the -1/-1 counters. Is this a build around card? I think so, not so much for an Aggro deck, maybe for Aggro-Control (Lately known as Midrange)
2.- Merciless Eternal Helps filling the Graveyard in Graveyard-based Strategies. Activation cost a bit expensive for the effect. Still deals damage when blocked and can kill the blocking Creature if pumped. Alms of the Vein anyone?
3.- Accursed Horde 3/3 for 4 Mana, typocal Creature. Activated ability makes your Zombies though to deal with. Shame that it only works on attacking Zombies... But our mindless horde is what it knows to do best, isn't it? I really like this card.
4.- Moaning Wall Mostly for Control decks. Cycling can put it into your Graveyard to use it for a Graveyard-based Strategy without using another card.
5.- Khenra EternalWalking Corpse on steroids. Finally a 2/2 with a plus ability. I really like this card and its design. A Black Grizzly Bears with an ability! Thank you for this!
6.- Lurching Rotbeast 4/2 for 4 Mana. Another classic Black Creature. But it can be Cycled as Moaning Wall, but cheaper. Interesting card.
7.- Wretched Camel Too narrow for my point of view. 2/1 for one with an ability that needs to be built around. It does not make the cut for me.
8.- Marauding Boneslasher Strictly better Mindless Null. 3/3 for 3 Mana with, in a Zombie deck, almost no drawback. One of my favourites.
9.- Carrion Screecher How can an Aven fly without feathers? No flavor, from my point of view, but I find interesting that WOTC wants to create Flying zombies. Anyway, too much cost for a 3/1 body, in my opinion
1.- Disposal Mummy 2/3 for 3 Mana. Nothing out of usual. Sideboard card against Graveyard-based Strategies. Not much more to say
2.- Mummy Paramount This is interesting! Another Grizzly Bears for another color different than Black without a drawback. Well, that is typical in colors other than Black, but I wanted to point it out again, anyway. In a very aggressive deck, with low Mana Zombies, can be a goo threat. Resolve a Stir the Sands with this and laugh as the Desert engulfs your opponent.
3.- Dutiful Servants 2/5 for 4 Mana. Nothing to see here. Too high CMC for a Control Deck, Moaning Wall is better.
1.- Neheb, the Eternal Legendary. Big body for the Mana invested. Afflict will make its triggered ability to be useful even if it was not blocked. Must be on the Battlefield before the second Main Phase starts to get the Mana. Multiple Combat Phases provide multiple Mana triggers. Makes WONDERS with many Creatures with Afflict.
2.- Wildfire Eternal This Creature will force many triggers since Afflict 4 is VERY strong! Great for a Spell-based Strategy.
3.- Manticore EternalFire Elemental with an upside and a downside. Nothing special.
4.- Frontline Devastator Another Hill Giant with two interesting abilities; half-firebreathing and Afflict 2. I prefer Accursed Horde. But splashing Red can make this a nice card, although it has no tribal potential.
Were you expecting something here?
SERIOUSLY???
Not in Amonkhet, though...
1.- Eternal of Harsh Truths Good card draw engine. Beware that the trigger goes before Damage is dealt, so you can draw into a pump spell.
2.- Spellweaver Eternal 2/1 for 2 Mana with Prowess in Blue is typical. But Afflict gives it a wonderful twist... You can pump the Power of the Creature if they do not block it, or make opponents lose Life and kill their blocker using the pump spell if they do. Win-Win situation.
1.- Unraveling Mummy For me, this Creature and Accursed Horde are the ones that go PERFECTLY with the other Zombies, both in block and for Casual. Is my Zombie not blocked? It gets Lifelink to keep me alive next turn for your Attack. Do you block my Zombie? It gets Deathtouch to kill your blocker (If I have Accursed Horde, it also gets Indestructible, so only your Creature dies... And I did not use any card!)
Any thoughts?
I can also evaluate the cards from Amonkhet, I do not know if it has been done yet...
Getting rid of Lightning Axe let me had enough space for new removal, Fatal Push; with is good in game 1
And the final score was 4-0 in the swiss and 2-1 in the Top 8, losing the final because of a VERY BAD decision on a Transgress the Mind:
Opponent was playing Temur Energy (No Marvel)
I took out Glimmer of Genius instead of Glorybringer on turn 3, I played Liliana on turn 4, and I lost my Planeswalker (PW) on his turn 5 due to his Dragon (u_u)
I was having a HORRIBLE migraine since Round 4 of the Swiss, but that is no excuse: a bad decision is a bad decision.
That choice was game. If I kept the Liliana, he did not have Time to get a Torrential Gearhulk before my Ultimate on Liliana, since I had a removal in hand
I have big trouble when facing ramping decks into huge creatures, and Trial of Ambition was not helpful at all in any game, so I am going to remove them
I think I will require a bigger Creature on the sideboard, if I face a deck that has plenty of Magma Spray or Harnessed Lightning, or something to protect my Creatures or making them bigger; since Black-Red does not have any means of counter/protect against removal unless it is discarding
I also thought about Indulgent Aristocrat; but its purpose is completely different from the aim of this deck
The same applies to Vampire Cutthroat Asylum Visitor is nice, but this deck is more Midrange focused, not as aggressive as a deck with Stromkirk Condemned either
I also gave a thought about Legendary Vampires such as Drana, Liberator of Malakir or Yahenni, Undying Partisan, and I am more inclined for the Zendikary evasive Legend than to the Kaladesh AEtherborn...
First of all, thank you very much for replying to my message.
I know my deck is not a Tier 1, and I thought that people would laugh at it because of that, and that I would be told to be a very bad player due to that.
So, right now, after the Pro Tour, many people will be playing those three main decks:
1.- AEtherworks (Ulamog turn 4)
2.- Mardu Vehicles (Heart of Kiran)
3.- Mono Black or Black-White Zombies
They will also be playing Black-Green +1/+1 counters as you mention
Good day to you all!
Thank you for taking your Time reading this message.
I Hope I do not bother with this thread and I Hope that it is not repeated (I have checked and I have not found a place in which this Deck is represented in Standard)
Notes:
ETBF = Enters The Battlefield
SB = Sideboard
OP = Opening Post
PW = PlanesWalker
MVP = Most Valued Player
I used this deck and I won AEther Revolt Game Day:
And I would like to improve it for Amonkhet Game Day
Explanation of the Cards:
Creatures: Falkenrath Gorger: 2/1 for R. Gives Madness to Vampires without Madness so you can play in your opponent's turn. Heir of Falkenrath / Heir to the Night: Enables Madness. Evasion. Olivia, Mobilized for War: Playset because they want to get rid of her ASAP. Enables more Madness and bigger creatures with Haste. Bloodhall Priest: 4/4 beater for 3 CMC (Madness). Extra pinger if Hellbent Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: The best Vampire in Standard right now. Creates tokens to block and provides huge body with Lifelink. One of the MVP of the deck. When Origins was still available, using it with Rogue's Passage was AMAZING. Incorrigible Youths: 4/3 Haste for CMC of 3 if used with Madness. Haste has given me several important matches. Voldaren Pariah / Abolisher of Bloodlines: 3/3 with Evasion. I have not transformed it many Times, but as Olivia, opponents tend to use their removal spells on this Creature, so the deck can keep attacking with the other Creatures.
Spells: Lightning Axe: Removal for big threats. Enables Madness. Wonderful with Bloodhall Priest Key to the City: Enables Madness. Helps Unlicensed Disintegration. Makes Unblockable Creatures, like Kalitas Call the Bloodline: Enables Madness. Provides Blockers for Non-Trample non-Flying Creatures. Tokens to Sacrifice with Voldaren Pariah Grasp of Darkness: 2 CMC Removal at Instant Speed. Fiery Temper: Madness Lightning Bolt Unlicensed Disintegration: Unconditional Removal. Adds 3 points of damage due to Key to the City. If I did not have the Key, I would use Murder instead. Stensia Masquerade: First Strike to Attacking Vampires. If they block them, their Creatures die. If they do not, Vampires get bigger. Liliana, the Last Hope: One of this Planeswalker. They usually focus on it. I have mostly used her +1 ability. Several Times her -2. If I get to the Ultimate with Kalitas, I have an almost unbeatable Lifelink Creature that grows really fast.
Lands: Foreboding Ruins: Dual Land. Enough Swamps & Mountains so it ETBF untapped on first turn to summon a Falkenrath Gorger Smoldering Marsh: I think there are enough basic lands for this Dual Land. Blighted Fen: Uncounterable removal. Westvale Abbey / Ormendahl, Profane Prince: If the game overextends, create enough tokens to protect yourself and, maybe, transform it. Geier Reach Sanitarium: One of, because it is Legendary and does not provide colored Mana. Swamp: Main Black Mana Source Mountain: Main Red Mana Source
No Evolving Wilds because the deck is aggressive and I want the lands to ETBF untapped as often as possible
Sideboard: Elusive Tormentor: Another 4/4 beater with evasion that provides Madness (Not so sure) Transgress the Mind: Remove Combo pieces from opponent's Hand, and board sweepers (Engulf the Shore, Radiant Flames, Bristling Hydra, Electrostatic Pummeler) Collective Brutality: Remove Combo pieces from opponent's Hand, and board sweepers (Engulf the Shore, Radiant Flames). Also get rid of Removal spells of Opponent (Harnessed Lightning) and provide more Madness enabler Grasp of Darkness: Against the Cat Combo (I know it is no more in Standard, but that is mostly why I had this card) and very Aggressive Decks Murder: Against the Cat Combo (I know it is no more in Standard, but that is mostly why I had this card) and decks with BIG Creatures From Under the Floorboards: Against Aggressive Decks that do not expect us to get Life back and a bunch of blockers (Although they are created tapped, they can be useful for following turns and be a comeback) Shock: Against small Creatures and Saheeli.
Problems I have found with this deck: Bristling Hydra: Removal of this deck is targeted, so it is difficult to kill it. That deck usually has Harnessed Lightning to kill our Creatures. Electrostatic Pummeler + Larger than Life: This combo just kills me. I usually do not have the removal to destroy it
I've beaten a lot of Legacy tournament decks with my casual Enchantress deck, mainly because most decks aren't prepared to face massive enchantment and a protected Solitary Confinement. By your definition, my deck has that winning percentage to be considered a 'good' deck, but it's still casual.
You can argue that those decks could beat me after sideboarding, but this thread is about making choices "before we even start playing," not how good a player sideboards after playing. If I beat them before they sideboard, I made the right choice and played the deck right. By your definition, that makes me a good player despite me playing casual.
You can also argue that those players I beat were not good players to begin with, but that would contradict with your implication of "only good players make good decks," would it not?
Pure Wisdom.
You have my respect, Masque.
I also play in tournaments with my casual decks.
I have won several Legacy tournaments with my Aggro Elves deck.
There is an official thread in this forum about that deck, in the Legacy section, and I have participated in it showing my casual Elf deck; it looks kind of the ones that are there, but I designed it BEFORE knowing the existence of that thread.
I have never copied a deck from the Internet, and I will never do it; since, for me, designing a deck is half of the game (50% designing, 50% playing).
I have also designed and played a Standard Werewolves deck, and I haven't changed that much since "Scars of Mirrodin - Innistrad" Standard (Replaced Incinerate for Searing Spear, and things alike); even with the changing meta, I have won two Game Days with it, and came in second place on the third Game Day I played (I only played Standard during Game Days); and I faced Tier 1 decks.
So, for me, I design decks for fun and, if they fit into a format (Legacy, Modern, Standard); I play with them in those tournaments.
And I usually come in the top half of the standings, even though I do not have all the powerful cards (For instance, I got my playset of Huntmaster of the Fells only playing in small tournaments and opening the boosters of the prizes).
So, casual decks might not be "optimal" for a pro-player; but they are fun and they work !
CMC 1: 6 Cards
CMC 2: 7 Cards
CMC 3: 11 Cards
CMC 4: 4 Cards
CMC 5: 5 Cards
CMC 6+: 4 Cards
TOTAL: 37 Cards
I see that you have too many high CMC spells, that will see too much late play
I might want to add some Removal spells: If you want to teach somebody to play, you should teach them how to deal with the cards of your opponent, even if it is only a 1 for 1 card. If you go for the budget way, maybe a Divine Verdict, Immolating Glare or Rebuke.
I do not see that much Life gain to have an excuse to have Felidar Sovereign. I know it is a Cat Tribal deck, but that is the card that does not fit the theme as much.
Also Nissa and the spell to search for her does not fit the theme...
Also, the deck dies to evasion Creatures (Flying)
I would add some Creatures to help against this strategy:
Qasali Ambusher if you want to teach the Keywords Reach and Flash
Leonin Skyhunter cheap both in Mana and money for a Cat with evasion
Kemba's Skyguard if you want to add some Life gain for the Sovereign
Skyhunter Skirmisher if you want to teach what Fist Strike and Double Strike is
If you want to go through the Life gain route, my advise is to add more Creatures that give you Life, like Kemba's Skyguard, Healer of the Pride or Ajani's Sunstriker
If you do not want to go through the Life gain route, Savannah Lions is much better than Sacred Cat, and you get rid of the new ability, Embalm, that might confuse the new player
Just some ideas
Please, feel free to dismantle them and tell me why they do not fit what you wanted for this deck
Edit: Added the bars to represent better the Mana Curve
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
4x Oashra Cultivator
4x Druid of the Cowl
4x Naga Vitalist
4x Colossapede
4x Scaled Behemoth
2x Rampaging Hippo
2x Greater Sandwurm
3x Gift of Paradise
Sorceries (3)
3x Beneath the Sands
2x Prey Upon
Artifacts (4)
4x Rhonas's Monument
25x Forest
I would like this deck to be from Kaladesh and so on (AEther Revolt, Amonkhet & Hour of Devastation, for now)
Easy: Ramp and Bash
Use Mana Creatures and other spells to ramp into big threats
Then, cast any Creature with Rhonas's Monument on the Battlefield to bash with huge Trampling damage Creatures
This deck is almost self explained
Do you have any idea?
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
4x Pyre Hound
4x Nimble-Blade Khenra
4x Sanguinary Mage
4x Thresher Lizard
4x Shock
4x Magma Spray
4x Brute Strength
2x Sure Strike
4x Renegade Tactics
Artifacts (4)
4x Honed Khopesh
Lands (23)
23x Mountain
This deck is also quite straight forward: trigger Prowess with lots of cheap spells with the 8x 1/3 Prowess Creatures + 4x 2/3 Trample with "Permanent Prowess".
Hellbent quickly to have a big threat on the board.
1/3 Prowess + 1x Brute Strength = 5/5 Trample
Pyre Hound + Sure Strike = At least a 6/4 Fist Strike Trample until EOT that stays as a 3/4 Trample after
Honed Khopesh triggers Prowess and can make our 1/3 Prowess Creatures become a 2/4 that is difficult to deal with.
Renegade Tactics is there to allow further damage to go through.
I would like to keep this deck STRICTLY with Common Cards...
Do you have any ideas?
Thank you for your Time in reading this post
First of all, thank you very much for replying, Rosy Dumplings.
I like the idea. I will try to get my hands on them, although they do not have any left at the store I usually attend to...
I believe the best spot to replace would be the Magma Spray
I would like to find a replacement for Sure Strike, Uncaged Fury and Strider Harness for when BFZ-OGW-SOI-EMN rotates... Do you have any suggestion, please?
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
4x Sweatworks Brawler
4x Maverick Thopterist
4x Bastion Inventor
2x Gearseeker Serpent
Instants (6)
2x Brute Strength
2x Shock
2x Metallic Rebuke
2x Reverse Engineer
Artifact (3)
2x Pacification Array
1x Consulate Dreadnought
Artifact Equipment (12)
4x Cathar's Shield
4x Bone Saw
4x Inventor's Goggles
4x Highland Lake
9x Mountain
11x Island
2x Shock
1x Reverse Engineer
2x Pacification Array
2x Open into Wonder
2x Gearseeker Serpent
This deck is based on the Improvise mechanic
I like playing Two-Color decks, and going Grixis would hurt the Mana base a lot...
Full set of Bone Saws and Cathar's Shields to use Improvise a lot
Inventor's Goggles is a 1 CMC Artifact (Which helps Improvise Ramping) that attaches to 12 of the 14 Creatures in this deck for free
Pacification Array is helpful for controlling the board and big threats until the Player "improvises" his/her strategy
Consulate Dreadnought is a big finisher just in case that our improvised Creatures cannot deal with everything by themselves
Reverse Engineer is a cheap Card Draw spell
Shock against pesky small Creatures or maybe Planeswalkers
Metallic Rebuke against big threats and mass removals
Brute Strength provides Trample to help damaging the opponent in case of chump blockers
Creatures:
Sweatworks Brawler: Menace dude, difficult to block, with Brute Strength
Maverick Thopterist: Artificer that provides Flying tokens to chump block or attack with evasion, that also help to "improvise"
Bastion Inventor: Hexproof. Big dude. Use Brute Strength to deal Damage with it.
Gearseeker Serpent: Cheap to summon due to the big amount of Artifacts in the deck. Unblockable in the late game.
Thoughts:
1.- I do not know if having only 2x Shock, 2x Brute Strength and 2x Metallic Rebuke is enough... But lowering the number of cheap artifacts will ruin the improvise strategy
2.- The Creatures, without the Goggles, are quite small for their CMC
3.- I believe that Reverse Engineer is really good, but if I add more, the number of combat tricks to help my Creatures will not be enough.
4.- Open into Wonder will allow me to Alpha Strike with all my Creatures... But I do not know if it is worth the slot... Maybe blocking until I have the Mana to do it?
5.- I managed to get a playset of the Freejam Regent, but I am not so sure about them... Maybe replacing the Bastion Inventors?
The "maybe" board are the cards that I have to try...
I want to keep it in a very cheap budget
I usually buy cards from a pile of Commons & Uncommons that there is at the store, so I do not expect to find anything very useful there...
What do you think?
Thank you for your Time in reading this post
I have a colleague who used to play Magic many years ago, and the decks I brought with me beat him too badly; so that encouraged me more to make decks using only Commons and Uncommons, really cheap stuff, to balance a little bit our matches.
I want to keep it Standard Legal, since I am also teaching some children how to play the game at a local store and I do not want to abuse with a competitive deck.
I like playing 61 Cards in Constructed and 41 Cards in Limited.
4x Inventor's Apprentice
4x AEther Chaser
4x Sweatworks Brawler
4x Scrapper Champion
4x Shock
4x Magma Spray
4x Brute Strength
2x Sure Strike
2x Uncaged Fury
4x Inventor's Goggles
2x Strider Harness
Lands (23)
23x Mountain
Every Creature is an Artificer to take advantage of the Inventor's Goggles trigger, that will also help casting Sweatworks Brawler
The other equipment is Strider Harness, to give them Haste for the late game
Inventor's Apprentice it is better being summoned in turn 2 after having cast an Inventor's Goggles on turn 1, becoming a 3/5 in turn two
AEther Chaser will be a handy blocker in the early Game
AEther Chaser's Energy will mostly be used for Scrapper Champion, but the Servos can help cast the Sweatworks Brawler
Shock and Magma Spray are early removals to have space to deal damage with my Menace & Double Strike Creatures
Sure Strike & Uncaged Fury will help my Menace Guy to kill two blockers with one shot
Brute Strength will make my Double Striker deal tons of damage even if it is blocked (Thanks to Trample)
What do you think, guys?
Any thoughts?
I would like to find a replacement for Sure Strike, Uncaged Fury and Strider Harness for when BFZ-OGW-SOI-EMN rotates... Do you have any suggestion, please?
Thank you for your Time in reading this post
(EDIT: Typo in Brute Strength for Brute Force... Dah (u_u))
I have the same thoughts...
First Strike is better for the Lifegain of the Lone Rider
And Bonesplitter is better First Strike than with Haste, I agree that Sai of the Shinobi is better with Haste...
But I feel that the First Strike approach is better, and it fits the theme of the Lone Rider
I believe that Knight of Meadowgrain or Mistmeadow Skulk with a Bonesplitter could work
(I believe @Kumlekar meant Sunspear Shikari, not Leonin Shikari; which equipped is a Knight of Meadowgrain)
Also, Basilisk Collar with First Strike can trigger a lot of times your Lone Rider
Maybe Hidden Dragonslayer or Glory-Bound Initiate, which can single handle flip your Lone Rider
Or Moment of Heroism or Mortal's Ardor (Prepare // Fight, if you are not on budget), if you want to use combat tricks
Grafted Wargear is very flavourful with Lone Rider, I like it a lot
Edit: If you have any thoughts on my ideas or you can correct me in something, I would feel very glad if you could tell me so I can learn. Thank you
Mitotic Slime
To do so, inside the CARD tag, you need to write an equals '=' a tube '|' and the name of the expansion, for instance 'Magic 2011 (M11)'
So this card tag will look like:
[card=Mitotic Slime|Magic 2011 (M11)]Mitotic Slime[/card]
For the sideboard, I would have a Mold Shambler, maybe... Or run 2 in Main, just in case.
Since you cast it with Descendants' Path, you can always kick it, just in case
I agree with the idea of Acidic Slime, maybe better than Mold Shambler
Maybe, to block during the first turns, you could have Thallid Shell-Dweller
The problem I see is that you have 8 cards that cost 5 Mana... You might have lost when you can cast them.
I believe you need a way to survive until you get your Mycoloth, for instance Feed the Clan or Life Goes On
(Should I merge it with the previous post? If that is required, I will do it and a Moderator can delete this post)
We have 15 Zombies in Amonkhet (I do not count the Embalm Creatures)
2.- Cursed Minotaur 3/2 for 3 Mana. They are switching from Fear, to Intimidate and to Menace... They do not like the old evasion abilities, it seems. I like this Zombie. Menace is a powerful ability; maybe less powerful than Fear/Intimidate, but still good.
3.- Dessicated Naga 3/2 for 3 Mana with a conditional drain activated ability. Just interesting, but not anything out of this world.
4.- Festering Mummy Our new Festering goblin but with a resilient -1/-1 on a Creature of an opponent. Much better than the Festering Goblin and its cousin Shambling Goblin
5.- Dread Wanderer Our new Gravecrawler 2.0, hehe! Good thing, you do not cast it from the Graveyard, so it cannot be countered. Bad thing, costs 3 to recover from the Graveyard, and also requires you to have almost no Hand. It enters the Battlefield tapped, so it cannot block the first turn, Gravecrawler could.
6.- Gravedigger It is back! (Copy-Paste of the OP) Returns a zombie from your grave to your hand, not much used, except for specific decks like Korlash, since there are faster cards that have the same function. For me, wonderful for Limited. In Constructed, it is a little bit different... It is too expensive, from my point of view. I would rather use Lord of the Undead or Unholy Grotto for the same result.
7.- Lord of the Accursed NEW LORD! OMG, OMG, OMG! Stop the Hype... Buffs the Zombies. Check. Extra Ability. Check. It is a 2/2... Wait! it is a 2/3! So, with another Lord, it can resist a Lightning Bolt. Nice! Its activated ability is wonderful. the same, they are switching from Fear/Intimidate to Menace
8.- Miasmic Mummy 2/2 for 2 Mana. Ability that could be a drawback or a plus, depending on your strategy.
9.- Plague Belcher At worst, it is a 3/2 Menace for 3 Mana. At best, it is a 5/4. In both cases, whenever one of your Zombies dies, each of your opponents loses 1 Life. So, if the two -1/-1 counters kill one of your own Zombies, you already drain your opponent. Use the counters on Creatures that can return from the Graveyard, or tokens, or have Death Triggers.
10.- Tattered Mummy I definitely like this Zombie. Wonderful in Multiplayer or to use in a Horde deck.
2.- Fan Bearer Great in Limited. Wonderful card for constructed Control deck. Tap their Creatures before they attack. Avoid an attack and get rid of one blocker.
3.- Sparring Mummy 3/3 for 4 Mana. Hill Giant that untaps one Creature. Interesting, but not good unless you want to activate an ability of a Creature twice in a turn and enough Mana.
4.- Those Who Serve 2/4 for 3 Mana. Vanilla. Nothing special to see here.
We have a bunch of new Zombies and I would like to share my thoughts on them, both for Casual gameplay (My favourite format) as for other formats.
These are some of my opinions, and I would like to share them with you. I Hope you find them interesting and that they receive constructive criticism.
I will not mention any Creature with Eternalize, only the ones that are actually Zombies.
2.- Merciless Eternal Helps filling the Graveyard in Graveyard-based Strategies. Activation cost a bit expensive for the effect. Still deals damage when blocked and can kill the blocking Creature if pumped. Alms of the Vein anyone?
3.- Accursed Horde 3/3 for 4 Mana, typocal Creature. Activated ability makes your Zombies though to deal with. Shame that it only works on attacking Zombies... But our mindless horde is what it knows to do best, isn't it? I really like this card.
4.- Moaning Wall Mostly for Control decks. Cycling can put it into your Graveyard to use it for a Graveyard-based Strategy without using another card.
5.- Khenra Eternal Walking Corpse on steroids. Finally a 2/2 with a plus ability. I really like this card and its design. A Black Grizzly Bears with an ability! Thank you for this!
6.- Lurching Rotbeast 4/2 for 4 Mana. Another classic Black Creature. But it can be Cycled as Moaning Wall, but cheaper. Interesting card.
7.- Wretched Camel Too narrow for my point of view. 2/1 for one with an ability that needs to be built around. It does not make the cut for me.
8.- Marauding Boneslasher Strictly better Mindless Null. 3/3 for 3 Mana with, in a Zombie deck, almost no drawback. One of my favourites.
9.- Carrion Screecher How can an Aven fly without feathers? No flavor, from my point of view, but I find interesting that WOTC wants to create Flying zombies. Anyway, too much cost for a 3/1 body, in my opinion
2.- Mummy Paramount This is interesting! Another Grizzly Bears for another color different than Black without a drawback. Well, that is typical in colors other than Black, but I wanted to point it out again, anyway. In a very aggressive deck, with low Mana Zombies, can be a goo threat. Resolve a Stir the Sands with this and laugh as the Desert engulfs your opponent.
3.- Dutiful Servants 2/5 for 4 Mana. Nothing to see here. Too high CMC for a Control Deck, Moaning Wall is better.
2.- Wildfire Eternal This Creature will force many triggers since Afflict 4 is VERY strong! Great for a Spell-based Strategy.
3.- Manticore Eternal Fire Elemental with an upside and a downside. Nothing special.
4.- Frontline Devastator Another Hill Giant with two interesting abilities; half-firebreathing and Afflict 2. I prefer Accursed Horde. But splashing Red can make this a nice card, although it has no tribal potential.
SERIOUSLY???
Not in Amonkhet, though...
2.- Spellweaver Eternal 2/1 for 2 Mana with Prowess in Blue is typical. But Afflict gives it a wonderful twist... You can pump the Power of the Creature if they do not block it, or make opponents lose Life and kill their blocker using the pump spell if they do. Win-Win situation.
1.- Unraveling Mummy For me, this Creature and Accursed Horde are the ones that go PERFECTLY with the other Zombies, both in block and for Casual. Is my Zombie not blocked? It gets Lifelink to keep me alive next turn for your Attack. Do you block my Zombie? It gets Deathtouch to kill your blocker (If I have Accursed Horde, it also gets Indestructible, so only your Creature dies... And I did not use any card!)
Any thoughts?
I can also evaluate the cards from Amonkhet, I do not know if it has been done yet...
I played two Game Days (Saturday & Sunday)
On Saturday, I had this version, the one at the Opening Post (OP)
4x Falkenrath Gorger
4x Heir of Falkenrath
4x Olivia, Mobilized for War
4x Bloodhall Priest
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2x Incorrigible Youths
2x Voldaren Pariah
Spells (17)
2x Lightning Axe
2x Key to the City
2x Call the Bloodline
2x Grasp of Darkness
4x Fiery Temper
2x Unlicensed Disintegration
2x Stensia Masquerade
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
4x Foreboding Ruins
4x Smoldering Marsh
1x Blighted Fen
1x Westvale Abbey
1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
7x Swamp
4x Mountain
1x Elusive Tormentor
4x Transgress the Mind
2x Collective Brutality
2x Grasp of Darkness
2x Murder
2x From Under the Floorboards
2x Shock
I went 1-3 (u_u)
On Sunday, I made several tweaks and it improved a lot:
4x Falkenrath Gorger
4x Heir of Falkenrath
2x Gifted AEtherborn
4x Olivia, Mobilized for War
4x Bloodhall Priest
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Spells (18)
2x Avacyn's Judgment
2x Key to the City
2x Call the Bloodline
2x Fatal Push
2x Grasp of Darkness
4x Fiery Temper
2x Unlicensed Disintegration
1x Stensia Masquerade
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
4x Foreboding Ruins
4x Smoldering Marsh
1x Blighted Fen
1x Westvale Abbey
1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
7x Swamp
5x Mountain
1x To The Slaughter
4x Transgress the Mind
2x Fatal Push
2x Murder
2x By Force
2x Dispossess
2x Trial of Ambition
Getting rid of Lightning Axe let me had enough space for new removal, Fatal Push; with is good in game 1
And the final score was 4-0 in the swiss and 2-1 in the Top 8, losing the final because of a VERY BAD decision on a Transgress the Mind:
Opponent was playing Temur Energy (No Marvel)
I took out Glimmer of Genius instead of Glorybringer on turn 3, I played Liliana on turn 4, and I lost my Planeswalker (PW) on his turn 5 due to his Dragon (u_u)
I was having a HORRIBLE migraine since Round 4 of the Swiss, but that is no excuse: a bad decision is a bad decision.
That choice was game. If I kept the Liliana, he did not have Time to get a Torrential Gearhulk before my Ultimate on Liliana, since I had a removal in hand
My Most Value Player (MVP) during the whole event was Bloodhall Priest
I was able to cast her almost every Time with madness using the Key To The City, Heir of Falkenrath or even Call the Bloodline.
I did not miss the Incorrigible Youths nor Voldaren Pariah
I might lower the count of Olivia to 3 and upgrade the Gifted AEtherborn to 3 also
Stensia Masquerade is a BEAST against other Aggro Decks, they cannot block your creatures, or theirs die, and yours get bigger if they get through; if you have the Masquerade with the tonned down Vampire Nighthawk, it is almost impossible to race it.
I have big trouble when facing ramping decks into huge creatures, and Trial of Ambition was not helpful at all in any game, so I am going to remove them
I think I will require a bigger Creature on the sideboard, if I face a deck that has plenty of Magma Spray or Harnessed Lightning, or something to protect my Creatures or making them bigger; since Black-Red does not have any means of counter/protect against removal unless it is discarding
I also thought about Indulgent Aristocrat; but its purpose is completely different from the aim of this deck
The same applies to Vampire Cutthroat
Asylum Visitor is nice, but this deck is more Midrange focused, not as aggressive as a deck with Stromkirk Condemned either
I also gave a thought about Legendary Vampires such as Drana, Liberator of Malakir or Yahenni, Undying Partisan, and I am more inclined for the Zendikary evasive Legend than to the Kaladesh AEtherborn...
I did not face any Zombies...
And, as for Marvel, I only faced it on Saturday, when I did not have my Dispossess nor By Force
I think I might have to switch the Grasp of Darkness in the Sideboard for more To the Slaughter
Or maybe for Lost Legacy
What do you think?
Any other ideas?
I know my deck is not a Tier 1, and I thought that people would laugh at it because of that, and that I would be told to be a very bad player due to that.
So, right now, after the Pro Tour, many people will be playing those three main decks:
1.- AEtherworks (Ulamog turn 4)
2.- Mardu Vehicles (Heart of Kiran)
3.- Mono Black or Black-White Zombies
They will also be playing Black-Green +1/+1 counters as you mention
In my meta, some people play:
Mono-Blue Control
Bristling Hydra / Electrostatic Pummeler / Dynavolt Tower
AEtherflux Reservoir Combo
Revolt Triggers
I will get my hands on a playset of Gifted AEtherborn, and switch the Voldaren Pariah and the Incorrigible Youths for them
I think it will be difficult to get the Metallic Mimics this week
What should I switch to add the 4x Fatal Push?
What about Shock / Magma Spray for early removal?
Thank you for taking your Time reading this message.
I Hope I do not bother with this thread and I Hope that it is not repeated (I have checked and I have not found a place in which this Deck is represented in Standard)
Notes:
ETBF = Enters The Battlefield
SB = Sideboard
OP = Opening Post
PW = PlanesWalker
MVP = Most Valued Player
I used this deck and I won AEther Revolt Game Day:
4x Falkenrath Gorger
4x Heir of Falkenrath
4x Olivia, Mobilized for War
4x Bloodhall Priest
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2x Incorrigible Youths
2x Voldaren Pariah
Spells (17)
2x Lightning Axe
2x Key to the City
2x Call the Bloodline
2x Grasp of Darkness
4x Fiery Temper
2x Unlicensed Disintegration
2x Stensia Masquerade
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
4x Foreboding Ruins
4x Smoldering Marsh
1x Blighted Fen
1x Westvale Abbey
1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
7x Swamp
4x Mountain
1x Elusive Tormentor
4x Transgress the Mind
2x Collective Brutality
2x Grasp of Darkness
2x Murder
2x From Under the Floorboards
2x Shock
And I would like to improve it for Amonkhet Game Day
Explanation of the Cards:
Creatures:
Falkenrath Gorger: 2/1 for R. Gives Madness to Vampires without Madness so you can play in your opponent's turn.
Heir of Falkenrath / Heir to the Night: Enables Madness. Evasion.
Olivia, Mobilized for War: Playset because they want to get rid of her ASAP. Enables more Madness and bigger creatures with Haste.
Bloodhall Priest: 4/4 beater for 3 CMC (Madness). Extra pinger if Hellbent
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: The best Vampire in Standard right now. Creates tokens to block and provides huge body with Lifelink. One of the MVP of the deck. When Origins was still available, using it with Rogue's Passage was AMAZING.
Incorrigible Youths: 4/3 Haste for CMC of 3 if used with Madness. Haste has given me several important matches.
Voldaren Pariah / Abolisher of Bloodlines: 3/3 with Evasion. I have not transformed it many Times, but as Olivia, opponents tend to use their removal spells on this Creature, so the deck can keep attacking with the other Creatures.
Spells:
Lightning Axe: Removal for big threats. Enables Madness. Wonderful with Bloodhall Priest
Key to the City: Enables Madness. Helps Unlicensed Disintegration. Makes Unblockable Creatures, like Kalitas
Call the Bloodline: Enables Madness. Provides Blockers for Non-Trample non-Flying Creatures. Tokens to Sacrifice with Voldaren Pariah
Grasp of Darkness: 2 CMC Removal at Instant Speed.
Fiery Temper: Madness Lightning Bolt
Unlicensed Disintegration: Unconditional Removal. Adds 3 points of damage due to Key to the City. If I did not have the Key, I would use Murder instead.
Stensia Masquerade: First Strike to Attacking Vampires. If they block them, their Creatures die. If they do not, Vampires get bigger.
Liliana, the Last Hope: One of this Planeswalker. They usually focus on it. I have mostly used her +1 ability. Several Times her -2. If I get to the Ultimate with Kalitas, I have an almost unbeatable Lifelink Creature that grows really fast.
Lands:
Foreboding Ruins: Dual Land. Enough Swamps & Mountains so it ETBF untapped on first turn to summon a Falkenrath Gorger
Smoldering Marsh: I think there are enough basic lands for this Dual Land.
Blighted Fen: Uncounterable removal.
Westvale Abbey / Ormendahl, Profane Prince: If the game overextends, create enough tokens to protect yourself and, maybe, transform it.
Geier Reach Sanitarium: One of, because it is Legendary and does not provide colored Mana.
Swamp: Main Black Mana Source
Mountain: Main Red Mana Source
No Evolving Wilds because the deck is aggressive and I want the lands to ETBF untapped as often as possible
Sideboard:
Elusive Tormentor: Another 4/4 beater with evasion that provides Madness (Not so sure)
Transgress the Mind: Remove Combo pieces from opponent's Hand, and board sweepers (Engulf the Shore, Radiant Flames, Bristling Hydra, Electrostatic Pummeler)
Collective Brutality: Remove Combo pieces from opponent's Hand, and board sweepers (Engulf the Shore, Radiant Flames). Also get rid of Removal spells of Opponent (Harnessed Lightning) and provide more Madness enabler
Grasp of Darkness: Against the Cat Combo (I know it is no more in Standard, but that is mostly why I had this card) and very Aggressive Decks
Murder: Against the Cat Combo (I know it is no more in Standard, but that is mostly why I had this card) and decks with BIG Creatures
From Under the Floorboards: Against Aggressive Decks that do not expect us to get Life back and a bunch of blockers (Although they are created tapped, they can be useful for following turns and be a comeback)
Shock: Against small Creatures and Saheeli.
Typical Plays of this Deck:
Turn 1:
Falkenrath Gorger
Turn 2:
Swing for 2 Damage (If Falkenrath Gorger is still alive), Heir of Falkenrath
Turn 3:
A) Transform into Heir to the Night using Fiery Temper on Blocker
B) Transform into Heir to the Night using Incorrigible Youths. Swing for 7 (If Falkenrath Gorger is alive, swing for 9)
C) Transform into Heir to the Night using Stensia Masquerade. 3 Damage in the air, I end up with a 4/3 Flying for the next turn.
D) Transform into Heir to the Night using Bloodhall Priest. 3 Damage in the air, I have a 4/4 Blocker.
E) Transform into Heir to the Night using Olivia, Mobilized for War if I still have Falkenrath Gorger to summon her. 3 Damage in the air, I have a 3/3 Flying Blocker.
E) Transform Heir of Falkenrath using Voldaren Pariah. 3 Damage in the air, I have a 3/3 Flying Blocker.
Problems I have found with this deck:
Bristling Hydra: Removal of this deck is targeted, so it is difficult to kill it. That deck usually has Harnessed Lightning to kill our Creatures.
Electrostatic Pummeler + Larger than Life: This combo just kills me. I usually do not have the removal to destroy it
Ideas:
4x FATAL PUSH: I have managed to get the playset, although I do not know if it will be enough
To the Slaughter (SB): Avoid Hexproof
Trial of Ambition (SB): I do not have any Cartouche to recurr it, but it can be nice and it is cheaper than To the Slaughter
2x Lay Bare the Heart (SB): More Hand removal. It hits more things that Transgress the Mind, although it does not exile them.
Magma Spray (SB): Exiles Creatures. Like Scrapheap Scrounger or Dread Wanderer
What do you think?
Do you have any other ideas?
I would like to have this deck ready for Amonkhet Game Day.
I thought the same thing when I saw the card and emembered that it was for the new gruul planeswalker, Xenagos.
Pure Wisdom.
You have my respect, Masque.
I also play in tournaments with my casual decks.
I have won several Legacy tournaments with my Aggro Elves deck.
There is an official thread in this forum about that deck, in the Legacy section, and I have participated in it showing my casual Elf deck; it looks kind of the ones that are there, but I designed it BEFORE knowing the existence of that thread.
I have never copied a deck from the Internet, and I will never do it; since, for me, designing a deck is half of the game (50% designing, 50% playing).
I have also designed and played a Standard Werewolves deck, and I haven't changed that much since "Scars of Mirrodin - Innistrad" Standard (Replaced Incinerate for Searing Spear, and things alike); even with the changing meta, I have won two Game Days with it, and came in second place on the third Game Day I played (I only played Standard during Game Days); and I faced Tier 1 decks.
So, for me, I design decks for fun and, if they fit into a format (Legacy, Modern, Standard); I play with them in those tournaments.
And I usually come in the top half of the standings, even though I do not have all the powerful cards (For instance, I got my playset of Huntmaster of the Fells only playing in small tournaments and opening the boosters of the prizes).
So, casual decks might not be "optimal" for a pro-player; but they are fun and they work !