Cloudshift would indeed be better, it has a lower casting cost and the flashback ability of Momentary Blink doesn't get used anyways. I'm currently running Blink since I had the cards for it, where I currently don't have any Cloudshift's, so this way I can see if I like the mechanic of blinking in the deck. But I'll likely be looking into getting some Cloudshift's the next time I order some cards.
Got to play a bit more with the deck and made some more changes to both the deck and the sideboard, so the starting post has been updated to reflect all the changes and how the deck is currently sitting in my sleeves.
Disclaimer: First of all, this is by no means a super competitive deck and wasn't put together for that intend either. It's merely a kitchen table brew meant for casual fun play.
BACKGROUND
This deck is a slight rebuild of a deck I played several years ago, before I took a brief hiatus from playing magic. The playgroup I was in wanted to do a bit of themed deck building and let the tribes duke it out. Having on-theme fun was one of the big rules and it wasn't to be about getting that turn 1 or 2 win. For my theme I picked Kavus with FTK pretty much being the card I wanted to build the deck around, bouncing and recasting it till I could smash in. Since then I traded away some cards since I no longer played, but having gotten back into it some time ago I decided to see if I could put the list back together. Obvious since I didn't have all the cards I decided to look for some more modern replacements and ended up with the list below.
THE STRATEGY
Obviously, the strategy is to make way for our Kavu's by bouncing Flametongue Kavu as much as we can, originally Sparkcaster and Coastal Drake were my go to options for this and hence the blue splash. Temur Sabertooth gives now an additional way to do so while being a good threat on it's own as well.
Originally, I ran two Kavu Monarch's to get some trample going, but I traded both at the time and only was able to get one back so far. However, in the absence of the second Monarch I added Overwhelming Stampede, which makes a nice way to bash through when dealing with creatures that have a bigger toughness than FTK can deal with.
Generator Servant makes up for two lost BoP's, while far from the same the haste it provides does work well with our bigger/slower Kavu.
Legion Loyalist helps getting us something on the board early, though also helps our Kavu late game.
With us bouncing FTK several times, Quirion Dryad has the potential to become nice and big. It provides an alternative win condition but since its a themed deck, I only ran one. Same goes for Ghitu Fire, if my creatures can't finish the job this card can potentially burn away that last bit of life.
Zhur-Taa Druid does some mana fixing for us and pings away while doing so if unchecked, also any removal used on it won't be going to our FTKs.
Since then I have taken in the advice below to tweak the deck considerably, though in anticipation of Origins I ended up holding off on going through with all the changes as I ended up spotting a far more intriguing strategy to go with bouncing FTK and thus ended up with the following deck list now. Do note that the main deck is Kavu theme focused while the sideboard can be used to incorporate some answers if needed.
Main Strategy
The main idea is still to try and bounce Flametongue Kavu frequently, though to lower the curve I'm now only relying on Horned Kavu to do so. Running four copies limits my bouncing but that is also where Flameshadow Conjuring comes into play, it can double my bouncing but also double my FTK casting to clear the way as much as I can. Obviously the tokens made with the Conjuring don't last, so we get to swing with it for 'free' after which it becomes the perfect sacrifice outlet for Collateral Damage to add some burn. Though sacking a Rooting Kavu is also a very good option later in the game.
The other cards: Birds of Paradise - The deck can use some ramp and at a one drop Birds does quite well generating any kind of mana. Skyshroud Elf - While two more BoP or one drop mana elves could work better, Skyshroud can turn our mana into red mana when needed. Generator Servant - Early drop that can help ramp into bigger creatures, granting them haste while at it. Thunderscape Familiar - It's a Kavu and on top it will help make our green spells cheaper.
Elemental Bond - FTK is big enough to trigger the Bond, so this is our source of additional card draw.
Kavu Titan - As suggested this Kavu can become quite big when kicked, so can bash in nicely or do early defense. Pouncing Kavu - Mainly early defense but like the Titan it can be kicked to get bigger as well late game. Kavu Monarch - Monarch is there to provide trample and enjoy all our bouncing to become a big threat.
Rootbound Crag - Fixes our mana and generally can come into play untapped. Shivan Oasis - Technically unnecessary and due to being a tapland it is likely to set you back unless you have a turn one play, am just running it for the sake of the copy being a signed one.
The sideboard obviously could be better but it's mostly designed to try and compliment the deck, helping it out here and there while not breaking the bank so to say. In most cases I'm playing the deck the sideboard will be untouched due to playgroup rules for playing tribal decks. I just have it there when needed.
Temur Sabertooth - To add repeatable means of bouncing to the deck, I excluded it from the main to keep the curve lower. Collateral Damage - Just a fourth copy to side in when needed. Chandra, the Firebrand - Mainly there to be sided in so we can make our Collateral Damage hit twice. Armed // Dangerous - There to help pursue a more aggro strategy. Flesh // Blood - Blood can turn a pumped up Monarch into a 'burn' spell, though Birds can allow Flesh to be used as well if need be. Destructive Revelry - To have an answer to artifacts and enchantments, while giving some more burn. Gruul Charm - To deal with flyers or just to make way to charge in with everything. Clinging Mists - A fog effect that can turn the tide in tough situations.
So a small update to the current state of the deck and the thrown together sideboard. The latter isn't entirely perfect, but assembled mostly from cards I already had.
Mirari's Wake
- Included for play testing purposes. Mana fixing to make Secure the Wastes go off bigger, as well as pump tokens. The high CMC does set the deck back a bit, so might try main decking a Gavony Township instead if I need the pump since Wake is a non-bo with Sigil Captain.
Norn's Annex
- Included for play testing purposes. Am considering main decking this card as it has been a nice way to hold back aggro decks.
Marrow Shards
- Included for play testing purposes. Meant to counter some of the token decks in my area, the paying life is no issue for my deck and thus can surprise people.
Midnight Haunting
- A cheap way to add flyers to the mix. Works both defensively and offensively.
Paraselene
- There are better mass enchantment removal cards out there, but this one just seems to synergize well with the deck.
Faith's Fetters
- Removal like Oblivion Ring, but does add a bit of life gain which can be used to trigger Chalice.
Return to the Ranks
- Enables us to get back pretty much most of our creatures in one go.
Trespassing Souleater
- Boarded in when land removal becomes an issue and takes out our Rogue's Passages. The deck's life gain will allow us to keep activating the ability without worries.
Still considering to improve my draws a tad bit more by including Witches' Eye, though currently the deck does fairly well at what it wants to do. If added I'd be cutting a Wurm and maybe Ajani for it.
The Pilgrim isn't that bad, though at the moment the Mystic fills that slot a bit better.
To help a bit with getting the right cards, I think adding some scry effects would help and be fairly budget friendly. Obviously the scry lands are going to be too pricey, but I might see about adding either two of Witches' Eye or Crystal Ball to filter my top draws.
Going snow is definitely an interesting option to explore, something I'll definitely be making note of. It's just something I'll change up once the budget allows it a bit more, since right now I'm merely looking for quick/cheap tweaks as well as a makeshift sideboard for the deck. Though once I get my new EDH deck sorted I will look into adding the snow aspect to the deck.
A red/white version could be interesting as well, I went green to have access to Mystic Elves and the Voracious Wurm/Heroes' Reunion combo. Sigil Captain went in just to turn those late game weenies into more solid creatures. Nonetheless it would be interesting to see what variant you'd come up with.
I think I might indeed see about switching in some O-Rings to be more versatile with my limited removal.
I did initially intend to add Raise the Alarm as well to my version, it's quicker than Secure the Wastes but I felt that the X cost ability of Secure can just do that bit more. It pumps out more tokens but can also act as a nice pump spell to make Ajani's Pridemate bigger.
As far as the deck goes, I'm likely going to drop Emeria, the Sky Ruin and just add a basic plains instead. Emeria doesn't do too much due to this being a two-color deck and it being a tapland it does set you back a little.
Also Ajani Goldmane might become a potential cut or a card that get's sided out a lot, it does work nicely in the deck though but it's not a key card for it and it sitting at a CMC of 4 means it can be potentially used to speed up the deck a tad bit.
I'm well aware that Emeria requires 7 plains and thus works far better in a mono-white deck, I just happened to have an extra one around so I put it in for when games might run long. I'm not heavily relying on it though, due to the obvious absence of the Martyrs. So it can potentially be replaced.
Adding Ranger of Eos is just too much for the budget, this is meant to be a fun casual deck after all. I have enough other decks that drain my Magic funds each month, lol.
As far as the Hawks go, they work well in the original Soul Sisters because they help Martyr of Sands so much. In this version it would have less synergy, but do agree that card advantage is something the deck lacks, since Well of Lost Dreams is a tad slow but works nicely flavor wise. Also I do need something for flyers, so have been considering to add Midnight Haunting to the sideboard as a cheap way to switch in some flyers.
After a friend of mine wanted to dip a little into some casual Modern, we went to try and quickly brew a deck together for her. In the end she decided to just start with some duel decks and go from there, but the brew did spark some curiosity for me and thus I decided to throw together this budget deck and see how it would do. The deck is obviously a very loose play on the already budget staple Soul Sisters deck.
June, 25th
- 2 Journey to Nowhere » 2 Oblivion Ring
- - - The rings are costing one more than Journey, but will allow me to hit more targets as well.
July, 5th
- 2 Gods Willing » 2 Momentary Blink
- - - While the Gods Willing is quick protection, Blink just feels more versatile. It gives the chance to protect a creature, but also allows us to blink an early Voracious Wurm in order to increase the amount of +1/+1 counters on it.
- Emeria, the Sky Ruin » Plains
- - - Emeria just triggers not enough to warrant it being in this deck, as the come into play tapped just hurts the deck too much for that.
- Graypelt Refuge » Plains
- - - The little bit of life gain is nice, but this deck needs some more speed so am reducing the taplands a bit. I might cut some Blossoming Sands as well because of this.
- 3 Elvish Mystic » 3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- - - Most spells use only one green to cast, so little need for a double green on turn one anymore with having cut down the green in the past.
- 2 Well of Lost Dreams » 2 Mentor of the Meek
- - - Generally the Well will allow for more card draw, however, Mentor sits lower on the curve and is a creature which triggers life gain.
- Ajani Goldmane » Norn's Annex
- - - Ajani being a Planeswalker gets attacked rather quickly, so tends to do little aside from drawing attention. The Annex has been surprisingly good, being able to pay life to cast it is no issue in this deck and will affect most creature based decks nicely.
July, 15th
- 2 Momentary Blink » 2 Cloudshift
- - - Same effect for one mana less, so simply an upgrade after test running the deck with Blink in it.
- 1 Ghost Quarter » 1 Reprisal
- - - While the Gods Willing is quick protection, Blink just feels more versatile. It gives the chance to protect a creature, but also allows us to blink an early Voracious Wurm in order to increase the amount of +1/+1 counters on it.
WCARD CHOICESW
So here is a quick overview of the cards in this deck and why we are running them. Obviously with it being a budget build there are better options out there to run, but so far this list has been doing rather well for me. I did add some notes in there as well to where potential cuts could be made, whether it's for sideboarding strategies or just for general deck improvements that can be made in the future.
Mana Fixing Creatures Avacyn's Pilgrim - Good early drop that will put us in both our colors, setting us up to cast nearly all our cards on the second turn.
Main Life Gain Creatures Soul Warden - Life gain is key in this deck and Soul Warden plays a big part in this, chosen because it's slightly cheaper than Attendant. Suture Priest - Attendant might be better here since it's quicker, but the Priest just works better when it comes to a stale board. Could be cut down to three.
Threat Creatures Ajani's Pridemate - The amount of life gain in this deck will make Pridemate big real quick and does wonders once Rogue's Passage is out. Voracious Wurm - Another way to get a threat on the board, using the gained life to cast a bigger Wurm. Could potentially be cut down to two.
Support Creatures Mentor of the Meek - Helps us to get some card draw going, but also will trigger some life gain when it hits the board. Rhox Faithmender - Pretty much doubles our life gain, so good while on the board but not necessary enough to warrant more than one. Sigil Captain - Turns all our 1/1's into serious creatures, something you will want on the board but sadly is redundant when you have two in hand, so a one of. Hopeful Eidolon - Decent as an early drop, but really shines once bestowed upon a Pridemate or Wurm.
Artifacts Chalice of Life - The card this deck is build around, acting as a budget replacement for Serra's Ascendant. Could be reduced to three copies.
Other Cards Cloudshift - Used to protect our creatures or to blink an early Voracious Wurm in order to get more counters on it. Heroes' Reunion - Ideally cast right before a Wurm to make it real nice and big, but also a boost to get to activating our Chalices. Secure the Wastes - Slower than Raise the Alarm, but a good mana sink later in the game that grants a whole lot of triggers. Norn's Annex - Pay life and get it out quickly, the deck's life gain will make up for it easily and end up stalling opponents rather good. Oblivion Ring - Just in case something hits the board that needs to be dealt with, its no Path or Swords but far more affordable. Rogue's Passage - Preferably kept in hand long enough so you can play and activate it to make our biggest creature unblockable. Blossoming Sands - Fixes mana and provides some incidental life gain. Being taplands they do hurt the pace of this deck so they might be cut.
WSIDEBOARDW
The sideboard for this deck is slightly improvised as the cards you'd probably want in here just tend to be more pricey, so I opted to look at budget options to improve how the deck functions after the first round. It does mean that the deck remains rather vulnerable in certain match ups.
Sundering Growth - Basic removal for enchantments and/or artifacts, even might net you some other triggers thanks to Populate. Paraselene - An alternative for growth, which I side in for a few of the Voltron decks in my meta. Midnight Haunting - There to help out stalling your opponent's flyers, works also nicely with Sigil Captain. Marrow Shards - My answer to the token decks in my meta, being able to pay life to cast it catches people off guard quite a bit. Reprisal - Just a big threat be gone card. Tormod's Crypt - Just cheap graveyard hate, it's no Rest in Peace but still can do some work. Ghost Quarter - So far I haven't seen the need for land removal in my meta, but have a one of in the sideboard just in case. Augur il-Vec - My solution to decks that turtle up or chump for days, providing extra evasion options and build-in instant life. Return to the Ranks - Gets most our cards back, helps us a little against burn and control decks.
Obviously there is room left to improve the efficiency of this deck, but so far it has been performing rather well for me. The sideboard might get some more tweaking and the deck itself might have some minor changes, but using TCG and the cart optimizer (US Residents only) you can see that the deck sits currently just below $25 in costs, making it a real nice budget deck.
This is just a little list of cards that could alternatively be used in this deck, I opted for the deck list above for personal reasons and made the sideboard to fit my meta a bit more but for others these other cards might be viable.
Soul's Attendant
Can fill the Suture Priest slot if you want life gain to be more prominent in this deck and improve the curve a little. Personally I prefer the Priest since it affects my opponent's life total and not just mine, which in some cases can be quite favored. Also the Priest is more prone to draw removal, keeping our other threads on the board. Nonetheless, the Attendant is worth considering.
Soulmender
Again a card that can replace Suture Priest, only this card will guarantee you life gain each turn while the Attendant will generally generate more over the span of the game. Can also replace Avacyn's Pilgrim instead if you want to go more to a Mono White version with Attendants instead of Priests.
Raise the Alarm
Could be run in favor of Secure the Wastes, in that it will produce two tokens for just two mana where Secure only nets you one token. Raise is definitely better in the early game, but Secure can be a life gain bomb late game getting you quickly towards the 30 life required for Chalice of Life to flip. Also with Sigil Captain out you will generate a solid board state as well.
Spectral Procession
This could be used over Midnight Haunting if you are looking for the benefit of more flying tokens, however, it comes at the cost of one mana more and it can only be cast at Sorcery speed. If it was a main deck card I'd be considering this card over Midnight Haunting, but as a side board tech I'd rather have the instant speed over an additional token.
Triplicate Spirits
Similar to Spectral Processions but obviously the mana cost is where this card differs. Processions can be cast more consistently on curve and does feel like the better pick, but seeing we generally don't want to risk our Wardens and Priests in combat they can be used to cast this with Convoke. Since it is not a win condition I'd consider running this card over Procession, because I picture it being cast in later turns where we'd ideally have some creatures out on the board already to help with casting this.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Does give a bit of recursion to the deck, but to me, only viable if you run a Mono White deck. Getting to seven plains in a two color deck is just harder to pull off, turning this effectively into a plains that enters the board tapped.
Sunpetal Grove (For Deck Upgrade)
A card I'd love to run since taplands are a pain to this deck, if budget allowed me they would instantly replace Blossoming Sands.
Path to Exile
The card to replace our Oblivion Rings and/or Reprisals for pretty much the best removal in white, though does require some more budget so a long term card to consider for me. It has to be noted though that it's a nonbo with the Murder Investigation below due to it exiling.
Murder Investigation (For Casual Fun)
First of all, this card is not recommended in the main deck unless you consider going Mono White. I am thinking of potentially adding it to my sideboard as a fun little strategy but will also require main decking the Reprisals, thus affecting how the deck will play quite a bit when you run it. So why consider running it? Your Pridemates and Wurms are vulnerable to removal, especially when they have a few counters on them. Murder Investigation will give them a reason to rethink using removal on them, as a 9/9 Voracious Wurm will become nine 1/1 Soldier Tokens and thus trigger our Wardens and Priests quite a bit. Have Sigil Captain out and you have nine 3/3's on the board instead. Reprisal gives us an option to kill our own enchanted creature if needed to get our tokens and life. It has to be noted that this strategy is very vulnerable to Exile effects so more suited for casual fun than competitive play.
The rewrite is still a work in progress but that is part due to me trying to smoothen out the deck a bit more as well. I've been enjoying how it played so far, but been wanting to tweak it a little to have it do more of what I want to do.
So for the next batch of changes:
Wolfbriar Elemental went back in and replaced Artisan of Kozilek While the recursion is nice, it just doesn't do enough for me and is more often than not a dead card in my hand. So, seeing I want to bump up my wolf token generation a little, I brought Wolfbriar Elemental back in for another go.
Mirror Entity went in and replaced Zealous Conscripts I do like the conscripts a lot but it does have a fairly high CMC, it works best when it combos with Mimic Vat though. Mirror Entity on the other hand synergizes a lot more with the deck, allowing smaller creatures to become bigger threats. There is a chance of it downsizing some of our bigger creatures, but I do feel the Changeling effect will make up for it.
Shared Animosity went back in and replaced Village Bell-Ringer
Instant untap is nice but you need it in your hand or under Mimic Vat to make it work. Shared Animosity might be a win more card, but since I have a rough theme of wolves and dragons it can do nicely. The main reason it made a return is to work together with Mirror Entity.
Requiem Angel went in and replaced Ogre Battledriver
Haste and pump is nice, but it has rarely lasted long enough to pull it's weight so far. Requiem Angel was brought in to feed off of sacrifice effects, to get more counters going and to help a bit with the fact that Kessig Cagebreakers forces those wolf tokens to attack. It will let you still have tokens, just with flying this time. Also good for board wipes.
Warstorm Surge went in and replaced Sarkhan's Triumph
To be honest, I am not too sure about cutting the Triumph as do have enough dragons around to make good use of it. However, I did want to give Warstorm Surge a try in the deck and thus a cut had to be made. With token generation this has the chance to do quite a bit of damage, hence why I decided to try it over a Impact Tremors even if Tremors sits lower on the curve.
I still might see about finding a spot to put the Triumph back in, but not sure yet which other card I should take out for it.
Edit: Actually, shuffling through my deck for a bit, I decided to take out Stonebrow, Krosan Hero in favor of the Triumph. The pump he gives is nice, but its attack depending and most my trample enablers already give a pump on their own.
For Lands you might want to consider Opal Palace, I'm running it in my Marath deck and offers both fixing as well as boost the counters on your Commander.
I'll be updating the starting post later on, since I am in the process of rewriting it quite a bit, but for now I'll give an update on the changes made to the deck over the weekend.
Both cards pretty much are an upgrade for the cards they replaced. Though adding in the Planeswalker definitely changed things a bit, considering this is a more aggressive styled deck and thus defending them can be tricky. That said it hasn't been the only Planeswalker to be added in.
Though the Baloth is powerful, his ability is a bit situational, even more so since I want to put the counters on my Commander to use. Garruk Wildspeaker sits also lower on the curve and his untap ability does help me with my other bigger creatures, his overrun ability makes up for the loss of the ability of the Baloth.
While I had more time to think about adding the Mirror Entity/Shared Animosity combo to the deck, I'm not yet decided on it. I do see Mirror Entity as being a potential win condition though, pretty much being an alternative to Descent of the Dragons, turning 2/2 wolves into bigger threats. Opinions on adding these cards is still appreciated and if you would add them, which cards would you cut for them?
Did have some good fun with this deck at the GP yesterday and been trying some different cards as well to build on the deck I've got going so far, will be doing a few more games today and then will update my list here to include the change I decided to keep around.
That said, been also doing some brainstorming and do feel that perhaps I do need to tune down some of the aggro 'reward' concept. This are changes I'm planning to make after today's games at the GP, but obviously would love input on these changes. First of all, I'm planning on taking out Thunderfoot Baloth, he's good but with what I do with my Commander his Lieutenant ability becomes more situational. Instead of it I want to bring in Mirror Entity, it does sit lower on the curve than the Baloth though I will have to see how the X/X part plays out in this deck even more so as it would be a mana sink. The reason why I want to test it out in the deck will be because I want to bring back Shared Animosity along with it. I initially thought about taking out Stonebrow, Krosan Hero for it but Gahiji, Honored One might be a better choice in that regard.
Yeah, I think it comes down to revising her plans a bit, think this was just a bit of a last minute decision on her part and with the limited budget it might be better for her to take some time to get a better strategy going for her. This should hopefully up her budget a bit as well and be a better base to improve off for the future. Thanks for all the help and advice though, it has been greatly appreciated.
With the Paths and Birds this list would easily go past my friend's budget, long term it might be things for her to look into investing in. So what she wants right now is pretty much a cheap, straight forward deck that does what she wants.
While at work I did try to give it a bit more thought as well and am likely to scratch both Devout Invocation, reduce Rootborn Defenses... and help out the defense aspect with adding some Wall of Essence and Arrest/Pacifism.
BACKGROUND
This deck is a slight rebuild of a deck I played several years ago, before I took a brief hiatus from playing magic. The playgroup I was in wanted to do a bit of themed deck building and let the tribes duke it out. Having on-theme fun was one of the big rules and it wasn't to be about getting that turn 1 or 2 win. For my theme I picked Kavus with FTK pretty much being the card I wanted to build the deck around, bouncing and recasting it till I could smash in. Since then I traded away some cards since I no longer played, but having gotten back into it some time ago I decided to see if I could put the list back together. Obvious since I didn't have all the cards I decided to look for some more modern replacements and ended up with the list below.
2x Birds of Paradise
2x Coastal Drake
3x Flametongue Kavu
2x Generator Servant
2x Hunting Kavu
2x Kavu Mauler
1x Kavu Monarch
2x Legion Loyalist
2x Priest of Titania
1x Quirion Dryad
3x Quirion Elves
2x Rooting Kavu
2x Sparkcaster
3x Temur Sabertooth
2x Wildfire Cerberus
2x Zhur-Taa Druid
11x Forest
1x Frontier Bivouac
1x Island
8x Mountain
1x Thornwood Falls
1x Wirewood Lodge
Sorcery (2)
1x Ghitu Fire
1x Overwhelming Stampede
2x Harrow
THE STRATEGY
Obviously, the strategy is to make way for our Kavu's by bouncing Flametongue Kavu as much as we can, originally Sparkcaster and Coastal Drake were my go to options for this and hence the blue splash. Temur Sabertooth gives now an additional way to do so while being a good threat on it's own as well.
Originally, I ran two Kavu Monarch's to get some trample going, but I traded both at the time and only was able to get one back so far. However, in the absence of the second Monarch I added Overwhelming Stampede, which makes a nice way to bash through when dealing with creatures that have a bigger toughness than FTK can deal with.
Generator Servant makes up for two lost BoP's, while far from the same the haste it provides does work well with our bigger/slower Kavu.
Legion Loyalist helps getting us something on the board early, though also helps our Kavu late game.
With us bouncing FTK several times, Quirion Dryad has the potential to become nice and big. It provides an alternative win condition but since its a themed deck, I only ran one. Same goes for Ghitu Fire, if my creatures can't finish the job this card can potentially burn away that last bit of life.
Zhur-Taa Druid does some mana fixing for us and pings away while doing so if unchecked, also any removal used on it won't be going to our FTKs.
2x Birds of Paradise
4x Flametongue Kavu
3x Generator Servant
4x Horned Kavu
2x Kavu Monarch
4x Kavu Titan
3x Pouncing Kavu
2x Rooting Kavu
2x Skyshroud Elf
3x Thunderscape Familiar
2x Elemental Bond
3x Flameshadow Conjuring
Instant (3)
3x Collateral Damage
Land (23)
9x Forest
9x Mountain
4x Rootbound Crag
1x Shivan Oasis
2x Temur Sabertooth
2x Chandra, the Firebrand
1x Collateral Damage
2x Armed // Dangerous
2x Flesh // Blood
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Gruul Charm
2x Clinging Mists
Main Strategy
The main idea is still to try and bounce Flametongue Kavu frequently, though to lower the curve I'm now only relying on Horned Kavu to do so. Running four copies limits my bouncing but that is also where Flameshadow Conjuring comes into play, it can double my bouncing but also double my FTK casting to clear the way as much as I can. Obviously the tokens made with the Conjuring don't last, so we get to swing with it for 'free' after which it becomes the perfect sacrifice outlet for Collateral Damage to add some burn. Though sacking a Rooting Kavu is also a very good option later in the game.
The other cards:
Birds of Paradise - The deck can use some ramp and at a one drop Birds does quite well generating any kind of mana.
Skyshroud Elf - While two more BoP or one drop mana elves could work better, Skyshroud can turn our mana into red mana when needed.
Generator Servant - Early drop that can help ramp into bigger creatures, granting them haste while at it.
Thunderscape Familiar - It's a Kavu and on top it will help make our green spells cheaper.
Elemental Bond - FTK is big enough to trigger the Bond, so this is our source of additional card draw.
Kavu Titan - As suggested this Kavu can become quite big when kicked, so can bash in nicely or do early defense.
Pouncing Kavu - Mainly early defense but like the Titan it can be kicked to get bigger as well late game.
Kavu Monarch - Monarch is there to provide trample and enjoy all our bouncing to become a big threat.
Rootbound Crag - Fixes our mana and generally can come into play untapped.
Shivan Oasis - Technically unnecessary and due to being a tapland it is likely to set you back unless you have a turn one play, am just running it for the sake of the copy being a signed one.
The sideboard obviously could be better but it's mostly designed to try and compliment the deck, helping it out here and there while not breaking the bank so to say. In most cases I'm playing the deck the sideboard will be untouched due to playgroup rules for playing tribal decks. I just have it there when needed.
Temur Sabertooth - To add repeatable means of bouncing to the deck, I excluded it from the main to keep the curve lower.
Collateral Damage - Just a fourth copy to side in when needed.
Chandra, the Firebrand - Mainly there to be sided in so we can make our Collateral Damage hit twice.
Armed // Dangerous - There to help pursue a more aggro strategy.
Flesh // Blood - Blood can turn a pumped up Monarch into a 'burn' spell, though Birds can allow Flesh to be used as well if need be.
Destructive Revelry - To have an answer to artifacts and enchantments, while giving some more burn.
Gruul Charm - To deal with flyers or just to make way to charge in with everything.
Clinging Mists - A fog effect that can turn the tide in tough situations.
4 Ajani's Pridemate
3 Elvish Mystic
2 Hopeful Eidolon
1 Rhox Faithmender
1 Sigil Captain
4 Soul Warden
4 Suture Priest
3 Voracious Wurm
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Ajani Goldmane
Artifacts (6)
4 Chalice of Life
2 Well of Lost Dreams
2 Oblivion Ring
Instants/Sorceries (6)
2 Gods Willing
2 Heroes' Reunion
2 Secure the Wastes
Land Base (23)
10 Plains
7 Forest
3 Blossoming Sands
1 Graypelt Refuge
2 Rogue's Passage
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Norn's Annex
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Paraselene
1 Marrow Shards
2 Midnight Haunting
2 Faith's Fetters
2 Return to the Ranks
2 Trespassing Souleater
2 Tormod's Crypt
Mirari's Wake
- Included for play testing purposes. Mana fixing to make Secure the Wastes go off bigger, as well as pump tokens. The high CMC does set the deck back a bit, so might try main decking a Gavony Township instead if I need the pump since Wake is a non-bo with Sigil Captain.
Norn's Annex
- Included for play testing purposes. Am considering main decking this card as it has been a nice way to hold back aggro decks.
Marrow Shards
- Included for play testing purposes. Meant to counter some of the token decks in my area, the paying life is no issue for my deck and thus can surprise people.
Midnight Haunting
- A cheap way to add flyers to the mix. Works both defensively and offensively.
Ghost Quarter
- Basic answer for annoying lands
Paraselene
- There are better mass enchantment removal cards out there, but this one just seems to synergize well with the deck.
Faith's Fetters
- Removal like Oblivion Ring, but does add a bit of life gain which can be used to trigger Chalice.
Return to the Ranks
- Enables us to get back pretty much most of our creatures in one go.
Trespassing Souleater
- Boarded in when land removal becomes an issue and takes out our Rogue's Passages. The deck's life gain will allow us to keep activating the ability without worries.
Tormod's Crypt
- Deals with any graveyard shenanigans.
Still considering to improve my draws a tad bit more by including Witches' Eye, though currently the deck does fairly well at what it wants to do. If added I'd be cutting a Wurm and maybe Ajani for it.
To help a bit with getting the right cards, I think adding some scry effects would help and be fairly budget friendly. Obviously the scry lands are going to be too pricey, but I might see about adding either two of Witches' Eye or Crystal Ball to filter my top draws.
I think I might indeed see about switching in some O-Rings to be more versatile with my limited removal.
I did initially intend to add Raise the Alarm as well to my version, it's quicker than Secure the Wastes but I felt that the X cost ability of Secure can just do that bit more. It pumps out more tokens but can also act as a nice pump spell to make Ajani's Pridemate bigger.
As far as the deck goes, I'm likely going to drop Emeria, the Sky Ruin and just add a basic plains instead. Emeria doesn't do too much due to this being a two-color deck and it being a tapland it does set you back a little.
Also Ajani Goldmane might become a potential cut or a card that get's sided out a lot, it does work nicely in the deck though but it's not a key card for it and it sitting at a CMC of 4 means it can be potentially used to speed up the deck a tad bit.
I am still working on getting a cheap sideboard together for the deck and so far I am considering to use these:
2 Sundering Growth
2 Midnight Haunting
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Faith's Fetters
2 Reprisal
1 Corrosive Gale
1 Norn's Annex
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Immortal Servitude
Adding Ranger of Eos is just too much for the budget, this is meant to be a fun casual deck after all. I have enough other decks that drain my Magic funds each month, lol.
As far as the Hawks go, they work well in the original Soul Sisters because they help Martyr of Sands so much. In this version it would have less synergy, but do agree that card advantage is something the deck lacks, since Well of Lost Dreams is a tad slow but works nicely flavor wise. Also I do need something for flyers, so have been considering to add Midnight Haunting to the sideboard as a cheap way to switch in some flyers.
WG . . Soul Sister's Chalice . . GW
After a friend of mine wanted to dip a little into some casual Modern, we went to try and quickly brew a deck together for her. In the end she decided to just start with some duel decks and go from there, but the brew did spark some curiosity for me and thus I decided to throw together this budget deck and see how it would do. The deck is obviously a very loose play on the already budget staple Soul Sisters deck.
4 Ajani's Pridemate
3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Hopeful Eidolon
2 Mentor of the Meek
1 Rhox Faithmender
1 Sigil Captain
4 Soul Warden
4 Suture Priest
3 Voracious Wurm
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Norn's Annex
Instants/Sorceries (6)
2 Cloudshift
2 Heroes' Reunion
2 Secure the Wastes
Artifacts (4)
4 Chalice of Life
Land Base (23)
11 Plains
7 Forest
3 Blossoming Sands
2 Rogue's Passage
2 Sundering Growth
2 Augur il-Vec
2 Midnight Haunting
2 Marrow Shards
2 Reprisal
1 Return to the Ranks
1 Paraselene
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Ghost Quarter
June, 25th
- 2 Journey to Nowhere » 2 Oblivion Ring
- - - The rings are costing one more than Journey, but will allow me to hit more targets as well.
July, 5th
- 2 Gods Willing » 2 Momentary Blink
- - - While the Gods Willing is quick protection, Blink just feels more versatile. It gives the chance to protect a creature, but also allows us to blink an early Voracious Wurm in order to increase the amount of +1/+1 counters on it.
- Emeria, the Sky Ruin » Plains
- - - Emeria just triggers not enough to warrant it being in this deck, as the come into play tapped just hurts the deck too much for that.
- Graypelt Refuge » Plains
- - - The little bit of life gain is nice, but this deck needs some more speed so am reducing the taplands a bit. I might cut some Blossoming Sands as well because of this.
- 3 Elvish Mystic » 3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
- - - Most spells use only one green to cast, so little need for a double green on turn one anymore with having cut down the green in the past.
- 2 Well of Lost Dreams » 2 Mentor of the Meek
- - - Generally the Well will allow for more card draw, however, Mentor sits lower on the curve and is a creature which triggers life gain.
- Ajani Goldmane » Norn's Annex
- - - Ajani being a Planeswalker gets attacked rather quickly, so tends to do little aside from drawing attention. The Annex has been surprisingly good, being able to pay life to cast it is no issue in this deck and will affect most creature based decks nicely.
July, 15th
- 2 Momentary Blink » 2 Cloudshift
- - - Same effect for one mana less, so simply an upgrade after test running the deck with Blink in it.
- 1 Ghost Quarter » 1 Reprisal
- - - While the Gods Willing is quick protection, Blink just feels more versatile. It gives the chance to protect a creature, but also allows us to blink an early Voracious Wurm in order to increase the amount of +1/+1 counters on it.
W CARD CHOICES W
So here is a quick overview of the cards in this deck and why we are running them. Obviously with it being a budget build there are better options out there to run, but so far this list has been doing rather well for me. I did add some notes in there as well to where potential cuts could be made, whether it's for sideboarding strategies or just for general deck improvements that can be made in the future.
Mana Fixing Creatures
Avacyn's Pilgrim - Good early drop that will put us in both our colors, setting us up to cast nearly all our cards on the second turn.
Main Life Gain Creatures
Soul Warden - Life gain is key in this deck and Soul Warden plays a big part in this, chosen because it's slightly cheaper than Attendant.
Suture Priest - Attendant might be better here since it's quicker, but the Priest just works better when it comes to a stale board. Could be cut down to three.
Threat Creatures
Ajani's Pridemate - The amount of life gain in this deck will make Pridemate big real quick and does wonders once Rogue's Passage is out.
Voracious Wurm - Another way to get a threat on the board, using the gained life to cast a bigger Wurm. Could potentially be cut down to two.
Support Creatures
Mentor of the Meek - Helps us to get some card draw going, but also will trigger some life gain when it hits the board.
Rhox Faithmender - Pretty much doubles our life gain, so good while on the board but not necessary enough to warrant more than one.
Sigil Captain - Turns all our 1/1's into serious creatures, something you will want on the board but sadly is redundant when you have two in hand, so a one of.
Hopeful Eidolon - Decent as an early drop, but really shines once bestowed upon a Pridemate or Wurm.
Artifacts
Chalice of Life - The card this deck is build around, acting as a budget replacement for Serra's Ascendant. Could be reduced to three copies.
Other Cards
Cloudshift - Used to protect our creatures or to blink an early Voracious Wurm in order to get more counters on it.
Heroes' Reunion - Ideally cast right before a Wurm to make it real nice and big, but also a boost to get to activating our Chalices.
Secure the Wastes - Slower than Raise the Alarm, but a good mana sink later in the game that grants a whole lot of triggers.
Norn's Annex - Pay life and get it out quickly, the deck's life gain will make up for it easily and end up stalling opponents rather good.
Oblivion Ring - Just in case something hits the board that needs to be dealt with, its no Path or Swords but far more affordable.
Rogue's Passage - Preferably kept in hand long enough so you can play and activate it to make our biggest creature unblockable.
Blossoming Sands - Fixes mana and provides some incidental life gain. Being taplands they do hurt the pace of this deck so they might be cut.
W SIDEBOARD W
The sideboard for this deck is slightly improvised as the cards you'd probably want in here just tend to be more pricey, so I opted to look at budget options to improve how the deck functions after the first round. It does mean that the deck remains rather vulnerable in certain match ups.
Sundering Growth - Basic removal for enchantments and/or artifacts, even might net you some other triggers thanks to Populate.
Paraselene - An alternative for growth, which I side in for a few of the Voltron decks in my meta.
Midnight Haunting - There to help out stalling your opponent's flyers, works also nicely with Sigil Captain.
Marrow Shards - My answer to the token decks in my meta, being able to pay life to cast it catches people off guard quite a bit.
Reprisal - Just a big threat be gone card.
Tormod's Crypt - Just cheap graveyard hate, it's no Rest in Peace but still can do some work.
Ghost Quarter - So far I haven't seen the need for land removal in my meta, but have a one of in the sideboard just in case.
Augur il-Vec - My solution to decks that turtle up or chump for days, providing extra evasion options and build-in instant life.
Return to the Ranks - Gets most our cards back, helps us a little against burn and control decks.
Obviously there is room left to improve the efficiency of this deck, but so far it has been performing rather well for me. The sideboard might get some more tweaking and the deck itself might have some minor changes, but using TCG and the cart optimizer (US Residents only) you can see that the deck sits currently just below $25 in costs, making it a real nice budget deck.
Timestamp: 07/05/2015
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Soul's Attendant
Can fill the Suture Priest slot if you want life gain to be more prominent in this deck and improve the curve a little. Personally I prefer the Priest since it affects my opponent's life total and not just mine, which in some cases can be quite favored. Also the Priest is more prone to draw removal, keeping our other threads on the board. Nonetheless, the Attendant is worth considering.
Soulmender
Again a card that can replace Suture Priest, only this card will guarantee you life gain each turn while the Attendant will generally generate more over the span of the game. Can also replace Avacyn's Pilgrim instead if you want to go more to a Mono White version with Attendants instead of Priests.
Raise the Alarm
Could be run in favor of Secure the Wastes, in that it will produce two tokens for just two mana where Secure only nets you one token. Raise is definitely better in the early game, but Secure can be a life gain bomb late game getting you quickly towards the 30 life required for Chalice of Life to flip. Also with Sigil Captain out you will generate a solid board state as well.
Spectral Procession
This could be used over Midnight Haunting if you are looking for the benefit of more flying tokens, however, it comes at the cost of one mana more and it can only be cast at Sorcery speed. If it was a main deck card I'd be considering this card over Midnight Haunting, but as a side board tech I'd rather have the instant speed over an additional token.
Triplicate Spirits
Similar to Spectral Processions but obviously the mana cost is where this card differs. Processions can be cast more consistently on curve and does feel like the better pick, but seeing we generally don't want to risk our Wardens and Priests in combat they can be used to cast this with Convoke. Since it is not a win condition I'd consider running this card over Procession, because I picture it being cast in later turns where we'd ideally have some creatures out on the board already to help with casting this.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Does give a bit of recursion to the deck, but to me, only viable if you run a Mono White deck. Getting to seven plains in a two color deck is just harder to pull off, turning this effectively into a plains that enters the board tapped.
Sunpetal Grove (For Deck Upgrade)
A card I'd love to run since taplands are a pain to this deck, if budget allowed me they would instantly replace Blossoming Sands.
Path to Exile
The card to replace our Oblivion Rings and/or Reprisals for pretty much the best removal in white, though does require some more budget so a long term card to consider for me. It has to be noted though that it's a nonbo with the Murder Investigation below due to it exiling.
Murder Investigation (For Casual Fun)
First of all, this card is not recommended in the main deck unless you consider going Mono White. I am thinking of potentially adding it to my sideboard as a fun little strategy but will also require main decking the Reprisals, thus affecting how the deck will play quite a bit when you run it. So why consider running it? Your Pridemates and Wurms are vulnerable to removal, especially when they have a few counters on them. Murder Investigation will give them a reason to rethink using removal on them, as a 9/9 Voracious Wurm will become nine 1/1 Soldier Tokens and thus trigger our Wardens and Priests quite a bit. Have Sigil Captain out and you have nine 3/3's on the board instead. Reprisal gives us an option to kill our own enchanted creature if needed to get our tokens and life. It has to be noted that this strategy is very vulnerable to Exile effects so more suited for casual fun than competitive play.
So for the next batch of changes:
Wolfbriar Elemental went back in and replaced Artisan of Kozilek
While the recursion is nice, it just doesn't do enough for me and is more often than not a dead card in my hand. So, seeing I want to bump up my wolf token generation a little, I brought Wolfbriar Elemental back in for another go.
Mirror Entity went in and replaced Zealous Conscripts
I do like the conscripts a lot but it does have a fairly high CMC, it works best when it combos with Mimic Vat though. Mirror Entity on the other hand synergizes a lot more with the deck, allowing smaller creatures to become bigger threats. There is a chance of it downsizing some of our bigger creatures, but I do feel the Changeling effect will make up for it.
Shared Animosity went back in and replaced Village Bell-Ringer
Instant untap is nice but you need it in your hand or under Mimic Vat to make it work. Shared Animosity might be a win more card, but since I have a rough theme of wolves and dragons it can do nicely. The main reason it made a return is to work together with Mirror Entity.
Requiem Angel went in and replaced Ogre Battledriver
Haste and pump is nice, but it has rarely lasted long enough to pull it's weight so far. Requiem Angel was brought in to feed off of sacrifice effects, to get more counters going and to help a bit with the fact that Kessig Cagebreakers forces those wolf tokens to attack. It will let you still have tokens, just with flying this time. Also good for board wipes.
Warstorm Surge went in and replaced Sarkhan's Triumph
To be honest, I am not too sure about cutting the Triumph as do have enough dragons around to make good use of it. However, I did want to give Warstorm Surge a try in the deck and thus a cut had to be made. With token generation this has the chance to do quite a bit of damage, hence why I decided to try it over a Impact Tremors even if Tremors sits lower on the curve.
I still might see about finding a spot to put the Triumph back in, but not sure yet which other card I should take out for it.
Edit: Actually, shuffling through my deck for a bit, I decided to take out Stonebrow, Krosan Hero in favor of the Triumph. The pump he gives is nice, but its attack depending and most my trample enablers already give a pump on their own.
Dromoka's Command went in and Pit Fight went out.
Domri Rade went in and Ulvenwald Tracker went out.
Both cards pretty much are an upgrade for the cards they replaced. Though adding in the Planeswalker definitely changed things a bit, considering this is a more aggressive styled deck and thus defending them can be tricky. That said it hasn't been the only Planeswalker to be added in.
Garruk Wildspeaker went in and replaced Thunderfoot Baloth
Though the Baloth is powerful, his ability is a bit situational, even more so since I want to put the counters on my Commander to use. Garruk Wildspeaker sits also lower on the curve and his untap ability does help me with my other bigger creatures, his overrun ability makes up for the loss of the ability of the Baloth.
While I had more time to think about adding the Mirror Entity/Shared Animosity combo to the deck, I'm not yet decided on it. I do see Mirror Entity as being a potential win condition though, pretty much being an alternative to Descent of the Dragons, turning 2/2 wolves into bigger threats. Opinions on adding these cards is still appreciated and if you would add them, which cards would you cut for them?
That said, been also doing some brainstorming and do feel that perhaps I do need to tune down some of the aggro 'reward' concept. This are changes I'm planning to make after today's games at the GP, but obviously would love input on these changes. First of all, I'm planning on taking out Thunderfoot Baloth, he's good but with what I do with my Commander his Lieutenant ability becomes more situational. Instead of it I want to bring in Mirror Entity, it does sit lower on the curve than the Baloth though I will have to see how the X/X part plays out in this deck even more so as it would be a mana sink. The reason why I want to test it out in the deck will be because I want to bring back Shared Animosity along with it. I initially thought about taking out Stonebrow, Krosan Hero for it but Gahiji, Honored One might be a better choice in that regard.
While at work I did try to give it a bit more thought as well and am likely to scratch both Devout Invocation, reduce Rootborn Defenses... and help out the defense aspect with adding some Wall of Essence and Arrest/Pacifism.