Green is completely unncessary. Pride Sovereign is a win-more card. I suggest going mono-white.
I also found in my cat deck Anointed Procession is amazing. I know it's another 4 drop in an archetype suddenly full of 4 drops, but it's kind of the perfect card for what cats is doing. I kind of like it better than what the other 4 drops are doing. When I play it, it's normally turn 4 Procession and turn 5 Caracal/Eternalize Pouncer. That turn 4 going into turn 5 is a much stronger play than either of the other 2 4 drops. At least that's how I feel about it.
i think Standard is way too kind to midrange strategies than anything else. The reason standard seems fast is because there happen to be a couple of half decent "faster" decks that just prey on decks taking too long to set up. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Decks should be kept honest.
As for cards I think should always be in Standard, I think Wizards already does that. They print a baseline of where they think the power level of standard should hang around by printing cards like Cancel, Negate, 3/2s for 2 cmc, etc. I'm fine with that kind of stuff, but I don't particularly care when they blow that formula out of the water. Example (and just an example):They go years without printing a ramp spell as good as Rampant Growth, establishing that Rampant Growth is too good for Standard. Then the reprint Llanowar Elves, a categorically better ramp spell. Now, I don't think L.Es are breaking standard, but I do think it's a serious break of what I've expected.
Other than that, Standard ebbs and flows. I took a long hiatus, but when I came back (in SOI), aggro decks (and red decks in particular) were mostly non-existent. And I recall reading, on this very forum, how WOTC was killing the game by not printing good red cards. Now it's Red's turn in the spotlight. Red's day will end and it'll be another color/strategy shining and people will of course complain again. Ebb and flow man. Ebb and flow.
true, but it's such a low casting cost, it's probably easy to protect. personally, i'm ok fighting over Tower. If you're spending their mana on Abrade, that's 2 mana they aren't spending on damage to my face (in the form of creatures or burn).
I think you can just drop white altogether. Wayward Servant and Binding Mummy aren't good enough for a color splash. And the other white cards you're playing are WW (the 1 Settle and the abilities on the Shefet Dunes), and you only have 10 total sources of white mana (9 in the case of the Dunes, since you have to actually tap a Dune to use the ability). Drop the White is my suggestion.
With only 8 Pirates, I don't think you can count on Lookout's Dispersal to be very cheap, very often. I'd use a different counterspell, I think. Probably Negate. I think I'd also run Blink of an Eye over Unsummon.
So obviously the All-star is Firebrand Archer. With all the non-creature spells to cast, it has the potential to wrack up a ton of damage. With 3rd chapter of Flame of Keld, it's NUTS. Each trigger will hit for 3. I demolished an opponent down from 18 on a single turn with that combo.
Imminent Doom slots right into this list. There are plenty of cards at the 1, 2 and 3 drop slots to make sure you get at least 6 out of your Doom. If you have a Blasting Cannon as well, then you got 10 burn for 3 mana. It's so much fun.
Speaking of, Blasting Cannon also is great in this deck. It's first priority is getting you extra cards to cast. Essentially you're getting two draws per turn. If you're able to flip it, which is totally reasonable with the deck given the low cmc of the deck, then you have repeatable damage that will eventually finish the game.
Soul-scar is the most expensive card in the deck (currently going for about $3 each), but they really help the deck deal with larger creatures. Without it, they're not impossible to deal with, but definitely a lot harder to get off the board.
In the sideboard, Pyrohelix mows down x/1 creatures, and acts as a Double Lightning Bolt during Flame chap 3. It's a good card for getting blockers out of the way and getting in.
Repeating Barrage really helps in some of the more grindy match ups, especially good against control decks.
Wrangle helps against bigger creatures. Crook takes care of GYs.
Anyway, super fun deck. I recommend giving it a spin!
If you're wanting to play tokens, and why wouldn't you, they're fun, you just have to find a way to get your tokens pumped up out of that x/1 range. There's lots of anthems/lords out there. If I was looking to get past Chainwhirler, I'd look for enchantment based anthems over artifact based and lords. Both decks run Abrade giving them an easy way to get your tokens small enough to be smacked around by a chain. There are other cards too. Heroic Intervention is good.
Personally, my main deck is UW Embalm/Eternalize and Cats mashed together. Typically, it takes more than just a chainwhirler to kill my lifelink cat tokens, and my Sacred Cats and Adorned Pouncer just come back, and in the case of Pouncer, even meaner.
Chainwhirler is a good card, but not unbeatable. I don't think it should be banned. Red-based aggro was already the boogeyman of the format. It makes Chainwhirler seem amazing because it slotted right in. In a few months when most of the red aggro cards rotate out, Chainwhirler won't have a home and won't be so burdensome.
your deck is a control deck with 2 win conditions. Mill and Attacking with a big flyer. The big flier is the more effective strategy which makes the mill seem like it's taking up space.
Other than the desert control decks, I'm not sure what mill strategy is going to get higher than the win percentage you're already experiencing. Wizards just hasn't made mill good in a long time for standard.
First, Welcome to the game! It's my favorite game and I've been playing it over 20 yrs.
Secondly, and sadly, you're in the wrong forum. This deck isn't very budget friendly. I don't mind discussing this deck, but you should definitely put it in the right thread. Luckily, I found that thread for you. I'm not sure if your list is the most optimal, but you can definitely get some advice in that thread while also combing through the previous posts to get some ideas. Here's the link:
Finally, the deck tags are very easy to use. For single cards just type [*card*]<card name>[*/card] (without asterisks, of course) and for entire deck lists the format is:
When you're playing an Indomitable Creativity deck, you don't want to have a bunch of cheap artifacts and/or creatures in it. The only artifacts/creatures you should have in there need to be bombs. Every other artifact and/or creature should be a token.
Zacama seems more popular than The Scarab God so far.
More broadly, it seems fine. I'm always down for a new format that doesn't make me pore through my boxes for my old cards lol. The majority of my time will be played in Standard, but I'm sure to have a Brawl deck or two.
I also found in my cat deck Anointed Procession is amazing. I know it's another 4 drop in an archetype suddenly full of 4 drops, but it's kind of the perfect card for what cats is doing. I kind of like it better than what the other 4 drops are doing. When I play it, it's normally turn 4 Procession and turn 5 Caracal/Eternalize Pouncer. That turn 4 going into turn 5 is a much stronger play than either of the other 2 4 drops. At least that's how I feel about it.
As for cards I think should always be in Standard, I think Wizards already does that. They print a baseline of where they think the power level of standard should hang around by printing cards like Cancel, Negate, 3/2s for 2 cmc, etc. I'm fine with that kind of stuff, but I don't particularly care when they blow that formula out of the water. Example (and just an example):They go years without printing a ramp spell as good as Rampant Growth, establishing that Rampant Growth is too good for Standard. Then the reprint Llanowar Elves, a categorically better ramp spell. Now, I don't think L.Es are breaking standard, but I do think it's a serious break of what I've expected.
Other than that, Standard ebbs and flows. I took a long hiatus, but when I came back (in SOI), aggro decks (and red decks in particular) were mostly non-existent. And I recall reading, on this very forum, how WOTC was killing the game by not printing good red cards. Now it's Red's turn in the spotlight. Red's day will end and it'll be another color/strategy shining and people will of course complain again. Ebb and flow man. Ebb and flow.
Everyone, this is a fun one. Taking a bunch of red spells and going straight for the face! Here's the list:
4 Bomat Courier
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Firebrand Archer
Instants 11
4 Shock
4 Lightning Strike
3 Wizard's Lightning
4 The Flame of Keld
3 Imminent Doom
3 Vance's Blasting Cannons
Lands 23
23 Mountain
4 Abrade
4 Chandra's Pyrohelix
3 Wrangle
2 Repeating Barrage
2 Crook of Condemnation
So obviously the All-star is Firebrand Archer. With all the non-creature spells to cast, it has the potential to wrack up a ton of damage. With 3rd chapter of Flame of Keld, it's NUTS. Each trigger will hit for 3. I demolished an opponent down from 18 on a single turn with that combo.
Imminent Doom slots right into this list. There are plenty of cards at the 1, 2 and 3 drop slots to make sure you get at least 6 out of your Doom. If you have a Blasting Cannon as well, then you got 10 burn for 3 mana. It's so much fun.
Speaking of, Blasting Cannon also is great in this deck. It's first priority is getting you extra cards to cast. Essentially you're getting two draws per turn. If you're able to flip it, which is totally reasonable with the deck given the low cmc of the deck, then you have repeatable damage that will eventually finish the game.
Soul-scar is the most expensive card in the deck (currently going for about $3 each), but they really help the deck deal with larger creatures. Without it, they're not impossible to deal with, but definitely a lot harder to get off the board.
In the sideboard, Pyrohelix mows down x/1 creatures, and acts as a Double Lightning Bolt during Flame chap 3. It's a good card for getting blockers out of the way and getting in.
Repeating Barrage really helps in some of the more grindy match ups, especially good against control decks.
Wrangle helps against bigger creatures. Crook takes care of GYs.
Anyway, super fun deck. I recommend giving it a spin!
Personally, my main deck is UW Embalm/Eternalize and Cats mashed together. Typically, it takes more than just a chainwhirler to kill my lifelink cat tokens, and my Sacred Cats and Adorned Pouncer just come back, and in the case of Pouncer, even meaner.
Chainwhirler is a good card, but not unbeatable. I don't think it should be banned. Red-based aggro was already the boogeyman of the format. It makes Chainwhirler seem amazing because it slotted right in. In a few months when most of the red aggro cards rotate out, Chainwhirler won't have a home and won't be so burdensome.
Other than the desert control decks, I'm not sure what mill strategy is going to get higher than the win percentage you're already experiencing. Wizards just hasn't made mill good in a long time for standard.
Secondly, and sadly, you're in the wrong forum. This deck isn't very budget friendly. I don't mind discussing this deck, but you should definitely put it in the right thread. Luckily, I found that thread for you. I'm not sure if your list is the most optimal, but you can definitely get some advice in that thread while also combing through the previous posts to get some ideas. Here's the link:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/deck-creation-standard/784051-primer-ub-tempo-pirates-jacks
Finally, the deck tags are very easy to use. For single cards just type [*card*]<card name>[*/card] (without asterisks, of course) and for entire deck lists the format is:
[*deck*]<category>
<number> <card name>
<number> <card name>
<category>
<number> <card name>
<number> <card name>
etc etc
etc[*/deck*] (again, without asterisks)
It looks like:
4 Grizzly Bears
4 Giant Spider
4 Giant Growth
10 Forest
Again, welcome to the game. have lots of fun!
More broadly, it seems fine. I'm always down for a new format that doesn't make me pore through my boxes for my old cards lol. The majority of my time will be played in Standard, but I'm sure to have a Brawl deck or two.