MTG Salvation

Quote from WarMachinePrime »

Seems like Scale the Heights could find a home somewhere. The card literally does 4 things at once, a +1 +1 counter, lifegain, ramp and cantrips. Has to have a home somewhere. Its a LAND not basic land too, maybe a Green Tron build???

3 mana is a lot. Idk if it'll catch on.

Quote from Darkninja107 »

I'm getting real tired of seeing Tormenting Voice reprinted ad nauseam. I know it's just one common slot in the whole set, but I just want to see something different for red.

As a red cantrip, I think it's quite good in limited. Boring but effective.

MirrodinBesiegedStandard - RockRamp - GPT 1st.


*Artifacts for Glissa, the Traitor. I locked out a SpiritTokens deck in the finals w/Glissa + Ratchet Bomb.

Quote from Upkeep »

Orzhov RebelsMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures (27) 4 Ramosian Sergeant 4 Amrou Scout 4 Blightspeaker 4 Defiant Falcon 2 Ramosian Lieutenant 3 Aven Riftwatcher 2 Nightwind Glider 2 Venomous Changeling 2 Zealot il-Vec	Other (10) 4 Journey to Nowhere 2 Bound in Silence 3 Prismatic Strands 1 Rally the Peasants Lands (23) 15 Plains 4 Cave of Temptation 4 Orzhov Basilica	Sideboard 3 Relic of Progenitus 1 Samite Censer-Bearer 2 Forever Young 2 Lawbringer 1 Nightwind Glider 1 Prismatic Strands 1 Rally the Peasants 1 Thermal Glider 2 Patrician's Scorn

My take on Orzhov Rebels:

Quote from Kryptnyt »

It's very tempting to find further reason to run Brainstorm in a deck that shuffles as much as a Rebels deck. Any ideas for Blue White?

During Masques Block Constructed (MBC,) "Counter-Rebels" was a legit deck. Leaving counter spell mana open, then searching during their end step is powerful synergy.

That being said, Brainstorm and Ponder are auto-includes. Since the cantrips are 1 drops, adjustments must be made to favor blue mana. Ramosian Sergeant must be cut since you can't Brainstorm/Ponder AND Ramosian Sergeant on the first turn... doing so will destroy your mana consistency. And since we are now blue heavy, 4 copies of actual Counterspell seem a perfect fit.

My first draft:

Quote from Upkeep »

What do you think of this?

I'm splashing Black for Blightspeaker and Venomous Changeling. You don't need that much mana to splash Rebels since you often don't even pay coloured mana for them anyways.

I'm pretty satisfied with the mana base. I feel comfortable going to 23 lands with Orzhov Basilica and Cave of Temptation gives some finishing power to our rebels without requiring deck space... Oh and it also fixes your mana and comes into play untapped.

Venomous Changeling is interesting. It's another "rebel" so there's definite potential.

I don't like Blightspeaker b/c he's the worst 2 mana searcher imo. Ramosian Lieutenant is #1 b/c 2 toughness survives Cuombajj Witches, Gut Shot and Nausea. Defiant Falcon is #2 b/c he flies... besides offense and defense, flying evades Swirling Sandstorm. Amrou Scout is #3 b/c you sometimes need an emergency blocker to fetch from Ramosian Sergeant to block 2 toughness attackers, like Ninja of the Deep Hours or Kiln Fiend.

Lastly we have Blightspeaker, ranked #4 b/c he is terrible on attacking AND blocking. He IS a finisher but I don't know if you need him. I will say that my earlier incarnations of this deck ran Bonesplitter to equip on fliers or Zealot il-Vec's so maybe I've developed a prejudice against him. Your Cave of Temptation looks good on a flier or Zealot il-Vec!

Speaking of Cave of Temptation, it's attractive as a way to add a finisher w/out sacrificing deck space. I will definitely test this in my mono white build. Thanks!

My Kabira Crossroads entering tapped doesn't hurt me too often. My only other 1 drop is Ramosian Sergeant so my 1st turn (and sometimes 3rd turn) plays are open. Life gain helps against burn/Kiln Fiend decks.

Your Orzhov Basilica enters tapped as well but I guess the payoff is when you run out of lands, you now have 1 extra mana (compared to my build.)

I haven't played vs Tron recently but Bojuka Bog gives you black mana while saving Relic of Progenitus SB slots. I admit the sorcery speed isn't optimal vs Tron's Ghostly Flicker or GB Fog's recursion tho.

I was gonna make my own topic for "Budget Oath" but saw one already made so I just bumped this one instead of creating an entirely new thread...

Replace Looter il-Kor's "loot" w/Moldervine Cloak's dredge for maximum value.

Dredge synergies w/Deep Analysis (flashback), Hooting Mandrills (delve) and Werebear (threshold.)

Werebear helps offset the tempo loss of Daze.

*Optimal Cave of Temptation targets.

Kabira Crossroads > Radiant Fountain b/c of Unmake.

*Trinket Mage targets.

+4 Night's Whisper, -4 Swamp from my previous build. I was worried about mana screw but found the cantrip brew rule is true: For each 2 cantrips you add, subtract 1 land from your build. So I basically went from 26 lands to 24 lands.

Night's Whisper and Gut Shot allow me to cast Gurmag Angler earlier than ever!

7/3/20 M21 Release - Draft - 2 rounds - 3rd place - MonoRed.

-We had 2 pods - experienced (6 players) and novice (8 players.) I was seated in the experienced pod.
-I first pack/first picked a Barrin, Tolarian Archmage but then blue dried up.
-I read https://www.channelfireball.com/all-strategy/articles/alex-nikolic/an-in-depth-early-look-at-m21-draft/ and decided to move into Izzet, since it's said to be the strongest archetype.
-Red high picks kept coming my way so I settled into red. I didn't realize I was the only red drafter on my table until we all started deck building and an onlooker commented on my draft pool.
-Even tho I had a high mana curve, I was still mono-colored so no color screw for me. I went w/16 lands + 4 cantrips to smooth out my draws.

Round 1 vs Azorious, 2-0.
Opponent was my opposite seated player from the experienced pod. From what I recall, I mulliganed both games while he was too shy to take that risk.

Round 2 vs Simic, 2-1.
Opponent was from the novice pod.
Game 1, I got milled to death.
Game 2, I burned him out w/a Volcanic Geyser. Close game.
Game 3, Furious Rise was too much card advantage for him.

Awards were given out within pods. So I got the 3rd place prize in my 6 player pod. 2-0 record/6 ppl, I finish in the middle? Oh well *shrugs*

6/26/20 M21 Prerelease - Sealed - 3 rounds - 2nd place - Bant.

R1 vs Boros, 2-0.
R2 vs Mardu, 2-1.
R3 vs Orhzov, 2-1.

All my opponents made the mistake of trying to race vs card advantage.

“1/3rd Red Minimum" - Donate - 1st.

2nd - Goblins
3rd - RDW
4th - Burn

R2, I used Pyrokinesis to survive vs RDW. Goblins player took notice...
R3, Goblins player played around Pyrokinesis by emptying his hand... then I cast Cave-In instead. Instant concession!

“Instants/Sorceries/Lands” - Mardu Discard - 1st.

2nd - Naya Tokens (Clever, I overlooked creature tokens.)
3rd - Boros Lifegain (Lifegain is more efficient than burn.)
4th - Mono Red

Someone called me “crazy” for running 12 fetch lands!

AllianceStandard - CasualSpores

*Lifeforce has synergy w/Fungal Bloom: Hold up Lifeforce mana, then use Fungal Bloom during their end step.

MirageStandard - BuriedPox

I won a LGS event w/this deck. An opponent ran MonoGreen, preboarded vs me:
-Lifeforce
-Whirling Dervish
-Warthog
Sweeping a hater 2-0 was so satisfying!

*50 card theme - Mirage era - "Artifacts" - 1st.

*Theme meant every card (except basic lands) had to have the deck’s name.

Defeated:
-2x Goblins
-WBfirstStrike (Both White Knight and Black Knight off 100% basic lands…)
-Minotaurs (Only opponent I used Winter Orb on.)

Backstory:
-Literally handed a MonoWfirstStrike list to a Goblins player (I feared Goblin Vandal/Goblin Tinkerer.)
-Goblins player secretly tested my MonoWfirstStrike list w/a rival… Rival added black to my FirstStrike list b/c "Pro-White.”
-Both suckers showed up overconfident! Red herring 2-for-1.

40 card theme - Homelands era - "Memory Lapse."
Backstory: Built this deck to prove Memory Lapse doesn’t “suck."

Decks i’d use in hindsight:

Worlds94 - The Deck


USnats95 - ErhnamBind


USnats95 - BlackAggro

*Black Vise wasn’t restricted during USnats95.

PT1 - NecroDeck

PT1 had a handicap of a 5 card minimum from each Type 2 set.

USnats96 - JundNecro

Dennis Bentley won USnats96 w/RakdosNecro.

AllianceStandard - Prison


UrzaStandard - SuicideBlack