I'm thinking that as one of my engines, running a third Journey to Eternity will make my deck more consistent. Even if I have a Journey out transformed into a land, casting another Journey will help reanimate and cause ETB effects. It can also be good to have another copy in case the first one or two get countered, destroyed, or the creature gets exiled.
However, it's not always good to have multiple copies of Journey on hand, especially if I don't have creatures on the board. Then, should I be running another copy of a card other than Journey, given my deck list below? Or maybe my deck doesn't need another copy of anything else, so perhaps I run something crazy and "janky" like Impervious Greatwurm? I didn't run a 4th Carnage or a 2nd Chupacabra because of the high average CMC of 3.11, while running 24 lands - this number of lands actually works out well for me and I'm rarely mana screwed because of Llanowar Elves x4, Jadelight x3, Elvish Rejuvenator x2, Journey x2 (transformed), and Field of Ruin x2 (for color correction). So that's 13 cards that can help me mana ramp, or 37 mana cards with the lands.
How about this version wtih GG + Phyrexian B/G mana; flash added, lifelink removed?
I put in flash instead because it suits the black color well, is better for balance, and goshawks are known IRL to fly super fast and agile in the forest.
Yeah, you guys are right about the BG being easier to cast than BB. I don't know what I was thinking lol. Maybe if it was BB with pay 4 life then it'll be fair. Or, it's kept the same at BG w/ pay 2 life/B/G + "When Vampire Goshawk enters the battlefield, pay 2 life." (or other nerfing rules text).
If flying is relatively rare for B/G, then maybe it's kept exactly the same but given legendary creature status? lol
I want Phyrexian and Vampire Nighthawk back in Standard, so I thought this would be a nice twist. It's a potential second turn creature. In order to take advantage of that, you'd have to have BGand take two damage, as opposed to the CBB requirement of Vampire Nighthawk - a bit of a trade-off between the two cards. There's also a new B/G pay 2 life mana cost mechanism.
The artwork is quite a bit crude and needs way more work to it, but I think the concept is there. I was thinking that in foil, the black areas of the creature would be super matte (like Vanta black) with the wings extending past the image border. Everywhere else would be foiled. The eyes could look more menacing and larger.
EDIT: New image and version added - (BB) + Phyrexian B/G mana; flash added, lifelink removed.
I've played Magic several years ago, and with the recent release of Magic Arena, I got back into it. I've developed my G/B deck (below), but I've been facing issues against opponents (mostly R/U, R/W aggro, mono-W or W/B lifelink decks). I think that the deck I created needs some tweaking, and these are the questions that I have:
1. What do you call my kind of deck? It's not quite a mana ramping elf deck, but it's not quite a graveyard deck... if I know what to call it, then it'll help me to research that kind of deck better.
2. Are there any cards that I can replace that are absolutely or typically better than what I have, given its CMC?
3. I have 21 lands. It seems that a third of the time I'm mana flooded, a third of the time I'm mana screwed, and a third of the time I have the right amount of lands. I'm sure that this will inevitably happen, but I'm not sure that I have the ideal number of lands for my deck. Should I tweak it a little bit by replacing a single Evolving Wilds with one Overgrown Tomb? Or, maybe I need a better distribution of other lands, or more/fewer lands...
Lands
6 Forest
5 Swamp
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery Per Standard forum rules, moving to Deck creation. In addition, decktags are spiffy and super-easy. You can "Quote" any post with a decklist to see the magic or play with the editor widget just before the mana symbols. - hoser2
However, it's not always good to have multiple copies of Journey on hand, especially if I don't have creatures on the board. Then, should I be running another copy of a card other than Journey, given my deck list below? Or maybe my deck doesn't need another copy of anything else, so perhaps I run something crazy and "janky" like Impervious Greatwurm? I didn't run a 4th Carnage or a 2nd Chupacabra because of the high average CMC of 3.11, while running 24 lands - this number of lands actually works out well for me and I'm rarely mana screwed because of Llanowar Elves x4, Jadelight x3, Elvish Rejuvenator x2, Journey x2 (transformed), and Field of Ruin x2 (for color correction). So that's 13 cards that can help me mana ramp, or 37 mana cards with the lands.
Thanks in advance!
Creatures
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Elvish Rejuvenator
3 Jadelight Ranger
3 Plaguecrafter
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Carnage Tyrant
Instants
3 Cast Down
2 Assassin's Trophy
2 Vraska's Contempt
Sorceries
2 Find // Finality
2 Ritual of Soot
Enchantments
3 Journey to Eternity
2 Shapers' Sanctuary
2 The Eldest Reborn
Planeswalkers
1 Vivien Reid
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Lands
2 Field of Ruin
9 Forest
4 Overgrown Tomb
5 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
I put in flash instead because it suits the black color well, is better for balance, and goshawks are known IRL to fly super fast and agile in the forest.
If flying is relatively rare for B/G, then maybe it's kept exactly the same but given legendary creature status? lol
The artwork is quite a bit crude and needs way more work to it, but I think the concept is there. I was thinking that in foil, the black areas of the creature would be super matte (like Vanta black) with the wings extending past the image border. Everywhere else would be foiled. The eyes could look more menacing and larger.
EDIT: New image and version added - (BB) + Phyrexian B/G mana; flash added, lifelink removed.
1. What do you call my kind of deck? It's not quite a mana ramping elf deck, but it's not quite a graveyard deck... if I know what to call it, then it'll help me to research that kind of deck better.
2. Are there any cards that I can replace that are absolutely or typically better than what I have, given its CMC?
3. I have 21 lands. It seems that a third of the time I'm mana flooded, a third of the time I'm mana screwed, and a third of the time I have the right amount of lands. I'm sure that this will inevitably happen, but I'm not sure that I have the ideal number of lands for my deck. Should I tweak it a little bit by replacing a single Evolving Wilds with one Overgrown Tomb? Or, maybe I need a better distribution of other lands, or more/fewer lands...
Thanks in advance!
Creatures
3 Carnage Tyrant
2 Dire Fleet Poisoner
3 District Guide
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
2 Golgari Findbroker
2 Jadelight Ranger
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Poison-Tip Archer
2 Ravenous Chupacabra
3 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Vine Mare
Planeswalkers
1 Liliana, the Necromancer
1 Vivien of the Arkbow
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Other Spells
3 Cast Down
2 Find // Finality
1 Journey to Eternity
2 Rise from the Grave
2 Vraska's Contempt
Lands
6 Forest
5 Swamp
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
Per Standard forum rules, moving to Deck creation. In addition, decktags are spiffy and super-easy. You can "Quote" any post with a decklist to see the magic or play with the editor widget just before the mana symbols. - hoser2