I'm busy brewing a reanimator deck and came across an issue: If I were to mutate Nethroi, Apex of Death onto a creature and have an MDFC in my graveyard with a front face that is a creature, can I birng it to the battlefield on either face?
Been a while since I've been here! I've recently been looking back at all the decks I've made and noticed that I never got to use some of the cards I loved from one of my favorite recent sets: Ikoria!
It'll have to lean into some sort of graveyard strategy, but no matter what I do, I just haven't been happy with any deck i've amde around these cards yet. they're always missing something. That's why I want some fresh takes!
Looking at maximizing Lifegain triggers, found things like Blood Researcher and Crested Sunmare to be pretty fun. looking for similar effects that can either use life to pay for effects or that trigger things whenever I gain life
I've been working on an Abzan lifegain deck since Strixhaven came out. However, Lifegain is not something I've ever really tried, so I'm not really familiar with the "Big Hitters" of the Lifegain theme/strategy. Hence, I ask you, the forums: What are the best Lifegain cards in Abzan colors?
Ok, that makes it easier. See, why I ask was that I misunderstood how the effect was happening. I had thought that it was a trigger, and that each time you would draw two cards instead of one, thanks to the first TAI, the second would see those "I would draw a card" triggers and activate itself, creating some sort of weird loop.
Specifically, we sometimes play games of magic where we ignore the legendary rule, for fun, or perhaps someone plays Mirror Gallery,
What happens if they draw a card with two or more Teferi's ageless Insight's out? do they just draw 4 cards instead of one, or do the insights trigger off each other and go infinite?
Sounds like a cool idea, although I had hoped to try and make historic or pioneer style deck around him. I won't discount commander though, and I didn't realize the potential for combo plays in a commander deck like that.
I've been trying to make a semi-competetive WBG deck around Nethroi, Apex of Death, with a gameplan of self-mill.
Unfortunately I have had very poor luck so far.. and I'm a bit stumped.
Mad esome big changes to the deck, still has spome of the old threats, but it's a lot more focused now on being a yorion deck. Kept doom, but I'm barely running black, and it seems to work really well actually. Believe it or not, Showdown of the Skalds was not overly impressive to me in this deck, but maybe that will change with time. What I definitely agree on was the suggestion for Watcher for Tomorrow, which performed admirably in every match I tested with it. The stand-out cards are definitely Watcher for Tomorrow, Brago, King Eternal and the newly available foretell cards Doomskar and Behold the Multiverse, which all performed exceptionally when used. I am not totally sure about Noxious Gearhulk but only because of the double Black, which is amended pretty easily thanks to Arcum's Astrolabe, which has been fantastic too, come to think of it. Here's the new, Mostly Jeskai List:
Sorry @Prid3 , no The Eldest Reborn in here I'm afraid. Since I don't run many planeswalkers, it reads as Return creature, and frankly, Elspeth Conquers Death is just better in this deck atm.
Anyway, I tested it against a couple of different decks, including my previous rendition, and it performed well. Be aware this is a first draft situation, so I might still change things a bit.
Thanks Prid3, these suggestions are really good. I haven't been playing any blue just because my personal favourite colour combination is Abzan, but I'll try a list that uses blue instead of one of the other colours
I'll come back and stick the list here once I've done, and we'll see how it looks
Awesome! So I had some more playtesting and what I found was these things:
The combination of the playset of Duskwatch Recruiter and the 3 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds works as far as card draw
The recruiters can't activate when flipped, but usually I get the value I need out of them by the time that they do flip.
I removed the Huntmaster of the Fells because my main plan is to play out tons of werewolves and lords, then flip all the werewolves and keep them flipped, which doesn't work well with huntmaster, which loves flipping back and forth.
I loved the art for Sage of Ancient Lore because every time I played it it was game-winning, because I could either flip it that turn, or flip it on my turn and have a huge attacker next turn.
I added return to nature for some enchantment/artifact removal / graveyard hate mostly to avoid problematic enchantments (our playgroup uses pacifism a lot)
The current and potentially final decklist is this:
I am just debating if I want to add in another Arlinn Kord. The reason why I used Howlpack Resurgence was because it grants Trample, something many werewolves want. Luckily you'll notice I also added Breakneck Rider, which not only equals Howlpack Resurgence for power buffs, but also grants trample to my attacking creatures. The Village Messengers often end up being huge threats, which was surprising! They come down, and if I can flip with help from Geier Reach Bandit, it becomes a buffed up menacer with trample if I have my loreds out. Often it leads to awkward blocks which help me push damage through.
Anyway, I think this deck is nearly completely sorted out! Thanks for all the help!
Ok, so I went ack and made some changes for the deck. I took into account what you said and ended up with this after some very quick games against friends!
The new list looks like this:
So first I listened to your suggestion about the creature base, increasing the numbers on some of them. I cut the Village Messengers, which might change since the hasty menacer werewolf can be gamewinning with some of the lords out. I kept to one copy of Huntmaster of the Fells because it's a bit of a non-bo with Immerwolf, which I added a pair of the keep the werewolves flipped late-game. Couple of Scorned Villagers for ramp as you suggested, but only two, since this deck doen't seem to have trouble finding lands at all. No The Great Henge, because of cost reasons and just to see if it can run well without. Finally, I made sure to have 3 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds because after playing a couple times, I found her to be super relevant. Slamming werewolves on my opponents' end-steps was a key factor in building an intant-board for a win on my turn. With a Vivien out, everything in my deck except lands and planeswalkers become instant-speed spells, much to my advantage.
At one point we had a game and I managed to get three of my Mayor of Avabrucks and a Nightpack Ambusher out, swinging in with wolf tokens that ended up being 6/6's!
I still haven't got a solid source of card draw yet, but I almost feel that this deck doesn't really need much more than the Duskwatch Recruiters and the Vivien, champion of the wilds, since they find me creatures without me having to cast any spells.
This kind of help is EXACTLY what I was hoping for! I definitely agree with these suggestions. the only one I might argue is The Great Henge, not because I don't think it fits, just because it does cost a fortune, but I'll live with the sacrifice. I really want to make werewolf tribal work and my playgroup seems to have a thing against boardwipes, so a go-wide creatures strategy always goes down well, but with werewolves its normally not a problem about what creatures to run, but, as I mentioned previously, its more about what play strategy you use, since werewolves can be aggro or midrange.
Thank you so much @Miaou, this was extactly what I needed. I'll be sure to build this up and come back soon with a revised list!
I'm busy brewing a reanimator deck and came across an issue: If I were to mutate Nethroi, Apex of Death onto a creature and have an MDFC in my graveyard with a front face that is a creature, can I birng it to the battlefield on either face?
Specifically, I am wondering about the cards Esika, God of the Tree and Mila, Crafty Companion, and I wanted to know if Nethroi's trigger can bring back Esika as The Prismatic Bridge or Mila as Lukka, Wayward Bonder?
Thanks!
Been a while since I've been here! I've recently been looking back at all the decks I've made and noticed that I never got to use some of the cards I loved from one of my favorite recent sets: Ikoria!
I'm looking for deck suggestions to make a deck using the following cards:
Nethroi, Apex of Death
Fiend Artisan
Death's Oasis
It'll have to lean into some sort of graveyard strategy, but no matter what I do, I just haven't been happy with any deck i've amde around these cards yet. they're always missing something. That's why I want some fresh takes!
Let's see what you can come up with! Thanks
I've been working on an Abzan lifegain deck since Strixhaven came out. However, Lifegain is not something I've ever really tried, so I'm not really familiar with the "Big Hitters" of the Lifegain theme/strategy. Hence, I ask you, the forums: What are the best Lifegain cards in Abzan colors?
The deck is Pioneer, so there's the limits. The deck doesn't want too many more 4 drops, since I have already found Trostani, Selesnya's Voice and Rhox Faithmender
Let's see what you guys come up with!
But thank you, that clears it up very well.
I had a question regarding Teferi's Ageless Insight
Specifically, we sometimes play games of magic where we ignore the legendary rule, for fun, or perhaps someone plays Mirror Gallery,
What happens if they draw a card with two or more Teferi's ageless Insight's out? do they just draw 4 cards instead of one, or do the insights trigger off each other and go infinite?
Thanks for the help!
I've been trying to make a semi-competetive WBG deck around Nethroi, Apex of Death, with a gameplan of self-mill.
Unfortunately I have had very poor luck so far.. and I'm a bit stumped.
Any suggestions?
Mad esome big changes to the deck, still has spome of the old threats, but it's a lot more focused now on being a yorion deck. Kept doom, but I'm barely running black, and it seems to work really well actually. Believe it or not, Showdown of the Skalds was not overly impressive to me in this deck, but maybe that will change with time. What I definitely agree on was the suggestion for Watcher for Tomorrow, which performed admirably in every match I tested with it. The stand-out cards are definitely Watcher for Tomorrow, Brago, King Eternal and the newly available foretell cards Doomskar and Behold the Multiverse, which all performed exceptionally when used. I am not totally sure about Noxious Gearhulk but only because of the double Black, which is amended pretty easily thanks to Arcum's Astrolabe, which has been fantastic too, come to think of it. Here's the new, Mostly Jeskai List:
3 Arcum's Astrolabe
2 Mazemind Tome
3 Mycosynth Wellspring
Instant
3 Behold the Multiverse
Creature
3 Brago, King Eternal
2 Cavalier of Dawn
1 Cavalier of Gales
2 Combustible Gearhulk
2 Noxious Gearhulk
4 Watcher for Tomorrow
3 Yorion, Sky Nomad
Land
3 Clifftop Retreat
3 Glacial Fortress
2 Savai Triome
6 Snow-Covered Island
4 Snow-Covered Mountain
7 Snow-Covered Plains
3 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Doom Foretold
3 Omen of the Forge
3 Omen of the Sea
3 Omen of the Sun
1 Shark Typhoon
2 Showdown of the Skalds
2 Elspeth Conquers Death
Sorcery
2 Doomskar
1 Inspired Ultimatum
1 Ruinous Ultimatum
1 Yorion, Sky Nomad
Sorry @Prid3 , no The Eldest Reborn in here I'm afraid. Since I don't run many planeswalkers, it reads as Return creature, and frankly, Elspeth Conquers Death is just better in this deck atm.
Anyway, I tested it against a couple of different decks, including my previous rendition, and it performed well. Be aware this is a first draft situation, so I might still change things a bit.
How's it look?
I'll come back and stick the list here once I've done, and we'll see how it looks
I've been busy building a Yorion deck, mostly abzan, with a little bit or red splash for omen of the forge, Snapdax, apex of the Hunt and Ruinous Ultimatum etc. Ok, so a bit more than a little splash, but you get the idea!
However, lately I look at new stuff released like Cosima, God of the Voyage, Battle of Frost and Fire and Niko Aris, and I wonder: "Well, considering that there are cards like these, as well as stuff like Omen of the Sea and Dance of the Manse, what colours should I really be using?
That's where I hope to get some help! As I said, currently, my deck is Abzan with a splash of red. The list is this:
2 Binding the Old Gods
4 Doom Foretold
2 Elspeth Conquers Death
3 Omen of the Forge
2 Path to the World Tree
3 Treacherous Blessing
3 Trial of Strength
Creature
2 Cavalier of Dawn
2 Combustible Gearhulk
2 Nethroi, Apex of Death
2 Noxious Gearhulk
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
2 Sarulf, Realm Eater
2 Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt
2 Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor
3 Wall of Blossoms
2 Yorion, Sky Nomad
1 Eerie Ultimatum
2 Mythos of Snapdax
1 Ruinous Ultimatum
Land
3 Fabled Passage
3 Indatha Triome
3 Isolated Chapel
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Savai Triome
3 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Snow-Covered Plains
3 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Temple of Triumph
2 The World Tree
2 Woodland Cemetery
Planeswalker
2 Kaya the Inexorable
Instant
3 Mythos of Nethroi
1 Yorion, Sky Nomad
So, Hoping you can help guy out! I'm interested to see your opinions!
Thanks!
The combination of the playset of Duskwatch Recruiter and the 3 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds works as far as card draw
The recruiters can't activate when flipped, but usually I get the value I need out of them by the time that they do flip.
I removed the Huntmaster of the Fells because my main plan is to play out tons of werewolves and lords, then flip all the werewolves and keep them flipped, which doesn't work well with huntmaster, which loves flipping back and forth.
I loved the art for Sage of Ancient Lore because every time I played it it was game-winning, because I could either flip it that turn, or flip it on my turn and have a huge attacker next turn.
I added return to nature for some enchantment/artifact removal / graveyard hate mostly to avoid problematic enchantments (our playgroup uses pacifism a lot)
The current and potentially final decklist is this:
3 Village Messenger
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
3 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Breakneck Rider
3 Geier Reach Bandit
3 Immerwolf
3 Nightpack Ambusher
2 Sage of Ancient Lore
1 Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
1 Arlinn Kord
3 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
Instants:
3 Fire Prophecy
3 Moonlight Hunt
3 Moonmist
2 Return to Nature
8 Forest
8 Mountain
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Gruul Guildgate
3 Unclaimed Territory
I am just debating if I want to add in another Arlinn Kord. The reason why I used Howlpack Resurgence was because it grants Trample, something many werewolves want. Luckily you'll notice I also added Breakneck Rider, which not only equals Howlpack Resurgence for power buffs, but also grants trample to my attacking creatures. The Village Messengers often end up being huge threats, which was surprising! They come down, and if I can flip with help from Geier Reach Bandit, it becomes a buffed up menacer with trample if I have my loreds out. Often it leads to awkward blocks which help me push damage through.
Anyway, I think this deck is nearly completely sorted out! Thanks for all the help!
The new list looks like this:
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Scorned Villager
3 Breakneck Rider
3 Geier Reach Bandit
2 Immerwolf
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Nightpack Ambusher
1 Ulrich of the Krallenhorde
2 Domri, Anarch of Bolas
3 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
1 Arlinn Kord
Instant:
3 Fire Prophecy
3 Moonlight Hunt
3 Moonmist
Enchantment:
2 Howlpack Resurgence
8 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Gruul Guildgate
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Unclaimed Territory
So first I listened to your suggestion about the creature base, increasing the numbers on some of them. I cut the Village Messengers, which might change since the hasty menacer werewolf can be gamewinning with some of the lords out. I kept to one copy of Huntmaster of the Fells because it's a bit of a non-bo with Immerwolf, which I added a pair of the keep the werewolves flipped late-game. Couple of Scorned Villagers for ramp as you suggested, but only two, since this deck doen't seem to have trouble finding lands at all. No The Great Henge, because of cost reasons and just to see if it can run well without. Finally, I made sure to have 3 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds because after playing a couple times, I found her to be super relevant. Slamming werewolves on my opponents' end-steps was a key factor in building an intant-board for a win on my turn. With a Vivien out, everything in my deck except lands and planeswalkers become instant-speed spells, much to my advantage.
At one point we had a game and I managed to get three of my Mayor of Avabrucks and a Nightpack Ambusher out, swinging in with wolf tokens that ended up being 6/6's!
I still haven't got a solid source of card draw yet, but I almost feel that this deck doesn't really need much more than the Duskwatch Recruiters and the Vivien, champion of the wilds, since they find me creatures without me having to cast any spells.
Anyway, How's it looking?
Thank you so much @Miaou, this was extactly what I needed. I'll be sure to build this up and come back soon with a revised list!