I've got a tempered steel deck that'll do well for the time being, and only needs a few edits to adjust to post-rotation. I however want a new plan after people inevitably start hating on it ;_;
I really want to play Chandra and/or Koth in some sort of big red or machine red, but don't quite know the perfect deck. GeoPlunge Red seems sort of promising, as does U/R control with Chandra, The Firebrand and Snapcaster Mage serving on Card Advantage Duty. Out of U/R Control, Geoplunge, Big Red, or Machine Red, I wonder what the best deck is going to be to deal with decks like Pod, Aggro, and Reanimator?
If anyone can think of a great Past In Flames deck though I'd be all over that.
I think this might be a good time to bring up Sirlin's Play To Win articles/book. He's a pro Street Fighter player/designer who has some great thoughts on how to play competitively in general, and what gaming means to people who play games at a high, non-casual level.
Sirlin's article is currently offline now, but do a quick google search to find it somewhere. The main point that I love that he makes is that a good gamer uses every tool at his or her disposal to maximize the efficiency of their wins; in SF this might be continually only using throws if the opponent continually blocks, in SC2 this might be 11-pooling against opponents known to macro, and in Magic it might be aiming for a turn 4 win with burn and fast creatures in red.
Meanwhile, the scrub's mantra is that all of these things are "cheap" and not "skillful". They're the ones who call red "mindless" or combo "cheap" because they don't understand how to respond to these strategies while consistently losing to them. A good player though will understand how they are strong, how they are weak, and the level of depth you can explore in each of them. Tempered Steel, a traditionally fast creature based and "mindless" aggro deck can be tinkered into a very deep aggro-control deck either initially or after sideboard, and also I found requires a lot of careful play to make sure you don't over commit or play into your enemies traps. As a budget player it's my weapon of choice and I was surprised how interesting my matches were sometimes.
Borrow decks from friends and find the style that fits your playstyle best. It's good to be able to play the game in multiple different ways but at the end of the day Aggro, Combo, and Control all require different sets of skills and ways of thinking that are all equally deep. I personally think aggro is easy to be "good at" initially but just as hard to master as control, just like a good SC2 cheese.
I've had EXTENDED discussions about matches like these with PersonMan, the last person to run a very successful 2CB here on MTGS. Be prepared to figure out matches like that.
EDIT: Just read the clause on no extra lands per turn. I would be cautious about that clause, since decks will ultimately just be Black Lotus + X most of the time, and then the game feels like a very limited version of 1CB for 80% of the decks. You couldn't even Mangara + Karakas in this format effectively.
Fog-effect backup seems like a weak way to stay alive for the following reasons:
- A wall or blocking creature like Wall of Omens will actually stop more damage in the long run vs a spell like Darkness
- Removal or Mass removal (something plentiful and affordable in both black and white) will remove threats, as opposed to simply stalling them, requiring only 1 card to stop damage, as opposed to using 1 card every time the enemy attacks.
I understand however that Blood Seeker and Suture Priest both need to stick around on the field, so Day of Judgement isn't necissarily the right call. How about Engineered Plague? It's flexible: against tribal decks you just nerf them, and if you have your components out you call spirit then tap your forbidden orchards, giving your opponents 1/1's that die instantly. Lethal Vapors is also good, although in this kind of situation you'll more often than not get a free turn out of it. Which is totally, totally, fine.
With all the debate surrounding the leak, I actually wonder: does the leak hurt or help wizards more? In a way, its kind of like free marketing, and is part of . Likewise, lashing out against the community can stir up a lot of anger on our parts, and antagonize the whole relationship between us and them. I'm of the firm belief that creating a rival relationship between makers of a work and the fans of it is bad. Yes, some of you out there might be making Jace/Koth fanfic or whatever, and some people at creative might be incredibly ancy about their beloved characters doing naughty things to each other in some dark corner of the net, but ultimately letting that float around is better for the franchise than punishing fans. Leaks aren't quite dirty fanfic, but I think at the end of the day Wizards can express some mild disapproval but it would be wise on their parts to be reasonable and not go on a wild banning and sueing spree.
That being said, big companies can definitely be idiots about this and I'm sure they'd go ahead and sue the hell out of anyone anyways if they cared.
With all this phymana floating around, is anyone else considering Glimmerpost. I already run four, so no change for me, but it may actually bring up the popularity of the little locus.
Alas, the need for mana consistency on the one hand and the utility of Blinkmoth Nexus + Tectonic Edge on the other (and maybe even Mystifying Maze) outweigh the value for that little locus still. I'd suggest putting him in your casual deck alongside all your Vesuva and Cloudpost.
And of course as we all know, life totals don't really matter
More seriously though, hi! Welcome! And yes, I'd say the first step to LEVELLING UP your deck from a pile of cards to a fine-tuned fun machine
Your theme is obviously "Level Up", and you want cards that best take advantage of that. Time of Heroes, Training Grounds, Champion's Drake, and Venerated Teacher are all great support cards, and its up to you whether you want to push more aggressive, with cards like Caravan Escort, Student of Warfare, Kabira Vindicator, Coralhelm Commander, etc. or go more defensive with supporting cards like Hedron-Field Purists, Echo Mage, Lighthouse Chronologist, etc (I would suggest going more aggressive as its easier to build, plus probably the better deck anyways). After that, think about what kind of problems you'll be facing. What are your biggest enemies? Other creatures? Removal spells like Doom Blade? More advanced players who pack 4xDay of Judgement and heavy control decks? Since you've seemed to focus blue and white, support your creature strategy with someremoval and possibly counterspells or protection (although tapping out for levelling up could make that a anti-synergy). So in summary: Focus on maximizing the cards that support your level up strategy, then use the open slots to support that strategies with ways to react to possibly ways it can be disrupted.
With that out of the way, let me do some fine tuning: Echo Mage - Not a whole lot of targets for his abilities, unless you really up the spell count and make your deck about casting instants and sorceries. 1 or 0 copies should do. Lone Missionary, Stormfront Pegasus, Soul Warden - You should replace these with cards that synergizes with the rest of your deck, something that supports level up creatures or is a level up creature itself
Demystify, Disorient, Distortion Strike, Permafrost Trap ,Reality Spasm, Repel the Darkness - I would consider these the first cards you cut to make way for support cards that synergize with your level up strategy. These right now feel somewhat assorted and random, and a good bunch of them are not quite playable. A note on creature tapping: with one card, would you rather temporarily tap down a creature for the duration of one turn, or use one card to permanently remove a creature for the entire game?
Shieldmate's Blessing - NO. This isn't even playable in limited. Sorry, I should be nicer. What I meant to say was: NO.
Smite - Not a bad removal spell, especially when starting out your collection. Eventually though you want to upgrade to condemn, journey to nowhere, path to exile, swords to plowshares, and oblivion ring as your staple white removal cards. These are great cards that I use in most of my white decks that I like to keep on hand.
Finally, some offhand buget suggestions you should be able to pick up easily. Just to warn you, dont try to fit all of these ideas in your deck. Think about what is missing from your deck first, then what each card can offer you, then work from there as to what you think you need:
Contagion Clasp - You can use the 4 mana proliferate ability to level up all your creatures all at once. Neat ability? I think so. Also doubles as a kill spell. Lots of utility here.
+ Everflowing Chalice - With Contagion clasp you can proliferate the charge counters so it can tap for more and more mana. Also since a lot of level up costs are colorless you can use it to pay for those and get your mana out faster
Training Grounds - With colorless level up costs you can get very crazy with your level up with a couple of these out.
+ Dawnglare Invoker - Training Grounds not only reduces the costs of level up, but also Dawnglare Invoker's 8 mana ability. If you can use the tap ability on your opponents turn every turn they will never be able to attack or block, meaning you'll win the game in a couple turns.
The decklist looks like its TSP block and LOR-SHA block standard, while I'm more familiar with the deck when it was LOR-SHA with Alara block. You have the list down somewhat pat though, minus a few things like Peppersmoke, Thoughtsieze (which can be Inquisition of Kozilek and/or Duress), counters, and removal. Also, I dont think you need 24 fae creatures, take your late game ones and cut down the number, and think about why the tourney decks excluded some of the ones you've included. The Riptide Laboratory suggestion was solid, and also if you want to push more casual (as fae are still infamously at large in extended) stuff like Marsh Flitter and Oona's Prowler and Oona, Queen of the Fae provide some more fun avenues to explore.
The Sideboard is designed for single player play, where you'll cut the MP cards for more 1v1 style cards. You can ignore it if you want. Also, if you have Damnation, feel free to include them although they are pushing the limits of what I consider "semi-budget" Finally, my own build includes a single copy of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be welcome with your friends from what I've read.
EDIT: You nath'd my suggestion with a Naya deck. Well, I think if you were to cut 2 cards for two lands I'd start with the Rith charms, which seem to be the weakest. Also, if you're playing around with CITP triggers I'd definitely look into Cloudgoat Ranger or Knight-Captain of Eos or Captain of the Guard in white, Acidic Slime in green, Siege-Gang Commander in red. Kitchen Finks costs a pretty penny now, but if you blink him while he's got a -1/-1 counter on him then it's removed when he returns to play. Loxodon Heirarch and Obstinate Baloth also can get obnoxious in MP since lifegain is more important.
If you're abusing CITP/ETB abilities, Flickerwisp and Galepowder mage seem stronger than Dust Elemental and other things you're trying out. Also, Wooly Thoctar and Wild Nacatl, despite being "boring" are just too good to not at least consider.
Is Stonecloaker's ability always relevant? Are you always against obnoxious graveyard decks?
"Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror." - Terry Pratchett
I personally don't mind going Boros for this kind of thing, but there's a totally legit mono-white build here that you can go and I'll help you with that before I start tossing you some "ugly" red suggestions.
Looks like I'd just focus on creature pumps in general, and there are plenty of cards for that even without Battlecry. Glorious Anthem, Marshal's Anthem, etc. However, with the examplar, battlecry, and honor o' pure you should be set. After that I'd look into possibly making tokens and again you got a lot of choices, but at the top of the curve: Knight-Captain of Eos, Cloudgoat Ranger, White Sun's Zenith, Conquerer's Pledge, Martial Coup, etc. I'd consider a couple of these cards as good "finishers" potentially, but there are almost no cards that make knight tokens. Knight of the White Orchid is a good knight to consider.
However, most importantly (and I don't know why I bring this up last), good solid removal like Oblivion Ring, Swords to Plowshares, Condemn, or Journey to Nowhere is missing from your deck, and it'll go a long way in clearing out problems like blockers or troublesome creatures that would rain on your parade. Answers to problems in the form of removal is always a good thing for decks to have if they have room for it.
I agree that the discussion is between StP and PtE but generally I'd say StP is better because generally +life is less useful than +lands. No one ever complained about a life gain card being broken the same way something like, say, Black Lotus is? Ok, I'm just being silly but still life is a less flexible resource to take advantage of than being ahead on mana, and if my creature is getting exiled anyways I'd 9 times out of 10 want to have an extra land.
However, PtE has some interesting synergies with stuff like Knight of the White Orchid, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer, and other "if opponent has more lands than you" type cards which are good casual staples for white. It helps keep your card advantage going so it's something to consider when making a deck.
The legacy version of this combo is Karakas + Mangara of Corondor. I'd honestly push a little more white than blue and try to fit in Mangara and O-Ring. In a pinch you can just use them as intended and play a more normal control deck. Mastermind and bounce is also just fine with traditional board sweeping like Day of Judgement
I have just about 20: 1 standard deck I just built, 2 EDH, 5 teaching decks, and a dozen casual decks ranging from vicious to janky. They're mostly control decks, although my personal favorite is The Rock which is more mid-range aggro. I've been building more and more aggro decks to make up for the high amounts of control I've been making too, especially my Tempered Overseer Standard Aggro deck.
I really want to play Chandra and/or Koth in some sort of big red or machine red, but don't quite know the perfect deck. GeoPlunge Red seems sort of promising, as does U/R control with Chandra, The Firebrand and Snapcaster Mage serving on Card Advantage Duty. Out of U/R Control, Geoplunge, Big Red, or Machine Red, I wonder what the best deck is going to be to deal with decks like Pod, Aggro, and Reanimator?
If anyone can think of a great Past In Flames deck though I'd be all over that.
Kudos and good job!
Sirlin's article is currently offline now, but do a quick google search to find it somewhere. The main point that I love that he makes is that a good gamer uses every tool at his or her disposal to maximize the efficiency of their wins; in SF this might be continually only using throws if the opponent continually blocks, in SC2 this might be 11-pooling against opponents known to macro, and in Magic it might be aiming for a turn 4 win with burn and fast creatures in red.
Meanwhile, the scrub's mantra is that all of these things are "cheap" and not "skillful". They're the ones who call red "mindless" or combo "cheap" because they don't understand how to respond to these strategies while consistently losing to them. A good player though will understand how they are strong, how they are weak, and the level of depth you can explore in each of them. Tempered Steel, a traditionally fast creature based and "mindless" aggro deck can be tinkered into a very deep aggro-control deck either initially or after sideboard, and also I found requires a lot of careful play to make sure you don't over commit or play into your enemies traps. As a budget player it's my weapon of choice and I was surprised how interesting my matches were sometimes.
Borrow decks from friends and find the style that fits your playstyle best. It's good to be able to play the game in multiple different ways but at the end of the day Aggro, Combo, and Control all require different sets of skills and ways of thinking that are all equally deep. I personally think aggro is easy to be "good at" initially but just as hard to master as control, just like a good SC2 cheese.
I've had EXTENDED discussions about matches like these with PersonMan, the last person to run a very successful 2CB here on MTGS. Be prepared to figure out matches like that.
EDIT: Just read the clause on no extra lands per turn. I would be cautious about that clause, since decks will ultimately just be Black Lotus + X most of the time, and then the game feels like a very limited version of 1CB for 80% of the decks. You couldn't even Mangara + Karakas in this format effectively.
Fog-effect backup seems like a weak way to stay alive for the following reasons:
- A wall or blocking creature like Wall of Omens will actually stop more damage in the long run vs a spell like Darkness
- Removal or Mass removal (something plentiful and affordable in both black and white) will remove threats, as opposed to simply stalling them, requiring only 1 card to stop damage, as opposed to using 1 card every time the enemy attacks.
I understand however that Blood Seeker and Suture Priest both need to stick around on the field, so Day of Judgement isn't necissarily the right call. How about Engineered Plague? It's flexible: against tribal decks you just nerf them, and if you have your components out you call spirit then tap your forbidden orchards, giving your opponents 1/1's that die instantly. Lethal Vapors is also good, although in this kind of situation you'll more often than not get a free turn out of it. Which is totally, totally, fine.
That being said, big companies can definitely be idiots about this and I'm sure they'd go ahead and sue the hell out of anyone anyways if they cared.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Alas, the need for mana consistency on the one hand and the utility of Blinkmoth Nexus + Tectonic Edge on the other (and maybe even Mystifying Maze) outweigh the value for that little locus still. I'd suggest putting him in your casual deck alongside all your Vesuva and Cloudpost.
And of course as we all know, life totals don't really matter
More seriously though, hi! Welcome! And yes, I'd say the first step to LEVELLING UP your deck from a pile of cards to a fine-tuned fun machine
Your theme is obviously "Level Up", and you want cards that best take advantage of that. Time of Heroes, Training Grounds, Champion's Drake, and Venerated Teacher are all great support cards, and its up to you whether you want to push more aggressive, with cards like Caravan Escort, Student of Warfare, Kabira Vindicator, Coralhelm Commander, etc. or go more defensive with supporting cards like Hedron-Field Purists, Echo Mage, Lighthouse Chronologist, etc (I would suggest going more aggressive as its easier to build, plus probably the better deck anyways). After that, think about what kind of problems you'll be facing. What are your biggest enemies? Other creatures? Removal spells like Doom Blade? More advanced players who pack 4xDay of Judgement and heavy control decks? Since you've seemed to focus blue and white, support your creature strategy with some removal and possibly counterspells or protection (although tapping out for levelling up could make that a anti-synergy). So in summary: Focus on maximizing the cards that support your level up strategy, then use the open slots to support that strategies with ways to react to possibly ways it can be disrupted.
With that out of the way, let me do some fine tuning:
Echo Mage - Not a whole lot of targets for his abilities, unless you really up the spell count and make your deck about casting instants and sorceries. 1 or 0 copies should do.
Lone Missionary, Stormfront Pegasus, Soul Warden - You should replace these with cards that synergizes with the rest of your deck, something that supports level up creatures or is a level up creature itself
Demystify, Disorient, Distortion Strike, Permafrost Trap ,Reality Spasm, Repel the Darkness - I would consider these the first cards you cut to make way for support cards that synergize with your level up strategy. These right now feel somewhat assorted and random, and a good bunch of them are not quite playable. A note on creature tapping: with one card, would you rather temporarily tap down a creature for the duration of one turn, or use one card to permanently remove a creature for the entire game?
Shieldmate's Blessing - NO. This isn't even playable in limited. Sorry, I should be nicer. What I meant to say was: NO.
Regress - Into the Roil is better.
Smite - Not a bad removal spell, especially when starting out your collection. Eventually though you want to upgrade to condemn, journey to nowhere, path to exile, swords to plowshares, and oblivion ring as your staple white removal cards. These are great cards that I use in most of my white decks that I like to keep on hand.
Finally, some offhand buget suggestions you should be able to pick up easily. Just to warn you, dont try to fit all of these ideas in your deck. Think about what is missing from your deck first, then what each card can offer you, then work from there as to what you think you need:
Contagion Clasp - You can use the 4 mana proliferate ability to level up all your creatures all at once. Neat ability? I think so. Also doubles as a kill spell. Lots of utility here.
+
Everflowing Chalice - With Contagion clasp you can proliferate the charge counters so it can tap for more and more mana. Also since a lot of level up costs are colorless you can use it to pay for those and get your mana out faster
Training Grounds - With colorless level up costs you can get very crazy with your level up with a couple of these out.
+
Dawnglare Invoker - Training Grounds not only reduces the costs of level up, but also Dawnglare Invoker's 8 mana ability. If you can use the tap ability on your opponents turn every turn they will never be able to attack or block, meaning you'll win the game in a couple turns.
Anyways, the wiki has a (tiny) article on the actually broken in half standard deck that was Faeries Tribal:
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Standard_Faeries
http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Standard_U/b_Faeries_deck
The decklist looks like its TSP block and LOR-SHA block standard, while I'm more familiar with the deck when it was LOR-SHA with Alara block. You have the list down somewhat pat though, minus a few things like Peppersmoke, Thoughtsieze (which can be Inquisition of Kozilek and/or Duress), counters, and removal. Also, I dont think you need 24 fae creatures, take your late game ones and cut down the number, and think about why the tourney decks excluded some of the ones you've included. The Riptide Laboratory suggestion was solid, and also if you want to push more casual (as fae are still infamously at large in extended) stuff like Marsh Flitter and Oona's Prowler and Oona, Queen of the Fae provide some more fun avenues to explore.
4 Crumbling Necropolis
2 Vivid Creek
2 Vivid Marsh
2 Vivid Crag
2 Sulfurous Springs
2 Underground River
2 Shivan Reef
4 Swamp
2 Island
2 Mountain
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Mulldrifter
2 Blood Tyrant
Spells (26)
4 Terminate
4 Rise/Fall
4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Crosis Charm
2 Phyrexian Arena
3 Void
2 Cruel Ultimatum
3 Earthquake
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Sedraxis Specter
4 Blightning
2 Consult the Necrosages
1 Skeletal Vampire
The Sideboard is designed for single player play, where you'll cut the MP cards for more 1v1 style cards. You can ignore it if you want. Also, if you have Damnation, feel free to include them although they are pushing the limits of what I consider "semi-budget" Finally, my own build includes a single copy of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be welcome with your friends from what I've read.
EDIT: You nath'd my suggestion with a Naya deck. Well, I think if you were to cut 2 cards for two lands I'd start with the Rith charms, which seem to be the weakest. Also, if you're playing around with CITP triggers I'd definitely look into Cloudgoat Ranger or Knight-Captain of Eos or Captain of the Guard in white, Acidic Slime in green, Siege-Gang Commander in red. Kitchen Finks costs a pretty penny now, but if you blink him while he's got a -1/-1 counter on him then it's removed when he returns to play. Loxodon Heirarch and Obstinate Baloth also can get obnoxious in MP since lifegain is more important.
If you're abusing CITP/ETB abilities, Flickerwisp and Galepowder mage seem stronger than Dust Elemental and other things you're trying out. Also, Wooly Thoctar and Wild Nacatl, despite being "boring" are just too good to not at least consider.
Is Stonecloaker's ability always relevant? Are you always against obnoxious graveyard decks?
I like the Leonin Squire tech. I think Origin Spellbomb may be strong too, and Horizon spellbomb can be cut down in favor of Birds of Paradise or mana dorks.
"Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror." - Terry Pratchett
Goblins are - OOOH SHINY!
Or you can throw a LAN party.
Looks like I'd just focus on creature pumps in general, and there are plenty of cards for that even without Battlecry. Glorious Anthem, Marshal's Anthem, etc. However, with the examplar, battlecry, and honor o' pure you should be set. After that I'd look into possibly making tokens and again you got a lot of choices, but at the top of the curve: Knight-Captain of Eos, Cloudgoat Ranger, White Sun's Zenith, Conquerer's Pledge, Martial Coup, etc. I'd consider a couple of these cards as good "finishers" potentially, but there are almost no cards that make knight tokens. Knight of the White Orchid is a good knight to consider.
However, most importantly (and I don't know why I bring this up last), good solid removal like Oblivion Ring, Swords to Plowshares, Condemn, or Journey to Nowhere is missing from your deck, and it'll go a long way in clearing out problems like blockers or troublesome creatures that would rain on your parade. Answers to problems in the form of removal is always a good thing for decks to have if they have room for it.
However, PtE has some interesting synergies with stuff like Knight of the White Orchid, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer, and other "if opponent has more lands than you" type cards which are good casual staples for white. It helps keep your card advantage going so it's something to consider when making a deck.