- RetrovirusX
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Oct 17, 2010RetrovirusX posted a message on Protect the InfectInstead of Untamed Might (4 mana gets you +3/+3 like Giant Growth for 1) I'd suggest Vines of Vastwood since it protects and pumps.Posted in: keezy88 Blog
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Oct 14, 2010RetrovirusX posted a message on Gork's GoblinsWell hello there Mr. Keezy88. You are correct, in order to be standard legal I must switch out my beloved Masticore. I was also 1 card short.Posted in: RetrovirusX Blog
It is pretty quick and any damage that the goblins can't push, burn, Kargan Dragonlord, Koth, Masticore, and Spikeshot Elder can all push more damage. And Mark of Mutiny to steal some Primeval's also works lol. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Certainly a good point. I did forget to add, I am making an attempt to make a Commander deck around each of the Gods on MTGO.
Any other directions you would take a look at? I have thought about a Flash and Flicker type of deck as well.
Below is the start of my Ephara, God of the Polis Commander deck. With white and blue sharing the flying ability, I decided on making that the main theme of the deck. While a WU are typical control colors, I wanted a bit more of an aggro route. I like the fact that these colors give you not only access to Moat but also Teferi's Moat.
Ideas welcome!
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Pride of the Clouds
1 Azorius Guildmage
1 Burnished Hart
1 Trinket Mage
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Sprite Noble
1 Aven Mimeomancer
1 Wispmare
1 Stonecloaker
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Thunderclap Wyvern
1 Emeria Angel
1 Angel of Jubilation
1 Angelic Field Marshal
1 Chronozoa
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sky Hussar
1 Isperia the Inscrutable
1 Archon of Justice
1 Archon of Redemption
1 Mulldrifter
1 Karmic Guide
1 Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Drogskol Reaver
1 Windreader Sphinx
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Hypnotic Siren
1 Palinchron
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Swords to Plowsharers
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Return to Dust
1 Condemn
1 Oblation
1 Austere Command
1 Day of Judgment
1 Recurring Insight
1 Rite of Replication
1 Favorable Winds
1 Gravitational Shift
1 Moat
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Luminarch Ascension
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Caged Sun
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Skullclamp
1 Expedition Map
1 Sol Ring
1 Azorius Signet
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Command Tower
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Tranquil Cove
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Calciform Pools
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Glacial Fortress
And what were the issues?
Right now I am using a mono-green build since this means the mana base can play Ghost Quarter without strain. I have the card extremely valuable against Tron, Infect, and various control decks killing their manlands. Overall the deck plays a higher elf count than the Collected Company version which strengthens Sylvan Messenger.
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Joraga Warcaller
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Dwynen's Elite
2 Fauna Shaman
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Champion
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Sylvan Messenger
13 Forest
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Bow of Nylea
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Essence Warden
3 Nature's Claim
1 Reclamation Sage
If you want I made an Aggro Elves deck awhile ago in deck creation, you can just link it if people don't want non-CoCo lists here.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/565947-aggro-elves#c6
Fauna Shaman has been awesome for me so far and I think I have liked having her in the two spot over Elvish Visionary right now. I don't think I have lost a game when she has been allowed to untap (albeit small sample size). I've been running 3 in the main and she has allowed me to ditch cards like Chord and make Messenger a much stronger card due to the increased elf count. Putting down a Messenger and drawing a Survival of the Fittest of it is a good feeling, especially against more controlling decks.
8 mana is easy to get for just about any elf deck, you are correct...as long as Elvish Archdruid stays around. That has been my issue with a lot of these all in strategies and part of Elves in general and why I have started to mess around with which creatures are used. In the top ten cards in Modern include Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, and Terminate. All of these easily hit Archdruid. Are you guys just not seeing the cards? Are players your playing against just letting Heritage Druid or Archdruid live?
I have moved on to trying:
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Dwynen's Elite
3 Fauna Shaman
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Imperious Perfect
3 Elvish Champion
4 Sylvan Messenger
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Nykthos Shrine to Nyx
3 Nature's Claim
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Masked Admirers
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Krosan Grip
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
A mass of 41 elves means Sylvan Messenger hits about 3 cards every time she is played. Fauna Shaman is being used because she draws of Messenger and acts as my search engine. She is absolutely one of those cards that can take over a game for this deck and has improved my control matchup. With 11 lords, Fauna Shaman, and Ezuri it applies a lot more pressure for them to have removal and a lot of it. If they do, Sylvan often refills the hand. Imperious Perfect also can help in those longer drawn out matches. The option for the explosive Turn 2 still exists like most other elf decks except more lords to make use of to drop.
The Ghost Quarters have been all stars in some games. Killing of Inkmoths, Urza lands, Mutavaults, Ugins, Colonnades, etc. Since the deck is mono colored I feel like playing 5 colorless lands has not been an issue at all and the tempo issue just isn't much ofna factor in Elves since we run so few lands to begin with
The Masked Admirers is a card I have thrown in to try against those UWR and UW Control decks that seem to be popping up a bit more. I hate using Messenger and going past a Thrun.I have sort of fallen in love with Boy of Nylea since it really is a Swiss army knife against a lot of decks.
I am going to have to agree on Amulet of Vigor. A turn 1 or 2 Primeval Titan on a pretty consistent basis seems like it fits Wizards idea of no fast combo in the format. Add in the Hive Mind/Summoner's Pact win con that can hit extremely early and I think Amulet of Vigor is a good candidate.
I guess my ultimate question is, what matchups is it improving and how is it doing so better than GW, GB, or Mono-Green would? The only deck that you mentioned that I have trouble with is the UWR control deck that plays a ton of rmeoval and a ton of sweepers post board. I would say a Black splash for Prowess would help that matchup more than blue would. I would also say that Black would give you access to Thoughtseize for combo decks. The black splash also does not need to run as many shocklands that make you weaker to aggro and burn.
And from my experience I have not seen Messenger as a "win more" card. It usually builds me up after a sweeper or refills my hand after spot removal eats away my board. I have went away from Lead the Stampede as I really upped my Elf count to make full use of Messenger. I agree CoCo/Call can not exist in the same list.
If you are siding in Dispel/Negate against most decks then it should probably be in the main deck. Removing Coiling Oracle means you are only splash blue for the counter magic.
Part of the issue is that one of Tron's weakness is fast aggro and a good way to beat them. However lining the board with a bunch of X/1 and X/2 guys is a good way to get devastated if they are holding their Pyroclasm (Or Tron up an Oblivion Stone). Overextending with this deck in this matchup is hard not to do since their late game is so devastating.
This is part of why I went to more lords. It lets me not overextend since I don't have to flood the board to get Archdruid mana to fuel an Ezuri. A lot if times a T1 dork, T2 Dwynen's Elite, and T3 lord is enough to apply pressure. They usually have their turn to sweep with Pyroclasm before another lord comes down to put them out of range and most likely dead. I also added the Main board Ghost Quarters to help the matchup. It still is a difficult matchup though as sometimes thendraw just isn't in your favor.
I guess Surgical Extraction with Ghost Quarters could be an option but I don't think that would be reliable.
I just mean Messenger needs a heavy elf count to be really effective. If you are running 31 elves then it is just not as effective as you want a 4 CMC card to be. Of course that number gets lower post sideboard as well. Running closer to 34-36 elves may seem like a smaller deal but increases the value that Messenger will refill your hand. I think Messenger and Collected Company are both trying to do the same thing and it can either be one or the other.
With Messenger I have moved to a more Lord bases aggro deck that depends a lot less on getting out Ezuri to Overrun but can actually win by pumping a team. Dwynen's Elite has only made this strategy better.
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Elvish Visionary
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Achdruid
3 Elvish Champion
4 Imperious Perfect
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
3 Sylvan Messenger
4 Ghost Quarter
14 Forest
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Nature's Claim
2 Krosan Grip
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Faerie Macabre
1 Reclamation Sage
3 Dismember
I have liked the Ghost Quarter as an attempt to slow down Tron or to kill Inkmoth's or other manlands. Since there is no second color adding colorless lands hasn't seemed to hurt.