Thanks for the input. Here's several things I noted:
1. It seems that the Evoke creatures might be a better fit than the Suspend critters, since they have a more immediate effect. I'm highly considering replacing the current Suspend lineup with Evoke creatures.
2. The Timid Drake replacements all seem pretty good. I think I'll stick to Venser, Shaper Savant and Shrieking Drake; Venser looks like something that strikes a balance between size and Flash-like speed while the Drake is a cheap option for the early game. It also lets me leave mana open for counterspells and the likes.
3. Speaking of counters, I'll probably include Rebuff the Wicked. And I'll consider the singleton Spirit Mirror. My main concern before was consistency, but I run 4 tutors already so hopefully it isn't too big of a deal.
I'll sit down with the list and update later. Thanks guys!
This deck is based on a fairly old combo of Unnatural Selection and Pure Reflection. For purposes of consistency, I did not include Spirit Mirror. The deck is mainly inspired by DLink123's deck, which can be found in this thread. Major props to him!
I decided to make a new thread since I didn't want to necro the old one, plus I went UW as well.
Unnatural Selection plays double duty here. Earlier on, when you don't have Eldrazi Monument set up yet, you can use the Selection to help mitigate the drawback of the Reflection on your side of the field. Otherwise, even after the Monument is set up, you can use Unnatural Selection to nuke your opponent's creatures.
Need a source of renewable ammunition for Pure Reflection? Look no further than Timid Drake. With a Pure Reflection out, playing the Drake will nuke all Reflections first, then creates a 3/3 Reflection on your side.. which will bounce the Drake back to your hand for use later. I do realize that it can get mana intensive, but I like having something that can auto-bounce without additional requirements. If any of you can come up with a better card to replace the Drake, let me know!
As for the early phases of the game, plop down a Wall of Omens, which cantrips and serves as an early defender. Cantripping helps, especially when we use Enlightened Tutor to search for our combo pieces as well as our Oblivion Rings when necessary. The singleton Shrine of Loyal Legions can be fetched and it serves as a standby in case I need to feed the Monument in a pinch after a board wipe or something.
The Suspend creatures were DLink123's idea, and they serve Pure Reflection fairly well since you can suspend them early on and gain some beefier Reflections later. Eldrazi Monument was part of the package with the suspend plan, since it makes our Reflections indestructible and takes pressure away from our manabase (instead of, say, having to activate Unnatural Selection every other second to save our own Reflections). The sacrifice requirement of the Monument isn't all too hefty, considering that we have Timid Drake in the deck.
I try to be as consistent as I can, since it's an issue that all combo decks have to deal with. Eight cantrips in Wall of Omens and Ponder should smooth things out somewhat. The tutors also help as well. I've thought about including Spirit Mirror since I already have the tutors, but ultimately decided against it since I felt that it might add on to the burdens of our manabase (the initial casting cost, that is), and I felt that requiring 3 components for the core combo engine can be unwieldy at times.
Nevertheless, this deck is still in pretty rough shape. Should I add some additional support spells to this? Any suggestions to further improve this is very welcomed. Once again, much props to DLink123 since a good chunk of the deck was inspired from his old thread.
About MTGO: contrary to what some of you posted, MTGO (not DOTP) was able to help me learn the ropes by clearing up priority and timing rules. I recently came back after an eight-year hiatus and I never really knew much about priority to start with - back then, I just assumed that an Instant could be played any time (lol).
You also do not need to invest in MTGO if you don't want to - just click the Free Trial button when you launch the game, and you get to play a format with only pre-con decks against other trial users for free. Once you feel comfortable enough, you can decide if you want to truly invest your wallet on paper Magic or MTGO.
Go the paper route if you have access to a group of friends to play with. I wouldn't recommend Intro Packs, but the Deckbuilder's Toolkit is not a bad investment.
Go the online route if nobody within your surrounding area plays Magic. It certainly doesn't capture the feel of paper Magic, of course, but the option exist should you choose to.
Besides Triumph, I realized that the Dead-Iron Sledge is better off as a singleton since it's usually dead if I draw the second, and I'm usually much happier to see a Behemoth Sledge. Behemoth works pretty well on Prized Unicorn too, so no complaints here! Thanks everyone
It traditionally has been GB but has diverged in other colors. It features strong creatures alongside removal and discard. This article on the Wiki has a brief history of things Rock-related.
@Arkion: Thanks for reminding me that 4 more unicorns would make it Tribal. I forgot about that! The changeling seems a bit mana-intensive though, and it kind of irks me that it's not a real unicorn lol. I appreciate it though!
@The Fett Man: After checking prices, I really should be running Sunpetal Grove over Brushland. For some reason I thought it'd be more expensive but turns out, Brushland's the one that is (somewhat) more expensive
Speaking of static boosts, Door of Destinies worked out better than I thought. I realized that it's a bit over my budget but I'm highly considering it now. As for Dead-Iron Sledge, it worked pretty well as a 2-of. It's definitely replacing the Flail, since I no longer need to worry about my Prized Unicorn not having enough power to get rid of all its blockers.
Thanks again everyone! Keep the suggestions and comments coming
edits: I didn't see those two replys sneaking by! Unicorns are amazing. As for Overrun, I'll see if I can squeeze it in somehow later on... either that or Triumph of the Hordes.
Between my two playgroups, nobody plays EDH. I am pretty curious about the format (and still am), but I do not want to see 60-card casual being replaced. I have my playgroups' many aggro players to thank
What they should do to counter balance these types of shenanigans is print some decent burns spells, removal spells and counter spells that play of 1 mana or can be played for free.
Thanks for your input! While I don't quite like the list (mainly from the lack of Grimoire Thief and white spot removal), I did realize that I needed something like Ponder and a counter that cost less. Here's my current list that I tweaked not too long ago:
The Rune Snags seem to be working out. Negate may seem better when I have spot removal, but the Snag feels more versatile; plus, being able to counter some creatures with ETB effects can be helpful, since Sage's Dousing was able to do that in my previous build. The Intruder/Commerce combo is pretty nifty and it does speed up the deck, but I've been able to ride on the back of Commerce alongside my spot removals so far. I'll see if I can somehow fit it in the future, though. Thanks again!
1. It seems that the Evoke creatures might be a better fit than the Suspend critters, since they have a more immediate effect. I'm highly considering replacing the current Suspend lineup with Evoke creatures.
2. The Timid Drake replacements all seem pretty good. I think I'll stick to Venser, Shaper Savant and Shrieking Drake; Venser looks like something that strikes a balance between size and Flash-like speed while the Drake is a cheap option for the early game. It also lets me leave mana open for counterspells and the likes.
3. Speaking of counters, I'll probably include Rebuff the Wicked. And I'll consider the singleton Spirit Mirror. My main concern before was consistency, but I run 4 tutors already so hopefully it isn't too big of a deal.
I'll sit down with the list and update later. Thanks guys!
I decided to make a new thread since I didn't want to necro the old one, plus I went UW as well.
4x Island
4x Seachrome Coast
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Wall of Omens
3x Knight of Sursi
3x Shade of Trokair
3x Timid Drake
3x Duskrider Peregrine
3x Ivory Giant
3x Pure Reflection
3x Unnatural Selection
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Shrine of Loyal Legions
4x Ponder
Unnatural Selection plays double duty here. Earlier on, when you don't have Eldrazi Monument set up yet, you can use the Selection to help mitigate the drawback of the Reflection on your side of the field. Otherwise, even after the Monument is set up, you can use Unnatural Selection to nuke your opponent's creatures.
Need a source of renewable ammunition for Pure Reflection? Look no further than Timid Drake. With a Pure Reflection out, playing the Drake will nuke all Reflections first, then creates a 3/3 Reflection on your side.. which will bounce the Drake back to your hand for use later. I do realize that it can get mana intensive, but I like having something that can auto-bounce without additional requirements. If any of you can come up with a better card to replace the Drake, let me know!
As for the early phases of the game, plop down a Wall of Omens, which cantrips and serves as an early defender. Cantripping helps, especially when we use Enlightened Tutor to search for our combo pieces as well as our Oblivion Rings when necessary. The singleton Shrine of Loyal Legions can be fetched and it serves as a standby in case I need to feed the Monument in a pinch after a board wipe or something.
The Suspend creatures were DLink123's idea, and they serve Pure Reflection fairly well since you can suspend them early on and gain some beefier Reflections later. Eldrazi Monument was part of the package with the suspend plan, since it makes our Reflections indestructible and takes pressure away from our manabase (instead of, say, having to activate Unnatural Selection every other second to save our own Reflections). The sacrifice requirement of the Monument isn't all too hefty, considering that we have Timid Drake in the deck.
I try to be as consistent as I can, since it's an issue that all combo decks have to deal with. Eight cantrips in Wall of Omens and Ponder should smooth things out somewhat. The tutors also help as well. I've thought about including Spirit Mirror since I already have the tutors, but ultimately decided against it since I felt that it might add on to the burdens of our manabase (the initial casting cost, that is), and I felt that requiring 3 components for the core combo engine can be unwieldy at times.
Nevertheless, this deck is still in pretty rough shape. Should I add some additional support spells to this? Any suggestions to further improve this is very welcomed. Once again, much props to DLink123 since a good chunk of the deck was inspired from his old thread.
You also do not need to invest in MTGO if you don't want to - just click the Free Trial button when you launch the game, and you get to play a format with only pre-con decks against other trial users for free. Once you feel comfortable enough, you can decide if you want to truly invest your wallet on paper Magic or MTGO.
Go the paper route if you have access to a group of friends to play with. I wouldn't recommend Intro Packs, but the Deckbuilder's Toolkit is not a bad investment.
Go the online route if nobody within your surrounding area plays Magic. It certainly doesn't capture the feel of paper Magic, of course, but the option exist should you choose to.
7x Forest
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Graypelt Refuge
4x Benevolent Unicorn
4x Capashen Unicorn
4x Ronom Unicorn
4x Prized Unicorn
4x Zebra Unicorn
4x Behemoth Sledge
3x Door of Destinies
2x Oblivion Ring
4x Vines of Vastwood
3x Harmonize
2x Triumph of the Hordes
Besides Triumph, I realized that the Dead-Iron Sledge is better off as a singleton since it's usually dead if I draw the second, and I'm usually much happier to see a Behemoth Sledge. Behemoth works pretty well on Prized Unicorn too, so no complaints here! Thanks everyone
@The Fett Man: After checking prices, I really should be running Sunpetal Grove over Brushland. For some reason I thought it'd be more expensive but turns out, Brushland's the one that is (somewhat) more expensive
@zeromd & TheWarden: Ronom Unicorn is in. Being a Grizzly Bears was more useful than I thought. I went with the Behemoth Sledge because it sticks around unlike the Armadillo Cloak, and while Triumph of the Hordes seems like a better Overrun, it doesn't give a static boost, which was what I was originally trying to shoot for with Shared Triumph.
Speaking of static boosts, Door of Destinies worked out better than I thought. I realized that it's a bit over my budget but I'm highly considering it now. As for Dead-Iron Sledge, it worked pretty well as a 2-of. It's definitely replacing the Flail, since I no longer need to worry about my Prized Unicorn not having enough power to get rid of all its blockers.
My (Tribal!) deck now looks like this:
7x Forest
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Graypelt Refuge
4x Benevolent Unicorn
4x Capashen Unicorn
4x Ronom Unicorn
4x Prized Unicorn
4x Zebra Unicorn
3x Behemoth Sledge
3x Door of Destinies
2x Oblivion Ring
4x Vines of Vastwood
4x Harmonize
Thanks again everyone! Keep the suggestions and comments coming
edits: I didn't see those two replys sneaking by! Unicorns are amazing. As for Overrun, I'll see if I can squeeze it in somehow later on... either that or Triumph of the Hordes.
7x Forest
4x Brushland
4x Graypelt Refuge
4x Capashen Unicorn
4x Prized Unicorn
4x Zebra Unicorn
2x Gorgon Flail
4x Shared Triumph
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Vines of Vastwood
4x Harmonize
A cute little deck. Notable stuff includes Lifelink from Behemoth Sledge stacking with Zebra Unicorn's ability and Gorgon Flail + Prized Unicorn. I went with the Flail since it's a lot cheaper than Basilisk Collar.
I'm going to keep this budget since it's just for fun, so if any of you have suggestions, no singles over $2-$3 please! Thanks.
Gut Shot on a Glistener Elf. Yeah, even I laughed at the thought
Thanks for your input! While I don't quite like the list (mainly from the lack of Grimoire Thief and white spot removal), I did realize that I needed something like Ponder and a counter that cost less. Here's my current list that I tweaked not too long ago:
3x Plains
4x Adarkar Wastes
4x Wanderwine Hub
4x Mothdust Changeling
4x Grimoire Thief
4x Merrow Reejerey
4x Drowner of Secrets
4x Stonybrook Schoolmaster
3x Judge of Currents
4x Rune Snag
3x Merrow Commerce
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Oblivion Ring
The Rune Snags seem to be working out. Negate may seem better when I have spot removal, but the Snag feels more versatile; plus, being able to counter some creatures with ETB effects can be helpful, since Sage's Dousing was able to do that in my previous build. The Intruder/Commerce combo is pretty nifty and it does speed up the deck, but I've been able to ride on the back of Commerce alongside my spot removals so far. I'll see if I can somehow fit it in the future, though. Thanks again!