To quote a famous captain...albeit slightly altering his words.
"I GOT A JAR OF EYEBALLS, I GOT A JAR OF EYEBALLS, AND GUESS WHAT'S INSIDE OF IT!"
Really though I don't think it deserves all the hate it gets. It might be a bit pricey but it can prove to be a nice way to get yourself just a bit of extra drawpower at the least. I'm quite sure it will end up seeing more play then predicted...though no, this won't be format-defining.
I would rather not add different-colour spells out of fear of colourscrew in here, really, though the idea sounds fun.
GSZ, can't believe how I missed that -mucks about with the spells a bit-
Jade Mage...is good, but I'm not sure what I'd remove for her.
I have yet to come up with what would be a proper sideboard for this deck, really.
Anyway, the basic strategy is to use my 12 mana dorks to ramp into an Essence ASAP. From that point on, use my low mana costing guys to keep having at least one Essence on the field. Ambush Viper is particulary fun, a 6/6 flash for 2 mana is hilarious to pull off. From there on out, commence the beatdown.
Spidery Grasp and Prey Upon are my weapons against fliers who would otherwise pose a lot of trouble. Maybe cut the Grasps completely and just go full out Prey Upon, but eh...not too sure there.
I'd actually think Elspeth would fit the setting itself rather nicely, given the whole knightly theme she has going on. Flavor wise, it would make sense.
Would I want it? Eh.
I think that the only 1-mana-pure-white contestant that is around to compete with him is Champion of the Parish, which is pretty tough competition to face. Otherwise though, I absolutely agree with you, especially if you're not running full-out humans he is pretty good, to say the least.
First time I do a draft, M12 (4 weeks ago), 3rd pack has Chandra, the Firebrand. I have a knack for pulling mythics at drafts, it seems (3 drafts, Chandra, St Traft, Mirrormad Phantasm and Olivia Voldaren so far). Not complaining either.
I would like to say that Village Ironsmith isn't bad either. I mean he's no Reckless Waif in terms of value for money, but 1/1 first strike for 2 isn't horrid, and when he transforms he's pretty dangerous. Yeah he competes with the mayor for a spot but it's there.
This deck I got rather cheaply, though it's easier to get a more expensive variety on it. There are plenty of other cards that could work, but this is a fun deck to run.
The basic idea is to pump out Spirits. Opponents are not likely to try and kill your Doomed Traveler/Mausoleum Guards, and if they do, hey, free flier. The Haunt lets me turn my pre-used stuff into new tokens, whilst Sun Titan can bring back the Travelers (And the Abolishers, which I use to combat Drawgo style decks). All the others, once they hit the grave, they will become spirits.
Elspeth delivers the finishing blow. Particulary fun if Mausoleum Guard or such is in play. Field blowout and tokens as a bonus? I'll take that. Gotta watch out with the Oblivion Rings though.
Open to suggestions and fixes. The most pricey cards are the Seachromes and Elspeths, but it's all under 10 bucks a piece, and it CAN run with a few islands instead of Seachrome in case of lower budgets.
Geist of St. Traft + Angelic Destiny is probably better. Also far less budget friendly.
Well, as I said I'm no expert deckbuilder. I just got LOTS of ideas milling about in my head, and sometimes I try to get too many ideas in one deck.
That said a lot of the ideas put up seem highly interesting to at least try and work with and experiment, and for that my thanks to everyone contributing.
A note on my inclusion of Chandra; I figured that with the 1-damage abilities I got laying around, Chandra can help in giving the final nibble to stuff, or to ensure my Phoenix returns. I might be one of the few lunatics who actually would pick her for her +1 rather then her -2...
Sorry for the horrible, HORRIBLE pun. I won't do it again. Promise.
Anyway, I like Olivia Voldaren. Why? Don't know. Might be because she can pump herself up while dishing out damage, making her a more then reasonable flier in my eyes.
So I started to think about using other burning cards, enabling me to whittle down stuff before attacking. It also needed to be a Black/Red deck. This is what I came up with. As you will notice it mostly features Red, though there is black for utility and weakening.
Yeah it's probably not the most effective deck ever, but it looks fun to me. Most creatures are geared on weakening the opponent's creatures through activated abilities before kililng them. This is why the Ooze is in - keeps the abilities going on even if they're down.
Fireslinger is my prefered Turn 1 play. The deck does lack a solid turn 2 drop, but I just couldn't find something that'd fit there. That bit of mana management early game is a bit of an issue. But well, it's not like I'm an expert deckbuilder. The basic idea of picking off stuff slowly while building up a powerful swing with Olivia just seemed fun to me.
"I GOT A JAR OF EYEBALLS, I GOT A JAR OF EYEBALLS, AND GUESS WHAT'S INSIDE OF IT!"
Really though I don't think it deserves all the hate it gets. It might be a bit pricey but it can prove to be a nice way to get yourself just a bit of extra drawpower at the least. I'm quite sure it will end up seeing more play then predicted...though no, this won't be format-defining.
They're both equally annoying?
Anyway, Johnny Depp as Nicol Bolas would be, for the lack of a better word, absolutely hilarious.
GSZ, can't believe how I missed that -mucks about with the spells a bit-
Jade Mage...is good, but I'm not sure what I'd remove for her.
Sounds just like the song for a parade of horror tropes passing through.
Not bad on a budget either.
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Ambush Viper
4 Essence of the wild
4 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Spells
4 Beast Within
2 Creeping Rennaisance
2 Overrun
2 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Prey Upon
22 Forest
I have yet to come up with what would be a proper sideboard for this deck, really.
Anyway, the basic strategy is to use my 12 mana dorks to ramp into an Essence ASAP. From that point on, use my low mana costing guys to keep having at least one Essence on the field. Ambush Viper is particulary fun, a 6/6 flash for 2 mana is hilarious to pull off. From there on out, commence the beatdown.
Spidery Grasp and Prey Upon are my weapons against fliers who would otherwise pose a lot of trouble. Maybe cut the Grasps completely and just go full out Prey Upon, but eh...not too sure there.
Would I want it? Eh.
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Mausoleum Guard
4 Geist-Honored Monk
3 Sun Titan
2 Grand Abolisher
Planeswalkers:
3 Elspeth Tirel
Other Spells:
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Mana Leak
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Moorland Haunt
12 Plains
3 Nevermore
3 Stony Silence
2 Witchbane Orb
4 Due Respect
3 Revoke Existence
The basic idea is to pump out Spirits. Opponents are not likely to try and kill your Doomed Traveler/Mausoleum Guards, and if they do, hey, free flier. The Haunt lets me turn my pre-used stuff into new tokens, whilst Sun Titan can bring back the Travelers (And the Abolishers, which I use to combat Drawgo style decks). All the others, once they hit the grave, they will become spirits.
Elspeth delivers the finishing blow. Particulary fun if Mausoleum Guard or such is in play. Field blowout and tokens as a bonus? I'll take that. Gotta watch out with the Oblivion Rings though.
Open to suggestions and fixes. The most pricey cards are the Seachromes and Elspeths, but it's all under 10 bucks a piece, and it CAN run with a few islands instead of Seachrome in case of lower budgets.
Geist of St. Traft + Angelic Destiny is probably better. Also far less budget friendly.
That said a lot of the ideas put up seem highly interesting to at least try and work with and experiment, and for that my thanks to everyone contributing.
A note on my inclusion of Chandra; I figured that with the 1-damage abilities I got laying around, Chandra can help in giving the final nibble to stuff, or to ensure my Phoenix returns. I might be one of the few lunatics who actually would pick her for her +1 rather then her -2...
Anyway, I like Olivia Voldaren. Why? Don't know. Might be because she can pump herself up while dishing out damage, making her a more then reasonable flier in my eyes.
So I started to think about using other burning cards, enabling me to whittle down stuff before attacking. It also needed to be a Black/Red deck. This is what I came up with. As you will notice it mostly features Red, though there is black for utility and weakening.
3 Olivia Voldaren
4 Goblin Fireslinger
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Inferno Titan
2 Morkrut Banshee
2 Necrotic Ooze
Spells:
4 Go for the Throat
4 Desperate Ravings
3 Altar's Reap
2 Curse of Death's Hold
3 Volt Charge
3 Chandra, the Firebrand
Lands:
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Stensia Bloodhall
10 Mountain
7 Swamp
3 Slagstorm
3 Chandra's Outrage
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Tribute to Hunger
3 Dead Weight
Yeah it's probably not the most effective deck ever, but it looks fun to me. Most creatures are geared on weakening the opponent's creatures through activated abilities before kililng them. This is why the Ooze is in - keeps the abilities going on even if they're down.
Fireslinger is my prefered Turn 1 play. The deck does lack a solid turn 2 drop, but I just couldn't find something that'd fit there. That bit of mana management early game is a bit of an issue. But well, it's not like I'm an expert deckbuilder. The basic idea of picking off stuff slowly while building up a powerful swing with Olivia just seemed fun to me.
Claustrophobia has that odd nose that makes me laugh every time I see it.