MTG Salvation

I play illusions, you probably want to go U/W which also means snagging some Geists of Saint Traft...he is just Godly in many different decks. Illusions might be the hardest and most expensive deck to play in all of competitive (this might be hotly contested by some, so please, don't flame me :P), but when you play it right, it feels so good.

That said, I play a bunch of the top tier decks and playing U/W humans is very comparable and the two decks even share a few cards, which lessens the cost a little bit

it's not that it is a BAD card per se, but as others have said, uu early for our deck can be troublesome. The competition for that slot is fierce, and as such, it is not as good as some of the other options.

It's viable against RDW, much in the way illusions ran it before moving to Geist. Seems as though humans and illusions are using similar playbook

Actually, I have renamed my deck "Caucasian Humans" aka white humans, (nothing racist here), mainly so I could differentiate it from the name White Weenie, which I hate, even though I have succumbed to run Geist.

That said, my friends tease me and call it white weenie

Anyone can net deck something and learn to play it, true skill comes with fine tuning and capitalizing on cards that the meta you play in has turned their back on or dismissed as being "I will never face this card in a competitive deck".

In that vein, Ambush Viper fits, as do many other cards that rarely see competitive play because some "pro" player hasn't stuffed it in his Top 8 deck.

Have to agree, I just did some fun searches and its all almost exclusively Planeswalkers...or it feels that way.....

The only time this card is better than Gut shot is when the opposition is attacking. If not, the card is dead in our deck. Gut shot is almost always a better choice

Quote from uppercutcancelintoultra

You are basically saying Merfolk.
If you want to play this deck in older formats, just play merfolk.
Relevant to the topic at hand, I am probally going back to the sideboard Pat McGregor used in St. Louis. I like the 3 of's more than the scattered 1 of's in Bertoncini's list.

I would agree with this for consistency sake, after all, sideboarding in a smattering of 1ofs doesn't make a lot of sense from a statistical perspective does it.

Quote from tappedandattacking

I would def say that its a must for anything outside casual...but then again this is in the competitive forum so it comes down to being a must.

No other explanation is required. I used to think the same way, why would I want a land that comes into play tapped, and why are they so expensive blah blah blah.

Then I realized like everyone else, you absolutely must be able to mana fix in any competitive deck that plays more than one color. Simply put, these are our two choices.

Quote from DaGarver

This is how I've been winning quite a few games. Let two or three threats beat them down and just sit on a nicely-sized grip. They board wipe, I reload with more threats and Moorland Haunt.

Exactly! To me this is why Champ shines. He is just such a good card whenever the games starts, or is wiped, or other creatures are traded off.

It's not that I don't see the value or strategy in other cards, I do, and it's a meta call as I said to others before.

Plus, if all he does is eat removal, well your on your way to winning.

IMO, this deck needs to play as an aggressive tempo deck, and last time I looked this card has amazing potential in that kind of deck.

I am not taking any out for the time being, Champ is just that, a CHAMP!

Look, the reality is, if we overextend with any card, we run into trouble, and that argument goes with almost any competitive deck, UNLESS they don't have an answer for it, hence why Gitaxian Probe is popular in illusions decks.

I like tapping creatures as much as the next guy, but lets be frank, tapping opens the way for smashing, therefore Lawkeeper isn't going to last on the board long either, or shouldn't.

Another example, say your Champ gets only to 2/2. At one cost, he is identical to Phantasmal Bear except he doesn't go "poof" when target by spell (he will likely die to most spells anyway but you get my point, he survives gut shot).

Doomblade, DOJ and such, well if you have a board presence, expect it, counter it and move on, if not, you start from scratch (but this is the same for any cards on the board). In fact he is great after a sweep, the board is clear, you get him out, they go **** here we go again.

Plus, its when another Enters the battlefield, if it dies later, Champ doesn't get smaller, unlike an old illusion like Krovikan Mist

I like the card. Yes it has competition in that slot, but it draws removal/counters which may protect some of your other creatures, and if it doesn't get popped right away, it has great synergy with tempo. This thing just grows every turn you drop another human on the board, which currently is everything but Geist.

If the deck moves away from Humans, well obviously it's a no brainer to replace him. However, I also think its a meta call. Many of the 1 drops work and it really comes down to the synergy you are looking for

Quote from Ririal

Paper Tiger, fixed that for ya

I ran him in my G/W list for a few matches and never found him to be anything but me wishing he was something else.

Haha, thanks

I agree with what you said. There are simply better cards in aggro decks to be played at his spot, for midrange decks, that is another story.....

Casual....well that is a completely different library

Funny that the same issue of "deck name calling" exists here like in the illusions thread. The deck name is irrelevant, the deck's ability to get better is all that counts. This is my change of attitude after the fiasco of the illusions naming, I guess just call me converted.

I am about to test the same thing, actually I am going to test a few of the swords, for the simple fact that with so many illusions no longer in the deck, it has become viable to test swords

I have tested 18 matches now with PL and I must say, that despite my initial dislike for it, it does have merit. It only cost me one match where I lost because of using life to keep tempo going. That was my fear of using this card for tempo, that too much phyrexian life would be my undoing, so I fell victim to it. Once in 18 is not bad though.

I think the build could go either way to be honest. There are games where an Imaged Lord is exactly what causes the other player grief, but also games where you lose tempo. Frequently it must be landed as a combo which leads to over extension.

I think it will really come down to how people play. For pure tempo, the PL is the way to go. If you want to sacrifice tempo pressure for security then the LotU is the right choice.

This deck is at a major crossroads again, and I guess it really is meta specific