51

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So first off, good luck in your first tourney.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't know that the strategy will be as effective in a competitive setting as you'd hope.

The biggest issue with the formidable mechanic is that it requires you to have a sizable board presence before it does anything.  The problem here is that it will force you to over-extend into board wipes almost every game (that you would encounter them).  Against most other decks, I just don't see it providing enough of an advantage to really get you there.

Further, however unfortunate, the only card with a formidable that you REALLY want is Surrak.  I could maybe see 2x Stampeding Elk Herd to help break board stalls with Surrak out there or 2x Atarka Pummeler to again help break board stalls, but otherwise, I'm just not seeing enough payoff for the deck to really get there.

All that being said, if I were to suggest some changes to the existing deck, they would be as follows:

- You NEED 4x Elvish Mystic in this deck to help accelerate you.  Sure, you have a few mana producers, but realistically, you aren't hitting any until T3 or later and you really don't need to ramp from 4-6, but from 3-4.  A T1 Mystic lets you play so much more of your deck on T3 - even if you open with a tap-land.

- Qal Sisma Behemoth strikes me as being worth a look.  Sure, the cost for attacking or blocking sucks, but realistically, it lets you hit formidable VERY fast.  It's also a cheap 5/5.  If you have a Mystic on the field, odds are he's not attacking, but he can definitely help pay for the behemoth.

- Shaman of the Great Hunt will literally make the deck sing.  Either growing your dudes OR the sudden card draw can really make all the difference.

- Boon Satyr is an under-appreciated card that you can play in the opponent's end step.  T1 mystic, t2 boon, t3 Surrak would be pretty hard to come back from.

- Temur Sabertooth is an almost must have for the board against control decks.  It gives you some added resilience against their bevvy of removal and can save a lot of your creatures with its bounce ability.

- In a similar vein, Whisperwood Elemental is a card that would be well suited in any R/G mid-range deck.  If you want to drop the cash for them, go for it as they're likely going to remain a staple for as long as they're legal in standard.  If not, they're certainly not necessary, but they definitely would help.

- You're going to want some added removal or means to interact with the opponent's board.  Whether that comes in the form of Lightning Strike, Wild Slash, or just Crater's Claws, you'll want SOME way to interact with their board.

I wish you the best of luck and I'm sure you'll be able to steal a few games here or there, but against top tier decks, I just don't see it getting there.  Hopefully some of these comments will be of assistance as you continue to refine your build.

Good luck!

52

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

The deck can be seen here: http://deckbox.org/sets/935332

Excellent work Sebi!  Always making things better!

54

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I'm not going to pretend that I know a ton about modern, but I'm admittedly a bit surprised to see that list doing so well given its reliance on standard legal cards (most of which don't have the power level needed to cut it in modern).

As for the effect of DTK in modern, there haven't been a ton of cards spoiled thus far that even begin to crack the threshold for modern playables.  I'm thinking Narset has a chance, as does Anticipation (not too far off from Impulse which saw play in its day), one or two of the commands might make the cut, and a few others.

55

(7 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

If you're looking to put stuff in the yard, the two best bets are Satyr Wayfinder and Commune with the Gods.

56

(8 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

There isn't a card that actually removes the only 4x restriction that I'm aware of (not even conspiracies).  Sadly, outside of Relentless Rats and Shadowborn Apostle you will have to just look for functional reprints a la Llanowar Elves = Fyndhorn Elves = Elvish Mystic.

57

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Look at the decklists for Pro-Tour Fate Reforged to see the Abzan lists that make up 30 some odd percent of the meta.

58

(5 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

- Glen Elendra gets -1/-1 counters, so it won't work with Sage of Fables.  You need the biomancers to make that work.

- Rhystic Study is really easy to get around and, as long as the opponent is willing to pay 1 more for their spells, you draw nothing.

- Prime Speaker Zegana will almost always be rather large and being able to draw 4+ cards is pretty solid... even if they remove  her, you've gotten the benefit out of her.

- As for the evasion, if you're doing things right, your stuff should be big enough that you don't need evasion.  You can go through their stuff.

- Mirrorweave won't transfer counters, although it would be funny to target Kalonian Hydra and attack with 3-4 creatures...

- The list is a bit better, but I think it would be best to focus in more on the key strategy and make the list tighter and more consistent.  I think you can pull most of the proliferate stuff in exchange for more card draw and/or removal options.

59

(5 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So a few cards seem out of place here:

- Wickerbough Elder really doesn't work with Master Biomancer as +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters actually cancel one another out (as in if a creature has both, they both fall off and cease to be on the creature).

- Wonder really doesn't do much for you.

- Sapphire Drake is good and all, but I'd suggest looking into Kalonian Hydra instead.

- To that end, Glen Elendra Archmage works rather well with Master Biomancer as the persist will interact with the +1/+1 counters to allow it to trigger persist frequently.

- Why 4x Mirrorweave?

- I'd say you definitely want more Master Biomancers.

- I'd also suggest topping the curve with Prime Speaker Zegana.

- Zameck Guildmage can also provide you with added card draw, which is critical in blue/green strategies.

Hopefully some of this helps.  Best luck!

You need some means by which to interact with the opponent's side of the board.

60

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Not being a modern player for the most part I can't really say too much other than that you definitely need a way to beat Abzan.  I could also see where Smallpox might be worth looking at putting in there.

I can also say that Waste Not is a trap.  I can see where it would work in Legacy with Dark Ritual at your disposal, but in modern (and standard for that matter) it just doesn't get the job done.  Without the perfect mix of cards it just doesn't do much for you and you end up having to try to replenish your hand AND the opponent's hand at the same time to generate any benefit off of it.  To that end, if you do decide to run it, Burning Inquisition, Reforge the Soul, and things of that nature are what you're looking for (because they trigger the discard but also end up replenishing the opponent's hand.  It's actually pretty weird that for Waste Not to work you actually WANT the opponent to have cards in hand - once they're in top-deck mode, it card is just a waste of space.

Greetings all,

As I'm sure many of you are aware the deckbuilding forum is my major stomping ground.  I enjoy the challenge of building decks and generally brewing up new ideas (potentially more than even playing them).  BUT, I cannot count the number of times someone posts a simple "here's my deck... help" expecting to get meaningful feedback.  Now anyone who I've given feedback to can attest, I spend a while thinking through decks and providing well-thought-out critiques and suggestions.  But why should I go to that effort if the poster doesn't put forth any effort in their post?

The simplest way I can say this is this: The more detail you give us, the more we can tell you (and the more likely we'll actually spend the time to say anything).  Phrased another way, if you don't put forth any effort on your part, you likely won't receive any effort on our part.

So what does the forum typically need?  We don't need a book-length explanation about the deck, but as much guidance you can provide makes the idea more interesting and more likely to get input.  Specifically, you should answer some/all of the following questions:

- What format are you looking to play?  Is this for standard, modern, edh/commander, tiny leaders, casual kitchen table?
- In that same vein, where are you looking to play this?  Are you looking to make waves in a major tourney or just whoop up on your buddies?
- What is the strategy YOU envision the deck using?  Put another way, if you could have an ideal opening hand, what would be in it and why?  What is the overall plan?
- What is the budget you're looking to use to make the deck better?  Are you open to spending a bit or does it have to be cards out of your existing inventory?

I know many people are new to the game and this might seem intimidating, to which I would just say, "Tell us that you're new."  There aren't any mind readers in this forum that I know of.  Additionally, even if you've only played the game 2-3 times, you can still tell us whether you're going to FNM or just want to be the tabletop hero and how much money you're looking to sink into this adventure.

Alright, that's enough... rant over... *drops mic*

62

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

This is a pet peeve of mine so please don't take this as personal, but you really have to explain more about the deck and the play environment for us to offer any meaningful comments.  Specifically, we need answers to the following:

- What format are you looking to play?  Is this for standard, modern, edh/commander, tiny leaders, casual kitchen table?
- In that same vein, where are you looking to play this?  Are you looking to make waves in a major tourney or just whoop up on your buddies?
- What is the strategy YOU envision the deck using?  Put another way, if you could have an ideal opening hand, what would be in it and why?  What is the overall plan?
- What is the budget you're looking to use to make the deck better?  Are you open to spending a bit or does it have to be cards out of your existing inventory?

The simplest way I can say this is this: The more detail you give us, the more we can tell you (and the more likely we'll actually spend the time to say anything - no effort on your part, no effort on ours)

63

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

This is a pet peeve of mine so please don't take this as personal, but you really have to explain more about the deck and the play environment for us to offer any meaningful comments.  Specifically, we need answers to the following:

- What format are you looking to play?  Is this for standard, modern, edh/commander, tiny leaders, casual kitchen table?
- In that same vein, where are you looking to play this?  Are you looking to make waves in a major tourney or just whoop up on your buddies?
- What is the strategy YOU envision the deck using?  Put another way, if you could have an ideal opening hand, what would be in it and why?  What is the overall plan?
- What is the budget you're looking to use to make the deck better?  Are you open to spending a bit or does it have to be cards out of your existing inventory?

The simplest way I can say this is this: The more detail you give us, the more we can tell you (and the more likely we'll actually spend the time to say anything - no effort on your part, no effort on ours)

64

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

This is a pet peeve of mine so please don't take this as personal, but you really have to explain more about the deck and the play environment for us to offer any meaningful comments.  Specifically, we need answers to the following:

- What format are you looking to play?  Is this for standard, modern, edh/commander, tiny leaders, casual kitchen table?
- In that same vein, where are you looking to play this?  Are you looking to make waves in a major tourney or just whoop up on your buddies?
- What is the strategy YOU envision the deck using?  Put another way, if you could have an ideal opening hand, what would be in it and why?  What is the overall plan?
- What is the budget you're looking to use to make the deck better?  Are you open to spending a bit or does it have to be cards out of your existing inventory?

The simplest way I can say this is this: The more detail you give us, the more we can tell you (and the more likely we'll actually spend the time to say anything - no effort on your part, no effort on ours)

65

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So a few thoughts on Nekusar builds:
- Wheel of Fortune style effects are where it's at in a Nekusar deck.  You have a few, but think Whispering Madness, Reforge the Soul, Burning Inquiry, and Dark Deal to name a few.   
- Because of all the discarding going on, this is among the decks that could actually make quality use of Waste Not as well. 
- Given the amount of stuff that will be filling your yard, you might as well toss in any quality Delve stuff too.
- Also, added card draw is pretty big here.  You have Dictate of Kruphix, but you should also include others like Howling Mine, Font of Mythos, etc etc.
- Given all the wheel effects you also will likely want some mass Unsummon effects like Whelming Wave, Cyclonic Rift, Devastation Tide, and more.  It's good fun to get them to pick up all their stuff and then drop Whispering Madness to make them discard all those cards and draw another 20 cards, triggering Nekusar for each one.
- You probably want to drop most of the creatures you have as it would be best to adopt a more controlling strategy.  Think removal, card draw, and all those sorts of things. 
- Might as well toss Ugin, the Spirit Dragon in there too - mostly for grins more than anything else.

I'd also say to just Google "Nekusar EDH" and you'll probably come up with a TON of builds to draw ideas from.

I hope some of this helps and good luck!

66

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So first off, I don't know anyone who is outright going to build a deck for you.  The whole idea of this portion of the site is to look for comments on existing decks or get pointers on how to improve your general deckbuilding practice.

That being said, I took a brief look at your inventory and you certainly have the fetches and some of the bigger value cards to look at building Esper (blue-white-black) or at least Azorius given the Flooded Strands and Elspeth, Sun's Champions you already have.  Personally, unless you're super attached to the foil strand, you can trade it for 95% of the remaining cards you would want.  I would recommend building a more controlling build that centers around Elspeth and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon as your primary win conditions.  This means you'll need plenty of removal and counters... think End Hostilities, Banishing Light, Dissolve, Dissipate, and things of that nature.  Other cards to consider including are Aetherspouts, Whelming Wave, Suspension Field, Dig Through Time, etc.

Beyond that, once you have a build pieced together I'd imagine you'll get much more input.

67

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

First off, good luck at your first FNM.  The best thing to keep in mind is that you're there to have fun.  Being your first time it is quite likely that you will lose, a lot, and badly.  But each game is a learning experience.  Talk to your opponents, ask them about play mistakes you made (and you will make some, it's no big deal), have them look at your deck, you can even trade if you get a chance.

So to the basics of deckbuilding.  I'll bullet point the key concepts to make it easier to follow:

- Before you even begin, it's a good idea to identify what strategy you're most comfortable playing

- The three main strategies are aggro, mid-range, and control.  Aggro decks are, as their name suggests, aggressive.  They tend to have very low mana curves, play lots of cheap threats, and try to kill the opponent as quickly as possible (hopefully before they get a chance to stabilize the board).  Mid-range decks try to be more versatile, mixing removal with larger threats that the opponent will likely struggle to stop.  Control decks are the slowest of the bunch.  They attempt to control the game through mass removal, counter magic, pointed removal, and card draw.  They only really try to win after they've asserted control over the game and will do so only with 1-2 resilient threats.  The key is to identify which strategy you want to run with and then stick to that plan.  A TON of newer deckbuilders will build sub-optimal decks trying to straddle the line between two of these strategies.

- Once you've identified which strategy you're most comfortable playing (or that you think you'd like to play), I would suggest looking around online for builds that feature some of the cards that you really would like to build around.  Net-decking, for better or for worse, is a part of the game.  Not at least drawing on the online community for some ideas is just being inefficient.

- After you have a strategy and a decklist as a starting point, begin to make changes that fit your budget/inventory.  The ideal is, as you said, to run multiples of most cards, but this is most true of the cards that are critical to your strategy.  For instance, if you're running a Mardu Mid-range built around Butcher of the Horde and having tokens to sac to him, you'll likely want to run 3-4x of both Butcher and Hordeling Outburst.  Again, it will depend on what your ideal strategy is and what you're wanting to do.

Now I've tossed a bunch at you and I haven't really looked at your inventory, but here's a link to a B/R aggro build that did quite well and has been getting some play online.  You can see one version of the list at the bottom of the page here (http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12370) and Frank Lepore has some videos playtesting the deck on MODO here (http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12372).  I would say this is an ideal starting point for you as the deck isn't horrendously expensive, it's in the colors you identified as wanting to play, and aggressive decks are typically the most direct strategy (not always the easiest one, but with the most linear lines of play).

Again, do what you can and go have fun.  There's plenty for you to learn and in my experience the overwhelming majority of players will do whatever they can to help you along the way.  If you have any questions about what I've said, let me know and I'll be happy to offer any other insights I can.

Good luck and have fun!

I do think that Mardu midrange has the pieces to be truly competitive, but you just need to look at the top lists of that strategy to draw inspiration.  Outpost Siege is another pretty solid addition from FRF that can give you some needed card advantage.  Keep with it.  There's no need for ANOTHER abzan midrange player out there.

69

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

This would be more appropriate in the trade section(s) than in deckbuilding.

So a few thoughts...

1) Mardu Shadowspear really just doesn't do much here.  If you're looking for something to just put in the way to stabilize against aggro, then Typhoid Rats is just better.  But if you're looking at an aggro strategy, well, the curve would need to be flipped and you need to focus on EITHER Butcher of the Horde or Brutal Hordechief but definitely not both.

2) Mogis just seems bad here.  Sure, he could get turned online once in a blue moon and his ping is decent, but realistically Palace Siege is easier to cast and does essentially the same thing with the added benefit of life gain for you.  Alternately, you can have it on khans mode to recur things like Rabbles when they inevitably get killed.

3) Purphoros is just being cute.  The only time in which he's really going to be all that effective is if you're running things like Hordeling Outburst, which I would imagine you don't want to steer toward.  The number of times he'll make a difference is likely few and far between, especially as a 1x.

4) Deflecting Palm strikes me as a SB card, but then again, I haven't seen a single list that uses it to great effect.

5) I'm generally seeing things in your SB that you would likely want maindeck, i.e., Banishing Light or Sorin, Solemn Visitor.  Your SB is also missing any sort of a sweeper like Drown in Sorrow or Anger of the Gods.

6) I'd also think to run with something like Outpost Siege could be effective given the "card draw" it generates for you.  I watched someone run it at gameday and it single-handedly was the reason he won the round.

Decisions will vary based on your meta, but this deck seems caught between trying a more aggressive route or just going with a mid-range strategy.  If you're going aggro, B/W warriors or something to that end would be more effective.  If you're going mid-range, I'd say to be sure to go that route.

71

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I don't think there's a tier 1 deck out there that features her, but my sense would be to slide her into the Jund lists that people have been running for a while (Goyf, Lily of the Veil, Bob, etc).  Either that or you could build your own Rakdos build to which I'd say, let your imagination go wild.

72

(7 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

From the look of your current build you're not really focused on the hornets as much as you're trying to do something with large toughness creatures.  If you want to go hornets, then look for ways to really get them.  Look at the Sidisi Whip decks that have been doing well for a while as a baseline to work from and then move out from there as you like.

As a side note, the fight effect cards you have are sub-optimal.  You would be better suited with Savage Punch and Setessan Tactics to force fights with your Hornet Nests and the hornets generated.  I would also suggest looking at Whip of Erebos as a means to get more hornets when you've milled the queen or if you need to recur the nest for another fight.

73

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So, first off, I see that almost all of the cards are from more recent sets.  This isn't a problem, but I would suggest looking through some of the older sets as there are a considerable number of really good soldiers to work with.

Second, are you playing primarily 1-on-1 or are you playing multiplayer games?  That will determine the sorts of cards you want to slide in here.

I'd suggest tossing out the abzan counter scheme as it's a bit too conditional and requires more work than it's worth.  Things like Door of Destinies, Glorious Anthem, Legion's Initiative, and the like all pump without counters needed.  They're more resilient to other players' disruption.  I'd also suggest looking into sliding Elspeth, Sun's Champion into the deck for even more soldiers.  Note the forthcoming duel deck for Elspeth actually will have a number of cards you would benefit from, i.e., Veteran Armorer and Veteran Swordsmith.

I could go on, but I'd also suggest looking for other builds out there to identify cards you'll want to go pick up over-time.  For instance, this build, http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rw-soldier-edh/, uses Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran as the commander for extra pumps.  And, more generally, that build sticks to the tribal theme more closely.

Good luck!

74

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So, first off, I see that almost all of the cards are from more recent sets.  This isn't a problem, but I would suggest looking through some of the older sets as there are a considerable number of really good soldiers to work with.

Second, are you playing primarily 1-on-1 or are you playing multiplayer games?  That will determine the sorts of cards you want to slide in here.

I'd suggest tossing out the abzan counter scheme as it's a bit too conditional and requires more work than it's worth.  Things like Door of Destinies, Glorious Anthem, Legion's Initiative, and the like all pump without counters needed.  They're more resilient to other players' disruption.  I'd also suggest looking into sliding Elspeth, Sun's Champion into the deck for even more soldiers.  Note the forthcoming duel deck for Elspeth actually will have a number of cards you would benefit from, i.e., Veteran Armorer and Veteran Swordsmith.

I could go on, but I'd also suggest looking for other builds out there to identify cards you'll want to go pick up over-time.  For instance, this build, http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rw-soldier-edh/, uses Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran as the commander for extra pumps.  And, more generally, that build sticks to the tribal theme more closely.

Good luck!

75

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

While yes, it does exile, having redundancy for a primary strategy is rather important.  Given that Rally is only 3x in the list you likely shouldn't depend on it entirely for your wins.  Whip can easily prolong games with lifelink, adds to your black devotion for Gary, and provides one-shot recursion for any of your creatures while you're waiting to draw Rally (and perhaps you won't even need them).