1,201

(11 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Looks simple enough... so the idea is just to deathtouch EVERYTHING and keep on swingin?  Simple, but effective.  I can see where you'll be able to exert some control over the board, but man, it's going to take a while to kill someone.  I'd also suggest maybe putting 2x Dark Favor and 2x Disentomb into the main deck rather than just in the sideboard.  The Favors will help the Souls actually take the opponent out a LOT faster.  Mark of the Vampire (of course it's M13 so no picture) could also help, as your Souls would be 3/3s, but more importantly, with lifelink.

Totally off track from this, but considering the Tormented Souls in there and the Sublime Archangel, you could do some serious exalted damage.  I don't know if you saw a lot of that at your releases, but I believe I saw all but one person using it like crazy (I didn't pull any Tormented Souls... so no black in my weak constructed deck) sad .

Just keep me posted.

It's all good guys, but one person saying it is enough to voice the disagreement.  Again, it was just a suggestion, he'd still have the levelers.  My thought is always to go with 2-3 rather than 4 of a card to add flexibility.

I don't get why I'm catching flak here.  I said to drop TWO of them, not all four.

I have the Quirion Rangers, but I don't know whether roughly $2 is worth the trouble... let me know.

While a 3/3 First strike is good for 3 W, it throws off the mana curve.  That and you end up dropping so much more into one just to see it exiled, burned, doom-bladed, unsummoned, etc etc etc.

I can see where you could drop 2x levelers and put in 2 Oblivion Ring in their place.  The real power you're going  to have is dropping a LOT of knights and then making them bigger and indestructible/double strike.

My only thought would be to see if you can maybe drop 2x Student of Warfare for 2 of something else.  In my, admittedly limited experience, the creatures that need to be leveled up are rarely worth the trouble.

1,208

(11 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I was mad at my rares until the 2 packs given out to everyone who participated.  I played UW and went 2-3 (ugh).  Then after all was said and done, I pulled an Ajani... could've used that a few hours ago, but, y'know.

1,209

(2 replies, posted in Reddit MTG Trades)

Hey everyone, I pulled a Cathedral of War at M13 prerelease and really don't have any use for it for the time being (as I play either casually or sealed/drafts).  TGC has it at right around $4.  I also have a few mid-value cards open for trade.  Here's my tradelist/wishlist, shoot me an offer.

Tradelist:
http://deckbox.org/sets/129548

Wishlist:
http://deckbox.org/sets/129549

My only request is that you be willing to give up some value if none of the cards on your side of the trade are worth more than $1.

I hope everyone else enjoyed their prereleases!

1,210

(19 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

The key term on Primal Surge is "may," meaning that even it you pop up a permanent, you do not have to repeat the process if you don't want to.  If you manage to drop that bomb successfully, milling is the last thing you're going to be worried about at that point.

1,211

(15 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

imsully: Sadly both of those decks are still under construction.  I've been working my ass off as of late and haven't had the opportunity to get the cards, much less be able to play them enough.  I can happily report that the Grizzlies deck runs like a dream in the hand simulator though wink.  It's not entirely uncommon to be sitting on a 6/6 and 4/4 by turn three.  The Merfolk deck, I think will have some kinks to work out.  I don't know that Lullmage Mentor will end up really helping and might need to redirect the deck toward Wanderwine Prophets, perhaps build in more instants and sorceries if I pull a Talrand from M13.  The Squirrel deck, however, is put together shy of Spidersilk Armor and Earthcraft and it's playing like a fine-tuned machine (with plenty of cute destruction too!).

- I can see where Gitaxian Probe helps you draw, but if you're sitting there with a Blightsteel Colossus on the board, I'd imagine your odds of victory are pretty good with or without drawing Venser there.  So I don't think I'd go so far as to say it won the game for you by itself.

- Triumph of Ferocity likely isn't going to get me that many cards, but for a three drop, it will let me draw once I'm bonding Trusted Forcemage to something that I've already pumped a bit with Timberland Guide (who will work wonders with Roaring Primadox once M13 comes out).  Even a few cards would help (much the same as Gitaxian Probe has helped you).  It might work, it might not.  But I'm not that worried about seeing lots of Wolfir Silverhearts... especially considering the cost of one to lay down.

- Abundant Growth is to guarantee that I have both colors (not as much of a problem with two colors as three or four, but still a good thing to cover your arse).  Further, it's a 1 cost card draw.

- See above for Timberland Ranger.

NullParameter: Man, to say you took it in a different direction would be an understatement.  Given that you've increased the cost of the deck almost a full ten-fold, I'm going to just defer on comments beyond saying Ranger's Guile is a good find and one I'll have to consider.

1,212

(15 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I'm definitely still wanting to keep this deck cheap (regardless of the Pauper status), although I would imagine it can be moved that way if need be (but it would come at the cost of the biggest combo as both Bower Passage and Levitation are uncommons, so not much point there).

So there is a LOT to respond to, so I'll try to move things in an orderly fashion.

Geist Snatch could be good to stop creatures with reach, but realistically, there aren't many of those out there to begin with and most of them are green.  To which point I could just soulbond deathtouch to whatever creature and swing until they have to block it, or just overwhelm them with all my "unblockable" creatures.

Gitaxian Probe and the other "pay two life rather than paying the mana cost" cards are marginal in my books.  The most of them end up helping your opponent or could simply be paid for (unless you're dealing with a card of a color not in your deck).  But for drawing cards, I'm pretty well covered with Tandem Lookout, Amass the Components, and Triumph of Ferocity.  Further, given that this deck, perhaps more so than most others I run, is going to need you to continue pressing your advantage early in the game, the thought of giving up even two life to an opponent could be a problem as I'd then have to keep more back on defense.

You hit the nail on the head with Tower Geist and given the number of Levitations in the deck, I'd rather run Aether Adept over Misthollow Griffin.  While it doesn't have the natural flying, the cheaper mana cost will help the flow of the deck, as, let's be honest, the only real reason to run either is to have the Unsummon.

Gryff Vanguard is a five-drop 3/2 flyer.  I'll already be drawing cards as I said above and for that cost you could easily score an Air Elemental or another comparably large creature. 

Soul Seizer could prove fun and I might look into that.  But for that cost, Mind Control achieves the same goal, is the same legality, and guarantees the creature claiming effect.

Favorable Winds is a good idea and I've put two of them in the deck.

All good ideas though and I definitely appreciate the feedback.  NullParameter, if you give it a go, let me know how it plays for you.

imsully, which decks were you curious for an update on?  Some of the ones I've posted on here for ideas I haven't actually put together yet (although I will in the next month or two), but I can give you an update on the ones I do have finished.

1,213

(15 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I concede the Pauper point... but the deck is less than $10, which is a MAJOR plus, given that I've been coming up with a LOT of deck ideas and don't want to bankrupt myself building them.

For the flyers, I can see where you might be right, but there are 3x Wingcrafter to help on that front.  Also, there are 3x Levitation, meaning they would need a LOT of enchantment removal to really stop me.

I'll let it ferment a bit and see what comes to mind.

1,214

(15 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So I was running a draft simulation and saw Bower Passage and, for whatever reason, hadn't realized that it would mean YOUR flyers would essentially be unblockable.  To which end, I introduce Levitation.

So I came up with a SUPER cheap UG deck.  I also realized that Sheltering Word essentially serves as a counterspell to protect your creatures.

Anyway, here's the deck:

http://deckbox.org/sets/195152

I'm actually trying to avoid using any rares so that I could play this in a Pauper tournament if the need/opportunity arises.  I also like that it's Standard format just for fun.

Any/all input is welcome.

Happy Fourth everyone.

Oooh... I like Grave Pact.  That would be nasty.  Phyrexian Altar is also a nice option since it will let me produce black mana when needed.  I also have one or two Ashnod's Altar, so again, a good idea.

I actually have four Demonic Tutors, but as I'm the primary provider of decks for my casual group, they're all tied up at the moment.  I'm sure I could work one out of another deck to piece in here if need be.  Diabolic Tutor isn't as cool, but hey, if you're only allowed one of each, at least it's a second tutor effect.  I'd considered Rune-Scarred Demon, but wasn't sure about it.  Diabolic Revelation will also let me essentially stack my library how I want if Liliana has unleashed her ultimate.

Do I need more creatures to be able to feed all these sacking effects?  I'm thinking Reassembling Skeleton or even something like Breeding Pit.  Thoughts?

I'd thought about Barter in Blood and might include it in the end, but Hexproof and Shroud creatures will bite the farm from Pestilence, Killing Wave, or Forced March.

I'd definitely buy into the Blood Artist/Butcher of Malakir idea, but those would be killed too in the mess of things I'd imagine, right?

Am I going to have to worry about artifacts/enchantments or will I do alright just clearing the board repeatedly?

So in my effort to procrastinate writing my dissertation yet another hour, I've pieced together a ROUGH (and I stress rough) deck idea based around two cards in mono-black.

First, here's the deck:  http://deckbox.org/sets/194691

The two cards I'm trying to work around are:

1) Liliana of the Dark Realms (coming out in M13), you can see her abilities here:  http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_sin … k%20Realms

2) Demonic Rising

The basic premise I'm trying to work around is to have some demons and sacrificing galore going on.  I had thought Demonic Rising was a weak card until I looked closer and saw that it's effect is at the END of the turn, meaning that my goal would be to do what damage I can, and then drop EVERYTHING (preferably clearing opponent items too) to get bonus demons at the end of the turn.  After all, with 4x Demonic Rising you will be sitting on four 5/5 flying demons for no mana cost.  BUT, as I'm sure you will all see, there's a fair bit missing in terms of guaranteeing that I only have the one creature remaining.  I'm thinking I would do well to just take creatures out, but I'm definitely open to input here.

The second idea is to work with the new Liliana's ultimate ability, which would make casting some MASSIVE black spells quite easy.  Killing Wave, Drain Life, Forced March, Death Denied, Forced March, Death Wind, etc etc... the list goes on and on.  At current the majority of my efforts are directed toward board clearing or otherwise creature removal.  I've also put together a nice Exquisite Blood - Pestilence combo that could lead to an easy win (just think you set off pestilence for 4-5, clear the board, and don't lose any life).  Minion of Leshrac has protection from black, so Pestilence won't kill him and you can keep repeating every turn. 

The X also works for Diabolic Revelation (another M13 newbie you can see here: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_sin … Revelation) to ensure you get things how you want.

Anyway, as you can imagine my thoughts on it are quite scattered at the moment and I'm not sure the best way(s) to run with the deck.  So... thoughts?

1,218

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Cradle of Vitality is only a large mana commitment if you're looking to add counters from three or four sources across all your creatures at once.  It works wonders for creatures with lifelink where you can essentially double the creature's size for only two mana.  Cathars' Crusade is a great card, but it only works if you're dropping more and more creatures.

Either way, it's up for however you want to take it Tysonp, but I wouldn't sleep on Cradle of Vitality as it can be a total game changer.  But I do agree that if you're going the token route, Cathars' Crusade would be a better fit.

1,219

(4 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So there are a lot of options for life gain that can work out beautifully for you, BUT, the question is, how much do you want to deviate from your current human-based format?  Further, how much were you looking to spend to improve it?  For instance, Serra Ascendant is a NICE offensive weapon for a life gain deck, but they come at the cost of almost $4 each.

Some cards to keep your eyes open for include:

Celestial Mantle - it's legal in modern, pumps up your creatures, and lets you DOUBLE your life total if you manage to score a hit with that creature.  There are plenty of combos you could run with it to make a creature unblockable if you splash some blue into the deck.  Otherwise, think flyers (like the above mentioned Serra Ascendant).

Martyr of Sands - it's legal in modern, is a one drop, and can easily pump your life total if you're running mono-white.  Think, first turn you drop it and a land, so you have 5-6 cards in hand.  Second turn you draw another card, up to 6-7, assuming you have 2 lands, you can still reveal 4-5 cards and gain 12-15 life.

Elixir of Immortality - I don't really think this needs much explanation.

Chalice of Life - this is legal in standard and modern, is relatively cheap, and when it transforms, is a MONSTER card if the game is stalled (or if you or your opponent has a huge defense).

Beacon of Immortality - pretty self explanatory here.  Six mana, double your life, shuffle back into deck, rinse, repeat.

Rhox Faithmender - the pic likely won't work on this one as it's an upcoming card in M13.  You can see the specs at http://tappedout.net/mtg-card/Rhox-Faithmender/ - again, doubling life gains whenever possible.  If paired with the Beacon, that means multiply your life total by four.

Cradle of Vitality - again legal in modern, and this one goes under the radar from what I've gathered.  However, why limit yourself to just Ajani's Pridemate when you can have this enchantment that lets you target ANY of your creatures to give them +1/+1 for EACH life you gain, meaning if you gain 10 life from a Martyr of Sands, pay two, and BAM, your creature of choice gets +10/+10.

Felidar Sovereign - who said you have to actually hit your opponent to win the game?  Legal in modern, 4/6 with both vigilance and lifelink.  And, y'know, as an added bonus, if you have over 40 life, you win the game in your upkeep.

I hope these suggestions help.  White has definitely become the center for IMMENSE life gain.  I would suggest keeping some exiling effects in the deck to stop anything that's too big to handle, but realistically, if played correctly, your life gain can outpace the damage they will do to you.  One last suggestion would be to include 2x or 3x cards that give one (or more) of your creatures trample, as it sucks to have a 24/24 Ajani's Pridemate that can be easily chump-blocked by a 1/1 token.  Here are some equipment that fit the bill (http://deckbox.org/games/mtg/cards?f=27 … F1aXBtZW50).

Best luck with it!

It may be that you are playing 5-10 person games, but the point Hellnikko and I are trying to make is that you could put together a much more consistent deck that will benefit from numerous card combos if you decide how you want to focus the deck.  You can have a more standard deck that will perform just fine in multiplayer scenarios.  For instance, my elf deck (http://deckbox.org/sets/151449) works well in a one-on-one format with the pumped elves, or in multiplayer with the extreme mana ramping, life gain, and a few well timed big hurricanes.  BUT, the deck wouldn't work if it was just one of each of those cards.

What is the typical strategy you would like to employ to win?  Do you want to focus on board clearing effects?  Do you want to outlast the enemy, take them out one at a time, or just win the whole game in a mighty blaze of fury?  These are the sorts of questions you need to answer because at current, you have more of an EDH deck than anything else and the card combos you might be looking at will be few and far between with the way you have it configured currently.

With regard to the lands, why pick up tri-lands if you're already doing just fine with your current land configuration?

1,221

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Why not swing with the Champion?  That's the whole point of it, to power it up a bit and it's unblockable... give that infect with a power of 5 or 6 and you're really messing them up.

Now if you still want to do the board clearing lure effect you're going to have to break out of standard, as I believe it still would work with the old Thicket Basilisk or even more disgustingly with The Wretched, but alas, those are days of old.

The key for the Kusari-Gama is whether its effect will count as combat damage, otherwise you're still a no-go with deathtouch.

1,222

(19 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I must respectfully disagree about tokens being the wrong way to go, as there are plenty of options that would meet the criteria of the card being a permanent for the Primal Surge, while also fitting the Repositories perfectly with an expendible creature.  Will you be running Lingering Souls?  Nope, but Thraben Doomsayer, Commander's Authority, and things of that like fit the bill.  Are they the fastest thing in the game, no, but the repositories present an unorthodox strategy where you need to attack relentlessly, regardless of the outcome and you can't really do that without some means of creature generation, in this case, tokens.

The reason for suggesting Trusted Forcemage and Nightshade Peddler is to pair with the tokens.  Then when you're flinging them against their defenses to pump up the Repositories, they get an added +1 and deathtouch to their punches, making those little tokens serve several purposes at once.  Then, once the repository is powered up enough, you unleash an Avacyn or whatever and walk away with the game.

1,223

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Looks good.

The only thought behind the exoskeleton is to give the Champion infect.

Nightshade Peddler can be nice with Lure, but keep in mind that the creature still has to actually damage the creature(s) for deathtouch to work.  Otherwise, you could rock Taunting Elf with Nightshade Peddler to get some good laughs.

1,224

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

If you're going mono green infect, why not use Phyrexian Swarmlord?  That thing would be mean when combined with Champion of Lambholt.  As another thought, you could include Grafted Exoskeleton to equip the Champions, both pumping them up and giving them infect at the same time.  I'd also say to throw in some means to get Putrefax out of the graveyard, as that's an even stronger move if you can repeat it.

Second, where are the Contagion Clasps and Contagion Engines?

Lastly, I'd suggest some sort of life gaining mechanism for, as you have numerous cards that will cost you 2 life per mana symbol to play.  Without anything to gain life, you're doing half your opponent's job for them.

1,225

(19 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert on Standard at all (I'm in the same boat as you being mostly a casual and legacy player).  Having said that much, I think the best way to rock Druid's Repository is going to be with a token deck, to which point I would suggest moving to GW, or even GB if you can manage it as opposed to GR.  To that end, you would benefit from limiting your mana base and colors in a manner that will help ensure consistency (seeing as to how the current version of your deck is all five colors and has significant portions of mana for three colors).

imsully's points are solid, but really if you want to get the bang out of the repositories, you really need to have a LOT of creatures that are optionally expendable, hence my suggestion toward tokens.  I think you really would benefit from really just focusing on green and white big creatures/spells to capitalize off the repositories, with the option of 2-5 other big critters from the other colors, i.e. Griselbrand.  But I wouldn't venture any more past that, as you could easily find yourself stuck with one or two of them in your hand with no means to drop them into play.  For that reason, imsully is right, Quicksilver Amulet is a must in this deck (at least one or two of them).  But my suggestion would be not to venture too far outside of your normal colors as those creatures can easily become dead weight if the opponent destroys the Amulets or Repositories.

If Green Sun's Zenith is about to rotate, why not make a play toward Primal Surge?  I know it's a BEAST of a card to play, but man when it works, it WORKS. 

I'd also suggest trying to reduce some of the variety in cards and focus a bit more on the theme.  I would definitely add more Trusted Forcemages and Nightshade Peddler could be epic if you're working with tokens or undying.  That and even once the other creature dies, the Peddler can bond with a new creature.

Anyway, you clearly have a lot of good pieces here and some SERIOUS trade-bait if you're looking to find some missing pieces.  Best of luck with the playtesting, but for what it's worth, I cannot stress enough the need to limit the colors.