Topic: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

I've been toying with this build for the past few days.  I'd appreciate your feedback and opinions. I'm planning use this at FNM. We have a mixed crowd: some competitive players and many novices.

It has a lot of potential, but has been having problems with removal-heavy decks (as do many). The goal is to leverage life manipulation (my gain and opponent's loss) through the Constellation mechanic, and by leveraging synergies with the god cards I'm playing (Athreos to avoid the graveyard if my opponent pays life, Mogis to force a sacrifice or lose life decision, and Heliod to create enchantments for Constellation triggers).  Given the opportunity, this deck can work like an aggro deck, but is (more typically)  mid-range.

CREATURES
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4 Hopeful Eidolon
4 Nyx-Fleece Ram
4 Spiteful Returned
4 Underworld Coinsmith
3 Athreos, God of Passage
4 Grim Guardian
2 Heliod, God of the Sun
2 Mogis, God of Slaughter

ENCHANTMENTS
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4 Ethereal Armor
4 Sinister Possession

INSTANTS
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3 Hero's Downfall

LAND
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4 Godless Shrine
2 Mana Confluence
3 Mountain
3 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Temple of Silence
3 Temple of Triumph

#60

SIDEBOARD
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3 Bile Blight
2 Blind Obedience
4 Brain Maggot
4 Deicide
2 Herald of Torment

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Black and Blue--not just for bruises anymore.

Re: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

I think you should move the 4x Brain Maggot from the board into the main deck, cutting the Grim Guardians, and cut the Sinister Pocessions for some combination of Banishing Light and something else for removal or tempo, maybe Oppressive Rays.  Brain Maggot helps you on tempo until you can get your engine going.  I would also suggest Doomwake Giant.  Brian Braun-Duin has had reasonable success with his Constellation deck in Junk colors using Doomwake to clear the board and bash Elspeth.

What about Immortal Servitude in the side board for Verdict decks?  You have a lot of 2-drop creatures that you could return for 5 mana.

Also, is the red splash really doing anything for you?  Mogis is pretty cool, but it seems like you're not getting much for the clunky mana.  If you keep red, what about a Tymaret, the Murder King engine with Athreos?  It's probably too cute, but would be awesome if you get it going.

Re: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

I think I agree with timber about the red. 

The Junk version has a lot to offer, for a couple reasons.  Golgari charm is huge against those removal heavy decks with the regenerate mode.  Abrupt decay answers detention sphere and a lot of other 3 mana problems.  It gives you access to one of the best value orient cards in standard atm, in courser and the eidelon of blossoms combo isn't too shabby either.

Re: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

Don't forget Mana Bloom. It's the fuel that runs the Junk engine.

Re: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

Hey I'm glad I'm not the only one on the constellation train. As stated above i feel as though the red splash doesn't give you a huge benefit. Currently I'm running a junk constellation deck and i find it very good. So my suggestion would be either stick to a straight b/w constellation with a theme of life manipulation or move to green instead of red. This is all up to you so don't feel pressure to change the deck if you love the deck play it. Heres my junk deck list which similarly has a lot of life total manipulation with some other cool featureshttp://deckbox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=20747

Re: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

Timber wrote:

I think you should move the 4x Brain Maggot from the board into the main deck, cutting the Grim Guardians, and cut the Sinister Pocessions for some combination of Banishing Light and something else for removal or tempo, maybe Oppressive Rays.  Brain Maggot helps you on tempo until you can get your engine going.  I would also suggest Doomwake Giant.  Brian Braun-Duin has had reasonable success with his Constellation deck in Junk colors using Doomwake to clear the board and bash Elspeth.

What about Immortal Servitude in the side board for Verdict decks?  You have a lot of 2-drop creatures that you could return for 5 mana.

Also, is the red splash really doing anything for you?  Mogis is pretty cool, but it seems like you're not getting much for the clunky mana.  If you keep red, what about a Tymaret, the Murder King engine with Athreos?  It's probably too cute, but would be awesome if you get it going.

I had the Brain Maggots in, but they were being removed too often, so I opted to sideboard them.

I missed Oppressive Rays completely. It is superior to Sinister Possession if I want to slow them down.

I like the Doomwake Giant, but don't like adding more to the top end of my mana curve. I'll give it some thought.

I did consider Immortal Servitude, but in the early stages of testing it was on the periphery of my thinking. How many would you run, and what would you swap out to pull them in?

As to the red splash, I've not had Mogis on the board in every game, but when he is there, he makes a huge impact. One of the reasons he is there is because the initial build had two Iroas to support the aggro shell. I'll think of dropping him. Perhaps Obzedat, Ghost Council in place of Mogis?

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Black and Blue--not just for bruises anymore.

Re: [STD] BWR Constellation [Opinions] [Improvements]

The biggest benefit I could see to running Immortal Servitude would be to score some MASSIVE set of constellation triggers after a board wipe.  To be honest, I think it's probably a bit too cute unless you really just figure out a way to ensure you're going to get 4+ triggers out of a single Servitude.

I think the reason the Junk lists are performing better is more care of Eidolon of Blossoms and Courser of Kruphix than anything else.  The ability to just stop aggro in its tracks, gain life from land drops (in addition to the coinsmiths) AND card draw... yeah...

That being said, I'm a fan of things like Brain Maggot being in the SB rather than main.  Sure, it can get you some information, but, to be 100% honest, you can tell what 90% of players are running based off their first few plays (often even the land-drops give it away.  For a fairly significant number of match-ups, Maggot would just be an over-costed 1/1...

As for putting Doomwake Giant in, I cannot support this point any more.  It's a 4/6, which is a threat on its own - with only a single black in the cost no less.  Get two on the board and pretty much ANY trigger results in a one-sided board wipe.  That and, while you're concerned about making the curve top-heavy, I'm not really seeing you winning outright very quickly... so a few bigger threats should be quite helpful.

Obzedat is definitely a good option, and he's rotating soon enough that you might as well get mileage out of Ghost Dad while you can.  But keep in mind that he won't trigger constellation, which is kind of the strategy you were looking for, isn't it?  I mean Obie and Blood Baron are can't miss cards... but then you're straying more toward just running a mid-range Orzhov deck.