Magical Questing - In search of creativity in tribal deckbuilding.

By Paul Emerson Leicht (July 16th, 2010)

The Quest Begins.

Every month or so I write an article talking about a deck or an idea and varied opinions. My goal is to entertain and inform and converse. This month's conversation/article is about finding that deck that brings you pleasure and victory. Specifically in Tribal Wars Classic. TWC is a fairly broken format and it is not hard to find a victorious deck by taking a classic format deck and shoehorning a tribe into it to make it tribal legal. Heck we even have Changelings to make that task easier. The more challenging task is to do what AJ_Impy, Flippers_Giraffe, Melissa Fey and others have done and find a tribe that does something weird/interesting and build a fun victorious deck around that.

My current favorite deck for this format is American Pie Elementals because it is both fun and synergistically good without really having any combos. It loses sometimes but it pulls victories out of nowhere. Reveillark and Flamekin Harbinger and Mulldrifter all add up to good times. However I have already discussed this deck in the past so it is not the highlight of this article, no matter how much I enjoy it. Here is a link to last month's article if you wish a look at it.

A few weeks past I started thinking about Moat alternatives and came across Lethal Vapors. When Scourge first came out I was stuck offline and had no access to magic at all. So for me this was a new card idea. What tribes could potentially "break" that card? First thought: Regenerators. Well ok, Knights have some keen regenerators. So I built the following deck.

Lethal Knights

Lethal Vapors TWC Deck #1

Creatures 4 Lost Auramancers 4 White Knight 4 Cadaverous Knight 4 Black Knight 4 Vigilant Martyr 4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus 4 Sanguine Guard 28 cards Other Spells 1 Duress 1 Decree of Pain 1 Evangelize 4 Lethal Vapors 1 Mutilate 8 cards

Lands 6 Plains 2 Orzhov Basilica 7 Swamp 1 Scrubland 1 Bojuka Bog 2 Kabira Crossroads 4 Godless Shrine 1 Lake of the Dead 24 cards

This was a failure. Maybe I didn't play with it enough but the few games I did play with it were unfun in the extreme. Sure I was mana hosed and sure my op was running one of the fabled non-fun decks (Goblins or Elf Combo for example.) But generally speaking a true fun deck rises above these petty difficulties.

There were only three regenerating creatures in this tribe that I could use: Knight of the Holy Nimbus, great because it's a bear that makes your op pay attention and mana but not so great because it is also at your foe's mercy. The two black knights with regeneration also have a combat advantage though first strike is more versatile than flanking. Overall at 2/2 they aren't too impressive but weenies like this can quickly bring a life total down if unchecked which is what the Lethal Vapors are for. The filler knights I used Black Knight and White Knight die to Lethal Vapors but the plan is to hold them back if Vapors is out or to play them first then slap Vapors down. Unfortunately this plan almost never worked in practice. Probably better to replace them with Skeletal Changelings but then they become purely defensive.

I also selected Lost Auramancers to help fetch the wayward enchantments, and Vigilant Martyr to help protect them. Really a bad idea over all. Vigilant Martyr is actually wince worthy so go ahead and do that for a moment. And Lost Auramancers while not inherently terrible don't really help as much as you'd like considering they come out turn 4 at the earliest. Back to the drawing board when I realized just how bad the Martyrs are. The other cards are hardly even relevant as they could be anything else.

The above deck is how NOT to build a Vapors deck part 1. Knights were less interesting anyway so I was glad to be rid of that deck.  The next concept was vaguely suggested by AJ and I went with it:

Lethal Insects

Lethal Vapors TWC Deck #2

Creatures 4 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed 3 Bane of the Living 1 Ghostly Changeling 4 Moonglove Changeling 1 Gleancrawler 3 Cairn Wanderer 4 Blister Beetle 4 Skeletal Changeling 24 cards Other Spells 4 Expedition Map 4 Lethal Vapors 4 Tendrils of Corruption 12 cards

Lands 4 Swarmyard 16 Swamp 4 Bojuka Bog 24 cards

Lethal Insects seemed like a cool name and idea. Monoblack insects provided a challenge I had not really been thinking about. There weren't enough black insects I wanted to play within my collection. Bane of the Living x3, 1x Gleancrawler, 4x Blister Beetle. So I had to dip into the changelings. I love playing with changelings but they feel like cheating. On the other hand this is a nice shortcut if you want to try a tribe that is incomplete or inadequate in numbers for a particular color.

Now the reason insects were my next choice was Swarmyard. So I also tossed in some Expedition Maps to make getting the Swarmyards easier. Tendrils of Corruption extend my life, and remove obstacles not rid by the Vapors. I found this deck to also be unfun. It never felt good drawing the parts and I hardly seemed to get creatures when I had vapors out or I didn't have swarmyards to help with them and eventually my ops would just win through the one or two creatures they played or harmlessly give me a timewalk when I had nothing relevant to play. Bane of the Living never materialized to be the awesome sweeper I know it can be.

So scrap that deck and onto the next. (I did also try jund Insects but found them no better with Vapors.) My last attempt to make Vapors interesting is here:

Lethal Snakes

Lethal Vapors TWC Deck #3

Creatures 4 Mire Boa 4 Dimir House Guard 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Skeletal Changeling 3 Acidic Slime 4 River Boa 4 Kashi-Tribe Reaver 3 Dowsing Shaman 30 cards Other Spells 1 Decree of Pain 1 Living Death 4 Lethal Vapors 6 cards

Lands 3 Treetop Village 8 Forest 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Bojuka Bog 6 Swamp 1 Mishra's Factory 24 cards

Snakes tend to be natural regenerators so I reasoned: Start with the weenie landwalkers and build up from there. Sakura-Tribe Elders don't need regeneration as their purpose is to fetch land and the skeletal changelings fill out the group. I added in Dimir House Guards as my enchantment fetchers. Dowsing Shaman acts as the recursion when the enchantment's trigger occurs which was one of my initial plans. With both down on the table things get decidedly one-sided. Particularly if you can play the centaur after your opponent cracks the Vapors for you.

It never actually worked out like that. I was always holding Dowsing and waiting for my op to blow up the vapors to no avail. They would just keep the weenies they managed to get in and win since my regenerators refused to show up. Sure sign of a bad deck when your creatures go on strike.

Conclusions: Lethal Vapors while interesting and perhaps a useful EDH card is really just trash in tribal. Feel free to prove me wrong. I did consider building a classic variant with the best in regen and indestructible options but to be honest my love for the card has waned considerably since the first blush.

+ = ++?

Errant, I try again.
The next thing that reminded me of Moat was Gravitational Shift. What an interesting card. It hoses nonfliers and bonuses fliers. And 4 of them is insane. Again AJ gets credit for using that card to devastating effect weeks ago in one of his unique decks. I decided that the way it really needs to be abused is to completely negate attackers altogether via Gravity Well. But wait it's tribal wars not tribal enchantments. Creatures are the key to victory. Or that is the spirit of the format anyway (never mind the tier 1 shoehorn strategies.)

I tried building it with Fish and effects that give your guys flying after attackers are declared. No not really a fun deck. No not a successful deck either. No list will be forthcoming, as I really don't recommend building it. I built this instead:

Gravity Walls

Tribal Wars Classic

Creatures 1 Wall of Hope 2 Wall of Mulch 1 Mnemonic Wall 4 Wall of Swords 1 Walking Wall 1 Wall of Omens 4 Vent Sentinel 4 Overgrown Battlement 1 Wall of Denial 4 Jungle Barrier 1 Wall of Resistance 24 cards Other Spells 1 Fireball 1 Demonfire 2 Rolling Earthquake 3 Darksteel Ingot 1 Braingeyser 2 Gravity Well 2 Gravitational Shift 12 cards

Lands 2 Plains 6 Forest 4 Island 1 Steam Vents 4 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Mountain 4 Sacred Foundry 1 Stomping Ground 1 Temple Garden 24 cards

Ok well here is where a backburnered idea came in: A wall deck that wins not by attacking but by creature abilities. Overgrown Battlement is a great mana producer, other walls provide draw, all provide defense both flying and otherwise and vent sentinels do amazing damage to players at the beginning of your opponent's end step (Yes you can do it on your turn too, but really the end step is where all the fun happens.) The X spells really give interesting reach to the deck though perhaps they are lacking in numbers to be really good.

Playing with this deck was quite a challenge. I faced something like five goblin decks and three combo elves plus some indeterminate number of rogue decks (not the creature type just the metatype.) In all those games I only won a few times. It was sometimes fun and I came close to winning a bunch but had no real luck until the end. I did face a fairly strong Boros soldiers deck and just barely eked out a win. I have not given up hope for this deck but for now it is relegated to the backburner yet again.

And Onward I Quest...
The next idea was completely different and had more to do with my frustrations at not finding succor with my beloved enchantments. Domain is not new but I have yet to see a good domain deck (which isn't to say there hasn't been some) in the format so went looking for the right tribe to fit the requirements. Humans seemed to fit the bill. They are diverse with many interesting abilities and some are even domain abilities.

Human Rainbow

Tribal Wars Classic

Creatures 4 Matca Rioters 1 Dakkon Blackblade 3 Soul's Attendant 1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero 1 Kaervek the Merciless 3 Nekrataal 2 Hedron-Field Purists 1 Sun Quan, Lord of Wu 1 Kongming, Sleeping Dragon 3 Doomed Necromancer 20 cards Other Spells 4 Spore Burst 2 Tribal Flames 3 Treasure Hunt 4 Exploding Borders 2 Allied Strategies 1 Tromp the Domains 16 cards

Lands 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Sacred Foundry 3 Swamp 1 Watery Grave 1 Blood Crypt 1 Scrubland 1 Godless Shrine 1 Stomping Ground 3 Plains 3 Forest 3 Island 3 Mountain 1 Steam Vents 1 Temple Garden 24 cards

This was my first attempt to use domain this way in years. (Last time I think was during Invasion block.) Crovax seemed a good idea despite the anti-synergy with Spore Burst as I notice a lot of the enemy decks that I hate run x/1's in large numbers. Having a way to clear the board seemed a good idea. Crovax, Ascendant Hero foreshadowed another deck to come but in this deck it was less than brilliant. Exploding Borders was like casting Lava Axe plus Rampant Growth. All for 3 less cmc. Doesn't get better than that. BUT I found myself falling short again. Frustrating to say the least. Treasure Hunt was actually fairly good too but I felt stifled by it and wished it was something better. Nekrataal actually pissed me off when I ran into Dauthi then Zombies then Horrors all in a row. That is the weakness of Doomblade/Terror etc on a stick. Basically it worked like a pile of random cards thrown together last minute and with no thought. In other words I hated it. I had a few good games with it but really who cares about burning your opponent with back to back Lava Axes in Tribal Flames and Exploding Borders? If there is a more boring game than counter magic it has to be burn. Give me mill any day. Thankfully my ops were relatively gracious.

The Journey's End Nears... 

Humans Plains Domain

Tribal Wars Classic

Creatures 1 Trinket Mage 1 Sunscape Battlemage 1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero 1 Eternal Witness 4 Captain of the Watch 1 Hua Tuo, Honored Physician 1 Treasure Hunter 4 Kor Cartographer 4 Matca Rioters 1 Eternal Dragon 1 Izzet Chronarch 1 Pentarch Paladin 4 Knight of the White Orchid 25 cards Other Spells 1 Tromp the Domains 4 Spore Burst 2 Tribal Flames 2 Allied Strategies 2 Expedition Map 11 cards

Lands 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Island 1 Plains 1 Stomping Ground 4 Godless Shrine 2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin 1 Scrubland 1 Steam Vents 3 Krosan Verge 1 Temple Garden 24 cards

My concept here was white ramp + plains  = sneaky domain.

Out: all the black annoying cards , -3 Treasure Hunt, -4 Exploding Borders In: +2 Expedition Map, +4 Knight of the White Orchid, +4 Kor Cartographer, +1 Treasure Hunter, +1 Trinket Mage,

In addition I changed the mana base to be mostly plains. That was the epiphany I came to when looking for this deck. I can play domain without sacrificing good consistent mana ramp. The Knights and Kor are key to this. The maps help fetch specific missing pieces and or Emeria, the Sky Ruin

Conclusion:

This deck is still in testing stages but I find it fun and victorious so far. The key for me is that I enjoy drawing cards in it and playing them. If a game can bring me joy that is all I ask. Learning new tech, recognition for achievements (no matter how small or large), making new friends: these are all just icing on the cake. Winning is also good. Not as important if I love my deck but still good. After all why come to play if not to win?

My quest accomplished for now, I am off to find new and hopefully interesting things to discover. M11 has me exciting and pensive. Lots of change on the horizon and things to adjust to.  

These five cards are the ones I most want to own when the set comes out. I expect each to be fun in different ways. Have fun and be well all. As always the end of one journey is the beginning of the next.

Until next time,
Magically Yours,
Paul Emerson Leicht aka Winter.Wolf on MODO You can email comments to gandoDOTthebardATgmailDOTcom (replace the words in caps with appropriate punctuation first.)