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By: Lord Erman, Nafiz Erman
Mar 03 2014 1:00pm
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Hello dear readers and welcome back to Rogue Play. I have a problem these days. You see, every deck builder needs ideas to feed on and to build decks. But Standard right now doesn't really allow me to build nice decks. Because no matter how I hard I try, I see mostly two types of cards. Awful cards and overpowered but most importantly, "obvious" cards.

So you see, one group of cards say "When you play this card, you get a big crappy emblem over your head saying: You're just a noob for playing this awful card and there is no way you can win the game... noob!".

And the second type of cards say "When you play this awesome card, you get a fancy emblem that says: You're just awesome and you just won. If you haven't already, don't worry, you will in a few turns simply because you played this awesome card".

Of course I'm exaggerating but I think you understand what I'm trying to say. More than half of the Standard card pool is outright unplayable. Or uninteresting. And from the remaining half, almost all cards are just simple and obvious. I mean, you really don't have to be a genius to understand what to do with Domri Rade or Mogis, God of Slaughter or even with something as simple as Anax and Cymede.

But still there are one or two gems here and there that look appealing to me. Vraska the Unseen was one of those and I showed you what I did with her here. Trading Post was such a card as well, and in case you missed my version of it, you can see it here. And this week's inspiration came from a rather surprising and unexpected source. It came from this one:

Agent of the Fates

Normally these kinds of creatures are not my cup of tea. First reason is that I'm normally a more Control player myself rather than Aggro. I also like Midrange decks too. But in any case, creatures that cost less than four mana aren't really interesting for me (unless their name is Kitchen Finks or Vendilion Clique or Snapcaster Mage). 

When a new set comes, an Aggro player immediately looks at creatures that cost between one mana and three mana. Rest is not for him. A Timmy on the other hand, looks for that new awesome big flashy creature, and so he starts looking for something that costs seven or more. I belong right in the middle. When a new set comes, the first creatures I examine are always four mana, five mana and six mana creatures. What can I say; this is me.

This is how I enjoy Magic.

When Dark Confidant first came people were only talking about that card whereas my personal gem in that set was Loxodon Hierarch. Dark Confidant didn't mean much to me but Loxodon Hierarch was everything! Same when Tarmogoyf came. It was meaningless for me but that Venser, Shaper Savant was all I needed! A few years later people were only talking about Goblin Guide and Bloodghast but all my decks ended up using either Sphinx of Lost Truths or Rampaging Baloths!

Dark Confidant Loxodon Hierarch
Not me. Definitely me.

So you see why normally Agent of the Fates isn't really an interesting card for me. But as I said in the beginning, there weren't really many other options to work on in the first place. But more importantly, there was really something that pulled me to Agent of the Fates. Most probably it was the possibility to constantly kill creatures with it. So Agent of the Fates was going to sit there, and all I was going to do was to target him. Sounded like an idea, and I started working on it.

Obviously it was going to be a Heroic deck, so I started examining other Heroic creatures. White was full with those but what did I just say above about Aggro? Yup, not my cup of tea. I wouldn't say never, but I just can't imagine myself playing cards like Favored Hoplite or Phalanx Leader. So White was out. 

Sadly I didn't find most of the other options appealing. Tormented Hero was Black also, but it was doing too little. There was only one other playable card for me, and it was this:

Triton Fortune Hunter

I didn't really want to add a third color, so Akroan Crusader had to stay out. Making tokens with it while killing everything with Agent of the Fates could have been a nice deck, but I said "No". I was satisfied with what I had. Card drawing and creature removal are essential parts of all my decks, and I was totally fine with them both.

The Very Start of a Dimir Heroic Deck
Under Construction
Creatures
4 Agent of the Fates
4 Triton Fortune Hunter
8 cards

Other Spells
0 cards
Lands
0 cards
 
Agent of the Fates

 

But to make this deck work, I was surely needing some cards to target my creatures. Gift of Orzhova and Aqueous Form were the first obvious choices. Mizzium Skin was another good card. One mana instant giving my creature hexproof. My opponent was going to try Lightning Strike on my Assassin but Mizzium Skin was not only going to save him, but it was also going to become a removal spell thanks to my Agent's gametext. Perfect!

I was happy that far but these weren't enough. Now let's flash forward to testing stages...

During the early stages of testing, I saw one big flaw. Not just big, it was simply HUGE. I was simply not targeting my creatures enough times! Yes, Agent of the Fates was coming down. Yes, Mizzium Skin was saving his skin. And yes, Gift of Orzhova was nice. But that was all!  So after killing two or three creatures maximum, that Agent of the Fates was becoming just another regular creature. Same for Triton Fortune Hunter.

At that point I first added Ordeal of Thassa to the deck. I was very well aware that for every one game where I was going to draw cards with it, there were going to be like a dozen others where that wasn't going to happen. So I didn't have high hopes but surprisingly testing showed that those +1/+1 counters were actually quite useful. 

But still, the deck was missing something. I just had to find a way to abuse Agent of the Fates and Triton Fortune Hunter even more. There had to be a way. There had to be a card. And indeed there was one. I found this one:

  Hidden Strings  
  !!! Perfect !!!  

Hidden Strings is tech dear readers! It's THE card that made this deck tick, if you know what I mean. And I seriously don't know how many times I went over this card when I was looking for options. And never even once I bothered to read it. Or to understand what it does, to be exact.

So I was playing this, tapping a creature and then untapping my -already untapped- Agent of the Fates. That was one dead creature due to Heroic mechanic. Then I was cipher'ing it to my Agent and after my Agent was dealing his combat damage, Hidden Strings was going to the stack again. Untapping my Agent and untapping my -already untapped- Triton Fortune Hunter. That was one other dead creature and one card, thank you very much! 

Next turn, rinse and repeat. Awesome!

Now I was happy. Now I had what I needed. 

Heroic Deck Taking Shape
Under Construction
Creatures
4 Agent of the Fates
4 Triton Fortune Hunter
8 cards

Other Spells
4 Gift of Orzhova
3 Hidden Strings
2 Ordeal of Thassa
2 Aqueous Form
2 Mizzium Skin
13 cards
Lands
0 cards
 
Aqueous Form

 

From there the first thing I did was to look for some more creatures. Synergy is everything to me and therefore those creatures I was going to add to the deck, had to have synergy with my whole game plan. So I once again examined the other Blue and Black Heroic creatures, with the hope I could find something I missed before. But sadly that wasn't the case.

And so I moved onto those Bestow creatures. There were some really nice options but I took these two:

Nighthowler

I knew that Herald of Torment was new and all, and therefore a bit high in price, but it was the perfect card for this deck! So I just added it. If you don't have the card and don't plan on obtaining it, you may play either Baleful Eidolon or Spiteful Returned or Nyxborn Eidolon as replacement (I would probably choose Baleful Eidolon). 

So, I was almost finished at that point. I still had some room and I added first Hero's Downfall to the deck (options for replacing it are plenty). Then Negate came in. I was already dealing with creatures well enough, so Negate seemed to be the better option for this deck. And finally, at the very end and at the very last minute I added a full playset of a creature. Which made me laugh.

What did I say above dear readers about Dark Confidant? I said it's not me. Yeah yeah, of course. Look what I added to the deck:

Never say never...

Oh and by the way, Pain Seer was at $1,50-ish by the time I was writing this, so I consider it as a budget card.

And the synergy between Hidden Strings and Pain Seer was incredible! I was attacking with my Agent of the Fates and after dealing its damage, Hidden Strings was going to the stack. I was then untapping my Agent killing a creature, and tapping my Pain Seer! And next turn my Seer was untapping itself and giving me an extra card. Awesome!

And now it's time for the full list of the deck:

League of Extraordinary Heroes
A Standard Deck by Nafiz Erman
Creatures
4 Agent of the Fates
4 Triton Fortune Hunter
4 Pain Seer
4 Herald of Torment
2 Nighthowler
18 cards

Other Spells
4 Gift of Orzhova
4 Hero's Downfall
3 Hidden Strings
2 Ordeal of Thassa
2 Aqueous Form
2 Mizzium Skin
2 Negate
19 cards
Lands
4 Watery Grave
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Dimir Guildgate
Swamp
Island
23 cards
 
Agent of the Fates

 

I mentioned some budget options above. You can find replacements for Hero's Downfall and Herald of Torment; not exactly equals of course but those replacements can get the job done as well. I just don't know how you can replace Watery Grave though. The thing is, this deck really likes playing twelve duals, and I fear that moving four of them out would damage its consistency. But maybe Shimmering Grotto can help? Or maybe Thespian's Stage or Transguild Promenade

Or maybe you can go down to twenty-two lands, remove those two Negates and add three Traveler's Amulet. That might actually help.

Alright dear readers, you saw the deck. Now it's time you see these heroes(!) in action.

 

GAME 1:
Against Rock Colored Trading Post

When he landed a Prophetic Prism on turn two, I was like "Woa wha?!". After spending a whole week with my own Trading Post deck and therefore playing Prophetic Prisms continuously, seeing it on the other side of the table felt... I don't know, it just felt strange.

I knew Trading Post was coming and a third turn Satyr Wayfinder revealed that it was indeed the case; his was a Trading Post deck. I was curious what he did with Trading Post in a Rock colored deck but sadly I never had the possibility to find that out. Mainly because of this:

Non-stop card drawing and non-stop creature removal... all with one card called Hidden Strings

Ah well, I never had the chance to find out what he did with Trading Post but I did find out that my deck was as mean as I wanted it to be. And that was all that matters.

Overall: 1-0

 

GAME 2:
Against Green/White Aggro

Green/White decks have a lot of excellent creatures. Fleecemane Lion, that token from Advent of the Wurm, Loxodon Smiter... all pumped with Spear of Heliod of course. It's a really nice and straightforward deck, I know. It's just... this:

You really need to kill Agent of the Fates, you know. Because if you can't, well, then this happens!

Overall: 2-0

 

GAME 3:
Against Black/Red Aggro

Okay everyone, on one side of the ring we have fast mean suicidal creatures, burn spells and a Black/Red God that deals constant damage. And on the other side we have a lone but heroic(!) Agent of the Fates backed up with cards like Negate, Mizzium Skin, Gift of Orzhova and Nighthowler. Which side wins? Place your bets.

Congratulations, that was the correct guess! You won a box of cookies. Enjoy!

Overall: 3-0

 

GAME 4:
Against Red/Blue Heroic

Now this was an interesting game and I felt like I'm playing a mirror match as we both were playing Heroic decks. With colors you wouldn't expect them to be Heroic decks, I might add. I mean, when I saw Izzet colors I was expecting some Young Pyromancer shenanigans but it was Triton Fortune Hunter, Labyrinth Champion and Akroan Conscriptor. And his way of abusing the Heroic mechanic was Aqueous Form, Coordinated Assault and of course Mizzium Skin.

Especially that Labyrinth Champion caused me some problems, then even Mr. Ral Zarek joined the party, but I eventually took control of the game and this time won with a really big Nighthowler "touched" by Gift of Orzhova.

Overall: 4-0

 

GAME 5: 
Against Esper Control

Games against Control decks aren't really interesting until THAT moment. You know, the moment when one of the players does something and the other can't answer that. And this game was one of those normal games.

Until that moment came, it was me playing creatures, him destroying them. Or him playing planeswalkers and me killing them. I killed a Jace and Negated a second one, and had to deal with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver for a short time as well. But in return I lost two Agents, two Pain Seers, one Triton Fortune Hunter and two Herald of Torments during that part. That's a long list of casualties, you know.

But then THAT moment came.

He couldn't kill or counter my Triton Fortune Hunter. I then played Hidden Strings targeting him, drew a card and passed the turn. He had his chance again. He drew blank. Well, that was too late then. Gift of Orzhova, card drawing, Nighthowler and then "gg" of course.

Overall: 5-0

 

GAME 6:
Against Top Tier Zoo

I love it when people play tournament level decks in the Casual Room. But I love it even more when I tear them apart with my home-brewed casual decks. Destroying that Esper deck with Jaces and all was fun, but apparently there was even more fun to be had!

Probably only the price of those two Voice of Resurgences is higher than the total cost of my entire deck, but it just doesn't work like that! Right, mister? Hmm?

Well at least I hope he enjoyed being crushed by a casual deck (/end sarcasm)!

Overall: 6-0

 

GAME 7:
Against Mono Black Devotion

Did I mention how much I enjoy crushing top tier decks? I did, didn't I? So after beating two of those, I was in a very heroic(!) mood and I was like "Bring it on, I want more!". And apparently that Black God of Theros heard me because all of a sudden I found myself facing him.

So early turns I played two Triton Fortune Hunters and one Pain Seer, and lost all to removal. Then he played his Pain Seer and of course it died immediately. He then brought in his Black God, but at least I countered his attempt to play his God's whip too. Next my Herald of Torment went in but sadly went out in light speed, but at least I did the same to his Gray Merchant of Asphodel.

Then I played my Nighthowler and next turn played Herald of Torment targeting my Nighthowler

He needed an answer to my huge Nighthowler and he needed it pretty fast. So he started drawing cards with his God and with Pain Seer. Sadly for him he just couldn't find something useful and most probably he was cursing those Bile Blights he was drawing (Pain Seer revealed one).

I was really hoping that he could find a Hero's Downfall to be honest, because I had my Mizzium Skin in hand. I so badly wanted to add insult to the injury and make a screenshot of that, but sadly that didn't happen.

Overall: 7-0

 

GAME 8:
Against Grixis Control

Izzet Charm, Lightning Strike, Dreadbore, Dissolve, Magma Jet, Cyclonic Rift... I was simply lost in a sea of removal. One of them I dodged with a Mizzium Skin but it was of course not enough. It was like he was playing that cat and mouse game with me, and I was definitely NOT the cat this time. A few turns later, when he had all his fun destroying my creatures, Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius came and quickly sealed the deal for him.

Overall: 7-1

 

GAME 9:
Against Green/White Aggro

Yes please, give me these, give me my Aggro match-ups!

Fleecemane Lion, Archangel of Thune... I don't mind. Everything dies to Agent of the Fates eventually!

Overall: 8-1

 

GAME 10:
Against Mono White Aggro w/Red Splash

I couldn't hope for a better ending for my testing run, because this was an awesome game and I did manage to pull an incredible comeback. This below screenshot is the beginning of my turn five:

You'd think I'm dead, right?

So yes, this was the beginning of my turn five and I was down to six life. But I didn't give up and managed to win from here! How? 

I first drew Swamp, played it and played my Gift of Orzhova on my Triton Fortune Hunter and drew another card. It was Hero's Downfall. Then I played my all-time superstar Hidden Strings targeting my Merfolk of course, untapped a land as well and also drew Negate. I then attacked with my Triton Fortune Hunter, who became a 4/4 thanks to my Ordeal of Thassa.

I went back to ten life and thanks to my Hidden Strings, I untapped a land again and my Triton Fortune Hunter who gave me my Pain Seer. I played it, and passed the turn. My opponent logically only attacked with his huge Vanguard of Brimaz, which I didn't block. I was down to four life.

At the beginning of my turn I first killed that boring Vanguard of Brimaz with Hero's Downfall just in case. Then attacked with my Triton Fortune Hunter again. He was 5/5 this time and I went back to nine life. Hidden Strings untapped him and a land, and I played a second Triton Fortune Hunter

Seeing his path blocked, my opponent couldn't attack but at least Magma Jet'ed my Seer. On my turn I played a second Ordeal of Thassa onto my Triton Fortune Hunter and when I attacked with him, he reached to three counters and those two Ordeal of Thassas gave me four cards. 

I was now at sixteen life and my superstar Hidden Strings untapped my huge Triton Fortune Hunter and my land.

Then I played my Agent of the Fates and targeted him first with my Aqueous Form and then with Mizzium Skin.

My opponent untapped, drew his card probably hoping for a Chained to the Rocks, and conceded when he saw it wasn't that one.

This was an awesome win!

Overall: 9-1

And this game concluded my testing run.

 

SUMMARY

Yes dear readers, this was all for this week's deck. The opponents I faced this week in the Casual Room were definitely tougher than ever, but I think I was well prepared to face them. 90% win ratio was amazing and I was amazed even more that those wins were actually against really good decks.

But all happened thanks to this:

Hidden Strings

I just want to repeat again what I said in the article many times: This deck wouldn't have performed this well without Hidden Strings. And of course then there were my "heroes": An Assasin, a Merfolk Soldier, a Wizard, a Horror and a Demon. Not your usual team of heroes maybe, but they got the job done every time!

So this week I did many things that I usually don't do. I tapped creatures, I played nothing with a casting cost higher than three mana and I even played Dark Confidant! Ah well, what can I say; a bit of change from the usual is good sometimes.

 

NEXT WEEK ON ROGUE PLAY

I don't want to spoil too much but I have to say this: Next week's article will be the most fun article of my recent Rogue Plays. Because I was challenged to do something, and next week's article is about that challenge. I was asked to do the unexpected and the impossible, and I will do all of those with nothing but a Standard casual deck.

Curious already? Good! You'll find out the challenge and my deck in response next week.

Until then...

See you online,
Nafiz Erman, aka Lord Erman

5 Comments

Simply astounding. I'm loving by The D.K. at Mon, 03/03/2014 - 17:33
The D.K.'s picture
5

Simply astounding. I'm loving this. I have GOT to throw this one together and give it a whirl for myself!

I was in the middle of by Paul Leicht at Mon, 03/03/2014 - 18:44
Paul Leicht's picture
5

I was in the middle of commenting on this and my keyboard died so I am starting over. Interestingly AJ and I have been discussing heroic so this is very apropos. As per usual excellent stuff. I will say that the reason you are seeing tougher opponents in "casual" has to do with the increase in players and the change from "Casual Decks, Casual Play" to "Just for Fun" which many players think means "Play the best cards you have" myself included. The difference with me being, I still try and brew roguish decks.

And I think the term "casual" as controversial as ever, is really misplaced as a label for decks. Better to talk about Casual players vs Competitive players. Also about Aggro players vs Timmy. Timmy is both interested in flashy stuff and large monsters yes, but he isn't against running smaller creatures (or lower cost creatures.) It is very possible to run into Aggro Timmies and Midranged Spikes.

As for Hidden Strings it is definitely a go to card for a lot of strategies nowadays. I've been seeing it everywhere. But the reasons vary quite a bit. You can stick it on an unblockable to ramp your mana, you can use it to make Inspired creatures more interesting. Of course Heroic creatures are the main beneficiaries but mainly those are getting the voltron treatment. (Lots of auras + a few bodies.) And while I have seen a few voltron decks with Triton Fortune Hunter there aren't many and they aren't as tuned as yours.

It is of interest to me that your screenshots all show you on the beta client. If you can stand it, it gives me hope that some day, I too may as well.

Beautiful! I've been working by AJ_Impy at Mon, 03/03/2014 - 20:13
AJ_Impy's picture
5

Beautiful! I've been working on breaking Agent of the Fates in a tribal context lately, coming up with a different recursion engine. This, however, is magnificent.

Hey guys, I'm glad you liked by Lord Erman at Tue, 03/04/2014 - 12:08
Lord Erman's picture

Hey guys, I'm glad you liked this one. Paul, I actually do like the new client. I don't even have the other one installed anymore. Yes it still needs some improvement but generally speaking I can say that I find it quite nice.

Maybe one just has to stay by Kumagoro42 at Tue, 03/04/2014 - 15:22
Kumagoro42's picture

Maybe one just has to stay away from the game for a couple of years and then come back to appreciate the new client through a fresh perspective. :)