I'd be crazy to not at least try this contest, and people who have known me for a while in PDC know I'm a big GW fan, so that's exactly what I tried to build. However, it's not really an aggro build (we already have a GR deck), so instead I'm aiming for something a little more interesting: the Spikes! Yes, by manipulating +1/+1 counters and using cards to slow down the pace of the game, you can keep your creatures from dying, build up a team of fatties, and go in for the kill when your opponent can no longer hold back your forces! It's a bit mana-intensive, but the added mana fixing should help keep you well supplied and ready to face the world...of pauper.
2 x Spined Wurm
2 x Rootbreaker Wurm *
3 x Lowland Basilisk
3 x Cloud Spirit
2 x Spike Worker
2 x Spike Colony
1 x Wind Drake *
3 x Mana Leak
2 x Counterspell *
1 x Power Sink *
2 x Capsize *
2 x Sift
2 x Mind Games
2 x Provoke
1 x Tidal Surge
1 x Dream Cache
2 x Rampant Growth *
2 x Overgrowth
1 x Time Ebb *
yeah PTE does really ruin that deck. I think that it hurts both decks but potentially makes the second almost unplayable competitively. But it is still fun to run someone over in the TP room on t4. If you have seen the starcity 5k results I think we got our new Timmy green deck in the GW planewalker tokens deck.
First, I really enjoyed the article (well thought out, written, and formated). The one thing I wanted to point out is that the second deck probably loses more from conflux than it gains. PTE and the new superclasm seem to hurt your second deck. I doubt it will hurt enough to make playing it no fun but... PTE will likely replace unmake in white decks... and thats bad for CC and Oversoul and still bad for creature enchantments.
I guess I should build it and play it before I make sweeping statements like "I just dont like shield of the oversoul because it seems like the only decks it will make a huge difference against are the ones which you already have good game against"
Anyway... I liked the article. I just needed more......... conflux thoughts (you thought I was going with Cowbell)
This is a deck that likes to do things over and over again, getting extra use out of its spells and creatures. Buyback spells ensure you have something to do all the time, and there are lots of them - one reason why the deck packs a lot of mana, with a couple of Manakins helping you ramp up. Graveyard recursion means you won't run out of creatures, with Gravedigger getting a hand from Contempt, Disturbed Burial, and Tortured Existence to keep your critters coming back from the dead. Meanwhile, Mind Games and Twitch make sure you always have a target for Death Stroke, and Twitch gives your Rootwater Hunters and Manakins a second chance to do their thing. And with an active Capsize, your opponent will be doomed to repeat his mistakes.
This is a deck that likes to do things over and over again, getting extra use out of its spells and creatures. Buyback spells ensure you have something to do all the time, and there are lots of them - one reason why the deck packs a lot of mana, with a couple of Manakins helping you ramp up. Graveyard recursion means you won't run out of creatures, with Gravedigger getting a hand from Contempt, Disturbed Burial, and Tortured Existence to keep your critters coming back from the dead. Meanwhile, Mind Games and Twitch make sure you always have a target for Death Stroke, and Twitch gives your Rootwater Hunters and Manakins a second chance to do their thing. And with an active Capsize, your opponent will be doomed to repeat his mistakes.
This is a blue/green big mana deck. It features lots of buyback spells, as well as a fair number of mana producing creatures. The idea is to defend yourself and build mana until you can drop something big like a spike colony or an Endangered Armadon. It also has the combo of basilisk and broken fall. In order to support armadon, there are a minimum of x/1s and x/2s. Also, when getting ready to post this, i see that my deck is similar to the person above me, but i really didn't look at it.
*= from tempest
Okay, so I've seen an alarmingly small amount of WU decks, so it's possible that my idea is totally off base, but it seemed like an entertaining one, so I went with it. Basically, it involves preventing damage... all damage... or at least as much as is humanly possible, and then picking away at your opponent with evasion. It started by centering around the Kors, but since there are only two different ones available, it has expanded quite a bit.
Spells(22):
2x Samite Blessing
2x Bandage
2x Smite
2x Anoint (Tempest)
2x Pacifism (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Black (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Blue (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Green (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Red (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: White (Tempest)
2x Leap
1x Mind Games
2x Tidal Surge
2x Mana Leak
The whole reason I decided to build this deck is that I could imagine how entertaining it could be to completely stop damage of any sort (yes, I know, this does not include loss of life), no matter where it is coming from, or who is doing it. Imagine your opponent declaring an attack with his giant, 7/7 Sliver Queen - you send up your lowly Nomads en-Kor to block it, and spread out all of the damage among your vast army, thus insuring the survival of all, and thwarting your opponent's attack. Then, on your turn, you crack him in the head for a few with your unblockable and/or shadow and/or flying creatures, just like you've been doing for the whole game. It seems highly entertaining to me.
**I'm not sure if this is allowed, but I would like to update my deck submission.**
MTGO: Mageazn22
email: dthomas6@gatech.edu
This is a BG deck that takes advantage of your graveyard. You use mulch and morgue thrull to get your creatures in your graveyard while tortured existence, gravedigger, and disturbed burial to get your card advantage engine going. The spike creatures work really well with sadistic glee. The point of the deck is to make any creature you have a threat. There is plenty of synergy within the deck. Evincar's justice is a clean up spell that allows you to get your opponent's tiny creatures off the board. Death stroke and dark banishing ensure that your opponents do not put anything too big in the way of your guys. Rootbreaker wurm is your fallback plan because he functions well by himself.
yeah messed up on that one id been testing the decks with birds cause we didn't have Hierarch online yet so I forgot to add the 2 new damage from Hierarch. Thx for correcting me on that.
Name: The Quintessence of Dust. I hope this deck wins. I was trying to design one around Tortured Existence, but I basically came up with that a few cards different, like more Spikes, but yeah, awesome deck.
This is a green and blue big creature deck that bounces/counters away opposition or provokes them into a lowland basilisk, while swinging big. This deck features Endangered Armodon, a 4/5 beater that is sacrificed if you control any creature with a toughness of 2 or less, but only costs 2GG. To get around this problem, creatures of 1 or 2 toughness must have disposability built in such as Spindrift Drake, which has an upkeep of U, Thalakos Seer which can be sacrificed to draw a card, and Thalakos Mistfolk which can be returned to top of your library. Since it is no longer useful, you might want to Sift that away for something bigger. Cards like Crossbow Ambush and Leap give you a way to block flyers or fly in with a big creature to win.
Creatures (19)
Canopy Spider 1G 1/3 (Reach) *
3 Endangered Armodon 2GG 4/5
Giant Crab 4U 3/3 (U Shroud) *
Hammerhead Shark 1U 2/3 (Islandhome)
2 Lowland Basilisk 2G 1/3 (Deathtouch at end of combat)
Skyshroud Trooper 3G 3/3 (Taps for G)
2 Spindrift Drake U 2/1 (Flying)
2 Spined Wurm 4G 5/4
3 Trained Armodon 1GG 3/3 *
Thalakos Mistfolk 2U 2/1 (Shadow) *
2 Thalakos Seer UU 1/1 (Shadow) *
Spells (17)
Capsize 1UU Buyback 3 (Bounce) *
2 Crossbow Ambush G (Reach)
Contempt 1U (Pacifism)
Elvish Fury G Buyback 4 (Creature buff) *
2 Leap U (Flying)
Mana Leak 1U (Counter)
Natural Spring 3GG (Life) *
Overgrowth 2G (Land taps for +GG)
2 Provoke 1G (Provoke)
Respite 1G (Fog, Life) *
Sift 3U (Library search off top)
Spell Blast XU (Counter) *
Time Ebb 2U (Bounce to library top) *
Tranquility 2G (Destroy all enchantments) *
Lands (24)
13 Forests
11 Islands
* Denotes a card from the earlier Tempest expansion set.
I was going to chide you about not hitting the Dusk Urchins with Scar the first time it was about to be shocked, but I figure you did the right thing. The second time however, I would have spent the mana and the card to get deeper into my deck.
I'd be crazy to not at least try this contest, and people who have known me for a while in PDC know I'm a big GW fan, so that's exactly what I tried to build. However, it's not really an aggro build (we already have a GR deck), so instead I'm aiming for something a little more interesting: the Spikes! Yes, by manipulating +1/+1 counters and using cards to slow down the pace of the game, you can keep your creatures from dying, build up a team of fatties, and go in for the kill when your opponent can no longer hold back your forces! It's a bit mana-intensive, but the added mana fixing should help keep you well supplied and ready to face the world...of pauper.
Spike Troops
1x Armored Pegasus (T)
2x Endangered Armodon
2x Master Decoy (T)
1x Mounted Archers (T)
1x Skyshroud Falcon
1x Skyshroud Ranger (T)
1x Skyshroud Troll (T)
1x Skyshroud Troopers
3x Spike Worker
3x Spike Colony
2x Spike Drone (T)
1x Trained Armodon (T)
2x Venerable Monk
2x Youthful Knight
1x Anoint (T)
3x Conviction
1x Hero's Resolve (T)
2x Mulch
2x Pacifism (T)
2x Rampant Growth (T)
2x Smite
14x Forest
10x Plains
MTGO Username: KingRitz
Spike Force
-----------------------------
12 Island
11 Forest
3 Cloud Spirit
3 Mana Leak
3 Time Ebb
2 Spike Worker
2 Lowland Basilisk
2 Skyshroud Troopers
2 Spike Colony
2 Elvish Fury
2 Spike Drone
2 Respite
2 Skyshroud Troll
2 Sift
2 Leap
2 Spindrift Drake
2 Contempt
1 Skyshroud Archer
1 Broken Fall
1 Tidal Surge
1 Volrath's Curse
Keep doing this stuff. Those articles are what we need to improve the game.
I don't play MTGO, either. However, I figured it might still be cool to have my name on the winning decklist.
Forgot to vote it, sorry :P
Great article! It was very helpful to prepare the upcoming PTQs.
2 Blood Pet
1 Darkling Stalker
2 Dungeon Shade
1 Flowstone Shambler
2 Foul Imp
2 Furnace Spirit
2 Gravedigger
2 Mogg Bombers
3 Mogg Flunkies
2 Rabid Rats
1 Serpent Warrior
2 Cannibalize
2 Dark Banishing
2 Disturbed Burial
2 Fling
3 Lab Rats
2 Lightning Blast
1 Mob Justice
3 Shock
1 Tortured Existence
10 Mountain
12 Swamp
Nice article =)
Keep up the good work =)
MTGO USER NAME = rushmore111
2 x Spined Wurm
2 x Rootbreaker Wurm *
3 x Lowland Basilisk
3 x Cloud Spirit
2 x Spike Worker
2 x Spike Colony
1 x Wind Drake *
3 x Mana Leak
2 x Counterspell *
1 x Power Sink *
2 x Capsize *
2 x Sift
2 x Mind Games
2 x Provoke
1 x Tidal Surge
1 x Dream Cache
2 x Rampant Growth *
2 x Overgrowth
1 x Time Ebb *
13 x Island
11 x Forest
* = Tempest
A little something I came up with to help with ideas.
I noticed that there are CoP's, and Whim of Volrath (changes color words) in Tempest/Stronghold.
I'd go through the trouble of building a deck around this, but I don't play MTGO, so blaah.
yeah PTE does really ruin that deck. I think that it hurts both decks but potentially makes the second almost unplayable competitively. But it is still fun to run someone over in the TP room on t4. If you have seen the starcity 5k results I think we got our new Timmy green deck in the GW planewalker tokens deck.
First, I really enjoyed the article (well thought out, written, and formated). The one thing I wanted to point out is that the second deck probably loses more from conflux than it gains. PTE and the new superclasm seem to hurt your second deck. I doubt it will hurt enough to make playing it no fun but... PTE will likely replace unmake in white decks... and thats bad for CC and Oversoul and still bad for creature enchantments.
I guess I should build it and play it before I make sweeping statements like "I just dont like shield of the oversoul because it seems like the only decks it will make a huge difference against are the ones which you already have good game against"
Anyway... I liked the article. I just needed more......... conflux thoughts (you thought I was going with Cowbell)
MTGO Username: Marilith
Deck Name: Eternal Punishment
This is a deck that likes to do things over and over again, getting extra use out of its spells and creatures. Buyback spells ensure you have something to do all the time, and there are lots of them - one reason why the deck packs a lot of mana, with a couple of Manakins helping you ramp up. Graveyard recursion means you won't run out of creatures, with Gravedigger getting a hand from Contempt, Disturbed Burial, and Tortured Existence to keep your critters coming back from the dead. Meanwhile, Mind Games and Twitch make sure you always have a target for Death Stroke, and Twitch gives your Rootwater Hunters and Manakins a second chance to do their thing. And with an active Capsize, your opponent will be doomed to repeat his mistakes.
* = Tempest
17 Creatures:
3 Cloud Spirit
1 Dauthi Marauder*
3 Gravedigger*
2 Hammerhead Shark
2 Manakin*
2 Morgue Thrull
2 Rootwater Hunter*
1 Sea Serpent*
1 Tidal Warrior
18 Spells:
1 Brush with Death
1 Capsize*
2 Contempt
3 Death Stroke
2 Lab Rats
2 Mana Leak
3 Mind Games
2 Tortured Existence
2 Twitch*
25 Lands:
14 Island
11 Swamp
MTGO Username: Marilith
Deck Name: Eternal Punishment
This is a deck that likes to do things over and over again, getting extra use out of its spells and creatures. Buyback spells ensure you have something to do all the time, and there are lots of them - one reason why the deck packs a lot of mana, with a couple of Manakins helping you ramp up. Graveyard recursion means you won't run out of creatures, with Gravedigger getting a hand from Contempt, Disturbed Burial, and Tortured Existence to keep your critters coming back from the dead. Meanwhile, Mind Games and Twitch make sure you always have a target for Death Stroke, and Twitch gives your Rootwater Hunters and Manakins a second chance to do their thing. And with an active Capsize, your opponent will be doomed to repeat his mistakes.
* = Tempest
17 Creatures:
3 Cloud Spirit
1 Dauthi Marauder*
3 Gravedigger*
2 Hammerhead Shark
2 Manakin*
2 Morgue Thrull
2 Rootwater Hunter*
1 Sea Serpent*
1 Tidal Warrior
18 Spells:
1 Brush with Death
1 Capsize*
2 Contempt
3 Death Stroke
2 Lab Rats
2 Mana Leak
3 Mind Games
2 Tortured Existence
2 Twitch*
25 Lands:
14 Island
11 Swamp
MTGO Username: Lashof
Deck Name: Big Beats
This is a blue/green big mana deck. It features lots of buyback spells, as well as a fair number of mana producing creatures. The idea is to defend yourself and build mana until you can drop something big like a spike colony or an Endangered Armadon. It also has the combo of basilisk and broken fall. In order to support armadon, there are a minimum of x/1s and x/2s. Also, when getting ready to post this, i see that my deck is similar to the person above me, but i really didn't look at it.
*= from tempest
19 Creatures:
2 Manakin*
2 Hammerhead Shark
2 Lowland Basilisk
2 Spike Worker
2 Rootwater Hunter*
1 Skyshroud Troll*
2 Skyshroud Troopers
3 Endangered Armadon
1 Dream Prowler
2 Spike Colony
18 Other Spells:
2 Elvish Fury*
2 Mind Games
3 Provoke
2 Mulch
1 Volrath's Curse*
3 Mana Leak
1 Tidal Surge
2 Broken Fall*
1 Capsize*
1 Sift
23 Lands
13 Forest
10 Island
Excellent deck, I have been wanting a mono black for FNM, I will buy it immediatley.
Email: kusttra@bvu.edu
Deck Name: Mitigation
Okay, so I've seen an alarmingly small amount of WU decks, so it's possible that my idea is totally off base, but it seemed like an entertaining one, so I went with it. Basically, it involves preventing damage... all damage... or at least as much as is humanly possible, and then picking away at your opponent with evasion. It started by centering around the Kors, but since there are only two different ones available, it has expanded quite a bit.
Mitigation:
Creatures(18):
3x Spirit en-Kor
3x Nomads en-Kor
3x Honor Guard
2x Soltari Foot Soldier (Tempest)
2x Soltari Trooper (Tempest)
2x Soltari Lancer (Tempest)
2x Cloud Spirit
1x Mana Leak
Spells(22):
2x Samite Blessing
2x Bandage
2x Smite
2x Anoint (Tempest)
2x Pacifism (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Black (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Blue (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Green (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: Red (Tempest)
1x Circle of Protection: White (Tempest)
2x Leap
1x Mind Games
2x Tidal Surge
2x Mana Leak
The whole reason I decided to build this deck is that I could imagine how entertaining it could be to completely stop damage of any sort (yes, I know, this does not include loss of life), no matter where it is coming from, or who is doing it. Imagine your opponent declaring an attack with his giant, 7/7 Sliver Queen - you send up your lowly Nomads en-Kor to block it, and spread out all of the damage among your vast army, thus insuring the survival of all, and thwarting your opponent's attack. Then, on your turn, you crack him in the head for a few with your unblockable and/or shadow and/or flying creatures, just like you've been doing for the whole game. It seems highly entertaining to me.
wow great article!
**I'm not sure if this is allowed, but I would like to update my deck submission.**
MTGO: Mageazn22
email: dthomas6@gatech.edu
This is a BG deck that takes advantage of your graveyard. You use mulch and morgue thrull to get your creatures in your graveyard while tortured existence, gravedigger, and disturbed burial to get your card advantage engine going. The spike creatures work really well with sadistic glee. The point of the deck is to make any creature you have a threat. There is plenty of synergy within the deck. Evincar's justice is a clean up spell that allows you to get your opponent's tiny creatures off the board. Death stroke and dark banishing ensure that your opponents do not put anything too big in the way of your guys. Rootbreaker wurm is your fallback plan because he functions well by himself.
Stronghold cards
2x tortured existence
3x morgue thrull
2x spike worker
3x mulch
2x lowland basilisk
2x death stroke
2x spike colony
2x skyshround archer
2x rabid rats
Tempest cards
2x gravedigger
3x disturbed burial
2x rootbreaker wurm
2x spike drone
2x dark banishing
2x evincar's justice
2x sadistic glee
Land
13x swamp
12x forest
yeah messed up on that one id been testing the decks with birds cause we didn't have Hierarch online yet so I forgot to add the 2 new damage from Hierarch. Thx for correcting me on that.
Oh, and I had a one-of Lab Rats, just for fun.
Name: The Quintessence of Dust. I hope this deck wins. I was trying to design one around Tortured Existence, but I basically came up with that a few cards different, like more Spikes, but yeah, awesome deck.
Actually, t1 Noble Hierarch, t2 Shorecrasher Mimic, into t3 Rafiq means you have a doubly exalted Mimic, so a 7/5 double striker for 14 damage.
Endangered Species
e-mail: sjblack20@yahoo.com
This is a green and blue big creature deck that bounces/counters away opposition or provokes them into a lowland basilisk, while swinging big. This deck features Endangered Armodon, a 4/5 beater that is sacrificed if you control any creature with a toughness of 2 or less, but only costs 2GG. To get around this problem, creatures of 1 or 2 toughness must have disposability built in such as Spindrift Drake, which has an upkeep of U, Thalakos Seer which can be sacrificed to draw a card, and Thalakos Mistfolk which can be returned to top of your library. Since it is no longer useful, you might want to Sift that away for something bigger. Cards like Crossbow Ambush and Leap give you a way to block flyers or fly in with a big creature to win.
Creatures (19)
Canopy Spider 1G 1/3 (Reach) *
3 Endangered Armodon 2GG 4/5
Giant Crab 4U 3/3 (U Shroud) *
Hammerhead Shark 1U 2/3 (Islandhome)
2 Lowland Basilisk 2G 1/3 (Deathtouch at end of combat)
Skyshroud Trooper 3G 3/3 (Taps for G)
2 Spindrift Drake U 2/1 (Flying)
2 Spined Wurm 4G 5/4
3 Trained Armodon 1GG 3/3 *
Thalakos Mistfolk 2U 2/1 (Shadow) *
2 Thalakos Seer UU 1/1 (Shadow) *
Spells (17)
Capsize 1UU Buyback 3 (Bounce) *
2 Crossbow Ambush G (Reach)
Contempt 1U (Pacifism)
Elvish Fury G Buyback 4 (Creature buff) *
2 Leap U (Flying)
Mana Leak 1U (Counter)
Natural Spring 3GG (Life) *
Overgrowth 2G (Land taps for +GG)
2 Provoke 1G (Provoke)
Respite 1G (Fog, Life) *
Sift 3U (Library search off top)
Spell Blast XU (Counter) *
Time Ebb 2U (Bounce to library top) *
Tranquility 2G (Destroy all enchantments) *
Lands (24)
13 Forests
11 Islands
* Denotes a card from the earlier Tempest expansion set.
I was going to chide you about not hitting the Dusk Urchins with Scar the first time it was about to be shocked, but I figure you did the right thing. The second time however, I would have spent the mana and the card to get deeper into my deck.