Okay let's put it this way: the other decks I played against were more efficient with cards that do more for less. I never was able to do the rusalka + cunning bandit combo ever. They would always end up removing either quickly. There is no mana ramp and no draw engine so by turn 3-4 I am in deep trouble as I am already top decking while my opponent is doing all kinds of crazy things. I think the idea of glitttefang is innovative but getting curio + doors out and bouncing creatures is very mana intensive. I will play it more because it is a fun deck but I would rate it a tier 2.5 deck. It is not competitive. I got owned with someone using 4 wastelands in his deck and being out out of mana too.
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I played a few times with this deck and Door of Destinies I find way too slow to play. It would be awesome if it only costed 2 to cast but 4 is too much and by that time I'm about to die or I am in a weak position. I like the new card Curse of the Stalked Prey which does +1/+1 for every damage to the opponent for only 2 to cast, it won't work with glitterfang but still better with a deck using something like bitterblossom.
I got a question: Do you think 4 Cloudstone Curio is too much? In the sense that if you draw one, all the others will be useless because you only need one for the effect. In that case, do you think it would be better to only have 2 + 2 Enlightened Tutor? Tutor could help pick up as well a Door of Destinies in the worst case.
With the Cunning Bandit + Rusalka combo, we found the most potent removal method that exploits the spirit mechanics. Lightning Helix should just be used offensively to burn most of the time. Maybe another suggestion would be to sideboard 4 disenchants? Depending on who the opponent is (artifact heavy decks), it could be useful to destroy their mechanics with that simple spell. At this point, since we have 4 cunning bandits, you should drop the # of faithful squires and drop kami of last hope in the sideboard. This will free up space for mother of runes and more cards. The only part we disagree is how to deal with the high creatures.I would see it this way: 4 Figure of Destiny + 2 Oyobi vs. 4 Eternal Dragon + 2 Karmic You know what, I will creature both versions and give it a shot. I will let you know which is more useful. I really love this deck which is why I'm trying to offer as many suggestions as possible. In fact, I like it so much I am currently building it. I already have most of the cards, I should be done by next week. :). This is my version called "Glitterfang Legacy": MAIN DECK 4 Balefire Liege 4 Cunning Bandit 2 Eternal Dragon 4 Glitterfang 2 Karmic Guide 4 Mother of Runes 4 Scorched Rusalka Creatures [24] 4 Cloudstone Curio 4 Door of Destinies 4 Lightning Helix 4 Rebuff the Wicked Spells [16] 2 Maze of Ith 4 Mountain 4 Plains 4 Plateau 2 Reflecting Pool 4 Sacred Foundry Lands [20] SIDEBOARD 4 Disenchant 4 Figure of Destiny 4 Glory of Warfare 2 Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens 1 Pandemonium Sideboard [15]
Hey guys, I just had a great idea. What would you think about having: +1 Cunning Bandit +4 Scorched Rusalka -4 Frostlings Scorched Rusalka is a 1/1 red spirit you can bounce like the Frostlings. When you flip Cunning Bandit, you use your ki counter to gain control of your enemy creature and you sacrifice your opponent creature with Rusalka to damage him for 1 life. LOL That would be priceless, right? Since you have two ki counters on Cunning Bandit, it is basically like two terrors but cheaper and it does 1dmg! A terror is two black mana. Scorched Rusalka costs one red mana to cast and one red mana for this ability. Also you don't need to tap Scorched Rusalka at all! This means if you have two Cunning Bandit flipped, you can "terror" two of your opponent creatures PER TURN! This has insane potential!
At 7 mana, Oyobi will almost never get casted especially if you are removing lands in your deck with Arid Mesa. You will get stuff other than lands and the last two lands may take way too long to get. You can see the Eternal Dragon as an Arid Mesa kind-of. It will remove a land from your deck when you plainscycle it for 2 lands tapped instead of losing 1 life but it will be reused with Karmic guide. Karmic Guide will syphon your graveyard every single turn +trigger and your opponent will be pissed about using his removals to kill the mother of runes instead of killing the glitterfangs. Also consider the critters (Glitterfangs and Frostlings) are vulnerable to various removals. So far, you want to protect your artifacts with 4 rebuff the wicked but that may not be enough. Mother of runes is essential to make the spirit shenanigan continue the whole game and bypass opponent defenses. As for price, you are right my suggestions are expensive but the Glitterfang deck proposed is already expensive with cards like Plateau notably. Ok the duals are staples but Maze of Iths would also be considered staples considering they will most likely always keep increasing in value overtime.
Also, what would you think about adding 4 Mother of Runes? I know they are not spirits but treat them as spell cards for their effects. They can give protection of the color of your choice to your creatures in case your opponent try to cast a removal spell of any kind. You can also use the Mother of Runes offensively to remove any enchant creature card. For example, if your opponent casts a blue enchant creature on his white creature. You give his white creature protection of blue and he needs to remove the card.
Also how about removing 4 Arid Mesa and replace by 2 Reflecting Pool and 2 Maze of Ith? That way you could mitigate some of the damage the opponent could do to you on third / fourth turn (weak point). Reflecting pools would copy the Plateau if possible or plains / mountains.
How about adding 4 Eternal Dragon and 2 Karmic Guide? Dragons would be used to get more lands for 2 and come to play when you play karmic guide. Before you have to echo karmic guide, you bounce back to your hand with Cloudstone Curio and you can pick up all your dragons / big costly cards that you plainscycled or that your opponent killed?