Discussion Forum

Tap Royal Assassin

I really enjoy using this deck (it's 6-2 so far), but I'd like to make a version that's standard legal. Helps. I need standard tap and untap target creature cards.

http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=253840
Posted 30 October 2011 at 13:23

Permalink

Gideon's lawkeeper is a good tap card for standard, try that.
0
Posted 30 October 2011 at 16:30

Permalink

Cool. I used Gideon's Avenger too. 8 cards down, 14 to go.
0
Posted 30 October 2011 at 18:00

Permalink

I just made it standard legal (as far as I can tell). Added the Leonin/Suture Priest/Oblivion Ring infinite life combo. Had to get rid of some good stuff though. What do you think? Should I take the Souleater out?
0
Posted 30 October 2011 at 18:35

Permalink

[QUOTE=moosemoose]I just made it standard legal (as far as I can tell). Added the Leonin/Suture Priest/Oblivion Ring infinite life combo. Had to get rid of some good stuff though. What do you think? Should I take the Souleater out?[/QUOTE]

What you need is more Souleaters as they can get around cards like Stave Off. Also, if you're going to include the empire artifacts, put at least 2 of each because last thing you need is someone destroying one and making them much less powerful in the end. Also, Dispatch should NEVER be used as just a tapper. It's main purpose is a 1 mana creature exile, and you'll need metal-craft for that. Oh, and with the way your deck is, take out the Avacynian Priest or side board it as it can end up useless against certain decks. Fulgent Distraction I'd also side board. Oh, I should tell you this. The best way to use a Royal Assassin is when the opponent attacks with a creature then before you declare blockers, since the attacking creature is now tapped, you can destroy it with the assassin. Should warn you that it won't work if said creature has vigilance though.
0
Posted 30 October 2011 at 18:59

Permalink

ok imo i'd bail on the of empires cards. having 1 of each will never get all 3 on the board, so i would ditch all 3 and put 3 more souleaters.

secondly, you need to either up the suture priest relic warder and oblivion rings or just drop that combo altogether as well. i know it's infinite life gain and all, but only having 2 of each means you either need to draw both of your rings and have them in hand or the combo doesn't work. for you to acctually attempt to use the combo on a normal basis you need atleast 3 relic warders, 3 suture priests and 4 rings, but i would still recommend four of each.

after you figure how you want to handle that, ditch the tutors, and throw in some Due Respect. you could potentially cast Due Respect on yourself and then throw down White Sun's Zenith and pump the hell out of your avenger. strange idea up to you though.

thats my tips, take it or leave it but i think they would all help quite a bit.
0
Posted 30 October 2011 at 20:00

Permalink

The Empire artifacts are good to use by themselves also, but I get the point. Keep in mind, I am not building a tournament deck here, just another something to play with. I'm updating right now.
Killer: The way I see Royal Assassin is: He attacks, I tap and destroy, then untap and tap again on my turn to kill another if he only has two out leaving him open. Obviously, changing the strategy a bit if he has more out.
I don't understand why Dispatch should NEVER be used for tapping. It costs 1 mana to basically destroy a creature. It would be best to exile it sure, but shit. It costs one.
ErtyJr: The White Sun's Zenith wouldn't work because Avenger is creatures he controls adds a +1/+1.
Took most of the advice. Thanks much!
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 01:35

Permalink

My friend does a blue/black royal assassin control deck and its actually pretty good. He uses frost breath, alluring siren, and frost titan.

But for white - Giddeon himself is good. Also Avacynian Priest and Feeling of Dread for Innistrad work, and then Sunblast Angel kind of fits.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 02:21

Permalink

haha sorry didnt fully read it, your right about zenith, but i still cling dearly to due respect being awesome in general. it's going to either make him not play creatures, or pump your creature, so still cool.

edit, i just looked over your changes and now your deck is really starting to look mean.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 04:17

Permalink

Blinding Souleater is three Mana (:mana3:) for a 1/3 Creature. Normally, you want a Creature with a Power as close to its Mana Cost as possible. Blinding Souleater has -2 Power compared to its Mana Cost. You can usually get by with -1 Power if the Creature has a great Ability on it, but paying 2 Life every Turn to Tap a Creature isn't very good. You could pay one White Mana (:manaw:) for its Ability, but Gideon's Lawkeeper does that anyway, and it's one Mana (:mana1:) for a 1/1 Creature so it fits the bill of having a Power as close to its Mana Cost as possible. Having Blinding Souleater in the deck is just going to hurt you. Take them out. Gideon's Lawkeeper is simply better.

Leonin Relic-Warder is two Mana (:mana2:) for a 2/2 Creature so it also fits the bill of having a Power as close to its Mana Cost as possible. However, because it's a Creature, its second Ability is a drawback: whatever Artifact or Enchantment was giving you trouble will easily return to the Battlefield when Leonin Relic-Warder dies to removal. It also requires that your Opponent have an Artifact or Enchantment in their deck. Not quite a hefty need in this Standard environment, but it still seems to me that this card is very situational. A sideboard card, at best, to deal with Wurmcoil Engine.

Suture Priest is two Mana (:mana2:) for a 1/1 Creature, but it has an Ability that allows you to manipulate Life totals so it fits the bill of having -1 Power compared to its Mana Cost with a great Ability. However, it doesn't seem to work with any of the other cards in your deck. At first it may look like you can use it to offset the drawback of Blinding Souleater, but it only works if you and your Opponent both play a Creature on every Turn. If your Opponent does not kill it with removal first. Take them out.

Gideon's Avenger is three Mana (:mana3:) for a 2/2 Creature with an Ability on it that is amazing all on its own. I think you can use it to its fullest potential in your deck. You definitely want to keep them.

Gideon's Lawkeeper we already looked at above. You definitely want to keep them.

Royal Assassin is three Mana (:mana3:) for a 1/1 Creature with a decent Ability on it that can help you with your deck's theme. However, it has a heavy two Black Mana (:manab::manab:) Cost for your White Mana (:manaw:) deck. It also has -2 Power compared to its Mana Cost. If you want to keep it in the deck I suggest you turn it into a full-fledged two-color deck, instead of a White Mana (:manaw:) deck with a splash of Black Mana (:manab:) only for Royal Assassin.

The core of your deck is these two cards: Gideon's Lawkeeper, Gideon's Avenger.

Creatures
3x Gideon's Avenger
3x Gideon's Lawkeeper

Oblivion Ring is just stupidly good, to the point where if you run a White Mana (:manaw:) deck you basically need four copies of it. You definitely want to keep them.

Go for the Throat, unlike Royal Assassin, is more easily splashed into a White Mana (:manaw:) deck because it only has a one Black Mana (:manab:) Cost. I'm not sure if you should take them out or keep them. Another thing to note is that Dismember works really good as a splash removal card, because you don't actually have to pay the two Black Mana (:manab::manab:) Cost.

Dispatch is a bad card simply on the principle that if you had one White Mana (:manaw:) open already you should probably use it to feed the Ability on Gideon's Lawkeeper. The other thing that makes it a bad card is that you don't have nearly enough Artifact cards to make use of its better utility as removal. Take them out.

Due Respect is pretty useless. For one Turn, none of the Creatures that enter the Battlefield will Trigger the Ability on Gideon's Avenger. The only upside is that you get to Draw a card. Take them out.

Feeling of Dread is very nice, but you don't yet have the Blue Mana (:manau:) to take advantage of its Flashback Cost. Take them out.

This is what your deck looks like after my revisions:

Creatures
3x Gideon's Avenger
3x Gideon's Lawkeeper
Spells
2x Go for the Throat OR 2x Dismember
4x Oblivion Ring

Gideon Jura is just amazing for your deck. His first Ability is basically Tap all Creatures your Opponent Controls. His second Ability is basically Royal Assassin, and his third Ability is for him to take Damage for you. You definitely need him.

Sunblast Angel is the last White Mana (:manaw:) card I would suggest for your deck. It's like a Royal Assassin for the entire Battlefield. Works pretty good with the first Ability on Gideon Jura, too. You definitely need them.

Deceiver Exarch is next on the list of must-have cards for your deck. It's good for when Gideon's Lawkeeper has already been used, but you still might need to Tap another Creature. You can also use it to Untap a Creature of your own if you need an extra blocker. You definitely need them.

Frost Titan is also insanely, stupidly good. You definitely need them.

Feeling of Dread can actually be put back in now that I've made the deck a two-color mix of White Mana (:manaw:) and Blue Mana (:manau:), with a splash of Black Mana (:manab:).

Frost Breath works along the same lines as Feeling of Dread. You definitely need them.

Tumble Magnet is a nice Colorless Mana (:mana1:) Cost Artifact. It's so much better than Blinding Souleater. You definitely need them.

This is what I think you should work with if you want a deck like this:

Artifacts
3x Tumble Magnet
Creatures
2x Sunblast Angel
3x Deceiver Exarch
3x Gideon's Avenger
3x Gideon's Lawkeeper
3x Frost Titan
Planeswalkers
2x Gideon Jura
Spells
2x Go for the Throat OR 2x Dismember
4x Oblivion Ring
3x Frost Breath
3x Feeling of Dread
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 05:51

Permalink

Tumble Magnet is an amazing tapper, then there's Gideon Jura...either another Assassin, or something to tap the opponents creatures and pump the Avenger.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 08:18

Permalink

DBloch: The Oblivion Rings, Suture Priest, Leonin are an infinite life combo, which is why they are in there. I don't care if they aren't playing artifacts.

Here is the thing: Everyone is saying this sucks, this sucks... Scenario:
Me:
Blinding souleater
Royal Assassin
Royal Assassin

Dispatch in my hand

Opp:
Creature 1
Creature 2
Creature 3
Creature 4

This is why dispatch is handy. I can get rid of two creatures instead of one. I still don't understand why thats a bad card. Either way, I like the Tumble Magnet.

I'm not doing Frost Breath, because I have way too much stuff, but I splashed Deceiver Exarchs in there. Moving the Souleaters to the sideboard
for when I play decks with protection against black or white.

I think this is probably the final build. I'll just have to order about 10 cards to make this. Thanks guys.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 15:59

Permalink

I didn't want to say anything about it at first, but the Oblivion Ring, Suture Priest, Leonin Relic-Warder combo is stupid. Those are three cards you need on the Battlefield, plus the extra Oblivion Ring to set it off which actually makes it four cards, without your Opponent doing anything.

You're not playing Magic by yourself. Your Opponent will always have an answer, and more than likely Suture Priest will die before the combo even goes off. Then you are left with only a retarded Leonin Relic-Warder, who can only bounce in and out of the Battlefield. If your Opponent doesn't get rid of your first Oblivion Ring, that is.

It's just common courtesy in Magic: The Gathering, and in life, to assume that your Opponent will make the best plays possible to them. In that regard, you are throwing out a Hail Mary Pass here, hoping that your Opponent will do nothing while you are setting up this elaborate combo. It's done completely in bad faith.

Dispatch is a poor man's Swords to Plowshares, which is possibly the best removal in the entire history of Magic: The Gathering, but your deck with its measly number of Artifact cards can't make full use of its potential. You are using two cards, Dispatch + Royal Assassin, to do something that Dispatch should normally be able to do itself. It's not that Dispatch sucks as a card, it's that it sucks as a card for your deck.

Your problem is that you want to use more than one card to do something. This is usually a bad idea because you have to wait to have both cards in your Hand, and then you have to pray to God that your Opponent doesn't hose one of them. Because then you're screwed.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 16:22

Permalink

OK, that makes sense. That being said, I'm pretty sure I can get the oblivion ring combo done playing a casual game. I'll update one more time. I think it's super solid now. Just take a look at my mana situation. I think it's decent.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 18:15

Permalink

Even though I talk big about other things, I'm still not very good at calculating Mana Pool ratios. I tend to prefer one-color decks for this reason, but usually for two-color decks you'll be fine as long as you use some duals.
0
Posted 31 October 2011 at 23:11

Permalink