Discussion Forum

I'm going a G/W route. Selesyna is where it's at, and though I'm not playing that, I'll have little trouble in a match against it I think.

Playing a blink style deck myself that is built on creating beefy tokens for basically just them to sit there and block if needed. Sublime is the showcase card. I'm playing four of her, and four Restoration Angel. I'm not really sure how I like four of each of them seeing as they are both 4cc. It doesn't set well with me, especially with Thragtusk (playing two) being a 5cc. In the end though, if I don't play four of each the deck becomes far less consistent.

I think my reservation on playing higher cost creatures stem from playing modern (before it was dubbed modern) for such a long time.

What does everyone else think about this deck?
http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=382445

It seems to me that blue/ white with a splash of red is the way to go. So many great control cards, opposing players during the RtR pre-release going against this deck were just pulling their hair out in frustration. With detain effects (looking at the spoilers i was not to impressed with this ability but then playing against/with it I got to experience how completely obnoxious it is) and overloading spells you are set to stall the game until you are ready to win. The mana fixing is incredible so playing a three color deck is incredibly easy to pull off. I actually anticipate three color decks being the norm. Thats just my humble opinion on the rotation.

@Distortion
In my opinion, take the Restoration Angel. For starters, it's a 3:manaw: versuses the more taxing 2:manaw::manaw:. It may not seem like much, but sometimes that multiple mana requirements aren't friendly to early mana bases. It also offers a lot more syncronization with your other EtB effects, which is what Flicker wants.

I won't banter on too much, but I threw together this list based off cards you were using along with others I've seen surface on the internet as RtR is ushered in.

I'll post a comment on why I took this approach on your decklist.



@PIPBoy0311
As a dedicated :manau::manaw:, this seems like the right choice. Standard's saying so long to staple counter-spells like our beloved Mana Leak, and detain definately seems like a great answer for several reasons:

1) Most of the spells are cheap and have additional benefits.
2) Detain comes in Spell form and Creature form. Nice.
3) Snapcaster Mage is still a thing.

Splashing :manar: is becoming a neccesity for these decks I think. At least to sideboard in game changers such as Zealous Conscripts or sleeve up everyones favorite Bonfire of the Damned.

As for Overload.. I'm still undecided. A couple of the cards have caught my eye but I'm still not completely sold. Although to be fair, I've yet to test or brew with them.

[QUOTE=itsjeremyseth]@Distortion
In my opinion, take the Restoration Angel. For starters, it's a 3:manaw: versuses the more taxing 2:manaw::manaw:. It may not seem like much, but sometimes that multiple mana requirements aren't friendly to early mana bases. It also offers a lot more syncronization with your other EtB effects, which is what Flicker wants.

I won't banter on too much, but I threw together this list based off cards you were using along with others I've seen surface on the internet as RtR is ushered in.

I'll post a comment on why I took this approach on your decklist.
[/QUOTE]

I do understand how playing 3:manaw: versus 2:manaw::manaw: is good. I doubt I take out either though. It's not that I'm getting bad draws, but you are right about the mana dorks getting clipped often, but I'm getting Cavern of Souls and probably going to replace the Evolving wilds with something this weekend so I'm thinking things will smooth out some with that.

In your deck list your playing eight cards that are five mana, or over. I don't really see how that is going to cut your mid-game. Mid-game for me is end game. Your turn four your going to still be setting up for your 2:manag::manag::manaw::manaw: on Armada Wurm when in reality the Thragtusk you likely will have in play is going to be setting you up just fine, and be just as plausable as a finisher that Armada would be.

In the end it's all speculation. Might have to play a few on Cockatrice once I've learned the program a bit more. haha

[QUOTE=Distortion]
In the end it's all speculation.
[/QUOTE]

Exactly. A lot of my decks are brewed with the idea 'in theory, it works.' The trick is I have lost a lot of the time to put theory into practice lol so forgive me if some of my builds are questionable.

Here's a couple other decklists I'm working on this week that I'll post up later. Including, but not limited to:

:manag::manaw: Aggro
:manab::manag: Zombies!
:manau::manaw::manar: Midrange


This thread is still open for more discussion though! If you have a build you'd like to share or discuss, please do!

there will be an even bigger rise to tokenator decks, mainly basing their offense around blood artist. i also imagine that it'll be composed of 3-4 mana color (:manaw::manau::manab::manag:) it can happen, even without chromatic lantern..

however, i'll still be playing humans coz i've already invested so much on it and it's speed is still quite unmatched in my opinion...
here's mine: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=341665

[QUOTE=Distortion] I'm not really sure how I like four of each of them seeing as they are both 4cc. It doesn't set well with me, especially with Thragtusk (playing two) being a 5cc. In the end though, if I don't play four of each the deck becomes far less consistent.[/QUOTE]

whoever told you that doesn't know a thing about deck construction. The numbers you play of a specific card depend on when you want to/can play that card (early, mid, late game) it's casting cost, the number of competing spells with the same casting cost and/or functionality and it's casting difficulty. And there are even more factors like the decks ability to find spells when it needs to (although this is more restricted to eternal formats where decks are far less random then in standard as you have access to tons of deck manipulation). Another crucial factor is the current meta, a slow meta allows for slower decks with a higher cc mana curve, in a fast meta decks will have a low mana curve and you'll not want many high casting cost cards.

Lets say Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is your kill, are you going to play a full set? Obviously not at cc8 because you just don't need to see him in the first so many turns of the game.

Lets say you want to play a deck with 6 spot removal slots, you decide on 4 Abrubt Decay and 2 Murder. Is your deck suddenly inconcistent because it plays 2 Murder? Of course not, it's the total of 6 spot removal that forms your number, not the individual cards. Also Murder has a higher casting cost so it makes sense that you play less.

I'm seeing a lot of mention of Jund Zombies (B/R/G) being a new contender with Golgari Zombies. Either way your still going to see Gravecrawlers and Geralf's Messengers in just about every competitive zombie deck.

I prefer Jund over Golgari, this is all my opinion, but I feel zombies and most tribal decks are at their best with speed. Red gives us even more concentrated removal with Pillar of Flame, Flames of the Firebrand, and Dreadbore. On top of black's awesome removal, your zombies should have a clear battlefield to chomp away at your opponent's life.

A lot of the popular Golgari Zombies decks seem to focus on the Scavenge mechanic, which is fine but certainly not the fastest.