Brainstorming: Budget issues

by Gothy on 08 March 2015

Main Deck (60 cards)

Sideboard (15 cards)

Instants (3)


Planeswalkers (2)

Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.


Deck Description

This week we are going to pop back to standard, because it is easier to talk budgeting in a slightly less 'competitive', by which I mean turn 2-3 kills, but we are going to discuss how to build a very competitive deck, such as the one above, while managing your finances, because hey, we all have an expensive hobby!!

SELECT A DECK YOU LOVE:
To build an expensive deck, it really has to be a labour of love, I know how cliché that is, but you have to put time and money into it, so it is silly to go into it half hearted. The way you really fall in love with a deck is to play your archetype and experience with it, find those neat interactions which add an extra dynamic. Once you've fallen in love with the deck, it's time to bite that bullet and build it on paper.

SELECTIVE BUYING:
By selective buying, I mean only buy what you really need to, and most of the time, that is those cheapish rares and commons and uncommons that are hard to find. Obviously you should always support your Local Game Store, but they might not give the best prices. For expensive cards that you need to buy, scour Ebay, EU Card Market and whatever good American sites there are, being English I only know the ones this side of the Atlantic. Although those in New York should check out Montasy Games! However, try and do as little 1 card buying as possible, because it is the most liquid capitol you will spend.

BULK AND SPECIALS:
Sometimes it is reasonably easy to pick up a collection that someone is trying to sell off on the cheap, people are also more likely to sell you their singles than to trade at a knocked down price, which is especially good if you struggle with your own collection of trade fodder, although we will discuss fodder a little later! Specials like the Duel Deck series, or the Clash Packs, can be a cheap way to get cards you want, for example Elspeth, Sun's Champion is the same price as the whole of the Duel Dec, and you get Kiora and all the other fun cards. Courser of Kruphix and Hero's Downfall are available in Clash Packs, which could also give you a good starting point.

TRADING:
Trade Fodder, trade fodder and trade fodder! If you can pick up some cards people need, then you'll always be more successful in your trades. Get your bum down to local tournaments to chat to people and to hopefully trade with them. Friends are more likely to give you a sweeter deal if they know you're going for a deck, but don't over really on that: no one likes a scrounger. At larger tournaments people are more likely to use SCG, but make sure you price so you get a fair deal, there are unscrupulous people out there! Trade for your deck for the most part, people are willing to help someone aiming for a goal, I certainly look kindly on people trying to improve their games with a deck they believe in!

THE BIG PAY OFF:
Now you have completed the deck you can begin to try and gain a bit of money with it! Just get yourself down to tournaments, and do what your deck does best, moreover you then gain more trading fodder from prizes, thus expanding your trading folder and allowing you to sell off those cards that other people are trying to get that you've won!

I really hope this will support those who are now bored of budget or just want a bit of a change, I just want to disclaim that I'm not slamming budget decks, just trying to give people more options! Again, I'll support anyone who wants it, sorry about the pace of replies on the last article, I will do it, I tried to this morning but I had a terrible hangover!

Good Luck and keeeeep Brainstorming!

How to Play

Attack with your beat sticks, whilst slowing down your opponent's plans, it's Abzan, simples!

Deck Tags

  • Brainstorming
  • article
  • Standard
  • Advice

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

25
Likes

This deck has been viewed 4,594 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

23031023

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for Brainstorming: Budget issues

1 tip for standard that ive heard is to pick 2 colors you like to play and keep your deck to those 2 colors for a few years then you can use the other colors for trade and when new cards are released you can watch your colors for cards that you might want. then after a few years of playing the same 2 colors in standard it also might be easier to play those colors in modern.

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 00:05

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Yeah but why 2 colors in a format optimized for 3? Staying standard is never and will never be cheap.

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 02:59

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You could always play 4c like I've been doing.

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 03:00

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2 colors Is cheaper you can always splash a 3rd and standard will not always like 3 color decks if you run 2 main colors and stick to them you will better learn the strengths/ weaknesses of your colors and better gauge what new cards will be good in those colors

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 03:17

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I completely disagree, build the deck you really want, hey it could be 5 or mono colour, but as long as you enjoy it, it will be worth it, but never keep a standard deck the same for more than 1 rotation, speaking from experience it doesn't work

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 08:18

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Thinking of bringing back mono blue devotion. Could use some help.
http://www.mtgvault.com/kjsj3/decks/mono-blue-devotion/

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 15:48

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go 4 color or go home:)

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Posted 17 March 2015 at 17:50

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This is the current 4c list that I'm working on.
http://www.mtgvault.com/kjsj3/decks/answer-me-this/

@gothy, and updates to the deck list above?

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Posted 26 March 2015 at 16:48

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I don't really update the lists, I like to leave it to the individual, like if I built Abzan aggro, I probably wouldn't play this 75

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Posted 27 March 2015 at 17:01

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What are people's thoughts on dragons of tarkir?

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 03:01

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im liking the new sarkhan planeswalker ill probably build a temur dragon edh after dragons come out the new narset looks more your style. im still hoping for zendikar fetches but I havent seen them spoiled yet

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 03:24

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Narset is Beautiful.

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 03:36

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That set has me drooling at each new tease. So many good new cards that are going to be so much fun to play with

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 19:09

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KJ will literally nerdgasm till the floor is covered in a thin film of nerd semen... apologies for that image... but control is getting a big old boost

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 19:25

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Already did my happy dance, but that comment wasn't exactly called for. I'm sure there are other ways to tell people how much I love control. HURRY UP AND GET HERE DRAGONS!!!...

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 19:49

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Ye but I want to people to find control disgusting ;) totally not biased, and totally not gonna play Mono-Red 1 drops ;)

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 19:53

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I did a 2hg standard fnm while I was out of town. 1st round opponents ran mono red aggro and orzhov warriors. They didn't like my rakdos Control deck. Then again, no one in the tournament (besides my partner) did. (Took 2nd)

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:02

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Green/White devotion is interesting quite now, If I was gonna do 2 headed standard, I'd play Green/White devotion and Abzan

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:05

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I ran rakdos Control. My partner ran simic devotion.

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:06

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Not something i would have thought of, I know Rakdos controland aggro are a thing, but simic devotion?

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:08

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It was interesting. Worked quite well. I'd like to see it when he's fully finished with it.

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:14

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is it tier 1?

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:21

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It is in fact standard. Remind me what the type/tiers are again.

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:24

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quality of deck basically, its in any competitive format

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Posted 11 March 2015 at 20:28

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Posted 14 March 2015 at 19:13

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I wouldn't go so far to say F-. narset will be nice for control decks she might even make modern. the new sarkhan will be interesting. the set seems to help edh more then modern/ legacy. it will make some changes to standard.

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Posted 15 March 2015 at 06:24

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The set is heavily aimed to change the standard meta from being 'Midrange or die' which makes it A* that wizards are really trying to shake things up!

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Posted 15 March 2015 at 09:08

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Posted 15 March 2015 at 15:13

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Well some people do, so clearly if you can't see everyone's opinion then you can't judge it for everyone.

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Posted 15 March 2015 at 19:11

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Posted 15 March 2015 at 22:34

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Posted 16 March 2015 at 00:20

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Does anyone even like this dude? Always has something negative to say.

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 03:45

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 15:02

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I'm just saying. There's a reason majority of your posts get down voted. More than once.

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 16:05

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 17:16

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lol. There goes the downvotes again. There's nothing wrong speaking speaking your opinion, but you don't have to do it in such a rude manner. Just because you like "LOL LEGACY INFECT TEH BEST", has literally nothing to do with the upcoming set. They aren't going to go out and make you some brand new infect cards to have fun with. Why should we care what you opinion is, especially when it's a bad and poorly thought out one? Like, why even state it?

From your comments I've gotten that your play group sucked so you kept winning and "got banned from playing there for being too good". You have a huge ego, probably not very good anyways, and I'm willing to bet you got banned for being an elitist.

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 20:46

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 21:25

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Dragons of Tarkir has nothing you will play? Are you sure? Do you even run forest or islands breh?

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 21:42

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 21:47

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There goes that elitism again. Pro tip for the future, instead of being condescending about everything and thinking your the best player out there, try to help people who (you think) are worse than yourself. It will help them in the long run, keep them playing, keep the game alive, create a better community, and you will have more friends. And who knows? Maybe you will learn something from them.
...
Bye!

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 22:09

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But elitism is how you enjoy magic. Isn't it?

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Posted 20 March 2015 at 11:49

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I just lol'ed

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Posted 20 March 2015 at 17:22

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Sorry guys, that guy just kind of irked me with all the negativity. We may have a small population on the vault, but if we want it bigger we don't need people who just act like everyone else sucks and doesn't even attempt to help. Hell, isn't deck assistance what the site was for?

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Posted 20 March 2015 at 19:44

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Don't worry about it, I got so annoyed with certain elitist comments, I didn't post a new article, I'll hopefully do one this week!

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Posted 21 March 2015 at 09:04

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I agree with all the points here. Though i never bought on-line i probably ended up spending more on entry fees to only get 1 or two boosters to trade with.. ... id say build a deck from what you have. asses the meta and spend accordingly to match or slightly exceed the card quality of your top 8 players.

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 08:51

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Dude don't spend money online, use cockatrice

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Posted 09 March 2015 at 18:55

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I think he means ordering online Gothy

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Posted 12 March 2015 at 04:42

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Sorry, the thing about entry fees made me think of MTGO

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Posted 12 March 2015 at 18:42

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Same here.

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Posted 12 March 2015 at 23:46

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Sorry for the late reply. What are the fees like for your magic events? For me its £5 for standard. £11 for draft. And about £20 for prerease. 8/4/1 prize structre.

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Posted 17 March 2015 at 13:27

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£3 for standard/modern £10 for draft and £25 prerelease

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Posted 17 March 2015 at 19:11

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Hi gothy! I'd like you to see my mardu deck, and see if you have any advice!
http://www.mtgvault.com/ladon229/decks/standard-mardu-aggro/

All advice is appreciated!

...well...except for suicide suggestions...

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Posted 20 April 2015 at 00:15

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I typically don't play standard constructed, but here is my deck.

http://www.mtgvault.com/couch312/decks/monoish-green-jank/

Suggestions are welcome, just keep in mind that I typically don't buy into standard unless I believe a card will maintain value.

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Posted 12 March 2015 at 00:17

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Looks similar to my Abzan deck. It goes more toward Aggro but it works well. http://www.mtgvault.com/lorddeathseed/decks/abzan-aggro-reforged/

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Posted 12 March 2015 at 01:57

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Yeah......umm
http://www.mtgvault.com/kjsj3/decks/bant-devotion/

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Posted 15 March 2015 at 14:18

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i give likes to any deck i see with a long deck description as it shows thought, and effort has been put into the deck and the point the deck is trying to make.

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 06:12

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I'm not exactly going to type out a long description on my phone that I'm on 99.9% of the time I'm on the vault.

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 06:16

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well i don't discriminate against decks without descriptions, the deck just needs to wow me enough to make me want to like for being either high competitive or highly creative. But a deck with a long description shows that a person cares about something enough to make a Wall of Text which takes a dickton of time on a phone. Which is where I usually use mtgvault myself, as I assume others do.

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 06:25

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I'm waiting till on a computer to put a description/how to play for this deck. Who knows, you might like it.
http://www.mtgvault.com/kjsj3/decks/4-modern-men/

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 11:31

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I'm waiting till on a computer to put a description/how to play for this deck. Who knows, you might like it.
http://www.mtgvault.com/kjsj3/decks/4-modern-men/

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Posted 19 March 2015 at 11:31

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What are your thoughts on this janky deck?

http://www.mtgvault.com/couch312/decks/impact-the-battlefield/

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Posted 23 March 2015 at 01:10

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Really love reading these articles you've been writing the last couple of weeks, and with the new set in mind i've been brainstorming/playtesting a Temur Control deck that seems like it could be quite good, and was hoping you could take a look at it, since I don't have a lot of experience building control and am looking for other experienced players for input. If you get the chance take a look a this, and thanks regardless. http://www.mtgvault.com/pain42/decks/draconic-control/

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Posted 24 March 2015 at 04:14

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Decisions, decisions. I could use some help with this. Guess what. It has creatures :).
http://www.mtgvault.com/kjsj3/decks/defensive-assault/

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Posted 24 March 2015 at 17:46

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why not add hardened scales and Avatar of the Resolute gives you a ig creature for only 2 green mana and works well with ajani metor of heros along with the hardened scales pratically doubling ajanis +1

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Posted 22 April 2015 at 19:13

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Hardened scales does nothing on its own, so I won't play it because in top deck mode, everything HAS to be action

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Posted 22 April 2015 at 19:47

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id substiute the warden of the first tree for Avatar of the Resolute

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Posted 22 April 2015 at 19:16

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but I don't want 12 1 mana spells

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Posted 22 April 2015 at 19:47

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http://www.mtgvault.com/gothy/decks/brainstorming-here-be-dragons/ New article guys enjoy!

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Posted 22 April 2015 at 19:47

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