I would greatly appreciate some constructive criticism/feedback from anybody taking a look at this setup. This deck has been constructed from the cards I currently own, so please take into consideration that I have done my best with what I have :D Thanks!
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I personally wouldn't. Black tends to be too slow and in all honesty will take up valuable card space where other blue cards can be added. This deck isn't very effective at all against a red burn deck. The only cards which keep it moving are the counters, mainly Redirect (which I know isn't a counter). So to take these out and put black in would just wreck it's effectiveness.
I would greatly appreciate some constructive criticism/feedback from anybody taking a look at this setup. This deck has been constructed from the cards I currently own, so please take into consideration that I have done my best with what I have :D
depends on your opponent. the lord has to be in this deck because he's just too useful not to be put in.
Illusion is a difficult deck to determine. Simply because you wanna start fortifying a strong field from the very beginning, but it can take time. it all depends on what cards you draw. There's no buffing up of creatures here to a speedy win isn't on the cards. Play offensive, but equally play defensive and take as long as you need I say.
Yeah I'm aware of this, but ive come to realise that nothing is actually protecting them! I;ve always got more counters if they don;t work out
I don't know where to start my friend. You said this deck has more "potential" than mine, but in all honesty it looks quite ineffective to say the least. Here are the issues I found: 1 - You have a deck consisting of 68 cards and no sideboard. You seriously need to trim it down to 60 cards and add what you've taken out into the sideboard. People think that the more cards you have the better your deck will be. This ISN'T true. 2 - Half of the cards you have included in this deck are from 'Zendikar' block, and 'M11' (cards which aren't being reprinted), which means that they will cycle out of standard when 'Innistrad' comes out. So basically in a month or two the deck will be illegal in standard. 3 - The card 'Redirect' is completely useless in an Illusion deck, simply because it only changes targets; it doesn't counter what has already happened. This means that the Illusion monster has still been targeted, despite you changing the target. e.g. "I use 'Lightning Bolt' on your Phantasmal Bear. You then play the card 'Redirect' and target one of my own creatures. My creatures does die from the 'Lightning Bolt' damage, however your bear was targeted first and therefore dies too" 4 - You have far too many creatures and not enough land (obviously this would be sorted by milling the deck down to 60 cards). Take this setup - 22 Creatures, 20 Lands, 18 Spells/Equipments/Instants etc. Through my own experience this is the most effective setup for any mono-colour deck. You don't need anymore than 20 lands (22 maximum). 5 - There is too much variation between cards in the deck. This isn't the most effective method to take. 6 - Think about adding cards which buff up your creatures without actually targeting them. You will find that Illusion creatures only die if a spell/ability targets them directly. Cards such as 'Levitation' which state "Creatures you control have flying" don't actually target any one creature specifically, and therefore provide your creatures with flying without destroying them. I hope you take this into consideration. Really good effort though :)
Yeah I've got copies of both of them. Tried them in the deck, but didn't prove to be all that useful. They cost too much to use in all honesty, and the deck plays relatively fast. There's enough proliferate through the afflictions and prowlers anyways. Thanks for the feedback though :)
Hmm, I don't really know what you're trying to do here. I've got a few pointers you can look at. Just hints and tips: 1 - There isn't nearly enough focus on keeping the illusion creatures out of harms way. You need more counter spells, because 6 isn't going to be all that effective. 2- Get rid of AEther Figment, as it's doing nothing for you. Equally you don't want to be spending 4 mana on Azure Mage to just draw a card. Divination only costs 2 mana and you can draw 2 cards for that. 3 - I have no idea why Solemn Simulacrum is in here either. If it's in there for a bit of extra land, then I wouldn't worry as the illusion creatures don't cost much to get out anyway. I would personally replace them for 4x Adaptive Automaton. 4 - For a mono-blue deck, you have too many lands. 20 is probably an ideal amount, which leaves you 4 extra cards for you to include. I suggest some more counter spells! 5 - Frost breath is nice, but I'd replace them with Ice Cages instead. Purely because they cost 1 less mana, and they often re-direct your opponents spells and abilities away from the illusion creatures. Plus ice Cages are permanent! Your sideboard seems alright so, I wouldn't really change that. Mind Control is a nice edition by the way. I hope these pointers have helped you! :) I know you mentioned it's only a simple deck, but a few changes might be beneficial. Have a look at my illusion deck if you like (I haven't tested it yet, so it could be rubbish, and everything I've mentioned on here could be completely wrong!): http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=210632
Yeah this deck looks pretty good, but I would suggest you consider your defensive capabilities. 12 low level creatures aren't going to protect you for long, so consider the speed at which you can apply your poison counters. This has to be a fast paced infect deck for a weak defense to work effectively. Consider cards such as "Caress of Phyrexia" or "Go For The Throat", cards which will destroy your opponents offense and apply heavy poison damage at a relatively low cost. I only say this because it will just be your luck that you come against a Green/Red Beat-down deck which just obliterates your 20 Life Points before you've even had chance to get going. I hope this helps!