by gum, you're right. :)
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Doesn't persist only work the one time? The text reads "if it doesn't have a -1/-1 counter on it" Even though the +1/+1 counter would work to keep it's power and toughness up, it still won't persist past the 1st time unless you actually remove a counter from it.
I agree 100%- that's why I liked the idea of a little added ramp of your own. It's just for the 12 mana you spend to cast the armor, and equip it, you could have destroyed mulitple lands, and if you really feel like it, lightning bolt them in the face for fun and a little extra damage incase the melt terrains and roiling terrains hadn't finished them. It's just that the ornithopter is basically a dead card or chump blocker without the armor (which could have gone on an acidic slime just as easily), and there are other things to spend that hard earned mana on than the armor. I love this decks ability to counter valakut and caw-blade both, though. Between liqui-metal coating and the artifact hate, you are overloaded with spot removal for anything- what's that? Jace the Mindsculper? don't mind if I do destroy him for a 1 mana crush.... lol
Desperate ritual is efficient...if you have 2 or more, you can splice them onto eachother to multiply effect. Rite of flame isn't the best for the first one, but the 2nd is a red dark ritual. The 3rd and 4th are ridonkulous. Seething song is pretty efficient, as well. Depending on your budget, I've always liked a good chrome mox or two. Not great for card advantage, but great for mana. Those are some of my favorites, anyway
If you're playing in eternal formats, don't worry about those weenies with weenies. If you need to defend against them, there will be too many to deal with anyway. You want your fatties fast. Think about this kind of speed...a phyrexian dreadnought deck as a 12/12 trampler turn 2. A Darkdepths deck, has a 20/20 indestructable flyer turn 2. Burn decks will have you dead turn 4-5. Anything not speeding you up, is slowing you down...only decks that can afford to go slow are control decks. Pull them out, and use those spots for your ramp.
I agree with surewhynot... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Alright well that completely changes things. I would consider simian spirit guides- they can help things go a little faster. Also consider desperate ritual- if you can pull 2 of them, you can splice 1 onto the other, and get just that much more mana at once. Extraplanar lense is a godsend of mana ramp in anything that's non-green...but it is dangerous. If you end up playing against a burn deck, you just committed suicide. Also, creatures like bloodmark mentor, while nice to give your dragons first strike, don't really fit the theme. If you wanna power out dragons, than fill that spot with some more ramp.
Argentum armor seems sooo clunky to me. Without a way to cheat it out faster, that's 12 mana just to destroy a first land- sooo much more can be done with that mana. How about replacing the armors with the splinter twins? Perhaps replace the ornithopters with birds of paradise? Just a little extra ramp to get their lands in destroy mode faster? Land destruction seems like a perfect counter to Valakut Ramp- but you've gotta get it going by like turn 3, or it doesn't matter anymore.
I'm confused. You call it a Dragonstorm deck...but you don't even have Dragonstorm in it... You need 4 copies of 1 dragon in a Dragonstorm deck- bogardan hellkite. that's it. the rest is mana ramp and storm fuel. think like this- turn 1, mountain. turn 2 mountain, rite of flame, seething song, seething song, desperate ritual, pyretic ritual, dragonstorm. Pull 4 bogardan hellkite, deal 20 damage to opponent. Something like that. I also like things like manamorphose- pure storm fodder. My dragonstorm deck also has other win conditions, like empty the warrens. Storm 14 goblins into play on turn 1-2, and you're probably gonna win anyway.