Avacyn Rogue Decks

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Cableguy

21 May 2012

4063 views

A lot has happened since my last article. Most prevalent is the release of Avacyn Restored and my Rangers on their way to win the Staley Cup. Life called and I have been extremely busy. So I hope you can forgive me for my absence. Anyways, let’s get down to what I want to discuss today and bring to the table.

Rogue decks! As if its any surprise that I like rogue decks. It’s a new season which means new powerful brews that are overlooked. I am going to save my favorite for last so I’d stick around if I were you :P

First let me bring to your attention the new Tempered Steel:

Neo Steel (AVR)

Standard* Cableguy

SCORE: 11 | 6 COMMENTS | 1542 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

It’s the obvious and basic shell of Tempered Steel but lets look at the cards that change it.

Angel's Tomb: This card is SWEET enough said. Its another glint hawk idol that triggered when ANY creature enters the battlefield, not just an artifact. Not to mention it’s a big flying body that avoids sweepers and sorcery kill spells.

Scroll of Avacyn: Maybe not the most powerful artifact right now by any means and as such is the reason it is a 2 of. The scroll is an obviously cheap draw spell but in situation when you also have an Angel's Tomb in play you can also gain a decent amount of life. I mainly added this card for spice and it can be replaced.

So yeah, not a big change to tempered steel at all but I feel as if it has been neglected. With Angel's Tomb we now have a very powerful finisher that has very good reach and is out of the way of a lot of dangerous and powerful spells.

Let’s take a look at control now. Anyone who has read my previous articles knows that I love Grixis; but I figured I’d do UW Control.

UW Control (AVR)

Standard* Cableguy

SCORE: 4 | 4 COMMENTS | 1242 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

A LOT of cards were added to my UW control to make it effective.

Cavern of Souls: Kind of an obvious added card. The ability to always have Sun Titan or Stonehorn Dignitary land is HUGE as it can turn the tides of a battle instantly.

Restoration Angel: A nice card for battle tricks like flickering Sun Titan on your opponents turn to bring back Oblivion Ring that hits whatever. It kills Delver of Secrets  ^Flip and it ramps well with Solemn Simulacrum.

Temporal Mastery: A 2 of…but I feel like I wouldn’t be out of line to run 4 as it will just stomp late games and get you prepared in early games.

Entreat the Angels: A great finisher whether or not you miracle it.

Terminus: A great cards that laughs at undying creatures.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage: An obvious control planeswalker that can be very nasty to your opponent. A potentially great draw engine, and effective lock down. Not to mention the ultimate is absolutely bonkers.

I personally feel as if UW Control is in a good position right now so long as it applies elements of fog, ramp, draw power, and board control. The swarm decks right now are very strong and I would consider 3 Pristine Talisman to further the ramp and gain life.

Ok I lied…sort of. I made a Grixis control but I have tested it thoroughly enough to feel confident in showing it to the masses…that or I just don’t want people to steal my ideas ;D, not really.

Alright so you’ve somehow managed to make it to the end of the article. I bet you REALLY want to know my favorite deck right now (you probably don’t but cut me some slack). Before I show you the deck I have to try and convey to you how strong it is right now. I have tested this deck about 50 times against the last few tournament top 8 decks…each one. I have NEVER lost. There were some very close matches but somehow the deck always came through and won. It has stomped the top decks on here never even losing a match. As we all know it could be from luck but that’s why I test a LOT and tune to perfection. I am not saying it is perfect but its definitely nearing its perfection.

The primary reason why the deck is performing so well is because the format is still very aggressive and almost always involves attacking to win. Some control decks win by the opponent conceding, but it’s almost always won by a very strong aggressive or tempo deck, if not ramp (which also wins by attacking). So how do we win? Build a better battlefield? Control? Well simply put, a LOT of the decks use effective control to dominate the battlefield Doom Blade, Vapor Snag, Fiend Hunter, etc. So…what happens when you have 0 creatures? Well its makes a great chunk of the opponent’s library ineffective and more susceptible to dead draws. That being said I introduce to you my version of Turbofog.

Turbo Fog (Avacyn)

Standard* Cableguy

SCORE: 10 | 20 COMMENTS | 3510 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

It looks simple and it is. The numbers are perfect and the only true weakness to the deck is Oblivion Ring but when you have 3 dissipates designed only to hit such things it makes it less tough to fight against. Let me break down the roles of the most important cards.

Jace, Memory Adept: The primary win condition. It should be noted that Jace should only hit the board once your stable and at less risk of him being dealt with. Cheap substitute could be Increasing Confusion if not better but that’s why its in the side board as well.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage: Locking down the beat down. Goal with her is ultimate her ASAP. Her ultimate + fog = GG.

Day of Judgment: Battlefield control. More kills.

Terminus: Another board wipe that’s very strong.

Temporal Mastery: with the ramp its very easy to cast without miracle and easily wins games and is an obvious fog as well.

Rites of Flourishing: A ramp spell plus gains you access to your fogs quicker and helps reduce your opponent’s library.

Elixir of Immortality: Keeps you from decking out and gains you a substantial amount of life.

As always let me know what you think. Rate and vote the decks if you like them. Criticism and questions are always welcome.