new theros set deck. compare

@Grabnar

Being as your deck and mine only share 7 cards (outside of land there are 3 Boros Reckoner s and 4 Chained to the Rocks ) I feel the comparison is somewhat lacking. Considering that Phalanx Leader needs more creatures to be effective and that Heliod, God of the Sun benefits from white intensive permanents I feel he earns his keep apart from his general efficiency as a creature.

Beyond that, while the Charm is versitile, it is a one-time only effect whereas the Captain helps my field grow over time. If you have a supplemental reason as to why I should remove him then I would be all ears.

oops sorry i forgot i changed it a bunch this morning and made it a lot more red than it was before.

Soldier of the Pantheon -> Phalanx Leader -> Boros Reckoner / Anax and Cymede

Legion Loyalist -> Ash Zealot -> Chandra's Phoenix / Boros Reckoner / Anger of the Gods

also I looked it over again and i think you should substitute Brave the Elements for Boros Charm instead. Boros charm has the same effect for one more mana, plus it can target a heroic ability while giving it double strike. You said your main objective was to get Boros Charm into the sideboard. I'm just telling you the way I think is best.

@Grabnar

I appreciate the suggestions, definitely.

As for Brave the Elements vs. Boros Charm I would probably be willing to give a split a second shot as the Charm can save my Chained to the Rocks in addition to its other functions which are clearly not insubstantial. The reason that I'm still running 4 Brave in the main isn't only as protection from removal but also because it lets me alpha strike with general impudence.

I'll definitely give your suggestion a shot next time I've got time to play. Thanks for your input!

If you're in the market for heroic enablers, Martial Glory is actually a really great one. It targets two creatures, gives great stats for the cost, and the first strike on Coordinated Assault is usually not worth it if you're already running things like Anax and Cymede , Fabled Hero , and Favored Hoplite . I highly recommend Madcap Skills , at any rate. Typically, you only need to play it once on a creature like Anax and Cymede or Fabled Hero and the opponent just dies.

I agree with Velox

@Velox

Before very many Theros spoilers were out I had a full set of Martial Glory in here. I really like the card and wish that there was more space for its re-inclusion. As for Coordinated Assault being weak on first/double strikers and Captain Self-Damage Prevention, you do have a point, but, I have to say that it has come off much better than would be expected. (Also, I'm not actually playing Fabled Hero )

There has been several times where I'm facing down things like Arbor Colossus , Polukranos, World Eater , Obzedat, Ghost Council and similar and need to take it down without losing much of my board because they survived the first strike part of combat.

Admittedly Martial Glory will usually replicate the results as it offers an extra point of power but, as Favored Hoplite , Soldier of the Pantheon , Phalanx Leader , Heliod, God of the Sun and Boros Reckoner don't naturally have first strike (ignoring the Reckoner's ability at the moment) it has been more effective than I think many expect at suddenly turning the tide of a combat and adding a lot of power (Through Heroic triggers and the extra two from itself) while still being able to target Soldier of the Pantheon (which Martial Glory unfortunately cannot).

As another ancillary benefit, Coordinated Assault costs half as much as Martial Glory which makes it easier to drop things like Dragon Mantle and Ethereal Armor while leaving the option for this or Brave the Elements up.

As for Madcap Skills , I really like the enchantment, and its probably good enough to make the deck, but, its the same case of not having a spot to really cut anything IMO.

The case for its inclusion is also usually exacerbated because I usually use Brave the Elements to save my creatures from things like Mizzium Mortars and the like. Because of that I'm concerned that Madcap Skills may end up falling off more often than I like. I'll be sure to give it its fair due in the playtesting as it does a lot for the mana, though. (Dragon Mantle suffers a little from this too, but, I use it more because its a 1 CMC cantrip for Heroic with the potential for Firebreathing ).

Besides all that, I will definitely take your suggestions under advisement. Thanks a lot for the input! (And thanks to Grabnar for chiming in again)

This deck is exactly the kind of thing I've been looking for over the past week or so since the full spoiler came out. I pulled 2 copies of Heliod in my pre-release and have been trying to figure out how to build a deck around him.

At first I wanted to go more this route with aggro cards, but given that vigilance is generally a defensive stat I started wondering if he would work better in a midrange/control deck. Given that I enjoy aggressive decks more I'm glad I saw this. +1 good sir!

With regard to playing a more controlling deck with Heliod, I had been toying with the idea of using the vigilance to post combat play out Devout Invocation or pay for the ability on Titan of Eternal Fire , although I really don't love either card a whole lot. Maybe it would be better in a more heavy token based strategy? Time to start brewing a Selesnya version...

Finally got my decklist together now that yours gave me some inspiration. Would love to get your feedback on it, I'll be playtesting it presently.

Vigilant Devotion

In comparison to your deck, I have only the Phalanx Leader with heroic, so I've included barely any spells to target with, just stuff to protect my team and help them win combat basically. Not sure how easy it will be to get to late game with enough creatures out to use the Devout Invocation very effectively, and at the same time worried that it won't be fast enough of a deck to truly fulfill the role of an aggro deck.

So, in a very minor update, I've opted to go for the 4/2 split on Soldier of the Pantheon vs. Favored Hoplite . In terms of raw consistency I prefer the Soldier as he dodges all sorts of stuff.

Examples being Abrupt Decay , fused Turn / Burn , Reaper of the Wilds , Burning-Tree Emissary , Domri Rade 's fight ability, Xenagos, The Reveler 's Satyr tokens, Obzedat, Ghost Council , all the offensive Charms (except for Golgari Charm 's wipe ability) and similar.

I don't know if you've considered Strionic Resonator as a 1- or 2-of? Sure, you never want to pick two up in the same opening hand as you lose all your tempo... but putting it in as a feature, it has some really solid interactions with most of your cards. The most powerful ones being Chained to the Rocks (double-removal on turn three makes opponents very, very sad) and Boros Reckoner , though it works to buff every heroic trigger in your deck, Dragon Mantle 's cantrip, Temple of Triumph 's scry and Precinct Captain 's combat damage effect...

hey. like the deck. may i make a few suggestions based on a white weenie deck ive played with extensively? i'd remove Chained to the Rocks in favor of Banisher Priest ...you are playing aggro; you need creatures. if the opponent is trying to remove Banisher Priest they aren't removing other things. not mention theres nothing more satisfying than Brave the Elements when they try to spot remove Banisher Priest . this is similar to the Blind Obedience vs Imposing Sovereign debate in white aggro decks. Imposing Sovereign always wins. i understand you have a some enchantment synergy here, with Ethereal Armor and all, but wouldn't you feel Spear of Heliod or Path of Bravery would be more effective?

Favored Hoplite is not a card i would want in here, again as someone else mentioned, a lack of reliable heroic triggers, most of which aren't instant speed. other great one drops to consider are Judge's Familiar Boros Elite .

Dragon Mantle ? why not Madcap Skills or perhaps as someone else mentioned Gods Willing ?

Boros Charm mainboard....you need something for Supreme Verdict . and the other 2 utilities also win games.

lastly....Boros Reckoner at 4....always.

i like the originality you have, i just think a fine tune on the mechanics wouldn't hurt. at least consider it.

good luck with the deck.

I read what Djinn had to say. The main thing that stuck out was 4 boros reckoner. IDK if you are esper control. If you are running either white, red, or both. you want him in there. if you are playing boros, then you want 4 no matter what. Him alone has probably won me 1/3 of my games.

What do you think about adding a Ordeal of Heliod in the deck, would work pretty well I'd think

Hey! How has the deck worked for you during FNMs?

awesome