safearus: How interesting- it seems like we have very different strategies in mind. You, for most of the cards to be so inoffensive that the opponent would feel bad about removing them, yet would overwhelm him/her over the course of the game.

My strategy more focuses on each card being so dangerous, that the opponent is shunted into a lose/lose situation no matter what they decide to remove.

I think Lightning Greaves is fine, mostly because this deck is not without it's high priority targets at the moment. Mirran Crusader and Knight Exemplar would be the biggest targets for hate, even without Lightning Greaves . All Lightning Greaves does is make it a bit more difficult to get that hate out when they hit the battlefield.

As for counters, between AEther Vial (which does not count as casting a spell, and cannot be countered) and Cavern of Souls , my deck actually has a ton of defense against counter decks.

On the subject of Elspeth, Knight-Errant , I have her for her -2 ability more than anything else. A surprise +3 and flying on a Mirran Crusader can be a game ender.

However! You've sold me a bit on removing the ol' gal, as her mana cost is... bleh. Do you think I should throw in another 2x Steelshaper's Gift ?

The reason why I don't want to run 1x of each sword btw is for a little resilience against artifact hate. Sword of Fire and Ice will in all likelyhood be instantly nuked, and since I have no recovery, I'd like to be able to throw a second one out if need be. 1 is just too flimsy.

Where the Angel is concerned, I'm personally fine with her in the deck, as she's a 2-of. She adds a lot to the deck, and I like her flavor. At worst, she's a 4/4 flyer that's a great carrier for the swords if the enemy has some annoying defense set up. If things are going well, I can always throw down a Cavern of Souls to make her uncounterable, and if she does get countered, then I can bring her back to my hand with Sword of Light and Shadow if need be.

Different strategies I agree. However the difference might be playstyle.

I see the deck as something I want to swing in every turn to put extreme pressure on my opponent. Drop their life total ASAP. I just believe that adding a few 0 drops and removing some of the more expensive cards from the list allows to have more of a combo-aggro feel. Just as an example I've shared a private deck with you that is based from this. Let me know what you think about it and what changes you would make to it, maybe we could begin brewing together on here and have some good times doing it!

:)

PlattBonnay: I'm curious, what do you think of Godsend /Moonsilver Spear ?

I think that both are really expensive (mana cost) for modern, if you wanted an effect like Moonsilver Spear you would be better off splashing blue and adding Geist of Saint Traft to your creature base. Both are powerful effects, Godsend being an amazing rattlesnake effect and the spear being a great aggro effect but, as I started with, I think that they are both very expensive. If you were looking for an expensive equipment to play I would suggest Batterskull because it triggers puresteel paladin and at worst is a 4/4 vigilant lifelinked beatstick that you can replay over and over for card advantage if it becomes super late game.

PlattBonnay: True. Not really up for splashing blue just for St. Taft. Now, if the creature was an artifact, the extra draw every turn would be worth it...

I've heard of Batterskull before, I think it's supposed to be the best "living weapon", right? It's pretty good from what I see, but a bit too expensive for this deck. Right now, if I'm correct, I think this deck is juuust straining between full on aggro and slight midrange. I don't know if it has the power to really bring to bear if things get to midrange, though, so investing in 5-6 drops doesn't seem like a good idea.

On that note, what do you think of getting rid of Elspeth for either 2 Wrath of God or 2 Steelshaper's Gift ? On one hand, her second +1 could be a game ender when paired with a Mirran Crusader , on the other hand, Wrath of God is a reset and it's great to have those in modern, on the other other hand, Steelshaper's Gift is Steelshaper's Gift .

Actually I think that safearus might be on the right track with some of the 0 cost artifacts. Maybe try dropping the elspeths for a pair of Paradise Mantle . It would trigger Puresteel Paladin , and I can't imagine you want to be swinging with your paladins since they are your draw engine so you could equip them with the mantle for a little bit of mana acceleration.

PlattBonnay: The issue with that though is that I don't really have anything to spend that kind of mana on. I have 2 4CMC creatures- that's it, and on top of that, I have 3 AEther Vial s. If I don't have enough mana, there are far more serious problems going on than what Paradise Mantle could fix.

Of the 0 cost artifacts, I could see Accorder's Shield or BoNeSaW being better, with Accorder's Shield being first pick among those.

I mean, if we're going to do low-cost artifacts though, might as well pay the 1 mana and throw in Basilisk Collar .

Actually, Silverskin Armor is pretty neat...

Silverskin Armor would make your creatures more vulnerable due to all of the artifact hate in modern.

PlattBonnay: Mm, true. It would make Indomitable Archangel a requirement, not a nice bonus. What do you think: Bone Saw , Paradise Mantle , Accorder's Shield or Basilisk Collar ?

Or should I just replace Elspeth with Wrath of God or Steelshaper's Gift ?

probably Accorder's Shield so you can have creatures on offence and defence, I love Paradise Mantle because weird storm was one of the first modern decks I built so I know how useful it can be.

PlattBonnay: I was thinking Accorder's Shield too. The only thing Goyf hates worse than Mirran Crusader is Mirran Crusader with vigilance :P

Do you think it's worth a 3-off, and if so, what do I cut? The Steelshaper's Gift seems like the most immediate card to cut, which makes me a little sad. Maybe there -is- merit in running 1x of each sword, and 3 Steelshaper's Gift , although I really, really don't like the fact that I wouldn't have a backup if it getss nuked.

I think that the only sword you need two copies of is the Sword of Fire and Ice , and maybe two copies of Sword of Feast and Famine , but you definitely don't need two copies of Sword of Light and Shadow . If you're cutting Elspeth, just cut one sword as well and then you have room for 3 shields.

PlattBonnay: True, true. Stick with the 1-of Steelshaper's Gift ?

Just want to point out I believe you're missing one thing about Puresteel Paladin . When you mentioned Geist of Saint Traft not being an artifact because you won't draw from artifacts. You only draw when equipment hits the field which is why I was originally wondering about the Darksteel Citadel use. It turns on metalcraft which rocks but won't trigger the paladins draw ability

PlattBonnay, safearus: I'm going to playtest the current and proposed iteration of the deck tonight. I am also considering cutting out one of each sword, adding +2 Steelshaper's Gift , and using the newfound tutor power to extend my equipment base.

I don't really want to go beyond 3 mana for the equipment, as that would overload the average CMC of the deck, Imo. At the moment, I have three options for artifacts that could add something special to my deck I would like your opinions on each of them.

Sunforger : Would need to splash some red, but the ability to play either Brave the Elements or Path to Exile on a whim is undoubtedly insanely useful. That, and +4 on Mirran Crusader is reaching I-hit-ko potential, when combined with other artifacts, etc.

Godsend : Advantage- makes my bruiser beefier, and has a nice exile effect. Disadvantage- lack of color protection for my doodz.

Kusari-Gama : Con- Does not immediately make my dude beefier. Pro- potential for mass token removal. Also, lack of color resistance.

Loxodon Warhammer : Pro- Trample and Lifelink are super useful. Con- lack of color protection.

Going this route would turn my deck into more of a 'swiss army knife' than a powerhouse, something that I'm not really sold on, but am considering. What do you think? I personally don't have the Modern Format experience to say which way could possibly be better.

Sunforger is an extremely powerful piece of equipment however wants you to play a lot of instant speed spells in your deck that are red/white or spells that can finish off opponents quickly such as Hidetsugu's Second Rite or Lightning Helix or Overblaze or maybe even Soul's Fire .

Godsend is quite the solid piece of equipment. It makes people think twice about attacking or blocking. It's a removal magnet for sure.

Kusari-Gama is fairly strong however situational. Not all modern decks run creatures, making this more of a sideboard kind of card.

Loxodon Warhammer is great, and trample is nice. But I feel like you shouldn't need the life gain or the trample to make a solid effect.

:)

PlattBonnay, safearus: Blarg. Just had a playtest with the deck, and it has a lot of problems... although I was fighting against my friend's casual mono-black vampire deck. He managed to use Dark Ritual and Crypt Ghast to dump his entire hand on T3 4 matches in a row... so I'm really not sure how productive a session that was. In 7 matches, though, I never once got a Blade out. I learned a few things, I think: The Accorder's Shield felt like a dead drop, most of the time- even when I was able to use it to draw another card, it's actual impact on the game was mostly minimal- although that was maybe because all of my friend's vampires had flying...

I'm not really sure what to think regarding the deck's efficacy at the moment xD

honestly...playtesting a deck that is built specifically for one format against a deck that just uses whatever cards it wants doesn't give you a proper idea of how well it works. You would never playtest a standard deck against a modern or legacy deck, and its the same thing here. Sure its fun to play some games with the deck in a casual setting, but you should be playtesting your modern deck against other modern decks to get an actual feel for how competitive it can be.

Yeah, that was my bad. I'll probably proxy some of the top 8 modern decks, and see how well it does against those.

Probably a good way to go. Dark Ritual is really powerful card when it plays against decks that have no answers for it (like Force of Will ). I played my Zur's Toolbox deck against a friends mono black casual deck that basically every game went T1 ritual into something dumb that I just couldn't respond to fast enough.

looks good to me

I had an idea for some sideboard tech for this deck: Mana Tithe

In any matchup against a white weenie deck like this, no one is going to expect to have their spells countered so a deck like twin would probably try to go straight for the combo, playing Pestermite or Deceiver Exarch on T3 and then Splinter Twin on T4. Adding a couple copies of the colour shifted Force Spike would probably surprise a lot of players and make them more cautious in game 3, even if you boarded them back out, which would give you more time to get your card draw engine going and start swinging.

PlattBonnay: Hey, that's an awesome idea! What do you think of Norn's Annex or Ghostly Prison ?