It's time to prove everyone wrong!
5 Color Gates can actually work, now that it's gotten the right tools. (Note: this deck is built for Bo1.)
Gates are slow!
You bet they are! Every single one coming into play tapped really is a bummer, and it certainly slows a deck down a lot. Luckily, in THIS deck, the spells you want to cast are cheap, so it becomes a matter of getting to the point where it doesn't matter. When all but 3 cards cost 3 mana or less, it's a matter of stabilizing and taking over.
Board control and late game inevitability
With 7 "turn 4 wraths" and 8 early and cheap life gain effects, withstanding the early assault doesn't sound all that impossible. Late game, those ETBT land drops actually become useful, either for drawing cards via
Guild Summit
or getting back a tough-to-handle body in
Gate Colossus
(or both). Throw in a few more late game, recursive or hexproof threats and you've got a plan to win!
What's toughest about it?
5 Color Gates requires, well...5 colors. Instead of putting all eggs into the
Chromatic Lantern
basket though, this deck relies on the 4 land fetch, the 4 five-color lands, and a manabase aimed at ensuring the colors you need earliest are most abundant. It could be a bit risky, (the mana base is definitely the toughest aspect of this,) but the breakdown should put a green, a red, and a white into your hand by the time you hit turn 3. Needs testing, but that's the plan.
What are the key cards?
Gates Ablaze
- the only reason this deck can work. This sweeper takes care of all the problem creatures, up to, and including
Carnage Tyrant
, the bane of control decks. Speaking of
Carnage Tyrant
...
Gate Colossus
- also conveniently blocks him all day, forces exile effects to prevent a never-ending threat supply, ignores most chump blocks, and will ultimately be FREE to cast. Cool, eh?
Guild Summit
- ensures the deck doesn't run out of gas, turning each late game land drop into a free (or nearly free) 8/8 creature.
Plaza of Harmony
- it's the only land that allows for casting on-curve, it fixes mana, and it provides free lifegain against the early assault.
Open the Gates
- Gotta get the right mana on time, right?
What are the weird card choices?
Being designed for Bo1, this has a unique set of cards meant to handle a variety of situations:
Dawn of Hope
- this is the best card against
Adanto Vanguard
, provides a buffer against RDW, and can actually put a small amount of pressure on control decks while drawing a decent amount of cards.
Bedevil
,
Mortify
, and
Invoke the Divine
- not weird necessarily, but together they offer 2 ways to handle each of problem artifacts, enchantments, and creatures, plus a planeswalker, whichever the matchup calls for.
Mission Briefing
- the additional copy of every instant/sorcery in the deck (which all top out at 3 cmc except for one, so it shouldn't really ever be too expensive). Use as needed.
The rest...
The rest of the deck is all about getting to the end and wrapping it up with a neat little bow. A few draw cards, some more removal, some lifegain, and some finishers.
Let's give gates the respect they deserve!
