This is a good old pet deck of mine. I love the idea of a deck that can put out good damage early & also have a late game plan in case games go long with expensive spells. Also love the color combination, so that helps. I'm thinking of adding a 3rd color though, but I'd figure I'd post the original deck first so people can have some insight as to my changes. Please post any comments or ideas you have to make this deck better or for the splashes I could make.
Here's some of the key cards/ interactions to keep in mind for this deck:
Ephara, God of the Polis: Ephara's not entirely new, but some people still haven't caught on how good she actually is: She's got insanely good stats as a creature; is not that hard to get active with cards like Detention Sphere, Precinct Captain, Brimaz, King of Oreskos, etc; & she rewards you for playing creatures by drawing you cards. Sure, the card you draw is on the next upkeep, but with some clever tricks, like making a creature with Heliod, God of the Sun on your opponent's turn, you can be drawing 2 cards on your turn & one on theirs. Seems like a good deal.
Heliod, God of the Sun: Perfectly costed at 4, this good ol' Sun God makes combat awkward for your opponent by giving your guys vigilance & can make 2/1s for 4. Sometimes games go long, & you end up drawing a lot of land or have a lot of white mana symbols in play & a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. That's where Heliod truly shines. He's also got insanely good stats as a creature, so bonus points there.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos: 3 mana for a 3/4 with Vigilance that makes vigilant 1/1's for attacking or blocking? Sign me up! King Kitty here has seen some Modern & Legacy play, & this deck is built to take full advantage of him & his Cat army. 2 is good enough for me, but I might make room for a 3rd just to up our odds of drawing him.
Lavinia of the Tenth: Now, here's an interesting pick. A 5 mana 4/4 with pro red? How does she make it into this deck? Well, she's an amazing Arrester for the Azorius guild & for us, detaining all our opponents permanents that cost 4 or less. That means she can enable us a free all in attack step with no risk, barring some kinda haste creature. She can also detain a troublesome Jace, Architect of Thought, Domri Rade, Xenagos, the Reveler, or Kiora, the Crashing Wave, so that helps. It's also a joy to cast this card, have my opponent read it, then watch the ensuing look of horror as they realize what's about to happen.
Dictate of Heliod: Instant speed +2/+2 that adds 2 Devotion to our 2 Gods & mucks up combat math for our opponent? Sweet! Not a bad 1 of, to be sure, but probably too expensive to run 2.
Rapid Hybridization & Supreme Verdict: Stormbreath Dragon. Blood Baron of Vizkopa. Obzedat, Ghost Council. Sometimes our opponents cast these cards, which Detention Sphere & Banishing Light simply can't deal with & they need to be dealt with immediately. These 2 cards deal with them one way or another, or we can punish an overextended aggro player.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Games can go long with a deck with ours, especially if we don't draw an aggressive start. Elspeth gives us a bunch of tokens to hopefully apply pressure against our opponent, or can kill some troublesome monsters. Also works well with Ephara & adds 2 Devotion to our Gods. A fine 1 of, but 2 is way too much main deck.
Our sideboard is geared to help grind out our control opponents, with cards like Jace, Memory Adept, the second Elspeth, Glare of Heresy, & Negate.
