Felixlives

what if Phalanx Leader is already untapped, do you just untap something else? or am i missing something here?

Felixlives i guess what i want to know also is once Triton Tactics is exiled from Elite Arcanist 's first part of his text, Triton Tactics is considered "the exiled card" and can be used repeatedly (like a copy of a copy of a copy?). What i thought at first was once it was exiled, it could not be used more than once.

Yeah elite arcanist gains the spell as a tap ability basically. His new tap ability casts a copy of the card without paying its mana cost. I mean you have to pay X where X is the converted mana cost of the exiled spell but you dont have to pay the appropriate colors to match the spell X can be paid with colorless mana. Also you can target an untapped creature with a spell that untaps it, it will just have no untap effect but you can still chose to target the creature and do nothing like with Hidden Strings .

+1 for me. I have a very similar deck Everyday Heroics

You should clean up this comment thread. Just wanted to tell you i finally got this deck together and it does amaising against my friends current standard decks except azorius controll recks me every time. Also i changed the sideboard to 3 charms 2 flares 3 render silent 3 detention sphere 3 swan song. Even after i sided for all of my controll elements i couldnt get past the rediculous controll he was throwing out. After i fought to get a guy out and enchated he hits him with an azorius charm i counter with pro blue gods willing he sidesteps by casting celestial flare im top decked no creatures in play he has a 2/2 bird next turn plays jace i concede

Ooh, damn. I might need to bring in some extra help for control in my side then. A lot of people here play Esper/Azorius control.

@MaliciousMac im not sure if thats enough. My sideboard is enntirely counter controll and it still wasnt enough to compete with the card drawing power of controll i was able to counter sphinx rev but not opportunity. The only thing i can think of to do differently is play very slowly never cast a spell without a counterspell handy and never attack with one creature and keep gods willing till you absolutly have no alternative. I ended up waiting till turn 3 to even play a creature against it and even then didnt attack till turn 5. This deck pwns aggro decks and black and reds burn/kill spells cant touch it.

Felixlives if you can tell me how to clean up the comments then sure.

I_H8_U_M8 at the bottom of your deck there is an update button click updat then it will give you the option to clean up comments up to this point because changes have been made making some previous comments irrelevant to the deck. I will be taking a slightly modified version of your deck to FNM this comming week and will post my results for you here. I have been watching whats hot, top decks and checking every similar deck to this to see what improvements to make. So far ive changed the sideboard and im on the fence about elite arcanist swapping for main board d spheres.

Still would like to know what people think about me using Nivmagus Elemental in this deck.

I mirrored your deck and maybe its my play style but I feel like I need to add 2Imposing Sovereign , 3Precinct Captain ,2 Voyage's End , 2Ordeal of Thassa , and 2Dauntless Onslaught for -2Artisan of Forms , -2Elite Arcanist , -1Triton Tactics ,-1Ethereal Armor ,-1Aqueous Form , -4 Phalanx Leader .

Phalanx Leader has lost me games due to his 2 white mana cost for being 1/1 and I will keep trying it out but I like how Precinct Captain can fill my board.

And also I like the scry/draw potential of adding cards such as Ordeal of Thassa and Voyage's End - that can also clear my opponent's board.

Lastly can you tell me your thoughts on Fiendslayer Paladin and Omenspeaker ? Thanks for your time and +1 man :)

Also forgot to ask about Mizzium Skin and Swift Justice which seem to me as awesome cards to sideboard or even mainboard.

Does Nivmagus Elemental work with Elite Arcanist 's ability?

Antoine I belive that with your changes you change deck's philosophy ....better build this deck around heroic.

As for Nivmagus Elemental i dont know....the spell doesnt resolve so heroic doesnt triggerd, i dont know what happens with Elite Arcanist 's copy though

@Antoine

Yes it does. Elite Arcanist 's ability casts a copy of the spell, which makes it essentially the same as casting the spell itself. Nivmagus Elemental requires only that an Instant/Sorcery be on the stack and that you control it.

@wwweee

The phrasing of Heroic "Whenever you cast a spell that targets..." does not require the spell to resolve. Once targets are declared and all costs are paid, a spell is considered cast. The act of casting the spell and declaring a target is enough to trigger Heroic abilities. Whether or not the spell resolves is of no consequence.

Skunk_Ape Thanks for the clarification.Then i approve niv!

@ Antoine with the changes youve mad a different deck completly Phalanx Leader is the centerpiece to this deck as his heroic ability to pump all your creatures is what the deck is based off of. I do like Mizzium Skin and Swift Justice but the most powerful pumps come from Ethereal Armor and Aqueous Form . I do really like Ordeal of Thassa but id have a hard time fitting it in. Drawing cards could be a game changer for this deck considering how quick it can put its hand down. Bident of Thassa has potential to draw cards but its kinda slow. I love bident in the deck tho ive successfully used it with pocket Triton Tactics to force my friend to attack very poorly, followed by me getting to draw cards from all my creatures next turn.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of having Ordeal of Thassa in this deck.

The "Ordeal of" auras count +1/+1 counters, so casting Ordeal of Thassa on a Heroic creature in this deck (except Artisan of Forms ) will end up giving that creature two +1/+1 counters as long as they are capable of attacking on the turn when Ordeal was cast. Chances are that this target creature already has a +1/+1 counter or two on it, but if it doesn't, then we can easily give it one before casting Ordeal of Thassa by targeting it with one of the many 1-drops in the deck.

In theory, this would allow us to sacrifice Ordeal of Thassa on the turn that it comes into play in most situations.

Skunk_Ape i agree i put in two in my version and am test playing it out. My biggest problem is top decking fairly quickly. I am usually able to skry at least once each of my turns but that isnt enough. Drawing 2 cards and adding 2 counters on my battlewise hopelite for 2 mana is too good to ignore.

I ran Ordeal of Thassa in my version as well, but switched to Bident of Thassa - I didn't like the idea of the card draw being subject to creature elimination. If you get two for one'd (or more if you have one of the other enchantments on the creature) then you not only lose the creature, counters and enchant, but also your shot at drawing.

Also the bident allows you to draw each time your creatures do combat damage, which means Fabled Hero nets you two cards from his double strike.

I like bident but i was originally running it as a 1 of and never was able to play it. Maybe ill try running it as a 2 of. I like ordeal because lets say t2 Phalanx Leader t3 ordeal then swing they try to Doom Blade i Gods Willing boom im good. And depending how spells resolve i could potentially draw 2 cards then. Im not 100% but if they doom blade in response to my declaration of attack then i gods willing i can potentially have 2 counters on phalanx leader befor ordeal triggers.

@Felixlives

Whenever enchanted creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it. Then if it has three or more +1/+1 counters on it, sacrifice Ordeal of Thassa.

I haven't seen an official explanation from WotC regarding the Ordeal auras, but the above wording leads me to believe that the third +1/+1 counter has to be one given by the Ordeal aura in response to a declared attack. This can still be accomplished by turn 3 in a scenario similar to what you described, but Gods Willing would have to be cast before the attack is declared rather than in response to a Doom Blade or other removal spell.

So here is the thing, The only foreseeable way I put in Nivmagus Elemental if I move Elite Arcanist to side board, drop to 3 Phalanx Leader and drop to 3 Battlewise Hoplite . With this change since my CMC would be reduced so low as 1.4-1.5 I would also remove 2 Island and put in 2 more Bioshift I know my mana colors would be leaning more towards blue then, however it is only white that has the dual white color cards. Doing this I would then have 8 1 drop creatures, 12 1 drop dual targeting spells, and 12 single targeting spells. 18 land is risky, but there are only then Fabled Hero with cmc of 3.

Also I want to add two Ajani, Caller of the Pride but that would kinda ruin the budget theme so i'm going to maybe board it for people who want to go above the required cards.

For now since this is a big change with almost unknown results for how it will play out I'm creating a temp deck to test the changes.

deck-large:temp-deck-29-10-13-1

Why the Swan Song in your side board? I guess a ten turn time bomb isn't that bad, because unless you have a flying Artisan of Forms that is what it creates.