I like it overall! I would recommend Despise over Duress simply because with the Vryn Wingmare you already tax opponent's non-creature spells, so Despise will remove the creatures that are the easier played cards and heavy aggro can be a problem if you don't hit that Archangel of Tithes. Just a small difference but may make big difference. Good luck!

Oh also, I strongly recommend some mana fixing like Caves of Koilos, Mana Confluence, Temple of Silence or maybe even Scoured Barrens since you have so many double or even triple mana symbols. Those mana symbols also make Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx that much more awesome.

i think kythean would be better then soldier of the pantheon,have you playtested with him?

FullmetalWes, thanks for the comments, I actually do like Despise over Duress for that reason you stated, good call!

N7soldier, I do like Kytheon, Hero of Akros  ^Flip, and I think I'll put him in here after Theros rotates out, but right now, I like the protection and lifegain from Soldier of the Pantheon.

I'm doing something very similar: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/orzhov-constrict/

I like Heliod, God of the Sun over Brave the Sands because it's more relevant later in the game. Big indestructible creature and a mana sink. It will also help you round out your mana curve a bit.

Think about Eidolon of Rhetoric at least in the sideboard. Slows aggro decks and helps control "control" decks.

With your Knight of the White Orchid you will be set for mana. It's nice to find a mana sink for late game. Kytheon's Irregulars can be helpful. You can definitely stand to put in a big "win condition" sort of creature.

Are you willing to compare notes with mine? I go deeper into the creature side of death and taxes to accommodate the Wingmares. I use Relic Seekers to tutor up artifacts, and use gods like Athreos, Heliod, and Erebos to both tax again as well as keep a steady stream of creatures incoming.

A Taxing Experience Playtest

Standard* TheNinjaJesus

SCORE: 6 | 1 COMMENTS | 845 VIEWS

Thank you both, LukasLJohnson and TheNinjaJesus, but some of your suggestions will rotate out of standard shortly. A big thing I want for this deck is to still be legal, with some inevitable minor changes, after BFZ comes out and Theros and M15 rotate out.

TheNinjaJesus, I like your use of Relic Seeker and have put him in temporarily, especially to search for Godsend, or for Sword of the Animist or Sigil of Valor, which is what I might replace it with, depending on what equipment comes out in BFZ.

Have you thought about Spear of Heliod rather than Brave the Sands? I know that means you would lose the benefits of an archangel with vigilance, but I personally think it's the stronger option, until rotation.

Thanks for the input, but I really want to maintain as much of the deck as I can after rotation, and I also think Brave the Sands works better in the deck, especially with the archangel.

Why not add in Cambal, consol of allocation from kaladesh to drain your opponents when they cast non creature spells. Even though you have wingmare im sure opponents will still cadt non creature spells so this will give you another way to tax them. Instead of Thalia why not authority of the consol's its a one drop and takes care of the creature aspect thalia does and nets you some life as well.

I was actually just thinking of putting Kambal, Consul of Allocation in instead of Vryn Wingmare for the added bonus of allowing me to run more non-creature spells.

I think I'll try out Authority of the Consuls as well and see if it suits the deck better than Thalia. Thanks for the thoughts!

Declaration in Stone > Silkwrap it does the same thing at the same CMC and speed but also gets multiple of the same target. which is very good against tokens.

SharpJs you're absolutely correct. If you don't mind, could you comment on Fatal Push vs. Fragmentize for dealing with Copter?

in your build I would say Fragmentize is the better choice, Fatal Push deals with creatures specifically which you have plenty of. You currently have 0 ways to deal with Artifacts and enchantments. Although you aren't in a ton of trouble outside of Copter in this format, But more will be on the way and I can guarantee WotC is gonna put some crazy stuff in on future sets.

While we are switching cards around, Bloodsoaked Champion is good for aggro but not so much here. it can only come back after you declare combat on your turn. A better choice is Scrapheap Scrounger which can come back at anytime and doesn't require your weakest color until later in the game when you have to push through a little damage.

Thanks for the input, those are good points.

I originally had Bloodsoaked Champion in here because that was in Standard at the time, but I can definitely switch that out.

Nice deck! I want to suggest some cards, like Thraben Inspector (Good 1 drop, but I see you're not running copters, so I don't know), Fairgrounds Warden (Sideboard vs deck with a lot of creatures, combos with the strangler), Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (Good vs some pairings, I would put 1 or 2 in the SB), Anguished Unmaking (Hits a lot of stuff, combos with strangler) and Lost Legacy (Good vs combo, pairs well with strangler).

I did put in some Anguished Unmaking, that's just good removal.

I feel like I don't really need Fairgrounds Warden because I already have a good amount of removal for creatures. I may put in some Thraben Inspector after I play around with the deck, but I've just seen that not many other decks have many 1 drops I need to worry about blocking (except for Atarka Red) and I feel like I'd have to take out cards that synergize with the deck to make room for it. Also, with some testing, I may need to put in some amount of Infinite Obliteration in the Sideboard, but I left it out for now because I'm not sure I'll see much in my local meta.

Which decks do you think Gideon, Ally of Zendikar would be good against?

Eternal Scourge is fun with Scrapheap Scrounger and is an all around solid card.

Cool deck. Have you thought about Zulaport Cutthroat in place of maybe Wasteland Strangler or scrapheap scrounger? Obviously the deck doesn't need zulaport, and maybe those wouldn't be the right cards to take out for it, but it certainly fits your decks theme of punishing your opponent for playing magic. Just a thought.

Eternal Scourge and Zulaport Cutthroat are both good creatures, but I'm not sure they fit super well in the deck. Scourge probably wants to be in a deck where you are constantly casting it to always have a creatures, whereas I think I have enough creatures to not have to rely on one creature coming back every turn to have a board presence.

Cutthroat as well wants to be exploited (pun intended) by sacrifice enablers and eventually winning the game by killing your entire board or something.

Please feel free to correct me if you think that's wrong because I'm not claiming my thinking is 100% right.

I appreciate the comments though, so thank you both for taking some time to help!

I would add in the Thalia, Heretic Cathar at least on the sb (maybe that's just cuz I'm biased towards her tho lol)

Ps if u do add her, go with the Thalia, Heretic Cathar art :)