aaronmaxey says... #2
right now Mistcutter Hydra and Boon Satyr are the first cuts for Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Iroas, God of Victory . I will have to playtest with Aurelia, the Warleader because the cost of her seems so specific. Thank you for the suggestions!
May 1, 2014 10:40 a.m.
While Nyx-Fleece Ram is pretty good, it doesn't really fit the theme of "monsters". Side them and put them in against aggro. Scavenging Ooze is really good, but in a 3 color deck it will be harder to consistently hit the green source that you need. A buddy of mine plays Naya midrange, and he plays both Boros Reckoner and Fleecemane Lion but sides Loxodon Smiter . Maybe give that a try?
May 14, 2014 9:04 p.m.
aaronmaxey says... #4
Thanks acdc17! I was thinking about siding Loxodon Smiter in favor of Boros Reckoner in the Main. I need to playtest with it more. I do really like Loxodon Smiter because of the pressure he puts on the board, but Boros Reckoner , while being a tad more mana specific, also applies pressure and is a pain in the ass for my opponent to deal with...right now it is a toss up. Right now I am not thinking Scavenging Ooze will make not it because the deck has no removal spells to feed him creatures effectively. Another card i was thinking about was Bow of Nylea because it synergizes with Archangel of Thune with the life gain, makes blocking my creatures even more of a struggle, and can buff my guys if I need to/have extra mana at the end of turns.
May 14, 2014 9:28 p.m.
Seems like the deck could benefit from a little more consistency in the early game, judging by the account in your update. Is there a compelling reason not to run the full four of Elvish Mystic and Voice of Resurgence ? It looks like your only problem is a deficiency of playable 2-drops: Boros Charm is likely to be a misplay, so if you don't nail the Caryatid and/or can't get Courser or Loxodon out in time then you're likely in deep sheep. VoR is a really powerful card at any point in the game regardless, I'd say running it would really help smooth things out.
As far as what to cut, I guess Elspeth, Sun's Champion and even Ajani, Mentor of Heroes are the most likely candidates to my mind. They're higher cast and have the least synergy relative to other stuff you could drop. Elspeth in particular should be a no-brainer: she's the toughest to cast, her first ability doesn't do anything you can't get elsewhere, her second ability is unplayable, and if you haven't won by the time you hit her win-con ability then something's very wrong indeed.
Cool stuff overall. I think taking care of the 2-drop problem would really kick this up to 11. +1
May 14, 2014 9:31 p.m.
If you really want to keep Ajani, maybe Experiment One is your man as well? Even easier to cast, he'll ramp nicely with your bigger creatures, and he's tough to remove (which is a big part of the reason I recommended 4x VoR earlier).
May 14, 2014 9:35 p.m.
aaronmaxey says... #7
Thanks for the Suggestions Millicent.Scrystander ! Well the reason I dont run 4 Voice of Resurgence is...well...I dont own 4..and they are a pain to trade for. As for the fourth Elvish Mystic I have been tinkering with it and everytime I put a fourth one in I always get it when I no longer need it. I agree with you on Elspeth, Sun's Champion it has been very underwhelming to say the least I have been thinking about adding Iroas, God of Victory or Domri Rade in her place. I do really like Ajani, Mentor of Heroes he is awesome!
May 14, 2014 9:37 p.m.
aaronmaxey I see! That definitely tears it. Well regardless, any 2-drop with a bit of defensive stopping power should do. Like acdc17 said, Fleecemane Lion is a nice substitution. He's got a point about favoring Loxodon for the sideboard as well I think, the guy's a tough cast as a 3-drop and his discard shenanigan isn't much help against non-black. Since the problem is ramping to your 3-drops efficiently in the first place it's worth considering for sure.
Love the idea of adding in Iroas or Domri; probably like Iroas more but both could work depending on what else you change to accommodate. :)
May 14, 2014 9:51 p.m.
DawnsRayofLight says... #9
In testing with my list, Courser of Kruphix has been lackluster. Selesnya Charm needs to be in here, too much utility and I don't know about your meta, but mine loooooooooooovvvvveesss Black lately, so Master of the Feast and Notion Thief shenanigans and Desecration Demon , the charm gets rid of those guys and give you extra reach. Electrickery is quickly becoming one of my favorite board cards for Notion Thief , Brain Maggot , 90% of monoblue's guys, etc.
My suggestions in a nut shell:
MAIN
-3 Courser of Kruphix +3 Voice of Resurgence
-3 Loxodon Smiter +3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
-2 Boros Charm , -1 Aurelia's Fury +3 Selesnya Charm
I might look into going up 1 of each of the walkers, they are all-stars in my list.
BOARD
3x Unflinching Courage : apparently Boros Burn is still a thing
1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed : Control and Mono black
3x Mistcutter Hydra : monoblue and control
2x Boros Charm : control
1x Deicide : the Banishing Light serve the same purpose
1x Xenagos, The Reveler : monoblack, midrange, and control
1x Iroas, God of Victory : helps in the mirror
1-2x Electrickery : monoblue, black if they love their maggots, white wennie
1x Aurelia's Fury : mainly for midrange matchups
1x Selesnya Charm : monsters, Black devotion and variants
I have been needing to revamp mine because of all the black variants running around (monoblack, monoblack aggro, BG devotion, UB Tempo, BUG Tempo). I need to rebuild my damn Bant deck, if I can beat black I win against 90% of my meta and that list guaranteed it -_-
...sigh
May 14, 2014 10:24 p.m.
DawnsRayofLight says... #10
And maybe I need to be considering a 1 of Aurelia's Fury in my main, that card seems too good right now.
May 14, 2014 10:26 p.m.
NerdPounder says... #11
I'm not so sure about Aurelia's Fury , think about it, you have to pay 5 for a Lightning Bolt . The mana inefficiency just makes the card unplayable in my opinion. Mizzium Mortars might serve you a lot better in that spot, as well as maybe 1 or 2 of your charms coming out for that. Domri Rade , (I know you have probably thought about the card and have a good reason for not running it) I can tell you from playing against it a lot in the last few days, that card is really good. It fits so well with your "lots of big creatures" theme. I would probably take out the Elspeth (like it was said before, a Monsters deck can't really use the -3, and you'd probably like to win the game before an Elspeth can become a factor, otherwise you're playing right into the hands of a control deck. Other options to up your number of Domris could be Loxodon Smiter , not that the card isn't great, I just think Domri would fit better for your deck, also some number of Selesnya Charm (that card has always seemed lackluster to me, I usually only run it in the sideboard of decks for Desecration Demon or a mirror). If it was my deck, I would probably take out Elsepth, 2 Selesnya Charms for him. The reason I think he is so good is because he is good against every deck, especially if you ramp into him. The card draw really helps you against control/mbd/any other attrition deck, and the removal helps against everyone else. Also just having a planeswalker that is that cheap can put a lot of pressure on control opponents.
Just my humble opinion =) also you get the Courser/Archangel/Domri super combo, hahaha.
June 30, 2014 11:42 a.m.
apple41792 says... #12
Have u thought about Purphoros, God of the Forge or Ajani Steadfast ? Purphoros, God of the Forge combos well with Elspeth, Sun's Champion and with all u creatures will usually be at least 2 damage a turn. And Ajani Steadfast can help u play offense and defense with his plus 1 and can help make your creatures stronger and add loyalty counters to the other plainswalker and if you ultimate him all you or a plainswalker you control will be taking is 1 from even the latest of creatures.
August 3, 2014 9:20 a.m.
NerdPounder says... #13
Looks pretty solid, the only thing I question is the Aurelia's Fury , seems like Clan Defiance would do the same thing but better (except for the random times when not casting noncreature spells matters).
I have a question that could help you out a lot in sureing your build up and will help me with a deck I'm working on as well, what cards are really good against you? If you were to sideboard one card in against yourself, what would it be, and why?
I ask because I've been working on a deck that I've really started to build confidence in, but I just got it handed to me by a Naya monsters build. I'm pretty sure he got lucky (I drew three Abrupt Decay's in a row while he had an Archangel out and I never saw a Hero's Downfall or an Ultimate Price), but if it turns out to be just a bad matchup for me, I would like to know what cards I should include in my SB for it. Here's the deck if it helps you answer my question: Kill all the things! -- Rock Midrange Thanks in advance!
August 3, 2014 5:16 p.m.
aaronmaxey says... #14
apple41792 Thanks for your imput! I will play around with those cards and see if they will make the cut!
corythackston I like Aurelia's Fury because it can allow me to make my board unblockable by tapping all of my opponents creatures, or just shooting their face. Another bonus is after I cast it and none of their stuff can block, they cant just use a Doom Blade or Hero's Downfall to save them from the likely lethal Damage. As for cards that suck to play against... Its no surprise that Thoughtseize just kills this decks momentum. Your deck looks well equipped to stop Naya Monsters as it has plenty of spot removal. Sweepers like Cyclonic Rift and Supreme Verdict that kill all my ramp are pretty good too! I used to run a BUG Superfriends deck that was heavy removal and counter based and it can destroy this Naya deck pretty well. I think for you something that makes sense to sideboard in is Erebos, God of the Dead . That makes Archangel a crappy 3/4 flyer haha. Overall, Thoughtseize lots of removal, both sweepers and spot, and erebos really give this deck fits post board.
August 4, 2014 9:51 a.m.
I really like Advent of the Wurm and think you should find room for it. Also might wanna play Celestial Flare to get around hexproof/indestructible.
August 4, 2014 10:12 a.m.
NerdPounder says... #16
@aaronmaxey okay, I appreciate the help!
I guess the evasion makes sense with Aurelia's Fury, it probably helps a lot in midrange creature matchups where boards just build and build.
DawnsRayofLight says... #1
Iroas, God of Victory + Aurelia, the Warleader = Alpha Strike
Xenagos, God of Revels + Aurelia, the Warleader = 18 on her own
See where I am going with this? lol
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes deserves a spot, he and the other walkers synergize too well. Ajani and the Xenagos walker makes a 5/5 haste every turn, Ajani and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is 3 2/2s every turn. Ajani fetches Garruk, Caller of Beasts and gives him a card to -3 when ajani searches in his stead.
Mistcutter Hydra may want to make his way to the board, he is a blow out for monoblue, but kinda of weak against other lists. Courser of Kruphix in testing with my naya monsters list was kind of iffy, he helped at times and I am still debating him, but Brimaz, King of Oreskos as a 2 of and a one of Iroas, God of Victory and Chromatic Lantern has done me just as much good. Boon Satyr is not a bad card, but you have access to much better cards and he is a tad more aggro. Boros Charm , I see why it is in the deck because it is saves your guys from kill spells and adds bonus damage one way or another, but if you need room you might consider moving that card to the board.
April 29, 2014 10:47 a.m.