U/G "Bogles" Aura Hexproof.
This deck aims to get in a lot of damage quickly via Auras and Hexproof creatures. It can pretty consistently get turn 4 or turn 5 wins, and is very strong against decks that run a fairly heavy removal suites (e.g. Jund, Burn, Grixis Delver, etc.). The deck's weaknesses are that it's fairly susceptible to Board Wipes (i.e. Supreme Verdict, Wrath of God, Day of Judgment, Planar Outburst,
Damnation
, Anger of the Gods (although with the latter not as much)), and Sac-Outlets (i.e. Blessed Alliance, Celestial Flare, Geth's Verdict,
Cruel Edict
, Liliana of the Veil etc.); but we'll talk about with how to handle these things later.
I basically made this deck out of frustration of having my Edric, Spymaster of Trest,
Jhessian Thief
,
Ohran Viper
, & Noble Hierarch swatted by Bolts, Terminate, Path To Exile, Abrupt Decay, etc.. Although I ran Vines of Vastwood & Blossoming Defense to protect these creatures, having to use these cards to protect my creatures ended up taking away from the aggro strategy too much, so I thinned the deck down to the basics: Hexproof Creatures & Auras.
So why all the Aura spells..? The answer is simple, see: Auramancer's Guise. This is the Daybreak Cornet of Simic Bogles, and as such, it is usually a game-ender (unless an opponent is holding a destroy/exile target enchantment/nonland permanent spell, which is rare at best. Yet before I can get to the high CMC of Auramancer's Guise, however, I first must apply a high amount of pressure via multiple stacked Auras on A
Slippery Bogle
/
Gladecover Scout
. The best turn 2 move is undoubtedly
Rancor
and
Unstable Mutation
on one of them to attack for 6 damage trample (with a toughness of 4). A good turn 3 move could either be the conservative play of playing another creature and a low mana aura attached to the first - now big - creature, or alternatively, an aggro strategy of stacking on as many auras as possible; in preparation for an imminent Auramancer's Guise on the following turn. The appropriate strategy truly depends upon what you're playing against though.
Regarding the sideboard, The Feed the Clans in the sideboard provide the tempo (that I'm missing from Daybreak Cornet) against faster decks like Burn, whilst the
Stubborn Denial
s and Mana Leaks help protect the deck from its vulnerabilities (i.e. Board Wipes). Melira, Sylvok Outcast - which I'm planning to accrue more of (2-3 total) - helps to deal with Infect and Affinity match-ups. Melira, Sylvok Outcast works especially well with this build because of its synergy with
Unstable Mutation
.
Natural State
and Naturalize both help against Affinity as well as with Control decks that seek to shut you down with
Blood Moon
, Engineered Explosives, Oblivion Stone, and/or Chalice of the Void.
The maybeboard represents this deck's future. Eventually, when I have the money, I will definitely go for a Bant build, specifically for Daybreak Coronet. I already have 4
Spirit Link
for the very ridiculously absurd & arguably unfair "Double (stacked) Lifelink"; so one version would run those two cards and keep Auramancer's Guise as well as the higher amount of land that I'm currently running. An alternate version of the Bant build actually drops Auramancer's Guise for Ethereal Armor (along with dropping the
Boar Umbra
s, which would be swapped for Daybreak Coronet anyway regardless of the version). This would cap the converted mana cost @ 2 & thereby lower the amount of land which in turn opens up more slots for white cards. I'm leaning more towards the Auramancer's Guise version of the Bant build, because it makes for a more formidable build that has additional opportunities to pull one of the vigilance powerhouse auras. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it though, as the Ethereal Armor version requires a less intensive mana base and is thus arguably the more efficient build between the two. I know one thing for sure though, which is that when I do finally make it to the Bant build, I'll be running the Modern-Legal
Force Spike
known as
Mana Tithe
.
