The Revolution was the name given by many players who knew and played against this deck. It is a deck which had a reputation of sweeping everything that comes in its path. The question is, how it began and how this deck started?
It was in 2013, I began playing Magic the Gathering. I knew about the game from a bloke in my local game store when I wanted to return back in Yu-Gi-Oh but instead I was attracted to the game. The bloke told me that an intro pack was the best to start my path as a sliver-bending planeswalker. It was in March 2013, I purchased an intro pack, the name was Simic Synthesis from the set called Gatecrash, the second set in the Return to Ravnica block. I was very excited to see what MTG has to offer and once I received my intro pack, I started by cracking my pre-constructed deck and of course, the two booster packs (one of them had a Gideon, Paladin of Justice) and the other was a Zagana.
Days after purchasing my intro pack, I started by watching online tutorials on the official MTG YouTube channel. I remember, I had a small table and tried the steps as stated in the tutorial. One week after my first MTG purchased, the bloke at my local game store recommended me to buy the Fat Pack. He said that it is a great product for starters. That time I had 11 booster packs to crack!
I received my Fat Pack, I took another tutorial on the internet about how to build my first MTG deck. I remember the tutorial saying that a 60 card deck is made of 24 lands, 24 creatures and 12 spells. I followed that pattern and built a fair deck (it was not good but that time, it was just my first attempt).
In July, I remember I was browsing on Ebay and saw the new set, the 2014 Core Set. I was very excited until I buy another fat pack (after that not so special set, Dragons Maze) which was the box that has given birth to my sliver deck. I cracked nine booster packs, I hoped that I wanted to pull a Chandra. I cracked them all, I had no Chandra but I had cards of which I had no idea what they are.
In October 2013, I started another semester at college in Malta. I was strolling in the garden inside the college and I saw a group of students chatting and playing cards. I went next to them and I realized that they were playing Magic the gathering. I met two students, one of them was an experienced player and one was a rookie. The student taught me how to play the game and we practiced together. He has a Red White Boros deck. I remember that I lost sixteen times against him. He told me to get all of my cards so that we can build a deck together.I met the same player again with all of my cards packed in my Fat Pack box. I had a deck box (a promotional deck box from Ninth Edition) and I opened my Fat Pack box. He looked at my cards and he told me You have a lot of Slivers; you should build a Five Color Sliver deck?. He started by choosing the best cards I owned. He started by forming the deck that it has now become a dominant force. I chose the best spells and land cards for the deck (I had a Temple of Silence) and we formed this deck together. He then play tested the deck against his and he said It works, this is your deck now. It was a four color sliver deck and he warned me to sleeve the deck as soon as possible.
We met regularly every day, I had a mono-black deck and of course my Sliver deck. We practiced together and he thought me the rules of how to play the game. Once I got home, I updated my iPad and downloaded Magic 2013 to learn more, it was a fun game and I recommended it to anyone new to the game. The AI was great and in every game, it was a challenge which has improved my skills in the game.
It was that month when I joined their group. They introduced me to FNM. Every Friday was a day all dedicated to Magic the gathering. I purchased my Theros Fat Pack and I cracked them all. I was very curious to see what is going to be in the upcoming set, Born of the Gods. I stated by playing a few casual games to keep improving my skills. I wanted to become a competitive Magic player but I have to see and understand the machanics. I learned the terminologies of the game and I started to understand every word written on the cards such as Lifelink, Deathtouch, Undying and so forth. After a few Fridays, I started by investing some money on accessories and bought a pack of Dragon Shield sleeves for my deck and my first EDH deck. With every Friday passing by, my skills started to sharpen and I became a casual player.
The first tournament, I competed was the famed but prestigious, National Championship. I remember that I build a standard deck from a fat pack which was a green-black deck called Kinesis which became the deck I compete with due that I have complained that the sliver deck was too slow. When I competed for the first time at the tournament, I ranked second place which was a good start for me.
After the first tournament, the 2015 Core Set was released and purchased my last Fat Pack. I cracked some packs and I pulled a blue sliver which I thought that it was the final piece of the puzzle (but it wasnt) and when I met my friend, he tested it and he said that I have done a good job.
After the good news, I had my black-white lifegain deck with me and the Anglo-Russkii deck was under construction. That year, 2014 I started to buy singles from the UK. Once I received the cards in the mail, I got into the Modern format and fell in love with it that as a result, I quit the Standard format and the 2014 Core Set rotated out of Standard.
Months after I competed in the second edition of the National Championship and I finished second place with my lifegain deck. I remember that I went on vacation for a month and once I returned back in my home-land, I was unemployed. I bought the Magic Origins Deck Builders Toolkit and a few packs with it. That time I really wanted to buy a booster box but due that I did not had a job, I said no to it until I get a paid job.
In December 2015, I decided to upgrade my Sliver deck and I started to browse the website magiccards.info which had all the cards displayed. I chose the cards and that day, I purchased my first lot which costed me only ten euros. I decided to make the deck for both Modern and Legacy (I was introduced to this format with the original Conspiracy set) adding an Extra Deck which I can use to change my deck from Modern to Legacy and Legacy and Modern, it was a perfect idea.
A day before the national holiday, I purchased a Sliver Hivelord from magiccardmarket.eu for five euros from an Italian bloke who wanted to sell it. It was a bargain to me and I bought it without thinking. In the UK, the card was nine euros then I bought a Virulent Sliver, Shifting Sliver and a Frenzy Sliver. I waited until the cards arrive. A week later, I purchased a Screeching Sliver, Lymph Sliver and a flying Sliver (which was not Modern legal) and eight poison counters (I made the other two myself).
I turned to the mana base and I started on getting rid of the tapped lands to make the deck faster. I remember, I pulled my portfolio and took out my Caves of Kolios, Battlefield Forge and the Mage-Ring Network from my card box (it has an Elspeth on it). Then later that day, I bought the KMC Hyper Mat and the Perfect Fit sleeves and a Crystalline Sliver.
My deck was finally complete in February 2016, a week after I cheered that I finally got a job. I upgraded my deck and played against an opponent, it worked smoothly and I won many games during the Raging Raven Face Off tournament of which I won it myself, representing Team Competitive.
In 2016, a League system for the National Championship was made. It was my third year to compete. My Sliver deck was known as the Sliver Ultimatum. I started to be very excited for the tournament of which I finished second place again. After that defeat a rivalry between me and the current National Champion started.
I was on vacation on September 2016, I was thinking again of upgrading my deck to its peak form, I started by the mana base again. I was on a vacation and baught two booster packs (one of them has a Foreboding Ruins) and after I returned home, I baught a Dark Depths for my Extra Deck, a Llanowar Wastes, Galerider Sliver, Near Death Experience and an Elspeth, Knight Errant. I took out my portfolio and took my Wooded Foothills and put it in the deck. I baught some tokens to compliment my Sorin, Lord of Innistrad card and a Marit Lage token for the Dark Depths. Since the last upgrade I have done, I still have four cards that need to buy for the sideboard but I cannot buy them before I get a well paid job.
The total value of the deck was 265 euros which is not a budget build but it is a deck I love, has a lot of sentimental feelings that has a career and a reputation as being the hardest opponent till date.
In 2017, a new season will start and the new name for this deck will be the Sliver Revolution.
