When Weenies Wage War

Modern RoyLancaster

SCORE: 89 | 79 COMMENTS | 17502 VIEWS | IN 63 FOLDERS


Xuande12 says... #2

So I've continued to play this, it's been really fun against control and decks that rely heavily on creature removal. The one card that really hurts it is Languish, I know Negate helps and Clash of Wills helps but what about sideboarding in Eerie Interlude if the opponent shows up with a Languish, Planar Outburst, Archangel Avacyn  Flip? Not only would it save all the Spirits but it would be hilarious to blink back an Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit then a Bygone Bishop then whatever other spirits (like a Topplegeist shackling whatever creature they save from the removal all the while it pumps to 2/2 off of Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit are out, just repumping everything and adding clue tokens to fuel the deck.

I really like how this deck plays mostly on opponents turns, it's super annoying and fun. Have you play tested it yet? What problems have you run into?

April 12, 2016 9:14 p.m.

RoyLancaster says... #3

I'm glad someone has taken an interest to this! Blink effects are some of my favorites, so the recommendation of Eerie Interlude is a very exciting one.

My problems seem to come from the deck performing a bit slow in the beginning sometimes, losing out to heavy aggro, and if I don't get a Rattlechains, the deck feels kind of clunky. Any reccomendations for that? Keep in mind that ones with Flash or at instant speed are best. :D

April 12, 2016 9:26 p.m.

Xuande12 says... #4

So I've had time to play test this deck in real life now that I've built it. It's straight beating people down and they get frustrated from losing to an annoying spirits deck :)

The only main board change I made was +1 Bygone Bishop -1 Clash of Wills. It just plays too fast.

April 19, 2016 7:31 a.m.

RoyLancaster says... #5

You, sir/ma'am, must get a lot luckier draws than I do, because I end up with awkward squandering for options whenever I play, lol. But it's really nice to hear it doing well for someone else; I think I'll make your changes as well, see where that gets me.

April 19, 2016 7:47 a.m.

I think you might like Always Watching over/mixed with Thunderclap Wyvern here. The Wyvern is another beater, but it isn't a Spirit, nor does it get any of the other benefits that your Spirit cards give. Since it's tied for the highest toughness among your creatures, it likely won't get bolstered by Anafenza, either. Always Watching buffs all of your creatures, even Anafenza, for one less mana. It's harder to remove than Wyvern as well, forcing an opponent to go out of their way to drop an Anguished Unmaking or something of that sort. Overall, the benefits of the enchantment outweigh the cons of losing a flash anthem.

If you can afford it, Declaration in Stone is very strong right now, with Bant Company and Hangarback Walker still strong in the format. That very well be the only sorcery spell you need here. Definitely throw in Evolving Wilds as well, to trigger Topplegeist's Delirium. Without Delirium, Topplegeist isn't a whole lot more than a 1/1 flyer with an ETB ability most useful when flashed/Essence Fluxed in.

April 19, 2016 10:32 p.m.

Also, take advantage of the card advantage available in blue. One suggestion I have would be Ongoing Investigation. Your flyers are going to get through; there's just so many of them. This enchantment rewards you for doing so, and you could feasibly throw in a Canopy Vista to use its activated ability if you want. Anticipate is good for digging for that clutch Rattlechains or Stasis Snare. Ojutai's Command is a versatile spell, but I don't think you need 4 of them. You don't want to pay 4 for a counterspell all the time. A 1 or 2-of Horribly Awry is fine for early cheap counters.

I forgot to mention it earlier, but Reality Shift is a good alternative to the more expensive Declaration in Stone. It's instant speed, and the 2/2 it makes shouldn't matter to you, because all your creatures are flying. You would also have a high chance of nullifying a card in the opponent's deck, since there's a greater chance of the manifest flipping a noncreature spell. If it's not a creature, it can't flip.

In sum, most of your creatures and spells look fine. However, because this isn't a control deck, you should look to cheapen up your casting costs when you can.

April 19, 2016 10:47 p.m.

Thunderclap Wyvern can definitely have some good usage, but personally I'd take out all 3 and have a playset of Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Bygone Bishop and Spectral Shepherd. You cut your mana costs down, have better synergy with all your other creature spells (minus Topplegeist) and Essence Flux has more room to shine.

April 20, 2016 11 a.m.

Actually, sorry I take that back! I forgot Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is a legendary creature! Instead I'd leave 3 of her in and add another Always Watching ! I'm very excited to see how this deck plays out, I've been looking for a good Blue/White build and I think Spirit's is the way to go! Thanks for the great ideas :D

April 20, 2016 11:08 a.m.

Tyrannosary says... #11

If I were you I'd try to drop the land count down to 21. All of your cards are 3cmc or less mainboard and 4 cmc or less sideboard.

April 21, 2016 9:58 a.m.

RoyLancaster says... #12

I've tried that but it never seemed to hit mana consistently enough. Might try it at 22 for a while though.

April 21, 2016 1:20 p.m.

primtj17 says... #13

Two cards i would suggest for this deck are ones i have tried in a deck similar to this. One is Not Forgotten which you can use to return anything you need from your graveyard to your library. Bring back that always watching, eerie interlude, or a rattlechains all while getting a token spirit as a blocker. The other would be Drogskol Cavalry. He's really only a 1 or 2 of, but works very well with eerie interlude or essence flux, allowing you to gain lots of life, and by the time you are able to cast him you can probably just use his ability.

April 21, 2016 7:33 p.m.

Midexin says... #14

This could take down Bant Company. Before people go crazy, hear me out. Essence Flux dodges all 3 of Bant Company's "removal" spells, including Reflector Mage, Bounding Krasis, and Declaration in Stone. Spectral Shepherd can also do this, albeit not at a great rate, but it is reusable. Your enlargement effects in Always Watching and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit can easily bring your creatures up to size and parity with the creatures of Bant CoCo, and your removal suite can easily dismantle an aggressive start, even if you only draw 1-2 of the cards. Bygone Bishop is your stand-in for Tireless Tracker, even if it is worse. +1, love the deck, I look forward to testing it out.

April 21, 2016 7:37 p.m.

Midexin says... #15

And that's without Rattlechains against removal, etc.. Your recurrence combos with Essence Flux making Rattlechains and re-triggering his hexproof are also really good, saving a creature and growing one for one mana seems nice to me. That could also trigger Bolster, and Bygone Bishop. Not only does this deck seem good, but really, really fun.

April 21, 2016 7:39 p.m.

RoyLancaster says... #16

All of these comments and suggestions are making me so ridiculously happy. I almost gave up on the idea of spirits before I posted this on here. But if I can actually take this homebrew and do well against the top contenders in the field... That would be amazing.

Unfortunately, the only store near me that does FNM almost always does Modern. How well do you guys think it could perform in a Modern tournament as is? Or maybe I could throw in a fourpack of Drogskol Captain and call it a Modern deck, lol.

April 22, 2016 12:04 a.m.

alulien says... #17

Aggro and burn will be really rough in Modern, as will hand disruption and any combo deck since you have no instant speed removal. Midrange decks will put down bigger threats, but if you play really tight the "what is this non-meta brew" could really surprise, though the unknown factor quickly dissipates.

That said, I think Drogskol Captain would replace Bygone Bishop.

April 22, 2016 12:19 a.m. Edited.

Xuande12 says... #18

I like a lot of the ideas of others and a lot of the cards definitely make it a stronger deck.. My only concern is that with this deck you want to be playing on the opponents turn and not your turn. Of course creatures-wise this definitely means that Rattlechains is the most important card but I've won without him against some tier 1 decks. I've had opponents so worried that I was going counter their spell that they decided to pass their turn only to have me flash a spirit or two onto the battlefield.

It's also fun to play Rattlechains or Topplegeist over and over by bringing them from the battlefield to my hand to the battlefield again to bolster, tap an opponent's creature (either to prevent attack or open an attack), ensure all my Spirits have hex proof (at the "low" cost of 4 mana per). While Declaration in Stone is premium removal I've actually found Stasis Snare extremely effective just for its instant speed ability. Nothing like having an opponent pump and/or waste mana just to exile it with the enchantment.

The Drakes you were using were also great as a combat trick because of their flash ability. Always Watching is fine too but you have to pay 3 mana and leave yourself to the mercy of your opponent on their turn.

April 22, 2016 4 a.m.

RoyLancaster says... #19

The deck still plays largely on other people's turns; Always Watching and Declaration in Stone are eight cards out of thirty eight total nonland cards that can't potentially come out at instant speed. The power and usefulness of those cards seems to outweigh their restrictions in casting.

April 22, 2016 7:59 a.m.

Midexin says... #20

@RoyLancaster, I would think that Drogskol Captain would replace Bygone Bishop, and take out 3 Stasis Snare for 3 Path to Exile. Also, lets not be forgetting Geist of Saint Traft. Hexproof pretty much makes it un-killable by spells. And I haven't seen too many sweepers in modern, anyways. Maybe take out the Spectral Shepherds for it.

April 22, 2016 10:49 a.m.

Xuande12 says... #21

If you turn it into a modern deck I would add Steel of the Godhead to place on your Drogskol Captain and Geist of Saint Traft

April 22, 2016 10:55 a.m.

CMpunk17 says... #22

Nice variation of a spirit deck! So, why put x4 Always Watching in a 19 creature deck? Doesn't that seem like too many? Also, why include Evolving Wilds?

April 22, 2016 11:02 a.m.

RoyLancaster says... #23

More creatures show up than you'd think. And even then, my "few" creatures can get pretty sizeable, with Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and Essence Flux making them stronger as well.

The Evolving Wilds are used to put lands in the graveyard to activate Topplegeist, but I'm not sure if that's a good enough reason to have them. It's still in testing.

April 22, 2016 8:22 p.m.

CMpunk17 says... #24

Oh, very cool. Delirium help. Nice. Makes sense. I'm at FNM right now, and the games haven't lasted long enough for Topplegeist delirium to matter. Drawing and playing a second one usually does it for me.

April 22, 2016 9:11 p.m.

RoyLancaster says... #25

That's my theory too; if I really need to use it, I just blink or bounce the Topplegeist for another EtB effect.

April 22, 2016 10:03 p.m.

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