The Art of War

Highlander Yananas

SCORE: 12 | 19 COMMENTS | 3022 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS


Tiamatria says... #1

The format you are playing is called non-EDH Highlander, or just simply Highlander.

"There can be only one!"

February 20, 2014 3:46 a.m.

Yananas says... #2

Tiamatria The more you know :) Thanks, never knew we were actually playing a format.

Besides that, have any comments on the deck?

February 20, 2014 5:20 a.m.

Prima says... #3

This deck has a good mana spread, and it taught me about some cards I could add to my B/W deck. I really like how everything fits together well. But I would suggest a Utvara Hellkite as after three turns, you have four 6/6 dragons. Just keep it safe, and you will win, trust me.

March 2, 2014 8:37 a.m.

Yananas says... #4

@Prima: thanks! It's very fun to play, and surprisingly synergetic.

Utvara Hellkite has a lot of power behind it, but 8CMC is very steep. It's something to consider.

March 2, 2014 8:42 a.m.

Prima says... #5

Ok, I just play a mono red drag with two of the Utvara's in it. I'll take a look at my deck to find any others I would suggest.

March 2, 2014 9:06 a.m.

mrbloo1848 says... #6

I can't help you much with a format that I'm not familiar with so I will only be able to give you individual card advice as opposed to the deck as a whole.

Apart from some of the key cards that you should be running (but you don't own yet, like Obzedat, Ghost Council , Elspeth, Sun's Champion , and Hero's Downfall ), there are a few other cards you may want to consider in the BWR color:

  1. Angel of Serenity - This card seems like a beast in the format where removals are few and far between and less consistent overall. She either removes something of theirs or fetches your own stuff to be played later. I'd replace Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts with this in a heartbeat.

  2. Flame-Wreathed Phoenix seems alright on paper, but not in the current meta where giving your opponent a choice is just about the worst thing you can possibly do especially in a control matchup where he can go "sure you can have a 5/5 so I have time to deal with him on my turn or when you declare attackers on your next turn".

  3. Underworld Cerberus is a great creature to run especially in decks like these. You already run so many creatures of your own that you shouldn't feel like his ability is too much of a drawback. He's a fast clock that has to be dealt with and there are multiple ways to work around his abilities. Just remember that his ability also prevents reanimating with Whip of Erebos so be careful.

  4. Crypt Incursion - What happens in a format where there seems to be a bunch of creatures? I have a feeling that graveyards would be nice and live more times than not (I assume that Scavenging Ooze seems powerful here) and this allows you to gain a ton of life at instant speed and also synergizes with the above card.

  5. Obzedat's Aid is another card that seems good here. Reanimation in a singleton format seems powerful.

  6. Ashen Rider - Have you seen this guy?!

  7. Fated Conflagration is another noteworthy card. Kills pretty much anything including planeswalkers at instant or sorcery speed.

That's all I got for now.

March 4, 2014 1:09 p.m.

Yananas says... #7

@mrbloo1848: Thanks a lot! I get that you don't have much of a grasp on the format, but I appreciate the help none the less.

Angel of Serenity actually never crossed my mind. It seems like a great card to include. I don't own it, but I'm planning on buying the cards I need anyways when I get a solid list.

Flame-Wreathed Phoenix is cool, and there's probably a deck that can fully utilize it's potential. It's not this deck though, and it's on its way out. I'll probably replace it with Underworld Cerberus . I don't use the reanimation of Whip of Erebos too much, so that's not really a point for me.

Crypt Incursion seems really solid, especially since I'm removing so much myself.

Obzedat's Aid was a card I took out a while ago, since reanimation is just a minor theme in the deck. I'll playtest a bit more with it, maybe it's worthwhile.

Ashen Rider is awesome, but I don't have him. He'd be a solid addition, great removal and a beast. I'll consider this.

Fated Conflagration is very heavy on the R. Is that doable in triple colors?

Thanks again!

March 5, 2014 7:23 a.m.

nighthawk101 says... #8

This deck seems unique! I've never seen a Standard Highlander deck before, so let's see how this goes...

I'm going to start with the easy thing: You're missing five cards from your sideboard. (This may be a Highlander thing or a personal choice, if so, sorry!) I suggest Wear / Tear , Devour Flesh , Rakdos Charm , Pithing Needle , and Ratchet Bomb .

Have you been drawing enough Swamps to maximize Underworld Connections ? How useful has Mind Rot been?

Aurelia's Fury is a good "GG" spell along with Rakdos's Return . Orzhov Keyrune provides a wall that gains life. Aurelia, the Warleader is fun! Truefire Paladin is another good creature for its mana cost.

Love this deck, especially all the quotes! +1

March 18, 2014 8:13 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #9

Description was too long, sorry, why do you have only 1 ofs? Is that an attribute of highlander? (never heard of it)

March 18, 2014 8:48 p.m.

Yananas says... #10

@williamgp99: Thanks for the sideboard suggestions (and the +1)! The fact that there are 10 isn't personal choice or Highlander, it's just that I'm not really skilled at proper sideboarding and I just don't know what make good cards for it.

Mind Rot is one of the cards that has seen very little play. I never seem to grab it, but when I did, it always helped to screw over my opponent.

Aurelia's Fury actually got cut from this list. Highlander is a weird thing to play, and cards that are great in regular standard just don't work out for me. It might be worth it to reconsider it, it's been a few iterations past since it got cut.

Aurelia, the Warleader is really cool for this deck. I don't have her, but it's worth considering.

@SpaderAce: the fact that everything is a one off is what makes it Highlander. And you probably have heard of it before, as EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander).

March 19, 2014 7:47 a.m.

SpaderAce says... #11

Oh haha, yeah I know what EDH stands for. So this is supposed to be a standard version? That's pretty cool lol

March 19, 2014 12:17 p.m.

Yananas says... #12

@SpaderAce: It is. It's real fun to work on, and even more fun to play. Neither is better than seeing the confusion on your opponents' face though when game 2 is so different from game 1, and their sideboarding was pretty much useless.

March 20, 2014 6:53 p.m.

notamardybum says... #13

Have you thought about Chandra, Pyromaster

March 24, 2014 9:32 p.m.

Yananas says... #14

@notamardybum: I have, and I'd like to play her. I don't own her (yet) though.

March 25, 2014 4:13 a.m.

Gameover209X says... #15

Love the one ofs man haha.

+1 for the description alone.

April 2, 2014 8:28 p.m.

Yananas says... #16

Gameover209X: Thanks! The description was very fun to write, and building around a concept as this really gets my inner Jimmy going.

April 2, 2014 8:36 p.m.

Prima says... #17

How did you do the lines inbetween each of your descriptions? I have been inspired to do a magic deck off of a book, and I might want to follow the same path that you did.

April 2, 2014 8:58 p.m.

Yananas says... #18

@Prima: in the editor, put a whole bunch of -'s after eachother, until they fill a line. It'll parse to be a line like this


Be sure to keep an empty line above and under the -'s.

And you should! If by 'follow the same path' you mean Highlander, do it, it's awesome! If you mean you're going to do a like-wise description, do it, it's loads of fun!

April 2, 2014 9:36 p.m.

Prima says... #19

In my decks right , I just do this

MAINBOARD

AEtherling A win con, blah blah blah

SIDEBOARD

Annul For against strong artifact decks, blah blah blah.

So, it might take a while, but I will create a new deck with a crazy long and thorough description!

April 2, 2014 9:41 p.m.

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