Advice, Assistance, and Assurance!
Deck Help forum
Posted on March 19, 2014, 5:41 p.m. by tooTimid
I am relatively young (14), and new to the competitive environment of magic. I've played kitchen table magic for the last 3 years or so, but only recently have I seriously pursued competitive and expensive level magic. For the last 3 months I've been exploring the standard environment, brewing, testing, and adventuring. I've explored many archetypes and deck varieties. Over the last couple of weeks I have developed a deck I find both enjoyable, and competitive.
Land of the Evil Lions | Junk Aggro Playtest
Standard
SCORE: 14 | 4 COMMENTS | 1197 VIEWSThe Problem
I had found Selesnya to be my favorite color combo, but I had also found it to be in-surpassingly weak to many of the current decks in the meta. Among those being G/r Monsters. One of my favorite quotes is that your greatest weakness is your greatest strength stretched to far. This philosophy explains perfectly one of the main problems with Selesnya. Selesnya excels at creatures, and beating face with them, but when faced with bigger, and stronger, creatures such as Stormbreath Dragon , and Polukranos, World Eater it tends to crumble. It also fell apart after a Supreme Verdict or the like.
The Idea!
The idea was to take a basic Selesnya Aggro shell and add a black splash for more resiliency and removal.
The solution!
The additions of
provide for a more resilient and powerful threats, as well as more game against creature decks in the form of removal. It also allows for more sideboard options including more removal and powerful creatures like Obzedat, Ghost Council and Bloodbaron of Vizkopa.
I belief this to be a more powerful Selesnya aggro deck! This deck has also done very well on cockatrice going something like 24-7 :).
Moving Forward!
I need help! This deck is by no means perfect, and I need all the help I can pushing it in that direction!
Currently the only deck I have in paper is a 20 bucks standard izzet deck. This deck is worth a chunk of change. I plan on committing myself to this deck, and have plans on purchasing this deck (Slowly and over time). If I'm going to spend 300 dollars on this I want it to be as good as possible. I will take all suggestion!
Questions!
Is the land base good enough? I went for slightly less scry lands as I want to be playing on curve and scry lands can stop that. Is the full contingent of scry lands worth it?
Lotleth Troll : This is the card I've gotten the most comments about! Do I use all the abilities? Is the mana hard to hit? And truthfully, I love the card! It is a super resilient threat that can get out of hand, but if you have suggestions or comments please let it rip!
The sideboard: As this is my first competitive build I want the sideboard to be well tuned for many matches. Currently I think it's good, but not great. Any and all suggestions are welcomed.
4x Ready / Willing : An opening hand with two of these is sort of a downer, but I ALWAYS find myself using them whenever I draw them. Is it worth 4 of them or should I up the count of Boon Satyr 's or Abrupt Decay .
Could this do well at FNM or beyond? Nuff said.
Thank you all for and any suggestions! I love how supportive the tapped out community is especially to someone young and new like myself.
- Me!
Magiclover318 says... #3
Rasta_Viking29 you are incorrect.
I ran naya(R/G/W) when Theros came out and won every FNM I played at.
I used the following:
4x Boros Reckoner 4x Ghor-Clan Rampager 4x Loxodon Smiter 4x Sylvan Caryatid 4x Fiendslayer Paladin 4x Elvish Mystic 24 Creatures
4x Boros Charm 4x Selesnya Charm 4x Chained to the Rocks 2x Xenagos, The Reveler 1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride 15 Other Spells
4x Sacred Foundry 4x Stomping Ground 4x Sacred Foundry 4x Temple of Abandon 2x Forest 2x Plains 1x Mountain 21 Lands
Total of 60 cards. I won every FNM with that deck list(I don't remember the exact land format)
March 19, 2014 6:11 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #4
FNM is an entry level event where any deck can win. Many do not consider it a competitive environment. Place to have fun and learn the game.
March 19, 2014 6:16 p.m.
Magiclover318 says... #5
Yeah but it was the most competitive environment as opposed to kitchen tables, where I learned to play as did the original poster.
March 19, 2014 6:20 p.m.
Magiclover318 that qualifies as a midrange deck, not an aggro deck which is what this is talking abput. None of those beatdown creatures cost less than 3 mana.
March 19, 2014 6:21 p.m.
Magiclover318 says... #7
I just was saying that 3 color decks in standard aren't weak, not about the aggro deck part.
March 19, 2014 6:22 p.m.
However, Rasta_Viking29 specifically said that tricolor aggro decks are weak. I do not believe that tricolor in general is bad, just as aggro.
March 19, 2014 6:24 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #9
I learned to play on the floor of my bedroom in 4th grade. Your post makes no sense and i'm not sure what the point you're trying to make is.
He said he wants to start playing competitively, I gave him valid advice for the competitive meta.
March 19, 2014 6:24 p.m.
Magiclover318 says... #10
I would win repetitively on t5. Turn 1 elvish mystic, turn two sylvan caryatid, t3 loxodon smiter, t4 bloodrush the ghorclan onto the smiter and give him double strike with the boros charm. I did that all the time. T5 I just swing for the rest
March 19, 2014 6:39 p.m.
First thanks. I appreciate the al criticism as long as it's constructive!
I think that is a generalization. The mana I'm this standard season is no where comparable to the mana of last season, but it is more then doable. If the main problem is hitting all your colors I can tell you it is surprisingly easy.
This was the way I looked at it when originally considering the change from G/W to Junk.
The Lose: An inconsistent mana base, obviously hitting 3 colors is harder then hitting 2. I came to this conclusion: This deck has 14 ways of hitting a green source, 13 ways of hitting white, and 11 ways of hitting black. In your classic G/W aggro you have about 14 ways of hitting Green and another 14 ways to hit white. This deck also functions more them fine with only one black source. So it seemed to me that you sacrificed very little with the mana base.
Now that I had identified the lose from the switch, I had to figure out what exactly I was gaining
The Profit: As I said selesnya struggles against creatures that purely out class it, and it has a hard time beating any type of large threat on the opposing side of the board. Loxodon Smiter is simply smaller then Polukranos. Doom Blade , on the other hand cares not the creatures size. It (and other removal like it) make for a much better green/red match up. Lotleth Troll is also great here as it is an early threat that is relevant late game.
Against control the matchup is better as the troll, varolz, and Ready make Supreme Verdict much more bearable. Abrupt Decay hits Detention Sphere and Obzedat, Ghost Council just wins.
After comparing these I came to the conclusion Junk was almost strictly better. Sorry if I sound like a dick. Tell me what you think.
March 19, 2014 6:44 p.m.
That was aimed at Rasta_Vikings29 original post. I hadn't read the following posts yet. I'm on my phone so the writing process is more of a chore.
March 19, 2014 6:51 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #13
You're talking about playing reactivate in and aggro deck which kind of goes against what it is supposed to do. The goal of an aggro deck is pressure the opponent quickly and find ways to get damage through. Probably asking to much of your deck and watering it down. Junk Midrange is the style of deck you are aiming for and is a good deck on the cusp of being legitimate competitive deck. Should get solid cards added to it's pool when JIN is released as well.
March 19, 2014 6:54 p.m.
Reactive is the wrong word. Flexible might be more appropriate. It can shape itself based on the opponents plays (at least that's the idea) and well, react. Damn it, on second thought I guess this deck is reactive just not in the way a reactive deck is typically is. This deck can react to removal through Varolz, the Scar-Striped . You kill my smiter and for 3 mana I get 4 counters. I would say that is makes the deck more reactive, while also benefiting the beat down strategy. It can react to an enemy swing by casting Ready, untapping, surprise blocking, and counter attacking.
In magical dream land the idea is to have multi use spells. Spells that can both react to the opponent and benefit my aggressive strategy. Selesnya Charm is a great example of that.
I would also argue that flat up removal does benefit my aggressive strategy. I think that an aggressive deck can have reactive elements as long as they do not derive too much from the central goal.
March 19, 2014 7:29 p.m.
I think the downside of Varolz, the Scar-Striped is that to get counters off of a dead smiter, you have to put in a lot of effort. For example, you play the smiter turn 3. Turn 3.5 (your opponent's) they destroy it. Turn 4 you play Varolz. Turn 5 (if you are lucky) you scavenge the Smiter onto the Varolz (because you probably won't have any better targets from turns 1-2) and swing with a VANILLA 6/6. For 6 mana. Not the worst, but you can do better.
March 19, 2014 8:46 p.m.
The thing is, while that may not sound great, it's still pure value. A 6/6 is simply better then nothing. If may not be the most efficient but it is flat out better then simply loosing the smiter, He also only gets better when coupled with Soldier of the Pantheon and Fleecemane Lion . I also have many ways to give trample in the forms of Selesnya Charm and Lotleth Troll . And lets not forget if I do have something better, I'll just play it. Nothing is forcing me to scavenge.
Thanks again guys.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #2
A 3 color aggro will never be competitive in this standard, too many mana issues. I'd cut the black.
Rootborn Defenses is good vs Supreme Verdict .
Advent of the Wurm and Polukranos, World Eater are auto includes.
Arbor Colossus or Plummet should be in the side for Stormbreath Dragon and Desecration Demon
Experiment One should be mainboard in an G/W aggro deck.
Just my opinion if you really want it to be competitive and get your money worth.
March 19, 2014 5:59 p.m.