Battlewise Hoplite vs. Lyev Skyknight?
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 30, 2014, 5:23 p.m. by BoromirOfGondor
I am almost finished building my UW Weenie/Heroic deck, akin to the recent one by Paul Buck.(http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1181778)
My question is, should I replace Battlewise Hoplite or another similar creature with Lyev Skyknight ?
Pro:
Can detain a pesky Jace, Architect of Thought , Desecration Demon , or other cards that are popular at my local meta and can be problematic. Afterwards, it's still a 3/1 Beater with flying that is eligible for Brave the Elements .
Con:
It isn't heroic, and it dies fairly easily compared to the more resilient Hoplite, which can grow out of burn range in just a few turns while providing card advantage.
What do you think? Any help is appreciated.
The deck doesn't have very many 3 drops as it is, so taking away 4x two drops and adding in 4x three drops could effect your curve quite a bit. Even though the deck is filled heavily with heroic, it seems that most of your triggers are reliant on your creatures getting through to trigger the cipher of Hidden Strings . I realize Dauntless Onslaught targets two, but it's a one time use. I would suggest taking out 1x Phalanx Leader and 1x Battlewise Hoplite and put in 2x Lyev Skyknight . That way you don't detract from your heroic goal and that detain could help damage get through to cipher the strings and trigger heroic, plus you get a flyer with 3 power. Which, even without heroic can deal a decent chunk of damage on it's own and at the worst can block a demon vs. sacrificing a creature to it.
January 30, 2014 6:09 p.m.
I am a big fan of the Sky Knight. His detain hits planeswalkers and and artifacts as well as creatures which is awesome. Also a 3 power flyer is a pretty good threat. I was playing the Sky Knight in a UW aggro deck a while back. I'm not sure if this build is as good but it looks like it has promise.
Being able to detain on turn 3 after dropping 4-6 power on the board the turns before is pretty strong. It allows you to swing through and then the next turn you are attacking for 7-10.
January 30, 2014 6:51 p.m.
BoromirOfGondor says... #5
Thanks for your help, everybody! I am going to try the deck out with the two Skyknights, and see how it fares. I will put up FNM results as soon as I receive the remaining cards in the mail.
Servo_Token says... #2
Honestly, I would go with a 2/2 split between the two until you figure out which will best suit the deck and your play style. There's definitely pros to both, and finding the difference between the two could take a lot of testing. Personally, I would stick to the hoplite since the deck can suit it better, though i'd put the skyknight in the side.
January 30, 2014 5:30 p.m.