I don't know what to do...

Deck Help forum

Posted on March 26, 2014, 3:04 p.m. by SpaderAce

I am a high school student with no job, and my parents aren't going to spend a lot of money on magic for me. I want to expand from my current Bant list, and into something fun and interesting, but also successful.

The problem I am having is that I used to be a big control player, and own 4 copies of both Sphinx's Revelation and Supreme Verdict , but I don't have the Jace, Architect of Thought s and 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion that are needed for a solid Azorius build and kinda wanna move away from the "azorius charm, azorius charm, supreme verdict, supreme verdict, win-con, GG" type of gameplay. It's fun, but I'm feeling something more gimmicky but viable.

Also, I wanted to try something black, but Thoughtseize , and Blood Baron of Vizkopa (if I went orzhov) are really expensive, although if I could I probably would, but I don't know what kind of shell would be needed.

If I went red, Stormbreath Dragon is almost a necessity, but that's expensive and I don't like red unless it's with black or blue, but Grixis isn't in a good spot right now (and Thoughtseize is really expensive).

Anything selesnya would be subpar without Voice of Resurgence , so that's kind of out the window.

What am I supposed to build that could be fun, and also slightly different but still successful? I'm okay with trying to get a hold of some expensive cards, but I obviously don't want to build something with Stormbreath Dragon , Blood Baron of Vizkopa , Thoughtseize , Brimaz, King of Oreskos , and Elspeth, Sun's Champion (holy crap the prices).

Any ideas? Help me out guys :D

Schuesseled says... #2

You could trade your revelations and supreme verdicts for a solid mono red deck, with 4 stormbreaths.

March 26, 2014 3:13 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #3

I've never been a huge fan of red, and I'm not the best piloter of aggro (i'm too cautious about playing cards). But also, if I did trade away my Sphinx's Revelation , I want to be sure I'm trading for the right cards, since I know how to use the revs, but I may not know what to do with whatever card I get in exchange. You know what I mean?

March 26, 2014 3:16 p.m.

meecht says... #4

Mono-B aggro has had decent standings lately and it isn't TOO bad, but it does run 4x Mutavault and a few Thoughtseize .

Here's the list that got 4th place at the GP in Cincinnati:
Creatures (25)
3 Desecration Demon
4 Lifebane Zombie
2 Mogis's Marauder
4 Pain Seer
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero
4 Herald of Torment

Lands (23)
19 Swamp
4 Mutavault

Spells (12)
2 Bile Blight
2 Devour Flesh
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Thoughtseize

Sideboard
4 Dark Betrayal
2 Devour Flesh
4 Doom Blade
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
4 Duress

To make it a bit more budget-friendly:
Mutavault > 2x Swamp , 2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Thoughtseize > Duress
Hero's Downfall > Ultimate Price
Duress (sideboard) > 2x Bile Blight , 2x Shadowborn Demon (??)

March 26, 2014 3:22 p.m.

Spootyone says... #5

Lol meecht at first I misunderstood and thought you were giving budget suggestions for Duress there at the end.

I would actually argue that Voice of Resurgence hardly makes a good selesnya deck right now with this meta, but maybe I'm just opinionated. I suppose you'd likely want brimaz in there as well, but you could go more green-heavy and focus on Boon Satyr , Advent of the Wurm and possibly even Kalonian Tusker . I heard Experiment One is a good card... :P

March 26, 2014 3:28 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #6

I'll have to look into that, thanks. But now, after thinking about it a bit, I think I'm gonna go with with some kind of lifegain build with bbov and Archangel of Thune (I have 3 of the angels). Anybody wanna trade their Blood Baron of Vizkopa s and Thoughtseize s for my Sphinx's Revelation s?

March 26, 2014 3:28 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #7

But I may want to go esper midrange, I which case I would want to keep my Sphinx's Revelation ! D: This is why I can't decide what to do, I keep having thoughts like this...

March 26, 2014 3:30 p.m.

Spootyone says... #8

Side note: Anyone looked at the combos for Sphinx's Revelation ? Whoever made Island + Sphinx's Revelation is hilarious.

March 26, 2014 3:32 p.m.

meecht says... #9

Just say screw it and go Mono-G Flash like I did. You get to run Briarpack Alpha , which NOBODY expects!

(Almost) Mono-Green Flash

March 26, 2014 3:35 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #10

-_- Spootyone, lets stay on topic here :D. But yeah lol I saw that one. Anyways, should I keep the Sphinx's Revelation s? I also have 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion and a Garruk, Caller of Beasts that I could try trading for some blood barons, but I would want 3 or 4. Thoughts if I went straight orzhov or esper midrange/ lifegain?

March 26, 2014 3:37 p.m.

meecht says... #11

B/W Midrange has shown better results than Esper Midrange. It's basically Mono-B with a splash of white.

March 26, 2014 3:40 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #12

Do you have a link to anything like that?

March 26, 2014 3:42 p.m.

Spootyone says... #13

All in all, if you want your deck to be competitive right now you're likely going to have at least one set of expensive cards in that deck -- be it Mutavault or Thoughtseize or a planeswalker or Blood Baron of Vizkopa or Stormbreath Dragon or Brimaz, King of Oreskos or Voice of Resurgence or Domri Rade or Hero's Downfall or whatever.

The best advice I can give for competitive standard budget builds would be Boros burn (probably don't need mutavault there), rakdos aggro (don't NEED thoughtseize or hero's downfall), or hexproof auras (as long as you don't want voice.)

March 26, 2014 3:44 p.m.

meecht says... #14

Here's a list to a B/W Midrange build that took 3rd at GP Cincinnati.

March 26, 2014 3:51 p.m.

SpaderAce says... #15

I'll probably go orzhov midrange, and suck it up with at least 3 of both Thoughtseize and Blood Baron of Vizkopa . Maybe for lulz I'll go for control mb and have a transformative sideboard into midrange/lifegain. Anybody wanna trade their blood barons or thoughtseizes?

March 26, 2014 3:53 p.m.

This discussion has been closed