Can I make Spirits, now?
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on July 9, 2016, 6:10 a.m. by ComradeJim270
I still don't play Standard. I haven't payed serious attention to it since Thoughtseize rotated (which made me a sad panda).
In SOI and EMN though, I see potential for something which is super-exciting to me: tribal tempo!
Do you suppose it might be possible to build a reasonably effective tempo deck around spirit synergies, with some cool tempo-y stuff like Reflector Mage? Perhaps even a tiny splash for new Tamiyo? I tried after SOI and gave up on it before even coming up with a 75. EMN has some sweet spirits, though.
Just thinking of something I could take to an FNM now and then when I don't feel like playing Modern. I don't know the format well enough to evaluate how well it might work.
i am testing a bant compony spirits with great sucsess
BW plays slower but should be very colse if not viable.
July 9, 2016 6:58 a.m.
Gamerjfire says... #4
I have made a UW version of the Spirits deck, and played against a number of people. My deck is running off of the low costed spirits and the ability to abuse their ETB and other effects to lock out the game.
I have to say the deck seems pretty broken in terms of early game domination. I basically run it as a tap down control deck, where my spirits just start flashing in and tapping the most dangerous creature on their turn, then attacking on mine with the fliers. So far I haven't found something strong enough to fight it consistently.
The allstars in the deck are Nebelgast, Anafenza, SpellQueller, Bygone Bishop, and displace/Essence Flux.
Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit is the best that the spirits have to a lord, and probably the best they will get. She helps make your board state race faster and end the game before they can start playing their control elements.
Nebelgast Herald is the card that lets you control your opponent. First time, you flash it in and you tap down the largest threat, and you can get in some damage. But with Rattlechains and any other spirits, you can do this every turn, and multiple Nebelgast Heralds means you can tap down even more.
Spell Queller. This card's purpose is to omn nom all of the boardwipes it can. You can't afford to have your field get wiped, it is almost impossible to recover. Mausoleum Wanderer can help with this as well, but Spell Queller can also eat cards for tempo. You can force the opponent to not Collected Company right now, which is huge for tempo and that is what you need.
Bygone Bishop. Here we have the best spirit draw engine. It keeps pulling out cards from each creature you cast, which means you can cast more ETC. This is the one card this deck has to rebuild and if you get boardwiped, this is what you need.
Essence Flux and Displace are two cards that, IMO, are essential to this strategy. It lets you convert any ETB to another trigger, buff up a spirit a little bit, and most importantly, dodge single target removal. You need your creatures and your tempo, and if you can continue to fizzle what your opponent does to try to stop you, you will win the game.
As a last note, the one issue with this deck is it does not have a fast clock. Spirits aren't big creatures that can end a game, they are even smaller than the smallest playable vampires. But they are a strong and playable tribe that has major aggression strength. This is just my version by the way Spirits in Standard, I think you could go with a larger curve for a later game, and it could be fantastic. If someone does, let me know.
TLDR: Yes, Spirits can be built and played in standard.
July 9, 2016 9:27 a.m.
I think it can be a viable deck in standard now. All of the spoiled spirits add a ton of value and make it so Rattlechains isn't the lone solid spirit card worth playing. I agree with all of what Gamerjfire said and all of the cards suggested regarding a spirit deck. Fliers are also very well positioned in standard right now and provide a way to deal with all of the walkers running rampant. Also since you would likely run U/W or bant you get access to a lot of the really good white cards in standard, Declaration in Stone, Always Watching , Working Together among others.
Also, as you mentioned you could even run Reflector Mage to really add some tempo and you would have a really formidable evasive and fun deck to play. I really enjoy my SOI spirit build and am excited to update it for EMN. Perhaps an All Things Spirits forum similar to All Things Wolven that clayperce started, in order to share deck ideas and the best spirit decks in tappedout.
July 9, 2016 10:57 a.m.
U/W Spirits is already a pretty strong deck. If you can manage to land and protect a Bygone Bishop, you have draw power for days. Then if you get enough mana to bounce and replay Rattlechains with Spectral Shepherd, you are 2-1'ing them on all their removal, drawing a card while you're at it.
Now with the indestructible one, you have resilience against boardwipes, and with Banisher Priest for spells, plus Reflector Mage, you have insane 3cmc tempo value creatures.
July 9, 2016 11:21 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #7
Thanks everyone! I'll continue looking in to this. In the meantime I'm happy to see any more lists someone else has built/come across.
July 9, 2016 1:11 p.m.
ComradeJim270, make it and have fun. I made it, tested a lot and I like it. It's important to note several things:
You're biggest threats that are not answered by the creatures in the deck are Gisela and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Declaration in Stone is your best option here. Maybe side boarded Stasis Snare, but that could be a number of cards there really.
There isn't really room for Always Watching . It's amazing, in humans, because that deck needs to play the anthems. This deck just needs to fly over your opponent's head and it does it well without the anthems.
Don't play main deck counters unless your meta calls for it. Rattlechains and Selfless Spirit get you around removal and even Spell Queller gets there in a pinch. Then when you side them in they should consist of Negate for planeswalkers and Turn Aside for removal and the like.
If you play the right creature package you will have about 10-11 slots open for "spells". Declaration in Stone takes up 4 of those slots. Anticipate should take up another 4. This gives you 2-3 flex slots that should probably be based on your specific meta.
July 9, 2016 1:45 p.m.
Cragon18,
Thanks much for the shout-out on All Things Wolven!
If anyone's interested in setting up and mod'ing (cultivating?) a Spirits forum, please just go for it! And please don't hesitate to reach out if you want some of my some lessons-learned! You can also reach out to snarlmkiv, who runs All Things Red Deck.
July 9, 2016 1:50 p.m.
MagicMike77 says... #10
Bobbbyyy I would love to see this Spirits Company list
July 9, 2016 4:41 p.m.
IZZETannoying says... #12
Hey all, just noticed this awesome forum. So, I'm gonna put my emn standard brew out here for you to evaluate. In The Spirit of Becoming Competitive.... My tempo build. After looking at your opinions on Always Watching , I decided to use Thunderclap Wyvern as a flash anthem, and Archangel Avacyn Flip as my curve-topping finisher. My thoughts on Nebelghast Herald are mixed. On one hand, it's excellent. On the other... That Spectral Shepherd though. Anyway, check it out, tell me what you think I'm missing. Thanks!
July 9, 2016 7:17 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #13
Well, I've started with Getting into the Spirit of Things. Still a prototype; choosing the right mix of creatures and interaction will be tricky I think. Displace is also odd to slot in, and while Reflector Mage is great I don't know that it's needed with the other tempo creatures, or how many would be optimal.
I do like Nebelghast Herald a lot, but Spectral Shepherd is such value. What do you guys think of Mausoleum Wanderer? I think it's quite a fascinating card.
July 9, 2016 11:38 p.m.
Gamerjfire says... #14
Nebelgast is fantastic in an aggressive deck against an aggressive meta. The power to tap down all of their attackers with the number of spirits floating around that have flash. I split it 3/3 Shepards and Heralds.
The one thing I wonder about is Eerie Interlude or Displace. Interlude can save you from the biggest terror, boardwipes, but Displace can let you combat trick your opponent much easier, as you may still be able to eat small creatures with blocks.
July 10, 2016 10:03 a.m.
Gamerjfire says... #15
Nebelgast is fantastic in an aggressive deck against an aggressive meta. The power to tap down all of their attackers with the number of spirits floating around that have flash. I split it 3/3 Shepards and Heralds.
The one thing I wonder about is Eerie Interlude or Displace. Interlude can save you from the biggest terror, boardwipes, but Displace can let you combat trick your opponent much easier, as you may still be able to eat small creatures with blocks.
July 10, 2016 10:03 a.m.
IZZETannoying says... #16
Eerie Interlude is AMAZING. Whoops, a boardwipe I can't counter? Flicker all my shit, feed Spell Queller, make Mausoleum Wanderer huge, counter stuff with that, hexproof my guys with Rattlechains, etc., etc. One thing I seem to be running that some people aren't is Thunderclap Wyvern and Ojutai's Command. Yes, I know it takes Nebelgast Herald's space, but without Always Watching , the deck loses some of it's ability to trade. Command and Wyvern provide a safety net. Boom! Flash anthem, kill all yo shit. Boom! Flash in anything from my grave! Value town. With these and flickers, the deck has staying power and resilience, able to cream format powerhouses G/W tokens and Bant CoCo or Bant Humans.
July 10, 2016 12:20 p.m.
IZZETannoying says... #17
capriom85, what do you think of my build, In The Spirit of Becoming Competitive...?
July 10, 2016 12:22 p.m.
IZZETannoying, I like the list a lot. I personally am not a fan of Avacyn in the Spirts builds with the downside being she will wipe your board eventually. You are definitely in the right ballpark though with the build. You have all the right players in the mix, nice numbers of them, and all the right tech like spells. If I had to change anything I would honestly make selfless spirit a 4 of which would axe Avacyn. It's totally a meta call, though. My experience is that I don't need Avacyn in my meta. You may and she may end the game for you. Props using Thunderclap Wyvern!
clayperce says... #2
ComradeJim270,
Craig Wescoe at TCGplayer thinks the answer is yes: "Zombies, Vampires, and Spirits gained a few very powerful new cards that I believe will make each of these decks playable" ... here's his article.
July 9, 2016 6:22 a.m.