is it bad to have two focuses in a deck?
Standard forum
Posted on June 25, 2013, 9:08 p.m. by OzDatSorin
example is say EXALTED, mixed with SACRIFICE
OzDatSorin says... #3
i see well do you think this mixes pretty well together? The Exalted Sacrifice
June 25, 2013 9:19 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
As Goody said, if you're going to have two major themes in a deck, make sure they work together in some way. Exalted and sacrifice can work together, but I do see a problem. You're basically using your creatures like Putrid Leech uses your life total. You're giving up some of your advantage to get a bit of extra return now, but you'll diminish your board state if you continue to use the abilities. Sacrificing can be particularly problematic when you have cards like Sublime Archangel - you don't want to hurt yourself by sacrificing too many creatures, but you also want to be able to get in for extra damage. Another issue is the reliance on a single attacker. You're going to want something with hexproof or protection (Cartel Aristocrat ) because a single attacker can easily be killed, thus negating your entire swing.
A counterexample would be something like mill and combat damage using Jace's Phantasm and similar creatures. While these things appear to work together, they actually detract from one another. Aggro wants to field tons of creatures and win by combat damage. Mill wants to win by decking an opponent out. Mill doesn't really do anything as a support mechanic because putting cards into graveyards can be either irrelevant or detrimental (see Snapcaster Mage and reanimator decks). Aggro doesn't really advance mill's cause because it does damage instead of diminishing the opponent's library. As a result, the two foci are at odds with one another and weaken the deck.
June 25, 2013 9:40 p.m.
OzDatSorin says... #6
well thanks i went to my vendoer today and kinda laughed at the whole thing i was thinking it sticks together but maybe sticking to exalted would help
June 25, 2013 10:01 p.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #7
Nothing wrong with having two focuses, it's just dependent on how independent or synergistic the focuses can be. (i.e. esper now uses AEtherling
on top of its mill component for a massive beatdown, or sacrifice decks running a Varolz, the Scar-Striped
to scavenge what's been sacrificed back onto a creature, effectively using it twice). The trouble comes when the deck loses focus and tries to do opposite things. I've seen quite a few people try to make Sorok (R/W/U) an aggro/control deck, which doesn't work based on when each archetype wants to play its cards, you can successfully fold burn into a control deck, which a successful American Midrange deck does, but not straight red creature aggro.
June 25, 2013 10:12 p.m.
OzDatSorin says... #8
i see what you guys or gals are saying, if you do it then make sure your gainingcompletly and not compromising a loss for a limmited plus
June 25, 2013 10:16 p.m.
Unlike Exalted Token Decks, which are amazing, by the way, with the Sublime Archangel
Goody says... #2
There's a difference between focuses (focii?) and synergies. Exalted may synergize with sacrifice in some way, or they could be completely unrelated, and they could both be in a deck; that's the case for most abilities, unless they work against each other (say, having lots of creatures that rely on having lots of spells, like Delver of Secrets Flip ). A focus would be something like dealing lots of damage with small creatures, or milling.
June 25, 2013 9:16 p.m.