Playing Exalted
Standard forum
Posted on Jan. 4, 2013, 5:34 p.m. by Fleetfiend
Exalted is a pretty decent standard deck for mostly casual players to build, considering how cheap most of the key cards are (besides Sublime Archangel ).
However, for all its strengths (nearly always having blockers, being able to keep going if your spearhead is killed, being able to get powerful, fast), it has some serious weaknesses.
My boyfriend brought his B/W Exalted deck to FNM, and R/B burn squished him then mopped him all over the floor. Cards like Electrickery are really painful, because they can kill half of the creatures in the deck with minimal effort. In other words, it's not very hard to deal with Exalted if you can prevent them from getting started, fast.
So, what are some ways to strengthen B/W Exalted's defense? Rootborn Defenses is good to prevent fieldwipes and burn, but it isn't incredibly reliable because there are ways to get around it. Would B/W exalted need to splash another color to be very viable?
w/b exalted creatures can be kept alive without splashing colors, protective cards like faith's sheild prevents target burn and removal, and cloudshift to protect from target and board clear. Builder's Blessing is a huge help stabalizing your blockers in the later game.
January 4, 2013 7:12 p.m.
Ethereal Armor and Divine Favor are other good defensive spells
January 4, 2013 7:16 p.m.
Fleetfiend says... #5
Rewdog, those may help against the specific burn card I used as an example, but those are disgustingly easy to get around (though they are in the deck as it is).
January 4, 2013 7:32 p.m.
Freezingfist says... #6
That's the nature of the game though, right? Every measure has a counter-measure.
You specifically mentioned Electrickery ...Are there other specific cards or tactics you were trying to defend from?
January 4, 2013 7:59 p.m.
Fleetfiend says... #7
Freezingfist, it's mainly bun in general and fieldwipes that seem to be the biggest problem. card:Faith's Reward is a pretty good response to both, but I was just wondering what kind of other options there are.
January 4, 2013 9:30 p.m.
Loyal Cathar Flip 2 for 2/2 human with vigilance, but when killed returns a 2/1
Doomed Traveler 1 for 1/1 human when killed returns at 1/1 flyer
Rootborn Defenses works well as you mentioned and pairs nicely with doomed traveler
card:Faith's Shield is nice 1 drop
not game changing, but at least you'll keep up a board presence
January 5, 2013 1:08 a.m.
i ran a w/u exalted deck two weeks ago at fnm. went 1-2 with a u/r burn deck first round. second round got shut down in a big way by a jund deck. i found bonfire and mizzium mortars to wipe my board too consistantly. i'd be interested in ways to get around this issue, too. i was effectively locking down their creatures with the detain mechanic and detention spheres, but i think more counter spells would do the trick. the best combo seemed to be bonding something with silverblade paladin and then swinging in a big way, taking full advantage with cathedral of war and angelic blessing. the blessing really allows you to remove what threats haven't been detained yet.
January 11, 2013 12:18 a.m.
Nevermore works great against a known threat. Safe Passage works great against burn but not against cards like Terminus or Supreme Justice. Frontline Medic will be fairly good when Gatecrash is released. card:Akroma's Memorial works well against red but costs 7.
Freezingfist says... #2
Only thing I can think of is card:Builder's Blessing to help but some beef on that back end. Beyond that, the addition of Blood Artist s may make them think twice about burning down a lot of your creatures.
Could Cloudshift targeted creatures to make their spell fizzle...
Just spit-balling. Maybe not the best ideas, but it's a start.
January 4, 2013 7:12 p.m.