I thought that I should post a deck I'm currently using every once in a while. Every deck I post is the result of testing and analysis, but few of my builds survive the test of time and my budget. So here's my interpretation of Red Deck Wins. It's what I'm currently using, but the list is far from finished.
1 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Spark Elemental
1 Burst Lightning
1 Earthquake
4 Flame Javelin
3 Flames of the Blood Hand
2 Howling Mine
2 Incinerate
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Temple Bell
18 Mountain
4 Teetering Peaks
Sideboard:
3 Breath of Darigaaz
4 Flame Slash
1 Flames of the Blood Hand
3 Manabarbs
4 Pyroclasm
The deck is still a work in progress. The Temple Bells haven't shown amazing results; I plan to invest money in a playset of Browbeat, outside of my usual budget constraints. The Incinerates and one Flames of the Blood Hand will be replaced with three more copies of Burst Lightning when I finish out my playset. The removed FotBH will go to my sideboard in place of a Flame Slash.
The singletons were all cards I had sitting around when I made the deck. I tested it with Chandra Nalaar but she was just too slow for the deck; I took her out for an Earthquake I had sitting around.
The sideboard is a concession to four things: Manabarbs shuts down control decks since they hurt themselves too badly for any move to be profitable. Pryoclasm and Breath of Darigaaz shut down weenie decks which are highly prevalent in my meta. Flame Slash kills Wall of Omens and Overgrown Battlement, traditional problems for the red deck. Finally, Flames of the Blood Hand is the nail in the coffin against lifegain, another popular theme in my meta.
Hope you liked it. Keep in mind that this is a deck tailored to my meta more than most decks I play.
Until next time, play on.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Fear the Eye: A Combo Deck
Ever done 108 damage to your opponent in one turn? On the same turn in which you made that player sacrifice 50+ creatures and tapped every other card that player had in play? Maybe, but what about on the fifth turn?
Eye of the Storm is what I'm talking about. I was able to (admittedly, only once did it happen this beautifully) cast the Eye on turn four on the back of a Peat Bog and a Dark Ritual. On turn five, I played Diabolic Tutor to find Dark Ritual, cast it and tutored for Syphon Life. I cast that and found another Syphon and got the DR mana for it. I repeated this process and eventually ripped every black card in my library into play, including the remaining Dark Rituals and huge amounts of Barter in Blood.
The deck also can combo out like this with Sadistic Sacrament, probably a stronger choice for the deck in the end. However, the price on the Sad' Sac is a little too high for my budget.
Here's the list. The Mana Leaks are kind of awkward here, I might replace them with other stuff. I'm not sure what as of yet, though. You want to be able to cast everything you can at once, so the Leaks kind of interfere with that plan. A red splash for Grapeshot/Empty the Warrens might not be a bad idea either.
4 Barter in Blood
4 Dark Ritual
4 Diabolic Tutor
4 Doom Blade
4 Eye of the Storm
3 Gigadrowse
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
1 Snapback
4 Syphon Life
7 Island
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
2 Peat Bog
7 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
Overall, you either combo out or grind out a game against an opponent. Your Eye is your weak spot; anticipate Naturalize and the like with Turn Aside and Duress in the side.
As far as replacements go, when Mirrodin Besieged comes out, Go for the Throat will replace Doom Blade. As far as my Warrens idea goes, I'm contemplating taking out 4 Mana Leak for 3 Simian Spirit Guide and 1 Empty the Warrens. However, the deck tends to be kind of overkill as is and the Empty's will interact unfavorably with Barter in Blood. The whole idea bodes more thought.
Hope you liked it!
Until next time, play on.
Eye of the Storm is what I'm talking about. I was able to (admittedly, only once did it happen this beautifully) cast the Eye on turn four on the back of a Peat Bog and a Dark Ritual. On turn five, I played Diabolic Tutor to find Dark Ritual, cast it and tutored for Syphon Life. I cast that and found another Syphon and got the DR mana for it. I repeated this process and eventually ripped every black card in my library into play, including the remaining Dark Rituals and huge amounts of Barter in Blood.
The deck also can combo out like this with Sadistic Sacrament, probably a stronger choice for the deck in the end. However, the price on the Sad' Sac is a little too high for my budget.
Here's the list. The Mana Leaks are kind of awkward here, I might replace them with other stuff. I'm not sure what as of yet, though. You want to be able to cast everything you can at once, so the Leaks kind of interfere with that plan. A red splash for Grapeshot/Empty the Warrens might not be a bad idea either.
4 Barter in Blood
4 Dark Ritual
4 Diabolic Tutor
4 Doom Blade
4 Eye of the Storm
3 Gigadrowse
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
1 Snapback
4 Syphon Life
7 Island
4 Jwar Isle Refuge
2 Peat Bog
7 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
Overall, you either combo out or grind out a game against an opponent. Your Eye is your weak spot; anticipate Naturalize and the like with Turn Aside and Duress in the side.
As far as replacements go, when Mirrodin Besieged comes out, Go for the Throat will replace Doom Blade. As far as my Warrens idea goes, I'm contemplating taking out 4 Mana Leak for 3 Simian Spirit Guide and 1 Empty the Warrens. However, the deck tends to be kind of overkill as is and the Empty's will interact unfavorably with Barter in Blood. The whole idea bodes more thought.
Hope you liked it!
Until next time, play on.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Searing Tamanoa
I just found a list I made some time ago that I wanted to share. This deck is focused around the insane interaction between Searing Blaze and Tamanoa. Basically, whenever you gain life, you may pay 2 mana to deal 2 damage to anything and then you gain 2 life, which lets you repeat the process. Here's the deck I built around it:
4 Ajani's Pridemate
4 Druid of the Anima
4 Essence Warden
4 Knotvine Mystic
1 Realm Razer
2 Soul Warden
3 Tamanoa
4 Fiery Justice
4 Glittering Wish
3 Searing Blaze
4 Survival Cache
5 Forest
4 Graypelt Refuge
4 Kazandu Refuge
2 Mountain
5 Plains
3 Terramorphic Expanse
The Glittering Wishes act as tutors for the fourth of each of the combo pieces which should be found in your sideboard. You should also include multicolored removal (like Unmake) and emergency red mana (Firewild Borderpost or Trace of Abundance) for when you can't draw a red source. A multicolored lifegain card isn't that bad either.
The whole deck capitalizes on the interaction of the Blaze and Tamanoa. The Refuges start the combo, Wardens do, Cache starts it twice and usually draws cards. I need a wincon, and Serra Ascendant still isn't cheap right now, so I went with Ajani's Pridemate.
Hope you like it!
Until next time, play on.
4 Ajani's Pridemate
4 Druid of the Anima
4 Essence Warden
4 Knotvine Mystic
1 Realm Razer
2 Soul Warden
3 Tamanoa
4 Fiery Justice
4 Glittering Wish
3 Searing Blaze
4 Survival Cache
5 Forest
4 Graypelt Refuge
4 Kazandu Refuge
2 Mountain
5 Plains
3 Terramorphic Expanse
The Glittering Wishes act as tutors for the fourth of each of the combo pieces which should be found in your sideboard. You should also include multicolored removal (like Unmake) and emergency red mana (Firewild Borderpost or Trace of Abundance) for when you can't draw a red source. A multicolored lifegain card isn't that bad either.
The whole deck capitalizes on the interaction of the Blaze and Tamanoa. The Refuges start the combo, Wardens do, Cache starts it twice and usually draws cards. I need a wincon, and Serra Ascendant still isn't cheap right now, so I went with Ajani's Pridemate.
Hope you like it!
Until next time, play on.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Shadow Weenie
So, today, I've got an idea I've been testing for some time now. White Weenie is a recurring theme through the history of Magic. A turn one Savannah Lions became an Isamaru, Hound of Konda, then Figure of Destiny and now Student of Warfare and Steppe Lynx exist all as incredible one-drops that encourage you to play an aggressive white deck. But what about white's natural foil, black?
Black has plenty of one mana, two power creatures. And a ton of 4+ power three-drops. This is a BW (Black Weenie) deck I've been testing.
4 Arrogant Bloodlord (or Ashenmoor Gouger)
4 Blind Creeper
4 Carnophage
4 Death's Shadow
4 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Hypnotic Specter
4 Pulse Tracker
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Doom Blade
2 Grasp of Darkness
4 Sign in Blood
4 Tomb of Urami
17 Swamp
This deck runs lower than my normal land count of 22 due to its much lower curve. It has a large amount of aggressive one-drops that also hurt you. You should be able to easily smash your opponent into the single digits in the first four or so turns. Your end game should be dominated by Guul Draz Vampire, Death's Shadow, and Urami. I chose the Tomb over Dread Statuary because I felt that the flying was crucial in longer games.
Note the tribality here. So much Vampires! Captivating Vampire would also be a good fit. However, I wouldn't run more than three. If you have them sitting around, it's a decent idea to cut, say, Carnophage for a land and three tribal lords for your Vamps. The original version was tribal in Zombies; this build is Vampish by coincidence.
The biggest things that hurt this deck are as follows: White Knight, Wall of Omens, Perimeter Captain, Wall of Roots, etc. So you should sideboard heavily in matchups that will have these cards. I would recommend running 4 Inquisition of Kozilek in the side if you have them. If not, run Ostracize in the side to avoid these dangers. My current side is this:
4 Duress
1 Grasp of Darkness
4 Liliana's Specter
4 Ostracize
2 Strands of Night
Until next time, play on.
Black has plenty of one mana, two power creatures. And a ton of 4+ power three-drops. This is a BW (Black Weenie) deck I've been testing.
4 Arrogant Bloodlord (or Ashenmoor Gouger)
4 Blind Creeper
4 Carnophage
4 Death's Shadow
4 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Hypnotic Specter
4 Pulse Tracker
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Doom Blade
2 Grasp of Darkness
4 Sign in Blood
4 Tomb of Urami
17 Swamp
This deck runs lower than my normal land count of 22 due to its much lower curve. It has a large amount of aggressive one-drops that also hurt you. You should be able to easily smash your opponent into the single digits in the first four or so turns. Your end game should be dominated by Guul Draz Vampire, Death's Shadow, and Urami. I chose the Tomb over Dread Statuary because I felt that the flying was crucial in longer games.
Note the tribality here. So much Vampires! Captivating Vampire would also be a good fit. However, I wouldn't run more than three. If you have them sitting around, it's a decent idea to cut, say, Carnophage for a land and three tribal lords for your Vamps. The original version was tribal in Zombies; this build is Vampish by coincidence.
The biggest things that hurt this deck are as follows: White Knight, Wall of Omens, Perimeter Captain, Wall of Roots, etc. So you should sideboard heavily in matchups that will have these cards. I would recommend running 4 Inquisition of Kozilek in the side if you have them. If not, run Ostracize in the side to avoid these dangers. My current side is this:
4 Duress
1 Grasp of Darkness
4 Liliana's Specter
4 Ostracize
2 Strands of Night
Until next time, play on.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Impulsive Animosity, By Request
I was recently contacted by a fellow TCGPlayer member by the name of shayseph with a request for a deck. The goal: use the Gustcloak creatures. The six that exist all have abilities that let them remove themselves from combat after they've been blocked. Shayseph suggested using Raid Bombardment, Explorer's Scope, and Infiltrator's Lens. However, I found a different use for this ability. Actually, two of them.
1) Impulsive Maneuvers: Basically, whenever you attack, for each creature, you flip a coin. For winning a flip, the creature deals double combat damage. If you lose the flip, it deals none. So what if you use a Gustcloak's ability to "call back" an attack after losing a flip? You can't attack again, but it preserves your creature. Add in the fact that most of them have natural evasion and you're off to a great start, like a "4"/3 flier for three mana.
2) Shared Animosity: In a nutshell, it gives you a Coat of Arms-type ability but only when attacking. You'll get the boost before the Gustcloaks (all of the ones included in the deck are Soldiers) can remove themselves from combat...so whichever ones aren't blocked get through for massive damage. And what if I have a creature that's also a Soldier but has evasion, though not a Gustcloak? I'll take an 8/1 creature with Shadow for one mana any day!
You can also use their ability to "preserve" mana--for example, if I have a creature equipped with Mage Slayer, it'll deal damage then change to being unblocked, saving you the mana that it would cost to cast a new creature and equip the Slayer to it.
I priced this deck on TCGPlayer for under $10. Here's the final list:
4 Gustcloak Harrier
4 Gustcloak Runner
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Gustcloak Sentinel
4 Gustcloak Skirmisher
2 Lost Auramancers
2 Soltari Foot Soldier
3 Yellow Scarves Cavalry
1 Extra Arms
4 Impulsive Maneuvers
3 Mage Slayer
4 Shared Animosity
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Forest
7 Mountain
8 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse
I honestly don't know how it will fare, but good luck to shayseph if he likes this deck! I have a higher land count than my "comfortable" 22 due to the double white mana necessary for most of the Gustcloaks and double red needed for Impulsive Maneuvers. On turn four, I want to have two red mana and two white mana available, and maybe a Forest open. Jungle Shrine would be ideal for this deck, but I didn't want to include a playset due to price. If you have them sitting around, cut out the Evolving Wilds (but keep the single Forest).
I looked into a version solely based around Shared Animosity, but I don't have a list; the 3 Idyllic Tutors necessary bumped the price up to absurd levels. The idea was to get out Shared Animosity and use Waves of Aggression to get multiple combat steps and add boost after boost to a Soltari Foot Soldier or Yellow Scarves Cavalry. The Gustcloaks would never enter combat, instead falling back just to boost my two evasion guys. Here's another idea to build around if you don't like my list.
Hope you like it!
Until next time, play on.
1) Impulsive Maneuvers: Basically, whenever you attack, for each creature, you flip a coin. For winning a flip, the creature deals double combat damage. If you lose the flip, it deals none. So what if you use a Gustcloak's ability to "call back" an attack after losing a flip? You can't attack again, but it preserves your creature. Add in the fact that most of them have natural evasion and you're off to a great start, like a "4"/3 flier for three mana.
2) Shared Animosity: In a nutshell, it gives you a Coat of Arms-type ability but only when attacking. You'll get the boost before the Gustcloaks (all of the ones included in the deck are Soldiers) can remove themselves from combat...so whichever ones aren't blocked get through for massive damage. And what if I have a creature that's also a Soldier but has evasion, though not a Gustcloak? I'll take an 8/1 creature with Shadow for one mana any day!
You can also use their ability to "preserve" mana--for example, if I have a creature equipped with Mage Slayer, it'll deal damage then change to being unblocked, saving you the mana that it would cost to cast a new creature and equip the Slayer to it.
I priced this deck on TCGPlayer for under $10. Here's the final list:
4 Gustcloak Harrier
4 Gustcloak Runner
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Gustcloak Sentinel
4 Gustcloak Skirmisher
2 Lost Auramancers
2 Soltari Foot Soldier
3 Yellow Scarves Cavalry
1 Extra Arms
4 Impulsive Maneuvers
3 Mage Slayer
4 Shared Animosity
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Forest
7 Mountain
8 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse
I honestly don't know how it will fare, but good luck to shayseph if he likes this deck! I have a higher land count than my "comfortable" 22 due to the double white mana necessary for most of the Gustcloaks and double red needed for Impulsive Maneuvers. On turn four, I want to have two red mana and two white mana available, and maybe a Forest open. Jungle Shrine would be ideal for this deck, but I didn't want to include a playset due to price. If you have them sitting around, cut out the Evolving Wilds (but keep the single Forest).
I looked into a version solely based around Shared Animosity, but I don't have a list; the 3 Idyllic Tutors necessary bumped the price up to absurd levels. The idea was to get out Shared Animosity and use Waves of Aggression to get multiple combat steps and add boost after boost to a Soltari Foot Soldier or Yellow Scarves Cavalry. The Gustcloaks would never enter combat, instead falling back just to boost my two evasion guys. Here's another idea to build around if you don't like my list.
Hope you like it!
Until next time, play on.
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