Monastery Swiftspear

Creature — Human Monk

Haste

Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)

Combos

• Aura Finesse + Monastery Swiftspear
• Lightning Bolt + Monastery Swiftspear

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

CNG_Stream on Kellan Buffs

3 weeks ago

Interesting Idea you have going here, but I think the deck isn't really focused around Kellan seeing a lack of equipment/auras that can be used to enhance your creatures. Looks like your deck is caught bettween aggro and value and not focusing enough on one or the other.

For aggro you may want to trim:

Baird, Argivian Recruiter - 4 copies too many as it is legendary and the tokens it makes are not really feeding into other strats. If you want to place focus on Boaird, would suggests different deck style.

Spellbook Vendor as the card is kind of a slow value card for a deck that looks like it is trying to be fast aggro

Rabbit Battery while decent, the pump bonus is small, you are lacking threats to really apply this to outside of Kellan

Skrelv, Defector Mite 2 copies at most since the card is bad for you to draw in multiples unless vs control

Cards to add / consider:

Cacophony Scamp - Trades up easily especially with pump and can be a way to push lethal through blockers with death trigger

Monastery Swiftspear - Works well with alot of your current spells and gives you a great 1 drop. You could consider Goblin Tomb Raider if you prefer a static bonus not requiring prowess, but you would need a more artifact focus (see next couple suggestions)

Sword of Once and Future - if you have a copy this can be a great 1 of for deck (or sideboard) as it gives relvant protections that can be added straight to hand (Birthright Boon) and can allow you to setup top of deck and small chance to cast back spells from grave. This would also make Lightning Helix a possible reconsidered spell.

Mirran Banesplitter - Decent pump bonus for 1 maan at flash making a decent combat trick that stays on board even if you lose creature and can be attached again later at a somewhat reasonable cost. Pairs great with Scamp as surprise pump.

Dire Flail  ^Flip - This equipment would be to just have a cheap +2/0 bonus you can apply to creatures, the craft side not likely relvant. Would likely stick with Banesplitter unless you want cheaper equip cost.

Barbed Batterfist - Its like playing a 2 mana 3/1 that leaves an artifact behind once the tokens gone relevant for cards like Rebel Salvo. Also serves a creature you can search for with Kellen adventure.

Rebel Salvo - If you like the equip idea, then Salvo could be a cheaper alternative to Witchstalker Frenzy.

While I have tinkered with a deck like this in the past, problem is usually it just runs slower then red pump or the boros convoke deck. Hope these suggestions help.

Doolbeurt on Are You Shoryuken? (Street Fighter Prowess)

1 month ago

Thanks for the advice, Gattison ! I think I just needed to hear it from someone else -- that Narset is what I'm looking for. I agree about prowess, I loved that mechanic as soon as it came out. The only standard deck I ever piloted to any success was Izzet Prowess Aggro. Monastery Swiftspear FTW! (Khans was fun)

Combat tricks are right up my alley so I think Narset, Enlightened Exile is the way to go.

plakjekaas on Budget Mono Red Burn

1 month ago

If Chandra's Incinerator is your plan, I'd suggest adding Seal of Fire. T1 seal of fire into turn 2 crack it, and cast Skewer the Critics for a turn 2 Chandra's Incinerator. You already have Rift Bolt to enable the t2 Incinerator, but redundancy is key ;)

Seal of Fire also enables Light Up the Stage very well, to help out with casting your spells before combat, so you get maximum advantage out of prowess on your Monastery Swiftspear.

Edit - sniped a bit ^^

wallisface on burn deck help to refurbish

2 months ago

9-lives if you're asking which brew you built is more competitive for modern burn, then it's going to be whichever list more-closely resembles the established list, which was you're Boros list.

I'm aware of what these red-green cards can do, I still don't think they're anywhere-near remotely playable, particularly in burn, and I've already detailed on why these cards feel unideal. But I'll give some further detail below:

• Questing Druid is just a much slower Monastery Swiftspear. Yes the stat-buffs are permanent, but its at the cost of double the mana, no haste, and an initial toughness of 1, making it far too vulnerable to the abundant number of cards that deal 1 damage (Orcish Bowmasters, Wrenn and Six, Lava Dart, etc). The card is much better suited for longer, grindier games where its adventure and stat-buffs become more relevant - it's not useful in an archetype that's hoping for the game to be over on turn-4.

• As stated earlier, burn decks never need more than 2 mana. By the time you can cast Black Market Tycoon, you already have all the mana you need to play the game. This card wastes a turn not dealing damage to the opponent, but also takes 2 full turns to create enough treasure to regain the mana you lost casting it to begin with. Burn has never had an issue with needing more than 2 lands, and so gaining treasure is largely pointless. Added to this, making treasure means this card isn't dealing damage, which means it's putting you further behind for achieving a turn-4 win.

• Atarka's Command is situationally useful in some decks, which is why it's occasionally in some sideboards - however it needs to be stressed that the card isn't particularly useful for aggressive strategies. 99% of the time if you're putting this in a burn deck, you're either doing modes 1&2 (so, just a Skullcrack), or modes 2&4 (which is probably just doing 4 damage, so a Boros Charm). Remember that competitive burn is already not running Skullcrack at the moment, so that option isn't particularly powerful. The card isn't bad, but its not particularly strong when it means splashing green instead of the much-more capable white.

At the end of the day, you've already said you're playing a deck for being creative and having fun, and so if winning isn't a factor, then play whatever you want and don't worry about it. But if you are trying to make the deck stronger, then the correct option will always be to make changes which get the list closer to the established competitive list. In that vein, changing the deck from BW to BG will have made the overall deck weaker - not having options like Lightning Helix means you'll lose any burn-vs-burn matchups, as well as a lot of other aggro-races, and not having Boros Charm means missing out on one of burns biggest damage-dealing spells.

9-lives on burn deck help to refurbish

3 months ago

Ahh! Thanks, legendofa! You're catering to my tastes even though they may not be the most 'optimal' or 'meta'! Thank you for that! Funny you noticed that they all start with S, haha.

wallisface, that makes sense, but I consider that if Satyr Firedancer isn't killed in the beginning, and stays on the field, I can destroy 6 toughness creatures with just two burn spells. Plus, I can die very quickly to creatures if I don't have it, and it's a card I can deal damage to the player if need be. Monastery Swiftspear is only one mana less, and isn't as good as most people think, contrary to popular wisdom, and requires being drawn in the beginning of the game. I'd rather run 2x Vexing Devil for that purpose, which makes far more sense in her stead. If the player chooses the creature chocie of Vexing Devil because he/she can remove it, there isn't anything lost nor gained if Monastery Swiftspear is in its stead. I would like something good that isn't in my deck, or even new to the archetype. I know there's Searing Blaze and Searing Blood, but they aren't as useful as I'd like them to be. I also don't know which one to choose, either. Landfall isn't the greatest, and neither is dealing 2 damage, especially if I draw it later in the game. I'm trying to cover all of my bases in the early and semi-later game, and that isn't what I'm looking for.

9-lives on burn deck help to refurbish

3 months ago

Hmmm. wallisface there isn't a way I can make it any faster, haha! Even if I cut down to 60 and keep all of the fastest burn spells, it will still be the same speed as what I have now. Roiling Vortex isn only 1 life per turn. Most lifegain decks are gaining more than at least 1 life per turn. I have a problem because one of the decks I played against uses 10 life gain on a creature with flicker. Every time he flickers it, he gains 10 life. The only response was to kill the creature, which I might or might not be able to depending upon my card draw. My deck is very slightly different from the competitive, with the only thing missing is Monastery Swiftspear, or Goblin Guide, and possibly not having Eidolon of the Great Revel. The problem with the meta in tournaments is that everyone is expecting a certain deck to have certain cards in it. Then, they try to optimize their decks based on that. Nothing new happens until someone new comes along with a new deck type, and then that becomes competitive based on how well it performs. You can't just say 'this is competitive because it's been used a million times'.

wallisface on burn deck help to refurbish

3 months ago

9-lives to counter your points:

• going 9 cards over 60 is absolutely a detriment. While you may be able to maintain similar card ratios, you’re adding cards to your deck that are worse than the ones already there. As an example, most burn spells are just worse versions of Lightning Bolt. Playing any cards over 60 means adding cards to the deck that are worse than those 60 - it doesn’t matter if the overall ratios line-up.

• Monastery Swiftspear is played in 3% of all modern decks, well-above the current creatures you’re running, and has a strong track-record of being a format staple. If it’s underperformed for you, you’re likely playing it wrong - and this only solidifies my opinion that the deck is too-slow.

• Satyr Firedancer is a midrange card intended for grindier matchups, and has no place in burn. There’s a reason it’s never run competitively.

• my statement of 'too midrange and not enough aggro' is because the deck is running much too slowly, when compared to the speed of competitive burn lists. Your deck has made a bunch of concessions to speed for no real advantage. The list provided on mtgGoldfish is MUCH faster (and more consistently so) than your brew.

• on the comment of ”I usually run out of cards in hand whenever the opponent is around 12-7 life” - this is a BIG indicator that you’re doing something wrong. Competitive burn decks can often win the game before running out of cards - and if the do end up emptya-handed the opponent is down to 2-4 life. If you’ve invested all your resources and the opponent still has half their life-total, the deck isn’t working.

• I am well-aware that Rift Bolt and friends have alternate casting costs. As already said two bullet-points above, your deck reads incredibly slow compared to the competitive established meta.

Burn is a very well-known and very-frequently played archetype. The mtgGoldfish list is incredibly well-tuned, and you’d need to have a very strong reason to differentiate from it even slightly.

9-lives on burn deck help to refurbish

3 months ago

The point of going over 60 is that I can afford to have more space in my deck so long as I keep the number of burn spells a certain ratio. This is one of the few decks that actually benefit from having a large number of cards, so long as I keep the same ratios. For instance, I have 32 burn cards, and the deck you showed me had 28, where 32/70 is similar to 28/60, the former being 0.457 and the latter being 0.466. I've tried games with Monastery Swiftspear. It's really not that great of a card, and completely depends on drawing it in the first turn. Satyr Firedancer is really a great card, and helps me keep the opponent from casting any creatures too damaging throughout the game. I really don't know what you mean by 'too midrange and not enough aggro'; the most expensive spell mana-wise is Risk Factor which is 3 mana total, really being an outlier in my deck with regard to mana value. Like I said, I usually run out of cards in hand whenever the opponent is around 12-7 life.