So this is version 2 of my WU aura-centric deck. I'll leave the link to my original version below. I want to give a huge thank you to AdNauseam12 who gave me some great advice and a nice example to work from (I'll link that below as well). Most of my Magic experience so far has just been kitchen table games with friends but I hope to make this deck into something I can bring with me to a Modern tournament and not get my butt whooped. I still have a ways to go (things like sideboarding, learning the meta game and how to work with it or counter it, etc...) but I'm hopeful I'll learn it all quickly.
Here is the link to V1 of this deck:
Aura aura aura!
Here is the link to AdNauseam12:
Blue white auras 1.4
A little explanation about changes and things.
So some auras like
Spirit Mantle
,
Ethereal Armor
, and
Daybreak Coronet
I want 4 of but I have only managed to get my hands on the ones I have in this deck. As time goes on those will go up to 4. For now I'm keeping in
Pentarch Ward
for draw and protection and
Gift of Immortality
for a somewhat similar reason. For the latter of those two I got a lot of value from the card in past games by sticking it on
Kor Spiritdancer
or
Hero of Iroas
because I always want those two on the field.
As for my instants I'm in a similar situation. The ones on this decklist are ones I managed to pick up or I already had. I'm normally not much of a counter spell user so I was happily surprised to find that I had some decent counters in my collection and I traded for a few more. All in all I like the counters I have. I know they could be better but I think I'll play some games with them before making too many changes to them.
Mana Leak
is on the chopping block only because it costs 2.
As for creatures I followed the advice I got and cut down on the creature count, replacing cost 3 or more guys with one costs with nice abilities (hexproof and unblockable). I like
Favored Hoplite
but I only have one and I want to see how useful he is in some real games before I consider throwing more in. Not sure if he will be better than
Triton Shorestalker
so after testing the deck a bit the creatures might get changed around. The ones that won't change will be Hero, Kor, Bruna, and most likely Bogle.
The one sorcery and one non-aura enchantment I'm running (
Open the Armory
and
Banishing Light
) are sort of just filling space. They're useful for sure, especially
Open the Armory
since I don't have 4 of some auras that I would rather have 4 of, so they are up to changing but staying in for now.
My sideboard is slowly evolving and expanding but this is the area I think I would like advice on the most. What other cards would be good to sideboard and why? What would be good cards to take out when I need those sideboard cards? I get that its very much a situational thing but any general tips here would be very appreciated. I am still on a budget so some low cost alternatives to super pricey cards would be very helpful.
The Maybeboard is filled with a few cards I thought might be useful for this deck but I'm honestly not sure.
Sigarda's Aid
I like because my auras would get flash but since I'm not running equipment cards I feel like I'm wasting a space since I wont be using the card to it's fullest effect.
Imprisoned in the Moon
I might switch
Banishing Light
out for, at least for now.
Meletis Astronomer
seems really interesting and I considered swapping
Open the Armory
for it but I feel it can be too inconsistent. Still left it up just to keep in mind. Then there is
Blighted Agent
. I can see a scenario where I beef him up to 10 and then swing for a win with poison counters. Not sure if that would be frowned upon but I think it warranted a place on the maybe list.
Well that is it everyone. Hope you enjoy the deck! Also another huge thank you to AdNauseam12 for all the help.
EDIT for V2.2:
So got some more good tips from zenozia. I also played against some of my friends with more competitive decks which taught me a few things and have tweaked accordingly.
I really like
Invisible Stalker
and will probably end up running more when I get around to getting another one or two. I thought about taking
Hero of Iroas
out since he only makes 5 of my auras cheaper but his heroic ability is just too nice. Most auras will get him up to 4/4 and make
Stubborn Denial
much more useful. I ran into more than one issue with that particular card when all I had was a
Slippery Bogle
or
Kor Spiritdancer
out. Still, he might be switched out for
Invisible Stalker
.
The games I played against some of my more competitive friends were intense. Most were against a mono black vampire deck and an eldrazi tron deck.
Swan Song
was the MVP of both games, saving me more times than I can count. I like it more than
Stubborn Denial
although I wont run only this for counters since it can't counter planeswalkers. Got screwed by an
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
once or twice so
Stubborn Denial
and
Mana Leak
will be staying in to deal with whatever
Swan Song
can't. I was not getting as much value as I hoped with
Dive Down
so for now that it out. Counters in general have been more useful than protection. That may be obvious to many but took me a while to understand that.
So now for my controversial choice of keeping
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
and
Open the Armory
while also adding
Swiftfoot Boots
. So the easiest card for me to justify keeping was
Open the Armory
. Having only 3
Spirit Mantle
and 3
Daybreak Coronet
the card helps me get them out. When daybreak comes out its draws lots of hate and generally it wont last more than a turn or two. In the games I played I would hold onto
Open the Armory
until my opponent had used their removal stuff and then grab myself whatever I needed to secure the win (like a clutch
Daybreak Coronet
to replace the one I lost). I know it can be slow but in games that go into the mid game and beyond it has been very helpful. It can also grab me
Swiftfoot Boots
which brings us to Bruna. She is the late game hail marry. By far the most fun game I had was against my friend's Eldrazi Tron deck. We both were removing each others stuff and delaying each other until both of us were down to less than 6 life. I had the boots out and no creatures. He had Ullamog. I draw Bruna. I have 8 mana and a counter in hand. Throw Bruna out, counter his attempt to remove, equip the boots and swing for the win. It was glorious. The boots are also good for
Kor Spiritdancer
and
Hero of Iroas
but they are primarily for Bruna. She is my late game contingency plan and while taking her out may make the deck a tiny bit better, she stays.
This deck still need some improvement for sure.
Hyena Umbra
is more or less a placeholder for another
Daybreak Coronet
or
Spirit Mantle
and I'm even considering taking out
Apostle's Blessing
for more counters.
For now though I am holding my own in just about every game I play and some of my friends who are just starting Magic refuse to play against this. I take that as a compliment. Again a huge thank you to all the people who have helped me get this deck to where it is! I'm real proud of it :D
Edit V2.3
Just little tweaks here. Got a 4th
Daybreak Coronet
and took out the
Apostle's Blessing
s for more counters.