Welcome to the Zoo
Hello, my name is Piebye, and I have been playing magic for a couple of years now. I have always had a strong sort of attachment to the straightforward beat the hell out of your opponent deck, so during my free time, I decided to make a high performance, tournament level deck. I do think that this deck is almost as refined as possible, but I would appreciate creative criticism and suggestions from other players.
Cards and why
Some cards are everywhere, and for good reason. Tarmogoyf, Goblin Guide,Wild Nacatl, and Lightning Bolt and a few good examples. However, in this deck, I thought that Stoneforge Mystic would be a strong decision to play in this deck, and a force to be reckoned with. With stoneforge mystic, you can tutor out an Umezawa's Jitte for a powerful artifact that can win the game on its own, Sword of Fire and Ice, which can provide card draw and removal/burn, and Batterskull, an immensely powerful artifact that can be used to gain life, beat the opponent, and give your creature buffs. To work with these artifacts, 1 copy of Leonin Shikari is in the deck so we can guarantee that we get our Sword of Fire and Ice and Umezawa's Jitte triggers. Along with Stoneforge Mystic, et al, I decided to put in one copy of Brimaz, King of Oreskos as a strong legendary card that can take over the game by itself. The reason why I put in only one copy is because in this deck which has almost no cards to help you draw,(other than Browbeat, Domri Rade and Sword of Fire and Ice) drawing two copies of Brimaz, King of Oreskos can be the reason why you lost. Finally, in this deck, i put in Browbeat, an unorthodox, yet powerful card. With 3 mana, you can either draw 3, or burn them for 5 damage. Browbeat alone can win you the game by letting you draw 2/3 creatures or burn cards that can finish off your opponent, or by dealing them 5 damage, a quarter of their starting life pool.
Sideboard
For my sideboard, Ajani, Caller of the Pride was one of my first choices due to his buffs, and flying double strike ability. Destructive Revelry is obviously a strong pick because of the artifact/enchantment removal, although another viable option can be Fragmentize. Grafdigger's Cage is a most have for grave hate. Karakas is there because of the versatility it can provide with stopping your oppoenents strategy. Kor Firewalker is another strong choice against red. Pithing Needle is an effective and elegant solution for almost anything that is an activated ability and Red Elemental Blast for those pesky blue decks. Lastly, I put in Spellskite and Surgical Extraction so that Spellskite has counter-ability against buffing cards, take hits of removal instead of your important creatures, and can buy you time against burn decks.(It also has a toughness of 4 so it doesn't die to bolt!) Surgical Extraction is in this deck to remove anything that can cause major harm.(Like Delver of Secrets
)
Tips
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If you can, always play your cards during your postcombat main phase.
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See your life as a resource, but don't overdo it. Great magic players know when to use their life in order to gain a benefit, but if you are at 5 life against a burn deck, and you shock in a Sacred Foundry, your life total is now 3, and in Lightning Bolt range.
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Play your least important cards first, then most important last, so that your opponent has a chance of burning their counterspells and stuff like that.
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Although this comes from experience, know which artifact is best to fetch out against another deck in a certain situation. If you are against Izzet Tempo, Sword of Fire and Ice may be a good card. If you just need to close out the game, Umezawa's Jitte is good. A huge mistake both rookie and season people do is they will fetch out a Batterskull, their Stoneforge Mystic will be killed by removal, and now you have a useless 5 mana card in your hand.
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Don't be afraid to use Knight of the Reliquary to generate extra mana. If you happen to have 4 mana on the board and a Batterskull in your hand, don't be afraid to tap for 4 mana, destroy a tapped land, fetch anther one in, and pay for your Batterskull.
Thank you so much for viewing this deck and good luck :)
