When I saw the title I thought "this sounds like my kind of Friday night XD " But on the serious I like it, I tried making a standard morph but had same issue of grey ogres good to see you at least managed to work around it

Thanks! And thanks for the +1!

I found that the key to morphs, is ironically, not to put in too many morphs. Manifest, though, helps - especially in the form of Whisperwood Elemental (though there are other good ones). I like Mastery of the Unseen too, but because it is noncreature, I'm not running that; I think Whisperwood trumphs the mastery.

It seems like it would be even harder in standard without the powerful array of utility cards modern has to offer - or even the morph selection!

This is a really cool deck. I want to play that! good job, man!

Thank you! It's a really fun deck to play, and not too expensive as far as Magic goes.

Thanks for the +1!

Hooded Hydra is great for manifest decks. GG for a 5/5? OP. have the 5/5 drop 5 1/1s? even better!

First off, thanks for commenting!

Hooded Hydra is good for manifest decks. It's resistant to removal, fits well with the theme, and it isn't particularly expensive. In the late game, it can grow to collossal sizes and end the game quckly.

That being said, it does have some drawbacks. If I were to hardcast it, for say, 5 mana, I would only end up with a 3/3 creature that sprouts a few snake tokens when it dies. Morphing it for three and flipping it up turn five is even more mana-inefficient (though admitadly, doing the same thing with Sagu Mauler turns out fine most games), but unlike with Sagu Mauler, Restoration Angel can't help matters. Finally, I do have a lot of creatures competing the 5-mana slot: Three Sagu Maulers have morph costs of 5, and I have a full playset of Whisperwood Elementals, as well as two legendary dragons and a sometimes hardcasted Vesuvan Shapeshifter. (The dragons are nessecary to provide flying defense; many of my friends' casual decks incorperate 4-8 or so flying creatures, enough to cause some major predicaments).

Taking all of that into consideration, I haven't yet decided to include it or not. I actually had it in an earlier version of the deck, only to settle on this one. The deck is balanced right now, but Hooded Hydra could lead to some interesting games. What I really need to know is what I should take out for it. I also want to add in a Dragonlord Dromoka.

Thanks again!

What about Cloudshift to morph for one or escape removal spells or to have a creature you want to not die if overpowered or to have a tapped creature become untapped and block a creature?

The effect Cloudshift provides is definately useful. In fact, it is so useful that I maindeck four Restoration Angels, which have an etb trigger similar to Cloudshift. The question is, then, is it good enough to run 5+ copies of?

I'm not sure wether it is or not. On one hand, Cloudshift is an instant, not a creature, so if manifested by Whisperwood Elemental, it can't unmanifest. All of my noncreature spells in the deck thus far have been removal spells, which are nessecary to deal with threats like Wolfir Silverheart, Phyrexian Obliterator, Dragon Broodmother, and similar game-enders that plague my playgroup.

That being said, Cloudshift is a flexible spell that provides a number of benefits, from gaining extra life with Kitchen Finks to saving Whisperwood Elemental from a Dismember. I'm satisfied with the way the deck plays out right now, but every deck can get better. What would you recommend to take out for it?

Also, how do you make those mana symbols in the comments?

Thanks!

Well you know your meta better than I do, but for me it's generally really fast, affinity based decks so cards like Reprisal will never be played. It seems it would be useful for you in your situation to keep it. If you can get the mana out the Restoration Angel is possibly enough, especially given the flash ability. If it were up to me and my meta, I would take out single cards like Reprisal or Vesuvan Shapeshifter for two Cloudshifts. This way the non creature cards don't greatly affect the manifesting abilities. But it is possible the deck will do just fine and be fast enough with Resto Angels.

Above the writing section almost right in the middle is a water droplet button thing. You click it and it shows all the different mana symbols :)

Hope this helps

First off, thanks for commenting!

My meta also has some affinity players, but this deck isn't meant to go up against them. It's more of a casual deck that takes on my friends' casual decks; they're noramally things like elf tribal or ravnica-block based boros aggro. Kitchen Finks and removal can normally hold any casual aggro decks off.

If I were to bring this to a tournament, I'd certainly make some of those modifications. Reprisal would be the first to go, and I'd also replace Journey to Nowhere with Path to Exile. You're also right that Vesuvan Shapeshifter would be suboptimal in such an environment.

I do have a tournament deck, New Bogles, which can win as early as turn three or four but normally wins on turn 5 or 6.

Thanks also for telling me how those mana symbols work. :)

This looks like my kind of fun deck. You got blink, morph, and manifest mechanic packed in one. I would like to see another blink card in here or two. But in a casual format it might not be what you are be looking for. I personally would love to play this deck. It could be tweaked to one's own personal preference easily. Well done! +1

Thank you!

Alot of other people are saying that I should use Cloudshift here; I own a few copies, so I should do some testing with it. I think the deck works well right now, but every deck can get better...

This deck isn't particularly expensive if it's something you would want to build. Many of the cards can be swapped out for others that are less expensive, but Whisperwood Elemental is very important.

Thanks again!

You dont have Dramoka in the deck. I saw that you were talking about it like it was in the deck.

Yeah, that's my mistake. I did have Dromoka, the Eternal in here for a while but I recently swapped it out for a Baneslayer Angel to deal with my friend's plentiful dragons and help me recover from aggro decks with some lifegain. What I forgot to do is update the description. I'll go ahead and do that. Thanks for pointing that out!

When Deathmist Raptor Drops... also Den Protector Hidden Dragonslayer

I've been monitoring the raptor's price because I am looking foward to getting some. $20 is too much now, but I will enjoy brinning a deathtouch creature back from the grave in response to an attack...

I've also considered Hidden Dragonslayer on and off. It seems fun, but I'm not sure what to take out for it. Reprisal seems like the best choice, but I like the art a lot.

Den Protector is big in standard right now, but my graveyard fills up rather slowly most games. Late game, I can appreciate the value that that card gives, but I'm not sure about it's effectiveness in the early rounds. Still, I'd try it out, but it has the same problem as the Dragonslayer - I don't know what to take out for it. If there's anything you'd suggest to take out for them, let me know...

Thanks for suggesting!

With Den Protector, don't forget that it's bringing back target CARD, not target CREATURE CARD or anything like that. So when you manifest lands and they die or enchantments or instants or sorceries, you get those back, too. Not a bad deal, really. I mean, even returning an Evolving Wilds to pull more Basic Lands out of your deck, thinning it, is a value in itself.

This is true. While I don't have any Evolving Wilds or expensive fetchlands in this deck, I get the principle behind that. Many games I need more removal so I can simply return a removal spell that I've already used. When I get ahold of Den Protector I'll add it to the list. Thanks!

Is Jenara, Asura of War any good? I like him but I'm wondering if I just want to like him. The deck looks fun!

It is fun! Opponents face a lot of unpredictability between mystery morphs and manifests, instant-speed removal, and Restoration Angel's flash. There's a lot of chaos, and that's the fun of it!

Jenara, Asura of War is very good. She can land as a reasonable early game creature and keep away smaller attackers, but grow into the biggest thing on the battlefield when mana allows or the need arises. She's a mana sink that makes sure no mana ever goes wasted, and you can simply spend a turn powering her up for a big attack as well. Late-Game, Jenara will win the game in short order if she goes unanswered.

Jenara probably doesn't see more modern play because Bant isn't really a thing right now outside of some odd zoo/retreat to coralhelm combo decks and her initial boltability.

Haha yes morph/blink is great lulz. Makes me feel all giddy inside when I surprise opponents with a huge morph.

About the angel. Asked cuz I wanted to try a more simple beat face Bant. When I first laid eyes on her I loved it. But then I grew uneasy with that 3 toughness for . It does look great here with the synergy! Definitely digging it as a 1 of.

Omg I looked closer at this list. I've never heard of Exalted Angel before... This could alter how I look at things. Even that morph cost isn't too shabby for what your getting out of it. Super cool build, man! I'd love to try this out. Would have to make some investments in Dragonlord and 2x more Restoration Angel first.

Well, this is for casual, so being a bolt-able 3 drop isn't as big a deal. There still are bolts and cheap burn spells flying around, but the tempo loss isn't as bad. Plus, Jenara is only actually vulnerable to Lightning Bolt on turn 3; otherwise, you can activate her ability and pump her permanently out of bolt range in response.

Exalted Angel technically isn't modern legal, but again, this is for casual, so the lines of legality are a bit blurred. A lot of the morph and manifest cards out there are honestly pretty weak, so for variety I stretched out of modern to get some other morphs. She's been working out very well, providing flying defense against the playgroup's demons and dragons and keeping me at a healthy life total.

Go ahead with building this! Dragonlord Ojutai is actually not nessecary, he's in one of the flex slots. I just like getting free Anticipates. Restoration Angel is pretty key to the deck though; it doesn't work too well without it. Keep in mind that you can tune the list to the decks you'll expect to face. If you want to up the power level, bump the number of Path to Exile up to 4, replace 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim and 2 Birds of Paradise with 4 Noble Hierarch, and swap Linvala, the Preserver for Baneslayer Angel. To weaken it, swap out the Path to Exiles for more Bant Charms and Stasis Snares and choose some weaker morphs. Archangel of Tithes and Jenara, Asura of War are pretty strong, so you could find some weaker alternatives for them like Seraph of the Sword and Emancipation Angel respectively. (Actually, Emancipation Angel is kind of useful because you can return a manifested removal spell to your hand if needed. That 3 toughness, though...).

If you end up building this, tell me what works for you!

Why is Exalted Angel not part of Modern. It's an Onslaught card, right? Isn't Onslaught Modern? I took a break around that time.

Sadly, no. Modern consists only of sets from Mirrodin (the original) onward. In casual though, it doesn't matter!

All of the modern legal sets (as well as the ban list) can be found here.