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Lo Mein and Behold, my novel RGWB homebrew aggro deck which I have dubbed "Shere Khan eats Biscuits".
I'm not sure what a stampede mixed with an explosion would look like, but I'm guessing it resembles what this deck does between turn 4-7.
The deck was inspired by Druids' Repository . The idea of stockpiling mana while attacking was glorious to me, so I went about making a deck that can consistently get hordes of creatures and a ton of mana. This is what I came up with:
Alright, alright, alright- I want a lot of creatures and a lot of mana...Mana dorks! Birds of Paradise and Avacyn's Pilgrim fit the bill wonderfully. They give me more mana to play with, accelerate me a turn, and give me more attacking creatures (yes, even 0/1 birds or paradise will attack in this deck). They take games all by themselves as attacking on turn 3 equipped with Sword of War and Peace is often lethal. Between these guys and druids' repository, this deck can accelerate out a terrifying board presence or threaten with massive "X" spells like Bonfire of the Damned , Fireball , and Divine Deflection
Lingering Souls and Midnight Haunting provide tons of creatures to attack with. The tokens are more difficult to block than most creatures due to their flying nature, so I don't lose many to blockers and hence can keep the attacking numbers high. So what does one do with 6 1/1 fliers on the board? Well Overrun , Gavony Township , Sword of War and Peace , and Rally the Peasants turn 1/1 fliers into terrifying bringers of pain, death, and pot stickers (I picture gavony township as a meeting place for potluck parties where the spirits eat and turn into fatties). The recent addition of Elspeth Tirel means I can gain tons of life & threaten her ultimate. More importantly, she insures I am not dead in the water after most mass removal spells. As long as I have her in hand, I can go balls to the wall with my token spells :)
Oh, yeah- and for even more ridiculousness- Lingering Souls , Midnight Haunting , Fireball , Devil's Play , non-miracle Bonfire of the Damned , Rally the Peasants and Overrun can ALL be copied by this little lady:
P.S. If you were wondering about the name- this deck makes me happy, so does the name- that's all there is to it. If this type of deck does get popular, I doubt "SKEB" will be the name found in the deck hubs....buuuuut HONEYBADGER DON'T GIVE A SHIT! :P
Prior to these two tourneys, I had never participated in a legit, ranked, DCI registered tournament before- only a couple 15ish person casual deck tourneys put together for a group of friends. I am not an experienced player, believe me, I have made a ton of stupid mistakes throughout the matches (I'm used to just playing a land first, but I've been attacking first, then dropping my lands if I can and I'll sometimes forget to play the land, other times I'd forget to flash in Midnight Haunting at the end of an opponent's turn). At these tourneys, I learned that this deck has synergies I wasn't aware of and wasn't utilizing. Even with a very n00bish player piloting the deck, it hasn't lost a set in the 2 sanctioned events it has been in. Maybe you don't need to play the overpopular metagame dominating decks, maybe there is hope for homebrews.
WNM 7/4/12------------2-0-0-------------
Three sets were played, I showed up late and won both sets I played. This was the first official organized mtg tournament I've ever played in, so 2-0 is plenty to smile about.
Set 1- vs. Naya Flicker Midrange Aggro- 2-1
Set 2- vs. Bant Flicker Control 2-1
FNM 7/7/12 ----- 4-0-0 or 4-0-1? -----
I work as a telescope operator at an astronomy bar. Typically, I start at 9pm on Fridays. This week I didn't need to be at work until 11pm so I went to FNM for the first time. There were somewhere between 30-50 people, I'm not sure, exactly but there was enough for 5 rounds. The store I play at doesn't do the top 8 part sadly, just X rounds then you get N packs based off what your record is at the end of the rounds. I was undefeated in the first 4 rounds. My 5th round opponent and I were the only remaining undefeated decks, but it was getting close to 11, so we agreed to simply tie for 1st place and split the booster pack prizes (I scored another Bonfire of the Damned :) which I was skipping out on due to the insane price). I learned a lot during this FNM. I had no idea you could block with a mana dork, tap it for mana and then us that to activate Gavony Township and hence be blocking with a bigger creature than before. That gives me more defensive options now that I didn't utilize before.
Set 1- vs. Esper Flicker Midrange 2-1
Set 2- vs. UB Zombie Aggro 2-1
Set 3 vs. BR Zombie Aggro 2-0
Set 4 vs. Esper Control 2-1
Set 5 "Draw"
Lingering Souls when not running any black? You're far better off with Midnight Haunting
Put in Hero of Bladehold. It gives Druids' Repository 3 counters for one attack and it powers up Champion of Lambholt real fast.
Hero of Bladehold does power up the Champion of Lambholt very quickly, but doesn't add 3 counters to Druids' Repository. The repository gets counters when your creatures declare an attack, a step that the tokens actually get to skip.
Love it. This deck gets stupid McNupid in less than 4 turns. Also, why isn't Hero of Bladehold here? She's a BEAST. Midnight Haunting seems better for you than Lingering Souls like others have said.
Unfortunately the creatures put into play by Hero of Bladehold were never declared as attackers so they won't trigger Druids' Repository
sweelo- there are so many things that statement could apply to: my username, the deck name, how ridiculous the deck is... help me out here
elifosl- I actually have 8 sources of black mana: 4 Birds of Paradise and Druids' Repository. Note the repository gives me access to any color I may need. I've been thinking about adding black mana lands too, but there are SO MANY directions I could take this deck, I haven't had a chance to experiment with it yet. Though I am thinking of adding Midnight Haunting anyways because it's good.
I actually have 4 Hero of Bladeholds. I don't know why I didn't think to use her. The promo edition art is some of my favorite in all of magic. Oh, and the creature creation and battle cry would be super helpful too, particularly battle cry. What would you all recommend I take out for her?
Ok, I'm finding myself constantly thinking, "If I just had a Fireball, this game would have been over 4 turns ago!". So that's gonna have to happen
+1 just for the name, the deck looks good to
Perhaps Azure Mage. drawing cards is always good.
Not worth adding blue. Besides I'm currently using Garruk, Primal Hunter for that duty. If I find I need more card drawing, I'll use Reforge the Soul before adding another color. I have access to all 5, but not all the time. So I can hit Lingering Souls most of the time, but when I can't it is still useful. I couldn't say the same for the mage
Thatcher Revolt 4 of! It pays for itself with Druids' Repository is insane with Champion of Lambholt , which I would switch to a 4 of over Hellrider, the 1 extra is good, but making everything unblockable seems better. Maybe even add a Hero of Oxid Ridge no idea what you'd pull out though, great deck! +1
Well, I already have 4 hellrider's so that was easy! I do love me some hasty haste, and I do own a Hero of Oxid Ridge already, and he would be solid in this deck too... Idk about Thatcher Revolt though. I already messed around with having 4x Lingering Souls, 2x Timely Reinforcements, and 2x Midnight Haunting. I found that I was constantly wishing for either a Fireball or Revenge of the Hunted , so they were what came out and so far I haven't regretted it
Right now I'm really thinking hard on that type of thing. My killer creatures are currently 4 hellriders, 3 hero of bladehold, and 2 champion of lambholt. I'm currently trying to figure out which of the 3 is the most potent and stack my deck accordingly.
I have a full play set of Hero of Bladehold so adding a 4th isn't a money problem, I was lucky enough to buy her when Jace, the Mind Sculptor was still legal. His -1 made her useless in standard so she was only 4 bucks!
I have never been unhappy to draw into a Red Sun's Zenith - the removal/game ender aspect of it is too valuable. (I would consider replacing it with Bonfire of the Damned )
If I did add a 4th Hero, it would probably replace a planeswalker, hellrider, or champion of lambholt
I playtested vs. it and I think I have some helpful suggestions. Good luck at GP!!
I like it. looks real fun, my most "fun" deck was for casual multiplayer - coply/clone deck.
Most of my decks are for casual play and I think its a lot better than tournaments. You get great card combo's you'd never see or would never work in a seriously competitive format.
Keep it Fun. Biscuit Eater!
with ur druid's repo and birds, u can get the flashback to lingering souls quite easily, so i would definitely stick to ur lingering souls. I have to ask, do you really think Revenge of the Hunted > Angelic Destiny? i would run 2 and 2, sure miracle playing a revenge is insane, but i like how angelic destiny is a permanent enchantment, and can re-cast. I also think you should go up to at least 20 creatures to optimize your Hellriders etc. I agree daring a fireball is a life saver, but i would -1 fireball -1 red sun to +2 some creatures to help ur druid's repo and hellrider. a Sun Titan, Hero of Oxid Ridge, I would have to recommend Inferno Titan tho, beast control with his 3 damage, like a mini fireball. last thing, i would try fit in 2x Slayers' Stronghold, it is absolutely amazing with a titan and ur hero. Then primeval titan would a pretty good addition as well to fetch ur crazy lands.
I do think that for this deck, and this deck only, revenge of the hunted is better suited to my needs. Don't get me wrong, Angelic Destiny is a helluva card (and it probably has my favorite art of any card): throw it on a doublestriker and watch the opponent cry. But it's just a really good power up card. I have Kessig Wolf Run to pump things.
There are 2 reasons why I run Revenge of the Hunted over Angelic destiny:
First, it is a sorcery, which means Chandra, the Firebrand can copy it for a +12/+12 boost, which is pretty sexy. This alone wouldn't be a good enough reason to choose it over Angelic destiny. It's ability which forces creatures to block is why I run it. Both Revenge of the Hunted and Fireball offer both defense and offence that have saved my ass or dealt a fatal blow countless times. I did take out red sun's zenith to give Bonfire of the Damned a shot.
I used to run more creatures than this, but a lot of the times I found myself wishing for either a fireball or revenge of the hunted, so I trimmed a few creatures and added Garruk, Primal Hunter to help me draw into stuff. I will admit though, the creatures are where I'm least certain of.
I've tried slayers' stronghold, it's great, but the mana requirements for this deck require I have at least 3 green, 2 red, and 2 white if I want to be able to play any card at any given time. Having 2 of those and 2 kessig wolf run meant running a lot of colorless mana lands. The deck wasn't operating at maximum efficiency, but since I've taken it out, things go smoother. If I ever find a way to sneak it in there, I will.
I've been keeping away from 6 cmc creatures, don't ask me why. I need to nut up or shut up and just try one or two. If I did, it wouldn't be Sun titan as he can only fetch mana dorks & Champion of Lambholt . I'd probably go for a titan, though Inferno Titan is my favorite, Primeval Titan can fetch Kessig Wolf Run, which is one of the most difficult to remove win conditions and a very effective one in this deck.
I still have so much to try! I want to give Elspeth Tirel and Hero of Oxid Ridge a try next. Thanks for all the great ideas!
you need 2 more cards in the sideboard.
I know lol. I just don't know what I want/need. Lord knows I don't need Wrack with Madness but I don't have much exposure to the metagame so I'm not sure what would be helpful. Suggestions?
maybe more Bonfire of the Damned for weenie decks, or Day of Judgment. Board sweepers, you know? other than that, I'd say maybe a Chancellor of the Annex to slow down either ramp or speed.
I've got 9 pseudo board sweepers main decked, but DoJ hurts me too much.
Honor of the Pure and another Hero of Bladehold? Hero of Oxid Ridge would be decent against defender decks or weenie. And, if you're facing a slow deck you can use something like a Furnace Scamp or a Vexing Devil.
Or, a White Sun's Zenith Plus Honor of the Pure
Thank you!
I always figured the repository fitted best with craterhoof behemoth but seeing as your mana sinks are such things like wolf run, fireball and bonfire i see your angle... Perhaps Entreat the Angels would fit nicely here, by ALL means find a slot for Sigarda, Host of Herons. Shell keep everything from dying against removal. Avacyn might be a bit of a stretch for most decks but i dont see much problem with her in this one seeing as how quickly you can accumulate mana for hardcasting her though it'd only be for novelty purposes that I'd have her there... so perhaps not a good idea
I had the behemoth in the first draft of the deck. He was a complete badass. He is a hilarious way to win and SO easy to get to with a druids's repository and a couple of spirit tokens. But when You have to tap you mana dorks to get to him, he's not as potent.
I will admit, I HATE playing vs. Sigarda, she's easy to get out and hard to get rid of, but there is only so much she can protect me from. I'm sticking with Nevermore as a more versatile anti-things-I-don't-like for now, but I haven't had much experience with it.
I really want to make an all creatures form of this deck, and ramp to Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Avacyn, and other big nasties,
What do we think? 3x Hero of Bladehold, 2x Hero of Oxid Ridge or 4x bladehold, 1x oxid ridge?
or even 3 oxid, 2 hero... I REALLY like the haste part of Hero of Oxid Ridge. He's like a weird combo between Hellrider and Champion of Lambholt .
Hero of bladehold is such a huge target for removal. It helps that I'm able to get her out so quickly, but she has to survive to the next turn to do anything. To stop Hero of Oxid Ridge, you need instant speed removal AND mana open.
Decisions, decisions, decisions...
Looks AWESOME! Upvote for sure. Grats on featured.
Mind taking a look at my Forsaken RDW
Featured isn't really earned- you can buy 5, 24 hour "feature tokens" for 2 bucks and use them to get exposure. You automatically get 3 tokens for upgrading your account, and if you need 15 days worth of exposure for some reason, you can buy 15 for $5. Its all found in the "extras" button in the top left corner.
I'd be happy to help any RDW as I am a red planeswalker at heart (check out the card sleeves I made for myself on my profile, you'll see what I mean).
Awesome!
Ill go have a looksee!
Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on my constructed.
If you're going to take out Fireball why not put in Burn at the Stake? Seems like an even better finisher to me.
Wow, super legit. +1 here. No edits from me.
I had a similar idea and would love it if you took a look at Hellrider's Hunt. +1(000000)
If you need to take out Fireball more Bonfire of the Damned might be cool. It does everything Fireball does, and is even better with chandra. Anyway, I really like the deck +1
What about Manabarbs ? With the repository you would never have to tap mana for your spells while your opponents are killing themseleves.
You could add Door to Nothingness (which is coming back in M13) which is kinda cool with card:Druids' Repository adding another win condition and a giant sink of all the mana it gives you.
You could add Door to Nothingness (which is coming back in M13) which is kinda cool with card:Druids' Repository adding another win condition and a giant sink of all the mana it gives you.
If any deck could support that card, it is this one, but the red mage in me would much rather just blast them with card:Devil's Play. It would be a hilarious win con, but I wouldn't be able to activate it until turn 6, 5 at the earliest, but that would require me to keep all my mana dorks alive, which you can never count on :(
I'm curious how this deck runs against control. I personally don't know too much about control, but I have seen it devastate some decks. Also, looking over the comments I'm not seeing the heroes or some of the mana sinks previously discussed. I don't see any wolf runs, just 2 devils play and one bonfire. It still is a vicious deck but without any draw you should probably get more sinks. +1 from me, and would you mind looking at my deck deck:one-fish-two-fish-big-fish-stormtide?
Hey, doesn't druid's repository require CREATURES????? XD I like the deck! it's cool.I think Door to Nothingness would be fun, but It'd take the shere-khan-eats-biscuits-overhauled out of the whole thing.Btw, could you check my new deck out, deck:return-of-power
A lot have things have changed since the original incarnation- Hero of Bladehold , while an amazing card, is only worth while if she lives long enough to attack, and vs. control, that shouldn't happen, so she when away. Hero of Oxid Ridge was more effective due to haste, however, there are a lot of really common creatures with 2 power that can block and kill hero like snapcaster mage, viridian emissary, solemn simulacrum. Hellrider gave me the damage I was looking for in a beefier 3/3 package. If hero of oxid ridge had was 3/3, I'd go with him, but sadly his 2 toughness wasn't cutting it.
I've found in the majority of cases, I preferred Gavony Township over kessig. With only 1 card:Druids' Repository out, each attacking creature adds 1 mana, and hence 1 extra damage to kessig and the the extra damage goes away with the mana. Gavony township puts a +1/+1 counter on all attacking creatures- if they go unblocked, that does the same damage as kessig, but the +1/+1 counters don't go away, so it does more damage each turn and makes each creature bigger and bigger and harder to get rid of. I wish I could run 2-3 gavony and 1-2 kessig, but the mana base can't handle that sadly :(
I think you are right on adding more mana sinks. I used to run more and I think I'm gonna try to find a way to add 1-2 more, because getting 4 creatures and 2 druids repositories and no way to spent all that mana really sucks.
The only form of control that can give it trouble is cheap mass removal, which is found mostly in red and black. Day of Judgement and Curse of death's hold can suck, but only if they live long enough to cast it. I've learned you have to hold back a little bit until you've identified it isn't in their hand or baited it out. Other than that, it eats ordinary control decks alive for the most part
Jamie boy, if it were possible to play every spell in my deck, I could get 11 regular creatures and 32 tokens, and that's without copying Midnight Haunting or Lingering Souls with Chandra, the Firebrand . If I were to somehow copy all those spells, I'd get 11 creatures and 64 tokens, so 75 creatures in a 60 card deck- not bad I'd say.
I'll check out the fish deck and return of power for you guys :)
Jamie Boy, XD
Urabrask is probably my favorite card of that set- he's a badass, but if I'm gonna pay 5 mana for something, it'll be to kill. I wouldn't be able to kill as fast with urabrask as I could with hellrider or predatory rampage
This is one of those quirky magic decks that keeps me playing. +1. I would give +2 if I could, but I can't, so +1 until I learn to clone myself. And maybe try Increasing Devotion ? You can easily ramp into it, and it generates tons o' weenies, then comes back for more!
There has been something funky with the +1 button, because it hasn't been working today, idk why, but thank you none the less :) Increasing devotion would be pretty sick with druids' repository and one I definitely will be keeping in mind. With card:Druids' Repository out, I could flash it back the very next turn after attacking with 5 creatures. I've been tempted to move this deck towards humans with things like increasing devotion and Gather the Townsfolk . If I did, I'd want to change up a lot of things to include some of the amazing human tribal cards in standard right now. If birds of paradise isn't reprinted in return to ravnica (it was in the original ravnica, so hopefully it will be), I probably will.
One of the strengths of the deck is the pseudo unblockable nature of flying tokens allowing me to keep my attacking numbers high. Unboosted human tokens are easily blocked an killed, which is why I haven't added any gather the townsfolk. The other strength of this deck is speed. Ex turn 1 land, birds, turn 2 land lingering souls. Turn 3 land, druids' repository, attack with 3 creatures, flashback lingering souls, 1 counter left on the repository. Turn 4 Attack with everything, hard cast and flashback Rally the Peasants that's 4 5/1 fliers and a 4/1 birds of paradise. Turn 4 win.
If I ever find that this deck is getting shut down too hard by something and needs a stronger late game, I will definitely be looking at increasing devotion and Entreat the Angels . So far, it's 2-0, but I don't work until 11pm tomorrow so I'm going to try my hand at FNM and see how it fairs. Hopefully that will tell me more.
I like this homebrew! +1
I think you might have a hard time against Wolf Run Ramp game 1, with all of the board sweeps they run. Your sideboard can take care of a lot of the threats, or steal them. If you were take out the 1x Rally the Peasants and 2x Blessings of Nature for 3x Nevermore , it would help IMO.
I have 2 Wolf Run Ramp decks. I playtested this one, Jund, against yours and went 2-1:
and this Naya Ramp (which I didn't test against yours):
If you were to mainboard more cheap threats, like mentioned above, ala Hero of Bladehold or Hellrider , it could improve your deck.
I've actually playtester vs. your decks long before and you are right, the mass removal, particularly slagstorm sucks pretty hardcore (I had less success vs your naya version if that helps you decide, I remember a post of yours asking which one was better). When you are playing this deck vs. mass removal, you have to play very different than you usually would, you HAVE to respect it the possibility and hold back so you still have ammo left after the mass removal drops (never cast all your tokens and all your mana dorks, save one set of each unless you are able to identify they don't have it in hand, and even then, you should wait till the opportune moment). sword of war and peace makes life much easier and I'm looking to add a 3rd copy. Also, burn spells should be spent on mana dorks like birds of paradise early on instead of held on to, viridian emissary should NEVER be blocked and killed (he can't kill me fast enough, but your late game can). No worries though, this deck is really, really weird and it took me many frustrating playtests to figure out how to play it properly vs. your naya wolf run deck (and many thoughts of "I fucking hate slagstorm!" when my board would be wiped the turn before I'd kill- it was frustrating enough to make me willing to pay the money for sword of war and peace lol). I played way fewer games vs. the jund version, idk why, but I never had a problem vs the jund version... I probably just got lucky in the few games I played and I would want to play test more vs. it to find out.
I used to have both hero of bladehold and hellrider in the deck. I replaced hero of bladehold with hero of oxid ridge and more hellriders because she is often removed before she has the chance to do anything and the haste of the other 2 lets me get turn 4 kills if they can't block. In the WNM I was running 4 copies of hellrider and I learned that I really would rather have more copies of overrun and rally the peasants. Here's 2 examples of turn 4 kills, 1 with hellrider, 1 without:
Turn 1- land, birds. Turn 2- land, lingering souls. Turn 3 land, hellrider, attack for 8 if hellrider is unblocked/unremoved. Turn 4 land, attack for 9, burn for 3.
This turn 4 kill requires hellrider to survive 2 attacks and not be blocked. Hellrider does not have flying. He can be chump blocked or even killed no problem by a flipped delver or 3/3 golem token from Blade Splicer or via a removal spell that most opponents don't use because it'd be a waste to use it on just tokens. I've often found that not only does he rarely live to attack twice, but the damage output is usually not enough to win me a game that I couldn't already win with an overrun or rally the peasants. Lets take a look at another turn 4 kill:
Turn 1- land, birds. Turn 2- land, lingering souls. Turn 3 druids' repository, attack with 2 spirits, use the 2 mana from repository to flashback lingering souls. Turn 4. Attack with birds and 4 tokens, use 5 mana and 1 of the 2 lands to cast and then flashback rally the peasants 24 damage. You only have to have 2 lands, if you have more, you can use the extra mana for burn if they manage to block one of the fliers. This is turn 4 kill is much harder to stop as the opponent must be able to block flying or have lands untapped and and instant speed kill spell available.
Multiple times at WNM, I found myself holding hellrider and thinking "If this were an overrun, this game would be over". So reluctantly, hellrider came out and I haven't regretted it yet.
Thanks for the imput man, I love your decks :)
Haha! Yeah,Slagstorm is a beast, hence why I run the 3x I have. I was pondering taking out the 2x Druidic Satchel for 2x Day of Judgement in the Naya Run. Also, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is a plus if I get her out.
The Jund Ramp version I run has card:Black Sun's Zenith, which gets around Hexproof, Protection from black, and Indestructable stuff. Massacre Wurm is fun too... Viridian Emissary is an underrated card. I don't mind if it dies, hence your comment above lol, and it's a great target early game for exiling. Saves my bigger dudes later. So you said you prefer the Naya version?
I see your point about Hellrider . Makes sense. All in how you play it.
Yeah man, the Rally the Peasants is absolutely STUPID with card:Druids' Repository lol. Why not run 4x Overrun in place of Predatory Rampage ? The Trample is an insta-kill. Contested War Zone could be a fun land to play with. Pumps your dudes, is a land slot, and use it to swing for the win... Just a thought.
You're welcome, and thank you!
i would throw in 2x Kessig Wolf Run just for another win condition
Oh shit! I thought predatory rampage gave trample!! No! I'm so bad at reading cards with more than 2 lines of text. I already misread Fireball lol. I'll make that switch. Thank you for pointing that out. I have been really messing around with the lands of this deck, trying to figure out the optimal mana distribution and how many ability lands I can squeeze in. I learned some cool things between Gavony Township and mana dorks this friday. I looked at contested war zone, but an important part of my game is strategically NOT blocking (which might change thanks to the aforementioned gavony mana dork thing. In the first few turns, I really don't block, and to lose in the early game while giving the opponent an extra land and something that makes there attacks which I won't block even stronger is enough for me to be too timid to give it a chance.
In regards to your naya deck, I wanted to see either Shrine of Boundless Growth or Garruk, Primal Hunter (if your mana can support 2ggg) over Druidic Satchel, but he does so in a way that doesn't cost mana per turn (though you can't get him turn 2 like the satchel), his tokens are better too. The shrine is just an under appreciated, but extremely good ramp spell, when all else fails, it won't. I'm not totally sure what the primary reasoning for the satchel is, so those suggestions might be not as helpful as I might hope. Either way :)
iGrixis I used to run 24 lands, 1 Gavony Township one kessig wolf run. I found most time, gavony was more beneficial, but I've been tweaking the lands a bit and I think I might just try 2 gavony, 1 kessig wolf run and see how that goes. There definitely are some times where kessig would be nice to have
HoneyBadger, no problem lol! Yeah, the War Zone was just a thought. Good points though.
I totally forgot about Shrine of Boundless Growth . It IS a hugely underrated card. I don't own a Primal Hunter, but it would be sweet to fit one in if I ever get one. I could see the Shrine being very useful, especially with a card:Green Sun's Zenith or card:Red Sun's Zenith .
The Druidic Satchel is great for cheap. It offers a ton of utility. I can pay 2 to get 2 life, a 1/1 chump, or put a land directly into play, all depending on what's on top of my deck of course. My Naya (and Jund) Ramp is a mid to late game deck, thus I'm losing alot of life in the first few turns. Wurmcoil Engine , Huntmaster of the Fells Flip , and the Satchel provide me ways to get my life back.
If I had the money for 4 bonfires I might. I used to give away cards that I wasn't using to my friends so our little circle of magic would improve. That said, I only had 3 decks worth of cards and I sold them all to get the store credit for this deck. Sadly I'm a poor college student so 2 more bonfires is a bit out of the question right now, even though it can be a huge game changer. When I tied for 1st at FNM, I got like 8 or 9 packs and one of them had a bonfire in it. As long as I keep winning with this deck, I might either find enough bonfires or just get enough cards to trade in for 1 or 2 more (though I think I'd get another Sword of War and Peace before I get another bonfire, idk). I'll check out your deck
I took your deck challenge and was slightly pleased with how my own deck did (also against your SKEB deck). I really enjoyed playing against your decks & I think they are very original and interesting. (Solid too!)
If you have the time, I'd love for you to check out my deck The Things Venser hid in His Closet and leave me some comments about how I can make it better (+1 if you like it). And don't forget to leave me a link if you want some feedback on one of your decks.
I'm glad you like my decks. Unfortunately, I'm not really paying much attention to any of my other decks besides this one right now as SKeB is the only deck I own (I gave the cards I wasn't using to my friends long ago and sold my other 2 decks to help fund SKeB). I'm using it in WNM & FNM so any feedback on this one would help, particularly on some of the cards in the maybeboard :) I'm still messing around with the mana base as i kinda want to figure out a way to be able to play card:Druids' Repository and Bonfire of the Damned with 3 lands and Angel of Jubilation with 4 lands, and Overrun with 5 lands, so that's like 3 greens, 4 white, and a red between 5 lands... Idk, the mana base is what needs the most work, but it's difficult to give suggestions on mana bases if you haven't playtested the deck a million times so don't worry about it.
Gratz on building a deck that has some success vs. my own homebrews :) Depending on the hands, I can see the venser deck doing well vs.mainboard SKeB as I have played vs. a bant flicker deck at WNM and I barely beat it 2-1 (though his was much more control oriented), even still, Stonehorn Dignitary and Silklash Spider a pain in the...deck...ha... Since playing him and a bunch of other flicker decks (it is pretty common at my store) I have added 3 Torpor Orb to the sideboard, which does kinda neuter flicker decks...
Your sideboard needs to be designed with some of your worst match-ups in mind. Using Nevermore is always pretty good for a white deck. After game 1, you should know kinda what they're playing and get the chance to nevermore something. Zealous Conscripts should replace Act of Aggression because it allows a much larger variety of things that can be stolen. Intangible Virtue , Rally the Peasants and Blessings of Nature are all things that I would say, should either be main board, or not considered at all. I just don't ever really seeing you making an in match choice to move those in.
Fireball , I think it needs to come out. If it didn't divide the damage between targets (rounded DOWN) then maybe keep it...but it does, so it's really not worth it. Try using extra card:Devil's Play or card:Red Sun's Zenith in it's place and see what you think.
Geist-Honored Monk is a consideration for you since it puts more spirits into play and gives you plenty of creatures to swing with each turn. Or maybe Mausoleum Guard for getting a nice block/swing, and then out pops two spirit tokens (helps control board wipes a little I think).
As for Divine Deflection , I want to say yes...but I'm just thinking you have way too many high/X cost spells. Even with all the ramp, I'm not sure you'll be able to keep up with all you need.
Hero Vs Hellrider ? I would go with the Hellrider, because that's just instant damage. The Hero of Oxid Ridge has haste, but he really doesn't do a whole lot besides the battle cry, which hellrider does better in a way. Maybe consider using the Hero in SB for a white weenie deck.
I have been messing around with the cards with an X in their mana cost. red sun's zenith is meh. Yeah, it shuffles back in and exile is nice vs. zombies, but the flashback of devil's play is more valuable in the majority of matchups. From experience in my store's meta, which is very aggro, fireball's ability, while less desirable due to the whole divided evenly thing, has saved me more times than devil's play has.
As far as divine deflection goes, this deck doesn't play defense. The deck prefers to build up a critical mass of creatures and/or a ton of mana, then explodes with a massive burn spell or tons of creatures pumped by rally the peasants or overrun. But to do that, it can't be losing mana dorks and tokens by chump blocking, so you really don't block with this deck unless you absolutely have to. I took devil's play out for devine reflection because divine reflection essentially reads "when you need it most, gain x life and deal x damage to target creature or player". Which means I can survive longer while dealing damage AND maintaining a high attacker count. I just added it, but I know from experience, I have lost games that could have been won if the devil's play in my hand was a divine deflection.
I love zealous conscripts and I didn't realize her ability worked on any permanent which is pretty cool. Even still Act of aggression is slightly better in this deck for 3 reasons. 1- it can be copied by Chandra. 2. It works at instant speed, so you can steal that phyrexian obliterator and use it as your own blocker muhahaha! 3. I have 3 torpor orbs sideboarded and flicker is a common deck at my store, so I might want to steal that inferno titan in my opponent's naya flicker deck, but I can't if torpor orb is out :(
I ABSOLUTELY AGREE with your statements regarding rally the peasants, blessings of nature, and intangible virtue. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages. Vs. decks that have a lot of flying or curse of death's hold, I will ditch rally the peasants for the sideboard boosters. Vs. Decks without flying, I'll put rally the peasants in for overrun. But I think those spots on the sideboard could be filled MUCH more efficiently to deal with particular matchups that I hate. I've got a ton of ideas and I'm looking everywhere I can for answers.
I really, really, really hate mass removal. So nevermore would be useful vs. mass removal IF there wasn't so god damn much of it in standard right now! Seriously, with m13 out, every color has at LEAST 3 mass removal spell available to them (ratchet bomb and corrosive gale can be played by any deck). Sadly, almost ALL decks at my store run at least 2 cards that can remove all my spirits, so nevermore is kind of a gamble: hopefully he won't draw the card I couldn't name. Once Return to Ravnica hits and the Scars of Miroden block cycles, and slagstorm, whipflare, day of judgment, black sun's zenith, corrosive gale, ratchet bomb, etc can't trouble me any more, nevermore will likely be added to the sideboard.
I used to run both hero and hellrider, but they usually only get one shot off before they die, so if I'm only gonna get one shot, I prefer overrun. geist-honored monk doesn't work with torpor orb either. I like the idea of mausoleum guard... might have to test with that one, but it feels sooo slow :( idk
Thanks for the imput :)
Very true. And I hadn't thought about for matches that you side in Torpor Orb . Do you have any good infect decks in your meta? If you do, sideboarding 2-3 Melira, Sylvok Outcast might be a good idea.
Have you considered running Reverberate or Increasing Vengeance over your planeswalker? It works just as well but can also stop a counter spell, touch a miracled Bonfire, or any other of your heavy hitting spells at a cheaper rate ;)
I've seen people not swing if the defender has one or two Doomed Traveler untapped because they don't want to give him flying tokens. This guy would give you TWO and people would be far less inclined to attack. I wouldn't swing with the Mausoleum Guard unless you need that 1 extra mana or if they have no creatures on the field.
Timely Reinforcements might be a good sideboard card if you find that a deck, (maybe another token deck) is just moving too fast for you to keep up with in the first game. It helps gain life AND some dudes to swing or block.
Burn at the Stake while not exactly having great synergy this is still something that could be game ending. If you've got 4 creatures (2 spirits and 2 mana dorks), that's 12 damage to the face right there, but sadly, you can't attack with the creatures first so idk. Ehh...It was an idea.
And No problem, I like helping out neat decks and I like the advise you gave to me on my deck :)
I overheard one of the guys talking about his deck- from what I gather, it is one of those infect decks where if you don't block it, he pumps it with really cheap boost spells and you die on like turn 3-4 -_- I haven't had to face him yet, but given the no block nature of this deck... I think Melira might be a good use of a couple sideboard slots as that might be a straight up matchup loss if I ever come across it... And I suppose she could be helpful for dealing with card:Black Sun's Zenith too.
Chandra vs. Reverberate: Reverberate adds 2 mana to the casting cost, chandra makes you a turn slower at casting it. When copying X spells, paying the 2 extra mana means you lose 4 of what it could have been for chandra. What's really nice though, is that people ALWAYS attack chandra which buys me back the extra turn I'd lose from casting her before playing the spell to be copied, plus she pops really annoying X/1 creatures like blade splicer, delver of secrets, blood artist, grave crawler, etc. all of which are common at my store.
I had burn at the stake in here for a bit back when I had 4 chandras and hellrider (I was running more red mana sources which I have since removed) and burn at the stake is seriously deadly, but the the way I had my lands selected meant they were entering tapped too frequently so I took it out to make the mana more fluid.
You know, I think timely reinforcements might actually be worth while... I am frequently behind in life and my board does get wiped way too often (and with m13 out soon, it's only gonna get worse)... I think either timely reinforcements or Elspeth Tirel would make this deck a lot more stable which is something it really needs
That's called pump-fect. It's considered a cheep ($30-75) deck type and is very weak to Gut Shot , any small burn spell, or maybe an enchantment that could give him shroud/pro-green (since pump spells in that deck type are almost always green.) Also, things like Vapor Snag will simply destroy his whole game plan.
Chandra; The biggest thing I don't like about trying to use a planeswalker for your spell copy, is that you can't use it at instant speed or copy one of your opponent's spells. (One time I tried using Surgical Extraction on a RG Aggro, and to my surprise, he Reverberate d it right back at me...to little avail since he hit a one-of in my deck.) In this case, they'd most likely kill her before you get to use her for her real purpose, doubling a spell. But with how your play style works, She might just be what your deck needs (a way to get them to attack something other than you. A free Gut Shot and if she lives until next turn, all the better :)
Gavony Township over Kessig Wolf Run ; I know above you've discussed how you already like Township over Kessig, but I want to notion that you should have 3 townships and no wolf runs. The township has a permanent effect that will last as long as your creatures live. You've talked about how you've been taught to block/pump with your mana dorks and the township makes it somewhat possible for your creatures to live through the attack. Kessig is good, but with all your other X cost spells, and overrun giving you trample, you should stop with 3 townships.
Defense: This is a random idea...you can include Asceticism . With it's regenerate ability, and giving all your guys hexproof, you can really make a defensive, invincible army of creatures that will hold down the fort (without dying) until you can get a kill spell in range. Maybe it's not too good of an idea for this deck, but it could be an idea for you to consider (but probably not for this deck).
Hmm...are you sure you don't want to run at least one hard black source for Lingering Souls ?
Also this deck is such a great idea, I can't even get my head round it properly! xD
Nah, he doesn't really even need it. If he has no ramp source, then he won't even be THINKING about flashing back Lingering Souls until turn 4. And if it's turn 4 or 5 and he doesn't have card:Druids' Repository or a Birds, he's probably already lost. Unless he's facing a mana dork ramp that's land screwed and he top-cards a bonfire the next turn.
The chances of him NOT having a black source, needing it, and THAT being what loses him the game, are just so low...it's not really worth adding a swamp. Not to mention how that could seriously injure his early game mana base.
Speaking of your early game mana base, why not use Llanowar Elves over the Pilgram? Since by turn 4 you want W, R, and GG for your mana options. Just a thought.
You might also be interested in Captain of the Watch , card:Captain's Call, and Odric, Master Tactician .
I don't think those are the cards he's looking for. This deck seems to aim more towards flying tokens, since they're that much harder to block. Those are also cost 4+ so he'd be spending a lot of his ramp to put them out on turn he could be casting and flashing rally or casting overrun. I do have a thought though. Have you ever considered Intangible Virtue ? Vigilance is more for defensive players, which I know you aren't, but the anthem is nice.
I know they are not flying but with Odric, Master Tactician they can still be unblockable.
I know he can make them unblockable but that's really scratching his goal here. He does have great ramp so 4 mana may not seem like much but he would much rather have more tokens to fuel the engine. The flyers are hard enough to block, and by the time Odric would be effective he'd much rather be using Overrun or Rally the Peasants and swinging for lethal. If he were to play any 4 cost card Hellrider swings 1 turn earlier and gives damage, and even then it didn't compare to rally/overrun.
thejadejedi, Cirdan13 & krotash, you three have earned my utmost respect.
thejadejedi I swapped the kessig wolf run for a 3rd gavony. The decision to re-add kessig was admittedly an emotional one as there are occasional games where I'll have a ton of mana and nothing to do with it which burns my soul. But with Bonfire of the Damned and Divine Deflection , I have a good reason not to blow my mana every turn. I need to experiment with the mana pool... The original mana base NEEDED more white, not green, so I went with the pilgrim over an elf. All and all, it's not the end of the world if I am unable to cast card:Druids' Repository, but I'm screwed if I don't have a white mana for my token spells. Asceticism would be great in a more defensive, perhaps non-flying token form of this deck, but for 5 mana, I'd rather cast Overrun and win.
krotash, you have an excellent sense of how the deck operates and how I wanted the deck to feel and play. I actually have intangible virtue sideboarded for dealing with card:Curse of Death's Hold. I have made alternative versions of this deck which had intangible virtue in them, but they play in a different, less explosive style. Those decks are more "stable", but I am sure if they are more effective- all I know is they aren't as fun, exciting, or explosive as this one is. I have added Divine Deflection which is operates similarly to a "X" burn spell, but also buys me another turn. I have also added Elspeth Tirel to the sideboard (and am considering just replacing chandra or rally the peasants with her for the time being until she rotates) as she adds a TON of stability- life gain, mass removal, and a constant stream of tokens (so I can go balls to the wall and cast all my token spells and know I'm not dead in the water if a Day of Judgement or whatever wipes my board)
Cirdan13- There are so many different ways this deck could be built. I could literally swap all of your suggestions, and maybe a few more cards like Gather the Townsfolk or Honor of the Pure or something, for a bunch of the cards in the current version and have a deck that is also extremely effective and viable, but one which has a different feel and play style to it. The explosive, never block, attack, burn, multiply aggrogogogo play style of this current version includes almost all of the things I find fun in magic, so my heart won't let me take you up on your suggestions. That said, you are totally free to take pieces of this deck and your own ideas and craft your own amazing deck- and if you want, I will totally name it for you if you want a random-ass name that in now way transmit any relevant clues to the core functionality of the deck :D
thejadejedi, Cirdan13 & krotash, you three have earned my utmost respect.
thejadejedi I swapped the kessig wolf run for a 3rd gavony. The decision to re-add kessig was admittedly an emotional one as there are occasional games where I'll have a ton of mana and nothing to do with it which burns my soul. But with Bonfire of the Damned and Divine Deflection , I have a good reason not to blow my mana every turn. I need to experiment with the mana pool... The original mana base NEEDED more white, not green, so I went with the pilgrim over an elf. All and all, it's not the end of the world if I am unable to cast card:Druids' Repository, but I'm screwed if I don't have a white mana for my token spells. Asceticism would be great in a more defensive, perhaps non-flying token form of this deck, but for 5 mana, I'd rather cast Overrun and win.
krotash, you have an excellent sense of how the deck operates and how I wanted the deck to feel and play. I actually have intangible virtue sideboarded for dealing with card:Curse of Death's Hold. I have made alternative versions of this deck which had intangible virtue in them, but they play in a different, less explosive style. Those decks are more "stable", but I am sure if they are more effective- all I know is they aren't as fun, exciting, or explosive as this one is. I have added Divine Deflection which is operates similarly to a "X" burn spell, but also buys me another turn. I have also added Elspeth Tirel to the sideboard (and am considering just replacing chandra or rally the peasants with her for the time being until she rotates) as she adds a TON of stability- life gain, mass removal, and a constant stream of tokens (so I can go balls to the wall and cast all my token spells and know I'm not dead in the water if a Day of Judgement or whatever wipes my board)
Cirdan13- There are so many different ways this deck could be built. I could literally swap all of your suggestions, and maybe a few more cards like Gather the Townsfolk or Honor of the Pure or something, for a bunch of the cards in the current version and have a deck that is also extremely effective and viable, but one which has a different feel and play style to it. The explosive, never block, attack, burn, multiply aggrogogogo play style of this current version includes almost all of the things I find fun in magic, so my heart won't let me take you up on your suggestions. That said, you are totally free to take pieces of this deck and your own ideas and craft your own amazing deck- and if you want, I will totally name it for you if you want a random-ass name that in now way transmit any relevant clues to the core functionality of the deck :D
I was wondering if I could get your insight into an alternate version I was thinking of. It's be Bant, a bit slower, more protected, and controlling, and tops off with Beguiler of Wills . Think it can be done?
I think that would be a wonderful idea- my friend actually came up with the idea of playing a bant druids' repository deck. Instead of using the extra mana to accelerate his game, his idea was to use the mana from mana dorks or stock piled druids' repository counters to always have mana available for counter spells. In theory, this sounds super sexy as you can easily just counter the mass removal which can give this deck problems.
Going with blue over red allows you to take this deck in some cool new directions, Beguiler of Wills being only one of the awesome ways to go. Other cards I'd consider are Drogskol Captain , Favorable Winds , Talrand, Sky Summoner , etc.
I think Bant Repository has potential to be a contender in a competitive setting, however it'll be up to you to develop it. I hate blue control- I had a bad experience with it when I first started playing mtg- the friend who got me into mtg played a UW deck with 20 counter spells give or take. Needless to say, it wasn't fun to play against. I will always play red over blue given the choice so I'ma stick with GRWB Shere Khan eats Biscuits :)
If you make a bant deck, post it cause I'll want to see it!
Ok so I completely mangled it and it needs a TON of work, but here's my first draft of deck:bant-skeb. I mean a TON of work. I couldn't fit the Drogskol Captain s or Favorable Winds because I just didn't know how to change it without losing SKEB and becoming BANT delver spirits.
| Date added | 1 year |
| Last updated | 9 months |
| Legal formats | Extended, Legacy, Vintage, Commander / EDH, Modern |
| Illegal cards | Birds of Paradise , Copperline Gorge , Elspeth Tirel , Overrun , Razorverge Thicket , Fireball , Sword of War and Peace |
| Sets | |
| Cards | 64 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.66 |
| Top rank | #1 on 2012-05-23 |
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Shere Khan eats Biscuits
sweelo says...
omg really? honey badger!
May 11, 2012 11:43 a.m.