[work in progress]
Really simple aggro/auras deck. It use 2 win condition:
Edge of the Divinity
on a double color creature, and I run 15 of them, or beat with
Nightsky Mimic
, which from turn 3 can become a flying 4-dmg-in-your-face creature; this is true for most of the turns, as I run 26 bicolor spells.
This deck can have a great advantage in life point, as I have 8 creatures with lifelink and 3 creature with extort (plus 4 lands, but 4 lp doesn't matter so much), so I usually win the damage exchange. Is not so difficult to have a 4/4 lifelink on turn 2 or 3, maybe with flying. Not to mention the
Nightsky Mimic
, which can became, if transformed and enchanted, a flying 7/7: but I rarely do it, is usually better to keep separate your win conditions.
INSIGHT
drops:
Deftblade Elite
: I love this soldier. A turn one creature with 2 abilities, and pretty useful ones. With provoke you can dismantle the opponent's strategy from the second turn, make him block creatures not supposed to (bye bye, Delver of Secrets
or Mother of Runes). And your deftblade should survive the battle, if you enchant it with an aura, better if
Hyena Umbra
. The second ability is a defensive one, and can block nasty creatures with infect, pretty common in pauper.
Nip Gwyllion
: not so much to say: do you want a 2nd turn 4/4 lifelink? Enjoy.
Edge of the Divinity
: bread and butter. Your main source of damage, use it carefully. Is better to use it on a nip gwillion or a
Mourning Thrull
. Why? Well, cause the weak point of an aura deck without hexproof creatures is that is too easy to do a 2x1 destroying one enchanted creature. So if I have to lost a creature, I prefer this 2, not the bigger ones.
Hyena Umbra
: 3 bonus for just one ? Nice. First strike is always good, especially on deftblade, same for +1/+1, but totem armor is really good: it can limit the card advantage loss of the aura deck weakness. And help you protecting your
Nightsky Mimic
. It doesn't work with card like
Cruel Edict
, true, but I will cover it later on.
drops:
Chainer's Edict: pretty the same as
Cruel Edict
or Diabolic Edict (this one is better, being an instant), as I never arrive to 7 land with this deck, if I do not flood. And I don't want to. Nice removal, can't properly target but a couple in mainboard is always good. It's never a useless card and is really strong vs low creatures deck, like aura with the hexproof creatures, infect, Kiln Fiend.
Mourning Thrull
: the same of nip gwillion, but it flies.
Brilliant Halo
: pretty nice aura. Only a +1/+2, but the hand recurrence is a wonderful skill. If your creature dies, you lose only that, as the aura will always return to hand like Rancor does. Many of my creatures are pretty low in constitution, so is good to have a reusable aura.
Castigate
: amazing card. You choose among all the opponent's cards and exile it. Can remove some big threat, and give you vision of the opponent's hand.
Nightsky Mimic
: your bigger source of damage. Doesn't matter who your opponent is, having an attacking 4/4 flying is always bad. For them.
drops:
Auramancer
: don't understimate this creature. She has a decent body, and allow you to take an enchantment from your graveyard, which is always good. Basically she is a 2x1 at decent cost.
Kingpin's Pet
: really strong, a 2/2 flying that allow you to start to extort, increasing the gap in life point with your opponent. And enchanted become a really nice beater.
Unmake: 3 is pretty expensive for a removal, but this is really good. The exile is really strong in pauper, it prevent grave recurrence, pass indestructible creature and is a multicolored spell, so kill
Guardian of the Guildpact
and the hybrid cost make it easy to pay. The instant speed allow you to transform the
Nightsky Mimic
in the opponent's turn, which can be helpful.
Read the Bones: just a couple, as is always good to draw, and our hand become empty pretty fast. I prefer this over Sign in Blood cause first of all it allow me to scry 2, than cause I already have many cards at 2 cmc and at turn 2 I prefer to cast a creature, not a sorcery.
LANDS
Not so much to say, but anyway: I tested many mana bases, and I prefere right now to run 19-20 lands, with more focus on the white ones. Justa a couple of Swamp, 6-7 double color lands like Scoured Barrens and Orzhov Basilica, which can help the recurrence of the first (for a life point... ) or better of Bojuka Bog. Regarding the least, I think is good to keep a couple of it in the main deck, cause is always good vs monoB, fog, flashbacks etc... This means that you can't use Secluded Steppe. This is cause in an aggro deck you can't be too slow, and I already have 8 lands that come into play tapped. So I can't afford other 2 slow lands. Eventually, chose among Secluded Steppe and Bojuka Bog accordingly to your meta.
SIDEBOARD
Beckon Apparition
: great istant. Split color and instant, so activate
Nightsky Mimic
, specific grave removal vs flashback cards and
Unearth
, it give us a multicolored flying spirit ready to become a 4/4 with
Edge of the Divinity
, and counter
Cruel Edict
and Chainer's Edict.I'm actually thinking to run a couple of it in main.
Rune of Protection: Green
and
Rune of Protection: Red
: not so much to say, right? The green one help us vs infect, stompy or auras, the red one vs burn and Kiln Fiend. I prefer the runes over the circle just for the cycling ability, so I can cycle the second one that I draw, and as my mana source are basically mono I don't care the colored cost.
Holy Light
: I love this instant. It doesn't kill any of my creatures, and is so strong vs fairies, goblin, tokens, the stupid hexproof creatures (before they got enchanted/pumped, of course) and some monoB decks.
Disenchant: I don't have to explain it, do I? If you run a version with more enchantment and Ethereal Armor use Seal of Cleansing. If your meta is full of affinity, go with
Dust to Dust
.
CONCLUSIONS
I use this deck from a while, tested it on cockatrice and in real, and I must say is pretty stable. I can work a little bit with the cards that I put in the maybeboard, wich I analized in the previous section, but is just a matter of taste and meta, I think. Not a tier 1, but I think it can be considered a tier 1.5/2,
MATCH UPS Show
[in progress]
vsMonoB
Hard match up. They are full of removal, so is hard to keep an enchanted creature on board, and are easy for them to do a 2x1. Worse of all, their edicts bypass our totem armor and they don't care how big is our creature. A
Circle of Protection: Black
doesn't protect us from the life loss of Gray Merchant of Asphodel. And they are full of discard cards: a
Hymn to Tourach
on second turn can destroy our game. What to do? Never enchant a creature if is is alone or if you haven't a
Beckon Apparition
(better to cast on a Chainer's Edict) or
Auramancer
in hand . Try to aggro as much as you can and cross your finger. They have mass removal too, like Pestilence, and Cuombajj Witches alone can block your game.And there are too fucking many of this decks around, I'm quite sick of this. Side in Disenchant for Pestilence and
Oubliette
(special note: if you destroy this card your auras too return!), Dawn Charm for the edicts and the discards card; side out
Hyena Umbra
.
vsBURN
This game is easier than you image. Our life gain alone counter all the deck, so they have to use their spells to kill our creatures. That's mean less damage for us! And if we put in play a
Hyena Umbra
or better
Edge of the Divinity
, they have to use at least 2 spell to kill our creature. Usually is just enough a 4/4 lifelink and they give up. Of course if they have a really good start there's no much we can do about it, you have to keep care when enchant your creatures and Electrickery can destroy us, but usually is a fair match. After the SB, they concede if you succesfully cast
Rune of Protection: Red
. If your meta is full of this archetype, consider
Crimson Acolyte
in SB to completely shut down their deck.
MAYBEBOARD Show
Harsh Sustenance
: a card from the last set, and I'm still testing it. It's an istant and multicolor, so allows the same trick of Unmake, and can be used on opponent's face too. But i don't like it so much cause doesn't help you if you are in disvantage. Is worthy only with a minimum of 2 creatures in play.
Tithe Drinker
: Well, this creature is not bad at all. I tried her a little bit, it work pretty well: you can extort, have lifelink, help you transform your
Nightsky Mimic
.. But she didn't convince me. 1 in constitution is too low, and I already have many fragile creatures, it cost two colored mana, and I am more focused on the white part, and I usualy don't have so much mana to spend in extortion. In another kind of deck she will be a must, in this I prefer the
Auramancer
, she help me to cover my weakness.
Font of Return
: I tried this card as with
Auramancer
it produce a nice combo, but is definitely too slow for this deck. In a more extort focused version maybe can be great to keep casting your creatures, and you are supposed to have more mana. But in an aggro version it simply doesn't fit.
Dawn Charm: strong sideboard card, depend from your meta. Blocks discard card and the edicts (
Cruel Edict
for example), can save one of your creature or act like a Fog, blocking that nasty infect creature became a 10/10, or that insanely pumped
Aura Gnarlid
or Kiln Fiend.
Mana Tithe: a white counter? wow! Ok, it is so strange and useless most of the time, but can seriously disrupt an opponent turn, for the modic expense of one . Its main problem is that after the first one the opponent will always have one mana free, so I will run just a couple of them.
Contaminated Ground
: strong vs Tron based decks and in general vs bi/tri-color deck, but I would suggest it in a side just depending from your meta, or if u are using the Ethereal Armor version of this deck.
Executioner's Swing
: I tried it cause this is in flavor and of the right color, and a -5/-5 is actually really strong. But the limitation on the target is a too big downside. It means that you can cast it only after losing a creature or took damage in the face.
