Feedback wanted on kill-on-turn-one deck

Modern Deck Help forum

Posted on Feb. 11, 2016, 11:24 a.m. by Grazjnok

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the community, after having played magic what seems like (and actually is) more than a decade ago, so I've tried to come up with a kill-on-turn-one combo, using prowess and double-strike. I think I got it down, but now I've a combo-in-search-of-a-deck; i.e. I'm trying to build a deck around it and could really use your help!

Please let me know what you think!

Prowess kills (on turn one)

jeskiatothemaX says... #2

I like it but how does it do against eldrazi? affinity?

February 11, 2016 12:43 p.m.

captaincarrion says... #3

As a casual Modern deck, this looks fun. But if you want a more competitive build, you're going to need to make some adjustments. A turn 1 kill depends on drawing the perfect opening hand, and not getting Thoughtseized. I feel like you should go wide (clog your board up), maybe consider running Lightning Bolt for direct damage or to remove blockers. Your curve is low enough that 16 lands is probably fine, but I would drop the Karplusan Forest and stick some Wooded Foothills in its place. You should definitely be running at least 1 basic Mountain.

February 11, 2016 2:42 p.m.

Grazjnok says... #4

Thanks for your comments, captaincarrion! Any suggestions as to how to widen the board? I'm thinking subbing in some Gitaxian Probe and Gut Shot from my sideboard.

jeskiatothemaX, this deck won't hold up very long against the Eldrazi or affinity deck. But idea is that you won't need to. One or two attacks should be enough to deal 20+ damage.

February 12, 2016 11:44 a.m.

captaincarrion says... #5

You wanna clog the board with some dudes, for sure. Kird Ape should fill that niche nicely. It's on color and you'll have a 2/3 turn 1 with a Stomping grounds. And my suggestion to anybody running decks dependent on pumping creatures and smashing face: Vines of Vastwood. Trust me, just run them, you'll thank me later. I'd be interested to see how Fling would work in this build,

The more I look at it, I don't think Summoning Trap is going to be doing you too many favors. Go for Shatterstorm or Creeping Corrosion to deal with affinity. Run Ancient Grudge to deal with Spellskite, because you will have to deal with Spellskite. If you got money burning a hole in you pocket, Blood Moon or Magus of the Moon would help against Eldrazi, Tron, and other greedy mana bases. Turn 1-2 Blood Moon can be back breaking against a lot of decks.

Oh, and don't run Slaughter Pact, the "lose the game" clause will probably make you do just that more often than you want.

February 12, 2016 10:32 p.m.

sylvannos says... #6

Manamorphose is really powerful because you get another prowess trigger and you get to filter mana.

Have you also considered Tainted Strike? Manamorphose + Assault Strobe + Tainted Strike = 10 infect from a Monastery Swiftspear. It's another early game kill to go with Groundswell, but of course it means adding another color.

A friend on mine plays Kiln Fiend at my shop and these are what I remember from his deck that get the turn 2 and 3 kills consistently. The turn 1 is possible, but I don't think he's ever drawn it.

February 13, 2016 3:29 a.m.

Grazjnok says... #7

Thanks guys, this is enormously helpful!

So, I'm definitely running Ancient Grudge. I'm afraid the two 'destroy all artifact' however cards are too mana-heavy for the deck to carry, short of overhauling its whole structure.

I'm also following your suggestion to add four copies of Vines of Vastwood.

Kiln Fiend is an integral part of the deck. Like your friend, it's been getting me consistent turn 2 or 3 kills (if the turn one fails--which, of course, it does most days).

I've considered Tainted Strike, but since it'd be the only poison card in the deck, I think it makes more sense to stick with killing my opponent the good ol' 20+ damage way.

In my experience, Manamorphose tends to stand in the way of more directly useful cards and provides mana I cannot always use.

What number of creatures you think I should run?

February 13, 2016 12:39 p.m.

This discussion has been closed