How Good is / HexProof Auras? #newbie questions
Modern forum
Posted on Sept. 26, 2014, 1:37 p.m. by JRaynor
I'm a new player. Been playing kitchen table magic for the past 6 months and am looking to join my local gaming community with the release of Khans. I've got ongoing standard and edh projects underway and am considering whether or not modern is a format I should jump into as well.
So I was really interested in running a traditional RDW but then the cost of Goblin Guide
blew up. Now that it's not such a great budget option I'm expanding my search and considering 
/
hexproof auras.
How does this archetype stack up against the competition?
What cards do you consider essential to the deck's success?
Are there any exciting variations of this deck out there?
What's the best way to run a budget edition of this deck?
Does Sigarda, Host of Herons have a place here?
Is it worth picking up a playset of Daybreak Coronet or should I revert to a RDW and just go for the Goblin Guide if I decide to spend that much money?
Blue also has Curiosity , Spectral Flight , Auramancer's Guise Invisible Stalker and Geist of Saint Traft
September 26, 2014 2:43 p.m.
This is coming from someone who has played hexproof in the Modern format for around one year now. You can check out the cards I use here. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/marks-hexproof-modern/ I recently completed my deck in RL.
What I can tell you is, the playset of Daybreak Coronet are expensive, but also very good so depending on how serious you are with the game and your financial situation you could pick some up. The best budget replacements imo include Shield of the Oversoul , Unflinching Courage and Spirit Mantle If you put some of those cards in your deck it will also be TOUGH to handle for your opponent.
For budget dual lands I suggest Brushland and Sunpetal Grove and Razorverge Thicket This way you will have a pretty consistent mana base.
If you don't want to spend cash on the playset of Kor Spiritdancer you can replace them with Silhana Ledgewalker or Hero of Iroas when we could still use Hexproof in standard the Hero actually won me a lot of games, but now this archetype isn't viable anymore due to the rotation of Gladecover Scout .
The biggest weakness of Hexproof is the fact that YOU, as a player are not hexproof. This translates to pretty much two big threats.. A turn 1 Thoughtseize on your bogle or a burn deck spiking you before you can get your bogle/lifegain up. This is why I like to run 4x Leyline of Sanctity in the sideboard. Also expensive but worth it.
I never played RDW, but I can imagine Hexproof to be a whole lot more fun! It's also a very good deck, and if you are not very experienced in modern, it plays pretty straightforward. Note that I did not buy this deck all at once, you can just save up and buy perhaps a coronet here and there.. Then maybe a Leyline and upgrade from there.
Good luck with the information
September 26, 2014 3:22 p.m.
And no, you do not want to put a Sigarda, Host of Herons in a hexproof deck. This costs 5 mana and in modern you are often dead before you even have 5 lands in play. Too expensive.
September 26, 2014 3:23 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #8
Bogles is an inconsistent deck that I would most accurately compare to Infect (the decks are very different, and one of those differences is that Infect is the more successful deck). You need one of your ~11 creatures, as well as some enchantments and lands. It's bad against decks playing Liliana of the Veil generally speaking, as well as decks with disruption (discard spells, counterspells) and wraths like Anger of the Gods or Engineered Explosives .
Daybreak Coronet , Ethereal Armor are the big hitters. Rancor and Unflinching Courage or Spirit Mantle are also strong. I think Keen Sense and Kor Spiritdancer are the best cards in the deck, because card advantage is very good.
I haven't seen many exciting variations, other than the normal innovations made by people playing the deck a lot like maindeck Path to Exile , Suppression Field , etc.
Budget would likely play Spirit Link /Spirit Loop for the more powerful enchantments, and Silhana Ledgewalker for Kor Spiritdancer if that's a problem. Fetchlands can be replaced with Brushland s and Sunpetal Grove s, though note that not having easy access to Dryad Arbor makes you that much worse against LotV.
Sigarda costs five mana, so she isn't a great fit. The Bogles deck plays at most four copies of a 3-drop, and you want to be casting multiple enchantments in a turn if possible.
Burn is a strong deck, and both are decks that can have their moment in the sun in the right places. It really comes down to which deck you want to play and which one you think will benefit the most from play experience, because in Modern knowing your deck is very important. I am predominantly an Infect player, and while the deck is considered somewhat weak overall my experience with it has allowed me to tune and play my deck to great success.
September 26, 2014 3:48 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #9
If you do choose Bogles, don't play three colors. The deck is inconsistent enough as it is, and the off-GW contributions aren't really worthy of cutting the GW cards anyway.
September 26, 2014 3:49 p.m.
Well thanks for the advice NorthernRaven but Markbass really gave a response a little closer to what I was looking for.
I can appreciate that RDWs is true to its namesake and wins more consistently but I don't understand why you would recommend it and simultaneously tell me it's not very fun. :/ Personally I would think that fun would trump wins in any game unless there was some great reason to win a lot and as I mentioned, I'm looking to join my local magic community. I'm not already a part of it. If there's some compelling reason to only focus on winning over fun please mention it.
Markbass thanks. I'll review your deck right away. I really REALLY appreciate the insight into strategy, land suggestions, and the weakness of the deck. I actually already have a mock up running using Spirit Mantle and Unflinching Courage and it's incredibly strong even with the mock up. That's what made me curious to explore it in place of a RDW's to begin with.
September 26, 2014 3:59 p.m.
Well jraynor, what people are saying that you absolutely need Daybreak Coronet and Kor Spiritdancer to win is not true at all. You will win games with a budget version of this deck, especially at your local FNM. If you go to a Grand Prix.. Maybe you will want to have the expensive cards, but personally I really don't like when a casual player is being told "You can't win unless you build a 500 dollar deck!" straight off the bat. I played games against decks like Jund where I never drew into a Spiritdancer or a Coronet and still kicked major bum. What Glisteneragent said is true, don't splash other colours in this deck. It's a bad idea especially in a phase where you are still building the deck.
September 26, 2014 4:39 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #12
@jraynor I suppose NorthernRaven's assumption is that you want to play it competitively. In that case, choosing the more competitive deck may appeal to you rather than choosing the more fun deck.
September 26, 2014 4:50 p.m.
GlistenerAgent. Infect is indeed very similar to Hexproof Aura's in terms of consistency. Infect is strong in the sense that with a perfect hand you can beat the opponent turn 2, but a decent blocker can easily prevent that. In the case of blocks Hexproof would still leave you with potential life gain if you do not have trample in place yet. Spirit Link is a good addition as mentioned, but I wouldn't add more than 2 because you still need a good ammount of 1+1 buffs for your Bogle or he be blocked and die. And you don't want that.
But the real difference between the decks is that Hexproof has card draw. In my opinion this makes it a lot more consistent over Infect decks. Its very hard for an infect deck to get back into the game if things don't go exactly according to plan. I've had it happen sometimes that maybe an Ethereal Armor and a Daybreak Coronet got countered, but you play a Keen Sense or a Kor Spiritdancer and with some luck you will be back in the game in one or two turns. Playing infect, it's all or nothing. Playing Hexproof, it's nearly all.. or nothing.
September 26, 2014 4:54 p.m.
PlattBonnay says... #14
It can be fun, however the biggest problem this deck faces is 1 card known as Spellskite .
A lot of decks are starting to play this card more frequently in both main boards and sideboards because it is very good in the twin matchup, but it also completely hoses the bogles matchup. Lili is good against it, but not nearly as good as Spellskite
Anyone that says Lili is the decks worst enemy is wrong because basically every iteration of bogles plays a copy of Dryad Arbor that they can grab with any of their fetch lands.
September 26, 2014 5:29 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #15
@PlattBonnay Absolutely, but the card is still good against the deck in general. Note that the OP is looking for a budget version, so the Dryad Arbor interaction is out of the question.
September 26, 2014 5:32 p.m.
PlattBonnay says... #16
Oh s****, my bad. I missed the budget part.
To be honest, I think that budget infect is much stronger than budget bogles.
September 26, 2014 5:33 p.m.
Dalektable says... #17
IMO, If you are looking to play competitively I recommend getting the basic shell of the deck you want to run and slowly build up to getting the more expensive cards. Red Deck Wins is much more consistent, and you will win far more often I think. If you are looking to get into the format, you can play burn or RDW for awhile and then once you've amassed some store credit or other from prize winnings you could start building something you really want to play :D plus, after awhile you will learn the format and be better at homebrewing is you so want to do that. Another deck I think is quite good for a starting player is Mono Green Aggro, which can be built for less than the price of a playset of Goblin Guide . Turbofog is also fun...but you have to be sadistic like me to enjoy that deck, and it is more difficult to run as it requires more knowledge of the format to pilot effectively.
September 27, 2014 7:51 a.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #18
for bogle I'd recommend reading the primer about Reid Dukes 'Selesnya hexproof' on mtgsalvation. theres a deck tech interview with reid duke on youtube, too. I also recommend reading the article on SCG "So You Think You Can Bogle" by Harry Corverse. ...but RDW is a better way to get into competitive play imo.
still <3 bogle
September 27, 2014 11:18 a.m.
I don't want to play infect primarily because my friend I play with already has a budget infect deck he already built to try out modern. I'll consider RDW some more but GW hex proof is very attractive because I can start budget and can build up. Currently I have two Kor Spiritdancer
already but the rest of the deck is a hodgepodge with Witchstalker
and Silhana Ledgewalker
and the like. It was so unexpectedly fun that I really started thinking about trying it over burn even though I'd already acquired Vexing Devil
as a playset.
Btw holy crap @ Spellskite is thee any way to counter that? Just side boarding Path to Exile maybe
September 27, 2014 11:41 a.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #20
PtE or Nature's Claim against spellskite. or another spellskite ;)
September 27, 2014 11:45 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #21
I just finished building a RDW to test my decks against. It's a quick deck but it's major weakness is bad draws.
I think it's a better deck to build than boggles. If your homie wasn't playing Infect then Urza Tron would be an option... Tron hates Infect though.
lol u should say screw a budget and just build Hatebears. U get to run Sigarda, Host of Herons in that deck!
Suicide Black actually does well vs Infect. It can be built on a budget.
September 27, 2014 10:12 p.m.
Do not sideboard path to exile to counter Spellskite ..mainboard a playset of them! Spellskite is indeed that best card against Hexproof. Path to Exile doesnt just counter that card, but in my meta I see some Splinter Twin decks where it also kills the combo.
September 28, 2014 4:58 a.m.
@apple01doj There is a budget Hatebears deck on this site that looked OK. Called something like Best 50 you'll ever spend Modern'
September 28, 2014 5:01 a.m.
Sorry to double post but a few questions more.
First. I have a pretty good idea now what Hexproof auras budget and non-budget look like. I still have a few questions but by and large I think I get it. Hatebears, aside from knowing it's a G/W deck full of creatures that slow your opponent down, I'm lost.
What's the expensive cards and would a budget version work while I build up to a more competitive version.
At this point I'm pretty fixed on the hex proof aura's. Everyone seems to agree it's more fun and very effective with only a handful of weaknesses. I haven't had a chance to play a lot of modern yet but that sounds like a great place to start off in the format.
I mean if I'm being honest here, the Rock deck sounds fantastic but there's not really a remote chance of me spending $2,000 on a deck when I could instead be putting that towards my student loans. A few hundred over the course of a few months. No biggie. A couple thousand... I did that this year already and it was for a car.
Soul sisters is also if interest, but I would have to get a playlet of Ranger of Eos and a playset of Serra Ascendant That's close to $100+ just there. The great thing about Hexproof auras is that the majority of the deck is composed of cheap commons and uncommons. I can run a budget version that is nearly as effective as the unbudgeted edition.
Already talked about my problems with RDW. Just comes down to it, between the time I started considering it and now it's soared to the same heights as Soul Sisters. We're talking over $100 to make it effectively.
So I might try a budget version of all these, but it really looks like the teeth of soul sister is pulled without the ranger and the ascendent. RDW's only real creature is 20 bucks a pop. The only thing I would need to do for the Hexproof auras is buy 2 more Kor Spiritdancer and 2 more Path to Exile and then pick up a few Keen Sense + then grab a Daybreak Coronet whenever I could. Sounds like a workable plan to me.
September 29, 2014 3:06 p.m.
Isaacvhanson says... #27
This is probably a stupid Idea, but what if you made a hexproof aura deck in reverse, it would work by playing creatures that benifit from auras like Kor Spiritdancer and using auras that gave hexproof themselves like Alpha Authority any thoughts?
May 16, 2015 7:03 p.m.
Isaacvhanson ---> Enchantress Sisters. Kinda necro'd this thread though...
The_Raven says... #2
Go RDW.... It might be a little boring, but it will win you games. Once you learned how to play competitive, you can start making homebrews! :S
If you still wants to play Bogles, Sigarda, Host of Herons doesn't have a place in the deck. Your high drop can only be 3 CMC... :D
If you get the right hands, it can take out many T1 decks.... But it really lacks consistency.... You need to have a single creature, enchantments and about 2 lands in your opening hand... :D
Daybreak Coronet and Kor Spiritdancer is required to win.
Budget? It can be made budget.... But it just won't be competitive.
Other variants? Hm.... Splashing blue for Aqueous Form ? Splashing red for.... Argh.... That 2 drop red enchantment, that gives +3/+0 and can only be blocked by 2 or more creatures? :D
September 26, 2014 1:48 p.m.