Throne of Eldraine cards added
Ice_Water, 5 years ago
Several cards, such as The Royal Scions, Irencrag Pyromancer, and Torbran, Thane of Redfell made their way into the deck and help with card draw and damage output.
Whoops lol
lil_pp_energy, 5 years ago
I just realized that sickening dreams targets everyone; instantly killing everyone and ending the game in a draw. yeah, this deck is pretty epic.
Tournament Report
DaleKeter, 5 years ago
I arrived late for the Pioneer event at my FLGS. I assumed that they would start at 6:30 PM like Commander, but it was actually at 6:00 PM so I took a free loss for round 1 so I could still participate in rounds 2 and 3.
Round 2: Sultai Midrange
Game 1
This was the first time I had ever played with my deck. I had no idea what my opponent was running. It looked like an aggro deck based on what he played in the first few turns, but then started casting planeswalkers and Thoughtseize.
I noticed that my opponent's creatures were all green and that he lacked mass removal, so I built up my board presence by casting my weenies and creating 1/1 human tokens, then swinging in with everything in two consecutive turns using Brave the Elements naming green.
My opponent pointed out how powerful Mardu Woe Ripper is since it triggers when any warrior enters the battlefield, so when my second one is played, I get to exile two creatures. This gives me a natural edge against graveyard-dependent decks.
Sideboard: -4 Thraben Inspector, +4 Authority of the Consuls
Game 2
I had no idea how to sideboard and made an educated guess based on my opponent's early turns. The sideboard turns out to have been a mistake since it slowed me down, which is just what he wanted.
My opponent eventually managed to cast Emrakul, the Promised End and swing twice with her to kill me.
Sideboard: -4 Authority of the Consuls, +2 Selfless spirit, +1 Hanweir Militia Captain Flip, +1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Game 3
Again, I really had no idea what I was doing, and I didn't know which fourth card to use so I just put a singleton Gideon in case we had another board stall.
This turns out to have been a good idea. I was able to cast Hanweir Militia Captain on turn 2 and flip her by turn 4. My opponent managed to get a Liliana, the Last Hope emblem out but I used Declaration in Stone to clear the way and Brave the Elements to make my creatures unblockable by his remaining green creatures to take the win.
Result: W L W
Round 3: Hardened Scales
Game 1
I have played against Hardened Scales in the past, but in Modern, I had some idea of what I was going to face. I took an early lead but my opponent would eventually overwhelm me with his superior creatures. Unlike my previous opponent, who had mostly green creatures, I couldn't just use Brave the Elements to swing in because he had artifact creatures to block with.
Sideboard: -4 Thraben Inspector, +2 Giant Killer, +2 Selfless Spirit
Game 2
This was a much closer game that I lost unnecessarily. My blunder was during a board stall where my I swung in with everything, including a 4/4 Benalish Marshall which he blocked with his 4/4 Hangarback Walker. The next turn, he used Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
and Hardened Scales to give two +1/+1 counters to everything (he now had 12 flying power vs 2 flying power for me). Had I held my Benalish Marshall back, I would've been able to whittle down his life total with my 3/2 Selfless spirit.
I talked to him after the match when I realized my blunder. He thought he was going to lose but he got lucky when I made my mistake and he capitalized on it. I could've kept his Hangarback Walker tapped indefinitely with my Giant Killer, who I could protect from removal with Brave the Elements.
Result: L L
Anyway, hindsight is 20/20. I did get a Modern Horizons pack as a consolation prize. Nothing spectacular in it, but it was fun to play a 60-card format once again. :)
life gain, tokens and counters, all in one
Fallerup, 5 years ago
In: Primeval BountyOut: Overwhelming Stampede
This deck needs some way to gain life back, also getting a 3/3 beast every time I play a creature is pretty good
Adapting the deck to the metagame
MatEffect, 5 years ago
Since the last update Pauper has suffered some bans and the decks have been evolving with new additions, so I will adapt my Burn build to this new meta.
Needle Drop comes back as a 4x, Magma Jet is gone. This change reduces the mana curve, so I can cut one land. And to make space for the playset, I will cut one Curse of the Pierced Heart.
Sideboard : Blur of Blades is gone, as Tireless Tribe decks are not Tier 1 now that Gush is banned. Keldon Marauders function as a blocker in some cases, against creature-heavy decks and at the worst it's a 2 mana 2 damage. It also can draw out a late game counter as well if I'm low on gas and need something to land. Also good in the mirror, where can be a 2 mana Lava Axe and punishes the removal this creature may eat.
None
Noire_Samhain, 5 years ago
Out- 1 Island, Insidious Will In- Sanctum of Eternity, Sudden Substitution
Changing Design Philosophy (No more Snowballing)
COOZCOOZCOOZ, 5 years ago
So, My last gathering of Commander games made this deck leave a bad taste in my mouth. We were in a 6 man pod, and The Deck was doing its thing. Solid Board State, Warstorm Surge and Privileged Position in play, Mayael at the ready. Even had Illusionist's Bracers on deck before it was removed and you know Sensei's Divining Top was spinning.
Now, I had managed to get myself some great draws, ramped up to 6, and started Mayaeling. The Snowball was ready to roll and once the Snowball starts rolling, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop it. But Mayael whiffed. It happens, but then she whiffed again, then board wipes happened... and pretty soon I was pretty much durdling around and then kept Mayael on the sidelines, and couldn't interact with the board in any impactful way
That changes.
I am cutting out most of the Enchantments and cards I would normally use to Snowball out of control and Throwing in Creatures and tools that will let me both Better access my deck, but also utilize my cards and become more aggressive. A lot of these Changes were led by one thought.
To quote Overlord: "I don't have the MP to waste on Spells that might not get me results."
Without Futher ado:
Hull Breach ---------------------------> Cleansing Nova:
I do enjoy cheap, targeted removal, and had originally thought of throwing Vandalblast into the mix, but decided that for 5 mana, I should be wiping more then just Artifacts. Now, I can both get rid of Troublesome Artifacts and Enchantments, but I can also Boardwipe and benefit from my Indestructible Creatures.
Boros Charm ---------------------> Naya Charm:
Don't get me wrong, Boros Charm has its uses as an Indestructible shield. but I think that between all the Indestructible I am adding into the mix, as well as several changes you'll see in a few, The card is no longer worh Justifying. Double Strike is tough to lose, and with the Sole Exception of 1 memey, Hilarious game, the Damage dealt by Boros Charm is no good... but Naya Charm is a whole new Swiss Army Knife. While typically, I have used it for Recursion, being able to tap someones creatures and then unleash my Monsters has been particularly satisfying. Even having some Spot removal for Creatures is nice.
Ranger's Path -------------------------> Wilderness Reclamation:
While I do slightly loathe losing what I consider to be decent ramp, I am a firm believer of boosting Mayael's already great ability. With this swap, I will be able to not only Do what i need to do during my turn, but at least get one Mayael trigger during my opponents turns, acting as a soft Seedborn Muse. I am enjoying this swap, as it allows for more play flexibility.
Wild Pair ------------------------------> Rishkar's Expertise:
I freely admit: The Deck has a weakness when it comes to Card draw. It always has, and I have leaned away from Card draw, accepting that the deck is not perfect. I had thrown in Wild Pair in as a way to Play the deck when using Mayael no longer was a viable option, as many of the creatures in the deck matched up fairly well. This is no longer viable. Spending 6 mana on a Spell that individually produces no results is no good. This is why I have swapped in for the Expertise; With this, not only can I draw a LOT of cards for 6 mana, but I can also cheat out anything with CMC 5 or below: Which is basically most of the Utility cards in this deck. This change won out over Protean Hulk.
Quicksilver Amulet -------------------------------------> Ilharg, the Raze-Boar:
Remember when I said that I needed cards that produced results? the Boar god can be hit with Mayael, AND costs only 5 Mana! This is versus the Amulet, which costs 8 total to use in one turn, and then 4 for every turn after. Especially with how Resilient the Boar god is, I am very happy with this swap.
Warstorm Surge -----------------------------------> Gruul Ragebeast:
It's funny what they say about old Friends. A long, long, LONG time ago, back in the original iterations of this deck, the Ragebeast fought for Mayael and did work.. I had removed it, on the grounds that my utility creatures were also being destroyed. It slept...But with the Removal of Warstorm Surge, the Ragebeast once again angrily removes creatures and assists my huge creatures in making sure none stand before the Master of Monsters.
True Conviction ---------------------------------> Iroas, God of Victory *list*:
I always considered True Conviction to be my one and only "Win More" card. Giving already massive creatures double strike, AND lifelink?? It was great. However, it IS a clunky, 6 mana enchantment that cant be hit with Mayael. With its Indestructibility, affordable mana cost, and Excellence in amplifying our creatures offensively and defensively, it makes a great swap. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight will no longer be the only Boros creature in this deck, and Vorthos/Flavor wise, that makes me happy.
Hoard-Smelter Dragon ------------------------> Sephara, Sky's Blade:
Sometimes, you gotta just bite the bullet for the sake of cuts. It took away from my Dragon sub-theme, and removed a source of artifact removal... but I think that overall, Sephara is the better card in this scenario. I have plenty of Flying creatures thanks to all the Angels in this deck as well as the troop of Dragons. It provides a shield of Indestructibility to those fliers, AND it has Lifelink. Which is a welcome ability in this deck after these changes. Worst case scenario, it even has an alternate casting cost that can be used, so its not even a total dead draw.
Vigor ------------------------------------> Combustible Gearhulk:
This was also a difficult swap to make, and not exactly finite: I am still testing this out, and have been swapping Gearhulk with Regal Force and Soul of the Harvest. I prefer Gearhulk in the sense that it is immediate card draw, and that even if I cant draw cards, Gearhulk can usually deal between 6-12 damage on his own. This is the Card I stated that "I cannot afford to waste MP on spells that might not get me results."
Artisan of Kozilek -------------------------------------> Angel of Serenity:
I... I mean, Annihilator is dope, but I also kinda oops with Artisan of Kozilek. Its on Cast, not ETB. and while losing Annihilator does hurt, Angel allows me to Recur my stuff from the yard, remove threats, AND can combo nicely with Greenwarden of Murasa. It shall stay.
Fires of Yavimaya -----------------------------> Farseek:
Look, having Haste on all my creatures is dope, and even powering them up on the spot is nice, but.... but basically, I need mana to play them, and this is how thats going to happen. With a cheap ramp spell that can target the more niche Lands in hand, rather then a basic, I can advance the deck even further. Hopefully, the Fires will rise....
Haven of the Spirit Dragon ----------------> Slayers' Stronghold:
I only have 4 dragons in the deck. While recurring them and having any color mana is cool, giving my Creatures haste is way better and is desperately needed after taking Fires out. Thus, Changed.
Rogue's Passage -----------------------------> Kessig Wolf Run:
A Friend of Mine said it best: "Unblockable is good, but for as big as your creatures are and as much as youre putting in, you might as well let your huge creatures just smash through any defenses." Thus, this change. Another friend once told me: "The Secret to Mayael is balancing costs." and 3 is lowering then 4. and Who knows?? I could even up that number to deal more damage.
Deck Update 11/12/19
ecflippen, 5 years ago
Changes: MD -2 Bitterblossom -1 engineered explosives -2 collective brutality -4 thief of sanity +2 Grim flayer +2 Tasigur +1 murderous rider +4 opt +1 Oko +1 Force of Negation +1 Search For Azcanta SB -1 murderous rider -1 dead of winter -1 stubborn denial +1 EE +2 Bitterblossom The rationale: I decided to add Grim Flayer to the maindeck as a strictly better Tarmogoyf vs combo/Big Mana strategies. This deck tends to struggle to immediately make him a 4/4, so he is a bit of a liability early game vs aggro/Midrange, but he is serviceable. His relevance comes from his ability to quickly cycle through the deck with each hit digging us to the more relevant interaction we care about in the combo and big Mana matches. I do side him out in Midrange and aggro/tribal matches for Bitterblossom. Tasigur was added to the maindeck in place of brutality, though I do really want to fit 2x brutality in the 75. Tasigur was added as another threat vs combo/big Mana with the intention of being able to put him down turn 3 pretty naturally and regularly. Against Midrange it's a 1cmc threat that can't be pushed. Against control its a 1cmc threat that can gain card advantage. However without thought scour to potentially put him in play on Turn 2 I'm unsure of how much I like him. And I often waffle back and fourth between 2 clique 1 Tasigur and 1 clique 2 Tasigur. Opt replaces sleight of hand because I noticed Everytime I want sleight, opt is usually just better. A third Oko and a murderous rider were both added to the list as way to deal with threats that are bigger than 3cmc and/or bigger than a 3/3. I decided to add the 3rd Force of Negation back to better fight combo and slow big Mana down. Search for Azcanta was added as additional card type for flayer/Goyf while also naturally fueling those cards, while also fixing another minor problem with the list... Card selection. This deck isn't exactly a pile of GREAT cards where just having more resources/cards will win you a game. The deck definitely needs some selection and choice of cards. Search adds that to the list to make sure we find what we want more consistently. Also, with the addition of Oko to Magic, Search now has a legitimate answer and threat in one card that it can find. The sideboard changes were simply swaps from maindeck to sideboard. Thoughts: I'm Luke warm on AV, again, because coming to the realization that this deck cares a little less about number of resources vs certain matches and cares more about utility of the resources that we have made me realize that drawing 3 cards doesn't amount to much vs aggro matches, if we haven't stabilized or gummed up the board. Or vs combo/big Mana if we don't have a big enough threat applying tons of pressure. Also with Teferi, Time Ravler out of control decks it feels incredibly difficult actually resolving it against them. I am interested in a replacements for them, but don't know where to start. Possibly another Search, another Jace, and possibly a thought scour or something along those lines.. or maybe 2 collective brutality and something else.
more efficient mana rocks and theft protection
Fallerup, 5 years ago
In: Worn Powerstone (temporarily: Mind Stone until I've bought the card), Homeward PathOut: Commander's Sphere, Maze of Ith
the title says it all, Worn Powerstone is simply better and I need Homeward Path to get my commander back should someone steal it, because the deck doesn't really function withou the commander and people may know that.
General Update
tylorlilley, 5 years ago
IN: Bolt Bend, Volcano Hellion
OUT: Dingus Staff, Soul of New Phyrexia
CONSIDERED: Wild Ricochet, Rebuff the Wicked
synergy addition
cam123321, 5 years ago
Got a dream card!
Seventy7INa45, 5 years ago
High school me would be amazed, because I managed to get a piece of power nine! I was able to trade for an authentic unlimited, Mark Tedin altered, Timetwister. Mark did a quick sketch with a barber shop theme which is pretty silly, see the scan for the actual card image. I think the actual structure of this deck is probably going to change little going forward. I’m more about playing with the cards I like, and my preference is older cards, so something new has to be amazing, and replace something else new (like Cloudshredder over Blur for example). Thank you to everyone for the love this deck has been shown over the 2 years since I first made it!
Shift of gameplan
TheRealLap, 5 years ago
A lot of beat down elements are removed, now focuses on citadel top and aetherflux combo. Not sure having over 25% instant and sorcery is a good idea but that's kinda what interactions are? A little bit over 100 cards so cuts needed
Not sold on the wall
cosmcbun, 5 years ago
Out: Wall of Roots Skirge Familiar (I'm sorry, little one)
None
kevin75j, 5 years ago
Added 1x Decree of Justice #Tokens 1x White Sun's Zenith #Tokens 1x Increasing Devotion #Tokens 1x Nissa, voice of zendikar #Tokens #Counters 1x Spore Swarm #Tokens 1x Martial Coup #Sweeper #Tokens Removed 1x Abzan Falconer 1x Geralf's Messenger 1x Grave Titan 1x Juniper Order Ranger 1x Hardened Scales 1x Bloodspore Thrinax
Boros Angels
jmurphy8475, 5 years ago
Mid Angels
Pioneer legal!
BioProfDude, 5 years ago
With the announcement of the Pioneer format, I guess this deck is back in action! I hope to update it soon and give it a try.
New Win Con
MasterofNone96, 5 years ago
Essentially (thanks to modern horizons) the new way to absolutely ruin your opponents day is to get morphon out first then just tutor for all of the colored slivers you can find and play them for free. Be sure to keep some mana open for a counter spell because you know someone is gonna try to get rid of everything.
None
RamanPrime, 5 years ago
Post-trades, week 1
ADDED spot removal for creatures
Cariddis, 5 years ago
IN:
OUT:
While testing, I noticed that we struggle a lot vs commander-centric decks. Furthermore, stacks pieces like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV can be problematic. Therefore I decided to include those 2 cards.
Taking out wasteland was a suffered choice, but I still believe it is better to have as many different effects between your utility lands as possible, since you can answer to a bigger variety of threats.
Acidic slime was the logical choice for making the swap with stag: similar CMC, similar effect. Furthermore I felt slime was a little bit under performing in a full-optimize deck like this one.
Till next time, long live Krosa!
