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Exemplar of Strength
Creature — Human Warrior
When Exemplar of Strength enters the battlefield, put three -1/-1 counters on target creature you control.
Whenever Exemplar of Strength attacks, remove a -1/-1 counter from it. If you do, you gain 1 life.




carpecanum on
4 years ago
Filth, Brawn and Valor would be nice to have in your graveyard.
Good-Fortune Unicorn, Soltari Visionary and a few of the other creatures with Shadow
You could get a bunch of the cards (Amonket?) that use -1 counters like Exemplar of Strength
You could remove AGE counters from things with Cumulative Upkeep. There HAS to be something broken there for you.
GoblinElectromancer on Self Hate
4 years ago
Yes there are creatures that self hate but they are probably not worth playing. Plague Belcher,Channeler Initiate,Soulstinger,Decimator Beetle,Exemplar of Strength, ect.
Cards that are like Illusory Wrappings that are cheaper make the target lose all abilities such as Frogify.
BuraddoRun on
Melira's Alter [sic] Pod - WIP - Help Please!
4 years ago
Sorry for the late response, but thanks for the tips! I've added them to the maybeboard. I hadn't seen all of those cards. Now I just need to cut down some! Also, I added an Exemplar of Strength that I just picked up to the deck!
Skyler1776 on Nope
5 years ago
Ammit Eternal , Canker Abomination , Carnifex Demon , Cartouche of Ambition , Channeler Initiate , Decimator Beetle , Defiant Greatmaw , Devoted Druid , Exemplar of Strength , Karn's Bastion , Evolution Sage , Festering Mummy
lagotripha on
B/G Demon Midrange
6 years ago
This is a good start. I feel like you are starting to look at cards the right way- assessing how to balance their disruptiveness and value, but the deck still feels a little unfocussed.
Lets look at a core concept in magic- card advantage- and build to that.
There are enablers; cards that don't do things on their own (lands, ramp spells, combo pieces, most 1/1s, etc). Proactive cards that are very good when your play them on their own (kitchen finks type stuff, planeswalkers) Reactive cards that are good at trading 1-for-1 with proactive cards (mana leak, fatal push), Card advantage spells (things that mean you effectively have more cards played, even if they don't always read 'draw a card'.)
If you have more relavant answers than your opponent has proactive cards, then they'll mostly find it difficult to hit you. If you have more playable proactive cards than your opponent you'll probably be able to race them. If you have cards that slot into multiple categories in useful ways, you have virtual card advantage, and can pick the appropriate approach for the particular matchup. These are the core concepts that you need to build midrange.
Lets look at what your deck wants to do. A build around Demonlord of Ashmouth and Demon of Catastrophes, with enablers in the form of small creatures and ramp spells, and a few spot answers with light card advantage tools to clear the way. You're prepared to give up cards to demonlord of ashmouth or demon of catastrophies to have a big threat hitting your opponent. This is a really good start that the rest of your deck should build to support. A big threat that goes over aggro and fights through answers.
So general principals- you want enough card advantage to offset your enablers, or to make those enablers useful in other ways. You want enablers that also help you race down other decks with big flying demons. And you want tools to protect those demons.
Budget lists can't afford the 'universally good' stuff, like Collective Brutality or Cryptic Command, so you need to look at larger groups of teir 2 cards with good synergy and large print runs, preferably with deckbuilding restrictions that cut the price further. So lets cover some general options, explain the why, and then leave you to find things to fill out the list.
You want things that make small creatures and make these big things easier to cast. Llanowar Elves(price listing on this is busted) and Elves of Deep Shadow will let you cut the land count some- and they'll let you slam a big demon earlier whilst providing a body to sacrifice. Turn 1 extra mana is strong enough for people to spend their lightning bolt on it- and thats one more thing not pointed at the threats.
While Sylvan Caryatid is a great card, spending an extra mana to 'blank' a removal spell with hexproof is less relevant when your big stuff doesn't also blank removal, and likely isn't worth the extra mana (its great when your threats are stuff like enchantments or combos which are hard to disrupt).
Scavenging Ooze should be maindeck- its a graveyard meta, and its a decent body that likes you sacrificing creatures, lifegain is relevant, and even against decks that play no creatures it hits their snapcaster targets. Its both a threat and an answer. Cards that give you lots of options are good.
Cards that let you play with +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters are good in sacrifice lists- much like Gavony Township makes Kitchen Finks nigh-unkillable, Cauldron Haze and cards like Exemplar of Strength or Hapatra's Mark/Heartmender/Nest of Scarabs with Young Wolf and Safehold Elite or Black Sun's Zenith can really put in work. You just need to be sure to pick cards that all work well together. While individually they are worse than high value cards, as a group they can outperform- and most importantly, choose them to be versatile.
A card that gives an aggressive and defensive option is perfect for midrange. When building the spine of your deck, look for groups like this to fill it out. Having interseting choices makes the game fun.
Most of all, playtest, and have fun playing. Because thats how you get a top-notch deck. I'd take a look at Rite of Belzenlok decks in standard right now, they showcase a lot of the tools you'll be looking for, and its a good card for the archetype (even if its a little slow).
stikmn33 on
Zurg Attempt
6 years ago
You could also run Shock, Abrade or Lightning Strike with 4 Soul-Scar Mage. Also you should work your creature curve better ditch the Baleful Ammit for Ammit Eternal the eternal is just better. You can also ditch the Channeler Initiate for one more Exemplar of Strength. Go down to one Decimator Beetle for the two more Soul-Scar Mage the mages will be your whole engine once you put the burn spells in.
GolgariGraveyard on
6 years ago
I'd suggest Exemplar of Strength it's great with nest of scarabs. It's good on turn 2 but probably becomes a worse draw in the later game due to not being able to attack with it as easily.
Cosmo_Can on
Hapatra's blighted boardwipes
6 years ago
Cartouche of Ambition Deity of Scars Exemplar of Strength Festering Goblin Glistening Oil Skinrender Tenacious Hunter Torment of Venom Virulent Wound Witherscale Wurm