Isolated at the end of a winding cliffside pathway lies the Mausoleum of Saint Traft, abandoned and lost to time. Innistrad once honored their noble dead, priests, kings, and military leaders by burying them alongside the entombed saint in the hopes that he would lead them to the afterlife. Unbeknownst to them their saint never found his way. Trapped between Innistrad and the ethereal planes he lingers, keeping a watchful eye over his domain. Entreating the angels to aid him in protecting his charges until the day comes and they can finally pass on to the sacred rest.
But until that day, woe to the one who enters without a prayer on their lips, woe to the one who comes to plunder the bones of the honored dead, woe to the trespasser who passes through the iron gate unbidden. Those will find naught but death, swift and sure.
This deck is based on Spirit Tribal synergy and features many of the key creatures of this evasive tribe while combining an aura toolbox to answer threats and fuel a wincon. The core is
Drogskol Captain
,
Mausoleum Wanderer
,
Rattlechains
,
Selfless Spirit
, and
Tallowisp
. By playing Tallowisp we gain the ability to tutor Enchant Creature Auras from our deck every time we play a Spirit creature. However, removal can render this synergy null. Luckily for us the tribal effect of spirits is chalk full of Abjuration!
Card Choices:
Creatures~
Mausoleum Wanderer
: As a (U) cost creature we can drop a 1/1 flying creature that grows with the game on turn 1. By turn 2 we can be swinging 2 in the air, 3 if we play a
Supreme Phantom
. With the ability to
Mana Leak
an instant or sorcery as a fringe benefit this spirit is able to combine early game aggro with a means of protecting
Drogskol Captain
and
Tallowisp
from a removal spell until we can find a more permanent defense for those two key players. Late game if
Mausoleum Wanderer
can be flashed in to counter board wipes via
Rattlechains
. This is some of the most value you're going to find in a 1 drop.
Kami of False Hope
: A
Fog
that procs
Tallowisp
. Can be flashed in as a response to
Overwhelming Stampede
style finishers by
Rattlechains
or to stall a turn against aggressive decks.
Supreme Phantom
: Almost always a turn 2 play, this Spirit has solid toughness, flying, and acts as an early game buff that is deadly with a
Drogskol Captain
or second Phantom. While not out of bolt range by himself, he can keep your
Tallowisp
safe from
Lightning Bolt
style removal.
Selfless Spirit
: Comes in clutch against board wipes and non-trample decks. Also acts as a shield for removal on your Captain and Wisp. Flying and Spirit synergy allow it to add to the tempo damage until you need its sacrifice ability.
Tallowisp
: The Mr. President of this deck. The earlier you can play this guy safely the better. Every time you play a Spirit you get to tutor an aura. However, he is a removal magnet. If you don't think you need your aura toolbox and would rather play the aggro game, then you can play him to attract fire 2nd turn so you can play the more valuable
Drogskol Captain
next turn. If you're playing against a control deck though, you need to be careful to resolve him and protect him though because you're going to need all your options to win.
Bygone Bishop
: Not a game winning play, but can give us options if we get mana drowned while providing us a strong flyer. If he draws removal spells he's clearing the way
Tallowisp
and
Drogskol Captain
and if not he's giving us excess mana outlets!
Drogskol Captain
: An obvious 4 of. This card will win games if you can keep him alive. This Captain will protect all spirits but himself from spot removal, as well as boosting their defense and offense. Important to make sure you have the resources to keep him alive when you play him, especially against control decks.
Geist of Saint Traft
: Having a Hexproof 6/2 by turn 3 is an obvious threat to your opponent, however he'll die the first swing unless you can enchant him with some boosts like
Spirit Mantle
, or
Shielded by Faith
. This is our best Voltron, and I'd probably run 2 if I had another.
Windborn Muse
: If you can survive to 4 mana against an aggro deck this Spirit will provide you room to breath while you set up your combos. 4
Goblin Guide
are hard to deal with but only 2 swinging at a time is manageable. Muse is a removal magnet so be sure you have the resources to protect her. With Flying she can turn your defensive early game into a hard counter attack.
Angel of Flight Alabaster
: While not a Spirit herself she provides resilience to the deck against long control games. Put a
Hyena Umbra
on her and hope you get back a couple Spirits. She doesn't get any bonuses from our synergy but she's a 4/4 Flying for (4)(W) and will work into a defensive or offensive strategy decently well.
Enchantments and Rethether~
Spirit Link
: A deceptively powerful enchantment. Yes, it's a reskinned
Lifelink
. But it's so much more. It can stack WITH Lifelink, and double as a control spell for your enemies creatures if they don't have an effective way of dealing with it. Play it on a high power creature your opponent controls and boom net gain 0 if it attacks you unless it can deal enough damage to kill you in one hit. Otherwise you can use it to lifegain if you don't need control.
Curiosity
: This deck runs out of steam pretty quick unless you have a way to build your draw back up. With mostly all flying creatures you'll usually be able to get some use off this card as soon as you play it.
Hyena Umbra
: Decent protection for
Tallowisp
and
Drogskol Captain
by giving them two lives. Doesn't help via -x/-x or Exile. Fringe benefit of First Strike and +1/+1.
Ethereal Armor
: A powerful game ending card if you have your Enchantment package fielded, or a decent early play to protect against low toughness attackers.
Spirit Mantle
: Our evasion enchantment if the opponent fields a lot of Flying creatures, or a means to get
Geist of Saint Traft
through the lines. Fringe benefit of +1/+1 and the ability to for a creature to act as a
Fog Bank
for a while.
Shielded by Faith
: This is super valuable as it gives your Captain and Wisp a way to survive most removal. Be careful not to play it when your opponent has mana to counter or kill the target at instant speed unless you have hexproof up.
Sage's Reverie
: Fills up our hand with cards and gives us another a second
Ethereal Armor
effectively. Once you're ready to win play this on a creature with
Ethereal Armor
attached and swing for 20 in the air.
Call to the Kindred
: Super valuable enchantment you should only field if it's safe to do so. Every turn field a free Spirit. Note this doesn't allow them to proc
Tallowisp
Tutor. However playing two
Drogskol Captain
or
Supreme Phantom
in one turn is pretty awesome. Not great if you are playing against aggro hvy decks but if you're the aggressor this is epic.
Daybreak Coronet
: Wow, the value on this enchant is amazing and fits into our style of Voltroning one spirit. However it comes at a cost. It can't be tutored by
Tallowisp
. However if you're ok with topdecking it then run it, there isn't a better all in one aura that I've found.
Sky Tether
: (W) control spell that you can tutor. Nothing special but removes flying blockers and shuts down some early game aggro. Giving them defender means they are useless against us since we never swing on the ground.
Pariah
: Can be cast on the creature you cast
Shielded by Faith
on to give you invulnerability until they remove enchantment, or can be cast on a super scary threat on their side that you want to remove, at the benefit of keeping you alive until it's dead!
Oppressive Rays
: A worse
Sky Tether
that screws up activated abilities.
Retether
: While not an aura or Spirit hurts us a bit, this sorcery saves all our enchants and gives us the freedom to be a bit more liberal about casting them early game on unprotected creatures since we don't really lose them! Can be a great surprise rally when top decked.
Land~
I didn't spend much on the mana base. This is a two color deck, and while spending a ton of money on good land would make this deck's mana base amazing it isn't really necessary.
Glacial Fortress
: I had 3 of these when I started building the deck, and without a bunch of non basic lands this is a great way to get two for one options on mana.
Rogue's Passage
: Just another option to get our creatures through the lines that's hard to remove. Doesn't hurt the mana base too much while adding a great ability.
Skyline Cascade
: Only useful if the opponent has an untapped creature. But it's pretty fun to lock down one creature for a turn at the cost of tempo. Not amazing but why not? Might replace with an island.
