Yer a Wizard, Henry!
Modern Budget Card Draw Matters Combo Control Counterspell Creature Cheat Humans Wizards WU (Azorius)
Creature (22)
Land (20)
Enchantment (3)
Sorcery (4)
Instant (11)
Sideboard
Disclaimer:
I have never read a Henry Potter book or watched any of the movies.
I have no intention to ever read the novels or watch the movies.
Despite my reluctance, the franchise has exploded into a cultural phenomenon and thus some elements have bled through into my consciousness—bits of story and the occasional character references—gleaned largely through jokes and parodies from other things I read/watch/play.
This is what I imagine the Henry Potter universe is like, from the perspective of someone on the outside looking in.
Ah, Hogwarts Campus. How new and exciting everything must have been for young Henry when he arrived by broomstick!
He had no idea of the memorable experiences he would enjoy here, from afternoon games of quidditch in the quad to late night experimentation with various herbs in the dormitories after responding to ‘Abracadabra and chill?’ notes posted on the community bulletin board. He would treasure these memories for the rest of his life.
•Cavern of Souls is perhaps the single most important land in the deck. Select Wizard as the creature type and from that point forward every creature in the deck will enter unmolested. If you’re looking for a thematic tie in, I believe in the Hogwarts Legacy game there are spacious mineshafts excavated beneath Hogwarts castle (I haven’t played the game myself but I recall seeing portions from DigitalFoundry tech breakdowns and it all looked very ‘Temple of Doom’ if you ask me). So there you go!
•Hallowed Fountain and Hengegate Pathway are here for mana fixing, as the above land will not help us cast our Instant spells. I’d have a hard time believing Hogwarts doesn’t have a fountain on the grounds, probably donated by the well-to-do parents of a subpar sorcerer in an attempt to curry the school’s favor.
•Basic Islands round out the rest of the mana base.
For the series to have taken off into the stratosphere the way it did, I’m betting JK Simmons knows how to pen a suitable cast of iconic characters. Again, with my limited knowledge I’ve had to make some educated guesses to fill in the blanks, but I’ll wager I’m pretty close to the mark.
Every great work of fiction must incorporate a life altering tragedy which shapes and molds the main protagonist.
I imagine young Master Potter’s backstory goes a little something like this:
Born into a wealthy upper class family Henry lived a carefree life, his childish antics a frequent source of frustration for his parents. Tragically, one of Henry’s stunts cost his parents their very lives. Now deemed a ward of The Crown, Henry was shipped off to Hogwarts School for Wayward Sorcerers wherein access to his trust fund is conditional upon receiving high marks and staying in the good graces of the Headmaster.
Consumed by guilt, Henry seeks to atone for past wrongs and devotes himself to his studies in the arcane.
Like Henry Potter himself, Dour Port-Mage is the star of the show. I’m somewhat surprised this little fellow wasn’t banned, or at least restricted at some point, since it’s rather easy to blink a fair amount of creatures to capitalize on its ability. As with all things in life, if it’s legal, we must do what we can to abuse it to excess!
I’m guessing the girl in the movies is also in the books, and more than likely the love interest. I’m also going to assume that with a surname like Ranger she’s proficient in long range spellcasting, perhaps even wielding a magic bow to strike evil from afar.
Aether Channeler is an excellent support spell, bestowing a great multiple choice ETB. This goes without saying, but choose the specific option wisely.
Weenie/Aggro/Stompy build have you outnumbered? Go with the bird tokens.
Deadly combo pieces have you worried? Bounce them before they’re assembled to buy time.
Things in fairly decent shape, and you’re building toward your future kraken tokens? Take that draw and throw another counter on the barbie.
I recall seeing Haggard in a trailer for one of the films, a portly fellow dressed in what appear to be hobo’s rags. He’s all but assuredly the custodian at Hogwarts, mopping up the halls, polishing the floors and strewing sawdust on vomit related accidents after careless spell crafting and potion brewing.
Vomitosis Sawdustia Absorbo!
Venser, Shaper Savant functions similarly, called for at a moment’s notice to clean up the opponent’s messy boardstate littered with rubbish. A highly potent card limited by a rather expensive cmc, do keep in mind it will even interfere with spells that ordinarily cannot be countered, returning them to your opponent’s hand to provide a brief respite—if only temporarily.
Dame Maggie Smith is in the films, and I can visualize the venerable actress in no other role than as Headmistress of Hogwarts University, her watchful eye on young Henry as his powers develop over time.
Naban, Dean of Iteration is a 1 to 1 match for Maggie Smith, Dean of Hogwarts University. Using and abusing his triggered ability multiplier is key to a decisive victory. With a Dour Port-Mage and a handful of other Wizards in play, one well timed Eerie Interlude will find us reaping an absolute windfall of card draws. Then, as our creatures return to play, selecting Naban as the first to reenter will trigger double the bounce from a subsequently returning Venser and Aether Channeler.
Something tells me Alan Rickman’s character is a minor antagonist. If it turned out that Severus Snake was, in reality, a secret follower of He Who Shall Not Be Named, it would not surprise me in the least. Judging by appearances alone, he seems constantly perturbed and emotionally distant from his charges, and is one ‘piece of chalk in the blackboard eraser’ prank away from snapping.
Cards like Malevolent Hermit were the perfect answer to a fundamental problem which arose early on while constructing this deck: How do we incorporate enough countermeasures to deal with incoming threats to our boardstate while simultaneously leaving enough available card slots for the high number of creatures required to fuel our wincon?
In addition to the relative safety bestowed by Cavern of Souls’ anti counter effect, Malevolent Hermit,
Siren Stormtamer and Cursecatcher give us three bodies in play (and Wizards to boot) that come with countermagic pre installed. After our Hermit crosses over into the Great Beyond, his incorporeal manifestation Benevolent Geist
provides us a handy way to circumvent further countermagic during that crucial period of time when we begin casting the spells relevant to our wincon.
I’m aware there’s a talking hat in one of the movies and I’ll wager it’s a Deus Ex Machina used by the author to get the children out of what would otherwise be many a hopeless situation. It probably has some hidden powers that no one knows about because no one treats it with respect, except for young Henry. Just as it appears all is lost, the hat’s loyalty to its friends prompts it to unleash its capabilities and rescue them.
Step Through is our own MacGuffin, a method of Wizard tutoring to grab any creature in the deck for a mere . Who’s stepping through and where are they stepping through to? Who cares! The plot advances :D
Here at Hogwarts Academy for Errant Youths and Fledgling Sorcerers, our mission statement is to prepare your magically predisposed son or daughter for the rigors of adult life.
Your child’s tuition includes one grimoire on Countermagic and another on Corporeal Relocation. By semester’s end, pupils will have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of Teamwork and of Self Reliance, as well as possess the ability to demonstrate graduate level skills in Near-to-Mid Distance (And Back Again) Translocation.
Students may be eligible for financial aid in the form of Card Draw Grants and Triggered Ability Beneficiary Programs. Please contact Dour Port-Mage or Naban, Dean of Iteration for further details.
Lord Dumbledort!!
That’s right, we committed a No No and named He Who Shall Not Be Named, but as I recall you need to recite the name 3 times in front of the magic mirror in the East Wing before he’ll appear.
In our deck, Ominous Seas fills the role of primary antagonist. The idea is to get it into play early, but instead of accumulating counters over the course of maybe 6 or 7 turns, we cast Eerie Interlude or Semester's End to blink a large number of Wizards. As they return to play, Venser, Shaper Savant and Aether Channeler will each bounce one of the opponent’s permanents (they’ll do so twice if Naban, Dean of Iteration enters play first) to help clear some table space. This will also stack a large number of counters on the Enchantment all at once, at which point we can create one or two 8/8 Kraken tokens to overwhelm the opponent’s defenses.
•Work toward getting a Dour Port-Mage and Naban, Dean of Iteration in play, alongside as many other Wizards as you can.
•Cast Ominous Seas, making careful use of countermagic to ensure key combo pieces remain in play.
•Fire off either Eerie Interlude or Semester’s End, causing a mass departure of our Wizards from play. This will start a chain reaction: Dour Port-Mage’s draw ability will trigger, replenishing our hand and stacking a large amount of counters on Ominous Seas. At the beginning of the next End Step these cards will return to play one by one, according to the manner of our choosing. Select Naban, Dean of Iteration as the first card to re-enter play to capitalize on his triggered ability, doubling the benefits from subsequent cards like Aether Channeler and Venser, Shaper Savant to help clear away your opponent’s side of the table.
•As it’s highly likely you’ll have drawn into another Eerie Interlude or Semester’s End, you may repeat the above steps the following turn or if there are already plenty of counters on Ominous Seas, conjure up a handful of 8/8 Kraken tokens and attack for the win!
Though I’ve not read them, I am aware there are a fair number of Henry Potter books and as far as I know they follow one overarching storyline, each subsequent novel reigniting the entire ’Are you House Lannister or House Gryffindoor?’ debate.
In like fashion, we should expect the unexpected in games 2 and 3.
Before posting this deck I had an entire swapboard I lifted from an earlier draft revolving around Braids, Conjurer Adept. The idea was to enable Flash with something like High Fae Trickster or Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage then play Braids on the opponent’s turn, thereby plopping down a huge bomb during our upkeep for free. Then we had to recall Braids to hand that very turn lest our opponent receive the same boon, and…yeah. It was mana intensive, overly convoluted and really not worth it.
Foregoing all that, I kept the sideboard simple; Countermagic, Countermagic and more Countermagic. After all, it won’t really matter what new plan of attack or method of trying to interfere with our strategy the opponent employs if we can simply fizzle their every move.
”So the king gave the order to summon the magic-practicing priests, the conjurers, the sorcerers…So they came in and stood before the king.”
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Revision 3 See all
(3 weeks ago)
| -2 | Barrin, Tolarian Archmage | side |
| -2 | Braids, Conjurer Adept | side |
| +4 | Counterspell | side |
| +3 | Cryptic Command | side |
| -2 | High Fae Trickster | side |
| +4 | Mana Leak | side |
| -2 | Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage | side |
| +4 | Remand | side |
| -2 | Surtland Elementalist | side |
| -4 | Vedalken Aethermage | side |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 3 weeks |
| Last updated | 3 weeks |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 4 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 3 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 4 - 8 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.45 |
| Tokens | Bird 1/1 W, Kraken 8/8 U |
| Votes | |
| Ignored suggestions | |
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