how to counter white and black life link/drain
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 3, 2015, 1:26 p.m. by ToshiI
Evertytime i play my friend i get absaloutley thrashed no matter how much i change up my deck to try and counter him. Im quite new to mtg so I'd like some advice from experienced players. What kind of deck should i build to counter his overly annoying life drain deck?
My original deck was bnw but it had no theme to it. I tried to add more life gain as i lose more than half about 10 mins in. I really like black and white but dont have many creatures in this deck just mainly enchanments socery and instants. I have a green and blue deck that can hold out quite long but i still get trashed. I'll put both decks on here. Would a red deck be better to counter life drain?
So what deck would you use to counter this deck?
Friends life drain deck: Swamp x12 Plains x9 Mystic Monastery x1Orzhov Guildgate x5
Creatures: Underworld Coinsmith x1 Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts x1Tormented Soul x2 Mardu Hateblade x2Sybdicate enforcer x1 Chief of the Scale x1Caustic Crawler x1. Phylactery Lich x1Adjani's sunstrikerx1. Tithe Drinker x2
Instant:Harm's Way x1. Riot Control x2Erasex3. Disfigure x1Vile Rebirth x2 Silencex1Whitesun's Passage x1 Pay No Heed x2Reinforcementsx1 Wring Fleshx2Mending Handsx1 Doom Blade x3Angel's Mercyx1.
Enchantment:Stab Woundx3. Sinister Possessionx2Pacifismx3. Artificer's Hexx1Contaminated Bond x1. Mardu asscendancy x1Unholy Strength x1. Gift of Orzhova x1
Socery:Deathmarkx2Psychic Spearx1Increasing Devotionx1Deadly Allurex1Disentombx1
Artifact:Staff of the Death Magus
Tokens:human x10spirit x2Sliver x1zombiex1
Plainswalker:Liliana of Dark Realms
GlistenerAgent says... #4
Oh, that too. Kill the stuff, play some big thing of your own later (AEtherling is very cool), and win.
January 3, 2015 1:45 p.m.
Thanks for the replies! I have Day of Judgement?!?!?!! somewhere...so I'll get Wrath of God too! should I go for a mixed deck of green and white with cards such as Unknown Shores to add mana for specific cards? Red decks seem to deal a lot of damage Lava Axe but with high mana costs. Also my bnw deck has about 60-70 cards init. What would be the ideal number for a deck? I tend to find that I don't get the cards I want with 70 cards.
Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts allows you to put spirit creature tokens? Not sure how to link them sorry
January 3, 2015 2:22 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #7
60 cards maximizes consistency. Do that, always.
Red decks also have Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Skullcrack, Monastery Swiftspear, Rift Bolt, etc. Burn might be viable so long as you have enough Skullcrack effects.
With regards to manafixing, I recommend lands like Temple of Plenty, Temple Garden and Sunpetal Grove for whatever colors you are playing. Those allow you to get your mana either quickly or slowly with some added value.
January 3, 2015 2:28 p.m.
Ender666666 says... #8
Here are some very basic tips:
Play a deck of exactly 60 cards. It's the standard size, and allows for the best consistency
Although it can vary from deck to deck, a good rule is to play 22-24 mana producing lands. 24 if you don't have a lot of creatures or artifacts that make mana.
Do some research and familiarize yourself with basic deck building concepts. Try searching "Deck Building 101 MTG" or "Mana Curve".
Instead of trying to build a deck that reacts only to what your opponent is doing, try making a deck that has a goal. Force your opponent to react to you.
January 3, 2015 2:35 p.m.
Thanks for the tips. I'm going to weedle my decks down to 60. I want a deck that crushes the opponent quickly instead of long draining games. I'll do some research and put a Deck together, then ask what you guys think of it :)
January 3, 2015 2:45 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #10
Also, more tips: Try to keep your mana curve relatively low. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts costs 7 mana, and casting her within a reasonable time frame is hard. Having everything cost five mana or less keeps your deck streamlined and efficient.
Don't play a bunch of 1-ofs and 2-ofs. Focusing on high numbers of the cards you want to see every game is important, because that increases consistency even further and lets you do the same things every game.
January 3, 2015 2:49 p.m.
AngryBearTony says... #11
Do not play Unknown Shores. Ever. Never. Ever. Worthless waste of space. So many other ways to get mana.
If you're looking to stick with something you sort of have, maybe try running B/W warriors, or B/W constellation, or even W/G heroic or constellation. Keep your curve consistent so you get a threat out every turn, you have things you can do to protect yourself or remove his threats. I cannot stress enough how important being able to deal with his threats are. Suspension Field and Banishing Light for white, Murderous Cut or Stab Wound or some other 
removal (there's plenty). If 
, try adding in some of the one-drop instants to protect yourself by making you bigger and granting hexproof.
January 3, 2015 3:14 p.m.
Go with esper control. One of the best deck types out there ALWAYS, you get life gain, removal, and draw. Also GlistenerAgent is right, keep the mana curve as low as possible while still playing the cards you want, and play more of a card you want to get often and less of one you don't want to see as much. And of course always play as close to 60 cards as possible, I personally make 63 my absolute maximum. My best deck has 63 cards and has won almost every match I've ever put it in.
January 3, 2015 11:47 p.m.
If you're looking for ideas for life gain then check out my black drain/gain deck:
Bleed them Dry, All of them Playtest
Casual
SCORE: 2 | 4 COMMENTS | 494 VIEWSJanuary 3, 2015 11:54 p.m.
So I changed up my black and white deck. It has too many cards I think so I still need to change it but this is it so far:
Land x22: Swamp x8 Plains x8 Sandsteppe Citadel x1 Radiant Fountain x2 Scoured Barrens X1 Evolving Wilds X1 Unknown Shores X1 (don't have anything to replace shores with just yet)
Artifact: Tormod's Crypt
Creatures x21:Tithe Drinker x1 Ajani's Pridemate x1
Child of Night x2 Soulmender x2 Keening Apparition X1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel X1 Aegis Angel X1 Typhoid Rats x1 Nightmare x1 Squelching Leeches x1 Moriok Reaver X1 Wall of Hope X1 Marshmist Titan x1 Ajani's Sunstriker x1 Felhide Minotaur x1 Disowned Ancestor x1 Bog Raiders x1 Pharika's Chosen x1 Disciple of Phenax x1
Enchantment x16:
Pacifism x2 sinister x6 Banishing Light X1 Lightmine Field x1 Suspension Field x1 Font of Vigor x1 Cast into Darkness x1 Ordeal of Heliod x1 Aspect of Gorgon x1 Quag Sickness x1
Instant x23:
Hold at Bay x2 Angel's Mercy x2 Ray of Dissolution x1 Urgent Exorcism X1 Erase x1 Death Ward x1 Harm's Way x1 Celestial Flare x1 Whitesun's Passage X1 Riot Control x1 Celestial Purgex1 Shielded Passagex1 Ajani's Presencex1 Gods Willing x1 Rebukex1 Feast of Dreams x2 Dark Betrayalx1 Pharika's Curex2 Last Gaspx1 Necrobitex1
Sorcery x12:
Excoriatex1 Lyev Decreex1 Paraselenex1 Glare of Heresyx1 Revoke Existence x3 Deathmarkx1 Morbid Plunderx1 Zombie Scavengersx1 Decomposex1 Incremental Blightx1
I've won two games so far with this deck. I nearly won a third but he pulled some bs card that allowed him to put 15 spirit tokens on the battlefield and I had 10 life so I died
So yet I have way too many cards but each of them have been quite useful. Though I tend to draw more instants than creatures.
January 6, 2015 7:52 a.m.
Can you please, please add it as a deck onto the site so we can view it like that. It's near useless as a list like this.
Do you need help doing that?
January 6, 2015 8:03 a.m.
Click on 'deck builder' in the top left -> click 'add mtg deck' -> add a name, write a short description, and add the cards in the main board (you don't need to use square brackets for the card names in the deck, you only write the card) -> click save -> copy and paste the link into here.
GlistenerAgent says... #2
Firstly, you aren't allowed to play more than four of any one nonbasic lands. Let him know he needs to drop an Orzhov Guildgate. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by the "Tokens" section of the decklist. Finally, 82 cards hurts my eyes.
If you want to beat this, play more powerful cards. Lots of the cards in his deck are just plain horrible (Artificer's Hex, Angel's Mercy, etc.), and if you keep laying very good cards that need to be dealt with, you will win the game.
As for what those powerful cards should be, it depends on what colors and playstyle you want. Playing lots of efficient guys (Loxodon Smiter, Fleecemane Lion, etc.) and killing him before he establishes a board presence is one way to go, while playing counterspells and removal and having a small number of hard-to-kill creatures to win with is another viable option.
January 3, 2015 1:36 p.m.