Need help on making a Swamp deck
Deck Help forum
Posted on July 25, 2012, 8:16 p.m. by BamaMagic52
Tonight Im going to create my first Swamp deck..(Im new to the game..dont hate)...and I need to know what are some good ideas for great cards to put in it to build around, or also what are some good gaming ideas to help me defeat my opponent. I really like the gameplay of making my opponent grind cards left and right!! but also like having fliers to help block other flying creatures...so honestly im up for any pointers im just trying to make it into the hall of fame ha
If you are going mono-black, Vampires and Zombies are good tribal themes. As Epochalyptik pointed out, milling is not a great option with black, but you can kill the heck out of things, and hand control is a very powerful ability. Additionally, black is the best tutor color in the game.
An important question to ask, by the way: What format do you want to play? (E.g. Standard, Legacy, EDH, etc.)
July 25, 2012 8:42 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #4
I been getting that question alot haha please explain diff...im guessing Im playing standard. So black/white...would that be a good deck to play with....I mean I have a mono green deck and a mono blue.... I haven't built anything black or white so Im thinking about putting them 2 together!!....the guy I play with is playing black/blue and has Traumatize I cant stand it haha. but what could I do with black and white that would really piss people off haha..or do you really think them 2 colors together suck
July 25, 2012 8:51 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
Black and white are extremely strong together when used properly.
Just as a note, Standard means the deck includes cards from Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia, Magic 2012, Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, and Magic 2013 only. If you don't plan on playing in formal Standard events and only play casual Magic with your friends, it might be better to expand your horizons and look at some older cards as well.
In Standard, BW has access to Lingering Souls . This is a great way to generate board position for relatively low cost. For extra effect, some BW Standard decks include Sorin, Lord of Innistrad or Intangible Virtue to buff the tokens and add to the theme.
You could try an aggro spirit kind of approach using Lingering Souls , Doomed Traveler , Midnight Haunting , and Intangible Virtue as starting points. Honor of the Pure is also good for the tokens.
As supporting spells, consider removal like Doom Blade , Tragic Slip , Go for the Throat , Oblivion Ring , or Dismember .
July 25, 2012 8:57 p.m.
Well, if your friend is using Traumatize, you're not playing Standard. Standard is type II, which means you can only use certain cards--the most recent, specifically. Right now, the only Standard-legal cards are Scars block, M2012, Innistrad block, and M13. Older cards are legal if they're been reprinted in those eight sets.
If all of your cards are new-ish (Eighth edition ff.), then you're playing Modern. If all your cards are really new-ish (Shards block ff.), then you're playing Extended. If you have any cards older than Eighth edition, welcome to the world of Legacy, where (almost) anything goes.
Finally, EDH is a 100-card format, wherein any cards can only appear once if they aren't basic lands. Other formats fall under the umbrella of "constructed," which is a 60-card minimum deck.
July 25, 2012 8:59 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #7
yeah we are probably playing modern. Im going to go with the black/white deck what is a good gameplan Im thinking some life gainers,flyers and some great black sorcery/instant cards...what you guys think?
July 25, 2012 9:21 p.m.
If you want to put stuff in the air, you've got some interesting options with Angels and Demons. I'm assuming, since you want to weave in a life-gain tack, you aren't planning on playing very aggro, but maybe more stall. Let's try a few basics (and Epochalyptik, by all means, feel free to correct me if I go astray).
You're going to want lands. However, in a perfect world, you would want a mix of both basics (Swamp s and Plains ) and non-basics. For non-basic lands, Isolated Chapel is excellent, as are (since you hope to play life-gain) Caves of Koilos and Godless Shrine . The pain and shock won't really matter much over the course of a game where you're racking up life like no one's business. Also, for fetching, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse are cheap and effective.
Creatures are a huge plus. In terms of fliers, Restoration Angel is a power-hitter, and Serra Angel is a staple. Angel of Mercy would be a plus for the lifegain ETB effect, as well.
However, those guys are all pretty beefy five-drops. Demons and imps provide access to littler guys. Foul Imp and Soot Imp are smaller, though they can be painful in terms of life.
Speaking of life-gain, you might want more options than just that Angel up there. card:Ajani's Mantra is, theoretically, fun for that, but cards like Aven Riftwatcher and Blood Artist are better.
For support spells, white is famous for Oblivion Ring , and Cloudshift is great, too. Black offers you Doom Blade , Murder , and Go for the Throat .
Finally, for win-con options, may I suggest either Ajani Goldmane , Ajani, Caller of the Pride , and/or Felidar Sovereign ?
July 25, 2012 9:48 p.m.
*Correction: Restoration Angel is a four-drop. It's still beefy, though.
Silly me.
July 25, 2012 9:49 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #10
I dont mean to make you waste all that typing haha but after thinking and looking around I would prefer to be aggressive and do damage as quick as possible. I still want some fliers because everyone I play against normally have them Aven Squire piss me off so bad ha and Tidehollow Strix Im finding out that I love to hit them hard fast and make them grind alot of cards
July 25, 2012 10 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #11
Ok guys im building my black/white deck how many land of each should I have....im thinking a 70 card deck
July 25, 2012 10:54 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #12
I would advise against making a deck larger than 60 cards (EDH aside). When you start going over the minimum number of cards, you lose consistency because your statistical chance of drawing any given card decreases. Pick the best of what you can get and go with that; pare off the weaker cards.
The land base should be designed after you have the rest of your deck about where you want it. White and black tend to be very saturated colors (their cards tend to have multiple colored mana symbols on them), which means that you need to carefully choose your lands to make sure you can pay for everything properly.
July 25, 2012 11 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #13
I would advise against making a deck larger than 60 cards (EDH aside). When you start going over the minimum number of cards, you lose consistency because your statistical chance of drawing any given card decreases. Pick the best of what you can get and go with that; pare off the weaker cards.
The land base should be designed after you have the rest of your deck about where you want it. White and black tend to be very saturated colors (their cards tend to have multiple colored mana symbols on them), which means that you need to carefully choose your lands to make sure you can pay for everything properly.
July 25, 2012 11 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #14
Ok then lets say 60 card deck would you go 12 black/12 white...
July 25, 2012 11:02 p.m.
Well then you are really new lol. Um generally, actually, in almost every case decks are more consistent when they are closer to 60 cards. 70 would give too much wiggle room for inconsistencies. Also you cant really base a deck off how much land you have. You base the land off what your mana curve is. Mana curve is basically how many low cost creatures vs higher cost ones. (its the graph that shows up in the right on any deck) Then you decide how many of each land makes your deck consistent.
July 25, 2012 11:05 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #16
yeah Sebastes been playing for about 20+ days but im fairly smart so i know the logic of the game just not great at building great decks and having to correct amount of land (probably something I should get good at ha)...but thanks for the help im going to try and break it into a 60 card deck
July 25, 2012 11:08 p.m.
HoneyBadger says... #17
-everything currently in the deck, +60 swamps. BOOM! Swamp deck. Glad I could help
July 25, 2012 11:09 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #18
A half and half split is more often found in low-saturation decks with an even distribution of cards of each color.
Mana bases are actually very complex things and are often the hardest elements of a deck to design. You have to consider how many lands to include. From there, you need to look at the mana curve and saturation of the deck and determine the appropriate number of each color of land to run. On top of that, there are dual lands that can produce multiple colors. Including them means reconsidering the counts for each of the other lands.
I find that it's ultimately better to leave the lands for last and work on that part of the deck when you can see exactly what you need (no sense choosing your land base first when you don't really know what different spells you'll need to pay for).
July 25, 2012 11:11 p.m.
BamaMagic52 says... #19
Black+White=NWO there you go Epochalyptik I would love your professional advice haha dont get to harsh on me though
July 26, 2012 12:07 a.m.
The pie chart on the right of your deck page is a great reference for mana curve. To put it simply (unless you're building a single color deck), you want the colors on the inner circle to match up with the colors on the outer circle. The only exception to this is if you have double, triple, etc. spells (i.e. Skinrender is a "double black" spell with a total mana cost of 4 since it has 2 colorless mana and 2 black mana in it's cost).
As a novice deck builder, I would advise staying away from "double" (or greater) mana spells unless you're using them during the late part of the game when you'll have all the mana you need. That way, you can ensure that you will be able to potentially cast most or all of what is in your hand.
Hmm. Black/white, fast, with direct damage. I'll have to think on that and get back to you...
Epochalyptik says... #2
By swamp deck do you mean black only or actually based around swamps (as with cards like Lashwrithe )?
Black is not as good as blue when it comes to milling an opponent's library, but it does have tricks like discard spells and kill spells to control what your opponent has available to him or her.
Another note: black tends to be only moderately good when used on its own. I suggest picking a theme and pairing black with another color or two to get the most out of it (not to discourage you if you do want to try your hand at a mono-black deck).
July 25, 2012 8:31 p.m.