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So I wanted to build a theme deck for one of my favourite shows - Stargate: SG-1. What's that? This week's challenge is Tribal Wars? Well, I guess I'll just have to make it tribal, then. Since the show revolves around military teams, lets make it a soldier theme deck.
Wait a minute - that's not very new! All right, let's make it doubly tribal, and turn it into a bird soldier theme deck. They are from the Air Force, after all...
Stargate: SG-1 Double Tribal Wars
| Stargate Tribal Featured by Matthew Scholte on 2005-06-05 | ||
Creatures 1 Aven Brigadier 4 Aven Farseer 4 Aven Liberator 4 Dive Bomber 1 Phantom Flock 4 Soulcatcher 4 Wingbeat Warrior Instants 4 Piety Charm 4 Raise the Alarm 4 Unified Strike |
Legendary Creatures 1 Commander Eesha 1 Lieutenant Kirtar Basic Lands 22 Plains Lands 1 Daru Encampment 1 Kjeldoran Outpost | Stats: Average mana: 1.57 Average creature mana cost: 3.25 Average creature power: 1.63 Average creature toughness: 1.79 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 36.67% Lands: 3.33% Legendary Creatures: 3.33% Creatures: 36.67% Instants: 20.00% |
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Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
Hey, if you're going to go tribal, go all the way. Every non-basic land in this deck is either a bird soldier, or references the creature type soldier somewhere in the rules text. Can't get any more tribal than that. In addition, every card relates in some way to the Stargate universe.
Aven Brigadier:
Jack O'Neill, after his promotion in season 8 to Brigadier General.
Aven Farseer:
MALPs (Mobile Laboratory Analytic Probe), which serve as advance scouts for off-world missions.
Aven Liberator:
SG (Stargate) teams regularly serve to liberate the people of other planets from the Goa'uld.
Commander Eesha:
Every SG team needs a commander.
Dive Bomber:
UAVs (Unmanned Airborne Vehicle) mounted with missiles.
Lieutenant Kirtar:
Samantha Carter, after her promotion in season 8 to Lt. Colonel.
Phantom Flock:
Daniel Jackson, during season 7, while he was ascended. (He's not a flock, but he was phantom-like.)
Soulcatcher:
The Ascended (mostly the Ancients), who accept newly ascended souls (and in the case of Oma Desala, actually assist in the process at times).
Wingbeat Warrior:
F-302, the Earth-built versions of Goa'uld death gliders.
Piety Charm:
GDOs (Garage Door Openers), or any one of a number of the handheld technologies that SG teams have access to.
Raise the Alarm:
What happens any time the Stargate on Earth is activated at an unscheduled time.
Unified Strike:
When multiple SG teams work together.
Daru Encampment:
SG Command (SGC), located under Cheyenne Mountain.
Kjeldoran Outpost:
The Alpha site, located on P4X-650.
If you're not uptight about forcing every creature to be from the double-tribe (and I was very tempted to), take out a copy of Aven Liberator for Daru Warchief, who would represent General Hammond (the leader of SGC for much of the show's history).
The deck, beyond being theme-based and doubly tribal, has some nice synergies within. Kirtar and the Dive Bombers go nicely with Soulcatcher to not only beef up one of your creatures, but take down an opponent's creature too. Piety Charm also works with the Bombers, allowing them to swing and still sacrifice. Aven Farseer, Liberator, and Wingbeat Warrior form a small morph theme, with morph triggers making for tough combat situations for opponents.
However, one of my favorite interactions (although it rarely shows up) has to be Phantom Flock and Aven Brigadier (and Daru Warchief if you include him). With these two out, the Flock will never die from damage ("Invulnerable," as McKay from Stargate Atlantis would say), allowing you to attack or block with impunity.
If you're willing to drop either the double-tribal or theme restriction, it opens up a range of possibilities, from more morph tricks, to a more "Avenant" style deck (see the Weatherlight Heavy Ballista flavor text). You could even focus on the Soulcatcher idea or just make it a Bird deck. Whatever your taste, there are plenty more ideas to explore (though not as many as there are Gate addresses).
-Matthew Scholte
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