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I remember when "JTMS" stood for "Jay, the Moldenhauer-Salazar." #oldschool
Aaron Forsythe on Twitter
If you’re a deckbuilder, new sets are always a good time to disconnect from the weekly (daily) metagame shifts in Standard and reboot your creative instincts by brainstorming new deck ideas. While most ideas don’t pan out, you never know what gold you might run across if you’re looking. Historically Core sets haven’t offered as many raw ingredients as the block expansions, but Magic 2011 delivers all kinds of interesting goodies, some of which have already been making an impact in high-level tournaments.
Today I thought I’d share with you some of the ideas I’m working on, but first a quick story regarding card availability. My disposable income budget (much of which goes to Magic) has been very lean of late (divorce and living alone will do that to you), and when M11 came out I knew I had to make some hard choices. First on my list of "wants" from M11 was - of course - a playset of Primeval Titans. At the time, they were pre-selling at around $35 a pop. I tried to find some bargains on eBay, but each "bargain" Primeval Titan auction turned into a bidding war in the waning minutes that pushed the price pretty much to that level. Pricing out everything else on my list and looking at my budget, I could afford to either buy the four Primevals, or I could buy everything else on my want list (outside of Grave Titans, which at the time were $20 presale). "Everything else on my want list" ended up being 27 different cards, 81 in total.
It was actually a pretty tough decision. Primeval Titan is just about everything I love in a Magic card - it’s Green, it’s a creature, and it does powerful stuff outside of just turning sideways. I know that when/if I get my Primeval Titans I will play the heck out of them, which is what eventually pushed me to buy the expensive Lotus Cobras when Zendikar first came out. And I’ll play Primevals in EDH too.
I asked some people whether they thought Primevals would continue to rise in price, and the consensus seemed to be that Primeval was overhyped and its price reflected that hype. Primeval is an awesome card, but it’s not an auto-include for any Green deck like Jace, the Mind Sculptor is an auto include for any Blue deck. I also figured that there’s going to be a lot of Magic 2011 sold in the coming months, and that the supply of M11 mythics to demand should be pretty decent, eventually.
4 cards versus 81 cards. I decided to go with variety to maximize my deckbuilding options until I can afford to buy the Titans.
Of course, you know how the story ends. The first weekend Primeval is legal, Top 8 decklists roll in featuring a ton of Primeval Titans. They’re now pushing $50 a pop, with Grave Titan jumping up to $35. Yeesh… insert facepalm. Stuff like this’ll drive a man to Prairie Fires...
So, the moral of this story is that, when it comes to decklists I present, card availability plays a major role now. Many of you are in the same boat so I imagine that’s okay, but for those of you who may wonder why I don’t have certain cards in my lists, it’s because I’ve been priced out of them for now. Currently that list includes: Jace, the Mind Sculptor; Primeval Titan; and Grave Titan. Honestly, what good is a decklist that you can’t build and play yourself?
Squadron Hawks/Elixir of Immortality
The first deck idea I had was pairing Squadron Hawks with Elixir of Immortality to basically produce a never-ending stream of Hawks and go from there. I ran the idea past Jay "J-Lo" Delazier, who’s built some great life-gaining, grinding-out rogue decks on occasion, and with his input here’s where I’m at currently:
| Immortal Hawks Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 3 Elixir of Immortality Artifact Creatures 4 Pilgrim's Eye Creatures 2 Knight-Captain of Eos 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Wall of Omens Enchantments 4 Oblivion Ring |
Instants 3 Condemn 2 Path to Exile Legendary Creatures 2 Iona, Shield of Emeria Planeswalkers 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 2 Gideon Jura Sorceries 4 Day of Judgment Basic Lands 21 Plains Lands 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin | Stats: Average mana: 1.83 Average creature mana cost: 3.50 Average creature power: 1.63 Average creature toughness: 2.63 Deck Composition: Creatures: 16.67% Artifacts: 5.00% Basic Lands: 35.00% Instants: 8.33% Enchantments: 6.67% Planeswalkers: 6.67% Artifact Creatures: 6.67% Legendary Creatures: 3.33% Sorceries: 6.67% Lands: 5.00% |
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I’m a little leery of having Emeria, the Sky Ruin in an Elixir of Immortality deck, but I figure it takes a while for Emeria to get online anyway so they’ll probably be okay. Why not play Emeria in a Mono-White deck after all? Credit Jay with the nice soldier synergy between Elspeth and Knight-Captain to set up a frustrating Fog machine.
Sun Titan/Reassembling Skeletons
Sun Titan didn’t get much respect at first, but graveyard recursion is a favorite theme so I’ve been brainstorming this fellow quite a bit. He’s definitely got a lot more going for him than bringing back Jace Beleren. One color combination where he shows promise is in a White/Black build like this one, featuring a few of another nice graveyard recursion card, Reassembling Skeletons.
| Dark Sun Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 1 Basilisk Collar 3 Executioner's Capsule 4 Scepter of Dominance 1 Sword of Vengeance Artifact Creatures 4 Pilgrim's Eye |
Creatures 3 Baneslayer Angel 3 Reassembling Skeleton 2 Stoneforge Mystic 4 Sun Titan 4 Vampire Hexmage 4 Wall of Omens Sorceries 3 Day of Judgment Basic Lands 8 Plains 10 Swamp Lands 4 Marsh Flats 4 Tectonic Edge 2 Terramorphic Expanse | Stats: Average mana: 1.69 Average creature mana cost: 3.21 Average creature power: 2.33 Average creature toughness: 2.92 Deck Composition: Artifacts: 14.06% Creatures: 31.25% Basic Lands: 28.13% Lands: 15.63% Artifact Creatures: 6.25% Sorceries: 4.69% |
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Permanent-heavy at the one-through-three mana cost as a good Sun Titan deck should be. Recurring Hexmages ought to be golden in such a planeswalker-heavy environment, and I like the idea of a Mystic-fetched Basilisk Collar equipped to first-striking Hexmage. Scepter of Dominance is a card I’ve wanted to play with since they came out, but my playset have gathered dust and they’re about to expire. Seems like they might be pretty good here, and can even serve as mana denial in conjunction with recurring Tectonic Edges.
The Skeletons seem fun - I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down… yeah, I went there, Tub thumping. What’s even more fun is when they pick up the Collar, get knocked down, get back up and put the Collar on again.
Fauna Shaman/Obstinate Baloth/Triskelion
A month or so back I talked about wanting to build a Green/Black anti-planeswalker deck, and semi-local Magic powerhouse Michael Rooks pointed out to me recently that Fauna Shaman fits nicely right in that deck. In the earlier version, the only real threats in the deck were Putrid Leech and Vengevine, and if your opponent could deal with them you’d be left twisting without much action. Obstinate Baloth patches up that hole quite nicely, not only doubling down on the Blightning-hate from Vengevine, but providing a sizeable body and a much needed life boost against beatdown decks. Fauna Shaman should be able to provide as many Hexmages as you need against Planeswalkers, while setting up the Vengevine army. I’ve got the nice Basilisk Collar/Hexmage synergy here, but it also kicks into high gear with Triskelion!
| Vexvine Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 3 Basilisk Collar Artifact Creatures 3 Triskelion |
Creatures 1 Cadaver Imp 4 Fauna Shaman 4 Lotus Cobra 4 Obstinate Baloth 4 Putrid Leech 1 Royal Assassin 4 Vampire Hexmage 4 Vengevine Sorceries 4 Maelstrom Pulse Basic Lands 8 Forest 9 Swamp Lands 4 Savage Lands 4 Verdant Catacombs | Stats: Average mana: 1.69 Average creature mana cost: 3.03 Average creature power: 2.38 Average creature toughness: 1.97 Deck Composition: Creatures: 42.62% Basic Lands: 27.87% Sorceries: 6.56% Artifact Creatures: 4.92% Lands: 13.11% Artifacts: 4.92% |
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You know this isn’t the only Fauna Shaman idea I’ve got brewing, and white really kicks the toolbox available into high gear:
| Silver Bullets Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 1 Basilisk Collar 1 Sword of Vengeance Artifact Creatures 1 Triskelion |
Creatures 1 Acidic Slime 1 Baneslayer Angel 1 Dauntless Escort 4 Fauna Shaman 4 Knight of the Reliquary 1 Kor Skyfisher 4 Lotus Cobra 4 Noble Hierarch 1 Obstinate Baloth 1 Qasali Pridemage 2 Stoneforge Mystic 1 Sun Titan 4 Vengevine Enchantments 3 Oblivion Ring Basic Lands 7 Forest 6 Plains Lands 4 Arid Mesa 1 Evolving Wilds 3 Misty Rainforest 1 Sejiri Steppe 2 Stirring Wildwood 1 Tectonic Edge | Stats: Average mana: 1.63 Average creature mana cost: 2.83 Average creature power: 2.23 Average creature toughness: 2.20 Deck Composition: Creatures: 48.33% Artifacts: 3.33% Basic Lands: 21.67% Artifact Creatures: 1.67% Enchantments: 5.00% Lands: 20.00% |
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Between Fauna Shaman, Knight of the Reliquary, and Stoneforge Mystic, I fear there must be far too much searching and shuffling, so I’d probably have to play this deck much more aggressively than I’d otherwise typically manage. I like Sun Titan in this deck as an early Shaman target, because keeping a Shaman in play will likely guarantee victory, and when your opponent kills that Shaman you’ll want to get it back with Titan, something they’ll have to deal with first before they can deal with Shaman again.
Cyclops Gladiator/Inferno Titan
I was sad to see Master of the Wild Hunt go, to be replaced thematically with Cyclops Gladiator, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t excited about playing with the Gladiator! I’ve been trying to toy around with making him bigger somehow (briefly considering Totem Armor), but eventually I just decided to just load up on the heat instead.
| Big Red Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Creatures 4 Bloodbraid Elf 2 Borderland Ranger 2 Cunning Sparkmage 4 Cyclops Gladiator 4 Hell's Thunder 3 Inferno Titan 4 Kargan Dragonlord 4 Sylvan Ranger |
Instants 4 Burst Lightning 4 Lightning Bolt Basic Lands 5 Forest 12 Mountain Lands 4 Raging Ravine 4 Rootbound Crag | Stats: Average mana: 1.63 Average creature mana cost: 3.33 Average creature power: 2.89 Average creature toughness: 2.81 Deck Composition: Creatures: 45.00% Basic Lands: 28.33% Lands: 13.33% Instants: 13.33% |
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I have to admit I didn’t give Inferno Titan my respect until chatting with unorthodox Red mage Adrian Sullivan about him; now I’m pretty eager to "go big" and play the heat mizer!
Leyline of Vitality
While the Green Leyline feels like the weakest of the bunch, the fact that its effects are cumulative makes building a deck with them in the main intriguing. You’ll want to make lots of creatures, and lucky for us Green is pretty good at doing just that.
| Pretty Good Ley Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 3 Eldrazi Monument Creatures 3 Arbor Elf 4 Leatherback Baloth 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Master of the Wild Hunt 2 Mitotic Slime 4 Nest Invader 4 Wolfbriar Elemental |
Enchantments 4 Awakening Zone 4 Leyline of Vitality Basic Lands 16 Forest Lands 4 Khalni Garden 4 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood | Stats: Average mana: 1.87 Average creature mana cost: 2.76 Average creature power: 2.68 Average creature toughness: 2.84 Deck Composition: Creatures: 41.67% Enchantments: 13.33% Basic Lands: 26.67% Lands: 13.33% Artifacts: 5.00% |
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Making lots of creatures also plays nicely with Eldrazi Monument, so hopefully Leyline life will buy you the time you need for Monument to come around so you can end the game quickly.
Crystal Ball
Everyone’s swooning over how good Crystal Ball is in Limited and in casual formats; they’re talking about the impact of drawing gas every turn will eventually overwhelm your opponent. The problem with something like Crystal Ball in Constructed is that you’re paying a not insignificant amount of mana to play the Ball and then using a mana per turn, and can you afford to spend that mana on something that does not directly affect the board? It occurred to me that Green Elves can really pour on the mana, and can actually produce a surplus of mana sometimes, and it seems like Scry 2 to dig for gas would be the perfect way to spend that surplus.
| Ballsy Elves Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 4 Crystal Ball 3 Eldrazi Monument Creatures 4 Arbor Elf 4 Elvish Archdruid 4 Elvish Visionary 2 Joraga Warcaller 4 Llanowar Elves 1 Mul Daya Channelers 4 Nissa's Chosen 3 Oracle of Mul Daya |
Planeswalkers 4 Nissa Revane Basic Lands 19 Forest Lands 4 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood | Stats: Average mana: 1.60 Average creature mana cost: 2.04 Average creature power: 1.46 Average creature toughness: 1.62 Deck Composition: Artifacts: 11.67% Creatures: 43.33% Basic Lands: 31.67% Planeswalkers: 6.67% Lands: 6.67% |
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Gotta make sure I remember to pop fetchland first, then Scry 2, right? One thing that’s nice about Crystal Ball is that, once you play the first, you can push any subsequent ones you draw to the bottom of your deck. The quartet of Mul Dayas might seem a little too cute, but you’ve got to try them out in a Crystal Ball deck!
Steel Overseer
I’m sure everyone’s figuring that Steel Overseer is a plant for Scars of Mirrodin, but let’s not forget there’s some pretty awesome artifact creatures already from the Esper shard!
| Flint and Steel Featured by Bennie Smith on 2010-08-01 (Standard) | ||
Artifacts 3 Basilisk Collar Artifact Creatures 4 Etherium Sculptor 4 Ethersworn Adjudicator 3 Ethersworn Canonist 3 Ethersworn Shieldmage 4 Lodestone Golem 4 Master of Etherium 4 Steel Overseer 4 Triskelion |
Instants 3 Condemn Basic Lands 9 Island 5 Plains 2 Swamp Lands 4 Arcane Sanctum 4 Marsh Flats | Stats: Average mana: 1.82 Average creature mana cost: 3.43 Average creature power: 2.00 Average creature toughness: 1.87 Deck Composition: Artifact Creatures: 50.00% Basic Lands: 26.67% Instants: 5.00% Lands: 13.33% Artifacts: 5.00% |
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Ethersworn Canonist and Lodestone Golem offer some pretty nice disruption that both also benefit from the Overseer’s ministrations. Will this deck finally be the one to turn on the awesome potential of Ethersworn Adjudicator?
I hope I’ve offered up some ideas that you can run with more easily than those offered up by many other columnists around the internet that don’t seem to have card availability constraints. Any suggestions you have for tightening these decklists would be appreciated, and if you’ve got any other promising, outside the box deck ideas, I’d love to hear from you!
Blast from the Past: A Decade With StarCityGames.com
It’s been an honor to write for this website and be associated with the fine folks at StarCityGames.com for over 10 years, and since the archives go back to the beginning of 2000, I thought it might be fun to periodically peek back and see what I was writing about 10 years ago. July 20, 2000 I wrote Is The Heart Fonder? after being away from writing about Magic for nearly two months. It’s fun to see some interesting tie-ins to the present day:
First, I talk about expecting the birth of my first child. We decided not to find out the sex of the baby in order to be old-school surprised. Pretty amazing to think that Anna Marie’s going to be 10 years old in December.
I also talk about multiplayer Magic at my old haunt Total Access Games. I mention some Green "tech" that most of you who play EDH will surely recognize, and talk about my friend’s Tombstone Stairwell deck - some lightning I was trying to bottle up recently in my monoblack Commander deck.
Last, I lament how difficult it is to play a two-color deck in Masques Block Constructed, which feels alien in today’s environment of easy mana fixing. And there’s a link to an old Ferrett article at the bottom. It’s fun to stroll down memory lane.
Okay, last week my son Aaron turned 8 and he stayed up later than I thought; by the time I’d left it was too late, and I was too tired to make the trek out to Richmond Comix. The upside is that now I’m really dying to play some EDH, and maybe one of these decks if I get there in time for the Standard portion of Friday Night Magic. If you’re in the area, hope to see you there! And for my friends who are making the journey to Grand Prix Columbus, best of luck!!
Take care…
Bennie
starcitygeezer AT gmail DOT com
New to EDH? Be sure to check out my EDH Primer, part 1, part 2, and part 3.
My current EDH decks:
Phelddagrif (carrots & sticks)
Tsabo Tavoc (red & black nastiness)
Reki, the History of Kamigawa (more legends than you can shake a stick at)
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade (brain-eating zombies, Commander)
*PS - I’m trying to trade for Relentless Rats, so if you have any to spare please let me know!
