Weird, I never thought I’d be posting a deck list for help up here in a million years. I thought I was done playing Magic. I blame John, he is a terrible person and there is a special place for him in the Helvault.
Of course I’m joking…Johns awesome and I sorta wish the Matzens could adopt me. haha, I don’t meet the height requirement however, so its not meant to be. Anyway, I found a few boxes of my old cards (I lost ALL of my actual constructed decks from the 90′s…but the boxes of all the ‘crap’ still remains) and checked a few sites to see if they were of any value. Who knew those stupid Lion’s Eye Diamonds and half a dozen Mazes of Ith I had mixed in with all those terrible homelands cards were worth something? (lol now if only I could find a place for my gauntlet of might and 4!! forks…I will say though, the beta Berserk is awfully pretty.)
Ever since Vaevictis Asmadi and Bartel Runeaxe I’ve loved B, R, G (Jund you’d call it now), and those two cards were ones I specifically remember saving up money from my summer lawn-mowing job to go out and buy. It was right after Legends stopped, and if I remember correctly the supply of Legends boxes was pretty scarce and I think I only ever got to buy 1 or 2 packs before they were gone from Lincoln stores.
haha…I’m rambling again. Anyway, I have a nostalgic spot in my heart for the Elder Dragons SO that is where the idea of getting to use one as a plainswalker was just too cool. (Plus the new art for Nicol Bolas is awesome!) So heres my Grixis decklist (no sideboard yet). Its based off a big mix of Net Decks I’ve found, and just some of my own observations from the modern ‘meta.’ I’ve made a few tweaks to account for cards I actually have now AND I wanted the deck to match a bit more of the aggro style I like to play. I’d love land suggestions and just some tips/tweak ideas in general. I’m just getting back in to it, so I’m a bit rusty.
1 Earthquake
2 Sedraxis Specter
2 Curse of Death’s Hold
3 Mana Leak
4 Demigod of Revenge
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
2 Geth’s Verdict
2 Think twice
2 Countersquall
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
2 Slagstorm
3 Terminate
2 Duress
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Blightning
2 Electrolyze
Theres probably some weird choices there, but a bit of my thought process went like this. Chandra is kind of a ‘poor mans’ Snapcaster Mage and the thought of copying a Blightning right to the face sounds amazing! (Any of the removal spells, really) Earthquake is my cheap version of Black Sun’s Zenith and is a pretty good sweeper in its own right. It has the bonus of being able to hit your opponents plainswalkers as well (while keeping yours safe).
Geth’s Verdict is for Hex-Proof guys and Pillar of Flame seems to be the agreed upon answer to strangleroot geist so those are pretty standard choices. Terminate is my catch-all Doom Blade and Go for the Throat. It seems a slightly more reliable Tragic Slip in this deck.
Everyone runs a few Mana Leaks, and besides Delver (hmm…i DO have 4 of them), its probably the biggest reason to run Blue over Green for me. Countersquall is my Hard Counter for mid/late game stuff when they’ve played around Mana Leak. Something like Dissipate or Negate is probably more common, but I like how Countersquall is nice and simple…though I AM assuming mana will be nice and ideal.
Demigod of Revenge is the super fun card that I am excited to play. Hes the reason I thought running a couple Forbidden Alchemys would be alright. Its seems like it gets even more mana efficient to cast a Demigod, if you’ve got 1 or 2 calmly waiting in the graveyard to pop out. Similarly I can get some use out of a Sedraxis Specter that I’ve had to pitch for some reason.
Electrolyze is probably the card I’m married too the least. I thought it could work alright with Chandra, its a bit of versatile burn, and it replaces itself…in theory that seems like a good thing #famouslastwords
I’ve got a couple Nihil Spellbombs, Thought Hemorrhages, and Surgical Extractions waiting in the wings for the sideboard. Do I try to jam a couple Zealous Conscripts in somewhere? I think I will run 3-4 Creeping Tar Pits in the land block. Does the deck need a Runechanter’s Pike or something?
You don’t list what format you are trying to play in, so I assume this is a kitchen table based deck designed play 2-play or multiplayer and lay waste to BoB’s blade wielding cows and whatever the brothers Matzen happen to have on hand? Is that right?
Your deck looks a lot like what a WOTC Nichol Bolas Planechase deck might look like: a unifying-ish theme (spells that do two things?), some card advantage and filtering, finishers, but not too much redundancy so that the games play out more differently than most constructed ones do. You have answers to a broad range of potential problems and a few reasonable threats, so this looks like it will probably be fun to play… as long as you aren’t planning on smashing heads at the next modern GP to roll within a 5 hour drive of Lincoln.
A lot could be said about streamlining your strategy etc. but I have two primary points to make that will probably impact your enjoyment of playing this deck (assuming I have guessed its milieu correctly):
1) You only have 6 creatures in this deck, so I’m not sure how “aggro” it is going to be (though demigods certainly end games quickly when they get going). If aggro is really what floats your boat you might want to ditch the blue and look up bloodbraid elf and co. in the Jund book. Rumor has it that she is at least as powerful as Bartel.
2) Currently you only have space for 23 lands, no ramp and only 2 think twice and 2 forbidden alchemy for card drawn/filter. It seems like you primary game plan is to play the 5 drop Demigod early and often and if you want to do that in a timely fashion in a 3 color deck then you need to make sure almost all your land produce either R or B, and you will probably want space for at least 1 maybe 2 more lands… especially if you want to cast the 8 drop planeswalker.
2b) To make room I’d start by axing the grudge (are you even going to have green mana?). Artifact hate is usually for the board (if you have one). If you want a single main deck flexible artifact removal spell then I would think about Pillage instead since it doubles as a way to remove irritating man/utility lands. After that I would drop the electrolyze, between edicts, and terminate, and sweepers electrolyze looks like it is probably the odd man out.
You are pretty right on with your initial thoughts! Its basically something I’d like to be able to take to a FNM or something and be able to run in to some Modern games and not feel completely useless! Well…winning would be probably more fun, but I suppose I could just copy some list online if I wanted to be hardcore. I guess I’d like to squeeze a few good wins out of it in a constructed Modern setting…but baby-steps.
1- Maybe ‘aggro’ is a poor way for me to describe it. I’ve always had a bad habit of building ‘jack of all trades’ type decks that just aren’t great at any one thing (which this probably suffers from). I like the idea of being able to control the board with removal and counters…then build to a quick bludgeoning. I’ve always loved Ball Lightnings and Viashinos…so the Hastey Demigods seem so much fun. Izzet was always my favorite.
2- Could I turn up the ramp with some Pyretic or Dark Rituals (Seething Song)? I have plenty of Ice Age painlands still, so I’m hoping to mix those in with a nice dose of the more recent duals and maybe 1 or 2 basic lands for fetching.
2b- Is Pillage legal in Modern? (Its my fault for not spelling that out earlier) Heh, I know I still have a ton from Alliances! I figured the grudge would be useful enough for getting rid of equipment that getting that second casting probably wasn’t a huge deal, and if nothing else maybe a couple of the lands were shimmering grottos or something.
Pillage isn’t legal in Modern if that is what you are going for. But there are a number of simlar cards that can stand in as a catch all… however if you are really planning to take this to a modern FNM than I’m not sure that is what you are looking for – better to take a look at the current modern metagame (of which I know almost nothing) and focus on sculpting your answers to meet it.
Maybe I should embrace the graveyard more and look at some re-animator archetypes. Like dump a bunch of cards quick with alchemy and plop a couple Demigods to the battlefield? That might just be a take on a ‘Delver’ deck then…?
Seems like in the Modern game, Hawks, Delvers, Geists, then Wolfir are the “IT” creatures to deal with (until titans drop)…I should troll the local game shoppe and do some scouting.
I imagine I’ll want to force them to play around counterspells until I’m able to lead the way for a couple Demigods to run through. LOL I am just terrible at focusing!
I would start with what you have here reather than going down the reanimator path just yet. At least playa game with it
I was just thinking about whether demigod was playable in modern the other day and the concept of a control shell that win with planeswalkers and demigod seem perfectly reasonable. If you are going with that plan though filtering is probably better than pure card draw (alchemy > think twice).
You’ve definitely inspired me to do some tightening up though!
I can’t really afford a set of Dark Confidants and Snapcaster Mages with Swords just yet, but part of me likes the idea of jumping on the Delver bandwagon and seeing if I can’t tweak my above list to be a bit more aggressive.
I totally want to see if I can slip the Demigods back in, but heres another version.
–Spells–
2 Countersquall
1 Earthquake
2 Geth’s Verdict
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Vapor Snag
4 Serum Visions
3 Mana Leak
1 Suffer the Past
2 Terminate
2 Phyrexian Arena
–Creatures–
2 Grim Pyromancer
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Sedraxis Spectre
2 Fulminator Mage
–Other–
1 Runechanter’s Pike (or 2?)
2 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Nicol Bolas, Plainswalker
–Sideboard–
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Thought Hemorrhage
4 Duress
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Smash to Smithereens
2 Curse of Death’s Hold
1 Surgical Extraction
I don’t know a whole lot about modern, but what i do know is that a semi random pile of cards isn’t going to cut it. Given the efficiency and power of its cards, it far more brutal and unforgiving compared to standard. Plus, unless you kept a playset of the good stuff from way back, it’ll be very cost prohibitive. Hopefully they reprint the the shock lands from ravnica. If you can wait till october, you can start playing standard at a convenient time when T2 rotates out older sets.
Is John on Vacation? There hasn’t been a draft posted in 16+ days.
On an unrelated note, my friend gave me his mtgo account to me, and I tried it for the first time. I lost in the first round cause I didn’t understand how the system worked. If I wanted to block with my moonlight geist and use its ability without un-blocking, when am i suppose to do that? Any recommendations on when I should set my stops? WOTC are like drug dealers, ’cause I don’t understand how they get away with charging more for a digital draft than a real one. 14 [ probably 15cdn
] vs 10 cnd.
A few things:
1) I always play with all stops on at all times. I play a variety of formats and some stops matter more frequently in some formats while others matter in others. Some people who record drafts seem to hate this in others, but I play quickly and have rarely ever been in a situation where I might time out. To help mitigate constant clicking I use the F keys a lot, especially on my opponent’s turn (F2, F3, F6 and especially F4 are critical). Detail info here: http://www.mtgotraders.com/articles/mtgotipsandtricks.html
2) The MTGO system works how the game is supposed to work IRL. Declare Blockers is a distinct phase during which nothing else can be done. Next time, declare you blockers and then hit OK (or F2). Then (assuming you have all your combats stops set – which should *all* always be on, but are not defaulted that way) you will be in “post blockers” combat and able to activate your geist’s ability.
3) WotC charges face value for their packs, and requires that you use 3 of them plus (usually) 2 tix to enter a draft. You can often, but not always, buy packs marginally cheaper on the secondary market. MTGO draft cost what drafts are supposed to cost based on MSRP, next time you play a 10cnd draft at your local store remember to thank your dealer. I prefer to think of the MTGO markup as a convenience fee, since try as I might its tough for me to find a physical play group willing to schedule activities around my daughter’s fluctuating nap times.
Yeah, Johns been out of town for a work conference then vacation this last week. Bob was on vacation last week too…I think for his anniversary. I’m fairly sure we’ve got at least 4 DBs ready to go. haha we’ll have to chide them publicly for disappearing!
The online draft prices are ridiculous! A month later AND more expensive?! Lame.
Maybe I’ll just bite the bullet and buy a couple M13 boxes. I was sorting through some of my old Beta/Antiquities cards last night and it occurred to me that upcoming college Freshmen were the same age as the pieces of cardboard I was shuffling through. Then I thought about all my lost decks again and got sad. haha
On the plus side, I started putting together a cube of crazy old stuff for the heck of it. I thought it might be fun to do a RL cube draft with the guys (full of crap we used to play).
stop buying GMO foods from the supermarkets… stop taking vaccines and flu shots…. the American and European Government are SICK EVIL WAR CRIMINALS who inject toxic chemicals and poisons into our food supply