Magic the Gathering Libraries(decks) discussion

[TotalEcplise]

Im in a really weird place in my casual multiplayer scene. A few people dont like the things in my deck, but I only field them because of the eldrazi player at the table

I'm taking zombie apocalypse out for Liliana Vess, Liliana does 3 things I want for one card. I'm also really thinking about putting Geth in over Mikaeus...Geth is just so brutal especially when I have cabal coffers out, plus he synergizes with liliana and the grimoire.

Zombies Multiplayer Deck

Lands x24

Cabal Coffers x4

Leechridden Swap x4

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth x3

Swamp x13

Sorceries, instants, and enchantments x21

Zombie Apocalypse x2

Grimoire of the Dead x2

Endless Ranks of the Dead x4

Call to the Grave x3

Army of the Damned x2

Mutilate x4

Tragic Slip x2

Black Sun's Zenith x2

Creatures x17

Massacre Wurm x1

Cemetery Reaper x4

Mikaeus, the unhallowed x1

Gravecrawler x4

Sheoldred, Whispering One x2

Death Baron x4

Grave Titan x1

Here are some things that I had in the deck, but took out after playing them.

Undead Warchief – (I usually have a lot of mana)

Demonlord of Ashmouth -(I actually put him in sometimes for the flying)

Lifes Finale – (They made me take it out)

Killing Wave – (Made me take it out)

Ghoulcallers Chant – (I rarely need this card.)

Sign in Blood – (sweet draw power, but Im usually fine with top decking with zombie decks.)

Geth, Lord of the vault – (He switches in and out with Mikaeus, that ability…just so good with the grimoire and Sheoldred, I was told to remove him, but sometimes they let me run him.)

Still wish I had exsanguinate though.

[weesh]

Im in a really weird place in my casual multiplayer scene.

I can sympathize with "weird place".

There is almost always someone who has a combo deck with no defense, and they spend most of the game just sitting there until they go off and kill everyone. Annoyingly, if you attack them before it is too late, then it is seen as puppy kicking. "Why are you attacking him? All he has is land!"

Also, there is downright scorn for infinite combos, even though many of the people use them, and even if it doesn't auto-win you the game. For instance, I have two decks that can make an infinitely large non-trampling creature, as a byproduct of their other synergies, but people complain bitterly about it. Another deck makes infinite colorless mana, again as a byproduct of strong cards that work together, and no way to leverage it, and it still annoys them. Why do you get to make infinite creatures with intruder alarm, but I can't make lots of mana that I can't use? Also, if a combo allows you hundreds of mana and drawing your entire deck by turn 4 or 5, that is on par with "infinite".

There are also those that are really annoyed when you disrupt their combos. Are we playing magic or solitaire?

[TotalEcplise]

I can sympathize with "weird place".

There is almost always someone who has a combo deck with no defense, and they spend most of the game just sitting there until they go off and kill everyone. Annoyingly, if you attack them before it is too late, then it is seen as puppy kicking. "Why are you attacking him? All he has is land!"

Also, there is downright scorn for infinite combos, even though many of the people use them, and even if it doesn't auto-win you the game. For instance, I have two decks that can make an infinitely large non-trampling creature, as a byproduct of their other synergies, but people complain bitterly about it. Another deck makes infinite colorless mana, again as a byproduct of strong cards that work together, and no way to leverage it, and it still annoys them. Why do you get to make infinite creatures with intruder alarm, but I can't make lots of mana that I can't use? Also, if a combo allows you hundreds of mana and drawing your entire deck by turn 4 or 5, that is on par with "infinite".

There are also those that are really annoyed when you disrupt their combos. Are we playing magic or solitaire?

God I know, what you mean.

I have to wipe the board so that the Eldrazi dont have like 10 mana on turn 4. Apparently its ok to drop Emrakel, but I can't have Massacre Wurm or Sheoldred; Cabal Coffers is OP and my deck does too much for casual. I had to tell them about themselves.

Im like: yo, your deck has vengevine, Vorapede, bloodghast, inquisition of kozilek, and fauna shaman you don't have the right to say anything.

They didnt have to say anything about urborg though...I knew what I was doing.

[weesh]

I've got a friend who has a lifegain deck that explodes by making his creatures immune to damage, and then doubling them while soul wardens are out. Wrath of God is the obvious counter, and you would think an actual genocide had occurred every time it hits the table.

Or there is the guy who has a deck that wins by being able to counter everything and then eventually getting to 12+ land so that he can capsize with buyback twice in a turn, putting more of your lands back into your hand than you can play each turn and eventually winning with a small creature. Sometimes you can tell what deck it is as early as the second turn, when he is still in shield's down mode. Often the table will turn against him, and he is shocked! Or he will cast douse (combos with painter's servant) and be enraged when the green player naturalizes it. Stop raging. We know that douse is one of your routes to a 3-hour-later victory. We are sure as hellfire going to kill it when you don't have mana to counter the kill spell.

But my favorites is this:

In each game, my deck is faster than anyone else's. In each game, I attack someone, and then the following turn, I attack someone else, slowly winnowing down each player's life total together. Why do I play so inefficiently? Because I know it annoys people to be knocked out before they have a chance to get going, and we are here for fun. Inevitably, we get to a situation where the life totals are something like: 20, 15, 15, 14. I might not have equal sized creatures though, So I sent the big one at one of the guys with 15, and the others elsewhere, doing the best possible job at evening the playing field. You might think that the guy who got attacked with the big one would think: "ouch, well at least it isn't going my way next turn". But no, he will complain bitterly about the injustice of it all. After all, there was another guy who was at his same life total!

So why do I play with these guys?

Mostly because they don't disrupt my own battle plans much, which I find fun, even if I lose. They are good guys, even if they complain too much during gaming.

[TotalEcplise]

I've got a friend who has a lifegain deck that explodes by making his creatures immune to damage, and then doubling them while soul wardens are out. Wrath of God is the obvious counter, and you would think an actual genocide had occurred every time it hits the table.

Or there is the guy who has a deck that wins by being able to counter everything and then eventually getting to 12+ land so that he can capsize with buyback twice in a turn, putting more of your lands back into your hand than you can play each turn and eventually winning with a small creature. Sometimes you can tell what deck it is as early as the second turn, when he is still in shield's down mode. Often the table will turn against him, and he is shocked! Or he will cast douse (combos with painter's servant) and be enraged when the green player naturalizes it. Stop raging. We know that douse is one of your routes to a 3-hour-later victory. We are sure as hellfire going to kill it when you don't have mana to counter the kill spell.

But my favorites is this:

In each game, my deck is faster than anyone else's. In each game, I attack someone, and then the following turn, I attack someone else, slowly winnowing down each player's life total together. Why do I play so inefficiently? Because I know it annoys people to be knocked out before they have a chance to get going, and we are here for fun. Inevitably, we get to a situation where the life totals are something like: 20, 15, 15, 14. I might not have equal sized creatures though, So I sent the big one at one of the guys with 15, and the others elsewhere, doing the best possible job at evening the playing field. You might think that the guy who got attacked with the big one would think: "ouch, well at least it isn't going my way next turn". But no, he will complain bitterly about the injustice of it all. After all, there was another guy who was at his same life total!

So why do I play with these guys?

Mostly because they don't disrupt my own battle plans much, which I find fun, even if I lose. They are good guys, even if they complain too much during gaming.

*looks at painter's servant and douse* Now see stuff like that has to go I actually consider that not fun, killing everything is irritating but not being able to do anything is just frustrating.

At least you have to do something, they start frowning when i tap mana. Most anger ive gotten was when I had Mikeaus and sheoldred out and like 20 zombie tokens and guy made like a 20 4/4 beast tokens so i dropped Massacre Wurm killed everyones weenies (but the 4/4's). My next turn comes are around and I sac the Wurm because of call to the grave, then bring it back with sheoldred, then killed it with a morbid tragic slip then brought it back with Mikeaus...the anger was doubled that day.

[weesh]

*looks at painter's servant and douse* Now see stuff like that has to go I actually consider that not fun, killing everything is irritating but not being able to do anything is just frustrating.

Now, the deck isn't over powered. It can be an interesting game if everyone at the table knows what it is, because we all want him dead, but we don't want to leave ourselves open after he is gone. He sometimes still wins just because politics are such a huge deal in the meta game. The problem is not the deck, but the whining associated with playing against it in an intelligent manner.

[Armony]

Just built this awesome (probably not) Golgari deck, looking for some opinions.

Colors: GB

Format: RTR Constructed

Creatures: (33)

Deathrite Shaman x2

Slitherhead x4

Drudge Beetle x4

Lotleth Troll x4

Dreg Mangler x4

Deadbridge Goliath x4

Desecration Demon x2

Corpsejack Menace x4

Sluiceway Scorpion x4

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord x1

Spells: (3)

Abrupt Decay x2

Vraska the Unseen x1

Land: (24)

Golgari Guildgate x4

Rogue's Passage x2

Forest x9

Swamp x9

[weesh]

Just built this awesome (probably not) Golgari deck, looking for some opinions.

It looks fun, but you probably want more first turn play.

Unfortunately, there isn't much good to add. Maybe Rakdos Cackler? It fits the +1/+1 counter theme, so it will be good on the first turn, or the 5th if you have a pair of menaces out.

Also, block constructed is kinda silly when there is only one set of the block out. Did I say silly? I meant awesome.

[Armony]

I forgot to mention in my decklist, the Deathrite Shamans only exist at the moment because I don't own 4 Abrupt Decay yet, and couldn't think of a better placeholder.

It looks fun, but you probably want more first turn play.

Unfortunately, there isn't much good to add. Maybe Rakdos Cackler? It fits the +1/+1 counter theme, so it will be good on the first turn, or the 5th if you have a pair of menaces out.

Not only did this make me realize that I have fifteen 4-drops, but I don't even own a playset of Rakdos Cacklers... yet. Do you think it would be best to replace the Sluiceway Scorpions with those, or something else?

Also, block constructed is kinda silly when there is only one set of the block out. Did I say silly? I meant awesome.

It may be silly, but it's the only practical way I'm going to be able to enter FNM at my local card shop. They only do standard, and I just got back into playing with the pre-release of RTR. I would also like to point out that block constructed with only one set released for Ravnica is far less silly than for any other block. Oh wait, you meant awesome? Yeah, Ravnica is awesome.

[weesh]

Not only did this make me realize that I have fifteen 4-drops, but I don't even own a playset of Rakdos Cacklers... yet. Do you think it would be best to replace the Sluiceway Scorpions with those, or something else?

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the scorpions, that is a good choice.

It may be silly, but it's the only practical way I'm going to be able to enter FNM at my local card shop. They only do standard, and I just got back into playing with the pre-release of RTR. I would also like to point out that block constructed with only one set released for Ravnica is far less silly than for any other block. Oh wait, you meant awesome? Yeah, Ravnica is awesome.

Oh wait is this a standard deck? I thought you were restricting it to block. I notice there are no Innistrad cards, but are you open to including them and M13?

[Armony]

I'm open to including them, but I don't own any, which makes including them sort of difficult.

[UnitP0N13]

So I got the Avy Deck (Green Blue) that I needed, but now my blue/green too fat. D: And I got some really good artifacts and spells, but I'm afraid I won't be able to use them. ;~; Should I just let go of the extra spells and artifacts? I also threw in my prized Ghoultree and Blightsteel Colussus (I think that's what it's called). Too many good cards~

[UnitP0N13]

Oh dear god it's gotten worse, especially with my white deck. I just bought my second batch of promo cards and got Ajani and Serra Avatar, wherein I already got Sorin Markov on my first deck box, which was Innistrad. T^T

[weesh]

Red/Green Multicolor Theme:

(1) 4xUtopia Sprawl, 4xSlitherhead

(2) 4xHorned Kavu, 4xTrace of Abundance, 2xHull Breach

(3) 4xLobber Crew, 2xBoggart Ram-Gang

(4) 4xBloodbraid Elf, 3xRumbling Slum, 1xUlasht, 1xDecimate

(5+) 4xPyroconvergence, 2xSpitting Image, 1xDeus of Calamity

(Land) 12xForest, 8xMountain

Mana Sources: 28/60

I just brewed this up today, and am looking for suggestions before I go out and buy the pieces that I don't have.

This casual multiplayer deck revolves around Lobber Crew and Pyroconvergence, both of which key off of multicolor cards.

A key synergy includes the Kavu, which can bounce Ulasht, Bloodbraid Elf, or even itself for profit.

Spitting Image allows even my excess land draws to trigger pyroconvergence, and gives me some badly needed flying defense.

Thoughts?

[Ciraxis]

Only a few. I mentioned Sarkhan Vol in this topic before. How about Bliz Hellion? He belongs to the "Ball Lightning" family and is multi colour. Unlike other kamikaze creatures he is big in the back too. I also like to point that with all that hybrid pernaments Bloom Tender could provide powerful mana generator. Fore even more man, Radha, Heir to Keld. Fore EVEN MORE mana (and not only) - Seedborn Muse. For more tricks - Shivan Wurm or Sparkcaster.

For faster burning - Cinder Pyromancer. Deadshot Minotaur is good candidate for sideboard agains flyers - even more sine he is never a dead card thanks to cycling. Eternal Witness is never a bad choice - especially with Horned Kavu. From the newer ones - Huntmaster of the Fells, he meets all the criteria you could wish for. There is also two Myojins - Myojin of Infinite Rage and Myojin of Life's Web but I guess they are two slow. Other interesting creatures include - Verdant Eidolon, Vexing Shusher (for those pesky blue mages like myself), Vithian Renegades (sideboard for artifatcs), Wall of Blossoms, Yeva, Nature's Herald.

The biggest weeknes I see is lack of card draw. Maybe Regal Force or Harmonize?

I know that you try to limit you deck to the multcolored creatures. Unfortunately many of cards above are not and I can't remember more for now. Hope it helps at last slightly.

[weesh]

Opps, missed your reply somehow.

Ah, Sarkan would be nice. I still don't own one but would get a lot of mileage out of him. When is he getting a duel deck?

And Huntmaster would be incredible. He is out of my range as well, but he looks like so much fun.

Pawing through my cards, I found a spark caster, and he is making the cut. I was unaware of Shivan Wurm though. I'm going to get one of those as well.

Lots of food for thought here. I think I will try it out and see how badly I need card draw. The hope is that the bounce-type cards allow me to get a lot of mileage out of my mana without needing to draw lots of cards. But if it turns out to be a problem, something like Harmonize, Regal Force or Soul of the Harvest might fit the bill nicely. If 8 effects are insufficient, I will certainly be adding some Pyromancers, which I had also forgotten about. Good comments.

[Ciraxis]

Was a while since there was a deck in there. So here it is - GW Knights!

Creatures:

Steward of Valeron x4

Knotvine Paladin x2

Knight Exemplar x4

Mirran Crusader x2

Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers x4

Wilt-Leaf Liege x4

Knight of the New Alara x2

Planewalkers:

Garruk Wildspeaker x2

Elspeth, Knight-Errant x1

Elspeth Tirel x1

Enchantments:

Honor of the Pure x3

Concerted Effort x2

Oblivion Ring x4

Land Tax x1

Asceticism x1

Overwhelming Instinct x1

Lands:

Cavern of Souls x2

Diamond Valley x1

Savannah x3

Temple Garden x3

Vesuva x4

Emeria, the Sky Ruin x2

Plains x4

Forest x 3

Sideboard:

Stillmoon Cavalier x3

Whirlwind x3

Sword of Fire and Ice x2

Leyline of Sanctity x2

Sigarda, Host of Herons x1

Triumph of Ferocity x2

Elixir of Immortality x2

As one can guess deck have one Achilles Heel - lack of air defence in the mainboard. As always comments and advice are much appreciated.

[weesh]

I've never seen a green white knight deck taken to this extreme, and it is a fun one to see.

I see one cards that costs 1. And a fair number of expensive cards. Is this for multiplayer? I admit it is hard to think of think of on theme one-drops.

Also, explain the inclusion of Diamond Valley. Why this is a good card in this deck. If you really feel you need life gain, how about a instant speed surprise powerhouse like congregate? Note that I think multiplayer groups should ban that card.

I notice that land tax only has 7 targets, are you cool with that?

It is very sad that Elspeth makes soldiers, considering she is a knight. Oh well, still awesome. Same problem with Knight-Captain of Eos.

How well does concerted effort work? Seems like it could hose green/black decks, but is otherwise underwhelming.

Speaking of concerted effort, some Leonin Skyhunters might be nice.

Oblivion rings are great, but surely you are going to use at least one of those on a creature right? Swords to plowshares is just too strong to ignore.

Also, your 4 knight exemplars are begging you to include a wrath. Elspeth doesn't count.

[Ciraxis]

I see one cards that costs 1. And a fair number of expensive cards. Is this for multiplayer? I admit it is hard to think of think of on theme one-drops.

Indeed it is for multiplayer. I could add a Sol Ring or some other one drop artifacts but...naaah. If there would be one hybrid mana knight I would add him instantly. Although I pondered over Student of Warfare put I decided that it would make deck too white heavy.

Also, explain the inclusion of Diamond Valley. Why this is a good card in this deck. If you really feel you need life gain, how about a instant speed surprise powerhouse like congregate?

I prefer repetitiveness over surprise factor. Diamond Valley don't take spells slot AND with Emeria I can use it over, and over. WIth all the lord each knight can grow to impressive size and that mean a lots of life.

How well does concerted effort work? Seems like it could hose green/black decks, but is otherwise underwhelming.

With Stillmoon and 'Sword of Fire and Ice' it can hose every colour. Also by giving everyone vigilance it gives Knotvine Paladin boots up to eleven when he attacks.

Speaking of concerted effort, some Leonin Skyhunters might be nice.

Completely forgot about that one. In place of what would you put it in?

Oblivion rings are great, but surely you are going to use at least one of those on a creature right? Swords to plowshares is just too strong to ignore.

Also, your 4 knight exemplars are begging you to include a wrath. Elspeth doesn't count.

Not Swords but Path to Exile, I would rather give opponent extra land then extra survivability.

And I guess you right about Wrath effects - but not in the mainboard. I wanted something more original than...this, but I guess Whirlwind have to go then.

[weesh]

I prefer repetitiveness over surprise factor. Diamond Valley don't take spells slot AND with Emeria I can use it over, and over. WIth all the lord each knight can grow to impressive size and that mean a lots of life.

But it takes a land slot WITHOUT adding mana! Isn't that worse than a spell slot? Also, Emeria needs seven plains, but you have a max of 14 potential plains...so you need to draw about half your deck on average before you can use an Emeria. Are your games going that long? I'd be concerned if you said yes because I don't see many finishers in the deck.

With Stillmoon and 'Sword of Fire and Ice' it can hose every colour. Also by giving everyone vigilance it gives Knotvine Paladin boots up to eleven when he attacks.

You have pro white somewhere? I missed that, but either way, it seems more like a sideboard card. As loathe as I am to suggest something that costs two more mana, True Conviction will usually be more valuable in this slot. It also might make you feel better about removing Diamond Valley.

Completely forgot about that one. In place of what would you put it in?

Heh, good question!

[weesh]

Red/Green Multicolour Theme:

(1) 4xUtopia Sprawl, 4xSlitherhead

(2) 4xHorned Kavu, 4xTrace of Abundance, 2xHull Breach

(3) 4xLobber Crew, 2xBoggart Ram-Gang

(4) 4xBloodbraid Elf, 3xRumbling Slum, 1xUlasht, 1xDecimate

(5+) 4xPyroconvergence, 2xSpitting Image, 1xDeus of Calamity

(Land) 12xForest, 8xMountain

Mana Sources: 28/60

I just brewed this up today, and am looking for suggestions before I go out and buy the pieces that I don't have.

This casual multiplayer deck revolves around Lobber Crew and Pyroconvergence, both of which key off of multicolour cards.

A key synergy includes the Kavu, which can bounce Ulasht, Bloodbraid Elf, or even itself for profit.

Spitting Image allows even my excess land draws to trigger pyroconvergence, and gives me some badly needed flying defense.

Alright guys, the primary problem with this deck is defense. The moment it STARTS to roll, the entire board is my enemy. I can play efficient defenders like rumbling slum, but people will attack their own 5/5's into it, and then the following players will hit me while I am relatively defenseless.

I understand that asking for gruul coloured defensive cards is a tall order. Huntmaster would be perfect...if he was 1/20 of his actual cost to buy.

[IceStorm]

Wow, I haven't been in this thread for a while, Anyway, have two decks that I can post up that are fairly competitive.

Deck 1: Legacy PB

Deck Size, 62

Creatures

|4x| Blood Seeker

|4x| Blood Aritist

|2x| Vampire Nighthawk

|2x| Anowon, The Ruinsage

|2x| Dark Imposter

Instant/Sorceries

|4x| Doom Blade

|4x| Murder

|4x| Go for the throat

|4x| Dark Ritual

|4x| Diabolic Tutor

Planeswalkers:

|2x| Soarin Markov

|2x| Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts:

|1x| Elixir of Immortality

|1x| Akroma's memorial

Land:

|20x| Swamp

__________________________

Deck 2: Standard; B/U

Creatures:

|4x| Deathcult Rogue

|4x| Invisible Stalker

|4x| Shadow Alley Denizen

|4x| Vampire Nighthawk

|4x| Nightveil Specter

|4x| Slate Street Ruffian

Sorceries

|4x| Hands of binding

Enchantments:

|4x| Predator's Gambit

|4x| Death's Approach

|2x| Ghostly Touch

Equipment:

|2x| Skyblinder's Staff

Planeswalkers:

|2x| Liliana of the Viel

Land:

|2x| Cavern of Souls

|4x| Drowned Catacombs

|7x| Island

|7x| Swamp

Notes: Deck One: I know everyone is going to question Akroma's memorial, but since that deck doesn't play off of itself at all, it nullifies the two biggest colour threats to it.

Deck 2: not 100% Complete. Still looking for Watery Graves/waiting for them to drop in price. Other than that, everything else is complete.

[weesh]

"Soarin"? Nice : )

Neither deck has enough mana. 40% rather than 33% should be the default.

Focusing on the black deck:

I'd call it "casual" rather than "legacy" since it has fun and expensive cards and couldn't compete in a legacy tournament.

Dark rit doesn't count towards your mana sources unless you are planning to win in the first 2 turns. Dark rit will allow for explosive starts, but opens you to to a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1. Also, 4 total cards with a mana cost of 1 are not enough for any deck. You should probably have at least 4 more. I have no specific beef with the Memorial except that the deck could do with fewer expensive spells.

Four tutors are a lot, especially since expensive ones typically take your entire turn, and I can see you getting swamps with them all the time. Or worse, wishing you would draw a swamp, so that you could tutor for a fifth. Why not demonic tutor? Tons of players mistakenly believe that the Elixir is a good card, but it is not worth the slot. Especially since you have life gain in the nighthawks and blood artists. 20 cards that kill creatures are too many, especially when so many of them are repeatable. Consider removing a bunch, as well as changing some of them to one mana spells like tragic slip.

The focus of this deck is odd. It has stuff 10 cards like Anwon and blood seeker, who want to be in a multiplayer game, and tons of point removal for duels.

Killing wave can be brutal with a blood artist out, but doesn't help you get card advantage with so much point removal.

[IceStorm]

I've tried running the B/U deck with 40% but it never balanced out correctly and I couldn't ever get a proper balance of Mana, I originally had 24 mana in the deck, but took 4 out because of this. The black deck, almost everything, except for Sorin, Sorin's Vengence, Akroma, and Anawon cost 3 or less, and nothing in the B/U costs more than 3, so it balances itself out.

[RegalSteel]

Name: Operation Lab Maniac

colours: Blue/Green (Simic)

Casual deck

Land:

9 Forest

8 Island

2 Simic Growth Chamber

Lowanoar Reborn

Creatures:

Vedalken Anatomist

4 Viridian Joiner

2 Simic Initiate

2 Sporeback Troll

2 Cytoplast Shambler

2 Vigean Hydropon

2 Helium Squirter

2 Aquastrand Spider

2 Cytoplast Root-Kin

2 Labratory Maniac

2 Vorniclex Voice of Hunger

2 Jin-Gitaxias Core Auger

Momir Vig Simic Visionary

2 Core Prowler

Spells:

2 Biomantic Mastery

2 Steady Progress

2 Tezzeret's Gambit

2 Thrive

2 Inexorable Tide

Artifact: Evolution Vat

Planeswalker: Garruk Primal Hunter

Don't have any new simic stuff