After taking some time to look up some cards online, I found what could be an amazing card if used properly. It's called Aetherplasm, and it could be used to get some really good cards out early in the game. I'm looking to build a deck with it, with a budget of about 30$. Any ideas?
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After taking some time to look up some cards online, I found what could be an amazing card if used properly. It's called Aetherplasm, and it could be used to get some really good cards out early in the game. I'm looking to build a deck with it, with a budget of about 30$. Any ideas?
The smoothest use would be to slip it into a big-finisher-control-deck as a discourage to attacking creatures. If your opponent attacks, you plop down your huge finisher. If they don't attack, you have all the time in the world to hardcast the huge finisher.
The smoothest use would be to slip it into a big-finisher-control-deck as a discourage to attacking creatures. If your opponent attacks, you plop down your huge finisher. If they don't attack, you have all the time in the world to hardcast the huge finisher.
I see, that's a good idea, but what type of creatures should I put into a deck with this card? I obviously need some big finishers, but I also need other cards in case I don't get aetherplasm. If all I have in my hand and big finishers, but not aetherplasm and the mana to be able to cast them, I'm toast. What cards could I use to make sure that I get aetherplasm on the field as quickly as possible?
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I see, that's a good idea, but what type of creatures should I put into a deck with this card? I obviously need some big finishers, but I also need other cards in case I don't get aetherplasm. If all I have in my hand and big finishers, but not aetherplasm and the mana to be able to cast them, I'm toast. What cards could I use to make sure that I get aetherplasm on the field as quickly as possible?
You can go UG to accelerate if you like, but I'd reccomend going UW or UB for the control. Artifacts like Azorius Signet, Dimir Signet and Everflowing Chalice work wonders for acceleration. Perhaps using Treasure Mage as an early blocker and to find powerful artifact creatures to bring into play, such as Sundering Titan, [CARD]Myr Battlesphere[/CARD or the Colossi. Of course, any big, fat creature will do.
The two main things youll have to worry about are getting this card into play, and making sure that it doesnt get destroyed once its in play. UB might not be a bad option. You can play tutors like demonic tutor or transmute cards like dimir house guard. Lord of the Unreal could be a good card to protect aetherplasm since its an illusion. Equipment like whispersilk cloak can also give it shroud.
If you run UG you could also use Elvish Piper for a similar strategy.
If you run UR, you could play cards like grand melee that will force your opponent to attack into a blocking aetherplasm.
The creatures you use aetherplasm to put into play could be anything, but you really either want massive creatures like deep sea kraken or cards with powerful enters the battlefield effects like any of the titans.
I like this card as a support for a control type of deck. Even if you dont have anything worth bringing out in your hand, you can still sometimes bluff your opponent into not attacking. The extra time you gain from a situation like that can be a lot more valuable for some decks than the mana saved trading your aetherplasm into a lorthos, the tidemaker
The two main things youll have to worry about are getting this card into play, and making sure that it doesnt get destroyed once its in play. UB might not be a bad option. You can play tutors like demonic tutor or transmute cards like dimir house guard. Lord of the Unreal could be a good card to protect aetherplasm since its an illusion. Equipment like whispersilk cloak can also give it shroud.
If you run UG you could also use Elvish Piper for a similar strategy.
If you run UR, you could play cards like grand melee that will force your opponent to attack into a blocking aetherplasm.
The creatures you use aetherplasm to put into play could be anything, but you really either want massive creatures like deep sea kraken or cards with powerful enters the battlefield effects like any of the titans.
I like this card as a support for a control type of deck. Even if you dont have anything worth bringing out in your hand, you can still sometimes bluff your opponent into not attacking. The extra time you gain from a situation like that can be a lot more valuable for some decks than the mana saved trading your aetherplasm into a lorthos, the tidemaker
The former elements will certainly make Aetherplasm better, but Aetherplasm is just a means to an end - it won't win the game on its own. Aetherplasm will likely work best as being a tool in a larger toolbox, like Elvish Piper is. Making a whole deck around Aetherplasm probably won't yield great results any more than making a whole deck around Bloodbraid Elf did. Bloodbraid Elf was great as the most powerful tool in Jund's arsenal - the rest of the deck wasn't built to protect it or find it.
I think you say it best at the end, offering it as an element in a control deck rather than johnny-tricks to make it scarier (though I do love my johnny side!).
Tutor certainly & Piper maybe are out of the budget.
For redundancy with Plasm you could also try something like Riptide Shapeshifter, what would allow you to do sort of a tool-box approach. Belbe's Portal would force you into staying more tribal; Dragon Arch ito multicoloured critters, what would pro'ly be more expensive; or straight Quicksilver Amulet.
The former elements will certainly make Aetherplasm better, but Aetherplasm is just a means to an end - it won't win the game on its own. Aetherplasm will likely work best as being a tool in a larger toolbox, like Elvish Piper is. Making a whole deck around Aetherplasm probably won't yield great results any more than making a whole deck around Bloodbraid Elf did. Bloodbraid Elf was great as the most powerful tool in Jund's arsenal - the rest of the deck wasn't built to protect it or find it.
I think you say it best at the end, offering it as an element in a control deck rather than johnny-tricks to make it scarier (though I do love my johnny side!).
No I definately agree. I wouldnt want to make a deck based entirely around this card. Even if the deck runs 100% correctly, the best that could happen is that you get a couple big creatures out around turn 5 or so, assuming that youre not running a lot of mana acceleration. The card relies completely on larger creatures to win the game for you, and theres plenty of more efficient cards out there.
@Redmaster: Polymorph and Mass polymorph both kind of achieve the effect you want with aetherplasm. If your whole creature base is massive creatures and token creatures from stuff like rally the townsfolk, youre guaranteed to get something good every time you cast polymorph. I would consider that strategy a little easier to pull off than aetherplasm. Polymorph is a lot more versatile than aetherplasm, because you dont have to trick/force your opponent into attacking, you dont have to have the cards in your hand, and if you really get stuck you can cast it on an opponents creature to hopefully morph it into something much less threatening.
No I definately agree. I wouldnt want to make a deck based entirely around this card. Even if the deck runs 100% correctly, the best that could happen is that you get a couple big creatures out around turn 5 or so, assuming that youre not running a lot of mana acceleration. The card relies completely on larger creatures to win the game for you, and theres plenty of more efficient cards out there.
@Redmaster: Polymorph and Mass polymorph both kind of achieve the effect you want with aetherplasm. If your whole creature base is massive creatures and token creatures from stuff like rally the townsfolk, youre guaranteed to get something good every time you cast polymorph. I would consider that strategy a little easier to pull off than aetherplasm. Polymorph is a lot more versatile than aetherplasm, because you dont have to trick/force your opponent into attacking, you dont have to have the cards in your hand, and if you really get stuck you can cast it on an opponents creature to hopefully morph it into something much less threatening.
That's a really good idea, but I'm still new to magic so could you (or anyone)help me find some really big creatures that would fit the bill that are still within my budget of 30$?
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That's a really good idea, but I'm still new to magic so could you (or anyone)help me find some really big creatures that would fit the bill that are still within my budget of 30$?
A lot of these very high cost creatures can be found for pretty cheap because people dont tend to value them very highly. If youre not running a lot of mana acceleration or tricks like polymorph, theres a very small chance of getting these cards out normally.
A lot of these very high cost creatures can be found for pretty cheap because people dont tend to value them very highly. If youre not running a lot of mana acceleration or tricks like polymorph, theres a very small chance of getting these cards out normally.
I see, thanks. Do you (or anybody else) know of any other cards that would be worth putting into a deck like this? What about instants/enchantments/artifacts that could be used to help? They don't have to be super cheap, since the creatures that you suggested aren't very costly. By the way, is tcgplayers.com a good place to buy cards from? If not, what site do you suggest?
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I wouldn't worry about trying to get your opponent to attack you. If you slip it into a control deck foil, them not attacking you is a very good thing.
I wouldn't worry about trying to get your opponent to attack you. If you slip it into a control deck foil, them not attacking you is a very good thing.
The thing is, I don't have the slightest idea how to build a control deck. I've only played store bought decks and was looking to make my first deck with these cards. I thought about putting in propaganda for some backup, as well as quicksilver amulet, but as for the control aspect, I still don<t know what cards should be used to make this deck really strong.
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The thing is, I don't have the slightest idea how to build a control deck. I've only played store bought decks and was looking to make my first deck with these cards. I thought about putting in propaganda for some backup, as well as quicksilver amulet, but as for the control aspect, I still don<t know what cards should be used to make this deck really strong.
No problem. You can check out some of my articles for this site on deckbuilding in the meanwhile, but nothing is control-focused exactly. I'll write a very quick primer when I get a free minute in this thread. You can also PM me if you want some help.
No problem. You can check out some of my articles for this site on deckbuilding in the meanwhile, but nothing is control-focused exactly. I'll write a very quick primer when I get a free minute in this thread. You can also PM me if you want some help.
Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it. I think I'll do just that. Could you PM me when it's ready?
Also, it might be worth looking at Arcanis the Omnipotent as a creature to cheat into play with Aetherplasm/Quicksilver Amulet - his ability allows you to draw a lot of cards which helps you control the board and find more creatures to cheat into play, and if needed he's big enough to attack and block.
It does help, alot actually. I was already debating as to whether or not I should use arcanis the omnipotent, but now I think I'll put him in the deck for sure. As for the other cards, mana leak seems like a good idea, but counterspell, as good as it is, might be a bit too costly for me, so I think I'll just stick to cancel. preordain and ponder seem like good ideas that don't cost much and control magic is a must, so I think I'll keep those. As for the other creatures, since blightsteel colossus and darksteel colossus are a bit costly, I was thinking one, maybe two of them, but only one of the two. Which do you suggest? As for bringer of the blue dawn, it's an excellant creature, but I looked up the bringers, and would bringer of the red dawn fit in this deck? Silent arbiter could be useful, but I have no way to get rid of it later in the game if ever I want multiple finishers to attck at once. I'll think over your toher creatures that you mentioned and see if they would be good in this deck.
Okay,so after going over the cards that everbody suggested, here's the deck that I came up with. What do you guys think? If at all possible, can you point out the weakness' in my deck, as well as the cards that should be removed.
So, let's review the strategy behind the deck. First, I need to get aetherplasm, polymorph or mass polymorph to cheat out all of my finishers, then, I use those finishers to win the game. However, the odds of that happening the way I want it to are slim to none, so I threw in howling mine and propaganda for some protection and draw, preodrain and ponder for more draw, cancel to stop my opponent's spells, control magic to take control of my opponent's best/really good creature, quicksilver amulet to be able to drop anybody else in my deck for only 4 mana. Then, the bringers help me draw and take control of my opponent's creatures, while arcanis lets me draw. Lord of th unreal provides protection for my aetherplasm so that it doesn't get killed early on. Blightsteel and emperion are used ased finisher. With blightsteel, I can end the game with one direct hit (he has infect and 11 power,which would exceed the limit of 10 poison counters. Emperion ensures that I won't lose health while he's on the field, and since he's got 8 toughness, he's hard to kill. The rest are used to win the game with their abilities.
So basically, a game would go like this: treasure mage to search for blightsteel or Emperion; aetherplasm to switch them out; lord of the unreal to protect aetherplasm; polymorph to search for any card type and put it in play (which is why I only have one blightsteel and emperion, as well as 1 and 2 bringers); quicksilver amulet for drops; riptide shapeshifter for the same effect as polymorph; arcanis, preordain, and ponder for draw; propaganda for protection; cancel and control magic to make this a control type deck; alluring siren to ensure I get attacked when I have aetherplasm; and levitation (as it still let's my other creatures attack with flying) should I get deep-sea kraken and/or stormtide leviathian on the field.
Okay,so after going over the cards that everbody suggested, here's the deck that I came up with. What do you guys think? If at all possible, can you point out the weakness' in my deck, as well as the cards that should be removed.
So, let's review the strategy behind the deck. First, I need to get aetherplasm, polymorph or mass polymorph to cheat out all of my finishers, then, I use those finishers to win the game. However, the odds of that happening the way I want it to are slim to none, so I threw in howling mine and propaganda for some protection and draw, preodrain and ponder for more draw, cancel to stop my opponent's spells, control magic to take control of my opponent's best/really good creature, quicksilver amulet to be able to drop anybody else in my deck for only 4 mana. Then, the bringers help me draw and take control of my opponent's creatures, while arcanis lets me draw. Lord of th unreal provides protection for my aetherplasm so that it doesn't get killed early on. Blightsteel and emperion are used ased finisher. With blightsteel, I can end the game with one direct hit (he has infect and 11 power,which would exceed the limit of 10 poison counters. Emperion ensures that I won't lose health while he's on the field, and since he's got 8 toughness, he's hard to kill. The rest are used to win the game with their abilities.
So basically, a game would go like this: treasure mage to search for blightsteel or Emperion; aetherplasm to switch them out; lord of the unreal to protect aetherplasm; polymorph to search for any card type and put it in play (which is why I only have one blightsteel and emperion, as well as 1 and 2 bringers); quicksilver amulet for drops; riptide shapeshifter for the same effect as polymorph; arcanis, preordain, and ponder for draw; propaganda for protection; cancel and control magic to make this a control type deck; alluring siren to ensure I get attacked when I have aetherplasm; and levitation (as it still let's my other creatures attack with flying) should I get deep-sea kraken and/or stormtide leviathian on the field.
So, what do you think?
It's not bad, but there's definitely a LOT of ways to improve it. I wouldn't buy the cards yet, we can definitely make this significantly more powerful and more consistent.
Also, I'm not sure polymorph/mass polymorph fits in the deck strategy at all. Those decks want no creatures in the deck, just token generation, so you're guaranteed to find something good.
And sure, I'll PM you when it's ready. Just letting you know that I wouldn't recommend spending cash on this yet. We can do some significant overhaul.
It's not bad, but there's definitely a LOT of ways to improve it. I wouldn't buy the cards yet, we can definitely make this significantly more powerful and more consistent.
Also, I'm not sure polymorph/mass polymorph fits in the deck strategy at all. Those decks want no creatures in the deck, just token generation, so you're guaranteed to find something good.
And sure, I'll PM you when it's ready. Just letting you know that I wouldn't recommend spending cash on this yet. We can do some significant overhaul.
If polymorph and mass polymorph don't fit, then what does? Any ideas on how to make the deck better? By the way, since I haven't bought any cards yet, what site do you recommend to buy cards from?
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If polymorph and mass polymorph don't fit, then what does? Any ideas on how to make the deck better? By the way, since I haven't bought any cards yet, what site do you recommend to buy cards from?
Well, it depends what kind of core strategy you're trying to build. There's a lot of things in the deck right now that don't really fit. With all the creatures in, Riptide Shapeshifter and the polymorphs are going to hit a non-big creature a LOT. That's not good. Arcanis is an amazing card, truly amazing, but he doesn't read, "I Win" without a lot of other support. He'll rack up insane card advantage, but won't win you the game on his own. Probably room for him in the deck, but you can't count on him to actually finish the opponent off.
The Bringers you have are pretty weak too. Drawing 2 extra cards for free off a 5/5 trample is nice, but again it won't win you anything on its own and Arcanis' ability draws you more cards (plus he can be hard-casted easily, without needing to cheat him out, giving him more reliability). The bringer doesn't need to tap to use its ability, but it also can't protect itself and a 5/5 trample shouldn't be relied on to win a game. The Red Bringer is nice too, very fun card, but again - you can't trust it to win you things. Dominus of Fealty is simply superior to the red bringer in nearly every way for your deck - it can easily be cast without tricks and it has better evasion than the Red Bringer (flying is better than trample). The only downside is it's a 4/4 but that's well worth it.
Lord of the Unreal might be one of my favorite M12 cards, but he's indulgent here. You don't need to protect your Aetherplasm, it should work just fine on its own - especially if you're focusing on control rather than combo. On that note, Alluring Siren is cute but irrelevant. If you build a control deck, the longer the game goes the more powerful you get. If they aren't attacking, you're probably going to win anyways. You don't need to force them to attack just to trigger Aetherplasm's ability.
Levitation is meaningless too. Your creatures should finish the job on their own, not need flying, and spending a card to give Aetherplasm flying just so it can block extra things really isn't worth it. Cards are precious resources, as are 4 mana spells, and shouldn't be spent on things like that in this kind of deck.
Also, your grand total of actual protection against opposing forces is...
That's 8 cards in the entire deck, and since you'll be tapping out a lot to play things as is, Cancel hardly can be relied on. This is nowhere near enough to keep you alive against concentrated opposition.
For finishers, Deep-Sea Kraken is decent, just a 6/6 unblockable though. Not too inspiring but it can get the job done. Better to run something else though, like with lifelink. But hello nurse, Stormtide Leviathan looks great. I forgot that card existed, but it gives you almost everything you need all in one - a massive finisher with evasion and stops opposing creatures from attacking you. Great guy. Only problem is, he doesn't protect himself from removal. A Doom Blade will ruin his day.
I'd reccomend sticking something like Inkwell Leviathan in there. It's massive, it has evasion and your opponent can't easily kill it. Something epic like Sphinx of the Steel Wind would be great too, but isn't the best for budget.
In short, I'd recommend revamping a lot of the card choices and significantly revisiting the overall strategy. The deck is definitely salvageable though and could be great once finished.
I'll write more about control decks when I have time. In the meanwhile, why don't you take a look at an article about a slightly similar deck I wrote?
After taking some time to look up some cards online, I found what could be an amazing card if used properly. It's called Aetherplasm, and it could be used to get some really good cards out early in the game. I'm looking to build a deck with it, with a budget of about 30$. Any ideas?
@Stairc
The funny thing is, I just looked at that article this morning and got some ideas from it. Actually, I was hoping to make a combo/control deck. There's nothing better than pulling off a good combo while controling everything your opponent does. And as for my "protecion" cards you mention, I noticed that too. There really isn't very much of a chance of me protecting myself, which is why I was hoping to add in some more at the cost of some other cards. As for riptide shapeshifter, I disagree with you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the card says to name a creature type, then search my deck for it and put it on the battlefield. That means that if I only have one card of a specific creature type (i.e your sphinx), then when I call that creature type, I'm guaranteed to get get, and then I shuffle my library, which can be a good thing if things aren't going well.
I agree that lord of the unreal can be taken out now that I'm looking at it, but what about alluring siren? I'm still not sure if I should keep it, or get rid of it all togther. It would be nice to buy some time with aetherplasm on the field, but then again, sometimes I need my opponent to attack me if the only thing I can do is cheat out big cards at that point in time.
Brightsteel and Emperion seem like good cards to me if used with aetherplasm, riptide or quicksilver amulet, which is why I only put one in. It would be nice to get them, but I wouldn't count on them winning the game for me.
As for Bringer of the red dawn, it's not that it's inferior to dominus of fealty, but much more expensive and with trample rather than flying, in exchange for being stronger. I will be getting rid of though, and replace it with dominus since it'll be easier to cast and will still hurt my opponent. I think I'll get rid of blue dawn, since it was there only to give me a card advantage and to give me a better chance of gettting the cards I need faster, but I guess howling mine does that for him, without being as expensive.
@everbody
What cards do you suggest I add to make this deck really good with only a 30$ budget? I'd like for it to be a control/combo deck.
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Actually, I was hoping to make a combo/control deck. There's nothing better than pulling off a good combo while controling everything your opponent does.
In that case, you might just want to use the Polymorph strategy instead.
But, if you want to keep the cool focus on Aetherplasm that could work fine too.
As for riptide shapeshifter, I disagree with you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the card says to name a creature type, then search my deck for it and put it on the battlefield. That means that if I only have one card of a specific creature type (i.e your sphinx), then when I call that creature type, I'm guaranteed to get get, and then I shuffle my library, which can be a good thing if things aren't going well.
You're right about the Shapeshifter, I actually was thinking of a different card altogether when I read the name. The only problem with it is that it costs 5 mana and then even more to activate. Not exactly the most efficient card but for Casual it could well be a great tool in your deck.
I agree that lord of the unreal can be taken out now that I'm looking at it, but what about alluring siren? I'm still not sure if I should keep it, or get rid of it all togther. It would be nice to buy some time with aetherplasm on the field, but then again, sometimes I need my opponent to attack me if the only thing I can do is cheat out big cards at that point in time.
I know why you feel this, but let's look at the situation. Nine times out of ten, things will probably break down like this.
1) Your opponent is attacking you already. This is good for the Plasm.
2) Your opponent isn't attacking you. This gives you extra turns to drop more and more lands. If they keep not attacking you, you can eventually just hard-cast your big bad.
The only reason the Plasm is good is because it lets you cheat out big baddies early. I.E. - Before you're dead. But if you're not in danger of dying, there's no problem. At least, not against most decks.
In both these situations, Alluring Siren is near-blank. I really don't recommend it.
Brightsteel and Emperion seem like good cards to me if used with aetherplasm, riptide or quicksilver amulet, which is why I only put one in. It would be nice to get them, but I wouldn't count on them winning the game for me.
Actually, These are cards you CAN count on winning the game for you. Only Emperion doesn't say, "I Win" in its text box necessarily.
As for Bringer of the red dawn, it's not that it's inferior to dominus of fealty, but much more expensive and with trample rather than flying, in exchange for being stronger. I will be getting rid of though, and replace it with dominus since it'll be easier to cast and will still hurt my opponent. I think I'll get rid of blue dawn, since it was there only to give me a card advantage and to give me a better chance of gettting the cards I need faster, but I guess howling mine does that for him, without being as expensive.
I actually don't even think you need Dominus in the deck, it doesn't exactly help with control or help with the combo. I was just giving it as a point of comparison as to how sub-par the red bringer is. Seriously, if the red bringer only cost 5 mana, I still wouldn't run it in this deck. In an aggressive one sure, but not this deck.
Also, Howling Mine won't help you. The Mine is a casual trap, new players love it but really it hurts you a lot more than it helps. You have to spend a card to give you and your opponent equal numbers of extra cards (and your opponent gets to draw the extra card first). Unless you're running a TurboFog deck or similar, you don't want to run it, and definitely not in a control deck.
Alluring Siren wont be as useful as you think it is. Your main issue will be surviving long enough to get your good cards out, not in finding a way to block your opponent creatures. If you dont have aetherplasm out, this card just becomes a 1/1 vanilla creature.
Are we sure that blightsteel is the better choice here? Depending on how much life your opponent has when you get darksteel or blightsteel into play, darksteel could be the better option. Since blightsteel is the only infect card, it will have to do 10 damage to your opponent by itself if you want to win. If youre opponent has less than ten life when you play darksteel, it only has to do that much damage in trample to win compared to blightsteel.
I guess it depends on how much damage this deck expects to give out before either of these could come out.
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The smoothest use would be to slip it into a big-finisher-control-deck as a discourage to attacking creatures. If your opponent attacks, you plop down your huge finisher. If they don't attack, you have all the time in the world to hardcast the huge finisher.
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I see, that's a good idea, but what type of creatures should I put into a deck with this card? I obviously need some big finishers, but I also need other cards in case I don't get aetherplasm. If all I have in my hand and big finishers, but not aetherplasm and the mana to be able to cast them, I'm toast. What cards could I use to make sure that I get aetherplasm on the field as quickly as possible?
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You can go UG to accelerate if you like, but I'd reccomend going UW or UB for the control. Artifacts like Azorius Signet, Dimir Signet and Everflowing Chalice work wonders for acceleration. Perhaps using Treasure Mage as an early blocker and to find powerful artifact creatures to bring into play, such as Sundering Titan, [CARD]Myr Battlesphere[/CARD or the Colossi. Of course, any big, fat creature will do.
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Lord of the Unreal could be a good card to protect aetherplasm since its an illusion. Equipment like whispersilk cloak can also give it shroud.
If you run UG you could also use Elvish Piper for a similar strategy.
If you run UR, you could play cards like grand melee that will force your opponent to attack into a blocking aetherplasm.
The creatures you use aetherplasm to put into play could be anything, but you really either want massive creatures like deep sea kraken or cards with powerful enters the battlefield effects like any of the titans.
I like this card as a support for a control type of deck. Even if you dont have anything worth bringing out in your hand, you can still sometimes bluff your opponent into not attacking. The extra time you gain from a situation like that can be a lot more valuable for some decks than the mana saved trading your aetherplasm into a lorthos, the tidemaker
The former elements will certainly make Aetherplasm better, but Aetherplasm is just a means to an end - it won't win the game on its own. Aetherplasm will likely work best as being a tool in a larger toolbox, like Elvish Piper is. Making a whole deck around Aetherplasm probably won't yield great results any more than making a whole deck around Bloodbraid Elf did. Bloodbraid Elf was great as the most powerful tool in Jund's arsenal - the rest of the deck wasn't built to protect it or find it.
I think you say it best at the end, offering it as an element in a control deck rather than johnny-tricks to make it scarier (though I do love my johnny side!).
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For redundancy with Plasm you could also try something like Riptide Shapeshifter, what would allow you to do sort of a tool-box approach.
Belbe's Portal would force you into staying more tribal; Dragon Arch ito multicoloured critters, what would pro'ly be more expensive; or straight Quicksilver Amulet.
Cheap yet strong hardcastable targets imo would be: Artisan of Kozilek (tho you don't to reanimate stuff if you don't cast it) Pathrazer of Ulamog & Ulamog's Crusher; or Hoverguard Sweepers & Kederekt Leviathan (bounce is always nice).
To ensure you get attacked there's Alluring Siren, and to ensure you have something to block Plumeveil, Guard Gomazoa, Kraken Hatchling etc. (you get the idea).
Fill up with counters and card draw.
By the lovely AWOL of Damnation Studios.
No I definately agree. I wouldnt want to make a deck based entirely around this card. Even if the deck runs 100% correctly, the best that could happen is that you get a couple big creatures out around turn 5 or so, assuming that youre not running a lot of mana acceleration. The card relies completely on larger creatures to win the game for you, and theres plenty of more efficient cards out there.
@Redmaster:
Polymorph and Mass polymorph both kind of achieve the effect you want with aetherplasm. If your whole creature base is massive creatures and token creatures from stuff like rally the townsfolk, youre guaranteed to get something good every time you cast polymorph. I would consider that strategy a little easier to pull off than aetherplasm. Polymorph is a lot more versatile than aetherplasm, because you dont have to trick/force your opponent into attacking, you dont have to have the cards in your hand, and if you really get stuck you can cast it on an opponents creature to hopefully morph it into something much less threatening.
That's a really good idea, but I'm still new to magic so could you (or anyone)help me find some really big creatures that would fit the bill that are still within my budget of 30$?
I seek both.
benthic behemoth, cognivore, stormtide leviathan, kederekt leviathan, and tidal kraken are all fairly cheap large blue creatures. gatherer.wizards.com is a good place to look for large creatures in other colors if you want them.
A lot of these very high cost creatures can be found for pretty cheap because people dont tend to value them very highly. If youre not running a lot of mana acceleration or tricks like polymorph, theres a very small chance of getting these cards out normally.
I see, thanks. Do you (or anybody else) know of any other cards that would be worth putting into a deck like this? What about instants/enchantments/artifacts that could be used to help? They don't have to be super cheap, since the creatures that you suggested aren't very costly. By the way, is tcgplayers.com a good place to buy cards from? If not, what site do you suggest?
I seek both.
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The thing is, I don't have the slightest idea how to build a control deck. I've only played store bought decks and was looking to make my first deck with these cards. I thought about putting in propaganda for some backup, as well as quicksilver amulet, but as for the control aspect, I still don<t know what cards should be used to make this deck really strong.
I seek both.
No problem. You can check out some of my articles for this site on deckbuilding in the meanwhile, but nothing is control-focused exactly. I'll write a very quick primer when I get a free minute in this thread. You can also PM me if you want some help.
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Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it. I think I'll do just that. Could you PM me when it's ready?
It does help, alot actually. I was already debating as to whether or not I should use arcanis the omnipotent, but now I think I'll put him in the deck for sure. As for the other cards, mana leak seems like a good idea, but counterspell, as good as it is, might be a bit too costly for me, so I think I'll just stick to cancel. preordain and ponder seem like good ideas that don't cost much and control magic is a must, so I think I'll keep those. As for the other creatures, since blightsteel colossus and darksteel colossus are a bit costly, I was thinking one, maybe two of them, but only one of the two. Which do you suggest? As for bringer of the blue dawn, it's an excellant creature, but I looked up the bringers, and would bringer of the red dawn fit in this deck? Silent arbiter could be useful, but I have no way to get rid of it later in the game if ever I want multiple finishers to attck at once. I'll think over your toher creatures that you mentioned and see if they would be good in this deck.
I seek both.
4 Aetherplasm
3 Alluring siren
2 Lord of the Unreal
3 Treasure Mage
2 Deep-Sea Kraken
3 Riptide Shapeshifter
2 Stormtide Leviathan
3 Arcanis the omnipotent
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Platinum emperion
2 Bringer of the blue dawn
1 Bringer of the red dawn
3 Propaganda
3 Quicksilver amulet
3 Cancel
4 Polymorph
2 Mass polymorph
2 Control magic
2 Ponder
2 Preordain
2 levitation
2 howling mine
24 island
So, let's review the strategy behind the deck. First, I need to get aetherplasm, polymorph or mass polymorph to cheat out all of my finishers, then, I use those finishers to win the game. However, the odds of that happening the way I want it to are slim to none, so I threw in howling mine and propaganda for some protection and draw, preodrain and ponder for more draw, cancel to stop my opponent's spells, control magic to take control of my opponent's best/really good creature, quicksilver amulet to be able to drop anybody else in my deck for only 4 mana. Then, the bringers help me draw and take control of my opponent's creatures, while arcanis lets me draw. Lord of th unreal provides protection for my aetherplasm so that it doesn't get killed early on. Blightsteel and emperion are used ased finisher. With blightsteel, I can end the game with one direct hit (he has infect and 11 power,which would exceed the limit of 10 poison counters. Emperion ensures that I won't lose health while he's on the field, and since he's got 8 toughness, he's hard to kill. The rest are used to win the game with their abilities.
So basically, a game would go like this: treasure mage to search for blightsteel or Emperion; aetherplasm to switch them out; lord of the unreal to protect aetherplasm; polymorph to search for any card type and put it in play (which is why I only have one blightsteel and emperion, as well as 1 and 2 bringers); quicksilver amulet for drops; riptide shapeshifter for the same effect as polymorph; arcanis, preordain, and ponder for draw; propaganda for protection; cancel and control magic to make this a control type deck; alluring siren to ensure I get attacked when I have aetherplasm; and levitation (as it still let's my other creatures attack with flying) should I get deep-sea kraken and/or stormtide leviathian on the field.
So, what do you think?
I seek both.
It's not bad, but there's definitely a LOT of ways to improve it. I wouldn't buy the cards yet, we can definitely make this significantly more powerful and more consistent.
Also, I'm not sure polymorph/mass polymorph fits in the deck strategy at all. Those decks want no creatures in the deck, just token generation, so you're guaranteed to find something good.
And sure, I'll PM you when it's ready. Just letting you know that I wouldn't recommend spending cash on this yet. We can do some significant overhaul.
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If polymorph and mass polymorph don't fit, then what does? Any ideas on how to make the deck better? By the way, since I haven't bought any cards yet, what site do you recommend to buy cards from?
I seek both.
Well, it depends what kind of core strategy you're trying to build. There's a lot of things in the deck right now that don't really fit. With all the creatures in, Riptide Shapeshifter and the polymorphs are going to hit a non-big creature a LOT. That's not good. Arcanis is an amazing card, truly amazing, but he doesn't read, "I Win" without a lot of other support. He'll rack up insane card advantage, but won't win you the game on his own. Probably room for him in the deck, but you can't count on him to actually finish the opponent off.
The Bringers you have are pretty weak too. Drawing 2 extra cards for free off a 5/5 trample is nice, but again it won't win you anything on its own and Arcanis' ability draws you more cards (plus he can be hard-casted easily, without needing to cheat him out, giving him more reliability). The bringer doesn't need to tap to use its ability, but it also can't protect itself and a 5/5 trample shouldn't be relied on to win a game. The Red Bringer is nice too, very fun card, but again - you can't trust it to win you things. Dominus of Fealty is simply superior to the red bringer in nearly every way for your deck - it can easily be cast without tricks and it has better evasion than the Red Bringer (flying is better than trample). The only downside is it's a 4/4 but that's well worth it.
Lord of the Unreal might be one of my favorite M12 cards, but he's indulgent here. You don't need to protect your Aetherplasm, it should work just fine on its own - especially if you're focusing on control rather than combo. On that note, Alluring Siren is cute but irrelevant. If you build a control deck, the longer the game goes the more powerful you get. If they aren't attacking, you're probably going to win anyways. You don't need to force them to attack just to trigger Aetherplasm's ability.
Levitation is meaningless too. Your creatures should finish the job on their own, not need flying, and spending a card to give Aetherplasm flying just so it can block extra things really isn't worth it. Cards are precious resources, as are 4 mana spells, and shouldn't be spent on things like that in this kind of deck.
Also, your grand total of actual protection against opposing forces is...
3 Propoganda
2 Control Magic
3 Cancel
That's 8 cards in the entire deck, and since you'll be tapping out a lot to play things as is, Cancel hardly can be relied on. This is nowhere near enough to keep you alive against concentrated opposition.
For finishers, Deep-Sea Kraken is decent, just a 6/6 unblockable though. Not too inspiring but it can get the job done. Better to run something else though, like with lifelink. But hello nurse, Stormtide Leviathan looks great. I forgot that card existed, but it gives you almost everything you need all in one - a massive finisher with evasion and stops opposing creatures from attacking you. Great guy. Only problem is, he doesn't protect himself from removal. A Doom Blade will ruin his day.
I'd reccomend sticking something like Inkwell Leviathan in there. It's massive, it has evasion and your opponent can't easily kill it. Something epic like Sphinx of the Steel Wind would be great too, but isn't the best for budget.
In short, I'd recommend revamping a lot of the card choices and significantly revisiting the overall strategy. The deck is definitely salvageable though and could be great once finished.
I'll write more about control decks when I have time. In the meanwhile, why don't you take a look at an article about a slightly similar deck I wrote?
http://mtgsalvation.com/1316-dans-deckshop-a-new-beginning.html
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If you want to get aetherplasm out and keep in budget try Clutch of the Undercity
The funny thing is, I just looked at that article this morning and got some ideas from it. Actually, I was hoping to make a combo/control deck. There's nothing better than pulling off a good combo while controling everything your opponent does. And as for my "protecion" cards you mention, I noticed that too. There really isn't very much of a chance of me protecting myself, which is why I was hoping to add in some more at the cost of some other cards. As for riptide shapeshifter, I disagree with you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the card says to name a creature type, then search my deck for it and put it on the battlefield. That means that if I only have one card of a specific creature type (i.e your sphinx), then when I call that creature type, I'm guaranteed to get get, and then I shuffle my library, which can be a good thing if things aren't going well.
I agree that lord of the unreal can be taken out now that I'm looking at it, but what about alluring siren? I'm still not sure if I should keep it, or get rid of it all togther. It would be nice to buy some time with aetherplasm on the field, but then again, sometimes I need my opponent to attack me if the only thing I can do is cheat out big cards at that point in time.
Also, I think that if I keep riptide, it might be a good idea to include one sphinx of the steel wind. While I'm at it, inkwell leviathan seems like a good idea.
Brightsteel and Emperion seem like good cards to me if used with aetherplasm, riptide or quicksilver amulet, which is why I only put one in. It would be nice to get them, but I wouldn't count on them winning the game for me.
As for Bringer of the red dawn, it's not that it's inferior to dominus of fealty, but much more expensive and with trample rather than flying, in exchange for being stronger. I will be getting rid of though, and replace it with dominus since it'll be easier to cast and will still hurt my opponent. I think I'll get rid of blue dawn, since it was there only to give me a card advantage and to give me a better chance of gettting the cards I need faster, but I guess howling mine does that for him, without being as expensive.
@everbody
What cards do you suggest I add to make this deck really good with only a 30$ budget? I'd like for it to be a control/combo deck.
I seek both.
Sweet, glad it helped out.
In that case, you might just want to use the Polymorph strategy instead.
But, if you want to keep the cool focus on Aetherplasm that could work fine too.
You're right about the Shapeshifter, I actually was thinking of a different card altogether when I read the name. The only problem with it is that it costs 5 mana and then even more to activate. Not exactly the most efficient card but for Casual it could well be a great tool in your deck.
I know why you feel this, but let's look at the situation. Nine times out of ten, things will probably break down like this.
1) Your opponent is attacking you already. This is good for the Plasm.
2) Your opponent isn't attacking you. This gives you extra turns to drop more and more lands. If they keep not attacking you, you can eventually just hard-cast your big bad.
The only reason the Plasm is good is because it lets you cheat out big baddies early. I.E. - Before you're dead. But if you're not in danger of dying, there's no problem. At least, not against most decks.
In both these situations, Alluring Siren is near-blank. I really don't recommend it.
Actually, These are cards you CAN count on winning the game for you. Only Emperion doesn't say, "I Win" in its text box necessarily.
I actually don't even think you need Dominus in the deck, it doesn't exactly help with control or help with the combo. I was just giving it as a point of comparison as to how sub-par the red bringer is. Seriously, if the red bringer only cost 5 mana, I still wouldn't run it in this deck. In an aggressive one sure, but not this deck.
Also, Howling Mine won't help you. The Mine is a casual trap, new players love it but really it hurts you a lot more than it helps. You have to spend a card to give you and your opponent equal numbers of extra cards (and your opponent gets to draw the extra card first). Unless you're running a TurboFog deck or similar, you don't want to run it, and definitely not in a control deck.
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Are we sure that blightsteel is the better choice here? Depending on how much life your opponent has when you get darksteel or blightsteel into play, darksteel could be the better option. Since blightsteel is the only infect card, it will have to do 10 damage to your opponent by itself if you want to win. If youre opponent has less than ten life when you play darksteel, it only has to do that much damage in trample to win compared to blightsteel.
I guess it depends on how much damage this deck expects to give out before either of these could come out.