So a lil backstory. Although none of you would recognize me and I have almost never posted in this forum, I have been playing Knights religiously for 7 years now, almost since I was first introduced to Magic by a friend. My original intention is to create a mid-range, strictly Knights tribal deck (I just like knights) that can achieve the following criteria:
- has longevity in a drawn out game
- is versatile enough to have answers to different competitive deck archetypes
- possesses tricks to keep your opponent guessing
- and has multiple win cons
The end result was never a competitive tier 1 Knights deck, but with the right hand, it can SOMETIMES beat a tier 1 deck and often beat a mid-low tier 2 modern deck. I have used it to beat Jund decks slightly more than 50% of the times back in Jund's heydays before the ban of Bloodbraid, but Modern has since changed dramatically over the last few years, and fast pace explosive decks have come to dominate the meta. My beloved Knights deck can no longer compete even in a low Tier 2 or high Tier 3 Modern format today, but nevertheless it remains by far my favorite Modern deck to play because it is unique, I personally brewed it myself and while I have encountered several modern Knights deck, none remotely resembles mine. And most importantly, it is a tribal deck that is SUPER fun and interesting to play.
Alas, enough jabbering. I unveil my proud and treasured Abzan Knights deck:
The essence of this deck is a simple creature heavy 3cmc (Metamorph is strictly a 3cmc creature, but unfortunately CoCo doesn't hit it) Knights tribal deck. Your win cons are either having two Knight Exemplar on the field, a few giant Knight of the Reliquary with a thinned out library, Liliana to lock down your opponent, or Vault of the Archangel.
Vials and CoCo are explicitly self-explanatory in a smoothly curved 1-3 cmc creature heavy deck, and powerfully so. Haakon enables you to interact with the GY to bring back all those knights that previously died to opponent's Bolt, Goyf, Counterspell, Push or Wraths, giving the deck huge longevity. Although Haakon can be a potential dead draw in your hand, it is not likely as 3 Lilys, 4 Vials and 3 CoCos are all capable of getting it out on the field. In some games when my opponent has used up all his Path or other exile removals, Haakon wins games on his own.
I traditionally play Selesnya Charm over Path because most Modern creature bombs several years ago have high power; it can save one of your crucial knights from a Bolt with instant +2/+2; and it also plays as a 2/2 Vigilant Knight on itself, fitting the Knight tribal theme perfectly. But with the explosion of Mantis Rider and other lethal <5 power creatures in Modern, good ol' Path or Push may now be a better removal choice.
Steward of Valeron is objectively the weakest creature in this deck, but I find his Vigilance very useful in protecting Lily while not losing attack tempo, and in a precariously low 20 lands deck his extra mana can be crucial in playing CoCo or Abrupt Decay, still probably the best Swiss knife removal in Modern.
Dauntless Bodyguard is the latest valued addition to the deck, substituting previously 2 Student of Warfare. While Student is a mana-sink beast late game that wins games, it is quite irrelevant early-mid game and serves nothing more than a 1/1 one drop. Dauntless Bodyguard can respectively swing 2 damage by itself, and mid game after the first Knight Exemplar lands on the field, it can be played to protect the lone Knight Exemplar until the second one successfully lands. Setting up win con is the hardest challenge for a mid-range deck, and Dauntless Bodyguard accelerates that set up by ensuring that your lonesome Knight Exemplar doesn't die prematurely.
Obviously I am still constantly looking to improve this deck, so if anyone has any recommendations or advice, fire them away!
This is a casual home-brewed Modern Abzan Knights deck I created almost 4 years ago, I haven't really kept up with MTG for the past 2 years ago and with your expert opinions, can anyone kindly recommend some new, superior cards I obviously am not aware of that I can integrate or replace some of the older cards in the deck?
I've been thinking about using Isochron Scepters with Orim's Chant, Silence, Ghostly Prison, and other enchantments and spells in a Control deck to shut down opponent.
Has a deck like this been made before and will it work?
most of the mtg whales I know use SCG exclusively. We're talking buying playsets of alpha duals, alpha/beta power, etc all in the best condition possible. $200 is nothing. We're talking more like $20k and up. Their grading is impeccable and the best and most reliable in the industry (really important when you're dropping 5k or more on a single card), great service and they negotiate larger purchases. So depends what you're after. Mickey mouse stuff, just go to your local shop if their prices bother you.
People drop $20k on playing pieces of paper........?
I used to buy from Ebay also, you do save a buck here or there if you can find really good deals or snipe for deals, but when you add up all the total shipping costs of each individual orders from different sellers, you really aren't saving much if at all.
I have been playing MTG for almost 2 years now, and when I buy cards online I have always used StarCityGames.
I'm planning to buy a pretty big shipment of cards, about $200 worth, and as everyone knows the average prices of Magic cards have increased significantly in the past year. I'm looking to save a few bucks, so my question is, is StarCityGames actually that good of a site to buy cards online?
Are there other cheaper options that is also reliable?
I really want to make a deck based around Lux Cannons, which are great when combined with Proliferate mechanic to speed up its charging time. Naturally, Planeswalkers also go very well with Proliferate to speed up Loyalty Counters. So this is the deck:
The deck requires a lot of mana to cast Lux Cannons, also to activate Contagion Clasp and Contagion Engine's Proliferate ability, preferably on the same turn, so it needs Urza's lands.
However I still find this deck kinda slow in 1 vs 1, and hope to speed it up a little.
I started playing MTG almost exactly a year ago, and the deck that got me hooked on Magic was a friend's MW soldier weenie deck. I want to go back to my roots and create a more advanced version of the mono-white soldiers tribal deck, played in a casual-tier 2 format and with a very affordable budget.
If you just want to play some magic with your friends, any deck would work.
If you actually want to win games though, you would have to put some money on shocklands, they make ALL the difference. Losing 2 life out of 20 is nothing in the grand scheme of things of having all your spells come out one turn earlier.
But in all honesty if you are making a deck based on monster beatdown you should go back to Gruul. Simic's evolve mechanic is too unreliable to base an entire deck around it.
My first serious deck is an original deck of my own design, a very decent tier 2-3 Junk Knights deck, it's my pride and joy. I am currently working on a WB tokens deck, now I'm looking to make a third deck that's somewhat non-mainstream, fun to play with but still decent enough to compete in local casual tournament. Any advice base on my preferences?
Favorite Playstyle: Aggro, Midrange, some control
For local tournament
Favorite Colors: I love to play any color besides Blue
Budget: Max $300 (Not including lands)
Willing to buy any staples that cost less than ~$30 per card
So a lil backstory. Although none of you would recognize me and I have almost never posted in this forum, I have been playing Knights religiously for 7 years now, almost since I was first introduced to Magic by a friend. My original intention is to create a mid-range, strictly Knights tribal deck (I just like knights) that can achieve the following criteria:
- has longevity in a drawn out game
- is versatile enough to have answers to different competitive deck archetypes
- possesses tricks to keep your opponent guessing
- and has multiple win cons
The end result was never a competitive tier 1 Knights deck, but with the right hand, it can SOMETIMES beat a tier 1 deck and often beat a mid-low tier 2 modern deck. I have used it to beat Jund decks slightly more than 50% of the times back in Jund's heydays before the ban of Bloodbraid, but Modern has since changed dramatically over the last few years, and fast pace explosive decks have come to dominate the meta. My beloved Knights deck can no longer compete even in a low Tier 2 or high Tier 3 Modern format today, but nevertheless it remains by far my favorite Modern deck to play because it is unique, I personally brewed it myself and while I have encountered several modern Knights deck, none remotely resembles mine. And most importantly, it is a tribal deck that is SUPER fun and interesting to play.
Alas, enough jabbering. I unveil my proud and treasured Abzan Knights deck:
2 Dauntless Bodyguard
2 Student of Warfare
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
2 Knight of White Orchid
2 Steward of Valeron
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Knight Exemplar
2 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Selesnya Charm
3 Collected Company
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Temple Garden
1 Sunpetal Grove
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Vault of the Archangel
The essence of this deck is a simple creature heavy 3cmc (Metamorph is strictly a 3cmc creature, but unfortunately CoCo doesn't hit it) Knights tribal deck. Your win cons are either having two Knight Exemplar on the field, a few giant Knight of the Reliquary with a thinned out library, Liliana to lock down your opponent, or Vault of the Archangel.
Vials and CoCo are explicitly self-explanatory in a smoothly curved 1-3 cmc creature heavy deck, and powerfully so. Haakon enables you to interact with the GY to bring back all those knights that previously died to opponent's Bolt, Goyf, Counterspell, Push or Wraths, giving the deck huge longevity. Although Haakon can be a potential dead draw in your hand, it is not likely as 3 Lilys, 4 Vials and 3 CoCos are all capable of getting it out on the field. In some games when my opponent has used up all his Path or other exile removals, Haakon wins games on his own.
I traditionally play Selesnya Charm over Path because most Modern creature bombs several years ago have high power; it can save one of your crucial knights from a Bolt with instant +2/+2; and it also plays as a 2/2 Vigilant Knight on itself, fitting the Knight tribal theme perfectly. But with the explosion of Mantis Rider and other lethal <5 power creatures in Modern, good ol' Path or Push may now be a better removal choice.
Steward of Valeron is objectively the weakest creature in this deck, but I find his Vigilance very useful in protecting Lily while not losing attack tempo, and in a precariously low 20 lands deck his extra mana can be crucial in playing CoCo or Abrupt Decay, still probably the best Swiss knife removal in Modern.
Dauntless Bodyguard is the latest valued addition to the deck, substituting previously 2 Student of Warfare. While Student is a mana-sink beast late game that wins games, it is quite irrelevant early-mid game and serves nothing more than a 1/1 one drop. Dauntless Bodyguard can respectively swing 2 damage by itself, and mid game after the first Knight Exemplar lands on the field, it can be played to protect the lone Knight Exemplar until the second one successfully lands. Setting up win con is the hardest challenge for a mid-range deck, and Dauntless Bodyguard accelerates that set up by ensuring that your lonesome Knight Exemplar doesn't die prematurely.
Obviously I am still constantly looking to improve this deck, so if anyone has any recommendations or advice, fire them away!
Happy Knighting!
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Steward of Valeron
4 Student of Warfare
3 Abzan Charm
2 Collected Company
3 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Swamp
3 Temple Garden
1 Vault of the Archangel
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Aether Vial
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments
Has a deck like this been made before and will it work?
People drop $20k on playing pieces of paper........?
I'm planning to buy a pretty big shipment of cards, about $200 worth, and as everyone knows the average prices of Magic cards have increased significantly in the past year. I'm looking to save a few bucks, so my question is, is StarCityGames actually that good of a site to buy cards online?
Are there other cheaper options that is also reliable?
4 Contagion Clasp
1 Contagion Engine
1 Everflowing Chalice
4 Expedition Map
4 Lux Cannon
Instants:
3 Cryptic Command
3 Rune Snag
2 Mana Leak
4 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
3 Urza's Mine
3 Urza's Power Plant
3 Urza's Tower
2 Jace Beleren
2 Jace, Mind Sculptor (not Modern Legal, but my friends don't mind in casual modern format, also can't find a good alternative planeswalker that would fit the mana curve and colors)
1 Karn Liberated
3 Ral Zarek
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
Boardwipes:
3 Slagstorm
The deck requires a lot of mana to cast Lux Cannons, also to activate Contagion Clasp and Contagion Engine's Proliferate ability, preferably on the same turn, so it needs Urza's lands.
However I still find this deck kinda slow in 1 vs 1, and hope to speed it up a little.
Please critique and suggest away.
1 Contagion Engine
1 Everflowing Chalice
4 Expedition Map
4 Lux Cannon
3 Cryptic Command
3 Rune Snag
2 Mana Leak
4 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
3 Urza's Mine
3 Urza's Power Plant
3 Urza's Tower
2 Jace Beleren
2 Jace, Mind Sculptor
1 Karn Liberated
3 Ral Zarek
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
3 Slagstorm
Thanks!
This is what I come up with:
4 Dryad Militant
4 Field Marshal
4 Icatian Javelineers
2 Odric, Master Tactician
3 Mentor of the Meek
3 Preeminent Captain
1 Ranger of Eos
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Brave the Elements
16 Plains
2 Eiganjo Castle
1 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Tectonic Edge
Deck is pretty simple and straight-forward. Cost of the deck is around $100-150, so it's very affordable.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
If you actually want to win games though, you would have to put some money on shocklands, they make ALL the difference. Losing 2 life out of 20 is nothing in the grand scheme of things of having all your spells come out one turn earlier.
But in all honesty if you are making a deck based on monster beatdown you should go back to Gruul. Simic's evolve mechanic is too unreliable to base an entire deck around it.
But how exactly does it work? How do you have it in your graveyard?
Favorite Playstyle: Aggro, Midrange, some control
For local tournament
Favorite Colors: I love to play any color besides Blue
Budget: Max $300 (Not including lands)
Willing to buy any staples that cost less than ~$30 per card
Thanks everyone!!