Basically just a UW deck with a ton of fliers. Really ended up being a fun deck to play. Nothing extremely powerful in the deck, but the amount of evasion made the deck very very effective.
MVP: Invocation of Saint Traft - I am usually the last person to condone playing auras, especially in limited games. But with the amount of fliers in this deck, there was literally not a single time I wasn't swinging with whatever had Invocation attached. It is an extremely quick clock when you tack 4 flying damage onto a flier already slamming in for at least 1-2 damage. I was very surprised by how effective this card was for me in this deck. Runner-Up:Erdwal Illuminator is a fantastic card. Coupled with Ongoing Investigation it gets absurd.
Record: 3-0. Won a game where my opponent flipped Thing in the Ice and kept two of his creatures around. Cheapish fliers will do that.
I recently decided that I wanted to get more proficient at deckbuilding, especially in Modern. Seeing as how my first real MTG event was the Born of the Gods prerelease, I decided to present myself with a challenge that harkens back to my beginnings in Magic. I want to make a somewhat competitive deck for each of the minor gods in the Theros block. The deck doesn't have to revolve around that god per se, but they should be main deck playable and a part of the deck's strategy. I plan on continuing to post in this thread and will probably try to build a deck per week while getting some playtesting in to tune it.
I'm looking for your help and input. The whole reason I'm posting in here is to get opinions on card choices and to help myself become a better deck builder, so please let me know what you think!
Without further ado, let's get started with the first God I will build a deck around: Ephara, God of the Polis
What is Ephara good at?
Ephara's static ability allows you to gain a huge amount of card advantage over the course of the game. She really likes creatures with flash and token generators.
Some of the strongest creatures that immediately come to mind:
What makes Ephara better than an enchantment that occasionally draws you cards?
The answer to that question is devotion. Turning Ephara into a 6/5 indestructible creature is something that requires a decent setup cost, but can turn the game on its head very quickly.
So, taking all of this into consideration, here is my initial mock-up for a decklist:
My reasoning for including Brimaz, King of Oreskos in the mainboard over Geist of Saint Traft is that Brimaz can block more and attack into more. This makes him a more effective token generator on both offense and defense. You could even chump with Brimaz if you're falling behind to get yourself an extra draw on your turn with Ephara on the board.
I wanted my sideboard to have the capability to go into a more controlling game or a more midrange-y game depending on the situation. Cards like Cryptic Command and Supreme Verdict allow me to go with a more drawn out game, while Geist of Saint Traft can come in and be a beater against control.
Let me know what you think/what I can do to make this deck stronger.
I'm echoing some other posts on this thread, but Sweep Away is an excellent card at common. I got to put one of their 4 drops back on top of their library on turn 5 multiple times and that is a gigantic swing.
I also really liked playing with Dimensional Infiltrator. Flashing that in on your opponents turn 2 end step is a strong move. Using it as an Ambush Viper is a strong move as well. You need colorless mana to make him super effective but a 2/1 flash flyer for 2 will never be bad
I often found myself struggling to brew any deck with blue and/or red because after a while I would just tell myself "I can't beat twin with this... Might as well just add it to the deck". It pigeon holes the two most popular colors in the format into one deck type.
I am all for shaking up the format. I personally love deck building and deck creation and so it's nice to see wizards taking some steps to level out the playing field.
I totally agree with the summer bloom ban. That deck went against a lot of the enjoyment of magic and the modern format in general. It was too non-interactive and could kill you off by turn 3 pretty consistently.
I'm not sure I agree with the twin ban as much. It did dominate the format a little more than it should have. However, I'd like for wizards to try and unban some cards as well. I'd like for the format to be shaken up, but I don't want every good deck to just keep getting the hammer. You saw what happened when they unbanned Bitterblossom. It didn't blow up the format but it added some diversity with some new deck variants and raised the power level of tokens
Just as everyone suspected, black is the all-around strongest color. I would try to play it if at all possible. Almost every creature is strong and there's some excellent removal. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is the epitome of a limited bomb. I had to play against it and got destroyed.
I was pretty successful with a UR devoid-ish deck. My most surprising card was Embodiment of Fury. It was a card I thought was solid going into the prerelease and it ended up being an absolute bomb. In multiple games I dropped it on turn 5 and then Evolving Wilds - sac for a land get two awaken triggers for an absolute board swing. I assume the same can be said about the green embodiment.
I didn't see a ton of card draw spells or abilities being used. There really aren't that many in the set. That makes counter spells and removal that much better because you can run them out of gas early and put them in almost permanent top deck mode
I wonder if someone will be able to get a Retreat to Coralhelm and Cohort synergy online with any consistency. If blue had some cohort cards it could be possible.
I have to disagree with your rating on Endbringer. I think it's closer to an A than a C. This is a card I would happily first pick and grab some colorless mana sources to build around. It's pinging ability is already really nice, but factor in that it can potentially lock down an opponents creature from attacking and/or blocking and that it has the ability to draw a card on each persons turn gives it tremendous power. It's like the pinging for 1 damage is just a (really good) backup plan in case you can't draw a card every turn due to mana restrictions or whatnot.
Unfortunately, my favorite archetype will probably be dissolved in draft I don't think you can reasonably build an ingest/processor deck any more with only one pack of BFZ. Not enough support in OGW.
It seems like this set is going to make for more complicated/busy board states. Cohort and support encourage you to go pretty wide before they become any good.
There's a LOT of support for the UR devoid deck which was the best archetype in triple BFZ. At least black got a good bump
The cards with C in their casting cost mostly seem strong in a limited environment. The real question is how much will we be able to reliably cast/use those cards/abilities without over-devoting draft picks? There are enough mana dorks and common lands that I think it's plausible, but will still be a toss up.
I think any of the wastes-matters cards are gonna end up being pretty mediocre in limited. If Walker of the Wastes ever becomes more than a 5/5 trample, you probably have too many wastes in your deck.
White feels really weak to me unless you can consistently go wide... really wide. Some of the commons have potential, but most are pretty bad. Wall of Resurgence is one of my favorite uncommons in the set, though.
Like others said, blue seems lower in power level. There's a good variety of flyers in blue. There's also some solid counters. Cyclone Sire is absurd. I can't decide if Unity of Purpose is really good or really bad or somewhere in between. Definitely a cool combat trick, but how often will it pay off?
Black is pretty good - Quite possibly the best color. Oblivion Strike will be one of the first pick commons. Remorseless Punishment will be one of my favorite cards to draft and a blowout if you get it off. Grasp of Darkness is also really strong but the BB cost isn't the most inviting turn 2.
I think cohort is a little underrated. Cards like Zulaport Chainmage and Malakir Soothsayer are really strong. I think black definitely has the best cohort cards by a long shot though. Zada's Commando is really cool.
Red is decent. Probably a downgrade from BFZ. Nothing in it really pulls me into playing it though. Most of the red surge cards are SO much better with surge that it's going to be really inefficient to not play a lot of cheap spells if you're using red.
Green is better, which is good for me (BG and UG are probably my two favorite limited color pairs in general). The green scion producers are a little bit better than they were in BFZ. Tajuru Pathwarden will probably be a higher pick common for those in green.
I would honestly say all of the multicolored uncommons are solid. I would take most of them decently high.
I just started building a Puca deck as well. Demonic Pact can be a beast in combo with it. I am also considering splashing red for some potential includes: Aggressive Mining and Pyromancer's Swath are both cards that are excellent to trade.
You could also try and include Immortal Coil and Rest in Peace as an alternate wincon. Coil can be really handy as a draw engine until you trade it over and exile their graveyard.
Last weekend I did a legendary holiday cube draft and I can't help but feel like it went incredibly well. Maybe I'm just inexperienced and don't realize the power of cube drafting but I had to share my decklist:
I just kept getting passed better and better bombs. This was all done on cockatrice by the way. What do you guys think? I only got to play one match unfortunately, but would have loved to play more. I had a blast with the deck.
I feel that symmetric effects are one of the most fun and powerful design spaces to explore when creating a card. What is your favorite symmetric effect card you've ever created?
Here's mine, a WB creature I created a while back.
Corrupt Pontiff1WB
Creature - Human Priest (R)
Lifelink
Spells cost 1 life to cast in addition to their mana cost.
[2/4]
1 Dauntless Cathar
1 Devilthorn Fox
1 Drownyard Explorers
1 Erdwal Illuminator
1 Inspiring Captain
2 Niblis of Dusk
1 Silburlind Snapper
1 Silent Observer
1 Stitched Mangler
1 Thraben Inspector
1 Topplegeist
1 True-Faith Censer
1 Gryff's Boon
1 Invocation of Saint Traft
1 Ongoing Investigation
1 Sleep Paralysis
1 Expose Evil
1 Jace's Scrutiny
1 Survive the Night
1 Descend Upon the Sinful
1 Pore Over the Pages
9 Island
8 Plains
Basically just a UW deck with a ton of fliers. Really ended up being a fun deck to play. Nothing extremely powerful in the deck, but the amount of evasion made the deck very very effective.
Picks: Kessig Forgemaster, Descend Upon the Sinful, Topplegeist
MVP: Invocation of Saint Traft - I am usually the last person to condone playing auras, especially in limited games. But with the amount of fliers in this deck, there was literally not a single time I wasn't swinging with whatever had Invocation attached. It is an extremely quick clock when you tack 4 flying damage onto a flier already slamming in for at least 1-2 damage. I was very surprised by how effective this card was for me in this deck. Runner-Up: Erdwal Illuminator is a fantastic card. Coupled with Ongoing Investigation it gets absurd.
Record: 3-0. Won a game where my opponent flipped Thing in the Ice and kept two of his creatures around. Cheapish fliers will do that.
I also lost a match to a guy playing the Manic Scribe, Fleeting Memories, Startled Awake deck.
Share in my pain. What's the worst ways you've lost in SOI so far?
I'm looking for your help and input. The whole reason I'm posting in here is to get opinions on card choices and to help myself become a better deck builder, so please let me know what you think!
The order that I plan on building is as such:
Ephara, God of the Polis
Phenax, God of Deception
Mogis, God of Slaughter
Xenagos, God of Revels
Karametra, God of Harvests
Athreos, God of Passage
Keranos, God of Storms
Pharika, God of Affliction
Iroas, God of Victory
Kruphix, God of Horizons
Without further ado, let's get started with the first God I will build a deck around:
Ephara, God of the Polis
What is Ephara good at?
Ephara's static ability allows you to gain a huge amount of card advantage over the course of the game. She really likes creatures with flash and token generators.
Some of the strongest creatures that immediately come to mind:
Snapcaster Mage
Vendilion Clique
Restoration Angel
Geist of Saint Traft
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Hushwing Gryff
Aven Mindcensor
What makes Ephara better than an enchantment that occasionally draws you cards?
The answer to that question is devotion. Turning Ephara into a 6/5 indestructible creature is something that requires a decent setup cost, but can turn the game on its head very quickly.
So, taking all of this into consideration, here is my initial mock-up for a decklist:
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Ephara, God of the Polis
3 Restoration Angel
3 Wall of Omens
Spells
4 Path to Exile
3 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
4 Remand
3 Detention Sphere
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
6 Island
5 Plains
2 Spellskite
3 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Cryptic Command
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Stony Silence
4 Leyline of Sanctity
My reasoning for including Brimaz, King of Oreskos in the mainboard over Geist of Saint Traft is that Brimaz can block more and attack into more. This makes him a more effective token generator on both offense and defense. You could even chump with Brimaz if you're falling behind to get yourself an extra draw on your turn with Ephara on the board.
I wanted my sideboard to have the capability to go into a more controlling game or a more midrange-y game depending on the situation. Cards like Cryptic Command and Supreme Verdict allow me to go with a more drawn out game, while Geist of Saint Traft can come in and be a beater against control.
Let me know what you think/what I can do to make this deck stronger.
I also really liked playing with Dimensional Infiltrator. Flashing that in on your opponents turn 2 end step is a strong move. Using it as an Ambush Viper is a strong move as well. You need colorless mana to make him super effective but a 2/1 flash flyer for 2 will never be bad
I totally agree with the summer bloom ban. That deck went against a lot of the enjoyment of magic and the modern format in general. It was too non-interactive and could kill you off by turn 3 pretty consistently.
I'm not sure I agree with the twin ban as much. It did dominate the format a little more than it should have. However, I'd like for wizards to try and unban some cards as well. I'd like for the format to be shaken up, but I don't want every good deck to just keep getting the hammer. You saw what happened when they unbanned Bitterblossom. It didn't blow up the format but it added some diversity with some new deck variants and raised the power level of tokens
I was pretty successful with a UR devoid-ish deck. My most surprising card was Embodiment of Fury. It was a card I thought was solid going into the prerelease and it ended up being an absolute bomb. In multiple games I dropped it on turn 5 and then Evolving Wilds - sac for a land get two awaken triggers for an absolute board swing. I assume the same can be said about the green embodiment.
If you open Goblin Dark-Dwellers, play it. That card is nuts.
I didn't see a ton of card draw spells or abilities being used. There really aren't that many in the set. That makes counter spells and removal that much better because you can run them out of gas early and put them in almost permanent top deck mode
I wonder if someone will be able to get a Retreat to Coralhelm and Cohort synergy online with any consistency. If blue had some cohort cards it could be possible.
It seems like this set is going to make for more complicated/busy board states. Cohort and support encourage you to go pretty wide before they become any good.
There's a LOT of support for the UR devoid deck which was the best archetype in triple BFZ. At least black got a good bump
The cards with C in their casting cost mostly seem strong in a limited environment. The real question is how much will we be able to reliably cast/use those cards/abilities without over-devoting draft picks? There are enough mana dorks and common lands that I think it's plausible, but will still be a toss up.
I think any of the wastes-matters cards are gonna end up being pretty mediocre in limited. If Walker of the Wastes ever becomes more than a 5/5 trample, you probably have too many wastes in your deck.
White feels really weak to me unless you can consistently go wide... really wide. Some of the commons have potential, but most are pretty bad. Wall of Resurgence is one of my favorite uncommons in the set, though.
There's not nearly enough equipment in the set for me to ever draft Stone Haven Outfitter or Stoneforge Acolyte.
Like others said, blue seems lower in power level. There's a good variety of flyers in blue. There's also some solid counters. Cyclone Sire is absurd. I can't decide if Unity of Purpose is really good or really bad or somewhere in between. Definitely a cool combat trick, but how often will it pay off?
Black is pretty good - Quite possibly the best color. Oblivion Strike will be one of the first pick commons. Remorseless Punishment will be one of my favorite cards to draft and a blowout if you get it off. Grasp of Darkness is also really strong but the BB cost isn't the most inviting turn 2.
I think cohort is a little underrated. Cards like Zulaport Chainmage and Malakir Soothsayer are really strong. I think black definitely has the best cohort cards by a long shot though. Zada's Commando is really cool.
Red is decent. Probably a downgrade from BFZ. Nothing in it really pulls me into playing it though. Most of the red surge cards are SO much better with surge that it's going to be really inefficient to not play a lot of cheap spells if you're using red.
Green is better, which is good for me (BG and UG are probably my two favorite limited color pairs in general). The green scion producers are a little bit better than they were in BFZ. Tajuru Pathwarden will probably be a higher pick common for those in green.
I would honestly say all of the multicolored uncommons are solid. I would take most of them decently high.
My picks for best P1P1 bombs are probably Linvala, the Preserver and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet.
I feel very sad for all of the people who will open Hedron Alignment and Call the Gatewatch in their prerelease packs.
You could also try and include Immortal Coil and Rest in Peace as an alternate wincon. Coil can be really handy as a draw engine until you trade it over and exile their graveyard.
1 Marsh Flats
1 Temple Garden
1 Bayou
1 Godless Shrine
1 Savannah
5 Forest
3 Swamp
3 Plains
Creatures
1 Primeval Titan
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Siege Rhino
1 Sin Collector
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Sylvan Caryatid
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Thragtusk
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Voice of Resurgence
Spells
1 Damnation
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Tooth and Nail
1 Reanimate
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
1 Harmonize
1 Day of Judgment
1 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Primal Command
1 Genesis Wave
1 Villainous Wealth
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Wall of Blossoms
1 Wall of Roots
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Oath of Druids
1 Banisher Priest
1 Troll Ascetic
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
I just kept getting passed better and better bombs. This was all done on cockatrice by the way. What do you guys think? I only got to play one match unfortunately, but would have loved to play more. I had a blast with the deck.
Here's mine, a WB creature I created a while back.
Corrupt Pontiff 1WB
Creature - Human Priest (R)
Lifelink
Spells cost 1 life to cast in addition to their mana cost.
[2/4]