MTG Salvation

Lots of good advice, especially on the sideboard; it really needs the ring and the dis there, but I love having instant speed removal for two mana. I'm actually thinking about changing up the Springjack Knight for an Aven Changeling, which would be super hot; I'm not running Crib Swap because I don't want any blockers in my way.

I feel you on the Hideaway lands, but my position was recently changed. Here is my post to a fellow Hobbit-lover running four Windbrisk Heights:

Quote from happybounce

I really, really hate Hideaway Lands. When I see a hideaway land, I read "Comes into play tapped, and makes sure you'll never get to cast the card you picked". There is nothing in this deck that is that expensive, and as a result, I think that the Hideaway land is needless.

To which he replied:

Quote from VerzenChaos

I love them if you know how to manipulate them. I see them as a land that reads, "When "x" comes into play, tap it and put a charge counter on it. W: If you attack with 3 or more creatures and "x" has a charge counter on it, draw a card, then remove the charge counter from "x". "
The green one? I just use the nova express combo.. instant 10 power allows me to possibly play a vigor for free.

And I stopped, and I thought about it, and I realized that he was right. It's basically another four cantrip lands with an ability that's really not that hard to pull off!

Anyways, I appreciate the input. I have yet to test the deck, but when I do I'll try much of what you suggested. I think that in order to be competative, any Kithkin deck is going to have to be tight and smooth as hell.

Personally, I'd run Ajani Goldmane over either Scout's Warning or Marshaling Cry. I mean, he makes all your dudes bigger permanently, and gives 'em vigilance, plus he provides lifegain in a pinch; and while he doesn't generate card advantage in the strictest sense of the word, plainswalkers almost always eat damage spells that would have been going elsewhere and swing the tempo of the game in your favor. The fact that your opponent generally has to devote multiple turns, multiple cards or both to getting rid of a plainswalker means that they are actually really good when it comes to overall card advantage. I don't think it was a mistake that nearly every single successful city champs deck ran at least one of the five.

My buddy is making a mono-black super fast aggro deck, and it turns out there's a decent number of black low casting cost dudes. Oona's Prowler might be the best two drop in Llorwyn, letting you swing for three on turn three, and Sangrophage is hell of beefy. If you want to extend the cc to three mana, then you can get Hidden Horror, who's really good (4/4 for three mana? Yes please!).

Of course, if you go Kithkin, you can (turn one) drop a Goldmeadow Stalwart, (turn two) drop a Wizened Cenn, and swing for three. Brutal!

Quote from Nadroj Sleek

I'm sorry, but could somebody please explain to me the general premise or strategy of this deck? I think I understand, but card choice throws me off. Can I get a synopsis or somethin'?

You know, I'm not a hundred percent sure myself? I've been at the library all day and haven't been able to test it, so I don't even really know how it plays. The plan (I think) is to counter/disrupt/destroy whatever they play early game, then get a dude with evoke out and abuse it's synergy with blink/bounce creatures to draw stuff/kill dudes/make 'em discard a bunch. The Mannequin is a nice way to instant-speed out some nasty surprise, and then you just bonk 'em with the evasion creatures until they go down.

The deck really could use a more stable kill mechanism; I might replace the Horde of Notions with a second Mortivore.

For the most part, I just get really excited when I see unusual decks, and I always want to figure out what I'd do differently with 'em!

Really? Am I the only one that thinks this deck is great, and wishes he'd thought of it himself? Oh well.

Here is what I would run, and in fact probably will run sometime soon (assuming I can get the lands before friday).



The deck's biggest problem, as far as I can see: no real good way of dealing with Tarmagoyf or discard decks. Other than that, I love the hell out of this idea. Thanks, Grinch!

Okay, this is what I'd do differently with the deck.



I think the deck needs to be a little more focused, hence the inclusion of many 4-of's. I also think that it needs at least one more big finisher; Mortivore should do the trick just fine. Anyways, that's what I'd do with the deck; I certainly like the idea of it a lot!

Thanks so much, dude, you're a lifesaver!

I'm dying here, guys; I just never had a very good grip on timing rules, and while I love Momentary Blink some of it's interactions are super confusing for me. It's worse when I'm playing casual multiplayer, because none of us really know how it works, and everyone wants it to work the way it most benefits them at the time (especially me). If anyone could help me out with some rules questions and explain that's why something does or doesn't work, I'd be super appreciative.

Okay, so: if I evoke Shriekmaw and then drop a Momentary Blink on it, what happens? Can I even cast the blink before the evoke ability resolves?

Also: I have a face-up Willbender and a face-down Vesuvan Shapeshifter in play. If someone targets me with a Lightning Bolt (or anything else, for that matter), can I Momentary Blink the Shapeshifter to copy the Willbender's ability and retarget the Bolt?

Here's another one: I have a Bogardan Hellkite and a Vesuvan Shapeshifter in play. If I cast blink on the Shapeshifter and then choose to copy the Hellkite as it comes into play, does the Shapeshifter deal 5 damage?

Yet more: If I cast Body Double and target the Hellkite that's now in my graveyard, does the Body Double deal 5 damage? What about if I Blink the Body Double to re-target the Hellkite?

Last one: I have an Akroma, Angel of Wrath in play, and my buddy casts Damnation. Since Blink resolves immediately, does Akroma live through the Wrath or does she come back in play in time to be a legal target?

Thanks in advance- any help will probably prevent at least one fistfight at the next multiplayer night.

Okay, no fistfights, but there will definitely be less whining.

Man, I seriously loves me some Stormbind. The deck looks pretty good; however, I'd make some changes. For starters, switching out Assault//Battery for Call of the Herd seems pretty good; even if you toss the herd, you can still flash it back for the same price as the Battery, making it far more versatile in this deck. As great as Garruck is, I'd switch one copy of him for an extra Chandra, simply because for five mana you can nail just about anything and with all the card draw you're giving 'em there will be a lot of threats on the board.

The big thing, I think, is that you really want four copies of Rule of Law in the deck. Rites is awesome but with the card draw and the extra land drop for your opponent, you really need a way to lessen the impact. In fact, I wonder if Howling Mine is better here? With all the card draw and mana fixing, it doesn't seem like you need the extra land drop that Rites gives you each turn, and then you'd have the extra cards in your hand when you get the Stormbind out.

Fiery Temper seems like a good trick, but Incinerate is a little more reliable; still, I can't argue that five damage for three mana is great, and it offsets the card disadvantage of Stormbind.

The problem with toolbox cards like Glittering Wish is that players like me (and you, I think) tend to want to use it to it's full advantage, even if doing so isn't in the best interests of the deck. I wouldn't say scrap the whole toolbox sideboard idea altogether, or even to cut out the blue or the black; rather, evaluate what the deck has, what the deck needs, and what the cards you have in the board can offer. I think that while both Doran and Gaddock Teeg are great cards, they don't have a whole lot to offer this deck. I also think that Ancient Grudge is pretty good in this deck (again with the flashback), and I really think you need four Eyes of the Wisent in here. Blue control decks will just punish you if you give them all that extra card draw.

Finally, I'd take out the Shimmering Grottos for Gemstone Mines, because Gemstone Mine is a fantastic card (especially with five colors) and with the card draw you won't need to worry about the fact that it dies quickly.

Anyways, it's a great looking deck, and I love the idea! I think I'm going to work on getting four copies of Glittering Wish and seeing what I can do with it.

Quote from VerzenChaos

I take it you like it eh? What would you rank it as compared to the big archtype tournament decks?

I do like it, but it's hard for me to say- I never really get a good understanding of a deck until I sit down and play it a few times. I think the deck has a tremendous advantage in that it's totally unexpected, and people will have kind of a hard time boarding against it; after all, if they side in graveyard hate, you can always switch out in your board to a different strategy.

I really think that the Mannequin (or however the hell you spell it) is the superior card in this deck, especially since it's instant speed lets you suprise 'em with a lot of the evoke dudes. And I really like Delay as opposed to Rune Snag, but then again I've always hated Rune Snag. Also: Tigris is right, Coalition Relic is really great; it might be a turn slower, but it makes your fourth and fifth turns just incredible.

Also: there's nothing wrong with 3-of's in a deck. My rule of thumb is this: if the deck needs to be versatile, I have a lot of 2 and 3-of's, but if the deck needs to be very focused, I have a lot of 4-of's.

Well, anyone that knows what they're doing won't make that mistake with Kira and Guile on the board more than once, but it provides pretty good protection for your dudes. The only thing is that by the time you get Guile out, you can probably protect him with other counters; then again, if Kira is in play, you don't need to wait until you have counter mana up to safely drop Guile.

Hell, I don't know. If it was me, I'd probably take out a bunch of the regular counterspells for stuff like Willbender, Voidmage Prodigy, Patron Wizard, Daring Apprentice, Riptide Laboratory and the like- but I really like creatures, and I also like making things more complicated than they need to be.

You know, I forgot that Cloudchaser Kestrel existed? Time to go through my Time Spiral stuff, I guess. Anyways, all the more reason to have three or four Shriekmaws in the mainboard!

Holy crap! I hope the deck doesn't catch on, because it looks wicked to play against. Why three copies of Aethersnipe, and only two copies of Shriekmaw? Shriekmaw seems better in just about every way, and most of the serious threats decks like this face are creatures anyways. Personally, I'd run 2 Aethersnipes and 3 Shriekmaws.

What does the sideboard look like?

Cool deck, but why no love for Gemstone Mines?

Why not run a couple copies of Terramorphic Expanse instead of four Wanderwine Hubs? Does the WWW and UUU hurt that much?

If you want to keep the decking sub-theme (or even if you don't) I'd take a look at Jester's Scepter. You have to skip keeping your mana open for a turn (meaning they might get something on the board- every blue player's worst nightmare!), but it's worth it to disrupt their deck.