MTG Salvation

Quote from Badabingbadabum »

Quote from AggroVatedAssault »

What about Zurgo? He is fetchable with ranger and you can keep dashing him to trigger purphoros and tremors.

I like that. I was actually thinking on adding Lightning Berserker at some point but forgot it for some reason

EDIT: Between Berserker and Norin that might actually be enough to throw in the Champion as well. It would probably mean less (or no) burn. What do you think? Something like -2 Lavamancer, -3 Helix for +2 Berserker, +3 Champion

You're right Lightning Berserker is better. You can dash for cheaper and have the firebreathing to pump if needed.

What about Zurgo? He is fetchable with ranger and you can keep dashing him to trigger purphoros and tremors.

Quote from Badabingbadabum »

Hey guys. Am thinking on going back on MODO after selling my collection
and thinking about building this deck as the first thing, since it relatively cheap.

What do you guys think of this take

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Norin the Wary 2 Goblin Bushwhacker 2 Grim Lavamancer 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Impact Tremors 4 Genesis Chamber 4 Spectral Procession 3 Ranger of Eos 2 Purphoros, God of the Forge	4 Lightning Bolt 3 Lightning Helix 24 Lands

It's obviously rough around the edges.

It's a more aggroish approach and less grindy. One thing I've been really impressed with in an old Mardu/Young Pyro build I build is Ranger fetching 2x Bushwhackers. That stuff can be brutal. All by itself it's 11 hasty power and of course on any kind of board its usually game. I haven't played the deck but I've played a lot against it (never lost a game) and it always seemed a bit timid to me. Like it was trying to grind you out but never really succeeded. the only time I got scared was when my opponent resolved a Purphoros because that kinda broke the stale. That's why I've added a bunch of fliers + Impact Tremors.

You have pulled out half of the reason for using Norin and just kind of went with a tokenish strategy. His interaction with Champion of the Parish and Soul Sisters/Pridemate is pretty nuts and very aggro IMO. Also your processions not triggering Genesis Chamber is kinda meh.I might pull Norin and Genesis Chamber and go with Hordling Outburst and one of the red dash creatures like Zurgo (he's fetchable with Ranger)if that is the strategy you want to go for. Also possibly an anthem.

Edit: Also Figure of Destiny as a 1 of as a fetchable Mana sink.

I agree as well, and in my experience, Purphoros is just as important as Ranger. Ive won many grindy games just sitting back and letting Norin and Purphoros ping away.

Quote from FANAttIC »

Droped in Pptq finals this Sunday.
Managed to evade Mardu decks.

I added two Brimaz instead of Pilgrims (hate that card) and they were great. Cast them a lot and never untapped with them, which is all I can ask since that left a heroic creature on the battlefield (the real threat).
I also maindecked 2 Mortal Obstinacy and they were awesome (+2/+2 on a heroic creature plus Erase for W), so many people showed up with Sidisi, Jeskai Tokens and other enchantment decks that having 2 Pilgrims + 2 Obstinacy main was relevant for my wins.

Looking forward to full Reforged spoiler today and hoping for some nice cantrips for the deck (Defiant Strike rules).

What did your deck look look like? Do you have a report of how the rest of your matches went?

Thanks for your reply Nev, I agree Phalanx Leader feels more like he should be in the core of a WW deck. As far as the mana base goes, I will try to get more duals when I can, but I have hit snags where I have a 1cc red play and only plains in my hand. I kinda want to go in more of the prowess direction. When I played before I normally played either a tempo deck or control, and going with a more tempo like deck which the prowess creatures would do just feels more comfortable to me. Phalanx Leaders desire to puke your hand up asap, just makes me uncomfortable. Ive not played the UW version yet and wonder if its something more my style but based on what I've seen so far speed is very relevant. Are there any UW decklists you would recommend to look at?

So I've been seeing a lot of threads with mono white, mono red, UW and so on utilizing the heroic and prowess abilities. I saw a this deck on the thrift shop thread and thought I would give it a try on MTGO.

I haven't played MTG for nearly 2 years and I am just now coming back, so please excuse my lack of knowledge of some of the new mechanics and card names. here is the decklist I've been playing with, it's about 75-80 win% over 2 days on MTGO.



I have deviated some from the original deck found here.

It still feels a bit off, most games I will just blow my opponents away, but sometimes it just stalls out. The mana base has gotten me a few times too. Where I either can't get the 2nd W or I can't find R. I'm sure getting some duals would help , but that's just not in the budget (yet).

Here are my thoughts on some of the cards
Dictate of Heliod-. When I have been able to play it, it just seems underwhelming for a 5cc card. It just feels like more-win and could be replaced by something that flows better with the low cost of the deck.

Dragon Mantle- Sure it hits all the triggers and cantrips, but again feels underwhelming. Rarely do I ever have the Rto spare for the firebreathing.

Chained to the Rocks- only once did I find myself without a mountain when I wanted to play this. It's not often that I need removal as I'm finishing most games by turn 5-6, but when I do need one, this has been great

Launch the Fleet- I was a bit skeptical about this card to begin with, but not anymore. It's an absolute bomb, triggers everything and doubles the size of your army. The only thing I wish it did more was actually crate the tokens instead of giving the ability to creat tokens to your creatures, but then i guess it wouldn't really trigger the heroics if it did that. It's an amazing 2 of.

Phalanx Leader-I'm kind of on the fence about having this as a 4 of. Having WW as my first 2 land drops really slows down the powerful 1cc red drops Monastery Swiftspear and Akroan Crusader. Whne it sticks its crazy powerful and becomes my main target for pumps (as a side note when Phalanx Leader and Akroan Crusader both trigger be sure to place the Leaders ability on the stack first so the Crusaders ability triggers first and the token that he creates gets the counter from Leader. I screwed that up a few times.)

Gods Willing-Moved it from 2 to 4 from the original decklist as I found it to be very powerful and was always wanting one in hand.

Spear of Heliod-Added this as a 1 of and have been pleased with it. Its an anthem that has removal, meh removal ,but removal none the less.

Ride Down- Maybe it's just the way I play aggro but this felt very sluggish and situational, I ended up cutting it altogether.

The other cards I have not mention are just so OP that the deck would be paltry without them. What I'm looking for now is a sideboard and some critique of the deck. So far some of the cards I've been thinking of are

Return to the Ranks-to replace Launch the Fleet vs Control
Oppressive Rays- for Dictate vs Tempo and other aggro
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer- another possible vs aggro or RDW
Ajani's Presenceand Ephemeral Shields- possibles vs deck with sweeper like control
Glare of Heresy- was skeptical of this till I saw how used white was in top tier decks very good removal for planeswalkers and such.
Lightning Strike-removal and can go to the face, seems good, oh how I miss Lightning Bolt
Magma Jet- was so close to putting this mainboard, and i may still, one of my favorite burn spells ever printed
Titan's Strength- another one that may end up MB
Hammerhand- this card wants a home , but I'm just not sure where. I like it, just not sure how much I like it.

That's what I have so far. Please let me know what you think.

I love this deck. I have been testing many different budget versions of b/w decks and love blood artist and cartel aristocrat. Most recently i have been testing a b/w aggro/bleeder deck using cards like rakdos cackler, diregraf ghoul, and thrull parasite and then bringing them back with immortal servitude. The problem I have been having is that I want to bring back blood artist and the aristocrat too. The solution is to exchange all those 1cc beaters for 2cc beaters. Skirsdag high priest, azorius arrester, ravenous rats, pack rats, and vizkopa guildmage come to mind. Any other ideas?

Quote from Monochromatic

I see a lot of people with Vapor Snags... but is there a reason why Pongify or Rapid Hybridization couldn't replace Vapor Snag?

Sure, Vapor Snag can potentially bounce your own merfolk (is that really a big concern? and it would cost you 1 life), but I'm curious as to the utility of bouncing creatures in a deck that has 'evasion' written on almost every card. Are the Vapor Snags used to remove blockers? Or temporarily remove a threat? Or are they used on creatures that can't be destroyed or that you wouldn't want to send to the Graveyard?

Because Vapor Snag only buys you a single turn in most cases before something is recast and because Vapor Snag is terrible idea to use on creatures with an "When x enters the battlefield" cantrip, why not just outright kill it with Pongify/RH and replace it with a vanilla 3/3 that can easily be blocked by any 4/4 or 5/5 merfolk and that can easily be tapped with the Reej or circumvented with Islandwalk?

Sure, Pongify/RH won't do anything against indestructible creatures... the threatening indestructible creatures are Legendary and can be taken care of with a Phantasmal Image.

Am I missing something? Or would a permanent removal be better than a temporary one.

edit: My apologies if this has already been discussed somewhere in this thread.

edit 2: The Primer mentions Dismember as the best blue removal spell. It's good... not sure if it's the best... it does take care of indestructible creatures... but the threatening indestructible creatures are usually bigger than 5... everything else isn't very scary in a deck that can output multiple merfolk that could easily block something with P/T of 5. I'm not so sure I'd want to give up 4 life to kill a Deathrite Shaman, Goyf, or Bob... but I'm pretty sure turning any of them into a 3/3 ape or 3/3 frog lizard is both amusing and won't likely affect my life total.

I can see your point, I have been using Vapor Snag as both a temp removal of my opponents creatures and as a way to save my own from removal. The most notable reason I like vapor snag is wurmcoil engine. I would rather delay it or in an essence time walk my opponent than give them 3 3/3 critters. I only play online and roughly 40% of the online meta is tron and I have yet to see a tron deck that does not use wurmcoil engine. Im sure there are cases where destroying the creature is better than bouncing it, but as I said before vapor snag also has the ability to bounce my own critters to save them. It makes me wonder though, would something like boomerang be better? Being able to hit lands is good as well as annoying things like ensnaring bridge. Pre-SB I have no answer to ensnaring bridge if I don't have spell pierce in hand. Even getting one swing in can mean winning the game or being locked out with no hope. I really would like a way to deal with non critters MD after they have resolved. Running detention sphere/o-ring would work. I play UW and like detention sphere and have a full set in SB as a catch all problem solver. I have also considered ***/Supreme verdict in the SB. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but there have been a few times when I really just wanted to destroy everything.

I have to disagree spreading seas has been able to keep people of the colors they need to give me the opportunity to win. I built merfolk a few days ago and have gotten about 50 matches or so.

Here is what I've been using.


I've won about 80% of games.
I have seen a few games where I wanted more white mana for Sygg who has been a champ. But spreading seas have been great.
There was a previous post that mentioned that if you don't have mutavault you shouldn't use merfolk, I 100% agree. I have won so many games via mutavault post sweep its not even funny. I had one game that my opponent used supreme verdict and I vialed in a lord at EOT, untapped and activated 3 vaults. Vialed in another lord and swung for 15(leathal). They were all unblockable too due to spreading seas.

Quote from drmarkb

Running any search effects on lands like flagstones won't play well with arbiter. There are some people who say its fine because they have learnt to play it in a certain way. It does not make much difference early on, but later game there will always be a time when you end up paying two to search and and up without the mana you want to do something else.

I don't really get blind obedience- it doesn't stop twin- it doesn't hose any particular deck- it feels like a win more card and is probably too slow vs aggro decks.
I have said many times that suppression field doesn't work in d and t due to land activations and vial although I would love it to work.
If you are to play blue it may be worth using mangara and minamo- that seems the way to go with the U splash.
Detention sphere is excellent vs a few decks in the format.
I am not sure thalia plays well with any more than 4 path/4 vial. After you hit ten spells in the list it starts to hurt you a lot. I am am very conservative with d and t, but generally the deck needs to keep any tensions to an absolute minimum to have a chance.

actually blind obedience does stop twin. Think about it. Sure they can make a infinite amount of pestermite or exarch's but what are they going to do with them? Nothing, cause they are all tapped.

Quote from Black19

Oring is mediocre. Austere command is horrible. Wall of omens I guess could work with this deck. Disenchant is mediocre. Rest in peace would def. be in the SB. Stony silence may or may not be used depending on your own MB.

I personally always thought green aided black more in decks like this one.

o ring serves its purpose, but austere command horrible? Have you ever played it? I have never been upset drawing it. I run it as a 2 of in my UW control deck and it works as both a wrath and enchantment/ artifact removal all in one. I have won many games on that card alone. And as I said Disenchant and Rest in Peace are SB cards. Sure splashing green adds some good cards like pulse, but adding any color is going to give you something. Personally I prefer using W. Its what I have always used, its what I know best, its what I know how to play the best. You dont have to like it. You can like G, which I personally dont care for. I really dont even B that often I was just trying something different from my usual UW control.

Okay well I tried a martyr proc version of this deck and it didn't do so well. I do think black white is the way to go though. The versatility of o-ring is hard to ignore, as well as very cards like austere command, wall of omens, and more specific sb cards like disenchant, and rest in peace.

I play played a RW version of martyr proc when it was in extended. ( I also ran it with a no stick (silence/isochron scepter). The problem I always ran into was faries and counter heave decks. Thankfully 16 counter decks have lost popularity. When gatecrash came out and orzhov charm was spoiled, I know it belonged in a martyr proc deck. It's perfect. A 2cmc instant speed way to bring back martyr or Serra ascendant, and removal.

I was one of the billions who played caw-blade in standard and was was pretty successful with it. And seeing as most martyr decks play squad hawks anyway I figured I would give a WB version of martyr proc blade a chance. It only adds 2 non white cards (2 swords) and steelshapers gift which works with martyr and opens the possibility for a tool box.


Before anyone notices yes there are 61 cards. I have always built 61 card decks, it's just what I do.

I'm considering pullin 1 or 2 of something in favor of sorin, lord of innistrad

just thought of something interesting for the BW build im working on. Judge's familiar. A white recurrable counterspell? Think of this; opponent tapps out to play a planeswalker, teachings, scapeshift, splinter twin or birthing pod, and your poor little judge's familiar is sitting in the GY. "Oh look, I have Orzhov charm in my hand." Looks like you wont be playing Karn after all.