Quote from The Witch King of AngmarHas anyone thought of playing a W/R knight list with silverblade paladin and hero of oxide ridge? The 2 knights curve out at 3 CMC & 4 CMC respectively and a double striking haste Hero is insane.
I have a hard time running 4-drop creatures in Legacy Knights (Phyrexian Metamorph seems to be the best option), as we do depend a lot on Aether Vial to get our guys to stick and want to apply pressure earlier than that. I don't think that red really gives us as much as a green or black splash would, but if you could benefit from added burn or Blood Knight/Hero of Oxid Ridge, give it a whirl and let us know how it goes!
Quote from OverlordChaoSo, how does everyone feel about the new Ajani in this deck? Can he replace Elspeth? No, but he seems like he'd be a really, REALLY good fit. I just can't decide what I would cut to try him out. Also, this is my current build:
DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards Creatures:
4 Student of Warfare
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Phyrexian MetamorphOther Spells:
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Stoneforge Package:
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 BatterskullLands:
21 Plains
The list looks solid as is. I can't imaging where he'd fit in, as I'd rather be pumping out creatures turns 1-3, and be bashing with the aid of Elspeth/Equipment after that. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I don't see him fitting in too many decks. Something like Bant would seem to benefit with a Turn 1 Noble Hierarch or BoP, but they still have great 3-drops that they could be laying down Turn 2 instead (Geist of Saint Traft, KotR, Vendilion Clique, Trygon Predator, etc).
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Trained in the art of Espionage - Sabotage - Infiltration - Assassination
This massive banner by arête from The Drowned Catacomb (arete's graphics)!
1.0 Introduction: written and contributed by MichMash
With the release of Betrayers of Kamigawa WotC added a new, fun and resonant creature tribe - Ninjas - to the Magic Multiverse. Ninjas immediately turned out to be quite popular among casual and competitive players. Not only were these Ninjas beautifully illustrated, they also featured the unique "Ninjutsu" mechanic. Ninjutsu allows a player to unexpectedly switch an unblocked attacker with a Ninja from his hand. Although Ninjas deal limited amounts of damage, the Ninjutsu mechanic makes these creatures inherently powerful, simply because:
Using Ninjutsu doesn't count as casting a spell. Ninjutsu therefore circumvents traditional countermagic.
Ninjutsu is a skill-testing mechanic that punishes bad blocking decisions.
The Ninjutsu-cost is always lower than the card's regular casting cost, thus allowing to cheat powerful creatures into play at a discount.
Ninjas come with interesting abilities that trigger when combat damage is dealt to an opponent. Unblocked Ninjas draw cards, bounce or kill creatures, force opponents to discard and tutor for or reanimate additional threats. All these effects can create huge tempo swings and make Ninjas quite dangerous.
Modern is a very young format. It was conceived in 2011 by WotC as an answer to the growing inaccessibility of Legacy. Legacy's biggest problem is WotC's own reprinting policy. As Legacy becomes more and more popular, the relative supply of unreprintable staples diminishes, driving up prices. If you want to compete with the top-tier decks, you'd therefore better have some pocket money spare. Top-tier Legacy decks easily set you back 800$ if not more - especially if you have to assemble these decks from scratch. Luckily, none of the cards legal in Modern fall under WotC's restricting reprinting policy, guaranteeing accessibility in the long run. Barring a few exceptions, most cards can be bought for less than 20 quid. But, there's more... WotC has also drafted up an extensive banlist in an attempt, not only to keep the format fresh and balanced, but also to differentiate it from Legacy. This banlist is a bit of thorn in the eye of the aggro-control enthusiast. With both
BitterblossomandStoneforge Mysticbanned, two contemporary and highly successful aggro-control archetypes ("Faeries" and "Caw Go") got severely crippled to the extend that they essentially are unplayable in Modern. To this day, no real archetype has surfaced that caters to the specific needs and wants of the aggro-control enthusiast. It is in this vacuum then, that one should give a closer look at various Ninja-driven strategies. Aggro-control is all about tempo; and tempo is exactly what Kamigawa's Ninjas generate. If you have tempo over your opponent, you are further ahead in developing your game plan, which is (for an aggro-control archetype) enforcing a so called "five-turn clock".1.2 NINJAS IN KAMIGAWA STANDARD AND ITS BEGINNING
WotC initially launched two theme decks that showcased the aforementioned Ninjutsu mechanic. The first deck - simply called "Ninjutsu" - was a mono-blue deck that featured every single blue Ninja. The deck counted multiple copies of the commons Mistblade Shinobi and Ninja of the Deep Hours, it had a single uncommon Walker of Secret Ways and it included Higure, the Still Wind as one of the two deck's rares. Out of the box this first theme deck was a bit of a strategical hopscotch. Instead of generating tempo and creating card advantage it did the exact opposite. Animated lands (through Genju of the Falls), aren't 'creatures' you want to Ninjutsu into since you lose the land AND the enchantment. Additionally this first theme deck lacked good quality evasive one-drops (so called ninja-enablers), ran to much useless (defensive) creatures and downplayed the importance of a good countermagic suite (it included only a single Hinder). The second theme deck - called "Rats' Nest" - wasn't branded as "the" quintessential Ninjutsu deck. Although this mono-black deck did come with some solid black Ninjutsu cards like Throat Slitter and Okiba-Gang Shinobi, these cards hardly explain the popularity of the deck. Rats' Nest sold like hot cake, not because it featured some cool Ninjas, but simply because it included a single copy of Umezawa's Jitte - one of the more powerful and most sought-out cards of the whole block. Although WotC actively pushed the Ninjutsu mechanic through these two theme decks, Ninjas never made a profound impact on Standard. Giving Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni away as the set's prerelease foil, didn't really change this. The lack of good support cards in the environment combined with the brokenness of Mirrodin and the deepness of Ravnica's card pool, never made the Ninja-archetype a real competitive option. Despite its flavorful and powerful Ninjas, Kamigawa in fact, turned out to one of the biggest commercial failures in the recent history of the game and a set with a negligible impact on eternal formats...
1.3 NINJAS IN LEGACY
Immediately after the release of Kamigawa, innovative deckbuilders started to explore the possibilities of the Ninjutsu mechanic with earlier printed cards. Smart deckbuilders always knew that Ninjas could potentially be quite good in Legacy. In comparison with Vintage, Legacy is defiantly 'slow' enough to support clever creature-based strategies. Once people realized that one could Ninjutsu through Standstill, a new Legacy archetype was therefore born. Cheap evasive creatures like Ornithopter, Flying Men and Cloud of Faeries functioned as early ninja-enablers that could be cast before the board was 'locked' down with Standstill. A powerful countermagic suite further complimented the deck's core strenghts. Cards like Force of Will and Daze basically don't backfire in a deck that can cheat threats into play without cracking Standstill. In recent years new cards were gradually added to the deck. Lorwyn block, for example, introduced Spellstutter Sprite (one of the better blue commons ever printed) and a card that has some strong tribal synergy with Cloud of Faeries. Mirrodin Besieged, finally, introduced Signal Pest and Mental Misstep, two new cards that further solidified the archetype. FearieNinjaStill, the name under which the archetype is known today among the Legacy crowd, is a strong (and budget friendly) archetype that isn't top-tier but that will always tickle players looking for a rogue-deck.
2.0 Card Choices:
2.1 NINJAS - The creatures call Ninjas
Higure, the Still Wind - Ninja Tutor allowing us to search NoDH for CA, Slitter to kill non-black creatures or Shinobi to bounce black creatures you cant kill with Slitter. Somemore Higure is able to make your Ninjas unblockable(including himself) for a very affordable 2 which can be utilise multiple times. Higure is also strong enough to stay out of Lightning bolt & Helix range.
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni - Win con. Critical to turning a losing game board around. Regeneration is also useful here.
Mistblade Shinobi - Stall board & delay so the legendary Ninjas can join in the battle. Does a decent job of disrupting opponent's tempo at a very low Ninjutsu cost.
Ninja of the Deep Hours - Best card draw a ninja can possibly have @ a low Ninjutsu cost. Can come down on the second turn as long as you have an Ninja enabler on the first turn.
Throat Slitter - Doom blade on a ninja.
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Skullsnatcher - Has become more relevant by 'eating' up the 'food/fuel' of the most popular creatures in Modern such as Snapcaster Mage's flashback, Deathrite Shaman's ability, Knight of the Reliquary's lands, Scavenging Ooze and the big bear - Tarmogoyf.
Walker of Secret Ways
2.2 NINJA-ENABLERS - Ninjas Tech
Top-Grade Enablers:
Ornithopter - Evasion and at free casting cost.
Signal Pest - Evasion and useful battlecry.
Zephyr Sprite - Evasion and supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability.
Tormented Soul - Enabler of choice for Ninja decks with black as the main color.
Jace's Phantasm - Evasion and late game beater, good during early turns as a cheap enabler, outstanding during the late turns as a potential 5/5 flying beater. Could well be the late game missing reach/link that Ninjas are missing at the moment.
Useful and Utility Enablers:
Spellstutter Sprite - Creature with evasion and conditional counterspell in one.
Vendilion Clique - Evasion, card manipulation and supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability.
Dimir Infiltrator - Evasion and useful transmute.
Cloud Sprite - Run Zephyr Sprite first, before you consider this. Normally choosen if you need extra faeries, it also supports Spellstutter Sprite's ability as every Faerie does.
2.3 EQUIPMENTS - Ninja's Tools
Top Grade Weapons:
Sword of Feast and Famine - Successful hit allows us to untap lands for counterspells and forces opponent's discard, thus generating virtual card advantage. Works towards a enventual bigger Jace's Phantasm as well.
Sword of Fire and Ice - Generate card advantage and can clear opponent's smaller creature/deal extra player damage.
Useful and Utility Weapons:
Mask of Riddles - Gives Evasion and useful card draw.
Ronin Warclub - Tailor made for Ninja Tech.
Loxodon Warhammer - Lifelink crucial in buying time before legends arrives.
Quietus Spike - Deathtouch on our 1/1, worth the trade-off everytime.
Whispersilk Cloak - Shroud and card draw.
Mask of Memory - Useful Card draw.
2.4 SPELLS - Ninja's tricks
Discard Spells:
Inquisition of Kozilek - Disrupt by discard.
Duress - Limited discard spell.
Thoughtseize - Disrupt by discard.
Permission Spells:
Familiar's Ruse - Counter spells and 'recycle' our Ninja tech & Spellstutter or return Ornithopter at no cost.
Mana Leak - Cheap counterspell.
Spell Pierce - May be required to stop opponents' removal on our Ninjas.
Removal Spells:
Go for the throat - Go for other creatures throat.
Unblockable Spells:
Distortion Strike - Tailor made for Ninjas.
Artful Dodge
Veil of Secrecy
Other Spells:
Aether Tradewinds - Utility bounce spell.
Echoing Truth - Utility bounce spell.
2.5 LAND - Ninja's training ground
Creeping Tar Pit, Mutavault, Blinkmoth Nexus , Inkmoth Nexus - Evasion option when board stalls, mostly played during emergency purposes, when you really need to use Ninjutsu.
Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Useful because we have a few legends in Clique, Higure and Ink-eyes.
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Gives evasion to legends, good for Clique, Higure and Ink-eyes.
3.0 Decklist:
There are a few different variants available at the moment, we can either go for heavy hand disruption, counter-suite with Faeries or Mana Ramp with & without Erayo.
Possible Ninjas decks in the pipeline:
Decklist in second post.
4.0 Tournament History or Results(all formats):
Ninja deck finished 2nd at a PTQ Hollywood 2008 - Mono U Ninjas
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/hollywood08ptq/0216losangeles
German Nationals Top-8 in 2006 - GU Ninja-Erayo
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=48095
5.0 Other Links:
Rulings on Ninjutsu and First Strike
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10184829#post10184829
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Special thanks to Syndarion from Aeternal Studios for this awesome banner!
1) Introduction
Knights are also expected to behave within the code of chivalry, with values of faith, loyalty, courage, and honour widely practiced. This often lead to gamers and players taking a liking to the tribe for all the positives qualities and virtues they exhibit. On the other side, The Dark, Fallen or Evil knights also feels very mystifying and mysterious thus intriguing and fascinating to fans of Knights as well. Recent additions to the knight tribe via Knight of Glory and Knight of Infamy in M13 being clear, easy and straightforward descriptions of the Light and Dark side of Knights.
From a competitive perspective, first and foremost we have to know this is a tribal deck. And I'm also ready to admit knights tribal is not the strongest in legacy/Modern but nevertheless they are a respectable tribe. Although Knight tribal is good enough to get us some wins here and there but we are not under any illusions that Knights is going to rip other decks apart or be a Tier one deck overnight. Meanwhile, porting the legacy list over to Modern has been surprisingly easy meaning most of the power cards like Aether Vial, better Knight creatures etc are still available. Knights is also not affected much from losing powerful/versatile non-basic lands such as the revised Duals or even Onslaught fetches and stompy lands.
Link to: [Deck/Primer] Legacy Knights Primer
Knights in White are far superior to what the other colors can offer, therefore White will always be the dominant color in a knight build. Being predominantly white has an added benefit as white traditionally has all the answers to various threats. So far with white being well equipped to deal with all type of threats, at the moment it seems only Green is worth splashing as a secondary color, as they can bring along a Land Toolbox with Knight of Reliquary.
DECKLISTS AVAILABLE:
Mono W Knights - Modern WW Vial Knights
GW Knights - Modern GW Vial Knights
GW Knights - Modern GW(Non-Vial) Knights
Mono W Knights - Modern Puresteel Knights
Mono B Knights - Haakon's Darth Knights
BR Knights - Haakon's Darth Knights
GWR Knights - Modern Naya Vial Knights
The 3 cards which are the cornerstone of Modern Knights:
2) Card Choices
2.1) Knight Creatures - the reason why we are playing this deck
The Main Knights - Best Modern Knights and always first to be deployed
Knight Exemplar
The only Knight Lord. He boasts your own knights, makes them indestructable, survives Day of Judgement and Engineered Explosives etc. A pair of them means indestructability therefore a no-brainer here to include 4 in the deck.
On the downside, he usually only make cameo appearances and he is also a good magnet for opponents removal. it goes to show how good they are. Can be use as bait before you cast other bombs.
Student of Warfare
The best one-drop knight around in Modern. A four-of is a must because there is no other better knights around in term of casting cost and ability. Good when its in the opening hand, decent if drawn during early game and absolutely massive when drawn during the late game.
Knight of the White Orchid
A fine 2/2 with first strike at 2cc. Being on the draw/combined with fetchlands will allow us ensure we dont miss land drop and also speed up our mana production. Has synergy with PtE also.
Knight of the Reliquary
Usually enter play as a 3/3 creature or bigger at 3cc. The land fetching will trim the deck resulting in better draws during later parts of the game and best of all it is a one card land toolbox.
It can tutor for lands such as Teutonic Edge/Ghost Quarter/Mystifying Maze/Bojuka Bog.
Is the only potentially powerful knight as the rest are mostly considered weenies. Most importantly it is able to hold its own without the aid of equipments during mid/late game unlike the other knights.
Knight of Meadowgrain
Early lifegain from this creature might be critical against certain matchups especially against Tempo/Burn decks. As a 2cc, it might draw removal from some decks thus allowing more powerful 3cc to go through later on.
Mirran Crusader
Everyone plays Tarmogoyf nowadays while Black is also a very popular removal colour. Therefore protection from Black/Green is very relevant here.
The double strike ability also means more damage deal and triggering the Swords effect twice such as two cards/4 damage via SoFI etc.
Knights on Standby - Good Knights waiting for their chances
White Knight/ Black Knight/ Blood Knight
A cheap and effective creature, is a knight. Protection is especially useful when paired with one of the swords. Fits the Mana curve/vial counter perfectly as a 2 drop.
Paladin en-Vec
Almost exactly the same as Mirran Crusader, minus the double-strike ability and change protection from green to red. Unless your meta is red-dominant, its Mirran over en-Vec anytime.
Fiendslayer Paladin
Almost a mirror creature of Paladin en-Vec. Has very relevant lifelink ability same as Knight of Meadowgrain, has a protection from R/ spells effect similar to Paladin en-Vec - however en-Vec is better than Fiendslayer (from the protection perspective) as it can survives Pyroclasm type spells.
Stillmoon Cavalier
Protection from White and Black means many removal spells are useless againt him. Has flying for evasion so he is able to bring your Swords over for direct damage. However when you have no mana available he is very weak at 2/1 and may prove to be a liability to pump him when you can put your mana to better use. Not so good when drawn early against Non-white/black opponents.
Phyrexian Crusader
First strike and also has protection against 2 colors. In the Zoo/Boros matchup, casting this creature is as good as a win. Otherwise the Infect portion has Zero synergy with the rest of the knight deck. Due to Infect inrelevance in Knights, it is quite difficult to argue for its inclusion here.
Stromgald Crusader/White Shield Crusader
Both also offer either protection from black or white, Crusader can also fly. But again the opportunity cost in spending mana to pump them does not give you the appropriate amount of benefits. It's lack of first strike means it will die to almost any kind of attack/defence.
Kinsbaile Cavalier
The global effect this knight brings along is very useful and can often win the game via a single attack or swing board advantage back to your side. The fact that an opponent has a dilemma over removing Kinsbaile or Knight exemplar when both are in play is compliment on the potential of this card.
However the downside is its 4cc, which will render our vial useless. When there is no other knight around, it is just an overcost knight.
Hero of Bladehold
A successful swing with Hero can usually swing board advantage back to your side. It's effectiveness is also greatly doubled when combined with Honor of the Pure. However at 4cc it seems like Elpseth Knight Errant would be a better choice.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus
Good against tempo deck especially. His built-in indestructability forces opponent to disrupt their own tempo in order to kill him. Good synergy with Day of Judgment.
Silverblade Paladin
Most knights already have first strike, therefore it could be argued that doublestrike may only be a slight improvement on that. Try playing against 2x double strike knights to get a different perspective, in actual fact it's quite a handful to deal with! The Soulbond mechanic may also contribute to some combat tricks via Aether Vial. That said, Silver Paladin do not have double strike on it's own, therefore you still need at least another creature in play. With Soulbond, we may also be susceptible to a well time removal costing us dearly during combat. Eventually this card is comparable to Kinsbaile Cavalier and Mirran Crusader, as Cavalier gives double strike to ALL knights including itself when it ETB but at a higher cost of 4cc, while Crusader is competing based on the same 3cc.
Remaining knights contenders - Decent enough to worth a mention here but not good enough thus they are the 'Spare knights'
Hero of Oxid Ridge
Knights does not attack by swarm, this card is only good when attacking in hordes.
Puresteel Paladin
Belongs more to equipments heavy deck rather than knights heavy deck.
Knight of Sursi
Another card which can be used fearlessly with Day of Judgment.
Order of the Golden Cricket
Has good interactions Swords since it gains evasion with flying by paying W mana when attacking.
Sigiled Paladin
Solid 2cc 2/2 first strike knight which is similar to White Knight & Knight of the White Orchid. But protection and the ability to fetch additional land is better than exalted.
Tivadar of Thorn
A sideboard knight against Goblins as i would maindeck Paladin en-vec over this guy anytime.
Knight of Glory/ Knight of Infamy
Protection might be relevant, especially up against decks with only one color removal spells or mono-color decks, while Exalted is always a welcome addition. However the lack of toughness and first strike usually mean the original White Knight and Black Knight are usually better.
2.2) Other Creatures - There to support our valiant and loyal knights.
Leonin Relic-Warder
Provide the answers to artifact/enchantments with a body to boot.
Qasali Pridemage
Same as the above, with exalted ability. Is able to remove artifact/enchantments permanently but at the cost of sacrificing itself.
Grand Abolisher
Hoses counterspell decks but may not be so relevant anymore if control decks fail to dominate the meta.
Phyrexian Metamorph
Legend Killer, makes 5-8 Knight Exemplar possible, copy swords etc...
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Slows down combo decks and decks relying heavily on non-creature spells. A 2/1 first striker for 2cc is also a decent beater. May also affect our ability to cast our own Path to Exile, Oblivion Ring and Planeswalkers spell, so do take note of this aspect as well.
War Falcon
M13 new card.
2.3) Other Permanents - Artifacts, Enchantments & Planeswalkers - Tools, Weapons, Auras for the Knights
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Give our Knights evasion and pump +3/+3 ability, produce 1/1 Soldiers each turn to stall the board while we accumulate equipments and creatures. At 4cc, she is the bomb which can win the game for us or swing board advantage towards us.
Elspeth Tirel
I wouldnt play this because the Knight-Errant abilities is more relevant to the deck while this also cost more to cast.
Aether Vial
Creatures put into play is uncounterable thus a bane of all control/counter heavy decks.
The element of surprise this card can bring is invaluable.
1) Vialing in a creature during the opponent end turn can also usually result in an sneak attack next turn, better still if there is equipment to equip and attack with.
2) Or Vial in an additional blocker for a combined first-strike block.
3) Vialing in Knight Exemplar is also usually a nice trick to save your creatures from destruction.
The optimal number of creatures in a deck to utilise Vial is usually 18 creatures or more. You dont want to have Vial with counters on it but no creatures to cheat into play.
Equipments - the choice of equipments have to be very careful here since we have lost the Stoneforge toolbox.
Sword of Fire and Ice
Still my first choice equipment sword. When equipped on a 2/2 knight we have a 4/4 first striker which would either forces the opponent to chump block or risk giving us tremendous advantage from the swords' effects. Protection from red is also useful against Zoo and Boros matchups.
Sword of Light and Shadow
Currently the second best equipment sword. Immune to Path to Exile, Doomed Blade, Go for the throat, Smother etc. Lifegain is useful especially against tempo decks and the ability to return creatures to your hand from graveyard is another form of card advantage.
Sword of Body and Mind
Good against Tarmogoyf but otherwise it's ability is meh. Protection from Blue is also not so relevant.
Sword of Feast and Famine
Might be the 3rd best sword as it has protection against black removal and massive green creatures. It is a meta call as i would still prefer SoLS over this.
Sword of War and Peace
Superb against Zoo & Boros but i believe they should have enough ammunition to kill your creatures in response to equipping and the Sword should be too slow to save the game in most cases.
Basilisk Collar
Deathtouch on our first strike knights will kill any opposing creature which dare to enage in combat with us. However IMO the real use for this equipment is actually for defense. A 2/2 knight equipped with the collar can block and kill a fattie without trading himself. This in turn will allow us the time to built our board with more Exemplars or equipments.
2.4) Spells
Path to Exile
Best white removal spell for White in Modern.
Oblivion Ring
Best utility spell for White in Modern, take care of all non-land permanents in the game.
Rancor
Reprinted in M13.
2.5) Land
Fetches - Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats
Shocks - Temple Garden
Filters - Wooded Bastion
Others -
Flagstones of Trokair
Does Deck thining, makes KotR bigger, but being struck with a few of them during the early game is detrimental to our tempo, recommended number is 2-3.
Mutavault
Having additional knights is always useful.
Horizon Canopy
Card draw and good synergy with KotR.
Sejiri Steppe
A good trick with Knight of the Reliquary in response to a removal spell to save our creature.
Tectonic Edge
For 12posts or pesky manlands etc.
Ghost's Quarter
For 12posts or pesky manlands etc.
Cavern of Souls
Insanely good against counterspell decks, especially for tribal knights when most of the creatures are the same creature type. Cavern can also be used to cast Knight of Reliquary in GW knights even if we can't find the green mana source for it. Knights splashing a second color will suddenly become more playable, since the likes of Black Knight, Haakon, Stromgald Scourge in a WB knight list or Blood Knight and Hero of Oxide Ridge in a WR knight list is suddently more viable than before.
2.6) Sideboard
Against Graveyard
Relic of Progenitus/ Tormod's Crypt
Against Dredge or decks reliant on getting cards into graveyard.
Against Direct Damage/Discard or Player Targetted Effects
Leyline of Sanctity
This will auto shut down burn/discard decks. Either play 4 or none in the sideboard as this is something you want in your opening hand once it's sideboarded in.
Runed Halo
Stop decks which uses a single card to win, or uses lots of discard spells and can also stop decks which is using the same meaty creature for beatdowns.
Phyrexian Revoker
Added to stop Planeswalker abilities, engineered explosives etc.
Against Aggro
Oust
Big tempo disruption to fast aggro decks.
Condemn
Another tempo disruption to aggoro decks
Celestial Purge
Good against MBC or RDW or even Boros.
Journey to Nowhere
Additional creature removal spell.
Against Combo
Rule of Law/ Ethersworn Canonist / Gaddock Teeg
They have the same objective - to stop combo decks. Enchantment will be harder to get rid off although the additional body might be useful. A personal choice mostly.
Silence
Good against Storm decks.
Angel's Grace
Usually buy you an extra turn or 2 from losing immediately. Is best against deck which commits everything to a single turn win via an overwhelming creature assault or though one of the Pacts etc.
Against Artifact
Disenchant
Very good and cheap instant removal spell.
Aura of Silence
A permanent which will hit artifact/enchantment heavy deck tempo and can be sacrifiiced to destroy.
3) Matchups
3.1) GW Vial Knights
WIP - below is the decks I have played against so far, will add in details of matchups, way to play and things to look out for
Gifts Ungiven (Esper) deck
Kiki Jiki Pod
UWR Delver Tempo
UWR Mid range control
BURN
BWG Control
TRON
3.2) BR Haakon's Darth Knights
WIP - below is the decks I have played against so far, will add in details of matchups, way to play and things to look out for
Gifts Ungiven (Esper) deck
Kiki Jiki Pod
UWR Delver Tempo
- Black Knight and Stromgald Crusader are star players against a deck packing plenty of white based removals (Lightning Helix and Path to Exile)
UWR Mid range control
- Black Knight and Stromgald Crusader are star players against a deck packing plenty of white based removals (Lightning Helix and Path to Exile)
BURN
BWG Control
- first turn Deathrite Shaman is an absolute nightmare, usually we can use Darkblast (Blast and dredge to Blast again during upkeep/draw step) or Nameless Inversion to take them out quickly.
TRON
3.3) Other Knights Variants
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10674436&postcount=1395
NAYA Knights Vs Merfolk by BlazeRyder
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10840590&postcount=1436
3) Other Knights Variants
Brief Introduction.
The traditional puresteel decks relies on dropping Puresteel Paladin and casting equipments quickly to generate incredible CA and eventually equip at no cost(with metacraft attained) on a living creature/creature or Inkmoth Nexus to swing for the win quickly. Some variants splashes U for a trinket mage toolbox. As such, it is a deck which can get explosive very swiftly and win suddenly out of nowhere.
Puresteel knights is not a traditional puresteel equipment deck thus its mode of play is not purely based on casting puresteel and rushing to drop cheap and low cost equipments or living equipments. It has a more resilient matchup then its traditional counterpart as the deck is not entirely dependant on drawing puresteel which usually fold easily when it loses puresteel to removals or counters.
As such it is a mid-range aggro deck which thrives on having puresteel in the deck. It is also less vulnerable to creature board wipes since we do not need to overextend our board with creatures. We are also not as badly affected against artifact board wipe spells. Knight Exemplar also provides Puresteel knights with an aura of indestructibility.
Therefore the choices of equipments is also different, equipments are selected because of their low casting cost and also their ability to enhance a knight considerably. Due to the sheer power of swords equipments and its 3cc, the other equipment choices can only be at most 1cc with low equip costs in order to curve out properly.
With this criteria in place, choice are pretty limited, below is the equipments list which is worth playing so far.
Superstar Knights for Puresteel
The engine behind the deck. Even the deck is named after him.
Mirran Crusader
Doublestrike on his own is nasty. Doublestrike with equipment is brutal. One of the MVP of the deck.
Knight Exemplar
The Knight lord. A decent 2/2 first strike creature at 3cc, give other knights +1/+1 and also gives indestructibility to our superstar knight - Puresteel Paladin.
Student of Warfare
A good first drop knight which can helps us to establish board presence when it's at 2 level up counter.
Star equipments for Puresteel
Silver-Inlaid Dagger
Equipped on a human can make our first strike knight close to invincible in creature combat.
Basilisk Collar
Deathtouch on a first strike knight and lifelink is especially useful for a mid-range aggro deck.
Sword of Fire and Ice
One of the best swords around. Many red removals in modern at the moment. CA is also massive.
Sword of Light and Shadow
Useful lifegain, black/white are very popular removal spells and returning a creature from graveyard is also CA.
Second choice equips -
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of War and Peace
increase/decrease speed or explosiveness of the deck
Bone Saw
BoneSplitter
Other probable mainboard choices -
Brave the elements
Protection and alpha strike. Can aid a successful equip on Mirran Crusader, protects Knight Exemplar from removal or protect Puresteel Paladin for a turn to start abusing Puresteel's abilities. Very relevant against a removal heavy meta.
Dispatch
A situational removal, which potentially could be better than Path to Exile in this deck, probably will be added as the 5-6 removal spell in the decklist.
Knight of the White Orchid
A fine 2/2 creature with first strike at 2cc. Being on the draw/combined with fetchlands will allow us ensure we dont miss land drop and also speed up our mana production. Has synergy with Path to Exile too.
Knight of Meadowgrain
Lifelink is always good. And it's a decent 2/2 first striker at 2cc. The deck also has Basilik collar as an alternative source of lifegaining so perhaps we do not need to run 4 of this knight.
Knight of the Holy Nimbus
Useful knight creature especially during the early turns when mana is at a premium.
Brief Introduction.
The reason we have this deck is because you want to recur knights via Hakkon, Stromgald Scourge.
This is a deck that will beat most aggro white build, can cast creatures as many times as they burn(a different story if they burn face), laugh at decks attempting to counter Haakon and his knights + zombies, immune to deck playing doom blade type of removals, any more please feel free to add on.
The other Haakon deck - UWB
How to Play.
An opening turn discard(we run 7-8) allows us to cast Smallpox safely, meanwhile low-cost and cheap knights and zombies which are dispensable will be deployed to trade off or chump block in most situations, since they can be recurred continuously later in the game. That means the deck is typically trying to stall and stabilize during the early game with creatures such as Stromgald Crusader, Black Knight and Gravecrawler. Smallpox and Liliana of the Veil will come in shortly for the control/disrupt element and hopefully discard Haakon into the graveyard. Nameless Inversion is also a massive card here since it can be casted as many times as you have the mana for, which usually will clear the opponent board of creatures slowly but surely.
This is essentially a attrition deck, and will usually win the war when it gets to attrition stage with Haakon in play.
Key and Most important play:
Haakon's Recurring engine with Knights and Nameless Inversion.
Other Strategic plays:
Gravecrawler interaction with Haakon and Stromgald Crusader.
Smallpox synergy with Haakon.
Liliana of the Veil synergy with Haakon.
Minor plays:
Smallpox with Dark Confidant when life gets too low.
Liliana of the Veil discard with other knights, cast those discarded knights with Haakon in play.
Creature choices:
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
The main reason why we are playing this Knight variant, and why this decklist is named after him.
He possesses this effect allowing us to play Knight cards from the graveyard when he is in play, and as a result also has interactions with changeling cards such as Nameless Inversion.
Other then the obvious synergies with Nameless Inversion & Knights, it also synergies well with Liliana of the Veil and Smallpox, since these spells provide us with an outlet to discard an Hakkon which can be playback soon after.
Black Knight
A cheap and good 2/2 first striker. He is here because he is a knight thus interacting with Haakon, Stromgald Scourge well. Protection from White is also a good bonus.
Stromgald Crusader
Played with the same reasons as Black Knight. Some additional advantages this Knight possesses is Flying (at the cost of B) and also being a Zombie type. As a Zombie Knight, it has synergy with Gravecrawler.
Gravecrawler
Interaction with Zombie knights such as Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and Stromgald Crusader is the main reason for running this card. As a one drop, it can either provide some early pressure, stall the board will be set up the Haakon engine or be a filler for excess mana.
Dark Confidant
Card advantage for Knights. He can be sacrificed to Smallpox, Nameless Inversion in the event we cannot handle potential life loss.
Spell Choices
Smallpox
A key card in the deck, as it provide a control/disrupt element and also give us an discard outlet to dump Haakon into the graveyard. Can be used on our own Dark Confidant as well.
Thoughtseize
One of the best discard spell for Black. Usually will go for exile spells (read Path to Exile) or graveyard hate after sideboarding.
Duress
Another very good discard spell which is similar to Thoughtseize but can't remove creatures.
Nameless inversion
Part of the Hakkon engine - can be use multiple times when Haakon is in play.
Liliana of the Veil
Tailor made for this deck. Liliana can disrupt the opponent and also give us a discard outlet for Haakon.
Other probable choices:
Stillmoon Cavalier - A Zombie and a Knight, similar to Stromgald Crusader in its interaction with Haakon and Gravecrawler, but cost 1 more.
Darkblast - For digging Haakon from library directly into the graveyard. Might take a Duress out for a single Darkblast.
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I put it into deck tags for you for easier viewing:
4 Knight Exemplar
3 Student of Warfare
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Paladin en-Vec
2 Thalia
3 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Hero of Bladehold (I presume) (mother of runes)
1 Kinsbaile Cavalier (mother of runes)
Spells 12:
4 Brave the Elements
4 Path to Exile
3 Sword to Plowshares
1 Wrath of God
4 Aether Vial
4 Mox Diamond (took 4 plains out)
Plainswalkers 2:
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
Lands 22:
15 Plains (-4 MD)
3 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Leyline of Sactity
2 Engineered Explosives (-1 Silence)
2 Ethersworn Cannonist
2 Grafdiggers Cage
2 Tormod's Crypt (Rain of Blades x2)
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Silence
I think I noticed was the high amount of removals. Do you need to maindeck so many considering we are a creature deck ourself? If flyers are a problem we have Leonin Skyhunter (although admittedly he is not a powerhouse but he could increase the creature count). There's only 20 creatures in the deck and you play Vial too. Seems like too little for threat density in my opinion. That said, you did a very good job to get all the way to top 8, Knights FTW!!!
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NINJAS FTW!
Looks like we have another Ninjas lover here ;)!
That's why Tormented Soul is useful here and should be the enabler of choice unless you are going for the Spellstutter Sprite route or low on B land count. But to be honest, I felt at the moment there is not really much small flyers in the meta, save for Lingering Souls, so I pretty much write that off...
The Grixis Ninjas does have a better game against Aggro and flyers with Lightning Bolt, Forked Bolt and Electrolyze though.
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I think it is much better to splash blue for the blue Ninjas (I like your BU Ninjas deck name though ;)) , however I think 4x Ninja of the Deep Hours is a must here, he is the best Ninja around but I have to admit it's tough to remove cards from the decklist.
I think the BU may have a problem on the enablers side, Ravenous Rats and Chittering Rats are not going to stop opponents from blocking and killing them, unlike say Typhoid Rats. So although these 2 rats has a useful ETB ability, their lack of evasion means we have issues trying to Ninjutsu in and "recycle" their ETB again. In my mono-black list, I used Infiltration Lens to deter opponents from blocking them in order to Ninjutsu in, but I have to say it is a bit cumbersome and we don't always have Lens in play.
I noticed there is 4x Liliana of the Veil and 4x Geth's Verdict to clear the path for the rats to attack unblocked, and the rats ETB does slow down the opponent, so in your combo heavy meta it might just work. The enablers part may need some fine-tuning though, and since you are playing a fair amount of Faeries, the deck might have to move away from the Rats tribal theme in order to be more effective. As such, I took out a few rats. Here's my idea of a decklist based on your meta:
7 Swamp
6 Island
4 Watery Grave
4 Secluded Glen
1 Swarmyard
Creatures (23):
4 Nightshade Stinger
4 Spellstrutter Sprite
4 Ravenous Rats
2 Chittering Rats
1 Throat Slitter
4 Ninja of the Deep Hour
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Higure, the Still Wind
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
4 Geth's Verdict
4 Thoughtseize
2 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
Planeswalkers(3)
3 Liliana of the Veil
I replaced some Mana Leak with Dissipate because I feel most of the time you should be casting Ravenous Rats, EOT Spellsutter Sprite or a Ninjutsu via Ninja of the Deep Hours on 2 lands. So maybe it is worth testing a hard counter instead of conditional counters.
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Congrats to Blackvise too! KTF taking over the world!!!:D
it's gonna be Vintage Black Vise...
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Congrats to Etched Chester too! You'll make a great moderator for sure!
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Devastation Tide is a card that can be looked into, however without sufficient library manipulation cards in most of the Ninja decklists, I feel we'll struggle to use it in most scenarios.
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