I tried a much more "You can all do things!" type of version, but I figured out that the strategy is rather...swingy. You can accelerate the game way out of control, and on turn 4 have a guy come out of nowhere with some silly combo to win the game.
Instead, I decided to remake the deck from the ground up using an age-old concept I like to reinforce; Magic, especially in multiplayer formats, isn't necessarily about winning, it's about not losing.
And before you ask, no, I TOTALLY didn't just make up this idea after it worked in one of my RtR Sealed pools. Never!
Phelddagriff can give your struggling opponents life, cards and blockers, keeping them in the game, and more importantly, off your back.
How does one play this deck?
To be honest, this deck is really designed to help people reach their answers while blowing up silly board states. At the same time, this is a deck of "oh I have to pay a million mana to run into an 0/4 nty attack you instead", which helps the politics game a lot, imo. It seems really weak as a standalone deck (which is why you should NEVER 1v1 with this deck), but you can keep people alive, give them cards to draw, and make friends with this deck like nobody's business.
You're proactive at using various Plague Wind effects to destroy your opponent's creatures, but not your own, and keeping yourself locked up in a fortress of defense through various Ghostly Prison effects. Opponents won't attack you, giving you the opportunity to use your Planeswalker ultimates to eventually give you some way of winning the game once it comes down to a 1v1 situation.
-Austere Command is your most efficient Plague Wind effect. Naming artifacts and large creatures will often end up putting a serious dent in any offense your opponents attempt to mount.
To be honest, I think the cards cut here draw attention to you, which defeats the purpose of the deck. I wanted to add lockdown, pillow fort, and manasinks to the deck, to make sure your opponents are always attacking each other instead of you. Cards like Luminarch Ascension and Garruk in particular are cards that just make you a huge target.
Junktroller, while being a defender, was a liability when casting Austere Command, and its effect wasn't strong enough to keep its spot. Rune-Tail drew way too much attention, being another enchantment to shoot down. Mistmeadow Witch was an absurdly powerful manasink I apparently missed (and it single-handedly won me a game I played while testing this deck with filler slots), and Seedborn Muse with all the mana sinks just makes sense.
You either use Wall of Mulch to draw you a bunch of cards, or recycle them through Archangel's Light or Creeping Renaissance. Losing your walls isn't the worst thing in the world, because you generally have your Ghostly Prisons to keep yourself well-defended anyway.
Faith's Reward is also a cute counter to board wipes as well.
Instead, I decided to remake the deck from the ground up using an age-old concept I like to reinforce; Magic, especially in multiplayer formats, isn't necessarily about winning, it's about not losing.
And before you ask, no, I TOTALLY didn't just make up this idea after it worked in one of my RtR Sealed pools. Never!1 Phelddagrif
Creatures
2 Archon of the Triumvirate
3 Axebane Guardian
4 Doorkeeper
5 Drift of Phantasms
6 Fog Bank
7 Gatecreeper Vine
8 Gomazoa
9 Guard Gomazoa
10 Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer
11 Hedron Field-Purists
12 Jungle Barrier
13 Mistmeadow Witch
14 Mnemonic Wall
15 New Prahv Guildmage
16 One-Eyed Scarecrow
17 Oracle of Nectars
18 Order of the Stars
19 Overgrown Battlement
20 Perimeter Captain
21 Riddlekeeper
22 Seedborn Muse
23 Stalwart Shield-Bearers
24 Stuffy Doll
25 Sunscape Familiar
26 Wall of Denial
27 Wall of Kelp
28 Wall of Mulch
29 Wall of Omens
30 Wall of Roots
31 Wall of Shards
32 Windborn Muse
Sorceries
33 Archangel's Light
34 Austere Command
35 Creeping Renaissance
36 Retribution of the Meek
37 Solar Tide
38 Storm Herd
39 Wargate
40 Wave of Reckoning
41 Bant Charm
42 Blue Sun's Zenith
43 Faith's Reward
Enchantments
44 Collective Restraint
45 Crackdown
46 Elephant Grass
47 Forced Fruition
48 Ghostly Prison
49 Lightmine Field
50 Martial Law
51 Martyr's Bond
52 Mind Unbound
53 Mystic Remora
54 Propaganda
55 Soothsaying
56 Sphere of Safety
57 Teferi's Moat
58 War Tax
Planeswalkers
59 Jace Beleren
60 Venser, the Sojourner
Basic Lands
61 Forest
62 Forest
63 Forest
64 Island
65 Island
66 Plains
67 Plains
68 Plains
69 Plains
Nonbasic Lands
70 Adarkar Wastes
71 Azorius Guildgate
72 Bant Panorama
73 Brushland
74 Calciform Pools
75 Celestial Colonnade
76 Command Tower
77 Evolving Wilds
78 Glacial Fortress
79 Graypelt Refuge
80 Halimar Depths
81 Hinterland Harbor
82 Kor Haven
83 Krosan Verge
84 Maze of Ith
85 Mistveil Plains
86 Mystifying Maze
87 Prahv, Spires of Order
88 Reliquary Tower
89 Rupture Spire
90 Saltcrusted Steppe
91 Seaside Citadel
92 Sejiri Refuge
93 Selesnya Guildgate
94 Skycloud Expanse
95 Stirring Wildwood
96 Sungrass Prairie
97 Sunpetal Grove
98 Terramorphic Expanse
99 Transguild Promenade
100 Yavimaya Coast
Why Phelddagrif?
well for one Angus Mackenzie is $30 so eff that noisePhelddagriff can give your struggling opponents life, cards and blockers, keeping them in the game, and more importantly, off your back.
How does one play this deck?
You're proactive at using various Plague Wind effects to destroy your opponent's creatures, but not your own, and keeping yourself locked up in a fortress of defense through various Ghostly Prison effects. Opponents won't attack you, giving you the opportunity to use your Planeswalker ultimates to eventually give you some way of winning the game once it comes down to a 1v1 situation.
Nuances of the Deck
-Austere Command is your most efficient Plague Wind effect. Naming artifacts and large creatures will often end up putting a serious dent in any offense your opponents attempt to mount.
-Cards like Hedron Field-Purists and especially One-Eyed Scarecrow seem like odd additions, but they prove invaluable against cards like Bitterblossom, Sacred Mesa and Storm Herd.
Changes Log
Lightmine Field
-Removed:
Builder's Blessing
Felt that Builder's Blessing was win-more, and forgot Lightmine Field existed. Derp.
11/01/2012:
Oracle of Nectars
Stuffy Doll
Archon of the Triumvirate
New Prahv Guildmage
Riddlekeeper
Soothsaying
Martyr's Bond
War Tax
-Removed:
Intrepid Hero
Nullmage Shepherd
Wall of Blossoms
Reverse the Sands
Cyclonic Rift
Conjurer's Closet
Luminarch Ascension
Garruk, Primal Hunter
-Edited the Nuances of the Deck section.
To be honest, I think the cards cut here draw attention to you, which defeats the purpose of the deck. I wanted to add lockdown, pillow fort, and manasinks to the deck, to make sure your opponents are always attacking each other instead of you. Cards like Luminarch Ascension and Garruk in particular are cards that just make you a huge target.
11/24/2012:
Mistmeadow Witch
Seedborn Muse
-Removed:
Junktroller
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
Junktroller, while being a defender, was a liability when casting Austere Command, and its effect wasn't strong enough to keep its spot. Rune-Tail drew way too much attention, being another enchantment to shoot down. Mistmeadow Witch was an absurdly powerful manasink I apparently missed (and it single-handedly won me a game I played while testing this deck with filler slots), and Seedborn Muse with all the mana sinks just makes sense.
12/02/2012:
12/13/2012:
Forest
Island
-Removed:
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Tolaria West
The manabase in this deck is freakin' awful, Jesus. I'll probably take a more in-depth look at how to make it better when I'm not about to pass out.
All input is appreciated as always!
Faith's Reward is also a cute counter to board wipes as well.