I think I've mentioned that occasionally my playgroup does a 5-player Star format where everyone plays a mono-colored deck. Last night was one of those nights, and I decided to sleeve up five brand new decks for it.
I thought I would share for giggles. (there are a few other rules in play - only 4 artifacts, at least 12 cards of CMC 4 or more, no direct color hosers, etc)
Pretty straight forward - blow the world up over and over again and revel in the carnage. Thanks to the format, Massacre is guaranteed to be free, and any creature with a Bonehoard on it will wreck face. Hunted Horror can come down early and is big enough to shrug off the early sweepers while his tokens don't.
Weaknesses - Not surprisingly, enchantments and artifacts give me fits. The deck did well, but I ended up losing to a Isochron Scepter with Tangle on it. Not good times Some more tweaking to be done, for sure.
Ok, first of all, I hate building Red decks; I'm not a fan of the color, so I try my best to do unusual things with it. This deck is a lot of fun though, and probably my favorite of the set I ran tonight. Blinking Zealous Conscripts to steal an enchantment and saccing it to Magmaw feels good in kind of a primal way. I think I questioned Cz's inclusion of Magmaw in a theft list once - I apologize now, it's awesome.
Weakness - the deck absolutely depends on having Conjuror's Closet in play to go the distance, and that can be a pretty big Achilles' Heel. I may need to add some dig spells in to add consistency.
On the other hand, Green is my favorite color to build, and my other Green deck (a Lurking Predators build) has been very successful. But I wanted something new, and it's been bugging me that I haven't had a chance to use my Scute Mob in any deck so far. Frankly, the deck was amazing. I had such an explosive start that the Blue player had to Sunder to slow me down. A timely Gaea's Touch draw made that not very painful.
Weaknesses - Honestly, not many. It's just a solid deck. I'll keep doing some tweaking, but I'm pretty satisfied.
Again, pretty straight forward. This is a more control-oriented version of Soldiers than most, but it seems to work ok. I probably need to pick up a few more copies of Daru Warchief - that card is a house.
My other blue deck (and most of my decks in general) is kind of a grindy control thing, so I wanted to have fun with an old school aggro deck. This is by far the least polished list - I had about 40 minutes to throw it together, but I think it turned out ok. Needs better quality creatures in there for sure, but Chisei works really well with Unstable Mutation and Mystic Remora. Drake Familiar was another all-star, either dealing with pesky opponent's enchantments or bouncing Mutation back to my hand during the second main phase.
Weaknesses - unlike most blue decks, this one doesn't have many answers, and if you don't have a pump out, the beat down is weak indeed ;P
Anyway, hopefully someone found these decks interesting^^ I know I had fun playing them.
edit: and since I suck at writing - yes, I welcome any and all feedback or questions =)
I think I questioned Cz's inclusion of Magmaw in a theft list once - I apologize now, it's awesome.
I'll let it slide this time.
...
This.
ONE.
Time.
Anyways, are you looking for feedback on the deck or are you just showcasing them and your format for the world to see? I feel like the Blue deck could use a bit of love and there are some iffy card choices in all of the decks but I mean if you're not playing them again then it's moot.
Anyways, are you looking for feedback on the deck or are you just showcasing them and your format for the world to see? I feel like the Blue deck could use a bit of love and there are some iffy card choices in all of the decks but I mean if you're not playing them again then it's moot.
=)
And yes, I would welcome any feedback - the Blue deck needs love for sure, and I'll be playing them all again.
The only caveat is that I don't spend much $$$ on my five player decks; I enjoy FFA a lot more, so good cards like Primeval Titan and Consecrated Sphinx, etc tend to be "however many I have left over from my real decks"
Not sure about the Hunted Horror + Necroplasm combo. HH can be pretty brutal if people "aren't allowed" to field effective answers to it. I could easily see it outright killing some of these decks. It's also a bit weird since the Plasm, while it does kill the tokens, also kill it after a few turns. So yeah, not sure about this one. Alternatives could be persistent threats such as Stinkweed Imp and Reassembling Skeleton and possibly even a revival spell of some sort. Phyrexian Reclamation, Haunted Crossroads, Diabolic Servitude, etc. 1 copy of something seems like it could help.
Beyond that there's the issue of draw. If Skullclamp is on the table then this is the deck that A) needs it and B) does legitimately cool things with it. Red's "draw" is just marginal stuff like Faithless Looting after all. You can always roll with something like Illuminated Folio, Jayemdae Tome or Staff of Nin, but eh, slow cards are slow. Still, you probably want to jam something in there.
A 1-of Mobilization seems like it could help. I don't really get the 8 Ally "splash." It just seems unnecessary and rather unexciting. Mother of Runes and Veteran Armorsmith make more sense to me. I really like Cloudgoat Ranger (Kithkin Soldiers) or Conqueror's Pledge as 5 drop "finishers" to curve into your Captains. They get pretty beast once you get some more Warchiefs in here. Field Marshal and Enlistment Officer both seem solid too. I don't really like running cards such as Elite Inquisitor that don't offer you anything other than a body.
If you're looking for solid fliers then Talrand's Invocation and Argent Sphinx aren't bad as generic 4/Xs for 4. You don't need cards like the Drake/Ephemeron that come with conditions and/or drawbacks. I personally love any Clone or Mind Control effect in multiplayer and my decks usually run some number of them. Callous Oppressor is never bad either and Hunted Phantasm isn't a flier but he fits the evasive theme. He, much like, HH, is very strong, especially if you Mutation him. If you're looking for durdly blockers, Ludevic's Test Subject can block all of those early 1/1s and such but has actual value as time goes on. If all else fails you just Wargear it up until it flips. Oh, it has minor synergy with Chisei too. Not massive synergy or anything, but hey, it's not NOTHING. Your current deck has far too many weak Faeries that just won't get there in the end. if you continue to run them I'd imagine that Favorable Winds might be required.
Snuff Out was definitely weak - I always get excited for "free" cards, but I think it can safely go. Tendrils seems like a fine replacement. And I always love recursion. I had been debating putting Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in there, and he loves some Diabolic Servitude.
The red deck started out as a humans deck, so there's still some garbage floating around in there. Malcontents and Marauders seem like good cuts, and probably Ash Zealot too, even though she was the card that started the deck. More work to be done.
Yeah, I think the allies and Inquisitors can be swept out for Mother of Runes and Armorsmith; that's a good call. Mobilization seems like an excellent plan.
I didn't put Hunted Phantasm in because I didn't want to double up on ideas, but he probably is too good to pass up. The Faeries were all terrible - I was trying to be cute with the Wormfang, but they didn't cut it, at all.
In any case, a lot of solid suggestions. I'll be sure to keep them in mind as I rebuild. Thanks for taking the time =)
Sounds good. Mikaeus does indeed seem sweet. Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, I ignored the Green deck because you seemed happy with it. The list seems fine anyways.
I thought I would share for giggles. (there are a few other rules in play - only 4 artifacts, at least 12 cards of CMC 4 or more, no direct color hosers, etc)
2 Bane of the Living
4 Hunted Horror
2 Massacre Wurm
3 Necroplasm
2 Nihilith
1 Sheoldred, the Whispering One
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Bonehoard
2 Lashwrithe
Spells
1 Black Sun's Zenith
4 Massacre
2 Mutilate
3 Phyrexian Arena
2 Snuff Out
2 Sudden Spoiling
24 Swamp
Pretty straight forward - blow the world up over and over again and revel in the carnage. Thanks to the format, Massacre is guaranteed to be free, and any creature with a Bonehoard on it will wreck face. Hunted Horror can come down early and is big enough to shrug off the early sweepers while his tokens don't.
Weaknesses - Not surprisingly, enchantments and artifacts give me fits. The deck did well, but I ended up losing to a Isochron Scepter with Tangle on it. Not good times Some more tweaking to be done, for sure.
3 Adamaro, First to Desire
3 Ash Zealot
3 Bazaar Trader
1 Conquering Manticore
2 Greater Gargadon
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Kessig Malcontents
2 Magmaw
4 Zealous Conscripts
4 Conjuror's Closet
Spells
2 Goblin Bombardment
2 Grab the Reins
1 Incendiary Command
2 Insurrection
23 Mountains
Ok, first of all, I hate building Red decks; I'm not a fan of the color, so I try my best to do unusual things with it. This deck is a lot of fun though, and probably my favorite of the set I ran tonight. Blinking Zealous Conscripts to steal an enchantment and saccing it to Magmaw feels good in kind of a primal way. I think I questioned Cz's inclusion of Magmaw in a theft list once - I apologize now, it's awesome.
Weakness - the deck absolutely depends on having Conjuror's Closet in play to go the distance, and that can be a pretty big Achilles' Heel. I may need to add some dig spells in to add consistency.
2 Acidic Slime
2 Avenger of Zendikar
3 Dauntless Dourbark
4 Dungrove Elder
2 Eternal Witness
2 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Primeval Titan
1 Rampaging Baloth
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Scute Mob
1 Thragtusk
4 Yavimaya Elder
2 Gaea's Touch
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Primal Command
Land
24 Forest
On the other hand, Green is my favorite color to build, and my other Green deck (a Lurking Predators build) has been very successful. But I wanted something new, and it's been bugging me that I haven't had a chance to use my Scute Mob in any deck so far. Frankly, the deck was amazing. I had such an explosive start that the Blue player had to Sunder to slow me down. A timely Gaea's Touch draw made that not very painful.
Weaknesses - Honestly, not many. It's just a solid deck. I'll keep doing some tweaking, but I'm pretty satisfied.
2 Captain of the Watch
3 Catapult Master
1 Commander Eesha
1 Daru Warchief
4 Elite Inquisitor
2 Gideon's Avenger
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Knight-Captain of Eos
3 Odric, Master Tactician
2 Precinct Captain
2 Lightning Greaves
2 Skullclamp
Spells
1 Austere Command
2 Decree of Justice
1 Elspeth Tirel
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Kor Haven
19 Plains
Again, pretty straight forward. This is a more control-oriented version of Soldiers than most, but it seems to work ok. I probably need to pick up a few more copies of Daru Warchief - that card is a house.
4 Argent Sphinx
2 Chisei, Heart of Oceans
2 Chronozoa
2 Clone
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Conundrum Sphinx
4 Rishadan Airship
4 Piracy Charm
4 Preordain
3 Spreading Seas
4 Unstable Mutation
4 Halimar Depths
2 Soldevi Excavation
17 Island
My other blue deck (and most of my decks in general) is kind of a grindy control thing, so I wanted to have fun with an old school aggro deck. This is by far the least polished list - I had about 40 minutes to throw it together, but I think it turned out ok. Needs better quality creatures in there for sure, but Chisei works really well with Unstable Mutation and Mystic Remora. Drake Familiar was another all-star, either dealing with pesky opponent's enchantments or bouncing Mutation back to my hand during the second main phase.
Weaknesses - unlike most blue decks, this one doesn't have many answers, and if you don't have a pump out, the beat down is weak indeed ;P
Anyway, hopefully someone found these decks interesting^^ I know I had fun playing them.
edit: and since I suck at writing - yes, I welcome any and all feedback or questions =)
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
I'll let it slide this time.
...
This.
ONE.
Time.
Anyways, are you looking for feedback on the deck or are you just showcasing them and your format for the world to see? I feel like the Blue deck could use a bit of love and there are some iffy card choices in all of the decks but I mean if you're not playing them again then it's moot.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
=)
And yes, I would welcome any feedback - the Blue deck needs love for sure, and I'll be playing them all again.
The only caveat is that I don't spend much $$$ on my five player decks; I enjoy FFA a lot more, so good cards like Primeval Titan and Consecrated Sphinx, etc tend to be "however many I have left over from my real decks"
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
Snuff Out seems bad and 4 Massacres seems like a bit much. A better spot removal option would be Tendrils of Corruption. Profane Command is never a bad idea either. Alternatively this could be your Oblivion Stone/Nevinyrral's Disk slot.
Nihilith just seems "meh." I'd rather see something Bloodgift Demon or Demonic Rising in the list personally. A singleton No Mercy maybe.
Not sure about the Hunted Horror + Necroplasm combo. HH can be pretty brutal if people "aren't allowed" to field effective answers to it. I could easily see it outright killing some of these decks. It's also a bit weird since the Plasm, while it does kill the tokens, also kill it after a few turns. So yeah, not sure about this one. Alternatives could be persistent threats such as Stinkweed Imp and Reassembling Skeleton and possibly even a revival spell of some sort. Phyrexian Reclamation, Haunted Crossroads, Diabolic Servitude, etc. 1 copy of something seems like it could help.
I prefer Mass Mutiny over Incendiary Command. Marauders and Malcontents both seem very weak to me. Ok, sure, they're good with Closet but nothing else. I'd bump the Trader and Grab the Reins numbers up to 4 and maybe toss another good blocker in there. Taurean Mauler, Obsidian Fireheart, Lord of Shatterskull Pass, etc.
Beyond that there's the issue of draw. If Skullclamp is on the table then this is the deck that A) needs it and B) does legitimately cool things with it. Red's "draw" is just marginal stuff like Faithless Looting after all. You can always roll with something like Illuminated Folio, Jayemdae Tome or Staff of Nin, but eh, slow cards are slow. Still, you probably want to jam something in there.
A 1-of Mobilization seems like it could help. I don't really get the 8 Ally "splash." It just seems unnecessary and rather unexciting. Mother of Runes and Veteran Armorsmith make more sense to me. I really like Cloudgoat Ranger (Kithkin Soldiers) or Conqueror's Pledge as 5 drop "finishers" to curve into your Captains. They get pretty beast once you get some more Warchiefs in here. Field Marshal and Enlistment Officer both seem solid too. I don't really like running cards such as Elite Inquisitor that don't offer you anything other than a body.
If you're looking for solid fliers then Talrand's Invocation and Argent Sphinx aren't bad as generic 4/Xs for 4. You don't need cards like the Drake/Ephemeron that come with conditions and/or drawbacks. I personally love any Clone or Mind Control effect in multiplayer and my decks usually run some number of them. Callous Oppressor is never bad either and Hunted Phantasm isn't a flier but he fits the evasive theme. He, much like, HH, is very strong, especially if you Mutation him. If you're looking for durdly blockers, Ludevic's Test Subject can block all of those early 1/1s and such but has actual value as time goes on. If all else fails you just Wargear it up until it flips. Oh, it has minor synergy with Chisei too. Not massive synergy or anything, but hey, it's not NOTHING. Your current deck has far too many weak Faeries that just won't get there in the end. if you continue to run them I'd imagine that Favorable Winds might be required.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
Snuff Out was definitely weak - I always get excited for "free" cards, but I think it can safely go. Tendrils seems like a fine replacement. And I always love recursion. I had been debating putting Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in there, and he loves some Diabolic Servitude.
The red deck started out as a humans deck, so there's still some garbage floating around in there. Malcontents and Marauders seem like good cuts, and probably Ash Zealot too, even though she was the card that started the deck. More work to be done.
Yeah, I think the allies and Inquisitors can be swept out for Mother of Runes and Armorsmith; that's a good call. Mobilization seems like an excellent plan.
I didn't put Hunted Phantasm in because I didn't want to double up on ideas, but he probably is too good to pass up. The Faeries were all terrible - I was trying to be cute with the Wormfang, but they didn't cut it, at all.
In any case, a lot of solid suggestions. I'll be sure to keep them in mind as I rebuild. Thanks for taking the time =)
My Decks:
Casual MP
:symg::symb:GB Glissa Pod:symg::symb:
:symu::symw::symb:Esper Artifacts:symu::symw::symb:
:symu::symb::xmana:Ninjas!:xmana::symb::symu:
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold