So I have started to fall in love with Ethereal Armor and one of his best buddies in my opinion is Madcap Skills. Having tried a few things I have settled on a White-Weenie shell splashing Red.
I would like to make this deck as competitive as possible, although I understand it may never be tier 1 in the current meta. I am relatively new to magic, so I am unfamiliar with cards from older sets unless I have played against them. I have piloted delver blue, white weenie, infect, stompy, and elves.
So if anyone has any suggestions, please let me have them.
Discussion: The Knightly Valor's need to go I think, I just wanted something to do in case of a land flood. I'm thinking I'll put in more Curse of the Pierced Heart as multiple of those really can help if the game goes long. I'm thinking apostle's blessing should be in the main-deck as well since any creature with an enchantment on it is a target for removal. Freeing up spots in the sideboard, I think I should add artifact removal to combat Affinity.
Ideas anyone?
The whole idea is to use the enchants explosively. I have frequently had opponents at less then 10 on turn 3.
The only thing that worries me about this build is getting the creatures killed in response to casting the aura. I get that the idea is to outrace the opponent, but there is no shortage of cheap removal spells.
Yeah, I would definitely get rid of Knightly Valor... way too expensive for what it does.
In it's place I would try either: Furor of the Bitten - +2/+2 for 1 is great value, and you should be attacking every turn anyway. Onslaught - This could be very interesting in this deck, in that you play a lot of cheap creatures, so it should let you push a good amount of damage through. Empyrial Armor - Though you won't always get maximum benefit, you do have Squadron Hawk to help refill your hand.
Other thoughts:
- Looks like far too much mana fixing. In particular, the Boros Garrisons can probably go.
- I notice you have 'testing this' for your landfall creatures, but I'm going to bet that they don't make the cut. Also, doomed traveller seems like a bit of an oddball here, given that you won't even want to enchant him until after he dies...
- I don't see a reason to run the white 'removal' enchantments as 1 ofs. Run 3x Journey to Nowhere. Alternatively, if you do change your creature base a bit, you could slant towards humans and run Bonds of Faith. It doubles as pump / removal.
- You need some way to protect a heavily enchanted creature, especially since Madcap Skills doesn't give your creature a bigger butt. GW decks rely on hexproof... Apostle's Blessing could do the trick here.
- An outside/random card to test would be Crusher Zendikon. Assuming you have 4 mana, he comes down as a 4/2 haste + trample. (I'm probably reaching here...)
^^^^
EDIT: Furor of the Bitten looks like solid value. Onslaught is going to be solid in matchups where they try to stop you with blockers, less so against removal or in races.
I'd been waiting to see if anybody would find a home for Madcap Skills, which is a patently insane card. I'm not totally sure this is it, though, due to the whole "spot removal" thing. They don't even have to respond to your buff, they just have to Doom Blade you and it's a 2-for-1.
I also think your card selection is kind of scattered - Knightly Valor costs 5, which is pretty well after the game is over, by most accounts. You're also 4:18 on Bouncelands:Lands, which seems extremely clunky.
I do like the Landfall guys, though, I think that's very much the right direction for the deck - Landfall tends to mean fetchlands, and fetchlands fix your colors neatly. More of that and less of Boros Garrison.
Maybe lean into more of a First Strike theme? You can earn back those extra cards by making sure there's no way for your opponent to profitably block the Skills. Porcelain Legionnaire could get out of hand pretty nicely...
Protection from Color is appealing, but if you gain Protection from Red, your Madcap Skills will fall off...
Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
If you're going the landfall route, Adventuring Gear is more up your alley. It also doesn't allow 2-for-1s if they have removal in response. The only reason the enchantments are good in GW is because the hexproof guys mitigate most of the 2-for-1s in major archetype decks other than Black control decks
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Let's say you're not a terrible player and don't walk into instant speed removal. Considering that both Cloudpost and MBC tap out quite a bit, this shouldn't be too hard. You play Madcap Skills on your Plated Geopede and swing in. The next turn, your opponent untaps and Flame Slashes it. Madcap Skills did 3 damage, possibly more if it made your dude unblockable, and your guy was going to die to removal any way. Did you still get 2-for-1'd?
I know from experience it's frustrating to be constantly avoiding fun things that invite 2-for-1s, but if you hit once with Madcap Skills before losing your dude to a Flame Slash, then what you did was cast a Searing Spear at :symur:Post's face.
That would be good enough if it killed him, or if you were packing so much damage that you could operate like a Burn deck and kill him before he can stabilize. I'm not even sure an actual Burn deck can reliably tear :symur:Post down before they stabilize.
EDIT: In order to provide you with that link, I would have to acknowledge that Mike Flores wrote anything after Who's the Beatdown, and that would be depressing Also, that advice really only works if you're a frontloading aggro/burn deck, in which case you're still under the burden of beating them before they can stabilize. Post, Delver, and Affinity will all make that a lot of work, Stompy a bit less so; the longer I think about this, the more I want to go buy the cards and set it up.
VVVV
Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
The Philosophy of Fire(link needed please!) says that your cards should be worth 3 damage each, ideally killing opponents in 4-5 turns assuming no other actions. If your Madcap Skills let a 3/3 Geopede swing through where they would have otherwise died, then it was worth the 2-for-1. You're still on par with the 3 damage standard for a burn deck. Whether a Searing Spear or Incinerate that can't remove creatures is worth it is up to you. It definitely has bonuses, like letting your "vanilla" landfall guys swing through for a ton of damage in early turns before opponents can set up a defense.
It's worth noting though that Moments Peace and Snap are VERY prevalent right now.
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I'm not even sure an actual Burn deck can reliably tear :symur:Post down before they stabilize.
I still rock burn in the two mans once in a while due to how strong it is against everything but post. I've won one game against post. Tried the curse, tried kiln fiend, tried Gathan Raiders as a top of the curve beater that can't be flame slashed, obviously tried land destruction... post is a horrible match up.
op; Kor Skyfisher can do a lot for you by picking up lands to enable landfall, picking up loyal cathar after he's been zombied, picking up pacifism, o ring, or journey for a bigger threat, and giving you something that starts with 3 toughness and flying to put ethereal armor on and lets you pick the armor up off something else if need be.
Also, as LordSaturn somewhat said, you have to run 4 Terramorphic Expanse and 4 Evolving Wilds to enable the landfall guys. I've got a boros landfall deck that can be super explosive but I never gave it too much work because it's just not my speed of deck.
As per suggestions, here is my updated list. I have cut back on the dual lands(although boros garrison can help enable a landfall trigger), and I added evolving wilds and a couple more basic lands in its place. I ditched the knightly valor adding furor of the bitten and kor skyfisher. I also main decked apostle's blessing.
As per suggestions, here is my updated list. I have cut back on the dual lands(although boros garrison can help enable a landfall trigger), and I added evolving wilds and a couple more basic lands in its place. I ditched the knightly valor adding furor of the bitten and kor skyfisher. I also main decked apostle's blessing.
If you want a late-game card, how about Totem-Guide Hartbeest? It's a much slower card than your other ones, but it essentially comes as a 5/5 that takes 2 creatures to block it, or grabs you removal assuming you put something like Temporal Isolation in your deck. Auramancercould also give you more late game card advantage.
You could try finding another sort of removal spell in galvanic arc. Admittedly, as an aura itself, it's lacking. But the enters the battlefield effect can be pretty rough.
Early tests have been promising - it's very fast, and very explosive. You have an obnoxious amount of removal to use, all of which can contribute to your damage in one way or another, and a Madcapped Steppe Lynx is very expensive to stop.
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
Guildgates, really? Not sure if I'd swap them for more fetchlands or more basics, but that seems like a really odd choice in a fast deck with a billion landfall cards.
That turns out to be true, lol. This and the Suicide Black lists are my weekend projects.
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
I'm going to need 15 Shadowborn Apostle to fill out my sideboards from now on. I should get foil ones! I can't wait to see someone try to build a deck that tinkers six 1/1s into Lady Orca...
Notes:
The taplands are annoying, but not too much so - most of our good stuff is at the 2-drop anyway.
Big difference between this and the Standard version - it's really, really hard to get a full-power Searing Blaze even remotely on-curve.
The buff package works okay. I would probably pull the Madcap Skills against an opponent relying on spot removal rather than chump blockers, but Ethereal Armor usually feels worth-it. I'm tempted to try Hyena Umbra, but you see a lot of sac- and toughness-based removal anymore.
I could be getting more out of my land-fetching. At the very least, some of the common effect-lands to maximize my Expedition Map and Kor Skyfisher.
Next weekend I might try a Naya version - Wild Nacatl would probably like all this land-searching, and Rancor would probably be fine.
Now to take a long hard stare at the list of commons...
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
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I would like to make this deck as competitive as possible, although I understand it may never be tier 1 in the current meta. I am relatively new to magic, so I am unfamiliar with cards from older sets unless I have played against them. I have piloted delver blue, white weenie, infect, stompy, and elves.
So if anyone has any suggestions, please let me have them.
Boros Enchant - 24 Creatures - 18 lands
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Steppe Lyn - Testing this
4 Suture Priest
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Loyal Cathar
4 Plated Geopede - Testing this
Enchants
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Madcap Skills
4 Knightly Valor
2 Lifelink
1 Curse of the Pierced Heart
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Pacifism
4 Boros Garrison
4 Boros Guildgate
2 Mountain
6 Plains
2 Terramorphic E panse
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Journey to Nowhere
2 Apostle's Blessing
1 Pacifism
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Act of Treason
2 Volcanic Strength
4 Wojek Halberdiers
Discussion: The Knightly Valor's need to go I think, I just wanted something to do in case of a land flood. I'm thinking I'll put in more Curse of the Pierced Heart as multiple of those really can help if the game goes long. I'm thinking apostle's blessing should be in the main-deck as well since any creature with an enchantment on it is a target for removal. Freeing up spots in the sideboard, I think I should add artifact removal to combat Affinity.
Ideas anyone?
The whole idea is to use the enchants explosively. I have frequently had opponents at less then 10 on turn 3.
What about something like Stave Off, Apostle's Blessing or Shelter? Also, since you're running Mountains, I'd recommend Lightning Bolt.
I don't always post about Rafiq of the Many, but when I do, I cardlink to the original artwork, and not the supplementary product version.
"I trust myself to do my duty, even unto death. It's what comes after that I'm afraid of."
"Just fight without fear. Your soul is protected by the hand of Avacyn and will never submit to evil."
In it's place I would try either:
Furor of the Bitten - +2/+2 for 1 is great value, and you should be attacking every turn anyway.
Onslaught - This could be very interesting in this deck, in that you play a lot of cheap creatures, so it should let you push a good amount of damage through.
Empyrial Armor - Though you won't always get maximum benefit, you do have Squadron Hawk to help refill your hand.
Other thoughts:
- Looks like far too much mana fixing. In particular, the Boros Garrisons can probably go.
- I notice you have 'testing this' for your landfall creatures, but I'm going to bet that they don't make the cut. Also, doomed traveller seems like a bit of an oddball here, given that you won't even want to enchant him until after he dies...
- I don't see a reason to run the white 'removal' enchantments as 1 ofs. Run 3x Journey to Nowhere. Alternatively, if you do change your creature base a bit, you could slant towards humans and run Bonds of Faith. It doubles as pump / removal.
- You need some way to protect a heavily enchanted creature, especially since Madcap Skills doesn't give your creature a bigger butt. GW decks rely on hexproof... Apostle's Blessing could do the trick here.
- An outside/random card to test would be Crusher Zendikon. Assuming you have 4 mana, he comes down as a 4/2 haste + trample. (I'm probably reaching here...)
EDIT: Furor of the Bitten looks like solid value. Onslaught is going to be solid in matchups where they try to stop you with blockers, less so against removal or in races.
I'd been waiting to see if anybody would find a home for Madcap Skills, which is a patently insane card. I'm not totally sure this is it, though, due to the whole "spot removal" thing. They don't even have to respond to your buff, they just have to Doom Blade you and it's a 2-for-1.
I also think your card selection is kind of scattered - Knightly Valor costs 5, which is pretty well after the game is over, by most accounts. You're also 4:18 on Bouncelands:Lands, which seems extremely clunky.
I do like the Landfall guys, though, I think that's very much the right direction for the deck - Landfall tends to mean fetchlands, and fetchlands fix your colors neatly. More of that and less of Boros Garrison.
Maybe lean into more of a First Strike theme? You can earn back those extra cards by making sure there's no way for your opponent to profitably block the Skills. Porcelain Legionnaire could get out of hand pretty nicely...
Protection from Color is appealing, but if you gain Protection from Red, your Madcap Skills will fall off...
Fires :symr:f Salvation
Let's say you're not a terrible player and don't walk into instant speed removal. Considering that both Cloudpost and MBC tap out quite a bit, this shouldn't be too hard. You play Madcap Skills on your Plated Geopede and swing in. The next turn, your opponent untaps and Flame Slashes it. Madcap Skills did 3 damage, possibly more if it made your dude unblockable, and your guy was going to die to removal any way. Did you still get 2-for-1'd?
Just a question.
I know from experience it's frustrating to be constantly avoiding fun things that invite 2-for-1s, but if you hit once with Madcap Skills before losing your dude to a Flame Slash, then what you did was cast a Searing Spear at :symur:Post's face.
That would be good enough if it killed him, or if you were packing so much damage that you could operate like a Burn deck and kill him before he can stabilize. I'm not even sure an actual Burn deck can reliably tear :symur:Post down before they stabilize.
I do like the idea of using Madcap Skills for some surprise evasion in a landfall deck. Maybe add Zektar Shrine Expedition and Searing Blaze and Kor Skyfisher and just really go nuts with it?
EDIT: In order to provide you with that link, I would have to acknowledge that Mike Flores wrote anything after Who's the Beatdown, and that would be depressing Also, that advice really only works if you're a frontloading aggro/burn deck, in which case you're still under the burden of beating them before they can stabilize. Post, Delver, and Affinity will all make that a lot of work, Stompy a bit less so; the longer I think about this, the more I want to go buy the cards and set it up.
VVVV
It's worth noting though that Moments Peace and Snap are VERY prevalent right now.
Fires :symr:f Salvation
I still rock burn in the two mans once in a while due to how strong it is against everything but post. I've won one game against post. Tried the curse, tried kiln fiend, tried Gathan Raiders as a top of the curve beater that can't be flame slashed, obviously tried land destruction... post is a horrible match up.
op;
Kor Skyfisher can do a lot for you by picking up lands to enable landfall, picking up loyal cathar after he's been zombied, picking up pacifism, o ring, or journey for a bigger threat, and giving you something that starts with 3 toughness and flying to put ethereal armor on and lets you pick the armor up off something else if need be.
Also, as LordSaturn somewhat said, you have to run 4 Terramorphic Expanse and 4 Evolving Wilds to enable the landfall guys. I've got a boros landfall deck that can be super explosive but I never gave it too much work because it's just not my speed of deck.
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Steppe Lynx - Testing this
4 Suture Priest
2 Doomed Traveler
4 Loyal Cathar
3 Plated Geopede - Testing this
4 Kor Skyfisher
Enchants
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Madcap Skills
3 Curse of the Pierced Heart
2 Furor of the Bitten
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Apostle's Blessing
Land
2 Boros Garrison
2 Boros Guildgate
3 Mountain
7 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Journey to Nowhere
2 Apostle's Blessing
1 Pacifism
2 Lifelink
2 Act of Treason
2 Volcanic Strength
4 Smelt
There is NO reason that there shouldn't be 4 Lightning Bolt in this deck.
Squee's embrace is an enchantment I always liked as well.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Adventuring Gear
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Ethereal Armor
3 Madcap Skills
4 Zektar Shrine Expedition
3 Journey to Nowhere
Burn
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
5 Mountains
5 Plains
3 Boros Guildgate
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Boros Garrison
Early tests have been promising - it's very fast, and very explosive. You have an obnoxious amount of removal to use, all of which can contribute to your damage in one way or another, and a Madcapped Steppe Lynx is very expensive to stop.
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Squadron Hawk
2 Zektar Shrine Expedition
Buffs
4 Ethereal Armor
3 Madcap Skills
3 Adventuring Gear
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Searing Blaze
3 Temporal Isolation
Tutors
4 Expedition Map
Land
2 Boros Garrison
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Mountain
5 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Pyroblast
4 Relic of Progenitus
7 Shadowborn Apostle
Notes:
Now to take a long hard stare at the list of commons...