Better Decks by metamorph

Here's an excellent article about building better decks:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=346315

He talks about a lot of things I had swirling around in my head, but it's really good to see these concepts organized and made explicit. I look forward to using what I've learned in future deck designs.

Innistrad Pre-Release

I played Magic all day today at an Innistrad Pre-Release. Got my non-mythic promo (what's up with that?), and cracked my six packs which would dictate how the rest of my day went. First pack had two mythics: Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, and a foil Angelic Overseer! It was downhill from there of course, but I ended up with a pretty good black and white deck featuring the Overseer, a Bloodgift Demon, Mentor of the Meek, a bit of removal, a few pieces of equipment, two Altar's Reaps, and various unremarkable creatures.

I started out 3-0 but then lost my last two to end around 7th place earning three prize packs. I traded the shiny angel for a Birthing Pod which I'll probably try to sell.

A good day. Just feels like tomorrow should be Sunday instead of Monday.

Gems of Innistrad - Part 1

The Innistrad prerelease is this weekend. The online release is October 17, but I wanted to look ahead and start thinking about which cards I'll be most interested in picking up come launch day.

Champion of the Parish

Champion of Human White Weenie. Truly aggressive decks need good one drops and as long as he's got human backup this guy is boss. Which of other aggressive humans can we pair him with? Another one of the best aggressive one drops also happens to be a human, Elite Vanguard. Accorder Paladin and Mirran Crusader also work well. Not to mention the new little humans: Elite Inquisitor and Mentor of the Meek.

Feeling of Dread

I like this little card. Two taps for two mana is good, but the flashback makes up for the loss in card advantage. In a blue white control deck this will buy you a lot of time vs something that is trying to smash your face in before you stabilize. It will likely amount to double Fog. Drawing it late will also be useful to tap down problematic blockers or punch through damage.

Intangible Virtue

What an interesting card! Two mana for +1/+1 and vigilance? Compare to Honor of the Pure (which I like). What's interesting about this card is sure it only boosts tokens, but tokens are exactly what you need to maximize the benefit of the card. This isn't the only card in the set to specifically help tokens either...

Mentor of the Meek

For some odd reason I wasn't immediately impressed with this card. Of course the more I thought about it more I realized the huge potential. First let's get the bad out of the way: He will be a lightning rod. A two toughness creature is a fragile form for your build-around-me card. On the other hand, "it dies to Shock isn't a reason to ignore it. You can imagine on turn four casting any one, two, or three drop with two or less power and cantripping. That's huge. Even if it's Runeclaw Bear (and odds are you'll do better than this) you get Phyrexian Rager without the drawback. Or, how about two one drops on turn four both replacing themselves? Things really get interesting with tokens. Turn a Jade Mage into an Azure Mage except you get a token. Throne of Empires: 2 tap: draw a card (and get a token). Timely Reinforcements for six: gain six life, get three creatures, draw three cards. Thopter Assembly.

Stony Silence

Shuts down the swords.
EDIT: And Birthing Pod O.o

Dream Twist

I like this. It looks like one of the best ways to mill yourself. Fast and efficent with the added bonus of milling this from your library to graveyard lets you mill for more.

Invisible Stalker

Better than Silhana Ledgewalker and that's saying something. Hook him up with Curiosity, Dark favor the swords, Batterskull, etc.

Ludevic's Test Subject // Ludevic's Abomination

First I'll say a two drop 0/3 wall can actually be useful vs those aggro maniacs. Also, this is much better than level up because you can activate the charge at instant speed. Save some mana for some countermagic. Don't need it? Fund your experiment. Is it worth it? Are you serious? This is truly one of the biggest creatures in the history of Magic. And it has trample. Too bad the artist didn't realize how big this thing was supposed to be...

Mirror-Mad Phantasm

This is one of the weirdest cards I've ever seen. At first I didn't realize you can use the ability over and over again in the same turn. 1u: mill yourself for random, but probably very large amount, potentially your entire deck. I want to build a deck around him, but on the other hand he's an extremely fragile creature who costs five and including multiple copies reduces his effectiveness. Birthing Pod up the single copy? This dodges paying the five too so you can start milling immediately. Why? I'm sure somebody will find a reason.

Snapcaster Mage

I smiled when I saw this one. Excellent Magic card. My mind instantly starts whirring with the possibilities. I don't think you're looking to flashback a specific card with this guy, you're just gaining value and options. Some interesting possibilities: Doom Blade, Mind Rot, Ponder, Divination, Smallpox, Day of Judgment, Visions of Beyond.

Altar's Reap

I really like this one. Respond to removal for a 2 mana +1 (+1 card advantage). Or use it when you chump block. Use it to trigger Morbid. Or force death triggers: Solemn Simulacrum, Roc Egg, Doomed Traveler, etc. Combine with gravedigging themes.

Army of the Damned

I love this card but it's too expensive.

Bloodgift Demon

Phyrexian Arena attached to a 5/4 flier for five. That's pretty serious.

Bloodline Keeper // Lord of Lineage

Wow. Kill this guy or lose (eventually). Doesn't require a deck full of vampires to win either. A deck full of control would work quite nicely.

Diregraf Ghoul

I wanted a one drop zombie in this set, but this exceeds expectations. You drop this guy/gal turn one turn and on turn two you'll be swinging Hound of Konda style. The drawback amounts to not being a very good blocker. At least not a first. A "slow" blocker if you will, but summoning sickness makes the drawback irrelevant for attacking. Playing a bit of legacy merfolk I realized how important your one drops are in tribal. You want your lord to come in on turn three (two in legacy) and immediately have an impact.

Endless Ranks of the Dead

Now after you cast your t3 Cemetery Reaper you want to follow up with this. Two zombies in play gets you one, four in play gets you two. Then it gets silly. I think this card suggests zombie control. Zombie Infestation can be used to get the extra body you need which will pay for your loss of cards. You break even on cards, but you have more zombies in play and the more you have the more you get. Multiple copies of this enchant would be a bit hilarious.

Ghoulcaller's Chant

All I see is return two zombies to your hand for one. This allows you to get recur key zombies while providing card advantage. All on the cheap.

Liliana of the Veil

A little card advantage machine. Advantage through you opponent's disadvantage. Combine with other discard to destroy your opponent's hand. Get ahead and force your opponent to sac each creature that hits the battlefield. If you have Liliana in play you're probably happy to have everyone keep discarding because she'll have a better chance to be left alone, her loyalty building over time. We haven't even mentioned ways to abuse the discard which I'm sure won't be hard in a graveyard themed set. For three mana.

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Well there were more interesting cards than I expected. Join me next week (before the Sept. 30 release) when I share the rest of my list. You'll see a terrifying one drop, musings on the werewolf riddle, and some not terrible green removal!

EDIT: see part two here.

Some Good Pauper Cards

Agony Warp Akrasan Squire Armadillo Cloak Aurochs Herd Augury Owl Aven Riftwatcher Ballynock Cohort Basking Rootwalla Benalish Cavalry Blastoderm Blightning Bonesplitter Burst Lightning Cloudpost Corrupt Counterspell Distress Doom Blade Duress Esper Stormblade Flame Slash Foresee Goblin Bushwhacker

Grasp Of Darkness Guardian Of The Guildpact Guardians' Pledge Journey To Nowhere Kor Skyfisher Last Gasp Lightning Bolt Mana Leak Mulldrifter Ninja Of The Deep Hours Nest Invader Okiba-gang Shinobi Oblivion Ring Pestilence Phyrexian Rager Ponder Porcelain Legionnaire Preordain Putrid Leech Qasali Pridemage Rancor Razor Golem Rolling Thunder

Sakura-tribe Elder Sea Gate Oracle Searing Blaze Sign In Blood Spire Golem Squadron Hawk Standard Bearer Staggershock Sylvan Ranger Tangle Golem Terminate Tendrils Of Corruption Terramorphic Expanse Tidehollow Strix Trinket Mage Twisted Abomination Tumble Magnet Unearth Ulamog's Crusher Unmake Vault Skirge Vines Of Vastwood Wild Mongrel Wild Nacatl

An Ode to Rogue

Last week I calculated averages of the top decks in Classic Pauper according to the daily event results. This week I'm going to be looking at those brave souls who not only showed up with something different, but did so and won. All the decks I look at today went 3-1 or better in at least one daily event in the last six weeks.

There were actually a lot of "rogue decks" to look through. Most of them were variations of the top decks. A few were even merges of two different top decks. Some known but out of style decks also showed up: Mystical Teachings, Slivers, Elves, Boros, and white/blue bounce. There was a white/blue aggro deck, a Kiln Fiend/Wee Dragonaut burn deck, and a few blue/red control/burn types.

I selected five of my favorite decks. I have a lot of respect for all the people who brought one of these decks whether I included it in my top five or not (you know who you are). I've taken the liberty of naming these. I've listed them in no particular order.

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Jace's Erasure

LennonMarx - Pauper Daily #2628549 on 07/31/2011 - 4-0

	Main	Sideboard
	2 Azorius Chancery 3 Evolving Wilds 3 Forest 5 Island 3 Lonely Sandbar 2 Plains 1 Secluded Steppe 1 Simic Growth Chamber 2 Terramorphic Expanse 4 Arcane Denial 4 Brainstorm 4 Dawn Charm 4 Ethereal Haze 4 Jace's Erasure 4 Moment's Peace 2 Muddle the Mixture 1 Oona's Grace 4 See Beyond 3 Vision Skeins 4 Words of Wisdom	3 Counterspell 3 Hydroblast 2 Oblivion Ring 3 Relic of Progenitus 4 Rest for the Weary

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Artifact Boros

Check_Raise33 - Pauper Daily #2653733 on 08/08/2011 - 4-0

	Main	Sideboard
	4 Ancient Den 4 Great Furnace 6 Mountain 6 Plains 4 Court Homunculus 4 Glint Hawk 4 Goblin Legionnaire 4 Kor Skyfisher 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Bonesplitter 4 Chain Lightning 4 Incinerate 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Searing Blaze 2 Volcanic Hammer	1 Circle of Protection: Black 2 Crimson Acolyte 2 Dust to Dust 2 Gorilla Shaman 4 Pyroblast 4 Standard Bearer

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Four Color Control

lazzanja - Pauper Daily #2653724 on 08/06/2011 - 4-0

	Main	Sideboard
	1 Azorius Chancery 1 Dimir Aqueduct 2 Evolving Wilds 3 Island 1 Mountain 3 Plains 4 Rupture Spire 3 Swamp 2 Terramorphic Expanse 3 Aven Riftwatcher 3 Blind Hunter 3 Faceless Butcher 4 Mulldrifter 3 Sea Gate Oracle 1 Azorius Signet 1 Dimir Signet 1 Disturbed Burial 2 Evincar's Justice 3 Fieldmist Borderpost 3 Journey to Nowhere 3 Momentary Blink 2 Oblivion Ring 1 Orzhov Signet 4 Terminate 3 Veinfire Borderpost	3 Castigate 1 Echoing Decay 1 Evincar's Justice 3 Faultgrinder 3 Ingot Chewer 3 Mournwhelk 1 Vendetta

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Four Color Creatures

daxerz - Pauper Daily #2586663 on 07/14/2011 - 3-1

	Main	Sideboard
	4 Evolving Wilds 4 Forest 3 Island 2 Khalni Garden 6 Plains 4 Terramorphic Expanse 4 Kor Skyfisher 4 Kozilek's Predator 2 Mulldrifter 4 Nest Invader 4 Sea Gate Oracle 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Suture Priest 3 Foresee 4 Inspired Charge 4 Journey to Nowhere	4 Hindering Touch 4 Swamp 4 Warren Pilferers 1 Whitesun's Passage 2 Yavimaya Wurm

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30 Snow-Covered Swamps!

Tocawe - Pauper Daily #2536975 on 07/14/2011 - 3-1

	Main	Sideboard
	30 Snow-Covered Swamp 4 Drift of the Dead 4 Fog of Gnats 4 Bubbling Muck 4 Consume Spirit 4 Corrupt 4 Drain Life 2 Grasp of Darkness 4 Pestilence	4 Disciple of the Vault 3 Dross Golem 3 Festercreep 1 Grasp of Darkness 4 Nausea

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Building your own deck to win at the kitchen table or in the casual room is one thing, but building a deck that can win at a high level is another. I know daily events aren't the Pro Tour, but these are tournaments with prize packs and entry fees on the line. Congrats to these brewmasters. Note Jace's Erasure was played by multiple people; I just choose the first in my list.

For some players their goal is simple: win. Whether they use a rogue deck or Public Enemy No. 1 is irrelevant. I respect this, but to me, deck building is the most enjoyable part of Magic, and building a tournament level deck is more impressive than winning with an existing one. Not to mention sometimes these rogue decks become not-so-rogue and win consistently at the top tables. Somebody put together each tier one deck for the first time.

Winning three matches in a Daily Event with your own deck is an accomplishment. Fancy yourself a deck builder? Can one of your creations hang with the big dogs?