Hanni
10-04-2006, 05:51 AM
Well, one of my favorite decks of all time was G/R Fires (of Yavimaya) back during Masques/Invasions t2. While the t2 list of Fires would no longer be viable in Legacy, I'd still like to play a G/R Beats deck that uses fatties instead of weenies. It may not be viable this way, especially because of combo (3cc guys and 4cc guys are obviously slower than 1cc and 2cc guys), but I tried to shore that up with splashing white for Enlightened Tutor and Sterling Grove. This way, the deck can have increased chances of drawing into Fires (now Concordant Crossroads since it's cheaper, I'll explain more reasoning later), Saproling Burst, etc while having the ability to toolbox for things like Pyrostatic Pillar and Rule of Law for the combo matchup (as well as other cards for other matchups). I'm not quite sure how good this deck is for the current format because I haven't done much testing but I really like the deck so I decided to give it a shot. Here's the decklist I came up with:
G/R/w Beats
Lands (21)
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
4 Taiga
4 Savannah
1 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
4 Ancient Tombs
Creatures (14)
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
1 Iwamori of the Open Fist
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Loxodon Hierarch
Spells (25)
4 Rancor
3 Concordant Crossroads
4 Call of the Herd
3 Saproling Burst
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Sterling Grove
1 Pithing Needle
Sideboard (15)
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Seal of Cleansing
3 Burning-Tree Shaman
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Pithing Needle
2 Umezawa's Jitte
(Note that I just threw the sideboard together randomly from some card choices I thought about and is definitely going to get changed when I find out what the deck needs)
The manabase should support the red and white splashes sufficiently while providing plenty of green sources. The Ancient Tombs give increased acceleration into the 3cc, 4cc, and 5cc spells of the deck (allowing for plays like turn 2 Iwamori played off of a BoP or Elves). Gaea's Cradle works well with all of the 1cc mana-producing critters and helps accelerate the higher cc cards. I'm not sure if Gaea's Cradle is necessary.
I think that 7 1cc mana producers is sufficient, ensuring that deck almost always has a turn 1 1cc mana producer drop. I opted to run 7 instead of 8 to fit the lone Gaea's Cradle, though that can always be changed. I opted to go with more BoP because they help round out the 3-color manabase.
I run Call of the Herd over Troll Ascetic simply because it costs 2G instead of 1GG and can be accelerated out turn 2 with Ancient Tombs. It also has flashback, which allows the deck to play turn 2 Call turn 3 Call when the deck has no other plays. I feel that it is a pretty solid 3cc drop for the deck.
I run Ehrnam Djinn for now because I'm not quite sure what would be the best 4cc creature drop in the format. Blastoderm was good but being untargetable means he can't be equipped with Rancor/Jitte and he can be chumped blocked due to no evasion or trample. He's also not a permanent threat which can sometimes be a problem. I run a 3/1 split of him and Iwamori because Iwamori is Legendary, though Iwamori is strictly superior (maybe I should do a 2/2 split?).
Flametongue Kavu is pretty solid, he acts as a 2-for-1, killing nearly all of the creatures in the format and providing a solid 5 turn clock. He gets pretty good with a Rancor on.
Saproling Burst is the kill card of the deck, creating 3 4/4 tokens for 5 mana. The tokens can sit around and block the turn they come into play if the deck is being aggressed by fast aggro but they are much better with a Concordant Crossroads in play, swinging for 12 damage for 5 mana (and 9 damage on the following turn). Saproling Burst is a pretty good card but it's not as amazing without Concordant Crossroads. I'm not sure if the deck should run 4 of these instead of 3, but it can often be dead in the opening hand when the deck can't access 5 mana (though the ability to access 4 mana is almost certain). It also requires Concordant Crossroads to be sick nasty, which can be situational.
Rancor gives my big fatties trample (and +2/0) so they can swing through chump blockers and finish my opponent off much faster. They also turn the 1cc mana producers into solid aggressors when necessary. It's difficult to remove Rancor, which is pretty awesome in my book.
Concordant Crossroads gives all my fatties haste, increasing the clock of the deck signifcantly. I only run 2 because more than 1 gives no additional effect, while giving all creatures haste can sometimes be a bad thing. The deck packs tutors for it, so accessing one shouldn't be a problem. I choose to run this over Fires because it costs 1cc as opposed to 3cc (and doesn't require Red), meaning the deck can still pump out fatties without losing an entire turn to play a card that does nothing on its own. I'm not sure if the deck should run more or less of these, or maybe even 1 Fires as tech. I'm kinda leaning on wanting more though because the fact that they give my creatures haste means that I can essentially drop 1cc mana produces for free (so that I can still play fatties on that turn and then even more on the following turn) and Saproling Burst just isn't as awesome without it.
Lightning Bolt provides cheap effecient spot removal for chump blockers (and answers 1st turn Lackey) and can fling to the dome to deal the final points of damage to the opponent if necessary.
Englightened Tutor and Sterling Grove give the deck increased chances to draw into Saproling Burst or Concordant Crossroads as well as allowing the deck to run toolbox cards in the maindeck and sideboard. Sterling Grove also gives the benefit of protecting my enchantments.
I play Pyrostatic Pillar as a 1-of to toolbox for because it is rather amazing against most of the decks in the format. It answers combo nicely, putting them on a very short clock if I manage to swing with a fattie once or twice (or can do it all on its lonesome sometimes).
I also run Rule of Law, which greatly helps the combo matchup by giving the deck increased chances of drawing into combo hate. 2 combo hate cards and 4 tutors should be sufficient maindeck.
Seal of Cleansing is maindecked as a 1-of to answer problematic artifacts/enchantments when necessary and can be tutored for.
Umezawa's Jitte is a great card in most decks but is a dead card in multiples. I'm not quite sure how necessary it is in a deck with fatties but the deck can easily support the cost so I run 1 maindeck to tutor for when necessary (life gain, creature removal).
That's the maindeck, I haven't built a sideboard because I'm not exactly sure what this deck needs. The fact that I can build a tutor board also gives the deck a huge amount of options, so I decided not to tap into them yet until I get some feedback from you guys. I'm still very iffy on some of my card choices, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Does this deck even stand a chance in the format?
G/R/w Beats
Lands (21)
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
4 Taiga
4 Savannah
1 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
4 Ancient Tombs
Creatures (14)
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
1 Iwamori of the Open Fist
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Loxodon Hierarch
Spells (25)
4 Rancor
3 Concordant Crossroads
4 Call of the Herd
3 Saproling Burst
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Sterling Grove
1 Pithing Needle
Sideboard (15)
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Seal of Cleansing
3 Burning-Tree Shaman
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Pithing Needle
2 Umezawa's Jitte
(Note that I just threw the sideboard together randomly from some card choices I thought about and is definitely going to get changed when I find out what the deck needs)
The manabase should support the red and white splashes sufficiently while providing plenty of green sources. The Ancient Tombs give increased acceleration into the 3cc, 4cc, and 5cc spells of the deck (allowing for plays like turn 2 Iwamori played off of a BoP or Elves). Gaea's Cradle works well with all of the 1cc mana-producing critters and helps accelerate the higher cc cards. I'm not sure if Gaea's Cradle is necessary.
I think that 7 1cc mana producers is sufficient, ensuring that deck almost always has a turn 1 1cc mana producer drop. I opted to run 7 instead of 8 to fit the lone Gaea's Cradle, though that can always be changed. I opted to go with more BoP because they help round out the 3-color manabase.
I run Call of the Herd over Troll Ascetic simply because it costs 2G instead of 1GG and can be accelerated out turn 2 with Ancient Tombs. It also has flashback, which allows the deck to play turn 2 Call turn 3 Call when the deck has no other plays. I feel that it is a pretty solid 3cc drop for the deck.
I run Ehrnam Djinn for now because I'm not quite sure what would be the best 4cc creature drop in the format. Blastoderm was good but being untargetable means he can't be equipped with Rancor/Jitte and he can be chumped blocked due to no evasion or trample. He's also not a permanent threat which can sometimes be a problem. I run a 3/1 split of him and Iwamori because Iwamori is Legendary, though Iwamori is strictly superior (maybe I should do a 2/2 split?).
Flametongue Kavu is pretty solid, he acts as a 2-for-1, killing nearly all of the creatures in the format and providing a solid 5 turn clock. He gets pretty good with a Rancor on.
Saproling Burst is the kill card of the deck, creating 3 4/4 tokens for 5 mana. The tokens can sit around and block the turn they come into play if the deck is being aggressed by fast aggro but they are much better with a Concordant Crossroads in play, swinging for 12 damage for 5 mana (and 9 damage on the following turn). Saproling Burst is a pretty good card but it's not as amazing without Concordant Crossroads. I'm not sure if the deck should run 4 of these instead of 3, but it can often be dead in the opening hand when the deck can't access 5 mana (though the ability to access 4 mana is almost certain). It also requires Concordant Crossroads to be sick nasty, which can be situational.
Rancor gives my big fatties trample (and +2/0) so they can swing through chump blockers and finish my opponent off much faster. They also turn the 1cc mana producers into solid aggressors when necessary. It's difficult to remove Rancor, which is pretty awesome in my book.
Concordant Crossroads gives all my fatties haste, increasing the clock of the deck signifcantly. I only run 2 because more than 1 gives no additional effect, while giving all creatures haste can sometimes be a bad thing. The deck packs tutors for it, so accessing one shouldn't be a problem. I choose to run this over Fires because it costs 1cc as opposed to 3cc (and doesn't require Red), meaning the deck can still pump out fatties without losing an entire turn to play a card that does nothing on its own. I'm not sure if the deck should run more or less of these, or maybe even 1 Fires as tech. I'm kinda leaning on wanting more though because the fact that they give my creatures haste means that I can essentially drop 1cc mana produces for free (so that I can still play fatties on that turn and then even more on the following turn) and Saproling Burst just isn't as awesome without it.
Lightning Bolt provides cheap effecient spot removal for chump blockers (and answers 1st turn Lackey) and can fling to the dome to deal the final points of damage to the opponent if necessary.
Englightened Tutor and Sterling Grove give the deck increased chances to draw into Saproling Burst or Concordant Crossroads as well as allowing the deck to run toolbox cards in the maindeck and sideboard. Sterling Grove also gives the benefit of protecting my enchantments.
I play Pyrostatic Pillar as a 1-of to toolbox for because it is rather amazing against most of the decks in the format. It answers combo nicely, putting them on a very short clock if I manage to swing with a fattie once or twice (or can do it all on its lonesome sometimes).
I also run Rule of Law, which greatly helps the combo matchup by giving the deck increased chances of drawing into combo hate. 2 combo hate cards and 4 tutors should be sufficient maindeck.
Seal of Cleansing is maindecked as a 1-of to answer problematic artifacts/enchantments when necessary and can be tutored for.
Umezawa's Jitte is a great card in most decks but is a dead card in multiples. I'm not quite sure how necessary it is in a deck with fatties but the deck can easily support the cost so I run 1 maindeck to tutor for when necessary (life gain, creature removal).
That's the maindeck, I haven't built a sideboard because I'm not exactly sure what this deck needs. The fact that I can build a tutor board also gives the deck a huge amount of options, so I decided not to tap into them yet until I get some feedback from you guys. I'm still very iffy on some of my card choices, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Does this deck even stand a chance in the format?