[ budget ] GW beats

[emanvillarreal]

pretty simple. trying to make a cheap GW aggro deck. lots of 2 mana drop decent creatures and some pump and removal for utility.


creatures 24

4 bant sureblade
4 naya hushblade
4 qasali pridemage
4 steward of valeron
4 watchwolf
4 knight of new alara

spells 12

4 swords to plowshares ( easily the most expensive card in the deck lol )
4 oblivion ring
4 behemoth sledge

lands 20

4 elfhame palace
4 brushland
6 forest
6 plains

4 open spots. could probably use a 1 drop or something to help me against removal.

i dont really need any accelerators in the deck. i was considering trying to find some mother of runes for the last spot. i think they run for around 4 dollars a piece in my area. other thing i've thought about is maybe another pump like rancor or ghetto like griffin guide

any help or ideas would be appreciated

[conboy31]

What decks to you think you will play against? If it is all aggro and you want to stay on a budget, something like 4 paths and 4 swords could fit well.

[emanvillarreal]

a lot of random decks honestly with different win conditions so i'm scared of putting too much creature hate because i will most likely run into a random control deck that doesn't need a creature to be it's win condition

[emanvillarreal]

this is also going to sound goofy but the budget is pretty much around 30 dollars. I know im cheap and in college lol. I'm considering of going with mother of runes which is the same price as swords and just using something cheap in swords place like a journey to nowhere.

any suggestions on any better creatures?

[TheSleeper]

I think you need some 1-drop creatures. How heavily do you want to invest in the Knight of the New Alara theme? If multi-coloured isn't important, Mother of Runes & Loam Lion are both solid. Having said that I think Swords to Plowshares, while expensive for your budget, is a solid investment.

Otherwise if you want to stay on theme, I'd look at adding a hybrid-colour 1-drop creature, so when you drop a 'blade' creature on turn 2, its already activated. Rhy the Redeemed would be ok, but its a little pricey, so perhaps consider Seacradle Witch.

I also don't like Elfhame Palace in this deck. You have to be as speedy as possible before your creatures get outclassed, you can't afford to time walk yourself in the early game. Razorverge Thicket can be found for $2 and would suit much better IMO.

[emanvillarreal]

sleeper the knight really doesn't matter at all to me. i'm just looking for something cheap that could be decent so no real loyalty to it.

i really like that land though it's only 2 dollars : D.

i'll have to check out some more one drops to speed the deck up. do you think i'll be able to run loam lion with just 8 forest?

[lebarion]

I'd add Wilt-leaf Cavaliers somewhere. He's THAT good against aggro.
Safehold Elite is probably better than the blades and than the Steward of Valeron.
I think Knight of new Alara is danger of cool things... I've tried a similar deck once, with Wilt-leaf Liege, but having the Liege removed when attacking is awful. I believe Knight of New Alara will suffer from the same problem.
Mother of Runes is the best one-drop for sure, but if you really must stay on budget, Loam Lion is solid. If you want to keep the multicolor theme, Elvish Hexhunter adds versatility.

[emanvillarreal]

ya so came up with a little bit different deck list this time.

Kind of threw out the whole multicolor theme going on because I was afraid it was too slow and could be disrupted easily.

Tried to speed it up with some more one drops.


white green tempo

creatures 25

4 loam lion
4 mother of runes
4 weathered wayfarer
3 jotun grunt
4 watchwolf
4 qasali pridemage
2 gaddock teeg


spells 15

4 swords to plowshares
4 oblivion ring
4 rancor
3 behemoth sledge

lands 20


pretty rough list so far.I'm thinking about picking up some weathered wayfarers. Not sure if they really belong in this deck or If I tried out something like cataclysm or armageddon it would be worth it.

Thanks again for the input.

[forsmark]

I made a similar deck once for playing casual with some friends. I ran armadillo cloak and shield of the oversoul. I'll try get the list.

[emanvillarreal]

I'm thinking about just getting rid of the weathered wayfarers and replacing them with wilt-leaf cavaliers so I can have something at the 3 drop.

Also considering adding 2 mask of memory so I can have some sort of card drawing.

[lebarion]

I'm thinking about just getting rid of the weathered wayfarers and replacing them with wilt-leaf cavaliers so I can have something at the 3 drop.

Also considering adding 2 mask of memory so I can have some sort of card drawing.

I don't like the Wayfarers, at least not as a 4-of. They are too controlish for this kind of deck, and you don't have fetches/wastelands to abuse him.
I don't like Mask of Memory much,but couldn't find another good card-selection/card-advantage tool on a budget... Mirri's Guile is the cheapest among the "good" ones, I guess.
3 Jotun grunt is probably too much, I'd use 2.

Another cards you could consider are Isamaru, Hound of Konda (as a 2-of, maybe) and Kitchen Finks (if you CMC3 slots are not flooded).

[emanvillarreal]

ya i just thought of isamaru before i read you post actually.

somehow kitchen finks are a 5 dollar uncommon around where i'm at and pretty much on starcity as well : /. I'll probably just stick with wilt-leaf cavaliers as my 3 drop for now.

so far this is what i'm looking at

creatures 24

4 loam lion
2 isamaru, hound of konda
4 mother of runes
4 watchwolf
4 qasali pridemage
2 jotun grunt
4 wilt-leaf cavaliers

creature pump 8

2 mask of memory
2 behemoth sledge
4 rancor

removal 8

4 swords to plowshares
4 oblivion ring

lands 20

i'm liking this set up a lot more then what i originally had going with the blades and the multicolor. do you think i may need some sort of board wipe though? i was considering maybe 2 parallax wave but idk if i even have the room for it anymore.

might see if i can find some kitchen finks or trade for them from someone. rancor plus kitchen finks sounds like fun lol

again thanks for all the help guys. this deck is looking a lot better ; D

[daugarten]

I made a Tribal Cat deck for near $30 that plays really well in casual formats. Maybe it'll give you some ideas, maybe not :)

4x Loam Lion
4x Wild Nacatl
4x Steppe Lynx
4x Qasali Pridemage
4x Qasali Ambusher
2x Fleetfoot Panther

3x Harrow
3x Harmonize

3x Armadillo Cloak
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Shared Triumph

8x Plains
7x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Terramorphic Expanse
4x Windswept Heath

Obviously, the Windswept Heath's are budget breakers, but I just printed some proxies to play with my friends! Even without them, you can add a couple more Terramorphic Expanses, an extra Forest and Plains, and it still functions pretty nicely.

[emanvillarreal]

how useful was the qasali ambusher and fleetfoot panther for you?

[daugarten]

I absolutely love Qasali Ambusher for this deck, and it's an absolute pain in the arse to play against. If the legacy card pool didn't have so many amazing green and white creatures already this guy would definitely get more recognition, it deserves more. The aggro boost is beautiful, the surprise is always beautiful, the reach aids my deck at the least, and like the other cats its defense is quite useful. In this particular deck, since Wild Nacatl isn't being utilized to its full potential most games, the Ambusher is far more valuable. Even if you don't want to use him to block, you'll still end up with an intimidating force on your next turn. Also remember with the simple pumps from Shared Triumph he grows as big as Goyf fairly easily, at instant speed for free with reach! *joy* I can't have enough of these guys...


The Fleetfoot Panther isn't the most amazing. He's difficult to cast being 3cc, meaning he slows down your other great plays like O-Ring or Armadillo Cloak if you're trying to save him for a good time. I really only like to draw him after Turn 4 or 5. However, he really shines when you can surprise your opponent with an Ambusher, Panther (bouncing Ambusher), recasting Ambusher, for the block. Two scary cats on top of your other fast ones. Not to mention saving one or more of your creatures from spot removal.

Anyways, if you have any interest in the cats, give them a shot. They're really quite fun since the deck is pretty well balanced for most anything. The reaction from your opponents seeing a free, flashy, reachy cat jump out of nowhere is a rare gift :)

All-in-all, the Qasali cats are the deck MVPs, only occasionally challenged by Steppe Lynx, a well-timed Oblivion Ring, or life-saving Armadillo Cloak.