Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

[jlagrav]

OK so first of all, this will never be a tier 1 deck, just something for fun. A long time ago I built a really bad bird deck because I thought Soulcatchers' Aerie was the greatest thing ever. Now I want to make it somewhat good. Here's my list so far:


Creatures (20)
4 Soulcatcher
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Welkin Hawk
4 Aven Mimeomancer
4 Augury Owl

Spells (20)
4 Soulcatchers' Aerie
4 Aether Vial
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

Lands (20)
4 Tundra
5 Plains
3 Islands
8 fetches



Brainstorm, Ponder, Augury Owl, and Enlightened Tutor are to fine Soulcatchers' Aerie more reliably and to a lesser extent Aether Vial.

Welkin Hawk and Squadron Hawk are there so i can flood the board with as many birds as possible so i can chump block with them and get counters on soulcatchers' aerie.

Soulcatcher is like soulcatchers' aerie number 5-8 except it only works on itself.

Aven Mimeomancer is awesome. It can give your birds +2/+0 or turn opposing goyfs or tombstalkers or even emrakul into little 3/1 flyers (sadly they get to keep there other abilities so tiny emrakul still has ahnialator 6)

I want to add adaptave automation but I don't know what to cut for it.

Thoughts?

[bruizar]

This deck looks like a lot of fun. I'd replace Ponder or Soulcatcher.

[AngryTroll]

This looks like a perfect deck for Pride of the Clouds. Not only does it make birds, but it gets big because all of your creatures have flying. It also gives you a second late game card (Squadron Hawk is your other lots of mana play). The deck looks like fun!

Equipment is always possible...but how do those tiny birds hold such huge swords in their beaks?

[Fuzzy]

You should run Kangee, Aerie Keeper

[jlagrav]

Thanks for the input!

Yea I think ponder will be then one to go for automation.

Pride of the clouds looks like it could be a good early beater, to bad its not a bird lol. I think its focast ability is really slow tho. It could be useful in control matchups.

I looked and Kanee and decided against it because it is just sooooooooo expensive. You need to pay 7 just to get +1/+1. One thing I just realized tho, is that it says feather counters, so would the counters from aven mimeomancer count?

[jlagrav]

Oh man, I just realized I forgot about Seasde Haven that should be a 4 of in this deck

[Pneumatiker]

You should definatly play Seaside Haven as you can chumplock and draw with it and in combination with Welkin Hawk it looks really good. Soulcatcher looks very slow. I think he's the first choice to cut for Adaptive Automaton.

[kusumoto]

Perilous Research could be good here.
Puts a bird in the graveyard and nets you some card advantage too.

Doesn't look like there is currently much of a way to capitalize on the bird death stuff.

[jlagrav]

Doesn't look like there is currently much of a way to capitalize on the bird death stuff.

Nope, just Soulcathers' Aeire. But that's pretty damn good.

What do you guys think about adding a Mistveil Plains or 2. Since its a plains you can fetch it and it means unlimited Welkin Hawks lol.

[kusumoto]

I think you missunderstood me there.

You have three different cards totaling in 12 slots that benefit from birds going to your graveyard.

The thing is, that isn't going to happen much. They will rarely see combat, since little in Legacy flies.

The idea with Perilous Research would be to force the issue. Kill a bird and pump the others/draw cards.

I think the Aerie is going to look pretty bland when birds aren't dying.

[jlagrav]

ah I see my bad, perilous research is defentaly good to put birds in the graveyard.

My thinking is that since a lot of decks attack with creatures to win, using the birds as chump blockers both stalls a little and triggers Aerie

[Nameless Two]

Why not run Suntail Hawk? It's not very impressive, but it'll increase your early game-bird count.

[obituary 95]

no aven Aven Mindcensor

[cosme]

I looked and Kanee and decided against it because it is just sooooooooo expensive. You need to pay 7 just to get +1/+1. One thing I just realized tho, is that it says feather counters, so would the counters from aven mimeomancer count?

they do but it is still too slow and it's probably the worst use of the mimeomancer

on another note where is the removal? swords/path should go in

and you have to add green for zoodiac rooster it's a freaking plainswalker!!

[jlagrav]

Suntail Hawk is kinda just blah. Its cheep but that's all it has going for it.

Aven Mindcensor is useful but I don't know what I would cut for it, same goes for swords/path. I need to do some more testing, but I think I'm going to drop soulcatcher and ponder for adaptive automation and some combination of swords, mindcensor and perilous research.

[bruizar]

they do but it is still too slow and it's probably the worst use of the mimeomancer

on another note where is the removal? swords/path should go in

and you have to add green for zoodiac rooster it's a freaking plainswalker!!

I asked this a while ago on #mtgrules and they said that those feather counters are different from other feather counters.

[Grollub]

Battle Screech seems like a natural inclusion, since all your creatures are flying a card like Moat or Magus of the Moat could be pretty strong too.

[Tiago_B.]

Mirror Entity could be a nice finisher, like in most tribals that lack good Lords.

[Firefraise]

there is a "bird" lord, Soraya the Falconer. A banding lord in top of that.

[bruizar]

there is a "bird" lord, Soraya the Falconer. A banding lord in top of that.

Banding is actually pretty useful once you understand how it works.

[jlagrav]

there is a "bird" lord, Soraya the Falconer. A banding lord in top of tM hat.

Awesome! Too bad its legendary. That plus adaptive automation and mirror enity make a bunch of lords!

Magus of the Moat (since I can't afford Moat) I think would be a sideboard card against fish and goblins and other really creature heavy deck.

[jlagrav]

OK so after testing here are some notes...

First, while Seaside Haven is good, it not tapping for color can sometimes really hurt, and having multible is kinda pointless. I'm only putting 2 in instead of 4.

Adaptive Automation is HUGE in this deck, espically since the only other bird lord is a legend. Plus you can search for him with enlightened tutor.

This deck needs some removal, lord of Atlantis just destroys this deck cause it uses islands. I think I am going to drop Augury Owl for swords.

Mistveil Plains when it work is awesome, but that almost never happens, and the fact that it comes into play tapped really hurts.

Still need to test Mirror Enity, Magus of the Moat, and Pride of the Clouds.

[Kinderschreck]

What about Thrummingbirds? You can proliferate your aeries, soulcatcher and everything else which uses counters.

I think the adaptive is not as strong as the mirror enity, since it might push your birds a bit, but the enity let's you win the game.
Moat is just needed in this deck, you can search for it with the tutor, which besides, I think you should drop down to 3.
You often start with an aerie and a tutor but no birds.
Counterback up is needed against mental misstep, would try to put those 4x in this deck so you can counter threads from other aggro decks and other mental missteps trying to counter your vial and/or tutor.

[troopatroop]

Mirror Entity could be a nice finisher, like in most tribals that lack good Lords.

This. Mirror Entity says "I just win". I like the idea, I used to play a bird deck! Soulcatcher's Aerie is sick.

[Holiday]

Sorry to necro this thread. I didn't want to start a new one because the deck I'm working on is similar to this.
For some background, I'm designing this deck to compete in the Tribal Wars format. Tribal Wars uses the legacy banned list (plus a few extra cards like Engineered Plague) and you need to have 20 creatures of one type or cards that could produce creatures of that type (like Bitterblossom). Nobody has made a Birds deck yet so I figured I'd try my hand. I really like the synergy of these cards.

Creatures (27)
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Soulcatcher
4 Pride of the Clouds
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Welkin Hawk
3 Thrummingbird

Spells (11)
4 Soulcatchers' Aerie
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Supreme Verdict

Lands (22)
4 Flooded Strand
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Tundra
4 Plains
4 Island
2 Seaside Haven


Like OP's deck, I want to abuse Soulcatchers' Aerie
I can gain CA by playing cards like Squadron Hawk and Welkin Hawk.
My main kill cards would be Pride of the Clouds and Soulcatcher or any little bird holding a Sword. (Umezewa's Jitte is banned in this format unfortunately).
Judge's Familiar can sac itself to counter a spell and also boost my counters.
Seaside Haven is another sac outlet that works well with Welkin Hawk. I plan on chump blocking with birds when needed to up my counts.
Thrummingbird can add counters on Cloudfin Raptor, Soulcatcher and Aerie.
Supreme Verdict is my "oh shit!" button

I'm considering running a few cards.
Emeria Angel is expensive but if I upped my Fetchland count it could help later in the game.
Upping my Supreme Verdict count can help beat some of the other tribes that can pump out creatures faster than me.
Magus of the Moat (Moat is banned) can shutdown a lot of the other decks in my format unless they have removal.
Soraya the Falconer could be cool if I can figure out how banding works (hahaha).
Aether Vial looks like a good fit in this deck because most of my cards cost (2) but I'm not sure if it would help much as I'm not running counters or mana denial lands in this deck.

Any other suggestions?

[tsabo_tavoc]

Any other suggestions?

Very nice concept!
A strict upgrade to the manabase: -2 Plains, -2 Island, +4 Fetchlands.
4 Brainstorm should be in the list, card quality and good value with Squadron Hawk. I would also fit 4 Stoneforge Mystic and 1 Batterskull somewhere, and substitute a Sword of Fire and Ice by Sword of Light and Shadow (good value with sacrifice effects!).
Thrummingbird is an easycut, and perhaps some Soulcatcher and Soulcatchers' Aerie since Stoneforge acts as a pump spell. I notice the 20-creature type rule strains the list, and wonder does Mutavault count towards the 20?

[Holiday]

The 20 creature rule is always tough when making these decks. I don't think mutavault counts but I'll have to double check. I like your +4 Brainstorm and +4 fetchland idea. Might as well play one of the best cards in Legacy. I'd like to add the Stoneblade package but that's gonna be a tough fit. Time to do some testing.

[FTW]

You guys realize that Brainstorm = Ancestral Recall with Squadron Hawks, right? U: draw 3, put 2 Hawks back. You can also go infini-Hawk with a single fetchable Mistveil Plains. That sounds like a really broken source of card advantage.


//Creatures: 22
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Pride of the Clouds
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Aven Mimeomancer
3 Aven Mindcensor

//Other spells: 17
4 Aether Vial
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

//Lands: 21
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Seaside Haven
1 Mistveil Plains
4 Flooded Strand
2 Arid Mesa
4 Tundra
2 Island
2 Plains

//Rough Sideboard:
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Soulcatcher's Aerie
3 Rest in Peace
3 Force of Will


I don't love Soulcatcher's Aerie maindeck but it seems like an amazing SB plan against Engineered Plague or Sulfur Elemental or Massacre or Dread of Night or Golgari Charm or other splash hate for TNN/Death&Taxes, which is bound to come in against all your X/1s.



EDIT: For Tribal Wars I guess you can't use Thalia, Revoker or SFM. So then I'd probably replace MD SFM with 4 Welkin Hawk. I don't know what the format looks like but it seems like you'd have a pretty solid-running list with tons of sources of card advantage, infinite Hawks and Terns, disruptive elements via Mindcensor and Judge's Familiar and Mimeomancer, CawBlade, and of course Jace.

Squadron Hawk+Brainstorm/Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Cast Squawk putting 3 Hawks in hand. Brainstorm to draw 3, putting back 2 Hawks and fetching to reshuffle. Cast your remaining Hawk to find the other two again. Tada! So many cards!!

Aven Mimeomancer -- either upgrade your 1/1 birds into 3/1s to go beatdown or shrink the opponents' fatties into 3/1s that your birds can kill. either way, win-win.

Mistveil Plains+Squadron Hawk/Welkin Hawk: Recycle your dead birds so there are always more to fetch up. You have infinite birds over the game, letting you chump block forever and resist mass removal effects.

Seaside Haven+Welkin Hawk: chump block something and then put 2 cards in your hand. seems good.

Aven Mindcensor: screws up opponent's fetchlands and tutor tricks. you can potentially Stone Rain them by Vialing/Flashing this in response to them cracking a fetch.

Aether Vial: On the one hand this lets you dodge counterspells. And the creatures are 1-3 mana so this helps you cheat them out. Do you need the mana boost? Absolutely. Consider how many 1W Birds are going to be entering your hand. Plus you need to keep 3 lands open to use Seaside Haven at any time. What if you want to Forecast Pride of the Clouds to create tokens? Or recycle Hawks with Mistveil plains? Or cast and equip Swords? You'll already have plenty of things to do with your mana. Vial will just let you curve out faster.

[[SLAYER]chaos]

This seems like the perfect home for a black splash for cabal therapy.

[tsabo_tavoc]

The 20 creature rule is always tough when making these decks. I don't think mutavault counts but I'll have to double check. I like your +4 Brainstorm and +4 fetchland idea. Might as well play one of the best cards in Legacy. I'd like to add the Stoneblade package but that's gonna be a tough fit. Time to do some testing.

I just noticed Pride of the Clouds, while not being a Bird, can generate Bird tokens and count towards the 20. Splashing black for Baleful Strix helps the CA route. It is also tempting to splash red for Firespout. A sample list:

4 Judge's Familiar
4 Baleful Strix
4 Pride of the Clouds
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Welkin Hawk
1 Augury Owl
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 True-Name Nemesis

4 Aether Vial
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Batterskull

2 Seaside Haven
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Arid Mesa
4 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Scrubland
1 Plains
1 Island

[Holiday]

FTW and Tsabo, nice lists. I'm amazed you managed to find a way to pack all that good stuff in there!

Tsabo, you're right, Pride of the Clouds would count towards my total birds. Leaves me more room to add the SFM package. Maybe cutting the Soulcatcher stuff is the right way to go if I want the deck to be stronger.

FTW, I didn't realize that interaction between Squadron Hawk and Brainstorm, thanks for pointing that out. I'd like to think it would have come to me once I started play testing haha!

I see you both ran 4 aether vials. In the past I have only run those in decks like Goblins, Merfolk, and D&T where I am doing mana denial or holding counters. After reading your comments, FTW, it looks like vial is a no brainer to include in this deck because of the casting cost of the creatures and the amount I'll be getting. I also like the Mistveil Plains idea.

[SpeedOfDark]

lol, probably one of the funkiest decks I've seen in a while :P

I'm not too familiar with these cards, but Favorable Winds could be an ok filler card if you don't have enough cards that pump up your bird army.

[klaus]

Haha - deck looks rather casual than competitive.
Here's my take, employing some proven strategies:

4 Squadron Hawk
2 Aven Mimeomancer
2 Pride of the Clouds
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Baleful Strix

4 Aether Vial
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Spell Pierce
2 STP
2 Moat
4 Brainstorm
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

Lands (20)
2 Tundra
2 Plains
2 Islands
8 fetches
3 Wasteland
2 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland

edit:
Sample SB:
3 RiP
2 STP
2 Clique
2 Fluster Storm
2 Spell Pierce
1 Pithing Needle
1 Cataclysm
2 Zealous Persecution

[Holiday]

I started play testing this deck yesterday. The first thing that struck me was how surprisingly complex and skill intensive it is to play. This is most likely because of all the 1 and 2 CC spells that you need to determine the right turn to cast.

I am still testing Soulcatchers' Aerie over the SFM + Batterskull package. I have cut Soulcatcher for Baleful Strix. With Aether vial Strix is like a kill spell that lets me draw a card and put on a counter on Aerie.

Here are some impressions so far:
Aether Vial is insane. I am doing things like blocking with Welkin Hawk sacking it to Seaside Haven to pump Soulcatcher's Aerie, find another Welkin Hawk, draw a card, and vial in the new hawk at the end of my opponent's turn.

Brainstorm is great with the shuffle effects from my Squadron Hawk, Welkin Hawk, and my 8 fetchlands.


There are some complex decision trees like calculating when it is better to Forecast my second Pride of the Clouds to pump the first or when to just play it. The hard part is you have to Forecast during your upkeep before you can see your draw.

It can be hard to do enough damage to my opponents without an equipment, a Pride of the Clouds (with friends), or a Soulcatcher's Aerie with a couple counters on it. The birds are small on their own and it's impossible to race the other tribal decks.

@Klaus, I would consider running a couple Seaside Haven in your deck. Also, if you are running Cabal Therapy, Welkin Hawk would work really well with it.

@SpeedOfDark I might test that card as it will also pump Pride of the Clouds although Aerie can really get insane late game when you have lost a few creatures. Multiple aeries make it almost favorable for you to lose a creature and my opponent I was testing against was (at times) afraid to attack and let me chump with my little bird.

[klaus]

I started play testing this deck yesterday. The first thing that struck me was how surprisingly complex and skill intensive it is to play. This is most likely because of all the 1 and 2 CC spells that you need to determine the right turn to cast.

I am still testing Soulcatchers' Aerie over the SFM + Batterskull package. I have cut Soulcatcher for Baleful Strix. With Aether vial Strix is like a kill spell that lets me draw a card and put on a counter on Aerie.

Here are some impressions so far:
Aether Vial is insane. I am doing things like blocking with Welkin Hawk sacking it to Seaside Haven to pump Soulcatcher's Aerie, find another Welkin Hawk, draw a card, and vial in the new hawk at the end of my opponent's turn.

Brainstorm is great with the shuffle effects from my Squadron Hawk, Welkin Hawk, and my 8 fetchlands.


There are some complex decision trees like calculating when it is better to Forecast my second Pride of the Clouds to pump the first or when to just play it. The hard part is you have to Forecast during your upkeep before you can see your draw.

It can be hard to do enough damage to my opponents without an equipment, a Pride of the Clouds (with friends), or a Soulcatcher's Aerie with a couple counters on it. The birds are small on their own and it's impossible to race the other tribal decks.

@Klaus, I would consider running a couple Seaside Haven in your deck. Also, if you are running Cabal Therapy, Welkin Hawk would work really well with it.

@SpeedOfDark I might test that card as it will also pump Pride of the Clouds although Aerie can really get insane late game when you have lost a few creatures. Multiple aeries make it almost favorable for you to lose a creature and my opponent I was testing against was (at times) afraid to attack and let me chump with my little bird.

No BigUps for Moat ^_^ ?

[FTW]

No BigUps for Moat ^_^ ?

+1 for bigups
-9999 for bigmonies

also, isn't Moat banned in the Tribal Legacy format? it would be pretty stupid if it wasn't since it singlehandedly invalidates most tribes.

[rufus]

Where are the tribal wars rules posted? If you can play Pride of the Clouds what about Swan Song,Veil of Birds or Beck/Call?

Another silly direction that could be explored is some kind of Stasis/Static Orb with Keeper of the Nine Gales/Derevi, Empyrial Tactician and vigilant birds.


isn't Moat banned

Island Sanctuary,Magus of the Moat and Teferi's Moat are not.