Soldiers!

[Mikeleroi]

Well... I have been trying to build a deck using this tribe for long time, but always appeared the same question "Why would you play this over goblins/merfolks/etc?".

Some months ago, goldfishing a little with the deck I found the key-card:

Kazandu blademaster

Come on: WW for a guy 2/2, first strike, vigilance... and can get aditional +1/+1 counters! So, I had to check if there was another cheap ally... :eek:

Hada freeblade

W, 1/2, and pumps others Hada and Kazandu.

The result:

Soldiers!

4x Deftblade elite
4x Hada freeblade
3x Æther vial
4x Tithe
4x Swords to plownshares

4x Honor of the pure
4x Raise the alarm
4x Catapult squad
2x Kor skyfisher
4x Kazandu blademaster

4x Field marshal

3x Enlistment officer

16x Plains

Explanation of the choices:

StP and Raise the alarm don´t need explanation: instant remove a creature for W and lots of combat tricks :laugh:

Deftblade elite: turn 1 battlefield, turn 2 provokes and kills lackey/confidant/etc... With turn 2 honor of the pure is the master :tongue: Also, can block every turn and be removed from battle.

Hada freeblade: 1/2 for W isn´t that bad, but having 8 guys that boost themselves is serious stuff.

Vial: well, same as StP, is an auto-include (and also enables a lot of combat tricks).

Tithe: 20 plains are too many, these are kinda fetchs. Should include a pair of flagstones.

Honor of the pure: +1/+1 boost for all your creatures.

Catapult squad: used in addition with provoke/raise the alarm is lethal.

Kazandu blademaster: is a nightmare, really, you have to try it.

Field marshal: win condition xD Every creature with first strike and +1/+1 is a good clock.

Officer refills your hand; and combos with skyfisher :D


Props:
I have been trying it against gobos and merfolks and it is way better than expected.
Creature decks have a lot of problems against it.

Cons:
We don´t have lackey, so MU against combo are tough as we can be killing on T4 (which is not something new... that's why there's a sideboard).

Any comments will be welcome :smile: Cards to add, something to improve...

[MtgPhreakin]

I would honestly take out the enlistment officer because a lot of ur stuff doesnt count as soldiers and because it's 4 mana and u don't have any mana acceleration. Instead i would ad some removal 1 or 2 path to exile and some equipments (jitte/sword of fire and ice...)

[Mikeleroi]

Thanks for the recommendation!

Officer is the only card that gives you card advantage in this deck (around 45% of the deck are soldiers, it is not that bad) and it has two purposes:
- Filling the hand
- Having something for the 3/4 CC slot... Captain of the watch could help, but 6CC are too many.

I don´t think more removal is necessary, since the deck has good MU against creature decks; but I agree maybe some slots could be filled with equipments... I'll test it!

[from Cairo]

A couple Mirror Entity might be solid - with the tokens, the fact that it triggers 'Ally', and can pick up Tribal benefits from Field Marshall/Catapault Squad as well as some opposing lords. Idk what's been preforming well for you, but maybe over Enlistment Officer to keep your curve/vial ramp lower?

[Mikeleroi]

Awesome... Didn´t think about Mirror entity: triggers 'Ally', counts as a soldier and next turn it enters the battlefield, it is possible to attack with 4 or 5 4/4 (maybe, with first strike or some +1/+1).

Thanks from Cairo :D

Still, I don´t think of cutting Officers: this deck empties the hand very quickly, and almost every time you draw a Officer, you wouldn't have change the card. I'll test cutting one Officer and both Skyfisher, and changing these slots for 3 Mirror entity (and maybe one plains out, one vial in... vialing a Mirror entity EOT on opponent's turn is lethal).

[jancz]

Wait...no Veteran Armorsmith or Veteran Swordsmith?

Also you could consider Shared Triumph over honor the pure as this now lets you use mutavault and that is always fun.

Forbidding Watchtower may be a choice to look at. Sorta pseudo mishras factory for yourself.

[Mikeleroi]

Veteran swordsmith is awful :tongue: For 3CC we have Field marshal who gives +1/+1 and first strike.

Veteran armorsmith could be an option as a replacement for Honor of the pure, but the deck has good MU against creatures... I prefer HotP since it boosts also power (making us faster against combo), and enables T1 Deftblade elite, T2 HotP, provoke and kill anything annoying.

About lands... haven´t tested any non-basic land yet. I'm afraid of wasteland :rolleyes: Since Forbidding watchtower cipt, don´t think there's a slot for it.

Thanks for the advice... I will test Veteran armorsmith, since it can be taken with Enlistment Officer, also hits and can be cheated with Vial in the middle of the battle. Maybe it can replace HotP...

[Freggle]

About lands... haven´t tested any non-basic land yet. I'm afraid of wasteland :rolleyes: Since Forbidding watchtower cipt, don´t think there's a slot for it.


If you do decide to entertain non-basics Kjeldoran Outpost may be good as it can net you positive CA over time, but it is a bit risky in that if it does get wasted before you can pop off a 1/1 soldier you just 2 for 1'ed yourself.

[puckb]

Hi !

1 card I really liked in my somewhat-aggro-control soldier was Sunstrike Legionnaire. It has great synergies with Kjeldoran Outpost, AEther Vial, Preeminent Captain and Catapult Squad...and the opponent ! He's much fun against elfball which was quite popular those times around home




With Deftblade Elite, Sunstrike Legionnaire and Catapult Master, there was enough creature control for me not to play Swords to Plowshares, and Enlistment Officer will thank you ! The deck was constructed in a Goblin-like strategy : soldier is aggro, soldier is control, soldier is CA. So bad there is nothing like goblien matron...
I think it is really important to optimize Enlistment Officer, as with Preeminent Captain and AEther Vial and low-cost creatures, you'll drop your hand fast

Another card I think is interesting is Porcelain Legionnaire, though not tested. Kazandu Blademaster should fill the role better. Actually, allies are a really good idea and should give the deck the aggressivity mine lacked. It's the deck's Goblin Piledriver


I also packed a 2-of Sun Quan, Lord of Wu as an out-of-nowhere win condition to be dropped with Preeminent Captain, but I think Mirror Entity is in fact much better ( didn't think about him either ! ) and is really cool with Preeminent Captain.

Btw, I just realised you don't play Preeminent Captain. I think you should, he is really good, CA+celerity in white-weenie aggro is no price.

If I were to play the deck now ( which may occur in fact as soldier are really cool !), I'll would play something like this

4 AEther Vial
4 Deftblade Elite
4 Hada Freeblade
2 Catapult Squad
3 Honor of the Pure
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Sunstrike Legionnaire
3 Mirror Entity
4 Field Marshall
4 Preeminent Captain
3 Enlistment Officer

15 plain
2 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Tithe

I think mana base is quite short. To be tested

Deftblade Elite is for sure my favorite underestimed creature and truly shines in here, as the game doesn't need much mana and the card is synergistic w/ Field Marshall and Mirror Entity. He won't ever be countered and will do much damage !

Quite a long post, hope it will be useful

[neoryujin]

I think this deck has potential to be competitive.

Splashing blue for at least Force of Will and additional counterspells like Daze or Mental Misstep, might fortify your combat-zone lock even more. It will also allow Jwari Shapeshifter to increase your ally count for Kazandu & Hada. And speaking of blue, you'll no longer have the dilemma with the card advantage through Enlistment Officer, since you'll have plenty of options in blue.

Granted, you'll have to change the playstyle (from aggro to less so) & drop other less-solid cards for this change to happen, but I think it'll eventually solidify the deck to the point of being competitive.

The question is, which cards to cut. I think if we went for a non-stop aggro creature-stream, you'll have a hard competition with Zoo, Merfolk, Goblins, etc., (not to mention the defenselessness (is that a word?) against combo / control decks with the absence of our own counterspells), so instead, the goal should be more focused to "lock" your opponent.

Examples:

- First turn Deftblade Elite is tech, no question about it. In response, they'll have to Lightning Bolt it, before they can land their own Grim Lavamancer, Dark Confidant, Noble Hierarch, Goblin Lackey, etc. So it locks them from playing their key low toughness creatures. (Imagine if they try to Lightning Bolt / StP / PtE your Deftblade at the end of your turn, at that moment you know instantly that they have something important to play next turn, so you Mental Misstep their Lightning Bolt "for free", and when they untap, they try again with another removal and you just go on & Force of Will their removal (again "for free") ... and they'll get stuck with whatever they're trying to play on their hand, at least for a couple of turns). For this purpose, I'd rather cut a few Hada Freeblades than Deftblade.

Other obvious "lock" or "lock supporting" cards:
- Counterspells
- Removals (StP, PtE)
- Kazandu Blademaster (evergrowing vigilant first striker, like a modern day Serra Angel) --> This is also a reason why I'd rather take more Jwari Shapeshifter (to copy Kazandu Blademaster) than Hada Freeblade.
- Field Marshall --> turns your other soldiers into +1/+1 first striking walls. Note that just giving your creatures +1/+1 doesn't necessarily make it a board-locking card. Abilities are relevant.
- Sejiri Merfolk --> you need a plains (yay), and he's also a lifelink first striking merfolk SOLDIER for 2 CMC (also kinda ironic, since he never got a spot in the merfolk deck). Since there are so many first strikers already, perhaps you could reduce the number of Field Marshalls.
- Umezawa's Jitte --> a lock & finisher.
- Sword of Money and Power :) --> pick a suitable "Sword of X and Y" for your metagame

Other considerable cards:
- Wake Thrasher --> also a soldier, this will become big if you manage to lock your opponent for a while. (too bad doesn't combo with Kazandu Blademaster :)

So, just my thoughts, and only on paper, of course.

[Mikeleroi]

@puckb: Thanks for the advice.

I wouldn´t change plains for kjeldoran outpost... it's 2 lands x 1 if opponent hits a wasteland. And only to put a soldier token... Anyway, I'll test it.

About Preeminent captain, he is very good. The only problem is: which spot should it take? what card are we going to cheat into the battlefield? I can´t find any spot to take them; and, which soldier is he going to cheat? The only one who deserves the effort is Enlistment Officer, but we will be on T4 anyway (T3 Preeminent, T4 attacks).

And regarding sunstrike legionnaire... we can´t avoid running Swords to plownshares. He hasn´t any free slot, and StP are an "auto-in". T1 StP is the only way we can deal with a lackey :(

@neoryujin: The deck has a lot of potencial (for being a budget deck :p). Anyway, I haven´t tested it enough. I only have played (w/o SB) against goblins, merfolks, solidarity and dredge, being goblins the usual one.

It beats goblins almost every time if we can stop the lackey (that's where Hada freeblade shines, T1 1/2, so he can recive a gempalm strike without dying :), it beated merfolks the 2/3 times that I played... and loses 100% against dredge, and almost all the time against solidarity (we need the deck to fizzle, cause we aren´t fast enough). Obviously, with the SB could change... I was thinking something like:

SB

3 Absolut law
4 Silence
4 Mana tithe
4 Rebuff the wicked, mental misstep, ...


Well, it was done on 5 minutes xD More oriented to control, including some counters and/or silence/orim's chant.

About including blue: mental misstep can be added to help us fighting other MM, lackey, vial, lightning, StP, even brainstorm... could be added without any problem, maybe taking an Honor of the pure, and three mirror entity. About including other counters... it is hard, since we don´t run enough blue cards to support FoW. But Jwari shapeshifter really deserves an opportunity. Something like:

Blue Soldiers!


//1CC
4x Deftblade elite
4x Hada freeblade
4x Æther vial
4x Tithe
4x Swords to plownshares
3x Mental Misstep

//2CC
3x Raise the alarm
4x Catapult squad
4x Jwari shapeshifter
4x Kazandu blademaster

//3CC
4x Field marshal

//4CC
2x Enlistment officer

10x Plains
4x Fetch with white
1x tundra
1x island


Still, I'll keep monowhite (maybe including MM)

[Mikeleroi]

@puckb: Thanks for the advice.

I wouldn´t change plains for kjeldoran outpost... it's 2 lands x 1 if opponent hits a wasteland. And only to put a soldier token... Anyway, I'll test it.

About Preeminent captain, he is very good. The only problem is: which spot should it take? what card are we going to cheat into the battlefield? I can´t find any spot to take them; and, which soldier is he going to cheat? The only one who deserves the effort is Enlistment Officer, but we will be on T4 anyway (T3 Preeminent, T4 attacks).

And regarding sunstrike legionnaire... we can´t avoid running Swords to plownshares. He hasn´t any free slot, and StP are an "auto-in". T1 StP is the only way we can deal with a lackey :(

@neoryujin: The deck has a lot of potencial (for being a budget deck :p). Anyway, I haven´t tested it enough. I only have played (w/o SB) against goblins, merfolks, solidarity and dredge, being goblins the usual one.

It beats goblins almost every time if we can stop the lackey (that's where Hada freeblade shines, T1 1/2, so he can recive a gempalm strike without dying :), it beated merfolks the 2/3 times that I played... and loses 100% against dredge, and almost all the time against solidarity (we need the deck to fizzle, cause we aren´t fast enough). Obviously, with the SB could change... I was thinking something like:

SB

3 Absolut law
4 Silence
4 Mana tithe
4 Rebuff the wicked, mental misstep, ...


Well, it was done on 5 minutes xD More oriented to control, including some counters and/or silence/orim's chant.

About including blue: mental misstep can be added to help us fighting other MM, lackey, vial, lightning, StP, even brainstorm... could be added without any problem, maybe taking an Honor of the pure, and three mirror entity. About including other counters... it is hard, since we don´t run enough blue cards to support FoW. But Jwari shapeshifter really deserves an opportunity. Something like:

Blue Soldiers!


//1CC
4x Deftblade elite
4x Hada freeblade
4x Æther vial
4x Tithe
4x Swords to plownshares
3x Mental Misstep

//2CC
3x Raise the alarm
4x Catapult squad
4x Jwari shapeshifter
4x Kazandu blademaster

//3CC
4x Field marshal

//4CC
2x Enlistment officer

10x Plains
4x Fetch with white
1x tundra
1x island


Still, I think monowhite is the best option (maybe including MM).

[Mikeleroi]

Tested Jwari shapeshifter... and doesn´t worth including it. If we don´t draw a previous Kazanduu, it is useless (and copying a Hada freeblade... :(

Monowhite is the best option (first list including 3 Mirror entitity, and 2 Kor skyfisher and 1 Enlistment officer out). Yesterday tested a few games against merfolks and we win almost all the games.

I would like to try combo MUs... I hope can go to any tournament and post here some ideas.

[neoryujin]

Check the newly spoiled Champion of the Parish in MTGSalvation (http://mtgsalvation.com/innistrad-spoiler.html)

Human Soldier, W, +1/+1 counter for each Human coming into play !?! Goodbye, Hada freeblade? (Too bad that Raise the Alarm doesn't say "put two 1/1 -Human- soldier tokens...")

[Mikeleroi]

There are some nice soldiers in the spoiler:

Mentor of the meek 2W Creature - Human Soldier
Whenever another creature with power 2 or less enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay 1. If you do, draw a card.

Elite inquisitor WW Creature - Human Soldier
First strike, vigilance
Protection from Vampires, from Werewolves, and from Zombies.

Champion of the parish W Creature - Human Soldier
Whenever another Human enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Champion of the Parish.


I have tested replacing -4 raise the alarm, +2 mentor of the meek, +2 champion of the perish
but didn´t convinced me to keep the changes (all the games played against goblins)

Mentor of the meek is a little slow in my opinion, and doesn´t fit well with HotP and Field marshal (can´t run 4, maybe 3 is an option). There have been some times where I topdecked a deftblade or hada freeblade on t4 and it saved the game, but 95% of the times I would have prefered raise the alarm.

About champion of the parish, really didn´t have the option to try it, since if possible I prefer hada freeblade on t1 (it survives gempalm incinerator if I am on the draw) or deftblade elite (with HotP on t2, or field marshal on t3 is the best removal of the deck). Maybe it is a good option replacing hada freeblade <--> champion of the parish, but pumping kazandu into a 4/4 is very tempting :D I'll try it a few more times.

Now the list is like this:

Soldiers!

4x Deftblade elite
4x Hada freeblade
4x Æther vial
3x Tithe
4x Swords to plownshares

4x Honor of the pure
4x Raise the alarm
4x Catapult squad
3x Kor skyfisher
4x Kazandu blademaster

4x Field marshal

3x Enlistment officer

16x Plains


There are 61 cards, I really enjoy having 3 skyfisher (a lot of combat tricks using vial, and also 2/3 flying for WW) so sometimes I take out a copy of raise the alarm, other times one honor of the pure... Still not sure about which one should take the spot.

Hope I will find some time soon to take it into a little tournament :D