Curby
11-15-2011, 01:49 AM
I've had this deck for years now. It's built to be as competitive as possible in a semi-casual Legacy-legal environment, but with all commons. For a while I had Glaze Fiend and Arcbound Worker, but Vault Skirge does Fiend's job of evasion and Worker's job of being a 1-drop (virtually). I had found Fiend's cost too prohibitive, and the pumping too inconsistent. Dropping Fiend helped, but the deck still had the following problems:
- Four equipment across nineteen 0/* and 1/* creatures is simply too little.
- The big ground pounders are too easily chumped. This is especially a problem with Atog.
- Legacy discourages big moves and expensive creatures with cards like Go for the Throat and Path to Exile, so "go big or go home" moves with Atog often fall flat.
- Disciple is only game-breaking with Atog. Since I don't like Atog, Disciple looks weak as well.
- All that said, Disciple/Atog/Fling provides some very useful non-attack-based win conditions. Replacements will have to either provide reach, provide more consistency to the rest of the deck, or help the rest of the deck get damage through.
Current List:
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
1 Shimmering Grotto
4 Ornithopter
4 Phyrexian Walker
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Vault Skirge
4 Frogmite
3 Atog
2 Somber Hoverguard
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
2 Fling
I don't mind keeping a few Fling in the deck. It combos well with Plating and provides a lot of end-game reach. Let's concentrate on the 7 Disciple/Atog slots.
Possibilities:
Galvanic Blast and Blazing Torch provide some reach. Galvanic Blast is big enough to eliminate mid-sized threats, but I'm more concerned with hate bears like Phyrexian Revoker on Plating. Blast is simply big, cheap, and reliable, but Torch helps Affinity and doesn't need colored mana.
Bonesplitter is reliable, cheap, an artifact, and pumps a fair amount.
Rancor along with Tree of Tales instead of Darksteel Citadel would be even cheaper pumping and provide some welcome pseudo-evasion (prevent chump blocking) for a ground unit wearing Plating, or for Enforcer. The problem is that it can't be easily moved like equipment, and it's a colored non-artifact.
Horned Helm provides most of the benefit of Rancor. While it's an artifact, the cost of 3 is prohibitive.
Anything that just pumps for 1 is pretty unimpressive regardless of cost, so Tooth of Chiss-Goria and Bone Saw are out.
Executioner's/Dispeller's/Courier's Capsules all provide useful effects, but the first two are probably sideboard material: something like Galvanic Blast would make more sense in the main. Courier's Capsule is an idea, but the cost of 2UU seems extreme.
I could add more color-fixers like Chromatic Star for consistency, but taking out Atog and Disciple also removes a lot of color requirements.
Color-heavy option:
-4 Darksteel Citadel
-4 Disciple of the Vault
-3 Atog
+4 Tree of Tales
+1 Shimmering Grotto
+3 Rancor
+3 Galvanic Blast
Artifact-heavy option:
-4 Disciple of the Vault
-3 Atog
+4 Bonesplitter
+2 Blazing Torch
+1 Fling (total of 3)
Any thoughts?
- Four equipment across nineteen 0/* and 1/* creatures is simply too little.
- The big ground pounders are too easily chumped. This is especially a problem with Atog.
- Legacy discourages big moves and expensive creatures with cards like Go for the Throat and Path to Exile, so "go big or go home" moves with Atog often fall flat.
- Disciple is only game-breaking with Atog. Since I don't like Atog, Disciple looks weak as well.
- All that said, Disciple/Atog/Fling provides some very useful non-attack-based win conditions. Replacements will have to either provide reach, provide more consistency to the rest of the deck, or help the rest of the deck get damage through.
Current List:
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
1 Shimmering Grotto
4 Ornithopter
4 Phyrexian Walker
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Vault Skirge
4 Frogmite
3 Atog
2 Somber Hoverguard
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
2 Fling
I don't mind keeping a few Fling in the deck. It combos well with Plating and provides a lot of end-game reach. Let's concentrate on the 7 Disciple/Atog slots.
Possibilities:
Galvanic Blast and Blazing Torch provide some reach. Galvanic Blast is big enough to eliminate mid-sized threats, but I'm more concerned with hate bears like Phyrexian Revoker on Plating. Blast is simply big, cheap, and reliable, but Torch helps Affinity and doesn't need colored mana.
Bonesplitter is reliable, cheap, an artifact, and pumps a fair amount.
Rancor along with Tree of Tales instead of Darksteel Citadel would be even cheaper pumping and provide some welcome pseudo-evasion (prevent chump blocking) for a ground unit wearing Plating, or for Enforcer. The problem is that it can't be easily moved like equipment, and it's a colored non-artifact.
Horned Helm provides most of the benefit of Rancor. While it's an artifact, the cost of 3 is prohibitive.
Anything that just pumps for 1 is pretty unimpressive regardless of cost, so Tooth of Chiss-Goria and Bone Saw are out.
Executioner's/Dispeller's/Courier's Capsules all provide useful effects, but the first two are probably sideboard material: something like Galvanic Blast would make more sense in the main. Courier's Capsule is an idea, but the cost of 2UU seems extreme.
I could add more color-fixers like Chromatic Star for consistency, but taking out Atog and Disciple also removes a lot of color requirements.
Color-heavy option:
-4 Darksteel Citadel
-4 Disciple of the Vault
-3 Atog
+4 Tree of Tales
+1 Shimmering Grotto
+3 Rancor
+3 Galvanic Blast
Artifact-heavy option:
-4 Disciple of the Vault
-3 Atog
+4 Bonesplitter
+2 Blazing Torch
+1 Fling (total of 3)
Any thoughts?