Malakai
02-21-2012, 05:54 AM
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=270445&type=card
The purpose of this thread is to try to find a home for the card, rather than work on a specific deck. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling.
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Don't be afraid of the legend rule—that's a newbie mistake. Just as four was the correct number for Isamaru, so too for this deck. We want Thalia in play, at all times, in every game. If you can't play your extra Thalia because you have one in play already, then you are probably winning.
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
These three cards work so well together that not playing them is probably a mistake.
One of the homes for this card is Death & Taxes, and there's been discussion about it over in the D&T thread. The other obvious home is White Weenie / White Aggro.
Where Thalia does _not_ belong is any sort of Vintage-style fish deck, in the vein of Threshold or Delver. These decks simply want to cast far too many highly efficient instants and sorceries, which constitute the biggest non-bo every with Thalia.
Here's my take on Mono white Thalia aggro:
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Aether Vial
4 Mother of Runes
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of x and y
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Soltari Priest
3 Serra Avenger
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Dismember
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Karakas
1 Eigano Castle
2 Horizon Canopy
7 Plains
4 Marsh Flats
This list is rough because it is just an example of a place to start. Basically, you are attacking their mana while using Vial to continue to deploy threats. Mother of Runes both reactively protects your creatures and pro-actively can force some of them through. Figure of Destiny and Stoneforge Mystic give you power in the late-game. Jotun Grunt shrinks Tarmogoyfs and KotR's while marginalizing Snapcaster Mages. Soltari Priest is insane against all the decks relying on red for creature removal, especially if you hand her an equipment. Serra Avenger rounds out the creature suite by being another excellent carrier for a piece of equipment.
What this deck isn't doing is trying to grind the opponent out with Mangara shenanigans, or trying to cast Elspeth, or whatever else you might want to do. We just want to throw a few wrenches in our opponent's plans, then kill them.
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However, Thalia-based aggro does not need to stay mono-white. We can't afford to go to three colors, but two is highly doable. Consider what happens when we play red. We get access to the following cards:
Lightning Bolt
Chain Lightning
Grim Lavamancer
Goblin Guide
Magus of the Moon
Grim Lavamancer does broken things in a creature heady aggro deck. [I'm the guy who played him in Merfolk; he was amazing, Volcanic Island was not.] Bolt is likely an upgrade to Swords to Plowshares / Dismember in a deck that is just trying to “get there.” I honestly have no idea if Goblin Guide or Magus of the Moon are correct to play.
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“If you're playing fish, why not play blue?”
“Well, Thalia makes it so that we can't really play blue spells.”
“Are you sure?”
Vendillion Clique
Spellstutter Sprite
Sower of Temptation
Meddling Mage
Serendib Efreet
Geist of Saint Traft
Can you imagine your opponent's face when he pays two mana to try to Path your guy, and you counter it with Spellstutter Sprite?
I included Serendib Efreet simply because it is bigger than Delver, but I doubt it's going to be the correct choice.
The blue cards move the deck towards being more mid-range, which is fine, but it's definitely something that alters the entire plan, and must be taken into account.
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Obviously, there are more options, but these seem like good places to start.
The purpose of this thread is to try to find a home for the card, rather than work on a specific deck. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling.
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Don't be afraid of the legend rule—that's a newbie mistake. Just as four was the correct number for Isamaru, so too for this deck. We want Thalia in play, at all times, in every game. If you can't play your extra Thalia because you have one in play already, then you are probably winning.
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
These three cards work so well together that not playing them is probably a mistake.
One of the homes for this card is Death & Taxes, and there's been discussion about it over in the D&T thread. The other obvious home is White Weenie / White Aggro.
Where Thalia does _not_ belong is any sort of Vintage-style fish deck, in the vein of Threshold or Delver. These decks simply want to cast far too many highly efficient instants and sorceries, which constitute the biggest non-bo every with Thalia.
Here's my take on Mono white Thalia aggro:
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Aether Vial
4 Mother of Runes
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of x and y
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Soltari Priest
3 Serra Avenger
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Dismember
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Karakas
1 Eigano Castle
2 Horizon Canopy
7 Plains
4 Marsh Flats
This list is rough because it is just an example of a place to start. Basically, you are attacking their mana while using Vial to continue to deploy threats. Mother of Runes both reactively protects your creatures and pro-actively can force some of them through. Figure of Destiny and Stoneforge Mystic give you power in the late-game. Jotun Grunt shrinks Tarmogoyfs and KotR's while marginalizing Snapcaster Mages. Soltari Priest is insane against all the decks relying on red for creature removal, especially if you hand her an equipment. Serra Avenger rounds out the creature suite by being another excellent carrier for a piece of equipment.
What this deck isn't doing is trying to grind the opponent out with Mangara shenanigans, or trying to cast Elspeth, or whatever else you might want to do. We just want to throw a few wrenches in our opponent's plans, then kill them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
However, Thalia-based aggro does not need to stay mono-white. We can't afford to go to three colors, but two is highly doable. Consider what happens when we play red. We get access to the following cards:
Lightning Bolt
Chain Lightning
Grim Lavamancer
Goblin Guide
Magus of the Moon
Grim Lavamancer does broken things in a creature heady aggro deck. [I'm the guy who played him in Merfolk; he was amazing, Volcanic Island was not.] Bolt is likely an upgrade to Swords to Plowshares / Dismember in a deck that is just trying to “get there.” I honestly have no idea if Goblin Guide or Magus of the Moon are correct to play.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“If you're playing fish, why not play blue?”
“Well, Thalia makes it so that we can't really play blue spells.”
“Are you sure?”
Vendillion Clique
Spellstutter Sprite
Sower of Temptation
Meddling Mage
Serendib Efreet
Geist of Saint Traft
Can you imagine your opponent's face when he pays two mana to try to Path your guy, and you counter it with Spellstutter Sprite?
I included Serendib Efreet simply because it is bigger than Delver, but I doubt it's going to be the correct choice.
The blue cards move the deck towards being more mid-range, which is fine, but it's definitely something that alters the entire plan, and must be taken into account.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously, there are more options, but these seem like good places to start.