[DECK] The Care Bears

[Zirael]

Hi there!

I just registered here on The Source, but i follow this forum for a really long time. I play legacy for some time now and just wanted to share some of my thoughts.
And sorry for my english, cos it's not my main language.

This is a new deck i'm testing:

Deck:

4 Wasteland
4 Ghost Quarter
12 Plains

3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Mother of Runes
4 Serra Avenger
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aven Mindcensor
2 Jotun Grunt
3 Grand Abolisher
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Icatian Javelineers

4 Swords to plowshares
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 AEther Vial


Sideboard:
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterscull
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Tormods Crypt
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Grafdigger Cage


I know it looks like White Weenie but it's different. This deck can lock most legacy's decks and beat them very fast. Most of our creatures make others life quite hard and they have to be take care of asap. This is some point's about card selection:

Just 20 lands. Low mana curve and vials makes this deck not so mana hungry, so i think 20 lands is just enough. 8 colorless lands can make us colourscrewed sometimes but i think we can handle it.

Ghost Quarter with Leonin Arbiter is pure bonkers even against monocolored decks. in some matchups Ghost Quarter works just as good as Wasteland (eg. Canadian *****)

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is also making others life difficult, not hurting us so much. Removal spells and counters are much harder to cast so our creatures are safer.

Mother of Runes is a must. We want to protect our hate bears.

Serra Avenger is such a good beater, especially with vial. Produce nice pressure and is a good blocker.

Leonin Arbiter. As mentioned before makes Ghost Quarter great, and block so many things ppl play nowadays, like fetchlands, gsz, Stoneforge etc. Main drawback is that we can't play Stoneforge alongside Arbiter.

Aven Mindcensor play similar role then Leonin Arbiter plus have flying.

Jotun Grunt is another heavy beater. Just 2 because it's just bad in multiples.

Grand Abolisher. I don't know if that guy is that needed, but is turns off counters and eg brainstorms.

Mirran Crusader is another beater. It's really crazy with Jitte, and it has good protections.

Icatian Javelineers. I added them because i felt like i need more 1 mana drops. I choose Icatian Javelineers because they are very useful killing mana dorks, confidants, lavamancers and other stuff. Killing mana dorks goes well with our mana denial plan.

Swords to Plowshares is still the best removal in legacy and i think it's the best choice for our deck. Path to exile would be great with arbiter, but how often will we have both...

Jitte gets us some extra removal and it's so versatile...

Vial is a must in such creature heavy deck. It gives nice speed boost and protects us from counters
Sideboard is still in development. Obviously we can switch Leonin Arbiter with stoneforge in some matchups (like tribal aggro) and Grafdigger Cage gets us some extra lock.

What do you think guys? What would u change?

Regards

Zirael

[Hanni]

With very few ways to fill your own graveyard, I think Jotun Grunt would better off being a sideboard card.

I know SFM has bad synergy with some of your guys, but it looks akward playing white weenie with 2 Jitte's and no SFM maindeck. I won't comment on this since its probably the right call not to run them.

[igri_is_a_bk]

2 Jotun Grunt
3 Icatian Javelineers

From a quick glance, those are the only spots that look suspicious to me. I'd probably use Figure of Destiny over Icatian Javelineers. You don't really fill your graveyard reliably enough to use Grunt, in my opinion. Maybe something like Silver Knight instead of the Grunts? There is a lot of burn in the format right now.

I usually like Cataclysm in my WW builds. Now, I know your list doesn't want it because it wants its creatures on board to live, but what about Armageddon? I'm kinda going on a limb here. You would change those Wastes and Quarters to Plains and add 4 geddons. I know Thalia doesn't like that plan much, but she can sit in your hand until after the land destruction and enter via Vial.

It's just something to think about.

[Zirael]

Yeah, i noticed that Jotun Grunt doesnt live longer then 2-3 turns, but even then he can deal some nice dmg. But i think i'll try something else in that spot...

Like i said 3 Icatian Javelineers are very nice with all the mana denial by killing all these mana dorks. Figure of destiny is more aggresive but olso mana hungry and can shot those small guys.

Armageddon cost 4 mana which is a lot, and it's not a creature so it would be even more expensive with Thalia in play and i often see myself stuck on 2-3 lands.

The other thing i noticed that this deck is sometimes to slow without a vial since i use my lands to disrupt my opponent.

I don't think Ports would work well here... i'd rather bury those lands then just tap it. Not to mention that without a vial you have to choose between using port and playing dudes. And i wanted this deck to be build aground Arbiters, Thalias and Ghost Quarters.

[Tombstalker]

Looks like a cool concept, why no karakas'? Also I dont think leonin arbiter is worth the drawback to SFM. I would drop arbiter and just play 4 aven mindcensors/SFM since aven has evasion and flash and cant be payed off for 2 colorless, or am I really underestimating the impact of arbiter?

For suggestions I agree that jotun grunt needs to go. Also I would think that ethersworn cannonist and thorn of amethyst should both be full sets maindeck. Between 8 vial effects and only 4 non creature spells (not counting vial which gets worse later on anyway) they bring some very powerful interactions to the deck with almost no drawback themselves (thinking keepable hands here).

Of course I havent played the deck so grain of salt on everything.

Edit- I may be underestimating arbiter but SFM is one of your only 'broken plays' on its own so I would opt for it.

[Hanni]

His deck is kinda built around Arbiter, hence the Ghost Quarters. I think I'd rather run Port + SFM over Arbiter + Quarters, though. SFM is just way too good for white weenie to not run it. It's card advantage in a deck that otherwise has none, and the equipment turns all of your weenies into serious threats. Avenger with a Jitte stops aggro cold, and Mirran with a Jitte is one hell of a clock.

I really like Icatian Javelineers in here, for it's ability to blow up mana dorks. That really adds a nice touch to the mana denial theme. It also removes some serious problems for this deck, like Grim Lavamancer. Plus it hits Delver (unflipped), Confidant, Clique, and a bunch of other juicy targets.

However, Champion of the Parish and Student of Warfare are some other juicy 1cc creatures that this deck could run.

I think Mentor of the Meek deserves some testing too. I mean, pretty much your entire creature base (sans the Avengers and Grunts) are 2 power or less, and you run a shitload of them. For this deck, Mentor of the Meek seems like a Dark Confidant on crack. You're running Vial, so upping your curve a little to include some more 3cc creatures would make much better use of the Vial.

Blade Splicer is also interesting to mention, but I don't think this deck can support too many 3cc creatures, and there are a ton of good ones mentioned already.

[Zirael]

I know that stoneforge is very good, that's why i have it in my sideboard. I didn't include it in main deck, because i wanted something else. If it were main deck it wouldnt be any different than ordinary white weenie.

I don't know if u guys tried arbiter, but in my testing it is really good. It can do some broken stuff 2. And turning off opponents stoneforges gsz and fetches is really strong too.

Student of warfare crossed my mind, i tested it, and i would rather kill some mana dorks with Icatian Javelineers then have another fatty. Other thing is that u have to invest a lot off white mana , and as i said sometimes i don't have that many white sources.

Thorn of amethyst would be great if it was a creature. It can't atack...

If i would put karakas in it would be as 1 off. What are the chances i would get it when i need it? Having multiples is no good either.

Mentor of the Meek looks nice in theory, but he costs 3 mana and by the time i would be able to play it all the cheaper guys would hit the table anyway. I will try it in grunt's place and see if i'm not wrong.