[DECK] Mankind

[Tacosnape]

Mankind is a Cavern of Souls-based Human deck, and my attempt to evolve Maverick into something a little more suited to the modern metagame. I designed it in an effort to be capable of handling almost everything it faces in one way or another, and also as a means of stockpiling some of my favorite cards into one effective deck.

THE LIST - Mankind, Tacosnape, 6-4-2012
2 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
1 Forest
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Wasteland
1 Karakas
1 Maze of Ith

4 Mox Diamond

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Path to Exile
3 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Mother of Runes
4 Dark Confidant
4 Meddling Mage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

SB:
4 Surgical Extraction
2 Path to Exile
2 Sylvan Safekeeper
2 Nature's Claim
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Peer Pressure
1 Seeds of Innocence

Card Choices

Manabase:
Cavern of Souls is the heart of the deck. Obviously, you always name Human. Everything in the entire deck is a human or removal. Mox Diamond allows some stupid plays, like turn one uncounterable Thalias, Confidants, Mages, etc. It makes turn two Knights usually well out of burn range, and makes Jitte happen on turn three against aggro decks. I kept the basic forest just for the ability to cast everything in the deck off of it and two Mox Diamonds, or Forest/Diamond/Hierarch. The fetches are a full 2/2/2/2 split because the only basic land's a Forest.

Dudes:
I don't think I have to defend Mother, Knight, or Thalia here. Any Maverick player knows what they're worth.

Dark Confidant's not too hard to defend either. With there being 17 ways to hit black for a dude, he's easy to cast, and the deck's curve is low, meaning he won't hurt you that badly. And the life can be recuperated with Jitte.

Meddling Mage's a skill card. People underrate him because they're bad at reading a situation and naming the right card. However, used correctly, he can be a monster in every single matchup. Obviously, he's best against Show and Tell, Hypergenesis, Sneak Attack, and combo decks that center around a single card, but it's also useful in other situations. Stopping Top/Miracle cards, stopping Dread Return/Therapy against dredge, stopping Green Sun's Zenith against Maverick, etc.

Noble Hierarch's the hardest to defend, and he could be a 3-of for a maindeck Safekeeper. But Exalted just matters so much in a deck full of 2-power guys, and the manafixing is invaluable.

The Removal
Six white erase beams and three Jittes. Yes, three. You can't convince me 2 is right, no matter how hard you try. You want a Jitte out in a lot of matchups. Especially on a Thalia.

Despite Path's antisynergy with Thalia/Wasteland, it's worth it. It'll save you a lot of games against Delvers, Mothers, and other dudes.

The Sideboard

Obviously, the sideboard can and should be adjusted according to what you expect to face.

Surgical Extraction's my graveyard hating weapon of choice here. Play no less than four. Graveyard decks can be tough, despite all the uncounterable Mages and Thalias. If you have a lot of yard hate around, don't be afraid to run an extra couple hate pieces in board, like the Confidant-friendly Tormod's Crypt.

Extra Paths are there for aggro matchups, or matchups with creature-based combos. They may or may not be necessary depending on the metagame.

Nature's Claim is here to help against Affinity, MUD, and any other random artifact or enchantment that screws you up badly. It's worth consideration against Sneak Attack, given that they may not expect it and might not be able to activate it under a Thalia. Again, depending on the metagame, it may or may not be necessary.

Ethersworn Canonist is an assist tool against Storm Combo, Hypergenesis, Elves, etc. It's a human, making it uncounterable under a Cavern, and again, your count should be adjusted to your metagame.

Sylvan Safekeeper is what you do against removal-packing decks. It's incredible against UR Delver, and decent against RUG, Maverick, etc. It also combos beautifully with Knight of the Reliquary if you need a fast finishing blow. Despite the picture, this guy's somehow a Human and not an Elf.

Peer Pressure's a weird little card that's there for one thing - Maverick. It blows this matchup wide open. You will very often be able to steal 2-3 guys from them, which is usually an irrecoverable strike.

Seeds of Innocence is a random little one of that's there for Mud and Affinity. Again, it's metagame-dependent.

That's pretty much it. So shuffle up. And go beat people down with the best creature type in magic.

[I am the brainwasher]

I like.
There might be a place for Peacekeeper in the board somewhere.
As far as Maverick should evolve, since you cutted that topic, I think it is not the worst idea to have either a blue splash or going back to Junk at least a bit.
Thanks for sharing!


Ps:
Since you put Sylvan Safekeeper in the board, another pretty unknown that might be useful is Devoted Caretaker

[Greenpoe]

You want to play a deck that is mostly un-counterable, but then you lose virtual card advantage by playing StP, Jitte and Path. There's no alternative to Jitte, but Mangara or even Fiend Hunter (albeit slow) could replace at least Path and perhaps a copy of StP as well. Mangara+Karakas (Fetchable by Knight) is powerful. Plus, the whole "Vindicate" effect of Mangara allows you to potentially answer anything.

But you've got a good idea. Mother of Runes and Cavern of Souls in the same deck looks really strong, since your Confidants will be un-counterable and can't be hit by spot removal.


Meddling Mage is mediocre in general, especially without discard or Probe. I would even play Awakener Druid or Blade Splicer or even Blind Zealot before Mage. Mirran Crusader could be a good fit over Meddling Mage. Swinging for 4 in a deck full of relatively small creatures is good, and he'll swing for 6 or 8 with some exalted triggers and just goes nuts with Jitte, both with getting counters and swinging like a truck.

[Honoluluicecaps]

Obviously haven't tested it yet, but can you run Aether Vial? I know the costs differ, but it could replace something like Noble Hierarch I suppose. Awesome list though.

[spirit of the wretch]

This deck seems really sweet. Peer pressure in the SB is some mean technology.
There are however some things I'd like to know.

The creatures in this deck seem pretty underpowered when you look at their stats (Knight is the obvious exception here). Doesn't your whole team get stopped by a Goyf?
31 mana sources in a deck that consists almost completly of 2 drops? Seems a little excessive. I'm not sure if Mox really is worth that. Especialy as there's no Brainstorm to shuffle away exess lands.
Delver of Secrets backed up by a counter could pose a problem, as this deck probably can't race it. Then again, Delver + Counter poses a problem to a lot of decks =)

[Tacosnape]

This deck seems really sweet. Peer pressure in the SB is some mean technology.
There are however some things I'd like to know.

The creatures in this deck seem pretty underpowered when you look at their stats (Knight is the obvious exception here). Doesn't your whole team get stopped by a Goyf?
31 mana sources in a deck that consists almost completly of 2 drops? Seems a little excessive. I'm not sure if Mox really is worth that. Especialy as there's no Brainstorm to shuffle away exess lands.
Delver of Secrets backed up by a counter could pose a problem, as this deck probably can't race it. Then again, Delver + Counter poses a problem to a lot of decks =)


Both your first and third points are why I'm stacking up six one-white removal spells in the maindeck. Don't think I haven't considered going to 23 land and 3 moxes instead of 24/4 to get two more Paths in the maindeck. At which point, a Snapcaster Mage or two is almost an option.

The mana is heavy, but consider this. Hierarch turns into a beater/Jitte carrier on a defensive board. Wasteland fires off to eat things. And the lands themselves pitch to the Mox Diamonds. Again, if it's excessively heavy, it wouldn't be unfeasible to cut to 23 land / 3 Diamonds, freeing up two spots for whatever in the maindeck. It's also not off the wall to consider a drop to 3 Noble Hierarchs, given that it's not generally as imperative to hit 3 mana by turn 2 as it is to hit 2 mana by turn one.

As for other things,

-Devoted Caretaker: Just seems like a worse Mother of Runes to me. Safekeeper's advantage is not having to tap and being able to do it multiple times.

-Fiend Hunter: Possible, I suppose, in place of Path to Exile. If I did this, I'd also want to maindeck Sylvan Safekeepers to protect the Fiend Hunters, as they might struggle to stay around.

-Aether Vial is a no. Cavern of Souls fills the same uncounterable purpose, and the deck's curve is low enough to not really require the ramping aspect. Plus, the deck has very little to stall - getting the 2-drops out ASAP is crucial to the plan.

[nedleeds]

I think red for granger guildmage and lavamancer would be sharp, true believer and grand abolisher seem like they'd be good also. preacher in the board vs. sneakshow.

I'd also play this guy. Not because he's particularly good but because I don't know anyone else who owns him.

http://magiccards.info/scans/en/p3k/150.jpg

[Poron]

24 creatures 1-2cc and no Aether Vial?

[Aggro_zombies]

No love for Champion of the Parish? I understand it's not a good topdeck, but your guys are mostly anemic in combat and Champion has the potential to turn into a formidable beater.

[Clandestino]

hi,

Maybe you can change 2 Path to Exile for 2 Dismember, works as a CC1 removal and doesnt antisynergy with Thalia and Wasteland.

[Tacosnape]

24 creatures 1-2cc and no Aether Vial?

Okay, I'm going to say this once and only once. Unless you're playing Goblins or tricks with Mangara of Corondor and/or Dryad Arbor, Aether Vial is straight up an awful card. It's a horrible midgame topdeck, and you don't have draw power to sustain it's usefulness in this deck - 4 Confidants are not enough. It provides no disruption. It provides no threat in of itself. You don't need the ramp it provides when it provides it. And the whole uncounterability factor? Cavern of Souls does it better, period. It's no longer good in Merfolk. It's no longer good in any B/W Confidant deck. It's not good here.


No love for Champion of the Parish? I understand it's not a good topdeck, but your guys are mostly anemic in combat and Champion has the potential to turn into a formidable beater.

I originally had it in here, and I sometimes still miss it. He and Mayor of Avabruck are the best guys I don't run, but unless you get him in your opening hand, you don't ever want to see him. All of your other guys seriously do something badass. He doesn't. If I were more aggro and less toolboxy, this would probably be a thing. And maybe Noble Hierarch isn't necessary and Champion/Mayor would do better. But for right now, I don't run them. Try them out and let me know how they work for you.


hi,

Maybe you can change 2 Path to Exile for 2 Dismember, works as a CC1 removal and doesnt antisynergy with Thalia and Wasteland.

I used to think this too. But after a lot of testing I realized that most of the games I wanted to cast Path to Exile, Thalia wasn't really being MVP-ish anyway. Let's take a look:

RUG Delver - 1 Basic Island if any basics at all, and they usually fetch it first to cast the Delver.
Maverick - Thalia isn't that great against them, and your Wastelands are sometimes better used for taking down their tricksy lands like Cradle, Karakas, and Maze.
Show and Tell - If you need a Path, Thalia/Wasteland already stopped being useful.
Affinity - No basics. Path away.
MUD - No basics. Path away.
Dredge - No basics. Path away.
UW Miracles - There's very little to even Path. Board it out and Thalia/Waste it up.
UR Delver Sligh and/or Burn - Even though Path can screw up your synergy here, Dismember is NOT the card you want here.

So you might as well just run Path to Exile. They don't interfere with each other in practice as much as theory.

[TheShaun]

I like what you're doing here, but I'll add my two cents with some suggestions. I think that the best thing about Noble Heirarch is that he lets you ramp to 3 mana on turn 2. The only thing you can do with that is cast a Knight, which is nice, but it's the only thing. I don't really feel like it's worth it just for that, as a turn 2 Knight isn't usually going to be amazing yet, and probably within bolt range. I think they can be cut. I understand the exalted trigger is nice, but it seems that with the swarm of dudes you have, you'll be attacking with >1 guy more often than not.

I see you shot down the Aether Vial idea, but I do think it would be very nice. The idea isn't to ramp up, but rather to sit with it at 2 counters and then just keep dropping uncounterable guys into play. Yeah you have Cavern to make them uncounterable too, but you can't count on always having more Caverns than they have Wastelands. Also, since you're using Confidant, there's a good chance that you'll have more creatures to play than your mana will allow. Vial lets you play a guy on your turn, then Vial one into play on theirs.

A creature that isn't exactly a human but might be worth a try is Phantasmal Image. You'd be able to really surprise a lot of decks by bringing one of those into play at instant speed to kill of their Griselbrand, Emrakul, Progenitus, or whatever. He's at the 2 mana level as well.

I might be wanting to take the deck in a different direction at this point, but maybe cutting green totally might work better. The only great green card is Knight. I think an esper build might work. I'll throw out a preliminary build here, but if you'd like me to take this idea elsewhere I have no problem with that, as this is your deck idea.

4 Mother of Runes
3 Thalia
4 Meddling Mage
4 Dark Confidant
2-3 Snapcaster Mage
0-4 Champion of the Parish
0-4 Grand Abolisher


2-3 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Targeted Discard (Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek)
0-4 Brainstorm

Sideboard Ideas
Ethersworn Canonist
Children of Korlis
True Believer



Looking at it now, maybe it does need green just for the fattie. I think that you're onto something, but I'm not sure which way it needs to go.

[Tacosnape]

While I don't necessarily agree with cutting green from the deck, your post makes me realize that White's the most important color in the deck, not green. And so the manabase might should be changed to reflect this, to somewhere along the lines of

2 Windswept Heath
2 Arid Mesa
2 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
4 Savannah
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Wasteland
1 Karakas
0-1 Maze of Ith
3-4 Mox Diamond

Beyond this though, what do you actually -gain- by cutting green? I guess my point is that with the excess fetches, the Caverns, the Mox Diamonds, and the Noble Hierarchs (Who are admittedly under questioning here), is it hard to support four colors? Cavern of Souls lets me play the best humans of each color, and Knight of the Reliquary is clearly on that list, both for the Mox Diamond fattie synergy and for the Wasteland/Karakas/Maze fetching.

[TheShaun]

Yeah, my sentence at the end showed my thoughts on that topic. I do agree that Knight is one of the best cards to be playing in legacy, I just didn't see any other green cards that seemed worth being in the deck. I wasn't factoring in that Mox grows him too, so there's a better likelihood of him being at least 4/4 when he drops on turn 2. I guess that part of it is that I do not like going 4 colors unless I have a really good reason to do so. But I think that he might be a good enough reason, given that there just isn't anything else nearly that big in the other colors for 2-3 mana. So I think I'm going back on that statement and saying that Knight does need to be in the deck.

Also, though not a human, do you think 2-3 Stoneforge Mystics might help out? I wouldn't use any heavy artifacts since she's always such a removal magnet, but even if she just lets you diversify the equipment that you're running I think it would help. You could get away with only 1-2 Jitte, and maybe run a sword or 2. Not sure if this would work or not, but I don't think that you would necessarily make every single creature a human, unless that's just a theme that you wanted to have. Obviously the more non-humans you run, the worse Cavern gets, but having a handful of them probably would never be a problem. She is a good card to draw at pretty much any phase of the game too, unlike a couple of the other dudes in here.

I really feel like something with some sort of evasion would give the build a huge leap. What does this deck do against someone who draws 2 Tarmogoyfs? Unless you have a Knight, the Goyf will outclass everything in the deck. But I'm not quite sure what could fill that role other than something crappy like Invisible Stalker, who is worthless without some equipment on him. If you're going that route, you need to make a drastic change to the deck.

[ScatmanX]

What does this deck do against someone who draws 2 Tarmogoyfs? Unless you have a Knight, the Goyf will outclass everything in the deck. But I'm not quite sure what could fill that role other than something crappy like Invisible Stalker, who is worthless without some equipment on him. If you're going that route, you need to make a drastic change to the deck.
Snapcaster Mage could be good against that, while running 6-7 StP effects.
I think 2 of them could make the deck better overall.

[Barook]

Since the creatures in the deck are all small, wouldn't Mirror Entity somewhat help? Or is too mana-intensive?

[Tacosnape]

I'm actually experimenting with an 8 Stp/Path and 4 Snapcaster build now. Mixed like and dislike. It changes how the deck feels without the Jitte, but the swarm of removal is kind of neat. Gonna keep experimenting.

The deck DOES have evasion, for what it's worth: Mother of Runes + Protection from Green = A swing. And when you're running Sylvan Safekeeper, you get to use your Moms more aggressively. And Knight can just out-big Goyfs. But that said, the point is a valid one.

Stoneforge I don't like though. I don't care for any equipment other than Jitte here, and I'd rather just have more Jittes in hopes of sticking one.

[Freggle]

I've been working on a treefolk deck on the side with the same Cavern of Souls impetus.

I can not speak highly enough of the power of Descendants' Path.

I see issues with your removal tactics as is, but with the Knight of the Reliquary,
Mangara of Corondor, Karakas it may be very good.

OR if you could work a way to stack the deck (Brainstorm / Snapcaster Mage ?) to trigger Dark Confidant "draws" in your favor (STPs and such)

Have you tried Descendants' Path at all? It's very good at VCA, and puts those mid/late game lands on the bottom of the library making richer draws.

[.Ix]

I've thought about playing a similar deck, too, and I think Ulvenwald Tracker could play a role here. How about running Trinket Mage in the board, along with some goodies like Grafdigger's Cage and Pithing Needle?

I think Descendant's Path is a great call here.