FTW
01-15-2014, 12:41 AM
The engine of this deck revolves around Kor Spiritdancer to draw cards and Herp of Iroas to reduce the cost of Auras/Bestow guys. At worst, they make decent targets for auras.
Couple those Aura enablers with cheap profit auras like Ethereal Armor and Rancor and Hyena Umbra.
Finally, throw in some hexproof beaters like Invisible Stalker and Geist of Saint Traf and Slippery Bogle.
Here's my starting point:
//20 creatures:
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Kor Spiritdancer
2 Herp of Iroas
3 Invisible Stalker
4 Geist of Saint Traf
//20 Auras:
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Rancor
4 Hyena Umbra
3 Spectral Flight
3 Lignify
2 Ordeal of Thassa
//20 Lands:
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Scading Tarn
1 Murmuring Bosk
3 Temple Garden
2 Breeding Pool
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Island
Obviously some of these slots are rough. Abundant Growth clones are avoided due to the presence of Tectonic Edge and Ghost Quarter in the format.
Mana dorks are chosen for several reasons:
1) they enable turn 2 Geist or turn 2 Stalker/Dancer/Herp + Aura
2) they help you dodge edict effects on your hexproof guys
3) Deathrite Shaman's lifedrain ability (c/o Bosk mana) can close out games for you as Psionic Blast did for Blouses
4) help you chain auras off Spiritdancer draws
Lignify, Temporal Isolation, Ice Cage and Crystallization all give options for Aura-based removal. That means they power up Ethereal Armor, cost less with Herp and draw cards with Spiritdancer. Not sure which removal is optimal yet. Isolation has flash but doesn't kill abilities. I went with Lignify for now. Lignify nullifies most relevant creatures in the format, powers up your "enchantments matter" stuff, and randomly lets Bosk enter untapped.
Ordeal of Thassa is something I wanted to test. It's the best of the Ordeals and synergizes with Herp to get to 3 counters faster. 4 Herp + 4 Ordeal seems like an easy way to start drawing extra cards (T2 herp+Ordeal seems good), but I'm only running 2 copies of each for now as they're still "tentative" slots.
The sideboard would probably consist of a mix of combo-hate, utility auras to swap in, and protection from spot removal and tricks (Apostle's Blessing, Turn Aside, Spell Pierce or something like that).
Note the extremely low mana curve. This deck could probably run on 18 lands actually.
Example Goldfishes:
T1 Hierarch
T2 Geist
T3 Rancor + Ethereal Armor, attack with 7/5 trample Geist and 4/4 angel token
T4 do same thing for lethal
T1 Deathrite
T2 fetch, Hero of Iroas + Ordeal of Thassa (and +1/+1 counter)
T3 Spectral Flight + Ethereal Armor (and 2 more +1/+1 counters), attack (another +1/+1 counter) --> trigger and draw 2 cards --> 10/10 flyer connects
T4 swing again for lethal
T1 Hierarch
T2 Kor Spiritdancer + Hyena Umbra (draw)
T3 Rancor (draw) + Ethereal Armor (draw) + Ethereal Armor (draw) + Rancor (draw) --> attack with 26/24 trample FTW
T1 Deathrite
T2 fetch, Invisible Stalker + Ethereal Armor
T3 fetch, Hyena Umbra + Spectral Flight --> attack with 7/7 unblockable hexproof
T4 any aura --> attack with minimum 9/x. activate DRS for 2 life drain FTW
Those are obviously just sample hands but to demonstrate possible angles at turn 4 goldfish.
Couple those Aura enablers with cheap profit auras like Ethereal Armor and Rancor and Hyena Umbra.
Finally, throw in some hexproof beaters like Invisible Stalker and Geist of Saint Traf and Slippery Bogle.
Here's my starting point:
//20 creatures:
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Kor Spiritdancer
2 Herp of Iroas
3 Invisible Stalker
4 Geist of Saint Traf
//20 Auras:
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Rancor
4 Hyena Umbra
3 Spectral Flight
3 Lignify
2 Ordeal of Thassa
//20 Lands:
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Scading Tarn
1 Murmuring Bosk
3 Temple Garden
2 Breeding Pool
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Island
Obviously some of these slots are rough. Abundant Growth clones are avoided due to the presence of Tectonic Edge and Ghost Quarter in the format.
Mana dorks are chosen for several reasons:
1) they enable turn 2 Geist or turn 2 Stalker/Dancer/Herp + Aura
2) they help you dodge edict effects on your hexproof guys
3) Deathrite Shaman's lifedrain ability (c/o Bosk mana) can close out games for you as Psionic Blast did for Blouses
4) help you chain auras off Spiritdancer draws
Lignify, Temporal Isolation, Ice Cage and Crystallization all give options for Aura-based removal. That means they power up Ethereal Armor, cost less with Herp and draw cards with Spiritdancer. Not sure which removal is optimal yet. Isolation has flash but doesn't kill abilities. I went with Lignify for now. Lignify nullifies most relevant creatures in the format, powers up your "enchantments matter" stuff, and randomly lets Bosk enter untapped.
Ordeal of Thassa is something I wanted to test. It's the best of the Ordeals and synergizes with Herp to get to 3 counters faster. 4 Herp + 4 Ordeal seems like an easy way to start drawing extra cards (T2 herp+Ordeal seems good), but I'm only running 2 copies of each for now as they're still "tentative" slots.
The sideboard would probably consist of a mix of combo-hate, utility auras to swap in, and protection from spot removal and tricks (Apostle's Blessing, Turn Aside, Spell Pierce or something like that).
Note the extremely low mana curve. This deck could probably run on 18 lands actually.
Example Goldfishes:
T1 Hierarch
T2 Geist
T3 Rancor + Ethereal Armor, attack with 7/5 trample Geist and 4/4 angel token
T4 do same thing for lethal
T1 Deathrite
T2 fetch, Hero of Iroas + Ordeal of Thassa (and +1/+1 counter)
T3 Spectral Flight + Ethereal Armor (and 2 more +1/+1 counters), attack (another +1/+1 counter) --> trigger and draw 2 cards --> 10/10 flyer connects
T4 swing again for lethal
T1 Hierarch
T2 Kor Spiritdancer + Hyena Umbra (draw)
T3 Rancor (draw) + Ethereal Armor (draw) + Ethereal Armor (draw) + Rancor (draw) --> attack with 26/24 trample FTW
T1 Deathrite
T2 fetch, Invisible Stalker + Ethereal Armor
T3 fetch, Hyena Umbra + Spectral Flight --> attack with 7/7 unblockable hexproof
T4 any aura --> attack with minimum 9/x. activate DRS for 2 life drain FTW
Those are obviously just sample hands but to demonstrate possible angles at turn 4 goldfish.