[Brainstorming] Magus of the Moon

[rsaunder]

Back story: TheBirdMan almost T8'd the EPIC DFD on the back of 4 MD Magus in 3 color survival which ran no nonbasics.

So, Magus of the Moon. It destroy's thresh's manabase, is hellish for controll to deal with, and is a 2/2 beater. Blood Moon, on the other hand doesn't die to "float a white, swords". I think we can all agree that the "moon" effect is amazing right now, but how is it best to work it into a deck? Work a deck around it? Magus or enchantment? How should a manabase look to perhaps even capitalize on the switch?

EDIT: If the mods don't think this is enough of a "deck discussion," then I'll make up a decklist. I just wanted to have some open brainstorming.

[DragoFireheart]

Maybe some sort of mono-red aggro deck that main-decks both of the moons/ has bloodmoon sideboarded?

Some Dragon Stompy deck tries to main-deck them IIRC.

[Machinus]

Merry Christmas.

4 Mox Diamond
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Crystal Vein
3 City of Traitors
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Plains
3 Forest
1 Plateau
1 Taiga
4 Thorn of Amythest
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Sulfur Elemental
4 Loxodon Heirarch
3 Brion Stoutarm

[willo]

work some counterspell hate into it if all you are hoping of winning of a magnus.

[Phantom]

I played around with it a tad. Wasn't that impressed. Glad you brought up the problems with Magus, which is fairly large.

In my experience the deck kind of works against itself. It requires you to do a lot of sub par things like not rely on fetches or duals at all (so you will have a lot more trouble splashing), and if you don't land a moon effect, you're playing a much worse deck than the opponent.

Second, there are just too many decks that it barely affects. Any deck running Vial, any mono colored deck, almost every combo deck, etc. Even the decks you are counting on it to cripple, like Thresh, can race it by dropping a Goyf or two and going to town. And that's not even bringing up the counters they are running for it.

Basically, I've found it to be a solid sideboard strategy in the decks it doesn't ruin (Dragon Stompy and the like) but an iffy mainboard consideration.

Edit: Just saw about Survival. Seems promising in a deck that can tutor it up when needed and bury it when dead.

[Wallace]

I am thinking about running one of the Moons in my Burn Deck, only non's I run are Barb. Rings so Moon seems really good.

BTW this should have been posted in the Format Discussion Thread, would have saved a mod the trouble of moving the thread.

[Sims]

I hear 5/3 can use Magus to decent effect for shutting off the opponents lands as early as turns 1/2. I dunno if anyone still plays red 5/3, but with a lil extra development a Red/Brown aggro or stax deck makes decent use of Magus as well as Thorn of Amethyst (in the more aggro variants).

To pre-empt: Turn 1/2 it can simply win the game against certain decks, ontop of turning off your tomb damage and making your cities permanent after you utilize the explosiveness of the fast mana. So ultimately, if you speed up your game a turn or two then drop Magus, it doesn't hurt you as much as you'd think.

[rsaunder]

Red 5/3 sounds like an interesting use. Chances are you'll have a chalice out or something to negate the "creature" drawback. Machinus' list seems to take the next logical step and play goyf, which seems to be the right decision, no matter what else the deck is trying to do these days. I doubt a couple of the other choices (stoutarm, sulfur elemental) but that is just speculation and neither here nor there.

I agree with Phantom about its somewhat narrow effect, but i'll contend that it would be purely a metagame choice. In some metas it may suck, but looking at the top tables of the EPIC DFD yesterday, I think six of eight decks would have been running manabases made completely of mountains with no cards to cast with them. Goblins (and r/g beats?)

In a perfect world, this would have gone into "single card discussion", as that is exactly what it is, but alas, that forum has been done away with since the last time I looked for it.

Peace, and thanks for the responses!

[Zork]

I play this version of big redz, a deck that abuses Magus among other things:

10 Mountains
4 Tomb
4 City of Traitors

4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Chrome Mox
4 Seething Song

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Earthquake

4 Magus of the Moon
4 Arc-Slogger
2 Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
3 Gathan Raiders (can also be Phyrexian Warbeast or Sulfur Elemental)

3 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Jitte

SB:
4 Pyrokinesis
4 Trinisphere
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 tormod's Crypt

[whienot]

Is there a way to work Magus of the Moon & Riftsone Portal into a RGW deck?

[Lone Signal]

I think the best use is in Survival variants. 4 Magi to slow the opponent down for when you don't have Survival out. It's only applicable in a meta where Magi hurts a lot though.

[Barook]

There is already a thread that covers a successful (in Germany) deck featuring Magus of the Moon:

Empty the Slogger (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5776)