#ELIXIR OF IMMORTALITY GIFTS UNGIVEN HOW TO#

The Golgari shell is very powerful against aggro, but the rest of the deck is inefficient. I define aggro as a fast deck that uses a large number of efficient creatures that cannot get around Courser of Kruphix without help.

#ELIXIR OF IMMORTALITY GIFTS UNGIVEN HOW TO#

Especially in an unknown format, I like to figure out which cards I would not want against specific archetypes, figure out which cards I predict I'd need to beat, and then figure out how to do that with the amount of card slots I have with the cards I take out. I do have a tendency to build decks with not enough win conditions but are harder to kill than the average cockroach, so further testing may prove that I need to add another copy to find some way to win the game. I'm still debating the optimal number of delve cards to run before they start negatively affecting each other, but I am certain I want Delvecestral Memories in my deck, since the presence of fetchlands means I am both not too worried about tucking useful cards, and are good cards to tuck themselves lategame. Garruk is there to win the grind match-ups, which I suspect may be almost all the match-ups with this deck. As it stands, a turn 2-3 Ashiok is murder against any non-aggro deck, and if the format is slower than my guess, I may even run 4. If the format is less red saturated than I predict, the planeswalker ratios may change. Typical Jund shenanigans.Дespite being my least favorite clan flavor-wise, Sultai looks to be the best color combination for control in the upcoming format, with access to Ashiok and Kiora as trumps against slower decks, and Prognostic Sphinx as a win condition that can stonewall the newest format darling Sarkhan.ДЄshiok earns more slots maindeck than both Kiora and Nissa purely from the size of his butt- with Stormbreath Dragon, Sarkhan, Stoke the Flames, and Jeskai Charm in the format, any deck with red has the ability to deal 4 damage from an empty board before you untap with one of the girls. Red offers options as well, but its flagship cards are Stormbreath Dragon and Xenagos, the Reveler, and would make a much better midrange deck. Though it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, the large amount of aggressively costed creatures in the upcoming set with ever-increasingly inefficient counter-magic makes it hard to play blue's traditional reactionary game. Similarly, with the current glut of planeswalkers and other similar pseudo-card advantage cards (ie Courser, scry), as well as black's access to draw spells, blue is also not essential to a functional control deck. Because of this, I feel that white is no longer a mandatory color for a tier 1 control deck, despite having the most unconditional mass removal. In the new format, midrange decks will not feel nearly as much pressure to end the game before you hit your 8th land drop, and can nickel and dime you to death with singleton creatures without over-committing into mass removal. Toss in any number of finishers and the support spells to get them there, and you'll have a competitive control deck.ДЄ control deck with no board presence worked in the previous format because the prospect of large Sphinx's Revelations forced the opponent to commit to the board to kill you early. With the addition of Nissa, Worldwaker from M15, green has both the finishers and the defense to get there.Д«etween green and black there exists a strong shell of:

The big reason I played Bant over Azorius was because of how well those two cards stalled out the board and stinted aggro.

With Thoughtseize, Bile Blight, Hero's Downfall, and Silence the Believers, black has answers for anything that isn't the top of your opponent's deck.Д¬oming in a close second is green, front-lined by anti-aggro superstars Sylvan Caryatid and Courser of Kruphix. To me, the big winner of Theros block is black.

Time to start drafting some control decks. However, with rotation coming fast in less than 2 weeks, my interest in the format is waxing again. With a stagnant Standard format that was so close to rotation it didn't feel worth brewing for, my interest waned and I've been quietly grinding away with a pretty standard Bant control list. It's no fun to play in a 'solved' format, and even less interesting to read about.

Elixir of immortality gifts ungiven