Looking for Deck Suggestions for Magic: The Gathering

[Crel]

As you may have inferred from the title of the thread, I'm looking for help with my deck. I only own 70-80 cards, and although I do relatively well among my friends, I was wondering if any of the probable experts on the forums wanted to lend a hand. Here's my current deck build:


Akroma, Angel of Fury
Two-Headed Dragon
Dragon Roost
Shivan Dragon
Blaze
Granite Grip
Coffin Queen
Hill Giant
Dragon Breath
Scorching Lava
Zerapa Minotaur
Firebreathing
Death Charmer
Smash
Goblin Digging Team
Zombie Boa
Flametongue Kavu
Wall of Diffusion
Plague Fiend
Hooded Kavu
Hand of Death
Drudge Skeletons
Phyrexian Reaper
Caldera Kavu
Skyshroud Vampire
Lava Axe
Reckless Charge x2
Volcanic Hammer x2
Keldon Berserker x2
Stone Rain
Blazing Salvo
Shock
Scorching Missile
Goblin Chariot
Panic Attack
Mountain Mana x12
Swamp Mana x10


And my spares:

Rebel Informer
Nightscape Battlemage
Volcanic Spray
Fault Riders
Phrexian Bloodstock
Looming Shade
Earth Rift
Scorching Missile
Flame Burst
Knight of Dusk
Thermal Blast
Rats of Rath
Fen Stalker
Slay


So far, I'm guessing that another Drudge Skeletons might help, along with plenty more mana, to make it a 50-50 balance. I was wondering mainly if there are any cards I should try to see if a local store that sells cards individually has, or any packs/decks I should buy for certain groups of cards. Thanks.

[Flickerdart]

Lava Axe and Shock suck, replace both with Lightning Bolts. Hill Giant sucks, replace it with anything.

Unfortunately, with so few cards, it will be challenging to make a good deck. It's usually a good idea to run cards in fours and twos, not ones and twos. Get some more of the cards that work (you should be able to buy singles at any games shop for a quarter a piece) and toss the ones that don't. I'd also advise running 24 land: some of your cards are really pricey and you want to be able to get them out more reliably.

[Isak]

For a more... advanced... deck build; Here's my own personal one. It's quite a powerful deck overall.. and VERY fast. Very, very fast. It does a weakness though. Very little counters. So it's not very useful against a fast mill or even a burn deck. Most games, however, I generally win.

The deck is based around the "Borderpost trick", and the "Exalted" ability.

A Borderpost is a card that can be played at the cost of either 3 mana normally, or 1 colorless if you return a basic land to your hand. Getting this on first turn with a basic land means you have access to two different mana types on second turn. (Example: Fieldmist Borderpost normally costs 1B, 1W, 1C; but can be played for 1C if you return a basic land card to your hand).

Exalted is an ability that allows any creature that attacks alone to gain additional modifiers. Qasali Pridemage, for example, is a 2/2 for 1G/1W.. that has Exalted. If a Jhessian Infiltrator were to attack with a Qasali Pridemage also in play, the Jhessian Infiltrator would attack as a 3/3 instead of a 2/2. Some of the more powerful Exalted cards stack OTHER bonuses as well... such as Lifelink, Double Strike, and others. This is a key part of the deck.


Rafiq of the Many x3 (One of the major cards of the deck)
Bant Charm x4
Finest Hour x2 (Easily contends for best card in the deck. It gives you a second combat phase, in which all Exalted bonuses stack AGAIN. So, a Jhessian Infiltrator with 3 Exalted Creatures in play would go from being a 5/5, to an 8/8)
Rhox War Monk x4 (Key point is LIFELINK. Combined with Behemoth Sledge and Battlegrace Angel... Well, I don't need to explain why triple stacked Lifelink is amazing)
Elspeth, Knight-Errant (Mostly a distraction. Elspeth being played gives me more time to focus on getting my big cards into play. If I so happen to get the big ability in before she's not useful, then that's a nice bonus)
Noble Hierarch x2 (MAJOR card. 1G mana cost, Exalted, and taps for mana.
Battlegrace Angel
Behemoth Sledge x2 (+2/+2, Lifelink, and Trample? Yummy.)
Jhessian Infiltrator x4 (2/2 Unblockable... Becomes VERY nice with Exalted bonuses)
Shorecrasher Mimic x4 (Oh, how I've loved this card for it's early game awesomeness. Most of the cards in my deck are a mix of Blue/Green, or Blue/Green/White. Whenever you play a spell that's both Blue and Green (Or more), Shorecrasher mimic becomes a 5/3 Trampler until end of turn. Very nice little combo on turn 3)
Dauntless Escort x2 (Really, just a filler card. Does help in some situations where you'd lose a lot of creatures however)
Qasali Pridemage x3 (Exalted 2/2, and one of the few pieces of removal in my deck)
Knotvine Paladin x2 (AMAZING card if done right. Mostly for end game, despite it's cheap casting cost. When you have half a dozen cards in play that won't be tapped (Birds/Noble Hierarch/Pridemages/Etc), He gets a +1/+1 per untapped creature)
Knight of New Alara (Seems a little expensive for what you get... At first glance. Once you realize that every card I'm playing except for a few are multi-colored; You will realize his real potential)
Birds of Paradise x4 (One drop mana producer. Gotta love it)
Seaside Citadel x4 (Land) (Great card here. Comes into play tapped, but gives me all three of my colors)
Wildfield Borderpost x2 (See Borderpost Trick above)
Fieldmist Borderpost x2 (See above)
Reflecting Pool (Filler card, basically. Does have it's uses)
Plains x3
Islands x3
Forest x3


For those who know the cards, it's a very nice deck.

What ends up happening, for those who don't know these cards well, is that most of the time; I'll end up with only a few basic lands in play. But what happens is I either get Borderposts, Birds, or Noble Hierarch in. These are all excellent mana-producing cards, and give me a huge boost in terms of speed. I can get out Rafiq of the Many by 3rd turn, 90% of the time. Course, on most occasions I also have a Shorecrasher mimic out by then too. So that little 2/1 becomes a 5/3 Trample that gets (at least) +1/+1 and Double Strike. That's a 6/4 Trample Doublestrike on 3rd turn. 12 health, if unblocked.

Course, a deck like this is meant for tournament play. That's actually why I built it.

What I suggest you do, is go down to a local gaming store and see if they do Magic Drafts. They're generally pretty cheap to attend ($10-$15), and gets you not only a fair amount of experience; but cards as well. The alternative is buying cards separately (Which can get expensive for some cards. Elspeth, Knight-Errant runs for around $20 usually); or buy boosters (Or even boxes) of cards. A Booster Pack will run about $3-$4, while a whole box will usually run between $100-$120 (Has about 30 packs in it though).

As far as deck-building itself goes... Play around with it. Try that draft idea, and see what kind of deck suits You. In draft, you'll generally play a 40 card deck (26 cards, 14 lands is my preference). In Constructed, the minimum deck size is 60. For more advanced levels of play, you don't really want more than that unless absolutely necessary. Casual play? 60-70 cards tends to work pretty decently. I wouldn't really recommend more than 64-65 cards though. At that point, you're deck is just... Too big. Unless you have cards that let you search for what you want; chances are you won't see it unless you're running multiples (Four is the max allowed of any non-land card in Constructed, following the "Official" rules)

[Flickerdart]

If you're not super-rich enough to afford 4x Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves are almost as good: they only make green mana, but are commons instead of rare.

[Isak]

If you're not super-rich enough to afford 4x Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves are almost as good: they only make green mana, but are commons instead of rare.

Very true.

I'm by no means rich, but lucky enough to have an older brother who used to play ages ago. Let's just say I inherited some fairly old cards that are quite useful, and still legal as far as deck-building goes :smallbiggrin:

[SoD]

Rhox War Monk x4 (Key point is LIFELINK. Combined with Behemoth Sledge and Battlegrace Angel... Well, I don't need to explain why triple stacked Lifelink is amazing)

Actually...lifelink doesn't stack any more.

[Crel]

Thanks for some of the tips. I was mainly looking for cards I should get and replace from my deck. I'm planning to hit the local gaming store soon-ish, and was curious as what I should eliminate to streamline my deck.

So, get rid of Shock and Hill giant, and add... mountain mana? I think that sounds best since my better cards/combos are mountain mana. I'll see if I can find a Lightning bolt, but is it Mountain? Unless I do a draft, which I'm considering, I don't really want to start another deck until I have this one nicely streamlined.

I was also thinking adding another Granite Fist would allow me more access to that (at our level) sweet boost in killing. Am I correct in doing this?

One more thing: We usually play with Mana Down, where we can set any mana we draw when we draw it, not a little a turn. Any advice regarding strategies with that? I usually end up starting with 2-3 mana, often draw a little more, and can get the Keldon Berserker/Reckless Charge w/ no untapped lands left combo pretty early.

Uh, one more thing again: What exactly is trample? I've heard both does overflowing damage to the defending player (2/2 v 1/1 does 1 damage to player) or just can't be blocked successfully. Which is it?

Thanks for all your help.

[Isak]

Thanks for some of the tips. I was mainly looking for cards I should get and replace from my deck. I'm planning to hit the local gaming store soon-ish, and was curious as what I should eliminate to streamline my deck.

So, get rid of Shock and Hill giant, and add... mountain mana? I think that sounds best since my better cards/combos are mountain mana. I'll see if I can find a Lightning bolt, but is it Mountain? Unless I do a draft, which I'm considering, I don't really want to start another deck until I have this one nicely streamlined.

I was also thinking adding another Granite Fist would allow me more access to that (at our level) sweet boost in killing. Am I correct in doing this?

One more thing: We usually play with Mana Down, where we can set any mana we draw when we draw it, not a little a turn. Any advice regarding strategies with that? I usually end up starting with 2-3 mana, often draw a little more, and can get the Keldon Berserker/Reckless Charge w/ no untapped lands left combo pretty early.

Uh, one more thing again: What exactly is trample? I've heard both does overflowing damage to the defending player (2/2 v 1/1 does 1 damage to player) or just can't be blocked successfully. Which is it?

Thanks for all your help.

Trample lets any unblocked damage hit the opponent.

So, if a 5/5 Trample were to attack a 2/2, the defender would take 3 damage still, unless he assigned multiple blockers. It's a VERY useful ability with one of the Ultimatum cards (Titanic? Gives bonuses to attack/defense, Trample, and Vigilance I think?). It basically turns a token/mook army into a one-turn kill.

@SoD: I know Lifelink doesn't stack in M10 anymore. So, it's not as useful as it was last block... but insane amounts of Exalted Bonuses + Lifelink is still a very nice boost to my health.

[Mirrinus]

In the future, could you post questions like these in the dedicated Magic: The Gathering thread here? It'll be easier to compile stuff like this. Thanks.