budget-and-untested-blog

[budget-and-untested-blog]

Superior Sunday: G/W Aggro

This Superior Sunday isn't all that superior, only 5 decks in the meta and just one at the Pro tour. However there are other decks going 5-0 in leagues. The deck list I'm using is Eduardo Viera's from Pro tour Ixalan. He went 7-3 with it.

Here it is:

Creatures:

2 Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter

3 Sacred Cat

4 Adorned Pouncer

4 Andanto Vanguard

4 Merfolk Branchwalker

4 Resilient Khenra

2 Kinjalli's Sunwing

1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade

2 Oketra the True

Instants/Sorceries:

3 Blossoming Defense

4 Appeal//Authority

Enchantments:

2 Legion's Landing

Artifacts:

2 Aethersphere Harvester

Land:

3 Hashep Oasis

3 Shefet Dunes

4 Sunpetal Grove

1 Scattered Groves

5 Forest

7 Plains

The Sideboard:

3 Heroic Intervention

2 Gideon of the Trials

1 Skywhaler's Shot

2 Sunscourge Champion

2 Cast Out

3 Fumigate

2 Hour of Revelation

Thoughts:

My first such was "Oh my god...it uses Resilient Khenra" because I had never thought that card would be quite that good. As in not Pro tour good, turns out attacking with a 3/3 lifelinker on turn 2 is an awesome play.

Then there's what I think is the nut draw, turn 1 you play Sacred Cat, turn 2 you play Resilient Khenra targeting the Cat and attacking with it, turn 3 play Kinjalli's Sunwing turn 4 Oketra the True turn 5 Appeal targeting Oketra. Because a 7/10 double-strike, indestructible trample is fair.

This deck seems really good against other aggro decks, it has a lot of life buffering, a recursive threat in Sacred Cat who also has lifelink, and multiple token generators to allow you to chump block into oblivion. It doesn't look great against any Midrange deck except after sideboard where Gideon's and fumigates live. However the best non creature spell in the deck, (in my mind) Appeal, can be countered really easily in this metagame. A few cards I am pointing out now are Andanto Vanguard and Kinjalli's Sunwing, both excellent against aggro or allow you to go aggressive without having to worry much. Also Andanto Vanguard made it to the Pro tour? I hardly believe it.

The sideboard in whole seems like it's geared against Midrange and Token decks that have poked our recently.

[budget-and-untested-blog]

Card Showcase: Cultivator of Blades

If you'd read any of my most recent posts you'd have expected this.

If you've done things right it's a repeated overrun effect minus the trample. It is also a great target for power/toughness increases like Hour of Eternity. That is it, that's why I like it. I'm a simple person. (At least in this game)

[budget-and-untested-blog]

Sultai Gift of Blades

For those who guessed God-Pharaoh's Gift and Cultivator of Blades I applaud you and appreciate your reading of my lists.

Anyway enough of that, here's what you're here for:

Creatures:

4 Cultivator of Blades

4 Gonti, Lord of Luxury

2 Trophy Mage

4 Kitesail Freebooter

4 Wharf Infiltrator

4 Merfolk Branchwalker

4 Minister of Inquiries

Instants/Sorceries:

4 Contingency Plan

Artifacts:

2 God-Pharaoh's Gift

4 Gate to the Afterlife

Land:

4 Llanowar Wastes

3 Yavimaya Coast

8 Island

9 Swamp

The Sideboard:

3 Harsh Scrutiny

4 Negate

4 Naturalize

2 Lost Legacy

2 Vampire Nighthawk

The Breakdown:

To start with, the Targets for reanimation. They are Cultivator of Blades and Gonti. If we reanimate one of them we basically Win. Other not so 'I Win' targets are the Freebooter and the Infiltrator.

Cultivator of Blades works so well because him being a 4/4 and spawning two Friends means attacking for 14 Even I those are your only creatures.

Our graveyard dump team consists of the Minister, Infiltrator, Branchwalker and Contingency Plan. The Minister and Infiltrator work best, the first for sheer number and the second for consistency.

I actually built a backup plan into this deck. It's a beatdown plan which is okay with 12 cards dedicated to it. One such is Cultivator of Blades. The others double as graveloaders, Branchwalker and Infiltrator.

The Sideboard plan is mostly defensive

with Harsh Scrutiny for creature based decks, Negate for 'unfair' decks, Naturalize for combo, Lost Legacy is for decks that have 1 I win card. Vampire Nighthawk is for decks that can beat your beatdown, it also doubles as an excellent target for reanimation, a 4/4 lifelink, deathtouch flying...mmmm

[budget-and-untested-blog]

Superior Sunday: Esper Gift

This is my favourite deck in standard, since ever. The deck list then an explanation.

The reason you're here:

Creatures:

4 Walking Ballista

4 Minister of Inquiries

4 Seeker's Squire

2 Kitesail Freebooter

4 Champion of Wits

3 Trophy Mage

3 Hostage Taker

4 Angel of Invention

1 Scarab God

Instants/Sorceries

1 Chart a Course

Artifacts:

4 Gate to the Afterlife

2 God-Pharaoh's Gift

Enchantment:

1 Search for Azcanta

Land:

4 Aether Hub

4 Concealed Courtyard

4 Drowned Catacomb

1 Fetid Pool

3 Ipnu Rivulet

5 Island

2 Swamp

Sideboard

4 Fatal push

1 Jace's Defeat

2 Kitesail Freebooter

3 Negate

2 Vraska's Contempt

2 Dreamstealer

1 Scarab God

Explanation

I like this because it makes disruptive, douchebag creatures big. Like Kitesail Freebooter and Hostage Taker. (in my budget world I'll take Gonti) And it's main way to win is not in its colours, it's White-Blue-Black a control colour combo. It wins by beating the hell out of you with hasty 4/4's.

Let's have a Breakdown:

The only card that makes no sense to me is the Walking Ballista... Why? When you play it, it would probably be a 3/3 for 6 and if you reanimate it you can't use it's ability. (I think you can't pay it's mana cost for counters)

The Minister, Seeker and Champion of Wits throw things into your graveyard to trigger The Gate. There probably the best of the best in and out of standard. They are also creatures so you can reanimate them.

Kitesail and Hostage Taker are here to interrupt and then do it again but as a 4/4. (Which is always fun, for the person playing it of course)

The things you use to win are the Angels and Satan. I mean the Scarab God. (I don't much like how overpowered it is.) That said I wish it was green over white because the only white card is the angel. I'd replace it with Cultivator of Blades because swinging for 14 (Cue sarcasm) isn't fun at all.

With 3 creatures at that because you did create the servos right? Right?

Note: The deck list can be found on Mtggoldfish under metagame and Esper gift.

[budget-and-untested-blog]

New things

Hello people who have found this place and kinda like it, I have decided on a few changes which would make me happier as a creator. I hope you enjoy what you read next.

No more Full bore.

Why? Because I have finally gotten into the habit of making decks that do care, and these just don't. The good news here is I'll post a deck I like, or perhaps once I'm popular (if ever amirite? :) you guys could throw decks at me to talk about.

Really new, shiny things.

Actually new series are going to be a card showcase, it will be a card currently legal in standard that I'll post every Saturday and why I like it in addition the last Saturday in the month will be the card of the month, it will be a previously posted card that I think is the best. The other is Superior Sunday, I'll post a professional deck and talk about it's apparent choices and why I like it.

That's that for now, Tomorrow is the birth of a new series.

[budget-and-untested-blog]

Fullbore Friday: Jund Gravegun

Today I have a deck inspired by two sources, SaffronOlive (demon fling Jund deck, this is an Against the Odds) and Jake stiles (b/g threshold deck, this was for Playing Pauper) on MTG goldfish.

The reason you're here:

Creatures

4 Nighthowler

3 Liliana's Elite

3 Nemesis of Mortals

4 Satyr Wayfinder

4 Werebear

2 Moldgraf Scavenger

4 Golgari Brownscale

2 Nimble Mongoose

Instants/sorceries

4 Temur Battle Rage

4 Grisly Salvage

2 Fling

Enchantments

4 Vessel of Nascency

Land

2 Tree of Tales

2 Vault of Whispers

5 Forest

5 Swamp

2 Mountain

2 Foreboding Ruins

2 Game Trail

Let's have a Breakdown

First thing you probably noticed: The artifact lands present, Vault and Tree. They're here to trigger our single delirium Triggered card Moldgraf Scavenger. If your group doesn't play with them then remove them, the Scavenger and add more Mongoose. Just be sure to replace your land.

The ammunition

These creature are thee targets for your Flings and Rages because they all will probably be 5/5's or bigger as the game goes along. After you activate the Nemesis monstrosity ability... A 10/10 with double strike and trample can be damn near game winning.

The gun:

Flings and Rages. I run more Rages because they don't require A sacrifice. Though the Flings can un-stall a board.

The Reload:

Anything that dumps cards to the grave is here. The Wayfinders, Brownscales, Salvages and Vessels. Without these this deck wouldn't work

The Base:

All right, because it's a 3 colour deck it's a bit more expensive, as it has the Foreboding Ruins and Game Trails which are like a buck a piece. Still more expensive than a basic though. This part probably needs changing and if you've got better options use them.

[budget-and-untested-blog]

U/G Ramp

This is a deck a spent an excess of time on, but that means when you play if you should have a fair chance against the deck types I know exist.

The reason your here:

Creatures

2 Voyaging Satyr

4 Rattleclaw Mystic

4 Sifter Wurm

3 Sphinx of the Final Word

Instants/sorceries

2 unsummon

2 Foresee

4 Explosive Vegetation

4 Perilous Voyage

2 River's Rebuke

2 Lay of the Land

Enchantments

3 Sandwurm Convergence

3 Monastery Siege

3 Frontier Siege

12 Forest

10 Island

Sideboard

3 Snapping Sailback

3 Icefall Regent

3 Reality Shift

4 Negate

2 Scatter to the Winds

Let's have a breakdown:

•The Ramp

In creature form we have the Mystics which are nice because they are extra mana fixing and if we have a meh draw we can cast it facedown for a wave of mana later. Then there's the Voyaging Satyrs which well, they're here because there on our ramp curve and mana fixing possibilities.

In enchantment form we get frontier siege which gives waves of mana, constantly, also never chose dragons.

Spell form, we have Explosive Vegetation which gets us to right around where we want to be.

•Ender's game

We've got 2 ways to play it, one is Sifter Wurm which is great against aggro, a matchup I thought pretty good but likely in the meta. For those with friends who play control you get Sphinx of the Final Word.

There is a third way for grindy matches and that is the Convergence, a 5/5 every turn that is unlikely to be destroyed (who plays enchantment removal?)

•Tempo

Unsummon for the aggressive decks and against decks with recurring threats you could board in Reality Shifts.

We also have Perilous Voyage (also known as my favourite tempo play in the game) to stop combos from taking off and depending upon the cost you get to scry some.

The board wipe, I mean River's Rebuke, it's good against any deck but control. It stops combos and tokens in a hand are useless, also aggro players will hate your guts.

•The Chaotic choices

These fit nowhere but here.

The lay of the lands are here to do something turn one against control and possibly fix an otherwise good hand.

Foreseeing is powerful, it's for when you're set up with all your mana but, you have land in your hand and Foresee. Scry 4 draw 2 for 4 mana. I count 2 scrys as a draw so this is like a draw 4 for 4 to me.

Monastery Siege, the be all end all against control decks, or if you haven't found a stompy thing then you can choose khans to draw excess cards.

•The sidechick

The Sailbacks and Regents are here against really fast decks, when boarding them in take out your later ramp and other win cons.

We also have counter spells, for better fighting control, when jamming these into the deck take out River's Rebuke and some win cons.

I already explained Reality Shift to a degree but it's really good in a mirror match, against ramp you can now exile their trash and wham it's a 2/2. A reality shift at the right time will likely shift the end game to your favor.

[budget-and-untested-blog]

B/R Heroes Never Die

The reason your here:

4 Zurgo Bellstriker

4 Bloodsoaked champion

4 Wanted Scoundrels

4 Bloodrage Brawler

4 Flamewake Phoenix

4 Eternal Scourge

4 Claim // Fame

4 Consuming Fervor

2 Swashbuckling

4 Furor of the Bitten

3 Sunscorched Desert

10 Mountain

9 Swamp

This is basically Just an aggro deck that can't stop screaming "Blood for the blood God!" You have 3 playsets of self recurring creatures and enough permanent boost to be bigger. (most of the time in the case of Consuming Fervor)

Your Flamewake needs ways to trigger it's ferocious, so we have 2 playsets of 2 drop 4/3's, also on turn four (assuming you hit all your land) you can claim//fame them and then drop the Fervor to swing for 9 with a 9/6 haste creature. Fun. For you.

Your other self recurring friends are the Eternal Scourges and Bloodsoaked Champion, they both stop control or removal heavy decks and Bloodsoaked Champion can Claim Fame.

The only mostly unrelated creature is Zurgo, but he's there because we needed a 1-drop filler, so why not a 2/2 for 1? He can, like most other creatures present, can Claim Fame.

As for the random enchantments, they are there so we don't need to stop punching because our opponents have huge creatures. We just make ours also huge.

As for land, I decided ping land (Sunscorched Desert) was good enough to go into a deck that wants to keep charging. I really don't think mountains and swamps need an explanation. Though you could throw in Bloodstained mire (I actually own one:) or a few Foreboding Ruins but I decided why? It's only two colours we should be fine.

[budget-and-untested-blog]

Me, myself and Ideas

I am dedicated to showing Tumblr interesting, budget and untested deck lists for Magic: The Gathering. Such lists will always include why the card is there and why I chose it over something else, often budget restraints. I play this at a casual level and none of my decks will take an FNM. That said you can make them worthy of such a feat, as they’re all untested and I go off of instinct as to which ratios of cards to throw in. Though I may use math from time to time.

I will be showing the decks on certain days depending upon what category I’ve thought up.

Tempered Tuesdays: these are decks I have made with interaction in mind. (At least a little)

Full bore Friday: the decks on Fridays will be a specific theme cranked to 11, and have no interaction unless it helps me crank further.

I also may post a deck for funsies.

Note: because to me a budget deck is less than 20$ there will never be good dual lands. (Except those of Shadows over Innistrad.)