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Editor: Sharon Van Der Werk 5th March 2006.
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The release of Guildpact is upon us, and the first set of building blocks for Ravnica Block Constructed are in place. I'd like to present you with a few preliminary deck ideas that may be worth looking into for the season, or what you may expect to face. First, a little introduction. I began playing around 1994 (I think, Revised was the available ‘Core Set'). I stopped just before Tempest Block, and came back when Darksteel was the new kid on the block. I've attended 3 prereleases including Guildpact. I played an Ice Age sealed deck back in the day. I've attended one FNM draft. So what on earth am I doing writing up deck lists for Block Constructed? Do I want to get told what an idiot I am for making stupid card choices, not understanding the expected metagame, or building the dumbest sideboard known to man? Yes, actually. Although preferably replace the “get told what an idiot I am” to “respectfully taught what I got wrong and why it is wrong”. You see, this article is more for me than it is for the readers. I don't have the time to get involved in Serious Magic, however, I am deeply interested in it, and have been since I came back to the game*. I am a student of the game, forever seeking to increase my knowledge and skills. I'm sure I would get better if I changed my ‘sideboard', something like: +2 nights MTGO, +1 FNM Attendance, +1 Tournament attendance on relevant dates, -1 Girlfriend. As much as I'd love to play more, that REALLY doesn't suit my metagame! For me, this article is a test to see if I can get at least a loose handle on a virgin format, rather than just follow the flock. Will some of these decks be Tier nineteen? I almost guarantee it. I love deck building probably more than I enjoy playing the game. Hopefully some of the ideas presented in the decks can be the foundation of a decent deck, even if my own execution of that idea is poor. If I can do that at least, I will be happy. In particular, the mana bases are probably all off kilter and may need some adjustment. For some of the decks I have neglected to give them a sideboard. All the ideas here are not cut and paste jobs. Of course I peruse forums and read articles the same as you. Certainly some information I may have learned from those, but none is copied ; merely my application of generally accepted ideas. (Some decks are conversions of Standard decks, which is about as close as I get to copying an existing idea). Basic Tools Before heading onto the decklists, let's look at some basic tools in the format so when discussing the decks, we have something to reference back to. These aren't going to be full on card analysis, just some cards I expect to have at least a reasonable presence in the upcoming Ravnica Block metagame. Feel free to flame me in the forums for something I missed. Mana Fixing and Acceleration Rare Dual Lands (Temple Garden etc) The highlight here is of course the rare Guild land cycle; Ravduals, shockduals, whatever you want to call them. Birds of Paradise is our one mana accelerator and fixer. Farseek is our two drop, which happens to search out the cycle of Ravduals (could they have been more obvious about it?) Civic Wayfinder sits at 3 mana, only able to find basic lands but still quite useful. I would like to note that Perilous Forays can find the rare cycle of lands (searches for a land with a basic land type , not for a basic land), but at 5 mana, I don't think it has real potential. The common duals can increase your mana base, and will be used by some slower controlling decks. Elves of Deep Shadow will also help accelerate decks, possibly even if they aren't black, or just to support a black splash. Ravnica was supposed to highlight 2 colour combinations. With the tools we have been given, I think 2 colour decks will be rare; the majority will be 3 or 4 colours due to the ease of mana fixing, whether to splash to cover a weakness, or to just have access to the best cards across multiple colours. Pinpoint Creature Removal Putrefy Putrefy and Mortify are generally the best cards here due to their flexibility. Decks of their colours are rarely going to be without these cards. While Last Gasp won't kill big creatures without some help, it still takes out a number of utility creatures (Birds, Dark Confidant), and slows down opposing decks early game. Potential Mass Creature Removal Culling Sun The closest thing we get to Wrath of God (in that it will take out virtually all creatures) is Plague Boiler, and that's a stretch as it will often take multiple turns from casting to exploding. Nearly everything else is fairly conditional, hence the inclusion of ‘ Potential' in the subtitle. I've included Necroplasm, as against a deck full of saprolings, Selesnya Guildmage and Selesnya Evangel it will quickly clear their board. Rain of Embers is similar; suboptimal against most decks but devastating against the right ones. Savage Twister will often be Wrath of God – if you can out accelerate your opponent. I think the lack of a really strong Wrath variant (read : that will consistently clear out the opponents board no matter what they are playing) makes the format more creature based. Burn Char Char and Lightning Helix are the probably the best burn here. Char sets the highwater mark at 4, creatures with a higher toughness will see play because they will be harder to remove (Helldozer, Rumbling Slum). Tutors and Card Draw Congregation at Dawn A bunch of tutors and card drawers, each with their own niche or limitation. I won't go into them in detail here. Discard Nightmare Void Nightmare Void has extra utility in that it can be dredged up any time you fear a certain card that could wreck your plans. Strands is likely to be suboptimal, but is an option. Land Destruction Rolling Spoil Now we will head into the decklists! Gruul Stompin'
4 Char 8 Forest 7 Mountain
Sideboard If a 2 colour deck might have a chance without a 3 rd colour splash, it may as well be Gruul, having strong undercosted creatures. This deck does what Gruul does; lays Bad Debts 4 Putrefy 4 Mortify 1 Ghostway
5 Forest 3 Swamp 2 Plains
Sideboard 2 Ghostway This deck controls the early game through Putrefy, Mortify, and Pillory of the Sleepless. Pillory may be marginal in some matchups (those where creatures are easily I see the potential for some other cards in variants; Congregation at Dawn can find the pieces you need once you have Debtor's Knell on the table (for example, Savra, Angel of Despair and Golgari Guildmage, or triple Loxodon Heirarch if the life gain/regeneration will give you inevitability). Perhaps even a single Perilous Forays as a sacrifice outlet, which would also make the guildmages stronger. Helldozer Control 4 Farseek 4 Putrefy
2 Svogthos 7 Swamp 7 Forest
Sideboard This deck seeks to control your opponents creatures in the early game through Putrefy and Last Gasp, and blocking with Caryatid. It can also force discard through I was originally going to splash white as well as blue (to support Guildmage) for Moratorium Stone to prevent Life From the Loam from messing up the plans, but Leyline of the Void is probably better in most cases; prevention is better than cure, apparently. Ghazi-Glare
Sideboard This deck obviously exists in Standard, and most of the relevant pieces belong to the Ravnica Block. My build is surely less than optimal, but I'd like to highlight a few things. One of this decks main weaknesses is that it's creatures are small, and thus susceptible to cards like Orzhov Pontiff, Rain of Embers, Rolling Spoil etc. In matches where you suspect those cards, I think it is important to fetch out the Oathsworn Giant (and sideboard the others in), or failing that, keeping a Guildmage alive and keeping W3 open as much as possible. Another option may be to maindeck Veteran Armourer (perhaps in place of Fists of Ironwood). Savage Twister can devastate this deck however, and your only hope is a Loxodon Heirarch with GW open. Graven Dominator can be a surprise play; attack with your tokens, letting your opponent block to kill off some of your horde. Then either hard cast or Chord this guy out, and your opponent will be left with 1/1's that have been dealt 1 damage. Hour of Reckoning could also find it's way into the main deck. Germination Station 4 Putrefy It should be readily obvious this deck centres around Bloodbond March. I have little doubt that my build is missing some key pieces (for example, Wild Cantor has nice Sunglare 3 Char
4 Forest 2 Plains 2 Mountain
Sideboard 2 Ghostway In attempting to figure out what to do with Sunforger, I figured it was easier to just build a Fungus Fires Block deck. This isn't copied or adapted directly from a particular I'm sure the land base needs some work. I threw all the relevant duals in there, plus Vitu-Ghazi and a top up of basics. I preferred Civic Wayfinder over Farseek as he has the ability to hold big flamin' hammers. Perhaps 4 Wayfinders and 4 Birds means maximum duals aren't necessary. Or you could put in Farseek so you can find the duals easier and lower their number a bit. I think Sunforger is a card in block that will spawn a multitude of varied decks, particularly by having different colours. I wanted to splash black for Mortify, as a Helldozer who doesn't want to attack will be troublesome, among other things. I was oringally excited by Sunforger and Izzet cards, especially Cerebral Vortex and Electrolyze. Then I theorised you've got better burn already, and if you are spending mana tutoring up cards every turn, do you really need to draw extra cards anyway? Nevertheless, I think this is just one build of many varied possibilities. Singularity Complex 4 Repeal
11 Swamp 9 Island I'll freely admit this is a block conversion of a deck I just read about. I had intended to look into the Leyline of Singularity/Hunted combo anyway, this just gave the deck I think Dimir Doppleganger could be exciting in the sideboard. Let's face it, your Hunted Horror is going to get Putrefied or Mortified some times. Got a Horror in the yard? Clone that fatty! I'd say this comes in against dredgers or when you think removal may be high. Thunder Reborn 4 Mortify 9 Plains 9 Swamps This deck was put together very haphazardly (inception to decklist less than 2 minutes), but when Ravnica came out I was looking for something to Break Sins of the Past • Preserve your life total, by removing threats as early as possible by attacking their hand, and permanents with Mortify, Faith's Fetters and Devouring Light. • Discard Storm Herd into your graveyard. All discard in this deck can target any player, so you would have to be wary to keep some discard back. • 3 Cast Sins of the Past targeting Storm Herd, hopefully with a decent life total. Now that is definitely a one trick pony. You could beat down with Blind Hunter and Shrieking Grotesque, perhaps recurring Nightmare Void if they hold any cards, but that path is unlikely. With all those controlling cards, it shouldn't be too hard to maintain a life total over 10 by the time you cast Sins, meaning you can kill them in two swings. But is that fast enough? There are a few cards which can simply spoil that plan, such as Culling Sun, Savage Twister and Rain of Embers. Even on an empty hand they could rip these off the top. Viable? Probably not, but this article is about ideas, not PTQ quality deck lists. Perhaps the two flagship cards will be used in other ways; perhaps something is waiting for Sins of The Past in Dissension, and Storm Herd might be something that a Boros/Orzhov control deck casts late game (or Azorious for that matter). Blood Rush 4 Char 2 Wildsize 9 Forest 9 Mountain
Sideboard 2 Wildsize The plan is simple. Start beating with critters, get the benefits of bloodthirst, and swing some more. Add burn as necessary. While that sounds like a simplistic plan, I imagine Char is obvious. I was worried about how to get rid of Carven Caryatid; a turn 2 or 3 wall is going to cause a few problems. I wasn't really happy about throwing an attacker into it and then using Char, which would have ultimately been a 3 for 1 (plus 2 damage). I glanced at Fiery Conclusion which is even worse than Char. Then I hit Wildsize, and that might be just the ticket. That plan is slightly flawed in that only 8 of our creatures inherently have the 3 power to kill it when Wildsized, plus 4 more if you get a bloodthirsted Scabclan Mauler. But that way you are likely to kill the blocking creature, keep your own, and draw a card. While Drift of Phantasms can't kill our creatures (at least not without some help) this plan also helps against that pesky blocker. There are plenty of other options for this deck, some of which I've chucked in the sideboard but could be maindeckable. Tin-street Hooligan blows up artefacts, which I am guessing will mostly be relevant against opponents who run signets for acceleration. I think against a Sunforger deck you would be beating them down and forcing blocks before it came online, but I could be wrong. I've thrown Frenzied Goblin into the sideboard, but he probably doesn't belong there. He is either maindecked, or not in your build I suspect. He can force a turn 2 bloodthirsted Pit Sulk; but that costs the same as any other 2 drop who is likely better. He can help with the aforementioned Caryatid problem however. I chucked a couple of Scion's in the sideboard. Against an opponent who doesn't put up an early defense or at least doesn't remove your creatures, Scion could be a decent size. I've kept the curve to top out at 3 mana, including the sideboard, but this may be a mistake. At least a couple of Rumbling Slum could make it into the deck, if not the full complement. It's a big creature that guarantees the bloodthirst of your clan. Similar to Scion, Ulasht might be a decent sideboard option. There are 16 creatures in the deck which are both green and red, plus all your mono-coloured ones. Untapping with a 5/5+ Ulasht in play should make for an exciting attack phase. I also wonder whether Stoneshaker Shaman could make for an interesting sideboard option. I have no idea whether it is good or not, but thought I would put the idea out there. I think I'll leave it at that as far as discussing decks go. There are plenty more options to explore, and there are some powerful cards I haven't even touched; Dream Leash, Moonlight Bargain (which should probably go in my Thunderous Return deck now that I think of it), Cerebral Vortex, Djinn Illuminatus, the Nephilim, Niv-Mizzet, Quicken (I estimate this will have more impact in other formats than Block though), Skarrgan Firebird, Sword of the Paruns (this card hasn't made much of a splash, but I'm going to peg it as playable in block), Flickerform/Auratouched Mage, Blazing Archon, Bottled Cloister, Circu, Cloudstone Curio, Firemane Angel, Followed Footsteps, Gleancrawler, Golgari Grave Troll, Life From The Loam, Plague Boiler, Searing Meditation, Vigor Mortis and Vulturous Zombie. I've looked at Warp World, and I don't think a viable block deck exists, but I'd love to be proven wrong. I've also only got 1 deck with Bob in it, when he will certainly be in plenty more. I haven't touched Izzet, but that is mainly because all the ideas I can think of suck. Attacking with 3/3 Wee Dragonauts isn't going to make it in constructed. Or is it? I do have wet dreams of having a Djinn Illuminatus in play with 12 lands untapped, and playing Cerebral Vortex on my opponent 4 times after they've draw their card for the turn to deal them 24 damage; that would be supercool. I doubt a milling deck would be viable due to the speed of the aggressive decks; Drift of Phantasms is it's best defense, followed by Stinkweed Imp I am guessing. There will also be certain matchups where you dump exactly what they want into their graveyard. Prior to Guildpact, I felt Firemane Angel would be a solid card for Red/White control. However, it can be nullified by Moratorium Stone, which can go into anybody's sideboard. Red/White/Black could be the way to go, with black giving hand destruction such as Castigate, plus Angel of Despair as another finisher and Mortify to partner with Lightning Helix. Searing Meditation could also fit here, but lacks some of the cards in Standard that work better. B/U/G could be fun with the Vulturous Zombie/Glimpse the Unthinkable combo, or Vulturous Zombie could simply be a good sideboard card against dredge decks. As you can see, there are many option available, and it will be interesting to see what happens when Block season gets underway. Have fun modifying any of these ideas, using them as the base for your own deck, or create your own concoction that will rise above the rest. Thanks for listening to a ‘wannabe'. Michael Howell Bacchus on the forums * I bought a Darksteel Box and built an Arcbound Deck. I wondered what the hell just happened when my opponent put 2 Darksteel Colossi on the table on turn 4, facing down my Arcbound Crusher. That experience certainly piqued my interest! |
down creatures and beats face. This deck intends to build up to 4 mana, then lay down fat creatures. I went for Wild Cantor over Farseek as my backup accelerator to Birds of Paradise. While it can only accelerate once, it can also beat down for 1 before it does. It could be a land or two short given that the deck has a full complement of Rage Pits, testing would tell. Gruul War Plow and the Rage Pits give the deck 8 ways to give creatures trample; without this, Hunted Troll would probably not make the cut. Burning Tree Shaman could make us hurt a little with the Pits, War Plows and regenerating the Troll, but you simply can't go past the stats for the cost, and the tradeoff will often be worth it anyway. There's a bit of burn in Char, and while a mid-sized Twister will clear some of our creatures, against a board of tokens will allow our fat creatures to swing freely. Dryad Sophisticate is a fantastic choice to get damage through. Everyone will be playing the dual lands, and if they're not, they will be playing bounce lands, and if they're not playing those , then they will be playing the uncommon guild lands. I simply don't see many block decks that won't be packing some sort of non-basic land. My one-of was originally Predatory Focus until I realised that Master Warcraft is not only cheaper but better in almost in every situation; you'll never want more than one and you don't want to draw it at the wrong time, but sometimes the text box will simply say “You win”. 
sacrificed or their effects are too powerful to be ignored), and could be swapped out for Last Gasp (or maindecked instead of). If you can get the Guildmages through for some early damage, go ahead, but that is not their main use. Heirarch also helps you survive, and is a key piece for your late game. The central piece to this deck is of course Debtor's Knell. Once you cast this game altering enchantment, you can sac a Heirarch every turn, save your team from destruction, and gain 4 life when it comes back into play. The Golgari Guildmage can get creatures into the graveyard to be reanimated, in particular Angel of Despair to slowly clear their board. Grave-Shell Scarab can also be sacked to draw a card at the end of your opponents turn, knowing he will come back next turn. Savra can also help accelerate things, especially with a Scarab on the board. Don't forget that Debtor's Knell also loves your opponents graveyard, meaning extra mileage from the creatures you destroyed with Angel of Despair, Mortify, and Putrefy. 
Nightmare Void and Dimir Guildmage. Until you reach mana for Helldozer, Rolling Spoil can deal with Vitu-Ghazi or dual lands; destroying a dual and denying your opponent two colours they don't have other access to is gravy, and it can also clear out saprolings, Birds, and Dark Confidant among others. The top end threats are Helldozer and Grave-Shell Scarab. Dozer will have little problem wrecking peoples manabases, and Grave-Shell Scarab is generally hard to deal with. While you will hope to have few creatures in the graveyard, Svogthos is additional back up. 
The Chord of Calling gives you a toolbox. In the mirror, finding an Oathsworn Giant means you can tap down their creatures at the end of their turn, attack with your tokens, and then tap them down again next turn. A timely Ulasht can be devastating. If your tokens are able to Glare out your opponents creatures, Ulasht can make for a nice beatstick. If there are annoying creatures Glare can't deal with (such as Helldozer or Guildmages), Ulasht can act as removal. If your opponent has more creatures than you, you can pump out some critters so that you can Glare them all. Nullmage Shepherd is obvious for removal, and is useful in the mirror. Twilight Drover can be useful against beatdown decks. Chording this guy out when you've just blocked that incoming Rumbling Slum with 5 tokens should make your opponent wince. If the moment calls for it, you can also Chord out a Guildmage or a Heirarch. 
synergy with Bloodbond March, but may not be the best choice for acceleration). Once you have Bloodbond March active, things start moving. Once your graveyard gets full of creatures, you can go crazy. Got 4 Scarabs in play? Sac them all, draw 3 cards and chuck one back in your hand, cast it, get the other 3 back into play. A bunch of Shambling Shells? Give your Vampire +4/+4 and do the same next turn. I think the biggest problem is the distance between “things start moving” to “you can go crazy”. Savra excels here, being an inevitable board sweeper; for anyone who may not have realised, you don't want more than 1 in the deck because Bloodbond March will kill her. The deck REALLY wants Time of Need; perhaps this is a reason to splash White for Congregation at Dawn, also allowing for Loxodon Heirarch somewhere in the mix. I have maindecked Leyline of the Void to help break the symmetry of Bloodbond March while being randomly awesome against certain decks. I think this deck may be relegated to casual status because without Bloodbond March in play, the deck becomes a bad beatdown deck. It may not be able to hold it's own against beatdown while it attempts to play out its combo pieces. 
deck I've seen, just an implementation of the deck idea. Fairly standard card choices here. I originally had Watchwolf, but swapped for Selesnya Guildmage for extra use of Glare and keeping extra men… I mean fungus around to hold the Sunforger. I think my choice of instants is a fair start until the metagame begins to shape; burn, creature removal, artefact and enchantment removal, and life gain (through Helix). The sideboard can give you extra options. Ghostway can be a way to counter Culling Sun against most of your creatures. Congregation is nice but may not be optimal here hence I've relegated it to sideboard status; in the early game it can find you triple Heriarch if you want it, or Guildmage to pump tokens. After you get an online Sunforger, I think its use becomes a lot less. If you use Sunforger to find and cast Congregate, you won't be using your Forger again if you want to get the full effect of the Congregate. You can always find it in response to your opponent killing your team to get active men again to hold the Forger, but I think Ghostway will prove better in most of those circumstances. 
more clarity (I think). Basically, you'd like to throw a Leyline of Singularity down at the beginning of the game, cast Hunted Horror on turn 2, and swing for 7 with wild abandon (for those unaware, the centaur tokens will be killed because Leyline of Singularity makes them legendary, and they die to the legend rule). Obviously the same applies to Hunted Phantasm, who has the added bonus of being unblockable. Last Gasp can act as early removal if we need it to get rid of utility creatures. Mimeofacture acts as removal with LoS out, but is not useless without it. Telling Time can dig further for LoS if we need one, while setting up more favourable things for Bob to find. Repeal on a Centaur token isn't too bad if Hunted Horror comes down without LoS in play; beat down for 4 on turn 3 is still pretty good. My addition to the deck is Necroplasm. With such low casting costs on our creatures, it looks horrible, and in fact very well could be. My theory is that it will kill all those tokens almost immediately, allowing us to beat down unimpeded for a few turns; at least this is another option instead of relying solely on the Leyline. Playtesting will tell whether that is an innovation or a Really Dumb Idea™. 
on, and Storm Herd has come along to fit the bill. Possibly. Perhaps it's just a casual gamers wet dream. Your goals with this deck are these: 
that in execution there is still plenty of decision making to be had, particularly depending on whether you can get bloodthirst active that turn and relevant creatures in hand. With 12 one drops, you shouldn't have a problem hitting on turn 2, hopefully getting yourself a quasi-Watchwolf for your troubles. Pit Sulk may not be great, but after a turn 1 Cantor or Rusalka, it can be a 2/2 for G if you don't have the 2 drops to play (although in that case you should have mulliganed, no?). You can squeeze a few points out of your dying creatures with Scorched Rusalka, and perhaps the few final points if it comes down to it. Sophisticate is just generally good given the likely environment. Guildmage pumps your creatures if you've got nothing better to do with the mana, and can also throw lands at your opponent. I like the synergy of Wild Cantor and the Guildmage; with both and 4 mana on the table, you can throw a land at the end of your opponents turn, then sac the Cantor during your turn (perhaps after swinging) to throw another one. I'm not sold on the Bloodscale Prowler, but I'm not sure what else to put in the 3 slot. A 4/2 for 3 mana is a pretty good deal though. Burning Tree Shaman is our other 3 drop, which gives good bang for buck. We have Scorched Rusalka and the Guildmage as our activated abilities, but I don't think these will bother us as much as our opponents. An opponent who gets a Glare of Subdual online after taking a quick 10+ points is NOT going to be happy to see this guy.