Magic General: Khans of Turn Three

[IVhorseman]

Arkbrik, Zupps, where you at?


I'm trying to make the mighty morphin temur rangers out of sagu maulers and aven icefeathers for a standard deck. And I'm drafting tonight.

Who else plays magic? Scythe, I don't wanna hear you bitching about it.

[Kommander Ken]

I play, but I've never drafted before. Yeah, I'm missing out...

I went out and bought a box though and will be opening it early next week. Hoping to pull a fetch or two. Also, Temur is awesome, they're my favorite color-combo and their backstory is sweet.

[Zupponn]

Damn. Wish I would have seen this sooner to help out your drafting, but Abzan (GBW) and Jeskai (RWU) both seemed very strong when I did the prerelease on Sunday. Outlast may be the best ability for draft and sealed.

I don't like to brag, but I'd like to think I'm decent at the game (I've Top 8ed an SCG Open and lost a feature match on camera before), so if you ever want advice on a decklist, just let me know.

As for what I'm working on in Standard:

4x Elvish Mystic
4x Bloodsoaked Champion
4x Mardu Skullhunter
4x Rakshasa Deathdealer
4x Courser of Kruphix
4x Grim Haruspex
4x Reaper of the Wilds
4x Hero's Downfall
4x Bile Blight
1x Murderous Cut
4x Llanowar Wastes
4x Temple of Malady
9x Swamp
6x Forest

There might be room for a few fetchlands in here and I'm toying with the idea of a single Pharika, but it feels very solid so far.

[The Shadowscythe]

I bitched about magic?

[IVhorseman]

No Ruthless Rippers? You've got the Haruspex, might as well keep em on their toes with the morphs. I'm also surprised at 4 mystics but no caryatids in a tricolor deck, but I admit that I'm not the greatest at magic. Broke 8 in an SCG Open? Jesus, props to you. However I was totally just talking about the cool synergy between rakshasa deathdealer and reaper of the wilds.

I only picked up magic about a year ago, but I've been having a blast. I was playing a cool golgari/dredge deck in standard right up until my boy jaraad and the lotleth trolls fell out of rotation. I also went to the prerelease but got a terrible terrible pool because I went sultai.

Today I did manage to draft a jeskai tempo deck (firstpicked flying crane style lol), but I got simply outclassed in creatures all around. Also a lot of mana flooding. A lot of it.

EDIT: didn't see scythe's response. You don't remember? We started talking about it in one of your threads and you lost your shit.

[Brikguy0410]

I play magic the gathering myself, I have a red and green deck and a blue and black deck.

[Zupponn]

No Ruthless Rippers? You've got the Haruspex, might as well keep em on their toes with the morphs.

Nah. If I would use him I would have to drop Elvish Mystic, and I really need the mana he provides.

I'm also surprised at 4 mystics but no caryatids in a tricolor deck, but I admit that I'm not the greatest at magic.

Maybe you misread something, but it's only black and green.

Broke 8 in an SCG Open? Jesus, props to you.

It was about a year ago now. I still love the list.

However I was totally just talking about the cool synergy between rakshasa deathdealer and reaper of the wilds.

Which synergy were you talking about?

I only picked up magic about a year ago, but I've been having a blast. I was playing a cool golgari/dredge deck in standard right up until my boy jaraad and the lotleth trolls fell out of rotation. I also went to the prerelease but got a terrible terrible pool because I went sultai.

That dredge deck always looked fun, but I never got around to playing it.

Today I did manage to draft a jeskai tempo deck (firstpicked flying crane style lol), but I got simply outclassed in creatures all around. Also a lot of mana flooding. A lot of it.

That sucks man, but it's Magic.

I play magic the gathering myself, I have a red and green deck and a blue and black deck.

Cool. Everyone starts somewhere.

[IVhorseman]

I'd always wanted Golgari to be good and I knew that lotleth troll and deathrite shaman were gems. Once nighthowler and the whip of erebos came around there was an excellent reason to just have a graveyard full of creatures. Nemesis of Mortals was just icing on the cake, and tomb of urborg and evolving wilds coming back into standard right at the end really helped my fixing.

I also had me a nice boros deck, but yours has a lot more burn and removal in general than I bothered with - throwing out a Viashno firstblade buffed up by legion's initiative was more my style. I also didn't have chandras or her phoenix because money (see also: mutavault ), and I really love the way chandra can help your dudes push through with her +1.

Rakshasa Deathdealer and Reaper of the Wilds give excellent reasons to have a little bit of extra mana floating around for stupid combat tricks, and then you juke them out with a murderous cut or a hero's downfall - or even better slap a mardu skullhunter down to discard in style on your second main.

[IVhorseman]

Anyways here's the current iteration of what I'm trying to throw together:

Creatures:
Aven Icefeather x4
Sagu Mauler x4
Hooded Hydra x2
Rattleclaw Mystic x4
Elvish Mystic x4
Sylvan Caryatid x4
Temur Charger x3
Bow of Nylea x2
Prophet of Kruphix x2
Kheru Spellsnatcher x1
Spells:
Secret Plans x4
Trail of Mystery x4
Ghostfire Blade x2
20 land
Temple of Mystery x4
Yavimaya Coast x4
Forest x7
Island x5

I'm trying to figure out a way to slip in jeering instigator, generator servant and/or hornet queen but it doesn't look like it's happening any time soon. Kiora would be nice, as would removal (ferocious punch maybe? Temur charm?) but I'm not sure how to fit it in.

[Zupponn]

Secret Plans x4
Trail of Mystery x4

I like what you're trying to do, but these cards really seem to be very hit or miss. I think to really abuse the Plans or the Trail you would have to go with as many morphs with the cheapest costs available, otherwise they just feel like dead weight. They both seem to be terrible topdecks as well, not to mention how bad they seem when you draw too many of them.

The Blade is an interesting card and you could bump it up to 4 copies if you want, but then you might need to really go the colorless road to truly abuse it. Slapping down morphs and equipping and then flipping a Mauler or Aven midcombat next turn seems pretty good though. If you go colorless, you'd probably want some Phyrexian Revokers I think.

Another route you could go might be to skip the morphing entirely and focus on Temur Charm with cheap and efficient beaters like Alpine Grizzly and Savage Knuckleblade to draw cards and apply some good pressure. Then at the top end you could run the Mauler as your main finisher.

Even another route you could go would be to just replace the Plans and Trail with removal and/or combat tricks. Become Immense, Roar of Challenge, and Force Away all might have some merit for inclusion.

[IVhorseman]

I'm not certain on including four secret plans, but four trails seems like a must. It's mana fixing, it makes my tramplers bigger (esp. temur charger), and multiple copies stack. The maybeboard includes a couple of black and red cards, but I'm seeing if I can get away with just simic. Secret Plans seems like the best way to protect from wraths (besides end hostilities but I pretty much consider it a reprint of verdict), but I also agree that having tons of them late game kindof blows. But having even one early game means tons of card draws.

A lot of my focus is on ramping into morph creatures as early as possible, and getting out the sagu mauler by turn 3 or 4 if I can. The earlier I can slap out a trampling hexproof creature the better, which almost makes me want to throw in red for generator servants. Jeering instigator adds t the mix for creature-steal blowouts.

Ramp makes sure I can morph up to my expensive shit like the prophet of kruphix or a hardcasted mauler. The current version of the deck runs two hornet queens, and bouncing them back to my hand with the aven is extremely satisfying. It also runs a fair bit of black: not just for ruthless ripper, but also for sultai charm, hero's downfall and thoughtseize to make sure fights go the way I want them to. It feels unfocused though, so I'm trying to focus on the morph/ramp aspect.

I like how abusing the revoker and the ghostfire blade could work though - seems like excellent sideboard tech vs. control.

[Zupponn]

Just throwing out ideas. You never know when you run into something awesome.

[IVhorseman]

Yeah absolutely, keep em coming because I just played the deck against some of my friends putting together some standard decks and figured out more of what I need. Ghostfire blade is perfect where it is, as is Trail of Mystery - I knew they were helpful but I didn't expect it to be such an excellent way to ensure I have tons of mana - and help thin out my deck at the same time. Secret Plans is much less impressive, but having four means I can sometimes get two cards just for revealing a green card (thanks, Temur charger!).

The secret to morph (as far as I've seen) is not in playing mind-games, but in having useful tricks attached to already alright creatures. Aven Icefeather is a perfect example - it's unsummon strapped to a bird. With the help of ghostfire blade and trails of mystery, wimpy temur charger was suddenly a 9/7 with trample.

The actual dillema, as I had suspected, is that I no longer have enough combat tricks. When I ran hero's downfall and sultai charm alongside ruthless rippers and thoughtsieze, I could control what was on the board and ensure that my 6/6 sagu mauler was the biggest kid on the block. Now that I'm more focused into ramping and offense however, I'm finding myself unable to get rid of larger creatures. Butcher of the Horde, Siege Rhino and various flying fatties gave me serious trouble.

That said, what would you suggest as removal, and what should I remove? I think I can drop the Kheru Spellthief and two secret plans into the sideboard, but that only leaves me three slots. I swapped out one of my aven icefeathers for a hornet queen which worked out okay tonight, but Force Away and Temur Charm are both looking like ripe candidates. I feel like I'm forgetting about some pretty obvious red removal though.

EDIT: hahaha oh my god... shrapnel blast! Icy blast works well too.

[Zupponn]

The funny thing is that Bennie Smith, a long time MTG writer just posted this article today:

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/29 ... d-Men.html

It's all about using and abusing morph creatures. If you add red, you get Ashcloud Phoenix, which I think I agree might be the best morpher in the set. There are a lot of good ideas in the article, but he does fail to talk about Temur Charger, which he admits might be really good in the comments. I think that there's probably something there worth exploring.

As for me right now, I've been really interested in Mono Red Aggro:

4x Eidolon of the Great Revel
4x Foundry Street Denizen
4x Goblin Rabblemaster
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Prophetic Flamespeaker
4x Horde Ambusher
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
4x Stoke the Flames
4x Titan's Strength
4x Bloodstained Mire
16x Mountain

This list appeals to me right now because it puts the hurt on slower strategies, which seem to be very popular right now. If a 3 color deck stumbles on mana, a red deck like this will eat them alive.

[IVhorseman]

Hahaha! Last night I was just lamenting on how I never see Prophetic Flamespeaker in decks. It's a good card! Why aren't people playing it? Paired with Horde Ambusher I can see it getting out of control real fast.

I really like the one-of for the mistfire weaver, and I think my sideboard is going to be one of the most interesting parts of this morph deck. Morph seems like a good opportunity to play lots of one-ofs just to keep my opponent guessing on what exactly I'll be playing next. Ashcoud Phoenix hasn't sold me yet due to the double mana cost, but I really shouldn't complain about a 4/1 flier for only 4 mana. What does irk me somewhat is that he talks aboutEDIT: WOW, I did not fully realize how cool triggering trail is with the phoenix ETB effect. It's cool and all, but by that turn it's less important having hand mana (although improved draws are nice). The added +2/+2 on the flip means you have a functionally immortal 6/3 flyer. Wow. He's a braver man than I am not running caryatids, but I think I'm going to end up cutting a few myself to make room for removal. Only one ghostfire blade seems like a missed opportunity though.

Anyways I think having a super fleshed-out sideboard will allow me to substantially transform my morph deck when needed. If I'm facing something where phyrexian revokers would be helpful, I could side in four of them AND two more ghostfire blades like you mentioned earlier, then slip in a few shrapnel blasts with em for enhanced removal/better lava axe. Otherwise, Icy Blast and Temur Charm seem like good mainboard options for general removal/tap down strategies of problems on the field. Kheru Spellsnatcher is a great card to swap in and out from the board as well depending on how I need it, and changing the balance between trail and secret plans is also easy to do vs. certain decks.


A thought on your deck I forgot to mention: I friggin love Pharika. I think nearly any green/black deck wants to play her, even if you're not abusing constellation triggers with the enchantment snakes she makes. Reliable 1/1 deathtouches to replace your losses is great on its own, and a 5/5 creature for only 3 mana is practically unheard of in Golgari colors. I think the deck you're putting together can easily run one or even two of her. Instinct says to trade her in for one of the bile blights, but there might be a better choice.