Rumpy5897 wrote: ↑4 years ago
Yeah, that
Unspeakable Symbol cut does feel pretty blasphemous
I don't really get your choice of countermagic, you don't seem to be the sort of all-in shell that
Pact of Negation shines in, and I'm not sure how fourteen other blue cards relate to
Force of Will.
Ugh, you're probably right. I got that FoW and just tossed it in here.
Suozi wrote: ↑4 years ago
Hey Tev,
First time on Nexus, so apologize for formatting errors, etc.
I was not very impressed with my midrange/aristocrat/theft Marchesa decks; they always felt like bastardized, more fragile versions of commanders that did nearly the same thing. Marchesa's weaknesses of managing dethrone creates really interesting decisions within games though, so I love the commander, just not the typical play style. Aggro looks amazing, though.
A few questions:
1. Can a budget mana base support such a fast deck? I'm still rocking bounce/taplands.
2. What is typically your cut-off for creatures? I am not sure how to evaluate the impact certain creatures have
Kitesail Freebooter.
Can you browse my very rough first draft of chaft I have around (I might sell Mikaeus for the painlands/checklands). Thanks a ton.
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/mtbr2/
You're over 100 cards and I don't know your mana base. Unfortunately, the mana base is almost the most important thing for aggro decks as you need to make sure you hit your colours to put pressure on the table while Control can slowly build that up. If you look through my Changelog, you'll see that I've been working on this deck for four years. If you take it nice and slow, you'll eventually get what you want. Hell, I bought that majority of my painlands for $2-3. The golden age of budget EDH seems to be over. I'd recommend you play a lot of Basics as ETBT is terrible for you and use
Pilgrim's Eye and
Skittering Surveyor to make sure you hit those particular lands. At the very least they cantrip off of their death. Luckily, the colour fixing lands are pretty cheap and with such a small curve, they can help you make colours you're missing. Add
Opal Palace,
Guildmages' Forum, etc.
I have no idea why you would want to use
Ixidron as that kills your own deck.
Keldon Firebombers is a pretty risky pick. Unless MLD is OKed in your meta, you should probably warn people that you're playing a powerful deck but this deck would lose to those. You need to improve this deck significantly before it could fight in the big boy metas where anything goes. And you don't have the money for that, so I'd axe 'em.
Cephalid Constable is in the same boat. I literally don't run him because he's too good for the tier.
Your curve is already too high. I've cut
Sheoldred, Whispering One and
Mikaeus, Unhallowed One because they were just
too expensive to realistically play. I rather put down two threats down than a big sledge hammer because Marchesa's dethrone means I'm gaining two power of damage over one with those bodies. Hell, I only have two 6 drops:
Kokusho, the Evening Star and
Bolas's Citadel. If the card isn't
that good at six, I don't have time for it.
Flayer of the Hatebound is fine for now, as your deck isn't too fast so it doesn't outpace that. Mike might be OK because he's an anthem, but I think you'd need to go for a more Aristocrats oriented build.
I tried
Zo-Zu the Punisher but dropped him because his damage is Linear: players usually play one land per turn and so his damage potentially roughly caps out at 2 or 4. You want cards that have unlimited potential;
Scab-Clan Berserker is OK but she depends on her opponents doing things and in some matches that means she'll do nothing. This is why I have so many ping-upon-death; my Creatures are going to die, I'm going to make that happen and maybe I'll take my opponent's Creatures as well. I see you pretty much have my Ping Shell.
The issue with Pain Rocks et. al. is that they belong more in a midrange or control build where they want to spend the early turns trying to develop a board state that will take advantage of their more costly spells. You do not have time for that in Aggro. My first few turns are putting bodies on the table and chipping away until Marchesa hits the board and amps my men up. This might be your best option you have for now.
Pain Seer doesn't draw you cards, he'll come back untapped and be unable to be Inspired. Run
Mindblade Render instead. Other inexpensive cards that'll help you smooth over your draws:
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion,
Prophetic Flamespeaker and
Impaler Shrike. Unfortunately, a lot of draw engines are expensive. Other options that didn't impress me but might be good for you as a band-aid are
Ruin Raider,
River Kelpie,
Graveborn Muse or even a
Sire of Stagnation. I know a lot of this is contradictory but its the difference between ideal and possible. Over time, you'll get to the ideal but for now you gotta go with options that aren't the best for your strategy.
The one thing I notice your deck is missing is Sac Outlets. Having free Sac Outlets is paramount. You don't have time to spend mana and that's why
Inkfathom Witch is pretty useless. You want to put down another body, not pump your team unless it's for the killing blow on the final opponent.
Spawning Pit should be your top priority to track down; it saves your Creatures and makes more for you. Pure upside.
Bloodflow Connoisseur should be easy to get. You need sac outlets so badly I'd recommend
Nantuko Husk or
Bloodthrone Vampire.
You've got most of the good 'Armies in a Can' except
Sifter of Skulls, it's pure absurdity.
Chasm Skulker didn't impress me, so that would be my suggested cut for Sifter. Also, a note about
Desecrated Tomb: each Creature returning creates a 1/1 Bat.
I do like
Spiketail Drakeling, might have to give that a go after Rumpy pointed out how little cards I have as Force fodder. Hopefully this is all helpful.
Edit: Which reminded me, I was pretty impressed by
Weaponcraft Enthusiast in a budget build. Every now and then I toy with the idea of trying him out, as he's 5 power for 3 mana if you attack with a Dethrone and creates two 1/1s every time he comes back. I've seen a pretty good pure Midrange Marchesa; it dropped the thievery and just played obnoxious Creatures that just wouldn't die due to Marchesa keeping them alive.
