The feedback I received on the deck from part one was pretty consistent. Those who commented were mostly in the camp that the deck was not so good, and cited reasons ranging from "looks to be a slow deck" and "too many lands" to one Reddit user commenting that "sh*t deck remains a sh*t deck."
Turns out, the deck fared pretty well, I won probably 65-70% of my total matches with this deck. That percentage goes up to around 80% if you exclude matches against control decks, and jumps up again to around 85-90% if I drew into 2 Plains and 2 Forests (since a third of my spells have double colored pips).
While it is true that the main goal of my deck was to draw the game out (my two favorite win-cons were bestowing a Boon Satyr onto a Dawnbringer Charioteer and, of course, activating Elspeth's ultimate ability), the deck was no slouch in the early game, and had no trouble being aggressive if it needed to be. In matches against other slow (non control) decks, I would often have a Boon Satyr and a Master of Diversion on the battlefield after turn 4 and then bestow another Boon Satyr onto one of those creatures on turn 5 and swing for lethal on that same turn or the next.
In games against aggressive decks board stalls were not uncommon. Pacifism and Ajani's Presence were incredibly useful in these situations, and I decided to bring in Archetype of Courage for it's first strike ability to help in those situations as well. These are the matches where I could play the long game and bestow any enchantment creature onto my Dawnbringer Charioteers and swing away happily.
The only games I was losing consistently were against Esper Control decks, and a Mono Black deck a buddy of mine ran which featured creatures with lifelink, Staff of the Death Magus, and Sanguine Bond. While beating the Mono Black was a simple matter of swapping out the 4 Sedge Scorpions for 4 Naturalize in the sideboard, Esper Control has proven to still be a problem (Supreme Verdict was pretty much a game ender). Here is the updated deck:
- Artifact (2)
- 2 Bow of Nylea
- Creature (24)
- 2 Archetype of Courage
- 4 Boon Satyr
- 4 Dawnbringer Charioteers
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 2 Hopeful Eidolon
- 4 Leafcrown Dryad
- 4 Master of Diversion
- Enchantment (4)
- 4 Pacifism
- Instant (4)
- 4 Ajani's Presence
- Land (26)
- 12 Forest
- 13 Plains
- 1 Temple of Plenty (Lucky pull from booster pack)
- Planeswalker (2)
- 2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
- Sideboard (12)
- 2 Angelic Wall
- 2 Hopeful Eidolon
- 2 Oreskos Sun Guide
- 2 Battlewise Valor
- 4 Naturalize
I was stuck here for about a week, and I was pretty happy with my results. The only bad match up I had was against the before mentioned Esper Control deck, and I was OK with that. I think it's best to just stay vulnerable to one deck and good to most others, as opposed to having a deck that is mediocre against all decks.
As for my new creatures, I was decidedly underwhelmed. The Elvish Mystics we fine if I needed an extra green mana source in the early game, but once I drew my third forest they became useless in the late game. Archetype of Courage was nice to have in games against aggro decks, but did next to nothing in any other situation. While my deck wasn't doing any worse with my new creatures, it wasn't doing any better either. I thought I had hit the peak with this deck, and started on something else.
While trying out my new deck, I was looking around for cards that it would be weak to. As I was doing that, the card that I needed for this deck revealed itself to me: Fleecemane Lion. I have not had a chance to really play with it yet, but it looks good on all fronts. It's great in an aggro game since it's a 3/3 for 2. It can get bigger with its monstrous ability, and with that same ability can stay on the battlefield even after Supreme Verdict.
I'm incredibly excited to get back out to the shop and play with this new deck. How do you guys think it will do? I'm thinking about cutting down to 24 lands and swapping out another Forest and 2 Plains for 3 more Temple of Plenty. Do you guys think it would be worth the money?
As for my new creatures, I was decidedly underwhelmed. The Elvish Mystics we fine if I needed an extra green mana source in the early game, but once I drew my third forest they became useless in the late game. Archetype of Courage was nice to have in games against aggro decks, but did next to nothing in any other situation. While my deck wasn't doing any worse with my new creatures, it wasn't doing any better either. I thought I had hit the peak with this deck, and started on something else.
While trying out my new deck, I was looking around for cards that it would be weak to. As I was doing that, the card that I needed for this deck revealed itself to me: Fleecemane Lion. I have not had a chance to really play with it yet, but it looks good on all fronts. It's great in an aggro game since it's a 3/3 for 2. It can get bigger with its monstrous ability, and with that same ability can stay on the battlefield even after Supreme Verdict.
I'm incredibly excited to get back out to the shop and play with this new deck. How do you guys think it will do? I'm thinking about cutting down to 24 lands and swapping out another Forest and 2 Plains for 3 more Temple of Plenty. Do you guys think it would be worth the money?
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