Thursday 17 November 2016

WG Auratog


Ah yes, another article on casual decks. How ironic that it rhymes with another thing people love, eh? Today`s casual deck resulted from some glorious ‘accidental inspiration’. I sort of stumbled upon the idea as I was browsing old cards, reading about their interactions and going from there. I think doing this can be really beneficial to brewers - not just for casual players. When you browse old cards, you discover new ones, thereby creating a catalogue of information. Seeing a card can in turn flash you back to another/others, inspiring a deck premise to build upon. But enough about the process(es) of deck building, let’s jump right into today’s deck: WG Auratog!

One of my favourite aspects of Magic the Gathering is the collecting. I really enjoy finding old rares and trying to figure out how and/or why the designers deemed the card to warrant its rarity. Take today’s deck for example; which started with only 1 card – Femeref Enchantress. This is a card that has been on my radar for some time. Why? Because it obviously has some potential applications, as it is an engine for enchantment-type card advantage. The question then becomes how. How do I abuse this to win games?

Femeref Enchantress is pretty unique in that it requires enchantments to go to the graveyard from play. This means that you then require another ‘engine’ to do so; the more efficient the better.  Enter Auratog. In the right deck, the ‘tog is amazing. It’s an engine and a win condition in one! Of course, Rancor certainly helps.. Being a creature without evasion does make it somewhat vulnerable however, which is why the deck contains the little-known Avoid Fate. I chose Avoid Fate instead of an enchantment because it has the advantage of surprise, and can protect any of your permanents, not just your creatures.

This is not a speedy deck that wins right away; it requires time to build a substantial enchantment-y board presence before going in for the win with Auratog. While that certainly does not make this a control deck, it does mean that slowing down the game becomes a factor. 4 copies of Elephant Grass and 4x Swords to Plowshares are in the deck to help ensure this happens. It is also important to remember that when you no longer want to pay for Elephant Grass, you can sac it to Auratog instead.

I chose not to include Steely Resolve, but it was removed late into the deck construction. The reason was because the deck needed some trimming, and the Shroud could potentially work against the deck. Auratog could sac Resolve when need be, but that would mean losing one of its sources of protection. In the end, it just didn’t seem worth the slot(s) in the deck. Perhaps you feel differently though. I encourage you to try it out and see what you prefer. Happy Brewing!



WG Auratog

Land

4 Savannah
4 Forest
1 Plains
4 Windswept Heaths
3 Fetch lands
4 Wasteland

Total: 20

Creatures

4 Auratog
4 Femeref Enchantress
4 Argothian Enchantress

Total: 12

Spells

4 Rancor
4 Wild Growth
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Elephant Grass
4 Avoid Fate
3 Mirri’s Guile
3 Gaea’s Touch
1 Nature’s Chosen
1 Replenish

Total: 28

Sideboard

4 Orim’s Chant
4 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Naturalize
1 Disenchant
1 Moat
2 Aegis of Honor

Thursday 3 November 2016

Kjeldoran Control


Remember the days when playing a land didn’t involve searching your library? Admittedly, despite the inclusion of fetch lands in the format, I actually find them to be an annoying part of Magic. Today’s deck has sort of an old school vibe as it doesn’t use fetch lands to access mana. It also contains some very sweet old cards to control the game and win. So what are we going to be reading about today? I present to thee: Kjeldoran Control.

Alright then, where to start.. originally, the deck was going to contain WU instead of being Mono White. The reason it changed to just W was due to the addition of Planar Birth. The card is just amazing, as it completely negates the drawback of Kjeldoran Outpost. As an added bonus, it (along with Mox Diamond) can be pretty strong against Ehrnamgeddon and other Land Destruction-type decks as well.

Mox Diamond is the card that keeps on giving. Not only does it work nicely with Planar Birth, but a T1 Diamond and Tithe can be amazing. With the sheer number of lands in the deck, 4 Mox Diamond was an easy inclusion. They can also really help if you’re on the draw, as a T1 Mox Diamond into Tithe can help you gain some card advantage in the form of those glorious Plains’, while thinning out your deck.

Horn of Greed seems good here, so why only play one? The truth is, you can include multiple copies of Horn if you want. I actually prefer seeing it in the late game, when the opponent has no more lands to play but you do thanks to the high land count of the deck. Horn also doesn’t benefit from Planar Birth, so a singleton copy makes more sense. It does work great with Petrified Field though for some sweet card drawing action.

The win conditions in the deck are pretty light, and should make any old control player proud. Kjeldoran Outpost is a pretty obscure card these days, but it used to be pretty sought after. With the printing of Wasteland, the card’s drawback of sacrificing a land meant that you could easily get 2 for 1’d and take a serious tempo hit at the same time. This is why the deck contains playsets of both Birth and Field, to ensure you keep your main win conditions on the battlefield.

Part 2 of why Kjeldoran Outpost is amazing: it doubles as control. Everyone knows that Wrath of God is a great board wipe, but its not perfect. The fact is, it’s a 1-shot spell that can be (somewhat) played around. Outpost helps negate this by being a continuous source of chump blockers. Combined with Humility, it also means you destroy their creatures with those blocks; allowing you to rebuild your army of 1/1s at your own convenience.

The deck has a number of interactions between its cards, against various strategies, et cetera. As always, I encourage everyone to pick up the deck and discover just what Kjeldoran Control can do. There are several variations and possibilities to be explored, which is part of what makes MtG so enjoyable. Good luck and Happy Brewing!


Kjeldoran Control

Land

13 Plains
4 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Wasteland
4 Petrified Field
4 Mishra’s Factory
3 Maze of Ith
4 Rishadan Port

Total: 32

Creatures

4 Mother of Runes

Total: 4

Spells

4 Planar Birth
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God
1 Humility
1 Decree of Justice
4 Tithe
4 Mox Diamond
1 Horn of Greed
1 Worship

Total: 24

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Orim’s Chant
4 Disenchant
3 Circle of Protection Red