MTG Strategist

This weekend I am working out the kinks on a deck I call "Crocodile Rock".  It's a fairly basic deck that gets a boost into the playable category by adding VRASKA. If you've read any of my deckbuilding, you know that this is NOT the finished product.  As I play it, I will slowly work out the issues that I see with real decks.  So far, this deck moves at a steady pace with a lot of your 2 drop creatures getting thwacked by removal.  Luckily, the magic of this deck isn't in the fairly obvious 2 drops, it's in the 3 drops.  Obelisk Spider is a great defender.  It hides just out of 2CMC Fatal Push range while providing repeated damage to your opponent.  Keep in mind, this isn't a deck for a real competition...this is a fun deck that lets you fight with your friends through an entire game.  Feel free to add your suggestions.

Chuckwagon MTG gave a great explanation of this deck at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE91fSNtN_E . I just wanted to get the decklist here in case anybody wants to try the deck out.  Sometimes it turns out to be a cat riding a horse and sometimes it's a horse riding a cat.  Either way, it's a really fun and fairly effective deck. After the first couple of Arcane Adaptations, if I draw another, I usually name Merfolk or Dinosaur to prevent a Walk The Plank or Wakening Sun's Avatar board wipe.  I hope you enjoy the deck.  Watching the Chuckwagon MTG video will get you through the mechanics.  Let me know how it plays from your end.

Behold...my best effort at a janky pirate deck.  It features unblockable creatures that suddenly become pirates with the help of Arcane Adaptation.  You have many tools to steal your opponent's creatures and permanents, while defending yourself with Gifted Aetherborn and Heroic Intervention.  If you have a hundred dollars or so lying around, feel free to add The Scarab God and/or Hostage Taker.  I prefer the cheaper version because Pirates aren't rich and neither am I.

I am sharpening the blade of this deck, and it is really staring to get fun.  Putting Nicol Bolas at the top of the curve has really punctuated the "I'm going to steal all of your stuff" motif.  I almost put the Scarab God in it, but I really wanted it to be different.  Every deck has a Scarab God nowadays.  Here's where I am so far. The sideboard is a work in progress.  Vraska saved my bacon a few times already.  This isn't a Tier 1 deck.  This is a fun FNM deck that can win you a few games.  If your opponent stalls out in the beginning, you can very easily dominate the game.  I'm thinking of sideboarding some fog if you're playing a more aggressive deck.

Adding theft to the deck was a great idea.  I went up against Ramunap Red and we battled down to the last point.  It was my lifelinking Gifted Aetherborns that kept me alive while I slowly built up my army.  My second game was against a janky Second Sun deck.  I stole everything that came into play from him/her.  Here's the final result. The decklist is here as it has evolved.  The big additions: Confiscation Coup and Entrancing Melody.  Every creature you steal is a Pirate thanks to Arcane Adaptation.  I'm fairly certain that any control deck would wreck this style of game play.  But for your average creature based deck...it's looking promising.

The current build for the deck has possibilities, but after attending a Jimmy Buffett concert last night (an experience that I was not prepared for), I realized that my deck, while technically savvy, is not Piratey enough.  It only goes halfway.  It relies on one pirate (Admiral Brass) to get us steals.  We should be stealing stuff from the beginning.  How do we do this?  We add Black!  We can start stealing their stuff right out of their hands.  Of course Hostage Taker has to be added.  We might even need some Nicol Bolas.  But the third primary color is for sure going to be black in the next build.  Harsh Scrutiny, Lost Legacy, Duress, etc....This is what was missing.  If you're going to be a pirate...be a pirate.

Technically, they surrendered before the win, but man o man.... They were beating me down!  But the Admiral came through.  Her and a bunch of Blossoming Defense spells.  I successfully stole their God-Pharaoh's Gift after they came in with a big swing and receiving a Haze of Pollen.  I was 1 point away from the win, but if I had done the math better, I could have made it work.  I think the Admiral can do this.  Below is the decklist so far.  It is still in its fledgling phase, but I'm optimistic that it will at least not be a constant source of losing.

Today starts the playtesting of my Admiral Beckett Brass deck.  I plan on altering it significantly after each match.  I'll try the unblockables with Arcane Adaptation.  I'll try the pirates.  I'll change the color scheme multiple times.  I'm not hoping to change the world, but I would like to steal a at least a couple of my opponents permanents.  If I'm lucky, I will be able to answer most threats.  One decision is clear.  Green is definitely on the table.  This will be a "attack mandatory" deck.  So I will need to defend myself with fog or some other non-combat defense.  I will begin reporting the results on Monday and I should have a workable decklist for you... my many readers... to use... to defeat 20-30 percent of FNM players... at your LGS. Let me know if you have any suggestions.  My MTGO name is badmando1. I should be online today from about 3PM (Pacific Standard Time) to 6PM.

Some of the pirates that we might use in the deck vice using Arcane Adaptation with some notes. Daring Saboteur stands out because it can become unblockable.  Dreamcaller Siren stands out because it can tap down your opponent's creatures at the end of their turn in preparation for a turn 5 attack. Lightning-Rig Crew can do damage without swinging.  Plus if you can get multiple copies out, it can help trigger your Admiral.  Storm Fleet Pyromancer stands out because it does damage without swinging.  Example: With the Admiral on the battlefield.  Flash in Dreamcaller Siren and tap down your opponents creatures or make Daring Saboteur unblockable.  Swing with Daring Saboteur. Tap Lightning-Rig Crew. Play Storm Fleet Pyromancer.  This will trigger the Admiral.  But you still have to protect this group.  AND WE COME BACK TO GREEN.    Food for thought.  More to come....

Starting out, I would like to work through the methodology of this build publicly.  This will allow me to voice my decisions for certain color combinations and hold them up for scrutiny in case somebody thinks I'm heading down the wrong path. Let's talk about the Admiral.  The goal would be to do damage to your opponent with 3 or more pirates every turn.  This would require the use of unblockable creatures.  Also, these creatures would HAVE TO BE PIRATES. This is the most difficult part of the ability.  There are a couple ways to get there.  If we use unblockable creatures such as River Sneak, Slither Blade, and Cunning Survivor, we have to use Arcane Adaptation to make them into Pirates.  This is one way.  There are a lot of lynch pins for this strategy.  If we use Blue/Black/Red we are forced to use a more control-type structure to protect the force as we're building it.  The second idea is to use pirates ...

There is one man who glimpses into the abyss and stands bravely to defy all evil-doers throughout the land. One man who stands the watch while the world slumbers. One man who will forever stand bravely as a monument to courage and zest for life. ONE MAN WHO WILL STILL YOUR STUFF ON TURN 4.  It's time to deck tech Admiral Beckett Brass.  He can be great.  He can lead us to victory!

I've jotted down some random notes regarding random ideas that are designed to whet my deck building appetite.  Some of the ideas are not good.  I have left them on the list to help define my thought process a little. 1. Gearseeker Serpent with treasure. 2. Era of Innovation with treasure for energy supply. 3. Insidious Will w/ a copy deck. Add Shrewd Negotiation, Saheeli's Artistry, Vizier of Many Faces. 4. Janjeet Sentry-look for a tap combo. 5. Aethertorch Renegade with infinite energy or just a lot of energy. 6. Reckless Fireweaver with treasure. Add Salivating Gremlins. 7. Gideon's Intervention- Good like Ixalan's Binding/Cast Out...use it. 8. Oketra with infinite mana=infinite warriors...maybe warrior tribal? Maybe use As Foretold to kick start. Maybe add Aven Wind Guide for token flight and vigilance. 9. Insult/Injury used with Open into Wonder. 10. Vizier of Tumbling Sands-refer to previous tap combo. 11. Faith of the Devoted- discard deck. Include M...

Tempest Caller It begs the question: How much power can I get on the battlefield by turn 3. Let the games begin.

My new favorite removal.  No repeat offenders. Eliminate that pesky permanent once and for all.  I find this enchantment has saved my hide multiple times by preventing my opponent from immediately casting (or recasting in the case of the gods).

With all of the graveyard hate floating around, I thought it would be great to have a deck that does not rely on graveyard interaction to damage your opponent.  Utilizing The Scarab God to reanimate creatures is great, but why not use Arcane Adaptation to make everything a zombie.  Then you can cast a bunch of low cost creatures that will trigger the god's scry and damage ability.  If you do get the chance to bring other creatures to life, great...if not...you're good.  Sideboard in Duress for trouble spots and Raiders' Wake if you're dealing with a cycling deck.  Chuckwagon MTG walks you through the deck here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGM8ZqAWNz0JMW43Ka_23JA Creatures: Siren Stormtamer 3 Slither Blade 4 Gifted Aetherborn 3 Lord of the Accursed 4 The Scarab God 3   Instant: Fatal Push 4 Spell Pierce 2 Censor 2 Essence Scatter 3 Negate 2 Supreme will 3   Enchantment: Arcane Adaptation 3...

The top 25 finishers at the Dallas SCG this weekend (standard) was less than inspiring.  The lack of creativity, especially when there are such great cards to brew with, left me tuning out to watch Archer reruns.  Where is the daring? Where is the excitement?  It's like watching zombies walk off a cliff into a bucket of lukewarm mayonnaise... Taking a moment to think about that analogy. I took this from MTGGOLDFISH: Almost the entire board is dedicated to last tried and true strategies.  BOOORRRRIIIIINNNNNGG. I know there is a lot at stake for these guys and taking a risk isn't really a thing, but man o man...what I wouldn't give to see somebody breakout this season with some crazy deck that nobody saw coming.  I'm working on some real stinkers...they might not get far...or they might be works of genius (probably not).  I'm going to work my decks through Chuckwagon MTG (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGM8ZqAWNz0JMW43Ka_23JA), but the ones that ...