MTG Strategist

After playing Aristocrats repeatedly, I began wondering if there was a better way to trigger Kalastria Healer, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Blood Artist.  After an exhaustive search and seeing the way opponents love to destroy each of those mentioned creatures as soon as they hit the battlefield, I found the missing link.  The offices of MTGStrategist are proud to present, Creative Differences, a modern deck featuring Aether Revolt's Indomitable Creativity. The idea behind this deck is to play a stack of 2 drop creatures that all have some sort of upside like an enter the battlefield trigger or a death trigger or lifelink or deathtouch.  Your opponent will quickly destroy your ground forces or a portion there of.  Once you have 5 or 6 lands, you can cast Indomitable Creativity targeting your own creatures.  Preferably, you want to have a couple of Zulaport Cutthroats out or Blood Artists so you can benefit from their death triggers.  With Indomitable Creativity, these creatures wi

Santa Clause isn't the most intimidating person that I can think of, but what if we create a deck that embodies the spirit of Saint Nick?  First we'll need a Santa Clause, then some elves, some reindeer, a sleigh, and of course...some gifts.  Put them together and you get Santa Clause is Coming to Town (SCICTT) in standard. Santa Clause will be played by the loving and jolly Hazoret the Fervent. Our elves will be filled in with real elves of course... The reindeer were a little tricky, but searching these out really took the deck in an interesting direction.  We'll need both reindeer and a red-nosed Rudolph.  Rudolph, of course, is Glorybringer: And since we don't really have reindeer in the format, I was forced to go with another creature that has some experience pulling a sleigh.  Our sleigh-pullers will be filled by Crested Sunmare. And for our "reindeer" to pull...we need a sleigh...that needs to fly.  So...Heart of Kiran... And last

I just wanted to take a moment to discuss how I build decks.  Not so much the step by step process, but the overarching strategy that I use to produce a functional deck. First, I start with a baseline 24 lands and 36 spells. Second, I put a bunch of cards into the deck and play. Third through 50th... I fail. Over and over again, I fail. Play the deck...lose. Adjust, play it again...lose. Realize that my strategy isn't viable...start over. Rebuild... Play again....lose. ETC... For each decent deck that I produce, I have up to 10 that didn't make the cut.  Each of them represents a lot of time and effort.  It isn't wasted time.  Each failed deck moves me closer to a deck that may hold the key to the next great strategy. For example, in an attempt to make Overwhelming Splendor work...I have the following failed decks in the bin. Overwhelming Splendor with Burn Overwhelming Splendor with flyers Overwhelming Splendor Blue/White Overwhelm

Waker of the Wilds...a promising young Merfolk Shaman.  In my quest to build a deck around this highly under-utilized creature, I found a beautiful way to make, not only massive, but indestructible land creatures.  Please join me in welcoming MOGO...a standard deck that lets you ramp ramp ramp your way into one of the most formidable green armies every created. That last statement might be stretching a bit, but it will let you make some indestructible land creatures.  Waker's partner in crime for this endeavor is Cascading Cataracts. This is the sole indestructible land in Standard right now.  And I know...ramping into this might take you past turn 5...so in the early game you'll need some deterrents to help you set up your ramp.  Here's your team of preventative creatures. Nobody likes losing a creature to a 1/2 deathtouch or a monster 4/3 creature.  And I know...Rhonas the Indomitable isn't really a 'deterrent' as much as he/she is a win

Many deckbuilders have taken on the challenge of making Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded a productive member of society.  In several forums, the use of the MADNESS mechanic has been flagged as a possible outlet for his random discard +1 ability.  I think by combining Madness with Embalm, Eternalize, and Flashback, you can take Tibalt to the next level. This is my effort to bring that deck into the conversation.  After much playtesting and self-sacrificing (of cards I wanted to play before Tibalt made me randomly discard them), I present Mad Men...a modern deck that features our wayward planeswalker. The key to becoming Tibalt's friend is to embrace his random discard function.  With Madness and other discard friendly mechanics or abilities, we can do this.  Here's the instant and sorcery cards that provide the burn: Avacyn's Judgment is primarily there for removal with the option of throwing it at your opponent's face. Conflagrate and Fiery Temper (playsets o

After much deliberation and playtesting, the final decklist is below.  This deck has several layers that play well on each other and prepare the battlespace for the entrance and occupation of Cultivator of Blades.   Creatures Adorned Pouncer x 3 Carnage Tyrant x2 Cultivator of Blades x3 Narnam Renegade x4 Steward of Solidarity x4 Rhonas the Indomitabe x4 Instant/Sorcery/Enchantment Ixalan's Binding x4 Heroic Intervention x3 Settle the Wreckage x2 Sram's Expertise x1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc x3 Legion's Landing x3 Land (24) Scattered Groves x4 Sunpetal Grove x4 Forest x8 Plains x8 Sideboard Demystify x4 Solemnity x2 Sram's Expertise x3 Consulate Crackdown x2 Crushing Canopy x4 This deck is able to create a lot of tokens which can help flip your Growing Rites of Itlimoc.  Then you can use the mana generation to pump your Cultivator of Blades using Rhonas the Indomitable's ability.  This, in turn will pump all of your

I think the winning combination is definitely Green White.  Building around these colors allowed for both maximum ramp and fantastic removal.  Granted, the deck looked somewhat like Newton's Cradle (see Chuckwagon MTG  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TNdHiXurds&t=528s ), but it performed well.  The final attack was something to see. I think Blade Runner has found a home.  I'll refine the deck over the next couple of days and get the decklist out as soon as the sideboard is good. Here's the deck I'm starting with: More to come, but I think we're almost done with this deck build.