MTG Strategist

Core 2019 has brought forth some really interesting cards.  Here are some that made me unconsciously pencil them into a deck build.  The first card that made my brain launch into fantasies of a competitive Standard Elf deck was Elvish Clancaller. This unassuming 1/1, which I'm sure was a direct gift to modern elves, is a missing link in the Standard Elf curve.  It promises to buff your elves in the early game and call up additional support in the late game.  Its non-legendary status wins this creature my vote for most likely to succeed.  The next card that I'm ready to start building with is another tribal lord (I might have a thing for tribes). It's none other than Death Baron.  There was a time when you could give your Zombies menace and be happy that they were going to get some damage through.  Now, you can give them all deathtouch with a +1/+1 buff.  Lord of the Accursed is still there to buff creatures and give menace. Dread Wande...

In an attempt to play a human tribal deck with an Exert theme, I have built two prototype decks that I'm sure have been built by many before.  Both decks have the benefit of consistency of play and fast battlefield presence. The consistency of play provided by the mono-white deck is matched by the sheer power of the creatures available in the red/white deck. The core of the power in these two decks belongs with Radiant Destiny.    While it plusses up your humans, it can eventually give them vigilance as well, as long as you can accumulate 10 permanents. To help with this, there are several removal-based enchantments that build toward that end. The mono-white deck uses Angel of Invention to plus up your creatures at the higher end along with Settle the Wreckage to wipe your opponent's board.  Both of these additions make the mono-white deck powerful and easy to play. The red/white deck really only changes a few things.  It adds Abrade, Combat Celebr...

I had a quick interview John, the founder of Heroes and Legends, an MTG YouTube channel that currently has over 20000 subscribers.  His relatively quick rise in the community sparked my curiosity.  His advice for new content creators is incisive and helpful. John, what venues do you use to produce MTG content? John: Currently I produce content for YouTube but at some point would like to get more involved with Twitch.  I do have a Patreon page but I don't offer exclusive videos to Patrons just an early access video once a month. What type of content do you focus on?   John: My main focus has become MTG Finance especially when it comes to single cards, but I do like to create diverse content.  I have begun recently doing tournament result recaps more consistently; I do the occasional pack opening, and I always cover card previews and MTG news.  I have made some game play videos in the past and I plan on doing some more in the future, perhaps using ...

It is with great pride and humble gratitude that I hereby proclaim Tim Bister the winner of the 666Deck Contest.  The competition announcement post can be seen here . But it is with equal pride that I announce our second place winner... Patrick Mendoza aka...Agentmlp412 . ..who seriously gave Tim a run for his money.  Without these two aggressively competitive players, our contest would not have been as impactful.  So thank you both for bringing out the best in each other. Together, and in conjunction with the other entrants, you brought to the attention of the community about 150 MTG content creators by exposing the community to almost 1400 unique videos.  The links to all of the content creators discovered through this contest (in addition to many others) can be found HERE .  Those who were struggling to be heard now have a voice in our family. I'm so glad that this competition brought to light so many content creators that were working hard but were n...

In the midst of dorking around with Jaya, I ran across an idea that was fairly idiotic, but wanted to capture it before it slipped away into the back alleys of my mind.  I'm not saying this is a good idea...in fact...it is a clear candidate for my 'Improbable Win Condition' segment.  This one relies on some interesting, less-used cards.  The two primary cards that make this deck happen are...  These two high-cost spells have an interaction that is pretty funny when it works.  With both on the battlefield, you can pay 4 at the end of your opponent's turn or at the beginning of your upkeep, dropping your life total to 4, then you can exchange your life total for theirs.  When you untap, you can again exchange your life total with Evra and return to your previous life total. Playing this with Fling is probably a good idea, but I've kept it mono-white to start. The beginning of the deck is here: Let me know what you think.

Okay.  Thanks everyone for some great suggestions.  There were three lines of thought.  The first was to add cards to the current deck, keeping it creature-less and black/red.  The second was to keep it the same colors but to add creatures.  The third was to add blue and make it more of a control-based deck.  All three have there merits.  But starting with the first suggestion, I added some cards to the fight that could help us make the most out of Jaya.  The biggest addition being Chandra, Torch of Defiance. The reason for the addition is pretty straight forward.  She can complement Jaya's mana adding ability with her own.  She can draw fire and destroy stuff.  Plus...adding a positive strong female role model to the deck for Jaya to emulate is probably good for team building.   The second addition that was suggested was actually a second win condition.   Fight with Fire can deliver a massive hit to your oppone...

Welcome to a new deckbuilding segment I like to call, "Against My Good Judgment." Here we will take less-played cards and attempt to make them playable.  First up... So Jaya has been sitting on the bench staring at me.  Her parents are in the stands watching and waiting to see when I'm going to put her in.  It's the 8th inning and we're ahead by 28, so..... This week I will be attempting to put together a playable Jaya Ballard deck.  The one below has played successfully against Saprolings.   But it has a long way to go.  It uses early game creature removal, hand disruption and board wipes to keep my opponent off the offensive.  Then it reaches for Jaya.  Jaya helps us to cast multiple spells.  Jaya is not our win condition however...just a facilitator of a win.  Our win condition is Revel in Riches.  That coupled with Brass's Bounty.  This might change in playtesting, but it came out in two consecutive games consistentl...