Not sure where to post this, if someone has better ideas, I can copy/paste and delete this topic.
I wanted to share a deck/strategy that I have been working on: Boros spells aggro.
Granted, this doesn't sound particularly groundbreaking, but let me elaborate.
Context:
Due to the nature of my cube (multiplayer), 1 drop aggro decks aren't really a thing. That means that curves usually starts on 2 and try to grind out the game after chipping some damage in. From my understanding, this is the case for a bunch of people here.
The strategy:
This is where it gets fun. This is an aggressive, graveyard focused, spells matter/prowess deck that can branch into different themes. The payoffs aren't particularly original, but it is the density and choice of enablers that really make the deck pop.
The payoffs are some of the classic spells matter cards with the addition of Clarion Spirit. They reward you for casting spells and many of them. They also all produce tokens which gives the archetype an additional direction. Except for Young Pyromancer, they work with any type of permanent which is important for the archetype to be as broad as possible.
After that, there are the recursion engines that make sure you have some staying power. I tried to chose the ones with the broadest applications possible.
Reclamation literally gets back all your payoffs and is 2 spells in one. Easily the most versatile. After that, Alesha gets back all but the planeswalker and has hybrid mana to fit into more decks. Lurrus only gets back a few targets, but the fact that he can get some enablers back at the same time is very valuable (and hybrid mana). Finally, Chandra gets back key spells and plays into the token theme. Very good with Reclamation if you flash that back.
There are more depending on what archetypes you want to support (I'll elaborate on that later).
Enablers need to be cheap so as to chain them together or double spell (with Clarion Spirit). Seeing as this is a GY strategy too, having flashback or aftermath greatly increases value. Drawing a card also allows you to keep the engine going. Finally, these should be playable in generic White and Red decks too.
There are instants/sorceries for Young Pyromancer, that also all have flashback or aftermath. The ones I listed are in RW (I cheated on some flashback costs) but other colors also have some goodies.
I also included a bunch of artifact cantrips because most of the payoffs don't care what you are casting. I am comfortable having so many because they offer draw smoothing and/or fixing to all decks by virtue of being colorless. There are others too, so you can tailor this to your tastes or how much you want to support the archetype.
To further support the theme in RW, there are a bunch of prowess creatures that would naturally fit the deck. They don't make tokens, but benefit from everything else you will be doing. Soul-scar Mage, Monastery Swiftspear, Abbot of Keral Keep, Heartfire Immolator, Seeker of the Way.
Where this gets exciting is the customization and cross-pollinisation possibilities.
I'd like to know if other people have had success with this sort of strategy and/or if there are other cross-pollinisation ideas you have.
I wanted to share a deck/strategy that I have been working on: Boros spells aggro.
Granted, this doesn't sound particularly groundbreaking, but let me elaborate.
Context:
Due to the nature of my cube (multiplayer), 1 drop aggro decks aren't really a thing. That means that curves usually starts on 2 and try to grind out the game after chipping some damage in. From my understanding, this is the case for a bunch of people here.
The strategy:
This is where it gets fun. This is an aggressive, graveyard focused, spells matter/prowess deck that can branch into different themes. The payoffs aren't particularly original, but it is the density and choice of enablers that really make the deck pop.
The payoffs are some of the classic spells matter cards with the addition of Clarion Spirit. They reward you for casting spells and many of them. They also all produce tokens which gives the archetype an additional direction. Except for Young Pyromancer, they work with any type of permanent which is important for the archetype to be as broad as possible.
After that, there are the recursion engines that make sure you have some staying power. I tried to chose the ones with the broadest applications possible.
Reclamation literally gets back all your payoffs and is 2 spells in one. Easily the most versatile. After that, Alesha gets back all but the planeswalker and has hybrid mana to fit into more decks. Lurrus only gets back a few targets, but the fact that he can get some enablers back at the same time is very valuable (and hybrid mana). Finally, Chandra gets back key spells and plays into the token theme. Very good with Reclamation if you flash that back.
There are more depending on what archetypes you want to support (I'll elaborate on that later).
Enablers need to be cheap so as to chain them together or double spell (with Clarion Spirit). Seeing as this is a GY strategy too, having flashback or aftermath greatly increases value. Drawing a card also allows you to keep the engine going. Finally, these should be playable in generic White and Red decks too.
There are instants/sorceries for Young Pyromancer, that also all have flashback or aftermath. The ones I listed are in RW (I cheated on some flashback costs) but other colors also have some goodies.
I also included a bunch of artifact cantrips because most of the payoffs don't care what you are casting. I am comfortable having so many because they offer draw smoothing and/or fixing to all decks by virtue of being colorless. There are others too, so you can tailor this to your tastes or how much you want to support the archetype.
To further support the theme in RW, there are a bunch of prowess creatures that would naturally fit the deck. They don't make tokens, but benefit from everything else you will be doing. Soul-scar Mage, Monastery Swiftspear, Abbot of Keral Keep, Heartfire Immolator, Seeker of the Way.
Here is a pretty good version from my own cube.
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Where this gets exciting is the customization and cross-pollinisation possibilities.
Imagine having the above enablers, payoffs and recursion from White. Now add both Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle and Emry, Lurker of the Loch. All of a sudden you have a GY based artifact deck in UW. You can even hint towards that with some support in blue: Aether Spellbomb, Witching Well or Thirst for Knowledge.
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Here is a made up GW deck that could use the recursive elements and spells payoffs of White and make it unique with green's +1/+1 counters. Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants and Travel Preparations bridge both decks as does the innocuous looking Implement of Ferocity.
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Now with RG, you can go with a control deck using Young Pyro and Saheeli as a road block and Chandra doubles your ramp.
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Because of the hybrid mana costs in Lurrus and Alesha, as well as the flashback/aftermath costs of some cards, a BW or BR deck pops up quite naturally. Cheap reanimation cards like Unearth are amazing because you can double spell and they get back permanents with CMC 3 or less. I would not play Claim // Fame because it doesn't get back Mentor, Lurrus or Alesha. Revival // Revenge is much better as it is hybrid and has a late game mode. Finally, Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord and Agadeem's Awakening are stand outs for this deck as well.
BW tokens
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I'd like to know if other people have had success with this sort of strategy and/or if there are other cross-pollinisation ideas you have.
