AVR fun: Modern Casual Demonic Taskmaster

This deck has turned out to be a lot of fun out of the gate. It is weak against Pacisfism and Oblivion Ring but it is very strong against Elves and Merfolk, especially if in the latter case someone makes the mistake of copying the Taskmaster (ouch, get ready to sacrifice your dear Merfolk!-and someone did that today!).

Now that I have played Essence Harvest in this deck, I wonder if I can use it when I souldbond a Wolfir Silverheart in a Golgari build....

Here are the commons from AVR showcased in this deck:

RTR and THS Redemptions

I am not planning to redeem M14, and if I change my mind it will be because the set as a whole becomes cheap to redeem. M14 has the humanoid slivers and two very heavy planewalkers (Garruk and Chandra). The set has at this point one card I care about (Witchstalker) and I am not about to redeem a whole set for one card.

RTR Block: I would like to redeem one set each, even if I missed out on buying some of the cards I am missing when they were cheaper. I would like to keep playsets of the shocklands for Modern play.

get one more

Blood Crypt
Breeding Pool
Hallowed Fountain
Overgrown Tomb
Steam Vents
Temple Garden
Water Grave

get 5 (ouch!)

godless shrine
sacred foundry
stomping ground

I am missing these:

THS block is way more affordable, and it can be the foundation of a great casual cube. Heroic requires card disadvantage, as do all those enchantments, and Bestow is grossly over-costed. This is good news because I needed a cheap block to have fun with. I plan to redeem one of each, and to complete at least THS soon to ensure I don't have to pay a lot for a card that becomes a staple somehow. I am missing these:

elspeth     14.21
erebos       5.95
master        6.78
polukranos    9.55
stormbreath  14.04
thassa        7.05

Avacyn Restored Cube: Cloudshift and Restoration Angel

I have begun work on a cube centered on AVR, which has turned out to be an amazing set. This was the set that had just come out when I started playing Magic. I plan to play as many of the cards in this set online to understand how to better build a cube around it. I am starting with Cloudshift because it is a cheap effect found on a much more expensive card in this same set: Restoration Angel. I am getting started by building a deck around this card in White/Green.

I will buff it up with uncommons, rares, and Mythic Rares. I currently have a near complete set of AVR on line that is a few cards away from redemption.

This deck will get Restoration Angel (of course!) and:

Angel's tomb (artifact)
Cathar's crusade (5-drop white rare enchantment)
Soul of the Harvest (6-drop green rare)

Here is a first try.

And here is an optimized version. Cathar's Crusade and Soul of the Harvest are definitely casual cards. The rule-of-thumb to go by for Modern is: if the casting cost is 5 or greater, the card has to be able to either win the game by itself, or help you win the game quickly after landing on the board. It seems to me that neither of these cards have even the slightest chance of doing that.

Theros block tribal two sets in

Human	53
Soldier	23
Warrior	20
Wizard	16
Minotaur	13
Satyr	13
Centaur	12
Shaman	11
Zombie	11
God	10

Humans, Soldiers, Warriors, and Wizards are your usual White Weenie mix. Theros-specific tribal is about Minotaurs, Satyrs, Centaurs, and Gods. Shamans and Zombies are also part of the non-Theros legacy of Magic tribes.

I wonder if there are viable Satyr and Centaur decks..... the Gods are all heavy and very color-specific. (I looked, and there aren't any lords for these two tribes yet in this block).

The other Theros-specific tribes are:

Chimera	5
Gorgon	5
Nymph	5
Archon	4
Cyclops	4
Hydra	4
Siren	4
Snake	4
Sphinx	4

Maybe we will get more of these creatures in Journey into Nyx.

Speculation about the next block

After playing some more in the current Standard, I speculate that the next block with be "Kamigawa done right:" An Asian theme (we know this from the names of the sets having a Mongol theme), with tons of legendaries (hint here is the BNG artifact that lords them), heavy tribal flavor which would complement how well Theros is improving on tribal with all those Minotaurs, Sphynxs, and so on, and perhaps an enemy shard theme that would complement Shards of Alara. If the additional 20 slots in M15 are lands, that all together would make for a really fun Standard. As an aside, I very much like how well mono-colored has been done in Theros.

WBR Aurelia in RTR to BNG Standard

This deck idea started as a simple Boros deck showcasing playsets of Legion's Initiative and Aurelia. Only Aurelia is left, and after a string of embarrassing loses against all those Dimir decks, I decided to add black.

Turn 6, Howl of the Nightpack drops a bunch of tokens.

Turn 10, I play a lone Exava that takes me all the way to the win. I end up with a second Exava in my hand that I do not need to play. Pacisfiam helped a lot. At this point I have one in the battlefield.

More turns (here is turn 14), more creature attrition, but Exava stays through.

Turn 17: Here is my second Pacifism, the play that turned the tide in my favor.

Turn 20: Once Exava is enchanted with Ethereal Armor, it is a 7/7 and I can grind all of my opponent's fatties.

Turn 25: Dreadbore helps with removal of said green fatties.

Turn 29, For the Win (FTW).

M13 Booster Packs Online

In the first batch I pulled one planeswalker (a red one, but still, its a planeswalker).

March 8, 2014 update (four packs)