Spirits in Standard
So I was reading through Kyle Boggemes' article about cards for standard, and in the comments (found here) was a deck list by Isaac Birnbaum (Thanks Isaac!) that I really enjoyed, and am going to tweak today.
Isaacs idea is that Drogskul Captain is pretty good. So good in fact that he'd like to run 4 of them.
I agree with him, but here's his list for reference -
4 Doomed Traveler.
4 Drogskol Captain.
3 Geist of Saint Traft.
2 Phantasmal Image.
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.
2 Angelic Destiny.
4 Honor the Pure.
4 Lingering Souls.
4 Mana Leak.
3 Midnight Haunting.
3 Oblivion Ring.
4 Darkslick Shores.
1 Island
1 Isolated Chapel.
3 Moorland Haunt.
8 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast.
1 Swamp
2 Vault of the Archangel.
Now although I do like this list rather a lot, I'm not sold on everything here.
I think midnight haunting needs to be a 4x, and I think that angelic destiny is overkill. So I'll drop one destiny for one haunting.
I also think the deck needs some kind of main deck late game, so I'll drop the last destiny for one Sun Titan. The titan plays really well with your captains and geists. And of course the interaction between Sun Titan and Phantasmal Image is well documented, not to mention oblivion rings, honor of the purrs, and doomed travelers. This does make Moorland Haunt a bit less effective, but I was thinking that 5 colorless lands was a bit many anyway and I'll be dropping one moorland haunt to add one more isolated chapel.
My end list looks like this:
And the captains give all other spirits hex proof and +1/+1. Wait isn't there a card in standard that also does that but for less important tribe? Oh yeah! Lord of Illusions! But think about this, Lord of Illusions is not an Illusion itself. Drogskol Captain IS a spirit AND it flies for one more mana total. Seems good. Play image copying your Captain and everything you play (except the Sorin Vamps, Sun Titan, and the doomed traveler before it dies) have Hexproof.
You've played against Hexproof right? It's really annoying. Gesit alone is worthy of inclusion in tournament winning legacy decks, based mostly on the power of hexproof. Okay, it also hits like a truck, but that wouldn't matter in a field of Swords to Plowshares and Lightning Bolts without the Hexproof part. Now imagine a fleet of flying hexproof spirits. How many ways of dealing with them are in standard? Day of Judgment, Black Sun's Zenith, Slagstorm (if they aren't too big), Blasphemous Act, Ratchet Bombs (but only for some of them), Life's Finale. Not a lot of answers really, especially for a deck that can run Mana Leaks when most of those answers START around 3-4 mana.
Isaacs idea is that Drogskul Captain is pretty good. So good in fact that he'd like to run 4 of them.
I agree with him, but here's his list for reference -
4 Doomed Traveler.
4 Drogskol Captain.
3 Geist of Saint Traft.
2 Phantasmal Image.
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.
2 Angelic Destiny.
4 Honor the Pure.
4 Lingering Souls.
4 Mana Leak.
3 Midnight Haunting.
3 Oblivion Ring.
4 Darkslick Shores.
1 Island
1 Isolated Chapel.
3 Moorland Haunt.
8 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast.
1 Swamp
2 Vault of the Archangel.
Now although I do like this list rather a lot, I'm not sold on everything here.
I think midnight haunting needs to be a 4x, and I think that angelic destiny is overkill. So I'll drop one destiny for one haunting.
I also think the deck needs some kind of main deck late game, so I'll drop the last destiny for one Sun Titan. The titan plays really well with your captains and geists. And of course the interaction between Sun Titan and Phantasmal Image is well documented, not to mention oblivion rings, honor of the purrs, and doomed travelers. This does make Moorland Haunt a bit less effective, but I was thinking that 5 colorless lands was a bit many anyway and I'll be dropping one moorland haunt to add one more isolated chapel.
My end list looks like this:
4 Doomed Traveler.
4 Drogskol Captain.
3 Geist of Saint Traft.
2 Phantasmal Image.
4 Drogskol Captain.
3 Geist of Saint Traft.
2 Phantasmal Image.
1 Sun Titan.
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.
4 Honor the Pure.
4 Lingering Souls.
4 Mana Leak.
4 Midnight Haunting.
3 Oblivion Ring.
4 Darkslick Shores.
1 Island.
2 Isolated Chapel.
2 Moorland Haunt.
8 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast.
1 Swamp
2 Vault of the Archangel.
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.
4 Honor the Pure.
4 Lingering Souls.
4 Mana Leak.
4 Midnight Haunting.
3 Oblivion Ring.
4 Darkslick Shores.
1 Island.
2 Isolated Chapel.
2 Moorland Haunt.
8 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast.
1 Swamp
2 Vault of the Archangel.
This deck is a real contender in the new standard. I really like the problems that having both hex proof threats and lots of tokens makes for an opponent. Do I blow my ratchet bomb on the tokens or pump it to three to get their captains and geists?
Those are the kinds of questions I want my opponents asking.
And the captains give all other spirits hex proof and +1/+1. Wait isn't there a card in standard that also does that but for less important tribe? Oh yeah! Lord of Illusions! But think about this, Lord of Illusions is not an Illusion itself. Drogskol Captain IS a spirit AND it flies for one more mana total. Seems good. Play image copying your Captain and everything you play (except the Sorin Vamps, Sun Titan, and the doomed traveler before it dies) have Hexproof.
You've played against Hexproof right? It's really annoying. Gesit alone is worthy of inclusion in tournament winning legacy decks, based mostly on the power of hexproof. Okay, it also hits like a truck, but that wouldn't matter in a field of Swords to Plowshares and Lightning Bolts without the Hexproof part. Now imagine a fleet of flying hexproof spirits. How many ways of dealing with them are in standard? Day of Judgment, Black Sun's Zenith, Slagstorm (if they aren't too big), Blasphemous Act, Ratchet Bombs (but only for some of them), Life's Finale. Not a lot of answers really, especially for a deck that can run Mana Leaks when most of those answers START around 3-4 mana.
Now... Anyone have Sorin for trade?
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