Post by sdfkjgh on Apr 29, 2018 1:34:16 GMT
Welcome back to Tosche Station! We have a wide selection of power converters to choose from, but this week we’re showcasing a double bill.
First up, we have the original recipe of this week’s decks. This is one of many decks I built that started off as a draft deck (this one from Time Spiral block). This is a deck that can go, and has gone, from a triple-digit life total, to single-digit, and back again, all in the same turn. When paying this deck on MTGO, time is your most important resource, so make your decisions quickly.
Bouncing Soldiers (Original Recipe)
Modern-legal
Sideboard
1 Because graveyard shenannygoats exist (Hi, Erin Campbell!)
1 Mangara of Corondor
2 Magus of the Library
1 Citanul Woodreaders
1 Eternal Witness
1 Hunting Wilds
When Shards of Alara block came out, I realized that I could streamline the deck a bit, so I slimmed it down to Monowhite. The playstyles of each version are just different enough to make the dichotomy interesting, as in this version, there are fewer opportunities for creatures being bounced multiple times in a single turn, as there are fewer creatures you want to be bouncing.
Monowhite Bouncing Soldiers
Modern-legal
Sideboard
3 Celestial Purge
3 Glare of Heresy
3 Devout Lightcaster
Well, that about does it for this week. Join us next week, where we’ll be back with No Reservations II: Antiquities.
And, once again, thanks to my Editor Extraordinaire, Daij_Djan.
First up, we have the original recipe of this week’s decks. This is one of many decks I built that started off as a draft deck (this one from Time Spiral block). This is a deck that can go, and has gone, from a triple-digit life total, to single-digit, and back again, all in the same turn. When paying this deck on MTGO, time is your most important resource, so make your decisions quickly.
Bouncing Soldiers (Original Recipe)
Modern-legal
| 2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin | These were a fairly recent addition to both decks, and of the two, it’s actually easier for this version to turn on Emeria. |
| 10 Forest | |
| 8 Plains | |
| 4 Smile Trees | |
| 4 Hey, sistah; ho, sistah; go, sistah! | |
| 3 Dawn Charm | I can’t count the many times this card has crushed dreams. I don’t normally pull a Cartman, but I’ve feasted on my fair share of salty tears of sadness. |
| 4 JESUS CHRIST, IT’S A LION; GET IN THE CAR! | This card is the fuel for the entire deck, the Lebowski rug (link NSFW), for both versions, and if I could fit Oketra’s Monument into either version, I would, but they’re both already so jam-packed, there’s just no room. |
| 3 Elvish Visionary | |
| 1 Sylvan Ranger | I was so happy when Sylvan Ranger was printed, as the original card was 3 Civic Wayfinders, and this deck needs a LOT of mana to operate properly. |
| 2 Magus of the Library | If you’ve read No Reservations II: Arabian Nights, you know my position on this card and its progenitor. The dream is a full hand, no mulligans, play or draw, with this live to start drawing cards on turn 3. That’s good, clean livin’ right there. |
| 2 Aven Riftwatcher | This card is so stupid in this deck. You don’t care about the vanishing, the flying is nice (get some chip damage in), but what’s really important is that enters or leaves the battlefield trigger. That right there keeps you alive. It’s like a creature version of a charm. |
| 2 Field Marshal | Yes, this card sometimes bites me in the ass, but you show me any other single card that offers both an anthem and first strike to the majority of my team. |
| 2 Mangara of Corondor | Check the placement of that colon. That’s very important, as it allows you to activate Mangara, then, in response, cast Lion to bounce him back to your hand. You’re now left with Mangara in hand, and an opponent who’s down a permanent. One of my favorite pastimes is dreaming up card combos to make Mangara shenannygoats more effective. The two best I could think of are Mangara/Thousand-Year Elixir/Deadeye Navigator and Devout Lightcaster/Painter’s Servant/Deadeye Navigator, but that just shows how ridiculous Navigator is. |
| 1 Mebbe if Alex Jones got that BB gun he always wanted for Christmas, he wouldn’t be so angry all the time | Lemme explain. Citanul is lunatic spelled backwards, Alex Jones is a member of the lunatic fringe, and A Christmas Story had the Red Ryder BB gun. Coincidentally, the day that I first learned about Alex Jones is the day that Wizards first spoiled Murmuring Phantasm. I just find that tidbit funny. |
| 2 Farhaven Elf | See my previous comment on Sylvan Ranger. |
| 1 Eternal Witness | This was the most recent change, as its predecessor was Deadwood Treefolk, which is too expensive, and a little too narrow to be of much use. Now, I can do some stupid things like using Dust Elemental (we’ll get to that later) to create a Dawn Charm soft-lock loop. |
| 2 Dust Elemental | Right now, there’s an intermittently appearing bug on MTGO that reduces Dust Elemental’s required number of bounced creatures from three to two. While I would absolutely LOVE a 4 mana 2-bouncer with flash, this bug is obviously something wrong, and exploiting it makes me feel a little dirty. I guess I’m not enough of an amoral Spike to not have such feelings of guilt. |
| 1 Hunting Wilds | What’s better than double ramping for Forests? Double ramping for Forests that are actually also |
| 4 Stormfront Riders | At last, we come to the engine of both decks. This card & Whitemane Lion is probably what started me on the Johnny path, as while most others saw a drawback, I saw its whole reason for existing. |
| 2 Turn 1 suspend; you now have 10 turns to kill me, good luck | Yes, I have cast this for full price the same turn the other copy exited its suspension. |
Sideboard
1 Because graveyard shenannygoats exist (Hi, Erin Campbell!)
1 Mangara of Corondor
2 Magus of the Library
1 Citanul Woodreaders
1 Eternal Witness
1 Hunting Wilds
When Shards of Alara block came out, I realized that I could streamline the deck a bit, so I slimmed it down to Monowhite. The playstyles of each version are just different enough to make the dichotomy interesting, as in this version, there are fewer opportunities for creatures being bounced multiple times in a single turn, as there are fewer creatures you want to be bouncing.
Monowhite Bouncing Soldiers
Modern-legal
| 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin | |
| 13 Plains | |
| 3 Path to Exile | |
| 4 Soul Warden | |
| 3 Dawn Charm | |
| 4 Whitemane Lion | |
| 4 Leotaus in fetish-heels (And now you can’t unthink it!) | These, combined with the borderposts, constitute ramp in monowhite. |
| 2 Aven Riftwatcher | |
| 2 Safe Passage | |
| 2 Safe Passage | |
| 2 Field Marshal | |
| 2 Mangara of Corondor | |
| 3 Fieldmist Borderpost | |
| 3 Wildfield Borderpost | I’m still waiting on enemy-colored borderposts, Wizards. C’mon, let’s make it happen! |
| 1 Bo Peep | If I already have a Stormfront Riders on the field, this becomes my 4-mana, 2-bounce flash creature. |
| 2 Dust Elemental | |
| 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant | |
| 4 Stormfront Riders | |
| 2 Heroes Remembered | |
Sideboard
3 Celestial Purge
3 Glare of Heresy
3 Devout Lightcaster
Well, that about does it for this week. Join us next week, where we’ll be back with No Reservations II: Antiquities.
And, once again, thanks to my Editor Extraordinaire, Daij_Djan.
