What's your "Pet Deck" in EDH?

[WWolfe]

You're gonna need some kind of ramp, that's a pretty mana intensive deck.

[Bizarro Soapy]

It's not that bad when you realize that every creature (other than Niv) is 2 mana, each dual option card has a cheap and expensive option (and some of those are ramp). I could include something like Firemind Vessel or Guild Globe to fit the theme, but I would only be cutting lands to do so!

[Soren841]

Good. Cut the bounce lands and any unconditionally tapped lands for ramp.

[WWolfe]

Even with 39 lands in a five color deck you're going to want some ramp. Also, the Bouncelands (what you call swap lands) will slow you down tremendously as will the fact that 22 of your lands (to include the bouncelands) enter the battlefield tapped.

I understand you're trying to build a certain theme, and that's a cool theme, I'm just telling you that the deck as it currently stands has severe mana problems.

[Soren841]

https://deckstats.net/decks/86132/1303784-sliver-hulk


This is a solid 5c manabase and ramp. You can tune the various duals depending on which colors your deck leans on more, Sliver Hulk happens to be mainly BUG.

[Bizarro Soapy]

Ok, thanks for the input, I'll give it some more work.

I haven't played much since Innistrad (about 2012) so I'm a bit behind on the meta!

[WWolfe]

The Shocklands would fit the guild theme for your deck and can come in untapped at the cost of two life. They're a better option than the bouncelands.

[Bizarro Soapy]

I'm very aware of shocklands, but also very aware of the pricetag too!
Shocklands would take this deck from costing ~£30 to over £100 easily, and it was never intended to be super competitive. I can cut the bouncelands for 1x each of the Basic lands, Firemind Vessel and Guild Globe, but not sure what else. I'll have to do some looking around for suitable ramp to fill those last 3 slots.

[Ylhyssia]

Mine is definitely my Teysa Aristocrats deck.

https://deckstats.net/decks/113264/1206082-church-of-value-teysa-orzhov-s

Orzhov was my first love when I started playing magic, and I knew building an orzhov aristocrats deck would be hard, since they get almost no ramp and no draw.

However I love the flavor of the orzhov guild, I love Teysa as a character and I love aristocrats as a strategy. I could totally make this deck competitive by going "full combo" with it, but that's not what I wanted out of this deck.

For my "competitive" deck I already have Lazav, so this time around I wanted a tuned deck, but not a deck that would feel unfair to my playgroup, and that's what I got.

I made this deck as optimal as I could while sticking to my strategy and theme, I added a lot of draw engines and ramp and mana rocks to hopefully make the deck faster than some other orzhov decks, however since orzhov doesn't really have access to counterspells, it is still possible for other players to answer my threats with removal.

Since aristocrats need a lot of elements to get going (sac fodder, sac outlets and payoffs) the deck isn't as consistent as my Lazav deck, but I love all the crazy interactions, synergies and value engines I can get going on when things line up.

The deck has a lot of my pet cards (smothering tithe, reassembling skeleton) , cards I had always wanted to play (Bitterblossom, Ophiomancer) and all in all is just a joy to pilot. It's a deck I'm always down to play, and this deck feels like my baby, I'm very proud of it.

(I'm also proud of my Lazav deck but just pulling out this deck with my playgroup usually makes me archenemy lol, and while I enjoy seeing all the other players spending all their ressources to stop me, sometimes I want to actually be able to play my deck and Teysa allows me to do that).

[Bizarro Soapy]

 Just a note Soren841 : linking a deck with a 7k pricetag as an example isn't very helpful

Edit: oof, having all my comments downvoted, I assume because of this post. Sorry I don't have hundreds of pounds to splash on lands I guess?

[Soren841]

I only downvoted that one. Any other downvotes were not me.

[Bizarro Soapy]

No worries then, it's just someone with an itchy finger and a chip on the shoulder. I didn't downvote you by the way, just thought your example was hilariously out of my league.

[Aetherium Slinky]

Indeed. I would love to be able to throw some 5k at magic as a hobby but alas, I need to pay for food and live somewhere, too! Usually I prioritize repairing my car over Magic, so it's weird to see people recommending really expensive alternatives. How is it hard to look at a deck and give advice within the price range? If you see some deck isn't running the original duals then it's probably best not to suggest them in the first place...

[Red_Wyrm]

I'm very aware of shocklands, but also very aware of the pricetag too!
Shocklands would take this deck from costing ~£30 to over £100 easily, and it was never intended to be super competitive. I can cut the bouncelands for 1x each of the Basic lands, Firemind Vessel and Guild Globe, but not sure what else. I'll have to do some looking around for suitable ramp to fill those last 3 slots.

If you're going to invest in the deck, the mana base is where you start. Shock lands are a great investment because they maintain their price.  Perhaps try the pain lands like caves of kilos or check lands like glacial fortress.

[Soren841]

ABURs are good because their price constantly increases and will never go down