Thanks for posting your version here too CK.
Nice
opportunity to go over both versions and explain my choices.
The common factor :
Obviously, the engine is the same.
4x
Argothian Enchantress, 4x
Enchantress's Presence and last but not least, 4x
Utopia Sprawl.
Land :
We both have exactly twenty land.
You have 11
Forest types and 4 fetches, I have 12
forest types and 4 fetches to accommodate the Utopia Sprawls.
I think this is the type of deck where 4 Temple Gardens is possible because of the Explorations. They allow them to be played as extra land drops so the come-into-play-tapped doesn't hurt as much as when you have only 1 land drop per turn.
The big difference however are the
Serra's Sanctum.
Imo, this is the most important card after your engine, thus 4 copies.
This card grows quickly and I do like one in my opening hand as I usually have a
Utopia Sprawl or
Exploration on T1 so I can play a Sanctum on T2 if I have to.
The Sanctum usually provides all the mana for an extra enchantment drop all on its own ( I have 20 mono white enchantments ), even a 5cc
Sigil of the Empty Throne, so it provides an extra drop and thus extra card draw.
Of course it gets even better when you tap one to play an enchantment and draw, then play a new Sanctum and draw more.
I noticed you splashed red for
Blood Moon, but you'll understand that
Blood Moon is a big no-no in a deck that wants to exploit
Serra's Sanctum. I'm also of the opinion that you don't really need this red splash at all.
Words of War is nice tech but do you really need it ? Maybe when facing a
Mother of Runes.
In that case I think I'd rather add
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to my SB to deal with creatures that can
withstand my enchantments.
I also tried Nykthos, Shrine to Nix shortly instead of a fourth Sanctum but that experiment was quickly terminated.
Having the Shrine early really doesn't help you, whereas the Sanctum early is great and getting it late means its effectiveness is not that big anymore as you can already cast whatever you draw anyway.
Exploration and
Mirri's Guile :
I found that I like
Mirri's Guile when I draw it early but when the deck is up-and-running it doesn't really matter that much anymore ( like, occasional benefit but nothing worldshaking ) since you draw multiple cards anyway every turn.
So, I removed it.
However, you run 3
Exploration and I run 4 and I think you may be correct that we don't need 4 of them.
Getting them T1 is only useful to trigger the Sanctum ( but
Mirri's Guile can do that just the same ) or when you have enough land in your opening hand to go to 3 land on T2.
Mostly though, the Explorations start to pay off midgame when you start drawing multiple cards.
So, I think the right mix (for me anyway) may be 3 Explorations and 1
Mirri's Guile.
Sigil of the Empty Throne and
Luminarch Ascension. :
I'm surprised you run only 1 Sigil, but I also understand since you run only 2 Sanctum.
Sigil however imo is soooo much better than
Luminarch Ascension. Matter of fact, I don't like LA at all.
You can play Ascension on T2 alright, but it will take you at least until T6 before it does anything and 1) you can't take damage during those turns or it triggers even later and 2) you have to pay again to get something out of it whereas EVERY enchantment spell after Sigil means a FREE 4/4 Flying
Angel.
And because of the Sanctums I can get it in play pretty fast as well.
Check this ordinary opening :
T1
Forest -
Utopia SprawlT2 Land -
Sterling GroveT3
Serra's Santum -
Sigil of the Empty Throne ( and it has shroud, thanks to
Sterling Grove )
T4 Angels start flying out ...
Elephant Grass and
Ghostly Prison :
Elephant Grass is cheaper and can stop black creatures outright but the upkeep cost is a killer imo.
You can't cast this early without stunting your own build-up and if you want to keep it in play for multiple turns the costs can
overwhelm you. So, I'd rather play the Prison which may cost you more upfront but doesn't require any upkeep afterwards.
The cost is usually no problem either as it is usually a matter of which enchantments do I draw & play instead of which enchantments do I choose to play from my hand.
Maybe I should consider
Elephant Grass as a SB option ( against black ) but I don't know if I need it on top of already 4 Prisons.
I had 3 Ghostly Prisons and 1
Moat at one point but I took the
Moat out of the main deck because against opposing Flyers
Moat does absolutely nothing whereas
Ghostly Prison works vs all creatures.
Enlightened Tutor and
Sterling Grove :
Enlightened Tutor is probably one of my most played cards all time but in this case I prefer the Groves simply because of the powerful extra's it gives to this deck : Shroud and extra card drawing.
Runed Halo :
I think is most powerful vs Lands, Merfolk or Emrakul for that matter and I'm very tempted to put one back in but I have only 1 spot left and I prefer to have a
Leyline of Sanctity available just a little more. If there are other reasons why you play
Runed Halo, please share.
Solitary Confinement :
The benefits of this card are obvious but the drawbacks are too much for me to give this card a spot.
See if you follow here : You have to discard every turn to keep it in play which is something I don't want to focus on. I don't like to rely on the graveyard too much. Of course it explains your two copies of
Replenish main board which I only have in the SB as I assume I will only need them after game 1.
The main problem however is that you forfeit your draw step. That means you can play this card only effectively AFTER you have set up your drawing engine, unless you want to stop your opponent doing damage / targeting you for just one turn and let it go to the graveyard which means you're not in a very good situation to begin with.
So, I understand this
Solitary Confinement /
Replenish combo you have in your deck but that's something I want to stay away from as I'd rather focus on the following three enchantments ...
Oblivion Ring,
Banishing Light,
Nevermore :
I had a
City of Solitude in the main deck earlier too but figured
Nevermore could do the job just as well. Name
Force of Will and they have to counter it or be without FoW's entirely, not only on your turn.
Oblivion Ring and
Banishing Light allow me to take away whatever I find threatening and buy time.
All of them can be played with a single tap of a Sanctum.
Thanks again for posting your deck CK
I like to feed off your knowledge and experience
English
Deutsch
Español
Português
Italiano
Français