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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Red Ryu's Exalted deck
March 17, 2009

If any of you have sent in decks to me and are wondering why I haven't replied, maybe this will demonstrate  the schedule I'm on: this deck was sent to me before Conflux came out. On the plus side, maybe there's something I can do with it that I couldn't have done before.

 

> Hello Bmoor, I was wondering since you take deck fix advice you could

> help me out.

>

> For the past month or so, I've wanted to get into the competitive

> standard circuit of Magic. The problem was me not being able to make a

> good constructed deck, due to my want of building more casually in

> format less games against my friends. I have no clue what it is like

> to play in a standard format, only hearing my friends rant about how

> Faeries are retarded.

>

> This has been a tough choice, combined with the fact I want to avoid a

> set rotating out for a while so I tried building a Bant Deck. One main

> problem I have is I haven't set it in a direction yet.

>

> Part of it is white weenie, but the other part is control/aggro. I

> think it would be beneficial to set it in a single direction, rather

> than all over the place. If I were to pick one it would be the control

> aggro deck.

>

> I've also looked at conflux spoilers and have seen newer cards that

> can help my deck greatly; Skyward Eye Phophets, Knight of the

> Reliquary, Giltspire Avenger, Noble Higharch, any of these could help.

> That and I'm missing Rafig of the Many, him being Mythic and hard to

> find.

>

> Creatures: 22

> Akrasan Squire x4

> Sigiled Palidan x4

> Steward of Valeron x4

> Battlegrace Angel x4

> Rhox-War Monk x2

> Rhox Charger x2

> Stoic Angel x1

> Empeyrial Archangel x1

>

> Non Creature Spells: 14

> Bant Charm x3

> Oblivion Ring x3

> Hindering Light x3

> Kiss of Anesha x2

> Courier's Capsule x1

> Sigil of Distinction x1

> Quietus Spike x1

>

> Land: 24

> Seaside Citadel x4

> Bant Panorama x4

> Plains x7

> Forest x5

> Island x4

>

> You also said in your profile about favorite creatures people might

> like to keep in, the main two I like are Battlegrace Angel and Rhox

> War Monk. They feel like they fit pretty well. BattleGrace is a nice

> big flyer that can pass around life link, and the thought of Noble

> Higharch throwing out Rhox War monk on my second turn followed by a

> third turn Rafig of the many for a 5/6 life link double strike is

> amazing.

>

> If either of the above won't fit in the deck, I'd understand, I would

> however ask if possible to leave them in.

>

> If you can fix this deck it would be a great help to me prepare and

> know how to build for standard tournaments.

>

> With great thanks,

> Red Ryu

 

R.R. here was absolutely right to see how much power Noble Hierarch can lend to a Bant deck.  Now that Conflux is out, many decks are making great progress in the competitive tournament scene solely on the back of turn one Hierarch, turn two Rhox War Monk.  Rafiq of the Many is just gravy at that point, since you'll be swinging for 4 a turn (or more) and gaining that much life whether you're blocked or not.

 

From there, the question becomes what to pull out to make room for some Hierarches.  My eye goes to the Equipment cards and Courier's Capsule.  Speed will trump card draw here if you draw a Hierarch instead of a Capsule, and with so many Exalted cards, I doubt you'll ever need to tap out for a Sigil or bother with a Spike.

 

Then again, Hindering Light is hardly doing you any favors either.  You could easily drop that in favor of any of the cards you mentioned above: Giltspire Avenger or Knight of the Reliquary.  Skyward Eye Prophets I don't like-- it's six mana for a 3/3.  Vigilance?  At that point you should have enough Exalted creatures out that you'd rather swing with your 3/4 War Monk.  And the card draw is nice I suppose, but if you're six mana into a game and looking for a way to draw more cards, something has gone wrong here.  You're the aggro player, and you need to be faster than that.  Especially if you manage to snag a Rafiq of the Many; you don't want to bother with a 3/3 on turn six when you could have two 3/4's for the same price.

 

But you clearly appreciate the power of card draw, don't you R.R.?  Well, far be it from me to leave my clients wanting for draw power, a mechanic I happen to have great respect for myself.  Perhaps a few copies of Frontline Sage will help you out?  Its draw isn't as powerful as Skyward Eye Prophets, and its body is downright smaller, but it hits play earlier, which means you draw more over the course of the game.  And it has Exalted, which compliments your deck very nicely.

 

Finally, given that your deck is all about swinging with one big guy, might I suggest a personal favorite: Tower Above?  Exalted will already be giving your champion +2/+2 or more, so a surprise +4/+4, trample, and wither could be downright devastating, whether or not you decide to use it to draw an enemy creature to its demise.  This also ups your number of removal spells, allowing you a little more breathing room with what you need to spend your Oblivion Rings and Bant Charms on-- two removal spells capable of removing more than just creatures.  As for what to drop for them, well.... if you play a few games and feel like you need them, you'll probably have your own sense of what in your deck just isn't pulling its weight like a Tower Above or two could.

 

Hopefully this article wasn't too late, and Red Ryu will be able to use some of this food for thought.  He came to me when Conflux was still a quilt of rumors, and now Alara Reborn is coming up over the horizon.  Will the new expansion bring new tools that will obsolete everything I've suggested?  Will the anti-Bant deck finally come to fruition and crush Exalted strategies compeltely out of the metagame?  Will Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer spawn a Bant control archetype that puts Bant aggro to shame?

 

Tune in next expansion and find out!  Until then, good luck!

 

~BMoor

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