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5 Color Highlander

Started by BadAss Grandma, 05-05-2008, 07:25:51 AM

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BadAss Grandma

Hi Everyone, this is my first highlander deck and i tossed a bunch of cards from my other decks in so its a bit like aggro/combo and has a lot of card drawing.  I am a little new to the format so if i have some cards that aren't good in the format let me know.  Just a side note where I play all players play 5 colors and the rule is no duplicate cards including basic lands =\.  Its an additional rule they put.

Here is my decklist:

Lands(35):
Forest
Plains
Mountain
Swamp
Island
Savannah
Bayou
Reflecting Pool
City of Brass
Murmuring Bosk
Karakas
Volrath's Stronghold
Urborg
Maze of Ith
Treetop Village
10 Pain Lands
10 Ravnica Block Dual Lands

Creatures:
Aven Mindcensor
Skyshroud Warbeast
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Sky Hussar
Troll Ascetic
Court Hussar
Stuffy Doll
Bringer of the Blue Dawn
Eternal Witness
Etched Oracle
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Wall of Blossom
Bringer of the Black Dawn
Doran, the Siege Tower
Darksteel Colossus
Kird Ape
Skyshroud Elite
Academy Rector
Flametongue Kavu
Birds of Paradise
Dwarven Miner
Dwarven Blastminer
Watchwolf
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Dimir Cutpurse
Ohran Viper
Augury Adept
Avatar of Woe

Artifacts:
Isochron Scepter
Sensei's Divining Top
Aether Vial

Enchantments:
Pernicious Deed
Debtor's Knell
Rancor
Sylvan Library
Future Sight
Mirari's Wake
Guilty Conscience
Animate Dead

Planeswalker(1):
Garruk Wildspeaker

Sorcery:
Bribery
Vindicate
Diabolic Tutor
Time Spiral
Damnation
Demonic Tutor
Regrowth
Duress
Tooth and Nail
Wrath of God

Instant:
Ray of Revelation
Hide // Seek
Orim's Chant
Brainstorm
Impulse
Diabolic Tutor
Wing Shards
Terminate
Fact or Fiction
Putrefy
Ancient Grudge
Lightning Helix
Price of Progress
Fire // Ice
Swords to Plowshares

I am still wondering if i want the kiki/sky hussar combo since triple red is a little hard because its not one of my dominant colors.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Mythrandir

#1
well, this is certainly different from the 5 color decks (control) i´ve seen.
i think the biggest problem for this is the one mana creatures and the first land drop. if you´re gonna aggro you wanna drop a creature on the first turn, and in 5 color thats hard, but i can only say for sure after testing...

lands: 35 seem quite few (i didnt count, but your deck is 100 card, right?) specially because you dont have any mana acceleration (signets, talismans, etc) or mana fixing (fetchs, tithe, eternal dragon, farseek, etc). i algo guess that you have the 10 duals from ravnica instead of the old ones because you dont have these, right?
no wasteland? and academy ruins for the stuffy doll combo (recovery if you need)

creatures:
darksteel colossus is bad, you dont have any mana acceleration (besides garruk and bop).
avatar of woe is equally bad. these are two expensive creatures, there are better ones out there: exalted angel, lightning angel, brion, loxodon hierach (cheaper creatures) specially if your deck is more aggro than a typical control deck. i also agree with the kiki, 3 reds is a lot for a non dominant colour. i´m not a huge fan of the bringers, but i´ve never tested them out. :P
well, you play a lot of Land destruction creatures, why not fulminator mage? and dusk urchins for the drawing cards. these are more aggro oriented than darksteel (even with T&N combo)
also you might include trinket mage to fetch for your artefacts (there are a few missing in your list :P, see below)

artefacts: no scrabbling claws/phyrexian furnace/tormod crypt? grave hate is essential in the current metagame, LFTL is a very nasty card. and you dont play any grave hate. some of these artefacts with shred memory or other good grave removal is essential. engineered explosives very good too.

enchantments: i dont like debtor a lot, i´ve tested and its too expensive and once again this card feels more like a control card, than in an aggro deck

planeswalker: garruk, checked! no problem here. :)

sorceries: well, you might consider LFTL, and then add some cycle lands. but this is a more control oriented deck, but even so, just test it out.
once again tooth and nail seems too many expensive for this deck, specially if you take out some of the creatures i´ve said. duress, you only have this disruption, so you´re trading, 1 for 1.. doesnt seem that good, specially in middle/late game. you might wanna test call of the herd.

instants: well there are 3 very important cards missing here: enlightned tutor, intuition and gifts ungiven. i think these are essential, even in a aggro deck, specially if you play things like call of the herd, deep analysis... mortify is just better than wing shards, me think :P
and OMG price of progress? do you really wanna play this? 30 out of 35 of your lands are nonbasic, not a very good idea.. i (i play 5c control) get killed a lot by this card.. have you ever used this with advantage for you? specially if your playing against a monocolored (basic lands..) decks.. bad, bad idea. (i know you say players play 5 color decks as a rule.. but even then.. auch.. dont you prefer a sudden shock or incinerate or lightning bolt?
you might wanna consider krosan grip.
eladarmi call is algo very good. worldly counsil is algo good, sometimes better tha impulse, but you might wanna play two, i play them both :P

well, hope it helps.

i have a 5c control list here in the forum, you might wanna check it out, but i play with counters and things like moat and collective restraint, which it wouldnt be as good in this deck.

BadAss Grandma

Wow that is a lot of feedback thanks a bunch! Ill work on getting myself some intuitions and gifts and replace the colossus and woe.  As for price of progress, ive never really used it its been in my deck for a while but never drew into it however you bring a good point so i will be scratching that as well.  I am actually new to the lftl combo, no one has used it where I am at, nor does anyone run anything from teh graveyard.  I do have a question though, would you recommend scrabbling claws over tormods? or vice versa?  Also i dont run academy ruins because i dont have too many artifacts instead i just use regrowth or eternal to fetch in case its destroyed.  Thanks for the help i'll work some things around in the deck then repost it.

BadAss Grandma

Quote from: BadAss Grandma on 05-05-2008, 07:25:51 AM
Hi Everyone, this is my first highlander deck and i tossed a bunch of cards from my other decks in so its a bit like aggro/combo and has a lot of card drawing.  I am a little new to the format so if i have some cards that aren't good in the format let me know.  Just a side note where I play all players play 5 colors and the rule is no duplicate cards including basic lands =\.  Its an additional rule they put.

Here is my decklist:

Lands(35):
Forest
Plains
Mountain
Swamp
Island
Savannah
Bayou
Reflecting Pool
City of Brass
Murmuring Bosk
Karakas
Volrath's Stronghold
Urborg
Maze of Ith
Treetop Village
10 Pain Lands
10 Ravnica Block Dual Lands

Creatures:
Aven Mindcensor
Skyshroud Warbeast
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Sky Hussar
Troll Ascetic
Court Hussar
Stuffy Doll
Bringer of the Blue Dawn
Eternal Witness
Etched Oracle
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Wall of Blossom
Bringer of the Black Dawn
Doran, the Siege Tower
Darksteel Colossus
Kird Ape
Skyshroud Elite
Academy Rector
Flametongue Kavu
Birds of Paradise
Dwarven Miner
Dwarven Blastminer
Watchwolf
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Dimir Cutpurse
Ohran Viper
Augury Adept
Avatar of Woe

Artifacts:
Isochron Scepter
Sensei's Divining Top
Aether Vial

Enchantments:
Pernicious Deed
Debtor's Knell
Rancor
Sylvan Library
Future Sight
Mirari's Wake
Guilty Conscience
Animate Dead

Planeswalker(1):
Garruk Wildspeaker

Sorcery:
Bribery
Vindicate
Diabolic Tutor
Time Spiral
Damnation
Demonic Tutor
Regrowth
Duress
Tooth and Nail
Wrath of God

Instant:
Ray of Revelation
Hide // Seek
Orim's Chant
Brainstorm
Impulse
Diabolic Tutor
Wing Shards
Terminate
Fact or Fiction
Putrefy
Ancient Grudge
Lightning Helix
Price of Progress
Fire // Ice
Swords to Plowshares

I am still wondering if i want the kiki/sky hussar combo since triple red is a little hard because its not one of my dominant colors.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

ok so im making some adjustments but havent actually gotten the cards yet since i dont have them.  I am 2 cards over though and wanted to get an opinion on what to cut.  Ive decided this deck probably wont cut being aggro since there isnt enough 1 drops so i took those guys out.  Below are the changes I made.

- Kiki jiki
- sky hussar
- dwarven miners/blastminer
- kird ape
- skyshroud elite
- price of progress
- watchwolf
- avatar of woe
- darksteel colossus
- tooth and nail
- akroma
Total = 12

+ Life from the loam
+ 3 cycle lands (G/U/W)
+ Wasteland
+ Gifts Ungiven
+ Intuition
+ Phyrexian Furnace
+ Exalted Angel
+ Loxodon Hierarch
+ Eternal Dragon
+ Brion
+ Land Grant
+ Farseek
Total = 14

I am going to give the LFTL engine a shot ive never seen it in action but it sounds really good.

Thanks for all your help so far!

Mythrandir

i would probably cut out wing shards and debtor knell.

still no grave hate? once you see LFTL engine you probably understand why grave hate is important. if you need anyone to play against i´m usually on msn during the evening.

BadAss Grandma

debtors and wing sounds good, originally debtors was in because rector could get it.  As for graveyard hate I run the phyrexian furnace.

Mythrandir

Quote from: BadAss Grandma on 07-05-2008, 01:07:49 AM
debtors and wing sounds good, originally debtors was in because rector could get it.  As for graveyard hate I run the phyrexian furnace.

well, i myself dont like wingshards and would prefer a mortify.

also dont u have problems with your mana base? i run 39 lands and (on MWS) i have a lot of games being mana screw, you only have 35 and no mana artefacts, so.. i´m kind of intrigue, on how can you manage so few lands on a 5C deck.

BadAss Grandma

to tell you the truth, 35 used to work fine 90% of the time and that was before i got the pain lands.  Now with wasteland and the cycle lands I run 39 with 2 fetches (farseek and land grant).  It seems to work ok.  As for wing shards your right but mortify doesnt cut it for me since people here run a lot of regeneration creatures (troll ascetic, rhox, spectral lynx, etc).  Btw what time zone are you in? 

Mythrandir

i´m in Portugal (GMT)

BadAss Grandma

Is everyone here around that area?  Im from California (PST).

Mythrandir

Quote from: BadAss Grandma on 09-05-2008, 04:39:31 PM
Is everyone here around that area?  Im from California (PST).

most of the ppl here in the forum are from germany (GMT+1) and i think there are some that live in finland (GMT +2)

Vazdru

#11
Quote from: BadAss Grandma on 06-05-2008, 12:36:50 AM
Quote from: BadAss Grandma on 05-05-2008, 07:25:51 AM
Hi Everyone, this is my first highlander deck and i tossed a bunch of cards from my other decks in so its a bit like aggro/combo and has a lot of card drawing.  I am a little new to the format so if i have some cards that aren't good in the format let me know.  Just a side note where I play all players play 5 colors and the rule is no duplicate cards including basic lands =\.  Its an additional rule they put.

Here is my decklist:

Lands(35):
Forest
Plains
Mountain
Swamp
Island
Savannah
Bayou
Reflecting Pool
City of Brass
Murmuring Bosk
Karakas
Volrath's Stronghold
Urborg
Maze of Ith
Treetop Village
10 Pain Lands
10 Ravnica Block Dual Lands

Creatures:
Aven Mindcensor
Skyshroud Warbeast
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Sky Hussar
Troll Ascetic
Court Hussar
Stuffy Doll
Bringer of the Blue Dawn
Eternal Witness
Etched Oracle
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Wall of Blossom
Bringer of the Black Dawn
Doran, the Siege Tower
Darksteel Colossus
Kird Ape
Skyshroud Elite
Academy Rector
Flametongue Kavu
Birds of Paradise
Dwarven Miner
Dwarven Blastminer
Watchwolf
Shadowmage Infiltrator
Dimir Cutpurse
Ohran Viper
Augury Adept
Avatar of Woe

Artifacts:
Isochron Scepter
Sensei's Divining Top
Aether Vial

Enchantments:
Pernicious Deed
Debtor's Knell
Rancor
Sylvan Library
Future Sight
Mirari's Wake
Guilty Conscience
Animate Dead

Planeswalker(1):
Garruk Wildspeaker

Sorcery:
Bribery
Vindicate
Diabolic Tutor
Time Spiral
Damnation
Demonic Tutor
Regrowth
Duress
Tooth and Nail
Wrath of God

Instant:
Ray of Revelation
Hide // Seek
Orim's Chant
Brainstorm
Impulse
Diabolic Tutor
Wing Shards
Terminate
Fact or Fiction
Putrefy
Ancient Grudge
Lightning Helix
Price of Progress
Fire // Ice
Swords to Plowshares

I am still wondering if i want the kiki/sky hussar combo since triple red is a little hard because its not one of my dominant colors.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

ok so im making some adjustments but havent actually gotten the cards yet since i dont have them.  I am 2 cards over though and wanted to get an opinion on what to cut.  Ive decided this deck probably wont cut being aggro since there isnt enough 1 drops so i took those guys out.  Below are the changes I made.

- Kiki jiki
- sky hussar
- dwarven miners/blastminer
- kird ape
- skyshroud elite
- price of progress
- watchwolf
- avatar of woe
- darksteel colossus
- tooth and nail
- akroma
Total = 12

+ Life from the loam
+ 3 cycle lands (G/U/W)
+ Wasteland
+ Gifts Ungiven
+ Intuition
+ Phyrexian Furnace
+ Exalted Angel
+ Loxodon Hierarch
+ Eternal Dragon
+ Brion
+ Land Grant
+ Farseek
Total = 14

I am going to give the LFTL engine a shot ive never seen it in action but it sounds really good.

Thanks for all your help so far!

Your deck looks much better now. But think about following changes:

add // cut

- Trinket Mage (for Sensei's or Furnace) // Dimir Cutpurse

- Mulldrifter // Augury Adept

- Enlightened Tutor // Diabolic Tutor

- Momentary Blink (nice with hierarch, witness,  Kavu, Hussar or just save your creas from being killed) // Ray of Revelation


btw: time zones  ??? -- don't matter at all  ;) ;D
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.