Luke's EDH Deck

So there are close to 100 cards listed below for your deck. You will need to cut it down to about 60ish. I guess the best way to do this would be to leave a comment on this post. Just like repost this list in the comments with all the cards you don't want removed.

Without further ado, here is the first draft for Luke's mono white 'do nothing' deck:

Possible Generals:
Atalya, Samite Master
Gerrard Capashen
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails

Atalya and Gerrard are both the best gain life generals that exist in Magic. You might consider 8.5 Tails though, since he an protect your win conditions easily. Regardless of who you pick as your general, the others should really also be in this deck.

Win Conditions:
Felidar Sovereign
Test of Endurance
Storm Herd

You probably don't want to cut any of these. EDH games will go even longer than our regular multi-player ones, so you WILL be getting the nine mana to cast Storm Herd, and it will be hilarious when you do.

Creatures:
Soul Warden
Soul's Attendant
Auriok Champion
Martyr of Sands
Kami of False Hope
Weathered Wayfarer *
Academy Rector
Auramancer
Lost Auramancers
Windborn Muse
Magus of the Moat *
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
Purity
Archon of Redemption
Wall of Reverence *
Reya Dawnbringer
Karmic Guide
True Believer *
______________________________________________
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Pristine Angel
Archon of Justice
Battlegrace Angel
Crovax, Ascendant Hero

Cards with an * next to them are cards which I think are sorta iffy. The creatures below are line are creatures which are just good big creatures to attack with. I figured that you mostly wanted to win via Life Gain, but I wanted to present you with some alternate win conditions.

Recursion and Tutors:
Enlightened Tutor
Idyllic Tutor
Mine Excavation
Argivian Find
Resurrection
Miraculous Recovery
Proclamation of Rebirth
Expedition Map

I'm gonna start off by saying that you really should not cut any of the above cards. The ability to Tutor up Test of Endurance is pretty amazing, in addition you want to have some insurance in case one of us counters or manages to destroy it. Same goes for Life Gain Kitty. Proclamation of Rebirth allows you to set up a recurring Martyr of Sands or Kami of False Hope every turn. Expedition Map allows you to tutor for Emeria, the Sky Ruin and pull off the same basic combo.

Draw/ Library Manipulation:
Sensei's Divining Top
Illuminated Folio
Howling Mine
Font of Mythos
Well of Lost Dreams
Survival Cache
Pursuit of Knowledge *

Acceleration:
Pearl Medallion
Everflowing Chalice
Land Tax
Mind Stone *
Darksteel Ingot *

You could probably make due with just Land Tax in this list. It just depends on how much land acceleration you want. I tend to like a lot, but its not really necessary for your deck.

Spot Removal:
Oblation
Condemn
Exile
Path to Exile
Swords to Plowshares
Oblivion Ring
Faith's Fetters
Journey to Nowhere *
Oust *
Terashi's Grasp
Return to Dust

Oblation and Condemn are both good ways to deal with opposing generals, as they don't go to their special zone if they get shuffled back into their library. The last two are both very good artifact and enchantment removal, which you will need in this format.

Mass Removal:
Day of Judgment
Wrath of God
Rout
Martial Coup
Akroma's Vengeance
Austere Command
Planar Collapse
Mass Calcify
Final Judgment *
Hallowed Burial *

Protection:
Ivory Mask
Ghostly Prison
Story Circle
Greater Auramancy
Sun Droplet
Safe Passage
Angelsong
Dawn Charm
Pollen Lullaby
Reverse Damage
Hallow
Invulnerability *
Intervention Pact *

Life Gain:
Boon Reflection
Rest for the Weary
Feudkiller's Verdict
Beacon of Immortality
Landbind Ritual
Congregate
Gerrard's Wisdom
Words of Worship *
Heroes Remembered *
Alabaster Potion
Scent of Jasmine
Divine Congregation *
Spirit Loop *

Non-Basic Land Ideas:
(Remember, since these are lands, if you cut any of these they DO NOT count towards the 60 or so non-land card limit.

Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Miren, the Moaning Well
Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Kor Haven
Karoo
Mistveil Plains
Forbidding Watchtower
Kabira Crossroads
New Benalia
Temple of the False God
Tectonic Edge


Let me know what you think or if I left some major mechanic out which you wanted.

Pro Tour Berlin Results

First things first, here's the metagame breakdown for the entirety of the pro tour:

Deck	# of players	% of field
Zoo	126	27.75%
Elves	71	15.64%
Storm	39	8.59%
Next Level Blue	32	7.05%
Junk	27	5.95%
Faeries	25	5.51%
Death Cloud Rock	21	4.63%
Affinity	18	3.96%
All-In Red	17	3.74%
Burn	17	3.74%
Dredge	9	1.98%
Hulk Combo	5	1.10%
Life from the Loam Rock	5	1.10%
Tezzeret Control	5	1.10%
Bant Control	4	0.88%
Martyr Proclamation	4	0.88%
Second Breakfast	4	0.88%
Blue-Red Tron	4	0.88%
White-Blue Tron	4	0.88%
Bant Aggro	2	0.44%
Goblins	2	0.44%
Swans Combo	2	0.44%
Battle of Wits	1	0.22%
Beasts	1	0.22%
Belcher Combo	1	0.22%
Black-Green Rock	1	0.22%
White-Black Tokens	1	0.22%
Green-White Slide	1	0.22%
Rift Slide	1	0.22%
Seismic Loam	1	0.22%
Mono-Blue Control	1	0.22%
Mindlock Orb Control	1	0.22%
Blue-Black Tron	1	0.22%

Now we all knew that Zoo is gonna be the biggest deck out there, but Elves is definitely the big surprise here. I think in the magic online league Extended tournaments which i talked some about a few ago, Elves comprised one top 8 deck total. And suddenly here it is in full force as the second most popular deck in the pro tour.

On a side note, Magic writing done by the pros themselves is a little fucked up. Elves was never even considered once in any of the articles I read over at the official site or at Star City Games, but obviously that whole community knew about it and how good it was. They were waiting until after the Pro Tour just to be like whoops, sorry we didn't tell you guys that! Its like when Time Spiral first came out, Flores hyped a bunch of decks which he considered to be decks to beat for that tournament. So he went on about how good solar flare was and R/B aggro and such, only to show up to the tournament with a deck he crafted himself designed to beat the meta game which he singlehandedly formed. But whatever I digress...

Anyways lets look at the top 8 shall we:

6 Elves Combo
1 Tezzeret Control
1 Faeries

Wow. Elves dominated the whole tournament. Here is Luis Scott Vargas' list that won:

creature [32]

4 Birchlore Rangers

4 Elves of Deep Shadow

4 Elvish Visionary

1 Eternal Witness

4 Heritage Druid

4 Llanowar Elves

4 Nettle Sentinel

1 Regal Force

2 Viridian Shaman

4 Wirewood Symbiote

instant [4]

4 Summoner's Pact

sorcery [8]

4 Glimpse of Nature

1 Grapeshot

3 Weird Harvest

land [16]

4 Gilt-Leaf Palace

2 Overgrown Tomb

1 Pendelhaven

9 Snow-Covered Forest

60 cards

Sideboard:

1 Mycoloth

1 Nullmage Shepherd

2 Viridian Shaman

4 Thoughtseize

2 Thorn of Amethyst

4 Umezawa's Jitte

1 Pendelhaven

15 cards

So yeah, Elves is now the best deck in extended. Excuse me while I go kill myself...

Pro Tour Berlin

Pro Tour Berlin is this weekend, and obviously its Extended format (else I wouldn't even bring it up). I'll be following the event coverage this weekend and posting some of the more interesting decks as they are revealed. Extended meta-game will cemented once this is over, and after that its time to start actually testing out some deck ideas against the new meta-game. Extended PTQs season won't happen until early next year, but with a format so seemingly wide-open you gotta get on the testing train earlier.



On a side note: Pro Tour Kyoto Qualifiers have started and the format is Shards of Alara Sealed deck. Unfortunately one of the Los Angeles dates is TBD, but the other is on 12/27/2008. I will definitely be attended that one, and encourage any reader in LA to do the same, since Shards of Alara limited has been a fun and intricate format so far.

For my bay area peeps:
Sacramento 12/06/2008
San Jose 12/20/2008

It don't matter if youre black or white

So you know what card used to rape my U/G Tron build last season? Mesmeric Orb. Well only if it was combined with Extirpate…well maybe it was just extirpate which ownd me. Whatever, while we’re on the subject lets talk about Tron.

Last season, Tron was a big contender which came in two main varieties; U/g and U/w. The green versions used Moments Peace to stall the board long enough to power out an early Titan or Angel, or fetch the lock for the win. The white versions actually had board control, and didn’t utilize the Mindslaver lock instead opting for things like Decree of Justice for a supplementary kill-mech alongside Titans.

So now that we actually have some deck lists for the post rotation Extended metagame, lets take a look at how Tron is doing this season…

1 Top 4 appearance… and its U/b…

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?!!?

Sigh… well for starters Tron is a control killer. This format is dominated by aggro. U/g lost their Moment’s Peace, so until there is a good replacement for that (Wall of Roots is a terrible replacement btw) the deck is done for. But why U/b over U/w? Here’s the list:

creatures [5]
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
1 Platinum Angel
3 Sundering Titan

instants [15]
4 Condescend
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Remand
2 Spell Snare
4 Thirst for Knowledge

sorceries [5]
1 Beacon of Unrest
3 Damnation
1 Zombify

artifacts [11]
2 Chrome Mox
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Dimir Signet
3 Engineered Explosives
1 Mindslaver

lands [24]
1 Academy Ruins
1 Island
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
3 Watery Grave

Sideboard [15]:
3 Extirpate
3 Remand
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Smother
1 Damnation
1 Mind Shatter
4 Thoughtseize
1 Engineered Explosives

Okay so what makes Black superior to White? White gives us Oblivion Ring, Wrath of God, Decree of Justice, Circle of Protection: Red, Kataki, War’s Wage, and Exalted Angel. Black gives us Damnation, Beacon of Unrest (for the lock), Thoughtseize, Extirpate, Oona, and some good tutorable spot removal. Hmmm…

Let’s sum all of this up: White is pretty good against creatures, has an uncounterable finisher against control and has some amazing sideboard options for Affinity and Red Decks. Black is about equal in the creature removal department, but Extirpate and Thoughtseize give it some extra power against the slew of combo decks running around these days. Because of the rise of aggro and combo I believe that Black a better suited support color for Tron than white. However, if control becomes a major force again, then maybe Tron will have to switch back to White.

Z says: Morb

Journeyman ARuiz broke down the format, but he failed to mention a certain latent variable that will change the landscape of the tier lists. This one card, when used properly, has the potential to rout the efforts of any other popular deck. Some of you may already know what I am talking about. The rest of you need to take a closer look at yourselves as Magic players.

Yes, I speak of Mesmeric Orb.

1. It is 2 mana. Yes, chalice of the void can cancel Morb with a humble 4 manaroonies (and believe me, once Morbs start hitting the decks, chalices will be in all sideboards x4). However, chalices don't impress me. Besides, they'll probably end up being put into your opponent's graveyard from your opponent's library. In the meantime, your second turn Morb is already on the board.

2. It's an artifact. You can throw it in your monoblack control deck or your green, red and white aggro deck. This is key, because Morb is a powerful addition to any deck. And there are no exceptions. If your deck starts fizzling out, sit back and let the orb do the job.

3. The cards in your hand suck. The cards in your library are okay. But the cards in all players' graveyards are amazing. With Morb, you don't have to limit yourself to 0-7 cards. With the right cards, you will have all graveyards at your spellcasting disposal.

4. The unforeseen danger. Okay, so this bonus is void once word hits the plains, but, really; when was the last time you were building a deck and wondered, "Oh, I better adjust to address the untapping too much issue"? I'm guessing it was another famous orb, of which I was also a fan -- Worb.

5. Dredge. Problem solved.

Angelic Musings

Alright, so anyone who has played constructed with me knows that my two favorite loves are Tron and Lightning Angel. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that Lightning Angel is good enough for Extended these days. However, if you haven't seen Shards of Alara yet, it contains a new Lightning Angel Variant:

Stoic Angel

Creature - Angel
Flying, vigilance
Players can't untap more than one creature during their untap steps.
3/4

Now, I shouldn’t have to explain how amazing this card is. If the trends in extended continue the way they are, this format will be dominated by various aggro decks, which Stoic Angel excels against. It’s also in the color of Cryptic Command, which besides being an amazing counter, also has the ability to tap all your opponent’s creatures. Throw in some Threads of Disloyalty, Tarmogoyf, Kitchen Finks, Bant Charm

Stifle and a shit load of counters and you got a deck that can easily hold its own against the slew of aggro and combo which are defining the format right now.

Here’s a sample deck list:

Bant Level Blue:

Lands (23):

1 Forest
4 Island
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
3 Windswept Heath
4 Flooded Strand
2 Temple Garden
1 Plains

Creatures (12):

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Stoic Angel
4 Kitchen Finks

Spells (25):

2 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Spell Snare
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Cryptic Command
4 Remand
2 Stifle
3 Bant Charm

4 Ancestral Vision

I haven’t had the opportunity to test this at all, but there are a few things I’m unsure about right off the back. First, I’m not sold on Kitchen Finks in this list. Maybe Wall of Roots would be better? It would have greater synergy with Stoic anyways. Also, Chrome Mox might be good to power out early Stoic Angels. Vedalken Shackles over Threads of Disloyalty?

Sigh ...I don’t know … I couldn’t play this deck even if I wanted to. I’m not shelling out 200 dollars for an unstable mana base and an extra 200 for Cryptics and Goyfs. I can barely afford to live as it, and all my extra money needs to go to drinks. Still an interesting idea if anyone wants to toy around with/ refine it.

Metagame Breakdown thus far...

I mentioned last week that there had been a series of Post-Rotation Extended tournaments taking place on Magic Workstation. While the metagame won't entirely be shaped until Pro Tour Berlin, here is a quick glimpse on what the metagame is shaping out to be thus far:

Aggro: 30%

Zoo – 4

WW -1

Burn – 5

Goblins -1

Sea Stompy – 1

Elves – 1

Boros -1

Affinity -2

Mid-Range: 15%

Doran – 8

Control: 25%

Death Cloud – 3

New level Blue – 6

Faeries – 3

Tron -1

Combo: 30%

Dues Red – 5

Bubble Hulk – 2

Belcher – 1

Swath Storm – 4

Swans - 4

Hmmmm... well first thing I want to say is that some of these deck archetypes are a bit off. For instance, some versions of Swans play like a control deck and just have a a combo as the finisher. The Dues decks work as both a combo deck accelerating into a first or second turn giant creature, or a more mid range deck with ritual powered out land disruption.

With that out of the way a few things. One, over half the field is fast aggro and combo. Cards like chalice of the Void and Trinisphere are looking to be really good in this format. Affinity is not being the powerhouse it was supposed to be this season, but thats probably because people are expecting it in large numbers right now. A few players will definitely be able to squeeze a top finish in the upcoming season once all the affinity hype (and resulting sideboards) die down. Zoo is doing well, but not as well as I would expect, especially since everyone was praising the new Wild Nacatl as the card which was gonna put the deck over the top. Overall, nothing too unexpected is happening just yet (except for some awesome combos like Bubble Hulk and Belcher)

You can check out the wining decklists here: http://www.deckcheck.net/format.php?format=Ons_8th_SoA