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5 years ago ::
Sep 18, 2008 - 5:09PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jul 24, 2006
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****Thanks a lot to Neberus for the bannerWhat is this deck all about?
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This deck uses Rafiq of the Many  and/or Finest Hour  to make our creatures much more threatening. Combined with explosive and evasive 2-drops in Jhessian Infiltrator  and Shorecrasher Mimic  , the deck can deal a large amount of damage during a single turn, regardless of the defense an opponent may have. Assisted by acceleration from Noble Hierarch  and/or Birds of Paradise  , the deck is capable of winning very quickly.
Since the deck is running blue, it also has the option of running more control elements, like Cryptic Command  or Broken Ambitions  . This can help the deck control the board after a fast start, or deter early threats before dropping a lethal Rafiq. Creatures
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1CC:
 Birds of Paradise – Acceleration + mana fixing, plus it can swing if you're running any Exalted/Equipment
 Burrenton Forge-Tender  -- Stops Volcanic Fallout, blocks Figure of Destiny, safe from Ajani Vengeant.
Noble Hierarch -- Auto-run this. Basically Birds of Paradise + exalted.
2CC:
  Gaddock Teeg  -- Stops Cryptic Command, Wrath of God, Broken Ambitions, etc., but remember he stops your spells too.
 Jhessian Infiltrator -- New Gaea's Skyfolk  ! Awesome with Rafiq/Finest Hour, and against all the token decks out there.
Meddling Mage  -- Not very aggressive, but stalls potential game breakers like Volcanic Fallout.
Qasali Pridemage  -- Exalted + can destroy that pesky Anthem/Sculler/Bitterblossom.
  Shorecrasher Mimic -- Also nuts with Rafiq, and we have plenty of green/blue spells.
3CC:
Dauntless Escort  -- Saves your creatures from sweepers/spot removal, helps you come out ahead in combat.
Jenara, Asura of War  -- Good topdeck, avoids Fallout, but can get chump blocked by flyers.
 Kitchen Finks  -- Life gain, persist, etc...
Rhox War Monk  -- High toughness, life gain can be nuts with all the pump we have access to.
4CC:
Rafiq of the Many -- Makes your creatures much, much more threatening.
 Sower of Temptation  -- Effective against other aggro decks with little spot removal like Doran or G/W.
                     Wilt-Leaf Liege  -- Pumps everything, and helps a lot against Blightning  .
5CC:
 Battlegrace Angel  -- Decent finisher
 Mulldrifter  -- Gives the deck some very much needed card draw. Should probably be run with Lark.
Reveillark  -- Works nicely with Mulldrifter, but remember it can also bring back Mimic/Infiltrator/etc.
6CC:
Cloudthresher  -- Sweeps the sky while leaving your creatures in tact (except BoP).
Noncreature Spells
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Removal/Counters:
Bant Charm  -- Very versatile card, play 4
 Broken Ambitions -- Best cheap counter currently
Condemn  -- Cheap, but the life gain is unfavorable
Cryptic Command -- Very powerful, likely auto-include if you're playing control
Negate  -- Cheap counter that stops big spells like Cruel Ultimatum  and Wrath of God  .
Oblivion Ring  -- Removal, plus takes care of enchantments
Path to Exile  -- Probably the best spot removal in the format
Snakeform  -- Cantrips, takes care of Reveillark , persisters, etc.
Wrath of God -- Kills all those tokens, gets even better with Dauntless Escort
Pump:
Behemoth Sledge  -- Like Warhammer, except it also brings your creature out of Fallout range
Giant Growth  -- Cheap, efficient, devastating with Rafiq/Finest Hour
Loxodon Warhammer  -- Trample + Lifelink is always good
Might of Oaks  -- Great for the surprise final blow.
Card Draw:
Not too much we can do here aside from possibly Mulldrifter ...
Planeswalkers:
Elspeth, Knight-Errant  -- Pump out creatures post-wrath, and bust fat creatures through with her +3/+3 and flying ability. Too bad tokens fly....
Jace Beleren  -- Can potentially net you a lot of cards, but usually ends up being a really bad cantrip.
Land
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You generally want to avoid too many CiPT lands in an aggro deck, so you'll likely be running painlands  alongside some filters  , with some Reflecting Pool  s.
Alara does give us a good CiPT land in Seaside Citadel  , though you still don't want to run too many. The deck should also include some Treetop Village  , which is especially good with Rafiq. Remember to include plenty of land capable of producing on turn one, in order to drop your Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch. Some Sideboard Options
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Decklists
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Lists from States
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Andrew Braun, 8th Place, Oregon
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Adam Ouellet, 5th Place, British Columbia
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Steven Gardiner, 3rd Place, Manitoba
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Chalmer Albaugh, 4th Place, New Hampshire
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Thomas Ellis, 7th Place, New Jersey
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Lists from PTQ Austin/Regionals 2009
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Tommy Ashton, 1st Place - Richmond, Virginia PTQ
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Chris Cannon, 2nd Place - Atlanta, Georgia Regionals
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Ryan Barr, 4th Place - Atlanta, Georgia Regionals
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Devin Low, 5th Place - Seattle, Illinois Regionals
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 Will be updated soon
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5 years ago ::
Sep 18, 2008 - 5:19PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jul 31, 2008
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5 years ago ::
Sep 18, 2008 - 9:22PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jul 24, 2006
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Uhm....why am I not seeing Rafiq of the Many? Or Shield of the Oversoul  / Steel of the Godhead  ?
I somehow forgot about Shield of the Oversoul.... sooo
-4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
-2 Loxodon Warhammer
+3 Murkfiend Liege
+3 Shield of the Oversoul
I'm not sure why I opted for Wilt-Leaf over Murkfiend in the first place. Does this sound good?
Also, about Rafiq, I somehow missed him because I hadn't seen this card yet. It does seem like he can be pretty amazing with Jhessian Infiltrator, and with Stoic Angel in play. I'd love to include two of him, but what should I drop?
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5 years ago ::
Sep 18, 2008 - 10:49PM
#4
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I'm not sure why I opted for Wilt-Leaf over Murkfiend in the first place. Does this sound good?
Probably because it comes out a turn earlier, which can be important for dedicated aggro. But your deck seems slightly more midrange, and the Murkfiend Liege combos nicely with Stoic Angel. Cryptic Command seems kind of out of place, since you only have that for counterspells. Unless you have it there for some other purpose, I would either work in more counterspells, or drop it. Austere Command seems pretty out of place also. I would take it out also, and maybe put in Gaddock Teeg (probably sideboard) to protect against Wrath.
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5 years ago ::
Sep 19, 2008 - 6:38AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Nov 29, 2007
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Wilt-Leaf Liege >>> Murkfiend Liege. Especially in this deck, where you run Finks and Shield. Synergy with Stoic Angel shouldn't make you run bad cards.
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5 years ago ::
Sep 19, 2008 - 7:58AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Aug 14, 2008
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IMO Wilt-Leaf Liege is better option here. I know Murkfiend Liege  has the untap benefit here, but he also costs 1 more. For the cost, I would go with the Wilt-Leaf Liege , especially with Kitchen Finks around.
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5 years ago ::
Sep 19, 2008 - 10:58AM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jul 24, 2006
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Thanks for the replies. @Shephard_105: Cryptic Command isn't there to counter. It'll tap the opponent's creatures to lock down with Stoic Angel. Gaddock Teeg sounds like a good idea though. And about Wilt-Leaf vs. Murkfiend: Rhox War Monk and Stoic Angel get pumped +2/+2 by both. Stewart of Valeron (formerly spoiled as Elvish Visionary) and Finks get +2/+2 from Wilt-Leaf while Jhessian Infiltrator gets +2/+2 from Murkfiend, which also has synergy with Stoic Angel. Murkfiend does indeed cost 1 more, but I have 7 creatures that produce mana. So once again I'm torn between the two. For the sideboard, should Chameleon Colossus be Oversoul of Dusk  ? That would probably influence the Liege deal a bit.
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5 years ago ::
Sep 19, 2008 - 2:19PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Oct 17, 2007
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I'll post my take on this in a moment..
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5 years ago ::
Sep 19, 2008 - 6:31PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Mar 27, 2003
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Stoic Angel and Cryptic (probably) should go. You are playing Aggro, not "Control with a lot of creatures so I can't adequately use Wrath of God".
Rafiq of the Many is a four-of. So is Deft Duelist.
It's really not even about giving niche cards to black.
It should be about giving black cards to Niche.
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5 years ago ::
Sep 19, 2008 - 6:34PM
#10
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wat about steel of the godhead, since u r playing many blue/white or white/x creatures. also noobstick could go in here.
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