Deck and Strategy

I posted a link to my new red deck in the trade forums, but this is a better place for it. A deck similar to this will be a force in the new standard, that's my bet: Scars Red

Kuldotha Rebirth is very explosive in a deck with bushwhackers. Memnite is also a solid inclusion. The tech that surprised me in its effectiveness is Perilous Myr. Not only a great target for the rebirth, it provides some deterrent to sweepers and is very effective vs firewalkers.

Testing this deck has proven an amazing speed and consistency. It is actually faster than my previous RDW deck. T1 Mountain, Memnite, Rebirth, Go, is even more fearsome than a T1 Goblin Guide, especially if you follow with a T2 Bushwhacker...

Ya you know it looks like a pretty sweet deck Sam. The only weakness I can really think of is that with the majority of your threats being 1/1's (not including the turns you can kick Bushwhackers) and the fact that your Galvanic Blasts/Burst Lightnings will typically be hitting for 2, any kind of 4 toughness wall might be problematic, as a 1/1 + burn won't necessarily kill it. If Perimeter Captain sees much Standard play that could probably slow this deck down a bit, as well as the already popular Wall of Omens.

Although it looks really fast, so it might not be a huge issue. Like you said the T1 Kuldotha Rebirth followed by T2 Bushwhacker would put most decks in a terrible spot, especially if you were on the play.

Ratchet Bomb would work pretty well against it too

Yes the deck is weak to sweepers, as are most aggro decks. That's why the perilous myrs are main and there will be Tuktuk in the side. Ratchet Bomb is a big problem, though. Galvanic blast is not expected to ever hit for four, it's simply another shock. Walls are not a problem since this deck attacks with swarms of creatures, most of them will get through. 4 main deck panic spellbombs also make opposing blockers less viable. But, this deck can easily be hated on, same as any red deck in the past.

What's new for mono red, however, is a strong sideboard. There is a large selection of hate cards available. Tunnel Ignus is amazing vs green, Ricochet Trap vs blue, and sometimes Leyline vs white. Tuktuk makes DoJ a risky proposition for the opponent. Red also has access to powerful artifact hate, if required.

Have you guys considered running Avenger in the elf deck? If you flip it and a few lands off the Wave then the lands might count for both abilities of the Avenger (because they all enter at the same time). I'm not sure if this would work, but if it does then it would be really powerful.

My version of a scars green deck: Green Wave.

I don't like Channelers in this deck, with so many spells it will "miss" often. I don't like Warcaller in this deck, you can't kick it if you drop it off a wave. Ezuri is awesome, but my version doesn't contain enough elves I think. Monument is the primary win condition so I like having 4, testing may prove less is better though. I like 3 of each 'walker cause I'd rather hit 2 off a wave than 0, don't forget you may put permanents onto the battlefield so the legendary rule won't come into effect. The baloths are just there cause I couldn't think of anything better atm.

Deck edited: Arbor Elf, how could I forget you? Ezuri added now that the elf count is higher.

I put this RWB deck together, shares a lot of similarities with your RW deck Adam, but with black splashed in for maindeck Hexmage and Tainted Strike. If anyone has any constructive criticism I'd be happy to listen. I didn't include any manlands for now as I want to minimize the CITP lands; I may change the Dragonskulls for the new SoM RB dual land as they would be just fine in a low-curve deck like this.

RWB Aggro

The link isn't working for me Brandon.

Whoops, think I accidently set it to 'private' should work now. Although I think I'll cut the black (maybe) as Tainted Strike doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore, and although Hexmage is strong I don't know if I want to stretch the mana base since I should be able to deal with planeswalkers without her. Although Vampire's Bite sounds pretty sick on Kiln Fiend... Bite + Assault Strobe = 10/2 Fiend with Double Strike on T3...

Here's another one, again similar to one of Adams decks, UR Kiln Aggro

Basically main win con is the Kiln Fiend, followed by Plated Geopede (10 fetchlands, plus Adventuring Gear), I'm thinking of running Trinket Mage as a blue Stoneforge Mystic (targeting the Adventuring Gear, and Basilisk Collar).

I'm not sure about the Renegade Doppelganger but I figure if I play one early (T2 hopefully) it'll act as a hasty version of whatever I play after, and artificially increase the number of Fiends/Geopedes in the deck. Although not ideal, I can use the Into the Roil to save one of the wincons and on the replay, benefit with a Doppelganger in play.

Sparkmage doesn't really seem to suit the beatdown style of the deck but I think with the Basilisk Collar he can really open up a path for me to get damage through.

Not really sure on a sideboard either, things like Burst Lightning just seem so 'meh' like I can't think of many situations where I'd take something out to add in a little more burn. Probably not considering all the U/R options... Combust maybe?

Sounds like you need livewire lash FOR SICK COMBOS DAWG.

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=212239

Especially with poison, this card seems like a huge sleeper to me.

Im looking for some cards and some feedback for my latest take no prisoners deck.
This is what the deck looks like.
I need the mind sculptors and 2 more sphinx of Jawr Isle.

Like I said any feedback is great, the premise is to right of replication with a kicker the bane
with out having to search for lands, with the tunnels and Arbiters floating in sideboards.

@Ryan

The earliest you could kick a Rite of Replication targeting your own Baneslayer is turn 6. This assumes you drop a land every turn and a total of 3-4 myr and the one Baneslayer. This also uses your entire mana every turn so you can't afford to cast any counterspells or removal. This also assumes that none of your creatures were ever destroyed. Not only does this seem unlikely, I think you would probably already be dead by this time.

Sphinx seems bad for this deck, you can't target it with RoR and it is too slow to provide any defense. Frost Titan and Wurmcoil Engine are both far superior for the same mana cost, but really Wall of Omens would be a better replacement. Myr Resevoir is terrible for this deck, it can only be used to cast more myr.

I would suggest looking at some U/W control decklists and picking one to copy in order to learn what works well. U/W is all about using card advantage and synergy to overpower your opponents' strategies.

Thanks Sam, will do.

Another shot, at a different target.

blue/red something

I've noticed that tappedout.net now automatically sets new decks to private. You need to edit and uncheck the private box please.

Kuldotha Pheonix has been intriging me for some time now,
so I sat down and took a swing at a deck around it.
This is what I came up with: Kuldotha Force the premise is to bring out the everflowings to pay for the metal craft of the pheonix while still being able to add to the ability.
The Kahlni Gem are there for force survival/ metal craft. hopefully being able to drop a destructive force keeping the mana making artifacts out to allow me to keep playing. With burn thrown in to add a spice of control.
Koth speeds up the deck and allows for some amount of damage.
FeedBack?

Cancel or Deprive?

Stoic Rebuttal should replace Cancel in every deck, it is a straight upgrade.

The answer to your question, however, is nether. Dispel, Spell Pierce, and Turn Aside are all superior in my opinion with Turn Aside being my first choice. 1cmc counters are what your deck wants since it is so fast. Possibly some Mana Leaks, especially post board against removal heavy decks.

How has 20 land been working in your testing on the UW deck Ryan? I get that you're running acceleration in the form of Myr but I can envision some pretty clunky starting hands where you don't have a Silver Myr and only 1 or 2 lands. If it's working that's great but afaik, even the G/x decks running 4x Birds of Paradise and 4x Noble Hierarch (pre-rotation) with a similar top-end were running a few more than 20 lands.

It's also fairly typical to have your mana-producing creatures killed immediately, which can be a good thing when you're finally able to cast your finisher and they have no answers, but can be pretty detrimental if you were counting on them to play out your hand.

Seems like a strong engine though.

Couple new decklists I came up with:

First one is a U/B tempo control style deck, pretty decent curve (counting the Gatekeepers as 3cmc) with Persecutor as the finisher. I want to attempt Aether Tradewinds in here, as with enough good ETB effects on my creature, I really see no downside to the card; I can set my opponent back on creatures/manlands and "reset" my gatekeepers/skinrenders/sea gate oracles, plus its another out to getting Persecutor off the board.

General idea is just to attrition them out with the aforementioned Tradewinds/Gatekeeper/Skinrender synergies combined with the counterspells/spot removal and finish it up with the Abyssal. One consideration I had was to sideboard the Hexmages and run Inquisition of Kozilek maindeck, not sure on that one yet.

Second one's a little more janky: RB Sacrifice. Idea here is based around sacrificing effects, running primarily off Bloodghast/Reassembling Skeleton. They'll be used to power up Bloodthrone Vampire, Jinxed Idol, Viscera Seer, and to trigger Kalastria Highborn and Furnace Celebration. Top end is Abyssal Persecutor (no shortage of ways to dispose of him) and Eldrazi Monument (again, no shortage of fuel, and might raise this to a 3-of). Also running Blade of the Bloodchief as it seems totally sick in here.

Between the Seer & Sign in Blood I'm hoping I can get the engine going pretty quickly, some have suggested I use Culling Dais over the Seer/SiB but I'm not too sure at this point, in some ways it seems better, but as the Dais requires being tapped to add a counter, I'll only be adding one per turn, where I can potentially scry 3x per turn off one Bloodghast + Fetchland.

Running 26 lands here as I want to get the mana count up pretty consistently so I can afford to advance the board while triggering Highborn & Furnace, which admittedly, might end being this decks undoing if ends up too mana intensive.

Input appreciated.

I dont see the need to run the Bojuka Bogs in the main deck. Two more fetchlands would seem more useful with the Bogs on the side board.