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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Offensive Enchantment Deck

03.31.06

This is a deck that I have been playing around with, mostly because I really like the magemark cards. I play this casually, but I like to stick to the Standard card pool. This deck seems to need a side deck to work well so I included one.
 
It's heavy on the green, but it's playing Red, White and Black in it too, mostly because of the useful tricks each color adds.
 
The idea at the start of the game is to accelerate mana with creature cards, signets and searchlights. I am using Civic Wayfinders in particular because I want something to attach auras to later.
 
When I hit around 6 mana(often turn 4), 1 of 3 things can happen. I can play a creature for 3 with an appropriate aura(Stinkweed imp with Fencer's Magemark, for example). I can play 3 dreams to set up the next turn(often I choose Faith's Fetters, Necromancer's Magemark and Wurmweaver Coil). Lastly I could play an Auratouched Mage with an appropriate aura on it(Coil or Necro Magemark generally).
 
Both Enchantresses are welcome bonuses but hopefully aren't necessary all the time. There is one way to make tokens(Honden) in this deck, so I have things to give auras to. Late game, recurring Moldervine cloaks and tokens can be deadly.
 
The side deck has some things in it I have yet to try and some cards that make perfect sense against certain decks. If you think that I should be main-decking some of them, please suggest away. I am also not completely sure of my land base. I like the set-up, I just think I might have a couple too many(counting the signets as land). I also would like to add trample, but have found Fists of ironwood a little lackluster compared to the other enchantments.
 
Any suggestions on balance, side-decking strategies and etc. would be appreciated.
 
 
[18]Creatures:
[2]Auratouched Mage
 
[2]Stinkweed Imp
 
[3]Civic Wayfinder
[3]Dowsing Shaman
[2]Sakura-Tribe Elder
[2]Elves of Deep Shadow
[2]Yamivaya Enchantress
[2]Verduran Enchantress
 
[16]Enchantments:
 
[2]Faith's Fetters
 
[3]Necromancer's Magemark
 
[3]Fencer's Magemark
[1]Honden of Infinite Rage
 
[2]Beastmaster's Magemark
[2]Moldervine Cloak
[2]Wurmweaver Coil
[1]Honden of Life's Web
 
[4]Other Spells:

[1]Three Dreams <<probably adding another one
 
[3]Kodama's Reach << by taking away one of these

[22]Mana Producers:
 
[2]Spectral Searchlight
[1]Golgari Signet
[1]Boros Signet
[1]Orzhov Signet
 
[1]Selesnya Sanctuary
[1]Golgari Rot Farms
[1]Gruul Turf
[1]Skarrg, the Rage Pits
 
[2]Plains
[2]Swamp
[2]Mountain
[7]Forest
 
[15]Sideboard:

[3]Selesnya Guildmage
[2]Leyline of LifeForce
[2]Debtor's Knell
[2]Privileged Position
[2]Pyroclasm
[2]Suppression Field
[1]Honden of Night's Reach
[1]Tolsimir WolfBlood
[1]Life of the Loam

The first thing that jumps out at me is the fact that this deck is four colors-- I ask myself, does it need to be?  The deck is green at its heart, with traces of White, Red, and Black.  What does each color contribute?  White gives you Three Dreams and Auratouched Mage, definite boons in this deck.  Red gives you Fencer's Magemark and Honden of Infinite Rage, which help the Enchantment theme.  And Black gives you Necromancer's Magemark and Stinkweed Imp, also good choices.  So, all four colors are pulling their weight, and the mana base does look solid, so all four colors stay.
 
Now that we've settled on a four color deck, I have to wonder which nephilim corresponds to these colors.  The answer is Dune-Brood, a quite powerful Nephilim that would do fine in this deck, if you can add a few copies.
Now, what else can you put a Magemark on?  Well, a good combo with Beastmaster's Magemark is Mortipede.  Three Green creatures come to mind- Silhana Ledgewalker, Dryad Sophisticate, and Gatherer of Graces, but you probably don't want to include all of them when you already have your Enchantresses.  And then there's Feral Animist, who's value is greatly increased whenever his power is increased.  Just imagine if you will, a Feral Animist with a Wurmweaver Coil attached, and a Fencer's Magemark on a creature as well.  The Animist is now a 9/8 with first strike.  Three mana makes him a 18/8, big enough to take out practically anything.  Three more mana (you've already played the Coil; you must have it) makes it an engorged 36/8.  With first strike.
 
But enough theoretical situations- what do you actually have room for?  A four color deck needs to give serious consideration to its mana base, and the cards that drove it to be multicolored in the first place.  Well, I notice you list 22 "mana sources", but only 17 are actually lands.  The rest are Signets.  Plus you have Sakura-Tribe Elder, Civic Wayfinder, and Elves of Deep Shadow.  First of all, I think the Elves should be dropped for more Tribe Elders, they're more versatile, your opponent can't deny you mana by killing them, and they don't deal damage to you.  Next, your Signets seem all over the board.  Someone once told me that Signets that produce Green mana aren't as good as the others because Green has so many better ways of fixing its mana.  So the Signets come out, in exchange for an additional copy of each of your bouncelands.  Now you've got 20 lands, seven creatures that can search for a land, and two Spectral Searchlight.  As weird as this may seem, I think the Spectral Searchlight would be better as Fellwar Stone, if you even need artifact mana.  This mana base is awful tricky.  I'd say go ahead with the Fellwar Stones to be on the safe side, and if the mana seems stable enough, try dropping them for Mortipede or the Nephilm and see how that goes.
 
That's the trouble with four and five color decks-- you need lots of mana fixing, and then you want the best cards in each color (because that's why you're building a multicolor deck in the first place), and there's barely any room for everything you want.  Goodness knows I always struggle with what to take out to make room for all the cards I want to put in.  Hopefully you'll be able to make the tough decisions with practice, determining in your games what cards you need and what cards you don't.
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