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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Phantatog deck

June 28, 2006

This is a deck that I like to mess around with. My favorite color combination is blue/white and for some reason my favorite creature of those colors is phantatog. Although this 'tog is overshadowed by the almighty psychatog, I think there is a lot of potential in the card with the new guildpact rare, Hatching Plans. Phantatog is pumped by cards in hand and enchantments on the field, so traditionally, the way to pump him would be with rancor, because you get +1/+1 for every green mana spent. However, with Hatching Plans, the 'tog effectively gets +4/+4 for only two mana. So, Phantatog likes to eat cards in hand, and enchantments. Without further ado, here is the decklist-
 
Creatures-8
4 Phantatog
4 Waterfront bouncer
 
Enchantments-12
4 Seal of Removal
4 Seal of Cleansing
4 Hatching Plans
 
Instants-12
4 Counterspell
4 Daze
2 Fact or Fiction
2 Gush
 
Sorceries-4
4 Serum Visions
 
Lands-24
4 Flooded Strand
4 Adarkar Wastes
3 Lonely Sandbar
3 Secluded Steppe
6 Island
4 Plains
 
There is the decklist. I guess the major problem with it is that it doesn't have a way to make the phantatog a win condition, and thats what I want the deck to be. A phantatog deck. I would appreciate any deck help you could provide.
Seann Walker AKA SmilingZubera88
I think it's important to have a card in Magic that just brings a smile to your face, and sometimes playing with those cards is more important than playing with the "best" cards.  Phantatog is a fine creature, and there are some great ways to ensure that it always has plenty of food at hand.  Here are some especially tasty snacks for it:
 
Writ of Passage: If you Forecast it, it stays in your hand, and if you play it, it becomes an enchantment-- either way the P'tog can eat it.  And either way, if you play it on the P'tog, then when it attacks, it'll still be a 1/2 and become unblockable.  Then, once the Writ's trigger resolves, you can use the P'tog's abilities to pump it up and your opponent still won't be able to block it.
 
Mark of Eviction: It switches constantly between being in your hand, and being an Enchantment, and it returns your opponent's threats to his or her hand.
 
Psychic Possession: It's an Enchantment that can help you draw extra cards.  Yes, you skip your draw step, but on the other hand, it breaks the symmetry of cards like Vision Skeins or Lore Broker.  And if you decide you'd rather just draw cards normally, you can just feed it to the P'tog.
 
Faith's Fetters: Already established as an incredible card, the Fetters will stop any card that gives you problems and can be fed to the Alpha Strike once victory is within range, making it the perfect card for this deck to neautralize threats.
 
Flight of Fancy: Give your P'tog flying, and gain two extra cards.  Once your opponent doesn't declare blockers, you can feed the Fancy to the P'tog and it won't matter that it doesn't fly anymore.
 
Any of these would be wonderful, but what do you take out for them?  First, take out Serum Visions.  Serum Visions is a good card, getting you deeper into your deck and setting up your next few draws or getting useless cards out of your way, help you get what you need faster.  But, it only puts one card in your hand, and since you spend a card doing it, it doesn't benefit Phantatog.  It should come out in favor of something that gives you net card advantage, say Compulsive Research or Vision Skeins or even Tidings.  Next, drop Daze and Gush for Writ and Mark-- you don't need counterspells as much as you believe you do.  Then, drop Seal of Cleansing for Faith's Fetters.  The Fetters may be better suited for creatures than artifacts or enchantments, but I have a feeling its main purpose was Tog food anyway.  The Fetters can tie up a creature and remain on the board for P'tog's lunch, while the Seal has to sacrifice itself to do anything.  And finally, replace Waterfront Bouncer-- you don't want to discard cards to anything but the P'tog-- with a Moonfolk.  I'll leave which Moonfolk up to you-- they all return lands to your hand for different effects.  Soratami Cloudskater is good, Soratami Mirror-Mage has the same effect as the Bouncer and returns 3 lands to your hand, Soratami Savant can give you back spell-countering capability, and the list goes on.  And speaking of returning lands to your hand, replace one Island with Oboro, Palace in the Clouds.It acts just like a regular Island, but can jump back to your hand to discard to the Tog if need be.  Only one though, that darn Legend rule won't let you play a second.
 
And with that, I wish you good luck and your Phantatog bon appetit!
 
~BMoor
 



 

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