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BMoor's Magic
The
Gathering
Deck Garage
Pride of the Doves
July 30, 2007
This time of year is
always difficult for those of us who play Standard. Ravnica
block will be rotating out in two months, so we're all
reluctant to build decks with Ravnica cards. But at the
same time, there's still those two months to play, right?
It's too early to write off the old block yet!
Hi BMoor
I recently got into playing MTG and I'm loving it.
Earlier this week I got my hands on a couple of Prides
of the Clouds and I'm itching to rule the skies with it.
I started out playing W/U so this seems like a natural
development.
I've had a look at what cards are out there and I'm
drawing up a shopping list so to speak and I hope you
can help fine tune it. What I'm trying to do here is
find a way to build up the Prides without necessarily
paying what I consider to be the exorbitant forecast
cost for a bird token. I'd like to stick to cards that
are legal in Standard.
Lands: 22
3 x Boreal Shelf
7 x Island
10 x Plains
2 x Azorius Chancery
Creatures: 24
4 x Pride of the Clouds
4 x Magus of the Moat
3 x Soul Warden
1 x Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
3 x Courier Hawk
3 x Azorius First-Wing
2 x Lost Auramancers
4 x Sprite Noble
Spells: 14
4 x Loxodon Warhammer
3 x Privileged Position
4 x Dovescape
3 x Faith's Fetters
The premise here is to control the early game with Magus
to stop ground based attacks, Privileged Position for
anything annoying and Faith's Fetters for anything
really annoying. Play a Loxodon Warhammer for later,
then play Dovescape and fill the sky with birds and feed
the Pride of the Clouds.
Sprite Nobles would essentially be
Glorious
Anthems for me, except I can continue to play them after
the point of no return that is Dovescape. The reason for
the Loxodon Warhammer is so that the Prides are still
dangerous even if blocked by a 1/1 bird token.
Soul Warden is there to boost life, Lost Auramancer to
get Dovescape into play and His Royal Holiness Grand
Arbiter Augustin IV, Son of Grand Arbiter Augustin III
to exacerbate the Dovescape effect.
I was thinking of possibly putting Chronozoa in there as
another means of creating fliers, but I'm debating it's
usefulness without Clockspinning or Paradox Haze, etc.
I'm also not sure if I've got enough non-creature spells
to play post-Dovescape in order to create more birds,
though 3 Dovescapes after the first would hatch 6 chicks
each.
I should also point out that, as much as I'd love to
have Hallowed Fountain, my wallet wouldn't let me hear
the end of it. Besides that, having already played U/W,
I've got at least one copy of everything listed except
Soul Warden, Loxodon Warhammer and Dovescape.
I think that's about it and I would love any advice
before I start putting this together. Is Dovescape and
Pride of the Clouds a match made in heaven or is
something going to bring me crashing to the ground?
Thanks
Neutrality
I probably should've
gotten to this one a little sooner, but I was on vacation
all last week. Pride of the Clouds and Dovescape are a fun
combination, and a powerful one. Let's see what we can do
to enhance this deck, before it leaves Standard (because
honestly, I just don't see how this deck can function once
Pride and Dovescape have to be taken out).
This deck is definitely dependant of Pride of the Clouds,
so it's good to see that you've got 4 in. The same goes for
4 Sprite Noble and 4 Magus of the Moat, which make me think
that this deck can survive without Ravnica cards. Next, you
definitely want more copies of Grand Arbiter Augustin IV.
Granted, Notorius G. A. A. IV here is legendary, but the
impact he has on the game is profound. Play your Pride for
WU, your Dovescape for four mana, and make all your
opponent's spells cost more to keep them from coming at you
full-force. Courier Hawk and Azorius First-Wing are top
picks as well, but Soul Warden and Lost Auramancers can come
out. I'd replace them with either Cloud Sprite, Flying Men,
or Thieving Magpie. The Auramancers just aren't a good way
to search for the Dovescape. If you're in W/U, you should
have some card draw-- enough to increase the odds of you
getting a Dovescape soon enough.
Now, you complained that you don't think you can generate
enough Birds once the Dovescape hits? Well, I've seen decks
use Supply//Demand and Chord of Calling to generate large
quantities of Birds. Any X spell will give you at least X
Birds, so you might want to add one. Supply//Demand also
has the advantage of being able to search out the Dovescape
or Pride of the Clouds with the Supply side, but to play
Demand you will need green mana. That's why I'm suggesting
Hail of Arrows. It doesn't require a splash, and it can
kill your opponent's creatures pre-Dovescape. its only
downside is that if you're playing it to get Birds, you
can't actually play it unless there's at least one legal
target for it (despite the fact that it's just going to get
countered anyway). Which means that you can only play Hail
of Arrows if at least one creature is attacking. But what
better time to drop a flock of Birds into play then when
your opponent is attacking you with creatures, right?
Other than that, this deck should run pretty well. I doubt
you'll even need Hallowed Fountain, though you may want a
W/G or U/G dual land if you decide to add Supply//Demand.
Also, may I suggest that even though the Ravnica duals are
very expensive, the Core Set painlands are currently about
$5 each. For the price of one Hallowed Fountain, you could
get a playset of Adarkar Wastes. I'm not sure how expensive
Nimbus Maze is, though you hopefully will do fine with what
you've got.
Good luck!
~BMoor
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