~BMoor~
I stumbled upon your garage
and was delighted to find
out that you critique decks.
I’ve always wanted a viable
Bird deck that wins 60-70
percent of the time. I feel
like Birds never get enough
credit and have always
wanted “that deck” where
people would be like, “ …...
Wait ……… he just beat me
with Birds?”
So, I began my quest to
build a functional Bird deck
that could hold it’s own. It
has been over a year now and
I am nearly finished (or
maybe I’ve just begun) but
it is at this point that I
am absolutely baffled as to
what else could be done with
it.
So BMoor, I offer up to your
scrutinizing hands …
This Deck is for the Birds
Creatures:
4 x Keeper of the Nine Gales
4 x Soul Catcher
4 x Welkin Hawk
4 x Suntail Hawk
2 x Sage Owl
2 x Thieving Magpie
2 x Pride of the Clouds
Other Spells:
4 x Soulcatcher’s Aerie
4 x Battle Screech
4 x Rune Snag
2 x Disenchant
1 x Coat of Arms
1 x Enlightened Tutor
1 x Hour of Reckoning
Land:
7 x Plains
5 x Island
4 x Seaside Haven
4 x Adarkar Wastes
1 x Mistveil Plains
I built this deck knowing
that cards such as Static
Orb, Dovescape, and Meek
Stone existed, but
ultimately do not enjoy
playing that sort of
control. I have read the
other two articles you wrote
for the Static Orb and
Dovescape Bird decks. I
thoroughly enjoyed them,
however found that my deck
is built to do something
completely different. The
only thing we have in common
is the fact that we are
using Birds.
My deck’s best strategy is
to simply overwhelm you with
small 1/1 flyers that get
beefed up by the Aerie or
Coat diving in for the kill
(Aerie, Keeper, and Battle
Screech being the main sort
of “combo”).
I have thrown some “tricks”
in here to help the birds
out and keep things
interesting. I’d like this
deck to in some way be more
than Aggro/Pressure. The
Soulcatcher’s Aerie is one
of the main components.
Coupled with the Seaside
Haven, I can have a Welkin
Hawk in hand at all times.
Recently, I discovered the
Mistveil Plains and
immediately thought about my
Welkin Hawk and how that
further could add something
to this deck.
The Rune Snags and
Disenchants are there to
help save the birds when
something nasty is brewing.
I chose “counter” over any
other sort of protection as
I feel nothing says NO! like
a good solid Counterspell. I
didn’t run the standard
Counterspell as this deck is
not heavy in blue and the
Magpie can sometimes be a
chore to cast if the proper
lands are not drawn. The
Rune Snag is nice later in
game after an opponent has
enough land to pay for a
Mana Leak. The best control
card in this deck however is
the Keeper. After a good
Battle Screech he is a great
lock on whatever it is I
don’t want on the
battlefield. Hour of
Reckoning is the restart
button and Enlightened Tutor
lets me find Coat or an
Aerie.
I was hesitant about the
hefty forecast cost, but
ultimately gave in and
swapped out my Stormscape
Familiars for 2 Pride and 2
Sage Owls. I play casual and
have been extremely pleased
with how well Pride serves
me on turn 5 or 6 when I
have already Screech’d once
and dropped 2 or 3 birds or
an Aerie. By that point I
have pretty much emptied out
my hand and am waiting to
either use a Disenchant or
Rune Snag and so if there
are no new Birds to summon
then I can use the Mana for
the Forecast. Also, his
casting cost is insane for
getting +1+1 for each flyer.
I’m thinking about replacing
the Adarkar Wastes with
Glacial Fortress as the
“ping” gets sore after a
while. One of my biggest
concerns and questions to
you is the lands that I have
chosen and my Plains to
Islands ratio. Are there
better lands that I could be
using?
In a perfect game the turns
would run as such:
1st turn: Plains,
Suntail
2nd turn: Plains,
Aerie, Fly at them for 1 (Suntail)
3rd turn: Island
, Keeper, Fly at them for 1
(Suntail)
4th turn: Seaside
Haven, Battle Screech (Hard
Cast and Flashed back with
Suntail and the two tokens
produced with the spell),
Tap Keeper and the two
untapped tokens and
something is back in hand.
5th turn: Magpie,
Welkin Hawk, Coat of Arms
…….. (Oddles of Choices) !
The only problems I have
with this deck are people
killing the Aeries and
Keepers. I’ve thought of
Argivian Find but there are
other cards I need more in
the deck and I want to keep
it at 60 if at all possible.
This deck fails miserably to
Blue, Red, and Black. Green
and White not so much as the
colors are typically slower
to get going, and my Birds
don’t need much time.
Between Blue’s Counterspells,
Blacks Discard, and Red’s
Direct Damage this deck
fails miserably.
I in no way wish to go to
National’s with this deck.
It is meant solely to be
played amongst friends on a
Thursday night.
Let me know what you think.
I’d really appreciate your
opinion and feedback
Best,
TriK
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