Pojo's MTG
MTG Home
Message Board
News & Archives
Deck Garage
BMoor Dolf BeJoSe

Columnists
Paul's Perspective
Jeff Zandi
DeQuan Watson
Jordon Kronick
IQ
Aburame Shino
Rare Hunter
Tim Stoltzfus
WiCkEd
Judge Bill's Corner

Trading Card
Game
Card of the Day
Guide for Newbies
Decks to Beat
Featured Articles
Peasant Magic
Fan Tips
Tourney Reports

Other
Color Chart
Book Reviews
Online Play
MTG Links
Staff

120x90 Ad Space
For Rent!

BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Michael's Cauldron slide
May 21, 2009

> Hey i build a deck that i would like some tips on. Without further

> introduction:

>

> 2 Bottle Gnomes 3

> 2 Man-o-war 2U

> 2 Mangara of corondor 1WW

> 2 Venser shapers savant 2UU

> 4 Mulldrifter 4U

> 2 Keiga tide star 5U

> 1 Yosei, The morning star 4WW

>

> 4 Astral slide 2W

> 4 Cauldron of souls 5

>

> 4 Renewed faith 2W (cycling 1W)

> 4 Akromas blessing 2W (cycling W) (with reborn the (w/u)

> cycler)

>

> 3 Mind stone

> 1 sol ring

>

> 4 High Market

> 4 Plains

> 4 Secluded Steppe

> 1 Karakas

> 1 Einganjo castle

> 5 Island

> 4 Lonely sandbar

> 1 Minamo, school at waters edge

> 1 Oboro Palace in clouds

>

> THis decks want to use comes and leaves play abilities.

> which it does with Astral slide and Cauldron of souls with these muldrifter suddenly costs only 2U and draws 4 cards!!!

>

> The deck tries to control the board with a combination of repeated

> bounce, slide, persist more bounce etc.

> Mangara can in combination with slide or karakas get really evil.

>

> when the dragons enter the fray hopefully they can give the kiling

> blow. With cauldron keiga becomes pure evil as it cam steal multiple

> creatures at an instant (high market)

>

> THe decks is however kind of slow and sometimes i draw 5 cards with

> sliding a mulldrifter and still fell i get no where closer to victory.

> most of the pieces needs to be combined before the magic happens and

> sometimes i just feel something is missing to turn all the

> interactions into power. sometimes i sit and can draw 5 cards a turn

> remove 1 permanent from the game bounce almost as many creatures as i

> want and still it feels like I'm waiting for something.

>

> - Michael

So, you just can't seem to seal the deal, eh Michael? Your Astral Slide and Cauldron of Souls keep all your creatures coming back for more, but it's never enough? Well, don't worry.  I think I see your problem. But before that, I think I see another problem.

You say you can steal multiple creatures a turn with Keiga thanks to High Market, but the rules don't quite work that way.  You see, if you sacrifice as part of the cost, Astral Slide can't trigger until the creature you want to save from the sacrifice is dead and gone.  The Cauldron will still work, but only once in a turn-- after that the Cauldron is tapped, and the creature couldn't persist back anyway because it already has a -1/-1 counter on it.  As a result, take High Market out of the deck.

While we're removing lands, take out all the legendary lands as well.  You don't have enough legendary creatures to make them worth running over basic lands.  And honestly, Eiganjo Castle and Oboro, Palace in the Clouds are just really weak anyway.  Replace all those lands with an equal number of Islands or Plains.

Now then, what's the main problem with why you're not winning games? It's simple, Michael. Your deck has lots of control, but no muscle.  You have a total of THREE creatures big enough to attack with here.  And I'm guessing that with all the blinking in and out Mulldrifter does, the big fish-thing doesn't swing for two very often?  Well, that's gonna need to change.

First of all, cut out Bottle Gnomes. Astral Slide doesn't work with the Gnomes anyway. If you want life gain, make it Aven Riftwatcher.  The Riftwatcher makes an excellent flying attacker when he's around, gains you life on the way in AND on the way out, regardless of where it's going, and you can make it Persist back from running out of vanishing counters, and it will come back in with a full load.

Next, for your Boomerang needs, cut out Man-o'-War for AEthersnipe.  Not only can it hit other types of permanents besides creatures, but it's a 4/4 that can really do some damage on the attack.  I'll leave Venser in since he can hit spells too, but give AEthersnipe a try and you may want to pull Venser to go for the full set of four 'Snipes.

Mangara of Corondor isn't really the best fit either.  He's a 1/1 for four that takes out a creature, and comes back only if you Slide him. The Cauldron doesn't work on Mangara-- his ability doesn't make him go to the graveyard.  What to replace him with? Well, there's Nevermaker, a 2/3 flyer that can banish an opponent's permanent back to the top of its library.  That might be just as good considering all the extra draw power you've got thanks to Mulldrifter and your cycling cards.  Or, given all the -1/-1 counters you'll be giving your creatures by making them Persist, you may want to try Meadowboon.  I'm not sure if there's any way to get Meadowboon to give itself a +1/+1 counter, but even if it doesn't, it'll happily buff up your other creatures, allowing you to charge in swinging.

Continuing with this theme of replacing the passive with the aggressive, take out Renewed Faith in favor of Marshaling Cry.  Both cycle, but while the Faith can cycle and give you 2 life, the Cry can cycle and still be flashed back for a +1/+1-enhanced assault.  Don't be shy about just plain playing the Cry, either-- my main goal is to get you be more willing to swing with the team at any available opportunity. It's not like you have to worry about blockers-- one tap of the Cauldron, and any creatures you lost in combat will pop right back into play-- untapped and ready to block next turn.

Finally, you don't need Mind Stone. You've got plenty of draw power. Replace them with Azorius Signet if you really need mana.

If you don't need mana, then let me point out another use for Astral Slide-- un-morphing face-down creatures. And my personal favorite, Maelstrom Djinn, will give your deck plenty of muscle.

Good luck!

~BMoor