Hey
there. I've been playing MTG for about 4
years now and so far I have done very well
with my g/w spiritual beatdown deck ( I like
to call it "A Legendary Spiritual Smackdown").
I mostly only play casually with my friends
so im not looking to go to tournaments or
anything. Anyway, heres the list:
Total: 60 cards
Lands: 20
11x Forest
8x Plains
1x Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
Non-creature spells: 20
4x Unchecked Growth
3x Spiritual Visit
3x Kodama's Might
2x Strength of Cedars
2x Ethereal Haze
2x Kodama's Reach
2x Ghostly Prison
1x Wear Away
1x Long-Forgotten Gohei
Creatures: 20
3x Lifespinner
3x Kami of False Hope
3x Promised Kannushi
2x Shinen of Life's Roar
1x Hana Kami
1x Sekki, Seasons' Guide
1x Myojin of Cleansing Fire
1x Kodama of the North Tree
1x Kodama of the South Tree
1x Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens
1x Arashi, the Sky Asunder
1x Yomiji, Who Bars the Way
Mostly, my strategy involves stalling for as
long as possible with Ghostly Prisons, Kami
of False Hope, and Ethereal Hazes or until i
can get out enough spirits for my
Lifespinners, using spliced Visits and False
Hope Kamis as fodder. I usually try to get
out either Oyobi or South Tree asap so I can
benefit the most from playing my arcane
spells. Then I try to get out either Sekki,
Arashi, or North and then go to town with
all the Unchecked Growths and Mights and
generally steamroll anything in front of me.
My main problems have been the general
mana-intensiveness involved with the
Legends. Kodama's Reach remedies this
somewhat but it's still a problem.
Any help
you could give would be much appreciated. I
only ask that if you do suggest adding any
creatures, that they be spirits. The only
card I refuse to change is Sekki, as he is
my favorite card (don't ask why. not even I
know....). Hope you can help me out here.
Thanks,
Jim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, Jim, everything looks alright to me,
but of course we can always do better, can't
we? Sure we can. And we will.
First of all, it looks like you're running
an Arcane engine with your non-creature
spells. If that's the case, I can tell you
that you want to lean towards the cheaper
ones. The more expensive ones make it so
much harder to afford Splice costs, and
since you've already cited mana as your
problem area, we're going to need to trim
down your mana curve.
Strength of Cedars can come out, in favor of
the fourth copies of Kodama's Might and
Spiritual Visit-- your most powerful Arcane
spells, by merit of their one-mana Splice
costs. You generally want to have a copy of
at least one of these spells in your hand
throughout the game, so that whenever you
play a spell, you can get an extra token or
pump if you need it. Those Spirit tokens are
going to be important to you-- not only do
they chump block and buy you time to set up
your Legendary Spirits, they also provide
Lifespinner fodder.
Second, take out Ghostly Prison for a third
Ethereal Haze and a third Kodama's Reach.
Ethereal Haze works great in decks that want
to Splice, even when said decks aren't
trying to stall for anything, simply because
it's a very cheap Arcane spell. This is one
of the main reasons Lava Spike and Reach
Through Mists were popular: one mana, and
Arcane. The Kodama's Reach is just plain
necessary if you want mana for Oyobi, Sekki,
Arashi, Yomiji, and the gang. Unless you're
Lifespinning them out, but you'll still need
mana for Splice costs.
Next, your creatures. Take out Promised
Kannushi. Soulshift is nice, but not being
able to sack the Kannushies to Lifespinner
isn't. Instead, I recommend Dripping-Tongue
Zubera, the Spirit that can chump block
twice. Heck, if you can sack even two of
them to Lifespinner, you get 4 tokens
(because each one's ability sees that two
Zuberas hit the graveyard). If Soulshift
means that much to you, then what you reall
want is Forked-Branch Garami, able to
resurrect two Spirits for the price of one.
The one, of course, being the Garami. Just
having this in play is solid gold Wrath
insurance.
Finally, if there's one card I could throw
into this deck for the fun of it, it'd be
Bounteous Kirin. Not only is it a Legendary
Spirit, but it also has evasion and an
ability that will let you gain plenty of
life-- so you don't have to be too cautious
about stopping your opponent's attacking
creatures, instead settling for regaining
whatever life you've lost.
Take whatever lessons you can learn from me,
Jim, and embark on your own spiritual
journey, so that one day men will whisper of
your Legend.
Good luck!
~BMoor |