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BMoor's Magic The
Gathering
Deck Garage
Terrence's Knight Blade Deck
July 7, 2009
A small bit of news
before I start today's fix: I'll be headed off for a
vacation this week, and then next week I also expect to be
out of town to visit family. I know that I won't have
Internet access on vacation, but I may when I 'm visiting
family. If so, I'll try to write some articles then. It's no
real concern, you guys have put up with me going longer than
that without an update. The only reason I mention it is
because of the Five Colors, Six Choices Contest. It ends on
the 14th, and I may not be here to "officially close" the
contest. I will be checking the timestamps on E-mails,
though, and July 14th is your absolute last day to send them
in.
Now then, what's the problem with today's deck?
Creatures:
3x Esper Stormblade
3x Grixis Grimblade
2x Jund Hackblade
1x Naya Hushblade
2x Marisi's Twinclaws
1x Rafiq of the Many
1x Sages of the Anima
4x Knight of New Alara
Spells:
1x Martial Coup
2x Naturalize
3x Path to Exile
Enchantments:
1x Glory of Warfare
2x Maelstrom Nexus
1x Mayael's Aria
3x Oblivion Ring
4x Trace of Abundance
Artifacts:
1x Fieldmist Borderpost
1x Firewild Borderpost
1x Mistvien Borderpost
1x Veinfire Borderpost
1x Wildfield Borderpost
Lands:
3x Seaside Citadel
7x Forest
6x Plains
3x Island
2x Swamp
Hi my name is Terrance, my original idea was to use all the
blades in one deck but that didn't work out to well. I want
to use Knight of New Alara to its full potential in this
deck. Thats why I included Twinclaws and all the blades.
Problem: I can't seem to pick and choose what I like in the
deck. I think this deck is not efficient running as 5
colors. I want to try and cut it down to 4. I don't know
what I was thinking trying to add the Maelstrom Nexus in
there. If so I need help trying to cut the deck's color down
to 4 or even 3 if possible. I just really dont know where to
start. It would be nice to take out the Grixis Grimblades
and Jund Hackblades to make the deck strictly bant colors
but I'm afraid that I would be losing the deck's theme. As
you can see I am in a real jam. The main idea of this deck
is to really use Knight of New Alara. Also there are a
couple of cards I haven't added in yet and those are
Dauntless Escort and Wall of Denial. I want to try and make
this deck Type 2 tournament quality. Please help me!
Thanks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, Terrence, let's get started.
First of all, it sounds to me like you already have a good
idea of what's eating this deck. I might even go so far as
to say that you already know how to fix it, and you just
need me to give you a second opinion-- my blessing, if you
will, to pull the trigger on those changes. Well, you say
five colors isn't working for you? Then take some out. It's
as simple as that. Take out black and red, and put this deck
squarely in Bant territory.
Don't worry about "losing the deck's theme". You said the
theme was Knight of New Alara, and Bant supports that
nicely. I know it hurts to pull Jund Hackblade and Grixis
Grimblade, but look on the bright side-- now you can add in
Bant Sureblade, a card I'm surprised you don't already run.
That gives us the Knight, three Blades, and the Twinclaws.
Now that we're three colors, next you can take out Maelstrom
Nexus, Mayael's Aria, Glory of Warfare, and everything else
you no longer have the colors to cast. It'll be simpler this
way, trust me. This will let you go ahead and add in
Dauntless Escort. Wall of Denial, on the other hand, I don't
like. Too defensive. You want to bring the fight to your
opponent.
If it's flying you're worried about,
Esper Stormblade takes care of that. And if it's blockers
you need, I advocate Winged Coatl. Not only is this
basically a kill spell, but with Knight of New Alara giving
it +2/+2, it could be viable to flash in EOT and then swing
with. Wall of Denial can't do any of that. And it gives you
more ways to kill creatures.
Next, I think you should take out Sages of the Anima and
Rafiq of the Many. Sages will draw you creatures, but
nothing else. And Rafiq may become a 6/6, but your deck
isn't about one lone attacker. It's about swinging with a
pumped-up team. Rafiq won't help you anymore than Rhox War
Monk will, and I wasn't even going to recommend Rhox War
Monk. Though now that I think of it, the Monk would be
pretty sweet here.
The card I was going to recommend was Messenger Falcons.
Like the Twinclaws, it gets +3/+3 from the Knight. Unlike
the Twinclaws, it can fly overhead. And it draws you a card.
Finally, my main concern with your deck is its vulnerability
to Infest, Volcanic Fallout, and Jund Charm. You see, two
damage to everything on the board kills the Knight, which
leaves everything else but the Twinclaws small enough to die
to the damage that's already on them. The solution? Multiple
Knights, of course, so that each will buff the other as well
as give your Blades, Twinclaws, and Falcons +6/+6. You can
do this with Clone, who also gives you a way to copy
anything good your opponent drops, and with a card I've been
itching to find a deck for: Clarion Ultimatum. With this you
can find a second Knight of New Alara, a few extra Blades,
maybe an extra Oblivion Ring, and ensure undeniable board
superiority. Maybe a second Escort wouldn't hurt, either.
Even if all you get is a Knight, a Naya Hushblade, and three
lands, you now control two 9/8's with shroud, plus ten lands
with which to cast anything you happen to draw.
Good luck!
~BMoor
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