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Mattedesa's Deck Garage
Myr Tribal Deck
May 3, 2007

Greetings Mattedesa,

I was wanting your thoughts on this Myr deck I built.

Myr
-20 Creatures-
Lodestone Myr 4
Myr Enforcer 4
Suntouched Myr 4
Silver Myr 4
Myr Servitor 4

-18 Non-creatures-
Thoughtcast 4
Cranial Plating 4
Tinker 4
Storage Matrix 2
Myr Matrix 2
Myr Incubator 1
Coat of Arms 1

-22 Lands-
Seat of the Synod 4
Great Furnace 4
Vault of Whispers 4
Darksteel Citadel 4
Tree of Tales 3
Ancient Den 3

My overall strategy is lockdown with Storage Matrix and myr beatdown/swarm. I wanted to keep to keep the deck tribal wars legal with at least 20 myrs. I want to keep the Myr Matrix since gives my myrs +1/+1 and produces 1/1 myrs. The Storage Matrix is a godsend for me, since all of my permanents are artifacts. The Incubator and Coat of Arms look like random inclusions, but can win me the game once I Tinker for them. Sending out an army of 20 20/20 myr tokens is fun in my book.

The only problems that I have encountered are with my mana base and some of my myr choices. There have been instances when I needed blue mana for Thoughtcast or Tinker and not having a Seat of the Synod or a Silver Myr. I would like to to be able to have access to blue mana without including Islands. This way I don't get hurt by Storage Matrix. I know there is not a big selection of Myrs, but I feel there is a better choice than the Servitor.

Well, if you could give this deck any fixes would be great. Thanks for any help you can give me.

-Brian

Well, Brian, thanks for taking the time to write in. Myrs will always hold a place in my heart. When I came back to playing Magic (after several years off), our local card shop would have tribal tournaments a couple times a month. I wanted to play, but I didn't have many cards. Upon scouring my scant collection, I realized the only creature type I had anywhere near enough of was Myrs. So, I bought a few more from the store owner and put together a weak incarnation of a Myr deck. I got trounced in every game I played! In the weeks following, I proceeded to improve my deck bit by bit. I never did get my deck to where I wanted it before giving up on it to try a different creature type, but I think I learned a few things in the process.

Let me stop for a second and say that you already have a great start on this deck. It is focused and makes good use of some good cards. I like your use of Storage Matrix. That makes for some unpleasant decisions for your opponent! The issues you mentioned were those of having mana problems and questions about Myr choices. For Myr choices, you are right in saying there aren't many, and you've already included the best. Only two possibilities come to mind. Myr Quadropod is one.

Though a bit pricey at 4 mana, the ability to switch power and toughness is often very useful. Remember, you can attack with his power and toughness switched (4/1), putting 4 damage on the stack, and then switch his power and toughness back so his toughness is 4 before he takes any damage, making him effectively a 4/4. And if you put Cranial Plating on him, you could make him a defensive monster, should you need one. Another Myr choice would be a new one from Future Sight called Sarcomite Myr. He's of the unusual breed of colored artifacts, costing 2U to play. Though a bit overcosted for a 2/1, 2 mana can make him flying. None of your other creatures have any evasion, so that might make the difference. I would pull out the Servitor as you mentioned, and possibly the Suntouched Myr, since it's not often you'll have all three colors to make him worth his cost. Other than those two, the only other options I can think of are putting in some off-color mana Myrs to help accelerate your mana for the Incubator or Coat of Arms.

As far as colored mana, I couldn't think of anything that just seemed a perfect fit for your deck. The best I could come up with is either a Chromatic Star or Prismatic Lens. I'm leaning towards the Star because you're likely to only need one colored mana, and it cycles itself.
Plus, it makes for a turn one play, which you won't otherwise have if you take out the Servitor. If you end up needing more acceleration or recurring colored mana, the Prismatic Lens would fit the bill.

The only other thought I have for your deck is about the Myr Matrix. I know you're pretty excited about it's ability, as was I when I built my Myr deck. But after playing mine for a couple months, I finally realized that it just wasn't as good a card as I wanted it to be. For
instance: Let's say you have a Silver Myr, a Myr Enforcer, and a Lodestone Myr in play. If you play the Matrix, you've spent 5 mana and you now have a 2/2, a 5/5, and a 3/3, with the potential for another 2/2 for each other 5 mana. Or, for the same 5 mana, you could play a Coat of Arms and have a 3/3, a 6/6, and a 4/4, and you can use that other 5 mana (with 1 to spare) to play a 4/7 Myr Quadropod that pumps all your other Myrs +1/+1. My advice is to switch the Matrices out for another each of the Coat of Arms and Incubator. I know it's hard to give up on a fun, favorite card, but that's often what separates winning from losing.

I'm not going to reprint a decklist - I've made few enough changes that I think you can follow them should you decide to. Have fun with your Myrs and beat up on some Elves and Goblins for me - my old Myr deck needs some vengeance!