Here is the next in a series of decks originally addressed to bmoor that I'm helping him catch up on. This one's from Martin:

 

Greetings BMoor,

 

I've built myself a deck for modern and would very much like your opinion on how to improve it since i'm not tat great at this deck building stuff. Here it is:

 

Lands

x18 Plains

x2 Seraph Sanctuary

 

Creatures

x4 Inquisitor Exarch

x4 Banisher Priest

x4 Serra Avenger

x3 Fiend Hunter

x4 Silverblade Paladin

x4 Soul's Atendant

 

Enchantments

x2 Arrest

x4 Oblivion Ring

 

Instants/sorceries

x3 Cloudshift

x4 Solemn Offering

x4 Otherworldly Journey

 

As you can see i'm quite the fan of exile cards and Clerics and would like to keep the deck full of such cards (if possible). The plan i'm going with is quite simple, keep the battlefield clear on the opponents side so i can swing with my Silverblade or Serra Angel without them getting blocked. The Cloudshift and Otherworldly Journey let's me trigger some "enters the battlefield" effects. Solemn Offering gets rid of annoying artifacts and enchantments as well as keeping me healthy along with Soul's Atendant. Inquisitor Exarch is mostly there for the extra damage and is the prime target for Cloudshift and Otherworldly Journey. Sometimes i even end up using Banisher Priest or Fiend hunter on it and then Cloudshift/Otherworldly Journey them just for the extra 2 damage, the Soul's Atendant gives me thumbs up every time i do it :)

 

There are some cards i think i would like to fit into the deck, namely Cathedral Sanctifier and the Ghostway+Wrath of God combo but iv'e got this dilema where i don't know wich cards i should replace :/

 

Thx for reading.

 

 ---------

 

Martin,

 

I like the deck! Using creatures with enters-the-battlefield abilities is an efficient way to get more use out of your cards. Then, with all the ways you have to flash things in and out, you can get further use still. I imagine this is fun to play!

 

What appears to me to be the biggest weakness of the deck is the fact that your "removal" doesn't get rid of things permanently. If they kill your Banisher Priest, not only have you lost a creature, but they have gained one. A wrath of God from your opponent could leave you with an empty field and them with multiple threats! There are a few things I suggest trying to do to deal with these weaknesses. 

 

First, I would aim to make your deck more aggressive to give them less time to find ways to kill your creatures. Let's take advantage of the time you have while their board is temporarily exiled with some more aggressive creatures. The first one I would recommend is Flickerwisp. When it comes in, it gets a blocker out of the way for another creature to get through. Then, next turn, you can attack aggressively with a 3/1 flier. To make room, I want to remove a more defensive creature in Soul's Attendant. Taking their life down is more important than taking yours up.

 

-4 Soul's Attendant

+4 Flickerwisp

 

Since we took out your only one-drop creature, I want to find an aggressive replacement to give you something useful to do on turn one. While we're at it, let's make it something useful to use your extra mana on throughout the game: Figure of Destiny. He's better than the actual level-up creatures since you can upgrade him at instant speed. If your opponent is off to a slow start, he could potentially attack for 2 on turn 2 and 4 on turn 3, really putting the pressure on. Then, your exilers come out and keep the board clear for him to finish the job. To make room, I want to take out Cloudshift. While Cloudshift is fun, it doesn't help you get your creatures through since the creature comes right back. I think Otherworldly Journey covers that purpose better.

 

-3 Cloudshift

+4 Figure of Destiny

 

Next, I am usually dubious of running artifact and enchantment removal mainboard, but since you have some, I'm guessing you see enough targets where you play to justify it. But let's do it in keeping with your exile theme, and play Leonin-Relic-Warder instead. Not only is it one mana cheaper, but it gives you a 2/2 body to attack with as well.

 

-4 Solemn Offering

+3 Leonin Relic-Warder

 

Finally, I'd like to include one card you mentioned: Ghostway. It's your safety valve. If an opponent has a board clearing effect that would kill all your guys and bring their exiled creatures back, you can Ghostway in response. Their guys come back temporarily, but yours come back at the next end step and remove their creatures once again. I would resist the temptation to get greedy with this card unless you can finish them right then by flickering a couple of Inquisitor Exarchs. Keep it to deal with an emergency. Let's take out Arrest and one copy of Serra Avenger (isn't it annoying to draw her too early?) to put in three copies of yoru safety card.

 

-2 Arrest

-1 Serra Avenger

+3 Ghostway

 

Because of the higher creature count we have now, I think Wrath of God would hurt you more often than it would help. Cathedral Sanctifier doesn't fit our more aggressive strategy. You don't really want to stall by gaining life - you want to attack! These changes would give us something like this:

 

Lands

x18 Plains

x2 Seraph Sanctuary

 

Creatures

x4 Inquisitor Exarch

x4 Banisher Priest

x3 Serra Avenger

x3 Fiend Hunter

x4 Silverblade Paladin

x4 Flickerwisp

x4 Figure of Destiny

x3 Leonin Relic-Warder

 

Enchantments

x4 Oblivion Ring

 

Instants/sorceries

x4 Otherworldly Journey

x3 Ghostway

 

 

I think this would make your deck even more intimidating to play against! Play your creatures, exile their threats, and once you have a few creatures out, hold your mana open for a Ghostway or Otherworldly Journey. Have fun!