Hello to all my spell slinging friends out there in magic land. Thanks for coming read yet another episode of Jason’s Deck Garage. As usual in an effort to help my fellow magic players, I will be helping with a deck fix on a green/white worship deck. Continuing the tradition of not getting straight to the deck fix, I will be discussing the upcoming pre-release of Darksteel. If you don’t want to read the Darksteel information skip on ahead to the deck fix.

As many of you may know, Darksteel will have it first pre-release this Saturday at many various locations. Lots of little boys and girls will be getting up early to stand in long lines, deck build hastily, and hold their breath in the aroma of sweaty gamers all over the planet. In an effort to help you enjoy your pre-release, I am going to share some of my tried and true tips for pre-release success.

Tip 1: Get a good night sleep.

Most pre-releases take place very early in the morning. At the nearest Darksteel pre-release that I can go to, the first flight starts at 9:00am. The amount of sleep you can get will definitely raise your chance for success and enjoyment. Plus its really embarrassing to fall asleep at the table between rounds.

Tip 2: Make sure you have enough fuel for the day.

By fuel I mean food. Your mind works better when you have plenty of energy. When I do any significant event, I make sure to eat something every two or three hours. My friend and fellow Pojo writer Dequan Watson carries sunflower seeds to eat while playing. The small amount of energy that this provides will help immensely in a event where almost every round runs to time limit.

Tip 3: Read the pre-release faq.

Wizards of the Coast almost always has a Frequently Asked Questions document produced and placed on there website before the pre-release. I read them so that I know how the mechanics work and if there are any special effects that cards might do that I don’t know just by looking at the card.

Tip 4: (Warning this is a subjective tip) Find a good Spoiler to read.

I issue this warning with this tip. Not all spoilers are accurate. If you can get a look at a decent spoiler this will help you to know what cards to look for when deck building.

Tip 5: The ultimate tip is too just have FUN

This is the reason we all started playing the game in the first place. Have fun, do some trading, make some new friends, and just have FUN.

Okay, so you sat there and read my rant for the week and now its on to the Deck Fix.

This week’s deck comes to us from Magic player Michael Roberson. I recommend that you read all of Michael’s email because it is a prime example of what I like to use for the deck garage. He listed out a good deal of information for me too work with and that helps me help him. Enjoy.

 

Hey Jason, With the release of Mirrodin, many new cards have entered into the environment, and one of these cards happens to be Troll Ascetic. The card that inspired this deck. It's a great combo with worship. Take a look.

18 Creatures:

4x Exalted Angel

4x Savannah Lions

4x Birds of Paradise

3x Troll Ascetic

3x Symbiotic elf

22 Spells:

4x Worship

3x Wrath of God

3x Glorious Anthem

3x Mobilization

3x Journey of Discovery

4x Naturalize

2x Ivory Mask

 

20 Lands:

8x Plains

8x Forest

4x Elfhame Palace

15 Sideboard Cards:

4x Ravenous Baloth

4x Brown Ouphe

3x Lifespark Spellbomb

1x Wrath of God

1x Troll Ascetic

2x Wing Shards

A few reasons for included cards: Brown Ouphe- Mindslaver, lots of combos running around with Soul Foundry/Intruder Alarm/March of the Machines in my area. Symbiotic Elf- When I Wrath, it puts creatures back on the table. Mobilization- Keeps creatures available. Naturalize- Artifact heavy environment, always good. Glorious Anthem- I don't have any Leonin Sun Standards. Why I didn't use certain cards: Windswept Heath- Don't own any, but if you think they are worth my getting some, put them in. Decree of Justice- Thought that Mobilization would be better. Natural Affinity/Caller of the Claw- Good combo, too chancey... I also think the sideboard needs work. Thank you in advance. I hope you have many good ideas!

Michael Roberson

(cartman_1337)

Here is what I decided to do for a deck fix on this deck. In looking at this deck as always I tried to keep as close to the original as possible but make it a little more effective. There are many more ways to make this deck better of course. Many emails sent to me question the card selection and often suggest better builds. I encourage you to question my build and also encourage you to send me emails with constructive thoughts on alternate builds. So without further rambling, here is my version of the deck.

4x Exalted Angel

4x Savannah Lions

4x Birds of Paradise

4x Troll Ascetic

3x Nantuko Vigilante

4x Worship

4x Wing Shards

3x Glorious Anthem

3x Decree of Justice

3x Naturalize

4x Windswept Heath

4x Elfhame Palace

9x Plains

7x Forest

Sideboard:

4x Ravenous Baloth

4x Molder Slug

4x Akromas Vengence

3x Ivory Mask

 

OUT

-3 Symbiotic Elf

-3 Wrath of God

-3 Mobilization

-3 Journey of Discovery

-1 Naturalize

-2 Ivory Mask

-1 Forest

IN

+1 Troll Ascetic

+3 Nantuko Vigilante

+4 Wing Shards

+ 3 Decree of Justice

+4 Windswept Heath

+1 Forest

I changed the build to what I would consider a more aggressive build. The deck in its previous incarnation was very defensive in nature. It is a belief of my own that when you build a deck you should decide completely to be either defensive or offensive and don’t try to do both at the same time. You dilute a deck when you try to do too many thing at once. So with this build it tilts toward the side of more aggression without losing the Worships.

With this episode of Jason’s Deck Garage, I didn’t include a card by card explanation of why they were added or removed. I would like to know from you the readers if you prefer this. Also let me know what you would like to see me write more about. In the spirit of Green/White decks everywhere I have included a couple of additional decklist for all you players out there.

Till Next Week.

Jason

 

Green/White Control

3 Eternal Dragon

3 Exalted Angel

4 Ravenous Baloth

4 Solemn Simulacrum

3 Troll Ascetic

4 Akroma's Vengeance

2 Decree of Justice

4 Plow Under

4 Rampant Growth

2 Scrabbling Claws

4 Wrath of God

9 Forest

8 Plains

2 Temple of the False God

4 Windswept Heath

 

White/Green Control

1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath

3 Eternal Dragon

4 Exalted Angel

4 Ravenous Baloth

3 Solemn Simulacrum

3 Troll Ascetic

3 Akroma's Vengeance

4 Decree of Justice

2 Leonin Sun Standard

4 Rampant Growth

2 Worship

4 Wrath of God

3 Elfhame Palace

6 Forest

8 Plains

2 Stalking Stones

3 Temple of the False God

2 Windswept Heath