Hello and welcome to another installment of Precon Recon, where each week I take a look at a preconstructed deck, and reconstruct it to be better playable. This week I will be looking at the Battle Cries deck from Mirrodin Besieged. For a look at the original deck list go here:

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/productarticle.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/mirrodinbesieged/themedeck#deck1

Let me again start off with some ‘What is this doing in here?’ In my opinion, if you are running Battle Cry decks, you want to hit hard and fast, before your opponent can deploy adequate defenses. So honestly, anything costing more than five mana that isn’t a game ending spell needs to be removed. So the list of pulls just from those criteria is as follows: Siege Mastodon, Razorfield Rhino, Kuldotha Ringleader. Of the high casting things in the deck, I would leave only the Concussive Bolts and the Victory’s Herald. Another grouping of things to pull do to lack of necessity are the mana producing Myr. Since we will be cheapening down the deck, mana problems should not arise, and it would be better to run some extra creatures rather than produce mana. And honestly, what is up with the Whispersilk Cloak in this deck? There is no purpose. One creature becomes unblockable and gains shroud, yay for it, but what would you put it on? The only thing I would view as inexpendable would be the Victory’s Herald. And if you feel one card is so much of a liability you need to try that hard to protect it, reevaluate your deck. So therefore the Whispersilk Cloak is out. I would also have to view the Peace Striders as useless in this style deck. In most scenarios you should end the game long before your opponent can mount any formidable defense, let alone an offense, so a life gainer is just more wasted space. The Myrsmith and Origin Spellbombs are on the fence. While decent at helping produce your army, they can ultimately become bogged down, but, I will leave them alone for now.

Now, obviously if you can get your hands on Hero of Oxid Ridge and Hero of Bladehold, they are perfect additions for this deck. And the same is true for Mirran Crusader. However, you may not be able to come up with those options. So let’s look at what you should be able to get your hands on without losing the rest of your arm. And quite honestly, the additions are multiples of the same cards that should have been in the initial deck list, and I am dumbfounded by why they weren’t. First off, four Goblin Wardrivers, why they were omitted is beyond me. Second, let’s get the Accorder Paladins up to four as well, which means adding two more. Now, since we will be exploiting the Metalcraft by creating Myrs, we should definitely add in the Spiraling Duelist. Double Strike once you have three or more artifacts and then the additional pump from the Battle Cry make this one fearsome card. Maybe four would be too many, but I think three is a safe number. So we’ve added nine cards so far, leaving room for two more. I can say without hesitation that those two spaces should go to two more Concussive Bolts. The ability to deal four damage AND if you have metalcraft your opponent cannot block is too vital to overlook. I have literally killed opponents on turn five using several of the cards we added today. If the deck seems to still bog down, the solution is simple, continue to lower the casting costs. If the Arrests are dead weight in your hand, pull them and put in more things that are working. If Vitory’s Herald is always left in your hand, opt to put in something that you are sure to get out, a Memnite or Ornithopter for example. And if the White Sun’s Zenith just doesn’t cut it, put in a Red Sun’s Zenith for that finishing blow.

All deck tweaking leaves room for individual player’s to finish off the design to their play preference. I’ve left a blueprint for you to help this deck perform better, but the final touches are left for the person whom plays it. What I hope you will learn from this article is that Metalcraft combined with Battle Cry will steel your deck, and leave your opponents crying for mercy.

Until next time everybody, keep safe and keep gaming!