Welcome to another installment of Precon Recon right here at Pojo.com! This time around I am finishing our look at the new Duel Deck Koth vs Venser before we begin delving into the Avacyn Restored decks! We last looked at the Koth deck, so now we are taking a look at Venser’s deck, Evade and Shimmer. If you need the original deck list, check it out at: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/adamstyborski-03202012-venser-vs-koth-decklists-revealed/.

Creatures (23)
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Augury Owl
1 Coral Fighters
1 Minamo Sightbender
1 Mistmeadow Witch
2 Scroll Thief
1 Neurok Invisimancer
2 Slith Strider
1 Sky Spirit
1 Wall of Denial
1 Galepowder Mage
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Clone
1 Cryptic Annelid
1 Primal Plasma
1 Sawtooth Loon
1 Cache Raiders
1 Windreaver
1 Jedit's Dragoons
1 Sunblast Angel
1 Sphinx of Uthuun

Spells (13)
1 Venser, the Sojourner
1 Path to Exile
2 Preordain
1 Sigil of Sleep
1 Revoke Existence
1 Angelic Shield
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Safe Passage
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Vanish into Memory
2 Overrule

Lands (24)
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Flood Plain
1 New Benalia
2 Sejiri Refuge
1 Soaring Seacliff
7 Plains
11

Venser is all about evasion, he hates direct confrontation. He is also very skilled at popping things in and out, also known as “Flickering.” The deck itself when originally matched up against the Koth deck won a majority, but I feel it wasn’t so much how much stronger Wizards had made Venser, more how weak they had made the Koth deck. Once I corrected the Koth deck, I realized that indeed the tides had turned, and the original deck list of Venser was dead in the water. Once I made the coming edits however, the deck began to tie off in win loss margins. Neither deck truly has any edge other than luck of the draw.

Now the original deck does offer some rather nice cards to bounce in and out to exploit some fun abilities, but, as usual, the Wizards group falls short of anything truly amazing. What also helps make this deck go over the top is some new edits I have done using some cards from Avacyn Restored. Now while they did not have those cards for the Duel Deck, there were some rather close cards that could have been used.

As I said, Venser is all about evasion and flickering things. Blue/White decks have a long tradition also of having more control than any other decks. All of these options should have been included but were not. I will be changing that. The main creature focus is going to become comes into play abilities and then the attack force will be mainly cheap unblockable and preferably Hexproof creatures. Spells will be saving spells for our creatures that flicker, bounce/removal for our opponents creatures, and some other control spells. The main focus is going to be being cheap on our spells. The reason is simple, we want mana free to do whatever we want/need to be able to do. The brunt of our attackers in this deck will not cost more than three mana. The reason is we want to be able to drop and be able to save them in the same turn if need be. There will be a lot of changes coming in order to do so, even more than our Koth deck.

So we begin where we always do, with the what to removes. Minamo Sightbender is a very good card, just not for this deck. Since we will be adding in more Unblockable creatures and then need mana for other spells, this guy is utterly useless and should come out. Whitemane Lion is in there as a save spell, but is truly not as effective as some of the other cards we will be adding in. Coral Fighters is always fun, but will not really win you the game and should thus be removed. Scroll Thief is another card that just needs too much aide to become a decent card and needs to be removed. The two Slith Striders are nice, but you will likely only ever benefit from them once. A onetime benefit is not worth three mana for a 1/1, and they should be removed. Sky Spirit is kind of nice, just not for where this deck is going and should be removed. Kor Cartographer’s ablitiy to grab a land may seem great, but since the deck is no longer as desperate for mana, I think this guy should come out. While I do love how you can choose so many options for the Primal Plasma, I think the four mana spot could be better used by some other cards. Jedit’s Dragoons is just too much mana for only four life and should definitely come out. Revoke Existence is just too limited of a removal spell, and better choices exist, we will remove. While Vanish Into Memory seems like a good fit, it’s really risky. I think we will pull this one out. The Overrule’s are great, but require us to risk all our mana for full effect, and that is not really a good option to me, and thus I pulled them out.

In total that would be fifteen cards we pulled out. The add ins are so much simpler. For starters, let us analyze what are some great cards for getting in fast. They would of course be Invisible Stalker and Latch Seeker. The Invisible Stalker is great because it has Hexproof. Chipping away at your opponent is going to be key. You will win, but don’t expect a super fast win, it just won’t happen. The Latch Seeker is the Invisible Stalker’s big brother. Much better power wise, but can be targeted. But that is why we will be adding in some other spells for protection. In order to best use and obviously abuse how great the Unblockable thing is, four copies of each the Invisible Stalker and Latch Seeker are a must. They will be your main attack force for easy damage. They also are the prime target for your Sigil of Sleep to ensure that any troublesome creatures stay off the board.

The other card that I cannot believe was omitted from this deck was the Wall of Omens. When it enters the battlefield, you draw a card. This helps you dig into your deck and find the things you need. Plus once you start bouncing things and flickering things what better than that? Three copies seems like a solid number for the Wall of Omens.

For some protective purposes, I added in Cloudshift and Ghostly Flicker from Avacyn Restored. They can save one of your creatures from a targeted spell, and can also be devastating once you get Sunblast Angel out. “Oh, your attacking with everything to kill me, Cloudshift Sunblast Angel, when she comes back into play, destroy all tapped creatures.” Sure, you may lose some of your own, but who really cares when you just stopped an attack force? I would go at least two copies of each.

Now that there is fifteen cards, which is how much we removed. But I would consider straight adding in a couple more cards. Remember, we dumbed down the casting costs on a few spells. The one card I truly love for this deck is Vapor Snag from New Phyrexia. It is a really versatile card in its truest form. It can be used to stop an opponent’s creature in its tracks and hurt your opponent, or even used to save one of your own and pay a small price. I think that even if you choose not to add the other card I’ll mention, you should add in two Vapor Snags. The other card, just for how annoying it can be, would be Holy Day. Being left wide open can be risky, and sometimes the game may not be right in grasp, but buying another turn can sometimes be the difference maker. I added two of these and another Sejiri Refuge and the deck seems to be running great.

Another card that I had considered adding in was the Goldnight Redeemer from Avacyn Restored. It is certainly a great option for bouncing in and out. If you find a way to work it in, it can be very useful.

And that is it! Once fully reconstructed the deck should look a little something like this:

1 Azorious Chancery

1 Flood Plain

1 New Benalia

3 Sejiri Refuge

1 Soaring Seacliff

7 Plains

11 Islands

 

1 Venser, the Sojourner

1 Augury Owl

1 Mistmeadow Witch

1 Neurok Invisimancer

1 Wall of Denial

1 Galepowder Mage

1 Clone

1 Cryptic Annelid

1 Sawtooth Loon

1 Cache Raiders

1 WIndreaver

1 Sunblast Angel

1 Sphinx of Uthuun

4 Invisible Stalkers

4 Latch Seekers

 

1 Path to Exile

2 Preordain

1 Sigil of Sleep

1 Angelic Shield

1 Oblivion Ring

1 Safe Passage

1 Steel of the Godhead

2 Cloudshift

2 Ghostly Flicker

2 Vapor Snag

2 Holy Day

 

And there we have it! Another Precon Recon in the books. Remember, dig when you can and need to. Scry and draw abilities will help you pull your mana and better spells even faster. Once you get some big things out like Sphinx Of Uthuun, don’t be afraid to use Cloudshift on Neurok Invisimancer to make the Sphinx unblockable. And always be sure that when able you use the lone Steel of the Godhead on something like Windreaver or even the Sawtooth Loon. Try to never settle for a mono-colored target for it. And don’t be afraid to save one of your better creatures with a Vapor Snag. Never pull the trigger before necessary. Sometimes saving the one creature and losing one life means winning or losing. For instance, your opponent casts Day of Judgment, I would use the vapor Snag to save a Latch Seeker, would you?

The deck plays kind of moderately, not really slow, since there are so many cheap spells, but it also doesn’t win in spectacular fashion. Grinding out the game is what White and Blue do, and this deck does it well. Once things get under way, your opponent may not know what hit them. And since there are so many ways of Scrying and drawing, you will know what you have on the way, and can very carefully calculate your moves, just like Venser.

Join me next time when I begin taking a look at the new Avacyn Restored decks and reconstructing them! But as always, if there is a deck you would like to see me reconstruct, be sure to send me an e-mail: urza_90@yahoo.com, and I will be happy to go and reconstruct it!

So until next time, keep safe, and keep gaming!