Bant aggro

[Lightstorm]

Heya,

I`ve been trying to build many-sided aggro deck with some counters (basicly against mass destruction cards). I`m still needing lots of help with this, so thank you already! Hopefully you understand my english
______________________________________________________________

Few reports from some games I`ve played againts my own decks:

Against WW, if WW gets very fast beginning with Crusade, Honor of the Pure etc. it usually wins. If not, Bant has much bigger changes to victory. 5-2 to Bant.

Against RG, a bit hard match up because of nonbasic land and artifact hate, and bigger creatures. But Bant is able to beat RG if it gets fast start, lifegain creatures, Sword of light and shadow, Armageddon..

These results are from Ropecon 2009 (There was about 70 players?). I went 3-3, but in my opinion 5-1 result would be very possible also.

1st game againts Boros. Opponent had some mana flood and screw in both games and I won both games very quickly, on fifth or sixt turn. Match up should be very nice for Bant because of lifegain and few countrespells. 2-0

2nd game against Mono G elf. I had bad mana screw in both games, didn`t really had changes after Wasteland and Viridian Shaman (to my Aether Vial). 0-2

3rd game against RBW including lots of removals and bolts. First game was pretty equal, I got opponent to 2 life points but it wasn`t enought. I won easily next two games. On other game I had Rhox War monk equipped with Sword of Fire and Ice + Rancor, that hurt . 2-1.

4rth game against midrange GU. I won first game easily with Exalted angel. Second game was very equal, I got opponent to 2 life but he drew Sower of Temptation and stole my Tarmogoyf. Even Cursed Scroll didn`t help because of counterspell. I won last game easily again. 2-1.

5th game against RB Goblins. Very hard match up because of it`s speed and removals, nonbasic land hate and discard. I lost 0-2. We took couple games after our match and I won other easily and lost other straight to Blood Moon.

6th game against UB control. First game was pretty hard for opponent and I got him to very low but Fact or Fiction brought him right cards and I coulnd`t do anything. I lost second game to mana screw.


On the whole Bant is very fun to play, I didn`t had any problems with manabase (except couple mana screws). It seemed to be good against many aggro decks and works against controls aswell (thou I haven`t had any matches with Gifts/Survival/Reveillark/Graveyard combos yet).

_________________________________________

Lands: 33 + Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond
4 Forest
Treetop Village
Pendelhaven
5 Plains
Windbrisk Heights (Nice card, still thinking if it`s enought nice because it usually slows speed a bit)
Flagstones of Trokair
Faerie Conclave
Tropical Island
Breeding Pool
Flooded Grove
Yavimaya Coast
Savannah
Temple Garden
Brushland
Horizon Canopy
Sungrass Prairie
Wooded Bastion
Tundra
Mystic Gate
Adarkar Wastes
Hallowed Fountain
Flooded Strand
Wooded Foothills
Windswept heath
Polluted Delta
Gemstone Mines

Creatures: 41 + Call of the Herd, Spectral Procession, Elspeth, Garruk, Treetop and Faerie Conclave

CC1: 8
Llanovar Elves
Fydhorn Elves
Noble Hierarch
Skyshroud Elves
Savannah Lions
Elite Vanguard
Mother of Runes
Isamaru, Hound of Konda

CC2: 13
Stormfront Pegasus
Mistral Charger
Soltari Trooper
Jötun Grunt
Ronom Unicorn
Dryad Sophisticate
River Boa
Mire Boa
Tarmogoyf
Gaddock Teeg (Doesn`t really hit to my own cards, except Planeswalkers and Armageddon)
Qasali Pridemage
Watchwolf
Azorious Guildmage (This card have proved to be very useful in late games, but not sure does it earn a spot on this..)

CC3: 11
Eternal Witness
Mirror Entity (??)
Troll Ascetic
Wake Trasher
Serendib Efreet
Man-o`-War
Trinket Mage
Rhox War Monk
Lorescale Coatl
Kitchen Finks
Dauntless Escort

CC4: 9
Exalted Angel
Calciderm
Wickerbough Elder
Loxodon Hierarch
Wilt-Leaf Liege
Mycoid Shepherd
Rafiq of the Many
Masticore
Ranger of Eos


Artifacts: 10
Mox Diamond
Chrome Mox
Black Vise (Not very sure about this, works well against controls and is a good mate with Winter orb and Armageddon)
Aether Vial
Pithing Needle
Sensei`s Diving Top
Cursed Scroll
Winter Orb
Tangle Wire
Sword of Fire and Ice


Other spells: 16
Mana Tithe
Remand
Memory Lapse
Mana Leak
Miscalculation (Still trying to find more cheap counterspells)

Path to Exile
Swords to Plowshares
Harm`s Way
Oblivion Ring
Armageddon

Rancor
Ajani Goldmane
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker
Call of the herd
Spectral Procession
___________________________________________

Thinking these cards to be added:
Grafted Wargear, I like this card alot but didn`t dare to play it because format has too much artifact destruction.
Knotvine Paladin, Can be usable in late games and isn`t bad attacker in the beginning either if I have just played other creatures.
Steward of Valeron, ?
Jenara, Asura of War, GWU CC isn`t bad but not sure if it`s enought good card, maybe too vulnerable to boost.
Skyshroud War Beast, Can be big for 2CC or just 1/1.
Cloudgoat Ranger, Great card but 5CC might be too much.
Chameleon Colossus, ?
Wild Nacatl, deck has 9 Plains and 4 Fetch lands. Maybe it`s not enought.
Saffi Eriksdotter, helps with mass destruction but thats it.
Aven Mindcensor, can do much or just not anything and keep my lands untapped.
Ancient Ziggurat, Deck has 26 noncreature cards, too much?
Psionic Blast, ?

[Lightstorm]

Any comments please?

[Zephyr]

You should play Jenara, maybe instead of Quasali Pridemage because he´s not good against Control decks. I would play Steward of Valeron in place of Thornweald Archer because deathtouch is not so good imo. I would cut Spectral Procesion to add Psionic Blast or Bant Charm. Cheap counterspell can be Arcane Denial or maybe you can play Evasive Action.
That´s all
Z.
P.S. I´m sorry for my Engrish

[Mythrandir]

You should play Jenara, maybe instead of Quasali Pridemage because he´s not good against Control decks. Z.

well, this is discussable

pridemage VS moat/collective restraint/SOTF, etc, etc

[Lightstorm]

Thanks for comments

Qasali is good as a creature with great ability. I tested Steward of Valeron, but it was usually just 2/2 creature amd it`s mana ability didn`t really help much.
I replaced Thornweald Archer with Dryad Sophisticate. Bant charm could be usable actually, it`s CC isn`t really a problem.

Evasive Action, deck has 15 "basic lands" + 4 fetch lands, it`s no enought imo.

[Nastaboi]

You should play Jenara, maybe instead of Quasali Pridemage because he´s not good against Control decks. Z.

well, this is discussable

No, this is not discussable, this is just plain wrong. You are absolutely not cutting the best creature in whole deck. Pridemage is the third best two-drop in the whole history of the game. Naturally, he is as amazing against control decks as against everything else.

They are suggestions like these that keep my fellow countrymen away from these forums.

[Mythrandir]

You should play Jenara, maybe instead of Quasali Pridemage because he´s not good against Control decks. Z.

well, this is discussable

No, this is not discussable, this is just plain wrong. You are absolutely not cutting the best creature in whole deck. Pridemage is the third best two-drop in the whole history of the game. Naturally, he is as amazing against control decks as against everything else.

They are suggestions like these that keep my fellow countrymen away from these forums.

well, that's a bit harsh. At least, IMO, i don't want to make hard rock statements, where my opinion is like a universal truth.
You do realize that, like many other formats, not all ppl play for competetive purposes or in the same meta. Not every player has access to ravages of war, mana drain, workshop, etc, etc, nor wish to play them. Some just want to play a card, not because it's powerful, but because it's fun.
So instead of just saying, it's plain wrong, perhaps you could educate other players why A is better than B.

Anyway, not wanting to start a war with you or anything

I completely agree with you, Pridemage is freaking awesome/good, "no matter" what deck your playing VS. Although jenara is quite a decent creature too for those colors, but yeah, if it were to choose between jenara and pridemage, a definitely YES on the pridemage.

[Anime1]

Could some one tell me why pridemage wouldn't be good against control? Reason im running enchantment/artifact destruction in my mono green is prety much solely so it would't lose to some control players million artifact/enchantment goodies.

[Zephyr]

Sorry guys, it was error, I changed Ambusher and Pridemage in my mind... Mea maxima culpa...

[Lightstorm]

I edited deck a bit, manabase is already good but it will be even better after Zendikar.

Changes:
-Sungrass Prairie
-Masticore (Still thinking if I should add him back)
-Stormfront Pegasus (Found something better)
-Mistral Charger
-Soltari Trooper
-Ronom Unicorn
-Azorious Guildmage
-Mirror Entity (Ermm..)
-Black Vise
-Pithing Needle (Didn`t do enought)
-Spectral Procession (Theres 16 white mana sources.. maybe I should add it back)

+Stonecloaker (Some grave hate and protection to own creatures)
+Psionic Blast (Just testing)
+Evasive Action (Just testing)
+Force Spike
+Ajani Goldmane
+Bonesplitter
+Plaxmanta (To give some protection)
+Vendilion Clique (CC might cause some problems, but card is awesome)
+Berserk
+Briarhorn (Just for fun )
+Jungle Lion
+Birds of Paradise
+Rishadan Port

Here`s picture of deck: http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8493/img2955.jpg (Size 3840x2160)


Lands: 33 + Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond
5 Forest
Treetop Village
Pendelhaven
4 Plains
Windbrisk Heights
Flagstones of Trokair
Faerie Conclave
Tropical Island
Breeding Pool
Flooded Grove
Yavimaya Coast
Savannah
Temple Garden
Brushland
Horizon Canopy
Wooded Bastion
Tundra
Mystic Gate
Adarkar Wastes
Hallowed Fountain
Flooded Strand
Wooded Foothills
Windswept heath
Polluted Delta
Gemstone Mines
Rishadan Port

Creatures: 40 + Call of the Herd, Elspeth, Garruk, Treetop and Faerie Conclave

CC1: 10
Birds of Paradise
Llanovar Elves
Fydhorn Elves
Noble Hierarch
Jungle Lion
Skyshroud Elves
Savannah Lions
Elite Vanguard
Mother of Runes
Isamaru, Hound of Konda

CC2: 10
Jötun Grunt
Dryad Sophisticate
River Boa
Mire Boa
Tarmogoyf
Plaxmanta
Jhessian Infiltrator (Not quite sure, but unblockable is awesome)
Gaddock Teeg (Doesn`t really hit to my own cards, except Planeswalkers and Armageddon)
Qasali Pridemage
Watchwolf

CC3: 11
Stonecloaker
Eternal Witness
Troll Ascetic
Wake Trasher
Serendib Efreet
Man-o`-War
Vendilion Clique
Trinket Mage
Rhox War Monk
Lorescale Coatl
Kitchen Finks

CC4: 9
Exalted Angel
Calciderm
Briorhorn
Wickerbough Elder
Loxodon Hierarch
Wilt-Leaf Liege
Mycoid Shepherd
Rafiq of the Many
Ranger of Eos


Artifacts: 9
Mox Diamond
Chrome Mox
Bonesplitter
Aether Vial
Sensei`s Diving Top
Cursed Scroll
Winter Orb
Tangle Wire
Sword of Fire and Ice


Other spells: 17
Force Spike
Mana Tithe
Remand
Memory Lapse
Mana Leak
Miscalculation

Path to Exile
Swords to Plowshares
Harm`s Way
Oblivion Ring
Armageddon

Berserk
Rancor
Call of the herd
Ajani Goldmane
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker

[Vazdru]

You've already had a look at http://www.trader-online.de/turniere/Decks/2009-6-1.jpg ?

This is the one of the winning decks of trader-tournaments in Dülmen.

[Lightstorm]

No, I haven`t seen that. I need to look it a bit more later, but it looked interesting. My list looks more aggroish than his. Thanks for the link!