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[Green & White Ramp (with black splash)]

Green & White Ramp (with black splash)

This is a deck that is being played in the danish metagame and I've been playing this version with the black splash for a long time now. It isn't tier one or anything but it is a quite good deck choice when the meta is right.

So the deck tries to throw down mana creatures and land rampers the first couple of turns. And there after trying to overload the board with overwhelming threats like, Primeval Titan, Terrastodon, Emrakul the Aeons Torn or Craterhof Behemoth. The deck has some strong secondary strategies like land destruction with Dust Bowl and company + Acidic Slime, Sundering Titan and Woodfal Primus or Lifegain going the anti aggro way with Wurmcoil Engine, Loxodon Hierarch and Pelakka Wurm etc.
The deck plays all the good creature tutors, like Worldly Tutor, Eladamri's Call, Natural Order, Summoner's Pact and Fierce Empath. My version with black gives you the opportunity to play the black tutors Demonic Tutor and Tainted Pact that makes it even easier to find your most needed cards.
The deck packs quite a punch, and turn two or three Channel into Emrakul or turn two or three Natural Order into Primeval Titan are just some of the great plays the deck pulls off often.

Deck list:

Artifacts: 3
Sensei's Divining Top
Expedition Map
Quicksilver Amulet

Creatures: 38
Fyndhorn Elves
Llanowar Elves
Boreal Druid
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Elves of Deep Shadow
Birds of Paradise
Noble Hierarch
Arbor Elf
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
Wall of Roots
Priest of Titania
Devoted Druid
Sakura-Tribe Elder (leaving the deck for Three Visits as soon as i get one)
Fierce Empath
Wood Elves
Farhaven Elf
Yavimaya Dryad
Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
Knight's of the Reliquary
Elvish Archdruid
Wickerbough Elder
Thrun, the Last Troll
Loxodon Hierarch
Restoration Angel
Wolfbriar Elemental
Acidic Slime
Thragtusk
Wurmcoil Engine
Primeval Titan
Duplicant
Pelakka Wurm
Regal Force
Woodfal Primus
Terrastodon
Craterhof Behemoth
Sundering Titan
Artisan of Kozilek
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

Enchantments: 7
Wild Growth
Utopia Sprawl
Journey to Nowhere
Sylvan Library
Oblivion Ring
Faith's Fetters
Mirari's Wake

Instants: 6
Summoner's Pact
Worldly Tutor
Enlightened Tutor
Crop Rotation
Tainted Pact
Eladamri's Call

Planeswalkers: 3
Garruk Primalhunter
Vraska the Unseen
Karn, the Liberated

Sorceries: 8
Green Sun's Zenith
Nature's Lore
Sylvan Scrying
Demonic Tutor
Cultivate
Kodama's Reach
Skyshroud Claim
Natural Order

Lands: 35
Gaea's Cradle
Wasteland
Dust Bowl
Rishadan Port
Horizon Canopy
Savannah
Bayou
Temple Garden
Overgrown Tomb
Windswept Heath
Wooded Foothills
Misty Rainforest
Marsh Flats
Verdant Catacombs
Flooded Strand
Arid Mesa
Maze of Ith
Sunpetal Grove
Snow-covered Plains
Swamp
5x Forest
5x Snow-covered Forest
Ancient Tomb
City of Traitors
Eye of Ugin
Treetop Village
Stirring Wildwood

The deck only plays 33 mana producing lands but does play 32 spells that can give you lands or put lands into play.

Cards that could find a way into the deck, that ive played before but are not in my current 100:
Eternal Witness - card advantage but haven't been good enough whenever i've tried her
Kitchen Finks - good vs. aggro
Primal Command - tutor and more
Avenger of Zendikar - fantastic with primeval titan, but have been bad 70 % of the times i've played it because of no lands to play afterwards
Tooth and Nail - great bomb but isn't a creature it self
Homeward Path - great vs. control magic etc. and another answer to bribery (I already run 6 answers).
Deserted Temple - amazing with Gaea's Cradle and stuff like Dust Bowl, Rishadan Port and Maze of Ith

Regal force over Kozilek - Regal Force is green and much easier to search with the tutor package and at the same time easier to cast. This slot could be either or you could fit both in to the deck.

Vraska over any other removal - She is a permanent and therefore potentially a 2 for 1 + the five mana casting cost is easy to pull of with the amount of ramp this deck plays.

Quicksilver Amulet over Elvish Piper - Easy to cast and much easier to have survive vs. control, has been really strong since it was included. Does cost more mana to use but thats no problem.

The omission of Fauna Shaman - The shaman is good but dies to every removal spell played in my meta, isn't needed when you splash black for better tutors.

!! I will try and give you some of my match-up analysis later. !!

//purlQg

[Thesbian Stage]

Thesbian Stage <- what about this one?

I like the fact that it doesn't come tapped in to play. In control decks like u/w it might be nice to have another rishadan port/maze of ith/etc.

As a ramp player for many years I really agree with nastaboi ramping stops at 4.

This set is solely made for our boring cousins sake. The set is filled with commander cards!

I realize my first post seems quite funny I must have been on another planet when I wrote it - at least i'm entertaining .
At the same time the ill thought answer did generate discussion.

On to the topic:
3 of the 4 tutors mentioned by withfullforce (the transmuters and tezz) are quite clunky compared to every card mentioned on the list. That could explain why they arent there. Paying 3 for a specific card or 5 for tezz without major focus on artifacts in the deck arent nearly as strong as any of the tutors from the list. The last one have a high cc and doesn't build your bord as pod and natural order. Same arguments could be said about the rector he demands a lot of building about whereas the list are all quite easy to throw in any deck.

I follow what your saying. But where lightning bolt doesn't need to be build around stoneforge does (even though it I agree is to a lesser extend), ergo I feel that lightning bolt should be played more which of course isn't realistic. What the list really shows is that green almost is a auto include in every deck which isn't so surprising. But of course you are totally right and I do realize this - stoneforge mystic is a much more powerful card in Highlander.

You are obviously right there is no disadvantage what so ever. And most of these cards are featured in better colors deck construction wise in this format. This all makes for good arguments when talking about any future bannings and obviously shows why studies like this are usable.

Natural Order and Birthing Pod is obviously both in need of creatures I think what gives pod the nod over order is that the format is quite focused on lower CC creatures where as Order focuses on high CC creatures and most decks doesn't play creatures that are more then 5-6 CC. Natural Order and Bribery as well have become less powerful than they used to be in most decks.

Dusturbing.........
I say Ban stoneforge asap. If stoneforge is played more then lightning bolt something must be wrong. :/
Green is quite dominant almost all the top cards on the list are green.
I am actually quite surprised that eladamri has 74 hits and worldy has less then half..

I am positive that what carte_blanche is saying is true, I couldn't have said it better myself.
The format is to fast to be really bothered by intuition in to loam and lands in the early game. Most decks would punish you because they are playing creature based strategies. You have to be well ahead for this to be a good thing! it would obiously be devestating lategame but there are many cards currently available that are devasting later in the game....

I for one would love to se less 4c - 5c decks so bring on the land hate. At the same time I would hate to se Intuition go as mmd said it would weaken the posibility of combo being viable and whenever the only decks viable in a format is aggro and control the format grows somewhat stagnent.

Lftl should be unbanned for sure. I would consider strip mine too just to try and make it harder to play more then 3 colours.

I undestand why people call for intuitions banning, but I would like to see how it plays out first with both available. I would like to see other cards like yawgmoths will, Dread return, Lions eye diamond and even Tolarian academy but Thays obiously another topic.

I like it. -6 ability is really strong.
But the second ability is meh. :/

Don't get me wrong you may be right - maybe the deck is a waste when I could play something better.

I used to play an UB-artifacted version with thopter and hexmage/depths combo (Hexmage is even w/o DD a good card imo) because you can include these card very easily and they are tutorable like np (all cc2 transmute spells, fabricate, tolaria west, experdition map, normal tutors, tezzeret, gifts..) without forcing your deck to be combo. Just as an inspiration and alternative for you.

Could you share a decklist with me maybe ? Why did you stop playing it?

I appreciate your comments I really do. Great to get some inputs, I agree with you MMD it's very light on mana, I might squeese in a couple of more lands and mana artifacts.

I were really searching for some ideas for the deck and not suggestions concerning which deck I should play instead? I realize this isn't a tier 1 deck but really in my testing it hasn't been as bad as you make it sound. I've tested it alot against R/G/W aggro and different midrange decks at it has been 50/50 so far.
Blue control is a bitch and the other control deks i have played against have been quite difficult to.

I've tried dark depths + vampire hexmage with the land tutors earlier in a more artifactish approach I found it really bad, the token dies to everything

Posting this to get some feedback, i've been playing it for some time by now and it has gone through alot of testing but theres allways something you miss.

U/B/g/w Oath - Thopter combo

This is my take on trying to use the great amount of tutors for 2cc cards.
Cards like Awakening Zone doubles as acceleration and part of the combo with polymorph.

Combo/Win: 7( 8 )

Oath of Druids
Emrakul, the Aeons Thorn
Thopter Foundry
Sword of the Meek
Crime (part 1 of the split card)
Bitterblossom
Awakening Zone
Polymorph

Search: 13

Idyllic Tutor
Demonic Tutor
Gifts Ungiven
Liliana Vess
Shred Memory
Intuition
Transmute Artifact
Muddle the Mixture
Cruel Tutor
Tezzeret the Seeker
Lim-dúl's Vault
Fabricate
Sterling Grove

Recursion: 6

Regrowth
Reclaim
Recollect
Argivian Find
Reconstruction
Crucible of Worlds


Removal/Protection:28( 29 )

Vindicate
Ensnaring Bridge
Oblivion Ring
Punishment (part 2 of the split card)
Spell Pierce
Damnation
Faiths Fetters
Negate
Condscend
Duress
Delay
Counterspell
Maelstorm Pulse
Maze of Ith
Infest
Thoughtseize
Inquisition of Kozilek
Swords to Plowshares
Go for the Throat
Mana Drain
Mana Leak
Countersquall
Seal of Premordium
Innocent Blood
Turn Aside
Putrefy
Castigate
Logic Knot
Force of Will

Draw/Filter: 9

Ponder
Fact or Fiction
Thirst for Knowledge
Impulse
Compulsive Research
Preordain
Brainstorm
Sensei's Divining Top
Sylvan Library

Mana boost: 4

Talisman of Dominance
Selesnya Signet
Talisman of Unity
Golgari Signet

Lands 32:

Wasteland
Dust Bowl
Academy Ruins
Underground Sea
Watery Grave
Tundra
Scrubland
Breeding Pool
Tropical Island
Polluted Delta
Bloodstained Mire
Flooded Strand
Windswept Heath
Scalding Tarn
Overgrown Tomb
Verdant Catacombs
Bayou
Drowned Catacombs
Temple Garden
Marsh Flats
Savannah
Misty Rainforest
9x Island
3x Swamp

I'm playing with almost no creatures so I can hit Emrakul every time I hit Oath.

Cards I am thinking about cutting:
Fact or Fiction – Gives great advantage, but is slow at 4 mana. Thinking about cutting it for more protection or earlier draw?

Cards I am thinking about adding:
Beast from Within – new card with great synergi with Oath, removes planeswalkers and everything else
Despise – With agro going rampant this new removal from New Phyrexia could be quite good the deck would like a couple of more first turn removal cards.
Noxious Revival – Once again a new card from New phyrexia, I am running Reclaim with success this is even better!
Moat – would love to be able to play this guy but the 2 white mana makes it to difficult! 
Mirri's Guile – Dunno if I need it, top and library is quite good.

The deck can be really fast, first turn discard followed with oath is really, really awesome! Thopter Sword combo is the way to go late game, and the deck wins more then 50% of the time in this way. The Planeswalkers can't be left untouched or you will get to your win cons fast.
Even though the deck looks like a Staxx deck it plays very different. Get to your win cons as fast as possible, protect and disrupt – proceed to win!

Thanks in advance.

Alex

I don't see why we should ban Gifts/intuition because they are powerfull? There are so many powerful cards in this format there has to be more reasons.
Are they a problem in the current meta? I totaly agree with MMD as long as the format isn't dominated by cards like Gifts and Intuition then keep them of the banned list. The format is really dominated by aggro decks right now.
DCI have been quite good with the Legacy banned list trying to unban cards and failing, then banning them again, I would love to se some cards tested in real tournaments.

[@ HIGHLANDER COMMUNITY]

@ HIGHLANDER COMMUNITY
Name:purlQg / Alex, from Denmark_________________________________________________


Questionnaire for MTG Banned List (valid due 15.10.2008, see below)

•   Ancestral Recall
•   Balance
•   Black Lotus
•   Buried Alive
•   Chaos Orb
•   Dread Return
•   Enlightened Tutor
•   Entomb
•   Falling Star
•   Fastbond
•   Flash
•   Grindstone
•   Imperial Seal
•   Library of Alexandria
•   Life from the Loam
•   Lion's Eye Diamond
•   Mana Crypt
•   Mana Vault
•   Mind Twist   
•   Mox Emerald
•   Mox Jet
•   Mox Pearl
•   Mox Ruby
•   Mox Sapphire
•   Mystical Tutor
•   Skullclamp
•   Sol Ring
•   Strip Mine
•   Survival of the Fittest
•   Tolarian Academy
•   Time Vault
•   Time Walk
•   Tinker
•   Trinisphere
•   Umezawa's Jitte
•   Vampiric Tutor
•   Wheel of Fortune
•   Yawgmoth's Will   Alle Ante-Karten:
•   Amulet of Quoz
•   Bronze Tablet
•   Contract from Below
•   Darkpact
•   Demonic Attorney
•   Jeweled Bird
•   Rebirth
•   Tempest Efreet
•   Timmerian Fiends
•   Evil Presents
•   Fruitcake Elemental
•   Gifts Given

How do you rate the banned-list on a scale from 1 to 10 (1=poor, 10=great)?
8,5

How do you rate the highlander mulligan on a scale from 1 to 10?
9 – I love it

How often do you play Highlander (mp.org-rules) in average
Once per week

How often have you played on a HL-GP?
I am a fairly new Highlander player, the GP is in Germany so never

Which cards are missing on the banned-list and why? (max. the 5 most important ones)
Many people suggest cards like Demonic Tutor and Gifts, I say no because these cards would limit the possibility of playing combo – I feel the combo decks have it hard enough already.
If you were to ban DT and Gifts, then please unban mystical and enlightened – if not you just make combo even more impossible...

The Green creature tutors could be banned – the format is moving to a more creature driven, this would balance some of it out, and mostly help the combo decks with this MU – not able to fetch Quasali or Teeg or any other creature answer with your 4 creature only tutors would make combo more doable.

Qasali Pride-Mage is to good a creature in the current meta. 2 mana for a 2/2 with 1 mana disenchant and a extra ability – that's sick. With the current meta this guy could potentially be banned.

Which cards should be deleted from the banned-list and why? (max. the 5 most important ones)

Trinisphere – not as powerful as it used to be, only playable in lockdown and this deck is not as strong as it used to be, it totally depends on your opening hand, and is a useless late game card, if you are able to cast it turn 3 and not earlier it's utter useless most the majority of the current field.

Yawgmoth's Will – great in mono black, which isn't played, potentially useable in combo, other than that not important. I feel this card would be a no brainer to unban.

Thanks a lot for participance!

Helpful suggestions are welcome!

Great with this questionnaire – nice to know your being heard