#azorius chancery

[dndsettingsinfo]

(Ravnica) Azorius Chancery [32×56] by Raakdos

[raakdos-battlemap]

[Ravnica Battlemap]Azoruis Chancery

Believing that their legislation is the singular force that prevents Ravnica from descending into chaos, the Azorius Senate mediates and regulates the activities of all of the other guilds and the general populace despite their numerous decrees being ignored in areas that they have too little a foothold in.

Variations of this map:

[mtg-polls-cube]

[greatdinn]

Assuming a 60 card deck:

3x Arrest (Jumpstart 2022 #52) 2x Eidolon of Rhetoric (Jumpstart 2022 #54) 4x Flicker of Fate (Jumpstart 2022 #56) 1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor (Jumpstart 2022 #60) 1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor (War of the Spark #56 Japanese Edition) 1x Mirror Image (Jumpstart 2022 #62) 3x Preordain (Jumpstart 2022 #63) 3x Spectral Sailor (Jumpstart 2022 #64) 4x Spellstutter Sprite (Jumpstart 2022 #65) 4x Tragic Slip (Jumpstart 2022 #74) 1x Smothering Tithe (Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales #67) 1x Rhystic Study (Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales #71) 1x Kindred Discovery (Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales #69) 1x Polluted Bonds (Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales #75) 1x Greater Auramancy (Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales #64) 2x Narset, Parter of Veils (War of the Spark #61 Japanese Edition) 1x Massacre Girl (Ravnica Remastered #425) 1 x Blitzwing, Cruel Tormentor/Blitzwing, Adaptive Assailant 1x Cyclonus, the Saboteur/Cyclonus, Cybertronian Fighter 1x Starscream, Power Hungry/Starscream, Seeker Leader 1x Azorius Chancery (Double Masters 2022 #400) 1x Dark Depths (Dominaria Remastered #454) 1x Thespian's Stage (Doctor Who #323) 1x Celestial Colonnade (Doctor Who #260) 1x Deserted Beach (Doctor Who #270) 4x Godless Shrine (Ravnica: Clue Edition #276) 4x Hallowed Fountain (Ravnica: Clue Edition #277) 4x Watery Grave (Ravnica: Clue Edition #283) 1x Plains (The Brothers' War #278) 1x Plains (Secret Lair #63) 1x Island (The Brothers' War #281) 1x Island (Secret Lair #64) 1x Swamp (Modern Horizons III #306) 1x Swamp (Secret Lair #65)

Appropriately for a deck based on smug anime girls, this is Stax based.

Magic: The Gathering deck whose theme is maximising the number of smug anime girls present in the illustrations while still having something resembling a coherent game plan.

[mtg-palettes]

Azorius Chancery

Artist: Carl Critchlow

Expansion: Double Masters 2022 (Card #400)

[pauper-planes]

Post Bans: Astrolabe is gone, what next?

This past Monday the 21st October 2019 Wizards announced that Arcum’s Astrolabe is banned in Pauper.

If like me, you had built a copy of the Jeskai Snow deck you’re probably now looking at the deck and wondering what the heck you do with the other 71 cards. While there are many articles out there discussing what post-ban pauper might look like now, I’ve yet to see any look at the options for the remaining shell moving forward, so that’s what we’re going to take a look at today.

Astrolabe has been a ubiquitous card in pauper decks since the release of Modern Horizons. Driving decks to run snow lands to allow for what essentially amounted to free fixing. We saw in our last article how it was powering up Bogles by making the splash for red easier. We’ve also seen Mono Green stompy decks running it to allow them to splash for Lightning Bolt, or multiple decks without a single green source running Weather the Storm in their sideboards. Most importantly it allowed the Jeskai decks to function, allowing for a proper 3 colour deck despite a very lean mana base.

Let’s start by taking a look at a fairly typical Jeskai list from the October 13th Pauper challenge.

The deck is geared around generating value. In the early game, Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher let you replay Astrolabe to draw you cards, setting you up for the late game where Ephemerate and Archeomancer allow you to continually blink Mulldrifter to draw or your powerful removal in Skred and Lightning Bolt before beating down the opponent with an army of flyers.

The mana is heavily skewed towards snow lands or ways to tutor up a specific colour if they don’t have an Astrolabe in play. Running just an Azorius Chancery and an Izzet Boilerworks as additional fixing beyond the single copy each of the Snow-Covered Mountain and Snow-Covered Plains. Fortunately for the deck, the bulk of the spells are blue so it can operate reasonably well and dig until it hits the required fixing to activate the Ephemerate value loop.

At first glance, the deck might seem to be dead without Astrolabe, but that’s not strictly true. While the mana does become much more difficult, an immediate replacement could be something like Prophetic Prism. Prism costs 2 generic mana but otherwise behaves the same as Astrolabe. It draws a card when it enters the battlefield and filters your mana. However, it slows the deck down as you can’t cast it on turn 1, but it has a similar effect and as a quick budget option to keep the deck playable it’s a possibility. Another option that has been suggested is Navigator’s Compass, which gains you three life instead of drawing a card.

To make the mana easier you could also cut back on the red splash, cutting Skred or Lightning Bolt to make you less reliant on hitting the fixing. You could even cut the deck back to just Blue-White and add some additional Journey to Nowheres or counterspells to shore up the holes left in your removal. Something like Sunlance might also be very useful creature removal.

If you cut Skred you also find yourself in the position of not needing Snow mana. While you might still choose to run snow lands for style points, it does free up some slots to experiment with a copy or two of Mystic Sanctuary which could help make up for some shortcomings of losing access to red.

However, you might also be looking at the upcoming Banned and Restricted announcement on November 18th and be wondering if Ephemerate decks continue to dominate if that might be the next card in R&D’s crosshairs. Certainly, Ephemerate has powered up Tron decks with Stonehorn Dignitary, and while the banning of Astrolabe has also slowed them down slightly, it’s a barely noticeable bump in the road for them.

In which case it might be worth looking at back some lists that haven’t really seen much play since Modern Horizons launched, for instance, Izzet Delver. This list contains a lot of the spells already in the Jeskai lists and has a very similar mana base. The namesake card is Delver of Secrets. On its front side a 1/1 for a single blue doesn’t seem like much, but in a spell-heavy deck getting it to transform to a 3/2 flyer is pretty easy. While it doesn’t fight well against Kor Skyfisher and friends, if those decks start to see less play then it becomes a powerful option again. You also get excellent card draw options in Faerie Miscreant and Ninja of the Deep Hours.  So the deck does have legs even if it doesn’t quite generate the same value as the Ephemerate Archeomancer loop. However, the deck does pick up some new toys from Throne of Eldraine such as Mantle of TIdes and Mystic Sanctuary.

At the time of publication, the weekly Pauper Challenge is in progress so Monday will give us a good idea of promising decklists and new spicy additions that might keep the deck in the top leagues. Even if it turns out that nobody has quite found a Jeskai deck that can immediately replace this one the core blue card draw spells like Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm and Mulldrifter will continue to have a strong presence in the format. You invested in a deck that has a powerful core of cards, so there’s no need to throw them away and start again.

One thing is for certain, the format has been shaken up quite considerably. It’s likely that with Astrolabe out of the format there is room for exploration. There are still cards from the pauper ban list unification such as Mystic Remora that have yet to be fully explored, and likely still some toys from Modern Horizons and Throne of Eldraine that haven’t had a chance to shine yet. Mystic Sanctuary probably being the biggest of those in my opinion. The requirement for a very snow-heavy mana base hasn’t given players a chance to really utilise its full potential. Maybe invest in a playset of Deprive if you want to be truly monstrous.

I hope this article has been useful for you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with feedback or questions, either here on Tumblr or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PauperPlanes

[jones-friend]

An Updated Reference for Multi Lands (in Building a Budget Manabase)

Colorless of Note

Reliquary Tower

Geier Reach Sanitarium

Ghost Quarter

Tectonic Edge

Arch of Orazca

Detection Tower

Arcane Lighthouse

Field of Ruin

Zhalfirin Void

Buried Ruin

Sequestered Stash

High Market

Isolated Watchtower

Temple of the False God

Maze of Ith

Mystifying Maze

Dual

Orzhov - Orzhov Basilica, Orzhov Guildgate, Scoured Barrens, Foresaken Sanctuary, Tainted Field, Salt Flats

Isolated Chapel, Godless Shrine, Shambling Vent, Concealed Courtyard, Caves of Koilos, Fetid Heath

Dimir - Dimir Aqueduct, Dimir Guildgate, Dismal Backwater, Salt Marsh, Submerged Boneyard, Frost Marsh, Jwar Isle Refuge, Dreadship Reach, Tainted Isle, Waterfall Cavern, Rootwater Depths

Drowned Catacomb, Watery Grave, Choked Estuary, Sunken Hollow, Fetid Pools, Underground River, Darkwater Catacombs, Sunken Ruins, Morphic Pool

Golgari - Golgari Rot Farm, Golgari Guildgate, Foul Orchard, Jungle Hollow, Tainted Wood, Pine Barrens

Woodland Cemetery, Overgrown Tomb, Hissing Quagmire, Blooming Marsh, Llanowar Wastes, Twilight Mire

Rakdos - Rakdos Carnarium, Rakdos Guildgate, Urborg Volcano, Cinder Barrens, Bloodfell Caves, Akoum Refuge, Molten Slagheap, Tainted Peak, Lantern-Lit Graveyard, Cinder Marsh

Dragonskull Summit, Blood Crypt, Foreboding Ruins, Smoldering Marsh, Canyon Slough, Sulfurous Springs, Shadowblood Ridge, Graven Cairns, Luxury Suite

Boros - Boros Garrison, Boros Guildgate, Stone Quarry, Wind-Scarred Crag, Scabland

Clifftop Retreat, Sacred Foundry, Needle Spires, Inspiring Vantage, Battlefield Forge, Rugged Prairie

Azorius - Azorius Chancery, Azorius Guildgate, Coastal Tower, Meandering River, Boreal Shelf, Sejiri Refuge, Tranquil Cove, Calciform Pools, Cloudcrest Lake, Thalakos Lowlands

Glacial Fortress, Hallowed Fountain, Port Town, Prairies Stream, Irrigated Farmland, Adarkar Wastes, Skycloud Expanse, Mystic Gate, Sea of Clouds

Selesnya - Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Guildgate, Elfhame Palace, Tranquil Expanse, Arctic Flats, Graypelt Refuge, Blossoming Sands, Saltcrusted Steppe, Tranquil Garden, Vecc Townships

Sunpetal Grove, Temple Garden, Fortified Village, Canopy Vista, Scattered Groves, Brushland, Sungrass Prairie, Wooded Bastion, Bountiful Promenade

Simic - Simic Growth Chamber, Simic Guildgate, Woodland Stream, Thornwood Falls, Skyshroud Forest

Hinterland Harbor, Breeding Pool, Lumbering Falls, Botanical Sanctum, Yavimaya Coast, Flooded Grove

Izzet - Izzet Boilerworks, Izzet Guildgate, Highland Lake, Swiftwater Cliffs, Caldera Lake

Sulfur Falls, Steam Vents, Spirebluff Canal, Wandering Fumarole, Shivan Reef, Cascade Bluffs

Gruul - Gruul Turf, Gruul Guildgate, Shivan Oasis, Timber Gorge, Highland Weald, Kazandu Refuge, Rugged Highlands, Fungal Reaches, Pinecrest Ridge, Mogg Hollows

Rootbound Crag, Stomping Grounds, Game Trail, Cinder Glade, Sheltered Thicket, Karplusian Forest, Mossfire Ridge, Fire-lit Thicket, Spire Garden

Triple Lands

Shards - Seaside Citadel, Crumbling Necropolis (Crypt of the Eternals), Arcane Sanctum, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine

Khans - Sandsteppe Citadel, Frontier Bivouac, Nomad Outpost, Opulent Palace, Mystic Monastery

Multicolor

Command Tower, Transguild Promenade, Rupture Spire, Gateway Plaza

Exotic Orchard, Forbidden Orchard, Reflecting Pool, Pillar of the Paruns, Primal Beyond, Mana Confluence, Ancient Ziggurat, City of Brass, Grand Coliseum, Haven of the Spirit Dragon, Ally Encampment, Rainbow Vale, Sliver Hive, Spire of Industry, Undiscovered Paradise, Unclaimed Territory, Path of Ancestry

Vivid Grove, Crag, Creek, Marsh, Meadow

Fetches

Basic Land

Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, Myriad Landscape, Panoramas

Land Type

Bad River, Flood Plain, Grasslands, Krosan Verge, Mountain Valley, Rocky Tar Pit

[daleketer]

O'er the Ramparts We Watched 2019-08-24

by DaleKeter

Mainboard (100)

Land (39)

1 Ash Barrens

1 Azorius Chancery

1 Boros Garrison

1 Celestial Colonnade

1 Command Beacon

1 Command Tower

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Forbidden Orchard

1 Geier Reach Sanitarium

5 Island

1 Izzet Boilerworks

1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea

5 Mountain

1 Mystic Monastery

1 Needle Spires

5 Plains

1 Rainbow Vale

1 Swiftwater Cliffs

1 Temple of Enlightenment

1 Temple of Epiphany

1 Temple of the False God

1 Temple of Triumph

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Tranquil Cove

1 Wandering Fumarole

1 Wind-Scarred Crag

Instant (8)

1 Blue Elemental Blast

1 Domineering Will

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Hydroblast

1 Mandate of Peace

1 Pyroblast

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Reins of Power

Creature (17)

1 Akroan Horse

1 Boldwyr Heavyweights

1 Charmed Griffin

1 Dockside Extortionist

1 Hunted Dragon

1 Hunted Phantasm

1 Kami of the Crescent Moon

1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

1 Magus of the Disk

1 Magus of the Moat

1 Shah of Naar Isle

1 Soldevi Sentry

1 Swans of Bryn Argoll

1 Varchild's War-Riders

1 Wall of Shards

1 Wall of Stolen Identity

1 Windborn Muse

Artifact (10)

1 Azorius Signet

1 Bloodthirsty Blade

1 Boros Signet

1 Commander's Sphere

1 Font of Mythos

1 Helm of Awakening

1 Howling Mine

1 Izzet Signet

1 Norn's Annex

1 Sol Ring

Planeswalker (4)

1 Jace Beleren

1 Ral Zarek

1 Rowan Kenrith

1 Will Kenrith

Commander (1)

1 Pramikon, Sky Rampart

Sorcery (12)

1 Besmirch

1 Council's Judgment

1 Disrupt Decorum

1 Divine Reckoning

1 Expropriate

1 Fortunate Few

1 Mass Diminish

1 Order of Succession

1 Play of the Game

1 Show and Tell

1 Slaughter the Strong

1 Windfall

Enchantment (9)

1 Crescendo of War

1 Fevered Visions

1 Ghostly Prison

1 Mana Flare

1 Oath of Scholars

1 Propaganda

1 Vow of Duty

1 Vow of Flight

1 Vow of Lightning

[15-dollars-and-a-dream]

Budget MTGO, Lands [EDH]

[Detailed List Here]

This is the final part of my series in budget staples for Commander on MTGO. The goal of this series was to hopefully get some newer players into the Commander scene on MTGO, you can build some extremely powerful decks on extreme budgets. Previously we talked about card draw, we talked about ramp, and we talked about removal. In todays final part, we are talking about land choices. As with the previous 3 lists, the goal is to keep every card under 1Tix. However, as is always the case with lands, the blue ones are more expensive, as such a few cards do go over budget, but not by much. I didn’t want to break up the cycles and neglect blue players. There isn’t a lot to talk about when it comes to specifics here. Which is why I’m instead going to talk about making a mana base on a budget. 

Online i see a lot of people using Khans life lands, and RtR gates. You deserve better. With the exception of Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse, budget lands that come into play tapped tend to be awful. The reason being, you’re putting yourself a turn behind the rest of the table. The more of them you run, the more turns you’re effectively not playing a land. I find it better to run more basics, and compensate with cards like Burnished Hart, than to flood yourself with cards like this.

An easy way to avoid getting stuck on a colour while playing a lot of basics is to do some basic math. Count up the pips in your cards, find out a total of each one. In the above image I have a Blue Black Scarab God good stuff deck I’m currently tinkering with. I intend to run 38 lands, and my current distribution is 42 U (not counting metamorph, but counting Scarab God), and 24 B. So that’s 42:24 or 10.5:6 (I know you shouldn't use decimals in ratios, but its fine dw about it). So in my actual mana base, I will have a number of nonbasics that tap for both colours, and a number that tap for neither. In this specific case, I have room for 12 basics, and already have 2 nonbasics that already produce B. so if I run 9 Islands and 3 Swamps ill be a 9:5 ratio, which is as close as I can get to 42:24.

And you could stop there and be fine. But, lets take a closer look at this deck. Looking at 1-3 drops only, its 16 U to 14 B. So my early turns are more weighted toward black than my end game. By the time I’m casting 4-6 drops my mana will have had time to smooth out. So instead of going 9:5, I could go 8:7 and have closer to an even distribution. 

That’s a lot of rambly numbers with no clear and explicit point. So to clarify, If you look closely at your mana distribution, both in intensity of cost, and frequencey through curve, you can tune your mana base to increase the odds of getting exactly what you need, instead of just running more bad lands that slow down your game plan.

It might sound hypocritical to say that, and then post a list full of tap lands. The Cycling lands while giving you a tempo disadvantage early, can offset that problem by allowing you to cylce them away for cards that help with your game plan. I only recommend those for slower more mid range or control decks, as their first few turns often aren’t very exciting. 

The Check lands from BFZ are not great if you don’t have fetch lands, which you probably wont on MTGO if you’re reading this. However, as I am recommending you play more basics than the average tuned deck, while you cant fetch these, they’re closer to the Glacial Fortress cycle in this case. 

Finally, The tri lands from Alara and Khans. To be honest, I try not to play these. However, 3 and 4 colour decks are hard to build a mana base for on a budget. You cant as easily just run more basics, as you’re trying to hit too many colours in 3-5 turns. 

I hope this series has been useful. If you have any questions or suggestions please let us know!

[Detailed List Here]

Stay chill, stay hydrated. Love you. -IZ

Adarkar Wastes Arcane Sanctum Azorius Chancery Battlefield Forge Boros Garrison Bountiful Promenade Brushland Canopy Vista Canyon Slough Caves of Koilos Cinder Glade Clifftop Retreat Command Tower Crumbling Necropolis Dimir Aqueduct Dragonskull Summit Drowned Catacomb Fetid Pools Forest Frontier Bivouac Ghost Quarter Glacial Fortress Golgari Rot Farm Gruul Turf Hinterland Harbor Irrigated Farmland Island Isolated Chapel Izzet Boilerworks Jungle Shrine Karplusan Forest Llanowar Wastes Luxury Suite Morphic Pool Mountain Mystic Monastery Nomad Outpost Opulent Palace Orzhov Basilica Plains Prairie Stream Rakdos Carnarium Rootbound Crag Sandsteppe Citadel Savage Lands Scattered Groves Scavenger Grounds Sea Gate Wreckage Sea of Clouds Seaside Citadel Selesnya Sanctuary Sheltered Thicket Shivan Reef Simic Growth Chamber Smoldering Marsh Spire Garden Sulfur Falls Sulfurous Springs Sunken Hollow Sunpetal Grove Swamp Tectonic Edge Underground River Woodland Cemetery Yavimaya Coast

[sphinx-sphanx-sphunx]

Isperia was a bitch, but damn if she wasn’t a huge bitch. Azor seems to have been a pretty normal-sized sphinx, so I guess he just decided to leave the parunship to the largest lady he could find.

I had thought the new Azorius Chancery had her on it, but even at her smallest she still seems to barely fit in that dome, whereas the Chancery sphinx is just like, regular big. Not bad, just, less.

its unfortunate that isperia was who she was because this is what a supremely fuckable entity looks like

look at that scale. shes SO fuckin BIG

[raakdos-battlemap]

[Ravnica Battlemap]Azorius Chancery (Night) 32x56

The Azorius Senate are characterized as being aloof, bureaucratic, excessively formalistic, and fastidious, spending hours upon hours with legal documents and ensuring action, if any should occur, stringently adheres to protocol.

More variations of this map:

[mtgbracket]

Round of 8192 - Batch 94

You can now vote in Batch 94!

Currently open batches:

Batch 94 Batch 93 Batch 92 Batch 91 Batch 90 Batch 89 Batch 88

Batch 87 results will be up shortly.

Feature card: Very much in the race for the best Invitational card of all, Bob Maher’s Dark Confidant has an easy matchup this round but deserves to go very far!

Full list of matchups:

Redirect vs Fathom Seer Tajic, Blade of the Legion vs Xathrid Demon Angelic Benediction vs Sprouting Phytohydra Galvanic Key vs Entrails Feaster Kraul Warrior vs Orim's Chant Metallurgic Summonings vs Illuminate Korlash, Heir to Blackblade vs Supply-Line Cranes Curse of Stalked Prey vs Ulamog's Nullifier Thoughtweft Gambit vs Into the Wilds Kagemaro, First to Suffer vs Mesa Pegasus Graceful Adept vs Dawn to Dusk Bringer of the Red Dawn vs Vault of the Archangel Emperor Crocodile vs Crown of Convergence Always Watching vs Lead the Stampede Rith, the Awakener vs Goatnapper Morselhoarder vs Coiling Oracle Pulmonic Sliver vs Blood-Cursed Knight Karplusan Strider vs Intimidation Bolt Necroskitter vs Azorius Chancery Skullbriar, the Walking Grave vs Child of Gaea Resounding Thunder vs Impact Resonance Bloodbriar vs Grizzled Angler Feral Thallid vs Sigil Tracer Sultai Ascendancy vs Akki Drillmaster Carrion Feeder vs Lion's Eye Diamond Dark Confidant vs Harvest Hand Gift of the Deity vs Nimbus Swimmer Melt Terrain vs Tower Defense Shape Anew vs Megantic Sliver Sultai Soothsayer vs Celestial Mantle Guerrilla Tactics vs Jump Fetid Imp vs Serra's Embrace

[revelens-light]

Ebay Link

Last weekend, one of the lands was Azorius Chancery with Market Festival AND verdant Haven. My finest moment!

[calemor]

Edgelord (Dakkon Blackblade)

In case anybody is interested, I put together a commander deck with the cards I already own. Note this is my first attempt at constructing a commander deck, so a lot of these are just cards I like that may or may not work. I already have cards I want to buy to put in (like the obviously missing lands). I appreciate any feedback!

COMMANDER Dakkon Blackblade

ARTIFACTS Commander’s Sphere Cultivator’s Caravan Darksteel Ingot Dimir Cluestone Explorer’s Scope Mind Stone Pithing Needle Seer’s Sundial Sol Ring Sword of the Animist

CREATURES Archaeomancer Aven Mindcensor Chief of the Edge Chief of the Scale Dragonlord Ojutai Fathom Feeder Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer Hythonia the Cruel Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy Kaho, Minamo Historian Lavinia of the Tenth Oblivion Sower Ojutai, Soul of Winter Opaline Unicorn Pilgrim’s Eye Reflector Mage Sifter of Skulls

ENCHANTMENTS Ghostly Prison Gideon’s Intervention Mind’s Dilation Oblivion Ring Pacifism Propaganda INSTANTS & SORCERIES Anguished Unmaking Anticipate Arcane Denial Crux of Fate Diabolic Tutor Disallow Eerie Interlude End Hostilities Essence Scatter Extinguish All Hope Fascination Migratory Route Murder Negate Ojutai’s Command Open the Armory Opportunity Painful Truths Planar Outburst Sign in Blood Silence the Believers Swan Song Swords to Plowshares Treasure Cruise Utter End

PLANESWALKERS Jace, Memory Adept Ob Nixilis Reignited Sorin, Grim Nemesis

LANDS Azorius Chancery Caves of Koilos Command Tower Dimir Guildgate Dismal Backwater Encroaching Wastes Evolving Wilds Exotic Orchard Forsaken Sanctuary Island (6) Mage-Ring Network Myriad Landscape Opal Palace Orzhov Guildgate Plains (6) Polluted Delta Rupture Spire Scoured Barrens Submerged Boneyard Swamp (5) Terramorphic Expanse Tranquil Cove Transguild Promenade Unknown Shores

[jones-friend]

By popular demand, here’s an extensive multicolor land list for budget deckbuilding

Dual

Orzhov - Orzhov Basilica, Orzhov Guildgate, Scoured Barrens, Foresaken Sanctuary, Tainted Field, Salt Flats

Isolated Chapel, Godless Shrine, Shambling Vent, Concealed Courtyard

Dimir - Dimir Aqueduct, Dimir Guildgate, Dismal Backwater, Salt Marsh, Submerged Boneyard, Frost Marsh, Jwar Isle Refuge, Dreadship Reach, Tainted Isle, Waterfall Cavern, Rootwater Depths

Drowned Catacomb, Watery Grave, Choked Estuary, Sunken Hollow, Fetid Pools

Golgari - Golgari Rot Farm, Golgari Guildgate, Foul Orchard, Jungle Hollow, Tainted Wood, Pine Barrens

Woodland Cemetery, Overgrown Tomb, Hissing Quagmire, Blooming Marsh

Rakdos - Rakdos Carnarium, Rakdos Guildgate, Urborg Volcano, Cinder Barrens, Bloodfell Caves, Akoum Refuge, Molten Slagheap, Tainted Peak, Lantern-Lit Graveyard, Cinder Marsh

Dragonskull Summit, Blood Crypt, Foreboding Ruins, Smoldering Marsh, Canyon Slough

Boros - Boros Garrison, Boros Guildgate, Stone Quarry, Wind-Scarred Crag, Scabland

Clifftop Retreat, Sacred Foundry, Needle Spires, Inspiring Vantage

Azorius - Azorius Chancery, Azorius Guildgate, Coastal Tower, Meandering River, Boreal Shelf, Sejiri Refuge, Tranquil Cove, Calciform Pools, Cloudcrest Lake, Thalakos Lowlands

Glacial Fortress, Hallowed Fountain, Port Town, Prairies Stream, Irrigated Farmland

Selesnya - Selesnya Sanctuary, Selesnya Guildgate, Elfhame Palace, Tranquil Expanse, Arctic Flats, Graypelt Refuge, Blossoming Sands, Saltcrusted Steppe, Tranquil Garden, Vecc Townships

Sunpetal Grove, Temple Garden, Fortified Village, Canopy Vista, Scattered Groves

Simic - Simic Growth Chamber, Simic Guildgate, Woodland Stream, Thornwood Falls, Skyshroud Forest

Hinterland Harbor, Breeding Pool, Lumbering Falls, Botanical Sanctum

Izzet - Izzet Boilerworks, Izzet Guildgate, Highland Lake, Swiftwater Cliffs, Caldera Lake

Sulfur Falls, Steam Vents, Spirebluff Canal, Wandering Fumarole

Gruul - Gruul Turf, Gruul Guildgate, Shivan Oasis, Timber Gorge, Highland Weald, Kazandu Refuge, Rugged Highlands, Fungal Reaches, Pinecrest Ridge, Mogg Hollows

Rootbound Crag, Stomping Grounds, Game Trail, Cinder Glade, Sheltered Thicket

Triple Lands

Shards - Seaside Citadel, Crumbling Necropolis, Arcane Sanctum, Savage Lands, Jungle Shrine

Khans - Sandsteppe Citadel, Frontier Bivouac, Nomad Outpost, Opulent Palace, Mystic Monastery

Multicolor

Any - Command Tower, Transguild Promenade, Rupture Spire

Any with Stipulations - Exotic Orchard, Forbidden Orchard, Reflecting Pool, Pillar of the Paruns, Primal Beyond, Mana Confluence, Ancient Ziggurat, City of Brass, Grand Coliseum, Haven of the Spirit Dragon, Ally Encampment, Rainbow Vale, Sliver Hive, Spire of Industry

Charge Counters - Vivid Grove, Crag, Creek, Marsh, Meadow, Mirrodin’s Core

Fetches

Basic Land

Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, Myriad Landscape, Panoramas

Land Type

Bad River, Flood Plain, Grasslands, Krosan Verge, Mountain Valley, Rocky Tar Pit

[pauperpedia]

Tuesday Brewsday 25: Caw Blade

After taking a week off I’m back, bringing you a new twist on an old classic. Caw Blade has been around since Stoneforge Mystic and Squadron Hawk were legal in standard back in Mirrodin Block 2011. Brian Kibler was the first one to pioneer such a deck to pretty good success. Pauper doesn’t have powerful Planeswalkers like Jace, the Mindsculptor or Gideon Jura, nor does it have the awesome swords that pushed the deck over the top. However, we do have a poor man’s Stoneforge Mystic in Trinket Mage which helps grab us a slew of artifacts from our library. Since pauper lacks a powerful midrange gameplan like the old standard or modern versions of Caw Blade, this version needs to rely on quick beats from Delver of Secrets. So, what does this pauper version look like and why is it an improvement over previous versions?

4 Brainstorm

4 Squadron Hawk

4 Of One Mind

4 Delver of Secrets

4 Trinket Mage

4 Navigator's Compass

1 Relic of Progenitus

1 Bonesplitter

1 Sylvok Lifestaff

1 Ancient Den

1 Seat of the Synod

1 Great Furnace

2 Battle Screech

1 Cenn’s Enlistment

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Counterspell

1 Capsize

3 Ash Barrens

2 Evolving Wilds

5 Island

3 Plains

1 Mountain

4 Azorius Chancery

Brainstorm is one of the best spells to play in pauper for its raw power, flexibility and cheap cost. The ability to hide cards from targeted discard spells, the possibility of digging through a deck for answers/clock/ combo pieces, and being able to clear our hand from unnecessary spells or excess lands is amazing. All these options make this cantrip the spell of choice in Ux decks. However, what if I told you there's a way to make it even better. By casting Squadron Hawk prior to Brainstorming, you'll net yourself three hawks. When you Brainstorm, putting back the hawks, you transform those 3 Hawks into hopeful spells. Then you can play a Hawk, digging for the 2 Hawks you put back before. . +5 cards in your hand (and two flying chumpblockers on the battlefield) just by sleeving up a playset of birds that play fetch better than your furry best friend at home, and running a couple of Brainstorms.

Of One Mind is the format’s most recently printed card to make waves. Every pauper community was having the discussion on how to best implement it. Everyone knew drawing two cards for one mana would be good. The big problem was finding a ways to consistently have a human and non human on the battlefield. Well I think this card has the chance to transform Caw Blade into a great deck. Since we’re running a total of eight humans alongside birds that can easily fetch more copies, and non human tokens, there is a good chance we will always meet the criteria. Decks in the past had a higher top end and ran Mulldrifters or Custodi Squire to out value opponents in the mid game. Delver of Secrets alongside Squadron Hawk, Brainstorm, and Of One Mind really help push the deck in an aggressive direction without taking away the value.

Trinket Mage is a strong card in pauper that doesn’t get as much love as it should. Most of the time this artifact loving wizard is going to grab Bonesplitter to push through damage and end the game quickly. There are times however when you need to play defensively and you can grab Sylvok Lifestaff which can buy you time to stabilize. Maybe you need to gain three life against burn, you can pull out Navigator’s Compass. Relic of Progenitus can be fetched when you’re up against Fog Tron, Mystic Sanctuary decks, Familiars, Boros decks that run Prismatic Strands, or Mono Black decks that abuse their graveyard. Maybe you want more mana or need to color fix to be able to cast Lightning Bolt, you can grab Ancient Den, Seat of the Synod, or Great Furnace.

Post sideboard you can draw out your silver bullet needed to give you the edge in a match.

Since Delver of Secrets requires a fair amount of spells, but the deck also needs creatures to make Of One Mind work, I felt it was necessary to run Battle Screech and Cenn’s Enlistment. Battle Screech can turn a non threatening board state into one that can be very intimidating. Cenn’s Enlistment is a constant spell that can be cast from the graveyard and piggy back off of the playset of Karoo lands. Strapping on Sylvok Lifestaff to one of these Kithkin can be enough to hold off hyper aggressive decks.

Lightning Bolt and Counterspell are two iconic cards that almost every deck that runs either U or R plays. With the help of Ash Barrens, Evolving Wilds, Trinket Mage, and Navigator’s Compass the opportunity to run Lightning Bolt wasn’t one I could pass up. Being able to give the deck a bit of reach or getting rid of a creature when it matters most is where this decks wants to be. You could argue and say Journey to Nowhere might be better for the sake of a smoother mana base and less chance to fall victim to rng. I like to live dangerously however, and besides I want to run Delver and Lightning Bolt is an Instant whereas Journey to Nowhere is not.

1 Relic of Progenitus

2 Aether Spellbomb

1 Gingerbrute

1 Viridian Longbow

2 Prismatic Strands

2 Electrickery

2 Red Elemental Blast

1 Dispel

1 Leave No Trace

2 Shenanigans

Having another copy of Relic of Progenitus in the sideboard is for situations you need to double down on your graveyard hate.

Aether Spellbomb is for creatures that Bolt can kill which could cause a problem for you. You’re going to enjoy forcing your opponent to dump more of their library into the graveyard for Gurmag Angler, stalling an Ulamog’s Crusher from annihilating your board, or preventing your affinity opponent from swinging in with a Temur Battle Raged Atog.

Gingerbrute is excellent tech against Boros Monarch players that rely on Prismatic Strand or an abundance of blockers. Not only does this fast cookie get around Strands because it’s colorless, but you can also make it unblockable to continually take the Monarch and turn the tables on your opponent.

Viridian Longbow is a good solution when your up against faeries, other birds, elves, or Fog Tron. You’re more than likely taking out Sylvok Lifestaff for this card.

Prismatic Strands is one of the best spells white decks can run which is why you see it Boros decks. It just does so much from preventing burn from killing you, giving you a few extra turns against Hexproof/Stompy/RDW, or answering an Electrickery.

I like Red Elemental Blast here over Blue Elemental Blast. There isn’t much I would want to counter if it was red that Prismatic Strands already answers. Blue spells however, can be problematic and require a bit more attention.

Dispel is a good answer when you feel you might get into a good old fashioned counter war with your opponent. Every last mana counts and being able to come out on top simply because you had one more blue source than your opponent is a great feeling.

Leave No trace is there primarily for Hexproof, but can also come in handy when you’re facing an opponent running an abundance of Journey to Nowhere’s or miscellaneous enchantments.

Since playing Boros Bully I’ve fallen in love with Shenanigans. Since I’m running Delver of Secrets, being able to run a spell instead of Gorilla Shaman is paramount. Especially since I could easily lock affinity out of the game after turn two by just recasting it when I need to every turn.

Caw Blade is just one of those decks that I feel is almost there. Maybe we need better one mana artifacts to really push it? I do think Of One Mind and running Delver has improved it though. So what are you waiting for, get out there and scream Caw Caw as you demolish your opponent. Please visit and like/follow my Facebook page pauperpedia, a fan page dedicated to bringing you links to daily articles, videos, and podcast covering Pauper. You can also email me at Pauperpedia@gmail.com if any of you have submissions as well. Till next time folks, have a happy Brewsday!