Let Your Soul Glow: Custom MtG Spirit Tokens

With Lingering Souls and Moorland Haunt being two of the biggest cards in the format, 1/1 flying spirit tokens are everywhere, and my decks are no exception.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, the 1/1 Spirit tokens from Wizards are oogly, and I like playing with pimped out cards whenever I can.  I asked my good friend and Ah-Chinese Soul Brother #1, KEVIN ANG, if he could do some Photoshop work for me and, like the pro he is, turned these out for me in about an hour.  Kevo, lunch is coming soon, Brother! Thank you! ;)

Without further adieu, here's my BLACK SOUL SPIRITS token collection:

 

Whitney Houston

 Aliyah

 Biggie Smalls

 Donna Summer

Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez

 Luther Vandross

(my favorite :) )

Michael Jackson

 Nate Dogg

Tupac Shakur

There is nothing like beating down on your opponent with a 1/1 flying Luther Vandross... ♫♬ Neva too much, neva too much, neva too much, neva too much ♫♬ ...

DECK TECH: Secret! (U/R Talrand/Burning Vengeance)

I've been playing Burning Vengeance (BV) for a few months now and I LOVE IT!  It's totally "my style" in that it's a grindy, weirdo-control deck with lots of little decisions and funky interactions.  M13 just came out and I wanted to try Talrand in BV... It works INCREDIBLY well!  I can't wait to continue testing and tweaking this deck; Talrand/BV seems like my it'll be one of my Standard go-to decks as Scars rotates out in a few months.

(Talrand, Sky Summoner by Svetlin Velinov)

SECRET!
by
Phil "Fat Ninja" Tacata
(You can find the TCG Player link to this deck along with card descriptions and sample hand generator here.)

4x Burning Vengeance
2x Secrets of the Dead

4x Faithless Looting
4x Think Twice
2x Desperate Ravings

4x Geistflame
3x Slagstorm
4x Vapor Snag
2x Mana Leak
1x Ancient Grudge

4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Talrand, Sky Summoner

4x Sulfur Falls
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Desolate Lighthouse
2x Evolving Wilds
1x Forest
7x Island
7x Mountain
---------------------------------------------
OBJECTIVE AND PLAY-STYLE
Secret!, named after my probably-shouldn't-be-in-the-deck secret tech -Secrets of the Dead-, is my ultra-grindy-graveyard-dump-creature-control Burning Vengeance deck.  The object is to get a Burning Vengeance online and cast a butt-load of cards from your graveyard to kill your opponent's creatures and, eventually, your opponent.  M13 brings a card that has great synergy with BV, Talrand, Sky Summoner, who, in a deck filled with instants and sorceries, creates massive armies of 2/2 flying drakes to supplement your attack.

ENGINE
You need access to massive amounts of cards in your hand and in your graveyard both to 1) draw your BV and 2) to power your BV.  Faithless Looting, Think Twice, and Desperate Ravings along with the flashback power of Snapcaster Mage do the job nicely.  Secrets of the Dead is a pretty amazing card drawing engine on its own.  Talrand also provides an alternate-win source of seemingly never-ending drakes... So long as you can keep drawing and burying instants and sorceries. 

CARDS
-Burning Vengeance:  Secrets! doesn't win without it.  Your primary objective is to get one online as early as possible and start controlling the board.

-Faithless Looting, Think Twice:  your two best BV enablers.  4 copies of each is a must.

-Desperate Ravings:  in terms of cantripping, DR does the same job as Think Twice and, if your hand is filled with cards you can afford to lose to your graveyard, is actually better than TT.  So, why am I not playing with a full playset of Ravings?  The answer isn't the Ravings' fault; it's my inability to play it correctly!  It seems every time I have a DR in hand or the graveyard, I also have a card I really want in my hand (like a BV or Slagstorm), so I chicken-out and don't feel comfortable pulling the trigger and "just doing it."  Honestly, I SHOULD have 4x copies of DR, but my playstyle doesn't support it, so I've swapped out 2 copies for the namesake of the deck...
  
-Secrets of the Dead:  this card is probably not as good as DR in terms of immediate value, but if you can get this thing online early, over the course of the game, the card advantage it accrues is unbeatable.  I like it because whenever I draw it, I play it and don't have to think about it anymore.  Secret!

-Geistflame:  BV players are either on one side of the fence or the other when it comes to Geistflame.  I LOVE IT and think it's indispensable.  Kills mana dorks and one drops early, becomes an Incinerate with a BV online... Cheap and good and an auto-4-of in my deck.

-Slagstorm:  I can't decide whether Slagstorm or Bonfire of the Damned is better for this deck, but right now, Slagstorm works better with my playstyle and in my meta, so I'll rock the rockslide so long as it's legal.  However, theoretically, Bonfire works MUCH better with Talrand... We'll see how this goes with more testing :)

-Mana Leak, Vapor Snag, Snapcaster Mage:  it's been the core of the best deck in Standard for over a year and it's just as strong in BV.  Long live Ken Jeong!

-Talrand, Sky Summoner:  a weakness of BV decks is that BV is usually the ONLY way to win.  While this is still pretty much true, the Legendary Merfolk is a step in the right direction as he works incredibly well with your existing (and re-useable) spell-set.  Theoretically, he is now a win condition on his own, but more realistically, he just makes your BV that much stronger.

-Ancient Grudge, Rootbound Crag, Hinterland Harbor, Forest, Evolving Wilds:  a single copy of Grudge can help you deal with pesky Swords, Batterskulls, Metamorphs, and the BV deck killer, Grafdigger's Cage.  M13 brings back Relic of Progenitus, but what 'cha gonna do?  Just sideboard in more Grudges and let it fly :)

OTHER NOTES
Burning Vengeance decks require a specific kind of "sickness" to play; if you like (virtual) creatureless decks that draw and play lots of cards, BV might be for you.  It's a weird deck, but once you get that Vengeance online, you feel pretty damn awesomesauce ;)

As Scars Block rotates out, this deck only loses 3 cards, two of which (Slagstorm & Vapor Snag) have pretty much exact analogs for substitutes (Bonfire of the Damned & Unsummon).  Mana Leak is sorta on the way out anyway (because of Cavern of Souls), and maybe that's the 2-of slot I'll finally fill with the last two Desperate Ravings.

(Secrets of the Dead by Eytan Zana)

**(7/28/12) Played 2 long sets against Red Deck Wins and U/B Zombies today and did well (broke even against RDW and swept Zombies).  I finally overcame my fears and subbed out the 2x Secrets of the Dead for +1x Talrand, Sky Summoner and +1x Desperate Ravings.  The deck is much more streamlined and it's really nice to have the extra copy of the Sky Summoner.  Talrand has turned out to be every bit as good as I thought... He's AMAZING!  Now all I need to do is make Drake (the rapper) and Sir Francis Drake tokens :p

DECK TECH: Mr. Roboto (R/G Liquimetal Coating Permanent Destruction)

I got this idea from my friend Marcel White (Monday Night Magic) back on Christmas of 2011.  I absolutely love this deck, from conception to execution... DISCLAIMER: if you play someone with it -and it works the way it's supposed to- they probably won't like you very much.  You have been warned :p

(Liquimetal Coating by Johann Bodin)

Mr. Roboto

by

Phil "Fat Ninja" Tacata

(You can find the TCG Player link to this deck along with card descriptions and sample hand generator here.)

4x Liquimetal Coating

4x Ancient Grudge

3x Faithless Looting

3x Birthing Pod

4x Manic Vandal

3x Huntmaster of the Fells

1x Oxidda Scrapmelter

3x Zealous Conscripts

1x Acidic Slime

3x Inferno Titan

2x Whipflare

1x Slagstorm

4x Bonfire of the Damned

4x Copperline Gorge

4x Rootbound Crag

9x Mountain

7x Forest

---------------------------------------------

OBJECTIVE AND PLAY-STYLE

Mr. Roboto, so-named because I like to use Liquimetal Coating (LMC) to turn my opponents into titanium-coated robots :p, is a Red/Green Permanent Destruction deck that looks to destroy relevant permanents -especially lands- using the power of LMC in combination with artifact destruction cards like Ancient Grudge and Manic Vandal.  The deck is very slow and you will often find yourself taking 10-15 points of damage before your first sweeper, but if you survive the initial onslaught, some pretty ridiculous boardstates begin unfold such as the ultimate "I just killed you and you have no permanents on the board" endgame.

Your basic opening should look something like this:

Turn 1: land

Turn 2: land, LMC

Turn 3: land, use LMC to turn one of their lands into an artifact, cast Ancient Grudge and destroy that land

Turn 4: land, use flashback Ancient Grudge to destroy another land, cast a sweeper (Whipflare, Slagstorm, or Bonfire of the Damned)

Turn 5: land, cast a creature, ideally one that can destroy another permanent w/LMC)

Turn 6... Their board has 0 creatures and probably less than 3 lands, you have 6 lands and are threatening to run all over them.

One thing that's painfully obvious about this deck is that it doesn't do so well WITHOUT drawing a Liquimetal Coating.  Unfortunately, there are no good tutors for the 2cc artifact in Standard, so in order to play this deck effectively, you have to mulligan pretty aggressively.  Rule #1: Do not play a starting 7 (on the play or the draw) without either an LMC or a sweeper in your hand.  Rule #2: Only play the mulligan 6 if you have an LMC, sweeper, or Faithless Looting.  Otherwise, go to 5 and pray :)

ENGINE

The core of this deck is, of course, the interactions between LMC and the various artifact destruction cards in the deck.  In order for you to win, you have to be able to provide a constant stream of destruction effects.  This is where Birthing Pod comes into play.  Mr. Roboto has Birthing Pods in it, but it is not a Birthing Pod deck: the Pod is not used to find "answers in the toolbox" (as a traditional Pod deck would), rather, the Pod allows you to tutor through your chain of destruction creatures getting turn-after-turn use of your LMC and end with your Inferno Titan finisher.

The destruction chain is as follows:

Manic Vandal --> Oxidda Scrapmelter --> Acidic Slime

CARDS

-Faithless Looting:   gives the deck extra "dig" when you need that LMC, sweeper, or next destruction creature.

-Huntmaster of the Fells:   the card, itself, is just so powerful and gives so much value that a R/G deck can't afford to NOT play it.  The life-gain is super-relevant in this deck due to its slow start and life-loss from Pod use.  And while it's not an artifact destruction creature, it's still a destruction creature on the flip and probably the best mid-range card in Standard.

-Zealous Conscripts:  this card is so broken in decks that run Pod... Not only can you steal with impunity and Pod from 4cc to 6cc (Huntmaster to Inferno Titan is pretty good :) ), you can steal your opponent's creature and Pod the plunder!  Destruction?  Yes, Sir!

  

-Inferno Titan:  Mr. Roboto's finisher.  Outside of an opponent playing their own Zealous Conscripts, there isn't a better 6-drop suited for this deck.  It wipes the board of its remaining creatures and does a specifically great job against Lingering Souls.

-Whipflare, Slagstorm, Bonfire of the Damned: 7 sweepers gives you a good chance to have one in your opening hand.  Against aggro decks, a turn 3-5 sweeper is essential to your stabilization and control of the board state.

OTHER NOTES 

Mr. Roboto came out of my desire to build a dedicated Type II Land Destruction deck but has turned into basically a Desert Twister control deck with oppressive flair.  I placed 2nd with this deck at my local shop's Dark Ascension Gameday Standard event with a 3-1 record, the highlight of which was my 3rd round matchup against a Lingering Spirits deck.  I went Turn 1 land, Turn 2 land + LMC, Turn 3 land + Ancient Grudge their land, Turn 4 land + flashback Grudge on their land + Slagstorm away their flipped Delver, Drogskol Captain, & Phantasmal Image (copying the Captain).  I eventually won when he conceded on turn 8 with zero permanents on the board :)  Domo arigato, Liquimetal Coating!

(Manic Vandal by Christopher Moeller)

DECK TECH: Apollo Loco (Mono-White Proliferate Control)

Of all the decks I've built since I started playing (way back in Weatherlight), this is my favorite and the one of which I'm most proud :)

(Sun Titan by Chris Rahn)

APOLLO LOCO
by
Phil "Fat Ninja" Tacata
(You can find the TCG Player link to this deck along with card descriptions and sample hand generator here.)

2x Throne of Geth
3x Ichor Wellspring
4x Solemn Simulacrum

4x Contagion Clasp
2x Tumble Magnet
4x Oblivion Ring
2x Lingering Souls
4x Day of Judgment
4x Terminus
1x Gideon Jura
2x Karn Liberated

4x Sun Titan

4x Inkmoth Nexus
2x Phyrexia's Core
1x Buried Ruin
2x Ghost Quarter
4x Isolated Chapel
1x Swamp
10x Plains
---------------------------------------------
OBJECTIVE AND PLAY-STYLE
Apollo Loco is an ultra-slow, ultra-grindy white control deck that usually wins post turn 15 with attacking Sun Titans or, more likely, proliferated poison counters.  The objective is to get a single poison counter on your opponent, wipe the board with a sweeper, then stabilize and control their subsequent creatures while proliferating their poison counters to 10 for the win.  Like any dedicated control deck, Apollo Loco is vulnerable to hyper-aggro strategies, but with 8 sweepers, 4 Contagion Clasp (for the small stuff), 4 O-Rings, 2 Tumble Magnets, 2 Karn and a Gideon, they better have a damn good opening seven.

ENGINE
Apollo Loco gains significant incremental card advantage from the interaction between Throne of Geth/Phyrexia's Core and Ichor Wellspring/Solemn Simulacrum.  The ultimate card drawing combo is Sun Titan (Apollo Loco's namesake ;) + Ichor Wellspring + Throne of Geth: tap throne, sac Wellspring to draw a card and proliferate, use Sun Titan's ability to bring back Wellspring to draw another card.

CARDS
-Throne of Geth:  doesn't do much on its own, but has incredible synergy with Ichor Wellspring, Solemn Simulacrum, Sun Titan, Tumble Magnet, and your Planeswalkers.  Becomes a win-condition when your opponent is poisoned.

-Contagion Clasp:  use it early to kill off 1 toughness guys and mana dorks.  Like Throne, has great synergy with Sun Titan, Tumble Magnet, and your Planeswalkers and is a win condition when your opponent is poisoned.

-Lingering Souls:  probably the most broken white card in the current Standard.  Use it to chump, over and over and over and... you get the picture.
  
-Terminus:  when Day of Judgment isn't good enough i.e. creatures with Undying, Regenerate, and Indestructible.

-Gideon Jura:  incredibly effective against smaller aggro creatures and is a win condition after a board wipe.  (note: I want to find space for another copy in the deck, but I'm not sure where to cut.  Multiple copies should be in your sideboard if aggro is big in your local meta)

-Karn Liberated:  I used to use Spine of Ish Sah in this slot, which was good, but Karn is simply better.  Exiling at least 2 things for 7 mana is pretty silly.

-Sun Titan:  SO MANY TRICKS!  Brings back most of the stuff you sac to Geth/Core and allows for multiple proliferate attempts per turn.  You will be missed, Apollo :(

-Inkmoth Nexus:  the vector.  When your opponent dies from poison on turn 27, remind her that you hit her with an Inkmoth on turn 2. :p

-Buried Ruin:  a useful utility land in the late-game.

-Ghost Quarter:  for Moorland Haunt, Kessig Wolf-Run, and opposing Inkmoths.  Has nice synergy with Sun Titan.

OTHER NOTES
I have tinkered around with different builds of this deck for over a year now (the original version was wicked-quick when Everlasting Chalice was legal in Standard) and find this configuration to work best for me.  I'm sure Batterskulls, Elesh Norns, Wurmcoils, and Entreats would also substitute in very well depending on the meta.  Unfortunately, Restoration Angel doesn't synergize well due to the lack of creatures... It would be unbelievably broken, however, if it could blink permanents (i.e. Flickerwisp).

The addition of Terminus, though, seems to have brought this deck to a new level, at least in my local (creature-heavy) meta; removing creatures from pretty much the entire game (by putting them at the bottom of the library) is SO powerful, and sweeper redundancy is essential to the proper functioning of this deck.

(Terminus by James Paick)

I'm a Johnny

I'm a total Magic: the Gathering "Johnny."  I believe that the decks you choose to play say something about your character and I also believe that deck construction is a form of artistic expression.  I respect all sorts of Magic deck archetypes, but I have a special place in my heart for mid-range control decks with a high level of card synergy, lots of little "gears" that interlock and articulate in ways most folks wouldn't understand until they stepped back and saw the whole "clock."

Unfortunately (for me), 3 Standard decks I've built, tweaked, and loved over the last 16 months all have core cards rotating out of Standard in about 10 weeks, so this is their last hurrah.  I wanted to do a sort of "deck-tech" on each of them before (Return to) Ravnica.  Each Deck-Tech will have a list of cards in the deck, the objective/style of play, and a card-by-card breakdown.  I haven't included a sideboard (because I figure that's all dependent on your local meta), but would love to hear your ideas and substitutions.

I hope you enjoy the decks... I'd appreciate any constructive criticism or if you have any questions, please leave me a comment.  If you build or play any of 'em, I'd love to know how they worked for you!  With that, here's a few notes on my deck-building style:

When I build decks, I keep a few numbers in mind:
-at least 24 Land for any deck that has a 4-drop that it needs to hit
-10 copies of a type of card if I really want it in my opening hand (76+%)
-7 copies of a type of card if I want a good chance of having it in my opening hand (60%)
-at least 3 copies of a type of card if I want to draw it during a game (31% opening hand, 52% by turn 7)
-2 copies of a card if it's good enough to make the deck; 1 copy if I can tutor for it

Untap, Upkeep, Draw,
-Phil