Steve's flagship BD

ok, i came to a realization playing BD last night. i was sitting behind two Walls, with a repeatable fog effect in hand and a sizable life advantage. this is what this deck has always wanted to be, as a side effect of the card choices i made! so i need some more ideas of how to make my BD to be more control-oriented with a slant towards a defensive strategy.

Here's some ideas off the top of my head:

Defense Grid
Ghostly Prison
Propaganda
Collective Restraint
No Mercy
Dread
Suppression Grid
Dissipation Field
Moat
Magus of the Moat
Overgrown Battlement
Vent Sentinel
Warmonger's Chariot
Ensnaring Bridge
Portcullis

omg Ensnaring Bridge is my favorite Cube card... but i want my hand to be full at all times.

Defense Grid is no good. i don't want my tricks shut down.

Propaganda/Ghostly Prison/Collective Restraint seem good.

Portcullis will take some finesse to play.

that Moat guy seems to have potential.

i don't like those walls though. let me look at some defenders...

Æther Membrane
Fog Bank
Guard Gomazoa
Wall of Denial
Wall of Reverence

hmm, i guess that's it. reach/flying is very important to me.

Traproot Kami late game may prove useful since it counts ALL forests, not just yours.

~Zuty

ok now i need to think of strong life-gaining cards... any help?

In no particular order:

Wall of Reverence
Clearwater Goblet
Loxodon Warhammer
Beacon of Immortality
Elixir of Immortality
Oracle of Nectars
Battlegrace Angel
Dawnglow Infusion
Elspeth Tirel
Leyline of Vitality
Heroes Remembered
Loxodon Hierarch
Sorin Markov
Venser's Journal
Swallowing Plague
Words of Worship
Well of Lost Dreams

I would not include Heroes Remembered or Words of Worship in that list, but it seems clear you were stretching towards the end.

Other strong choices (some perhaps too strong) include:

Congregate (ugh)
Kokusho
Kitchen Finks (fun with recursion tricks... or toss him on a Mimic Vat)
Auriok Champion
Exalted Angel
True Conviction
Feudkiller's Verdict

Hey, as long as you're gaining all this life, why not play Storm Herd.

Gee Jim, I didn't know you liked Clearwater Goblet...

Slyphidine wrote:I would not include Heroes Remembered or Words of Worship in that list, but it seems clear you were stretching towards the end.

Other strong choices (some perhaps too strong) include:

Congregate (ugh)
Kokusho
Kitchen Finks (fun with recursion tricks... or toss him on a Mimic Vat)
Auriok Champion
Exalted Angel
True Conviction
Feudkiller's Verdict

Hey, as long as you're gaining all this life, why not play Storm Herd.

Gee Jim, I didn't know you liked Clearwater Goblet...

I just did a Gatherer search for anything with 'Gain X Life'. I still stand by the idea that Well of Lost Dreams could be really good:

Well of Lost Dreams - 4
Artifact
Whenever you gain life, you may pay X, where X is less than or equal to the amount of life you gained. If you do, draw X cards.

among planeswalkers, the following are worthy of my BD. (reasons)

Ajani Goldmane (just not good enough)
Ajani Vengeant
Chandra Ablaze (too mono-color)
Chandra Nalaar (this one barely squeaks by)
Elspeth Tirel
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker
Gideon Jura
Jace Beleren
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Koth of the Hammer (too mono-color)
Liliana Vess
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Nissa Revane (too tribal)
Sarkhan Vol
Sarkhan the Mad
Sorin Markov
Tezzeret the Seeker (too artifact-y)
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas (too artifact-y)
Venser, the Sojourner

i need another morph card so that everyone doesn't say "Willbender!" when i play something face-down.

Akroma, Angel of Fury
Brine Elemental
Chromeshell Crab
Exalted Angel
Fortune Thief
Quicksilver Dragon
Soul Collector
Vesuvan Shapeshifter

MidniteEffort wrote:i need another morph card so that everyone doesn't say "Willbender!" when i play something face-down.

Akroma, Angel of Fury
Brine Elemental
Chromeshell Crab
Exalted Angel
Fortune Thief
Quicksilver Dragon
Soul Collector
Vesuvan Shapeshifter

Surprised you don't already have some of these in your deck. I like Akroma, Brine, Chromesell, and Shapeshifter; but I have two more to add to that list: Mischievous Quanar and Root Elemental. I think both of these are underrated cards that can do wonders in big deck.

~Zuty

Fathom Seer is also a fine one.

Slyphidine wrote:Fathom Seer is also a fine one.

i don't like it as much because i might not always have two Islands to bounce.

welp i really lived up to my handle. it took me five and a half hours but i rebuilt this big deck. i'll post the decklist tomorrow someday.

goldfishing it makes me wonder if the mana base is really up to snuff.

you know i went through every M12 card i've drafted and won so far, and i did not have a single Manalith! aren't they common?!

I can't find any either. They're super secret tech...