Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Elspeth vs. Tezzeret Decklists

So in the next expansion, Scars of Mirrodin, there will be a new Duel Deck. It will Feature Elspeth and Tezzeret, and their respective decks. At it's MSRP it's already a great deal. Elspeth is an incredibly nice Planeswalker, and Tezzeret has his uses in other types besides standard. He might also have a place in Scars of Mirrodin since it will be based around artifacts. Now, on to the Deck Lists. You can find them
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/524
here.

Today I'll talk about Elspeth's Decklist.
First off, it has Elspeth. Already amazing.
The first land on the list, Daru Encampment, fits well with this deck. There are 18 soldiers in this deck, so, great fit.
Kabira Crossroads fits nicely as well, since lifegain is always useful.
Rustic Clachan is fantastic in this. By discarding it you can pump a creature, which is very useful if you don't need the extra mana.

Next we have the creatures.
Angel of Salvation is a great card with flash, evoke, and the 5 damage prevention. Flash means you can play it at any time. It's a great way to throw your opponent off.
Burrenton Bombardier is a decent card. It's another soldier, it has flying, it's a 2/2, and it can reinforce if you don't need another creature.
Catapult Master is also very good in this deck. It has target removal, however 5 soldiers is rather large in this deck, where you only have 18 soldiers. However, you can tap him which lowers the impact on your own defenses. You can also tap creatures you just defended with to remove something bigger.
Celestial Crusader is ungodly in this deck. He can be played instantly and is unable to be countered. It's a great way to throw your opponents off because of his +1/+1 to white creatures, which can help turn the tide of an attack phase in your favor.
Conclave Equenaut is an okay card in this deck. Although he has flying and is a 3/3, his cost is rather pricey. Convoke helps with this, but, tapping all of your creatures is not always the best idea. It leaves you open to more attacks, and it doesn't work well with Catapult Master.
Conclave Phalanx is a better alternative to Conclave Equenaut. It's a great late-game card, and can be inexpensive if you convoke.
Elite Vanguard is a great staple to this deck. He's a 2/1 for W. He's just a basic soldier that you can get out turn one, very, very strong
Glory Seeker is a slightly tougher version of Elite Vanguard, however she costs 1W. She's a good two drop, but in the deck there are better.
Goldmeadow Harrier is a great way to control your opponents side of the board and his early creatures.
Infantry Veteran is a fantastic card when you start attacking. It can pump your fliers up so they can hit them harder directly, or you can pump up an attacker for surprising damage.
Kor Aeronaut is a great two drop, however not the best to play on turn two. He's a great middle-end game card for his low cost.
Kor Hookmaster is a great card for 2W. It's a 2/2 which isn't shabby, and it has temporary control.
Kor Skyfisher is fantastic. You can use him to pop back Kor Aeronaut so you can get flying on another strong creature for another beatdown.
Loyal Sentry is the best chump blocker ever. He only costs W, he is a 1/1, but he has super deathtouch. Once he blocks, they both die.
Mosquito Guard is a dainty card, however, great. For the cost of W he is a 1/1 and has first strike. Or he can reinforce for 1W. I'd reinforce him so his first strike is used to the best of its ability.
Seasoned Marshall is a great card when attacking with a large amount of creatures. He can tap his most effective creature, or his biggest blocker.
Stormfront Riders was made for Kor Aeronaut and Angel of Salvation. He can pop them back for more tokens and he can use their abilities again. He also works nicely with Kor Skyfisher, which would allow for more 1/1 soldiers, especially if they brought back each other.
Temple Acolyte is a fantastic two drop. It is a 1/3 which is a great early-game blocker, and it gains you 3 life.

Lastly we have the other spells.
Abolish is good in this duel deck, mostly because Tezzeret's deck mainly focuses on artifacts.
Blinding Beam is another good card, allowing your attackers to get through, or to temporarily shut down his combo-creature.
Crusade is another great card in this deck. +1/+1 to all white creatures is incredibly valuable. Stronger blockers and attackers is always welcome.
Journey to Nowhere is one of the best removal spells, and is wonderful in this deck.
Mighty Leap is a great way to instantly get around defenders and hit them even harder in the air.
Raise the Alarm is another fantastic two drop. Combined with Crusade, you have two 2/2s for the price of 2.
Razor Barrier is a great way to save your cards from enemy creatures.
Saltblast is an incredibly expensive removal ability, however it does the same thing as Catapult Master. If you counted each creature as a convoke, they'd be equal, however, Saltblast has its uses when you have more mana open, while Catapult Master has more uses when you have more creatures.
Sunlance is white's lightning bolt, so of course it's perfect.
Swell of Courage is a great instant ability if you're launching a large attack, however it is also very useful as reinforce, since you could get an incredible amount of +1/+1s on your stronger creature, or a weaker one to make him just as strong.
Swords to Plowshares is very useful. It is stronger early game, but becomes weaker end game due to the life that they gain.

And thats the Elspeth deck for the Elspeth vs. Tezzeret duel deck! Check back tomorrow for the Tezzeret decklist.

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