I was inspired this week by the story of the return of the Ultimate Warrior to the professional wrestling world, and thought it would be good to go back and see what Shadowmoor offers to the “Ultimate” Elf Warrior deck.
Oh, you hadn’t heard? Yeah, evidently he got involved in some storyline in some federation in Italy or Spain or something. He’s making his big return to the ring, which is probably going to still be light years better than any of his public speaking appearances. He wants to wrestle Vince McMahon at WrestleMania. No time like the present to get back in the limelight, I guess!
And speaking of limelight, oh look, a segue back to Shadowmoor! When last we left our Elf Warriors, we had adapted Takahito Nakajima’s deck from a Grand Prix trial into a streamlined budget version ready to shake the ropes:
ULTIMATE Warrior v1
4 Bramblewood Paragon
4 Civic Wayfinder
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Winnower Patrol
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
2 Nath Of The Gilt-leaf
4 Obsidian Battle-axe
4 Eyeblight’s Ending
4 Nameless Inversion
10 Forest
8 Swamp
4 Vivid Grove
Rare Cost Summary:
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf ($2.00 x 2 = $4.00)
Wanting to continue the tribal themes from Lorwyn, Shadowmoor has given us plenty of Elf and Warrior options to consider for inclusion in an updated version of this deck. The trick will be figuring out what can be replaced, as the deck already has a lot of synergy going for it. Just about every creature in the deck is a Warrior and an Elf, so we have the double-synergy between them and the “lords,” Bramblewood Paragon and Imperious Perfect. (And it’s unlikely we’ll cut the Llanowar Elves just because they’re Druids.)
The first logical cut, to me, is the Civic Wayfinders. At three mana, they’re making sure you hit four mana – which would be great if you were dropping big four-casting-cost powerhouses like Garruk Wildspeaker or Chameleon Colossus. As it is, we only have Nath himself that creeps across the four-mana line, so ensuring that fourth land drop isn’t as helpful.
Winnower Patrol is another card that could be replaced. Its ability hits most of the time, even off the Battle-Axe and the removal, and I really like him, but I’d like to be able to consider my options if something better comes along.
So what’s new and shiny? Let’s start with the Elf Warriors:
Rhys the Redeemed: The new Rhys has a lot going for him that the other one was lacking. Instead of eating your Elves for fun and profit like the old Rhys, the new Rhys generates Elves – I guess to feed his old self. He works with the tokens left over from your Imperious Perfect as well. And all of this on a nice, one-mana body. What’s not to like? Well, I was worried that I was going to have to say “the price” right here, but StarCityGames.com is pre-ordering these little guys at $2 apiece. That’s just about great.
Safehold Duo: A bit expensive on four mana, and unless we’re planning on taking the deck Green/White rather than Green/Black, you’ll only ever trigger his pumping ability. The low power and high toughness are more suited for a defensive deck, which is of course where the vigilance would shine.
Safehold Sentry: His Q ability essentially makes him a Safehold Duo after a White spell when attacking (2/4 vigilance) – but while that’s better on a 2-mana body, the ability still costs three mana more. Still, is it enough to change the deck to White? And if you changed the deck to White, would he even make the cut? My suspicion is that he wouldn’t. I think I’d rather go with Avian Changeling even though it costs one more.
Wildslayer Elves: It’s hard figuring out why you’d pay four for a 3/3 Wither when you’re already paying two for a 3/3 Deathtouch.
Of the double-synergized cards in Shadowmoor, only Rhys really makes the cut. He comes down early, works with everything in the deck, and gives you a mid-game mana sink to overwhelm your opponent. Besides, what’s more fun than doubling what you’ve got? Nothing, if you ask Mark Rosewater, evidently.
With all of the potential token generation that could go on in this deck, I’d like to add in Overrun. And with Bitterblossom currently being the “chump-blocker-provider of choice,” and being omnipresent even in non-Faerie decks, I’d like to run Krosan Grip maindeck. The easiest way out seems to be to pull all the Black out and stick with just mono-Green:
ULTIMATE Warrior – Green Face Paint Version v1
4 Bramblewood Paragon
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Winnower Patrol
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
2 Civic Wayfinder
4 Obsidian Battle-axe
3 Overrun
3 Krosan Grip
2 Lignify
14 Forest
4 Llanowar Reborn
4 Treetop Village
Rare Cost Summary:
Rhys the Redeemed ($2.00 x 3 = $6.00)
The two Lignifies are just a concession in case something big comes up that you just can’t deal with by running past them. I was originally thinking how bad Midnight Banshee would be for this deck, but the more I think about it, the more I think I’m just abnormally focused on Midnight Banshee. Now that there’s no need for the colored mana requirements, we can slip into Treetop Villages (the best of the manlands still, I think) and Llanowar Reborns, which work great with Bramblewood Paragon’s trample-inducing ability.
Rares you could include if you owned them: Obviously there’s more synergy with Mutavault in the manland slot, but you know, I still think I prefer Treetop Village. Because seriously, what’s the one thing you’re most afraid of? Mass removal. Treetop Village is just better when he’s by himself, I think.
Bleeding Over
Confining yourself to one color may make it easy to construct a budget manabase, but with Shadowmoor, a lot more colors are now bleeding into Warriors. Elves themselves moved from Black into White, bringing the Warriors we discussed above. Goblins moved into Green, giving us more options not only in the mono-colored arena, but also for splashing Red. Elementals moved from Red into Black, pairing nicely with the Elves of Lorwyn. It seems like the buffet is full of options …
I’m not going to go through each of the Elves and Warriors in Shadowmoor; some of them don’t really fit into the aggressive Battle-Axe based strategy that this deck seeks to employ. But there are some gems that should be considered.
For the elves:
Elvish Hexhunter: Another concession to the power and prevalence that is Bitterblossom. Coming down turn 1 means that you should avoid their countermagic, and might hold them off of playing Bitterblossom until they can remove the Hexhunter. But ultimately, that’s the problem, too, with Hexhunter – Faeries can stall until they can deal with the Hexhunter, and then power into Bitterblossom. (It could, however, buy you enough time – still.)
Farhaven Elf: A tad more powerful than Civic Wayfinder in that she puts that land directly into play, but you still aren’t looking at anything in the four- or five-casting-cost range that needs to come down with any urgency. Plus, Farhaven Elf doesn’t have the synergy with Battle-Axe or Paragon that the Wayfinder does.
Seedcradle Witch: Makes combat tricksy, squeezes in extra damage where possible, or keeps attackers available for defending. A little predictable as a combat trick, but still pretty good if you’ve got the mana. This deck definitely has a tendency to live “off the top” … having something to do with your mana each turn is a good thing, especially when it’s pumping one of your guys. Requires that we move into White, though.
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers: A great three-drop that survives most of the commonly-seen burn in this format – your opponent will have to trade a guy and a burn spell (or hold Flame Javelin) to take care of these guys. The built-in Vigilance means he plays both sides, which is crucial in aggro-on-aggro matchups.
Wilt-Leaf Liege: Outside our budget, as StarCityGames is pre-ordering them at nine bucks. A good creature, I think, but there comes a point where too much bleedover means that you are basically making a new deck – and I think that’s what we’d have to do to properly utilize Wilt-Leaf Liege.
ULTIMATE Warrior – Non-Warrior White Face Paint Version v1
4 Wilt-Leaf Cavalier
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Winnower Patrol
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
3 Elvish Hexhunter
3 Farhaven Elf
2 Seedcradle Witch
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Overrun
10 Forest
6 Plains
4 Treetop Village
2 Vivid Grove
Rare Cost Summary:
Rhys the Redeemed ($2.00 x 3 = $6.00)
Focusing more on the Elf side than the Warrior side, the deck foregoes Krosan Grip for Hexhunter and Oblivion Ring. Between the two of those, you should be able to get the job done against Bitterblossom.
Rares you could include if you owned them: Mutavault, again. The White requirement is pretty low thanks to hybrid mana, so I don’t think it’s quite necessary to push into the painlands.
For the warriors:
Boggart Ram-Gang: If ever there was a creature designed to pick up Obsidian Battle-Axe and wield it in the manner of which it was born, I believe it is Boggart Ram-Gang. Sure, the haste is just frosting, since the Ram-Gang comes with it, but it also comes with a disincentive towards blocking – Wither. A 3/3 is not something to sneeze at, either, but I giggle like a schoolgirl when I think of him getting trample and a +1/+1 counter from Bramblewood Paragon, picking up the Axe, and swinging as a 6/5 trampling withering hasty battering ram. I was trying to think of things that could block and survive, and the only thing I came up with was Greater Gargadon. Greater Gargadon is much less scary as a 3/1.
Hungry Spriggan: Another guy that’s designed to attack and attack often. He comes with the trample built in and is a 4/4 on offense, and that’s before picking up any accoutrements. Sure, he’s a little easier to pick off, but there’s less difference between one damage and three damage nowadays anyways – most direct damage spells are going to do three or more damage (Rift Bolt, Incinerate, Flame Javelin) and most Black toughness-reducing removal is giving your guy -3 or more (Nameless Inversion, Sudden Death).
Tattermunge Maniac: Do you know how long it took me to realize that that wasn’t the stupid goblin’s actual head on his shoulders? I swear, I had one in my Sealed pool at the pre-release and the whole time I’m thinking, “Man, that is an ugly little dude.” It wasn’t until I got home and was organizing my cards that I realized “Hey! There’s another face in there!” Not a bad early guy, and still decidedly deadly as a top-deck when a Battle-Axe is involved.
ULTIMATE Warrior – Red Face Paint Version v1
4 Bramblewood Paragon
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Hungry Spriggan
4 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Winnower Patrol
4 Wren’s Run Vanquisher
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Obsidian Battle-axe
10 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Treetop Village
3 Highland Weald
This build focuses more on the Warrior aspect and less on the Elf side. As such, it ditches the token generation aspect and picks up the ability to burn away opposing blockers until you can get the trample going through Bramblewood Paragon. It will remain to be seen if there are enough Elves for the Vanquisher, but I suspect there should be – sixteen in total.
Rares you could include if you owned them: Obviously Highland Weald doesn’t make for the fastest-paced opening, and it may be better to run straight Forests (or Llanowar Reborn), but one of the other Red/Green dual lands like Karplusan Forest or Grove of the Burnwillows ($4) will allow you to have a faster start. Also: Chameleon Colossus – still a Warrior, still good.
If You Play This Deck, You Have to Change Your Name
One of the small side effects. Although you could probably psych out your opponents when they find out your name is “Trevor Warrior.”
Get out this weekend, support your local store, and play in a Release Party. Snag one of those sweet alternate-art Vexing Shushers. And start looking for things to add to your decks – Shadowmoor is legal in Constructed formats tomorrow.
Dave