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Source: [url=http://forum.nogoblinsallowed.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3842]Atharva's Decklis

Surge of the Jungle

4 x Gruul Guildgate
14 x Forest
6 x Moutain

4 x Elvish Pioneer
4 x Elvish Visionary
3 x Ground Assault
2 x Reclamation Sage
2 x Triumph of Ferocity
4 x Cultivate
2 x Anger of the Gods
1 x Vengevine
2 x Ogre Battledriver
1 x Stormbreath Dragon
2 x Phytotitan
2 x Terra Stomper
1 x Soul of Zendikar
1 x Inferno Titan
2 x Warstorm Surge
3 x Pelakka Wurm


This is the main deck. It has 2 Reclamation Sage and 2 Triumph of Ferocity, but I think they can be substituted by Volcanic Geyser or maybe Shock, depending of the meta in any combination. It is possible to trade Warstorm Surge for Arbor Colossus, if you decide to not go premium.

The strategy is simple. And obviously I don't need to point it. The disadvantage is a high requirement of rare cards, although there are possible substitutes to use earlier.

Phytotitan is the MVC of this deck with Warstorm Surge in play.

That Anger of the Gods is a nonbo with your Vengevine and Phytotitans in case you weren't aware. I'd also be wary of Pioneers and Guildgates.

Yes, it's true, but this deck needs defense against weenie decks and token decks, which I think will be highly prevalent, so it needs to stay. Maybe later we get a red mass removal that it is more synergistic like Savage Twister or Slagstorm, and Anger of the Gods could be substituted.

Here is an angle...but I'm too lazy to do it. Build a fast green deck with unblockable creatures and pump spells! Splash R for things like Anger of the Gods and Fling!

First attempt of a Green/Red aura deck.

Creatures - 21
4 Satyr Hoplite
4 Bloodcrazed Neonate
3 Aura Gnarlid
4 Two-Headed Cerberus
3 Brood Keeper
3 Primal Huntbeast

Other Spells -16
4 Furor of the Bitten
4 Inferno Fist
4 Lightning Talons
2 Burning Anger
2 Enlarge

Land - 23
13 Mountain
6 Forest
4 Gruul Guildgate

Satyr Hoplite + Furor of the Bitten = Swing for 4 on turn 2. Two-headed Cerberus + Enlarge should be hilarious. Why does green have Aura Gnarlid and no green auras?

I'm going to try and make a beast deck when I get my hands on the game (360) although it unfortunately might need some premiums....

@Megamaster125 I have no idea why but I get a feeling its meant to be in the R/G power matters deck....it is silly though.

I like this. When I build decks I would like to refrain from a generic "creatures bashing heads" deck. This is a RG combo deck! Here we go...

Smash and Burn 2015 deck (Smash and Burn)
60 Cards. 37 nonlands (12 creatures, 25 spells). 23 Lands (12, 7 ).

Creature 12
-- 4x Spire Tracer
-- 4x Wandering Wolf
-- 4x Aura Gnarlid(Premium) or ...Battering Krasis

Spell 25
-- 4x Adventuring Gear
-- 4x Furor of the Bitten
-- 3x Gather Courage(Premium) or ...Enlarge
-- 3x Primal Bellow
-- 3x Fling
-- 4x Titanic Growth
-- 4x Inferno Fist

Land
-- 4x Gruul Guildgate

12 creatures and 26 spells that do nothing without them; you may want to rethink that ratio.

Full deckbuilding could make D15 lobbies easy pickings. No offense, Gemini.

No offence Hakeen, but I got this idea off of prominent decks that have made top 8 in modern. They're called Bogles and infect. Apparently, these are bad decks with 24-26 spells that do nothing unless one of the 8-12 creatures are in play. These stupid pro players these days...

Unfortunately Gemini, I agree with Hakeem more than 100%, for any deck like this or any aura deck. The safe play is to use at least 50% creatures and 50% pump spells or auras; unless you have access to extreme resilient creatures or another way to cheat a victory.

The idea may be good, but almost certainly it cannot be applied with Magic 2015 card pool.

Test it.

I'm all for taking inspiration from paper Magic and trying to transfer it over to Duels, but you have to look at the real differences man.

If you're talking about Infect, you're talking about your opponent effectively starting the game at 10 life (and they can't gain life either). You can't transfer that kind of efficiency to your pump spells in Duels. In Modern, you also get to run Gitaxian Probe to see if the coast is clear to "go off". You also don't have a man-land to depend on (Inkmoth Nexus) in this case. You also don't have what is effectively a free pump spell every turn in Noble Hierarch either. There's a huge, huge difference in a 12 creature 25 spell deck doing 20 instead of 10.

Now if you bring Bogles up, you have to realize that 8 of those creatures have Hexproof and the Spiritdancer at least turns your Auras into cantrips, as well as the Auras themselves having totem aura to protect the creatures. We don't have any of those built in advantages in the card pool really, and we certainly don't have them in the build you posted.

I mean, I love smarting off as much as the next guy (and especially to Hakeem), but your response to Hakeem, and no offense, displays a lack of fundamental knowledge of the archetypes you're trying to port over to Duels. Also, when you say test it, I have to wonder, have you? I mean, I'll load it up and test against it. I personally don't think it's stable at all to play with though.

Gemini, why in the world are you not running Satyr Hoplite in that deck? He fits right in.

Okay, we'll let Planeswalker AI test Gemini's "combo" Gruul against me for a little bit. (you can find the builds I'm using in the appropriately-labeled thread)

We'll see how it does against a slower graveyard deck with hardly anything in the way of removal.

Golgari (on the draw):

Hand 1: 4x Forest, 1x Necromancer's Assistant, 1x Rune-Scarred Demon, 1x Spider Spawning
- mulligan - (this is exactly the kind of hand you don't keep with this build)
Hand 2: 2x Forest, 1x Swamp, 1x Elvish Pioneer, 1x Rune-Scarred Demon, 1x Rescue from the Underworld, 1x Cultivate
- keep - (now this is more like it, but we're still going to have to draw something to do with our 5 mana on turn 3)
AI keeps 7

AIT1: Mountain, Adventuring Gear, go.
T1: Draw Elvish Pioneer. Play Forest and Pioneer putting a Swamp into play. Go.

AIT2: Gruul Guildgate. Go.
T2: Draw Swamp. Swing for 1 with Pioneer (opp: 19). Play Forest and Cultivate putting a Forest into play and hand. Go.

AIT3: Gruul Guildgate. Go.
T3: Draw Cultivate. Swing for 1 with Pioneer (opp: 18). Play Forest and Elvish Pioneer putting a Swamp into play, Play Cultivate putting a Swamp into play and a Forest in hand. Go.

AIT4: Battering Krasis. Go.
T4: Draw Nemesis of Mortals. Swing with both Pioneers. No blocks. (opp: 16). Play Forest and Rune-Scarred Demon getting Shadowborn Demon. Go.

AIT5: AI goes straight to combat. I'm at 20 so I'll let this one through. No blocks. No tricks. I take 2. (me: 18). Post-combat equip Adventuring Gear. Cast Wandering Wolf. Pass turn.
T5: Draw Rescue from the Underworld. Swing with the team. No blocks. AI takes 8 (opp: 8). Post-combat Shadowborn Demon hitting the Wandering Wolf (since it's possible that I may not be able to block it with a 5 power demon...though it really doesn't matter, he's dead next turn). Pass turn.

AIT6: Forest pumping Krasis to a 4/3. Pass turn with 5 cards in hand. I'm pretty sure the AI has seen there are no combination of pump spells that would do 18 to me. His best case scenario would be to pump the Krasis to 6/x and Flingit at Rune-Scarred to live one more turn, going to 2.
T6: With the Shadowborn trigger on the stack AI casts Primal Bellow for a whopping +1/+1 on Krasis, and then it casts another, and then it cast Titanic Growth. That's an impressive 8/7 Krasis that can't block my fliers. That also would have just dropped me to 8 if I hadn't blocked (which I wouldn't have). Also, it's important to note how "effective" Primal Bellow is in a 2-color deck with Guildgates. Anyways, Shadowborn trigger resolves and I feed it a Pioneer. Draw a Forest. Swing for 11 in the air (opp: -3) and that's game.

Didn't get to do any graveyard shenanigans, but it's hardly necessary when you have a T4 Rune-Scarred. But hey! At least I got that pesky Rampant Growth achievement. Sweet.


Now let's see if it can handle a deck that gains a lot of life.

Orzhov (on the draw):

Hand 1: 1x Swamp, 1x Orzhov Guildgate, 1x Radiant Fountain, 1x Banisher Priest, 1x Angelic Accord, 1x Ulcerate
- keep - (if we hit another land we can hit with a Child T4 and no matter if it lives or dies post-combat a Fountain into Accord to make a 4/4 Angel)
AI keeps 7

AIT1: Forest, Spire Tracer. Go.
T1: Draw Plains. Play Swamp over Guildgate and pass to leave up Ulcerate.

AIT2: Mountain. Furor of the Bitten on Tracer and I Ulcerate in response (me: 17). Pass.
T2: Draw Vizkopa Guildmage. Play Plains and Child of Night and pass.

AIT3: Gruul Guildgate. Pass.
T3: Draw Radiant Fountain. Swing for 2 (me: 19) (opp: 18). Play Orzhov Guildgate and pass. I forgot to play Guildmage because I'm dumb, or I was typing. Mostly because I'm dumb.

AIT4: Forest. Go.
T4: Draw Orzhov Guildmage. Swing with Child. (me: 21) (opp: 16). Play Radiant Fountain (me: 23) and Angelic Accord. Pass. EOT I get a 4/4 Angel.

AIT5: Forest. Go.
T5: Draw and play Plains and Vizkopa Guildmage and give the Angel lifelink. Swing for 6 (me: 29) (opp: 10). Pass turn. EOT I get another 4/4 Angel.

AIT6: Pass turn with 5 cards in hand.
T6: Draw Swamp. Activate Guildmage's second ability. Play Radiant Fountain. (me: 33) (opp: 8). Give an Angel lifelink. Swing for 12 (me: 39) (opp: -4) which would be 18 (opp: -10) after the Guildmage trigger.

1 removal spell wrecked it. I assume those 5 cards in hand were all Auras and Pump Spells.


Okay, one more time. Let's see if it can do it's thing faster than a token deck can do it's thing since the tokens can't really chump anything besides a Krasis (which has Trample anyways)

Selesnya (on the draw)

Hand 1: 1x Forest, 2x Plains, 1x Selesnya Guildgate, 1x Phantom Warrior, 1x Beastmaster Ascension
- mulligan - (I'm actually going to throw this back because it doesn't even really do anything until T5 if I rip nothing but lands)
Hand 2: 2x Forest, 2x Selesnya Guildgate, 1x Selesnya Evangel, 2x Raise the Alarm
- keep - (this is some clunky-ass mana, but at least we can make lots of dudes)
AI mulligans to 5

AIT1: Mountain. Adventuring Gear. Go.
T1: Draw Phantom Warrior. Selesnya Guildgate. Go.

AIT2: Gruul Guildgate. Go.
T2: Draw and play Plains and Selesnya Evangel. Go.

AIT3: Forest. Go.
T3: Draw Plains. I'm actually going to forego making an extra token here and swing with the Evangel so I can get this Guildgate and 2 1/1s into play to follow up with Phantom on T4. Swing for 1. (opp: 19). Play Selesnya Guildgate. Pass turn.

AIT4: Mountain. Go. EOT Raise the Alarm.
T4: Draw Raise the Alarm. Okay, new plan. I can wait until T5 for Phantom and lose 2 damage this turn, but I still hit for 3 this turn and will make 4 more 1/1s EOT and hit back for 12 next turn PLUS make another token. Also, doing this, if I topdeck Beastmaster Ascension next turn I have my 7 dudes. Swing for 3. (opp: 16). Play Forest and pass.

AIT5: Pass turn with 4 cards in hand. EOT double Raise the Alarm.
T5: Draw Triplicate Spirits. Play Plains and Phantom General. Swing with 6 2/2 tokens. (opp: 4). Pass turn.

AIT6: Forest. Pass turn with 4 cards in hand. EOT make a token tapping Phantom with Evangel.
T6: Draw and play Beastmaster Ascension. Swing with the team. After the Ascension trigger that amounts to 62 damage (opp: -58)

I think I'm going to stop here. I know 3 games against 3 different decks is a small sample-size, but at this point I just feel like a bully. I definitely would throw the Guildgates out the window here and go +3 Forest +1 Mountain or something to at least make the Primal Bellows better. I would also shave 4 Auras/Pumps to get Satyr Hoplites in there. I still don't think it would make the deck any good though. It has hardly any creatures and does nothing if they don't have (or can keep) a creature in play. This is not a combo deck. Combo decks tend to win on the spot (for the most part), not unimpeded for 2-3 turns.

Thanks for reading!

mobius beat me to it; porting ideas is fine, but it's the understanding of those ideas that's important. Comparing this to Slippery Bogle is insane, and infect has Inkmoth Nexus.

You'd be better served by porting ideas into Duels from a Limited metagame rather than a Constructed one. JMHO.

I honestly meant no offense, but I really think the deck you posted was pretty bad. Post some results with it and then we'll resume the conversation.

So. So. ....... So. Where are your hexproof creatures? I know it's been said......... but you are running stuff that dies to ALL the removal in the game very very easily.


And infect......... infect has half the life bar to deal with.

hey I think the testing was a great idea. thanks for that. That actually might be a great addition to deck builds and include some play tests on how they did against some other created decks. Thanks Mobius for taking the time for the write up it was a good read.

On a side note, I know its easy to get upset at critiques on something that you create but I suppose you have to expect that as we are all MTG players here and its more constructive criticism than blatant bashing. I actually enjoy being "mentored" if you will as I feel I'm only an average player so I listen to those with the experience. that being said I too find sarcasm annoying but if some feel the need for it to feel like an intellectual then more power to them.

Also I still have to wait for the release on steam so Mobius or anyone with D15 atm could possibly do a play test write up on some other decks out there it would ease my suffering? I don't know why but I have always enjoyed match coverage write ups.

@TruStag: I wouldn't mind doing more, but to be perfectly honest, the real reason I wanted to do this was to satiate the mischief-maker in me by destroying a deck that was claimed as bad by multiple parties and good by one. If anyone wants to point me in the direction of something that meets that criteria I'll be happy to do this again. Disclaimer though, I am NOT getting the premium stuff on my iPad (I will on my Xbone though) so keep that in mind for those who want to throw the gauntlet down in my general direction.

Okay, since Gruul is known for beatdowns, I can't resist to do a little more of my own.

Rakdos (on the play)

Hand 1: 2x Mountain, 1x Swamp, 1x Dead Weight, 1x Fling, 1x Portent of Betrayal
- mulligan - (all this hand does is cast a Dead Weight. There's no sac outlet, and the Fling/Portent combo doesn't come online until T6 at the earliest and I can't even Fling a Ghast as a bad Shock without another Swamp
Hand 2: 3x Swamp, 1x Agent of the Fates, 1x Dead Weight, 1x Burning Anger, 1x Augur Spree
- keep - (this is a very loose keep, but at least we can cast 2 of our cards...and there's the Agent/Anger dream potentially on the horizon)
AI keeps 7

T1: Swamp. Go.
AIT1: Gruul Guildgate. Go.

T2: Draw and play Mountain. Go.
AIT2: Forest. Go.

T3: Draw Dead Weight. Play Swamp and Agent of the Fates. Go.
AIT3: Mountain. Battering Krasis. Go.

T4: Draw and play Rakdos Guildgate. Play Dead Weight on Krasis killing it. Swing for 3 with Agent. (opp: 17). Go.
AIT4: Gruul Guildgate. Battering Krasis. Go.

T5: Draw Portent of Betrayal. Play Swamp and Burning Anger on Agent. Heroic trigger forces AI to sac Krasis. Gemini's combo Gruul can't ever beat the Agent+Anger lock but I'll play it out anyways. Pass turn.
AIT5: Forest. Go. EOT ping for 3 with Agent (opp: 14).

T6: Draw Act of Treason. Pass turn.
AIT6: Mountain. Pass with 5 cards in hand. EOT ping for 3 with Agent (opp: 11).

T7: Draw and play Devouring Swarm. Pass turn.
AIT7: Spire Tracer. Forest. Pass turn. EOT ping for 3 with Agent (opp: 8)

T8: Draw Augur Spree. Play Portent of Betrayal on Tracer scrying a Rakdos Guildgate to the bottom. Swing with Tracer and Swarm for 3 (opp: 5). Post-combat Swarm eats the Tracer. Pass turn.
AIT8: Forest. Pass turn. I forget to ping with Agent because I'm typing.

T9: Draw Portent of Betrayal (geez man, that's a lot) Swing with Swarm and Agent for 5 (opp: 0).

I think it's safe to say Gemini Combo Gruul will never beat a removal-heavy deck with any regularity.


One more time. I'll bust out my Izzet deck that I don't really like (I haven't posted it yet for precisely that reason). I'll say one thing about the Premium wall: I'm finding it extraordinarily difficult to build any kind of traditional control deck with blue in it without those cards (not that this build is meant to be any kind of real control deck)

Izzet (on the play)

Hand 1: 1x Island, 3x Mountain, 2x Izzet Guildgate, 1x Guttersnipe
- mulligan - (No.)
Hand 2: 2x Island 1x Mountain, 1x Kiln Fiend, 1x Guttersnipe, 1x Archaeomancer, 1x Voyage's End
- keep - (sure, let's beast some damage through)

T1: Mountain. Go.
AIT1: Forest, Spire Tracer. Go.

T2: Draw Mountain. Play Island and Kiln Fiend and pass.
AIT2: Forest. Swing with Tracer. (me: 19). Wandering Wolf. Go.

T3: Draw and play Mountain and swing with Kiln Fiend. Wolf and Fiend trade. Fine by me. I know how few creatures the build runs. Knowing that is the whole point of testing. Post-combat Guttersnipe. Pass turn.
AIT3: Gruul Guildgate. Swing with Tracer. (me: 18). Wandering Wolf. AI drawing all the creatures this time. Pass.

T4: Draw Mountain. Play Island. I might as well play this Voyage's End on my turn to get some extra damage by bouncing this wolf and also getting to scry a garbage card to the bottom and ALSO to have a reason to play 'Mancer. So I send the Wolf on a Voyage. Snipe triggers (opp: 18) and I leave a Void Snare (oh the rough life of not having access to Vapor Snag on top. Swing for 2 with Snipe. (opp: 16). Pass turn.
AIT4: Gruul Guildgate. Swing for 1 with Tracer. (me: 17). Wandering Wolf. Pass turn.

T5: Draw Void Snare. Snare away the Wolf. Snipe trigger (opp: 14). Swing with Snipe. (opp: 12). Play Mountain and pass.
AIT5: Mountain. Swing for 1 with Tracer (me: 16). Wandering Wolf. Pass turn.

T6: Draw Inferno Titan. Game over. Play Mountain and Titan shooting the Tracer, Wolf, and the face. Titanic Growth on Wandering Wolf to save it. Pass turn.
AIT6: Enlarge on Wandering Wolf. But sadly for the AI I can't be forced to block it because of Wolf's text. THE NONBOS ARE REAL. I take 9. (me: 7). Gruul Guildgate. Pass turn.

T7: Draw and play Island for no real reason other than bad manners. Play 'Mancer getting back Void Snare. Void Snare my own 'Mancer. Snipe triggers (opp: 9). Swing with the team. Titan triggers all go to the face (opp: 6). Pump Titan to 8/6. AI takes 10 (opp: -4)

Well, there you go. The build can even draw 3 creatures, but without any efficient way of protecting them, it doesn't really matter. I'm done now. Sorry Gemini, but I'm erasing this thing off my iPad.

In closing, I'm going to give Gemini the benefit of the doubt here. I can't even begin to imagine that he actually tested this deck and thought it was good. This is why I never really got involved in all the pre-game theory building. I just don't see a point. I mean, I guess theory-crafting is fine, but eventually we all have to jettison our inner-Allen Iverson and actually talk about PRACTICE son.

Have you considered testing it the other way? (I don't have Ipad, don't look at me!) We all know the AI isn't very bright. Have you tried playing Gemini's deck against AI piloting your decks? You'd have to play the non-premium cut he posted, since you aren't about to buy premium, but it might change the results a bit.