In what way? I'd come to that conclusion before you even posted your deck!

I have two Modus-es? (Modi?) 1) Winning under self-imposed constraints, and 2) Rejecting game-imposed constraints. Making a workabel Exalted deck is the former, but rejecting being forced into Bant to do so is the latter, so this is entirely in keeping.

Because I am the "you" in this quote.

"You" only talked about the contents of the first sentence, not the important latter paragraph about removing Blue. That's hardly inspiring me, and tying in the following paragraph that's materially unrelated to that claim is disingenuous.

Regardless, I wasn't even stating I came to the former conclusion because of you, but simply agreeing with your observation (there's only 10 Exalted creatures) that I'd reached independently while I'd been off playtesting for the last day. I should probably have said "and as you say yourself", as the intention was to point out to you that staying in Blue wasn't necessary, and that you're already on the road to realising that with that statement.

You don't mention dropping Blue at all until I do.

I understand Semantics quite well (Linguistics major), I was just hoping to claim minor credit for your epiphany. Alas, it is not to be!

Meh, you've made me reconsider Banisher Priests in the past if that helps? I lost count of how many times I two for one'd people by killing their Fiend Hunter and surprise blocking in past games that it put me off them here - especially with their reduced utility and toughness. In a more removal light metagame though, they're both harder to kill and their unconditional removal is rarer, so they're actually Ok.

Since all the cool kids are doing it, I might as well post my take on Exalted.



- I thought the deck would be bad, but it's actually pretty good, and the reason is simple: it does powerful things.

- Rafiq, but also Exalted in general, is good with unblockable creatures, so I decided to go heavy on that theme.

- The deck is not super aggro, but it's proactive. The Rhoxes and Brimaz are awesome to fight aggro decks in their own plan.

- Shorestalker is actually good. I really like it in the meta. And Exalted helps giving it late-game relevance.

- Mentor of the Meek are the weak links so far. Suggestions? I'm thinking about a pair of Reprisals, but maybe I'm biased by the amount of Indulgent Tormentors I'm seing. I probably replace the Mentors with other dudes, but I'm not sure which.

I think the Gnarlid is pretty poor here. You're overloaded with unblockability, and with barely any Auras, he'll be an expensive Wolf most of the time, and I even found the Wolves to be a bit surplus in my build. The Mentor also does very little.

My Naya one is ok, but not turning out as fun as the Bant version. It feels like the deck would be better losing the Green and working as a Boros Aura variant, which I don't enjoy playing, so won't go down that road.

I've tried Abzan Exalted, and even Mardu Vampire Exalted of all things, but I think Bant, Selesnya, or Boros Aura is the way to go, so if Selesnya doesn't work, then back to Bant I think.

I just don't think the Woolly Thoctars are as good as the War Monks in an Exalted build. They don't need the boost, and don't get any bonuses for being chumped. As both have the same defence, but the Rhoxes have Lifelink, they're also much better versus Aggro. Also the Tracers being blockable by fliers has been more relevent than I would have liked. Naya really isn't the way to go.

I agree that Gnarlid is just an expensive Wolf. What I don't agree is being overloaded with unblockability, since it's the deck "thing", after all. They haven't been surplus at all.

As I said, I'm looking for a replacement for Mentors.

But with 29 creatures, I feel you could afford to swap them for spells. As it stands you have more unblockable creatures than Exalted ones, and in that sense its more of an unblockable deck than an Exalted one.

Now while EX decks work well with UB support, UB decks conversely have better things to support them than EX. If your deck is biased towards the UB end, it becomes a flawed UB deck instead of a good EX deck in my opinion.

If you still wish to go down that route though, replacing Mentors for Stoneforge Mystics and Artful Dodge (unnecessary with all the native UB) for Darksteel Axes would work. It'd cut into your Arrests too, but with only 2 removal spells, is there any point in having them at all? If you're not going to invest much in an areas, it's far better to use those resources to focus on what you're doing well elsewhere instead I always feel.

But you can't really make a deck only with Exalted, because you don't have enough Exalted. UB happens tto be a thing that works well with it.

Dodge is still a thing since your better creatures aren't UB. You need at something like 2 big swings to compliment the small attackers to win the game, and that's where Dodge comes.

And about the removal, I tend to agree with you, and I started the deck without any, but it did more harm than good. I'm more inclined to up the coount, honestly. The deck is not fast enough to ignore your opponent.

Well Fel, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who found Gnarlid's in his exalted deck also.
It's not too difficult to get them unblockable so I haven't had any downside issues in running them.
Only good has come from it actually. Little expensive but worth it in the long run.

I think if you want to play Gnarlid, now is the time for WG Auras. Asha's Favor is insane and most of the exalted creatures are good on their own.

I do think Exalted works best with Auras the more I play. It fits the logic of loading up a single creature. Bant is effective, but boring. I think either a variation on either Boros Heroic or Selesnya Auras is the best way to work Exalted into a deck.

Ah, so that's why you have all day to sit around and do Magic.

I tease, I tease. I actually love your contributions, mate. But we're good enough chums now that I can tease you gently, like I would the semi erect nipples of a lover.

Semi-erect is a compound adjective.

Consider me flaccid.

Not turgid? This is why we don't have any friends, Hakeem. Not because we're constantly doing Magic.

Okay, I felt a tingle from turgid. But this should be in another thread because Bant is too righteous for this type of behavior.

Jund maybe, where we can fulfill our animal instincts? Okay I'm ending this discussion now

Tumescent is the word you're both looking for.

My tumescence increases at the thought of a Menage à Magic.

This is where my Fog list now sits!



Same game plan. Draw your butt off while stalling and digging for win cons. Working great. Visions is a great addition. I am trying 24 lands again and so far it is working well for me.. I may drop down a land or two eventually as if anyone recalls the old build was lower on mana to make sure I drew cards I needed. So far the edits are working great, without the risk of mana screw.