Like many others before me, I tried messing around with Valor in Akros. Tried it in
,
, and
with mixed results. All that building and testing gave me the Valor blues... and then I realized I liked it best that way.
Valor Blues15 Creatures1 x
Kytheon, Hero of Akros1 x
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy2 x
Hanweir Militia Captain2 x
Rattlechains4 x
Eldrazi Skyspawner3 x
Whirler Rogue2 x
Drowner of Hope2 Planeswalkers1 x
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar1 x
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets3 Enchantments3 x
Valor in Akros10 Instants3 x
Essence Flux2 x
Reprisal2 x
Gideon's Reproach3 x
Telling Time6 Sorceries2 x
Declaration in Stone2 x
Allied Reinforcements2 x
Rise from the Tides24 Land6 x
Plains6 x
Island2 x
Prairie Stream2 x
Glacial Fortress2 x
Westvale Abbey3 x
Foundry of the Consuls3 x
Evolving WildsWhat I like best about this color combination is the abundance of cards that put 3+ bodies on the board in one shot. It repopulates very quickly after a board wipe, and makes for insane Valor pumps.
Most importantly, I think, it gives us a way to get a massive pump the same turn Valor hits the board, through Essence Flux. This helps mitigate what most seem to agree is the biggest weakness of Valor - that it doesn't do anything the turn you cast it. Here you can go off as a surprise attack as early as turn 5 - it's great to go T3 Skyspawner, T4 Whirler Rogue, T5 Valor + Flux on the Rogue, and stomp them out of nowhere (even better with Kytheon and Rattlechains T1 and T2). I've done similar combos in
(which are better with
Thopter Engineer to give the Flux'd tokens haste), but a simpler mana base helps me do it more consistently in
, and cutting
helps me play Foundry and Abbey, which stalls opp attacks with threat of instant speed pumps and provides a life gaining win con.
I wanted to use
Archangel Avacyn, because she's typically an auto include for me in
, but she didn't make my cut here. I like the instant speed pump + indestructible + flux target, but with so many fragile tokens (and scions to sac), her flip effect kept her on the sidelines.
I don't usually care much for Allied Reinforcements, but I like it here in small doses. It drops 2 bodies for Valor, and gives Rise from the Tides another zombie.
Rattlechains may seem a little out of place, but it's another instant speed pump for Valor and it's an evasive attacking T2 play. If opp's lacking aerial defenses, Rattlechains and Skyspawner can put the pressure on early.
Telling Time gives RftT another zombie and helps me dig for Valor - and allows me to do something with the mana I hold up for removal if no targets present themselves that turn. Baby Jace helps dig for Valor and recur my removal & flux. Big Jace gives card draw and utility with bounce, to stall a threat or put Rogue back to hand for another jumbo pump.
Rather than be honest about it and say it's a really fun deck that can absolutely Go The **** Off out of nowhere, but isn't going to beat 4c Planeswalkers or Esper Control without luck in the draw - I'm officially announcing it as a Tier 0 x Infinity Power deck;
the best list you'll ever see! ...I think that's how you get feedback here
Have you tried Invocation of Saint Traft? Risky, but I love it in Valor decks, more so with hard-to-block flyers. And if you can keep it alive with counters or something, it's pretty definitive. (Also trying it with Tormentor in Esper, lol)