Challenge 4-5 : ABC's

[Salbei]

ABC's
Challenge: 4-5
Unlocks: (Leyline of the Void)
Description: Every card in your deck must start with the same letter.
NavigationChallenge Index - Archive for Set 4


Please discuss this Challenge here!

[Salbei]

Useful Quotes from the Archive:
Keep in mind those posts where made ages ago and the challenges might have been changed.

ABCs (S)

.1836 4 Sarcomancy
.1944 4 Shriekmaw
.1759 4 Smallpox
.1478 4 Slith Bloodletter
.613 2 Sorin Markov*
.461 4 Stone-Throwing Devils
.1496 4 Stupor
.230 1 Sol Ring
.1714 4 Skullclamp
.1207 4 Solemn Simulacrum
.1833 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
.529 4 Su-Chi
.239 19 Swamp
.528 1 Strip Mine

This one was fun to design! There were lots of strategies to try, so I am sure there will be a wide variety of decks for this one. I think I made it the second attempt with this one. The original was a B/W deck, similar style to above, but the white mana base was crappy due to only having Sacred Foundry, Scrubland, Savannah, and Secluded Steppe to use, two of which come into play tapped. If it weren't for the land, monowhite S could probably make it, too. I also thought about trying 'B' since there are a lot of good lands in there (badlands, bayou, bloodstained mire, etc) but when I saw all the good spells in S, I had to do it.

Well S seems to have the most cards in the game right now so that helps a lot and it has Swamp which is one of the few letters with a basic land.

Well S seems to have the most cards in the game right now so that helps a lot and it has Swamp which is one of the few letters with a basic land.

Yeah, my first instinct was to go M for mountain/mox, but it turns out red has very few cards in M. I think B (lots of duals) or T (also lots of duals) would work, too, plus the basic land letters would have a decent chance, too.

If we ever get snow-covered lands, S will be the way to go for sure! :p

Here is the S deck I used to beat the challenge I had a lot of success with it on my 4th try or so at ABC's.

Swamp 23
Strip Mine 1
Sanguine Guard 4
Sengir Vampire 3
Shriekmaw 4
Stronghold Overseer 2
Sarcomancy 4
Sorin Markov 2
Stupor 4
Scepter of Fugue 1
Serrated Arrows 1
Sol Ring 1
Solemn Simulacrum 4
Su-Chi 4
Sword of Fire and Ice 2

Overseer is really good against most decks if you can activate his ability 2+ times on your opponents turn they have to hit you with a 3 power creature to do 1 damage. Obviously if they have a ton of shadow guys its not that cool but if they are running just standard creatures it is.

[240sxforever]

I beat this challenge using 'S' and this deck:

;ABC - S
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;01/06/2011
;1
;4th Edition
;

.450 3 Sword of Feast and Famine
.1583 4 Sangromancer
.1836 4 Sarcomancy
.220 3 Sengir Vampire
.993 3 Sheoldred, Whispering One
.1944 4 Shriekmaw
.115 4 Sign in Blood
.1759 4 Smallpox
.680 4 Stinkweed Imp
.1697 4 Stitch Together
.239 20 Swamp
.1786 4 Sulfur Vent

It abuses Shriekmaw and Stinkweed imp hard. It is a hybrid reanimator/control deck that has few issues with decks other than the relentless rats. I love the number of synergies and interlocking functions that the deck presents. It is even strong enough to see general play in my folder.






I tried a couple of other decks and they have potential, I just didn't have the patience to tune them properly:

The interaction between Pariah's Shield and seems to just baffle the AI and the combat tricks with banding are always amusing.

;ABC - P
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;01/06/2011
;1
;4th Edition
;

.1385 4 Plated Sliver
.942 4 Pikemen
.1107 4 Peach Garden Oath
.588 4 Path to Exile
.1267 4 Paladin en-Vec
.968 4 Pacifism
.821 3 Phyrexian Processor
.1308 3 Platinum Angel
.1757 4 Plumeveil
.188 23 Plains
.622 3 Pariah's Shield

This is the weakest of the three, but I enjoyed playing the two masticores in the same deck. Mimic Vat is the soul of this deck and it adds a nice flexibility in lines of play.

;ABC - M
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;01/06/2011
;1
;4th Edition
;

.1230 4 Masticore
.466 4 Memnite
.1384 4 Metallic Sliver
.818 4 Metalworker
.527 3 Mimic Vat
.1775 4 Mind Stone
.453 3 Molten-Tail Masticore
.165 1 Mox Emerald
.166 1 Mox Jet
.1805 3 Mox Opal
.167 1 Mox Pearl
.168 1 Mox Ruby
.169 1 Mox Sapphire
.586 3 Myr Battlesphere
.1548 4 Myr Enforcer
.159 4 Meekstone
.508 4 Mishra's Factory
.510 4 Mishra's Workshop
.164 8 Mountain

[HornofAmmon]

Wondering if I can get some advice about trying to beat this using "B". Is this deck viable, and if so, how can I make it better?

;1 B Only
;
;Player
;no@spam.com
;14/08/2011
;1
;4th Edition
;

.9 4 Badlands
.1986 4 Barren Moor
.12 4 Bayou
.1638 4 Blood Crypt
.1489 4 Bloodstained Mire
.1441 4 Bitterblossom
.221 2 Bone Shredder
.16 4 Black Knight
.379 1 Bogardan Hellkite
.1136 2 Burst Lightning
.354 1 Buried Alive
.869 4 Batterskull
.1830 3 Barbarian Ring
.17 1 Black Lotus
.1337 4 Blightning
.1221 3 Blazing Specter
.760 1 Black Sun's Zenith
.1088 4 Bloodghast
.926 2 Bituminous Blast
.864 1 Basilisk Collar
.8 3 Bad Moon

(The Buried Alive is to put the Bloodghasts into the graveyard. I used to have a Beacon of Unrest to reanimate my Hellkite, but I took it out).

Also, Burning Wish seems to kill my game, as I auto-lose at time when I have it in the deck.

Any thoughts, or is B too limiting to win with?

[jenelmo]

Burning Wish is restricted, maybe that is why you auto lose

[HornofAmmon]

Wow, this was so much easier when I switched to "S". My black/white deck, with Stoneforge Mystic as a key player, really ran over the opponents.


.216 4 Scrubland
.239 18 Swamp
.212 4 Savannah
.794 2 Spirit Link
.491 2 Sun Titan
.20 4 Stoneforge Mystic
.240 4 Swords to Plowshares
.450 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
.1833 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
.1806 1 Sword of War and Peace
.1583 2 Sangromancer
.1944 3 Shriekmaw
.749 2 Skinrender
.613 2 Sorin Markov*
.993 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
.1478 3 Slith Bloodletter
.1612 2 Sanguine Guard
.1144 1 Sever Soul
.976 3 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon

[stassy]

Just a question : did you beat this challenge with the July v2 version? Could you use Spirit Link normally?

[HornofAmmon]

Just a question : did you beat this challenge with the July v2 version? Could you use Spirit Link normally?

No, I believe I was using the old May update, with NPH only.

[andrehfloripa]

Nothing like a Cawblade to beat a challenge

4 Savannah
4 Scrubland
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Sunpetal Grove
3 Stirring Wildwood
4 Sacred Foundry

2 Spectral Lynx
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Sun Titan
4 Soltari Priest
4 Soltari Monk
4 Soltari Trooper
4 Spectral Procession
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sword Feast / Famine
1 Sword War / Peace
1 Sol Ring
1 Skullclamp
1 Sword Fire / Ice

[HornofAmmon]

Aha! Finally got "B" to work. A nice Jund deck did the trick, with the new Innistrad Bloodline Keeper and Bloodgift Demon!


.9 4 Badlands
.1986 4 Barren Moor
.12 4 Bayou
.1783 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
.1638 4 Blood Crypt
.1489 4 Bloodstained Mire
.8 2 Bad Moon
.869 2 Batterskull
.315 1 Beacon of Destruction
.14 1 Berserk
.15 4 Birds of Paradise
.926 2 Bituminous Blast
.1441 2 Bitterblossom
.16 2 Black Knight
.17 1 Black Lotus
.760 2 Black Sun's Zenith
.1221 2 Blazing Specter
.1337 2 Blightning
.646 4 Bloodbraid Elf
.1483 2 Bloodgift Demon
.1004 3 Bloodline Keeper
.221 2 Bone Shredder
.1136 2 Burst Lightning

[HornofAmmon]

Well, since I'm bored and I can't beat Planeswalker Decimation for my life, I'm going to see how many letters I can beat this with. I just beat it with "A":


.1932 4 Adarkar Wastes
.1219 4 Ancient Den
.1206 4 Arcane Sanctum
.2389 4 Arctic Flats
.1731 4 Azorius Chancery
.3118 4 Ancient Tomb
.10233 2 Admonition Angel
.8687 3 Ajani Goldmane
.11502 4 Ajani's Pridemate
.9540 4 Akrasan Squire
.1198 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
.10965 2 Alloy Myr
.1 1 Ancestral Recall
.11613 2 Angelic Destiny
.11132 2 Angelic Overseer
.9363 1 Archon of Justice
.4162 4 Arrest
.9740 4 Aven Squire
.11619 1 Azure Mage
.10821 2 Accorder Paladin
.391 2 Abu Ja'far
.9102 1 Augury Adept


Bunch of painlands and exalted dudes, for the win!

[HornofAmmon]

"C" is for Control. Beat it with some difficulty using the Coralhelm Commanders and Control Magics in this deck. It seems that the main limitations are lands, as it's hard to get the right ones on some letters, but I'm going to try to go down the alphabet and explore some odd cards in the process.

;C Only
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;05/03/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.10256 4 Celestial Colonnade
.403 4 City of Brass
.3511 4 City of Traitors
.962 4 Coastal Tower
.10263 4 Creeping Tar Pit
.1202 4 Crumbling Necropolis
.11155 1 Cackling Counterpart
.10626 1 Carnifex Demon
.3663 2 Catastrophe
.5565 2 Chainer's Edict
.10986 2 Chancellor of the Dross
.11407 3 Child of Night
.1465 1 Cloudgoat Ranger
.1550 2 Compulsive Research
.7963 2 Condemn
.44 4 Control Magic
.10410 4 Coralhelm Commander
.48 3 Counterspell
.9136 3 Cursecatcher
.10633 1 Contagion Engine
.1208 2 Cathodion
.10408 1 Consuming Vapors
.11164 1 Clifftop Retreat
.11163 1 Claustrophobia

[Enchanteur]

T is the letter of Time.
And Treva is master of time in this storytelling deck.

This deck is stronger than expected, after some playtest. I've beat 5 opponent of the challenge (I stopped there, because I'ved to shut down computer).

Here the deck, and some commentarys after that :

--------------------------------------------

;C_TrevaTimeMaster
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;06/03/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.254 4 Tundra
.252 4 Tropical Island
.1217 4 Tree of Tales
.1513 1 Tolarian Academy
.8671 4 Tolaria West
.6363 4 Temple of the False God
.1499 4 Temple Garden
.4144 4 Thran Dynamo
.3868 3 Temporal Aperture
.11696 4 Timely Reinforcements
.7758 4 Telling Time
.1342 4 Time Spiral
.1425 3 Time Stretch
.249 1 Time Walk
.250 1 Timetwister
.1351 1 Tinker
.1341 4 Treachery
.2219 4 Tinder Wall
.4935 2 Treva, the Renewer

--------------------------------------------

First game, against the golem-splicer deck. Bad start for me : AI drop Mox and Black Lotus. I have some golems on table and drop to 1 hp at 3st turn. Then I think I'm dead, but deck begin to do some incredibles interactions.
Then, I begin an endless turn, with Treachery, untap Tolarian Academy, play Time Strech, make token with Timely Reinforcements, recover 18 HP, etc.. and win !

Timely Reinforcements is the main survival cards, followed by Tinder Wall for defense or drop a turn 2 Thran Dynamo. Defense is followed quicly by the fabulous Treachery.
But in many game Timely Reinforcements is a win condition too, because most of the time, creatures of AI are tapped, and you can stole an untaped one with Treachery. With the many time walk, soldiers can attack and quicly defeat AI, helped with a stoled creature.

Tolaria West is very good in order to tutor Academy or Temple of False God. Tree of Tales give mana for academy, mana for Tinder Wall, or is sacrifiable with tinker for playing a Dynamo or Temporal Aperture.
Sometime, when lucky, Temporal Aperture play Time Stretch or Treva.

Time Spiral is the big trick. It recover more mana than before played with Academy or Temples, and give a full hand. With these lands, mana flooded in pool, and dynamo, Time Stretch can quicly be played from hand too, with missing mana potentialy given by Tinder Wall.

Telling Time is a good card, capable of fix a bad beginning hand. It's good too, in order to put in hand a good top card before shuffle with Temporal Aperture.

Time Stretch is the real win card here. You just play one first, and you are sure to play alone for the rest of the game, and win !

There is possible changes about this deck.
I think that 4 Time Stretch could be better. I dont add Time Warp (too week), and Tiddings not really needed with Aperture and Time Spiral.
I could remove 1 Treva and put another big monster like Triskelion or T...?.
Remove a Teeling Time and put another killer card too.
I was thinking to play Taiga too (can sac Tinder wall against an attacker).
In a unlucky game, Treva saved my life. After 2 strike I recovered enough life to support one more attack of AI, and win the turn after.

Word of end : I find this challenge very funny, because the deck limitation provide more inventivity in the deck creation process. Letters like H or R could be playable after some bugfix about lands like Ruins of Trokair that can untap.

See attachement, one of the savegame is from the first incredible game.

[HornofAmmon]

"D" is for Death and shaDow. Used Damnation, Doomblade, and Drana to great effect in this one!

;D Only
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;06/03/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.10642 4 Darkslick Shores
.1728 4 Dimir Aqueduct
.11417 4 Dragonskull Summit
.11419 4 Drowned Catacomb
.8545 4 Dryad Arbor
.5315 1 Deserted Temple
.1275 4 Damnation
.55 2 Dark Ritual
.3157 2 Dauthi Horror
.3158 2 Dauthi Marauder
.3519 2 Dauthi Warlord
.10268 3 Death's Shadow
.11528 1 Demon of Death's Gate
.62 1 Demonic Tutor
.11189 3 Diregraf Ghoul
.10999 2 Dismember
.11416 4 Doom Blade
.10426 2 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
.10648 1 Dissipation Field
.11415 1 Djinn of Wishes
.3927 1 Defense of the Heart
.10271 2 Dragonmaster Outcast
.6646 1 Darksteel Citadel
.407 3 Desert
.9390 1 Deathbringer Liege
.11188 1 Devil's Play


"G" is for Goblins. Despite the slightly awkward mana, this was the easiest ABC challenge I've played so far, with a win in one playthrough. The Goblin Lackey/Goblin Guide aggro on turn one is just too powerful.

;G Only
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;07/03/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.11426 2 Gargoyle Castle
.3941 3 Ghitu Encampment
.1712 3 Godless Shrine
.1729 2 Gruul Turf
.8569 4 Grove of the Burnwillows
.10063 4 Goblin Guide
.1218 4 Great Furnace
.3021 4 Gemstone Mine
.11430 4 Goblin Chieftain
.1783 1 Goblin Grenade
.102 2 Goblin King
.3723 3 Goblin Lackey
.5932 4 Goblin Piledriver
.5154 4 Goblin Ringleader
.5934 2 Goblin Sharpshooter
.6313 3 Goblin Warchief
.10859 2 Goblin Wardriver
.6156 4 Gempalm Incinerator
.11214 1 Garruk Relentless
.3724 2 Goblin Matron
.10062 1 Goblin Bushwhacker
.11218 1 Gavony Township


"I" is for Infect. The AI doesn't know how Ichorclaw Myr will pump itself when it's blocked, leading to lots of easy kills when it becomes 3/3. Instigator Gang is also really powerful, especially with the Inkmoth Nexus.

;I Only
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;08/03/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.1291 1 Iridescent Angel
.1062 2 Intrepid Hero
.2063 3 Illusionary Forces
.11440 4 Ice Cage
.119 2 Icy Manipulator
.11025 4 Impaler Shrike
.2868 2 Impulse
.5360 2 Innocent Blood
.10086 3 Into the Roil
.126 14 Island
.11253 4 Isolated Chapel
.10870 4 Inkmoth Nexus
.10689 4 Ichorclaw Myr
.11248 3 Instigator Gang
.1212 2 Iron Myr
.1730 4 Izzet Boilerworks
.1254 2 Incinerate


So far from A to I, I've found "E", "F", and "H" to be very difficult. I think F can be beat, but there's just not enough good green creatures starting with F to take advantage of the forests. I'm moving onto J and beyond!

[HornofAmmon]

"K" is for Knights. Despite the rather bad mana, with a lack of white sources, I managed to make this decent Knight and Kitchen-Finks based deck, with Kessig Wolf-Run proving to be a MVP in both defense and offense. Good times!

;K Only
;
;User
;User E-Mail
;09/03/2012
;1
;4th Edition
;

.10092 4 Kabira Crossroads
.694 4 Karakas
.11032 2 Karn Liberated
.2079 4 Karplusan Forest
.10096 4 Kazandu Refuge
.11256 4 Kessig Wolf Run
.10303 4 Khalni Garden
.10098 2 Khalni Gem
.10694 4 Kemba's Skyguard
.1414 4 Knight of Meadowgrain
.11553 4 Knight Exemplar
.2880 2 Knight of Valor
.1592 2 Kongming, "Sleeping Dragon"
.10106 4 Kor Skyfisher
.10302 2 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
.3223 4 Kindle
.11254 1 Kessig Cagebreakers
.9208 4 Kitchen Finks
.10877 1 Kuldotha Ringleader