Welcome back! Today is my final installment in the saga of analysis articles I do for every set launch. For those of you just tuning in the first two articles are a card-to-card analysis called First Glance and the third article is a fun little project I do known as Combo Corner. This week is the results of all my close inspection of Avacyn Restored brought to fruition for the casual multiplayer format. Today it’s decks built around Avacyn Restored’s themes using exclusively cards from Innistrad Block. So that casual multiplayer aficionados such as myself get the most out of this, I’ll be doing all of these decks on a budget of thirty dollars, give or take. Let’s get started!

Starting on a lighter, more experimental note, Avacyn Restored has a small alchemy theme running through it. Alchemist’s Apprentice, Alchemists Refuge, Amass the Components, and Galvanic Alchemist are among the more flavorful cards in the category. Avacyn Restored’s alchemy tactic revolves around hit-and-run tactics, card advantage, bounce, and, most importantly, the element of surprise. Let’s start with those first four cards mentioned. Alchemist’s Refuge, of all the choices, most strongly encourages an ambush play style. It also strongly hints at what we should use as our second colour and by extension where the deck’s muscle is going to come from. We’ll use green.

There are two great green creatures that already fit our theme, Wolfir Avenger and Briarpack Alpha. They’re formidable creatures throughout the mid-game and they have flash. There is an additional creature we can look into using for the late game and that is Soul of the Harvest. I know it looks out of place, but keep in mind with all the creatures coming into play at instant speed that also means card advantage at instant speed. In regards to the alchemy tactic I’m mostly looking at taking advantage of the abundant bouncing effects to create a tempo hole from which it will be difficult, if not impossible, to recover from. We need to keep our opponents guessing about what we’re actually capable of.

Vial Of Surprise

Author:

Casual Carnage

Forum Tag:

[mtgdeck]140624[/mtgdeck]

Type:

None

Cards:

Casual

Format:

60

Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

Cost:

$16.16

Views:

453

Deck List

26Blue

• 4 x Alchemist's Apprentice
• 4 x Amass the Components
• 4 x Delver of Secrets
• 3 x Into the Void
• 3 x Ludevic's Test Subject
• 4 x Silent Departure
• 1 x Spirit Away
• 3 x Vanishment

10Green

• 3 x Briarpack Alpha
• 3 x Soul of the Harvest
• 4 x Wolfir Avenger

24Land

• 4 x Alchemist's Refuge
• 4 x Evolving Wilds
• 7 x Forest
• 9 x Island

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This deck also features a couple of cards that would normally be very good were not for being restricted to sorcery speed. As I mentioned before there is Amass the Components. It’s an undesirable card for some people based solely on the fact that it does take an entire turn’s worth of mana to cast. However, when we combine it with Alchemist’s Refuge it becomes a fantastic way to dig through one’s deck at the end of the other guy’s turn right before your turn begins. The second card is Into the Void, which, because it costs four mana and is a sorcery I would play the same way. Alternately, it can be used as a combat trick. This card will combine well with the rest of the bounce suite which consists of Vanishment at the high end and Dream Twist at the low end. The most important thing to remember when playing this deck is that you must take great care with when you spend your mana and what you spend it on. The most mysterious and therefore most effective way to play this deck would be to board an Alchemist’s Refuge and then play the deck in draw-go style. Take your card for the turn, play a land, and pass. To keep some pressure on opponent’s I’ve gone for the ever-reliable Delver of Secrets. Just watch out for Gut Shot!

The next theme I’ll be discussing in Avacyn Restored is possibly my favorite of all. The loners theme in the set is pushed mostly by black but also a little bit of blue. Loner cards are creatures that benefit strongly from being the only creature you control. The driving force behind Avacyn Restored’s loner theme is a card called Homicidal Seclusion. Homicidal Seclusion solves a critical problem that comes as a result of playing a deck that does not board more than one creature at a time. Unless you have total control of the board (not likely in multiplayer) you must choose between swinging for damage or hanging back to block to protect your life total. With Homicidal Seclusion your choice creature will have lifelink. Now how this will work is each hit creates a buffer in your life total to survive the damage coming in during the remaining turns of the round. So who’s your loner of choice? Mine is Demonic Taskmaster.

Lonely Living

Author:

The Artificer

Forum Tag:

[mtgdeck]140637[/mtgdeck]

Type:

None

Cards:

Casual

Format:

60

Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

Cost:

$22.38

Views:

511

Deck List

20Black

• 4 x Demonic Taskmaster
• 2 x Exquisite Blood
• 4 x Homicidal Seclusion
• 2 x Killing Wave
• 4 x Predator's Gambit
• 2 x Triumph of Cruelty
• 2 x Unburial Rites

12Blue

• 4 x Forbidden Alchemy
• 4 x Lone Revenant
• 4 x Think Twice

24Land

• 8 x Island
• 6 x Plains
• 10 x Swamp

4White

• 4 x Divine Reckoning

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Apparently when the Angels returned to Innistrad the Humans, who up until now were repressed, lost their inhibition and went ape from town to city. The last build theme I’ll be talking about today is the rioters and the malcontents. Humans have taken a very interesting flavor spin from the first two sets. In Innistrad and Dark Ascension they were an organized force of paramilitary clerics and rangers. In Avacyn Restored we see their real personality and apparently it’s all the riots, looting, and witch-burning I was expecting in the previous two sets. The deck style we’re looking at here is going to be mostly a monored aggro. But don’t worry, this is Casual Carnage and if I didn’t have some dirty tricks in mind you wouldn’t still be reading. In the world of Innistrad, Humans are watched over by Angels. Keeping with the flavor of the set we should have room in the budget for a couple copies of Gisela, Blade of Goldnight.

Riot in the Streets

Author:

Casual Carnage

Forum Tag:

[mtgdeck]140649[/mtgdeck]

Type:

None

Cards:

Casual

Format:

60

Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

Cost:

$36.17

Views:

435

Deck List

2Artifact

• 2 x Gallows at Willow Hill

2Gold

• 2 x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

24Land

• 14 x Mountain
• 10 x Plains

22Red

• 3 x Burn at the Stake
• 4 x Kruin Striker
• 4 x Lightning Mauler
• 4 x Riot Ringleader
• 4 x Thatcher Revolt
• 3 x Vigilante Justice

10White

• 2 x Commander's Authority
• 3 x Gather the Townsfolk
• 3 x Herald of War
• 2 x Increasing Devotion

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As for those dirty tricks I was talking about I’m mostly looking to the interactions between the Humans’ abilities to produce a large amount of creatures and tokens very quickly and what they can do when combined with Burn at the Stake and Vigilante Justice. With Increasing Devotion, Gather the Townsfolk, and Commander’s Authority, you should have no problem generating plenty of tokens to fuel both cards. There is also the single-use Thatcher Revolt, which is tons of tokens (three) all at once but are exiled at the end of your turn. That being said it can dish out some significant damage when combined with Riot Ringleader. With Gisela in play each human who enters the battlefield alongside Vigilante Justice has a Shock attached to it. Lastly there is Gallows at Willow Hill, which I have been very excited to employ. It’s a repeatable source of removal that will help you hang anything you can’t burn. Barbaric and effective, just like our fellow man.

That’s all for this week folks. I’ll be back soon with some closer analysis and taller budget for decks featuring both Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded. These may be separate or in a joint article. It’s hard to tell at this point but I can tell you the framework for each of their decks has been done and it’s looking very evil indeed. See you in seven, happy playing!