For the first Nuts & Bolts, we have a Green-White deck with moderate bolster themes.
We have enough white and green that we won't have to splash for another color. We'll actually probably end up having to cut some cards we'd otherwise like to play. First, let's start with putting in the creatures we'd like to see play.
We've already gone over a bit. There are 19 creature cards here (including Lightform and Secure the Wastes). We don't really want more than 17 creatures if we can help it, because we'll want to cut off at 23 cards before land, and we still need to make room for our non-creature spells. As a matter of fact, let's see what non-creature spells we want to play and see what our deck size looks like.
This is a little much, as well. 10 spells means I'm only going to have room for 13 creatures, which is not where I want to be with a bolster-themed deck. We only have a handful of actual "bombs" in our deck, so I can probably cut Center Soul without much reservation. Dromoka's Gift plays into the bolster theme, but having to always buff the lowest-toughness creature makes it a lot harder to play, especially in a more complex board state (and the mana cost is pretty restrictive, in addition to all of that). I have a number of 4+ toughness creatures, so I want to keep Sight of the Scalelords, and Inspiring Call might give me the card advantage I need to push lethal on games that end up going long.
For now, I've decided to cut 2 cards from my spells list, which puts me down to 8. That gives me 15 creature slots to work with still, so let's go back and revisit my creature list. With Aerie Bowmasters potentially running as a 3-drop, due to being able to megamorph, I'm comfortable with cutting a couple creatures from the 3-slot. This isn't really a Prowess deck, so I cut one Dragon Bell Monk. I also don't know if I can support the double-white mana cost on Lightform, in addition to the double-green cards I already have in my deck, so I cut that as well. Thinking about what I need and what I don't, I also cut Secure the Wastes, because 1/1's don't play well with bolster.
Another option would have been to cut Servant of the Scale and keep in Secure the Wastes. However, as I built this deck, I felt that the option of shifting around +1/+1 counters be more valuable as a synergy bonus to the deck than the 1/1 dudes would be as a lone power card in the deck.
I still have 24 cards, so I need to cut something. With 10 potential sources of +1/+1 counters, I'm loathe to cut Inspiring Call from my deck. Unsure if this is the right call or not, I cut Battlefront Krushok to lower my mana curve. This puts me at 15 creatures and 8 spells for my main deck, then I fill my land slots with 10 forest and 7 plains. Not only do I have more green than white, but I also have double-green mana to contend with. If I only get 1 plains on the field the whole game, I can still run every white card in my deck. So in the end, this is the final deck:
For now, I've decided to cut 2 cards from my spells list, which puts me down to 8. That gives me 15 creature slots to work with still, so let's go back and revisit my creature list. With Aerie Bowmasters potentially running as a 3-drop, due to being able to megamorph, I'm comfortable with cutting a couple creatures from the 3-slot. This isn't really a Prowess deck, so I cut one Dragon Bell Monk. I also don't know if I can support the double-white mana cost on Lightform, in addition to the double-green cards I already have in my deck, so I cut that as well. Thinking about what I need and what I don't, I also cut Secure the Wastes, because 1/1's don't play well with bolster.
Another option would have been to cut Servant of the Scale and keep in Secure the Wastes. However, as I built this deck, I felt that the option of shifting around +1/+1 counters be more valuable as a synergy bonus to the deck than the 1/1 dudes would be as a lone power card in the deck.
I still have 24 cards, so I need to cut something. With 10 potential sources of +1/+1 counters, I'm loathe to cut Inspiring Call from my deck. Unsure if this is the right call or not, I cut Battlefront Krushok to lower my mana curve. This puts me at 15 creatures and 8 spells for my main deck, then I fill my land slots with 10 forest and 7 plains. Not only do I have more green than white, but I also have double-green mana to contend with. If I only get 1 plains on the field the whole game, I can still run every white card in my deck. So in the end, this is the final deck:
And with my main deck fleshed out, we're left with a number of sideboard options.
The most obvious sideboard cards here are Center Soul against removal-heavy decks, Abzan Advantage when i need to board in against enchantments, and Archers of Qarsi if I find myself struggling with fliers. Less obvious is siding in Secure the Wastes when facing down an opponent that has a lot of spot removal, but not very many creatures to protect his face from incoming attacks, and Battlefront Krushok in games where the opponent is running a lot of weenie creatures that can't kill mine without double blocking. If I find myself in need of more pumps, I can also drop in Dromoka's Gift or Map the Wastes. The latter (in conjunction with Ainok Guide) also gives me the option of potentially splashing for Grim Contest, Defeat, or Sarkhan's Rage, if I find myself in desperate need of more removal.
Wrap-up
There were some tough choices to make, and I'm not entirely sure I made the best ones, but we came away with a decent GW bolster deck, and a handful of solid sideboard options against various other deck archetypes. With the draft and deck construction wrapped up, next week we'll be tackling the actual games, and see how this deck measured up. Check back next Tuesday to view our Stress Test!
<-Check out the Assembly Line Jump to the Stress Test->
Jump to Back to the Drafting Table->
<-Check out the Assembly Line Jump to the Stress Test->
Jump to Back to the Drafting Table->