By Aeriolis on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 08:36 am:

I was thinking of making a 5 color deck using the best/most efficient of each color's cards in a standard creature rush deck, for barely any reason really, just to be interesting. I'm trying to keep it T1.5 though, so no obviously broken stuff like Ancestral Recall or anything... Also, I'm having difficulty with creatures. White and Black Knight are obviously good but I'm not sure they cross that threshold into "great." There's got to be better cheap creatures... Anyway, can anybody add to this list?

Lightning Bolt
Swords to Plowshares
Rancor
Birds of Paradise
Terminate
Vindicate
Grim Lavamancer
Dark Confidant

By Homelands Bookie (Psycho) on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 09:17 am:

Rancor? Grim Lavamancer?
Rancor is only good in Stompy (Forgive me for forgetting that you want it T1.5, I'm not too familiar with the environment), and I've only seen Lavamancers in Landstill decks.

Bah, I shouldn't be complaining about this. It's a good idea, and I should be constructive about this.

How about Sneak Attack?

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 09:29 am:

First off, making it 5-colour means automatically that it will be worse than any mono-colour or two-colour build.

Secondly, Dark Confidant and Lavamancer would hardly fit "best/most efficient of each color's cards", not even "best/most efficient of each color's creatures".

Thirdly, you can hardly consider any creature with double-coloured-mana-costs like the Knights for a 5-color-deck.

Having said that, your best try would be Zoo-like decks, but the original deck idea bases on small creatures plus draw-7s. And all draw-7s are restricted, hence banned in 1.5, so this won't work. But Zoo aside I can't think of any creature rush deck that uses more than two colours. For a reason.

Anyway, Savannah Lion and Kird Ape are examples for creatures that fit your descriptions, yet they will probably fail in a 5-colour-deck. Thats also true for creatures like Hypnotic Specter (because of the double-black).

So, I'd say we have to look for the mid-range creatures and forget about the weenie rush, going back to the good old times of Djinn- and Efreet decks!
Ernham Djinn, Phyrexian Scuta, Serendib Efreet, Frenetic Efreet, thats the type of creatures that will work: good mana-to-stats-ratio and no double-colour mana costs. Maybe include good ol' Juggernaut for mana consistency and for nostalgia reasons.

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 09:33 am:

And don't listen to Psycho, who underposted me: Rancor is just mad and works perfectly with those Djinns, if not just for the added trample. And any deck with Sneak Attack will automatically be a combodeck, not a creature rush deck. And Lavamancers have been used in Type II Sligh decks. Just ignore Psycho ;)

By Dark Lord (Apprentice) on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 02:50 pm:

I tried this once and its really better if you limit yourself to just a few colors. Three colors is the threshold. I have never seen a smooth aggro deck that uses four or five colors, not even Sliver decks.

Zoo seems like a fun idea. You wont exactly need draw 7's, but you will want draw. It should probably be R/G/u. Use cards like Brainstorm, Accumulated Knowlege or Sylvan Library for more staying power then a R/G aggro deck. Curiosity is huge too. The idea is to add just enough blue so that you wont die past turn 5.

Eon Blue Apocalpyse is alot of fun too. There are a few good links to decklists. here, here and here. Check those ideas out.

The last fun idea is making a U/W aggro deck with Meddling Mages, Ninja of Deep Hours, Icatian Javelineers, Savannah Lions or more. The deck is based on more of a contollish aggro, where the creatures usually double for some sort of utility perpose as well. It is hardly a beatdown deck, but it is a greta mix of control and speed to make a fun deck.

-Apprentice

By a random dood on Friday, April 07, 2006 - 03:22 pm:

Rancor is bad in everything but stompy? Are you mad, psycho? Oh wait your name implies it in itself ;)

By Homelands Bookie (Psycho) on Monday, April 10, 2006 - 07:39 am:

Well forgive me my madness, but I think I never said is was bad in everything else.

Puschkin makes a good point though, don't listen to me, the guy who thought that Eon Blue Apocalypse was a deck with Apocalypse and Taniwha and Breezekeepers...

By Puschkin (Puschkin) on Monday, April 10, 2006 - 10:01 am:

You said "its only good in Stompy" which automatically means it is not good in every other deck.

Okay, well then, lets start a discussion if "not good" equals "bad" Aeriolis doesn't seem to care for his own thread anyways ...

By Homelands Bookie (Psycho) on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 09:22 am:

That's an easy discussion.

Mediocre isn't good, it isn't bad either.

So
"not good" equals "bad" = 0

(I believe this is some sort of computerlanguage-ish way of saying that the statement is not true)

By Dark Lord (Apprentice) on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 01:44 pm:

Well either or, Rancor is a fantastic card that is now counted as a rare. Seriously, if you find Rancors at common price snatch them, I have traded up for rares and even gotten cash for them. I am willin g to say that Rancor is the best pump spell in the game. Lets discuss:

Rancor

Advantages: Recursive. This is HUGE. Also it costs no mana to recur it. It is green's best form of card advantage this side of Regrowth. This the the factor that turns this card into a bomb. The +2/+0 is a bonus. I would be happy with this card if it had the trample ability and the recurability alone. Also it is only 1 mana! It does too much for its mana cost based on other pump spells. Besides all of that, it STAYS for more then 1 turn and it is a threat in itself. As long as you are drawing creautres your Rancor will be in your hand- no matter how many dorks get bolted.

Disadvantages: It comes at sorcery speed. This means that you can easily Duress it, it cant be used to disrupt combat math, and it can be destroyed by a responding bolt/plow when it is cast.

Berserk

Advantages: Does insanley good with naturally strong creatures and/or other pump spells. It is an instant. Most oftenly this card swings for the win. All this for 1 mana!

Disadvantages: 1-shot. It is card disadvantage because not only do you play it from your hand but it also destroys your critter. Also even tho it is an instant you cannot use it during the combat damage step which makes most instant-speed pump spells good.

Reckless Charge

Advantages: This card not only pumps power by three but gives haste as well. When I play this card it usually provides an extra 5 damage, but it depends again on the strength of your creature. Also this recurs once and many times comes as a surprize for unattentive opponents.

Disadvantages: Sorcery speed. Usually it doesnt matter because you are hasting you creatures, but many times it hurts. Also this card only recurs once and for three mana, which is often too much to spend on a pump spell. Although minor, this card doesnt do well againts graveyard hate.

Bounty of the Hunt

Advantages: Instant speed. Also this card is completely mana free to play which can speed up your game very effectively. Although it may not look like it, this card can acutally be card-advantage. Despite the loss of two cards from your hand, you can potentially kill three blocking creatures due to the ability to distribute the counters. This card, like Fireblast, often swings for the kill. If an opponent sees that you are tapped out, he might not block a creature that will bring him down to three life. But then comes BotH and your opponents dies when normally he should not have.

Disadvantages: More often then not this is card-disadvantage, something green decks usually connot recover from. It is virtually un-hard-castable and it sucks in topdecking mode. Due to the casting cost it usually makes you play mono green, or at least primarily green.

Briar Shield

Advantages: This card does alot of damage ofer the course of the game. It does an additional damage every turn that you have had it out, and an additional three when you need it. It has the ability to screw up combat math as well, and people tend to not block a creature with a shield. This card often swings for the win as well.

Disadvantages: If your creature gets killed before you can sac it usually ends up being a weak card. It often is unsatisfying and doesnt do enough. Plus it is sorcery-speed.

All in all I think the list goes like this:

Rancor
Beserk
Reckless Charge
Bounty of the Hunt
Brair Sheild
then comes Giant Growth, etc.

-Apprentice