Fun "Creature Feature" format

[Gizmo]

Hi,

I`m in a tourney to win the Arena Duress next week, and I need a deck. The format is Extended Creature Feature Highlander, which works out as:

1. Minimum 16 cards from a single summon type, or able to produce a summon type (so you can have Sacred Mesa as a Pegasus).
2. All other cards (except basic land) are Highlander.
3. Damage must be at least 50% from creatures (but not necessarily combat damage).
4. No color hosers, including Protection.
5. No summontype hosers or boosters (ie, no Tivadar`s Crusade or Coat Of Arms)
6. Legal sets are Revised/Fallen Empires onwards, the usual Banned list applies.

Goblins are obviously superfast, so I need whatever deck I build to be able to beat goblinburn.dec
Currently I am with Spikes...

4 Spike Drone
1 Llanowar Elf
1 Fyndhorn Elf
1 Elves Of Deep Shadow
1 Birds Of Paradise
1 Wall Of Roots
1 Wall Of Blossoms
1 Yavimaya Elder
2 Spike Worker
4 Spike Feeder
4 Spike Weaver
2 Spike Soldier
1 Verdant Force
-----
1 Survival Of The Fittest
1 Defense Of The Heart
1 Pattern Of Rebirth
1 Natural Order

Black
1 Plaguebearer
1 Coffin Queen
1 Boneshredder
1 Krovikan Horror
-----
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Oath Of Ghouls (maybe not)
1 Recurring Nightmare

Artifact
1 Masticore

Land (23)
1 Gaea`s Cradle
1 Volrath`s Stronghold
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Dust Bowl
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Bayou
1 Pine Barrens
1 City Of Brass
1 Yavimaya Hollow
4 Swamps
10 Forests

SB (mainly anti-Gobboswarm)
1 Sandstorm
1 Elvish Lyrist
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 City Of Solitude
1 Dense Foliage
1 Creeping Mold
1 Carrion Beetles
1 Nausea
1 Dry Spell
3 Spike Cannibal
1 Massacre
1 Thrashing Wumpus (core?)
1 Caltrops

Thoughts?
What other creature types would work?

 

[Spart]

Ok sounds interesting, how about this:

Aura of Shadows

4 x soltari champion
4 x soltari crusader
4 x soltari emmisary
4 x soltari foot soldier
4 x soltari trooper
4 x soltari visionary
1 x farrel's mantle
1 x crusade
1 x empyrial armor
1 x glorius anthem
1 x call to arms
1 x swords to plowshares
1 x exile
1 x disenchant
1 x seal of cleansing
1 x aura of silence
1 x enlightened tutor
1 x worship
1 x reverse damage
23 x plains

Now, I'm sure I missed a lot of useful cards (I don't usually play swarm decks), but I bet a shadow creature deck could do well. And farrel's mantle really kicks ass in this deck!

But, since I'm a combo player myself, I feel it's my solemn duty to suggest a combo deck as well. Hmmm.... a combo deck based on creature damage.... got it!

Fire Mogg:

4 x mogg maniac
4 x raging goblin
4 x mogg fanatic
4 x goblin recruiter
4 x squee, goblin nabob
1 x will-o-the-wisp
1 x hypnotic specter
1 x masticore

1 x fire covenant
1 x treacherous link
1 x shock
1 x seal of fire
1 x lightning bolt
1 x vampiric tutor
1 x terror
1 x hatred
1 x dark ritual
1 x gamble
1 x demonic consultation
1 x duress
1 x kaervek's purge

1 x badlands
1 x cinder marsh
1 x city of brass
11 x mountain
10 x swamp

This deck can go the hatred route, or the combo with mogg maniac or treacherous link and fire covenant. The consultation is risky and may have to be replaced, I'm considering a plaguelord which would work nicely with all the little goblins, especially the nabob.

Good to see you Gizmo!!!

 

[theorgg]

try a hail storm for the sideboard.

and a land grant, IF you want it. I like it, but it may not be the best thing after sideboarding. It's essentially an additional Bayou or forest...

hope I helped,

sic semper

 

[Gizmo]

My concern about a Shadow deck is how it would fight of the Goblins, who can terminate you pretty fast with stuff like Lackeys/Mutants/Marshalls.
Just a second, I don`t think I could play this deck as the Soltari are all different summon types aren`t they? And the Priest and Monk have Protection so they are banned as well.
Pants.

 

[asadoine]

I would have a look at the following creatures type :

Knights and soldiers are plenty both in black and white. Knights are better but slow as the cc lies usually around 2 or 3.

however, white knights for example might be a good answer to the gobs. White also offer crusade and glorius anthem, anti red spells (2 COP red, one with cycle) and so on...

They give you access to shadow and en-cor ..

With the soldier type you also get acces to a lot of utilities, and with lower casting costs, however they might be week in the mid game.

just an idea

berto

 

[asadoine]

dooh, forgot the line about "no color hosers" ...

still, knight can be good.

berto

 

[Duel]

Do Crusade and Glorious anthem count as creature-type boosters? My suggestion is suicide black. But of course, that's my suggestion for anything. It gives you access to shadowers and to normal creatures. Onloy one problem: they banned the !@(%!*@ Dark rituals!!!

 

[Apollo]

The knight is a color hoser too (pro black, of course).

Apollo

 

[The Magic Jackal]

I'd like to help you gizmo, but this is out of my jurisdiction.

My only suggestion is to play a better goblin deck than they are.

Or... You could build a wall deck. Yeah, it would be crazy, but there is no way a goblin deck could deal with walls. The only problem is there is no kill card. My suggestion would to be to find out what colors have the best (and cheapest) walls, and then throw in some big creatures of the corresponding colors. It just may be crazy enough to work, or maybe I'm just crazy....

 

[Gizmo]

All done and dusted, I played my Spike deck
with a few tweaks (got word in advance of a nasty "Horrors" deck coming my way and dumped in something to recover my creatures from their removal - Living Death, Tortured Existence, and Dense Foliage all went into the main deck.

Swiss
Goblins 2-0
Goblins 2-0
Horrors 2-1
Spikes 2-0
Semi
Clerics 2-1
Final
Horrors 2-1

Woo-hoo!

 

[The Magic Jackal]

What about the wall deck?

 

[Spiderman]

Although it's Highlander, you could put in Rolling Stones and Animate Wall and try to get it with a Tutor. Or you can play with the Walls that can animate themselves (Walking Wall and a couple others).

 

[The Magic Jackal]

Yeah, wall decks are the wave of the future.
(that really scares me)

 

[Spiderman]

Huh? What's wrong with wall decks?

 

[Duel]

I had a wall deck once. Once.
It never won a game. Not that it was bad, it just never won. I gave it up as cursed.

"Walls collapse and kill people all the time. Some are just more agressive about it."

 

[Spiderman]

Sounds like a mission for the deck doctor!

My friend once had one with Rolling Stones (not Highlander format) and Animate Walls and the various walking walls. Problem is, once I knew what I was going against, I just disenchanted the enchantments or artifacts (since most of the walking walls types are artifacts). That was when Rolling Stones first came out though; maybe there's better cards in the later sets.

 

[Gryphonclaw]

I was recently in a creature feature format, not the same, just type 1 creatures, all basic lands.

The best decks, as I recall were thus;
Tim the machine gun: Mine was blue/green featuring fast mana for a turn 2 tim, or even a turn 1 tim. There were also those untapper elves, quirion ranger and skyshroud ranger. And about 20 tims.
This deck was almost unbeaten, even without the sideboard, but I only played it a few games before finding that it was not allowed for a number of reasons, mainly the guy running the tourney was (insert your own flame here).

Anyway, the other good decks included a wall deck; featuring stinging barrier and master decoy, a fish deck; did well but not outstanding, and a tradewind rider/gilded drake deck.

Cards to note for this format:
Masticore, (very nasty) Uktabi orangutan, (anti-masticore) Wall of blossoms, (Saved my butt a few times) Nekrataal/Flesh reaver, (This ones obvious), Crater Hellion, (At no point was this useless, except for the casting cost), and finally, from total obscurity, Elvish spirit guide (excellent mana acceleration for any deck, plus I actually cast them and beat a guy over the head with them)