AROUND THE BLOCK #1

BG TREEFOLK

http://www.pdcmagic.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1383

The first deck I want to promote is one that is near and dear to my heart: a two-color aggro-control treefolk deck. It's an adaptation of a Chris Millar build. In its current incarnation it represents the collaborative efforts of Baron_Sengir6989 and yours truly. Without further ado:

11 Forest
11 Swamp

4 Fertilid
4 Bosk Banneret
4 Battlewand Oak
4 Ambassador Oak
3 Cloudcrown Oak
3 Black Poplar Shaman
2 Weed-Pruner Poplar
2 Game-Trail Changeling
2 Festercreep

4 Nameless Inversion
4 Eyeblight's Ending
2 Footbottom Feast

Sideboard
4 Weed Strangle
4 Rootgrapple
4 Lignify
2 Festercreep
1 Footbottom Feast

Despite my constant need for endless beatdown, Baron was able to talk me into taking a more control direction with this adaptation. That said, there is still room for some tightening and tweaking. For instance, my dear friend Redleg suggested that Ambassador Oak may not be doing much good in here. Perhaps those 4 slots could be better spent? I'll leave the fine points of tweaking to you, gentle Pauper.

This deck packs answers for multiple strategies: flier-heavy faerie builds fall prey to the treefolk walls and the auto-ping ability of the Weed-Pruner Poplar. Festercreep and the Pruner also help take down Merfolk, Goblins, and other X/1 dudes. Black gives access to removal, which helps outpace Kithkin Weenie and other heavy aggro builds. The treefolk are big and beefy and beat hard, and the Banneret helps them come down when they should. The right formula of this deck has the raw power and the tools to navigate the current Lorwyn Block landscape.

MONO-GREEN ELVES

http://www.pdcmagic.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1386

The other deck I wish to explore is mono-green elves. Unparalleled consistency and power come with this build, at the expense of some of the responsiveness found in other colors. We'll see whether this lack is a liability or a workable disadvantage.

20 Forest

4 Leaf Gilder
4 Elvish Warrior
4 Winnower Patrol
2 Lys Alana Bowmaster
4 Lys Alana Huntmaster
3 Elvish Branchbender
3 Nath's Elite

4 Gilt-Leaf Ambush
4 Lace with Moonglove
4 Moonglove Extract
4 Lignify

Sideboard
4 Elvish Eulogist
2 Lys Alana Bowmaster
9 Other

We've seen a bit of what the elves can do in RG Warriors, but this deck takes it to the next level by trying to achieve a swarm quickly and lethally. It has to rely on spells like Lignify and Moonglove Extract as removal, because green isn't typically too hot at that task. It also lacks a bit of evasion, trying to make up for that in sheer numbers and speed.

As this article series grows, it has a lot of options for exploring the metagame of Block Constructed. What do YOU, the readers, want to see out of this article? Matchup data? Sideboarding tricks? Deckbuilding guidelines? Analysis of the cardpool?

Please leave a comment below and provide feedback on how this article can address the interests and needs of the readership.

Thanks for reading! See you at BPDC 2.04 this Monday at 8:30pm EST in /join BPDC!