No Eden

I've had this deck sitting on my desk for three months, waiting for me to post about it so it can be turned into the true thing of beauty that it is.

7 Forest
3 Elfhame Palace
9 Plains
4 Canopy Vista

4 Serra's Blessing

3 Sundering Vitae

1 Isao, Enlightened Bushi
2 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
1 Pristine Angel
3 Suntail Hawk
2 Voice of All
3 Loxodon Hierarch
2 Oathsworn Giant
3 Sunblast Angel
3 Scryb Ranger
2 Spectral Bears
2 Spectral Force
2 River Boa
2 Knotvine Paladin
2 Tolsimir Wolfblood

No Eden is what happens when I take the idea of a single advantageous mechanic and decide that my entire deck should just revolve around that notion. In this case, vigilance. When I originally made this deck, Serra's Blessing was really all I had (the date of origin for this deck probably goes back to 1997) and so it's long overdue for a refresher.

The nice thing about vigilance is that it messes with people's combat math. At this point, there are probably enough vigilant creatures that I could just make a deck with nothing but those, but what's the fun in that? Getting a 3/3 creature for two mana is a pretty good deal if there's no drawback, right Spectral Bears? Right? (Don't argue. The Bears are staying in.)

There have also been more cards with Convoke printed since I added Sundering Vitae. As any blue deck will tell you; free is a very good price and vigilance offers me the chance to cast Convoke spells for free, or at least at Discount Bob prices.

But there are some drawbacks. Tolsimir Wolfblood costs six and is not the best choice I think. Isao, Enlightened Bushi is a weird one-of to have. There is almost zero creature control in this deck and that's a massive problem. The only time one can ignore opponent's creatures is if you're playing a go for broke aggro deck and that is not what No Eden is. (Although the mana curve is pretty nice and fairly aggressive! Not bad for someone who didn't know what he was doing.)

Sure, sometimes I can just play a Voice of All and win but indulge me anyway: let's update this bad boy!