4 Azorius Guildmage
4 Loxodon Gatekeeper
4 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
3 Spelltithe Enforcer
4 Mana Leak
4 Exhaustion
3 Plumes of Peace
4 Icy Manipulator
3 Dream Leash
4 Azorius Signet
4 Plains
4 Island
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Azorius Chancery
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Prahv, Spires of Order |
 Loxdown.
Description of deck by it's author
(quoted):
We all know that the Azorius was the first
Guild to put a Lion into space, but did you know that they are looking
to put an Elephant there as well? At least, that's what I've heard.
That's what the sources in my head tell me. Apparently, Azorius law-mage
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, he of the hovering throne-of-justice, has
been seen congregating (mostly at dusk) with a pair of be-trunked
co-conspirators. Who are these shadowy figures? None other than the
Loxodon Gatekeeper, who controls the flow through various passages,
gastrointestinal and otherwise, and Spelltithe Enforcer, whose Orzhov-flavour
we are conveniently overlooking for the sake of this article. I wonder
what those three could be up to …
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV (hereafter known as Arby) is
the love-child of Pearl Medallion and Sapphire Medallion. And Sphere of
Resistance. And Hurloon Minotaur. That's a lot of mommies and daddies. The
tale of how he went from being the only son of three inanimate objects and
an out-of-print bull-person to being the Grand Arbiter of all of Ravnica
is an inspiring one. I'm sure that Matt Cavotta is giving you all the
details over at Taste the Magic. Right now, I'm more concerned with the
deckbuilding possibilities he offers. The aspect of Arby that I'm going to
focus on is the Sphere of Resistance ability.
You might think that one extra mana is peanuts, but when
you combine it with the aforementioned elephantine duo, peanuts will be
hard to come by. Arby's taxing and Spelltithe Enforcer's tithe-enforcing
will slow your opponent's spell-casting down to a crawl. Throw in some Icy
Manipulators and your opponent might not be able to cast spells at all.
For the spells that they do cast, you have Mana Leak. Azorius Guildmage,
Loxodon Gatekeeper, and Icy Manipulator ensure that creatures on the other
side of board will usually be turned sideways and nowhere near the Red
Zone. I hate to kick people when they are down (not really), but while
your opponent's creatures are tapped, you might as well make sure that
they never untap again (with Plumes of Peace) or just steal them outright
(with Dream Leash). Exhaustion can buy you the turn you need to find a
Plumes of Peace or Dream Leash, and Plumes, Icy Manipulator, and Azorius
Guildmage can set up a devastating Exhaustion. Your opponent's stuff will
be born tapped, live a tapped life, and die tapped.
There are many other cards that could fit into this
deck, but the deck only has so much room. Droning Bureaucrats would be
very in-theme and could be very powerful, especially if you face a lot of
weenie decks and Selesnya-flavoured token swarms. This might also be my
best opportunity to fit in a few copies of the beloved activated-ability
thwarter, Suppression Field. What could be more fun than suppressing your
opponent with a field? Suppressing him with two fields. In a similar vein,
Ghostly Prison's mana-taxing could make your opponent have to decide
between attacking and playing spells. You could even take a page out of
the tournament player's book and add four copies of Annex and some more
Dream Leashes. With so much of their mana on your side of the table, it'd
be hard for your opponents to keep up with their Elephant taxes. Sakashima
the Impostor might be worth trying, as a way of doubling up on your
Arbiters.
In Extended, I'd try Glowrider. If you go even further
back, you could try the uber-fun Rishadan Port and Sphere of Resistance.
Ah, good times. |
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