Star City Games Invitation Qualifier Deck

So, over the weekend, I went to my first non-FNM/Game Day/Prerelease MTG tournament, and it was an IQ at Star City Games in Roanoke, VA. First of all, I thought the inside of the largest MTG sellere would have been a bit different, but it was pretty much a bunch of tables, a couple counters with sleeves, deck boxes, and playmats, and then a giant warehouse in the back. You can buy anything there, but you direct clerks to what you want, and they order it from themselves on the website, and someone brings your order out to you once they've picked it up from the back.

Anyway, here is the deck (18th place of 36 players, by the way):

G/W Aggro (Green/White)

18th Place, Star City Games IQ: Roanoke, VA 26 October 2013

Creatures x4 Soldier of the Pantheon x4 Sylvan Caryatid x4 Fleecemane Lion x2 Fiendslayer Paladin x4 Loxodon Smiter x2 Boros Reckoner x1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice x1 Archangel of Thune x1 Kalonian Hydra x3 Mistcutter Hydra Land x4 Temple of Mystery x4 Temple Garden x2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx x7 Plains x1 Island x4 Forest	Other Spells x4 Aqueous Form x4 Unflinching Courage Planeswalkers x1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride x2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion x1 Garruk, Caller of the Beast
Sideboard x3 Imposing Sovereign x2 Fabled Hero x4 Fog x2 Savage Summoning x2 Scavenging Ooze x2 Pithing Needle

So, we have a bit of mana ramp involved here, with Sylvan Caryatid and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.

  

With all the Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall action, we want things to stick. Loxodon Smiter has to stay in our hand, and then Fiendslayer Paladin is protected from Black and Red. Fleecemane Lion also has assurance against spells once it is monstrous.

    

Other things are in there for the purpose of aggro, such as Boros Reckoner, Mistcutter Hydra, and Kalonian Hydra. We also have a lifegain suite involved with Archangel of Thune and Trostani. Soldier of the Pantheon is great for all the multicolored action going around now.

Our only spells in the main deck are Aqueous Form (unblockable plus Scry 1) and then Unflinching Courage (lifegain and trample). Both of these are important to the deck, as we can easily boost a creature, and in the case of Fleecemane Lion, have a hexproof, indestructible, 6/6 lifelink trample creature, not that trample matters if it is unblockable.

Planeswalkers were added for tokens, and Garruke was specifically to drop creatures on the field.

The sideboard has a good purpose. If opponents have too many creatures filled with haste, we want them tapped, so we use Imposing Sovereign, and Fog to stop damage. Fabled Hero is in there for extra damage if we need some more aggro in the deck. Savage Summoning is important too since opponents like countering things, and this will land a creature on their turn and they can't do anything to stop it. Scavenging Ooze is only there if we need a boost because we find our creatures die easily, or if our opponent does a lot of creature trading with us. The last piece to the sideboard is Pithing Needles, because Pithing Needle is important for stopping abilities of planeswalkers or other creatures.

  

The blue included in this deck (Temple of Mystery and the one Island) is only included for the Aqueous Form. I found Sylvan Caryatids frequently get axed by Supreme Verdict, so a little bit of blue (and scry) is nice.