5/3 Sword of the Ages (5/3 Sota)

[Rex_Kwan_Do]

I've put a new 5/3 modified decklist together to deal with the current metagame. Before anyone bashes it, I urge you to test with it. It's just as effective as the old 5/3 deck lists with an alternate win that can end the game very fast. I'm running 3 sword of the ages. I realize it costs 6 mana which seems a bit expensive, but its really meant to be welded in on the end of your opponents turn, then you swing with your creatures, and then sac them to win the game. So why play sword of the ages over mind slaver? Well, they are two different decks. One is an aggro deck and one is a control deck with a combo finish. This deck runs sword of the ages to expedite victory, and also allow you to win in the face of an Akroma, Angel of Wrath, or other blockers your opponent may have.

Here is the Decklist:

5/3 Sota (soda) by Cody Vinci

Creatures (14):
1x Duplicant
4x Goblin Welder
4X Juggernaut
1X Karn, Silver Golem
1x Platinum Angel
2x Su-Chi
1x Sundering Titan

Disruption (5):
4x Sphere of Resistance
1x Trinisphere

Broken (6):
1x Tinker
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x Memory Jar
1x Time Walk
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Demonic Tutor

Draw / Graveyard Outlet (4):
4x Thirst for Knowledge

Mana Sources (26):
4x City of Brass
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Mishra's Workshop
4x Wasteland
1x Stripmine
1x Tolarian Academy
8x SoLoMoxenCrypt

Other Artifacts (6):
3x Sword of the Ages
3x Crucible of Worlds

Total: 61 Cards

Sideboard (under construction):
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Seal of Cleansing
2x Jester's Cap
3x Tormod's Crypt
2x Rack and Ruin

Total: 15 Cards

So there is my first version of the deck after testing it for a few days. The deck has no bad matchups I can see so far, although against combo an early sphere of resistance or trinisphere is necessary. Most people don't see the sword of the ages coming and in the first game a surprise win is very common. Of course, this deck doesn't need the SOTA to win and often does just out aggro your opponent. The reason I want to discuss this deck instead of just take it to the next starcity and see if it surprises the metagame is mostly because I don't have enough power and no workshops. Right now the deck has 61 cards, and I can't decide what card to cut. I really just want to get some thoughts on the deck and see if other people's play testing with it yields as rewarding results as I have been seeing. Thoughts/ Suggestions? Thanks...

Cody

[Toad]

What does Swords of the Ages do that Swords of Fire and Ice don't do billions of times better?

[Rex_Kwan_Do]

win by activating it?

[Marton]

in short, its like a bad berserk and/or a bad fling that unfortunately removes your creatures from the game. And comes into play tapped. And costs 6 mana. I simply don't understand why you would possibly need MORE kill condition than a juggernaut in play, since it's already your kill condition on it's own. 5/3 was good because it could disrupt the opponent just long enough so that the juggernaut would pretty much have gone all the most or almost all of it once the opponent had finished with the lock components. This deck simply is nothing like that. Instead you try and overwhelm the opponent with big threats, but without really slowing down and/or stopping the opponent much (1 trini and 4 sphere is not a lot of disruption, let's be honest (ignoring crucible since it's not great right now).) This means your opponent likely has probably more counters in his deck than disruption that you pack, essentially boiling down to this simple fact of life: your opponent will attempt to ignore you as much as possible, and go in goldfish mode (ever played against combo/slaver/ssb/etc.?). Your kill is slower than all of the decks I have just named, and those decks will just likely let your disruption be played since one sphere of resistance is far from being a game-over. To make things even better for your opponent, you play wheel of fortune. This seems like a bad choice because your deck can't hope to dump his hands following the casting of it, and essentially not much will happen other than filling your opponents hand with 7 cards for the turn you played it.

[A Black Lotus Buddy]

I would replace Sword of the Ages with Su-Chis and Sphere of Resistance with Chalice of the void.  I would also cut 1 Mana Source.  Here's why:

Real Threats are almost always better than equipment.  Su-Chis and Juggernauts are already big enough to take down your opponents and their creatures.  Your Swords are usually going to be dead draws

Sphere of Resistence wont hurt most of your opponents as much as Chalice will.  Go ahead, name of a deck that Sphere is better against.  Chalice is better against:

Oath (all varients)
Storm Combo (all varients)
Slaver
Dragon
Fish
Stax (because Sphere wil help them)
Workshop Beats (because Sphere will always be useless)
any deck with cards that cost 0,1 or 2!

25 is a good amount of mana, especially with Crucibles.

[Engine_number_9]

The deck has no bad matchups I can see so far, although against combo an early sphere of resistance or trinisphere is necessary.

I dont believe you. I dont see how you should be able to have a good match-up against:
Tps: You dont have anything maindeck that should present any problem consistantly. Even the old and vey powerful 5/3 had problems in this match-up even though it had 4 3sphere.
Oath: how are you going to slow them enough down to be able to kill them before they kill you? I know that crucible/waste can be powerful, but if they resolve an Oath I bet you'll be in great trouble.
Food chain goblins: how will you stop them form overrunning if you dont happen to have a sphere on the board. Game 2 it gets even worse with sb cards like artifact mutation.
Control slaver/SSB: How do you deal with a welder? You dont run trisk in main. The only thing to get rid of it is duplicant.

If I'm wrong please tell me why. 

[warble]

If you want to cut a card, go for a Sword of the Ages.  It's an obvious late-game bomb that does nothing in multiples, and since you run 4 welders recurring it through a counterspell means a maximum of 2 should be more then enough.

*mental note* Sword of the Ages casting cost = Mindslaver casting cost.  Sword of the Ages activation cost = Mindslaver activation cost + 2.  Sword of the Ages takes 1 extra turn.  Sword of the Ages is a "win-more" card, and mindslaver is a "opponent craps his pants" card.  Hmm...let's go for Sword of the Ages over Mindslaver.  This line of reasoning seems to have a "slight" flaw.

If you could just explain to everyone here that is a skeptic (including me) why you have chosen to include Sword of the Ages and not to include Mindslaver.  Tell us how tapping out the opponent and removing his blockers with Mindslaver can EVER be less efficient then using Sword of the Ages to win the following turn.  Danke.

I read your little "blurb" about how Sword > Mindslaver but I think you need to elaborate.  I just don't believe your scenario is as likely as the scenario where Mindslaver is more effective...although 6 years ago Sword of the Ages was one of my favorite cards in my SUI black deck, it's just not broken enough for T1 play any more.

[Vegeta2711]

You realize Shrapnel Blast is going to do nearly the same amount of damage most of the time and cost 4 less to use, but without saccing your creatures. 

[Arakkis]

Mmmm, well- I do have to credit you on making a deck that uses a card that isn't seen overly often...   But doesn't this deck just kinda lose to stifle?

Like, if you get the sword out, and on your turn you attack and then remove all your critters, if they stifle the sword's ability, you just kinda lose- as all of your threats dissapeared when you activated sword...