Gideon, Battle-Forged Deckbuilding Challenge thread

Hibernum_JC · February 2017

Post your decks here!

FarEastRus · February 2017

Gideon, Battle-Forged (Early Game, 1 lvl)

My Deck "Air Attack"

Creatures

Patron of the Valiant
Blessed Spirits
Aven Battle Priest
Gold-Forged Sentinel
Thunderclap Wyvern

Spells

Healing Hands
Evolving Wilds

Supports

Mage-Ring Network
Knightly Valor
Sigil of Valor

Description

This deck focuses on the challenge of flying creatures and a reinforced attack from the air.
Mage-Ring Network and Evolving Wilds provide a flow of mana needed for a fairly "heavy" for the deck rookie flying creatures.
The combination of Knightly Valor and of Valor Sigil provide a protective function implemented through the first creature on the battlefield.
Healing Hands is a typical healer, allowing you to endure an initial attack before the release of flying creatures that form the basis of the success of the deck.
Flying creatures:
Patron of the Valiant increases the characteristics of all creatures.
Thunderclap Wyvern increases the characteristics of all flying creatures.
Aven Battle Priest creature-healer.
Blessed Spirits increases their characteristics when entering the battlefield supports.
Gold-Forged Sentinel creature-soldier.

Gideon, Battle-Forged (Mid Game, 40 lvl)

My Deck "Support me"

Creatures

Blessed Spirits
Blood-Cursed Knight
Ramroller
Totem-Guide Hartebeest

Spells

Helm of the Gods
Swift Reckoning

Supports

Hixus, Prison Warden
Suppression Bonds
Knightly Valor
Orbs of Warding

Description

The basis of the deck support.
Hixus, Prison Warden, and Suppression Bonds neutralize enemy creatures.
Swift Reckoning destroys neutralized creatures.
Knightly Valor, Orbs of Warding perform the protective function.
Helm of the Gods reinforces creatures.
All creatures associated with the supports.
Blessed Spirits, Blood-Cursed Knight, Ramroller intensified by supports.
Totem-Guide Hartebeest gets support from the library in hand.

Gideon, Battle-Forged (End Game, 60 lvl)

My Deck "Spirit Support"

Creatures

Blessed Spirits

Spells

Tragic Arrogance
Swift Reckoning
Helm of the Gods

Supports

Starfield of Nyx
Hixus, Prison Warden
Suppression Bonds
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Rogue’s Passage
Mage-Ring Network

Description

The basis of the deck – Blessed Spirits.
All other cards applying them to deliver damage to the enemy.
Block neutralization and destruction of enemy creatures:
Tragic Arrogance;
Hixus, Prison Warden + Swift Reckoning;
Suppression Bonds + Swift Reckoning.
Gain block:
Starfield of Nyx (+ Reanimator destroyed supports);
Helm of the Gods;
Rogue's Passage.
Other cards:
Sigil of the Empty Throne – chips-angels to help.
Mage-Ring Network – a gain of mana.

James13 · February 2017

Gideon Battle Forged Level 1: Suicidal Army
Gideon, Battle Forged, Level 1
Only Origins Common/Uncommon
James13 (forum) Aderyn (game)

Creatures (5):
Consul's Lieutenant
War Oracle
Akroan Jailer
Enlightened Ascetic
Knight of the Pilgrim's Road

Spells (2):
Healing Hands
Enshrouding Mist

Supports (3):
Brawler's Plate
Murder Investigation
Knightly Valor

Details:
The deck centers around cheap creatures to couple with murder investigation, knightly valor, and brawler's plate. Murder investigation plus the defense and berserker buffs provide an endless army spawned off of inexpensive creatures, which are a must at low level.
Getting a first-striking Consul's lieutenant out will eventually fill the first buffed slot very well while not dying in combat.
War Oracle provides some additional stability, but it a bit too expensive to cast initially at low level.
Once the abilities become unlocked, Consul's Lieutenant becomes an excellent target for Ability 1.
The deck while low cost will continue to perform it's function well with growth in levels.

SeditiousCanary · February 2017

Disclamer: An additional building restriction I placed on this build was only use cards for Origins. This is because Orgins is the first set released, and can still be bought from the Vault with crystals. Other sets are offered as daily rewards, and event rewards, but are far less common. I felt new players would feel frustrated with a decklist that was filled with cards from sets they could not have as much access to. As Origins is the "base set" which is always availible, I felt this was more likely to result in a positive player expereince, and realist expectations when building one of your first decks.

Gideon, Battle Forged (GBF) is one of the first plainswalkers offered when you start playing Magic: the Gathering - Puzzle Quest, and is one of the more consistant options you can play. GBF offers strong plainswalker abilities which give perminant improvements to your creatures, making your creatures stronger, granting them Vigilance to defend against attacking creatures, Flying to evade most of your opponents' creatures, and Regeneration to heal them from damage they take. GBF also the highest life total of the Orgins plainswalkers. While these abilities come later, GBF is still very good from level 1, all the way up to 60. There are three parts to this guide, and they targeted to help you along the following milestones:
- Early Game: When your first start get GBF, and build your first deck at Level 1. At this point, you've likely just started playing, and have limited access to cards.
- Mid Game: After you have been playing GBF for a while, have built up to level 40, have a growing pool of cards to build with, are trying to stay competitive in Quick Battles, are reaching higher levels in the Story arcs, and are trying place high enough in Events or Quick Battles to consistantly get prizes.
- Late Game: GBF has been maxed out at level 60, your have a large card pool to build with, and are trying to place in the Top 10 for both coalition and personal Events.

One of the best things about building a GBF deck, is that you can build a reliable, and resilient deck with only common, and uncommon cards which you are likely shortly after you start playing Magic: the Gathering - Puzzle Quest. As your collection grows, the deck easily evolves with your growing collection, and is very competitive with the best top tier decks which show up in the top 20 in Quick Battles. GBF also does very well playing through the much longer Story arc games, and the Event challenge games. The best feature though, is this build of GBF usually wins the game at full health, allowing you to keep playing without needing to heal. But let's start at the beginning.

The Plainswalker
Here is what you will start with:

Abilities:
The Abilities are granted as you gain levels, and the Abilities continue to improve as you level up. Let us look at what you will be working towards.
Level: 2 - Sharp Eyes
Gives +1/+1 to target creature
Level: 14 - Call to Arms
All creatures you control gain +1/+1
Level: 26 - Champion
Gives +4/+4 and Berserker to target creature

Mana Bonuses:

+1

N/A

-1

N/A

Right out of the box, GBF has a bonus on

, is neutral on

and

, -1 on

and

, can start pumping one of your creatures next level, all of your creatures at level 14, and a larger pump with Berserker at level 26. The strategy listed here is to use cost effective creatures with good abilites and power/toughness, and will get even better with GBF Abilities as your level increases.

The Deck
The creature abilites which this build focuses on are First Strike, Lifelink, and Vigilance/Defender.
- First Strike allows a creature to do damage to another creature first when attacking, or blocking another creature, which means your creature is more likely to kill your opponent's creature before it can damage your creature.
- Lifelink will gain you life each time your creature does damage to another creature, or your opponent, making it much harder to kill you.
- Vigilance/Defender allows your creatures to block creatures attacking you, which also keeps you alive.

Creatures

Enlightened Ascetic Origins Common - Cost: 4 - Lifelink
Topan Freeblade Origins Common - Cost: 9 - Renown 1, Vigilance
War Oracle Origins Uncommon - Cost: 11 - Renown 2, Lifelink
Consul's Lieutenant Origins Uncommon - Cost: 12 - First Strike, Renown 1, and gives a +1/+1 to other attacking creatures you control.

With the creatures selected, let's look at spells to keep them alive, make them bigger, and disable your opponent's creatures so they cannot attack or defend. These spells have been selected because they are cheap to cast, their effects lasts until the beginning of your next turn, make your creatures are better able attack during your turn, and make your creatures better able to defend on your opponent's turn.

Spells

Enshrouding Mist - Origins Common - Cost: 5 - Gives +1/+1 and Prevent Damage to a creature until the beginning of your next turn.
Mighty Leap - Origins Common - Cost: 6 - Gives a creature +2/+2 and Flying until the beginning of your next turn.
Alchemist's Vial - Origins Common - Cost: 6 - Disable target creature until the beginning of your next turn and draw 1 card.

Finally, you will need some supports to round out the deck. These are also focused on pumping your creatures, disabling your opponent's creatures that can defend, and getting you more creatures when one of your creatures dies.

Supports

Murder Investigation - Origins Common - Cost: 6 - Makes 1/1 white soldier tokens whenever a creature you control dies.
Veteran's Sidearm - Origins Common - Cost: 6 - The first creature you control gains +1/+1.
Grasp of the Hieromancer - Origins Common - Cost: 8 - At the beginning of your turn, give +1/+1 to the first creature you control and Disables the first creature your opponent controls with Defender or Reach.

Game Play
This is a pretty resilient deck. I have been down to 20 life, but came back to win at full health many times. It plays itself mostly, and is not complicated like many combo, or control decks. Once you have leveled up, it is also helpful to actively consider making

gem matches to pay for GBF's abilities.
Early Game - Rounds 1 - 4

In order to win, you need to be attacking your opponent, so play creature as soon as possible. Enlightened Ascetic can be played on your first turn if you can make a

match, or non-:mtgwhite: multiple match, and is usually the best opening move you can make with this deck. Other creatures will require several matches to create enough mana. Once you have a creature out, your next focus should be to get a either a second creature, or a support out depending on what you have in hand. Veteran's Sidearm and Grasp of the Hieromancer will pump your first creature, and Murder Investigation will replace any of your creatures that die with a 1/1 soldier token. Use any spells you draw to pump your creatures, or to disable your opponents more dangerous creature. Topan Freeblade can also be played, has Vigilance to block any attackers, and will grow to 3/3 after doing damage to your opponent.

Mid Game - Rounds 5 - 8

Once you have a few creatures and supports in play, start looking to play War Oracle, and Consul's Lieutenant. War Oracle will grow to be a 5/5 after doing damage to your opponent, so to either disable any creatures with Defender or Vigilance, or give War Oracle flying to get in for plainswalker damage. Consul's Lieutenant will also grow to be 5/4 after doing damage to your opponent, so the same applies here. The other advantage Consul's Lieutenant offers is a +1/+1 pump to all your attacking creatures, which gains you more life, and kills your opponent faster. Once GBF is 2nd level, you can activate Sharp Eyes to start pumping your creatures. Be sure to do this at the start of your turn, prior ot making any matches.

Winning - Rounds 9+

Now its time to focus on finishing. Keep an eye on the shield count for your supports, and replay the supports with the lowest shield count to help keep them in play. Replay any creatures you already have in play to reinforce them, which makes them even bigger. If you already have three creatures in play, you can pay for a forth, but keep it in your hand in case one gets killed as a reserve unit. Keep disabling your opponent's largest creature, and giving flying to either your biggest creature, or to one with Lifelink if your life total is being eaten away faster than you are doing damage to your opponent.

Deck and Plainswalker Evolution
After a few games, you should have enough

to level GBF up. Each time you do, GBF will fully heal. Keep any healing you have for when you cannot level GBF any more, and by the time you have played a few more games, you will likely have earned enough

to level GBF again the next time you need to. At level 9, you will get Call to Arms, which gives +1/+1 to all your creatures. This is in an incredibly powerful effect, and has a big impact on your ability to make your creatures harder to kill, and kill your opponent faster. The next big leap is when Sharp Eyes reaches level 2, and grants Vigilance. Once this happens, First Strike becomes very important. Use Sharp Eyes to give your First Strike creature Vigilance, then your creature will do double duty both blocking attackers, and dealing damage to attacking creatures first. This usually results in you killing off your opponent's creatures, and you still having all of yours.

You will also have been opening new cards, and can look for improvements over your first build. While a new mythic, or rare may be white, or colorless, it may not have a place in your deck. Its always educational, and fun to test new cards, but keep in mind the long game plan this deck has to gain you life, make your creatures bigger, and defend and/or disable your opponent's creatures so that you can win. Your considerations should be creatures with Double Strike/First Strike, Lifelink, and Defender/Vigilance. If you are lucky enough to open any of these cards, they are among the first ones you should consider putting into your GBF deck at any level.

Cards

Creatures
Lone Rider/It That Rides as One - Eldritch Moon Common - Cost: 4 - First Strike, and Lifelink (and Trample once transformed)
This card is amazing. Its cheap, and playable on Turn 1. It has First Strike, and Lifelink. Its a 1/1, but if you gain 3 life (all at once, not during a turn), it will Transform into a 4/4, and it gains Trample. It may require a little work to make it transform, but it absolutely worth it. Pump it with Mighty Leap, Sharp Eyes, or Call to Arms, and it will Transform into your best friend.
Solemn Recruit - Aether Revolt Rare - Cost: 6 - Double Strike
This 3/3 dwarf is brutal on your opponent. Double Strike means it does both First Strike, and normal damage, meaning it hits for 6. Once you start pumping it, or give it Vigilance, it will reek havoc on your opponent's creatures and health.
Visionary Augmenter - Kaladesh Uncommon - Cost: 6 - Fabricate
This is a 4/3 creature and when in enters the battlefield, it makes two supports which each grant your first creature +1/+1. Its great since it adds +1/+1 to your first creature, and those supports stick around even if Visionary Augmenter dies. It also does this.
Turn 1: Lone Rider.
Turn 2: Visionary Augmenter, which pumps Lone Rider to 3/3, attack, transforms into It That Rides as One.

Spells
Murderer's Axe - Shadows Over Innistrad Common - Cost: 5
This spell give target creature +2/+2. Its a good cheap pump, and doesn't stop at the end of turn. Chitinous Cloak is a functional reprint, but it is an uncommon.
Smite the Monstrous - Battle for Zendakar Common - Cost: 8
Targeted removal. Destroy target creature with power 4 or more. Easy way to get ride of your opponent's big creatures.
Declaration in Stone - Shadows Over Innistrad Rare - Cost: 10
Targeted removal. Give opponent an Investigation support, which is worth the trade off.

Supports
Always Watching - Shadows Over Innistrad Rare - Cost: 11
Give all your creatures +2/+2, and Vigilance. This is amazing with First Strike, and lets you focus on Call to Arms to pump all your creatures.
Gideon's Reproach - Battle For Zendikar Common - Cost: 10
Does 6 damage to the first creature attacking you, then disappears. Great for defense, and softening up bigger creatures, but not targeted.
True-Faith Censer - Shadows Over Innistrad Common - Cost: 4
Give +1/+1 to your first creature. If it is Human (every creature in the deck except Enlightened Ascetic is Human), it gets an additional +1/+0 and Vigilance.

There are lots of cards to play with, so test what works best for you, and your style of play. Thanks for reading, and see you on the battlefield!

Ammulancer · February 2017

I created this deck and literally never lose except maybe 2 times I can remember where the computer cheated and was giving me no matches and the opponent ridiculous cascades and match 5s.

I would say 90% of the time I leave the match full HP. Even if I'm damaged I can come out of the next match fully healed anyway so I don't usually every have to use heals with Gideon.

Gideon Battle-Forged
Lvl 40
The (Unstoppable) Peasant Army

Here's my deck:

Creatures
Akroan Jailer
Unruly Mob
Stern Constable
Paranoid Parish-Blade
Extricator of Sin
Lone Rider

Spells
Sheer Drop

Support
Brawler's Plate
Murder Investigation
Knightly Valor

Video of me playing for 30 minutes in 4 matches and only losing 1 HP by the end of it (Adult Language): https://youtu.be/NR1UY5LSXts

Description

I call this the peasant army because literally this army is made up of mostly rabble. You got: unruly mobs, constables, jailers, knights, footsoldiers, the town priest, and horsemen. At first glance you wouldn't think that rabble like this would be powerful, but this defines, in my opinion, power to the people.

This deck hits hard and I don't have a problem taking out much bigger enemies.

Being threatened by big Eldraz? My jailers or Constables will snare them in traps and then dump them off a cliff as a sacrifice to the elementals who will then reward my army with warriors. Combining inexpensive units like Akroan Jailers or Stern Constables with a Sheer Drop spell just helped me take out enemies and add creatures to my army who attack instantly.

Does the enemy have beserkers, defenders or death spells? You know the old saying, "when you take one of us down, 2 more will take our place!" With Murder Investigation and an Unruly Mob that's exactly what will happen.

Make no mistake, however, because with knights on the field of battle and a little Brawler's Plate, your footsoldiers just became lethal killing machines!

Not to worry for those cowardly rabble on the field who can't hold their own. You have the Extricator to punish them for their sins and purify them into aberrations to strike fear into the enemy.

And then comes the Lone Rider. Nothing spectacular to look at, at first glance, until you realize he has a much darker secret and will transform into a monstrosity that will both demolish your enemies and feed you their life force. I have seen the Horseman defend against and kill 3 enemy creatures in 1 round without losing any life.

I can go on and on with this. There are so many options, I feel like every card on this deck supports the other. And with Gideon's buffs this deck becomes literally OP.

The units are cheap. Sometimes free. You can overpower them with masses of foot soldiers, you can create a wall of 3 Eldrazi that support each other with Vigilance, you can heal ALOT, you got stuns, Kill and Replace, berzerker... The list goes on and on. Even if someone was bad at strategy and could just figure out the basic concept of filling Sheer Drop and A Constable at the same time and dropping them on other creatures they could dominate.

Check out my video for in game play and different scenarios.

UPDATE: FRIDAY Feb 24

I just defeated the World Breaker in the Oath of the Gatewatch part 1 with my level 38 Gideon. I have no doubt this build is unbeatable for level 40.

The fact that I buffed my Parish Blade with both Vigilance and Berzerker, as well as the fact that the computer tried not letting me have my chosen color (which buffs the Parish Blade even more - thus backfiring on the computer) made him unstoppable even against the computer's epics. Over and over the Parish Blade would chop them down.

Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/jzNXU

span_argoman · February 2017

Gideon, Battle-Forged

Level 1
Consul's Lieutenant
War Oracle
Enlightened Ascetic
Bonded Construct
Ampryn Tactician
Knightly Valor
Murder Investigation
Throwing Knife
Enshrouding Mist
Healing Hands

Deck playstyle
At level 1 you have no abilities and a restrictive deck composition. Gideon starts off with 5/2/3 creatures/spells/supports. This means plenty of creatures to keep the damage going with a little help from spells and supports. You want creatures that have good power-to-mana ratios and also aren't too expensive lest they take too many turns to summon out. Bear in mind your own colour matches for only 4 mana at this level.

Your board is meant to have a constant stream of creatures, helped in particular by Murder Investigation and Knightly Valor to minimise damage from the opponent's creatures. Coupled with War Oracle and Enlightened Ascetic for Life Link and you're set.

Notable cards/combos
War Oracle: This card is great for two reasons: Life Link and Renown 2. A 5/5 Life Link creature is a great deal at this level and can negate the impact of the bulk of the opponent's board.
Knightly Valor + Murder Investigation: Murder Investigation generates a 1/1 Soldier token every time one of your creature dies, including 1/1 Soldier tokens, which means your board will never be empty as long the support is on the board. Knightly Valor gives your first creature Vigilance and +2/+2 which makes it a decent defender, especially at this level. Add Throwing Knife to that and you have a persistent 5/3 blocker on the board.
Enshrouding Mist: The utility of this card comes in the Prevent Damage until the start of your next turn effect. Cast it on your blocker and unless the creature gets hit by a removal or bounce spell, you can be sure it will be there to block your opponent's creatures and still be ready to go for the next round.

Level 40
Consul's Lieutenant
War Oracle
Iroas's Champion
Relic Seeker
Knightly Valor
Murder Investigation
Suppression Bonds
Hixus, Prison Warden
Throwing Knife
Enshrouding Mist

Deck playstyle
At level 40 you gain access to your planeswalker abilities and increased mana gains. Your abilities allow you to imbue your creatures with Flying and Vigilance, allowing them to block almost anything. Couple that with the First Strike of Consul's Lieutenant or the Double Strike of Iroas's Champion and you've got a solid defence. Throw in Relic Seeker and your other supports to boost your first creature and you have the beginnings of Mt Everest.

Notable cards/combos
Consul's Lieutenant: This creature has First Strike, Renown 1 and +1/+1 to all your other creatures while attacking when it is Renowned. This is one of the two prime candidates as your mega defender in this deck.
War Oracle: This card is great for two reasons: Life Link and Renown 2. It has a good power-to-mana ratio after you factor in the Renown and can be boosted further by the other cards in your deck.
Knightly Valor + Murder Investigation: Murder Investigation generates a 1/1 Soldier token every time one of your creature dies, including 1/1 Soldier tokens, which means your board will never be empty as long the support is on the board. Knightly Valor gives your first creature Vigilance and +2/+2; add Throwing Knife to that and you have a persistent 5/3 blocker on the board.
Enshrouding Mist: The utility of this card comes in the Prevent Damage until the start of your next turn effect. Cast it on your blocker and unless the creature gets hit by a removal or bounce spell, you can be sure it will be there to block your opponent's creatures and still be ready to go for the next round.
Hixus, Prison Warden / Suppression Bonds: These are your disablers to minimise the damage from your opponent's creatures. They are fragile though, each being only at 1 shield strength so you want the redundancy for when one (or sometimes both) of them fails you.

Level 60
Consul's Lieutenant
War Oracle
Blessed Spirits
Archangel of Tithes
Starfield of Nyx
Hixus, Prison Warden
Suppression Bonds
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Throwing Knife
Swift Reckoning

Deck playstyle
At level 60, you gain access to your planeswalker's full potential. On card selection, Starfield of Nyx is the crux of your deck, ensuring that your supports will stay on the board while eventually also giving you +5/+5 to all your creatures for having 4 or more supports on the board. Archangel of Tithes is there as a damage dealer and also as ramp to help you set up your Starfield of Nyx rig more quickly thanks to her ability. Blessed Spirits gradually grows as your supports enter the board, likewise your Angel token from Sigil of the Empty Throne. The combination of control from your supports and damage from your creatures will help make the match feel like you're riding a giant steam roller.

Notable cards/combos
Consul's Lieutenant: This creature has First Strike, Renown 1 and +1/+1 to all your other creatures while attacking when it is Renowned. This is one of the two prime candidates as your mega defender in this deck.
War Oracle: This card is great for two reasons: Life Link and Renown 2. It has a good power-to-mana ratio after you factor in the Renown and can be boosted further by the other cards in your deck.
Enshrouding Mist: The utility of this card comes in the Prevent Damage until the start of your next turn effect. Cast it on your blocker and unless the creature gets hit by a removal or bounce spell, you can be sure it will be there to block your opponent's creatures and still be ready to go for the next round.
Hixus, Prison Warden / Suppression Bonds: These are your disablers to minimise the damage from your opponent's creatures. They are fragile though, each being only at 1 shield strength so you want the redundancy for when one (or sometimes both) of them fails you.
Swift Reckoning + Disabling Supports: Swift Reckoning is there to clear off any creatures which you cannot afford to leave on the board even while frozen by Hixus, Prison Warden or with Suppression Bonds to send the next creature into a frozen hell.
Starfield of Nyx: This card means your Hixus will always come back, likewise your Suppression Bonds. While lacking even more ridiculous synergies with cards from other sets, it is still a very potent card even when restricted to complementing Origins cards only. The +5/+5 to all your creatures is also a solid additional 15 damage a turn plus it also makes your blocker much more able to defend against big creatures.

mingninja · February 2017

Detail - The deck build around these theory
1.AI will use 1st ability the most and sometime 2nd. Gideon buff creature and give in vigilance. First strike creature is prefered.
2.The deck for each Planeswalker must also contain only cards of the expansion it came in. It suppose to face the deck in the same condition.
3.AI can't oder combo. So we avoid complicated play.

Early Game (Planeswalker levels 1 to 40, build using level 1 restrictions) deck by mingninja
Only commons and uncommons.

Iroas's Champion
Consul's Lieutenant
Blessed Spirit
War Oracle
Ampryn Tactician

Enshrouding Mist
Mighty Leap

Murder Investigation
Knightly Valor
Meteorite

Mid Game (Planeswalker levels 40 to 60, build using level 40 restrictions) deck by mingninja
Mostly uncommons, rares, and 1 Mythic maximum.
Knight of the White Orchid
Consul's Lieutenant
Suppression Bonds
Swift Reckoning
Hixus, Prison Warden
Knightly Valor
Murder Investigation
Helm of the Gods
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Blessed Spirit

Gideon, Battle-Forged Deckbuilding Challenge thread

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