Zen and the Art of Deckbuilding: Kor Armory

This month has been an interesting one on Magic Online. With the holiday season came many Nix Tix events – including a month-long Nix-Tix Alara Block event (my favorite draft format). The Half-Off Extended queues also added to the already insane EV Wizards was offering to entice me away from Block Constructed. Unfortunately, the coming of a New Year has pushed these events back into the abyss, and the only thing waiting for me is another slew of Daily and Premier Events for Zendikar Block Constructed. Luckily for you, that means more coverage of the format and Deck Tech!

After a few weeks away from the format, I had become a bit rusty with my old money-making deck – Vampires. During my time off, I had also been looking into more obscure decks, trying to draw myself away from the monotony of Blue/White and mirror matches that plagued the queues for a few months. After a long talk with my friend and MTGOacedemy’s own Zwick, he sent me a decklist that I could not possibly refuse. While our decklists have differed slightly in the last few weeks, the core build is still the same.

Kor Armory- Designed by Zwick, Piloted by Rhythmik (4-0) Zen Block Daily Event

Creatures (27) 3 Armament Master 4 Kor Aeronaut 3 Kor Duelist 4 Kor Hookmaster 3 Kor Outfitter 4 Kor Skyfisher 4 Steppe Lynx 2 Devout Lightcaster Other Spells (13) 3 Adventuring Gear 3 Brave the Elements 4 Journey to Nowhere 3 Trusty Machete Lands (20) 2 Arid Mesa 4 Marsh Flats 14 Plains Sideboard (15) 4 Blazing Torch 2 Devout Lightcaster 4 Kor Sanctifiers 3 Luminarch Ascension 2 Pitfall Trap

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This old gem was exactly what I was looking for. A deck that had a small rise in the beginning of Zendikar Block, Kor Armory had fallen out of people’s minds – and more importantly, their sideboards. Since I had played this deck months before, I already had an idea of how the deck worked, and already had the cards in my collection. After about five minutes in the Deck Editor, I was ready to pilot my way to the easiest 3-1 Daily Event finish I ever had.

Kor Zen Principles

Feng Shui. This deck has complete harmony. Kor Skyfisher returns lands for Steppe Lynx or Adventuring Gear, not to mention returning Devout Lightcaster against Vampires. Kor Aeronaut throws absurdly pumped Steppe Lynxes into the air. Armament Master creates alpha strikes of upwards of 30 power. Kor Outfitter saves you precious mana in a 20-land deck. Journey to Nowhere and Kor Hookmaster clear the path more more critters to hit your opponent’s face. The list goes on and on.

Ki. The Kor definitely have have enough energy to power through a quick victory. Quick creatures like Steppe Lynx and an equipped Kor Duelist can bash through for amazing amounts of damage each turn – a Kor Duelist with Adventuring Gear can deal 10 damage with a fetchland on Turn 3! While many Aggro decks fizzle when players clog the ground, with a morale boost from Armament Master or Brave the Elements, this deck can still continue to push through for the long-haul.

Yin Without Yang – A Modal Spell Without Modes. Brave the Elements is easily the best card in the deck. Even though the card only gives protection from a color of your choice, it’s essentially an instant-speed modal spell for one White with “counter target spell or ability that targets a creature you control, prevent all damage to creatures you control this turn, AND creatures you control are unblockable this turn!” This creates complete blowout situations against things like Conquerors Pledge, or if used in response to Journey to Nowhere, forces the opponent to exile on of their own creatures.

Meditations

Mulligan Often. This deck requires optimal hands to run effectively. If your opener doesn’t have any solid one or two-drops, consider taking six instead. If you have one land without a slew of one-drops, take six. If you have too many land, or your hand isn’t synergistic enough, take six. This deck’s mulligan to five can be better than most deck starting seven, if you are smart about your mulligans. I mulligan an average of 1.2 times per match.

Think About Your Plays. This deck provides a lot of options on what cards to play at what times. Think about what your opponent may be holding, and play your cards accordingly. If you are playing against Blue/White, don’t overextend into a Day of Judgment. Try to leave two or three creatures on the board at a time, and just grind out a win.

Leave Mana Open. If you can help it, try to leave W open, and bluff Brave the Elements. Many people will not play Journey to Nowhere if they have to worry about it targeting their own creatures.