Budget Deckbuilding: The Spikes

Tempest might be done in terms of Preconstructed Decks, but the Tempest Block still has more decks to offer. “The Slivers” already introduced a tribal deck to the mix, so today I will take a look at a tribal deck that has not gotten anywhere near the support that Slivers had: “The Spikes”. These monstrous slugs seem to have a penchant for +1/+1 counters as pretty much all of their effects work with them and +1/+1 counters being an evergreen mechanic in Magic the Gathering I am sure we can find those Green guys some new toys to work with … or chew on.

“The Spikes”, which is actually a Red-Green deck, looks as follows in decklist form:

Creatures (25):

4x Spike Drone (G)
1x Bayou Dragonfly (1G)
1x Canopy Spider (1G)
1x Hermit Druid (1G)
4x Skyshroud Elf (1G)
1x Lowland Basilisk (2G)
2x Pincher Beetles (2G)
3x Spike Worker (2G)
1x Tempting Licid (2G)
2x Spike Feeder (1GG)
1x Spike Breeder (3G)
2x Spike Soldier (2GG)
2x Spike Colony (4G)

Spells (14):

2x Shock (R)
4x Kindle (1R)
1x Elven Rite (1G)
2x Rampant Growth (1G)
1x Verdant Touch (1G)
1x Fanning the Flames (XRR)
2x Heartstone (3)
1x Tranquility (2G)

Lands (21):

12x Forest
9x Mountain

Unlike many of the Tempest block decks we have seen so far, we do actually have a one-drop in “The Spikes”: “Spike Drone” is a 0/0 creature that enters the battlefield with one +1/+1 counter while also being able to remove one +1/+1 counter to place it on another creature. This is basically what all the Spikes do, except some might get more counters or have extra effects that also require them to remove +1/+1 counters. Just letting you know, this will come up more often in the deck profile. But I guess the lack of Spike creatures caused the deck designers to introduce some random cardboard to the mix, such as the 1/1 Flying and Swampwalk “Bayou Dragonfly” that could be good with some power boosting or the 1/3 Reach “Canopy Spider” which is not good no matter what. This brings us straight to the first Rare of the deck, the deck-shredding “Hermit Druid“. Sure, he is meant to fetch Basic Lands which is not that crazy, but placing everything else on the graveyard sure enables quite a lot of strategies hence his price and the spot on the banlist for Legacy. “Skyshroud Elf” is actually a worse “Llanowar Elves” in this deck since you need so little Red mana that there is almost no reason to filter mana at all. “Lowland Basilisk” is also nothing to get excited about since it only destroys creatures it manages to deal damage to; which is something that I can cover with a better card I will talk about later.

I hated “Pincher Beetles” as the 3/1 Shroud option when I covered the Tempest Preconstructed Deck “The Swarm” and I sure think that the card is unnecessary in this deck too. The last non-Spike creature to get out of the way is “Tempting Licid” which can transform itself into an enchantment that forces all opposing creatures to block it; aka “Lure“. It is nice that it does more than “Lure” but I am not sure whether the card is necessary. What is necessary though are the Spikes that give this deck its name: “Spike Worker” costs three mana, comes into play with two +1/+1 counters and can shove them around for two mana as usual. “Spike Feeder” is fairly similar to “Spike Worker“, since it also costs three mana (albeit more colored mana), comes into play with two +1/+1 counters and can also re-distribute one at a time for two mana, but you can also just remove a +1/+1 counter at no further cost to gain two life points. “Spike Breeder” (the second Rare in the deck) costs four mana, gains three +1/+1 counters, can re-distribute counters for two mana, and by removing a +1/+1 counter and paying two mana it can create a 1/1 Spike token. “Spike Soldier” is very similar again, with mana cost of four, three +1/+1 counters on entry, the distribution effect, and as its unique feature it can remove counters at no cost to gain +2/+2 until the end of turn, trading long-term stats for a short burst for more damage. And the last creature to cover is “Spike Colony” which costs five, gains four +1/+1 counters and can just re-distribute counters with no other effect.

The Spell department is very weird in this deck. See, “The Spikes” only features Green creatures, but for some reason the deck designers wanted some burn options so there is a tiny splash of Red in here for … reasons, I guess. Two copies of “Shock” are not worth running, period. However, I can get behind “Kindle” and giving the player the absolute maximum of four copies makes sense if you want the card to have its full potential. “Elven Rite” is random +1/+1 counter spread but really not good enough to stay in the deck in my opinion. “Rampant Growth” is nice though since it speeds up the deck and makes gaining lands more consistent. “Verdant Touch“, the last Rare in “The Spikes”, actually allows us to make something more out of the lands we are searching as they can be turned into 2/2 creatures; and with Buyback we can actually ensure that more than one land gets this treatment. “Fanning the Flames” is a worse version of “Blaze” but with Buyback for three mana; which is a weird idea for a spell in which I need to pump a lot of mana anyway. “Heartstone” is actually a brilliant idea to include into “The Spikes” since the effects all become less expensive and therefore allow for more counter-pushing and creating difficult scenarios to block for the opponent on the fly. And then there is one copy of “Tranquility“, which is enchantment removal and therefore nice to have.

If you actually want to play a deck around Spikes, it might be a good idea investing into “Hardened Scales“. The card is well outside the range of what I consider budget-friendly, but when every re-distribution doubles the amount of +1/+1 counters and “Heartstone” lowers the cost to do so to one mana, you can basically create +1/+1 counters out of thin air by using any excess mana you have available. There are also Spikes in the game that are not featured in the deck; because they were released after it. “Spike Hatcher” is the big boss for seven mana with six +1/+1 counters, the re-distribution effect and the ability to regenerate itself using +1/+1 counters. However, better than that one is “Spike Weaver” with four mana for three +1/+1 counters, the redistribution effect and a “Fog” effect for removing said counters. After that, I would just try to support the Spikes in the deck as much as possible: “Sporeback Troll” can regenerate any creature with a +1/+1 counter on it for two mana, while “Aquastrand Spider” can solve the Flying problem by giving anything with a +1/+1 counter Reach. Remember me saying that “Lowland Basilisk” is actually not that great but that there is a better option? Well, “Simic Basilisk” allows this effect on any creature with +1/+1 counters, which is basically your whole board. Sure, the card costs six mana but I feel like its worth it when any small “Spike Drone” can take on huge threats on the opposing field. For Trample, you can either use “Duskshell Crawler” as a decent blocker with the added bonus of giving your field Trample, or you use “Pridemalkin” for less toughness and more power. Both “Rishkar, Peema Renegade” and “Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter” transform your counter-wearing creatures into mana fixers, while “Armorcraft Judge” can provide some serious card draw. “Kurbis, Harvest Celebrant” can keep your +1/+1 counter-carrying creatures safe, “Cytoplast Root-Kin” can make them all bigger, and “Avatar of the Resolute” becomes a solid beatstick with their help. And forget Red to get rid of creatures, use cards like “Mutant’s Prey” instead.

Which brings us to the section of the article where I look at whether or not the Preconstructed Deck is worth buying. Now, investment-wise there are a few good card in there. At the time of writing, “Hermit Druid” came at an average of 7.77€, “Spike Breeder” had a price trend of 0.33€, and “Verdant Touch” averaged 0.47€. It should also be mentioned that “Heartstone” had a price trend of 1.70€, which comes at two copies in “The Spikes”. But as is so often the case, you just need to take a look at the picture above to see where the bubble bursts: With a starting price of 76.99€, you are never going to get your money back by selling singles. And unfortunately, Spikes are not the best deck around either since they are fairly restrictive and their effects cost quite a lot of mana for doing very little without the right cards to support them. The verdict is therefore the same that I give on a regular basis: If you are interested in the cards from “The Spikes”, just buy them as singles.