Vintage Oath deck
From MTG Salvation Wiki
Oath uses Oath of Druids to find large creatures with unwieldy casting costs and put them into play. The deck existed in the format ever since Oath of Druids was originally printed, however it traditionally had difficulty getting Oath to trigger against decks that didn't play a large number of creatures. This drawback was largely erased with the printing of Forbidden Orchard, which not only improved the deck's mana base, but also gave it an efficient way to give the opponent small creatures.
Early versions of the deck after the printing of Forbidden Orchard included Darksteel Colossus. Colossus has since given way to smaller creatures with haste. The "standard" first choice for most Oath decks is Akroma, Angel of Wrath, with either Spirit of the Night or Razia, Boros Archangel used as a backup depending on local metagames. However, due to the restriction of Brainstorm, Oath has suffered, due to not only the ability to draw three cards for one blue mana, but Brainstorm also allowed the player to efficiently put any creatures that they have drawn back into their library.
Another variant uses Serra Avatar, Fling, Berserk, Diamond Valley and Altar of Dementia to quickly gain life and to boost the Serra Avatar towards a devastating Fling or Berserk.
Gaea's Blessing is nearly always included in the deck to prevent it from running out of cards, as its triggered ability reshuffles the owner's graveyard into his or her library whenever Oath of Druids happens by it.
The rest of the deck is typically devoted to countermagic with Force of Will and Mana Drain, as well as card drawing and a small amount of removal, often in White (Swords to Plowshares and Seal of Cleansing).
A typical Angel/Hellkite oath deck as of March 2009:
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| Lands (17) 4 Forbidden Orchard 4 Polluted Delta 1 Flooded Strand 3 Underground Sea 1 Tropical Island 1 Island 2 Wasteland 1 Strip Mine (Restricted) Creatures (2) 1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath 1 Hellkite Overlord Artifacts (11) 4 Chalice of the Void 1 Black Lotus (Restricted) 1 Mox Emerald (Restricted) 1 Mox Jet (Restricted) 1 Mox Pearl (Restricted) 1 Mox Ruby (Restricted) 1 Mox Sapphire (Restricted) 1 Scroll Rack | Enchantments (4) 4 Oath of Druids Instants (13) 1 Ancestral Recall (Restricted) 1 Brainstorm (Restricted) 4 Force of Will 1 Misdirection 4 Negate 1 Vampiric Tutor (Restricted) 1 Wipe Away Sorceries (9) 1 Demonic Tutor (Restricted) 1 Merchant Scroll (Restricted) 1 Time Walk (Restricted) 1 Ponder (Restricted) 1 Gaea's Blessing 4 Thoughtseize | |
