I like the little kid deck posted awhile back, but you have to take out the hydra and nest for playable cards. I'd like to see fatal push in there as a few of abd still undecided on the rest of those slots. Deck looks like a dog to a good bit of hand disruption.
I put together a scales deck on MTGO this week, and I've been really liking it. Someone on Reddit modern forum suggested animation module, and I think it is sweet. It takes the deck away more from the aggro side and moves it to a more grindy/combo approach, but I think that is where the deck shines. Here's my list:
A few card explanations: lifecraft awakening is a neat spell in this all-out artifact version. It's usually used as a pump spell/finisher/combat trick, which can close out a game in the right spot, but it also can target darksteel citadel to make an indestructible blocker or a removal-proof threat.
Animation module slows down the early turns but yields card advantage in the form of bodies in return, as well as a combo with ravager (ravager reads 1: put a +1+1 counter on ravager). Usually it is correct to wait to cast a creature from hand until you can pay the 1 for a 1/1. The card plays similar to young pyromancer, in that the 1/1s start adding up. Plus they help ravager get to lethal. Animation module is a really good card in grindy matchups.
Also good in grindy matchups has been Syndicate Traficker, who, outside of path, is extremely hard to interract with. He also has a worse combo with module, effectively reading 2: put a counter on him and gain indestructible. He comes in against removal and sweeper heavy decks.
This deck is extremely mana-hungry, I've found, with a tremendous number of mana sinks between module's trigger AND activation, scooze, and walker and ballista. Because of this, more rishkar might be better over Nissa. I look forward to more testing!
Well I played three MTGO comp leagues with my list and went 3-2, 2-3, and 2-3. I really struggled against humans, and Valakut decks, also losing close matches to storm and burn (which felt OK, but could be improved with SB tweeks.) Deck did quite well against decks with black, like grixis shadow and mardu, as Animation Module combined with Shapers Sanctuary from the board make removal terrible.
Humans was tough almost entirely because of reflector mage. I'm really thinking of running either a few sweepers or multiple basilisk collars in the board, or something.
There does't seem to be much activity on this thread, but this deck is too much fun and surprisingly good to ignore. I've had more people on MTGO ask me where a list is posted after playing me than any other janky deck I've played, which is something.
As to testing stuff out, I've dropped all the three drops and some other stuff for llanowar reborn, which turns out to be a great value-generator and mini-combo with Animation Module. Turn one module, turn two llanowar and pay 1 for a servo is a very solid play because you're making a body for ravager insurance while only playing a tapped land and your utiliy 1-drop. Your hand is usually pure gas after that, with the option of either using as many module triggers as possible to grind the opponent, or to play cards more aggressively to make big ravagers or ballistas. Also, throne of geth is surprisingly good, like better than Nissa ever was, and also acts as another mini-combo with module. The value it generates can't be underestimated, and having another sac outlet for stuff like big walkers is quite handy.
The deck still stinks against combo, but aggro is easier with llanowar and throne which both help you flood the board with chump-blocking tokens. I played against hollow vengevine last night and held off 2 hollow ones, 2 shadows, an angler, and a vine for 3-4 turns in a row with nothing but module and throne activations. I still haven't tested basilisk collar, but it would be quite good against the current aggro lineup.
Please note the fetches are not optimized at all, they're just what I had available to play (but still worked okay). I played something close to this at a recent Modern Open and won a few rounds (including a 2-0 against affinity, 2-0 against burn and 2-1 against Tron) which was encouraging to me since it's only the second time I've played in a modern tournament. I lost a round against Chord Company with Vizier combo, against Scapeshift, and against Affinity. I think I could've gotten a little more out of the deck too if I had a little more experience/familiarity with opponent decks - this build has a lot of decisions. I've tweaked the list a bit since then as I've thought more about it but I'd be curious what others thought.
This is a midrange take, employing Chord of Calling to hunt for synergy pieces or silver bullets depending on the need. I figure midrange is a good place to take advantage of "Hardened Scales effects" (Hardened Scales and Winding Constrictor); I've tried to build the deck so that it's not completely dependent on having one of those effects, and if I draw one late it still has an impact (mainly Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Gavony Township help with this, which I will refer to as "Nissa effects"; also Hangarback Walker's ability and to a lesser extent Walking Ballista).
I know Traverse the Ulvenwald fills a similar niche to Chord of Calling in artifact heavy / affinity-esque builds since it is easy to turn on with artifact creatures, but I don't think it will consistently be turned on in this build. Playing a mix of artifacts and creatures helps protect against artifact hate, and enables playing some independently strong cards like Narnam Renegade instead of stuff like Arcbound Worker that look pretty lame if there's no Scales effect or Ravager. I think overall it makes for a slower but possibly more robust build than the affinity-esque versions. Chord also has the benefit of being instant speed which helps with flexibility and maximizing the utility of silver bullets. There's 8 one-drop creatures and 14 two-drop creatures, so Chord should fairly consistently search for X=2 (occasionally 3) on turn 3 and X=3 or 4 on turn 4 (depending how much removal they have of course). Note Birds into Nissa with 3 land drops makes for X=3 on turn 3. You can see in the sideboard I've put some 2 and 3 CMC hate creatures to help against various archetypes, each of which effectively function as 5 copies when sided in. Hate creatures then serve double duty as bearers of +1/+1 counters with a Nissa effect in play (especially if there is also a scales effect) to help expedite the game plan.
In game one or in addition to silver bullets games 2-3, Chord of Calling can be:
- copies 9-12 of Scales effects by searching for a Snake
- an Arcbound Ravager to sac a juicy Hangarback Walker
- a Scavenging Ooze to shut down a Snapcaster or help against Dredge or Living End or just get value from the graveyard during a grindy game
- an Anafenza, the Foremost to beatdown, against graveyard strategies, or just to shut down an enemy Arcbound Ravager, Kitchen Finks or other "enters the graveyard" effects
- late game if we need card advantage, a Ranger of Eos to fetch ballistas or walkers, whatever's more useful
- a Knight of the Reliquary end of opponent's turn can fetch a Gavony Township or Vault of the Archangel on our turn and immediately use it as long as we have at least 4 lands in play. I just thought of this the other day actually and am super excited about it though I haven't tested it yet. The Knight also permits a land toolbox, hence the Bojuka Bog and Field of Ruin in the sideboard. And the Knight should usually be a tough beater that's out of bolt range in this deck with 9 or so fetchlands (I am heavy on the fetches anyways to help the Narnam Renegade)
Rite of Passage is in there to incidentally win some games with the infinite combo. I wouldn't put too much effort into it since it doesn't synergize very well otherwise (I think any more than 1 copy would be detrimental). But with effectively 9 copies of Walking Ballista (4x ballista, 4x chord, 1x ranger of eos) and 12 scales effects (4x hardened scales 4x winding constrictor 4x chord) I think it's not too difficult to assemble by turn 5+ (I tried to go for it against the Collected Company Vizier deck at the tournament and would've had it turn 6, but they combo'd off turn 4). But I think it should be sided out against anything hyperaggressive or with a lot of disruption.
Since Chord of Calling wants untapped creatures it does hamper aggressive plays. The way I figure, in some matchups this deck is the "control" - against burn and affinity for example, it just wants to stay alive and stabilize, then it will dominate the late game. I think this is where Chord is the best. Kataki, War's Wage against affinity and Spellskite against Arcbound Ravager, burn or anything targeted help. Against things like Control and Tron the deck needs to be aggro, and the Chord is less good then - but can still potentially fetch up silver bullets / reactions. For example Aven Mindcensor for Tron and Valakut, Thrun, the Last TrollSpellskite or Selfless Spirit for control, Ethersworn Canonist or Eidolon of Rhetoric for Living End, Storm, Snapcasters etc, and Reclamation Sage for any troublesome artifacts or enchantments.
I've been thinking of ways to bring up the aggro level off the sideboard against control or anything that sets a clock (combo things like Valakut or Storm, Tron, etc). The 4xExperiment One is something I just added to the list and am not sure about - it doesn't synergize well with Hangarback Walker or Walking Ballista without a Scales effect in play, but works nicely with them when there is a Scales effect. It doesn't synergize with Birds but Birds should probably be the T1 play anyways. But it does work very nicely with Winding Constrictor and Narnam Renegade, and also works with the three-drops. Even if it doesn't get counters from other creatures it can still use counters placed on it by Nissa effects (meaning Nissa or Gavony Township). I think it could make the deck a little more aggressive/explosive off the sideboard, and adds some potential resilience to Wraths and bolts.
I will end with some Chord scenarios to consider:
- playing against burn, life total critically low but have a few creatures on the board, a chord and 4 lands -> end of opponent's turn search for Knight of the Reliquary, untap/upkeep/draw, sac a land to fetch vault of the archangel, activate, swing to regain some life and stabilize
- playing against Eldrazi Tron or anything with big chunky creatures, have a Walking Ballista with a few counters, four lands and a chord -> end of opponent's turn search for a Knight, untap/upkeep/draw, sac a land to fetch Vault of the Archangel, activate, ping a few creatures.
- have a few creatures and a Scales effect, and 4 lands -> search for a Knight, untap/upkeep/draw, sac a land to fetch Gavony Township, activate
- have a few creatures and a Nissa effect but no Scales effect -> search for a Winding Constrictor, then activate Nissa effect
- have a juicy Hangarback Walker -> search for Arcbound Ravager and sac the Walker end of opponent's turn or in response to Path to Exile (note: I considered other options like Viscera Seer, Syndicate Trafficker and even Disciple of Bolas but I think the Ravager's synergy and potential for blowouts with a Hardened Scales effect in play is too much to ignore. It's not completely dead without a Hangarback Walker; for example with a scales effect and a Walking Ballista it's still 3 points of damage. Without either Scales effect or Hangarback Walker it's unfortunately terrible, hence 1-of).
- want another land -> Chord can do an impression of a ramp card with Dryad Arbor, just set X=0. The Arbor can also be fetched with fetchlands if another body is needed, and Ranger of Eos (usually want the XX artifacts though).
Toolbox is nice and all but you do need some interaction in your deck like removal (and discard post board).
Even Hatebears which is a more disruptive deck runs interaction.
Traverse the Ulvenwald still seems like a better option for this deck than Chord which needs more mana acceleration and green creatures
(10/26 creatures aren't green).
Toolbox is nice and all but you do need some interaction in your deck like removal (and discard post board).
Even Hatebears which is a more disruptive deck runs interaction.
Yeah, I've been thinking about that. The version I played in the tournament had two Dromoka's Command main and two sideboard. They were always decent but weren't really amazing (I never got the 2-for-1's I was hoping for, mainly 1-for-1s). They were nice with Narnam Renegades since I could get rid of any size threat if I needed, though often with card disadvantage.
The deck does have some good interaction in Walking Ballista that can easily be a 1-for-1 but has the potential to be more with Scales effects in play. One game against affinity for example, he played a Steel Overseer turn 2 with a few other creatures in play - I had a Winding Constrictor and Walking Ballista in hand but decided to just play the Ballista immediately as 1-for-1 removal before things got out of hand. But then a different game against Affinity after managing to stall out the board with 4-5 creatures on his side including a Master of Etherium and a similar number on my side including a Narnam Renegade to dissuade ground attacks and a couple Thopters in the air, I played a Ballista and pumped it with Gavony Township over a couple turns with a Scales effect in play, and used it to whittle down his army.
I think the deck has good natural resilience against anything trying to win through the red zone especially on the ground. Hangarback Walker and Narnam Renegade are all-star blockers, and even Walking Ballista can chump block for a turn and ping something else before damage to slow things down while not being card disadvantage. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar plants help to slow things down too. Against Death's Shadow, for example, this deck has a lot of game.
In playtesting / at the tournament I had trouble against combo and control decks much more than aggressive ones. Valakut, tron, jeskai control, storm etc all give me problems because the deck isn't fast enough to kill them before they do their thing. That's why I'm thinking about Experiment One to speed up my game. I am also thinking about Tidehollow Sculler to add disruption but preserve an aggro gameplan. Beast Within has also crossed my mind as a way to deal with any troublesome permanents like tron lands, Ugin, Karn, valakut, Blood Moon etc while also acting as a backup way to turn a Hangarback Walker into thopters. Since I don't mind dealing with creatures on the ground and my stuff will likely get bigger than 3/3 anyways I figure it's not a big downside, but the 3 mana feels clunky. I don't think things like Fatal Push and Path to Exile are really filling a niche I need the most here since creatures aren't my main problem. Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse are considerations.
Traverse the Ulvenwald still seems like a better option for this deck than Chord which needs more mana acceleration and green creatures
(10/26 creatures aren't green).
So far I haven't had any issues getting the GGG required. The land base is predominantly green and aims for GG by turn 3 for Nissa, Voice of Zendikar anyways, so all I need is one green creature in addition. 20/60 cards in the deck are green creatures or generate green creatures (I'm counting Nissa).
Lazote1, have you thought of Mistcutter Hydra instead of endless one or the managorger? I feel like the textbox of that card would make it superior, especially the haste, and help race those combo decks. I've tested climb, and it's too slow (imo). I feel like anything not walker/ballista/ravager or a 1-drop should first be 1-4 copies of scavenging ooze, what with all the graveyard reliance in the current meta.
Drogulus9, I agree combo and big mana are really tough to beat, and probably the reason to run Chord here. I haven't personally tested Rite of Passage, (which seems hard to pull off) but I do know that Solidarity of Heroes can just steal games from time to time, and provides closing speed similar to Temur Battle Rage. Also, if your opponent gets burned by it in game one he starts to play around it to some degree which can slow him down.
I'm still enjoying the artifact version, with Llanowar and Throne of Geth. I have now tested Basilisk Collar, and it's really good and has definitely helped make aggro a walk in the park. Have two copies in the main, which often get sided out for combo-hosers. This deck, no matter which version, is definitely a midrange kind of deck, but it shines against aggro and other fair midrange. But I win a lot of games with its surprise closing speed.
Bant version for test Hadana's Climb and some counters in sideboard. Endless one is a great card here, we can play it when we want and it's easy to flip hadana's climb. Managorger hydra is just strong with hardened scale both in play, it become a huge creature with some spells at beginning. And an other win plan : Combo with spike feeder and Archangel of thune.
Adding blue is interesting. I'm not convinced about Hadana's Climb as it seems like a lot of mana to invest and may take too long to get value. For 3 mana I could play Anafenza, the Foremost for example which feels like a lot more pressure and incidentally hoses some graveyard strategies. The land's ability costing 3 is also a lot - having your target Fatal Push or Path to Exile in response would feel pretty bad. Plus it feels a little win-more: if you've got a creature that's big enough to benefit from the 3 mana pump more than you would benefit from playing another 3-drop, you're probably already doing okay. It's not going to help much when you're playing against a disruptive or control deck and scrambling for more threats to pump out.
Drogulus9, I agree combo and big mana are really tough to beat, and probably the reason to run Chord here. I haven't personally tested Rite of Passage, (which seems hard to pull off) but I do know that Solidarity of Heroes can just steal games from time to time, and provides closing speed similar to Temur Battle Rage. Also, if your opponent gets burned by it in game one he starts to play around it to some degree which can slow him down.
Thanks, that's an interesting card. I can see how that would speed up the clock if all goes well. I bet it's better when you have an Arcbound Ravager that can consolidate all your power into one creature, I'm not sure it would work so well in my build that tends to go more wide. I used to run Dromoka's Command that filled a similar niche to a smaller degree but provided some interaction. The other thing I considered before was Abzan Ascendancy as extra Nissa effects and help defend against removal but my 3-drop spot was getting crowded and I worried it wouldn't do enough.
I'm thinking of a "flex plan" where against aggro (affinity, burn, humans etc) I side in the other Walking Ballista and Chord of Calling along with things like Spellskite, Kataki, War's Wage as needed and side out the Thoughtseizes and some of the toolbox or higher CMC creatures I don't need. Chord is best on defense.
Against something like Storm or Valakut where they set a clock that I want to race and disrupt, I side out all the Ballistas and Walkers (they're too slow to help race) and side in 4x Experiment One and whatever hatebears are applicable(against storm, Ethersworn Canonist and Gaddock Teeg; against Valakut, Gaddock Teeg, Spellskite and Aven Mindcensor; against Tron, Aven Mindcensor, Gaddock Teeg, Phyrexian Revoker, you get the idea). Also siding in 4x Thoughtseize and 4x Chord of Calling, with an aim to get a couple creatures out first 2 turns +/- thoughtseize, turn 3 fetch a hate bear, then hope that buys enough time to beat down.
Against control, similar sort of idea siding in 4x Experiment One and siding out the Ballistas, but keeping the Walkers since they provide resilience to wrath and other removal and help add inevitability (though bounce and paths hurt). Adding in things like Gaddock Teeg, Ethersworn Canonist (for Snapcasters), Spellskite. Probably keeping a couple Chords but not the full set as they're not great when on the beatdown. Experiment One into Hangarback Walker isn't great but on the other hand if there's a Scales effect on the field then it works well. All the hatebears I would side in can pump the Experiment Ones too. Experiment Ones are fabulous with Winding Constrictor and Narnam Renegade.
I'm working on a similar build for this deck and was wondering what people's thoughts were on cards like Corpsejack Menace and Bioshift in this type of deck? Bioshift gives an instant speed way to move the +1/+1 counters if you don't have Arcbound Ravager out.
I'm working on a similar build for this deck and was wondering what people's thoughts were on cards like Corpsejack Menace and Bioshift in this type of deck? Bioshift gives an instant speed way to move the +1/+1 counters if you don't have Arcbound Ravager out.
I worry about Bioshift because if they have an instant speed response (kill one of your two targets) it's a wasted card. If it just had "draw a card" attached onto it, it would be fabulous but as it stands I just feel like it's card disadvantage waiting to happen. It could potentially do cool combat tricks especially with hangarback walker and walking ballista, plus potential to add more counters than you're taking away with a Hardened Scales effect out, but I feel like I would usually rather just add extra counters to something with Dromoka's Command if I'm going that route, since that card also fills a lot of other functions and should at least be a 1-for-1 while sometimes being a 2-for-1.
As for Corpsejack Menace I've considered it, it is Bolt resistant which is nice though it can still be Pathed or Fatal Pushed with revolt active. In general 4 mana has to really pull its weight to be worth the investment. The utility of this card unfortunately is highest when you are already doing well, which makes it a little win more. It will usually take a turn before you can derive benefit which makes it more vulnerable to disruption. In addition, running too many Scales type effects is dangerous because they do not have internal synergy (a hand full of Hardened Scales and Winding Constrictors is pretty lame until you get something else, and Corpsejack Menace just adds more of this problem). I like Ranger of Eos a lot more because it is good when you are behind to refill your hand with threats, and good when you are ahead to seal the deal. It gives you card advantage immediately - essentially a 3-for-1 since its own body is decent.
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4 arcbound worker
4 arcbound ravager
4 walking ballista
4 hangarback walker
2 winding constrictor
1 scavenging ooze
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
Other permanents: 16
4 mox opal
1 welding jar
1 relic of progenitus
4 animation module
4 hardened scales
2 nissa, voice of zendikar
3 lifecraft awakening
Land: 20
4 darksteel citadel
4 blooming marsh
4 aether hub
2 lanowar wastes
3 forest
3 blinkmoth nexus
4 shapers' sanctuary
1 reclamation sage
2 natural state
1 grafdigger's cage
2 scavenging ooze
2 syndicate trafficker
2 pithing needle
1 spike feeder
A few card explanations: lifecraft awakening is a neat spell in this all-out artifact version. It's usually used as a pump spell/finisher/combat trick, which can close out a game in the right spot, but it also can target darksteel citadel to make an indestructible blocker or a removal-proof threat.
Animation module slows down the early turns but yields card advantage in the form of bodies in return, as well as a combo with ravager (ravager reads 1: put a +1+1 counter on ravager). Usually it is correct to wait to cast a creature from hand until you can pay the 1 for a 1/1. The card plays similar to young pyromancer, in that the 1/1s start adding up. Plus they help ravager get to lethal. Animation module is a really good card in grindy matchups.
Also good in grindy matchups has been Syndicate Traficker, who, outside of path, is extremely hard to interract with. He also has a worse combo with module, effectively reading 2: put a counter on him and gain indestructible. He comes in against removal and sweeper heavy decks.
This deck is extremely mana-hungry, I've found, with a tremendous number of mana sinks between module's trigger AND activation, scooze, and walker and ballista. Because of this, more rishkar might be better over Nissa. I look forward to more testing!
Humans was tough almost entirely because of reflector mage. I'm really thinking of running either a few sweepers or multiple basilisk collars in the board, or something.
As to testing stuff out, I've dropped all the three drops and some other stuff for llanowar reborn, which turns out to be a great value-generator and mini-combo with Animation Module. Turn one module, turn two llanowar and pay 1 for a servo is a very solid play because you're making a body for ravager insurance while only playing a tapped land and your utiliy 1-drop. Your hand is usually pure gas after that, with the option of either using as many module triggers as possible to grind the opponent, or to play cards more aggressively to make big ravagers or ballistas. Also, throne of geth is surprisingly good, like better than Nissa ever was, and also acts as another mini-combo with module. The value it generates can't be underestimated, and having another sac outlet for stuff like big walkers is quite handy.
The deck still stinks against combo, but aggro is easier with llanowar and throne which both help you flood the board with chump-blocking tokens. I played against hollow vengevine last night and held off 2 hollow ones, 2 shadows, an angler, and a vine for 3-4 turns in a row with nothing but module and throne activations. I still haven't tested basilisk collar, but it would be quite good against the current aggro lineup.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Narnam Renegade
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Walking Ballista
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Arcbound Ravager
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Ranger of Eos
Planeswalker (4)
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
Enchantment (5)
4 Hardened Scales
1 Rite of Passage
Instant (4)
4 Chord of Calling
1 Verdant Catacombs
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Gavony Township
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Reclamation Sage
4 Experiment One
1 Spellskite
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Field of Ruin
Please note the fetches are not optimized at all, they're just what I had available to play (but still worked okay). I played something close to this at a recent Modern Open and won a few rounds (including a 2-0 against affinity, 2-0 against burn and 2-1 against Tron) which was encouraging to me since it's only the second time I've played in a modern tournament. I lost a round against Chord Company with Vizier combo, against Scapeshift, and against Affinity. I think I could've gotten a little more out of the deck too if I had a little more experience/familiarity with opponent decks - this build has a lot of decisions. I've tweaked the list a bit since then as I've thought more about it but I'd be curious what others thought.
This is a midrange take, employing Chord of Calling to hunt for synergy pieces or silver bullets depending on the need. I figure midrange is a good place to take advantage of "Hardened Scales effects" (Hardened Scales and Winding Constrictor); I've tried to build the deck so that it's not completely dependent on having one of those effects, and if I draw one late it still has an impact (mainly Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and Gavony Township help with this, which I will refer to as "Nissa effects"; also Hangarback Walker's ability and to a lesser extent Walking Ballista).
I know Traverse the Ulvenwald fills a similar niche to Chord of Calling in artifact heavy / affinity-esque builds since it is easy to turn on with artifact creatures, but I don't think it will consistently be turned on in this build. Playing a mix of artifacts and creatures helps protect against artifact hate, and enables playing some independently strong cards like Narnam Renegade instead of stuff like Arcbound Worker that look pretty lame if there's no Scales effect or Ravager. I think overall it makes for a slower but possibly more robust build than the affinity-esque versions. Chord also has the benefit of being instant speed which helps with flexibility and maximizing the utility of silver bullets. There's 8 one-drop creatures and 14 two-drop creatures, so Chord should fairly consistently search for X=2 (occasionally 3) on turn 3 and X=3 or 4 on turn 4 (depending how much removal they have of course). Note Birds into Nissa with 3 land drops makes for X=3 on turn 3. You can see in the sideboard I've put some 2 and 3 CMC hate creatures to help against various archetypes, each of which effectively function as 5 copies when sided in. Hate creatures then serve double duty as bearers of +1/+1 counters with a Nissa effect in play (especially if there is also a scales effect) to help expedite the game plan.
In game one or in addition to silver bullets games 2-3, Chord of Calling can be:
- copies 9-12 of Scales effects by searching for a Snake
- an Arcbound Ravager to sac a juicy Hangarback Walker
- a Scavenging Ooze to shut down a Snapcaster or help against Dredge or Living End or just get value from the graveyard during a grindy game
- an Anafenza, the Foremost to beatdown, against graveyard strategies, or just to shut down an enemy Arcbound Ravager, Kitchen Finks or other "enters the graveyard" effects
- late game if we need card advantage, a Ranger of Eos to fetch ballistas or walkers, whatever's more useful
- a Knight of the Reliquary end of opponent's turn can fetch a Gavony Township or Vault of the Archangel on our turn and immediately use it as long as we have at least 4 lands in play. I just thought of this the other day actually and am super excited about it though I haven't tested it yet. The Knight also permits a land toolbox, hence the Bojuka Bog and Field of Ruin in the sideboard. And the Knight should usually be a tough beater that's out of bolt range in this deck with 9 or so fetchlands (I am heavy on the fetches anyways to help the Narnam Renegade)
Rite of Passage is in there to incidentally win some games with the infinite combo. I wouldn't put too much effort into it since it doesn't synergize very well otherwise (I think any more than 1 copy would be detrimental). But with effectively 9 copies of Walking Ballista (4x ballista, 4x chord, 1x ranger of eos) and 12 scales effects (4x hardened scales 4x winding constrictor 4x chord) I think it's not too difficult to assemble by turn 5+ (I tried to go for it against the Collected Company Vizier deck at the tournament and would've had it turn 6, but they combo'd off turn 4). But I think it should be sided out against anything hyperaggressive or with a lot of disruption.
Since Chord of Calling wants untapped creatures it does hamper aggressive plays. The way I figure, in some matchups this deck is the "control" - against burn and affinity for example, it just wants to stay alive and stabilize, then it will dominate the late game. I think this is where Chord is the best. Kataki, War's Wage against affinity and Spellskite against Arcbound Ravager, burn or anything targeted help. Against things like Control and Tron the deck needs to be aggro, and the Chord is less good then - but can still potentially fetch up silver bullets / reactions. For example Aven Mindcensor for Tron and Valakut, Thrun, the Last Troll Spellskite or Selfless Spirit for control, Ethersworn Canonist or Eidolon of Rhetoric for Living End, Storm, Snapcasters etc, and Reclamation Sage for any troublesome artifacts or enchantments.
I've been thinking of ways to bring up the aggro level off the sideboard against control or anything that sets a clock (combo things like Valakut or Storm, Tron, etc). The 4xExperiment One is something I just added to the list and am not sure about - it doesn't synergize well with Hangarback Walker or Walking Ballista without a Scales effect in play, but works nicely with them when there is a Scales effect. It doesn't synergize with Birds but Birds should probably be the T1 play anyways. But it does work very nicely with Winding Constrictor and Narnam Renegade, and also works with the three-drops. Even if it doesn't get counters from other creatures it can still use counters placed on it by Nissa effects (meaning Nissa or Gavony Township). I think it could make the deck a little more aggressive/explosive off the sideboard, and adds some potential resilience to Wraths and bolts.
I will end with some Chord scenarios to consider:
- playing against burn, life total critically low but have a few creatures on the board, a chord and 4 lands -> end of opponent's turn search for Knight of the Reliquary, untap/upkeep/draw, sac a land to fetch vault of the archangel, activate, swing to regain some life and stabilize
- playing against Eldrazi Tron or anything with big chunky creatures, have a Walking Ballista with a few counters, four lands and a chord -> end of opponent's turn search for a Knight, untap/upkeep/draw, sac a land to fetch Vault of the Archangel, activate, ping a few creatures.
- have a few creatures and a Scales effect, and 4 lands -> search for a Knight, untap/upkeep/draw, sac a land to fetch Gavony Township, activate
- have a few creatures and a Nissa effect but no Scales effect -> search for a Winding Constrictor, then activate Nissa effect
- have a juicy Hangarback Walker -> search for Arcbound Ravager and sac the Walker end of opponent's turn or in response to Path to Exile (note: I considered other options like Viscera Seer, Syndicate Trafficker and even Disciple of Bolas but I think the Ravager's synergy and potential for blowouts with a Hardened Scales effect in play is too much to ignore. It's not completely dead without a Hangarback Walker; for example with a scales effect and a Walking Ballista it's still 3 points of damage. Without either Scales effect or Hangarback Walker it's unfortunately terrible, hence 1-of).
- want another land -> Chord can do an impression of a ramp card with Dryad Arbor, just set X=0. The Arbor can also be fetched with fetchlands if another body is needed, and Ranger of Eos (usually want the XX artifacts though).
This deck is toolboxes within toolboxes. Chord of Calling is a toolbox, it can fetch Knight of the Reliquary for a land toolbox or a Ranger of Eos for a CMC<=1 toolbox!
Anyways, I'm curious what anyone thinks about this, if there's any other cards I should consider and how I should tweak this. Thanks!
Even Hatebears which is a more disruptive deck runs interaction.
Traverse the Ulvenwald still seems like a better option for this deck than Chord which needs more mana acceleration and green creatures
(10/26 creatures aren't green).
Yeah, I've been thinking about that. The version I played in the tournament had two Dromoka's Command main and two sideboard. They were always decent but weren't really amazing (I never got the 2-for-1's I was hoping for, mainly 1-for-1s). They were nice with Narnam Renegades since I could get rid of any size threat if I needed, though often with card disadvantage.
The deck does have some good interaction in Walking Ballista that can easily be a 1-for-1 but has the potential to be more with Scales effects in play. One game against affinity for example, he played a Steel Overseer turn 2 with a few other creatures in play - I had a Winding Constrictor and Walking Ballista in hand but decided to just play the Ballista immediately as 1-for-1 removal before things got out of hand. But then a different game against Affinity after managing to stall out the board with 4-5 creatures on his side including a Master of Etherium and a similar number on my side including a Narnam Renegade to dissuade ground attacks and a couple Thopters in the air, I played a Ballista and pumped it with Gavony Township over a couple turns with a Scales effect in play, and used it to whittle down his army.
I think the deck has good natural resilience against anything trying to win through the red zone especially on the ground. Hangarback Walker and Narnam Renegade are all-star blockers, and even Walking Ballista can chump block for a turn and ping something else before damage to slow things down while not being card disadvantage. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar plants help to slow things down too. Against Death's Shadow, for example, this deck has a lot of game.
In playtesting / at the tournament I had trouble against combo and control decks much more than aggressive ones. Valakut, tron, jeskai control, storm etc all give me problems because the deck isn't fast enough to kill them before they do their thing. That's why I'm thinking about Experiment One to speed up my game. I am also thinking about Tidehollow Sculler to add disruption but preserve an aggro gameplan. Beast Within has also crossed my mind as a way to deal with any troublesome permanents like tron lands, Ugin, Karn, valakut, Blood Moon etc while also acting as a backup way to turn a Hangarback Walker into thopters. Since I don't mind dealing with creatures on the ground and my stuff will likely get bigger than 3/3 anyways I figure it's not a big downside, but the 3 mana feels clunky. I don't think things like Fatal Push and Path to Exile are really filling a niche I need the most here since creatures aren't my main problem. Abrupt Decay or Maelstrom Pulse are considerations.
So far I haven't had any issues getting the GGG required. The land base is predominantly green and aims for GG by turn 3 for Nissa, Voice of Zendikar anyways, so all I need is one green creature in addition. 20/60 cards in the deck are green creatures or generate green creatures (I'm counting Nissa).
Thanks for the comments!
Drogulus9, I agree combo and big mana are really tough to beat, and probably the reason to run Chord here. I haven't personally tested Rite of Passage, (which seems hard to pull off) but I do know that Solidarity of Heroes can just steal games from time to time, and provides closing speed similar to Temur Battle Rage. Also, if your opponent gets burned by it in game one he starts to play around it to some degree which can slow him down.
I'm still enjoying the artifact version, with Llanowar and Throne of Geth. I have now tested Basilisk Collar, and it's really good and has definitely helped make aggro a walk in the park. Have two copies in the main, which often get sided out for combo-hosers. This deck, no matter which version, is definitely a midrange kind of deck, but it shines against aggro and other fair midrange. But I win a lot of games with its surprise closing speed.
Adding blue is interesting. I'm not convinced about Hadana's Climb as it seems like a lot of mana to invest and may take too long to get value. For 3 mana I could play Anafenza, the Foremost for example which feels like a lot more pressure and incidentally hoses some graveyard strategies. The land's ability costing 3 is also a lot - having your target Fatal Push or Path to Exile in response would feel pretty bad. Plus it feels a little win-more: if you've got a creature that's big enough to benefit from the 3 mana pump more than you would benefit from playing another 3-drop, you're probably already doing okay. It's not going to help much when you're playing against a disruptive or control deck and scrambling for more threats to pump out.
However I do think there's some interesting possibilities in blue. I would be very reluctant to give up Winding Constrictor since having 8 scales effects really helps with consistency. So maybe a BUG build? Would lose Gavony Township which hurts, unless it's a light splash. Chasm Skulker is kind of interesting if you started adding things like Serum Visions. There's also Implement of Ferocity to add counters and draw. There's some proliferate card draw like Steady Progress and Tezzeret's Gambit that can also pump a Nissa. There's a couple of interesting two drops, Storm Fleet Aerialist and Skyship Plunderer. There's Herald of Secret Streams.
Also, Trinket Mage can fetch Hangarback Walker, Walking Ballista, and TONS of good toolbox cards (you may notice I'm slightly obsessed with toolboxes at the moment). Tormod's Crypt plus like 5 other good graveyard hate cards (Relic of Progenitus, Grafdigger's Cage, Silent Gravestone, Sentinel Totem, Nihil Spellbomb), Pithing Needle, Basilisk Collar for the Ballistas, Engineered Explosives, Chalice of the Void, Executioner's Capsule, Expedition Map, Flight Spellbomb etc. Could be interesting.
Thanks, that's an interesting card. I can see how that would speed up the clock if all goes well. I bet it's better when you have an Arcbound Ravager that can consolidate all your power into one creature, I'm not sure it would work so well in my build that tends to go more wide. I used to run Dromoka's Command that filled a similar niche to a smaller degree but provided some interaction. The other thing I considered before was Abzan Ascendancy as extra Nissa effects and help defend against removal but my 3-drop spot was getting crowded and I worried it wouldn't do enough.
Here's my latest build idea:
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Narnam Renegade
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Hangarback Walker
3 Walking Ballista
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Arcbound Ravager
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Ranger of Eos
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
Enchantments (5)
4 Hardened Scales
1 Rite of Passage
Instants (2)
2 Chord of Calling
2 Thoughtseize
Lands (21)
1 Verdant Catacombs
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Gavony Township
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Spellskite
1 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Experiment One
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Walking Ballista
2 Chord of Calling
2 Thoughtseize
I'm thinking of a "flex plan" where against aggro (affinity, burn, humans etc) I side in the other Walking Ballista and Chord of Calling along with things like Spellskite, Kataki, War's Wage as needed and side out the Thoughtseizes and some of the toolbox or higher CMC creatures I don't need. Chord is best on defense.
Against something like Storm or Valakut where they set a clock that I want to race and disrupt, I side out all the Ballistas and Walkers (they're too slow to help race) and side in 4x Experiment One and whatever hatebears are applicable(against storm, Ethersworn Canonist and Gaddock Teeg; against Valakut, Gaddock Teeg, Spellskite and Aven Mindcensor; against Tron, Aven Mindcensor, Gaddock Teeg, Phyrexian Revoker, you get the idea). Also siding in 4x Thoughtseize and 4x Chord of Calling, with an aim to get a couple creatures out first 2 turns +/- thoughtseize, turn 3 fetch a hate bear, then hope that buys enough time to beat down.
Against control, similar sort of idea siding in 4x Experiment One and siding out the Ballistas, but keeping the Walkers since they provide resilience to wrath and other removal and help add inevitability (though bounce and paths hurt). Adding in things like Gaddock Teeg, Ethersworn Canonist (for Snapcasters), Spellskite. Probably keeping a couple Chords but not the full set as they're not great when on the beatdown. Experiment One into Hangarback Walker isn't great but on the other hand if there's a Scales effect on the field then it works well. All the hatebears I would side in can pump the Experiment Ones too. Experiment Ones are fabulous with Winding Constrictor and Narnam Renegade.
I worry about Bioshift because if they have an instant speed response (kill one of your two targets) it's a wasted card. If it just had "draw a card" attached onto it, it would be fabulous but as it stands I just feel like it's card disadvantage waiting to happen. It could potentially do cool combat tricks especially with hangarback walker and walking ballista, plus potential to add more counters than you're taking away with a Hardened Scales effect out, but I feel like I would usually rather just add extra counters to something with Dromoka's Command if I'm going that route, since that card also fills a lot of other functions and should at least be a 1-for-1 while sometimes being a 2-for-1.
As for Corpsejack Menace I've considered it, it is Bolt resistant which is nice though it can still be Pathed or Fatal Pushed with revolt active. In general 4 mana has to really pull its weight to be worth the investment. The utility of this card unfortunately is highest when you are already doing well, which makes it a little win more. It will usually take a turn before you can derive benefit which makes it more vulnerable to disruption. In addition, running too many Scales type effects is dangerous because they do not have internal synergy (a hand full of Hardened Scales and Winding Constrictors is pretty lame until you get something else, and Corpsejack Menace just adds more of this problem). I like Ranger of Eos a lot more because it is good when you are behind to refill your hand with threats, and good when you are ahead to seal the deal. It gives you card advantage immediately - essentially a 3-for-1 since its own body is decent.