Hey all, I'm sort of new to posting on here but wanted to throw my loam deck into the ring as a viable option. I've been playing Loam because since 2014 because of this forum, and now I want to show what I've done with the deck. I've taken this list to my local FNM and won a couple times and have been doing well on untap with it as well. Here's the list:
The first thing that jumps out of the list is the 2 copies of Burning Vengeance. I added these as a joke after trying many things in its slot, but after a few games of testing, I realized it was a very reasonable backup plan for Assault Loam. With Burning Vengeance and Flame Jab, every land turns into an Arc Trail. This plus Life from the Loam deals 9 damage per turn. It's a fast clock and clears the board even easier than Assault Loam. Note that this is not the main plan of the deck, just a backup plan. The two copies can be discarded to both Faithless Looting and Lightning Axe to get rid of the dead enchantment if need be.
The second major difference is the 3 copies of Sheltered Thicket. I think the cycle lands have been undervalued in this thread as they let you deal 10 damage per turn while Assault Loam'ing with 6 lands. That's how the games go with this deck. Assault Loam my opp's board, gradually playing lands up to 6 lands in order to deal 10 dmg per turn to kill them. With 2 copies of loam in your yard and at least 4 lands, you deal 10 damage every other turn with cycle lands which is also a better rate than the normal Assault Loam combo. It helps the deck a lot.
The last major difference is the simple manabase. I'm only playing two colors, so I'm not very vulnerable to Blood Moon. These colors also let me play a million burn spells which is very helpful in a long game. I have gone Bolt Bolt or end of turn Bolt into triple Flame Jab to kill my opp many times with this deck, and it is an easy way to steal a game from someone who is playing over aggressive.
The sideboard is the weakest part of the deck and is just kind of thrown together. I have two storm decks at my lgs, so I'm playing 3 Damping Sphere and 3 Tormod's Crypt, Abrade hits artifacts and creatures so comes in in many matchups, Ancient Grudge kills artifacts at a better rate, Beast Within hits everything and usually comes in G2 to fight graveyard hate, and the rest are kind of random cards I think would be good in different matchups. If anyone has any suggestions for the deck, that would be great since I have been refining this list for a while now and don't know where to go next with the list.
I'm always interested in seeing a red-green list that's working for someone. I used to play one years ago with decent success, but I've considered a splash as necessary in Modern the last few years.
I have a couple of questions for you though. Why Satyr Wayfinder over all the other great 2cmc options? When I played a red-green version of this deck years ago I played Mulch for instance. More recently people have tried Commune with the Gods. Along those lines, your deck seems like a "board control" version, so why only twenty-three lands? Seems like with Flame Jab, Seismic Assault, and especially Countryside Crusher, you might have trouble hitting six land drops and having all the lands you need to pitch. Third, you mentioned Blood Moon and not being vulnerable to it. Why not sideboard them yourself then? Perhaps over the Damping Spheres or something.
Honestly, the biggest reason why I was playing Satyr Wayfinder is because at first the list I had was very budget. I got my first list for around $100 back when Loam wasn't too pricey, and Satyr Wayfinder was one of those cards that helped to tie the bad manabase together while blocking. Its body chumps some of the higher powered creatures, and in my meta which is mostly midrange and zoo decks, having this body that also helps to find Loam is pretty dece.
Wayfinder is also why I was playing less lands. I am now playing 24 lands, and with 3 Wayfinders and the 4 Faithless Looting, the manabase feels very smooth. I do still get up to 6 mana fairly quickly, and can get there while comboing with at least, especially if I have 2 loams in my yard and 3 lands. In that case I can do what I said before - cast Life from the Loam, play land, cycle Sheltered Thicket, dredge loam, hold up a shock, then next turn cast 2 loams. That alone is usually enough to seal the deal, as having 6 lands in hand does a lot of work to either clear a board or go upstairs.
I will say in testing more, I've found that Blood Moon is still a problem against my deck because it still forces me to fetch a basic which makes me cast Seismic Assault a turn or more later. I have been trying out Alpine Moon however, which has been good against tron and valakut.
Finally, I've been doing actually really well at my lgs with my current list, which is just 1 card different - 1 Heaven/Earth for a bolt. The biggest problem I've had is with midrange decks with bigger, value creatures that I can't just chump for a bunch of turns, i. e. Knight of the Reliquary, Scavenging Ooze, and Tireless Tracker. I'm trying to stay in RG for right now as I gain store credit to help build into a third color, so the one question I have now is can anyone think of any good answers to deal with these threats in my colors? I've come up with some stuff, like a big Conflagrate or even a big Harvest Pyre, but this might just be the biggest problem with this color combination, as it doesn't have a Fatal Push or Path to Exile effect that just straight up kills these threats. Beast Within is a card, but idk how good it is as a 2 or 3 of which is kind of what I would need.
This is a very reactive loam deck, and I've been testing some more proactive agressive versions if anyone would like to see them. I have a whole folder of loam decks on my pc from of all RGx varieties, but I don't think it would be cool to drop all 50 of them into the subforums. There's a pretty cool transform sideboard Jund Loam list, a Naya controloam deck that plays 3 Monastery Mentor, and some other spice in there that I think might be good, but I've never played them in paper.
Scavenging Ooze is the big addition here. I beat Bant Company with this card single-handedly destroying my opp's Knight of the Reliquary in game 1. I was playing Sarkhan, Fireblood instead of Tireless Tracker maindeck because of the amount of creature removal at my lgs - I thought the planeswalker would live longer in more matchups than tracker. Tracker was in my sb because of this, and was still good when I boarded him in against the fair decks. Only loss was to bogles, which I think is just a 95/5 hand for the bogles player. If they aren't mana-screwed, then I can't eek out anything.
Anyways, I think this list is pretty optimized. I could imagine there being a different more midrange, threat based version that cuts Young Pyromancer for Tarmogoyf and therefore less Flame Jab, but since I can't shill out all my dough for goyfs, I think I'm gonna run this list as I buy more and more of a manabase for Jund or Naya Loam.
reporting in from my 40 person FNM with the new list. With Scooze I honestly felt like I was ripping through everyone there. Went 4-1 over Eldrazi + Taxes, Bant Spirits, 8-Rack, and Storm, losing a close game 3 to counters company. Here's my updated list:
I should have gone 5-0 with this list, but I made a misplay in the counters company game that lost me game 3. Game 1 was easy, I used Flame Jab + Young Pyromancer to wipe his board and make a million tokens and he scooped it up. Game 2 I was on a mulligan with no real action, and my opp landed turn 2 Rest in Peace. That card doesn't necessarily immediately win against my deck, but in a hand that heavily was going to rely on loam and Faithless Looting instead of creature threats, I was slowly ground to a halt. Game 3 was much closer. I landed assault loam and stopped him from comboing, he killed my Seismic Assault, I played my second Assault and he E-WitAbrupt Decay'd it. At this point I actually had no creature threats, so we were just drawing off the top for a while. He cast a couple companies, I had enough removal in hand to kill his big threats, but didn't think I had to kill his 2 Noble Hierarch's. I drew Sweltering Suns, thinking it wouldn't kill Kitchen Finks when it would because of RIP. Long story short, I made a misplay there, but I think I made a mistake sideboarding in that matchup too which is my big question.
I am the worst sideboarder. Does anybody have any tips, specific to the loam deck or not, on how to sideboard, or any resources or articles that they like on the subject?
This looks like a pretty standard list, aside from the traverse package. There are just a couple things that really stick out to me.
4 Raging Ravine seems like a lot to me, seeing how you generally only want one. Most modern Jund decks are only playing 3 right now, and with loam we can find them easier. This instead could be a slot for more Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter or Sheltered Thicket type cards. I also usually play 25-26 lands, but with just 3 Seismic Assault and 3 Life from the Loam 24 might be right.
I also don't understand some of these creatures, especially Ishkanah. When I play Kalitas, I usually play him out of board, but with Phoenix being so prominent and dredge I can understand him maindeck. Ishkanah just seems weird to me. It's cmc is pretty high, so it may be hard to cast and I would say there are better cards to do what it does which is flood the board, but if it's just in there for the spice factor, I can respect it.
I think it's right to lean more on Push over Bolt in this meta seeing as most of phoenix's threats are 4 toughness, and I like the split between Abrupt Decay and Assassin's Trophy in the maindeck. The list looks good, and I can see how it could 5-0.
Figured I'd post some more FNM results. Played in 2 lgs events last friday and monday and went 8-1-2 in both combined with RG Loam, the two draws being intentional. Here's the list:
2-0 (4-1) vs BG Rock
1-0 (2-0) vs UR Phoenix
1-0 (2-0) vs Mono-Red Phoenix
0-1 (0-2) vs BW Eldrazi
1-0 (2-0) vs Goblins (8-Whack variant)
1-0 (2-1) vs Dredge
1-0 (2-0) vs Co-Co Elves
1-0 (2-1) vs Hardened Scales
I think this list shows how good AssLoam is right now, at least in my current meta. The deck is really consistent when you can find Seismic Assault fast, and having good creatures like Tireless Tracker and Bedlam Reveler alongside good removal to help you get there makes the archetype very appealing. I was on Jund Loam for a couple weeks, but I went back to this version because it is great vs the couple Blood Moon decks at my lgs, and is less painful in a format with hyper aggressive linear decks like burn and mono red phoenix.
Glad to see your r/g list is doing good, Bedlam Reveler seems great as a threat in this deck.
A couple questions, why did you drop lightning axe for dismember ?
Also why not run 24-25 lands, drop the satyr wayfinder and go for 4 commune with the gods to avoid milling assaults and have a higher instant/sorcery count ?
I have recently started brewing a similar list, still haven't played it enough to make any conclusions. I'm looking to try cindervines in the sideboard as anti graveyard hate to grab with commune with the gods. Also considering mainboard edge of autumn but ramping to 4 on turn 3 seems underwhelming, so not too sure about that one.
This is the deck I've been running recently. I actually have Growth spirals instead of Risk Factor right now, I'm unsure how I like it but my list is also in a bit of flux. I don't think the Hollow One variant is doing well right now.
Outside of the HO synergy, I like edge of autumn. Triple R on turn 3 can be kinda rough so it helps with that, but the "free" cycle comes in handy a lot. I think it's a case where unless you need those slots, it kinda turns our deck into a 56 card deck at best.
@CrypticCommander I'm interested in how the Young Pyro is working. I get that at the least it synergizes with Flame Jab.
Glad to see your r/g list is doing good, Bedlam Reveler seems great as a threat in this deck.
A couple questions, why did you drop lightning axe for dismember ?
Also why not run 24-25 lands, drop the satyr wayfinder and go for 4 commune with the gods to avoid milling assaults and have a higher instant/sorcery count ?
I have recently started brewing a similar list, still haven't played it enough to make any conclusions. I'm looking to try cindervines in the sideboard as anti graveyard hate to grab with commune with the gods. Also considering mainboard edge of autumn but ramping to 4 on turn 3 seems underwhelming, so not too sure about that one.
As for the Axe, I kept drawing it off the top against Jund and Death's Shadow where it was awkward, so I started sideboarding Dismember to fit my meta. It got to the point where I was bringing it in every matchup, and I figured I might as well just slot it in maindeck.
To your second question, the long answer: the land count was just a guess at first. The goal of this list is a little different than the usual archetype because it doesn't try to make Seismic Assault good on its own. This idea is a little abstract, but the basic premise is that Satyr Wayfinder, Commune with the Gods, and even Faithless Looting all dig deep into your deck to find loam. For that reason, whenever you cast your Seismic Assault, you will usually either already have loam online or you will have more ways to dig for it.
The old archetype relies heavily on Seismic Assault coming down as a kill spell, or boardwipe for that matter, on turn 3, while this one consistently sets up Assault Loam on turn 4. This works for two reasons. One, the Bolts, Dismembers, and even the Conflagrate help to stabilize the board early along with chump blockers from Peezy and Wayfinder. Second, Wayfinders and Commune don't just hit lands, they hit loams.
And the short answer: the couple lands cut open up slots for more threats, which makes the deck more resilient against graveyard hate and helps you draw better off the top.
The list was supposed to have 23 lands, I just didn't realize I was on 22 until I made this post.
@CrypticCommander I'm interested in how the Young Pyro is working. I get that at the least it synergizes with Flame Jab.
To be honest, the Young Pyromancer has been the most underwhelming card in this deck. I often just cast it turn two into a removal spell, or later in the game it will make a few tokens, but it hasn't been nearly as impactful as the rest of the threats in the deck. Mind you, it still has won me games, even without the Flame Jab synergy, usually when I have multiple out on the table. That's why I would probably cut down to three in favor of another land.
As far as the Growth SpiralEdge of Autumn stuff goes, I think the best way a loam deck can be made with these cards would be to have something on the top end to abuse them. That could be as simple as loam cycle loam with a Sheltered Thicket to deal 10 dmg per turn, or it could be something a little more spicy, say, I dunno, The Gitrog Monster?
I've been thinking of trying a Temur Pyromancer Loam list with Radical Idea. Think Twice was pretty good in this deck a couple years ago, and I think Radical Idea could be even better since it's only two mana from your yard.
I think I want to shift my 4c list to a similar idea. Blue gets you Trade Routes, which I think is pretty underrated here. It and Assault give you a scapeshift-like inevitability combo, since you can pay 1, bounce the land you just tapped, and discard it.
Also as far as edge of autumn goes, Being able to dredge Loam for now mana on a combo turn is really useful, you can deal 12 damage easily turn 4 while assault is out by going Loam->discard->cycle Edge of Autumn->dredge->Loam->discard.
I like the idea of these "redraw cards" like Edge of Autumn, Street Wraith, Manamorphose, and even Insolent Neonate in a ComboLoam deck where you are trying to win turn 4 with Flameblade Adept and Goblin Guide... Using them along with AssaultLoam to deal the last 12 damage feels great, especially against DS or Burn where they deal a lot of damage to themselves.
When you aren't killing your opponent however, I really don't like the redraws because they just take up too many slots. The deck needs to be filled with enough lands and threats to be able to support the assaultloam combo while having a backup plan. The list seems too tight for the redraws to me unless you support it with other threats like Hollow One.
The radical idea of adding Radical Idea to the deck was just the thought you could play it from your yard while triggering Peezy and Huntmaster and Bedlam Reveler and ... so as a 2 of, it would have a great effect on the late game. I think you have to really build around the redraw spells or else they just dilute the deck.
Forgot to mention: the reason why I think t4 12 damage isn't that groundbreaking is because it's not that much better in most matchups. In combo matchups, when you want to kill fast, you probably will not have dealt enough damage to get them to 12 to deal the last hits; in control, same deal, and if you land Seismic Assault you just have to grind them through enough turns to finish them off since countering loam doesn't matter; in midrange, same deal, kill their creatures over time and win the game with either AssLoam itself or your Tarmogoyf attacking through. The upside to dealing 12 damage is very small unless you are killing your opponent - it's just like LSV's statement about Heroic Reinforcements in standard.
THat’s fair, I guess my opinion’s a little skewed since I have been playing a Hollow one list.
I think there is something to running at least a playset of one of them, though, since worst case it makes your deck 56 cards, kinda turbo xerox style.
I think there is something to running at least a playset of one of them, though, since worst case it makes your deck 56 cards, kinda turbo xerox style.
The reason I have a hard time with this is more because when you are dredging through your deck and casting Faithless Looting, maybe cycling some lands, using Dark Confidant to get even deeper, you see most of your deck. That means if you dredge something like a Conflagrate or Lingering Souls it's card advantage. From what I've seen, most loam lists are tight because they start off with 34-35 slots, 8 of which is the combo, so the rest have to work to smooth out your deck, probably 8-12 threats with some removal. I think the typical Loam deck shouldn't run Street Wraith for the same reason Jund doesn't play Street Wraith, with the super high number of threats and removal, the goal of the deck is to grind, and I would rather have another threat or something that does something out of my graveyard rather than another redraw.
The reason why xerox decks play Street Wraith and Mishra's Bauble for a large part too is to cut lands. We need lands to be able to cast loam effectively or be able to use Seismic Assault the hard way so the "hyper xerox" style does not really suit the archetype. The alternative to playing a bunch of draw spells to find a few threats is playing a bunch of threats on top of your threats, which I think is better for loam.
Currently I am 15-3-3 with this deck at my highly competitive lgs. The three losses came against a prison deck, mulling to oblivion vs BW Eldrazi, and Dredge. I am 4-0 with this list against UR Phoenix and 1-0 over mono-red phoenix (even better record against mono red outside of tournament), 2-1 against Dredge, and drew unintentionally once against BG Rock. The phoenix matchup is insanely good for this deck, since the bird is a 3/2. A resolved Seismic Assault kills the birds for days, and basically just wins the matchup. The hardest piece to beat is Thing in the Ice, which gets hit by Dismember, Double Bolt / Bolt + Jab, Conflagrate, or a t3 Assault on the play. This plus the two scooze maindeck make us highly favorable preboard. Sideboard, cut a loam, add more hate, then you have a more succinct Anti-Phoenix deck where surgical on loam doesn't really matter.
Dredge is similarly good. Before Creeping Chill, I used to think AssLoam won game one every time, but now chill and Conflagrate can kill us even when we have stabilized the battlefield completely. It's more of a toss up now game one, but game two, 8 relevant pieces of graveyard hate + good wall creatures like Countryside Crusher and Young Pyromancer and Seismic Assault to kill stuff gives us the edge.
The worst matchups for this deck are barely existent right now in Bogles and Titanshift. I'm currently playing Alpine Moon in the board just for titanshift and have previously run Ratchet Bomb for Bogles in the past. This deck is so rewarding because its bad matchups are few and far between, and when I lose, I feel like I could have won if I had taken a different line. I love this deck so much, and if it's not the most powerful deck in modern right now, I feel like it could be a contender.
Good to know you still play this deck. I will give it a try on my next FNM. My meta should be favorable for your loam list. We have a lot of mono red, death shadows and humans. Thank you for your posts and I am looking forward for some tournament report!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Axe
3 Flame Jab
4 Life from the Loam
4 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Young Pyromancer
2 Burning Vengeance
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Seismic Assault
4 Countryside Crusher
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Forest
3 Ghost Quarter
5 Mountain
2 Rootbound Crag
3 Sheltered Thicket
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Abrade
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Beast Within
3 Damping Sphere
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Nature's Claim
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Worm Harvest
The list is just a straightforward RG AssLoam deck built up from scratch. You have your removal in Lightning Bolt, Lightning Axe Flame Jab, Anger of the Gods, and Seismic Assault, threats in Countryside Crusher, Young Pyromancer, Seismic Assault, and Burning Vengeance, and card filtering in Faithless Looting and Satyr Wayfinder. There are a few key differences which I will now go through however.
The first thing that jumps out of the list is the 2 copies of Burning Vengeance. I added these as a joke after trying many things in its slot, but after a few games of testing, I realized it was a very reasonable backup plan for Assault Loam. With Burning Vengeance and Flame Jab, every land turns into an Arc Trail. This plus Life from the Loam deals 9 damage per turn. It's a fast clock and clears the board even easier than Assault Loam. Note that this is not the main plan of the deck, just a backup plan. The two copies can be discarded to both Faithless Looting and Lightning Axe to get rid of the dead enchantment if need be.
The second major difference is the 3 copies of Sheltered Thicket. I think the cycle lands have been undervalued in this thread as they let you deal 10 damage per turn while Assault Loam'ing with 6 lands. That's how the games go with this deck. Assault Loam my opp's board, gradually playing lands up to 6 lands in order to deal 10 dmg per turn to kill them. With 2 copies of loam in your yard and at least 4 lands, you deal 10 damage every other turn with cycle lands which is also a better rate than the normal Assault Loam combo. It helps the deck a lot.
The last major difference is the simple manabase. I'm only playing two colors, so I'm not very vulnerable to Blood Moon. These colors also let me play a million burn spells which is very helpful in a long game. I have gone Bolt Bolt or end of turn Bolt into triple Flame Jab to kill my opp many times with this deck, and it is an easy way to steal a game from someone who is playing over aggressive.
The sideboard is the weakest part of the deck and is just kind of thrown together. I have two storm decks at my lgs, so I'm playing 3 Damping Sphere and 3 Tormod's Crypt, Abrade hits artifacts and creatures so comes in in many matchups, Ancient Grudge kills artifacts at a better rate, Beast Within hits everything and usually comes in G2 to fight graveyard hate, and the rest are kind of random cards I think would be good in different matchups. If anyone has any suggestions for the deck, that would be great since I have been refining this list for a while now and don't know where to go next with the list.
Flame Jab, Burning Vengeance, and Countryside Crusher are blasts from the past rather than new tech. All three went out of fashion a long time ago, but hey... maybe it's time they came back. Jab obviously plays well with Young Pyromancer, so maybe Burning Vengeance is just more logical as Seismic Assaults 5-6 instead of something like Molten Vortex.
I have a couple of questions for you though. Why Satyr Wayfinder over all the other great 2cmc options? When I played a red-green version of this deck years ago I played Mulch for instance. More recently people have tried Commune with the Gods. Along those lines, your deck seems like a "board control" version, so why only twenty-three lands? Seems like with Flame Jab, Seismic Assault, and especially Countryside Crusher, you might have trouble hitting six land drops and having all the lands you need to pitch. Third, you mentioned Blood Moon and not being vulnerable to it. Why not sideboard them yourself then? Perhaps over the Damping Spheres or something.
Wayfinder is also why I was playing less lands. I am now playing 24 lands, and with 3 Wayfinders and the 4 Faithless Looting, the manabase feels very smooth. I do still get up to 6 mana fairly quickly, and can get there while comboing with at least, especially if I have 2 loams in my yard and 3 lands. In that case I can do what I said before - cast Life from the Loam, play land, cycle Sheltered Thicket, dredge loam, hold up a shock, then next turn cast 2 loams. That alone is usually enough to seal the deal, as having 6 lands in hand does a lot of work to either clear a board or go upstairs.
I will say in testing more, I've found that Blood Moon is still a problem against my deck because it still forces me to fetch a basic which makes me cast Seismic Assault a turn or more later. I have been trying out Alpine Moon however, which has been good against tron and valakut.
Finally, I've been doing actually really well at my lgs with my current list, which is just 1 card different - 1 Heaven/Earth for a bolt. The biggest problem I've had is with midrange decks with bigger, value creatures that I can't just chump for a bunch of turns, i. e. Knight of the Reliquary, Scavenging Ooze, and Tireless Tracker. I'm trying to stay in RG for right now as I gain store credit to help build into a third color, so the one question I have now is can anyone think of any good answers to deal with these threats in my colors? I've come up with some stuff, like a big Conflagrate or even a big Harvest Pyre, but this might just be the biggest problem with this color combination, as it doesn't have a Fatal Push or Path to Exile effect that just straight up kills these threats. Beast Within is a card, but idk how good it is as a 2 or 3 of which is kind of what I would need.
This is a very reactive loam deck, and I've been testing some more proactive agressive versions if anyone would like to see them. I have a whole folder of loam decks on my pc from of all RGx varieties, but I don't think it would be cool to drop all 50 of them into the subforums. There's a pretty cool transform sideboard Jund Loam list, a Naya controloam deck that plays 3 Monastery Mentor, and some other spice in there that I think might be good, but I've never played them in paper.
3 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Young Pyromancer
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Countryside Crusher
Instant/Sorcery - 18
4 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Axe
2 Flame Jab
4 Life from the Loam
1 Conflagrate
1 Anger of the Gods
4 Seismic Assault
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
Lands - 24
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Forest
3 Ghost Quarter
5 Mountain
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Sheltered Thicket
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Nature's Claim
2 Alpine Moon
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Damping Sphere
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Worm Harvest
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Beast Within
Scavenging Ooze is the big addition here. I beat Bant Company with this card single-handedly destroying my opp's Knight of the Reliquary in game 1. I was playing Sarkhan, Fireblood instead of Tireless Tracker maindeck because of the amount of creature removal at my lgs - I thought the planeswalker would live longer in more matchups than tracker. Tracker was in my sb because of this, and was still good when I boarded him in against the fair decks. Only loss was to bogles, which I think is just a 95/5 hand for the bogles player. If they aren't mana-screwed, then I can't eek out anything.
Anyways, I think this list is pretty optimized. I could imagine there being a different more midrange, threat based version that cuts Young Pyromancer for Tarmogoyf and therefore less Flame Jab, but since I can't shill out all my dough for goyfs, I think I'm gonna run this list as I buy more and more of a manabase for Jund or Naya Loam.
4 Faithless Looting
2 Lightning Axe
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Flame Jab
4 Life from the Loam
4 Seismic Assault
1 Sweltering Suns
1 Heaven // Earth
Creatures: (14)
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Young Pyromancer
3 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Countryside Crusher
2 Tireless Tracker
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Forest
3 Ghost Quarter
5 Mountain
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Sheltered Thicket
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Alpine Moon
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Damping Sphere
1 Abrade
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Nature's Claim
1 Beast Within
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Lightning Axe
1 Gnaw to the Bone
I am the worst sideboarder. Does anybody have any tips, specific to the loam deck or not, on how to sideboard, or any resources or articles that they like on the subject?
Competitive Modern League 2019-01-15, (5-0)
Format: Modern
MAIN:
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Bedlam Reveler
1 Grim Flayer
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Collective Brutality
4 Faithless Looting
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Life from the Loam
2 Thoughtseize
1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Assassin's Trophy
3 Fatal Push
3 Seismic Assault
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Field of Ruin
1 Forest
1 Graven Cairns
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
SB:
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Sphere
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Jund Charm
1 Kolaghan's Command
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Raven's Crime
4 Raging Ravine seems like a lot to me, seeing how you generally only want one. Most modern Jund decks are only playing 3 right now, and with loam we can find them easier. This instead could be a slot for more Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter or Sheltered Thicket type cards. I also usually play 25-26 lands, but with just 3 Seismic Assault and 3 Life from the Loam 24 might be right.
I also don't understand some of these creatures, especially Ishkanah. When I play Kalitas, I usually play him out of board, but with Phoenix being so prominent and dredge I can understand him maindeck. Ishkanah just seems weird to me. It's cmc is pretty high, so it may be hard to cast and I would say there are better cards to do what it does which is flood the board, but if it's just in there for the spice factor, I can respect it.
I think it's right to lean more on Push over Bolt in this meta seeing as most of phoenix's threats are 4 toughness, and I like the split between Abrupt Decay and Assassin's Trophy in the maindeck. The list looks good, and I can see how it could 5-0.
growth spiral
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Countryside Crusher
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Bedlam Reveler
Spells (22)
4 Faithless Looting
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Dismember
2 Flame Jab
1 Conflagrate
4 Life from the Loam
2 Commune with the Gods
4 Seismic Assault
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Stomping Ground
2 Sheltered Thicket
3 Rootbound Crag
1 Forest
1 Raging Ravine
1 Field of Ruin
3 Ghost Quarter
5 Mountain
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Nature's Claim
1 Beast Within
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Damping Sphere
2 Alpine Moon
Match-up spread:
2-0 (4-1) vs BG Rock
1-0 (2-0) vs UR Phoenix
1-0 (2-0) vs Mono-Red Phoenix
0-1 (0-2) vs BW Eldrazi
1-0 (2-0) vs Goblins (8-Whack variant)
1-0 (2-1) vs Dredge
1-0 (2-0) vs Co-Co Elves
1-0 (2-1) vs Hardened Scales
I think this list shows how good AssLoam is right now, at least in my current meta. The deck is really consistent when you can find Seismic Assault fast, and having good creatures like Tireless Tracker and Bedlam Reveler alongside good removal to help you get there makes the archetype very appealing. I was on Jund Loam for a couple weeks, but I went back to this version because it is great vs the couple Blood Moon decks at my lgs, and is less painful in a format with hyper aggressive linear decks like burn and mono red phoenix.
Any thoughts or suggestions on this list?
Glad to see your r/g list is doing good, Bedlam Reveler seems great as a threat in this deck.
A couple questions, why did you drop lightning axe for dismember ?
Also why not run 24-25 lands, drop the satyr wayfinder and go for 4 commune with the gods to avoid milling assaults and have a higher instant/sorcery count ?
I have recently started brewing a similar list, still haven't played it enough to make any conclusions. I'm looking to try cindervines in the sideboard as anti graveyard hate to grab with commune with the gods. Also considering mainboard edge of autumn but ramping to 4 on turn 3 seems underwhelming, so not too sure about that one.
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Street Wraith
Enchantment
3 Trade Routes
4 Seismic Assault
Land
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
2 Stomping Ground
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Hollow One
Instant
3 Assassin's Trophy
2 Risk Factor
Sorcery
2 Conflagrate
3 Edge of Autumn
4 Faithless Looting
4 Life from the Loam
1 Pack Rat
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Drake Haven
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Heaven // Earth
2 Smallpox
3 Collective Brutality
Outside of the HO synergy, I like edge of autumn. Triple R on turn 3 can be kinda rough so it helps with that, but the "free" cycle comes in handy a lot. I think it's a case where unless you need those slots, it kinda turns our deck into a 56 card deck at best.
@CrypticCommander I'm interested in how the Young Pyro is working. I get that at the least it synergizes with Flame Jab.
As for the Axe, I kept drawing it off the top against Jund and Death's Shadow where it was awkward, so I started sideboarding Dismember to fit my meta. It got to the point where I was bringing it in every matchup, and I figured I might as well just slot it in maindeck.
To your second question, the long answer: the land count was just a guess at first. The goal of this list is a little different than the usual archetype because it doesn't try to make Seismic Assault good on its own. This idea is a little abstract, but the basic premise is that Satyr Wayfinder, Commune with the Gods, and even Faithless Looting all dig deep into your deck to find loam. For that reason, whenever you cast your Seismic Assault, you will usually either already have loam online or you will have more ways to dig for it.
The old archetype relies heavily on Seismic Assault coming down as a kill spell, or boardwipe for that matter, on turn 3, while this one consistently sets up Assault Loam on turn 4. This works for two reasons. One, the Bolts, Dismembers, and even the Conflagrate help to stabilize the board early along with chump blockers from Peezy and Wayfinder. Second, Wayfinders and Commune don't just hit lands, they hit loams.
And the short answer: the couple lands cut open up slots for more threats, which makes the deck more resilient against graveyard hate and helps you draw better off the top.
The list was supposed to have 23 lands, I just didn't realize I was on 22 until I made this post.
To be honest, the Young Pyromancer has been the most underwhelming card in this deck. I often just cast it turn two into a removal spell, or later in the game it will make a few tokens, but it hasn't been nearly as impactful as the rest of the threats in the deck. Mind you, it still has won me games, even without the Flame Jab synergy, usually when I have multiple out on the table. That's why I would probably cut down to three in favor of another land.
As far as the Growth Spiral Edge of Autumn stuff goes, I think the best way a loam deck can be made with these cards would be to have something on the top end to abuse them. That could be as simple as loam cycle loam with a Sheltered Thicket to deal 10 dmg per turn, or it could be something a little more spicy, say, I dunno, The Gitrog Monster?
Radical Idea would be...
2 Spells for Young Pyromancer from your hand, 1 from your graveyard
2 Spells for Huntmaster of the Fells from your hand, or the second spell with a Lightning Bolt / Thought Scour
A two mana, instant speed way to dredge loam, letting you deal 10 dmg in each turn with Loam - Idea - Loam (with Seismic Assault)
Extra spell for a Bedlam Reveler or maybe Pteramander
...
The card seems like it could be good, and I could make some minor adjustments to my current list to get there. Thoughts?
Also as far as edge of autumn goes, Being able to dredge Loam for now mana on a combo turn is really useful, you can deal 12 damage easily turn 4 while assault is out by going Loam->discard->cycle Edge of Autumn->dredge->Loam->discard.
The other situation where I like them is against graveyard hate like Surgical Extraction or even Nihil Spellbomb/Tormod's Crypt where you can get back your Loams for free.
When you aren't killing your opponent however, I really don't like the redraws because they just take up too many slots. The deck needs to be filled with enough lands and threats to be able to support the assaultloam combo while having a backup plan. The list seems too tight for the redraws to me unless you support it with other threats like Hollow One.
The radical idea of adding Radical Idea to the deck was just the thought you could play it from your yard while triggering Peezy and Huntmaster and Bedlam Reveler and ... so as a 2 of, it would have a great effect on the late game. I think you have to really build around the redraw spells or else they just dilute the deck.
I think there is something to running at least a playset of one of them, though, since worst case it makes your deck 56 cards, kinda turbo xerox style.
The reason I have a hard time with this is more because when you are dredging through your deck and casting Faithless Looting, maybe cycling some lands, using Dark Confidant to get even deeper, you see most of your deck. That means if you dredge something like a Conflagrate or Lingering Souls it's card advantage. From what I've seen, most loam lists are tight because they start off with 34-35 slots, 8 of which is the combo, so the rest have to work to smooth out your deck, probably 8-12 threats with some removal. I think the typical Loam deck shouldn't run Street Wraith for the same reason Jund doesn't play Street Wraith, with the super high number of threats and removal, the goal of the deck is to grind, and I would rather have another threat or something that does something out of my graveyard rather than another redraw.
The reason why xerox decks play Street Wraith and Mishra's Bauble for a large part too is to cut lands. We need lands to be able to cast loam effectively or be able to use Seismic Assault the hard way so the "hyper xerox" style does not really suit the archetype. The alternative to playing a bunch of draw spells to find a few threats is playing a bunch of threats on top of your threats, which I think is better for loam.
Hear me out.
My current list is very similar to the last:
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Dismember
2 Flame Jab
4 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Young Pyromancer
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Life from the Loam
2 Commune with the Gods
4 Seismic Assault
3 Countryside Crusher
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Bedlam Reveler
2 Stomping Ground
1 Forest
4 Mountain
3 Sheltered Thicket
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Copperline Gorge
3 Rootbound Crag
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Raging Ravine
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Alpine Moon
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Nature's Claim
1 Beast Within
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Tireless Tracker
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Damping Sphere
Dredge is similarly good. Before Creeping Chill, I used to think AssLoam won game one every time, but now chill and Conflagrate can kill us even when we have stabilized the battlefield completely. It's more of a toss up now game one, but game two, 8 relevant pieces of graveyard hate + good wall creatures like Countryside Crusher and Young Pyromancer and Seismic Assault to kill stuff gives us the edge.
The worst matchups for this deck are barely existent right now in Bogles and Titanshift. I'm currently playing Alpine Moon in the board just for titanshift and have previously run Ratchet Bomb for Bogles in the past. This deck is so rewarding because its bad matchups are few and far between, and when I lose, I feel like I could have won if I had taken a different line. I love this deck so much, and if it's not the most powerful deck in modern right now, I feel like it could be a contender.