I came across my old copies of Tortured Existence and realized they could be a lot of fun in pauper. After digging around, I found that no one has discussed this deck since Alara came out. I felt I would like to reopen discussion on this card/deck, despite the predominance of cards like Bojuka Bog and Relic of Progenitus in boards. I feel as though the decks I have seen could benefit more from a couple swingy madness cards, and made a couple alterations to lists I had seen;
*Note my venue goes by online legality*
*List updated 4/8/18
Some other cards I was kicking around; Gilded Light: As defense vs the often-run Bojuka Bog, I do wish it helped more vs relic though, which is why it didn't end up in the list
Songs of the Damned: Considered running a few of these to help fuel extra mana in the early-mid game after a couple dredges, but I do dislike ritual cards outside of combo decks.
Anyways; the main idea is still to use Golgari Brownscale alongside Tortured Existence to dig for cards while you stabilize your life total. Grave Scrabbler can lead to some pretty strong swings in card advantage when dumped to existence and played for madness cost. I had mixed feelings about Gorgon Recluse at BB madness cost, but I realized she can kill those pesky Cho-Manno's Blessing creatures if they try to block her and she makes for a nasty surprise off of a tortured existence activation mid-swing. Another madness inclusion is Arrogant Wurm (thanks to vintage masters), which can be surprise-dropped off of existence as well and can really push through the board and is a real pain to get rid of without exiling the yard. Spore Frog with recursion really messes with opponents, especially if you keep black open to swap it into hand from yard when they try to exile. Abundant Growth serves a couple roles in the deck, being a color fix, but also card draw which can be bounced by Kor Skyfisher and replayed if you don't want to bounce anything else to use for existence. Faeries Macabre in sideboard should give us the tools to fight other grave decks (and is arguably better than other forms of removal since it is a free activation and can be recurred).
Just wondering if anyone was playing existence decks these days and how they were running.
Yes, by far. The vessel can dig for Tortured Existence, none of the other cards you listed can. If all else fails, vessel can even fetch another vessel to dig even deeper.
Well, commune can, but auramancer can recover Vessel.
I brought this deck to my local Pauper FNM this past week, though I forgot to snag the chainer's edicts and crypt rats from my black deck for my sidebaord. I had to improvise so I snagged a couple abyssal gatekeepers from the shop and ended up throwing an augur of skulls and a mesmeric fiend from sideboard into main and just hoped I didn't have to play vs a go-wide deck.
Round 1: U/B Control (1-2)
Game 1 I crushed him and he ended up scooping out of frustration because he couldn't interact with my tortured existence loops (and his doomblades were pretty worthless). Game 2 I misplayed vs a nil spellbomb, recurring the wrong creatures in response thinking I had a brownscale in hand still. It ended up costing me the game. Game 3 I just had bad luck on opening hands. First hand was only an ash barrens, second was only a rot farm, third was 4 lands and an abundant growth (scry revealed tortured existence), it was over pretty fast. I probably would have won game 2 if I hadn't misplayed (lesson learned).
Round 2: Mono-red Burn* (2-0) [I had the bye, played vs a friend for fun while waiting]
It was a relatively easy match, as I discovered just how silly two brownscales and an existence are together, letting me gain 2 life at instant speed for one black mana as much as I want. I just pushed arrogant wurms into the field, forcing bad 1 for 2 trades on my wurm which I would just pick back up and play again. Game 2 there were relics boarded in, and I played around them (I've learned already just to assume grave hate after game 1 and play accordingly).
Round 3: Mono-green Elves (2-0)
This was the match I didn't really want without crypt rats in side. I had watched her play the deck already, so I knew it was going to be really really grindy. Game 1 I set up while she barfed elves all over the table. I Mesmeric Fiend'd a Lead the Stampede from her hand, only to watch her cast two other ones (first was 5 out of 5 creatures, second was 4 out 5). She learned when she tried to attack that she was stuck in the infamous fog frog lock. I slowly sniped her wellwishers and essence wardens with a recurring fume spitter. I kept swinging into her face with arrogant wurms, gorgon recluses, grave scrabblers and a skyfisher. She ended up at 80ish life before I killed the life gain. She had no way to interact with me, so she conceded once it looked like I was making headway. She went through her board and realized she didn't have any grave hate and simply conceded the match.
Round 4: Kuldotha Boros (2-1)
Game 1 I was able to just shut him out because of brownscale life looping. Game 2 I didn't see any brownscales and practically no digging (one vessel, no wayfinders, etc) and ended up chewing bolts and fliers till I died. Game 3 I boarded in pride mages vs Journey and relics. I actually got in a position to force an early relic with a pride mage while I had black open, preserving the brownscales. He got stuck in the life loop again, unable to burn through it all.
I learned that I need to just run 4 wurms and that the edicts are likely better off as gate keepers. I'll give it another shot next week, this time with my proper side board and with the extra wurms.
I have found that at worst, they are fuel for tortured existence or trading with 1/1's. Tortured existence basically assures that creatures that are less than ideal in hand can easily become something else. I like having a lot of them, because when I need them, I need them. I may decide to drop one for another arrogant wurm, however. I'm still kind of mulling over what to drop for the 2 extras.
I attended another pauper FNM this past week. It didn't go so well, as my draws were pretty downright awful all night.
Round 1: R/B Burn + LD (1-1-1)
So, land destruction proved to be pretty damn annoying for this deck with all the tap lands and bounce lands in the deck. Game 1 I played right into the surprise LD, and it cost me the match as he nailed every bounce land I dropped. I struggled to keep black mana on board as he burned me down with Thermo-Alchemist and Gurmag Angler. Game 2 I played around the LD and he struggled to burn me down when I got a pair of brownscales in the yard to swap with tortured existence. Game 3 he nailed my lands hard with some top deck LD (I wrecked his hand with an augur and a duress), and we ended up in a position where he couldn't burn me down because of brownscale swapping, but I couldn't advance my mana enough to generate a real board state and we went to time.
Round 2: Mono White Heroic [Instants build] (2-0)
She was completely unprepared for spore frog. She would start strong and got me to single digits, but as soon as spore frog showed up, that was it, game was over. She didn't have a good board answer for frog either, so she went into game 2 trying to race the frog, but scooped on turn 3 when I dropped one.
Round 3: Mono-Red Burn (0-2)
Now, I've won this match a few times before pretty handily with the brownscale life swap, so I wasn't TOO worried about the matchup. Game 1 I had to mull to 5 and still didn't see an existence. I popped two vessels and still saw none, and ended up getting burned out by turn 4. Game 2 I had to mull to 5 again, still no existence. I dropped an augur, but she dropped a searing blaze killing it and bolting me before I could trigger it. I popped a vessel into another vessel and still saw no existence. Was a pretty disappointing match all in all. I know I can beat the match-up, but not with all 4 existences at the bottom of the deck two games in a row.
Round 4: Mono-Green Elves (1-2)
This match should basically be a free win... but my bad luck continued. Game 1 I locked him out with Spore Frog, and he ended up conceding after a few turns when he realized he was locked and I was going to push his life down. Game 2 I saw no frog or crypt rats. I tried to keep him out with a fume spitter and an arrogant wurm, but they spun out of control early on and I got to watch a pair of 5 for 5 Lead the Stampedes (I really am beginning to hate that card, because it always seems to 4 or 5 out 5). He killed the existence only to watch me recur it with auramancer, but it was just a delay of the inevitable. Game 3 I mulled to 6, saw no tortured existence again. I started with a pair of fume spitters , a vessel and a crypt rats though and top decked a brownscale. I managed to slow him down a lot with that opener, but 2 vesels later, I still hadn't seen an existence and they had a replay of game 2, where they just flooded the board and I had no way to stall them because of bad draws.
I didn't really learn much beyond easy match-ups become really hard when I don't have existence and that land destruction is rough. I'm thinking of shuffling the deck around a bit to add some more consistency to the existence fetching if I can't get one in the opener (because that apparently can happen);
Golgari Brownscale loops into all of it. I often just swing with scrabblers anyways because they either take the hit, lose a trade or kill it and put it into my yard. Brownscales are the workhorses of the deck though, just dredging themselves back and gaining me 2 life then getting swapped for scrabblers or whatever. It's a surprisingly efficient synergy with tortured existence, as the dredge obviously just lets me find more tools.
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*Note my venue goes by online legality*
*List updated 4/8/18
2 Crypt Rats
3 Spore Frog
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Fume Spitter
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Golgari Brownscale
3 Grave Scrabbler
1 Auramancer
2 Kor Skyfisher
3 Arrogant Wurm
Sorcery
2 Commune With the Gods
4 Tortured Existence
4 Abundant Growth
4 Vessel of Nascency
Land
1 Scoured Barrens
2 Golgari Rot Farm
3 Jungle Hollow
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Plains
5 Swamp
5 Forest
4 Ash Barrens
1 Fume Spitter
2 Augur of Skulls
2 Gorgon Recluse
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Auramancer
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Duress
2 Abyssal Gatekeeper
Some other cards I was kicking around;
Gilded Light: As defense vs the often-run Bojuka Bog, I do wish it helped more vs relic though, which is why it didn't end up in the list
Songs of the Damned: Considered running a few of these to help fuel extra mana in the early-mid game after a couple dredges, but I do dislike ritual cards outside of combo decks.
Anyways; the main idea is still to use Golgari Brownscale alongside Tortured Existence to dig for cards while you stabilize your life total. Grave Scrabbler can lead to some pretty strong swings in card advantage when dumped to existence and played for madness cost. I had mixed feelings about Gorgon Recluse at BB madness cost, but I realized she can kill those pesky Cho-Manno's Blessing creatures if they try to block her and she makes for a nasty surprise off of a tortured existence activation mid-swing. Another madness inclusion is Arrogant Wurm (thanks to vintage masters), which can be surprise-dropped off of existence as well and can really push through the board and is a real pain to get rid of without exiling the yard. Spore Frog with recursion really messes with opponents, especially if you keep black open to swap it into hand from yard when they try to exile. Abundant Growth serves a couple roles in the deck, being a color fix, but also card draw which can be bounced by Kor Skyfisher and replayed if you don't want to bounce anything else to use for existence. Faeries Macabre in sideboard should give us the tools to fight other grave decks (and is arguably better than other forms of removal since it is a free activation and can be recurred).
Just wondering if anyone was playing existence decks these days and how they were running.
Yes, by far. The vessel can dig for Tortured Existence, none of the other cards you listed can. If all else fails, vessel can even fetch another vessel to dig even deeper.
Well, commune can, but auramancer can recover Vessel.
Round 1: U/B Control (1-2)
Game 1 I crushed him and he ended up scooping out of frustration because he couldn't interact with my tortured existence loops (and his doomblades were pretty worthless). Game 2 I misplayed vs a nil spellbomb, recurring the wrong creatures in response thinking I had a brownscale in hand still. It ended up costing me the game. Game 3 I just had bad luck on opening hands. First hand was only an ash barrens, second was only a rot farm, third was 4 lands and an abundant growth (scry revealed tortured existence), it was over pretty fast. I probably would have won game 2 if I hadn't misplayed (lesson learned).
Round 2: Mono-red Burn* (2-0) [I had the bye, played vs a friend for fun while waiting]
It was a relatively easy match, as I discovered just how silly two brownscales and an existence are together, letting me gain 2 life at instant speed for one black mana as much as I want. I just pushed arrogant wurms into the field, forcing bad 1 for 2 trades on my wurm which I would just pick back up and play again. Game 2 there were relics boarded in, and I played around them (I've learned already just to assume grave hate after game 1 and play accordingly).
Round 3: Mono-green Elves (2-0)
This was the match I didn't really want without crypt rats in side. I had watched her play the deck already, so I knew it was going to be really really grindy. Game 1 I set up while she barfed elves all over the table. I Mesmeric Fiend'd a Lead the Stampede from her hand, only to watch her cast two other ones (first was 5 out of 5 creatures, second was 4 out 5). She learned when she tried to attack that she was stuck in the infamous fog frog lock. I slowly sniped her wellwishers and essence wardens with a recurring fume spitter. I kept swinging into her face with arrogant wurms, gorgon recluses, grave scrabblers and a skyfisher. She ended up at 80ish life before I killed the life gain. She had no way to interact with me, so she conceded once it looked like I was making headway. She went through her board and realized she didn't have any grave hate and simply conceded the match.
Round 4: Kuldotha Boros (2-1)
Game 1 I was able to just shut him out because of brownscale life looping. Game 2 I didn't see any brownscales and practically no digging (one vessel, no wayfinders, etc) and ended up chewing bolts and fliers till I died. Game 3 I boarded in pride mages vs Journey and relics. I actually got in a position to force an early relic with a pride mage while I had black open, preserving the brownscales. He got stuck in the life loop again, unable to burn through it all.
I learned that I need to just run 4 wurms and that the edicts are likely better off as gate keepers. I'll give it another shot next week, this time with my proper side board and with the extra wurms.
Round 1: R/B Burn + LD (1-1-1)
So, land destruction proved to be pretty damn annoying for this deck with all the tap lands and bounce lands in the deck. Game 1 I played right into the surprise LD, and it cost me the match as he nailed every bounce land I dropped. I struggled to keep black mana on board as he burned me down with Thermo-Alchemist and Gurmag Angler. Game 2 I played around the LD and he struggled to burn me down when I got a pair of brownscales in the yard to swap with tortured existence. Game 3 he nailed my lands hard with some top deck LD (I wrecked his hand with an augur and a duress), and we ended up in a position where he couldn't burn me down because of brownscale swapping, but I couldn't advance my mana enough to generate a real board state and we went to time.
Round 2: Mono White Heroic [Instants build] (2-0)
She was completely unprepared for spore frog. She would start strong and got me to single digits, but as soon as spore frog showed up, that was it, game was over. She didn't have a good board answer for frog either, so she went into game 2 trying to race the frog, but scooped on turn 3 when I dropped one.
Round 3: Mono-Red Burn (0-2)
Now, I've won this match a few times before pretty handily with the brownscale life swap, so I wasn't TOO worried about the matchup. Game 1 I had to mull to 5 and still didn't see an existence. I popped two vessels and still saw none, and ended up getting burned out by turn 4. Game 2 I had to mull to 5 again, still no existence. I dropped an augur, but she dropped a searing blaze killing it and bolting me before I could trigger it. I popped a vessel into another vessel and still saw no existence. Was a pretty disappointing match all in all. I know I can beat the match-up, but not with all 4 existences at the bottom of the deck two games in a row.
Round 4: Mono-Green Elves (1-2)
This match should basically be a free win... but my bad luck continued. Game 1 I locked him out with Spore Frog, and he ended up conceding after a few turns when he realized he was locked and I was going to push his life down. Game 2 I saw no frog or crypt rats. I tried to keep him out with a fume spitter and an arrogant wurm, but they spun out of control early on and I got to watch a pair of 5 for 5 Lead the Stampedes (I really am beginning to hate that card, because it always seems to 4 or 5 out 5). He killed the existence only to watch me recur it with auramancer, but it was just a delay of the inevitable. Game 3 I mulled to 6, saw no tortured existence again. I started with a pair of fume spitters , a vessel and a crypt rats though and top decked a brownscale. I managed to slow him down a lot with that opener, but 2 vesels later, I still hadn't seen an existence and they had a replay of game 2, where they just flooded the board and I had no way to stall them because of bad draws.
I didn't really learn much beyond easy match-ups become really hard when I don't have existence and that land destruction is rough. I'm thinking of shuffling the deck around a bit to add some more consistency to the existence fetching if I can't get one in the opener (because that apparently can happen);
-1 Arrogant Wurm
-1 Spore Frog
+2 Commune with the Gods
If land destruction continues to be a problem, I may adjust my sideboard to include Sakura-Tribe Elders or something.