Hey everybody, I just added a weaknesses section and I'm looking for a lil' bit of feedback on what i've already put, and maybe some things I may have overlooked.
Card that I see (because I use it) most is hellhole flailer. A 4/3 for 3 mana that can fling himself. He gaurentees that I have a turn3 and a turn4 play in my AIRakdos deck I play for fun at FNM.
And I play madcap skills. So potentially a 7 damage fling.
I totally agree with this right here! A friend of mine runs a playset of those in a Rakdos deck of his. With one of those coming in unleashed, followed by Desecration Demon I'm in trouble. Not including the smaller weenies played on T1 and T2. It's a mean card.
In my experience I've found Drogskol Reaver to be a bit satisfying. He is a 1-of in my Esper control deck that I have been drafting up and I gotta say, the moment he hit play he was more useful to me than aetherling. Aetherling is hard to kill, and more suited for enemies with chump blockers, but Drogskol Reaver not only prevents them from attacking profitably, but he can be a nice aggressor as a 3/5 Flier that hits for 6, and lifelink.
I understand how Drogskol Reaver's ability works, It triggers each instance of lifegain. (or everytime you gain life)
But how does something like Riot Control count towards his ability, is it one instance or multiple? I'm assuming that it is still considered one instance of lifegain (like Angel's Mercy or Hero's Reunion) but i'm not too sure.
Good call on the Obelisk of Grixis. I haven't really gotten to try out Chromatic lantern (just because i don't really have one) but I know it works well for my playmates.
At the moment, you have so many goodstuff cards that work well for this deck it's hard to find things that obviously don't fit. Now it's a matter of cutting cards that you basically have multiples of.
At this point you need to cut those types of cards in favor of ones that fit your meta.
EDIT: I realized Diergraf Capn' says "target opponent"
Right now your zombie captains are decent. Diregraf Captain has Vengeful Dead's "when a zombie dies" ability, with the generic lord effect, but he is a bit more restrictive. I feel like Vengeful Dead might be more useful just for the global life loss.
I'm not too sure about Door of Destinies it seems like it could easily be a pump spell powerhouse, and really competes with Death Baron for a spot in the deck. Both of these guys are relatively powerful lord effects.
I'd also cut Undead Warchief You have enough things that reduce the costs of spells that it's not that big of a deal to loose some of it.
Honestly I'd cut the deathbringer and Nantuko Husk, or maybe Pyrexian Goul.
The Carrion Feeder does exactly what your Husk and the Goul are doing, but he is a bit more reliable. His boost is permanent, while the other two are temporary. If your token generation gets disrupted then you have nothing left but a 1/1 or a 2/2 creature. At least with the Carrion Feeder his bonus will stick around post-Disruption. Plus he works better with Elemental Mastery.
How has Living Death worked out for you? If you're using a lot of tokens I feel like it can be a bit of a flop, but I don't know cause I haven't really played it. If you're using it for boardwipe recovery, I think Zombie Apocalypse does a better job, just because it's much more one-sided.
I do like the notion of Mimic Vat and repeatable Fleshbag Maurader.
I had looked at adding in Aggravated Assault a while back as it does make for a nice combo, but have hadn't the room. Now that I've been toying around with ideas it might be worth looking at.
The Mimic vat thing makes me feel evil. I love it :3
Killing Wave has been a little hit or miss at times, but has more often served me well. It's definitely a card I tend to hold onto if I draw it early as it really shines much later in the game when life totals are lower. I actually replaced Syphon Felsh with it because of how inconsistent it had been for me. Yeah it's great for 4+ player games, but otherwise it's over costed. Killing wave tends to be bigger hitting later in close games where I can use one of several methods to reanimate destroyed creatures that way.
Most of my games are fairly small (3 players tops) so i know what you mean about syphon flesh. For me, it's a meta choice, so if you like Killing wave, Rock it!
Vile Rebirth I was looking at as a way of having some graveyard hate vs other reanimator decks. I can see how it can be lack luster. Dropped
If you like that kind of single target graveyard utility, you could always use Relic of Progenitus. It has that single target re usability, plus it can flush a whole yard, AND net you a card.
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder Has actually been fairly successful. With enough methods of self sacrificing or Skullclamp, I rarely loose him to his Thrull trigger. He combo's really well with several other cards in the deck. The only downside I've tended to have with him is actually not making enough Thrulls as it can be reliant of casting, though adding Mortus Strider could make him much better.
Mortus strider is nice for that kinda thing. My decks can't really afford skullclamp, which is why that didn't occur to me, that's actually awesome. If you're having trouble generating enough Thrull tokens you could always spam Sheirking Drake by targeting itself with the triggered ability. A friend of mine loves casting that a bunch of times to pump Animar, Soul of Elements. You could return it to your hand each time, and gaurantee that you can make tokens when you need them.
Bitterblossom Yeah the only 1 token for 1 life can be a pain in the ass, but having a consistent sac for Contamination and such can be a big boon. If anything I'll test it with Goblin Assault. Only 1 more expensive and only costs 1$.
After I made my reply to this thread, I noticed contamination and realized how helpful that would be for locking up the board. That's actually pretty evil. :3
Liliana's Reaver, while having Deathtouch, is mostly there for tokens. But like the Swords, relys on dealing damage to the player, which usually never happens. Dropped.
debating on doing the same with the 2 Swords.
That's the only thing about swords really. They love some sort of evasion. If you draw the swords often enough you could add in a Fabricate to quickly dig for Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots to help power through those swords. I wish I could afford swords, at least Feast and Famine. It's probably my favorite out of the bunch.
Also, Have you thought about using clones at all? Evil Twin maybe? That's really a preference call. I love him for the flavor.
After reading through your reply. I'm getting a much better feel for the deck. Make tokens, sac them, control the board. I really like the flavor of the deck, and your take on it. It makes thrax work in a way that I wouldn't have thought of trying.
Ok, maybe I am unsure what your trying to say but you say divination isnt that good (3 mana for 2 cards, understandable) but you keep showing cards that cost 5-6 mana.
This is sort of an open debate for commander. Some people perfer large impact draw spells, others prefer small ones like divination, think twice, and such. I prefer a mix of both. So if you like that kind of card draw, and it works in your playgroup/meta go with it. Every edh deck I have runs divination and it works just fine in my book.
Also since you're playing thrax you should totally use and abuse this: Fleshbag Maurader and Slum Reaper + Mimic Vat. It's totally a good sacrifice lock. *cue diabolic laugh*
Everytime you trigger mimic vat sac the token that it creates. Everytime it's your turn you can Diabolic Edict the whole table, AND pump thrax.
If you're pro-budget. Rapacious one is a nice beater/thrax enabler if you give him some evasion.
It looks decent, but there are some things that stand out to me. Sonik has a great primer he updates regularly, I'm too lazy to link it right now.
First, some cards that aren't so great: Gomazoa Too slow, and too easy to play around. Mwonvuli beast tracker This card looks much better than it actually is. It only has 2 targets in your deck right now. Hunted phantasm Not worth the drawback. I wouldn't play it even without the drawback. Clone Not a bad card, but there are far superior options available. Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius I've found he's just too slow to be worth the effect. Zhur-taa ancient Your opponents all get the effect before you, so it's far worse than, say, boundless realms. Moonveil Dragon Hellkite tyrant Giant adephage magmatic force utvara hellkite All are big beaters with semi-useful effects. All are slow, underwhelming, and easily removed. Farseek Really Underwhelming. Not worth the card, especially without shocks or duals. Red sun's zenith A glorified blaze. Blaze isn't good, and neither is this. Ground Assault Weak removal. Cut it. Time of Need What are you searching for? Signal the clans Even if you copy it, you only get what you want 55.5% of the time. It doesn't even enable recursion or reanimation. This is not the tutor you're looking for. Divination You could do worse, but not much worse. Fervor Not worth a card. Encrust Pretty awful removal. Replace Asap.
I had time of need specifically to grab The Falling star, I know it's not a great tutor, but it fits my budget and lets me tutor up that combo if needed. Copy falling star, 10 damage around the board. It's silly, but I'm not trying to outright win. My last deck did that with ease, and kind of ruined the fun for everyone (Thraximundar control, if your were wondering.)
I like Strionic resonator, but does this work with riku's ability? Like if i pay the copy cost, will the extra two allow me to copy riku's doubling ability?
Terastadon is very nice. I don't know why I missed him.
I'm going to have to stick with Clone for now until I can get a hold of a mimic. That's on the wishlist.
Some things that I do disagree with:
Gomazoa: Oddly enough, copying this with riku is probably one of my useful control plays. It lets me tuck anything that is attacking me, and has served me very well. The only thing that could play around it was a Whispersilk cloak - hence the artifact removal.
Signal the clans: I love this for tutoring up my bounce creatures. For that, it has been useful. Which is why i have exactly three bounce guys. Plus it's budget friendly.
Utvara Hellkite: This guy is basically a flavor pipe dream, I have had a copy of him sitting around for awhile and nowhere to put him. I'm bound and determined to copy him with riku, and make buttloads of dragons.
Giant Adaphage: This is another one of those odd plays that I have seen a bunch of times during playtesting. He is huge, and when I copy him he beats face, and rather quickly. Hasn't once let me down.
Farseek: Shocks and duals are part of my playgroup's preset land-base that we all proxy. So this works great for me.
Charmbreaker Devils: I don't think i'm running enough instants/sorceries for this to merit a play, unless he is there solely for recursion of ramp spells.
What might you recommend in place of Red Sun's Zenith? I really don't have a lot of interaction going on with my opponent; so i need something in place of this.
What exactly is your deck trying to do? I see some discard, edicts, tutors, grapeshot (for storm combo maybe.) Mine likes to edict the field clear, and hide behind Propaganda, then play thrax and force them to sac their few remaining creatures.
I can give you some more input if you can give me a basic battleplan. Are you sticking to zombie tribal? What are some of your go-to win-cons that you search for with your tutors?
Fantastic combos to consider:
Mimic Vat + Fleshbag Maurader: You sac the token each time mimic vat makes one. It becomes a 3 sacrifice engine that clears the board very quickly. Reliably pumps thrax without you needing to generate other sacrifice outlets. Also triggers Grave Pact nicely along with Black Market.
Sword of Feast and Famine + Aggrevated Assault: Infinite combat phases. It lets you use and abuse thrax's "when attacks" clause, and can instantly win you a game if they don't have creatures in play.
____
Edit: Some things I would drop
1. Killing wave: sounds really nice on paper. I tried it in my deck and i discovered that in the long run the threats you need gone are still sticking around. Drop that and add a Syphon Flesh. Killing wave is only really useful when you use high mana payment, say 5+ and syphon flesh is right in that range, and nets you zombies.
2. Vile rebirth: It's a bit low impact for commander. Also tested this in my deck. You're better off just running a better card draw.
3. Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder: his effect is nice, and nets you tokens, but he is very restrictive. If he made zombies, I'd like him much better.
4. Unscythe Killer of Kings: I'm not too sure how well this has worked for you, but in my game the high cost doesn't really equal the benefit. Everytime this hits play it only adds a small buff. Never once have i gotten the zombie trigger. With all of the edicts you find in a thrax deck, something like this is just too slow.
5. Eldrazi Conscription: Super high cost. I'm guessing you have this to enable thrax a bit more? If you want something with Anhiliator go with Artisan of Kozilek. Roughly the same mana cost, and he's a cheap card too. Plus he nets you a creature when you cast him.
6. Bitterblossom: doesn't really mesh with the deck at all. It nets you 1/1s, but costs you life each turn. It could be deadly to you in long games.
7. Spawnshire of Ulmog: clearly a powerful creature, but why is he here? Outside of his bonkers 20 ability he isn't much use to your deck. If you have it for the 4 ability, there are better sac-engines.
8. Elemental Mastery: If you're making tokens to sac them, why not use the mimic vat +fleshbag combo i mentioned earlier?
9. Guttless Goul: Very low impact. Thrax loves to interact with your opponents via sacrifice. This doesn't let you do that.
10. Nantuko Husk: Same idea as guttless goul. If you're going to sac things, interact with your opponents. It makes your deck much more versatile.
11. Carrion Feeder: See the above posts
12. Gravecrawler: I'm guessing this is to ensure you will always have a zombie? Nice call. I'd stick with mortus strider for a creature that will almost always be around though. He's less susceptible to grave-hate. Which will be aimed right at you for playing zombies.
13. Tendrils of Agony: Nice card. I like Exsanguinate better though. Your Jet Medallion will give you a free 1 if you run that card instead.
14. Innocent blood: Edicts are nice, but this could be a dead draw if you have lots of valuable creatures. Slum reaper is a nicer choice (he ensures that you won't loose a fatty if you only have valuable creatures, also works with Mimic Vat
I'm currently using him in my riku build and when he is on the table everyone gets a nice hug, but eventually learns to hate it.
I feel like this could easily be a "I'm covered with poison ivy" group hug approach.
It seems like it can be a bit mean sometimes. Especially with that Deadeye navitgator + Tempting Wurm strategy. I could totally see a Tempting wurm flickering a few times off of the navigator to coax your opponents into a serious board wipe.
Hello everybody! I need some help with a Riku creature based deck.
My general strategy is to play lots of ramp/bounce to keep myself afloat in the early game. For mid to late game I'm running some high cost creatures that are powerful on their own, so when I double them I'm getting MAX value out of them.
Just some general things you should know:
First we have the budget, I'm trying to keep most of the cards UNDER 4.00, with fauna shaman and Riku being the exception.
My playgroup uses a mostly default land count/base. We use proxies, so i'm not really looking to change anything other than the utility lands I have listed. I tested the current mana-base, and it works.
The cards marked with (*) are cards that I currently own, and would be hard to consider cutting. Although, you may convince me otherwise.
Needs some single target graveyard hate, and versatile artifact removal outside of Ingot Chewer. This deck loathes whispersilk cloak.
I have had a lot of really nice played with a Well timed Unhallowed Pact + any form of spot "destroy" spells, or even edicts in my Thraximundar build.
I don't know if you'd call that a Jem, but i find it VERY useful just about everytime it's been played. They play a big fatty that outclasses Thrax, I place a pact, and swing with thrax. Bam, 2B mind control.
Hey guys! So i'm looking into making this deck and actually buying the paper cards (I will test with proxies though) so my budget is really low. No more that 45$ -ish. I haven't priced out EDH decks so i don't even know if that's even realistic.
The current list that I have come up with is roughly 33$ before lands (Priced at ChannelFireball.com), minus a few spells here or there.
I'm trying to focus on hand hate via-discard (See all of my Specters) along with some ninja shenanigans with my unblockables/Kederkt Creeper. I'll be utilizing some recursion to pluck fatties from their yards, after they discard them, or even luck tiny helpful guys.
I'll take any budget suggestions to make the deck utilize discard a bit better. Before anything is said, I like my soft lock spells (Encrust, Paralyzing Grasp) because my playmates use Animar and Kaalia, which soft locks like very much.
I can't afford an expensive mana-base, so anything over 2.00 I can't really do, Unless it's like a one or two time thing.
Thanks for the read guys. If you don't have anything to say really, thanks for checking out my thread, and have a nice day
The spine seems very handy, and it's pretty budget too! The only thing that messes me up is the cost, any idea how to lessen the burden? Hmm..
Thanks!
~Bionut.
I totally agree with this right here! A friend of mine runs a playset of those in a Rakdos deck of his. With one of those coming in unleashed, followed by Desecration Demon I'm in trouble. Not including the smaller weenies played on T1 and T2. It's a mean card.
In my experience I've found Drogskol Reaver to be a bit satisfying. He is a 1-of in my Esper control deck that I have been drafting up and I gotta say, the moment he hit play he was more useful to me than aetherling. Aetherling is hard to kill, and more suited for enemies with chump blockers, but Drogskol Reaver not only prevents them from attacking profitably, but he can be a nice aggressor as a 3/5 Flier that hits for 6, and lifelink.
That's what I figured, thank you.
But how does something like Riot Control count towards his ability, is it one instance or multiple? I'm assuming that it is still considered one instance of lifegain (like Angel's Mercy or Hero's Reunion) but i'm not too sure.
At the moment, you have so many goodstuff cards that work well for this deck it's hard to find things that obviously don't fit. Now it's a matter of cutting cards that you basically have multiples of.
At this point you need to cut those types of cards in favor of ones that fit your meta.
Some examples:
Butcher of Malakir, Grave Pact, and Kuon, Ogre Ascendant.
Zombie Lord Effects:
Death Baron
Diregraf Captain
Undead Warcheif
Vengeful Dead
Door of Destinies
EDIT: I realized Diergraf Capn' says "target opponent"
Right now your zombie captains are decent. Diregraf Captain has Vengeful Dead's "when a zombie dies" ability, with the generic lord effect, but he is a bit more restrictive. I feel like Vengeful Dead might be more useful just for the global life loss.
I'm not too sure about Door of Destinies it seems like it could easily be a pump spell powerhouse, and really competes with Death Baron for a spot in the deck. Both of these guys are relatively powerful lord effects.
I'd also cut Undead Warchief You have enough things that reduce the costs of spells that it's not that big of a deal to loose some of it.
Edit: Speaking of Cheapening Effects:
Urza's Incubator
Jet Medallion
Undead Warcheif
I think you have a bit too much of this. You should probably only have 2 tops. You could easily drop the Warcheif and be good.
"Sacrifice a Creature to help me out" Creatures:
Carrion Feeder
Deathbringer Throcar
Guttless Goul
Nantuko Husk
Pyrexian Goul
Honestly I'd cut the deathbringer and Nantuko Husk, or maybe Pyrexian Goul.
The Carrion Feeder does exactly what your Husk and the Goul are doing, but he is a bit more reliable. His boost is permanent, while the other two are temporary. If your token generation gets disrupted then you have nothing left but a 1/1 or a 2/2 creature. At least with the Carrion Feeder his bonus will stick around post-Disruption. Plus he works better with Elemental Mastery.
Also, maybe drop Zombie trailblazer. Whispersilk cloak does what he does, but better.
How has Living Death worked out for you? If you're using a lot of tokens I feel like it can be a bit of a flop, but I don't know cause I haven't really played it. If you're using it for boardwipe recovery, I think Zombie Apocalypse does a better job, just because it's much more one-sided.
The Mimic vat thing makes me feel evil. I love it :3
Most of my games are fairly small (3 players tops) so i know what you mean about syphon flesh. For me, it's a meta choice, so if you like Killing wave, Rock it!
If you like that kind of single target graveyard utility, you could always use Relic of Progenitus. It has that single target re usability, plus it can flush a whole yard, AND net you a card.
Mortus strider is nice for that kinda thing. My decks can't really afford skullclamp, which is why that didn't occur to me, that's actually awesome. If you're having trouble generating enough Thrull tokens you could always spam Sheirking Drake by targeting itself with the triggered ability. A friend of mine loves casting that a bunch of times to pump Animar, Soul of Elements. You could return it to your hand each time, and gaurantee that you can make tokens when you need them.
After I made my reply to this thread, I noticed contamination and realized how helpful that would be for locking up the board. That's actually pretty evil. :3
How did i miss this?! D: Now I see what you are doing. Clever combo, I love it!
Personally, I don't like sac'ing my own things, but your deck generates so many tokens it's worthwhile. It's a preference call i guess. lol
I missed rooftop storm earlier. Lots of zombies for 0 is just begging for some storm cards. Good call.
That's the only thing about swords really. They love some sort of evasion. If you draw the swords often enough you could add in a Fabricate to quickly dig for Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots to help power through those swords. I wish I could afford swords, at least Feast and Famine. It's probably my favorite out of the bunch.
Also, Have you thought about using clones at all? Evil Twin maybe? That's really a preference call. I love him for the flavor.
After reading through your reply. I'm getting a much better feel for the deck. Make tokens, sac them, control the board. I really like the flavor of the deck, and your take on it. It makes thrax work in a way that I wouldn't have thought of trying.
What is your card count at now?
This is sort of an open debate for commander. Some people perfer large impact draw spells, others prefer small ones like divination, think twice, and such. I prefer a mix of both. So if you like that kind of card draw, and it works in your playgroup/meta go with it. Every edh deck I have runs divination and it works just fine in my book.
Also since you're playing thrax you should totally use and abuse this:
Fleshbag Maurader and Slum Reaper + Mimic Vat. It's totally a good sacrifice lock. *cue diabolic laugh*
Everytime you trigger mimic vat sac the token that it creates. Everytime it's your turn you can Diabolic Edict the whole table, AND pump thrax.
If you're pro-budget. Rapacious one is a nice beater/thrax enabler if you give him some evasion.
I'm really liking Boundless Realms in place of Zhur-Taa ancient. Definitely a good swap.
I had time of need specifically to grab The Falling star, I know it's not a great tutor, but it fits my budget and lets me tutor up that combo if needed. Copy falling star, 10 damage around the board. It's silly, but I'm not trying to outright win. My last deck did that with ease, and kind of ruined the fun for everyone (Thraximundar control, if your were wondering.)
I like Strionic resonator, but does this work with riku's ability? Like if i pay the copy cost, will the extra two allow me to copy riku's doubling ability?
Terastadon is very nice. I don't know why I missed him.
Rite of Replication - IN. I only wish evil twin was in this color palette.
I'm going to have to stick with Clone for now until I can get a hold of a mimic. That's on the wishlist.
Some things that I do disagree with:
Outside of that I'll cut:
Zhur-Taa Ancient -for- Boundless Realms
Hellkite tyrant -for- Dilluvian Primordial
Moonveil dragon -for- Progenitor Mimic
Fervor -for- Anger. I love global haste.
Adding:
Ancient Grudge (For what I'm not sure yet.)
What might you recommend in place of Red Sun's Zenith? I really don't have a lot of interaction going on with my opponent; so i need something in place of this.
I can give you some more input if you can give me a basic battleplan. Are you sticking to zombie tribal? What are some of your go-to win-cons that you search for with your tutors?
Fantastic combos to consider:
Mimic Vat + Fleshbag Maurader: You sac the token each time mimic vat makes one. It becomes a 3 sacrifice engine that clears the board very quickly. Reliably pumps thrax without you needing to generate other sacrifice outlets. Also triggers Grave Pact nicely along with Black Market.
Sword of Feast and Famine + Aggrevated Assault: Infinite combat phases. It lets you use and abuse thrax's "when attacks" clause, and can instantly win you a game if they don't have creatures in play.
____
Edit: Some things I would drop
1. Killing wave: sounds really nice on paper. I tried it in my deck and i discovered that in the long run the threats you need gone are still sticking around. Drop that and add a Syphon Flesh. Killing wave is only really useful when you use high mana payment, say 5+ and syphon flesh is right in that range, and nets you zombies.
2. Vile rebirth: It's a bit low impact for commander. Also tested this in my deck. You're better off just running a better card draw.
3. Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder: his effect is nice, and nets you tokens, but he is very restrictive. If he made zombies, I'd like him much better.
4. Unscythe Killer of Kings: I'm not too sure how well this has worked for you, but in my game the high cost doesn't really equal the benefit. Everytime this hits play it only adds a small buff. Never once have i gotten the zombie trigger. With all of the edicts you find in a thrax deck, something like this is just too slow.
5. Eldrazi Conscription: Super high cost. I'm guessing you have this to enable thrax a bit more? If you want something with Anhiliator go with Artisan of Kozilek. Roughly the same mana cost, and he's a cheap card too. Plus he nets you a creature when you cast him.
6. Bitterblossom: doesn't really mesh with the deck at all. It nets you 1/1s, but costs you life each turn. It could be deadly to you in long games.
7. Spawnshire of Ulmog: clearly a powerful creature, but why is he here? Outside of his bonkers 20 ability he isn't much use to your deck. If you have it for the 4 ability, there are better sac-engines.
8. Elemental Mastery: If you're making tokens to sac them, why not use the mimic vat +fleshbag combo i mentioned earlier?
9. Guttless Goul: Very low impact. Thrax loves to interact with your opponents via sacrifice. This doesn't let you do that.
10. Nantuko Husk: Same idea as guttless goul. If you're going to sac things, interact with your opponents. It makes your deck much more versatile.
11. Carrion Feeder: See the above posts
12. Gravecrawler: I'm guessing this is to ensure you will always have a zombie? Nice call. I'd stick with mortus strider for a creature that will almost always be around though. He's less susceptible to grave-hate. Which will be aimed right at you for playing zombies.
13. Tendrils of Agony: Nice card. I like Exsanguinate better though. Your Jet Medallion will give you a free 1 if you run that card instead.
14. Innocent blood: Edicts are nice, but this could be a dead draw if you have lots of valuable creatures. Slum reaper is a nicer choice (he ensures that you won't loose a fatty if you only have valuable creatures, also works with Mimic Vat
I'm currently using him in my riku build and when he is on the table everyone gets a nice hug, but eventually learns to hate it.
I feel like this could easily be a "I'm covered with poison ivy" group hug approach.
It seems like it can be a bit mean sometimes. Especially with that Deadeye navitgator + Tempting Wurm strategy. I could totally see a Tempting wurm flickering a few times off of the navigator to coax your opponents into a serious board wipe.
My general strategy is to play lots of ramp/bounce to keep myself afloat in the early game. For mid to late game I'm running some high cost creatures that are powerful on their own, so when I double them I'm getting MAX value out of them.
Just some general things you should know:
5 Riku of Two reflections
Creatures:
Ramp: 4
3 Borderland Ranger
3 Vavimaya Elder
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Somberwald Sage
Bounce Creatures: 3
3 Gomazoa
3 Man-O-War
6 Aethersnipe (*)
Tutor: 3
2 Fauna Shaman (Non-Budget #1)
3 Fierce Empath
3 Monvouli Beast Tracker
Utility: 13
1 Ingot Chewer
2 Coiling Oracle
3 Mulldrifter
3 Hunted Phantasm
4 Elgaud Shieldmate (*)
4 Aetherplasm
4 Mystic Snake
4 Clone (*)
4 Flametongue Kavu
5 Niv Mizzet, Dracogenius
5 Zhur-Taa Ancient
5 Acidic Slime (*)
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Inferno Titan
6 Ryusei, the Falling Star
6 Hellkite Tyrant (Need replacement)
6 Moonveil Dragon (*, but is willing to replace)
7 Sylvan Primordial
7 Giant Adaphage
8 Magmatic Force
8 Utvara Hellkite (*)
Instants/Sorceries:
Ramp: 4
2 Farseek (*)
3 Kodama's Reach
3 Cultivate
3 Explosive Vegetation
Removal: 7
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Pognify
2 Ground Assault (*)
3 Beast Within
5 Evacuation
9 Blasphemous Act
Tutor: 5
2 Time of Need
2 Long Term Plans
2 Signal the Clans
3 Fabricate
5 Primal Command
1 Preordain
2 Manamorphose
4 Fact or Fiction
3 Divination (*)
Counters: 1
4 Plasm Capture
Utility: 1
4 Leyline of Anticipation
Enchantments: 3
2 Cream of the Crop
3 Fervor
3 Encrust
Artifacts: 4
2 Swiftfoot Boots (*)
3 Mimic Vat
3 Proteus Staff
5 Conjurer's Closet
Land: 39
1 Untaidake, the Cloudkeeper (Riku Ramp)
1 Tolaria West
1 Kessig Wolf Run (might Cut)
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Riptide Labratory
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Reliquary Tower
30 Playgroup Established Land Base
I don't know if you'd call that a Jem, but i find it VERY useful just about everytime it's been played. They play a big fatty that outclasses Thrax, I place a pact, and swing with thrax. Bam, 2B mind control.
The current list that I have come up with is roughly 33$ before lands (Priced at ChannelFireball.com), minus a few spells here or there.
Change Log:
6 Crosis, the Purger
Creatures:
2 Dimir Infiltrator
3 Liliana's Specter
3 Sedraxis Specter
3 Nightveil Specter
3 Needle Spceter
3 Dimir Cutpurse
3 Kederkt Creeper
3 Invisible Stalker
3 Mistblade Shinobi
4 Blizzard Specter
4 Evil Twin
4 Slum Reaper
5 Higure, the Still Wind
5 Throat Slitter
5 Havengul Lich
6 Silent Specter
6 Xathrid Gorgon
6 Moonveil Dragon
6 Mindwrack Leige
7 Blood Tyrant
7 Sepulchral Primordial
8 Prince of Thralls
8 Nicol Bolas
X2 Black Sun's Zenith
X1 Red Sun's Zenith
2 Terminate
2 Essence Scatter
3 Crosis's Charm
3 Grixis Charm
3 Capsize
3 Encrust (my playmates use animar and Kaalia. I need soft-locks)
3 Paralysing Grasp (Ditto)
3 Dissapate
5 Counterlash
5 Spin into Myth
5 Slave of Bolas
Evil Control:
6 Cruel Ultimatum
Draw Spells:
3 Rhystic Study
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Syphon Mind
5 Promise of Power
Grave-Recursion:
1 Animate Dead
1 Rise from the Grave
1 Dread Return
1 Glasses of Urza (for crosis shenanigans)
2 Trailblazer's Boots (Specters, Duh)
2 Swiftfoot Boots
3 Whispersilk Cloak
3 Mimic Vat
4 Geth's Grimoire
Mana-Rocks:
3 Obelisk of Grixis
3 Manalith
3 Darksteel Ingot (a playmate burns artifacts for funsies)
I'm trying to focus on hand hate via-discard (See all of my Specters) along with some ninja shenanigans with my unblockables/Kederkt Creeper. I'll be utilizing some recursion to pluck fatties from their yards, after they discard them, or even luck tiny helpful guys.
I'll take any budget suggestions to make the deck utilize discard a bit better. Before anything is said, I like my soft lock spells (Encrust, Paralyzing Grasp) because my playmates use Animar and Kaalia, which soft locks like very much.
I can't afford an expensive mana-base, so anything over 2.00 I can't really do, Unless it's like a one or two time thing.
Thanks for the read guys. If you don't have anything to say really, thanks for checking out my thread, and have a nice day