MTG Salvation

Alright so I've been building toward this list on Arena, I almost have it complete now but it seriously takes A LOT of wildcards. I'm still finishing up the mana base but I only have like 3-4 more lands to get and 3-4 more creatures. Credit to UncageTheRage for posting it up. I am just building the list as they posted it, aside from swapping Vraskas from Vraska, Relic Seeker to Vraska, Golgari Queen, however I think it could benefit from a few changes such as Find // Finality, and maybe some Journey to Eternity or something like that. Here's the list.





My other concern with this list is that there is a lot of blue mana in the main and blue only comes out of the board. I feel like unless I'm bringing in the entire board, there's no way I'm going to need that many blue sources. I'm not fantastic with mana bases so I don't know, maybe it's fine? What do you all think of this list? I see from the previous discussion, perhaps Narcomoeba just isn't enough value to warrant a slot. I think with the Demon of Catastrophes and Vraska, Golgari Queen in the deck though, it could be fine as just sacrifice fodder.

Not sure how I feel about the Black splash. Basically splashing for Anguished Unmaking which, while more versatile, seems like is just worst for the deck than Declaration in Stone. I guess if you only had the one for your deck then I can see you making it work but this deck really only cares about bodies getting in the way so I'm not sure the extra versatility on Anguished is worth it. Interesting sub theme with the warriors though.

Can we talk some sideboard strats though? I'm currently playing Bradley Robinson's Mono-W list from GP Toronto Top 8 >>> http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gptor16/top-8-decklists-2016-05-01

I've noticed this deck has a REALLY tough matchup against Season's Past control. They have the early removal to hold me off and then they get to Season's Past and reset their hand. I can't seem to fight through. Anyone come up with any secret tech for that match? Vryn Wingmare has been helpful but I still don't think it's enough because it comes down the turn before they Languish on the play and it may be too late on the draw.

Maybe Eerie Interlude is what I'm looking for but playing with that 3 mana up is difficult when I want to drop an Always Watching. I haven't tested the card myself yet but maybe you people can convince me with some experience.

I don't feel like I have a ton of trouble with any other matchup so this is one I'd like to focus on shoring up at the moment. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Hello everyone,

I'm back with another deck I've been brewing on and it's a whole lotta fun! If you like the idea of "casting" Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger on turn 5 and following it up with a pair of Dragonlords on turn 6, then this may be the deck you're looking for!

So I was sitting at work listening to Constructed Resources and the guys were spouting off all these cards in Black and Red that just seemed like they would be really good together. Things like Lightning Axe, Tormenting Voice, Heir of Falkenrath and Ever After. Well obviously this is the basic shell of a Reanimator deck in Standard!!! So I ignored my real life responsibilities and sat down and started writing. I jotted down all the cards I thought would fit well in the deck and finished up at work. I rushed home and jumped on MTGO and started frantically assembling a deck that I now have the pleasure of saying, is a lot of fun to play! Rakdos Reanimator leads to some pretty ridiculous board states, and while being pretty high variance, I think the deck has some serious game against a lot of the format.



So if you haven't caught my enthusiasm about this deck yet, this deck is sweet! It's not really something people are prepared for. It plays a lot like some sort of Rakdos Madness deck until you get to 5 or 6 mana and then you just slam some huge threat and smash your opponent with it. That will lead me into my card choices discussion.

So, creatures. Basically you want anything huge and/or difficult to deal with. Most of the creatures in the deck you'll never dream of casting anyway but adding in a small amount of variance so you can when you need to is something nice about this build. You'll see that I have chosen a lot of one-of monsters for this deck. I've seen the Dimir version of this deck and they attest that Dragonlord Atarka is the best target for reanimation. She's massive, will close a game quickly and comes with a mini board wipe effect when you reanimate her. While very good, I think the diverse creatures in this build offer not only protection from Infinite Obliteration but a good mix of effects that can help tremendously in a lot of game states. Having creatures that have Hexproof and creatures that have beneficial static abilities can really pull you out of a mess. And that's important for this deck because while most of the early game is creature kill, with the aggro meta we are in at the moment, sometimes things can get away from you.

Heir of Falkenrath is a shoe-in in this deck. It's essentially a 2 mana 3/2 Flier in this deck and that can win games on it's own. Other important cards are Lightning Axe and Tormenting Voice, allowing you to get those fatties into your yard at a price you can't beat. Reanimation spells, we only get two to really choose from in Necromantic Summons and Ever After. I only run 6 total in the deck which might seem pretty light but the amount of interaction we have with our opponent's early game can usually get us there. I tend to find at least one each game, sometimes 2 or 3 and that should be enough to win on the spot.

Languish is great against all the small creatures running around, same goes for Flaying Tendrils, I find Tendrils especially useful against Humans decks. While 3 mana vs 4 mana for a board wipe might not seem too huge, when you slip Tendrils in there under Always Watching on the play, you feel REAL good about it.

Dead Weight is just early removal and can shrink something late game. I'm not in love with this card and have considered just going up to 4 Languish in the main and cutting these, it does come in handy sometimes against Sylvan Advocate, making it irrelevant in the early game and letting me clean it up with Languish later on.

Mana base is pretty straight forward, Rakdos lands are good. I've decided to splash into Green with Cinder Glade because being able to cast Dragonlord Atarka is good enough to warrant it IMO. I suppose there is something to be said for Drownyard Temple in this deck as it is decent to discard and will open you up to hard casting Kozilek, the Great Distortion but I haven't bought them yet and tested with them. I just don't feel like I'm gonna have the time to spend the 3 mana to get it back when I need it. I could be wrong about that though.

Sideboard is pretty basic black stuff. More interaction and Infinite Obliteration for the Ramp matchup. I added Fiery Temper because it is also good against Planeswalkers.

I'm not playing Jace because who can afford that, amirite?! In all seriousness, I don't think he's better than what we have going on here. Lightning Axe is amazing and Tormenting Voice helps us dig just as well. Also he's a third color for a deck that I feel like has all the discard outlets it needs. I'm not playing Mindwrack Demon because without Jace, card selection is super important with this deck. I can't have the Demon pitching my reanimation spells without any way to get them back.

ANYWAY, hopefully you guys have the cards to slap this thing together and give it a whirl. It is, again, a lot of fun to play. Those times you get to do ridiculous things like casting a 12/12 Ulamog on turn 5 makes it all worth it. The shatter-pause your opponent displays when you seemingly have no business winning is epic! Let me know what you guys think and glhf!

I started a thread for this type of deck about a week ago here> http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/deck-creation-standard/685290-u-w-eldrazi

I have really enjoyed the deck and it has been performing well for me. I'm playing Matter Reshaper as a way to get some card advantage, though the proliferation of Declaration in Stone might change that. Maybe not though because using a premium removal spell on my 3-drop isn't the worst thing. I'm also playing Eldrazi Skyspawner which has done work for me. Sometimes having two Displacer activations and a Skyspawner on board is enough to win. I suppose it would be even better with Whirler Rogue but the mana considerations are very concerning to me. I've had some trouble finding the balance for mana even without WR in there. The top end Reality Smasher has been excellent with the built in 2-for-1 when they have to kill it.

Take a look at the lists on my thread and you'll find a decent starting point at least. I requested the admins merge these threads so we can keep a focused discussion rather than spreading it out.

I'm not sure WotC would print a card like that. They don't seem too keen on hosers these days and that one card could completely shut down decks. Good sideboard against Affinity in Modern though.

Maybe give it an activated ability of 1:Detach target equipment or aura from a creature.

Titan's Translation 2C

Enchantment U

When Titan's Translation enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 colorless Eldrazi Scion ceature token onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this creature: add C to your mana pool."

You may spend mana as though it were any color to cast spells with Devoid.

So I have been testing Warping Wail tonight and it seems to play pretty well. Ramping into TKS and killing aggressive creatures/baby jace seems to be good enough. I have not countered anything with it yet but I assume I'll eventually find myself in a situation where I can counter a board wipe or something like that and it will seem great! I'll run Warping Wail for another day or two and then see how Eldrazi Mimic performs. I'll say now that Blessed Reincarnation is basically useless against decks that have creatures of similar impact. Against Ramp it can be so good because you swap a huge threat for a mana dork but against things like Bant CoCo and even the aggro lists I've faced it's terrible. Not sure I want such a narrow card as a 4-of in the sideboard. Better answers to Ramp are needed! Trying to watch the SCG tourney has not turned out so well for me this weekend because of work. Hopefully I can re-watch it and get an idea of what people think is good. Of course none of that is TOO serious until the PT but in any case. Still Testing! Still Winning Games! Still Optimistic about this deck!

Current List w/ SB

Yeah the top deck Crawler is pretty bad. Basically serves as a speed bump for whatever your opponent is doing. I was considering putting Eldrazi Mimic in the sideboard for control match ups. The aggression could be very helpful against the long game. I like the idea of Warping Wail. It offers pretty good flexibility while still serving the purpose of Hedron Crawler by ramping to T3 TKS. Whirler Rogue is also something I've considered but I have to figure out how to fit it in. I'll have to do some fiddling with things to find the right balance.

Speaking of balance, I adjusted the mana quite a bit last night. My initial assessment of being too color heavy was in fact WRONG and I needed more color. I feel like I over adjusted now and have to dial it back a bit but I'll keep working on it until I'm happy with where I'm at.

Declaration in Stone will definitely be coming into the deck to replace Silkwrap. It dodges Dromoka's Command and World Breaker so I think it's just an auto include.

Lastly I've been working on a sideboard. I've found the deck struggles against tokens. I've run into these Thopter Spy Network decks that are playing Pia and Kiran and Thopter Engineer and Whirler Rogue. If I don't curve out on them I have a tough time beating 4-6 1/1 fliers. I'll be jamming some number of Displacement Wave to hopefully help this match ups. Another interesting cars I got from another decks sideboard is Blessed Reincarnation for the ramp match up. I can't seem to tell if this card is worth running. It's very high variance. I've exiled two World Breakers and left my opponent with a dork which feels AMAZING. But I've also exiled a Worldbreaker and a dork and left my opponent with a Dragonlord Atarka and my board basically shut down which seems terrible. Pretty interesting results trying to figure out how to win against the big guys though.

I'll keep playing and update my list tonight. I'm on mobile right now so sorry if my formatting for this post is bad.

Hello everyone! Been brewing on this deck for a little bit and would like to share to see what sort of thoughts I get. I haven't really considered SOI cards for it yet, just because I play on MTGO and I still have another couple weeks until the set releases. The deck currently has no cards that are rotating though.



So in testing other decks I have run into the Eldrazi Displacer-Reflector Mage combo which made me want to build a list like this. This is a very basic shell at this point which I don't actually have everything for yet but I will be playing the list and trying to hone it in the next couple days. I tried to get some natural card advantage in there with Matter Reshaper, there are only 11 cards in the deck that it can miss, otherwise it's basically always putting a permanent into play. I think the deck could still use some card draw though. That or some big life gain but I'm not sure that exists in these colors right now. Beside Reflector Mage, Displacer interacts well with Skyspawner (kinda meh, but still) and Thought-Knot Seer to let me pick at my opponents hand.

I would like some thoughts on the deck and see what everyone thinks. I've poked around on other threads that are using some of the same cards but not any that are basically U/W Eldrazi like this list. I think the deck has the potential to be strong but that'll all be told in the next few days of testing. Also if anyone has any opinions on the mana base that would be helpful. I am not the best at putting mana together and when I look at this mana base the way it is, it seems a little color heavy to me. I tried to err on the side of caution to be sure I can cast all the colored spells pretty naturally but I'm sure it could use some work.

Cheers!

Interesting take on the list. I like Frost Walker as sideboard tech against the ramp decks.

Quote from SmokexBeer »

I've been going back and forth between grixis and jeskai-black. I really like the consistent manabase in the grixis lists and find the jeskai black mana to be too clunky and inconsistent. I really like how much more fluid and streamlined the grixis list feels, I just feel like I need a little more main deck life gain. I'm finding Kalitas to not be enough. Are there any options for fixing that besides adding white? I know there's always the grixis dragons route with foul-tongue, but that's a different deck.

I don't really feel like the decks are all that different. I play Grixis Dragons in a very controlling shell. I only run 9 dragons in the main and 1 more in the side. The rest of the deck is basically identical to these "pure" control lists. I don't have Jace in my deck but that's only because I don't want to buy him lol. If you have Jace you'd be just as well off jamming him in a list like mine. I will say that the Foul-Tongue Invocation doesn't really account for all that much life gain. It does help but even still it is difficult to stabilize with much more than 5-10 life unless you have an amazing opener.

I often find myself thinking about adding white to the deck too but I am always deterred by the fact that I think the deck will just end up Jeskai Black as you've said. As for Sarkhan Unbroken, I feel like he just won't close the game fast enough to justify the mana cost. The -2 is fine but with all the unique inexpensive removal in the format I feel like he would more often just end up drawing a couple cards and dying pretty quick.

If you're interested in my list you can find it on the most recent page in the Grixis Dragons thread. Like I said I feel like it belongs here more but I guess the inclusion of dragons makes it not a control deck?????

Hello, so I thought I would share a list I have been having some success with on MTGO. With the Grixis Dragons decks and the Grixis Control decks that have been putting up pretty good results, I thought I'd take a stab at my own variation and I like it quite a bit. I've basically been playing 1v1 queues up to this point to try and get the deck to a point I like. This week I will be entering Leagues and seeing what the deck can do against the Tier 1 decks in the format. I have faced the T1 decks in 1v1 and I think the deck has pretty good game so let me know what you guys think.



Alright so that's the list I'm currently on. I'll address the first couple things that probably stand out to people. No Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. Quite simply, I don't have $400 to drop on a deck I'm brewing on MTGO. I do think he would be excellent in a deck that is playing as many spells as this one, but I have a little trouble finding where I would put him in. He's not great with counter magic so I guess I cut out the main deck counters and jam him. Like I said, I think he would be good, I just can't afford $400 of Jace right now.

Secondly, the fact that I'm running 11 "dragons matter" cards and only 9 dragons. I think this list leans very heavily on the control side and the only one of these spells that REALLY relies on dragons is Silumgar's Scorn. The others are all perfectly serviceable without a dragon in hand or on the field. Even Scorn is just decent early game disruption considering a lot of decks are curving out 2-3-4 or 3-4-5. Getting to "Force Spike" that first Hangarback Walker on the play or the first Mantis Rider on the draw is a huge gain.

Last thing I'll point out right off is the sideboard. I have a BIG sideboard against aggro, in fact, more than half of my sideboard is aimed directly at aggressive decks. That may be just the online meta, I run into a lot of RDW and other budget aggressive decks online because they're super easy to build and they can win. Another notable card there is Cranial Archive. This card was originally Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet to hate on Rally. While Kalitas is good in the sense that it's just a good card AND happens to hate on Rally, it doesn't really do anything for me against the other heavy side of the meta online.... Mill... Yeah, there seem to be a ton of mill decks running around online right now. Not sure if anyone else is having this experience but it was getting so annoying for me that I decided to change to Archive. The card is still decent against Rally as it's basically a telegraphed counter for Rally the Ancestors and it just makes it impossible for the mill decks to win.

With all that in mind, I really like this deck. It plays very well as a control deck that can win very suddenly. With a dragon on the field your opponent has to live in constant fear of Kolaghan making the clock unbeatable. I often find myself controlling the board until I can kill them in two attacks. Sometimes my opponents just can't do anything about a single dragon and the game goes pretty long but a dragon can get the job done. The other thing is that this deck is not very expensive to build. Assuming you already have the fetches, the rest of the deck is like $40 or something like that. Even if you don't have the fetches it's just over $100. I think the mana will still be good enough to support the colors after KTK rotates. I lose Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury which is pretty big but I think Dragonlord Kolaghan will be a decent replacement. Otherwise I think the biggest loss is Dig Through Time, I'm sure there's a decent replacement coming if there isn't one already. Jace might be more important after rotation for that reason too. Maybe flashing back my early plays will be my best bet. In any case, I really like the list and I will continue testing with it and I'll post some League results. Let me know what you think!!

Sorry about the delayed response. I was going to respond a couple days ago but got carried away in a match lol.

Firstly, I have considered From Beyond and the Siege and found that From Beyond is just way too slow and the Siege is just not as good as grabbing basics. Dromoka's Command is real concern with relying on enchantments for mana.

Secondly, I don't feel like the matchup with Jeskai Black is all that bad, in game two when they board in all their cheap counters to "get me" I've actually been boarding out the Wealths and just going on pure creatures. Which answers the next bit, the deck is very capable of winning on the back of its large creatures. A turn 4 Sire of Stagnation is pretty brutal for most decks to beat. Also a 5/4 beatstick can just win the game while I hold up removal.

Jaddi Offshoot though.... yeah, I think I'm going to get rid of Embodiment of Spring and just jam 4-of Jaddi. With all the land fetching in this list, Jaddi Offshoot is INSANE. I've won matches at ~70 life when I have a couple Jaddi Offshoot on the battlefield. I feel like the deck can afford to lose Embodiment as well. It has been one of the first cards to see the sideboard in a lot of matches. Rattleclaw is just a much better T2 play than fetching a basic with EoS.

The one match that I just cannot beat though is Rally. That deck is just ridiculous. This deck is just too slow and the removal just fuels the combo. I have no idea how to shore up that matchup. I don't know if there is anything in Standard that hoses Rally right now. Anyone have any advice on this? I mean, Complete Disregard is there but I only get 4 and they have 8 key pieces for the combo and they get to draw them MOST games where I have to be hopeful and use DTT to try and find my 4-of.

So with the proliferation of 3-4 color standard decks that are essentially "good stuff" lists, I have decided to take a stab at brewing with an old favorite of mine, Villainous Wealth. I basically took the shell of some of the Eldrazi Ramp decks that have been running around and applied it to Wealth. There are a couple of issues I see right off without any testing but I'll discuss those later. The list I have to start on is this:



So the idea, as you can see is to ramp into a Villainous Wealth and kill your opponent with their own "good stuff." The rest of the deck is just there to keep you alive until you can do that. There are also a few other ramp targets in there like Sire and Silumgar. Greenwarden can also be considered a ramp target I suppose but they're in there more to be able to get back your Wealth after you have stabilized the board. In my experience with Wealth it was always best to fire one off at x=4-5 to try and stabilize and then go on to cast another for x=6+ to close out the game. So going Rattleclaw>Explosive>Villainous Wealth gets X=4 on turn 4 which nets you a lot of targets in the current standard. Something like Embodiment>Explosive>Renewal>Wealth gets you X=6 on turn 5 which will almost surely get you 2-3 spells off your opponent's library.

Card choices! I chose Embodiment of Spring over Leaf Gilder or Whisperer of the Wilds because it will help fix my mana and really plays as a turn 2 play anyway so I don't think I lose anything and it gets me a land which my opponents cant Fiery Impulse or Wild Slash. Explosive Vegetation over Nissa's Pilgrimage for similar reasons. And Nissa's Renewal because I will have presumably taken some damage and going from 6 to 9-10 mana is great when you're trying to get to 9-10 asap. Dig Through Time gives me the best selection for my buck when I am trying to find a Wealth or another ramp target or answer. Sire of Stagnation is just kind of sweet and I never really had an opportunity to play it so what the hey? Complete Disregard is there for early removal of Atarka Red, Jace, Soulfire, Hangarback, Mantis Rider etc. Ruinous Path and Crux as catch-alls that can buy me time to resolve something significant.

Mana Base is pretty generic, trying to keep basics up for all my ramp spells so fetches don't really seem necessary, same for battle lands. Though I am not sure if having the Blighted Woodland is just a liability.. I mean I'll cash it in asap but I just hate to be stuck on colors because of a colorless land. Maybe just running more basics and a set of Polluted Delta would be an option.

Let me know what you guys think. I think the deck has some weaknesses of course. I think shoring up the early game is going to be tough. I've given some thought to Fathom Feeder and Heir of the Wilds for those reasons. Also Horribly Awry and Undergrowth Champion. I would like this deck to be somewhat competitive but in truth, Villainous Wealth is just a pet card to me and it's way too much fun to ignore. I don't know a ton about the current standard meta but it seems like every deck is playing all the great spells at 4cmc or less so I think Wealth may actually be positioned to do alright... I could be wrong though lol.

Thoughts?

I just played a Legendary Cube draft online and I have to drop some sick brags on this one lol.

Board State:

My lands are Watery Grave, Temple Garden, Sacred Foundry, Blood Crypt, Polluted Delta, Twilight Mire, Simic Growth Chamber, and Glacial Fortress. I have a Cho-Manno, Revolutionary in play. My opponent has a pile of U/R lands, a Jace, Telepath Unbound on 9 Loyalty, Kamahl, Pit Fighter and a Venser, Shaper Savant in play. Opponent is tapped out except for a Volcanic Island.

So I cast Eladamri's Call EOT, he counters with Stubborn Denial, I Cyclonic Rift his Kamahl, pay the 1 and resolve the call for Cromat, then cast Vampiric Tutor to tutor to the top. I have 19 cards left in my library and I'm at 7. My turn I draw the card I tutored.... Coalition Victory!!! I cast Cromat and pass the turn back hoping he can't kill me. He Emblems Jace, casts Rush of Knowledge to dig, mills me 5. Casts Compulsive Research, to dig mills me 5..... and passes! I untap and slam Coalition Victory for the win. It was pretty effing awesome lol. My opponent didn't even get all salty, their response was, "Nicely done sir, I tip my hat." lol

Monastery Siege would also be an excellent inclusion to keep those high CMC spells from sitting in your hand. In fact, I think it might just be better than Jace, Vryn's Prodigy considering that the majority of your flashback targets are too expensive. I also feel like Shorecrasher Elemental doesn't really play into the deck at all. Just more of a placeholder. Maybe Harbinger of the Tides would be a better slot because it does pair pretty well with Mirror Mockery. That or Faerie Miscreant. Neither one of those options seems like it will stick for very long though. If you're looking for something defensive maybe Dragon's Eye Savants?

Definitely agree that Whirler Rogue should be mainboard though.