Winding Constrictor's ability isn't activated. Quote rulings on the card itself: "Activated abilities are written in the form “Cost: Effect.” Some keyword abilities, such as equip and crew, are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder texts." Also Crackdown Construct's ability doesn't put +1/+1 counters on itself, so it doesn't work with Winding Constrictor even then.
Wandering Fumarole's creature ability though works with Crackdown Construct and is a well-known infinite combo. With Fling back in standard with Amonkhet I wouldn't be surprised if the combo made an impact.
Boggart Mob says combat damage triggers, so the creature needs to be attacking to have the effect. Sacking it would only net you a single point of damage, that's it. No extra goblin, no infinite combo.
To be quite honest with ya'll, I have no ******* idea what I'm doing. I'm usually a very casual quirky brewer and this is my first attempt at trying to make a serious competitive deck for a set format outside of EDH. My mana base is likely screwy and the whole thing might not be fully fleshed out yet.
Anyhow, here's my idea for a BR aggro deck with a madness flavor. White splash mostly for Anguished Unmaking and Crackling Doom, probably not worth actually splashing for but it enables a wider range of good SB hate.
I've been brewing this deck up for the past while after coming up with the idea of making a deck entirely synergistic with Oloro's abilities. After the change in the tuck effect this deck has suddenly gained a boost in effectiveness. I considered adding in Archmage Ascension in there but it became essentially an unfair deck that always had answers to everything, so I ruled it out. I also thought of including more constellation and extort creatures but I wanted to focus on control rather than make a creature-heavy deck.
In its current iteration this deck is sorta pillowfort-y (especially considering it has Blind Obedience, Kismet, Frozen Æther and Meekstone), but really it's an esper control deck in essence. Draw tons of cards, gain tons of life, make you opponents hate you tons.
I've been looking into building a commander deck for a bit since some of my playgroup have taken an interest in the format, and after coming across Thraximundar I felt that I needed to build a Grixis control deck around him. I've come up with something rather satisfactory on my own, but I have a couple of cards over (sitting at 102 cards right now) so I'd like some advice on what to remove/replace to make this a better and more consistent deck. Although, since I don't have in my possession a lot of commander staples (and seeing as this is my first commander deck) I'd want to keep it relatively budget, so the ~150$ total it's sitting at right now shouldn't change much after adjustments.
I have a good amount of sacc power for Thrax, plenty of control options and a bit of utility. I'm probably relying too much on creatures as it is right now though.
If you're wondering what the 1-2CMC random enchantments are doing in there, I just wanted some reiterating fodder for Agent of the Fates' Heroic trigger and also a low-cost way to encourage Dismiss into Dream triggers. I guess also giving some dodge/fire breathing to Thrax doesn't hurt.
Deck stats don't look too bad otherwise... I could probably reduce my landbase and creature amount to fit in more spells.
EDIT: Wait, if I enchant Niv-Mizzet with Curiosity, is that an infinite combo? Draw card, deal 1 damage with Niv-Mizzet, draw card with cutirosity, deal damage with him again, draw another card off curiosity, etc.
Yes it is: it's a fairly well known one, at that.
Ah yes well, I'm not too savvy when it comes to a lot of the meta since I mostly just homebrew and play casual with friends.
Well, the metagame in my playgroup is very reliant on targeted removal and combat tricks, so finding targets for swerve and counterspells isn't gonna be very hard. Invoke the Firemind and Curiosity would be good additions to the deck (why didn't I think of curiosity), though I don't know exactly what I'd remove for them. I'll probably remove the Goblin Electromancer and put in 2x curiosity. As for triggering Lobber Crew's untap, I can always tap them all right before it's my turn to at least churn out constant damage out of them if I don't get to trigger it.
I guess the main problem with it right now is that my damage output is extremely reliant on having my creatures out. My inclusion of the swiftspear was mostly so that I could have early turn plays and to prevent free damage from 1 and 2-drop monsters. The prowess is essentially just a bonus that kinda compliments the deck but really isn't optimal. Ideally it would be something with a fatter body but I'm not sure I can find something like that for 1CMC in blue/red. Nivmagus Elemental? Blistercoil Weird?
After some light testing I'm also starting to think that Desolate Lighthouse might not be that useful either. The looting is really only situational and it's not that good of a mana sink even when Niv-Mizzet is out.
EDIT: Wait, if I enchant Niv-Mizzet with Curiosity, is that an infinite combo? Draw card, deal 1 damage with Niv-Mizzet, draw card with cutirosity, deal damage with him again, draw another card off curiosity, etc.
I've had an idea for a multiplayer UR burn deck, but I've not been able to correctly implement it in a deck structure. And thus I turn to you in order to get ideas and advice on this.
From the get-go, that seems like a lot of cards for this deck to depend on... and the idea is not to have them all in play every game, just that having these out is the ideal living-the-dream board setup. Basically, the idea is to draw cards and just burn down everybody whilst controlling the board with counters, bounces and removals.
Other cards that I'd put in the deck:
Lobber Crew: continuing with the goblin sub-theme is lobber crew. Easy way to just continuously put pressure on opponents, also a nice body to block chumps. Since most spells should be UR anyway it gets plenty of opportunity to pull damage in.
Swerve: A counterspell would usually be better, but in a multiplayer setup it's nice to be able to disrupt individual opponents' strategy. Plus, an opportunity to untap Lobber Crew and more fuel on the Guttersnipe damage train.
Mindswipe: I just love this card. Why wouldn't you include this in there?
Rhystic Study: Having this out with Niv-Mizzet is a nice way to just screw with people. Card draw + free damage, or forcing the opponent to mana screw themselves? Yes, yes and yes. Also helps with the 7 UR devotion for Keranos.
Master the Way: Once again, really good synergy with the deck's main cards. Procs both Niv-Mizzet and Guttersnipe and with Electromancer out, only costs 4CMC (potentially less).
So yeah, I'm looking for help making that decklist happen. I've done numerous attempts and I've not found a way to balance this out properly. Please help me make this happen!
The deck's been updated on the third post so most of the things that you've recommended being taken off have been taken off and replaced already. I've modified it slightly since so I might as well update it;
I'll probably replace Hour of Reckoning for Razia's Purification and Legion's Initiative for Cathar's Crusade, though. I may also replace Aurelia for Basandra. Something like;
Basandra would be a good addition to the deck, but what should I take out for it? Aurelia? And Boros Reckoner sounds good but I don't know if I'd take something out to replace with it.
Also I figure that the Battalion effect procs whether the creatures are attacking the same player or not and with Assemble the Legion it should be easy enough to do.
Hmmm. Well, alright. I wanted this deck to retain a strong Boros flavor, but I'd rather it be a good deck and a mediocre deck with a good theme. Taking your suggestions in consideration, I've edited the deck thusly;
I'm trying to come up with a good mixed-theme Boros deck (battalion/tokens/angels) with most creatures being RW so that spells that affect RW spells and creatures proc whole. I've come up with this deck, but I find the mana ramp to be rather slow and most good creatures I can put out are pretty high cost. Any ideas on how to fix up this deck some?
Alright well, I'll refine it once I actually get the cards and playtest it a bit, but the cards I'm going to have in the deck (including sideboard + a couple extras of things I'm not gonna put 4 of in) are;
You can let opponents hit you early while you ramp your mana up with lands and avacyn's pilgrim/llanowar elves to pop a wurm token (and possibly an early trostani, which will heal you massively soon enough), and then you go to town populating the wurm tokens. I'm thinking of adding Citanul Hierophants or Druids' Repository if I find I don't have enough of a mana ramp and it'd help cast worldspine wurm much earlier. Drumhunter could also be a nice addition, as could Elemental Resonance. I also have a couple Nylea, God of the Hunt in stock, so I could possible add that in as well.
Wandering Fumarole's creature ability though works with Crackdown Construct and is a well-known infinite combo. With Fling back in standard with Amonkhet I wouldn't be surprised if the combo made an impact.
Anyhow, here's my idea for a BR aggro deck with a madness flavor. White splash mostly for Anguished Unmaking and Crackling Doom, probably not worth actually splashing for but it enables a wider range of good SB hate.
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
2 Heir of Falkenrath
3 Relentless Dead
3 Bloodghast
2 Olivia, Mobilized for War
1 Reckless Wurm
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
3 Kolaghan's Command
3 Anguished Unmaking
2 Crackling Doom
2 Call to the Netherworld
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Faithless Looting
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
3 Nomad Outpost
3 Blood Crypt
3 Smoldering Marsh
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Godless Shrine
3 Swamp
2 Mountain
Feel free to break this deck down to get it on the right track.
In its current iteration this deck is sorta pillowfort-y (especially considering it has Blind Obedience, Kismet, Frozen Æther and Meekstone), but really it's an esper control deck in essence. Draw tons of cards, gain tons of life, make you opponents hate you tons.
Having Sanguine Bond/Vizkopa Guildmage and Exquisite Blood out on the battlefield together essentially means you've won the game unless your opponents can respond immediately.
1 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
//Creature
1 Fog Bank
1 Nyx-Fleece Ram
1 Sygg, River Cutthroat
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
1 Stronghold Biologist
1 Stronghold Machinist
1 Scholar of Athreos
1 Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Fate Unraveler
1 Notion Thief
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Agent of Masks
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
1 Drogskol Reaver
1 Sphinx Sovereign
//Spells
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dissipate
1 Forbid
1 Undermine
1 Absorb
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Rewind
1 Punish Ignorance
1 Exsanguinate
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Blind Obedience
1 Greater Auramancy
1 Rhystic Study
1 Words of Worship
1 Solitary Confinement
1 Necropotence
1 Kismet
1 Frozen Æther
1 Breathstealer's Crypt
1 Cloud Cover
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Sphere of Safety
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Subversion
1 Palace Siege
1 Wound Reflection
1 Baneful Omen
//Artifact
1 Sol Ring
1 Meekstone
1 Expedition Map
1 Library of Leng
1 Ivory Tower
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Obelisk of Esper
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Etherwrought Page
1 Mind's Eye
1 Venser's Journal
1 Planar Portal
1 Command Tower
1 Meteor Crater
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Dromar's Cavern
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Tainted Field
1 Tainted Isle
1 Nimbus Maze
1 Leechridden Swamp
1 Halimar Depths
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Temple of the False God
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Strip Mine
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Esper Panorama
7 Swamp
5 Island
5 Plains
From my calculations this deck is round about 180$, with no cards over 10$... so I think it's fair to say budget.
Hopefully you too can play this with your friends without them groaning every time you pull it out.
Draw X cards, where X is the number of players
Krenko, Mob Boss+Intruder Alarm+Cathars' Crusade
An infinite amount of infinitely huge goblins. Who said goblins were weenies?
1 Thraximundar
Creatures (26)
1 Mortician Beetle
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Cemetery Puca
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Cryptoplasm
1 Dimir Cutpurse
1 Dimir Doppelganger
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Agent of the Fates
1 Ashling, the Extinguisher
1 Bloodline Keeper
1 Desecration Demon
1 Notion Thief
1 Mogis, God of Slaughter
1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
1 Rishadan Brigand
1 Mulldrifter
1 Havengul Lich
1 Indulgent Tormentor
1 Rapacious One
1 Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
1 Crosis, the Purger
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Tyrant of Discord
1 It That Betrays
Instants (11)
1 Spell Pierce
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Terminate
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Reverberate
1 Forbid
1 Dream Fracture
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Grixis Charm
1 Crosis's Charm
1 Rewind
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Tyrant's Choice
1 Cruel Edict
1 Dreadbore
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Rite of Replication
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Spelltwine
1 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Decree of Pain
1 Din of the Fireherd
Enchantments (12)
1 Crown of Flames
1 Mark of Fury
1 Shimmering Wings
1 Ghitu Firebreathing
1 Volrath's Curse
1 Animate Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Rhystic Study
1 Seer's Vision
1 Grave Pact
1 Dictate of Erebos
1 Dismiss into Dream
Artifacts (7)
1 Sol Ring
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Izzet Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mind's Eye
1 Temple of the False God
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Strip Mine
1 Command Tower
1 Opal Palace
1 Meteor Crater
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Crosis's Catacombs
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Tainted Peak
1 Tainted Isle
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Bloodfell Caves
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Mountain
7 Swamp
4 Island
I have a good amount of sacc power for Thrax, plenty of control options and a bit of utility. I'm probably relying too much on creatures as it is right now though.
If you're wondering what the 1-2CMC random enchantments are doing in there, I just wanted some reiterating fodder for Agent of the Fates' Heroic trigger and also a low-cost way to encourage Dismiss into Dream triggers. I guess also giving some dodge/fire breathing to Thrax doesn't hurt.
Deck stats don't look too bad otherwise... I could probably reduce my landbase and creature amount to fit in more spells.
Ah yes well, I'm not too savvy when it comes to a lot of the meta since I mostly just homebrew and play casual with friends.
I guess the main problem with it right now is that my damage output is extremely reliant on having my creatures out. My inclusion of the swiftspear was mostly so that I could have early turn plays and to prevent free damage from 1 and 2-drop monsters. The prowess is essentially just a bonus that kinda compliments the deck but really isn't optimal. Ideally it would be something with a fatter body but I'm not sure I can find something like that for 1CMC in blue/red. Nivmagus Elemental? Blistercoil Weird?
After some light testing I'm also starting to think that Desolate Lighthouse might not be that useful either. The looting is really only situational and it's not that good of a mana sink even when Niv-Mizzet is out.
EDIT: Wait, if I enchant Niv-Mizzet with Curiosity, is that an infinite combo? Draw card, deal 1 damage with Niv-Mizzet, draw card with cutirosity, deal damage with him again, draw another card off curiosity, etc.
Main Cards:
From the get-go, that seems like a lot of cards for this deck to depend on... and the idea is not to have them all in play every game, just that having these out is the ideal living-the-dream board setup. Basically, the idea is to draw cards and just burn down everybody whilst controlling the board with counters, bounces and removals.
Other cards that I'd put in the deck:
I'd also rather not spend half the budget of this deck on lands, so Cascade Bluffs, Steam Vents and Temple of Epiphany are pretty much out. Desolate Lighthouse might be a good idea though!
My best attempt so far has looked like this;
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Goblin Electromancer
4 Guttersnipe
4 Lobber Crew
2 Keranos, God of Storms
2 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
4 Swerve
4 Mindswipe
4 Izzet Charm
4 Electrolyze
2 Master the Way
2 Rhystic Study
2 Gratuitous Violence
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
4 Desolate Lighthouse
6 Mountain
6 Island
So yeah, I'm looking for help making that decklist happen. I've done numerous attempts and I've not found a way to balance this out properly. Please help me make this happen!
2 Aurelia, the Warleader
2 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Firemane Avenger
4 Sunhome Guildmage
2 Iroas, God of Victory
2 Balefire Liege
4 Figure of Destiny
2 Mentor of the Meek
4 Assemble the Legion
2 Boros Charm
2 Legion's Initiative
4 Lightning Helix
2 Defy Death
2 Hour of Reckoning
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Clifftop Retreat
8 Mountain
8 Plains
I'll probably replace Hour of Reckoning for Razia's Purification and Legion's Initiative for Cathar's Crusade, though. I may also replace Aurelia for Basandra. Something like;
2 Basandra, Battle Seraph
2 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Firemane Avenger
4 Sunhome Guildmage
2 Iroas, God of Victory
2 Balefire Liege
4 Figure of Destiny
2 Mentor of the Meek
4 Assemble the Legion
2 Razia's Purification
2 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Helix
2 Defy Death
2 Cathars' Crusade
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Clifftop Retreat
8 Mountain
8 Plains
I've considered adding Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx in there but my mana distribution is split enough that I don't think it'd be effective.
Also I figure that the Battalion effect procs whether the creatures are attacking the same player or not and with Assemble the Legion it should be easy enough to do.
2 Aurelia, the Warleader
2 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Firemane Avenger
4 Sunhome Guildmage
2 Balefire Liege
4 Figure of Destiny
2 Mentor of the Meek
4 Assemble the Legion
2 Boros Charm
2 Glory of Warfare
2 Legion's Initiative
4 Lightning Helix
2 Defy Death
2 Hour of Reckoning
4 Boros Garrison
4 Clifftop Retreat
8 Mountain
8 Plains
2 Aurelia, the Warleader
2 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Firemane Avenger
2 Herald of War
2 Sunhome Guildmage
4 Boros Elite
4 Wojek Halberdiers
2 Balefire Liege
2 Assemble the Legion
4 Boros Charm
2 Gleam of Battle
2 Legion's Initiative
4 Lightning Helix
4 Martial Glory
2 Defy Death
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Boros Garrison
6 Mountain
6 Plains
4 Armada Wurm
4 Penumbra Wurm
2 Worldspine Wurm
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
2 Wayfaring Temple
2 Emmara Tandris
4 Advent of the Wurm
4 Roar of the Wurm
4 Crush of Wurms
4 Growing Ranks
2 Parallel Lives
4 Asceticism
4 Sundering Growth
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Hour of Reckoning
4 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Selesnya Sanctuary
6 Plains
6 Forest
You can let opponents hit you early while you ramp your mana up with lands and avacyn's pilgrim/llanowar elves to pop a wurm token (and possibly an early trostani, which will heal you massively soon enough), and then you go to town populating the wurm tokens. I'm thinking of adding Citanul Hierophants or Druids' Repository if I find I don't have enough of a mana ramp and it'd help cast worldspine wurm much earlier. Drumhunter could also be a nice addition, as could Elemental Resonance. I also have a couple Nylea, God of the Hunt in stock, so I could possible add that in as well.