Well, I force Haakon and Nameless the same way Company players "force" Melira, Finks and Seer. I could go to every modern thread right now and write: "Guys, don't force your gameplan, ya'll get outclassed by Eldrazi", the same way u did here.
I'm trying to come up with an interesting option for THIS deck in particular, so if you feel Levy's deck is better go ahead and play it, good for you.
I'm pretty excited since the new Olivia, Mobilized for War was spoiled, since it's a knight and can have great sinergies with our deck (Olivia into KotR, swing for lethal?), plus the discard effect is nothing but great in our deck. What do you guys think? I am definitely gonna give it a try.
The idea of having 2/2 hasty flyers when casting lingering souls sounds pretty decent too.
You're right, Vault truly shines in Lingering Souls decks, and this one is no exception. And gaining 5-15 life with a Knight block/attack can get you out of many troubles.
Maybe I'll need to add another Urborg to fix the black mana issue in the early game, cause there's nothing more frustrating than having the perfect scenario for a turn 2 Smallpox and not being able to cast it
I really think that this deck needs more consistency. I see it as an aggro deck with high capabilities of bursting on oponent down with soulflayer, but if we don'g get to draw it, our creatures need to still be good on their own.
I've tried diferent lists (only once in a real tournament), first of all in a Vengevine shell, and then pure Soulflayer-focused lists. In my playtest, Tainted Strike was a dead card in most situations. I'd rather have Ghor-Clan Rampager, which is more reliable and can be cast as a 4/4 body. It also halps in trades.
For creature choices, I really like Vampire Nighthawk, as it's a quality card on its own and also useful for the Soulflayer strategy. The same for a singleton Thrun, the last Troll.
For the interactive cards, I don't think targeted discard is the way to go. I've been playing with some number of Abrupt Decay (It also helps dealing with post-board hate) and performed well. Right now I'm also trying a 1-of Murderous Cut.
I'm still not sure of what 1 drop creature I like most, but Uktabi Drake is a really nice add for the deck.
And there's no way I'd run a Soulflayer list without a playset of Grisly Salvage. It digs for Soulflayer and fills our graveyard for casting it and to get value of our GY creatures, if we run them. I'll work on a solid list, thanks for all the ideas and feedback!
It's been a long time since I first saw this deck, and I instantly fell in love with it, since it perfectly fits my playstyle and it's really fun to play.
I have played it in some small tournaments (20 players max) with pretty good results. Playing against any kind of control deck feels like cheating, because of all your recoursable cards, the loam/raven's crime/tec edge lock and the playset of souls (yes, also against grixis). Creature based decks are also good matchups, with our good removal package, but against super aggro decks I don't always find time to stabilize. The MU against midrange decks also feels in our favour, again because of our recursion.
That being said, I struggle against linear "autistic" combo decks, like Burn (if you consider burn being a combo deck), Ad Nauseam or Living End. Since we don't have maindeck answers to their game plan (counters/targeted discard) and we lack a strong clock to pressure their life total, we have almost no chance in first games. That's why I tried to focus my sideboard against that strategies, also adding 1 red source to the manabase for some SB slots. Here's my list:
The list is pretty solid overall, and adding the 4th colour haven't caused any problem. The inclusion of Ancient Grudge is definitely worth it, such a good card in dredge decks. The same with Slaughter Games. Tasigur comes in against decks where we don't want Haakon at all, but we need a fast and cheap clock. He also fills our graveyard, which can be useful. And Timely Reinforcements have overperformed in the Burn/aggro MUs. I used to play with Leylines, but almost never found them in my initial 7. Maybe I'm just unlucky. Anyway, this sideboard strategy have worked pretty well, but I'm sure there's still room for improvement.
I'm also testing Shambling Vent instead of Vault of the Archangel, bacause I was mulliganing too often due to colorless lands in my initial hands. It's not the kind of Orzhov manland I was expecting, but it showed to be useful.
I'm glad to see this this thread alive again. What do you guys think? Feedback would be appreciated.
I'm trying to come up with an interesting option for THIS deck in particular, so if you feel Levy's deck is better go ahead and play it, good for you.
I'm pretty excited since the new Olivia, Mobilized for War was spoiled, since it's a knight and can have great sinergies with our deck (Olivia into KotR, swing for lethal?), plus the discard effect is nothing but great in our deck. What do you guys think? I am definitely gonna give it a try.
The idea of having 2/2 hasty flyers when casting lingering souls sounds pretty decent too.
Maybe I'll need to add another Urborg to fix the black mana issue in the early game, cause there's nothing more frustrating than having the perfect scenario for a turn 2 Smallpox and not being able to cast it
I've tried diferent lists (only once in a real tournament), first of all in a Vengevine shell, and then pure Soulflayer-focused lists. In my playtest, Tainted Strike was a dead card in most situations. I'd rather have Ghor-Clan Rampager, which is more reliable and can be cast as a 4/4 body. It also halps in trades.
For creature choices, I really like Vampire Nighthawk, as it's a quality card on its own and also useful for the Soulflayer strategy. The same for a singleton Thrun, the last Troll.
For the interactive cards, I don't think targeted discard is the way to go. I've been playing with some number of Abrupt Decay (It also helps dealing with post-board hate) and performed well. Right now I'm also trying a 1-of Murderous Cut.
I'm still not sure of what 1 drop creature I like most, but Uktabi Drake is a really nice add for the deck.
And there's no way I'd run a Soulflayer list without a playset of Grisly Salvage. It digs for Soulflayer and fills our graveyard for casting it and to get value of our GY creatures, if we run them. I'll work on a solid list, thanks for all the ideas and feedback!
It's been a long time since I first saw this deck, and I instantly fell in love with it, since it perfectly fits my playstyle and it's really fun to play.
I have played it in some small tournaments (20 players max) with pretty good results. Playing against any kind of control deck feels like cheating, because of all your recoursable cards, the loam/raven's crime/tec edge lock and the playset of souls (yes, also against grixis). Creature based decks are also good matchups, with our good removal package, but against super aggro decks I don't always find time to stabilize. The MU against midrange decks also feels in our favour, again because of our recursion.
That being said, I struggle against linear "autistic" combo decks, like Burn (if you consider burn being a combo deck), Ad Nauseam or Living End. Since we don't have maindeck answers to their game plan (counters/targeted discard) and we lack a strong clock to pressure their life total, we have almost no chance in first games. That's why I tried to focus my sideboard against that strategies, also adding 1 red source to the manabase for some SB slots. Here's my list:
4x Marsh Flats
1x Bloodstained Mire
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Godless Shrine
1x Temple Garden
1x Blood Crypt
3x Swamp
1x Forest
1x Plains
1x Shambling Vent
1x Stirring Wildwood
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Ghost Quarter
3x Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
3x Knight of the Reliquary
2x Stinkweed Imp
3x Abrupt Decay
1x Murderous Cut
2x Darkblast
3x Nameless Inversion
1x Damnation
4x Smallpox
4x Life from the Loam
4x Lingering Souls
2x Raven's Crime
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3x Ancient Grudge
3x Timely Reinforcements
3x Duress
1x Damnation
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Slaughter Games
The list is pretty solid overall, and adding the 4th colour haven't caused any problem. The inclusion of Ancient Grudge is definitely worth it, such a good card in dredge decks. The same with Slaughter Games. Tasigur comes in against decks where we don't want Haakon at all, but we need a fast and cheap clock. He also fills our graveyard, which can be useful. And Timely Reinforcements have overperformed in the Burn/aggro MUs. I used to play with Leylines, but almost never found them in my initial 7. Maybe I'm just unlucky. Anyway, this sideboard strategy have worked pretty well, but I'm sure there's still room for improvement.
I'm also testing Shambling Vent instead of Vault of the Archangel, bacause I was mulliganing too often due to colorless lands in my initial hands. It's not the kind of Orzhov manland I was expecting, but it showed to be useful.
I'm glad to see this this thread alive again. What do you guys think? Feedback would be appreciated.