I think the BG list is pretty interesting, though maybe it's just because I'm a fan of Blood Artists and the new SOI sorcery Traverse the Ulvenwald which I think is a really interesting card.
Pre-delirium searching for a basic isn't great other than color-fixing for whatever you're missing, but with delirium online tutoring for a 'combo piece' (2/3 kinds at least) for G is a pretty nice effect (just too bad it's not an instant for our buddy to abuse it). That being said, I do wonder how easily delirium can/will activate on the modern scene; is Nameless Inversion (as spot removal) the next big thing, or is racing to delirium via tribal not enough to warrant playing a black Spatial Contortion? Unfortunately, running green and trying for delirium seems like the start of a recipe for yet another Goyf deck.
Also, I like how Commune hits that other combo piece (the Illness) while still digging up Toshi, though I wonder if there's some ideal split of both Commune and Salvage as diggers/grave-fillers especially since Toshi can recur Salvage for more ammo.
Also, for those running Gifts+Unburial package, would running some silly combo of Goryo's Vengeance+Cloudshift be remotely plausible as an engine for playing your beefy 1-ofs? I know requiring a two-for-one is a card-advantage nightmare, but recursion via Toshi might take the edge off, especially since the combined manacost comes in below Unburial's flashback cost.
Individually, the cards seem like they might be passable to varying degrees. Cloudshift seems like it'd never be a dead card as it can provide protection for Toshi (basically like W version of Undying Evil). On the other hand, Goryo's seems more hit-or-miss; it could be used from hand to revive Toshiro, but "I'd have won if only I had a live Toshiro to flashback that one spell" seems like a rare edge case. Additionally, a Goryo's in-hand is basically a build-your-own-Snapcaster combat trick (assuming zero living and one dead Toshiro), so I guess that's another edge case going for it.
I really liked the idea of this combo when I saw those mtggoldfish decks, but counterspell-blue isn't really my playstyle so I've been brewing in some other directions to see if I can get the combo into a deck that's more up my alley. Some of the ideas can work on a budget, others not so much, so I'll just throw all the ideas here since there isn't a non-bugdet thread for KP+Curse as far as I can tell.
Æther Vial - I was really surprised this wasn't on any of the lists. This provides a way to "put" creatures on the battlefield to skirt around the hardlock. Vial has to come down before the combo, but 1cmc isn't hard to pay. Running this card will probably mean brewing will go in a WhiteWeenie+PoolLock kind of direction.
Ethersworn Canonist - This guy was mentioned above, and it can be pretty helpful since it can come down turn-2 and slow the opponent's tempo. True, the effect hinders both players symmetrically (like Rule of Law does) but a lot of the draw back can be brewed around. Throwing a lot of artifacts into your deck means you can largely ignore the hindrance, and as long as your opponent isn't running Affinity you'll probably come out ahead. Curse on turn-4 is still ideal but Canonist on turn-2 is another layer of insurance- if all three resolve then just use Canonist as cannonfodder to unlock yourself. While this still forms a lock with KPool that lock is conditional on spells being non-artifact spells, so it'd probably be better to call this a soft-lock or a leaky hardlock.
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Like a Rule of Law on a 1/4 blocker body. This also forms a symmetrical hardlock with KPool, but (having legs) this thing can be Vial'ed in which can be an especially nasty way of bringing both lock pieces down in a single turn.
Windbrisk Heights or Mosswort Bridge - These cards also follow a WhiteWeenie type strategy- with enough bodies these cards can cast a free spell. I had originally imagined using these to cheat-cast a Knowledge Pool (so that it effectively costs 2 mana rather than 6) but it can be a bit hit-or-miss getting that many creatures out sometimes. Also, since they are cast from exile, the hidden spells can be cast even under a symmetric KP-Lock provided the hideaway requirements are still satisfied.
Ancient Stirrings - I found that going WG for weenies like Qasali Pridemage and Noble Hierarch also opened up the possibility of running Ancient Stirrings. Just like in Lantern Control, RG Tron, and now RG Eldrazi decks, this little "dig-5-deep-for-a-colorless-card" at G can be extremely useful in helping find another land or artifact (especially our namesake lock-piece). With this KPool can probably be lowered from a 3-of to 2-of without lowering the odds of finding it on time- which is great since it is horrible in multiples.
Reflector Mage - Seems like a good card in UW, though I haven't personally played it yet. The bounce effect is might as well be exile if the lock comes down next turn.
Thraben Inspector+Shape Anew - The SOI spoilers for the new W common have me excited for some clue abuse strategies. Running no artifacts mainboard other than a couple KPool should mean that clue+Shape Anew can get it out on turn-4 (though it'd require Eidolon or something on turn-3 for the full hardlock).
Mistveil Plains - Is probably okay on budget for MTGO, this thing can tack mill-protection onto a land so it can come down post-lock unlike Elixer (though it doesn't give 5 life).
SoulSisters+Norin - Not really UW, but soul sisters could be a good way to stay alive both pre-lock and post-lock. Essentially infinite life means we shouldn't lose, even if that means we have to mill to win.
Basically that's most of what I've been brewing about. I'm not sure which is the best way to go counters-plus-board-wipes or weenies, but I tend to like creature based strategies more so I'll keep going in that direction.
I've only tried this deck out goldfishing in proxies on Cockatrice a couple times, seems like it needs more mid-game bombs. Let me know what you think!
What is Thraben Gumshoe?
Recent spoilers for Shadows over Innistrad have revealed Investigate, a new mechanic that generates a Clue artifact. These Clues can be sacc'd for two mana to draw a card, creating a fairly-costed delayed-cantrip bonus effect. Most notably, Thraben Inspector tacks that effect onto a human soldier, 1/2 for W. This white weenie detective (a.k.a. gumshoe) is the cornerstone of the deck.
What good is a Clue token?
Draw-a-card for 2cmc is fair without being broken. The delayed-cantrip is a nice add-on because it can help a card replace itself without shifting the curve upward. The draw can be used at our convenience, either during the opponent's next endstep, or late-game when hands are empty and mana is flooding. Although tagging "replace this for 2cmc" onto junk isn't going to be pushing staples out of tier-1 decks, it can definitely find play in decks brewed to utilize the effective proactively.
The cantrip effect adds some replacement value, but how else can a clue be exploited? The clue tokens are artifacts! This means that artifacts-matter strategies pair well with Investigate. Most cards in Modern Affinity lists push this strategy- the Metalcraft mechanic (on many Affinity cards) combos almost perfectly with Investigate (at least if there are enough low-cmc clue generators).
Why go no-Robo Affinity?
Affinity is a tier-1 deck, so what is the point of trying to shoehorn some new cards into a well oiled machine? Well, basically because we're not; the decks just play out too differently to compare the two even if there is a lot of overlap with the metalcraft card chouces. In all honesty I should really stop mentioning that tier-1 deck when talking about this deck since it will just naturally draw the comparison; this deck is just a metalcraft-based white weenie deck, nothing more.
Budget and fringe-factor are two good reasons to try out this deck. Like most white-weenie strategies this pulls together a lot of cheap cards for a fun little deck. If you have some of the more expensive cards, great, you can make this thing even better, or alternatively you could play this while you're still assembling the remaining pieces of that tier-1 deck. As for fringe-factor, there's always a small benefit (both Game-1 and post-board) to running a rogue deck filled with non-ubiquitous-but-still-good cards since opponents might not have a good feel for gauging the threat levels of your weird card choices. If you're into that sort of thing, it can also be a lot of fun to watch an opponent just sit there and scratch their head. One upside to running an investigate-metalcraft hybrid is that Clue tokens decouple our artifact-count from our creatures. This deck can be more "aggressive" with chump-blocking because if a human soldier dies the metalcraft count won't change. Even though our opponent may have hate-cards for Affinity, they might have a hard time deciding what to sideboard in, or when to use it. Creature removal like Bolt or Anger blank at reducing the artifact count, while it'd feel like a horrible waste to spend Grudge on a clue token.
Deck Creation
Card Choices
Brewing an Investigate-Metalcraft hybrid deck is very straightforward as the cardpool for either mechanic is quite small. The strongest restriction is that Investigate cards have only been spoiled in W thus far.
Investigate Cardpool
Shadows Over Innistrad spoilers have introduced Investigate on six of the first 55/297 spoilers: four in white and two on artifacts.
Thraben Inspector - Is a solid 1-drop. It has a 1/2 body (enabling X/1 blocks) and drops an artifact early on curve.
Bygone Bishop - This 3-drop has a decent 2/3 flying body, but the tagged-on Investigate ability adds value to further creature spells.
Expose Evil - Is potentially useful as a way to tap blockers, and comes with a bonus Clue.
Declaration in Stone - Is removal with a same-name effect. It can potentially wipe multiple creatures, but leaves Clues behind for their owner.
Magnifying Glass - Like most Manalith cards, this one doesn't seem to be playable either, especially since it only makes C. Four mana for a clue is also far too expensive to save this card.
Tamiyo's Journal - Is expensive at 5cmc, but getting another clue each upkeep seems workable. Also, sacc'ing three clues to Tutor anything feels like it could be a pretty big deal; assuming three clues have accumulated by the time this comes out it becomes a 5cmc tutor at worst, but quickly improves with each subsequent activation. Might be decent if more support cards get spoiled.
The cardpool is very limited, but there are two real stand-outs. Thraben Inspector is an all-star, mostly because W is the perfect casting cost to start out a good curve, but also the fact that investigate is on ETB rather than cast could be relevant if we build a way to flicker the guy. Bygone Bishop is the next good card, since he adds artifact value to later creature drops; t1=Plains-Inspector t2=Mox-DsCitadel-Bishop seems like a lovely way to start a game. The only slight downside is that the bishop's Investigate effect is on casts and not ETBs, so we can't abuse it with Rally or Norin shenanigans.
Metalcraft Cardpool
Though there are 31 Metalcraft cards available to modern, most don't warrant mentioning (14 are above 4cmc without being particularly amazing). There are, however, some good lower-cmc spells and luckily most seem to be centered around CWR, which is pretty workable.
Mox Opal - This zero-mana investment for mana acceleration will always be amazing.
Etched Champion - Evan as a 2/2 this card does work, since metalcraft color-protection let this guy push through (or it used to, the Eldrazi/Affinity meta probably brings this guy's usefulness down).
Dispatch - Can tap down an attacker/blocker, and metalcraft makes it better-than-Path.
Galvanic Blast - Is two-thirds of a bolt but metalcraft doubles that, making it better-than-Bolt.
Ardent Recruit - Is 1/1 for W, but becomes 3/3 which isn't half bad.
Auriok Sunchaser - Is 1/1 for 1W, but becomes a 3/3 flier with metalcraft.
Auriok Edgewright - Is 2/2 for WW, but gets doublestrike with metalcraft.
The Mox is a must have in all but the lowest low budget builds. Dispatch is too good not to include (especially since we're already in white for investigate), and Blast gives loads of reach to the deck. Meanwhile, three good and cheap white creatures benefit from activating metalcraft, giving enough options to design a creature-base around metalcraft-boosted weenies.
Artifacts Matter
There are a number of other non-Metalcraft cards that still follow the count-artifacts mantra.
Cranial Plating - One of the single best individual cards in Affinity, it supercharges beaters when there are lots of artifacts lying around.
Glimmervoid - Provides mana on color on demand; often paired with Citadel for protection.
Door of Destinies - Is expensive at 4cmc, but scales up our creatures as mid-game pushes on.
Vault Skirge - Lifelink and flying is great, especially when it can come down for 1cmc. He doesn't particularly synergize here, but he can come out fast and carry Cranial Plating with the best of 'em.
Example Decks
Hybrid Investigate-Metalcraft decks have a few possible directions to build into when starting from a very minimal Affinity skeleton frame, white weenie is the main front, but secondary colors provide a number of alternate win conditions. Maybe more strategies will become available as SOI becomes fully spoiled.
Thraben Gumshoe
This version below is based around a White-Weenie metalcraft strategy that plays a less-explosive Affinity aggro strategy in favor of slightly more resilience to artifact-hate and removal. Red is the secondary/splash mostly to take full advantage of Blast, and somewhat for Grid in the sideboard.
Blast provides reach while Ravager can do a few combat tricks (however, Rav is severely nerfed compared to robo-Affinity lists since here only Pest can take his counters). Sideboard is somewhat transformational: Mirran Mettle gives a combat-trick boost to an unblocked Edgewright, whereas Grid and Disciple work in combat-clogged matchups.
The only really expensive cards listed above are Mox Opal, Glimmervoid, and Ravager. A full playset of Drum might be enough color-fixing for the deck, since it is basically WHITE-splash-Red.
The End
This deck probably won't be competitive enough to break into the meta. Without all the 0-drops it will never be as explosive as Affinity and the mid-range game probably doesn't really have any big plays. This is just a white weenie deck that grinds out value with metalcraft by turning every topdeck into a 3/3 or better. Still probably fun for a FNM, if just for playing some rarely seen cards.
I agree that Tron finishers like Emrakul and Nülamog make a lot of sense, but I also think that Griz provides a bit more flexability depending on how the rest of the deck is brewed.
The way I see it, this deck has some of the spirit of a Sneak & Show ported to Modern, but it does so more slowly and more fairly than the current Grishoalbrand type decks that are just cheating in turn-2 Griselbrands to win on the spot. It is definitely true that ANY deck with Inverter in the mainboard puts itself in a fragile position (due to the self-imposed mill-clock) but there are always ways of setting up protection and redundancy. Inverter of Truth isn't just a half-sized flying Leveler, the graveyard-becomes-the-library is a unique ability and adding even one or two more expected turns opens up a number of new lines of play/design. The most fragile part of the deck is probably the simple fact that the starting-points/examples above offer EVEN LESS interaction than Tron decks for Turns 1-4 (it probably loses to aggro before it can flip ANYTHING or worry about self-mill, oh well, maybe Thing will be the turn-2 blocker decks like this need).
As for the new ideas of Brain in a Jar and Cruel Ultimatum I appreciate the ideas, but I am unconvinced. The engine of B.Jar seems to reward a deck designed with a wide cmc spread of instants and sorceries whereas Shell rewards a deck that is dense with spells that are too expensive to hardcast (to get maximum value out of the hideaway). Wouldn't Cruel Ultimatum's 5 direct damage just be a weaker version of, say, Searing Wind's 10 direct damage? If bomb spells are trimmed to lower cmc's so that maybe B.Jar can cast them mid game, then I feel like Shelldock just becomes less and less useful (less value generated by it). Also, I assume that B.Jar's scry ability is far too little too late.
Side note: I've only done a little goldfishing on Cockatrice and don't own all the cards needed to test it in cardboard or on MTGO. Please try it out and let me know how it does in the thread; until then I'll be playtesting with the older and cheaper ROE Eldrazi beaters instead of Emrakul and Griz.
What is the idea of Shell Game?
Shell Game is an attempt to brew a deck around the new Eldrazi creature Inverter of Truth and takes its name from Shelldock Isle, a card that combos well with Inverter's downside.
(Note: I started brewing this deck when I saw Inverter in the polls for SaffronOlive's Against-the-Odds series. No clue what his deck might end up looking like.)
Do you want to pilot this deck?
Short answer: probably not. This deck relies on some good draws (lucky hideaways, technically) and is rather fragile to disruption, so it probably will never become truly competitive, sorry Spikes (this is especially true with Ghost Quarters filling the meta to counter Tron and the Eldrazi menace). However, if you're a Johnny that appreciates a surprise-factor brew, or a Timmy that likes Annihilator, then you might have fun fiddling with this deck. (And depending on the builg the main pieces aren't very expensive in MTGO, so it might be a fun budget deck to try out too.)
How good/bad is Inverter of Truth?
Inverter of Truth, a 6/6 flier for 2BB, is nothing to scoff at as far as beaters go, unfortunately that's not the whole story; when it hits the battlefield it exiles its controller's deck away (and starts a new library from the graveyard). This drawback really prevents Inverter from seeing play in pretty much any deck not designed around it, as trying to play it like a straight beater would go something like this:
Turns 1-3: You and your opponent each crack a couple fetches. (Opponent has 18 life)
Turn 4: You play Inverter on turn 4 but can't attack; Inverter doesn't have haste.
Turn 5: You redraw fetch number one, then attack with Inverter for 6. (OP@12)
Turn 6: You redraw fetch number two, then attack with Inverter for 6 more. (OP@6)
Turn 7: You lose, when you fail to draw on your draw step.
The self-imposed clock definitely puts a damper on the usual big-beater gameplans. There are a couple ways to go around this, however.
Go Spike: Brew a deck fast enough that a self-mill suicide clock doesn't matter.
Go Johnny: Brew a deck to utilize the self-mill effect to positive effect.
This thread is about choosing option number two.
What good is Shelldock Isle?
Shelldock comes into play tapped and taps for blue mana, but it has a hideaway trigger that lets us cast whatever was hidden for the low low price of U if there are less than 20 cards in any single library (which is a condition that Inverter is very good at fulfilling). Essentially, Shell plays out as "cast a bomb the turn after you played Inverter".
That then begs the question, "What bombs do we want?". Ideally, something that wins us the game outright, but giant unanswerable threats are just as viable. The flexibility in bomb choice is pretty fun as it makes the deck rather customizable to personal preference and meta calls.
Deck Creation
Archetypes
There is a lot of flexibility in how decks can utilize this Inverter of Truth & Shelldock Isle combo, though most of these would rightly fall under the umbrella definition of combo decks. Aggro strategies, like Suicide Burn, could be built around Inverter alone (with little to no benefit from Shelldock) an won't really be discussed here. Similarly, Midrange isn't really worth discussing since cheating-in midrange value creatures isn't a particularly strong use of Shelldock.
Combo-Control
These variants are the kind that employ an "insta-win" condition (a laSplinter Twin) where the opponent must counter now or never. As an example, Laboratory Maniac could fit this role in this deck. In this case, the win can be generated instantly if sufficient draw effects are in-hand once the combo has been resolved and protected. Shelldock can be a way to sneak a Maniac in on our opponent's endstep, or as a way to cheat-in a high-cmc card-draw engine that can force the combo.
Combo-Ramp
These variants are the kind that resolve a large-effect spell significantly earlier than on-curve mana should normally allow (a laR/G Tron) which puts the puts the opponent in a "how can I possibly catch up" situation. In this context, we're playing Shelldock more-or-less as a modern port of Show and Tell so that we can drop a Griselbrand or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Card Choices
The strictest colorpie restriction is the 2BB casting cost of Inverter which makes Black mandatory (or very nearly so). Shelldock on the other hand, having an activation cost of U, is a much softer restriction and could be circumvented by appropriate choice of lands and manadorks. That being said,blue is still a strong contender as a main color due to the breadth of draw manipulation and control effects available.
Colorless Card Choices
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn makes a great bomb, as Show and Tell decks know, but requires a little bit of care (in keeping it out of the graveyard) since you rarely want an empty graveyard the turn you resolve Inverter.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is another great bomb as it exiles two target permanents on cast then provides a huge beater that can exile an opponent's library away even if they're chump blocking.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon - Can wipe the board (in non-Affinity, non-Eldrazi matchups) or +2 as needed.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Pathrazer of Ulamog also make for some pretty big bombs. They're not as effective as Emrakul or new-Ulamog, but might be a bit easier on the budget depending on the paper/digital format.
Eldrazi Conscription is a good way to beef up an Inverter to swing for lethal, but can make for an ugly 2-for-1 situation if the opponent has a Crackling Doom or Doom Blade handy. In non 2-for-1 situations, though, the upside is that +10 damage and Annihilator-2 on Inverter is as good or better than dropping most other Eldrazi with haste.
All Is Dust - Could help stabilize against early aggro, but unfortunately it doesn't hit Eldrazi or Affinity, which makes it a bit too hit-or-miss for the current meta.
Platinum Angel - Could be insurance against self-mill losses or that last bit of aggro that falls through the cracks, but unfortunately she's only a 4/4, and still quite prone to removal.
Progenitus - Is another big beater, with the upside of a bit of protection.
Expedition Map - Just like in R/G Tron, Map allows us to find the lands we need when we need them.
Blue Card Choices
Laboratory Maniac - A strong combo-control win condition provided you can keep him protected. At a reasonable 3cmc he can come down before or after Inverter, depending on the context of the match and the composition of the deck(s). Creature removal is the most common form of removal, however, so any deck relying on him should be chock-full of protection.
Hive Mind - This makes for an iffier combo-control win-condition, but should be more difficult to remove in most contexts. Shelldock can cheat in a Hivemind on turn-5 (assuming turn-4 Inverter), which is early enough that a Slaughter Pact or two should be more than your opponent can afford.
Taigam's Scheming - Normally sorcery speed and no cantrip draw is too much of a drawback- in this deck it fills the grave and is the perfect set-up for Shelldock.
Gifts Ungiven - This can be useful for putting together the combo pieces as well as to fill the graveyard, but has to be designed around effectively.
Remand + Mana Leak - Like usual, make up a standard backbone of most permission-control decks.
Serum Visions + Gitaxian Probe - Like usual make for some nice little blue cantrips; SV also helping to load Shelldock
Black Card Choices
Griselbrand - Vintage "Sneak & Show" decks and Modern "Grishoalbrand" decks all know, Gris means Biz. This big baddie can also make a nice card-draw engine for a Maniac build- you know, whenever he's not busy pounding face.
Rite of Consumption - A neat sorcery-speed Fling spell in black; not really useful 100% of the time, but could find use in some of the bashier builds.
Dismember - Can be a clutch removal spell, depending on the circumstances.
Green Card Choices
Sylvan Scrying - We rely on certain lands to a fair extent, so just like R/G Tron a good cheap land tutor is useful.
Mosswort Bridge - Although this hideaway land doesn't activate off of Inverter's ETB effect, the 6/6 body gets this thing more than halfway activated. In a build with a few more mid-sized bodies adding this land can essentially double the odds of cheating in more big bombs.
Grisley Salvage - Since most of the combo pieces tent to be creatures and/or lands, this card can help dig while filling the graveyard.
Research // Development - This instant can pull four cards from the sideboard to the library- preventing a self-mill while bringing in silver-bullets.
Terastodon - Could find use as a potential bomb, destroying 3 of an opponent's lands can really prevent them from pushing ahead their own game plan- even if they get a few big beasts.
Tooth and Nail - Can make another potential bomb, since it can drop any fatties that got stuck in your hand post-Inversion.
Glittering Wish is a way of pulling a silver bullet out of the sideboard.
Red Card Choices
Searing Wind and Worldfire can make some neat bombs, but the color doesn't seem particularly suited to combo as much as suicide-aggro.
Faithless Looting is a great pre-Inverter card as it lets you shape your graveyard and hand.
Archetype Examples
As mentioned above, there are a number of ways to build a deck around this combo, but most fall into two camps: either insta-win (e.g. Splinter Twin), or insurmountable advantage (e.g. R/G Tron). It is possible for both elements to be present in the same deck, but having a clear Plan A/Plan B is important in streamlining the effectiveness of the deck.
Combo-Control
This deck operates on the primary "insta-win" condition of Maniac and secondary plan of Hive Mind. Plan C is face-bashing with Inverter, Griz, and Emrakul.
This deck's main win condition is Maniac which can come down turn-2. After Inversion we can simply draw our way to victory. Counters and cantrips like Remand help keep Maniac alive while speeding to victory. Furthermore, resolving Griz off of shelldock provides a huge card draw effect. With protection in hand Griz's draw-7 should often be enough to trigger Maniac instantly. Otherwise, the second turn out he can swing for damage, threatening lethal while lifelink'ing fuel for another draw-7.
The secondary win condition is Hive which we play as a Plan B similarly to how Amulet Bloom used it. Bloom needed a playset of sumPact to always have Prime Time available; Hive turned those Pacts into a secondary wincon, and let the deck add negPact and killPact to keep everything on the rails. Shelldock wants Maniac to win on a draw trigger, and negPact is great for protection since we win before having to pay the piper; just like Bloom PlanB:Hive becomes viable here too, so we add a killPact or two to up the density of Pacts-in-hand(sumPact could also be useful to search out Maniac, but is much harder to utilize unless we're running a primarily green decklist).
The third win condition is the more straightforward condition: beats. In addition to Inverter being a 6/6 flier, Griselbrand as a 7/7 flier with lifelink is bound to put damage in and keep our own life-total high. Although Emrakul doesn't provide synergy to either PlanA:Maniac or PlanB:Hive (the way Griz's draw-7 does) it is a strong enough effect that Shell-flipping Emrakul should be a win on it's own 99% of the time.
Combo-Ramp
This version of the deck operates primarily on the "big beater" strategy- Inverter, Griselbrand, and Nülamog being the big three.
This deck goes all in on big beaters and foregoes the Maniac plan entirely. Grisly Salvage can filter for the mans and lands we need, while filling grave. Goryo can cheat out the big threats like Nülamog and Griz for big explosive plays (though probably not as fast and consistant as Grishoalbrand decks) even before Inverter flips.
Having so many beefy creatures around (even if some are only around for a turn) makes Mossworts serve as additional Shelldocks. Green also gives more access to search cards like Sylvan Scrying and even Glittering Wish. Wish is interesting because it allows for a "silver-bullet" toolbox in the sideboard. Post-Inversion a Wish can fetch a Research to refill the library with 4 sideboard cards at a time. Wish can also fetch Torrent of Souls to revive any Nülamog or Griz, giving the deck a little more resiliency to removal (both pre- or post- Inversion).
SaffronOlive@MTGgoldfish just posted Against the Odds: Inverter of Truth which basically follows the original "Torpor Beef" undercosted-creatures-when-Orb-is-in-play strategy.
Your ideas of Mirran Crusader and Hero of Bladehold would both make good main attackers (with MC the better of the two because of doublestrike and a lower cmc), but you'd probably not want to run too many non-exalted creatures for fear of diluting your pool of bonus-producing creatures.
Equipment, I think, would be more hit-or-miss. I feel like running 30-or-so creatures with an exalted trigger each would give more value (by dropping more each turn) than running 5-10 Swords and spending mana each turn to cast and/or equip them. However, there might be a few equipment to run 1-ofs or 2-ofs if you go tribal with exalted humans. Stoneforge Masterwork might be pretty decent since you could get +3/+3 or so pretty easily for 1 cast, 2 equip. Generally, though, equipment probably won't make big pushes into white-weenie type decks until either Stoneforge Mystic or Sword of the Meek become unbanned in modern.
Don't you mean "Beefcaster Mage"? (I'm not sure what forum I read it on, but someone somewhere called this new 4/4 the Beefcaster and I really hope that name sticks.)
If Bloodmoon-based control isn't enough to slow the opponent down while you grind out value, then maybe you need more midrange to get you there. Jeskai Black splashed black basically because of how good Crackling Doom and Kolaghan's Command are in standard (and modern Jund/Grixis pull in a couple KComm for the same reason). Maybe more high-impact spells well-valued around 2-3cmc on top of a creature base featuring Monastery Mentor? Basically, looking at "Mardu Green", "Mardu Midrange", and "Jeskai Black" decks out of Standard might give you a decent starting point.
For something less competitive, the enters-the-battlefield effect could be abused by Eldrazi Displacer, which, although fun, would be more of a cutesy combo for flashing back anything for 2C. (There'd be a lot of potential value generated by the combo, but it'd take so long to set up that it'd likely be too late to make much difference.)
In general I also like Esper decks, but there isn't much in black to fuel an Exalted-based deck. Sure, Duty-Bound Dead is nice, being a 1-drop with a late-game regeneration ability, and Knight of Infamy is Path to Exile-proof, but that isn't really enough. And while flying+deathtouch make Vampire Nighthawk a great swinger, he's much better off in a mono-black list where 1BB is less difficult to pay.
I strongly agree with @CavalryWolfPack's points above- going Bant will produce a much stronger deck list. Noble Heirarch is an amazingly good card, especially for multicolored creature-based decks (she's expensive for exactly this reason). Qasali Pridemage is also a good card- artifact/enchantment hate in the mainboard is wonderful. If you run creature-heavy with some green, Collected Company becomes very viable in the deck since it'd add another 2-exalted at instant speed (and gives card advantage since it's basically a draw-2), and Rancor can give your swinger trample to push the damage through chump blockers. Other than that, most exalted creatures come out of white, so that should be a centerpoint of your strategy; Sigiled Paladin should probably be the star beater for the team since he has first strike and costs 2cmc. White also gives you Return to the Ranks to recycle any dead creatures back from the grave, and Coordinated Barrage becomes great removal in a W-based tribal deck (though Path is still as good as ever). A few blue cards like Slip Through Space could also be good to push through while giving you a cantrip draw, and Distant Melody might work okay for this tribal deck (I'm assuming you want to vomit your hand of humans out the way Affinity vomits artifacts, and DM should basically act as Thoughtcast provided you haven't been boardwiped).
CWP's comment about being like a weird Boggles deck is pretty accurate also. You're essentially amassing an army to cheer on a single beater, instead of enchanting/equipping the heck out of a single hexproof creature. While that makes you less prone to "target player sac's a creature" or discard spells (since your damage shifts to any new beater) it unfortunately makes you very weak to boardwipe effects, especially to relatively common damaged based spells like Anger of the Gods. There are two ways to combat this problem: 1) play protection spells like Brave the Elements to instant-save your creatures, or 2) play artifacts/enchantments that beef up all your creatures (e.g. Obelisk of Urd or Door of Destinies choosing "Human") to the point that they're all out of Bolt/Anger danger. A good mix of 1&2 is probably the way to go.
However, I will say that with some tuning like this WGu Exalted Humans could be a fun unexpected tribal deck for a FNM.
P.S. It might be fun to see if some weird card like Followed Footsteps could be used to create an army of Noble Heirarchs to exalt your main beater on to glory.
This is the list I've been testing on MTGO since I got a playset of Displacers the other day. I've really been liking Eldrazi Displacer in conjunction with Eldrazi Temple. Flickering for combat tricks with El-Dis becomes much easier when you only have to tap two lands per activation. Having a Flickerwisp out (and lands untapped) with El-Dis can save pretty much anything, and forces opponents to make tough 2-for-1 decisions (or 3-for-1 if there are enough temples out for multi-flickers). El-Dis is also tons of repeatable fun with Mangara of Corrondor; the Eldrazi combo'ed with temples isn't quite Karakas, but it is definitely getting closer as far as Modern is concerned.
There are probably still a couple issues with the manabase to iron out; mainly the fact that 8-lands are colorless-only. Drawing a Cave of Koilos and a basic pretty much has you on track to cast everything on time, but sometimes you'll draw a hand that won't let you cast (or vial) a Tidehollow Sculler on turn-2 (or t3) and it feels like you're losing some effectiveness. Mangara has a similar issue being hard to cast with the double-white, but generally he's better off vialing in on endstep anyways so that doesn't matter as much (unless you're trying to hardcast to bait a bolt). Probably the quickest fix would be to throw some basics out for Godless Shrine and Fetid Heath, and maybe cutting temples back to 3-of. I'll test that as I shell out for some more digital cards, Shrines aren't horrible but Heath is a little crazy right now.
Also, @Chalupacabra: How are you liking Fiend Hunter? I've considered FH and Banisher Priest for roles similar to Tidehollow Sculler in lists running less/no black. Did you choose FH over BP mostly because 1/3 versus 2/2 makes a better blocker, or have you gotten use out of FH's ability to tuck your own creatures?
@Sabinfrost I think for me I'd rather play Tidehollow Sculler over Sin Collector nine times out of ten (because TS hits everything non-land whereas SC costs 1 more to only hit instant/sorcery).
The difference in variance between the two options is that TS will tuck-exile and never wiff (at least compared to SC), whereas SC will full-exile but only if it doesn't wiff; if TS dies half the time but SC wiffs half the time then the odds are all the same to Wasteland Strangler, but to kill TS the opponent would have probably had to waste a bolt or something to get their card back- so that outcome is kind-of still a small advantage for us. If vial trickery is used (which I hope it should be) you can even sometimes have TS bait a bolt and then vial in WS to process at instant speed anyways- SC just can't do that.
There is something to say for SC being vial-on-3 playable and the fact that they don't get the card back even if he dies, but I'm far more worried about my opponent's deck having 30 maindeck creatures in game-1 than I am worried my TS will die before I can draw a Strangler. It would be a much harder call if their mana costs were switched.
Oops, you're right on the "target opponent" wording of Archive Trap. I did pull off a mill-kill with two of them in a very casual MODO game, though, and milling 52 cards for 0 mana felt pretty good (edgiest of edge cases as it may be). With a few Guhost Quarter it isn't too hard to trick them into searching their library, though you'll probably only be able to "Gotcha!" once with that trick. With all the Tron/Eldrazi lands, thogh, Ghost Quarter isn't a bad mainboard, especially if you back it up with Surgical Extraction like you mentioned, though I do wonder how many colorless land the deck can get away with since it tries to play a wide variety of colored spells.
As for Fog, I get what you're saying, but I'm honestly not sure how you guys are surviving long enough to get online, though. The few test games I've run have either been waiting for enough land or waiting for some relevant spells. I'll have to play a bunch of games with a completely unmodified list somehwere from here and see what I'm doing wrong; you're probably right, though, and fog effects would dilute your removal effects too much- if it could work it'd probably have to be all-or-nothing with lots of fog effects.
Main reason I brought up split cards was for Far // Away and Wear // Tear, but I guess Abrupt Decay does the exact same job 99% of the time without having to be a cutesy toolbox 1-of.
Has anyone done any testing with the various Trap-subtype cards? I'm not sure anything there helps versus Tron/Eldrazi, but (in a vacuum) playing Ghost Quarter into Archive Trap with Toshiro out to repeat seems like an explosive mill-based win-con (though maindeck Tormod's Crypt would be necessary to stop shuffle-critters). The variance seems somewhat high, but depending on the individual game we could even dump our own library to grave (probably just once, flashback on opponent) in order to widen the Toshiro-toolbox of on-tap instants. [EDIT: Oops, Archive Trap targets opponents, not players.]
As far as early game versus creature-heavy matchups, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Darkness; a basic Fog effect on-color for 1cmc seems like a nice mana-cheap way to ignore beaters until we have everything in place, especially since Toshi could repeat this from grave.
Finally, how about split cards? There are 13 dual-instant cards that could fill a number of 1-of (or 2-of) slots and add utility to both from-graveyard shenanigans and Gifts Ungiven damned-if-you-don't plays, and most/all of them come in with one or both halves costing 2-3cmc.
Pre-delirium searching for a basic isn't great other than color-fixing for whatever you're missing, but with delirium online tutoring for a 'combo piece' (2/3 kinds at least) for G is a pretty nice effect (just too bad it's not an instant for our buddy to abuse it). That being said, I do wonder how easily delirium can/will activate on the modern scene; is Nameless Inversion (as spot removal) the next big thing, or is racing to delirium via tribal not enough to warrant playing a black Spatial Contortion? Unfortunately, running green and trying for delirium seems like the start of a recipe for yet another Goyf deck.
Also, I like how Commune hits that other combo piece (the Illness) while still digging up Toshi, though I wonder if there's some ideal split of both Commune and Salvage as diggers/grave-fillers especially since Toshi can recur Salvage for more ammo.
Also, for those running Gifts+Unburial package, would running some silly combo of Goryo's Vengeance+Cloudshift be remotely plausible as an engine for playing your beefy 1-ofs? I know requiring a two-for-one is a card-advantage nightmare, but recursion via Toshi might take the edge off, especially since the combined manacost comes in below Unburial's flashback cost.
Individually, the cards seem like they might be passable to varying degrees. Cloudshift seems like it'd never be a dead card as it can provide protection for Toshi (basically like W version of Undying Evil). On the other hand, Goryo's seems more hit-or-miss; it could be used from hand to revive Toshiro, but "I'd have won if only I had a live Toshiro to flashback that one spell" seems like a rare edge case. Additionally, a Goryo's in-hand is basically a build-your-own-Snapcaster combat trick (assuming zero living and one dead Toshiro), so I guess that's another edge case going for it.
Ethersworn Canonist - This guy was mentioned above, and it can be pretty helpful since it can come down turn-2 and slow the opponent's tempo. True, the effect hinders both players symmetrically (like Rule of Law does) but a lot of the draw back can be brewed around. Throwing a lot of artifacts into your deck means you can largely ignore the hindrance, and as long as your opponent isn't running Affinity you'll probably come out ahead. Curse on turn-4 is still ideal but Canonist on turn-2 is another layer of insurance- if all three resolve then just use Canonist as cannonfodder to unlock yourself. While this still forms a lock with KPool that lock is conditional on spells being non-artifact spells, so it'd probably be better to call this a soft-lock or a leaky hardlock.
Eidolon of Rhetoric - Like a Rule of Law on a 1/4 blocker body. This also forms a symmetrical hardlock with KPool, but (having legs) this thing can be Vial'ed in which can be an especially nasty way of bringing both lock pieces down in a single turn.
Windbrisk Heights or Mosswort Bridge - These cards also follow a WhiteWeenie type strategy- with enough bodies these cards can cast a free spell. I had originally imagined using these to cheat-cast a Knowledge Pool (so that it effectively costs 2 mana rather than 6) but it can be a bit hit-or-miss getting that many creatures out sometimes. Also, since they are cast from exile, the hidden spells can be cast even under a symmetric KP-Lock provided the hideaway requirements are still satisfied.
Ancient Stirrings - I found that going WG for weenies like Qasali Pridemage and Noble Hierarch also opened up the possibility of running Ancient Stirrings. Just like in Lantern Control, RG Tron, and now RG Eldrazi decks, this little "dig-5-deep-for-a-colorless-card" at G can be extremely useful in helping find another land or artifact (especially our namesake lock-piece). With this KPool can probably be lowered from a 3-of to 2-of without lowering the odds of finding it on time- which is great since it is horrible in multiples.
Reflector Mage - Seems like a good card in UW, though I haven't personally played it yet. The bounce effect is might as well be exile if the lock comes down next turn.
Thraben Inspector+Shape Anew - The SOI spoilers for the new W common have me excited for some clue abuse strategies. Running no artifacts mainboard other than a couple KPool should mean that clue+Shape Anew can get it out on turn-4 (though it'd require Eidolon or something on turn-3 for the full hardlock).
Mistveil Plains - Is probably okay on budget for MTGO, this thing can tack mill-protection onto a land so it can come down post-lock unlike Elixer (though it doesn't give 5 life).
Soul Sisters+Norin - Not really UW, but soul sisters could be a good way to stay alive both pre-lock and post-lock. Essentially infinite life means we shouldn't lose, even if that means we have to mill to win.
Basically that's most of what I've been brewing about. I'm not sure which is the best way to go counters-plus-board-wipes or weenies, but I tend to like creature based strategies more so I'll keep going in that direction.
I've only tried this deck out goldfishing in proxies on Cockatrice a couple times, seems like it needs more mid-game bombs. Let me know what you think!
What is Thraben Gumshoe?
Recent spoilers for Shadows over Innistrad have revealed Investigate, a new mechanic that generates a Clue artifact. These Clues can be sacc'd for two mana to draw a card, creating a fairly-costed delayed-cantrip bonus effect. Most notably, Thraben Inspector tacks that effect onto a human soldier, 1/2 for W. This white weenie detective (a.k.a. gumshoe) is the cornerstone of the deck.
What good is a Clue token?
Draw-a-card for 2cmc is fair without being broken. The delayed-cantrip is a nice add-on because it can help a card replace itself without shifting the curve upward. The draw can be used at our convenience, either during the opponent's next endstep, or late-game when hands are empty and mana is flooding. Although tagging "replace this for 2cmc" onto junk isn't going to be pushing staples out of tier-1 decks, it can definitely find play in decks brewed to utilize the effective proactively.
The cantrip effect adds some replacement value, but how else can a clue be exploited? The clue tokens are artifacts! This means that artifacts-matter strategies pair well with Investigate. Most cards in Modern Affinity lists push this strategy- the Metalcraft mechanic (on many Affinity cards) combos almost perfectly with Investigate (at least if there are enough low-cmc clue generators).
Why go no-Robo Affinity?
Affinity is a tier-1 deck, so what is the point of trying to shoehorn some new cards into a well oiled machine? Well, basically because we're not; the decks just play out too differently to compare the two even if there is a lot of overlap with the metalcraft card chouces. In all honesty I should really stop mentioning that tier-1 deck when talking about this deck since it will just naturally draw the comparison; this deck is just a metalcraft-based white weenie deck, nothing more.
Budget and fringe-factor are two good reasons to try out this deck. Like most white-weenie strategies this pulls together a lot of cheap cards for a fun little deck. If you have some of the more expensive cards, great, you can make this thing even better, or alternatively you could play this while you're still assembling the remaining pieces of that tier-1 deck. As for fringe-factor, there's always a small benefit (both Game-1 and post-board) to running a rogue deck filled with non-ubiquitous-but-still-good cards since opponents might not have a good feel for gauging the threat levels of your weird card choices. If you're into that sort of thing, it can also be a lot of fun to watch an opponent just sit there and scratch their head. One upside to running an investigate-metalcraft hybrid is that Clue tokens decouple our artifact-count from our creatures. This deck can be more "aggressive" with chump-blocking because if a human soldier dies the metalcraft count won't change. Even though our opponent may have hate-cards for Affinity, they might have a hard time deciding what to sideboard in, or when to use it. Creature removal like Bolt or Anger blank at reducing the artifact count, while it'd feel like a horrible waste to spend Grudge on a clue token.
Deck Creation
Card Choices
Brewing an Investigate-Metalcraft hybrid deck is very straightforward as the cardpool for either mechanic is quite small. The strongest restriction is that Investigate cards have only been spoiled in W thus far.
Investigate Cardpool
Shadows Over Innistrad spoilers have introduced Investigate on six of the first 55/297 spoilers: four in white and two on artifacts.
- Thraben Inspector - Is a solid 1-drop. It has a 1/2 body (enabling X/1 blocks) and drops an artifact early on curve.
- Bygone Bishop - This 3-drop has a decent 2/3 flying body, but the tagged-on Investigate ability adds value to further creature spells.
- Expose Evil - Is potentially useful as a way to tap blockers, and comes with a bonus Clue.
- Declaration in Stone - Is removal with a same-name effect. It can potentially wipe multiple creatures, but leaves Clues behind for their owner.
- Magnifying Glass - Like most Manalith cards, this one doesn't seem to be playable either, especially since it only makes C. Four mana for a clue is also far too expensive to save this card.
- Tamiyo's Journal - Is expensive at 5cmc, but getting another clue each upkeep seems workable. Also, sacc'ing three clues to Tutor anything feels like it could be a pretty big deal; assuming three clues have accumulated by the time this comes out it becomes a 5cmc tutor at worst, but quickly improves with each subsequent activation. Might be decent if more support cards get spoiled.
The cardpool is very limited, but there are two real stand-outs. Thraben Inspector is an all-star, mostly because W is the perfect casting cost to start out a good curve, but also the fact that investigate is on ETB rather than cast could be relevant if we build a way to flicker the guy. Bygone Bishop is the next good card, since he adds artifact value to later creature drops; t1=Plains-Inspector t2=Mox-DsCitadel-Bishop seems like a lovely way to start a game. The only slight downside is that the bishop's Investigate effect is on casts and not ETBs, so we can't abuse it with Rally or Norin shenanigans.Metalcraft Cardpool
Though there are 31 Metalcraft cards available to modern, most don't warrant mentioning (14 are above 4cmc without being particularly amazing). There are, however, some good lower-cmc spells and luckily most seem to be centered around CWR, which is pretty workable.
- Mox Opal - This zero-mana investment for mana acceleration will always be amazing.
- Etched Champion - Evan as a 2/2 this card does work, since metalcraft color-protection let this guy push through (or it used to, the Eldrazi/Affinity meta probably brings this guy's usefulness down).
- Dispatch - Can tap down an attacker/blocker, and metalcraft makes it better-than-Path.
- Galvanic Blast - Is two-thirds of a bolt but metalcraft doubles that, making it better-than-Bolt.
- Ardent Recruit - Is 1/1 for W, but becomes 3/3 which isn't half bad.
- Auriok Sunchaser - Is 1/1 for 1W, but becomes a 3/3 flier with metalcraft.
- Auriok Edgewright - Is 2/2 for WW, but gets doublestrike with metalcraft.
- Mirran Mettle - Is a metalcraft Groundswell.
The Mox is a must have in all but the lowest low budget builds. Dispatch is too good not to include (especially since we're already in white for investigate), and Blast gives loads of reach to the deck. Meanwhile, three good and cheap white creatures benefit from activating metalcraft, giving enough options to design a creature-base around metalcraft-boosted weenies.Artifacts Matter
There are a number of other non-Metalcraft cards that still follow the count-artifacts mantra.
- Cranial Plating - One of the single best individual cards in Affinity, it supercharges beaters when there are lots of artifacts lying around.
- Glimmervoid - Provides mana on color on demand; often paired with Citadel for protection.
- Springleaf Drum - Can turn a summoning-sick creature into a BoP.
- Arcbound Ravager - Can turn excess clues into damage and combat tricks on a moment's notice.
- Ghirapur Æther Grid - Can turn clues into repeatable damage even behind Bridge.
- Disciple of the Vault - Newly unbanned, this guy makes a decent 1-drop that adds damage value to popped clues.
- Thoughtcast - Was an old old Affinity staple, affinity-for-artifacts gave this card a huge discount, often becoming U-for-draw-2.
- Krark-Clan Ironworks - Can turn clues into mana, but costs 4cmc, and sort nonbo's with metalcraft. Probably better in a different deck.
Miscellaneous SupportThere are a few other avenues that can help to shore up the deck, mostly exploiting tribal or other synergies.
Example Decks
Hybrid Investigate-Metalcraft decks have a few possible directions to build into when starting from a very minimal Affinity skeleton frame, white weenie is the main front, but secondary colors provide a number of alternate win conditions. Maybe more strategies will become available as SOI becomes fully spoiled.
Thraben Gumshoe
This version below is based around a White-Weenie metalcraft strategy that plays a less-explosive Affinity aggro strategy in favor of slightly more resilience to artifact-hate and removal. Red is the secondary/splash mostly to take full advantage of Blast, and somewhat for Grid in the sideboard.
4 Bygone Bishop
4 Thraben Inspector
Weenies (12)
4 Ardent Recruit
4 Auriok Edgewright
4 Auriok Sunchaser
Robots (6)
4 Signal Pest
2 Arcbound Ravager
Spells (10)
4 Cranial Plating
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Dispatch
4 Mox Opal
2 Springleaf Drum
Land (18)
10 Plains
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Glimmervoid
1 Mountain
2 Dispatch
4 Mirran Mettle
2 Ghirapur Æther Grid
3 Spellskite
4 Disciple of the Vault
Blast provides reach while Ravager can do a few combat tricks (however, Rav is severely nerfed compared to robo-Affinity lists since here only Pest can take his counters). Sideboard is somewhat transformational: Mirran Mettle gives a combat-trick boost to an unblocked Edgewright, whereas Grid and Disciple work in combat-clogged matchups.
The only really expensive cards listed above are Mox Opal, Glimmervoid, and Ravager. A full playset of Drum might be enough color-fixing for the deck, since it is basically WHITE-splash-Red.
The End
This deck probably won't be competitive enough to break into the meta. Without all the 0-drops it will never be as explosive as Affinity and the mid-range game probably doesn't really have any big plays. This is just a white weenie deck that grinds out value with metalcraft by turning every topdeck into a 3/3 or better. Still probably fun for a FNM, if just for playing some rarely seen cards.
The way I see it, this deck has some of the spirit of a Sneak & Show ported to Modern, but it does so more slowly and more fairly than the current Grishoalbrand type decks that are just cheating in turn-2 Griselbrands to win on the spot. It is definitely true that ANY deck with Inverter in the mainboard puts itself in a fragile position (due to the self-imposed mill-clock) but there are always ways of setting up protection and redundancy. Inverter of Truth isn't just a half-sized flying Leveler, the graveyard-becomes-the-library is a unique ability and adding even one or two more expected turns opens up a number of new lines of play/design. The most fragile part of the deck is probably the simple fact that the starting-points/examples above offer EVEN LESS interaction than Tron decks for Turns 1-4 (it probably loses to aggro before it can flip ANYTHING or worry about self-mill, oh well, maybe Thing will be the turn-2 blocker decks like this need).
As for the new ideas of Brain in a Jar and Cruel Ultimatum I appreciate the ideas, but I am unconvinced. The engine of B.Jar seems to reward a deck designed with a wide cmc spread of instants and sorceries whereas Shell rewards a deck that is dense with spells that are too expensive to hardcast (to get maximum value out of the hideaway). Wouldn't Cruel Ultimatum's 5 direct damage just be a weaker version of, say, Searing Wind's 10 direct damage? If bomb spells are trimmed to lower cmc's so that maybe B.Jar can cast them mid game, then I feel like Shelldock just becomes less and less useful (less value generated by it). Also, I assume that B.Jar's scry ability is far too little too late.
Side note: I've only done a little goldfishing on Cockatrice and don't own all the cards needed to test it in cardboard or on MTGO. Please try it out and let me know how it does in the thread; until then I'll be playtesting with the older and cheaper ROE Eldrazi beaters instead of Emrakul and Griz.
What is the idea of Shell Game?
Shell Game is an attempt to brew a deck around the new Eldrazi creature Inverter of Truth and takes its name from Shelldock Isle, a card that combos well with Inverter's downside.
(Note: I started brewing this deck when I saw Inverter in the polls for SaffronOlive's Against-the-Odds series. No clue what his deck might end up looking like.)
Do you want to pilot this deck?
Short answer: probably not. This deck relies on some good draws (lucky hideaways, technically) and is rather fragile to disruption, so it probably will never become truly competitive, sorry Spikes (this is especially true with Ghost Quarters filling the meta to counter Tron and the Eldrazi menace). However, if you're a Johnny that appreciates a surprise-factor brew, or a Timmy that likes Annihilator, then you might have fun fiddling with this deck. (And depending on the builg the main pieces aren't very expensive in MTGO, so it might be a fun budget deck to try out too.)
How good/bad is Inverter of Truth?
Inverter of Truth, a 6/6 flier for 2BB, is nothing to scoff at as far as beaters go, unfortunately that's not the whole story; when it hits the battlefield it exiles its controller's deck away (and starts a new library from the graveyard). This drawback really prevents Inverter from seeing play in pretty much any deck not designed around it, as trying to play it like a straight beater would go something like this:
- Turns 1-3: You and your opponent each crack a couple fetches. (Opponent has 18 life)
- Turn 4: You play Inverter on turn 4 but can't attack; Inverter doesn't have haste.
- Turn 5: You redraw fetch number one, then attack with Inverter for 6. (OP@12)
- Turn 6: You redraw fetch number two, then attack with Inverter for 6 more. (OP@6)
- Turn 7: You lose, when you fail to draw on your draw step.
The self-imposed clock definitely puts a damper on the usual big-beater gameplans. There are a couple ways to go around this, however.- Go Spike: Brew a deck fast enough that a self-mill suicide clock doesn't matter.
- Go Johnny: Brew a deck to utilize the self-mill effect to positive effect.
This thread is about choosing option number two.What good is Shelldock Isle?
Shelldock comes into play tapped and taps for blue mana, but it has a hideaway trigger that lets us cast whatever was hidden for the low low price of U if there are less than 20 cards in any single library (which is a condition that Inverter is very good at fulfilling). Essentially, Shell plays out as "cast a bomb the turn after you played Inverter".
That then begs the question, "What bombs do we want?". Ideally, something that wins us the game outright, but giant unanswerable threats are just as viable. The flexibility in bomb choice is pretty fun as it makes the deck rather customizable to personal preference and meta calls.
Deck Creation
Archetypes
There is a lot of flexibility in how decks can utilize this Inverter of Truth & Shelldock Isle combo, though most of these would rightly fall under the umbrella definition of combo decks. Aggro strategies, like Suicide Burn, could be built around Inverter alone (with little to no benefit from Shelldock) an won't really be discussed here. Similarly, Midrange isn't really worth discussing since cheating-in midrange value creatures isn't a particularly strong use of Shelldock.
Combo-Control
These variants are the kind that employ an "insta-win" condition (a la Splinter Twin) where the opponent must counter now or never. As an example, Laboratory Maniac could fit this role in this deck. In this case, the win can be generated instantly if sufficient draw effects are in-hand once the combo has been resolved and protected. Shelldock can be a way to sneak a Maniac in on our opponent's endstep, or as a way to cheat-in a high-cmc card-draw engine that can force the combo.
Combo-Ramp
These variants are the kind that resolve a large-effect spell significantly earlier than on-curve mana should normally allow (a la R/G Tron) which puts the puts the opponent in a "how can I possibly catch up" situation. In this context, we're playing Shelldock more-or-less as a modern port of Show and Tell so that we can drop a Griselbrand or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
Card Choices
The strictest colorpie restriction is the 2BB casting cost of Inverter which makes Black mandatory (or very nearly so). Shelldock on the other hand, having an activation cost of U, is a much softer restriction and could be circumvented by appropriate choice of lands and manadorks. That being said,blue is still a strong contender as a main color due to the breadth of draw manipulation and control effects available.
Archetype Examples
As mentioned above, there are a number of ways to build a deck around this combo, but most fall into two camps: either insta-win (e.g. Splinter Twin), or insurmountable advantage (e.g. R/G Tron). It is possible for both elements to be present in the same deck, but having a clear Plan A/Plan B is important in streamlining the effectiveness of the deck.
Combo-Control
This deck operates on the primary "insta-win" condition of Maniac and secondary plan of Hive Mind. Plan C is face-bashing with Inverter, Griz, and Emrakul.
4 Laboratory Maniac
2 Hive Mind
Beaterwins (5)
3 Griselbrand
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Counters (15)
4 Judge's Familiar
4 Pact of Negation
2 Slaughter Pact
3 Remand
2 Mana Leak
3 Taigam's Scheming
4 Serum Visions
4 Gitaxian Probe
Land (23)
4 Shelldock Isle
4 Darkslick Shores
9 Island
6 Swamp
This deck's main win condition is Maniac which can come down turn-2. After Inversion we can simply draw our way to victory. Counters and cantrips like Remand help keep Maniac alive while speeding to victory. Furthermore, resolving Griz off of shelldock provides a huge card draw effect. With protection in hand Griz's draw-7 should often be enough to trigger Maniac instantly. Otherwise, the second turn out he can swing for damage, threatening lethal while lifelink'ing fuel for another draw-7.
The secondary win condition is Hive which we play as a Plan B similarly to how Amulet Bloom used it. Bloom needed a playset of sumPact to always have Prime Time available; Hive turned those Pacts into a secondary wincon, and let the deck add negPact and killPact to keep everything on the rails. Shelldock wants Maniac to win on a draw trigger, and negPact is great for protection since we win before having to pay the piper; just like Bloom PlanB:Hive becomes viable here too, so we add a killPact or two to up the density of Pacts-in-hand(sumPact could also be useful to search out Maniac, but is much harder to utilize unless we're running a primarily green decklist).
The third win condition is the more straightforward condition: beats. In addition to Inverter being a 6/6 flier, Griselbrand as a 7/7 flier with lifelink is bound to put damage in and keep our own life-total high. Although Emrakul doesn't provide synergy to either PlanA:Maniac or PlanB:Hive (the way Griz's draw-7 does) it is a strong enough effect that Shell-flipping Emrakul should be a win on it's own 99% of the time.
This version of the deck operates primarily on the "big beater" strategy- Inverter, Griselbrand, and Nülamog being the big three.
4 Inverter of Truth
4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Griselbrand
3 Invisible Stalker
4 Eldrazi Conscription
Graveyard (9)
3 Grisly Salvage
2 Gather the Pack
4 Goryo's Vengeance
Search (10)
3 Glittering Wish
4 Expedition Map
3 Sylvan Scrying
4 Shelldock Isle
4 Mosswort Bridge
4 City of Brass
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Swamp
1 Forest
4 Research // Development
4 Torrent of Souls
This deck goes all in on big beaters and foregoes the Maniac plan entirely. Grisly Salvage can filter for the mans and lands we need, while filling grave. Goryo can cheat out the big threats like Nülamog and Griz for big explosive plays (though probably not as fast and consistant as Grishoalbrand decks) even before Inverter flips.
Having so many beefy creatures around (even if some are only around for a turn) makes Mossworts serve as additional Shelldocks. Green also gives more access to search cards like Sylvan Scrying and even Glittering Wish. Wish is interesting because it allows for a "silver-bullet" toolbox in the sideboard. Post-Inversion a Wish can fetch a Research to refill the library with 4 sideboard cards at a time. Wish can also fetch Torrent of Souls to revive any Nülamog or Griz, giving the deck a little more resiliency to removal (both pre- or post- Inversion).
Equipment, I think, would be more hit-or-miss. I feel like running 30-or-so creatures with an exalted trigger each would give more value (by dropping more each turn) than running 5-10 Swords and spending mana each turn to cast and/or equip them. However, there might be a few equipment to run 1-ofs or 2-ofs if you go tribal with exalted humans. Stoneforge Masterwork might be pretty decent since you could get +3/+3 or so pretty easily for 1 cast, 2 equip. Generally, though, equipment probably won't make big pushes into white-weenie type decks until either Stoneforge Mystic or Sword of the Meek become unbanned in modern.
If Bloodmoon-based control isn't enough to slow the opponent down while you grind out value, then maybe you need more midrange to get you there. Jeskai Black splashed black basically because of how good Crackling Doom and Kolaghan's Command are in standard (and modern Jund/Grixis pull in a couple KComm for the same reason). Maybe more high-impact spells well-valued around 2-3cmc on top of a creature base featuring Monastery Mentor? Basically, looking at "Mardu Green", "Mardu Midrange", and "Jeskai Black" decks out of Standard might give you a decent starting point.
For something less competitive, the enters-the-battlefield effect could be abused by Eldrazi Displacer, which, although fun, would be more of a cutesy combo for flashing back anything for 2C. (There'd be a lot of potential value generated by the combo, but it'd take so long to set up that it'd likely be too late to make much difference.)
I strongly agree with @CavalryWolfPack's points above- going Bant will produce a much stronger deck list. Noble Heirarch is an amazingly good card, especially for multicolored creature-based decks (she's expensive for exactly this reason). Qasali Pridemage is also a good card- artifact/enchantment hate in the mainboard is wonderful. If you run creature-heavy with some green, Collected Company becomes very viable in the deck since it'd add another 2-exalted at instant speed (and gives card advantage since it's basically a draw-2), and Rancor can give your swinger trample to push the damage through chump blockers. Other than that, most exalted creatures come out of white, so that should be a centerpoint of your strategy; Sigiled Paladin should probably be the star beater for the team since he has first strike and costs 2cmc. White also gives you Return to the Ranks to recycle any dead creatures back from the grave, and Coordinated Barrage becomes great removal in a W-based tribal deck (though Path is still as good as ever). A few blue cards like Slip Through Space could also be good to push through while giving you a cantrip draw, and Distant Melody might work okay for this tribal deck (I'm assuming you want to vomit your hand of humans out the way Affinity vomits artifacts, and DM should basically act as Thoughtcast provided you haven't been boardwiped).
CWP's comment about being like a weird Boggles deck is pretty accurate also. You're essentially amassing an army to cheer on a single beater, instead of enchanting/equipping the heck out of a single hexproof creature. While that makes you less prone to "target player sac's a creature" or discard spells (since your damage shifts to any new beater) it unfortunately makes you very weak to boardwipe effects, especially to relatively common damaged based spells like Anger of the Gods. There are two ways to combat this problem: 1) play protection spells like Brave the Elements to instant-save your creatures, or 2) play artifacts/enchantments that beef up all your creatures (e.g. Obelisk of Urd or Door of Destinies choosing "Human") to the point that they're all out of Bolt/Anger danger. A good mix of 1&2 is probably the way to go.
However, I will say that with some tuning like this WGu Exalted Humans could be a fun unexpected tribal deck for a FNM.
P.S. It might be fun to see if some weird card like Followed Footsteps could be used to create an army of Noble Heirarchs to exalt your main beater on to glory.
4 Path to Exile
4 AEther Vial
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Flickerwisp
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Mangara of Corondor
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
3 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Oblivion Sower
Land
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Ghost Quarter
7 Plains
4 Swamp
This is the list I've been testing on MTGO since I got a playset of Displacers the other day. I've really been liking Eldrazi Displacer in conjunction with Eldrazi Temple. Flickering for combat tricks with El-Dis becomes much easier when you only have to tap two lands per activation. Having a Flickerwisp out (and lands untapped) with El-Dis can save pretty much anything, and forces opponents to make tough 2-for-1 decisions (or 3-for-1 if there are enough temples out for multi-flickers). El-Dis is also tons of repeatable fun with Mangara of Corrondor; the Eldrazi combo'ed with temples isn't quite Karakas, but it is definitely getting closer as far as Modern is concerned.
There are probably still a couple issues with the manabase to iron out; mainly the fact that 8-lands are colorless-only. Drawing a Cave of Koilos and a basic pretty much has you on track to cast everything on time, but sometimes you'll draw a hand that won't let you cast (or vial) a Tidehollow Sculler on turn-2 (or t3) and it feels like you're losing some effectiveness. Mangara has a similar issue being hard to cast with the double-white, but generally he's better off vialing in on endstep anyways so that doesn't matter as much (unless you're trying to hardcast to bait a bolt). Probably the quickest fix would be to throw some basics out for Godless Shrine and Fetid Heath, and maybe cutting temples back to 3-of. I'll test that as I shell out for some more digital cards, Shrines aren't horrible but Heath is a little crazy right now.
Also, @Chalupacabra: How are you liking Fiend Hunter? I've considered FH and Banisher Priest for roles similar to Tidehollow Sculler in lists running less/no black. Did you choose FH over BP mostly because 1/3 versus 2/2 makes a better blocker, or have you gotten use out of FH's ability to tuck your own creatures?
The difference in variance between the two options is that TS will tuck-exile and never wiff (at least compared to SC), whereas SC will full-exile but only if it doesn't wiff; if TS dies half the time but SC wiffs half the time then the odds are all the same to Wasteland Strangler, but to kill TS the opponent would have probably had to waste a bolt or something to get their card back- so that outcome is kind-of still a small advantage for us. If vial trickery is used (which I hope it should be) you can even sometimes have TS bait a bolt and then vial in WS to process at instant speed anyways- SC just can't do that.
There is something to say for SC being vial-on-3 playable and the fact that they don't get the card back even if he dies, but I'm far more worried about my opponent's deck having 30 maindeck creatures in game-1 than I am worried my TS will die before I can draw a Strangler. It would be a much harder call if their mana costs were switched.
As for Fog, I get what you're saying, but I'm honestly not sure how you guys are surviving long enough to get online, though. The few test games I've run have either been waiting for enough land or waiting for some relevant spells. I'll have to play a bunch of games with a completely unmodified list somehwere from here and see what I'm doing wrong; you're probably right, though, and fog effects would dilute your removal effects too much- if it could work it'd probably have to be all-or-nothing with lots of fog effects.
Main reason I brought up split cards was for Far // Away and Wear // Tear, but I guess Abrupt Decay does the exact same job 99% of the time without having to be a cutesy toolbox 1-of.
, but depending on the individual game we could even dump our own library to grave (probably just once, flashback on opponent) in order to widen the Toshiro-toolbox of on-tap instants.[EDIT: Oops, Archive Trap targets opponents, not players.]As far as early game versus creature-heavy matchups, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Darkness; a basic Fog effect on-color for 1cmc seems like a nice mana-cheap way to ignore beaters until we have everything in place, especially since Toshi could repeat this from grave.
Finally, how about split cards? There are 13 dual-instant cards that could fill a number of 1-of (or 2-of) slots and add utility to both from-graveyard shenanigans and Gifts Ungiven damned-if-you-don't plays, and most/all of them come in with one or both halves costing 2-3cmc.