So I know the general consensus for this deck is Tempered Steel plus artifact creatures but I was looking through M12 and Zombie Infestation caught my eye and this sort of deck strategy seemed to work with it.
My thought was end of turn ditching your hand of Vengevines/Bloodghasts for 2/2 Zombies (more bodies for Battle Cry) and then recur them next turn and swing big. Infiltration Lens and Lead the Stampede synergize well with the rest of the deck as well as facilitate the Zombie strategy. Just thought I would share here to get an idea of what you guys think. The core of creatures and Battle Cry is similar, that's why I'm posting here.
Since I know that isn't all that related to Brown Aggro, I'll post my actual list for your assistance as well. I'm not sure on a sideboard as of right now. I know I want counterspells and some Islands, and Indomitable Archangel sounds fun. Glint Hawk Idol should probably go in there somewhere but throughout my play testing I never really liked it MB. It just seemed to slow me down more so than help but I understand where and why it is useful. I'd rather just have it sideboard though.
@ Zelderex: If you read carefully, he says he Blasted the Tarpit and tapped down the Sphere until his opponent's Magnets were empty.
Also, Spellskite is an amazing card but it really isn't the end-all-be-all card that you make it out to be. I strongly advocate it but there are plenty of answers available to Red to deal with RDW and Splinter Twin. I've won games against Twin without needing Spellskite. As long as you know what you are playing just hold 4+ damage in hand and make sure you have the lands to play them. I agree that Spellskite is good because it takes a lot of weight off of your plays when you don't need to worry about holding up burn. I guess what I'm getting at is that you don't need to berate everyone who posts on here and their list doesn't use it. I think it is pretty obvious that the deck is capable of winning without it. Let people put it in if it makes sense to them.
Sorry to rant like that. As far as the conversation that's going on is concerned, what is the consensus on Batterskull? I'm hearing that it is either awesome or just terrible. I would be willing to try it as a one-of in my deck but I'm not sure how it'll fit in. Any suggestions? My deck list is here. Thanks in advance.
I was intrigued by Zombie Infestation as well and how best to use it. This seems like the best thread to place my deck list in, so bear with me since it is fairly different than what you guys are already talking about but it still uses Vengevine and graveyard shenanigans.
I've been messing with the Battle Cry aggro core for awhile now. I think it is pretty brutal in the same way KRed was but this seems to have more longevity and has its own decent synergy. Zombie infestation lets you turn your hand into several zombies for an alpha strike on turn 3. Or you pitch Bloodghasts/Vengevines, make a zombie, then drop some creatures or land and recur them for some serious damage very quickly. And on top of that the deck should run fairly well without those combos as well.
What do you guys think? Suggestions would be very welcome.
well it is not like i want to finish the game that early, otherwise i would have choose a RDW deck.
I'm pretty sure, regardless of what the deck is, if you want to be competitive, you want to win as fast as possible. I realize we are a control deck but that doesn't mean we can't be fast. CawBlade was sealing games on turn 3 by dropping an appropriate sword/batterskull.
From what I can tell by other people's comments and personal theorizing, all that the Shrine does is disrupt the curve we are going for. All of the bombs we have are good on their typical turn but a turn faster makes them ridiculous. If I'm not playing Chalice turn 2, the only other thing I want to see is a Spellskite. I think that is pretty much the goal of this deck as of right now.
I'm pretty sure that the Riddlesmith's trigger will go first.
Cast your artifact. Riddlesmith's trigger goes on the stack on top of the artifact. It resolves and you draw then discard. Then the cantrip artifact resolves, enters the battlefield and triggers and you draw your card.
I'm not 100% on the whole rules thing but it seems like that's how it would play out.
On a note related to this thread, I think this deck sounds like a whole ton of fun. I'll work on developing my own list and I'll post back here at another time.
I'm trying out 4 Arid Mesa in the main with 1-2 Plains in the side with Celestial Purge. The Plains with the Sphere of the Suns makes it easy to splash Purge, which is great against MBC (Obliterator much?), Splinter Twin, as well as the mirror match, and RDW.
So are you saying to drop all of the Dismembers for 1x Plains and 3x Celestial Purge? That sounds interesting but I feel like Dismember still covers those problems just as well and doesn't require the splash. I feel like I could put in another Tumble Magnet and cover the Obliterator problem just as well.
I'll probably just run a second Red Sun's Zenith though. Reusable Fireballs with the ridiculous amount of mana available sounds good for some post board games. The exiling of creatures will probably become relevant too if Vengevine become big again. I'm also thinking Moltensteel as a two-of in the board though. I'll play around with it later this week and see what I come up with.
Yeah sethd, metamorph summed it up pretty well. It is a good early defensive card and he is pretty flexible as well. It rocked the Splinter Twin match and it uses up enemy removal spells, leading to more surviving bombs. NABU raises a good point in that it is a bad top deck late game but except for one game where I drew all three MB ones, I really was never disappointed to see it.
I was actually fairly unhappy with Dismember. It may have been that this was my first time really using it in constructed but 4 life on top of a lot of other life loss spells and lands really added up. I never put in more than three from the SB. So I have an extra slot to play with there. I'm not sure what to put in though. Any suggestions?
I was very surprised at how much mana this deck could produce. I wouldn't change the land count or ramp but I feel it could use an additional big mana sink spell to burn out opponents or something. I'm very tired right now but I can go into more detail on stuff if there is any interest another time. Just thought I would share before bed.
Anyone else notice the third "arm" coming out of the back of the metal guy in picture #5. As well as the metal face on his right shoulder? Most likely an artifact creature of some kind and the similar look to the other guys leads me to think a clone effect. It looks really awesome though.
I know these threads are usually pretty pointless but I figured I'd send out a hello and the usual courtesy type deals. I hope to get involved in standard deck discussions and trade stuffs. I'm primarily a Green and Red player with some hints of Black and White when appropriate. I've never gotten into Blue. Haha.
I've only been playing since Zendikar block. I've done a few tournaments to no great success. I mainly play local stuff but once I feel like I get better/life works out a bit better, I'd like to try my hand at the pro circuit (but who doesn't?). I have aspirations to be a game designer at some point and am currently working on a game. So, that's a bit about me. I hope to get to know some people here and enjoy my time here.
My thought was end of turn ditching your hand of Vengevines/Bloodghasts for 2/2 Zombies (more bodies for Battle Cry) and then recur them next turn and swing big. Infiltration Lens and Lead the Stampede synergize well with the rest of the deck as well as facilitate the Zombie strategy. Just thought I would share here to get an idea of what you guys think. The core of creatures and Battle Cry is similar, that's why I'm posting here.
4x Bloodghast
4x Vengevine
4x Memnite
4x Ornithopter
4x Signal Pest
4x Vault Skirge
2x Hex Parasite
3x Dismember
3x Lead the Stampede
3x Mox Opal
3x Zombie Infestation
2x Infiltration Lens
4x Contested War Zone
4x Verdant Catacomb
4x Forest
8x Swamp
Since I know that isn't all that related to Brown Aggro, I'll post my actual list for your assistance as well. I'm not sure on a sideboard as of right now. I know I want counterspells and some Islands, and Indomitable Archangel sounds fun. Glint Hawk Idol should probably go in there somewhere but throughout my play testing I never really liked it MB. It just seemed to slow me down more so than help but I understand where and why it is useful. I'd rather just have it sideboard though.
4x Signal Pest
4x Memnite
4x Ornithopter
4x Vault Skirge
4x Spined Thopter
4x Inquisitor Exarch
4x Hero of Bladehold
3x Mox Opal
3x Dispatch
4x Tempered Steel
2x Chimeric Mass
Lands: 20
4x Contested War Zone
4x Seachrome Coast
12x Plains
2x Island
4x Negate
2x Indomitable Archangel
3x Spellskite
4x Glinthawk Idol
Any assistance will be much appreciated.
Also, Spellskite is an amazing card but it really isn't the end-all-be-all card that you make it out to be. I strongly advocate it but there are plenty of answers available to Red to deal with RDW and Splinter Twin. I've won games against Twin without needing Spellskite. As long as you know what you are playing just hold 4+ damage in hand and make sure you have the lands to play them. I agree that Spellskite is good because it takes a lot of weight off of your plays when you don't need to worry about holding up burn. I guess what I'm getting at is that you don't need to berate everyone who posts on here and their list doesn't use it. I think it is pretty obvious that the deck is capable of winning without it. Let people put it in if it makes sense to them.
Sorry to rant like that. As far as the conversation that's going on is concerned, what is the consensus on Batterskull? I'm hearing that it is either awesome or just terrible. I would be willing to try it as a one-of in my deck but I'm not sure how it'll fit in. Any suggestions? My deck list is here. Thanks in advance.
4x Bloodghast
4x Vengevine
4x Memnite
4x Ornithopter
4x Signal Pest
4x Vault Skirge
1x Copperhorn Scout
2x Morbid Plunder
3x Lead the Stampede
3x Mox Opal
3x Zombie Infestation
2x Hunter's Instinct
2x Infiltration Lens
4x Contested War Zone
4x Verdant Catacomb
5x Forest
7x Swamp
I've been messing with the Battle Cry aggro core for awhile now. I think it is pretty brutal in the same way KRed was but this seems to have more longevity and has its own decent synergy. Zombie infestation lets you turn your hand into several zombies for an alpha strike on turn 3. Or you pitch Bloodghasts/Vengevines, make a zombie, then drop some
What do you guys think? Suggestions would be very welcome.
I'm pretty sure, regardless of what the deck is, if you want to be competitive, you want to win as fast as possible. I realize we are a control deck but that doesn't mean we can't be fast. CawBlade was sealing games on turn 3 by dropping an appropriate sword/batterskull.
From what I can tell by other people's comments and personal theorizing, all that the Shrine does is disrupt the curve we are going for. All of the bombs we have are good on their typical turn but a turn faster makes them ridiculous. If I'm not playing Chalice turn 2, the only other thing I want to see is a Spellskite. I think that is pretty much the goal of this deck as of right now.
Cast your artifact. Riddlesmith's trigger goes on the stack on top of the artifact. It resolves and you draw then discard. Then the cantrip artifact resolves, enters the battlefield and triggers and you draw your card.
I'm not 100% on the whole rules thing but it seems like that's how it would play out.
On a note related to this thread, I think this deck sounds like a whole ton of fun. I'll work on developing my own list and I'll post back here at another time.
So are you saying to drop all of the Dismembers for 1x Plains and 3x Celestial Purge? That sounds interesting but I feel like Dismember still covers those problems just as well and doesn't require the splash. I feel like I could put in another Tumble Magnet and cover the Obliterator problem just as well.
I'll probably just run a second Red Sun's Zenith though. Reusable Fireballs with the ridiculous amount of mana available sounds good for some post board games. The exiling of creatures will probably become relevant too if Vengevine become big again. I'm also thinking Moltensteel as a two-of in the board though. I'll play around with it later this week and see what I come up with.
I was actually fairly unhappy with Dismember. It may have been that this was my first time really using it in constructed but 4 life on top of a lot of other life loss spells and lands really added up. I never put in more than three from the SB. So I have an extra slot to play with there. I'm not sure what to put in though. Any suggestions?
2-0 vs. Mono Black Aggro/Disruption
1-2 vs. G/W Stompy Ramp
2-1 vs. U/B Mill
1-2 vs. Counter heavy Cawblade
Squeaked into the top eight.
2-0 vs. PyroTwin
2-1 vs. G/W Stompy (same guy as above)
2-0 vs. Counter light Cawblade
3x Spellskite
3x Urabrask the Hidden
1x Wurmcoil Engine
4x Inferno Titan
Spells: 26
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Sphere of the Suns
4x Everflowing Chalice
2x Volt Charge
2x Slagstorm
3x Tumble Magnet
4x Koth of the Hammer
4x Tezzeret's Gambit
1x Red Sun's Zenith
1x Island
11x Mountain
4x Scalding Tarn
3x Arid Mesa
4x Tectonic Edge
3x Phyrexian Metamorph
3x Shatter
1x Spellskite
1x Moltensteel Dragon
4x Dismember
1x Slagstorm
2x Act of Aggression
I was very surprised at how much mana this deck could produce. I wouldn't change the land count or ramp but I feel it could use an additional big mana sink spell to burn out opponents or something. I'm very tired right now but I can go into more detail on stuff if there is any interest another time. Just thought I would share before bed.
I've only been playing since Zendikar block. I've done a few tournaments to no great success. I mainly play local stuff but once I feel like I get better/life works out a bit better, I'd like to try my hand at the pro circuit (but who doesn't?). I have aspirations to be a game designer at some point and am currently working on a game. So, that's a bit about me. I hope to get to know some people here and enjoy my time here.
To those that read this: thank you for your time.