Mutating a successful deck

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have a deck that I designed shortly before I stopped playing competitively- it was a nasty, fast piece of work. It was also consistent enough to beat a Donate- Illusions of Grandeur deck, multiple times...once when the combo was pulled off twice. Since it was a tournament deck, I couldn't choose all of the cards for it that would have been ideal for it, but I've tweaked it since then.

As it stands right now:

14x Swamp
2x Volrath's Stronghold
2x Phyrexian Tower
1x Lake of the Dead

3x Thran Lens

4x Dark Ritual
4x Diabolic Edict
3x Drain Life
2x Phyrexian Reclamation
4x Unearth

4x Bone Shredder
4x Priest of Gix
3x Spined Fluke
4x Hidden Horror
4x Dauthi Marauder
4x Skittering Skirge
4x Junun Efreet

Sideboard cards
3x Altar of Dementia
3x Skyshaper
4x Terror
4x Extinction


The deck worked for 2 main reasons- because all of its creatures only cost 3 mana total and nearly every one of the critters had a power out of line with its mana cost (offset by other costs), it only needed 3 mana to work with great efficiency.

(Only the Bone Shredder broke that "rule," but in this deck, its a nice reusable creature sweeper.)

End result- the deck gets out fast and tends to stay ahead.

2 notes: 1) Yes, I did try the Hypnotic Specter, and lost every test run in which I got it out. 2) In the more limited original version of the deck, the Skittering Horror was also part of the mix.

After a while, I made a Red/Black version of the deck:

In it, Skittering Horrors returned in place of the Skittering Skirge, and 2 Burnt Offerings replaced 2 Dark Rituals, while Terrors replaced Bone Shredders. The black cards were supplemented by Ball Lightning, Craven Giants, Lightning Bolts, Falter and Fling on the Red side. The Thran Lens was replaced by the Phyrexian Dreadnought.

Also rans for that deck included Sedge Trolls, Hulking Ogres, Bloodrock Cyclops, Shivan Raptor, Keldon Vandals, Viashino Sandstalkers, and Varchild's War Riders. Incinerates, Earthquakes and Pyroclasms were also under consideration- tweeking of that deck is ongoing...

However, I was thinking about "expanding the franchise" to include 2 color decks with Black and the remaining colors. To that end, I need to find 3 casting cost (or less) critters with a power out of line with its cost, or some other powerful ability.

I'm aready tracking down some of the very few artifact critters that are like this- Steel Golem, for instance.

I've also started thinking about Green- Elvish Archers, Elvish Rangers, Titania's Chosen, Llanowar Sentinel, Fallow Wurm, Harvest Wurm, Tempting Wurm, and Rogue Elephant are all on my list. I'm thinking about Alluren, as well.

For Blue, all I have right now are Dandan and Rishadian Airship. Oh yeah- and counterspells of various kinds.

However, I know I don't know or own everything, so I'm looking for some help.

So, what 3 casting cost critters of ANY color do you like? What cards have a synergy that would make them more effective?

 

[Aus_Snow]

Well, this guy seems like he could be a likely lad, for the type of deck yours appears to be. Not stellar (i.e., b0rken) perhaps, but damn solid for the cost. And since, if I read thigns correctly, you're going for aggro here - blocking? Yeah, whatever. And hey, you said red was an option. Plus, flexible casting cost is nice - pretty much equates to 3 colourless in a B/R deck, in this instance. I'd place it as a contender for 'Hidden Horror upgrade'.

As far as synergy goes, how about some other CIP (wasn't there a 'murder code' for these, once upon a time. . .?) critters, and, more importantly - assuming you keep in some of the ones you've listed there - critters that do something useful upon dying. I would certainly kick out the Junun Efreets, personally. Especially since you have so little mana available at the best of times, as things stand.

What are the Thran Lenses in aid of? Sorry if I'm just being oblivious and missing a combo or whatever. But yeah, I can't see a good reason to keep them, atm.

That's what comes to mind. Hope it's not way off the mark.

 

[Runestar]

Thran lens seems to be there to let the bone shredder circumvent the limitation of not being able to target black creatures, as well as working past COP: black, though it seems more useful as a sideboard card.

You sure the deck is that good? It doesn't come across as particularly speedy. The mana-curve is terrible, with so few creatures that cost 2 mana, and so many which require 3, you can't always bank on starting with a ritual, and while lake of the dead can nab you 6 mana on turn3, it really screws with your mana development later on.

Mana count also seems fairly low.

Phyrexian negator is 5/5 for 3 mana, though it has a fairly henious drawback. Flesh reaver and lurking evil are also fast fatties, but can wreck havoc with your hp total. Of course, who can forget the carnophages and sarcomancies which made suicide black such a force to be reckoned with?

Maybe Yagmoth's will to replay sacrificed creatures.

how about some other CIP (wasn't there a 'murder code' for these, once upon a time. . .?) critters

187.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Yeah, 187. Thanks!

Another thought: *if* you're going to insist on discarding creatures, have some that do something while there. Anger springs to mind as being extremely useful for this kind of deck, though I'm sure there are other, and perhaps better, options in this context.

Or hey, there are creatures with madness to consider. That could be pretty nifty. It won't be the um, basking(?) rootwalla, most likely, but there'll be something out there that could suit. This is in response to your seeking 'synergy', btw.

I agree about the mana curve. It's a little out of whack, and something I forgot to mention before (got caught up with trying to think of creatures.)

A good thing to go in place of Thran Lens and maybe the Reclamations would be some fast draw, in my books.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thanks all for wading through the initial post, if nothing else! And thanks for the suggestions. Now to respond!

I know the original deck's curve looks out of whack, but this thing's been through the crucible- the first tournament out it finished in the top 4. Its 2 losses that tourney came at the hands of other black decks that essentially top decked it. (One, FWIW, to a deck using the Phyrexian Negator and a bunch of black discard- namely 3 Coercion in the first 4 turns- and I still almost beat him.)

As mentioned, it also whupped a tournament winning Blue/White weenie/counterspell deck several times, and it fared well against that Donate/Illusions of Grandeur deck that was such a pain in its time.

I have never- and I really mean that- lost a game with this deck because of not having enough mana for the job.

When I drop certain cards to get more 2 casting cost critters or critters with a 2 power and a fancy ability (like the Hypnotic Specter), the deck simply stalls out. Even something like the Khabal Ghoul, while potentially KILLER in a deck like this, often died- cheaply, even- before it became effective. It seems as if the magic number for creature power is "3+." (Which, BTW, I've already discovered will be a problem for the white version of this deck).

The deck was also resilient- in several games I got dropped down below 10 life before the deck started clicking...but then the hemorrhaging stopped. The Drain Life kept me in several games (most notably the Donate/Illusion matches), and the Edicts plus the constantly recycled Bone Shredders generally kept the board clear of most blockers.

Thran Lens was surprisingly effective. It let my Bone Shredder affect pro-Black creatures, and meant that my big, colorless critters waltzed past a lot of smaller blockers, ignore COP, and cards that negated "black" damage. It neutered cards that affected "black" or any other color permanents- meaning VERY importantly, it kept cards like Crusade from being effective. That single card (plus the luck of my opponent not drawing a "Disenchant" in 2 games) dismantled a mono-White weenie deck. It also crippled a Black weenie deck that depended upon Bad Moon. Cards with text like "Tap X White creatures you control to _______..." were meaningless.

When it wasn't effective, the Altar came in, and I started sacking critters to it. A few turns of Skirges, Horrors, Shredders, Priests and Flukes getting sacked to it and most decks were effectively gutted.

The Junun Efreet was effective. It was the only other flyer besides the Skirge in the price range with a power of 3. Typically, once the deck was rolling, my mana pretty much sat there, so powering the Efreet wasn't an issue. On occasion, I sacrificed them to the Fluke if maintenance was an issue.

I like that Gouger- yes, blocking is a complete afterthought. If I'm blocking, I'm probably losing, or facing someone who didn't really read the text of Thran Lens and thinks his White Knight is a 4/4 first striker. That one might be worth tracking down for the R/Blk version of the deck. Its more likely to replace the Skittering Horror, than the Hidden Horror, though.

I'd have put them in in an instant, but...I haven't bought any cards since...the Masqerade sets? Time Spiral?

This also means I'm not familiar with "Madness."

I've done a little digging in my own collections, and I've found a few tasty ones...

Green will probably use the Rogue Elephants, but I had forgotten about the Hunting Moa and Simian Grunts.

Blue will be getting School of Piranha, Rishadian Airship, and Cloud Spirits.

White will be the tricky one- there are almost no 3 casting cost white critters with 3 power...those that do are often pumpables. So a different approach must be taken, focusing less on White critters and more on White support cards. At this point, I'm using Pegasus Charger and Zhalfirin Crusader, Moonlit Wake, Angelic Renewal, and the very key Knighthood. Plus Wrath of God for cementing a probable victory, since land isn't that important to this deck.

 

[nightprowler4321]

There is an enchantment called Haunted Crossroads from MMask that works slightly better then the Volrath's Stronghold, just more mana efficient. Also there is a consume spirit from X that works better then the Drain Life, but does the same thing better. For card drawing and since it seems your only shadow creatures are the maurders and you can use it for recursion would be the looter en core from timespiral, a common, you lose a couple points in shadow damage but would make up in the draw, I imagine even with recursion going on this deck is slow at times, and prob what saves you during those times is the edit. The priest serve double duty for the rituals so if your running 4 priest would replace the ritual with something else. From what I see, you don't have a whole lot of instants other then Unearths, so prob wouldnt hurt. There are better recursion cards then the reclaimation that brings cards into play without the life hurt, Lifelink, an artifact from Urza's is a great combo with the boneshredders. I would drop out one Thran and maybe replace it with a big fatty Spirit of the Night, pro black 6/5 first strike when attacking. Or there is some gnomes called eratz gnomes dont know what set that do what the thran lens do at instant speed, so another creature or two for you. There is also better flyers in black then the ones you have, even if flying is not a problem with you, just any look in a common/uncommon box at a local game store would probably net you some. Why sideboard the altar, I'd put it in; having an altar makes people leave you alone, most people do not want to risk you milling them even for a couple of cards. I juse mine reactively, they get rid of any of my creatures for any reason, sac to the altar, they try to get rid of the altar, sac a couple creatures to it. Usually this will deter most people. I would put in the skyshapers too, you said you playing casual, no one is going to complain if you have a 63 card deck, I put in at least one. Instant flying when you want it. Other then this, it looks good and btw, about a year ago in stanard the black control made a resurgence and did pretty good.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A couple of points...

While the Priests work kind of like Rituals, they can't replace them. Ritual lets me get critters out on turn 1, if I'm lucky- even things like a Spined Fluke. Example: in tournament, 1 Swamp, 1 Ritual, 3 Priests & 1 Spined Fluke all came out turn one. Turn 2 was Unearth a Priest and cast a Marauder (this was before they changed the ruling on the Priest's ability).

Without the Rituals, there isn't any jumpstart potential.

I understand the preference for the Altar over the Lens (God knows I love to use the Altar a lot), but there is/was so much Protection from Black/(bonus) to all (color) in the environment, the Lens was actually more effective. Against something like White Weenie, the Altar was an annoyance, but the Lens was a killer.

The Skyshaper, OTOH, might be the better choice...I'll have to think about it. Its definitely more proactive than protective, and has the chance to help me end the game quickly.

Haunted Crossroads, while more efficient to use than Volrath's, doesn't provide mana when I'm not using it for getting critters back.

The Ersatz Gnomes were part of the pre-tournament design, but while they do provide me with another critter, they're more expensive than the Lens and must be tapped to use. The Lens's effect is continuous.

I'm not sure how the Looter il Kor helps the blue version of this deck...I'm considering Man o War as a partner to the Bone Shredder...but while very useful, neither provides much offensive punch, which is where this deck shines.

I love Lifeline, and use it very well in a deck with Hunting Moas, Multani's Acolyte, Marker Beetles, and Yavimya Elders. Here, however, it would just keep putting roadblocks (my opponent's critters) into my thugs' way- unless I kill them, I can't get my damage through consistently.

As for flyers, the only 3 or less casting cost black critters I could find were the Junun Efreet and the Skittering Skirge- both with powers of 3. Do you know of any others?

I like the Spirit of the Night, but something like that would just clog this deck. I typically don't have more than 4 land in play at any time when running it, and I hold onto land and Rituals in order to jumpstart a recovery in case someone plays a big land sweeper like Armageddon, Cataclysm, Jokulhaups or whatever.