Lia's obnoxius deck thread (MtG)

[Jack_Dullahan]

Maybe the answer is to get creative, maybe it's not. What could you do with all that card advantage that other decks wouldn't be able to emulate?

Also, Batterskull.

[Banshi]

Jack_Dullahan

Also, Batterskull.

I think her point was "If Batterskull, why bother with Skullclamp?" Honestly, it's a good point. Unfortunately I'm also at a loss for a good thing to do after you've drawn a s**t ton of cards for no other reason than you just can.

....Maybe Neverending Torment?

[Jack_Dullahan]

Banshi

Jack_Dullahan

Also, Batterskull.

I think her point was "If Batterskull, why bother with Skullclamp?" Honestly, it's a good point. Unfortunately I'm also at a loss for a good thing to do after you've drawn a s**t ton of cards for no other reason than you just can.

....Maybe Neverending Torment?

Batterskull is to this deck what BSC is to base blue.

As for Torment. Normally, I'd say no. But the way decks are built now, maybe yes...

[LiaThistle]

To that, I have to say: Landstill.

Banshi's right on this one. I don't want Batterskull because it is the go-to card for SFM. But what to do with a BW shell and a bunch of cards in hand?

[Banshi]

I still say Neverending Torment.

[LiaThistle]

Let's see...first resolution likely takes away my opponent's ability to win. Thanks to the 'ghasts, I won't need to cast spells to still be able to swing in and win the traditional way, and I should always have a hand of ~7 cards. That's not too many turns until it decks someone.

Is it sad that this seems like the kind of deck that Reliquary Tower would just fit in?

[Jack_Dullahan]

Not really.

[LiaThistle]

Ages ago, ya know, back during Tempest block, the precons came with handy little strategy guides that featured not just the precons, but "advanced" versions. Why do I mention this? Because a few days ago, I reassembled their advanced version of "Widowmaker," since I remembered it was fun to play.

For the curious, the decklist as present is:

8 Island
4 Rootwater Depths
7 Swamp
4 Underground River
2 Undiscovered Paradise

4 Merfolk Looter
4 Merfolk Traders
4 Man-o'-War
2 Blood Pet
1 Vampire Hounds
1 Necratog
2 Fallen Angel
1 Spirit of the Night
1 Bottle Gnomes

2 Impulse
2 Memory Lapse
2 Counterspell
1 Dissipate
1 Ancestral Memories
1 Dark Ritual
1 Haunting Misery
3 Living Death
1 Spinning Darkness
1 Phyrexian Furnace

+ Sideboard that I did not care to build.

Obviously, I changed a few cards to fit what I had on hand. My version looks like this:

8 Island
2 Polluted Delta
3 Salt Marsh
7 Swamp
4 Underground Sea
1 Wasteland

4 Merfolk Looter
4 Merfolk Traders
4 Man-o'-War
2 Blood Pet
1 Vampire Hounds
1 Necratog
2 Fallen Angel
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Bottle Gnomes

2 Impulse
2 Memory Lapse
2 Counterspell
1 Dissipate
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Dark Ritual
1 Haunting Misery
3 Living Death
1 Spinning Darkness
1 Phyrexian Furnace

Now...I want to keep the general theme (that is, go go Living Death), but obviously, there have been drastic card improvements since then (ie, I was and still am considering Iona and Sphinx of the Steel Wind in place of the Leviathan, Vampire Nighthawk in place of the Gnomes, and possibly replacing Impulse with Forbidden Research).
Yes, I know Salt Marsh stinks and I should desperately use something else, especially with as many duals as I have. Heck, the M10 land would work better, given the fact that I have only 3 non-Swamp/Island lands. Alas, I have none.

Anyways, thoughts? The deck feels really slow, but I remember it being kinda quick.

[Jack_Dullahan]

What exactly do you want this deck to do, LT? What's its mission statement?

[LiaThistle]

Another thought, because I thought it'd be funny.

Artifacts - 2
2 Chalice of the Void

Creatures - 8
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Yavimaya Enchantress

Enchantments - 27
4 Wild Growth
3 Ground Seal
2 Seal of Primordium
4 Zombie Infestation
4 Seal of Doom
4 Bottomless Pit
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Endless Ranks of the Dead

Lands - 23
4 Bayou
2 Verdant Catacomb
4 Wasteland
8 Swamp
5 Forest

For the curious, it needs a better draw engine.
As a totally unrelated note, Sylvan Library did occur to me early on, but I forgot it when drawing up the original list (seen above).

[Jack_Dullahan]

I also recommend either Verduran Enchantress or Enchantress's Presence. The more ladies you have, the happier you'll be. And I doubt it can be considered an affordable option, but The Abyss also meshes nicely since you can't rely on white to clear the board or protect you with absurd combat taxing. Elephant Grass helps with the latter.

I like the deck's direction. It's a bit slower than other builds, especially the rare and unique BG Tendrils builds (so cheeky), but Endless Ranks is powerful over the timeline you're establishing.

[LiaThistle]

Jack_Dullahan

I also recommend either Verduran Enchantress or Enchantress's Presence. The more ladies you have, the happier you'll be. And I doubt it can be considered an affordable option, but The Abyss also meshes nicely since you can't rely on white to clear the board or protect you with absurd combat taxing. Elephant Grass helps with the latter.

I like the deck's direction. It's a bit slower than other builds, especially the rare and unique BG Tendrils builds (so cheeky), but Endless Ranks is powerful over the timeline you're establishing.

Real problem is that I've had issues keeping creatures of any kind other than Argothian. I only was able to generate one Zombie token with Endless once.
So...the deck needs to be better.

[Jack_Dullahan]

What's the part that kills you? Saying a deck needs to be better is an unhelpful statement usually passed down to newer players from pseudo-intellectual semi-experts.

[LiaThistle]

Pretty much all of it. I don't feel like the deck is as cohesive as it should be; it comes nowhere near the cohesiveness of TMCS 1, for example.

Wild Growth doesn't contribute, but it's about the only turn 1 play that's usable. Most of my ideal spells are CMC 2 - which means that I need to stop Spell Snare, hence the Chalices, but at the same time, those are so meta'd (and stopped by Snare as well) they're probably not worth running.

Infestation/Endless is cute, but if it was good, then why isn't it being run in Standard? It needs it's own deck, more likely than not (and I hear Tombstone Stairwell works with it, too).

Ground Seal and Leyline are there for anti-Snapcaster/Surgical measures - which seems really silly, but at the same time, necessary. They also impact 'goyf and Scavenging, but meh.

Bottomless Pit is a house against spell-based control, if it ever resolves. But it also makes Infestation rather difficult to use.

Yavimaya Enchantress is an excellent alternate win, hampered only by the exposure to all non-red kill spells - in a deck with so few creatures they'll die if they're played.

Hence my statement of "the deck needs to be better."

Firstly, what I can think of:
-3 Ground Seal, +3 Sylvan Library
With no recursion effects, my main concern is Surgical, or not opening with Leyline. Every game I've tested with so far has opened with Leyline but one. Not honestly a big concern, and since multiple Leylines means an extra card, not as much of an issue as might normally be.

-4 Yavimaya Enchantress, +1 Library, +3 ???
Because above.

[Kaim Arouet]

Why Wild Growth? Utopia Sprawl maybe a bit stronger for you.