I'm a casual player predominantly, but have been inspired to create some more competitive standard decks since seeing the full INN spoiler.
What do other people think of making a self-milling deck with Skaab Ruinator, Mindshrieker, and Ghoulcaller's Bell for a basis? The trick is to have multiple ways of milling oneself to throw cards like the Ruinator in your GY, along with the creature cards to exile in order to cast him, but you don't have to rely on the 5/6 flyer to win. Mindshrieker could possibly win on its own through beats and milling your opponent. Add in Forbidden Alchemy for some card advantage and to fuel the GY and the deck has some utility.
I just came up with this possible deck and would like to know what others think. It's in the early stages, but does it sound like it has Standard potential? Any suggestions for other card additions to finish out the deck? Should another color be added? Black possibly, for some Liliana of the Veil goodness?
Seems to be working okay - not sold on Reassembling skeleton: He's good, but not quite good enough, I don't think. He'd really shine if I could fit some swords in here, considering going -2 Doom Blade, -1 Moan, +1 sever, +2 Sword of FoF. Not sure yet,t hough: only really tested vs. aggro decks in the new environment. So far, I know my sideboard consists of Four Black Sun's Zenith as well as 4x Ratchet Bomb, not sure what else yet, though. Does okay against aggro: Pharaoh's a house, esp. post sideboard when I have 8 sweepers. Skeleton is decent vs. aggro since he clogs up the ground, but I have this idea (Delusion?) that he'll be better vs. control, primarily if I can find some room for swords.
How about "You may discard your hand, pay 5 life, rip this card, remove 3 digits from any number of target fingers you control, and concede at the end of the next end step rather than pay It Will Go Through!!'s mana cost.
I like the idea! I thought about going UB. But a friend of mine I suggested I could also go UW Mill with some control. He told me how I could use Sun Titan to get back cards like Armed Skaab, Skaab Ruinator (possibly), Oblivion Ring, etc. Have a few of the flash back cards Dream Twist, Feeling of Dread, and Divine Reckoning. Then get Runic Repetition to bring back your flashback. Deranged Assistant, I personally think it's good if you mill a majority amount of your lands but that's me. My deck idea is still in creation though, sadly.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard: UB Tezzeret Artifact Control GUB Self-Mill RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.) RG Werewolves (In the making.)
I like the idea! I thought about going UB. But a friend of mine I suggested I could also go UW Mill with some control. He told me how I could use Sun Titan to get back cards like Armed Skaab, Skaab Ruinator (possibly), Oblivion Ring, etc. Have a few of the flash back cards Dream Twist, Feeling of Dread, and Divine Reckoning. Then get Runic Repetition to bring back your flashback. Deranged Assistant, I personally think it's good if you mill a majority amount of your lands but that's me. My deck idea is still in creation though, sadly.
My deck is still in its creation stages as well, but I really want to make a deck geared toward milling myself and coming out the winner through either aggro cards like Skaab Ruinator or with an alternate win con in Laboratory Maniac. Plus, thanks for pointing out Deranged Assistant. He would be an excellent addition to my deck concept. I will continue to work on this and return to the thread with a deck list next post. Happy brewing!
Looks something like the deck I made for a Magic Madhouse competition. My deck focuses a lot more on Skaab Ruinator though, and winning by beating with that.
The deck can be found here, if you're interested: http://www.magicmadhouse.co.uk/articles/?p=351
Looks something like the deck I made for a Magic Madhouse competition. My deck focuses a lot more on Skaab Ruinator though, and winning by beating with that.
The deck can be found here, if you're interested: http://www.magicmadhouse.co.uk/articles/?p=351
Wow. Thanks for the link. Yeah, my deck looks like yours except yours is much better! Lol! I appreciate the link. I've been trying to figure out a deck to play at my local shop for the INN Gameday tournament later this month, and I'm a big fan of the Ruinator. Hope you don't mind me borrowing more than a few of your card selections for the deck.
Don't you want more like 30-35 creatures if you're really looking to abuse the Ruinator?
Incidentally, goes amazingly well with the Civilized Scholar/Necrotic Ooze semi-combo. Fill your graveyard with creatures off the Necrotic Ooze, then bring out the Ruinators. Also synergizes with Vengeful Pharaoh, since you can pitch pharaohs to the Ooze, negating their drawback - I know Mindshrieker already does this, but having a backup plan is always good for when you don't have a Mindshrieker. Plus, you've now got a ton of creatures in your deck which are difficult to keep off the board and swing for 5+ a turn.
Control decks will struggle with this (I mean, specific control decks might have a good matchup, but in general control won't deal with it well); the real challenge will be being able to sit on aggro well enough while maintaining creature density. We can obviously trot out 4x Go For The Throat and 3x Day of Judgment + 3x Black Sun's Zenith, but that stuff + liliana + unburial rites and now you're creature-light again.
I was thinkning about going black blue using labrotory maniac, one copy of mirror mad and a phantasmal image to auto kill my deck. "Have phantasmal become the mirror-mad and then use it's ability to shuffle and mill as there would be no mirror mad phantasm in there it would auto mill. Lack of tutor effects is all that is keeping me from attempting this stupid strategy
Seems like it could be fun. Can't figure out what else to put into it. It's cool because it's really wrath proof between Kessig Cagebreakers and Skaab Ruinator.
I dunno. Hopefully, you draw an SE and Necrotic Ooze and ditch Mirror-Mad with the Looter. Then you activate Necrotic Ooze's Mirror-Mad ability, then SE your own Mirror-Mads. Mill yourself out, and with Laboratory Maniac in play, draw a card with Merfolk Looter.
John-, that won't work. If Necrotic Ooze gains Mirror-Mad Phantasm's ability, it gains the ability except that all instances of "Mirror-Mad Phantasm" in the ability now read "Necrotic Ooze".
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A voice for Timmy.
Commander R Ashling, the Pilgrim Mono Red Wildfire Control GBW Karador, Ghost Chieftain Abzan Dredge Rock WBR Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Mardu Aggro-Reanimator Midrange
John-, that won't work. If Necrotic Ooze gains Mirror-Mad Phantasm's ability, it gains the ability except that all instances of "Mirror-Mad Phantasm" in the ability now read "Necrotic Ooze".
why would it read "necrotic ooze" instead of "mirror-mad phantasm"? ooze's ability copies the activated ability... it says nothing about replacing any words in the ability.
On second thought, I may be wrong, because "a card named Mirror-Mad Phantasm" doesn't refer to the same Necrotic Ooze card.
If so, neat.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A voice for Timmy.
Commander R Ashling, the Pilgrim Mono Red Wildfire Control GBW Karador, Ghost Chieftain Abzan Dredge Rock WBR Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Mardu Aggro-Reanimator Midrange
I was thinkning about going black blue using labrotory maniac, one copy of mirror mad and a phantasmal image to auto kill my deck. "Have phantasmal become the mirror-mad and then use it's ability to shuffle and mill as there would be no mirror mad phantasm in there it would auto mill. Lack of tutor effects is all that is keeping me from attempting this stupid strategy
Heh. This seems pretty cool. Not in Standard, b/c of the lack of tutors you mention, but cool possibly in other formats. It's worth keeping in the back of our heads.
Seems like it could be fun. Can't figure out what else to put into it. It's cool because it's really wrath proof between Kessig Cagebreakers and Skaab Ruinator.
I'm liking this build. I'm liking this build a lot. I'm definitely considering changing my colors now from black to blue. You could still play Forbidden Alchemy, but w/o the possibility of casting it for its flashback cost unless you wanna splash a third color. Surely possible. Splinterfright's power level seems stronger than I first imagined. And I totally overlooked using Merfolk Looter. Very nice. Back to the play-testing!
Well.. Fine list of decks for Self-Mill if I do say so myself! Might as well post mine since we have UB and UG up. Time for UW! I'll just post what I have for it so far. Could use some help. Want it to be Standard for competitive.
I wanted it to be more control my opponent until I get Mirror-Mad Phantasmn, Jace Memory Adept, or Sun Titan out. I had Feeling of Dread in there. But, I don't think it would work though.. Didn't have enough room to through it in there.
Other than that. Basic win-con is with Laboratory Maniac. Through in Mindshrieker for an alternative win. Skaab Ruinator is just a no brainer for this. Sun Titan can bring back Skaab Ruinator, Oblivion Ring, and Laboratory Maniac in case I mill him away on accident. Someone mentioned Noxious Revival to put cards like Sun Titan and Maniac back onto your deck if you mill them early game. I thought about throwing in Inkmoth Nexus for possibly another win-con. But I dunno.
Then for a side board. I have no real idea of what to put in besides Mental Misstepfor those pesky Nihil Spellbomb.
Any ideas?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard: UB Tezzeret Artifact Control GUB Self-Mill RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.) RG Werewolves (In the making.)
Instead of Noxious Revival to get Sun Titan or Laboratory Maniac back, try Unburial Rites. Puts it straight from your graveyard into play, can be used twice if you actually draw it, and you can cast it from your graveyard.
Instead of Noxious Revival to get Sun Titan or Laboratory Maniac back, try Unburial Rites. Puts it straight from your graveyard into play, can be used twice if you actually draw it, and you can cast it from your graveyard.
Hmm.. A nice suggested! Totally forgot about it. My only problem is I'm not running black. It would be good if I milled it into my graveyard early game and played it back for it's flashback cost. I could take out 2-3 plains and through in Isolated Chapel in to where I could cast it from my hand. I'll do some more play testing though. Thanks for the suggestion Drawmeomg! Must appreciated.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard: UB Tezzeret Artifact Control GUB Self-Mill RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.) RG Werewolves (In the making.)
Well.. Fine list of decks for Self-Mill if I do say so myself! Might as well post mine since we have UB and UG up. Time for UW! I'll just post what I have for it so far. Could use some help. Want it to be Standard for competitive.
I wanted it to be more control my opponent until I get Mirror-Mad Phantasmn, Jace Memory Adept, or Sun Titan out. I had Feeling of Dread in there. But, I don't think it would work though.. Didn't have enough room to through it in there.
Other than that. Basic win-con is with Laboratory Maniac. Through in Mindshrieker for an alternative win. Skaab Ruinator is just a no brainer for this. Sun Titan can bring back Skaab Ruinator, Oblivion Ring, and Laboratory Maniac in case I mill him away on accident. Someone mentioned Noxious Revival to put cards like Sun Titan and Maniac back onto your deck if you mill them early game. I thought about throwing in Inkmoth Nexus for possibly another win-con. But I dunno.
Then for a side board. I have no real idea of what to put in besides Mental Misstepfor those pesky Nihil Spellbomb.
Any ideas?
I love seeing all the different builds players have for this deck idea. Using Sun Titan to recur the Ruinator is a killer idea. Mental Missteps in the sideboard seem to be pretty durned prudent for the Nihil Spellbombs. I like the use of Visions from Beyond. For me, though, I feel like some mill spell should take its place to help feed the GY. Maybe Ghoulcaller's Bell. Or is that too slow? I'm beginning to rethink including it in my build.
For me, though, I feel like some mill spell should take its place to help feed the GY. Maybe Ghoulcaller's Bell. Or is that too slow? I'm beginning to rethink including it in my build.
Well, I guess it really depends what you want. How fast do you want to feed the GY?
Look at these. These are some of the cards I thought about and still debating about. Hope it helps!
Ghoulcaller's Bell-One drop. Mills you and your opponent for one. Which could be good in your part. You mill your opponent! I think it's a better early drop. Shriekhorn- One drop; just like above. Mills you or your opponent for two. But you can only use it three times unless proliferation is involved. So six cards max to mill yourself. Then you have a dead weight card when all the counters are gone. Grindclock- Two drop. Have to tap it to add counters. If it's dropped T2. You can mill for one T3. In this case, I would rather run Ghoulcaller's Bell. Consecrated Sphinx- Six drop. 4/6 with flying. Good for double draw. But you think during T6 if you drop it.. You milled yourself down a bit and you might have other bigger cards you want to play. In my case Sun Titan! Although I could probably run one. Jace's Erasure Two drop. Self explanatory. Draw a card then mill one!
Personally, I think Ghoulcaller's Bell is fine in the deck you are running right now. But doesn't hurt to play test them!
Plus if you were to take it out. What would you switch with it?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard: UB Tezzeret Artifact Control GUB Self-Mill RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.) RG Werewolves (In the making.)
I'm working on a deck with the GY power in general as well. UG seemed the only way to go. I'm not a fan of the Ruinators though as they seem counterproductive.
Personally, I think Ghoulcaller's Bell is fine in the deck you are running right now. But doesn't hurt to play test them!
Plus if you were to take it out. What would you switch with it?
Not sure just yet. Dream Twist probably. I'm hoping to post a new deck list soon. My play testing has been slow b/c of work. I want to try and stay with U/B, but I may just have to go W/U for Sun Titan to recur Skaab Ruinator.
I'm working on a deck with the GY power in general as well. UG seemed the only way to go. I'm not a fan of the Ruinators though as they seem counterproductive.
I put one or two Skaab Ruinators in my deck because it contributes as well as anything when it's in the graveyard, and reconstitutes a board position much more reliably than trying to find the next threat in your deck after control wrecks the board. It would weaken the Wurm, Splinterfright, and Cagebreakers if he was cast, but they're not around when I cast him.
I throw a couple of Gnaw to the Bones in too, it can produce an absurd amount of life instantly - in a typical match for me it's above 20 life for 3 mana - and flashback just makes it perfect.
Perhaps you should just send WOTC a resume and tell them why you're better at Magic than one of their employees instead of complaining here, where nobody really has any authority on the matter.
why would it read "necrotic ooze" instead of "mirror-mad phantasm"? ooze's ability copies the activated ability... it says nothing about replacing any words in the ability.
i believe you are wrong.
No, he's right. Just like Quicksilver Elemental and Skill Borrower, all activated abilities that Necrotic Ooze gains that use the original card's name (referring to itself) will have that name changed to "Necrotic Ooze", to match the new source of the ability; you can see this rule on the Ooze's entry on Gatherer.
However, the catch is that the sentence "If that player does, he or she reveals cards from the top of that library until a card named Mirror-Mad Phantasm is revealed." remains unchanged, as it doesn't refer to the card itself. Therefore, the strategy works.
Still a rather unreliable strategy, IMO.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The card nearly every spoiled Magic player dreams of:
Jace's Trolling ---
Instant
Split Second
Exile target spell, then return Jace's Trolling to its owner's hand.
"Yeah, sure... when pigs fly."
-Mark Rosewater about printing this card
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
What do other people think of making a self-milling deck with Skaab Ruinator, Mindshrieker, and Ghoulcaller's Bell for a basis? The trick is to have multiple ways of milling oneself to throw cards like the Ruinator in your GY, along with the creature cards to exile in order to cast him, but you don't have to rely on the 5/6 flyer to win. Mindshrieker could possibly win on its own through beats and milling your opponent. Add in Forbidden Alchemy for some card advantage and to fuel the GY and the deck has some utility.
I just came up with this possible deck and would like to know what others think. It's in the early stages, but does it sound like it has Standard potential? Any suggestions for other card additions to finish out the deck? Should another color be added? Black possibly, for some Liliana of the Veil goodness?
Edit: Added deck list.
4 Drowned Catacomb
9 Island
6 Swamp
4 Skaab Ruinator
4 Mindshrieker
4 Deranged Assistant
4 Laboratory Maniac
2 Mirror-Mad Phantasm
4 Disciple of Griselbrand
4 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Ghoulcaller's Bell
4 Mana Leak
2 Sever the Bloodline
I haven't tested this yet. It seems like I may want more creatures than my 22, but we'll see. No idea on the sideboard, as of now. Suggestions?
4 Drowned Catacombs
9 Island
9 Swamp
26 Land
3 Mindshriker
3 Vengeful Pharaoh
3 Reassembling Skeleton
4 Mirror-Mad Phantasm
2 Wurmcoil Engine
15 Creatures
4 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Jace, Memory Adept
3 Mana Leak
3 Moan of the Unhallowed
2 Sever the bloodline
2 Doom Blae
19 Spells
Seems to be working okay - not sold on Reassembling skeleton: He's good, but not quite good enough, I don't think. He'd really shine if I could fit some swords in here, considering going -2 Doom Blade, -1 Moan, +1 sever, +2 Sword of FoF. Not sure yet,t hough: only really tested vs. aggro decks in the new environment. So far, I know my sideboard consists of Four Black Sun's Zenith as well as 4x Ratchet Bomb, not sure what else yet, though. Does okay against aggro: Pharaoh's a house, esp. post sideboard when I have 8 sweepers. Skeleton is decent vs. aggro since he clogs up the ground, but I have this idea (Delusion?) that he'll be better vs. control, primarily if I can find some room for swords.
UB Tezzeret Artifact Control
GUB Self-Mill
RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.)
RG Werewolves (In the making.)
My deck is still in its creation stages as well, but I really want to make a deck geared toward milling myself and coming out the winner through either aggro cards like Skaab Ruinator or with an alternate win con in Laboratory Maniac. Plus, thanks for pointing out Deranged Assistant. He would be an excellent addition to my deck concept. I will continue to work on this and return to the thread with a deck list next post. Happy brewing!
The deck can be found here, if you're interested:
http://www.magicmadhouse.co.uk/articles/?p=351
There's also a cool new take on U/W control using Champion of the Parish and a seriously Johnny Evil Twin deck.
Wow. Thanks for the link. Yeah, my deck looks like yours except yours is much better! Lol! I appreciate the link. I've been trying to figure out a deck to play at my local shop for the INN Gameday tournament later this month, and I'm a big fan of the Ruinator. Hope you don't mind me borrowing more than a few of your card selections for the deck.
Incidentally, goes amazingly well with the Civilized Scholar/Necrotic Ooze semi-combo. Fill your graveyard with creatures off the Necrotic Ooze, then bring out the Ruinators. Also synergizes with Vengeful Pharaoh, since you can pitch pharaohs to the Ooze, negating their drawback - I know Mindshrieker already does this, but having a backup plan is always good for when you don't have a Mindshrieker. Plus, you've now got a ton of creatures in your deck which are difficult to keep off the board and swing for 5+ a turn.
Control decks will struggle with this (I mean, specific control decks might have a good matchup, but in general control won't deal with it well); the real challenge will be being able to sit on aggro well enough while maintaining creature density. We can obviously trot out 4x Go For The Throat and 3x Day of Judgment + 3x Black Sun's Zenith, but that stuff + liliana + unburial rites and now you're creature-light again.
4 Splinterfright
2 Kessig Cagebreaker
3 Boneyard Wurm
4 Mindshrieker
3 Skaab Ruinator
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Deranged Assistance
2 Mirror-Mad Phantasm
4 Merfolk Looter/Civilized Scholar
4 Mulch
3 Beast Within
Land
4 Hinterland Harbor
Seems like it could be fun. Can't figure out what else to put into it. It's cool because it's really wrath proof between Kessig Cagebreakers and Skaab Ruinator.
4 Necrotic Ooze
4 Laboratory Maniac
4 Merfolk Looter
4 Bloodgift Demon
4 Doom Blade
4 Mana Leak
3 Dissipate
4 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Ghost Quarter
6 Swamp
6 Island
Commander
R Ashling, the Pilgrim Mono Red Wildfire Control
GBW Karador, Ghost Chieftain Abzan Dredge Rock
WBR Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Mardu Aggro-Reanimator Midrange
why would it read "necrotic ooze" instead of "mirror-mad phantasm"? ooze's ability copies the activated ability... it says nothing about replacing any words in the ability.
i believe you are wrong.
If so, neat.
Commander
R Ashling, the Pilgrim Mono Red Wildfire Control
GBW Karador, Ghost Chieftain Abzan Dredge Rock
WBR Tariel, Reckoner of Souls Mardu Aggro-Reanimator Midrange
Heh. This seems pretty cool. Not in Standard, b/c of the lack of tutors you mention, but cool possibly in other formats. It's worth keeping in the back of our heads.
I'm liking this build. I'm liking this build a lot. I'm definitely considering changing my colors now from black to blue. You could still play Forbidden Alchemy, but w/o the possibility of casting it for its flashback cost unless you wanna splash a third color. Surely possible. Splinterfright's power level seems stronger than I first imagined. And I totally overlooked using Merfolk Looter. Very nice. Back to the play-testing!
2x Sun Titan
4x Skaab Ruinator
4x Mindshrieker
2x Mirror-Mad Phantasm
3x Derranged Assistant
3x Laboratory Maniac
2x Jace Memory Adept
Enchantment: (3)
3x Oblivian Ring
Sorcery: (2)
2x Divine Reckoning
Instants: (12)
4x Mana Leak
4x Dream Twist
4x Visions of Beyond
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Seachrome Coast
6x Plains
9x Islands
I wanted it to be more control my opponent until I get Mirror-Mad Phantasmn, Jace Memory Adept, or Sun Titan out. I had Feeling of Dread in there. But, I don't think it would work though.. Didn't have enough room to through it in there.
Other than that. Basic win-con is with Laboratory Maniac. Through in Mindshrieker for an alternative win. Skaab Ruinator is just a no brainer for this. Sun Titan can bring back Skaab Ruinator, Oblivion Ring, and Laboratory Maniac in case I mill him away on accident. Someone mentioned Noxious Revival to put cards like Sun Titan and Maniac back onto your deck if you mill them early game. I thought about throwing in Inkmoth Nexus for possibly another win-con. But I dunno.
Then for a side board. I have no real idea of what to put in besides Mental Misstepfor those pesky Nihil Spellbomb.
Any ideas?
UB Tezzeret Artifact Control
GUB Self-Mill
RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.)
RG Werewolves (In the making.)
Instead of Noxious Revival to get Sun Titan or Laboratory Maniac back, try Unburial Rites. Puts it straight from your graveyard into play, can be used twice if you actually draw it, and you can cast it from your graveyard.
Hmm.. A nice suggested! Totally forgot about it. My only problem is I'm not running black. It would be good if I milled it into my graveyard early game and played it back for it's flashback cost. I could take out 2-3 plains and through in Isolated Chapel in to where I could cast it from my hand. I'll do some more play testing though. Thanks for the suggestion Drawmeomg! Must appreciated.
UB Tezzeret Artifact Control
GUB Self-Mill
RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.)
RG Werewolves (In the making.)
I love seeing all the different builds players have for this deck idea. Using Sun Titan to recur the Ruinator is a killer idea. Mental Missteps in the sideboard seem to be pretty durned prudent for the Nihil Spellbombs. I like the use of Visions from Beyond. For me, though, I feel like some mill spell should take its place to help feed the GY. Maybe Ghoulcaller's Bell. Or is that too slow? I'm beginning to rethink including it in my build.
Well, I guess it really depends what you want. How fast do you want to feed the GY?
Look at these. These are some of the cards I thought about and still debating about. Hope it helps!
Ghoulcaller's Bell-One drop. Mills you and your opponent for one. Which could be good in your part. You mill your opponent! I think it's a better early drop.
Shriekhorn- One drop; just like above. Mills you or your opponent for two. But you can only use it three times unless proliferation is involved. So six cards max to mill yourself. Then you have a dead weight card when all the counters are gone.
Grindclock- Two drop. Have to tap it to add counters. If it's dropped T2. You can mill for one T3. In this case, I would rather run Ghoulcaller's Bell.
Consecrated Sphinx- Six drop. 4/6 with flying. Good for double draw. But you think during T6 if you drop it.. You milled yourself down a bit and you might have other bigger cards you want to play. In my case Sun Titan! Although I could probably run one.
Jace's Erasure Two drop. Self explanatory. Draw a card then mill one!
Personally, I think Ghoulcaller's Bell is fine in the deck you are running right now. But doesn't hurt to play test them!
Plus if you were to take it out. What would you switch with it?
UB Tezzeret Artifact Control
GUB Self-Mill
RUB Heartless Lich (In the making.)
RG Werewolves (In the making.)
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Mindshrieker
4x Ambush Viper
4x Boneyard Wurm
2x Jace's Archivist
4x Armored Skaab
4x Splinterfright
2x Kessig Cagebreakers
2x Think Twice
4x Mulch
4x Forbidden Alchemy
2x Bonehoard
Lands:
4x Hinterland Harbor
8x Forest
8x Island
Want an awesome sig? Check out Hakai Studios. This one by Argetlam.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=287460
Not sure just yet. Dream Twist probably. I'm hoping to post a new deck list soon. My play testing has been slow b/c of work. I want to try and stay with U/B, but I may just have to go W/U for Sun Titan to recur Skaab Ruinator.
I put one or two Skaab Ruinators in my deck because it contributes as well as anything when it's in the graveyard, and reconstitutes a board position much more reliably than trying to find the next threat in your deck after control wrecks the board. It would weaken the Wurm, Splinterfright, and Cagebreakers if he was cast, but they're not around when I cast him.
I throw a couple of Gnaw to the Bones in too, it can produce an absurd amount of life instantly - in a typical match for me it's above 20 life for 3 mana - and flashback just makes it perfect.
No, he's right. Just like Quicksilver Elemental and Skill Borrower, all activated abilities that Necrotic Ooze gains that use the original card's name (referring to itself) will have that name changed to "Necrotic Ooze", to match the new source of the ability; you can see this rule on the Ooze's entry on Gatherer.
However, the catch is that the sentence "If that player does, he or she reveals cards from the top of that library until a card named Mirror-Mad Phantasm is revealed." remains unchanged, as it doesn't refer to the card itself. Therefore, the strategy works.
Still a rather unreliable strategy, IMO.
Jace's Trolling ---
Instant
Split Second
Exile target spell, then return Jace's Trolling to its owner's hand.
"Yeah, sure... when pigs fly."
-Mark Rosewater about printing this card