No responses?
It went 3-3 against Vampires, making its overall record 10-8, which I consider to be fairly good for a deck this unoptimized.
Notes:
Garruk is very good and usually the win-con if he sticks. They have to get rid of him first, giving you more turns to set up.
Kalonian Behemoth seems very out of place, but as a basically unkillable 9/9 it's not as bad as it seems. Not sure that it's good enough, though.
Terastodon is "I win" if it sticks for even one turn.
Rampaging Baloths is very nice too, if it sticks. It's usually one of the first finishers one brings out, though, so it's a removal magnet. If they don't have any, they better win fast.
Dragon Broodmother is hard to get the mana for, but if you do, it's great. Especially with Garruk.
Pyroclasm is insurance against faster decks.
The point of the deck is to stall via counterspells, Pyroclasm, and Lightning Bolt while ramping, eventually dropping some monstrosity like Terastodon.
I don't plan to build the deck in real life, as I'm not really a competitive player at all, but I thought it would be worthwhile to share it.
EDIT: 2-4 against White Weenie.
re: title. It does run like Jund, but I wouldn't say it's unilaterally "better". At least not yet, but Jund is the #1 deck in Standard for a reason, and I don't think this will beat it.
re: "cheating". I would consider breaking the rules to your advantage cheating, even if the other person didn't notice.
Anyway, after testing both, Pyroclasm helped against Vampires and Kraken Hatchling didn't. Pyroclasm often acts like a mini-DoJ, and in combination w/ Lightning Bolt it gets even better.
re: Grixis Aggro. This is a midrange deck: I don't think Hellspark Elemental fits very well, because it's not a blocker. Liliana and Cruel would probably work well, though.
Jund has a nice early game with Leech. This deck uses Strix for this purpose- I wouldn't want to cut them, although Nighthawks are definitely very good. I'm just worried they might slow the deck down too much.
Maybe Pyroclasm? Kraken Hatchling?
Card notes:
Mana base- Just threw something together quickly.
Bituminous Blast- Really good card, and I see no reason it can't work in this deck.
Kederekt Parasite- I wanted the deck to have a 1-drop.
Kathari Remnant- Cascade makes it much better than it seems. In one game this held off a Raging Ravine for four turns, long enough to win via a Tar Pit.
With that being said, Jace 2 and Sphinx of Jwar Isle would probably make the deck stronger. Not sure about Death's Shadow- it can't be played early.
A nice thing about this deck is that in the 7 games I played, it didn't get manascrewed at all, due to the lower quantity of multicolor cards than Jund.
Ravenous Rats.
re: Phaxe. This list was made directly after spoilers ended, and I hadn't read most of the uncommons or commons. Afterwards, I was too lazy to change it. I still believe that #s 2 to 5 are good.
re: refining
Not if you had infinite money- if you had enough money to buy any of these, but not as much as to not care for it.
Yes, it's vague. I don't like pinning questions down.
I voted for Sharuum, because:
Knight-Captain and Sen aren't amazing enough.
Uril isn't forgotten-I've seen several decks here that play him.
Battlegrace is almost always worse than Baneslayer, so it's forgotten for a reason.
It went 3-3 against Vampires, making its overall record 10-8, which I consider to be fairly good for a deck this unoptimized.
Notes:
Garruk is very good and usually the win-con if he sticks. They have to get rid of him first, giving you more turns to set up.
Kalonian Behemoth seems very out of place, but as a basically unkillable 9/9 it's not as bad as it seems. Not sure that it's good enough, though.
Terastodon is "I win" if it sticks for even one turn.
Rampaging Baloths is very nice too, if it sticks. It's usually one of the first finishers one brings out, though, so it's a removal magnet. If they don't have any, they better win fast.
Dragon Broodmother is hard to get the mana for, but if you do, it's great. Especially with Garruk.
Pyroclasm is insurance against faster decks.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Rampant Growth
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Essence Scatter
4 Negate
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Pyroclasm
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
2 Kalonian Behemoth
2 Dragon Broodmother
2 Rampaging Baloths
2 Terastodon
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Island
4 Mountain
4 Forest
I don't plan to build the deck in real life, as I'm not really a competitive player at all, but I thought it would be worthwhile to share it.
EDIT: 2-4 against White Weenie.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
-4 Ardent Plea
+1 Essence Scatter
Getting rid of the Cascade-counterspell problem. Also, we're down to 36 nonland cards.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
re: "cheating". I would consider breaking the rules to your advantage cheating, even if the other person didn't notice.
Anyway, after testing both, Pyroclasm helped against Vampires and Kraken Hatchling didn't. Pyroclasm often acts like a mini-DoJ, and in combination w/ Lightning Bolt it gets even better.
re: Grixis Aggro. This is a midrange deck: I don't think Hellspark Elemental fits very well, because it's not a blocker. Liliana and Cruel would probably work well, though.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
4 Swamp
4 Mountain
4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Sedraxis Specter
3 Tidehollow Strix
3 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
2 Kederekt Parasite
4 Kathari Remnant
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep
Maybe Pyroclasm? Kraken Hatchling?
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
4 Swamp
4 Mountain
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Sedraxis Specter
4 Tidehollow Strix
2 Sphinx of Lost Truths
2 Swerve
2 Kederekt Parasite
2 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
2 Deathmark
2 Kathari Remnant
Mana base- Just threw something together quickly.
Bituminous Blast- Really good card, and I see no reason it can't work in this deck.
Kederekt Parasite- I wanted the deck to have a 1-drop.
Kathari Remnant- Cascade makes it much better than it seems. In one game this held off a Raging Ravine for four turns, long enough to win via a Tar Pit.
With that being said, Jace 2 and Sphinx of Jwar Isle would probably make the deck stronger. Not sure about Death's Shadow- it can't be played early.
A nice thing about this deck is that in the 7 games I played, it didn't get manascrewed at all, due to the lower quantity of multicolor cards than Jund.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
re: Phaxe. This list was made directly after spoilers ended, and I hadn't read most of the uncommons or commons. Afterwards, I was too lazy to change it. I still believe that #s 2 to 5 are good.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
Not if you had infinite money- if you had enough money to buy any of these, but not as much as to not care for it.
Yes, it's vague. I don't like pinning questions down.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
Links:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/359
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/362
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/312
re: None of the Above. Sorry, I did forget.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
Knight-Captain and Sen aren't amazing enough.
Uril isn't forgotten-I've seen several decks here that play him.
Battlegrace is almost always worse than Baneslayer, so it's forgotten for a reason.
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths
1. Baneslayer Angel 2. Birds of Paradise 3. Lightning Bolt 4. Honor of the Pure 5. Goblin Chieftain
My top 5 Zendikar cards:
1. Eternity Vessel 2. Chandra Ablaze 3. Beastmaster Ascension 4. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 5. Rampaging Baloths