Assembling Exodia and winning gets boring pretty quickly so I broke my old Sharuum deck up. But I had to rebuild it. I love Esper. I also love artifacts. So, this is my best attempt to build a Sharuum deck that just wins through repeatedly playing better cards than my opponents without comboing out.
In fact, every time I find an inadvertent combo, I take out one of the pieces.
Cards that I intentionally excluded or taken out for being lackluster: Deadeye Navigator -- Too combotastic Mindslaver -- Too annoying while also being combotastic Nevinyrral's Disk -- Too slow or too Phyrric.
Any card with "Time" in the name.
Demonic Tutor -- Not in currently because I am currently on a limited magic budget and the two I have are in decks that aren't as good as this one to equalize power levels. Umezawa's Jitte -- It's just that good. Grafted Exoskeleton -- Because why fight an opponent with infinite life when I can reduce his life to 10. Clone -- The new rules make this seem good. Devastation Tide -- I have more mana rocks, therefore I recover faster. Temporal Mastery -- No "time" in the title, and not abusive. Sphinx of Uthuun -- Fits the theme, and FoF on a stick is good. Sphinx of Lost Truths -- Thematic and has potential to fill the yard or draw me some cards. Thada Adel, Acquisitor -- Seems good. Trickbind -- More control. Luminate Primordial -- The deck lacks targeted removal. Venser, the Sojourner --An additional recursion ability for Sharuum. Hanna, Ship's Navigator -- In the original build, it seemed to durdle to much. Obzedat's Aid -- Reanimation, FTW? Merciless Eviction -- Seems legit. Treasury Thrull -- Another recursion mechanic Deathbringer Liege -- Targeted removal + Creature pump
Counterspell suite for additional control:
Right now the deck is fun to play without being stupid to play against. It requires intelligent decision making, creates a complex board position that's easy for opponents to underestimate, and has plenty of resilience due to the nature of the general. However, the deck is a touch inconsistent. The lack of mana rocks or card draw will kill the deck, but typically the proper use of a mulligan smooths this out.
Right now, I am looking for cards that I simply haven't thought of to possibly include in the deck, given the following exclusions: Non-combo, non-LD, non-time walk. Any tips would be appreciated.
As far as your list goes, though, there seem to be a number of cards that just have better artifacts made. Mainly the supreme verdict, day of judgement, and others. They're really one time uses that could be replaced, and just let Oblivion Stone handle things. You could add Austere Command but it still has the same problems as the others but is much more flexible.
This seems more like artifact good stuff to me, more than a build that's dedicated to getting any one thing done. If I were going for a true aggro/control build, I'd switch some of the sweepers for mass land destruction and focus much more on Sharuum's reanimator side: getting out threats and then sweeping the lands, while keeping your own mana rocks in play. With Edh's high life totals, land destruction will buy you the extra turns you need to push the last points of damage through. Things like Cleansing, Armaggedon, and Global Ruin are what I'd look for.
And lastly, Artificers's Intuition is huge in Sharuum, allowing you to pitch reanimation targets, and tutor up mana rocks quickly.
Thanks for the tip on the Artificer's Intuition, as I had forgotten about that card. Blightsteel Colossus seems like a reasonable possibility, but I have seldom had success because I had him Bribery'ed one too many times in my Animar deck. I will playtest it and see.
I am very disappointed to hear Grafted Exoskeleton is lackluster. I had hoped it would be a useful and unique way to kill Sharuum so I can recast her, while simultaneously offering an alternate wincon. Furthermore, my playgroup is using the new legends rules, and getting Avacyn cloned makes for a very wacky board state. I was hoping the Grafted Exoskeleton would alleviate this problem.
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Just easing back into magic...one single at a time.
Check out my blog for the lessons I learn as I ease my way into the game.
Yeah, as for the avacyn clones, I would use Karn, Liberated before Grafted Exoskeleton. It's not that the skeleton is bad, it's just that I'd rather use Inkmoth Nexus. And the interaction between exoskeleton and Sharuum gets costly, fast. If you're looking for some quick infect damage try using Inkmoth+Arcbound Ravager.
Mind you, I don't use so many big beaters in my deck, and so the Exoskeleton might work better with some beefier creatures, I just found it to be slow is all.
Oh, wait, I see what you mean, that you want to clone Avacyn. Yeah, my group's using the same rules, but I still think that you're better of using Phyrexian Metamorph. Sculpting Steel is another one that's really great, but only hits artifacts. In combination with Liquimetal Coating, Sculpting Steel and Metamorph become "Enters a copy of any permanent on the battlefield." Again, without targeting those permanents. They're much easier to tutor for, and both can be played for 3, as opposed to needing blue mana open. While it doesn't seem like much, it's the little things like that, that in my opinion, make decks more consistent aka. better.
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In fact, every time I find an inadvertent combo, I take out one of the pieces.
1 Sharuum the Hegemon
Artifacts:
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Expedition Map
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Contagion Clasp
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Otherworld Atlas
1 Unwinding Clock
1 Memory Jar
1 Conjurer's Closet
1 Mirrorworks
1 Mindslaver
1 Salvaging Station
1 Contagion Engion
Artifact Creatures:
1 Arcbound Worker
1 Arcbound Ravager
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Phryexian Metamorph
1 Shimmer Myr
1 Darksteel Juggernaut
1 Psychosis Crawler
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Triskelion
1 Memnarch
1 Pentavus
1 Magister Sphinx
1 Enigma Sphinx
1 Spinx of the Steel Wind
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Sorin Markov
1 Karn Liberated
Non-Artifact Creatures:
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Trinket Mage
1 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Spells:
1 Careful Study
1 Perilous Research
1 Copy Artifact
1 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Fabricate
1 Day of Judgement
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Thoughtcast
1 Phyrexian Rebirth
Manarocks:
1 Lotus Bloom
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Sol Ring
1 Sky Diamond
1 Charcoal Diamond
1 Marble Diamond
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Azorious Signet
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ancient Den
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 Buried Ruin
1 Crystal Vein
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Esper Panorama
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Stalking Stones
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tundra
1 Underground River
1 Underground Sea
1 Urza's Mine
1 Urza's Power Plant
1 Urza's Tower
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Water Grave
5 Island
4 Plains
4 Swamp
Cards that I intentionally excluded or taken out for being lackluster:
Deadeye Navigator -- Too combotastic
Mindslaver -- Too annoying while also being combotastic
Nevinyrral's Disk -- Too slow or too Phyrric.
Any card with "Time" in the name.
Cards that I want to add but don't own (yet):
Cards that I am considering adding and why:
Demonic Tutor -- Not in currently because I am currently on a limited magic budget and the two I have are in decks that aren't as good as this one to equalize power levels.
Umezawa's Jitte -- It's just that good.
Grafted Exoskeleton -- Because why fight an opponent with infinite life when I can reduce his life to 10.
Clone -- The new rules make this seem good.
Devastation Tide -- I have more mana rocks, therefore I recover faster.
Temporal Mastery -- No "time" in the title, and not abusive.
Sphinx of Uthuun -- Fits the theme, and FoF on a stick is good.
Sphinx of Lost Truths -- Thematic and has potential to fill the yard or draw me some cards.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor -- Seems good.
Trickbind -- More control.
Luminate Primordial -- The deck lacks targeted removal.
Venser, the Sojourner --An additional recursion ability for Sharuum.
Hanna, Ship's Navigator -- In the original build, it seemed to durdle to much.
Obzedat's Aid -- Reanimation, FTW?
Merciless Eviction -- Seems legit.
Treasury Thrull -- Another recursion mechanic
Deathbringer Liege -- Targeted removal + Creature pump
Counterspell suite for additional control:
Right now the deck is fun to play without being stupid to play against. It requires intelligent decision making, creates a complex board position that's easy for opponents to underestimate, and has plenty of resilience due to the nature of the general. However, the deck is a touch inconsistent. The lack of mana rocks or card draw will kill the deck, but typically the proper use of a mulligan smooths this out.
Right now, I am looking for cards that I simply haven't thought of to possibly include in the deck, given the following exclusions: Non-combo, non-LD, non-time walk. Any tips would be appreciated.
Best regards and happy topdecking!
--Sparxmith
Check out my blog for the lessons I learn as I ease my way into the game.
As far as your list goes, though, there seem to be a number of cards that just have better artifacts made. Mainly the supreme verdict, day of judgement, and others. They're really one time uses that could be replaced, and just let Oblivion Stone handle things. You could add Austere Command but it still has the same problems as the others but is much more flexible.
This seems more like artifact good stuff to me, more than a build that's dedicated to getting any one thing done. If I were going for a true aggro/control build, I'd switch some of the sweepers for mass land destruction and focus much more on Sharuum's reanimator side: getting out threats and then sweeping the lands, while keeping your own mana rocks in play. With Edh's high life totals, land destruction will buy you the extra turns you need to push the last points of damage through. Things like Cleansing, Armaggedon, and Global Ruin are what I'd look for.
And lastly, Artificers's Intuition is huge in Sharuum, allowing you to pitch reanimation targets, and tutor up mana rocks quickly.
I am very disappointed to hear Grafted Exoskeleton is lackluster. I had hoped it would be a useful and unique way to kill Sharuum so I can recast her, while simultaneously offering an alternate wincon. Furthermore, my playgroup is using the new legends rules, and getting Avacyn cloned makes for a very wacky board state. I was hoping the Grafted Exoskeleton would alleviate this problem.
Check out my blog for the lessons I learn as I ease my way into the game.
Mind you, I don't use so many big beaters in my deck, and so the Exoskeleton might work better with some beefier creatures, I just found it to be slow is all.
Oh, wait, I see what you mean, that you want to clone Avacyn. Yeah, my group's using the same rules, but I still think that you're better of using Phyrexian Metamorph. Sculpting Steel is another one that's really great, but only hits artifacts. In combination with Liquimetal Coating, Sculpting Steel and Metamorph become "Enters a copy of any permanent on the battlefield." Again, without targeting those permanents. They're much easier to tutor for, and both can be played for 3, as opposed to needing blue mana open. While it doesn't seem like much, it's the little things like that, that in my opinion, make decks more consistent aka. better.