I've always wanted to play every single extort card into a deck and see what happened. Throw in Pontiff of Blight, some cheap spells, bounce, recursion, and baby, you got a stew. This is my first draft of the deck, so suggestions are welcome. I don't expect this to become a high tier deck (maybe tier 2 at best), but it should definitely be fun to play. I will edit this post later with more info!
The idea is to get extort cards out, then cast lots of cheap spells and whittle away the opponents' life totals. Cards like Stonecloaker and Flickering Ward can be cast multiple times by bouncing themselves. Cards like Well of Lost Dreams and Phyrexian Reclamation take advantage of life gain. Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood are good on their own and backbreaking together. Don't forget that Selenia is a great extort enabler, since you can pay life to bounce her to hand and cast again.
I would like to find some way to incorporate some sort of Salvaging Station engine to power extort even more. I will definitely test more "pay life" cards to take further advantage of the deck's main plan. Currently, the deck list is a bit scattered, and it can definitely be tightened up.
Have you considered running Null Profusion? I used to run it in a very janky Selenia deck and run it Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed and it's absolutely fantastic. It seems like it could be really powerful in a deck like this that aims to cast lots of cheap spells.
I agree that Null Profusion is powerful, but this deck aims to use extort triggers as much as possible. I'm not sure that it would be casting more than one or two spells per turn.
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"Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact." -- Bobby Fischer
Props for this idea...Selenia seems like a perfect commander for extorting people to death. The only thing I would advise is to lower your mana curve. Extort makes all your spells more expensive, so you likely need to compensate for that by running cheaper spells. For example, I don't think you really need a big bomb like Debtor's Knell, but something simple like Pilgrim's Eye, Kor Cartographer, Wayfarer's Bauble, or Coldsteel Heart would really help you.
Props for this idea...Selenia seems like a perfect commander for extorting people to death. The only thing I would advise is to lower your mana curve. Extort makes all your spells more expensive, so you likely need to compensate for that by running cheaper spells. For example, I don't think you really need a big bomb like Debtor's Knell, but something simple like Pilgrim's Eye, Kor Cartographer, Wayfarer's Bauble, or Coldsteel Heart would really help you.
Agreed! Last night I went through the list and cut a number of high CMC cards. I really want to have some kind of artifact/bauble engine to make extorting easier and more hilarious. Imagine casting a 0 CMC card and draining the table for 4. I will post an update later tonight with some more ideas.
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"Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact." -- Bobby Fischer
There's a Modern Pauper extort deck thats been going around my LGS that uses Kor Skyfisher to great effect. Cycling two of them off each other enables you to always have a creature to cast in order to trigger extort - You could have a similar effect when paired with Whitemane Lion.
I wouldn't run the first three because they really don't do anything by themselves, but Erratic Portal is always solid.
Skyfisher and Emancipation have evasion at the very least. More importantly, they're relatively inexpensive and reusable extort triggers. They can also be used to reuse the ETB triggers of other creatures.
This strategy would greatly benefit from Jet Medallion and Pearl Medallion: make all your (colored) spells cost less, so you have more mana for extortions. Also Selenia for 1WB sounds great!
Maybe use Oversold Cemetery instead of Debtor's Knell, as it returns to hand for more extort.
Nice, unique take on the Dark Angel.
Ardeyn
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After some theorycrafting and fiddling around, I have made some tentative changes to the deck. With this deck, you have to tread a line between having enough bounce spells and having too many. You only really need one or two in order to keep the extort engine running. Another issue is what high CMC spells (if any) should the deck play? Finally, is a Salvaging Station engine even needed in this deck? I realize it isn't 100% synergistic, since the 1cmc artifacts would return straight to the battlefield, but it does give added utility to those cards after they hit the battlefield/graveyard.
I took out some of the expensive cards like Elesh Norn, and added more lands, card draw, and overall consistency. I will update the OP later, but right now I gotta run!
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"Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact." -- Bobby Fischer
Each time the Ciphered creature deals damage, it would cast midnight Recovery, which could then be extorted, you get a creature card back from the GY, then you cast that creature and extort yet again.
I was thinking that you might need a pillowfort element that you can hide behind while doing all your extort shenanigans.
I crafted a UBW pillowfort-extort deck before, using 1cc artifacts to easily trigger extort. And yes, Salvaging Station was one of them. It just got sidetracked because I fell in love with another project. Now that that's done, I might take a look at this concept again.
Time to test the Salvaging Station engine! Loozar402 and a number of other people suggested Eratic Portal, so I will test that next. I'm still getting a feel for the core of the deck. I don't think I need Kor Skyfisher, since it does not have flash, and I already have plenty of bounce creatures. Remember, you only need to draw one bounce spell to abuse extort. Slashdance suggested Cipher, but this version of the deck does not attack very often, and the B/W Cipher cards are not very strong. kicks_422 and SaraceenPsycho suggested adding pillowfort elements, which I actually agree with. However, I need to find space first!
One thing I have noticed early on is that this deck is extremely mana hungry. If I could find more ways to ramp, it would be a huge boost.
Introduction
The deck
v1.0
1 Selenia, Dark Angel
Creatures
1 Syndic of Tithes
1 Basilica Guards
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thrull Parasite
1 Blind Obedience
1 Kingpin's Pet
1 Knight of Obligation
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Syndicate Enforcer
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
1 Treasury Thrull
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Tithe Drinker
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Angel of Despair
1 Sun Titan
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Stonecloaker
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Netherborn Phalanx
1 Blood Artist
1 Falkenrath Noble
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Luminate Primordial
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Myojin of Night's Reach
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Orzhov Cluestone
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Tainted Sigil
1 Well of Lost Dreams
Enchantments
1 Words of Waste
1 Words of Worship
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Wound Reflection
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Gossamer Chains
1 Debtors' Knell
1 Flickering Ward
Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Identity Crisis
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Exsanguinate
1 Death Grasp
Instants
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batwing Brume
1 Mortify
1 Unmake
1 Corpse Dance
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Esper Panorama
1 Fetid Heath
1 Leechridden Swamp
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Vesuva
7 Plains
13 Swamp
v2.0
1 Selenia, Dark Angel
Creatures (22)
1 Syndic of Tithes
1 Basilica Guards
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thrull Parasite
1 Blind Obedience
1 Kingpin's Pet
1 Knight of Obligation
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Syndicate Enforcer
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Treasury Thrull
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Tithe Drinker
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Angel of Despair
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Sun Titan
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Stonecloaker
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Artifacts (12)
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Orzhov Cluestone
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Tainted Sigil
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Jet Medallion
1 Pearl Medallion
1 Star Compass
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Gossamer Chains
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Flickering Ward
Sorceries (11)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Identity Crisis
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Exsanguinate
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Ambition's Cost
Instants (6)
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batwing Brume
1 Unmake
1 Corpse Dance
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ghostway
Lands (40)
1 Command Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Esper Panorama
1 Fetid Heath
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Vesuva
8 Plains
15 Swamp
v3.0
1 Selenia, Dark Angel
Creatures (22)
1 Syndic of Tithes
1 Basilica Guards
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thrull Parasite
1 Blind Obedience
1 Kingpin's Pet
1 Knight of Obligation
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Syndicate Enforcer
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Treasury Thrull
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Tithe Drinker
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Angel of Despair
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Sun Titan
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Stonecloaker
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Artifacts (16)
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Origin Spellbomb
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Jet Medallion
1 Star Compass
1 Orzhov Cluestone
1 Tainted Sigil
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Salvaging Station
1 Blind Obedience
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Flickering Ward
Sorceries (11)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Identity Crisis
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Damnation
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Exsanguinate
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Ambition's Cost
Instants (6)
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batwing Brume
1 Unmake
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ghostway
Lands (40)
1 Command Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Fetid Heath
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Vesuva
8 Plains
15 Swamp
Strategy
I would like to find some way to incorporate some sort of Salvaging Station engine to power extort even more. I will definitely test more "pay life" cards to take further advantage of the deck's main plan. Currently, the deck list is a bit scattered, and it can definitely be tightened up.
Change log
With the release of M14, Angelic Accord and Archangel of Thune should be tested.
7/12/13 - Replaced some expensive cards with card draw, land, and consistency. Props to Ardeyn for the Jet/Pearl Medallion suggestions.
7/19/13 - Out (8): Kokusho, the Evening Star (not enough abuse), Rune-Scarred Demon (same + high cmc), Gossamer Chains (clunky, too redundant), Pearl Medallion (too few white spells), Wrath of God (too many wraths), Corpse Dance (not enough sac outlets), Cradle of Vitality (temporary, may come back in, but this deck doesn't aim to win through combat), Esper Panorama
In (8): Enlightened Tutor, Salvaging Station, Dispeller's Capsule, Executioner's Capsule, Nihil Spellbomb, Origin Spellbomb, Disturbed Burial, Reliquary Tower
I agree that Null Profusion is powerful, but this deck aims to use extort triggers as much as possible. I'm not sure that it would be casting more than one or two spells per turn.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Agreed! Last night I went through the list and cut a number of high CMC cards. I really want to have some kind of artifact/bauble engine to make extorting easier and more hilarious. Imagine casting a 0 CMC card and draining the table for 4. I will post an update later tonight with some more ideas.
I wouldn't run the first three because they really don't do anything by themselves, but Erratic Portal is always solid.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
GWUBRDraft my Old Border Nostalgia Cube! and/or The Little Pauper Cube That Could!RBUWG
Modern:WDeath & TaxesW | RUGRUG DelverRUG
Skyfisher and Emancipation have evasion at the very least. More importantly, they're relatively inexpensive and reusable extort triggers. They can also be used to reuse the ETB triggers of other creatures.
Maybe use Oversold Cemetery instead of Debtor's Knell, as it returns to hand for more extort.
Nice, unique take on the Dark Angel.
Ardeyn
Anyway, here is another rough deck list.
1 Selenia, Dark Angel
Creatures (22)
1 Syndic of Tithes
1 Basilica Guards
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thrull Parasite
1 Blind Obedience
1 Kingpin's Pet
1 Knight of Obligation
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Syndicate Enforcer
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Treasury Thrull
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Tithe Drinker
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Angel of Despair
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Sun Titan
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Stonecloaker
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Artifacts (12)
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Orzhov Cluestone
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Tainted Sigil
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Jet Medallion
1 Pearl Medallion
1 Star Compass
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Gossamer Chains
1 Cradle of Vitality
1 Flickering Ward
Sorceries (11)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Identity Crisis
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Exsanguinate
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Ambition's Cost
Instants (6)
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batwing Brume
1 Unmake
1 Corpse Dance
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ghostway
Lands (40)
1 Command Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Esper Panorama
1 Fetid Heath
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Vesuva
8 Plains
15 Swamp
I took out some of the expensive cards like Elesh Norn, and added more lands, card draw, and overall consistency. I will update the OP later, but right now I gotta run!
Say, perhaps Midnight Recovery?
Each time the Ciphered creature deals damage, it would cast midnight Recovery, which could then be extorted, you get a creature card back from the GY, then you cast that creature and extort yet again.
Just brainstorming here. =)
I crafted a UBW pillowfort-extort deck before, using 1cc artifacts to easily trigger extort. And yes, Salvaging Station was one of them. It just got sidetracked because I fell in love with another project. Now that that's done, I might take a look at this concept again.
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
Out (8): Kokusho, the Evening Star (not enough abuse), Rune-Scarred Demon (same + high cmc), Gossamer Chains (clunky, too redundant), Pearl Medallion (too few white spells), Wrath of God (too many wraths), Corpse Dance (not enough sac outlets), Cradle of Vitality (temporary, may come back in, but this deck doesn't aim to win through combat), Esper Panorama
In (8): Enlightened Tutor, Salvaging Station, Dispeller's Capsule, Executioner's Capsule, Nihil Spellbomb, Origin Spellbomb, Disturbed Burial, Reliquary Tower
Time to test the Salvaging Station engine! Loozar402 and a number of other people suggested Eratic Portal, so I will test that next. I'm still getting a feel for the core of the deck. I don't think I need Kor Skyfisher, since it does not have flash, and I already have plenty of bounce creatures. Remember, you only need to draw one bounce spell to abuse extort. Slashdance suggested Cipher, but this version of the deck does not attack very often, and the B/W Cipher cards are not very strong. kicks_422 and SaraceenPsycho suggested adding pillowfort elements, which I actually agree with. However, I need to find space first!
One thing I have noticed early on is that this deck is extremely mana hungry. If I could find more ways to ramp, it would be a huge boost.
The deck (v3.0):
1 Selenia, Dark Angel
Creatures (21)
1 Syndic of Tithes
1 Basilica Guards
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thrull Parasite
1 Blind Obedience
1 Kingpin's Pet
1 Knight of Obligation
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Syndicate Enforcer
1 Vizkopa Confessor
1 Treasury Thrull
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Tithe Drinker
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Angel of Despair
1 Sun Titan
1 Whitemane Lion
1 Stonecloaker
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Artifacts (16)
1 Dispeller's Capsule
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Origin Spellbomb
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sol Ring
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Jet Medallion
1 Star Compass
1 Orzhov Cluestone
1 Tainted Sigil
1 Well of Lost Dreams
1 Salvaging Station
1 Blind Obedience
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Flickering Ward
Sorceries (11)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vindicate
1 Identity Crisis
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Damnation
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Exsanguinate
1 Night's Whisper
1 Sign in Blood
1 Ambition's Cost
Instants (6)
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batwing Brume
1 Unmake
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ghostway
Lands (40)
1 Command Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Scrubland
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Fetid Heath
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Vesuva
8 Plains
15 Swamp
deckstats: http://deck.tk/47nu52DE
CMC avg: 2.97