I tend to be very thematic when it comes to making Commander decks. It's a hard line to straddle; I want to play competitively, but I also don't want to just cram in every goodstuff card that fits my color theme.
I knew early on that I wanted to create a deathtouch deck. I really didn't have a win condition in mind beyond "everything kills u!" and to be honest I still don't entirely have much of a plan beyond that, but it's a fun deck that functions a bit like a spined puffer fish in that nobody really wants to touch. It has been very effective so far, though I never stop tweaking. People tend to leave me and hit softer, less deathtouchy targets while I carefully ramp and accumulate resource advantage through artifact recursion as I attempt to not so much win as be the last man standing.
I've updated the deck quite a bit from the original list to better reuse Glissa's triggered ability. Originally I only ran Ratchet Bomb and Executioner's Capsule but I've gradually added more and more sacc-to-ramp artifacts with solid success while still feeling I've maintained the deck's thematic integrity.
Any other additional suggestions would be welcome, as long as they're thematically sound and not simply "add Mike and Trike, lolz".
Changelog:
07/26/13: Added Naturalize, removed Raking Canopy
08/01/13: Added Recollect, removed Disturbed Burial
08/08/13: Added Murder, removed Stone-Tongue Basilisk
08/08/13: Added Calming Verse, removed Spidersilk Armor
08/08/13: Added Woodland Cemetery, removed Swamp
08/29/13: Added Thornbite Staff, removed Sylvan Basilisk
08/29/13: Added Golgari Keyrune, removed Darksteel Ingot
08/29/13: Added Horizon Spellbomb, removed Turntimber Basilisk
09/05/13: Added Infernal Medusa, removed Cairn Wanderer
09/05/13: Added Deglamer, removed Daggerback Basilisk
09/05/13: Added Bojuka Bog, removed Swamp
09/05/13: Added Gleeful Sabotage, removed Naturalize
09/06/13: Added Hex, removed Murder
09/08/13: Added Regrowth, removed Revenge of the Hunted
09/09/13: Added Thornweald Archer, removed Serpentine Basilisk
09/21/13: Added Wurmcoil Engine, removed Greater Basilisk
09/22/13: Added Keepsake Gorgon, removed Lowland Basilisk
09/30/13: Added Wasteland Viper, removed Typhoid Rats
09/30/13: Added Reaper of the Wilds, removed Thicket Basilisk
09/30/13: Added Agent of the Fates, removed Engulfing Slagwurm
09/30/13: Added Hythonia the Cruel, removed Sluiceway Scorpion
10/04/13: Added Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers, removed Rushwood Grove
10/05/13: Added Swamp x3, removed Forest x3
10/09/13: Added Tainted Wood, removed Rupture Spire
10/09/13: Added Swamp, removed Subterranean Hangar
10/09/13: Added Swamp, removed Calming Verse
10/13/13: Added Golgari Cluestone, removed Sisters of Stone Death
10/13/13: Added Wayfarer's Bauble, removed Visara The Dreadful
10/13/13: Added Hero's Downfall, removed Alluring Scent
10/19/13: Added Llanowar Wastes, removed Transguild Promenade
10/19/13: Added Maelstrom Pulse, removed Bramblecrush
10/19/13: Added Armillary Sphere, removed Dolmen Gate
10/23/13: Added Overgrown Tomb, removed Power Matrix
10/26/13: Added Expedition Map, removed Fireshrieker
11/02/13: Added Command Tower, removed Swamp
11/02/13: Added Royal Assassin, removed Nettling Imp
11/07/13: Added Phyrexian Arena, removed Gorgon Recluse
11/07/13: Added Wild Pair, removed Hibernation's End
11/09/13: Added Alluring Scent, removed Recollect
11/09/13: Added Nevinyrral's Disk, removed Hex
11/12/13: Added Ophiomancer, removed Agent of the Fates
11/16/13: Added Traveler's Amulet, removed Pithing Needle
11/16/13: Added Krosan Grip, removed Gleeful Sabotage
11/27/13: Added Temple of the False God, removed Swamp
11/27/13: Added Ohran Viper, removed Infernal Medusa
12/13/13: Added Diabolic Revelation, removed Increasing Ambition
12/13/13: Added Wolfhunter's Quiver, remove Down//Dirty
12/19/13: Added Triangle of War, removed Putrefy
12/19/13: Added Urza's Bauble, removed Liliana's Reaver
12/19/13: Added Mishra's Bauble, removed Nevinyrral's Disk
12/19/13: Added Fade Into Antiquity, removed Keepsake Gorgon
12/21/13: Added Jester's Cap, removed Horizon Spellbomb
12/21/13: Added Reliquary Tower, removed Forest
01/01/14: Added Nihil Spellbomb, removed Kessig Recluse
01/01/14: Added Nevinyrral's Disk, removed Deadly Recluse
01/21/14: Added Mind Stone, removed Golgari Cluestone
01/21/14: Added Ogre Slumlord, removed Stinkweed Imp
01/23/14: Added Ghost Quarter, removed Swamp
01/23/14: Added Calming Verse, removed Jester's Cap
01/26/14: Added Strip Mine, removed Forest
02/10/14: Added Wanderer's Twig, removed Armillary Sphere
02/12/14: Added Deadbridge Chant, removed Vedalken Orrey
02/12/14: Added Visara the Dreadful, removed Hythonia the Cruel
02/27/14: Added Liliana's Reaver, removed Wasteland Viper
02/27/14: Added Tormod's Crypt, removed Swamp
02/27/14: Added Homeward Path, remove Arena
02/28/14: Added Sol Ring, remove Mind Stone
02/28/14: Added Praetor's Counsel, remove Creeping Renaissance
03/01/14: Added Grim Backwoods, removed Forest
03/12/14: Added Demonic Tutor, removed Wolfhunter's Quiver
03/12/14: Added Decree of Pain, removed Wild Pair
03/15/14: Added No Mercy, removed Gaze of Granite
03/15/14: Added Revenge of the Hunted, removed Bloodscent
03/19/14: Added Meteor Crater, removed Mystifying Maze
03/26/14: Added Whip of Erebos, removed Grim Feast
03/27/14: Added Leyline of the Void, removed Nihil Spellbomb
04/06/14: Added Glissa Sunseeker, removed Vengeful Pharoh
04/06/14: Added Sever the Bloodline, removed Hero's Downfall
05/07/14: Added Temple of Malady, removed Forest
05/07/14: Added Sensei's Diving Top, removed Wanderer's Twig
05/07/14: Added Black Sun's Zenith, removed Nevinyrral's Disk
05/07/14: Added Pharika God of Affliction, removed Glissa Sunseeker
05/07/14: Added Tawnos's Coffin, removed Diabolic Revelation
05/07/14: Added Golgari Signet, removed Traveler's Amulet
05/14/14: Added Exquisite Blood, removed Whip of Erebos (seemed a more effective life-gain condition)
05/14/14: Added Sedge Scorpion, removed Typhoid Rats (balancing colors among creatures)
05/14/14: Added Pendlehaven, removed Calming Verse (wasn't comfortable running 35 lands and got a nice foil Pendlehaven cheap)
05/16/14: Added Hythonia the Cruel, removed Royal Assassin (Assassin to squishy, but my creature curve may be too high, we'll see)
05/26/14: Added Moonglove Extract, removed Twanos's Coffin (an experiment, curious how the Extract plays w/ recursion)
05/26/14: Added Typoid Rats, removed Tempting Licid (rarely used Licid's lure effect, Rats lower curve)
05/26/14: Added Plague Wind, removed Predatory Urge (PU got 2-for-1'ed too often, wanted a win-con wipe)
05/26/14: Added Unravel the Aether, removed Fade Into Antiquity (traded away exile at sorc speed for shuffle tuck at instant)
05/26/14: Added Maze of Ith, removed Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (because it's Maze of Ith)
05/26/14: Added Thespian's Stage, removed Pine Barrens (Barrens slow AND damaging, realized I was lacking a Stage)
06/12/14: Added Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth, removed Forest (Because Urborg is fantastic)
06/12/14: Added Deathreap Ritual, removed Deadbridge Chant (Too often DBC was mill ten immediate disenchant, plus Ritual is amazing)
06/12/14: Added Vedalken Orrery, removed Moonglove Extract (Being able to flash in deathtouch or even threaten/bluff is great)
06/12/14: Added Mind's Eye, removed Revenge of the Hunted (Wanted more draw because I'm greedy)
06/17/14: Added Calming Verse, removed Krosan Grip (In my meta the must-remove ratio of ench:arti is about 5:1)
06/17/14: Added Beast Within, removed Black Market (Just realized wasn't running BW, trying to wean down enchantments in this deck)
06/17/14: Added Arena, removed Grim Backwoods (Might just put a Swamp here but trying Arena for now)
07/15/14: Added Darksteel Plate, removed Scythe of the Wretched (Helps Glissa survive wipes for mass artifact retrieval)
07/15/14: Added Swarmyard, removed Arena (Arena never seemed to get me a good creature to kill, Swarmyard regens 4 of my creatures)
07/15/14: Added Hornet Nest, removed Ambush Viper (Mostly just really want to run Hornet Nest)
07/15/14: Added Deadly Recluse, removed Thrill-Kill Assassin (Same cmc but Recluse works w/ Swarmyard and Reach more useful than Unleash)
07/15/14: Added Soul of Innistrad, removed Hythonia the Cruel (I think SoI's ability will be more useable, even in the graveyard)
07/15/14: Added Garruk Apex Predator, removed Vraska the Unseen (Love Vraska because she's a gorgon, but needed to make room)
07/15/14: Added In Garruk's Wake, removed Plague Wind (I see more planeswalkers than regeneration by like a factor of 10)
08/01/14: Added Kessig Recluse, removed Thornweald Archer (Swarmyard + Deadly Recluse was a beater last week, so I'm add another spiders)
08/01/14: Added Beseech the Queen, removed Regrowth (Lotta graveyard hate where I'm at. Aiming for a Vamp Tutor here eventually)
08/01/14: Added Grim Backwoods, removed Pendlehaven (Never used Pendlehaven, sacc engine might be useful)
08/01/14: Added Vraska the Unseen, removed Tormod's Crypt (I have Leyline/Void and Bojuka, missed Vraska)
09/02/14: Added Regrowth, removed Beeseech the Queen (Didn't like having to reveal the card and I finally got a foil Regrowth)
09/16/14: Added Cabal Pit, removed Swamp (Trying it out as an an additional kill condition)
10/01/14: Added Jungle Hollow, removed Forest (I may be running too many ETB lands, need to watch it)
10/10/14: Added Salvaging Station, removed Liliana's Reaver (Another artifact recursion engine)
10/20/14: Added Vampiric Tutor, removed Treasured Find (Wanted one more answer tutor, got a good deal on a foil)
10/24/14: Added Synod Sanctum, removed Salvaging Station (Testing this way to save permanents)
10/29/14: Added Icy Manipulator, removed Synod Sanctum (Synod won a game but it's a huge mana sink that odds are I won't often have)
10/30/14: Added Swamp, removed Okina Temple/Grandfather (Need less non-basics and literally never use Okina's abilities)
10/30/14: Added Swamp, removed Cabal Pit (Need less non-basics and Cabal Pit is better in standard than EDH)
10/30/14: Added Liliana's Reaver, removed Pharika, God of Affliction (Pharika was so rarely a creature or I rarely used her abilities)
10/30/14: Added Raving Dead, removed Hornet Nest (Couldn't ever take advantage of Hornet Nest)
11/01/14: Added Twilight Mire, removed Golgari Guildgate (Finally got a foil TM)
11/01/14: Added Verdant Catacombs, removed Gilt-Leaf Palace (Finally got a foil VC)
11/20/14: Added Diabolic Revelation, removed Vraska the Unseen (Needed something to push over the top)
11/26/14: Added Horizon Spellbomb, removed Nemesis Mask (Mask clunky)
12/28/14: Added Thornweald Archer, removed Cockatrice (Cockatrice didn’t work w/ Viridian Longbow or Thornbite Staff)
12/28/14: Added Rise of the Dark Realms, removed Diabolic Tutor (Four tutors seemed too many without a win-con to tutor for)
01/14/15: Added Ancient Tomb, removed Grim Backwoods (Backwoods just too clunky and I had a foil AT)
02/04/15: Added Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, removed Jungle Hollow (Trying Nykthos since deck is two colors)
03/02/15: Added Pithing Needle, removed Icy Manipulator (Mostly accomplishes the same thing for a lot less mana)
03/02/15: Added Glaring Spotlight, removed Horizon Spellbomb (Spotlight is pretty versatile and can be an alpha-strike win-con)
03/11/15: Added Lightning Greaves, removed Nevinyrral's Disk (Needed a bit of prot/haste, Nev Disk always got hit before I could untap it)
03/30/15: Added Sidisi, Undead Vizier, removed Sedge Scorpion (Sedisi is so good)
04/13/15: Added Pharika, God of Affliction, removed Reaper of the Wilds (Giving Pharika another shot as graveyard hate)
04/29/15: Added Smokestack, removed Pithing Needle (A bit of Stax might be useful)
04/29/15: Added Calming Verse, removed Thornweald Archer (Need more enchantment removal)
04/29/15: Added Skullclamp, removed Golgari Keyrune (Never activated it, so if it's just a mana rock, want to try Clamp)
05/07/15: Added Vraksa the Unseen, removed Soul of Innistrad (Never managed to use Soul's abilities, Vraska is another bit of removal)
05/15/15: Added Cabal Coffers, removed Tectonic Edge (Curious if Cabal Coffers works in a two-color deck)
05/17/15: Added Nihil Spellbomb, removed Tormod's Crypt (1 more mana to cast but it can be a minor draw engine)
06/28/15: Added Thornweald Archer, removed Typhoid Rats (1 more mana for a 2/1 and reach)
07/06/15: Added Tangle Wire, removed Calming Verse (Want to try Tangle Wire)
08/12/15: Added Overwhelming Stampede, removed Tangle Wire (Tangle Wire just too annoying, deathtouch + trample is really good)
08/12/15: Added Nemesis Mask, removed Thornweald Archer (Miss having a lure effect)
08/20/15: Added Overrun, removed Smokestack (Smokestack was just too unfun, deathtouch + trample is really good)
08/20/15: Added Grave Betrayal, removed Diabolic Revelation (Want to try Grave Betrayal with all this deck's way to kill stuff)
08/20/15: Added Entomb, removed Exquisite Blood (Don't think I need the life gain)
09/19/15: Added Golgari Keyrune, removed Golgari Signet (1 mana to make it a dude seemed worth it)
09/19/15: Added Wolfhunter's Quiver, removed Mind's Eye (Mind's Eye was so expensive, repeatable removal seems worth it)
09/23/15: Added Blighted Fen, removed Swarmyard (Like the removal tacked to a land, time to retire the spider package)
09/23/15: Added Blighted Woodland, removed Swamp (Like the ramp tacked to a land)
09/23/15: Added Mortuary Mire, removed Swamp (Not much downside, decent upside)
09/25/15: Added Codex Shredder, removed Kessig Recluse (I think CS has some cool upside)
09/25/15: Added Reaper of the Wilds, removed Deadly Recluse (Time to retire the spider package)
I do think you are missing out on the really powerful syngery with glissa and artifacts.
My Glissa deck is both Artifact recursion and a Deathtouch sub theme
I will try to keep the decks heart... i feel you are going for more of a voltron style that I am with my Rock control. I also note this seems like a budget deck since you don't have a lot of the staples.
Ok there is two HUGE problems for your deck.... Lightning greaves and Darksteel plate are in every deck
shroud/hexproof and indestructable totally wreak your deck you have no way to deal with it.
How do you stop indestrucable creatures and perminates?
I stopped running naturalise and started running deglamer because it deals with darksteel plate.
Finally you have no card draw and very little ramp.
Card draw and ramp are basically required of an EDH deck.
a simple phyrexian arena would go a long way.
some of the artifacts I mentioned that can help ramp.
returning cards from your grave is less useful than just drawing more cards.
There is a lot of can trip card artifacts and that is what my deck takes advantage of. With a bauble and Salavaging station package.
I would say remove the creatures that are only there because they have deathtouch... if that is all they offer to the deck then don't deserve a spot.
I will try to keep the decks heart... i feel you are going for more of a voltron style that I am with my Rock control.
Not really. None of the creature enchants or equipment are buffs. I usually win because nobody can really attack me thanks to the deathtouch pincushion, so I let the board slug it out and eventually win by wiping a vulnerable person's creature wall with a lure effect on a deathtouch monster.
Thornbite I actually traded for and promptly set aside and forgot about it. It's added back in. Grappling Hook I had early on but was always just too pricey to get out. Whispersilk, Swiftfoot (Trailblazer, too) were in as well in one iteration but most of my creatures are so small that without any cool sabotage effects the little damage nibbles didn't really make any difference. Golgari Keyrune was in at one point but got bumped for room. However in thinking over the last dozen or so games I played with this deck I can't think of a single situation where the indestructibility of Darksteel Ingot would really have mattered, where as I can think of a few times having essentially the same mana from the Keyrun with the flexibility of turning it to a creature would have been useful, so Ingot is out, Keyrune is in.
Bauble and Sphere are tempting. I'll see if I can find room.
The creatures, while useful, are a slippery slope I'm probably not going to go down, and while the Curse/Orchid combo is cool in theory, a two card combo with pieces that doesn't do much good unless I happen to have both doesn't seem a wise use of space.
You missed the Gaze I already had in the deck, as well as a Ratchet Bomb (token eater mostly). I might need one more piece (don't have Damnation but maybe Disk or PB) but there are very few times I've felt screwed not having another board wipe. I have Calming Verse for not-me enchant removal, too. Generally because I'm so hard to attack I'm the person who hurts the most from a board wipe.
Still, it's something I'll keep an eye on in coming weeks and maybe trade for a Damnation or Plague Wind if need be.
How do you stop indestrucable creatures and perminates?
I stopped running naturalise and started running deglamer because it deals with darksteel plate.
Well, in addition to Naturalize I can hit Greaves/DSPlate with Putrefy and Bramblecrush, and I have multiple ways to tutor or bring those back from the graveyard in an emergency. Still, a Deglamer makes sense. I'll pick one up and find a slot
Finally you have no card draw and very little ramp.
Card draw and ramp are basically required of an EDH deck.
a simple phyrexian arena would go a long way.
some of the artifacts I mentioned that can help ramp.
returning cards from your grave is less useful than just drawing more cards.
Deadbridge Chant and Hibernation function as defactor ramp and draw. Hibernation's End is absurd; it's one of those cards that doesn't seem more than meh until you play it. It always rocks.
That said, I am going to try and find a slot for Bauble and Sphere, or maybe even a Horizon Spellbomb to combo some card draw with ramp.
I would say remove the creatures that are only there because they have deathtouch... if that is all they offer to the deck then don't deserve a spot.
I win often enough as is that I really don't want to pull creatures for stuff not on-theme. Could I put in a Blight Dragon (or Mikaelus or whatever) and win more? Yeah, but half the fun is wiping someone's board with some ****ty basilisk from Homelands
Plus I have a feeling Theros is going to provide plenty of on-theme gorgons for me to cycle in while I cycle some older stuff out.
Thanks much for the extensive reply though, I really appreciate it.
Won a game last night thanks to the Deglamer suggestion (hit a Control Magic on a Avacyn that I wouldn't have been able to remove any other way) pushing it back to the original controller, letting me then kill both. And I was able to get into position to do that thanks to the suggestion for more mass removal by swapping a Murder for a Hex and knocking out six creatures.
This version is looking much better :). I think you have a nice balance of ramp draw and interaction now.
There remains 1 problem left to solve.. one that I still have a little trouble with. Spells based combo decks.... I am not sure what your meta is like and how often you run into them. (Get the feeling you play against a lot of ramp into large creature decks because your deck is very good against that type of deck)
The easiest answer is to always identify the combo deck and hit it with everything you have from the start of the game. this can piss people off sometimes
There remains 1 problem left to solve.. one that I still have a little trouble with. Spells based combo decks.... I am not sure what your meta is like and how often you run into them. (Get the feeling you play against a lot of ramp into large creature decks because your deck is very good against that type of deck)
The easiest answer is to always identify the combo deck and hit it with everything you have from the start of the game. this can piss people off sometimes
Generally speaking my meta isn't particularly combo-heavy in terms of auto-win combos. I see things like self-targeted Traumatize into Living End/Living Death/Zombie Apocalypse from a guy's zombie deck, but by and large my meta consists of people mostly concerned with having a good time. Victory via a Vraska assassin or some goofball Homelands goblin gets applauded a lot more than someone throwing a Curiosity on Niv.
That said, it does suck to see a Traumatize-->Zombie Apoc and not be able to do a thing about it. Jester's Cap is cheap to buy and reuseable with Glissa, so I'll be picking one up. Worst case I use it to yank Cyclonic Rift/Wash Out from a blue deck or Doubling Season/Parallel Lives from a token deck, etc.
I can only really see two ways to trigger agent of the fates... are you getting enough out of it? wouldn't slum reaper do a similar thing?
I love AotF, but a lot of that is because I got two at the pre-release and they were absolute bombshells in a B/W deck full of heroic enablers. In this deck, yeah, not so much. On the other hand I don't want to shorten my creature count much more though, either. I'm betting I'll see some more cool Gorgons in the next two sets, so I shouldn't have a problem finding a replacement soon. He may just chill there until then, we'll see.
Additionally I really would like one more lure effect in place (Alluring Scent) as they are super effective. Given that I'm already running Give//Take along with Recollect/Restock/Regrowth/Treasured Find I could probably yank Recollect as it's just a clone of one half of Give//Take. I'm probably going to make the change this week, but I want to ponder it a bit.
I'm also debating upgrading Hex to Plague Wind or Toxic Deluge. There's been a couple of times where there just aren't six targets for Hex to hit, or I need to hit one of my own creatures because there are only five enemy creatures on the board, etc. Plague Wind is going to cost three more mana to get out, but it keeps my stuff safe. Deluge will kill pretty much anything, even indestructibles, but it takes out my board, too. Plus Deluge is pricey enough at the moment that I may as well consider Damnation if I'm going to go with a card that expensive. I'll ponder that as well (or take any suggestions/advice).
Forget that whole Plague Wind/Damnation/etc nonsense, Nevinyrral's Disk makes a lot more sense given Glissa's recursion ability, so it's in and Hex is out.
Wound up swapping Agent of Fates for Ophiomancer. Same CMC and the Oph makes a never-ending supply of deadly death-touch chump blockers. Replaced Gleeful Sabotage, because F YOU Sensai's Divining Top.
I like Grave Betrayal in a theoretic way, and any EDH deck I make has it in the initial 130-150 before I start weeding, but it always winds up falling out because that casting cost is just brutal. Also, it's in that grey area where I'm making non-deathtouch creatures just because it's effective to do so, and I'm not entirely wild about that as there's a blurry line in there somewhere separating theme from goodstuff I really don't like to cross. Still, it might fit into Deadbridge Chant's slot nicely, especially as anti-board wipe tech. It's in the "things to ponder" pile.
Added Fade Into Antiquity, removed Putrefy: Too many gods in my meta, plus a Sharuum deck rocking a Darksteel Forge that seems to come out every turn, so I swapped the ability to hit creatures in Putrify for the ability to hit enchantments (and Gods) in Fade into Antiquity, with the added bonus that it can exile indestructible stuff.
Added Triangle of War, removed Keepsake Gorgon: I love gorgons, but the CMC was just too high for what it did, and adding Triangle covers the replacement monstrous effect as well as covers for the creature killing I'm losing by taking out Putrify.
Added Urza's Bauble and Mishra's Bauble, removed Liliana's Reaver and Nevinyrral's Disk- I needed more card draw than I was getting from Phy Arena alone or the occasional expensive recursion of Horizon Spellbomb or Golgari Cluestone. In three games last night with this current config the Baubles probably netted me between 15-20 cards, minimum.
With Keepsake Gorgon gone Liliana's Reaver was a bit of a natural pull as it became a card that wouldn't net me anything with Wild Pair on the board since Keepsake was the only other 7 in my deck. I rarely if ever procced zombies with it anyway.
Nevinyrral's Disk was harder. Every instinct tells me to leave it in the deck because you need wipes in EDH, but I've never once used it, and I can't think of the last time with this deck I wanted it in play. I'll watch close in the coming week and make sure to ask myself every turn "would I want to have the Disk in play now" or not, and see how often I wish it was there.
Lastly I'm kind of contemplating Vedalken Orrey. As wary as people are now to attack me with all my deathtouch critters out, how much more so would they be if people didn't know when something was going to magically appear mid attack? On top of that with Glissa out it would seem to give me exponentially more chances to recur artifacts, particularly zero casting cost Baubles, etc.
Indestructable has been the bane of my existence for sometime. I ended up running Sever the Bloodline as exile removal... that can also hit token swarms. Also Deglamer is one of my favorite cards in general... too many darksteel plates go away. Can also tuck Sharroom.
I guess I definitely have less creatures than you so having more boardwipes are advantageous to me. I have 5 boardwipes and massacre wurm now. You probably need more of a board presence than I do. Cutting the disk seems risky I kind of think I'd cut a spell based boardwipe first, you just have to be proactive with it get it on the field and make sure no one messes with it. My deck is set up so that either I am destroying things, drawing cards, playing a large creature that will end the game on its own unless my opponents stop me or tutoring for things. Whille yours needs more of a critical mass.
Finally there is always the option of a jester's cap if there are particular cards you have trouble with.
Indestructable has been the bane of my existence for sometime. I ended up running Sever the Bloodline as exile removal... that can also hit token swarms. Also Deglamer is one of my favorite cards in general... too many darksteel plates go away. Can also tuck Sharroom.
I could swap Hero's Downfall for Sever. I'll watch my next several games and see how often the utility of having exile available for Indestructibles/hitting tokens and clones would be more useful than the utility of being able to hit Planeswalkers. I have a feeling it may be six of one, half dozen of the other, but I'll watch it.
I'm currently running Deglamer as well as Fade into Antiquity for dealing with Darksteel Forge, Sharuum, and Theros Gods. I can't think of the last time I didn't see at least one God in a game, so I won't be dropping either of those anytime soon, and having a third answer in the form of Sever may well make sense.
I guess I definitely have less creatures than you so having more boardwipes are advantageous to me. I have 5 boardwipes and massacre wurm now. You probably need more of a board presence than I do. Cutting the disk seems risky I kind of think I'd cut a spell based boardwipe first, you just have to be proactive with it get it on the field and make sure no one messes with it. My deck is set up so that either I am destroying things, drawing cards, playing a large creature that will end the game on its own unless my opponents stop me or tutoring for things. Whille yours needs more of a critical mass.
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. My lure effects tend to function as single player board wipe. I actually used flipped Garruk's tutor ability to pull Tempting Licid so I could turn him into a lure for a win just this week. Ratchet Bomb serves as a token wipe (each turn, too) and I have Gaze still just in case. As with Sever I'll watch the next few weeks and see how many times a Disk would make a difference. I have a feeling I won't miss it, but I'll watch closely.
Finally there is always the option of a jester's cap if there are particular cards you have trouble with.
I have one sitting right here that I just haven't found a slot for yet. I really should use it. I'll swap it for Horizon Spellbomb I think and see how that works.
I also noticed I don't have a Reliquary Tower in this deck, so I pulled a forest and added one. I'm also in the process of trading for a Yavimaya Hollow, because regenerating deathtouch creatures makes them deathtouchier. Picking up a Twilight Mire is on my short list of things to add as well, and long-term I'll keep an eye out for a Bayou and Verdant Catacombs. I've also contemplated Urborg for the occasional swamp walker, Pendlehaven to boost my Hornet Queen/Ophiomancer/Garruk/Vraska tokens, and Tree of Tales/Vault of Whispers just because they give me the ability to recur them with Glissa post land wipe, but I don't want to leave myself too vulnerable to Blood Moon, so those last four (particularly the last two since artifact hate hits them) are less likely.
I ran Jester's Cap for about a month. It's effective I suppose, but it's just not particularly fun and it murders the game tempo. I'd leave it in if I was playing in tournaments or something, but I'm not so I'm replacing it with Calming Verse, a card that handles the cards that cause me the most grief (Doubling Season and its variants in a token deck, Rooftop Storm and Omniscience in a zombie deck, Blood Moon and Stranglehold and Pyrohemia in a Kiki-Jiki deck) while not wrecking the tempo of the game.
I have a Strip Mine on the way to deal with troublesome lands (Maze of Ith, Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth, Kor Haven) that have begun to crop up in my meta, and I put a Ghost Quarter in already. Whether or not I keep both or replace the Quarter with the Mine has yet to be determined.
Mind Stone replaced Golgari Cluestone because it has a bit of recursion with Glissa and drawing.
Ophiomancer has been such a effective card that I'm trying Ogre Slumlord to see how he words. Disposable deathtouch tokens are fun!
Lots of changes, but here are comments on the ones worth noting:
Nevinyrral's Disk --> Black Sun's Zenith: In theory the Disk is recurrable with Glissa; in reality it was just clunky, it gave people too much warning the wipe was coming, it wasn't tutorable in a omg-need-a-wipe-right-now way since it comes into play tapped, and pretty often I found that hitting artifacts and enchantments as well as creatures hurt me as much or more than everyone else. Plus it didn't touch things with indestructible, and in my God-heavy meta (plus a regular opponent running Tajic and another Sapling of Colfenor) that's a huge issue. Black Sun's Zenith solves pretty much all those problems.
Hero's Downfall --> Sever the Bloodline: I moved from Hero's Downfall to Sever the Bloodline for much the same reason as above. Planeswalkers, while a problem, aren't what wins/loses games on the tables I play at. Being unable to kill a God or Tajic has cost me more than match, however, hence the switch to an exile effect. I'm not wild about the lack of instant speed on Sever, but I do like the ability to hit multiple creatures if the target is a token or if there happen to be multiples of the creature in play through cloning or just people playing the same stuff. Silence the Believers is an instant speed option I guess, but I'm going to go with Sever for now. Whenever it pops up in my hand I'll note whether or not at that moment I'd rather have instant speed or the ability to hit multiple targets, and re-evaluate down the road.
Wanderer's Twig --> Golgari Signet: I do recur the Twig with Glissa a bit, but it always feels a bit impotent. Early game When I have to spend two mana to do something I want to do it now, not wait until next turn to play the land, so it seems that early on Signet is better, and in longer games when I'd have spare mana to be able to dump into using the Twig to get more lands it feels like I should be using that spare mana for something less durdly.
Traveler's Amulet --> Sensei's Divining Top: Same as Twig, Amulet feels like it either isn't helping early game, or it's unnecessary late game. Wayfarer's Bauble puts the lands into play, so it winds up being true ramp, and Expedition Map lets me take utility lands, so that has it's place, too, but Amulet just doesn't make the cut.
Diabolic Revelation --> Tawnos's Coffin: Diabolic Rev always felt like a win-more, and I really wanted to put a Coffin in a deck so here we are.
Scythe of the Wretched--> Darksteel Plate: Scythe has been good to me, but it requires a three card combo to do much (Lure/Nemesis Mask or Viridian Longbow/Thornbite Staff), and there's so many ways to tap around a Lure effect when the Scythe is incoming that it only works once in awhile. On the other hand I regularly wish I had a way besides Yavimaya Hollow to keep Glissa up during a wipe so I could pull 3-4 artifacts back from my graveyard in one burst. I'll classify this as an experiment for the time being. Scythe could easily wind up back in the deck.
Ambush Viper--> Hornet Nest: Ambush Viper occasionally interfered with Ophimancer token production, and I really wanted to find a slot for Hornet Nest because it just looks fun.
Arena--> Swarmyard: Thanks to the three mana activation cost of Arena and the fact that it doesn't tap for mana it just seemed like a huge sink and/or dead card too often, and even when I did get a chance to use it too often the person was able to just pick a crappy creature to fight netting me little advantage for the investment. With the inclusion of Hornet Nest that put me at three pests plus Ogre Slumlord and Hornet Queen tokens. If I'm being honest though I just really want to regen Hornet Nest
Thrill-Kill Assassin--> Deadly Recluse: Since I'm running Swarmyard I may as well put in something else it'll work with. Same CMC and abilities, but Recluse can be regenerated.
Hythonia the Cruel--> Soul of Innistrad: I had a tough time making Hythonia monstrous. I think I only managed it twice and both times were when I could flash her in with a Vedalken Orrery. People just gunned for her to prevent it. Soul costs the same, has better power, and has an ability that should draw less hate and is also useable if it gets killed or milled or discarded.
Vraska the Unseen--> Garruk, Apex Predator: I had to included a guy who makes deathtouch beasts, but something had to go, and that something is Vraska. I love gorgons and really like Vraska, but frankly she's just not that good. I've won games with her ult, but you should win games with ANY planeswalker ult. Too often she's an expensive Bramblecrush.
Plague Wind--> In Garruk's Wake: I see more planeswalkers than regeneration by like a factor of 10. Plus the art on the foil promo is amazing.
My Glissa deck is a bit less themed than your has more of a focus on simply killing and destroying things. I tend to run cards like Royal Assassin, Hero's Demise, and Kiku, Night's Flower for added murdery goodness.
Im surprised that no one has mentioned Gift of the Deity. Its another Lure-like effect that that give Glissa +2/+2. Can work just as well on Pharika.
I also like the use Revenge of the Hunted and Tower Above to help clear things. My meta is a bit aggro heavy so im fine including a fair amount of forced blocking redundancy. Once i've enchanted Glissa or equipped the Nemesis Mask on her, i generally find that most player will attempt to kill her ASAP while they "let slide" the sorcery effects like Tower Above and Revenge of the Hunted.
I've decided to put in, though i havent tested it yet, Silent Arbiter. While i know that it completely nonbos all the "All creatures must block" cards, as the game goes on i would much rather get in a hit with a 8+/8+ Glissa with Trample for commander damage than to make the game last longer whittling down tokens and the like. Maybe its a terrible card? I'll have to play with it.
My Glissa deck is a bit less themed than your has more of a focus on simply killing and destroying things. I tend to run cards like Royal Assassin, Hero's Demise, and Kiku, Night's Flower for added murdery goodness.
I ran some assassins for awhile (Royal, Avatar of Woe, Visara the Dreadful) at various points but I've just eventually replaced them because they didn't fit my long, slow, grind-it-out war-of-attrition theme I'm going for.
Quote from I"m surprised that no one has mentioned [card »
Gift of the Deity[/card]. Its another Lure-like effect that that give Glissa +2/+2. Can work just as well on Pharika.
I also like the use Revenge of the Hunted and Tower Above to help clear things. My meta is a bit aggro heavy so im fine including a fair amount of forced blocking redundancy. Once i've enchanted Glissa or equipped the Nemesis Mask on her, i generally find that most player will attempt to kill her ASAP while they "let slide" the sorcery effects like Tower Above and Revenge of the Hunted.[
I ran both Gift and Revenge at various points, along with Alluring Scent, Tempting Licid, etc. Lures wound up being really hit/miss for me. Too often there's just not enough untapped creatures to make it a devastating blow, and so many creatures in EDH (at least where I play) do things that it's really easy to tap them in response to an attack.
You're not wrong about Mask, but I've found it's worth having it sit there like a rattlesnake making people a little afraid to overcommit. That said, upon reflection here it seems that 99% of the time I cast Lure it winds up with the creature dead and the Lure in my graveyard. If it's not going to be reuseable anyway, maybe Revenge would be a better choice since it has the advantage of giving the +6/+6 and trample. It's on my radar for things to consider.
I've decided to put in, though i havent tested it yet, Silent Arbiter. While i know that it completely nonbos all the "All creatures must block" cards, as the game goes on i would much rather get in a hit with a 8+/8+ Glissa with Trample for commander damage than to make the game last longer whittling down tokens and the like. Maybe its a terrible card? I'll have to play with it.
I so rarely get attacked with multiple creatures thanks to my deathtouch front that it wouldn't often make a difference. Plus I'm running a Rafiq deck using Silent Arbiter and I try to avoid much in the way of overlapping strategies both to keep things fresh, and to keep my friends from being able to build against me.
Now that Typhoid Rats and Hornet Nest have been out for awhile, it seemed logical to finally retire the Swarmyard package, or at least test retiring it.
May as well update with the last quarter of changes just for my own record-keeping purposes:
10/21/15: Added Mox Opal, removed Beastmaster Ascension - I've gotten lazy on ramp/land fetch
10/21/15: Added Golgari Signet, removed Grave Betrayal - I've gotten lazy on ramp/land fetch
11/08/15: Added Skullwinder, removed Liliana's Reaver - Skullwinder can make plays
11/12/15: Added Vault of Whispers, removed Homeward Path - Testing artifact lands for Mox Opal/Diamond
11/12/15: Added Darksteel Citadel, removed Thespian's Stage - Testing artifact lands for Mox Opal/Diamond
11/12/15: Added Tree of Tales, removed Mortuary Mire - Testing artifact lands for Mox Opal/Diamond
11/12/15: Added Mox Diamond, removed Sylvok Replica - Need to make room for Mox Diamond
11/20/15: Added Necropotence, removed Mind's Eye - Necropotence is just better
11/20/15: Added Sudden Spoiling, removed Golgari Charm - Sudden Spoiling is just too versatile
12/17/15: Added Mortuary Mire, remvoved Blighted Woodland - Need less colorless-producing lands
12/18/15: Added Exquisite Blood, removed Nemesis Mask - Need the lifegain
01/05/16: Added Mana Crypt, removed Scroll Rack - Without tricks Rack is underwhelming, plus got a Crypt
Well for the death touch part of the theme I like Nylea. I run a mindslaver package in my Glissa Deck and it can be really fun especially if you have a vedalken orrery out to flash it in and take another turn before it comes back around to you at the table. Fun stuff.
Nice decklist by the way, really liked reading it.
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I knew early on that I wanted to create a deathtouch deck. I really didn't have a win condition in mind beyond "everything kills u!" and to be honest I still don't entirely have much of a plan beyond that, but it's a fun deck that functions a bit like a spined puffer fish in that nobody really wants to touch. It has been very effective so far, though I never stop tweaking. People tend to leave me and hit softer, less deathtouchy targets while I carefully ramp and accumulate resource advantage through artifact recursion as I attempt to not so much win as be the last man standing.
Glissa the Traitor
1 Codex Shredder
3 Darksteel Plate
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Expedition Map
3 Forcefield
1 Glaring Spotlight
3 Golgari Keyrune
2 Golgari Signet
2 Lightning Greaves
5 Memory Jar
3 Mimic Vat
2 Mind Stone
0 Mishra's Bauble
0 Mox Opal
1 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Prototype Portal
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
2 Thornbite Staff
1 Triangle of War
0 Urza's Bauble
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
CREATURE: 16
5 Acidic Slime
4 Deathgaze Cockatrice
6 Grave Titan
6 Harvester of Souls
7 Hornet Queen
5 Ogre Slumlord
3 Ohran Viper
3 Ophiomancer
3 Pharika, God of Affliction
4 Reaper of the Wilds
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
3 Skullwinder
5 The Gitrog Monster
3 Vampire Nighthawk
6 Wurmcoil Engine
6 Xathrid Gorgon
4 Deathreap Ritual
3 Necropotence
4 No Mercy
3 Phyrexian Arena
INSTANT: 7
3 Beast Within
2 Deglamer
3 Putrefy
3 Sudden Spoiling
2 Unravel the Aether
1 Vampiric Tutor
PLAINSWALKER: 2
4 Garruk Relentless
7 Garru, Apex Predator
SORCERY: 9
8 Decree of Pain
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Maelstrom Pulse
5 Overrun
5 Overwhelming Stampede
2 Regrowth
4 Sever the Bloodline
3 Toxic Deluge
3 Yawgmoth's Will
LAND: 37
0 Arcane Lighthouse
0 Bayou
0 Bojuka Bog
0 Cabal Coffers
0 Command Tower
0 Darksteel Citadel
0 Drownyard Temple
0 Forest x6
0 Hissing Quagmire
0 Homeward Path
0 Llanowar Wastes
0 Maze of Ith
0 Myriad Landscape
0 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
0 Overgrown Tomb
0 Reliquary Tower
0 Strip Mine
0 Swamp x5
0 Tainted Wood
0 Temple of Malady
0 Temple of the False God
0 Tree of Tales
0 Twilight Mire
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Vault of Whispers
0 Verdant Catacombs
0 Woodland Cemetery
0 Yavimaya Hollow
I've updated the deck quite a bit from the original list to better reuse Glissa's triggered ability. Originally I only ran Ratchet Bomb and Executioner's Capsule but I've gradually added more and more sacc-to-ramp artifacts with solid success while still feeling I've maintained the deck's thematic integrity.
Any other additional suggestions would be welcome, as long as they're thematically sound and not simply "add Mike and Trike, lolz".
Changelog:
07/26/13: Added Naturalize, removed Raking Canopy
08/01/13: Added Recollect, removed Disturbed Burial
08/08/13: Added Murder, removed Stone-Tongue Basilisk
08/08/13: Added Calming Verse, removed Spidersilk Armor
08/08/13: Added Woodland Cemetery, removed Swamp
08/29/13: Added Thornbite Staff, removed Sylvan Basilisk
08/29/13: Added Golgari Keyrune, removed Darksteel Ingot
08/29/13: Added Horizon Spellbomb, removed Turntimber Basilisk
09/05/13: Added Infernal Medusa, removed Cairn Wanderer
09/05/13: Added Deglamer, removed Daggerback Basilisk
09/05/13: Added Bojuka Bog, removed Swamp
09/05/13: Added Gleeful Sabotage, removed Naturalize
09/06/13: Added Hex, removed Murder
09/08/13: Added Regrowth, removed Revenge of the Hunted
09/09/13: Added Thornweald Archer, removed Serpentine Basilisk
09/21/13: Added Wurmcoil Engine, removed Greater Basilisk
09/22/13: Added Keepsake Gorgon, removed Lowland Basilisk
09/30/13: Added Wasteland Viper, removed Typhoid Rats
09/30/13: Added Reaper of the Wilds, removed Thicket Basilisk
09/30/13: Added Agent of the Fates, removed Engulfing Slagwurm
09/30/13: Added Hythonia the Cruel, removed Sluiceway Scorpion
10/04/13: Added Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers, removed Rushwood Grove
10/05/13: Added Swamp x3, removed Forest x3
10/09/13: Added Tainted Wood, removed Rupture Spire
10/09/13: Added Swamp, removed Subterranean Hangar
10/09/13: Added Swamp, removed Calming Verse
10/13/13: Added Golgari Cluestone, removed Sisters of Stone Death
10/13/13: Added Wayfarer's Bauble, removed Visara The Dreadful
10/13/13: Added Hero's Downfall, removed Alluring Scent
10/19/13: Added Llanowar Wastes, removed Transguild Promenade
10/19/13: Added Maelstrom Pulse, removed Bramblecrush
10/19/13: Added Armillary Sphere, removed Dolmen Gate
10/23/13: Added Overgrown Tomb, removed Power Matrix
10/26/13: Added Expedition Map, removed Fireshrieker
11/02/13: Added Command Tower, removed Swamp
11/02/13: Added Royal Assassin, removed Nettling Imp
11/07/13: Added Phyrexian Arena, removed Gorgon Recluse
11/07/13: Added Wild Pair, removed Hibernation's End
11/09/13: Added Alluring Scent, removed Recollect
11/09/13: Added Nevinyrral's Disk, removed Hex
11/12/13: Added Ophiomancer, removed Agent of the Fates
11/16/13: Added Traveler's Amulet, removed Pithing Needle
11/16/13: Added Krosan Grip, removed Gleeful Sabotage
11/27/13: Added Temple of the False God, removed Swamp
11/27/13: Added Ohran Viper, removed Infernal Medusa
12/13/13: Added Diabolic Revelation, removed Increasing Ambition
12/13/13: Added Wolfhunter's Quiver, remove Down//Dirty
12/19/13: Added Triangle of War, removed Putrefy
12/19/13: Added Urza's Bauble, removed Liliana's Reaver
12/19/13: Added Mishra's Bauble, removed Nevinyrral's Disk
12/19/13: Added Fade Into Antiquity, removed Keepsake Gorgon
12/21/13: Added Jester's Cap, removed Horizon Spellbomb
12/21/13: Added Reliquary Tower, removed Forest
01/01/14: Added Nihil Spellbomb, removed Kessig Recluse
01/01/14: Added Nevinyrral's Disk, removed Deadly Recluse
01/21/14: Added Mind Stone, removed Golgari Cluestone
01/21/14: Added Ogre Slumlord, removed Stinkweed Imp
01/23/14: Added Ghost Quarter, removed Swamp
01/23/14: Added Calming Verse, removed Jester's Cap
01/26/14: Added Strip Mine, removed Forest
02/10/14: Added Wanderer's Twig, removed Armillary Sphere
02/12/14: Added Deadbridge Chant, removed Vedalken Orrey
02/12/14: Added Visara the Dreadful, removed Hythonia the Cruel
02/27/14: Added Liliana's Reaver, removed Wasteland Viper
02/27/14: Added Tormod's Crypt, removed Swamp
02/27/14: Added Homeward Path, remove Arena
02/28/14: Added Sol Ring, remove Mind Stone
02/28/14: Added Praetor's Counsel, remove Creeping Renaissance
03/01/14: Added Grim Backwoods, removed Forest
03/12/14: Added Demonic Tutor, removed Wolfhunter's Quiver
03/12/14: Added Decree of Pain, removed Wild Pair
03/15/14: Added No Mercy, removed Gaze of Granite
03/15/14: Added Revenge of the Hunted, removed Bloodscent
03/19/14: Added Meteor Crater, removed Mystifying Maze
03/26/14: Added Whip of Erebos, removed Grim Feast
03/27/14: Added Leyline of the Void, removed Nihil Spellbomb
04/06/14: Added Glissa Sunseeker, removed Vengeful Pharoh
04/06/14: Added Sever the Bloodline, removed Hero's Downfall
05/07/14: Added Temple of Malady, removed Forest
05/07/14: Added Sensei's Diving Top, removed Wanderer's Twig
05/07/14: Added Black Sun's Zenith, removed Nevinyrral's Disk
05/07/14: Added Pharika God of Affliction, removed Glissa Sunseeker
05/07/14: Added Tawnos's Coffin, removed Diabolic Revelation
05/07/14: Added Golgari Signet, removed Traveler's Amulet
05/14/14: Added Exquisite Blood, removed Whip of Erebos (seemed a more effective life-gain condition)
05/14/14: Added Sedge Scorpion, removed Typhoid Rats (balancing colors among creatures)
05/14/14: Added Pendlehaven, removed Calming Verse (wasn't comfortable running 35 lands and got a nice foil Pendlehaven cheap)
05/16/14: Added Hythonia the Cruel, removed Royal Assassin (Assassin to squishy, but my creature curve may be too high, we'll see)
05/26/14: Added Moonglove Extract, removed Twanos's Coffin (an experiment, curious how the Extract plays w/ recursion)
05/26/14: Added Typoid Rats, removed Tempting Licid (rarely used Licid's lure effect, Rats lower curve)
05/26/14: Added Plague Wind, removed Predatory Urge (PU got 2-for-1'ed too often, wanted a win-con wipe)
05/26/14: Added Unravel the Aether, removed Fade Into Antiquity (traded away exile at sorc speed for shuffle tuck at instant)
05/26/14: Added Maze of Ith, removed Oran-Rief, the Vastwood (because it's Maze of Ith)
05/26/14: Added Thespian's Stage, removed Pine Barrens (Barrens slow AND damaging, realized I was lacking a Stage)
06/12/14: Added Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth, removed Forest (Because Urborg is fantastic)
06/12/14: Added Deathreap Ritual, removed Deadbridge Chant (Too often DBC was mill ten immediate disenchant, plus Ritual is amazing)
06/12/14: Added Vedalken Orrery, removed Moonglove Extract (Being able to flash in deathtouch or even threaten/bluff is great)
06/12/14: Added Mind's Eye, removed Revenge of the Hunted (Wanted more draw because I'm greedy)
06/17/14: Added Calming Verse, removed Krosan Grip (In my meta the must-remove ratio of ench:arti is about 5:1)
06/17/14: Added Beast Within, removed Black Market (Just realized wasn't running BW, trying to wean down enchantments in this deck)
06/17/14: Added Arena, removed Grim Backwoods (Might just put a Swamp here but trying Arena for now)
07/15/14: Added Darksteel Plate, removed Scythe of the Wretched (Helps Glissa survive wipes for mass artifact retrieval)
07/15/14: Added Swarmyard, removed Arena (Arena never seemed to get me a good creature to kill, Swarmyard regens 4 of my creatures)
07/15/14: Added Hornet Nest, removed Ambush Viper (Mostly just really want to run Hornet Nest)
07/15/14: Added Deadly Recluse, removed Thrill-Kill Assassin (Same cmc but Recluse works w/ Swarmyard and Reach more useful than Unleash)
07/15/14: Added Soul of Innistrad, removed Hythonia the Cruel (I think SoI's ability will be more useable, even in the graveyard)
07/15/14: Added Garruk Apex Predator, removed Vraska the Unseen (Love Vraska because she's a gorgon, but needed to make room)
07/15/14: Added In Garruk's Wake, removed Plague Wind (I see more planeswalkers than regeneration by like a factor of 10)
08/01/14: Added Kessig Recluse, removed Thornweald Archer (Swarmyard + Deadly Recluse was a beater last week, so I'm add another spiders)
08/01/14: Added Beseech the Queen, removed Regrowth (Lotta graveyard hate where I'm at. Aiming for a Vamp Tutor here eventually)
08/01/14: Added Grim Backwoods, removed Pendlehaven (Never used Pendlehaven, sacc engine might be useful)
08/01/14: Added Vraska the Unseen, removed Tormod's Crypt (I have Leyline/Void and Bojuka, missed Vraska)
09/02/14: Added Regrowth, removed Beeseech the Queen (Didn't like having to reveal the card and I finally got a foil Regrowth)
09/16/14: Added Cabal Pit, removed Swamp (Trying it out as an an additional kill condition)
10/01/14: Added Jungle Hollow, removed Forest (I may be running too many ETB lands, need to watch it)
10/10/14: Added Salvaging Station, removed Liliana's Reaver (Another artifact recursion engine)
10/20/14: Added Vampiric Tutor, removed Treasured Find (Wanted one more answer tutor, got a good deal on a foil)
10/24/14: Added Synod Sanctum, removed Salvaging Station (Testing this way to save permanents)
10/29/14: Added Icy Manipulator, removed Synod Sanctum (Synod won a game but it's a huge mana sink that odds are I won't often have)
10/30/14: Added Swamp, removed Okina Temple/Grandfather (Need less non-basics and literally never use Okina's abilities)
10/30/14: Added Swamp, removed Cabal Pit (Need less non-basics and Cabal Pit is better in standard than EDH)
10/30/14: Added Liliana's Reaver, removed Pharika, God of Affliction (Pharika was so rarely a creature or I rarely used her abilities)
10/30/14: Added Raving Dead, removed Hornet Nest (Couldn't ever take advantage of Hornet Nest)
11/01/14: Added Twilight Mire, removed Golgari Guildgate (Finally got a foil TM)
11/01/14: Added Verdant Catacombs, removed Gilt-Leaf Palace (Finally got a foil VC)
11/20/14: Added Diabolic Revelation, removed Vraska the Unseen (Needed something to push over the top)
11/26/14: Added Horizon Spellbomb, removed Nemesis Mask (Mask clunky)
12/28/14: Added Thornweald Archer, removed Cockatrice (Cockatrice didn’t work w/ Viridian Longbow or Thornbite Staff)
12/28/14: Added Rise of the Dark Realms, removed Diabolic Tutor (Four tutors seemed too many without a win-con to tutor for)
01/14/15: Added Ancient Tomb, removed Grim Backwoods (Backwoods just too clunky and I had a foil AT)
02/04/15: Added Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, removed Jungle Hollow (Trying Nykthos since deck is two colors)
03/02/15: Added Pithing Needle, removed Icy Manipulator (Mostly accomplishes the same thing for a lot less mana)
03/02/15: Added Glaring Spotlight, removed Horizon Spellbomb (Spotlight is pretty versatile and can be an alpha-strike win-con)
03/11/15: Added Lightning Greaves, removed Nevinyrral's Disk (Needed a bit of prot/haste, Nev Disk always got hit before I could untap it)
03/30/15: Added Sidisi, Undead Vizier, removed Sedge Scorpion (Sedisi is so good)
04/13/15: Added Pharika, God of Affliction, removed Reaper of the Wilds (Giving Pharika another shot as graveyard hate)
04/29/15: Added Smokestack, removed Pithing Needle (A bit of Stax might be useful)
04/29/15: Added Calming Verse, removed Thornweald Archer (Need more enchantment removal)
04/29/15: Added Skullclamp, removed Golgari Keyrune (Never activated it, so if it's just a mana rock, want to try Clamp)
05/07/15: Added Vraksa the Unseen, removed Soul of Innistrad (Never managed to use Soul's abilities, Vraska is another bit of removal)
05/15/15: Added Cabal Coffers, removed Tectonic Edge (Curious if Cabal Coffers works in a two-color deck)
05/17/15: Added Nihil Spellbomb, removed Tormod's Crypt (1 more mana to cast but it can be a minor draw engine)
06/28/15: Added Thornweald Archer, removed Typhoid Rats (1 more mana for a 2/1 and reach)
07/06/15: Added Tangle Wire, removed Calming Verse (Want to try Tangle Wire)
08/12/15: Added Overwhelming Stampede, removed Tangle Wire (Tangle Wire just too annoying, deathtouch + trample is really good)
08/12/15: Added Nemesis Mask, removed Thornweald Archer (Miss having a lure effect)
08/20/15: Added Overrun, removed Smokestack (Smokestack was just too unfun, deathtouch + trample is really good)
08/20/15: Added Grave Betrayal, removed Diabolic Revelation (Want to try Grave Betrayal with all this deck's way to kill stuff)
08/20/15: Added Entomb, removed Exquisite Blood (Don't think I need the life gain)
09/19/15: Added Golgari Keyrune, removed Golgari Signet (1 mana to make it a dude seemed worth it)
09/19/15: Added Wolfhunter's Quiver, removed Mind's Eye (Mind's Eye was so expensive, repeatable removal seems worth it)
09/23/15: Added Blighted Fen, removed Swarmyard (Like the removal tacked to a land, time to retire the spider package)
09/23/15: Added Blighted Woodland, removed Swamp (Like the ramp tacked to a land)
09/23/15: Added Mortuary Mire, removed Swamp (Not much downside, decent upside)
09/25/15: Added Codex Shredder, removed Kessig Recluse (I think CS has some cool upside)
09/25/15: Added Reaper of the Wilds, removed Deadly Recluse (Time to retire the spider package)
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
My Glissa deck is both Artifact recursion and a Deathtouch sub theme
I will try to keep the decks heart... i feel you are going for more of a voltron style that I am with my Rock control. I also note this seems like a budget deck since you don't have a lot of the staples.
Artifacts you should have.
Thornbite staff. untaps the creature and allows you to fire again. goes infinite with viridain longbow
Triangle of war. Fight, deathtouch kills.
Grappling hook. Provoke
Loxadon warhammer. Deathtouch + trample is very powerful there are other good trample equipment.
Lightning greaves
Swiftfoot boots
whispersilk cloak
wayfarers babule
armillary sphere
Golgari keyrune is a deathtouch creature
Wurmcoil engine. very powerful creature with deathtouch.
creatures: there is a lot of non deathtouch creatures that would be of use to you.
tutor creatures
Moulivani beast tracker
fierce empath
Skitheryx, blight dragon.. doesn't have deathtouch... but he will just win games for you with only a few bits of equipment.
Other cards
Curse of deaths hold + forbiden orchid allows you to have creatures die when you want them to.
Ok there is two HUGE problems for your deck.... Lightning greaves and Darksteel plate are in every deck
shroud/hexproof and indestructable totally wreak your deck you have no way to deal with it.
you have no board wipes.. you have to spot remove everything
Life's finale
Black sun's Zenith
Gaze of granite
Plauge boiler
Nevinyarrl's disk
you need to have some of these in there or you will lose to the first lightning greaves you see (well you can natrualise the boots but what about crystalline sliver?)
How do you stop indestrucable creatures and perminates?
I stopped running naturalise and started running deglamer because it deals with darksteel plate.
Sever the bloodline... is exile removal.
Edicts
Grave pact
Barter in blood
etc. are useful for both Indestrucable and shroud.
Finally you have no card draw and very little ramp.
Card draw and ramp are basically required of an EDH deck.
a simple phyrexian arena would go a long way.
some of the artifacts I mentioned that can help ramp.
returning cards from your grave is less useful than just drawing more cards.
There is a lot of can trip card artifacts and that is what my deck takes advantage of. With a bauble and Salavaging station package.
I would say remove the creatures that are only there because they have deathtouch... if that is all they offer to the deck then don't deserve a spot.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Not really. None of the creature enchants or equipment are buffs. I usually win because nobody can really attack me thanks to the deathtouch pincushion, so I let the board slug it out and eventually win by wiping a vulnerable person's creature wall with a lure effect on a deathtouch monster.
Thornbite I actually traded for and promptly set aside and forgot about it. It's added back in. Grappling Hook I had early on but was always just too pricey to get out. Whispersilk, Swiftfoot (Trailblazer, too) were in as well in one iteration but most of my creatures are so small that without any cool sabotage effects the little damage nibbles didn't really make any difference. Golgari Keyrune was in at one point but got bumped for room. However in thinking over the last dozen or so games I played with this deck I can't think of a single situation where the indestructibility of Darksteel Ingot would really have mattered, where as I can think of a few times having essentially the same mana from the Keyrun with the flexibility of turning it to a creature would have been useful, so Ingot is out, Keyrune is in.
Bauble and Sphere are tempting. I'll see if I can find room.
Wurmcoil I'm actively trying to trade for.
The creatures, while useful, are a slippery slope I'm probably not going to go down, and while the Curse/Orchid combo is cool in theory, a two card combo with pieces that doesn't do much good unless I happen to have both doesn't seem a wise use of space.
You missed the Gaze I already had in the deck, as well as a Ratchet Bomb (token eater mostly). I might need one more piece (don't have Damnation but maybe Disk or PB) but there are very few times I've felt screwed not having another board wipe. I have Calming Verse for not-me enchant removal, too. Generally because I'm so hard to attack I'm the person who hurts the most from a board wipe.
Still, it's something I'll keep an eye on in coming weeks and maybe trade for a Damnation or Plague Wind if need be.
Well, in addition to Naturalize I can hit Greaves/DSPlate with Putrefy and Bramblecrush, and I have multiple ways to tutor or bring those back from the graveyard in an emergency. Still, a Deglamer makes sense. I'll pick one up and find a slot
Deadbridge Chant and Hibernation function as defactor ramp and draw. Hibernation's End is absurd; it's one of those cards that doesn't seem more than meh until you play it. It always rocks.
That said, I am going to try and find a slot for Bauble and Sphere, or maybe even a Horizon Spellbomb to combo some card draw with ramp.
I win often enough as is that I really don't want to pull creatures for stuff not on-theme. Could I put in a Blight Dragon (or Mikaelus or whatever) and win more? Yeah, but half the fun is wiping someone's board with some ****ty basilisk from Homelands
Plus I have a feeling Theros is going to provide plenty of on-theme gorgons for me to cycle in while I cycle some older stuff out.
Thanks much for the extensive reply though, I really appreciate it.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
There remains 1 problem left to solve.. one that I still have a little trouble with. Spells based combo decks.... I am not sure what your meta is like and how often you run into them. (Get the feeling you play against a lot of ramp into large creature decks because your deck is very good against that type of deck)
The easiest answer is to always identify the combo deck and hit it with everything you have from the start of the game. this can piss people off sometimes
The other option is proactive stripping of their deck.. Jester's Cap, Praetors Grasp, Sadistic sacriment, bitter ordeal etc. I'd want one (I use Jester's cap) to tutor for.
I can only really see two ways to trigger agent of the fates... are you getting enough out of it? wouldn't slum reaper do a similar thing?
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Generally speaking my meta isn't particularly combo-heavy in terms of auto-win combos. I see things like self-targeted Traumatize into Living End/Living Death/Zombie Apocalypse from a guy's zombie deck, but by and large my meta consists of people mostly concerned with having a good time. Victory via a Vraska assassin or some goofball Homelands goblin gets applauded a lot more than someone throwing a Curiosity on Niv.
That said, it does suck to see a Traumatize-->Zombie Apoc and not be able to do a thing about it. Jester's Cap is cheap to buy and reuseable with Glissa, so I'll be picking one up. Worst case I use it to yank Cyclonic Rift/Wash Out from a blue deck or Doubling Season/Parallel Lives from a token deck, etc.
I love AotF, but a lot of that is because I got two at the pre-release and they were absolute bombshells in a B/W deck full of heroic enablers. In this deck, yeah, not so much. On the other hand I don't want to shorten my creature count much more though, either. I'm betting I'll see some more cool Gorgons in the next two sets, so I shouldn't have a problem finding a replacement soon. He may just chill there until then, we'll see.
Additionally I really would like one more lure effect in place (Alluring Scent) as they are super effective. Given that I'm already running Give//Take along with Recollect/Restock/Regrowth/Treasured Find I could probably yank Recollect as it's just a clone of one half of Give//Take. I'm probably going to make the change this week, but I want to ponder it a bit.
I'm also debating upgrading Hex to Plague Wind or Toxic Deluge. There's been a couple of times where there just aren't six targets for Hex to hit, or I need to hit one of my own creatures because there are only five enemy creatures on the board, etc. Plague Wind is going to cost three more mana to get out, but it keeps my stuff safe. Deluge will kill pretty much anything, even indestructibles, but it takes out my board, too. Plus Deluge is pricey enough at the moment that I may as well consider Damnation if I'm going to go with a card that expensive. I'll ponder that as well (or take any suggestions/advice).
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Sydri's Magical Castle WUB
Chainer, Dementia Master: "Bring out your dead!" BBB
Riku Because Copying Decimate URG
Xira Arien, Jund StaxBRG
The Sylvan-Primordial-PlasmBUG
Trostani ComboGW
Vizkopa Guildmage - Peasant VariantBW
http://mtgcommander.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15890
I use Lure's on Glissa then suit up another creature and power damage through.
Glaring Spotlight takes care of Hexproof and is recurable by Glissa.
Blight Sickle deals with Indestructible creatures.
I like Grave Betrayal in a theoretic way, and any EDH deck I make has it in the initial 130-150 before I start weeding, but it always winds up falling out because that casting cost is just brutal. Also, it's in that grey area where I'm making non-deathtouch creatures just because it's effective to do so, and I'm not entirely wild about that as there's a blurry line in there somewhere separating theme from goodstuff I really don't like to cross. Still, it might fit into Deadbridge Chant's slot nicely, especially as anti-board wipe tech. It's in the "things to ponder" pile.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Added Fade Into Antiquity, removed Putrefy: Too many gods in my meta, plus a Sharuum deck rocking a Darksteel Forge that seems to come out every turn, so I swapped the ability to hit creatures in Putrify for the ability to hit enchantments (and Gods) in Fade into Antiquity, with the added bonus that it can exile indestructible stuff.
Added Triangle of War, removed Keepsake Gorgon: I love gorgons, but the CMC was just too high for what it did, and adding Triangle covers the replacement monstrous effect as well as covers for the creature killing I'm losing by taking out Putrify.
Added Urza's Bauble and Mishra's Bauble, removed Liliana's Reaver and Nevinyrral's Disk- I needed more card draw than I was getting from Phy Arena alone or the occasional expensive recursion of Horizon Spellbomb or Golgari Cluestone. In three games last night with this current config the Baubles probably netted me between 15-20 cards, minimum.
With Keepsake Gorgon gone Liliana's Reaver was a bit of a natural pull as it became a card that wouldn't net me anything with Wild Pair on the board since Keepsake was the only other 7 in my deck. I rarely if ever procced zombies with it anyway.
Nevinyrral's Disk was harder. Every instinct tells me to leave it in the deck because you need wipes in EDH, but I've never once used it, and I can't think of the last time with this deck I wanted it in play. I'll watch close in the coming week and make sure to ask myself every turn "would I want to have the Disk in play now" or not, and see how often I wish it was there.
Lastly I'm kind of contemplating Vedalken Orrey. As wary as people are now to attack me with all my deathtouch critters out, how much more so would they be if people didn't know when something was going to magically appear mid attack? On top of that with Glissa out it would seem to give me exponentially more chances to recur artifacts, particularly zero casting cost Baubles, etc.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
I guess I definitely have less creatures than you so having more boardwipes are advantageous to me. I have 5 boardwipes and massacre wurm now. You probably need more of a board presence than I do. Cutting the disk seems risky I kind of think I'd cut a spell based boardwipe first, you just have to be proactive with it get it on the field and make sure no one messes with it. My deck is set up so that either I am destroying things, drawing cards, playing a large creature that will end the game on its own unless my opponents stop me or tutoring for things. Whille yours needs more of a critical mass.
Finally there is always the option of a jester's cap if there are particular cards you have trouble with.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I could swap Hero's Downfall for Sever. I'll watch my next several games and see how often the utility of having exile available for Indestructibles/hitting tokens and clones would be more useful than the utility of being able to hit Planeswalkers. I have a feeling it may be six of one, half dozen of the other, but I'll watch it.
I'm currently running Deglamer as well as Fade into Antiquity for dealing with Darksteel Forge, Sharuum, and Theros Gods. I can't think of the last time I didn't see at least one God in a game, so I won't be dropping either of those anytime soon, and having a third answer in the form of Sever may well make sense.
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. My lure effects tend to function as single player board wipe. I actually used flipped Garruk's tutor ability to pull Tempting Licid so I could turn him into a lure for a win just this week. Ratchet Bomb serves as a token wipe (each turn, too) and I have Gaze still just in case. As with Sever I'll watch the next few weeks and see how many times a Disk would make a difference. I have a feeling I won't miss it, but I'll watch closely.
I have one sitting right here that I just haven't found a slot for yet. I really should use it. I'll swap it for Horizon Spellbomb I think and see how that works.
I also noticed I don't have a Reliquary Tower in this deck, so I pulled a forest and added one. I'm also in the process of trading for a Yavimaya Hollow, because regenerating deathtouch creatures makes them deathtouchier. Picking up a Twilight Mire is on my short list of things to add as well, and long-term I'll keep an eye out for a Bayou and Verdant Catacombs. I've also contemplated Urborg for the occasional swamp walker, Pendlehaven to boost my Hornet Queen/Ophiomancer/Garruk/Vraska tokens, and Tree of Tales/Vault of Whispers just because they give me the ability to recur them with Glissa post land wipe, but I don't want to leave myself too vulnerable to Blood Moon, so those last four (particularly the last two since artifact hate hits them) are less likely.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
I have a Strip Mine on the way to deal with troublesome lands (Maze of Ith, Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth, Kor Haven) that have begun to crop up in my meta, and I put a Ghost Quarter in already. Whether or not I keep both or replace the Quarter with the Mine has yet to be determined.
Mind Stone replaced Golgari Cluestone because it has a bit of recursion with Glissa and drawing.
Ophiomancer has been such a effective card that I'm trying Ogre Slumlord to see how he words. Disposable deathtouch tokens are fun!
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Nevinyrral's Disk --> Black Sun's Zenith: In theory the Disk is recurrable with Glissa; in reality it was just clunky, it gave people too much warning the wipe was coming, it wasn't tutorable in a omg-need-a-wipe-right-now way since it comes into play tapped, and pretty often I found that hitting artifacts and enchantments as well as creatures hurt me as much or more than everyone else. Plus it didn't touch things with indestructible, and in my God-heavy meta (plus a regular opponent running Tajic and another Sapling of Colfenor) that's a huge issue. Black Sun's Zenith solves pretty much all those problems.
Hero's Downfall --> Sever the Bloodline: I moved from Hero's Downfall to Sever the Bloodline for much the same reason as above. Planeswalkers, while a problem, aren't what wins/loses games on the tables I play at. Being unable to kill a God or Tajic has cost me more than match, however, hence the switch to an exile effect. I'm not wild about the lack of instant speed on Sever, but I do like the ability to hit multiple creatures if the target is a token or if there happen to be multiples of the creature in play through cloning or just people playing the same stuff. Silence the Believers is an instant speed option I guess, but I'm going to go with Sever for now. Whenever it pops up in my hand I'll note whether or not at that moment I'd rather have instant speed or the ability to hit multiple targets, and re-evaluate down the road.
Wanderer's Twig --> Golgari Signet: I do recur the Twig with Glissa a bit, but it always feels a bit impotent. Early game When I have to spend two mana to do something I want to do it now, not wait until next turn to play the land, so it seems that early on Signet is better, and in longer games when I'd have spare mana to be able to dump into using the Twig to get more lands it feels like I should be using that spare mana for something less durdly.
Traveler's Amulet --> Sensei's Divining Top: Same as Twig, Amulet feels like it either isn't helping early game, or it's unnecessary late game. Wayfarer's Bauble puts the lands into play, so it winds up being true ramp, and Expedition Map lets me take utility lands, so that has it's place, too, but Amulet just doesn't make the cut.
Diabolic Revelation --> Tawnos's Coffin: Diabolic Rev always felt like a win-more, and I really wanted to put a Coffin in a deck so here we are.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Scythe of the Wretched--> Darksteel Plate: Scythe has been good to me, but it requires a three card combo to do much (Lure/Nemesis Mask or Viridian Longbow/Thornbite Staff), and there's so many ways to tap around a Lure effect when the Scythe is incoming that it only works once in awhile. On the other hand I regularly wish I had a way besides Yavimaya Hollow to keep Glissa up during a wipe so I could pull 3-4 artifacts back from my graveyard in one burst. I'll classify this as an experiment for the time being. Scythe could easily wind up back in the deck.
Ambush Viper--> Hornet Nest: Ambush Viper occasionally interfered with Ophimancer token production, and I really wanted to find a slot for Hornet Nest because it just looks fun.
Arena--> Swarmyard: Thanks to the three mana activation cost of Arena and the fact that it doesn't tap for mana it just seemed like a huge sink and/or dead card too often, and even when I did get a chance to use it too often the person was able to just pick a crappy creature to fight netting me little advantage for the investment. With the inclusion of Hornet Nest that put me at three pests plus Ogre Slumlord and Hornet Queen tokens. If I'm being honest though I just really want to regen Hornet Nest
Thrill-Kill Assassin--> Deadly Recluse: Since I'm running Swarmyard I may as well put in something else it'll work with. Same CMC and abilities, but Recluse can be regenerated.
Hythonia the Cruel--> Soul of Innistrad: I had a tough time making Hythonia monstrous. I think I only managed it twice and both times were when I could flash her in with a Vedalken Orrery. People just gunned for her to prevent it. Soul costs the same, has better power, and has an ability that should draw less hate and is also useable if it gets killed or milled or discarded.
Vraska the Unseen--> Garruk, Apex Predator: I had to included a guy who makes deathtouch beasts, but something had to go, and that something is Vraska. I love gorgons and really like Vraska, but frankly she's just not that good. I've won games with her ult, but you should win games with ANY planeswalker ult. Too often she's an expensive Bramblecrush.
Plague Wind--> In Garruk's Wake: I see more planeswalkers than regeneration by like a factor of 10. Plus the art on the foil promo is amazing.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Im surprised that no one has mentioned Gift of the Deity. Its another Lure-like effect that that give Glissa +2/+2. Can work just as well on Pharika.
I also like the use Revenge of the Hunted and Tower Above to help clear things. My meta is a bit aggro heavy so im fine including a fair amount of forced blocking redundancy. Once i've enchanted Glissa or equipped the Nemesis Mask on her, i generally find that most player will attempt to kill her ASAP while they "let slide" the sorcery effects like Tower Above and Revenge of the Hunted.
I've decided to put in, though i havent tested it yet, Silent Arbiter. While i know that it completely nonbos all the "All creatures must block" cards, as the game goes on i would much rather get in a hit with a 8+/8+ Glissa with Trample for commander damage than to make the game last longer whittling down tokens and the like. Maybe its a terrible card? I'll have to play with it.
I ran some assassins for awhile (Royal, Avatar of Woe, Visara the Dreadful) at various points but I've just eventually replaced them because they didn't fit my long, slow, grind-it-out war-of-attrition theme I'm going for.
I ran both Gift and Revenge at various points, along with Alluring Scent, Tempting Licid, etc. Lures wound up being really hit/miss for me. Too often there's just not enough untapped creatures to make it a devastating blow, and so many creatures in EDH (at least where I play) do things that it's really easy to tap them in response to an attack.
You're not wrong about Mask, but I've found it's worth having it sit there like a rattlesnake making people a little afraid to overcommit. That said, upon reflection here it seems that 99% of the time I cast Lure it winds up with the creature dead and the Lure in my graveyard. If it's not going to be reuseable anyway, maybe Revenge would be a better choice since it has the advantage of giving the +6/+6 and trample. It's on my radar for things to consider.
I so rarely get attacked with multiple creatures thanks to my deathtouch front that it wouldn't often make a difference. Plus I'm running a Rafiq deck using Silent Arbiter and I try to avoid much in the way of overlapping strategies both to keep things fresh, and to keep my friends from being able to build against me.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
09/23/15: Added Blighted Fen, removed Swarmyard
09/23/15: Added Blighted Woodland, removed Swamp
09/23/15: Added Mortuary Mire, removed Swamp
09/25/15: Added Codex Shredder, removed Kessig Recluse
09/25/15: Added Reaper of the Wilds, removed Deadly Recluse
Now that Typhoid Rats and Hornet Nest have been out for awhile, it seemed logical to finally retire the Swarmyard package, or at least test retiring it.
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
10/21/15: Added Mox Opal, removed Beastmaster Ascension - I've gotten lazy on ramp/land fetch
10/21/15: Added Golgari Signet, removed Grave Betrayal - I've gotten lazy on ramp/land fetch
11/08/15: Added Skullwinder, removed Liliana's Reaver - Skullwinder can make plays
11/12/15: Added Vault of Whispers, removed Homeward Path - Testing artifact lands for Mox Opal/Diamond
11/12/15: Added Darksteel Citadel, removed Thespian's Stage - Testing artifact lands for Mox Opal/Diamond
11/12/15: Added Tree of Tales, removed Mortuary Mire - Testing artifact lands for Mox Opal/Diamond
11/12/15: Added Mox Diamond, removed Sylvok Replica - Need to make room for Mox Diamond
11/20/15: Added Necropotence, removed Mind's Eye - Necropotence is just better
11/20/15: Added Sudden Spoiling, removed Golgari Charm - Sudden Spoiling is just too versatile
12/17/15: Added Mortuary Mire, remvoved Blighted Woodland - Need less colorless-producing lands
12/18/15: Added Exquisite Blood, removed Nemesis Mask - Need the lifegain
01/05/16: Added Mana Crypt, removed Scroll Rack - Without tricks Rack is underwhelming, plus got a Crypt
GReki, the History of Kamigawa Legendfall
UGEdric, Spymaster of Trest Drawmaster of Trest | GBGlissa the Traitor A Touch of Death | WBTeysa, Orzhov Scion Spinning in Graves
UWIsperia, Supreme Judge A Riddles of Sphinxes | RG Mena and Denn, Wildborn Beware Falling Rocks | GWSigarda, Host of Hurons The Enchantress
WRGRith the Awakener Superfriendly Tokens
Nice decklist by the way, really liked reading it.