Here's a general I've been wanting to build around since I first got into the format.
I've done a bit of playtesting with a few different types of builds and this is the most recent of many archetypes I've tried out with Toshiro.
This particular build had Torpor Orb in mind as one of the major control factors in the deck.
There's a pretty good sized package for Toshiro to play with as far a instants go but the deck isn't overly reliant on him.
WIN CONS:
Corpse Dance is the best win-con in the deck and can be used to abuse most of the creatures in the deck from the graveyard with a sac outlet like Diamond Valley or Attrition. If Corpse Dance ends up in the yard (countered, milled ect.) you can use Toshiro to cast it again and pay its Buyback to get in back into your hand. There are a number of cards that will let you exile cards from your graveyard such as Cremate and Shred Memory that will allow you to get the creature you need on top of your graveyard for Corpse Dance as well.
A big overhaul, dropped the overall CMC the help things run more smoothly as well as got rid of some of the ETB tapped lands. Testing Gray Merchant of Asphodel alongside of Torpor Orb right now, shouldn't be too much conflict between the two and the Mechant is a great kill card.
I always thought Toshiro was pretty cool. I'd run more tutors, more instants, and more ways to protect Toshiro. I'd probably cut some creatures, this looks cool though
Those were some real on point suggestions Honor_Basquiat, thank you! There were a few creatures cards that just weren't holding their weight and Yawg will make more opportunity to recur Torpor Orb and Exsanguinate while the other three imports really help smooth out the overall strategy.
I'm waiting for Withering Boon and Suffer the Past in the mail atm so not sure when I'll get to playtesting again but will report back with details.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed --> Damnation: The horseman's sorcery speed before attack phase clause was a impass I came across enough times to want me to find a replacement for him. With the low amount of creatures and the overall controls playstyle it mass removal seemed to warrant a spot. I chose Damnation over Toxic Deluge because more often that not I will want to to remove larger threats than smaller ones and the deck pays enough life as is. If my meta gets filled with indestructibles though I may reconsider.
Lightning Greaves --> Steel Hellkite: Greaves was in to protect Toshiro, but I've found that he is used best as a way to recur and Buyback Corpse Dance in a pinch. (Corpse Dance is the main engine card in the deck.) The Hellkite really helps deal with enchantments and is a great target for the Corpse Dance engine.
Coldsteel Heart --> Diamond Valley The deck really needed a way to gain some extra life and it also really wanted an extra Sacrifice outlet to fuel the Corpse Dance engine.
Damnation --> No Mercy: This is a card slot which I'm toying around with some different things right now. Damnation is really good here and I have a foil I'd like to not just sit in the binder, but No Mercy helps increase Devotion for Gray Merchant of Asphodel as well as helps to keep threats aimed at my opponent's faces while keeping myself alive.
INFO:
Here's a general I've been wanting to build around since I first got into the format.
I've done a bit of playtesting with a few different types of builds and this is the most recent of many archetypes I've tried out with Toshiro.
This particular build had Torpor Orb in mind as one of the major control factors in the deck.
There's a pretty good sized package for Toshiro to play with as far a instants go but the deck isn't overly reliant on him.
WIN CONS:
Corpse Dance is the best win-con in the deck and can be used to abuse most of the creatures in the deck from the graveyard with a sac outlet like Diamond Valley or Attrition. If Corpse Dance ends up in the yard (countered, milled ect.) you can use Toshiro to cast it again and pay its Buyback to get in back into your hand. There are a number of cards that will let you exile cards from your graveyard such as Cremate and Shred Memory that will allow you to get the creature you need on top of your graveyard for Corpse Dance as well.
Other Finishers:
Army of the Damned
Grave Betrayal
Eldrazi (Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre/It That Betrays)
Exsanguinate+Cabal Coffers
Yawgmoth's Will lets you re-up on Exsanguinate and can let you grab Corpse Dance out of the graveyard in the same way that Toshiro can.
DECK:
Current: Deck Stats
CMC 3.48
1 Toshiro Umezawa
//Creatures
1 Burnished Hart
1 Dark Impostor
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Grave Titan
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Lord of the Void
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 It That Betrays
//Instant
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Tragic Slip
1 Cremate
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Undying Evil
1 Entomb
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Suffer the Past
1 Shred Memory
1 Shallow Grave
1 Go for the Throat
1 Headstone
1 Withering Boon
1 Victim of Night
1 Corpse Dance
1 Grim Return
1 Murder
1 Reckless Spite
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Insidious Dreams
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Necrologia
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Torpor Orb
1 Mind Stone
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Lashwrithe
1 Thran Dynamo
//Planeswalker
1 Karn Liberated
//Enchantment
1 Attrition
1 Underworld Connections
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 No Mercy
1 Grave Betrayal
//Sorcery
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Exsanguinate
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 All Is Dust
1 Army of the Damned
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Diamond Valley
1 Cabal Coffers
1 High Market
1 Petrified Field
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Buried Ruin
1 Phyrexian Tower
24 Swamp
1 Strip Mine
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Deserted Temple
1 Terrain Generator
1 Volrath's Stronghold
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
- Kagemaro, First to Suffer
- Steel Hellkite
- Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
- Plunge Into Darkness
- Tendrils of Corruption
- Sudden Spoiling
- Bojuka Bog
- Vesuva
+ Gray Merchant of Asphodel
+ Graveborn Muse
+ Coffin Queen
+ Suffer the Past
+ Withering Boon
+ Undying Evil
+ Terrain Generator
+ Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
A big overhaul, dropped the overall CMC the help things run more smoothly as well as got rid of some of the ETB tapped lands. Testing Gray Merchant of Asphodel alongside of Torpor Orb right now, shouldn't be too much conflict between the two and the Mechant is a great kill card.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
- Coffin Queen
- Mindslicer
- Graveborn Muse
- Bloodline Keeper
+ Lightning Greaves
+ Murder
+ Beseech the Queen
+ Yawgmoth's Will
Those were some real on point suggestions Honor_Basquiat, thank you! There were a few creatures cards that just weren't holding their weight and Yawg will make more opportunity to recur Torpor Orb and Exsanguinate while the other three imports really help smooth out the overall strategy.
I'm waiting for Withering Boon and Suffer the Past in the mail atm so not sure when I'll get to playtesting again but will report back with details.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed --> Damnation: The horseman's sorcery speed before attack phase clause was a impass I came across enough times to want me to find a replacement for him. With the low amount of creatures and the overall controls playstyle it mass removal seemed to warrant a spot. I chose Damnation over Toxic Deluge because more often that not I will want to to remove larger threats than smaller ones and the deck pays enough life as is. If my meta gets filled with indestructibles though I may reconsider.
Lightning Greaves --> Steel Hellkite: Greaves was in to protect Toshiro, but I've found that he is used best as a way to recur and Buyback Corpse Dance in a pinch. (Corpse Dance is the main engine card in the deck.) The Hellkite really helps deal with enchantments and is a great target for the Corpse Dance engine.
Nightmare Lash --> It That Betrays: Since the Lash didn't come in as a creature unlike its counterpart Lashwrithe I found this card underwhelming often when I drew it. It That Betrays is a real great card to be able to cast Shallow Grave on and it works alongside of Torpor Orb.
Scrying Sheets --> Tectonic Edge Being able to answer problem lands was more important than the amount of card draw this was generating for me.
Snow-Covered Swamp --> Swamp see above.
Coldsteel Heart --> Diamond Valley The deck really needed a way to gain some extra life and it also really wanted an extra Sacrifice outlet to fuel the Corpse Dance engine.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.
Damnation --> No Mercy: This is a card slot which I'm toying around with some different things right now. Damnation is really good here and I have a foil I'd like to not just sit in the binder, but No Mercy helps increase Devotion for Gray Merchant of Asphodel as well as helps to keep threats aimed at my opponent's faces while keeping myself alive.
Avalon: The Legend Begins :: Pirate Set :: Babel: The Æther Wars
Favorite Magic Card: Fowl Play
[Primer] [Barrin's Tome]: A Master Wizard's Spellbook.