I was inspired by Digital Fire's Sidisi list here to try my hand at the new Khan as an alternative to my The Mimeoplasm which is getting a little too oppressive. But rather than going Zombie tribal or general goodstuff, I decided to go all-in on the self mill plan and basically port the Spider Spawning deck from Innistrad limited into EDH. Most of the Innistrad mill-enablers are here, even Mirror-Mad Phantasm. Flashback, Dredge, and Delve cards also come into play here to push the graveyard theme even more:
The deck's ultimate win condition is simple: spawn a massive amount of spiders (or zombies) while you have Essence of the Wild in play and run people over with your giant dudes. The loop that made the Limited deck so good is in here too, so you can just eventually spawn enough spiders turn after turn to just overwhelm people as long as no one tramples over you.
If you find that strategy isn't working, you can always go the boring route of playing Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and sac giant Splinterfrights or Golgari Grave-Trolls to drain the table. And if you want to be really boring, you can just cast Living Death and hope to win that way. But why do that when you can just spawn 30+ spiders and win the game?
This deck is obviously in the early stages; I basically focused more on synergy than actually making sure that I have "good cards" (i.e. Prophet of Kruphix) in the deck. Sidisi is pretty mana hungry, so I should probably add in some more ramp effects. I'd like to avoid things like Entomb and Buried Alive so I can enjoy the randomness if at all possible. I've already conceded to the fact that I do need to splurge for a Craterhoof Behemoth at some point, and getting a Worm Harvest would be awesome too so I can have yet another massive spawner.
So basically, what cards would be good for this self-milling, spider-spawning, incredibly graveyard centric deck? What cards are too cute, or just plain bad? Ignore the mana base for now; it was thrown together with all the random leftovers I had lying around. Once I get fetches, shocks, etc I'll add those in. Are there any utility lands I may have missed though?
Any and all constructive criticism welcome. Thanks in advance!
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EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
Gae's and Kozilek let you keep shuffling back in cards, which means you can also use your delve cards to remove all the stuff you dont need again and thin the deck out.
I like some of your card choices are well and got some changes to make to my deck as well.
Gae's and Kozilek let you keep shuffling back in cards, which means you can also use your delve cards to remove all the stuff you dont need again and thin the deck out.
I like some of your card choices are well and got some changes to make to my deck as well.
I like Spitting Image a lot; I can't believe I forgot about it. That'll find its way in for sure. Similarly, Mesmeric Orb needs to be in this deck as a great enabler.
I'm not sure about Gaea's Blessing and Kozilek though. I don't want my graveyard to be shuffled back in; the time it would take to set everything up again might be time that the deck doesn't have. (I also don't have a Kozilek, so that is out of the question anyways) Blessing does have utility in shuffling the loop back into the deck if they all got milled though, so there's that. And I could mill it in response to a Rest In Peace getting cast or something to save my yard...you know, I might've talked myself into trying it.
I'm glad this list could give you some idea Post you list up on the board so I can take a look at it too; maybe you have cards in there that I might've missed.
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EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
I kind of have the same reservations about Blessing and Kozilek. I like Gaea's Blessing a lot because it works great if you mill it or if you draw it. But I figure as long as you are aware of the possibility you can work around it by just keeping a dredge card in hand, or have some mill engine at your disposal so even if you shuffle you can start up the engine again.
Also I think you can cut Krosan Reclamation & Memory's Journey. I just don't think they are very strong, I would much rather see a few ways to discard in your deck. Having a bunch of dredge cards in hand with no means to dump them can just feel bad. Also I would cut Sphinx of Uthuun for Sphinx of Lost Truths. Uthuun mills you once and nets 1 zombie from Sidisi, but with dredge Lost Truths has the potential to mill you 3 times, and then discard the dredger's back into the yard.
Here's my current list, I have yet to play test it. I like to spend a month or 2 messing around with cards before trying it out.
Earthcraft is a great card! I'm not sure it fits in my deck though. My curve is pretty low (avg cmc is 3.6) and there is only one big X spell i could use all that mana for, which is Empty the Pits.
That being said, your suggestion just made me think of Opposition, which could be very powerfull especially with Mesmiric Orb. Too bad Sidisi says when attacks and not when is tapped. In fact boarding in an Opposition could make me want to add Pain Seer to the deck as well. I'll have to think about it.
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Deranged Assistant
1 Entomber Exarch
1 Essence of the Wild
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Geralf's Mindcrusher
1 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Golgari Guildmage
1 Golgari Thug
1 Gravecrawler
1 Gravedigger
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Mindshrieker
1 Mirror-Mad Phantasm
1 Necroplasm
1 Nyx Weaver
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Rot Farm Skeleton
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Soul of Innistrad
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Splinterfright
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Terastodon
1 Undead Alchemist
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Wonder
1 Birthing Pod
1 Skullclamp
Enchantments
1 Deadbridge Chant
1 Sultai Ascendancy
Instants
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Dig Through Time
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Grisly Salvage
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Memory's Journey
1 Murderous Cut
Sorceries
1 Army of the Damned
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Deep Analysis
1 Deep Reconnaissance
1 Dread Return
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Life from the Loam
1 Living Death
1 Mulch
1 Runic Repetition
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Spider Spawning
1 Tracker's Instincts
Lands
1 Barren Moor
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Command Tower
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Evolving Wilds
5 Forest
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Grim Backwoods
6 Island
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Opulent Palace
1 Polluted Mire
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Slippery Karst
1 Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
3 Swamp
1 Temple of Malady
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thornwood Falls
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Vivid Creek
1 Watery Grave
The deck's ultimate win condition is simple: spawn a massive amount of spiders (or zombies) while you have Essence of the Wild in play and run people over with your giant dudes. The loop that made the Limited deck so good is in here too, so you can just eventually spawn enough spiders turn after turn to just overwhelm people as long as no one tramples over you.
If you find that strategy isn't working, you can always go the boring route of playing Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and sac giant Splinterfrights or Golgari Grave-Trolls to drain the table. And if you want to be really boring, you can just cast Living Death and hope to win that way. But why do that when you can just spawn 30+ spiders and win the game?
This deck is obviously in the early stages; I basically focused more on synergy than actually making sure that I have "good cards" (i.e. Prophet of Kruphix) in the deck. Sidisi is pretty mana hungry, so I should probably add in some more ramp effects. I'd like to avoid things like Entomb and Buried Alive so I can enjoy the randomness if at all possible. I've already conceded to the fact that I do need to splurge for a Craterhoof Behemoth at some point, and getting a Worm Harvest would be awesome too so I can have yet another massive spawner.
So basically, what cards would be good for this self-milling, spider-spawning, incredibly graveyard centric deck? What cards are too cute, or just plain bad? Ignore the mana base for now; it was thrown together with all the random leftovers I had lying around. Once I get fetches, shocks, etc I'll add those in. Are there any utility lands I may have missed though?
Any and all constructive criticism welcome. Thanks in advance!
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
Gae's and Kozilek let you keep shuffling back in cards, which means you can also use your delve cards to remove all the stuff you dont need again and thin the deck out.
I like some of your card choices are well and got some changes to make to my deck as well.
Golgari Charm to protect your tokens from board wipe.
You can't go wrong with a Parallel Lives with a token theme.
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I like Spitting Image a lot; I can't believe I forgot about it. That'll find its way in for sure. Similarly, Mesmeric Orb needs to be in this deck as a great enabler.
I'm not sure about Gaea's Blessing and Kozilek though. I don't want my graveyard to be shuffled back in; the time it would take to set everything up again might be time that the deck doesn't have. (I also don't have a Kozilek, so that is out of the question anyways) Blessing does have utility in shuffling the loop back into the deck if they all got milled though, so there's that. And I could mill it in response to a Rest In Peace getting cast or something to save my yard...you know, I might've talked myself into trying it.
I'm glad this list could give you some idea Post you list up on the board so I can take a look at it too; maybe you have cards in there that I might've missed.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
Also I think you can cut Krosan Reclamation & Memory's Journey. I just don't think they are very strong, I would much rather see a few ways to discard in your deck. Having a bunch of dredge cards in hand with no means to dump them can just feel bad. Also I would cut Sphinx of Uthuun for Sphinx of Lost Truths. Uthuun mills you once and nets 1 zombie from Sidisi, but with dredge Lost Truths has the potential to mill you 3 times, and then discard the dredger's back into the yard.
Here's my current list, I have yet to play test it. I like to spend a month or 2 messing around with cards before trying it out.
1x Bloodghast
1x Brawn
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Deranged Assistant
1x Essence of the Wild
1x Eternal Witness
1x Extractor Demon
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Genesis
1x Golgari Grave-Troll
1x Golgari Thug
1x Gravecrawler
1x Havengul Lich
1x Kessig Cagebreakers
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Lord of Extinction
1x Lotleth Troll
1x Narcomoeba
1x Necroplasm
1x Nighthowler
1x Nyx Weaver
1x Psychatog
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Shambling Shell
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Shriekmaw
1x Sphinx of Lost Truths
1x Splinterfright
1x Stinkweed Imp
1x Wonder
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Cephalid Coliseum
1x Command Tower
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Crypt of Agadeem
1x Dakmor Salvage
1x Dimir Aqueduct
1x Dreadship Reef
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Faerie Conclave
9x Forest
1x Golgari Rot Farm
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Island
1x Jwar Isle Refuge
1x Lonely Sandbar
1x Nephalia Drownyard
1x Opulent Palace
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Simic Growth Chamber
1x Spawning Pool
1x Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
3x Swamp
1x Temple of the False God
1x Tolaria West
1x Tranquil Thicket
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Woodland Cemetery
Artifact (5)
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Birthing Pod
1x Elixir of Immortality
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mesmeric Orb
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Demonic Collusion
1x Dread Return
1x Gaea's Blessing
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Life from the Loam
1x Mulch
1x Nostalgic Dreams
1x Spider Spawning
1x Spitting Image
1x Treasure Cruise
Instant (9)
1x Beast Within
1x Dig Through Time
1x Empty the Pits
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Harrow
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Krosan Grip
1x Putrefy
1x Sultai Charm
Enchantment (3)
1x Greater Good
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Sultai Ascendancy
Planeswalker (1)
1x Garruk Relentless
Right now I'm trying to find room in the deck for a Scroll Rack & Soul of Innistrad. Also if I could afford it I would get a Bazaar of Baghdad.
That being said, your suggestion just made me think of Opposition, which could be very powerfull especially with Mesmiric Orb. Too bad Sidisi says when attacks and not when is tapped. In fact boarding in an Opposition could make me want to add Pain Seer to the deck as well. I'll have to think about it.