I've always played magic in a card shop or at a kitchen table, but a year or two ago I decided to pick up DoTP 2013 on steam and give it a try. The campaign didn't last very long, but I loved the multiplayer quite a bit. One of my favorite decks from the game was Crosswinds, a control/combo deck featuring Talrand, sky summoner and a number of interesting instants and sorceries. Most of my favorite interactions in the deck were based upon archaeomancer, however, which was meant to be a simple supporting card. However, with things like time warp, rite of replication, and followed footsteps, it was easy to pull all sorts of infinite or game winning combos out of nowhere. So here it is, a multiplayer deck based on all the fun things you can do with archaeomancer and friends.
The idea is to hold off your opponents without looking like too much of a threat using cards like fog bank, rite of replication, and followed footsteps to copy or chump block the best creatures on the table while you build up mana and assemble combo pieces. When you're ready, assemble a combo and crush your enemies. An infinite turn combo isn't required, but there are lots of ways to stumble into one:
Win conditions shouldn't be difficult to find either - academy ruins can recur expedition map for ramp, or inkwell leviathan and mindslaver for the win. Kicking a rite of replication on someone's huge creature can be game winning by itself, or doing so on your own fog bank can give you plenty of blocking power. Academy ruins allows us to reuse artifacts that are destroyed, while call to mind and archaeomancer allow recycling of instants and sorceries. Elixir of immortality can put needed cards back into the library and be lifegain in a pinch, or keep us from decking in a long game. With this sort of resiliency, it takes a lot for an opponent to shut you down.
So what do you guys think? Worthwhile multiplayer deck, or pile of jank? Any improvements you guys see? Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are always awesome.
I actually don't see a way to win the game. Unless you plan on having people concede as soon as you take infinite turns which is probably the most obnoxious thing you can do in a multiplayer game.
I wouldn't be surprised that after the first game people will gun for your deck hard and then you won't have a real way to stop them. The 'people will underestimate me' works once.
Seconded. I have a Pauper deck for EDH that uses the combo of Ghostly Flicker & the "spellmancers" (Archaeomancer, Scrivener & Mnemonic Wall) to generate a lot of value in the late game. Vedalken AEthermage might also be helpful as it tutors for Archaeomancer and other wizards you might add to the deck.
Thank you for the suggestions, I didn't even think about mnemonic wall. If I were to cast ghostly flicker on a tapped land, would it blink back untapped? If so that seems like a great way to generate massive amounts of mana quickly.
15 island
4 glimmerpost
4 cloudpost
1 academy ruins
Creatures:
4 fog bank
4 archaeomancer
1 inkwell leviathan
1 call to mind
2 fabricate
4 trade secrets
4 rite of replication
4 followed footsteps
4 time warp
4 panoptic mirror
1 elixir of immortality
1 expedition map
1 mindslaver
1 planar portal
The idea is to hold off your opponents without looking like too much of a threat using cards like fog bank, rite of replication, and followed footsteps to copy or chump block the best creatures on the table while you build up mana and assemble combo pieces. When you're ready, assemble a combo and crush your enemies. An infinite turn combo isn't required, but there are lots of ways to stumble into one:
rite of replication + archaeomancer + time warp
followed footsteps + archaeomancer + time warp
panoptic mirror imprinting time warp
panoptic mirror imprinting call to mind + time warp in graveyard
panoptic mirror imprinting rite of replication + archaeomancer + time warp
Win conditions shouldn't be difficult to find either - academy ruins can recur expedition map for ramp, or inkwell leviathan and mindslaver for the win. Kicking a rite of replication on someone's huge creature can be game winning by itself, or doing so on your own fog bank can give you plenty of blocking power. Academy ruins allows us to reuse artifacts that are destroyed, while call to mind and archaeomancer allow recycling of instants and sorceries. Elixir of immortality can put needed cards back into the library and be lifegain in a pinch, or keep us from decking in a long game. With this sort of resiliency, it takes a lot for an opponent to shut you down.
So what do you guys think? Worthwhile multiplayer deck, or pile of jank? Any improvements you guys see? Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are always awesome.
I wouldn't be surprised that after the first game people will gun for your deck hard and then you won't have a real way to stop them. The 'people will underestimate me' works once.
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Seconded. I have a Pauper deck for EDH that uses the combo of Ghostly Flicker & the "spellmancers" (Archaeomancer, Scrivener & Mnemonic Wall) to generate a lot of value in the late game. Vedalken AEthermage might also be helpful as it tutors for Archaeomancer and other wizards you might add to the deck.