I'm moving this separate from my pauper quest, because I wanted some input and discussion on this specific deck.
I've been toying back and forth with a solid 5 Color Control deck for pauper. I've going through several different builds, tons of card choices, etc. I've settled with a darker 5CC, very Grixis-oriented.
Individual Card Choices
Listing each card individually here, and why I think it makes the cut. I'm sold on the core idea of the deck, but everything else is open. I've ordered them here different from the decklist because many of the cards build on each other.
Swirling Sandstorm
Deciding to use Swirling Sandstorm is a deck changer, so it needs to be mentioned first. I have to have threshold for it to work, so it directly effects card choices. When it works, it's the best mass removal pauper has to offer, so I have to make sure it works. Using Sandstorm is something I'm sold on, because removing it would require completely different choices, and we'd end up with a completely different deck.
Harrow
Harrow lets me get my colors. It is arguable less powerful than Cultivate in most situations, however it puts an extra card into my graveyard which is very important for the early Sandstorm. Also, as my mana curve has stayed fairly low, I'm not as worried about reaching 6+ lands as I am just getting all of the colors. It's still debatable, and I'm open to suggestions, but I think harrow works well here.
Forbidden Alchemy
Alchemy is good at digging to find the card you need, while upping the graveyard count. Flashback is decent for end game. Better than Brainstorm or Impulse in this deck because it's putting 4 cards into my graveyard, rather than 1. This is a huge boon for a Sandstorm possibility.
Blightning
Great disruption here, and never a dead card. I want to hit a player's hand in addition to board control, and blightning works well for this. I've considered Raven's Crime, but it can be a dead card, and wants me to run more lands.
Probe
This is backup to Alchemy. It's less food for threshold, but can be better at hand sculpting. It also has a kicker to work 2nd fiddle to blightning to help keep my opponent's hand down.
Recoil
Good bounce, while building on the discard power. If my opponent is out of cards, it's one of the most powerful spot removal cards in pauper.
Tribal Flames
This is a powerful burn spell here. It's burn damage curves with the game, killing things at any stage of the game. Later on, it can crack skulls quickly.
Mortus Strider
Here we're getting into the area I'm really not sold on. He's good in theory, but I'm not positive how well he'll work in practice. It's a 1/1 that's hard to get rid of. He's a decent blocker early, hopefully giving me time to get the deck really rolling. He comes back from Sandstorm, and anything outside of exile effects just make him come back to my hand. However, he's slow and small.
Verdant Eidolon
This probably has you scratching your head. Understandable. The idea is that she's a 2/2 that can come back everytime Strider bounces back on board. She can also make more explosive combo plays later one, giving a good boon to mana. On 5th turn, she can easily sac to drop a spell, which in turn gives you the mana and card count for Sandstorm.
Sylvok Lifestaff
This is also an odd one. I know I want some way of gaining life back. With the deck taking damage early, and getting hit for small amounts here and there, we have to protect the life total. However, I don't want something that just says I gain some life. Lifestaff makes my strider and eidolon trade better, and gives them some more aggro. The life gain can also be more readily use, as my creatures keep coming back.
The Kill
My main concern is the Strider/Eidolon/Lifestaff. In theory, they work fairly decently here - but that's just theory. I know I want a recursive kill that's hard to get rid of, and I definitely need some form of life gain. I like the core of the deck, but these three cards have really been bugging me. I also don't like that a flier, pro-red guy, or Guardian of the Guildpact can cause problems, even with Recoil. Changing these cards may need to change other parts of the deck, and I'm ok with that as long as the core still functions as it should.
With Blightning and Tribal Flames able to whittle away life, I could see myself abandoning creatures altogether for a little more removal and something like Syphon Life (reworking lands a little), and little more burn.
Was also thinking that just the standard Skyreach Manta might work. It stops pro-red, Guardian, fliers, etc. It's also a hefty beatstick that's outside of Flame Slash range, and doesn't get touched by Sandstorm. It just doesn't have any real recursion. A Grim Harvest or Morgue Theft could definitely work there. Recover won't be an problem, and Morgue Theft works well with both of them getting tossed into the yard with an Alchemy. Would need something else for the life gain.
The classic Pauper 5CC deck is 5-color Teachings, but I can see not wanting to do that.
I definitely think your recurrable-creatures setup is way too cute - what do you even do about fliers? Most decks will have trouble repeatedly removing 5-or-better toughness, and MBC can be ground out with 2-for-1 discard spells and good old Grim Harvest. Maybe just a couple of Mulldrifter and an Ulamog's Crusher?
I would also worry about having so few early plays. Maybe some Flame Slash or Chainer's Edict to shore up the short game?
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
Wow, I'm so sorry I missed this! I can't believe I didn't notice you had posted this until now!
I really appreciate that you laid out your strategy for us! I know a little bit better how to help you with it now (hopefully).
Seeing as your deck basically runs around Swirling Sandstorm and that it creates a big blind spot for flying creatures, why don't you use that blind spot yourself? Run an array of powerful flying creatures!
I'd suggest Mulldrifter, as he fits very well here as both a Divination and a powerful flyer. Skyreach Manta seems like a perfect finisher to have in small number. Guardian of the Guildpact is also immune to Sandstorm, so he could prove an even more robust finisher. You could always fit Aven Riftwatcher in there for the lifegain and have a singleton Grim Harvest, Disturbed Burial or Undertaker to have a reliable beatstick with life attached. Who said had you to play it on curve, anyways?
I love how you're running both Recoil and Blightning; I love these dual-spells. However, I think that in order to be more successful in reaching the late game, you're going to need a bit more removal than you already do. You're going to find me annoying for mentioning it again, but Jilt may be what you're looking for here. It slows them down and kills a creature, which is gives you a certain advantage. Unfortunately, I think it might be preferable over Blightning, which doesn't affect the board state directly. It's also useful as an early bounce spell, should it be necessary. As it is, your curve it quite high, and I could see that being a problem if you can't get to your threshold fast enough.
I'm definitely sold on losing Strider, Eidolon, and Lifestaff.
The more I think on it, the more I think Manta is the way to go for a finisher. Sold on 3-4.
Riftwatcher is definitely a good way to put some early board presence down, stall out fliers, and gain life. Overall, it feels like an under-powered card in the deck, but it seems to fit everything I need. Should definitely test it out.
Grim Harvest is great, but has a huge lack of early-to-mid turn synergy with Mulldrifter, in that I'd need and extra 3 mana to not lose the harvest from an evoke. Late game, it's a decent combo, at 6 mana for a Divination that I "buyback" next turn for 2 more. I don't know if I'm sold on using them both together, but if I play carefully it could work. I do love that I can drop it in the yard with an Alchemy and come back to it later.
I see Grim Harvest, Disturbed Burial, and Morgue Theft as all good choices for my recursion. Each has their merits, and its drawbacks. Harvest can get lost if I lose something without the recover mana, but can be used over and over. Burial has to stay in my hand, but it reusable for the same 5 mana. Theft is nice that I can leave it in the 'yard and it'll still be there later - but I can only use it a max of twice.
Hmm. I may test out on my goldfisher to see how Harvest and Drifter work together.
I would definitely drop Drifter down to 3 for a 2nd harvest.
Otherwise, I could use 3 Manta, 3 Riftwatcher, 2 Harvest, and add in 2 spot removal cards.
(Jilt, Echoing Decay, Diabolic Edict, etc)
Just played a few games with it to see how it does.
First game was awesome. I got all 5 basics in five turns thanks to Harrow and Expanses and drew tons of cards thanks to flashbacks and Mulldrifters.
The second game showed me how bad this deck mulligans. It's very difficult to recover from a mull to 5 if you don't have the right colours and the right cards in hand.
I think this deck would benefit from having more lands in it. 25 might not be too much. This is where Oona's Grace saves the day as well.
I kinda like Shambling Shell here, as he'll get your threshold quickly, as well as pumping your other creatures. Could be an interesting card to try.
I played a few games versus a Delver deck. I totally pawned them. They can't deal with a recursive deathtoucher like Imp, and Skyreach Manta + Grim Harvest did them in every time.
Steve is an MVP. Against Aggro strategies, he'll block, ramp and find your missing lands. I'm pretty convinced he should be played in all 5cc control decks.
Grim Harvest and Mulldrifter offers a great card-drawing engine possibility, although I never had to use it so far.
SIGH... Every time I think I'm done with control, something just keeps bringing me back...
This is kinda interesting. I had the idea of something similar not too long ago, but instead it was a Mystical Teachings 5CC. I can totally see why you wouldn't want to play a Teaching decks. Here's my take on the deck:
Here I dropped Tribal Flames in favor of the more-powerful Skred. Sure it doesn't go to the face, but the fact that Skred can basically kill any non-prored creature offsets that. On top of it it just costs R and is an instant, and I'll be more worried about creatures than about burn to the dome. With Grim Harvest, I can recur Skyreach Manta every time I want. I also added two Claws of Wirewood (now common in VMA) to help you deal with fliers, since they dodge Swirling Sandstorm. 3 damage to each flying creature is enough to be sure that no one except Spire Golem escapes the massacre. Your Skyreach Manta survives the onslaught too, and it deals 3 damage to their face. Aven Riftwatcher would die anyways, so the only problem is having Mulldrifter out when you cast it. And as extra utility, it's never a dead card since you can cycle it if it's dead in your hand.
You will probably want some removal to deal with Guardian of the Guildpact and pro red creatures, as they seem to do you in since you can't touch them (unless you block Guardian with Manta).
A lot of different ways to go here.
They all have their merits, definitely.
I've redone the creatures, and dropped the blightnings. I still want hand control, so I've added in 2 Raven's Crime. Upping the lands to 25, this lets it get my opponent's hand down for a Recoil, which I think still deserves to be in here. It's Recoil vs Jilt, and recoil is looking more promising at covering my vulnerable spots. If playtest proves otherwise, it'll go to jilt. I've skipped mulldrifter for this iteration, instead upping my counts elsewhere and adding in a pair of Terminates, which helps cover the the Guildpact/flier area.
Skred is a possibility, definitely, but hitting the skull can matter. If I end up seeing myself using it for just creature removal, I'll switch to skred.
I don't think I could handle playing with Harrow. Getting that card countered just seems so game-ending.
With eight terramorphic expanse, you might like Grim Discovery in a version of this list. Rebuying a creature and land from your GY for 1B is a pretty nice way to get back into the game. (Especially if what you're rebuying is a mulldrifter.)
Overall, I love this idea, but the curve seems high. The fact that the removal is two-color means that a turn 2-3 terminate might mean not being able to cast your green or blue spells.
I built a midrange Rock deck in pauper a while back, with the idea to use 8 terramorphics for the fixing. (The guildgates weren't printed yet.) I had trouble getting turn 2 putrid leech into turn 3 armadillo cloak. I think you're going to have even more severe issues.
When you've got the spells more figured out, I'd suggest looking at a few guildgates as options, maybe one Dimir and one Simic to start with. I'd also just play more lands instead of harrows.
Okay, so, except for Cenn's Enlistment, 4 Sunburst cards, and the lands, my version is admittedly a Grixis deck.
The general idea is to hook up an Opaline Bracers to one of your creatures to give him +4/+4, which is terrifying on a Frostburn Weird or unblockable guy. Your unblockable guys do double-duty as things that can transmute into countermagic, removal, and rolling thunder as a finisher.
With 25 lands, you could maybe do this as a RUG deck with Explore, instead of the grixis stuff, or 4 colors... but this is where I landed after a little bit of tinkering.
I also considered running a Trinket Mage + Flayer Husk package, but then you risk just straight up drawing your trinket mage targets, and it didn't seem as good as the other things going on.
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I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
When UR Post got the banhammer I tried to create a 5CC too, since I customized the Post deck with a lot of SB options in every colors with the help of Prophetic Prism (most of them Mystical Teachings targets: Patrician's Scorn, Ancient Grudge, Ray of Revelation, maybe Doom Blade, can't recall others). Worked on two different versions, one with Basics+Fetchs and another with Guildgates (it was very W light, mostly U for Teachings and some card draw, R for the best removal, G for Fixing and finishers, and B complementing the removal). I abandoned the idea after I got crushed by some aggro decks. It was a turn slower than other decks, while UR Post compensated it by being unfair with the mana...
I believe WoTC's new policy is to make sure that every color can enjoy the exciting gameplay mechanic of making undercosted dudes and then turning them sideways. Clearly the future of magic.
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This thread reminded me a lot about my pet singleton 5C pauper control deck. It's really a BUG deck with a small RW splash. The self-imposed singleton restriction isn't actually as restrictive as it may seem - it just leads to a lot of branching lines of play:
The deck revolves around graveyard developers (6 total, counting the dredgers) and stuff that is active in the grave, helping itself to the most powerful options in each color. This creates card advantage on a massive scale and the deck is actually pretty good. The main deck is tuned against aggro and control with only 3 hand disruption and 1 counter, but post board you can change that significantly (as well as add more graveyard hate).
I actually wouldn't change much if I didn't have a singleton restriction. I'd probably run 2 Strangling Soot and 0 Firebolt and rework the mana base/fixing somewhat (it works OK, but Steve and Wayfinder are powerful and I'd probably run more of those). 2-3 Stimps would probably be better too, but what to cut? So many good cards to chose from!
Some notes on omissions that I've found lacking (YMMV) : Viridian Emissary + Gatekreeper Vine: Not quite as good as Steve and Wayfinder in this deck Nylea's Presence: Worse than Prophetic Prism (requires a green source) and Abundant Growth (not as cheap), but worth it if you want domain stuff. Faithless Looting: Flashback is nice, but the card disadvantage is no good. Commune with the Gods: Too few creatures and enchantments to make it work well. Mulch: Typically just a worse Satyr Wayfinder. Matka Rioters + Tribal Flames: These are nice cards with another mana base, but due to the singleton restriction I can't use a bunch of fetches. Harrow: Again a card for Domain builds IMO. Tutoring with Mystical Teachings is cute but pretty irrelevant by the time it's doable. Opaline Bracers: Moldervine Cloak is much better IMO since you can both recover it and develop your yard as you "reequip" it. Sprout Swarm: I think Havenwood Worm is a better win con target for Mystical Teachings, and that Cenn's Enlistment is a more robust token producer and win con target for Dimir House Guard as well.
Let me know how you find it! I'm sure there's still room for tweaking
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I'm surprised to see that regardless of the fact that we have access to all five colours, we are all revolving around similar cards and strategies.
I like the inclusion of Strangling Soot. How good has it been for you? In general, I'm astonished at the amount of 2-for-1 deals you find once you get rid of the mana barrier. Firebolt, Soot, Fatigue, Probe, Teachings... It's quite impressive.
You're right though; a lot of these cards are excellent as one-ofs, and probably wouldn't even change should you not have that restriction. Obviously, there are some cards you'd definitely want more of.
Yeah, pauper can be powerful. I really depend a lot on Soot in this build because it's the only effective removal teachings target with flashback (Fires of Undeath is just too bad IMO). Dredging past value spells is a problem so everything really needs to have graveyard value. Doom Blade or Diabolic Edict is dead in the yard and then I have to wait for Archaeomancer to get them back or transmute DHG for him. Only Sandstorm and Evincar's Justice are worth that and with 'mancer and DHG I'm effectively running 4 sweepers + creature recursion on mancer/DHG means I can pseudo-dredge into them too with a bit of work so it's all good. I only board in non-flashback spells if really needed.
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I never realized how much removal had flashback between Black and Red. Fascinating!
I wonder what a deck including Firebolt, Flame Jab, Geistflame, Strangling Soot, Crippling Fatigue and Fires of Undeath would look like? Jam the deck full of removal that can be used twice to ensure removal in the early game and full control in the late game, and a hard-to-remove threat to seal the deal. Sounds fun!
I never realized how much removal had flashback between Black and Red. Fascinating!
I wonder what a deck including Firebolt, Flame Jab, Geistflame, Strangling Soot, Crippling Fatigue and Fires of Undeath would look like? Jam the deck full of removal that can be used twice to ensure removal in the early game and full control in the late game, and a hard-to-remove threat to seal the deal. Sounds fun!
On that note, I'm presently designing a golgari 8-post deck around Evincar's Justice, Stinkweed Imp and the shiny newly made common Chainer's Edict - a rather tough package for any deck to push through (mbc and delver especially) and all reusable through different mechanisms. I want to couple it with I-never-smiles idea from the mtgo pauper forum of using uncouterable land draw to fuel raven's crime, so that once you get ready to drop a krosan tusker and start beating, you can be sure it will resolve because opp has no hand. I intend to call it Borg, because resistance will be futile. New thread forthcoming!
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I've been toying back and forth with a solid 5 Color Control deck for pauper. I've going through several different builds, tons of card choices, etc. I've settled with a darker 5CC, very Grixis-oriented.
4 Harrow
Disruption
4 Blightning
4 Recoil
Search
4 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Probe
4 Swirling Sandstorm
4 Tribal Flames
Creatures
4 Mortus Strider
3 Verdant Eidolon
3 Sylvok Lifestaff
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Forest
4 Island
3 Swamp
3 Mountain
1 Plains
Individual Card Choices
Listing each card individually here, and why I think it makes the cut. I'm sold on the core idea of the deck, but everything else is open. I've ordered them here different from the decklist because many of the cards build on each other.
Swirling Sandstorm
Deciding to use Swirling Sandstorm is a deck changer, so it needs to be mentioned first. I have to have threshold for it to work, so it directly effects card choices. When it works, it's the best mass removal pauper has to offer, so I have to make sure it works. Using Sandstorm is something I'm sold on, because removing it would require completely different choices, and we'd end up with a completely different deck.
Harrow
Harrow lets me get my colors. It is arguable less powerful than Cultivate in most situations, however it puts an extra card into my graveyard which is very important for the early Sandstorm. Also, as my mana curve has stayed fairly low, I'm not as worried about reaching 6+ lands as I am just getting all of the colors. It's still debatable, and I'm open to suggestions, but I think harrow works well here.
Forbidden Alchemy
Alchemy is good at digging to find the card you need, while upping the graveyard count. Flashback is decent for end game. Better than Brainstorm or Impulse in this deck because it's putting 4 cards into my graveyard, rather than 1. This is a huge boon for a Sandstorm possibility.
Blightning
Great disruption here, and never a dead card. I want to hit a player's hand in addition to board control, and blightning works well for this. I've considered Raven's Crime, but it can be a dead card, and wants me to run more lands.
Probe
This is backup to Alchemy. It's less food for threshold, but can be better at hand sculpting. It also has a kicker to work 2nd fiddle to blightning to help keep my opponent's hand down.
Recoil
Good bounce, while building on the discard power. If my opponent is out of cards, it's one of the most powerful spot removal cards in pauper.
Tribal Flames
This is a powerful burn spell here. It's burn damage curves with the game, killing things at any stage of the game. Later on, it can crack skulls quickly.
Mortus Strider
Here we're getting into the area I'm really not sold on. He's good in theory, but I'm not positive how well he'll work in practice. It's a 1/1 that's hard to get rid of. He's a decent blocker early, hopefully giving me time to get the deck really rolling. He comes back from Sandstorm, and anything outside of exile effects just make him come back to my hand. However, he's slow and small.
Verdant Eidolon
This probably has you scratching your head. Understandable. The idea is that she's a 2/2 that can come back everytime Strider bounces back on board. She can also make more explosive combo plays later one, giving a good boon to mana. On 5th turn, she can easily sac to drop a spell, which in turn gives you the mana and card count for Sandstorm.
Sylvok Lifestaff
This is also an odd one. I know I want some way of gaining life back. With the deck taking damage early, and getting hit for small amounts here and there, we have to protect the life total. However, I don't want something that just says I gain some life. Lifestaff makes my strider and eidolon trade better, and gives them some more aggro. The life gain can also be more readily use, as my creatures keep coming back.
The Kill
My main concern is the Strider/Eidolon/Lifestaff. In theory, they work fairly decently here - but that's just theory. I know I want a recursive kill that's hard to get rid of, and I definitely need some form of life gain. I like the core of the deck, but these three cards have really been bugging me. I also don't like that a flier, pro-red guy, or Guardian of the Guildpact can cause problems, even with Recoil. Changing these cards may need to change other parts of the deck, and I'm ok with that as long as the core still functions as it should.
With Blightning and Tribal Flames able to whittle away life, I could see myself abandoning creatures altogether for a little more removal and something like Syphon Life (reworking lands a little), and little more burn.
Was also thinking that just the standard Skyreach Manta might work. It stops pro-red, Guardian, fliers, etc. It's also a hefty beatstick that's outside of Flame Slash range, and doesn't get touched by Sandstorm. It just doesn't have any real recursion. A Grim Harvest or Morgue Theft could definitely work there. Recover won't be an problem, and Morgue Theft works well with both of them getting tossed into the yard with an Alchemy. Would need something else for the life gain.
Thoughts? Ideas / Suggestions?
No longer staff here.
I definitely think your recurrable-creatures setup is way too cute - what do you even do about fliers? Most decks will have trouble repeatedly removing 5-or-better toughness, and MBC can be ground out with 2-for-1 discard spells and good old Grim Harvest. Maybe just a couple of Mulldrifter and an Ulamog's Crusher?
I would also worry about having so few early plays. Maybe some Flame Slash or Chainer's Edict to shore up the short game?
I really appreciate that you laid out your strategy for us! I know a little bit better how to help you with it now (hopefully).
Seeing as your deck basically runs around Swirling Sandstorm and that it creates a big blind spot for flying creatures, why don't you use that blind spot yourself? Run an array of powerful flying creatures!
I'd suggest Mulldrifter, as he fits very well here as both a Divination and a powerful flyer. Skyreach Manta seems like a perfect finisher to have in small number. Guardian of the Guildpact is also immune to Sandstorm, so he could prove an even more robust finisher. You could always fit Aven Riftwatcher in there for the lifegain and have a singleton Grim Harvest, Disturbed Burial or Undertaker to have a reliable beatstick with life attached. Who said had you to play it on curve, anyways?
I love how you're running both Recoil and Blightning; I love these dual-spells. However, I think that in order to be more successful in reaching the late game, you're going to need a bit more removal than you already do. You're going to find me annoying for mentioning it again, but Jilt may be what you're looking for here. It slows them down and kills a creature, which is gives you a certain advantage. Unfortunately, I think it might be preferable over Blightning, which doesn't affect the board state directly. It's also useful as an early bounce spell, should it be necessary. As it is, your curve it quite high, and I could see that being a problem if you can't get to your threshold fast enough.
For creatures, how about
4 Mulldrifter
2 Skyreach Manta
3 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Grim Harvest
Hope this helps!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
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The more I think on it, the more I think Manta is the way to go for a finisher. Sold on 3-4.
Riftwatcher is definitely a good way to put some early board presence down, stall out fliers, and gain life. Overall, it feels like an under-powered card in the deck, but it seems to fit everything I need. Should definitely test it out.
Grim Harvest is great, but has a huge lack of early-to-mid turn synergy with Mulldrifter, in that I'd need and extra 3 mana to not lose the harvest from an evoke. Late game, it's a decent combo, at 6 mana for a Divination that I "buyback" next turn for 2 more. I don't know if I'm sold on using them both together, but if I play carefully it could work. I do love that I can drop it in the yard with an Alchemy and come back to it later.
I see Grim Harvest, Disturbed Burial, and Morgue Theft as all good choices for my recursion. Each has their merits, and its drawbacks. Harvest can get lost if I lose something without the recover mana, but can be used over and over. Burial has to stay in my hand, but it reusable for the same 5 mana. Theft is nice that I can leave it in the 'yard and it'll still be there later - but I can only use it a max of twice.
Hmm. I may test out on my goldfisher to see how Harvest and Drifter work together.
I would definitely drop Drifter down to 3 for a 2nd harvest.
Otherwise, I could use 3 Manta, 3 Riftwatcher, 2 Harvest, and add in 2 spot removal cards.
(Jilt, Echoing Decay, Diabolic Edict, etc)
Still been tossing around Shambling Shell as an idea, too.
I'll play around on my gold fish tester and see what I think works out well.
No longer staff here.
First game was awesome. I got all 5 basics in five turns thanks to Harrow and Expanses and drew tons of cards thanks to flashbacks and Mulldrifters.
The second game showed me how bad this deck mulligans. It's very difficult to recover from a mull to 5 if you don't have the right colours and the right cards in hand.
I think this deck would benefit from having more lands in it. 25 might not be too much. This is where Oona's Grace saves the day as well.
I kinda like Shambling Shell here, as he'll get your threshold quickly, as well as pumping your other creatures. Could be an interesting card to try.
EDIT:
I quickly made my own list:
3 Mulldrifter
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Skyreach Manta
4 Stinkweed Imp
Instants (14)
4 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Harrow
4 Jilt
2 Oona's Grace
1 Grim Harvest
4 Swirling Sandstorm
4 Tribal Flames
1 Flame Jab
Lands (25)
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Terramorphic Expanse
7 Forest
4 Island
2 Mountain
1 Plains
3 Swamp
I played a few games versus a Delver deck. I totally pawned them. They can't deal with a recursive deathtoucher like Imp, and Skyreach Manta + Grim Harvest did them in every time.
Steve is an MVP. Against Aggro strategies, he'll block, ramp and find your missing lands. I'm pretty convinced he should be played in all 5cc control decks.
Grim Harvest and Mulldrifter offers a great card-drawing engine possibility, although I never had to use it so far.
SIGH... Every time I think I'm done with control, something just keeps bringing me back...
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BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
3 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Mulldrifter
2 Skyreach Manta
Instants (18)
4 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Grim Harvest
4 Harrow
4 Jilt
1 Oona's Grace
4 Skred
2 Claws of Wirewood
3 Probe
4 Swirling Sandstorm
Lands (24)
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Snow-Covered Island
4 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
3 Snow-Covered Swamp
Here I dropped Tribal Flames in favor of the more-powerful Skred. Sure it doesn't go to the face, but the fact that Skred can basically kill any non-prored creature offsets that. On top of it it just costs R and is an instant, and I'll be more worried about creatures than about burn to the dome. With Grim Harvest, I can recur Skyreach Manta every time I want. I also added two Claws of Wirewood (now common in VMA) to help you deal with fliers, since they dodge Swirling Sandstorm. 3 damage to each flying creature is enough to be sure that no one except Spire Golem escapes the massacre. Your Skyreach Manta survives the onslaught too, and it deals 3 damage to their face. Aven Riftwatcher would die anyways, so the only problem is having Mulldrifter out when you cast it. And as extra utility, it's never a dead card since you can cycle it if it's dead in your hand.
You will probably want some removal to deal with Guardian of the Guildpact and pro red creatures, as they seem to do you in since you can't touch them (unless you block Guardian with Manta).
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
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They all have their merits, definitely.
I've redone the creatures, and dropped the blightnings. I still want hand control, so I've added in 2 Raven's Crime. Upping the lands to 25, this lets it get my opponent's hand down for a Recoil, which I think still deserves to be in here. It's Recoil vs Jilt, and recoil is looking more promising at covering my vulnerable spots. If playtest proves otherwise, it'll go to jilt. I've skipped mulldrifter for this iteration, instead upping my counts elsewhere and adding in a pair of Terminates, which helps cover the the Guildpact/flier area.
Skred is a possibility, definitely, but hitting the skull can matter. If I end up seeing myself using it for just creature removal, I'll switch to skred.
4 Harrow
4 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Probe
Control
4 Swirling Sandstorm
4 Recoil
4 Tribal Flames
2 Terminate
2 Raven's Crime
3 Skyreach manta
3 Aven Riftwatcher
2 Grim Harvest
Land
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Swamp
4 Island
3 Forest
3 Mountain
2 Plains
I'm sure I'll toy with it some more as I go, but this is its current iteration.
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Clan RepresentativeWith eight terramorphic expanse, you might like Grim Discovery in a version of this list. Rebuying a creature and land from your GY for 1B is a pretty nice way to get back into the game. (Especially if what you're rebuying is a mulldrifter.)
Overall, I love this idea, but the curve seems high. The fact that the removal is two-color means that a turn 2-3 terminate might mean not being able to cast your green or blue spells.
I built a midrange Rock deck in pauper a while back, with the idea to use 8 terramorphics for the fixing. (The guildgates weren't printed yet.) I had trouble getting turn 2 putrid leech into turn 3 armadillo cloak. I think you're going to have even more severe issues.
When you've got the spells more figured out, I'd suggest looking at a few guildgates as options, maybe one Dimir and one Simic to start with. I'd also just play more lands instead of harrows.
3 Preordain
2 Brainstorm
2 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Grim Discovery
Counter
2 Prohibit
2 Mana Leak
Removal
3 Lighting Bolt
1 Jilt
1 Terminate
1 Rolling Thunder
4 Frostburn Weird
2 Tidehollow Strix
2 Dimir Infiltator
1 Cenn's Enlistment
2 Mulldrifter
2 Skyreach Manta
1 Twisted Abomination
Equipment
2 Opaline Bracers
Lands
4 Terramoprhic Expanse
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Dimir Guildgate
4 Island
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Forest
Okay, so, except for Cenn's Enlistment, 4 Sunburst cards, and the lands, my version is admittedly a Grixis deck.
The general idea is to hook up an Opaline Bracers to one of your creatures to give him +4/+4, which is terrifying on a Frostburn Weird or unblockable guy. Your unblockable guys do double-duty as things that can transmute into countermagic, removal, and rolling thunder as a finisher.
With 25 lands, you could maybe do this as a RUG deck with Explore, instead of the grixis stuff, or 4 colors... but this is where I landed after a little bit of tinkering.
I also considered running a Trinket Mage + Flayer Husk package, but then you risk just straight up drawing your trinket mage targets, and it didn't seem as good as the other things going on.
Things I liked about the deck: Ghostfire to awnswer Guardian of the Guildpact, Flash finishers like Havenwood Wurm, Grim Discovery and Mystical Teachings to search them all. I might take a look at VMA and give it another try, maybe this time with more white spells
All this discarding and graveyard getting big has made me want to include Archaeomancer. Getting back a Swirling Sandstorm or a Tribal Flames for another go seems great.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
1 Archaeomancer
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Dimir-House Guard
1 Havenwood Wurm
1 Krosan Tusker
1 Mulldrifter
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rotting Rats
1 Sakura-tribe Elder
1 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Skyreach Manta
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Tilling Treefolk
Artifacts (1)
1 Prophetic Prism
Enchantments (2)
1 Abundant Growth
1 Moldervine Cloak
Sorceries (12)
1 Cenn's Enlistment
1 Chainer's Edict
1 Crippling Fatigue
1 Deep Analysis
1 Drown in Filth
1 Evincar's Justice
1 Firebolt
1 Grim Discovery
1 Morgue Theft
1 Probe
1 Raven's Crime
1 Swirling Sandstorm
Instants (9)
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Grim Harvest
1 Grisly Salvage
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Oona's Grace
1 Strangling Soot
1 Think Twice
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Gruul Guildgate
1 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Barren Moor
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Unknown Shores
1 Shimmering Grotto
1 Desert
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Coffin Purge
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Doom Blade
1 Duress
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Faith's Fetters
1 Hydroblast
1 Moment's Peace
1 Negate
1 Prohibit
1 Pyroblast
1 Ray of Revelation
1 Shred Memory
1 Sun's Bounty
The deck revolves around graveyard developers (6 total, counting the dredgers) and stuff that is active in the grave, helping itself to the most powerful options in each color. This creates card advantage on a massive scale and the deck is actually pretty good. The main deck is tuned against aggro and control with only 3 hand disruption and 1 counter, but post board you can change that significantly (as well as add more graveyard hate).
I actually wouldn't change much if I didn't have a singleton restriction. I'd probably run 2 Strangling Soot and 0 Firebolt and rework the mana base/fixing somewhat (it works OK, but Steve and Wayfinder are powerful and I'd probably run more of those). 2-3 Stimps would probably be better too, but what to cut? So many good cards to chose from!
Some notes on omissions that I've found lacking (YMMV) :
Viridian Emissary + Gatekreeper Vine: Not quite as good as Steve and Wayfinder in this deck
Nylea's Presence: Worse than Prophetic Prism (requires a green source) and Abundant Growth (not as cheap), but worth it if you want domain stuff.
Faithless Looting: Flashback is nice, but the card disadvantage is no good.
Commune with the Gods: Too few creatures and enchantments to make it work well.
Mulch: Typically just a worse Satyr Wayfinder.
Matka Rioters + Tribal Flames: These are nice cards with another mana base, but due to the singleton restriction I can't use a bunch of fetches.
Harrow: Again a card for Domain builds IMO. Tutoring with Mystical Teachings is cute but pretty irrelevant by the time it's doable.
Opaline Bracers: Moldervine Cloak is much better IMO since you can both recover it and develop your yard as you "reequip" it.
Sprout Swarm: I think Havenwood Worm is a better win con target for Mystical Teachings, and that Cenn's Enlistment is a more robust token producer and win con target for Dimir House Guard as well.
Let me know how you find it! I'm sure there's still room for tweaking
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I'm surprised to see that regardless of the fact that we have access to all five colours, we are all revolving around similar cards and strategies.
I like the inclusion of Strangling Soot. How good has it been for you? In general, I'm astonished at the amount of 2-for-1 deals you find once you get rid of the mana barrier. Firebolt, Soot, Fatigue, Probe, Teachings... It's quite impressive.
You're right though; a lot of these cards are excellent as one-ofs, and probably wouldn't even change should you not have that restriction. Obviously, there are some cards you'd definitely want more of.
So much value.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]
I wonder what a deck including Firebolt, Flame Jab, Geistflame, Strangling Soot, Crippling Fatigue and Fires of Undeath would look like? Jam the deck full of removal that can be used twice to ensure removal in the early game and full control in the late game, and a hard-to-remove threat to seal the deal. Sounds fun!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
You can probably take that and add in Blue for a Grixis Flashback deck. You get access to Think Twice, Deep Analysis, Capsize, Forbidden Alchemy and Oona's Grace.
I really like the look of the Urdjur's singleton goodness deck and I'd love to try it out some time!
@Feyd_Ruin: What have you tested your current list against? What is your biggest problem so far?
A series of seven articles using Magic to explore the very stuff of the Universe!
"At least for those who can play cards, their present incarnation is not quite wasted."
[Click here for the articles!]