My punisher decks are all-in, heavy blood and guts strategies that pile on enchantments, forcing players to constantly bleed for everything. Playing lands? Take 2-8 damage. Casting a spell? Take 2. Staying in the game? You're taking damage.
However, there's an inevitable game state that I've noticed occurs like clockwork when I play this style of deck. It happens every time the table reaches about sub-10 life each. Everyone starts looking at my board, and realizing that if they kill me, the bleeding stops. I then become, by far, the most appealing target, in order for the gamestate to return to normal again. Previously, I would throw out tokens and ways to make other players look like more appealing targets. However, that's not really cutting it anymore. I need a way to actively threaten players who seek to eliminate me at this late stage in the game.
I'm running RW now, but if I have to go back to RB to do it, so be it. How do I turn myself from the perceived threat into something that really dissuades late-game attackers?
I know you hate running answers, but... Boros Charm.
It will protect your crap if you need it to stick around and it will deal 8 points of damage to a player if you need to go lethal. Also, as we've talked about a lot lately... Lightning Bolt. That's your best finisher.
The issue is that unless your opponents are morons, then your deck does sound like the most dangerous thing at the table when everyone is going to die through incidental damage. I believe that you would find more success with an Oros colors deck (W/B/R). This way you get a higher volume of the cards that win the game for you.
Seconding Bloodfire Colossus, mainly because if you can put a Basilisk Collar on him you are in a great position. Oros the Avenger is a great general for playing a slow control match, especially if you can give him deathtouch in a variety of ways.
I know you hate running answers, but... Boros Charm.
It will protect your crap if you need it to stick around and it will deal 8 points of damage to a player if you need to go lethal. Also, as we've talked about a lot lately... Lightning Bolt. That's your best finisher.
I added bolt to my deck after our last session because it would of won the game like 8 times.
You should also add humility to your deck. As above, with lightmine field you pretty much shut off a lot of the threats we all play. Sure, you have to worry about the amount of swords and jitte we run, but you're in RW. Vandalblast, shatterstorm, return to dust, revoke existence will solve that problem.
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The EDH stax primer When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
I think your best bet is to keep some finishers in reserve to push those last few points of damage through. Exsanguinate is fantastic for this, but any Earthquake-type effect will do. Also consider Vicious Shadows, as it can turn a simple board sweep into a devastating life swing, and make people think twice about attacking into your tokens. Since you're running a "death by a thousand cuts" type deck, I'm assuming attacking with your own creatures isn't a huge part of the game plan. Using Manabarbs can really limit your foes' options once they get low on life, though the same can be applied to you - be wary of the board state when you deploy it.
Alternately, Crawlspace, Silent Arbiter, Ghostly Prison, and Meekstone are great for limiting aggression. In black, No Mercy and Dread make decent rattlesnakes, though if they can kill you in one shot they won't lose their creatures. Get a Luminarch Ascension up and running before you get to the late game, and you should have no problem sweeping up.
As a connoisseur of fun, interesting matches, I still to this day have not been able to craft that "perfect deck"; the deck that I can play and have fun over time, doesn't get boring, but simultaneously is fun to play against. I honestly don't think it exists. It's like a unicorn. A ninja unicorn.
I think your best bet is to keep some finishers in reserve to push those last few points of damage through. Exsanguinate is fantastic for this, but any Earthquake-type effect will do. Also consider Vicious Shadows, as it can turn a simple board sweep into a devastating life swing, and make people think twice about attacking into your tokens. Since you're running a "death by a thousand cuts" type deck, I'm assuming attacking with your own creatures isn't a huge part of the game plan. Using Manabarbs can really limit your foes' options once they get low on life, though the same can be applied to you - be wary of the board state when you deploy it.
The deck gets its reputation by having stuff like Vicious Shadows and Manabarbs on the board while everyone is at low life totals. Your point about needing finishers is spot on, though. Cards like Exsanguinate are really pushing me to ditch and go again.
So basically (as you said), I need more finishers, or ways to wrap up the game quickly. I don't think trying multiple card synergies will do the trick, because I need to be able to reliably finish the game on the turn my opponents' begin to view me as the threat. I'm thinking of things like Massacre Wurm, for when an opponent could threaten me with creatures, but would die to few more points of life loss.
you could just try to finish them off with direct damage like Comet Storm or Bloodfire Colossus, or add pillowfort like galspanic mentioned. Or up the number of boardsweeps, as you like to kill with enchants.
Here's another good point. Originally, the deck was designed to speed games up, and it still does, but often (due to the situation described in the OP) it also speeds up my own death. I typically avoided wraths for this reason. Under a new strategy, would putting a suite of wrath cards be a good plan? Provided I'm only using them late game in order to force people to keep casting things and take those last few points of damage for doing so?
You're problem appears to be that the table is accurately identifying you as a threat when you clear are one. I don't think pillowfort cards are the answer here. They will make it harder for your opponent to kill you maybe but that will just make them want to kill you even more. More finishers is definitely the right call.
Unfortunately every try hard from Sacramento to Shanghai preaches from the top of their 27 lands + Mana Reflection that Tooth and Nail and Time Stretch are fine to play in the same turn but Armageddon is unfair.
As a connoisseur of fun, interesting matches, I still to this day have not been able to craft that "perfect deck"; the deck that I can play and have fun over time, doesn't get boring, but simultaneously is fun to play against. I honestly don't think it exists. It's like a unicorn. A ninja unicorn.
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However, there's an inevitable game state that I've noticed occurs like clockwork when I play this style of deck. It happens every time the table reaches about sub-10 life each. Everyone starts looking at my board, and realizing that if they kill me, the bleeding stops. I then become, by far, the most appealing target, in order for the gamestate to return to normal again. Previously, I would throw out tokens and ways to make other players look like more appealing targets. However, that's not really cutting it anymore. I need a way to actively threaten players who seek to eliminate me at this late stage in the game.
I'm running RW now, but if I have to go back to RB to do it, so be it. How do I turn myself from the perceived threat into something that really dissuades late-game attackers?
It will protect your crap if you need it to stick around and it will deal 8 points of damage to a player if you need to go lethal. Also, as we've talked about a lot lately... Lightning Bolt. That's your best finisher.
I can't remember if you have Lightmine Field or Powerstone Minefield, but those make attacking you pretty pointless in our group.
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I don't know what is in your deck. I hope these helped.
Are you running: Kaervek the Merciless, Sulfuric Vortex, Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit, Stigma Lasher, or Pyrostatic pillar? Gisela, Blade of Goldnight is huge for these strategies, as she doubles their doumage and Halves yours. So anything that is dealing 1 damage (like Painlands) doesnt hit you anymore.
Seconding Bloodfire Colossus, mainly because if you can put a Basilisk Collar on him you are in a great position. Oros the Avenger is a great general for playing a slow control match, especially if you can give him deathtouch in a variety of ways.
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Clan RepresentativeI added bolt to my deck after our last session because it would of won the game like 8 times.
You should also add humility to your deck. As above, with lightmine field you pretty much shut off a lot of the threats we all play. Sure, you have to worry about the amount of swords and jitte we run, but you're in RW. Vandalblast, shatterstorm, return to dust, revoke existence will solve that problem.
The EDH stax primer
When you absolutely, positively got to kill every permanent in the room, accept no substitutes.
Alternately, Crawlspace, Silent Arbiter, Ghostly Prison, and Meekstone are great for limiting aggression. In black, No Mercy and Dread make decent rattlesnakes, though if they can kill you in one shot they won't lose their creatures. Get a Luminarch Ascension up and running before you get to the late game, and you should have no problem sweeping up.
The deck gets its reputation by having stuff like Vicious Shadows and Manabarbs on the board while everyone is at low life totals. Your point about needing finishers is spot on, though. Cards like Exsanguinate are really pushing me to ditch
So basically (as you said), I need more finishers, or ways to wrap up the game quickly. I don't think trying multiple card synergies will do the trick, because I need to be able to reliably finish the game on the turn my opponents' begin to view me as the threat. I'm thinking of things like Massacre Wurm, for when an opponent could threaten me with creatures, but would die to few more points of life loss.
Got any more suggestions?
Here's another good point. Originally, the deck was designed to speed games up, and it still does, but often (due to the situation described in the OP) it also speeds up my own death. I typically avoided wraths for this reason. Under a new strategy, would putting a suite of wrath cards be a good plan? Provided I'm only using them late game in order to force people to keep casting things and take those last few points of damage for doing so?