I have been pretty negative about the newest set and after some games with the cards and pouring over stacks of cards i think my negativity was justified. But with all the focus on the underwhelming new mechanics and bizarre rarity of some cards i missed the fact there are some interesting landfall cards in the set.
Over the years i have made a few green based land matters decks and currently enjoy a mono green Nissa to some success. The big advantage going land matters is that as a byproduct of your main strategy is that you'll end up with well developed mana. So if your plan A goes off the rails at least you have a bunch of lands in play.
Enter Dakkon Blackblade. He isn't great but he is cool looking and later in the game can general damage people out in 2 swings. Also he isn't green which is ideal as green land decks have been done to death. I am thinking of keeping the number of basics high to abuse Planar Birth and minimizing black.
So what i am looking for are 3 groups of cards.
1 - Stuff that gets lands into play or hand.
2 - Stuff that likes land like landfall cards
3 - Big Blue and White spells to use when landfall cards are disrupted.
My own Dakkon Blackblade deck uses Planar Birth for value and in the hopes of getting Dakkon into one-shot range. See link in my signature. If it's within your budget, Land Tax rocks for getting lands into your hand and graveyard for the low, low cost of W. If you want to get cute, you use Planar Birth in conjunction with Mesmeric Orb plus Basalt Monolith and/or Aphetto Alchemist for lots of lands and landfall triggers.
My own Dakkon Blackblade deck uses Planar Birth for value and in the hopes of getting Dakkon into one-shot range. See link in my signature. If it's within your budget, Land Tax rocks for getting lands into your hand and graveyard for the low, low cost of W. If you want to get cute, you use Planar Birth in conjunction with Mesmeric Orb plus Basalt Monolith and/or Aphetto Alchemist for lots of lands and landfall triggers.
Your deck is partially responsible for this project. I don't want to go as combo focused as you are, but there were more than enough interesting things going on for me to book mark your list.
I already have a mono black deck list so that whole swamp matters thing isn't what i am interested in.
No one runs Armageddon in our group so i don't need to worry about getting blown away. Walking Atlas is a nice call and i happen to have a foil.
Walking Atlas goes well with the new Retreat to Coralhelm. With these two cards on the battlefield, you can dump all the lands from your hand onto the battlefield. Tideforce Elemental also works, though not as well.
Nothing directly to do with lands themselves, but with a lot of mana, Oona, Queen of the Fae can perform mass library exile, which does fuel Oblivion Sower for even more lands.
Intuition. I would argue it's the single most useful tutor in the deck. Grab what you need to feed the field and graveyard. O stone, academy ruins, crucible could be one of the choices. Time twister, time spiral, time reversal if you need to draw 7.
major jank, but if you have an alpha farmstead, you have to put it in (i happen to have one, and its in the jankiest deck, but its probably my most expensive card i own, so i have to use it). or if you have a pyramids?
its amazing to think that the typical legacy lands build is RG, the exact opposite of what dakkon is, but it feels like dakkon is better in a weird way?
major jank, but if you have an alpha farmstead, you have to put it in (i happen to have one, and its in the jankiest deck, but its probably my most expensive card i own, so i have to use it). or if you have a pyramids?
its amazing to think that the typical legacy lands build is RG, the exact opposite of what dakkon is, but it feels like dakkon is better in a weird way?
Pyramids is sick with Awaken and i have a few awaken cards in the deck. The depths combo would be good if it wasn't $50. If i happen upon a Farmstead i'll put it in. Also if i find a Caribou Range and i could have a whole Land aura theme in the deck. Sire of Stagnation is been banned from our group (which i dont think even has a blue black deck).
Well i whipped up a rough draft of this deck and ran it in a couple of games yesterday. First game i basically did nothing and folded pretty quickly against a variety of aggressive decks. Second game i got a Land Tax and Thawing Glaciers going. Retreat to Emeria did a good job putting up roadblocks while i built up my land. Emeria Shepherd put the deck into overdrive with Solemn Simulacrum getting me up to a 21/21 Dakkon going. A Rogues Passage and time walk allowed me to finish off my two opponents in short order.
The new landfall cards were quite excellent. Sun Titan was also a critical card. I'll report back when i get some more games and try some new cards out.
Over the years i have made a few green based land matters decks and currently enjoy a mono green Nissa to some success. The big advantage going land matters is that as a byproduct of your main strategy is that you'll end up with well developed mana. So if your plan A goes off the rails at least you have a bunch of lands in play.
Enter Dakkon Blackblade. He isn't great but he is cool looking and later in the game can general damage people out in 2 swings. Also he isn't green which is ideal as green land decks have been done to death. I am thinking of keeping the number of basics high to abuse Planar Birth and minimizing black.
So what i am looking for are 3 groups of cards.
1 - Stuff that gets lands into play or hand.
2 - Stuff that likes land like landfall cards
3 - Big Blue and White spells to use when landfall cards are disrupted.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
ruin ghost
land tax
endless horizons
weathered wayfarer
eternal dragon
gift of estates
tithe
knight of the white orchid
kor cartographer
emeria, the sky ruin
You may not want to minimize black, as black has a whole lot of swamps matter effects, some of which are very strong
cabal coffers
urborg, tomb of yawgmoth < - Big tutor target
nirkana revenant
crypt ghast
magus of the coffers
liliana of the dark realms
tendrils of corruption
korlash, heir to blackblade
noyan dar, roil shaper
Kresh the Bloodbraided-Jund Aggro
Karador, Ghost Chieftain-Abzan Midrange
Kangee, Aerie Keeper-Bird Tribal
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death-Warrior Tribal
Sydri, Galvanic Genius-Gepetto's Combo Workshop
Melek, Izzet Paragon-Izzet Mad Science
Omnath, Locus of Rage-Land/Elemental Tribal
Avacyn, Angel of Hope-The Church of Avacyn (Innistrad Flavor)
Brion Stoutarm
Daxos of Meletis
Varolz, the Scar-Striped
Narset, Enlightened Master
Damia, Sage of Stone
Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts
Titania, Protector of Argoth
Dakkon Blackblade
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Mayael the Anima
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Gaddock Teeg
Rhys the Redeemed
Fatestitcher can be solid if you're playing big, easy to abuse lands like Cabal Coffers and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
And land cyclers can be useful, decent ones in these colors are Traumatic Visions, Jhessian Zombies, Sanctum Plowbeast, Shoreline Ranger, and Twisted Abomination.
Expedition Map, Burnished Hart, Solemn Simulacrum, Surveyor's Scope, and Wayfarer's Bauble also come to mind.
Your deck is partially responsible for this project. I don't want to go as combo focused as you are, but there were more than enough interesting things going on for me to book mark your list.
I already have a mono black deck list so that whole swamp matters thing isn't what i am interested in.
No one runs Armageddon in our group so i don't need to worry about getting blown away. Walking Atlas is a nice call and i happen to have a foil.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
Terrain Generator is also a great card, but you need some decent draw to keep it going. In U/B though, that shouldn't be a problem.
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
Emeria Shepherd - Big potential for this lady. Combos really well with Burnished Hart and friends.
Retreat to Emeria - Probably not a card that will win may games but pumping out chump blockers is never a bad thing.
Guardian of Tazeem - This should keep a lid on dangerous creatures and is a nice way to play politics.
Retreat to Coralhelm - Scry is good. Twiddles are potent. This combos really well with Fatesticher
Planar Birth + Looting cards to get a wack of basics into play at once. Can be used as a way to mass trigger landfall or ramp into a big Dakkon.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
That is disgusting. I love it.
Some more vaguely playable Esper things that count lands:
Do you know what feels good? Being that guy. Sacrifice the lands for profit! Who cares? They ain't yours!
Sacrifice them to Dreamscape Artist for more fun!
Decree of Justice
White Sun's Zenith
Missed landfall gem: Admonition Angel
On Oblivion Sower: Dimensional Breach ->win.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
also, if you run the ABU duals, consider tithe, gift of estates?
major jank, but if you have an alpha farmstead, you have to put it in (i happen to have one, and its in the jankiest deck, but its probably my most expensive card i own, so i have to use it). or if you have a pyramids?
its amazing to think that the typical legacy lands build is RG, the exact opposite of what dakkon is, but it feels like dakkon is better in a weird way?
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
Pyramids is sick with Awaken and i have a few awaken cards in the deck. The depths combo would be good if it wasn't $50. If i happen upon a Farmstead i'll put it in. Also if i find a Caribou Range and i could have a whole Land aura theme in the deck. Sire of Stagnation is been banned from our group (which i dont think even has a blue black deck).
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render
The new landfall cards were quite excellent. Sun Titan was also a critical card. I'll report back when i get some more games and try some new cards out.
In Progress
GBIshkanah, Grafwidow ~ BWGRTymna the Weaver & Tana, the Bloodsower ~ UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ~ RGAtarka, World Render