@Aardvark
Yes, yes, yesss...I do have that card in the bench! When i first saw that card(about 6 months ago) i thought about how nasty it could be in this deck. But I havent got the b*lls to try it out yet. There are few cards under observation. Global Ruin is one, and that could be an easy replacement if i need to.
@Donald
You still doubt the power of Mind Sculpting people?....Shame on you!.....You forgot to add that it Mind Extract a removal cards from your deck.
I like Day cause it could be tricky to rely on Child all the time. Also, it serves as a "sac outlet" for him, and it have some other interaction that i've been discoverd lately, like i can regen or make undestructuble some other creatures while let the Child board the rest ofthe board...anyways...If one of the defensive cards had to go it'd be Sowrds to Plowshare.
@ ludd gang
I've allways had that card in mind, but never tried it because i felt i never needed it.I think Corpse Dance would be better if i needed to add other piece of reanimation. However, i always think about the card when im tunning the deck. About Cremate and Relic of P...I think the idea behind is ecxelent, but the card choice is not very exiting. I already have Nezumi Graverobber for that kind of effect, and i'd liked to add one more card of that kind.Im not so sure about the ones you suggested. Maybe another one? Cool observations.
I understand why you're running Day of Judgment but I think that card could just be upgraded to something like Austere Command which can selectively keep Child on the table if necessary (and you can still regen your guys if you want). The power of Jace is not in question, the question is whether or not this is the right deck for him and I don't think it is. You can't protect him, your general kills him, he doesn't help with the theme of the deck and he's double blue.
ok, so i'm sort of comparing your decklist to mine, and i think it mostly comes down to how we build our decks. when I build a deck, I build around a strategy focused on the general, and try to keep the strategy as focused as possible. So for my Child deck, I built pretty much the whole thing dedicated to getting out child, sacking child, and repeated resurrecting child to maximize its effect. So there aren't many cards in there simply because they're good overall cards - if they don't fit the strategy, they aren't going in the deck.
Your deck is built with a lot more staples and other "good cards", which means its a lot less focused around child but it's more well-rounded. My deck pretty much follows a linear strategy, yours improvises a little more. For me, I like trying to think of ways to make my strategy unbreakable rather than adaptive.
For another example, when I built a deck around Geth, lord of the vault recently - dedicated to producing lots of mana to use his ability a lot - I intentionally excluded black staples like exsanguinate because, although it can use the massive mana I produce, it does fit the deck's core strategy. Plus I find it to be a boring way to win.
Anyway, I haven't playtested mine so it remains to be seen how it will work. also, as with any multiplayer deck, it depends a ton on the attitude of your meta, and the way you play your deck - both in terms of the moves, and the way you act. I'm sure if I nuked at every opportunity and was a dick about it, I'd get ganged up on and have a good chance of losing. whereas if I only nuke as necessary or when the board wants it, and am amiable about it, probably a lot more likely to win.
There are a few card choices of yours that I thought, different deckmaking strategies aside, were bad decisions though.
sphinx of lost truths - meh? it's a pretty lame body and a hell of an expensive draw spell - plus 3 blue can be annoying in 5-color. why not run tidings instead if you want functional sorcery-speed draw? or even that janktacular domain one someone else suggested =/ it might actually be ok with all the ravnica lands. or if you want to get political, trade secrets gets pretty nuts in multiplayer...just ask "who wants to draw a ton of cards?" (and has a lame deck, obviously, but don't SAY that)
kederekt leviathan - why would you want something to merely bounce stuff when you could put in a good reanimation spell and kill everything permanently with child?
progenitus - this seems like a terrible idea. It's so expensive and it's bound to be wasting space in your hand, and it's not even a good kill card against anyone with any mass removal, or anyone else really. plus it's a total nonbo with your general. There are just so many ways to kill people faster than this. it's what, 4 turns if they just sit there and take it? so in a 5-player game it's going to take 16 turns? At least ulamog, the infinite gyre (which someone suggested for my deck) is indestructible so it plays well with child. Even darksteel colossus would be a lot better. pretty much anything indestructible.
day of judgement - the rest of the removal mostly makes sense - i don't plan to use any of it, but if you're more committed to having a field position then it makes sense. but like leviathan - if you want a wipe, run a reanimation spell and re-use child. considering you have very few artifacts or enchantments i don't see why you wouldn't want a total wipe. plus doj isn't even that good...i'd prefer rout, at least it's instant-speed. or if you want selectivilty, maybe oblivion stone or austere command.
you've got summoning trap under 2 categories. personally I'm not a fan of the card, since it's basically a "dumb tutor" in that it's not very selective - but i guess if you have a lot of counters running around your meta, you may as well. anyway, i assume one of those is a mistake, i assume it still adds to 100?
panoramas seem pretty lame, especially since you've spent the money on an otherwise nice manabase. I prefer the odyssey filters, since they can colorize the colorless mana off utility lands. the dual mandlands from wwk also make lots of sense in a deck around child, since they give you a beater or a blocker after a wipe. personally I'd also say you've got a lot of basics for 5-color, personally I prefer more fixers, but then maybe you've got more nonbasic hate in your meta. I definitely suggest forbidden orchard, though. it's probably the best fixing land in the format - T: add one mana of any color to your mana pool and become temporary allies with one player for a couple turns (YMMV). also, miren, the moaning well seems like sort of a no-brainer. it costs a fair amount of mana, but you gains tons of life, and a little extra redundancy never hurt.
finally, although I know you're not really following my deck pattern, it seems like at least one repeatable reanimation spell makes sense. I'm kind of surprised your can reuse child much at all, you don't have much reanimation. I'd suggest grim harvest if you want something durable - counters just piss it off, and you can sac something to return it if someone tries to exile it. if you want something just straight-up powerful, then corpse dance is pretty hardcore. if child gets buried, just cast it a couple times and either sac them in the right order, or let stuff get exiled until you tunnel down to child. it synergizes well with a lot of your etb and ltb effect creatures, too, and you can cast it whenever. seems like the MVP of child decks.
so yes, that's my take. feel free to get brutally honest on any of my particular card choices on my decklist too.
I'll let ilcapo comment on the other stuff but the Leviathan is really useful for getting around Karmic Justice (often with shroud) which is run in quite a few decks in our group. It's actually really annoying.
@Donald Austire Command is more powerfull than DoJ(dont have and extra Wrath of God)and that could be a good replacement for it, but i 've felt the need yet. I like a cheap wrath, and the sorcery speed dont bother me much. But its def. one of the cards on the watch. About Mr. Blue, you are prob. right about almost everything, but the fact that he actually has good synergy with the deck, betweeen all the card drawing, tutors, and land fetch and shuffling, he can dig even deeper. Next time i cast him i''ll do my best to protect him, and if i cant, then i'll opt to take him out but not before trying my best.
@Puerple P. Twisted Justice is deft. a sweet card. THe theory behind the card is ecxactly what i need for this deck, but i've been using other option that been doing fabulous so far like Momentous FallNatural Order and the best is Bound/Determined
About the other sac outlets being weak (the lands), i ran into a lot of stress in the begining because...yes...they were getting destroyed.(Adding that on my group are LD apasionados) So what did i do? Well, i made the deck LD-proof...adding cards that allowed me to recover quicker from non-basic or just general LD(Life from the loam for ex.) and added more basics wich it worked out good.
Sorry for doubleposting(Never done it before), but I think I needed a whole new post to respond darcanegel’s comments.
First, I think you got it right they way our decks work and how similar and different they are. You totally focus on you General, while I make sure I have a longer game with a bigger threat desity.
I don’t think either strategy is better than the other, but for the long games we play in my group I rather have a deck fast enough to put early pressure and with a strong late game at the same time.
Next, I try to quick-justify the cards you think and bad choices for from my list.
Sphinx of the Lost Truth
This guy is a lot more than just a body, with some weak card drawing that is hard to cast.
He tell a lot about the deck mechanic. He recalls the good’ol U/B reanitation decks back in the days where you’d use card drawing spells with discard options. Basiclly you draw bunch of cards, keep the good spells and discard your fatties. Besides, a 3/5 flyer is nothing to frawn upon. And I usually don’t kick it so I get the dicard benefit.
Progenitus
This guy is a MONSTER!
I have ways to get him out quick, simple as turn 3 or 4 Natural Order. If you cant deal with him right away He will eat you alive. Yes, he is dies to wraths, but almost every creature in Magic does. Darksteel Colossuss and Ulamog don’t, but they die to many other spells that are popular in EDH to, like Path, Swords to Plw., Bant Charm, Maze of Ith, they can also get all kinds of Stolen(Guilded Drake, Control Magic)…So, if you give me an option to have one of those guys on board I’ll always stick with Progy
Day of Judgement
If anything, this should be wrat of God (don’t have extras) or even Austere Command. I wont argue on this one since I think is one of my weakest link. However hasn’t been disappointing. It’s still under watch.
Summoning Trap
What I like more about this card is the element of surprise. As you notice, I really put a lot of effort into this particular part of the deck. Ramp decks could be explosive but very predictables. With instant speed reanimation(Necromancy for ex) and tutors I can play around and along different boards. They part that I can cast for 0 is very relevant too since our meta is full of blue mages. They downside is that my only library manipulations are Top and Jace 2.0 as I recall now. However I got tons of shuffle effects.
Panorama
They are not the best mana fixers but they serve very well their purpose. Search basic Forests, and get reused by Crucible of Worlds or Life from the Loam. If you notice, all my fetches(including panoramas) and my Rav Duels search or are Forests. Since I did this my mana base have run awesome. That why I don’t want to change rite now. If I get real duel lands I might have to do something though.
I like the filter lands, I just trying to be carefull with the non-basic LD hate present in my group.
About the extra reanimation spell(reusable if possible) I think you are RIGHT! I feel like I need one more. I’ll give a try to either Grim Discovery or Corpse Dance. Thanks ofr the tip.
I’ll take a closer look to your list and share some of my thoughts about somce of your choices.
sphinx of lost truths - valid point, he's a lot better if you want a way to get stuff into the grave. of course, there are much more efficient cards that do the same thing, draw/discard-wise, but i guess the body doesn't hurt and slower cards are usually better for EDH if they're more powerful. if you really wanted to go heavy reanimation and deck tunneling you could try attunement, since it dodges child, although it is a lot of discard. ceta sanctuary could also be cool for a 5-color reanimation deck. greater good is a crazy source of CA for a power-heavy deck, especially if you can use the discard. pulse of the grid is a nifty way to draw and discard since you can keep reusing it and it won't get wiped by child. i would use any of those first, tbh. They're more efficient and more reusable.
I don't know that you really have a strong graveyard theme, though. You've only got 7 reanimators by my count, and only one of those is easily reusable. (Let me suggest volrath's stronghold, though.) If you really want to abuse draw and discard, I'd commit more heavily to a reanimation theme, or else don't bother with otherwise subpar cards like the sphinx.
progenitus - i guess this might be sort of a meta choice, but i can't imagine deciding to run it in my meta. He's probably going to be wrath fodder the moment someone gets annoyed with him, and no matter when he comes out he's probably going to draw the hate of most of the table - unless something more dangerous is happening, which it probably is unless it's early-game. Dropping him early gives him a lot more bite, but he's still going to be a 4-turn kill against anyone, and any good decks will have no problem killing him by then, especially since he doesn't have haste, and there's no need to kill the crappy decks early. natural order is a great way to speed him out in a hurry, but it's only one card, and you've only got a few ways to search for it - plus you need a green creature to sacrifice, and your deck is mostly big expensive creatures, most of which are not green. it's cool to sac child, wipe the table and pull out progenitus, but that's probably not going to be earlier than turn 5 if you're lucky, and that's only with a very lucky hand that includes ramp, the right mana for child, and one of the few tutors for natural order (or the card itself), and it's all got to be in a nice sequencial cost to play one each turn...i just don't see it happening often enough for him to be worth it. Plus, he's bound to draw you a massive beating from everyone else while he's tapped after attacking, and you can't really keep your general out for board control while he's running around, since wrathing with it will kill him too. Besides natural order, nothing in your deck works well with him, really...he can't be reanimated, your general is one of the best ways to kill him, your can't run the artifact mana that works well to accelerate him into play...he just doesn't fit into the deck very well. And although he's big and sort of scary (honestly, whenever i see him played I never worry at all), he's not such a great card that he's a real "staple", so just because you have the colors doesn't mean he's worth running.
ulamog seems like a good replacement, especially if you have a decent number of land tutors for eye of ugin. yes, people can gain control of him, but you're running sac engines that deal with that exact problem, plus instant-speed reanimation (aka most of your reanimation choices) work with him, and when he attacks he does a lot more damage. and if you get eye of ugin, you don't even need to reanimate him, you can just keep recasting him. plus he's spot removal for when you need it. and he's easier to manafix for. just all-around much more synergistic with your general and your deck.
EDIT: oh, and I missed this the first time but sphinx of the steel wind seems even worse. it doesn't work with natural order so it's hard to get out, it's virtually unprotected from almost all removal, and like progenitus it's slow and expensive and it draws hate. the vigilance and lifelink are nice ways to regain some lost life, but something like exsanguinate will get you life a lot faster and just works better with your general.
please do comment on my list, although sadly I'll probably be unable to use it until january. I usually find that the weak links show themselves best through playtesting, especially the "pet cards" that work better in theory than reality. It would be nice to have an idea of cards to watch for, though, and a list of cards that would be possibly replacements.
You made a lot of valid points. But like i told you before, all this sounds good in theory, but when you play the deck and have to interact with certain metagame some choices seem weird and anti-synergetic but they are there for the best of the deck.
Greater Good, Ceta Sanctuary are permanents so i dont even bother, but Pulse of the Grid on the other hand looks very interesting. I'll pick one up and try it out. Attunement is a good card but a little too much for what i want.
Volrath's Stronghold is not in the list yet since i dont own an extra one. However, when i pick one up I'll prob. take me a lot of thinking how to put it in since my mana bas is very solid right now and adding too many non-basics in a deck is dangerous in my playgroup.
Not very convienced about Ulamog in this deck. I rather play Artistan of Kozilek if i was looking to replace Progenitus or Archon of Justice Those are the type of creatures Childs like to hire for his deck...That have effect when come in or leave play. Proggy is an exeption.(or the ramp dorks)
EDIT: I'm making few changes in the deck in the next days.
You made a lot of valid points. But like i told you before, all this sounds good in theory, but when you play the deck and have to interact with certain metagame some choices seem weird and anti-synergetic but they are there for the best of the deck.
Greater Good, Ceta Sanctuary are permanents so i dont even bother, but Pulse of the Grid on the other hand looks very interesting. I'll pick one up and try it out. Attunement is a good card but a little too much for what i want.
Volrath's Stronghold is not in the list yet since i dont own an extra one. However, when i pick one up I'll prob. take me a lot of thinking how to put it in since my mana bas is very solid right now and adding too many non-basics in a deck is dangerous in my playgroup.
Not very convienced about Ulamog in this deck. I rather play Artistan of Kozilek if i was looking to replace Progenitus or Archon of Justice Those are the type of creatures Childs like to hire for his deck...That have effect when come in or leave play. Proggy is an exeption.(or the ramp dorks)
EDIT: I'm making few changes in the deck in the next days.
greater good/ceta sanctuary - that's true. sanctuary seems like a nice draw engine for a non-child-of-alara 5 color general, though. it'd be a nice fit in a cromat deck or something.
volrath's - leaving it out would obviously be a meta choice. it seems ungodly powerful with child, though. I mean you're already running sac outlet nonbasics.
ulamog does have an etb effect, sorta. if you want something less likely to be turned against you, and with a better cast effect, you could try kozilek. i like ulamog's indestructibility though.
Obviously it's sorta stupid for me to give too much advice until I've actually tested it out =/ Bleh, stupid winter break.
So after putting some thoughts i decided in some changes for my deck.
I think this changes are going to get rid off cards that were inicially there because of personal taste.The ones that im putting in are going to strong the focus of the deck and make it smoother to pilot.
The main two cards that im' adding are Corpse Dance and Greater Gargadon...The first one, a powerfull reanimation spell with a "draw back" , how ever, the second one is to "soften" the draw back, and it also has good synergy with the deck anyways. Read the ruins so i dont depend on my High Market and Phyrexian Tower as my main and VERY important sac outlets. They get destroy a lot since my group like to load on LD. Speaking of wich, another card that i added helps on this: Tilling Treefolk He is also good since i run TONS of fetchlands, and Life from the Loam
I really like all of those changes, especially Greater Gargadon, Reveillark and Archon of Justice as they all seem like perfect fits in this deck. The only one I'm not really sold on is the Zenith, I think the green only restriction holds it back enough that I'd rather just run either Worldly Tutor, Eladamri's Call or just try and pick up a Vampiric Tutor. These tutors also have the benefit of getting the creature to your hand to possibly be discarded and reanimated whereas the Zenith is always forcing you to pay retail + 1 for the creature. It's a good card but I don't think this is the right deck for it.
So after putting some thoughts i decided in some changes for my deck.
I think this changes are going to get rid off cards that were inicially there because of personal taste.The ones that im putting in are going to strong the focus of the deck and make it smoother to pilot.
The main two cards that im' adding are Corpse Dance and Greater Gargadon...The first one, a powerfull reanimation spell with a "draw back" , how ever, the second one is to "soften" the draw back, and it also has good synergy with the deck anyways. Read the ruins so i dont depend on my High Market and Phyrexian Tower as my main and VERY important sac outlets. They get destroy a lot since my group like to load on LD. Speaking of wich, another card that i added helps on this: Tilling Treefolk He is also good since i run TONS of fetchlands, and Life from the Loam
I think iam a ramp spell short...i have to play to feel it.
Thoughts?
corpse dance - totally, totally worth it. Awesome recursion.
Another beauty someone else reminded me of is fool's demise. As long as child doesn't get killed unexpectedly, you're basically returning it to play for 5, so it's like getting it to hand for free, with less mana specificity.
Greater gargadon - awesome if you're running into trouble with removal on your sac outlets. Personally I like worthy cause and miren the moaning well more, though, so you won't get one-shotted by exsanguinate or sudden overruns or whatever. The mana is annoying and it can be killed with counters, but gargadon has some hoops you need to jump through to get it back into suspend once it runs out of counters, and doesn't really give you anything very useful imo (i guess a 9/7 is ok, but if you leave it in play you can't sac to it).
Greater Gargadon has the additional benefit of deterring mass LD to an extent because it provides you with a significant threat for just a R that should be ready to come out quickly should someone drop an Armageddon requiring the mass LD player to have an even more superior board advantage than they would normally require. This is pretty important in our group. Fools Demise is interesting but does seem rather mana hungry. Might be worth testing out.
Greater Gargadon has the additional benefit of deterring mass LD to an extent because it provides you with a significant threat for just a R that should be ready to come out quickly should someone drop an Armageddon requiring the mass LD player to have an even more superior board advantage than they would normally require. This is pretty important in our group. Fools Demise is interesting but does seem rather mana hungry. Might be worth testing out.
demise isn't actually mana hungry at all, as long as you don't let child get killed without it. it returns child to play for free when it dies, all you have to do is recast demise on it. Compared to genesis, which requires 3 mana each time you returns it AS WELL as the WUBRG to cast it, so 8 per death. 5 per death is pretty cheap, the cheapest recursion option actually (except maybe corpse dance). The only downside is that it runs into problems if child gets killed in response to recasting it.
Fair point on the gargadon. I tend to run a fair amount of counterspells (10), though, just in case of situations like that.
Greater Gargadon has the additional benefit of deterring mass LD to an extent because it provides you with a significant threat for just a R that should be ready to come out quickly should someone drop an Armageddon requiring the mass LD player to have an even more superior board advantage than they would normally require. This is pretty important in our group. Fools Demise is interesting but does seem rather mana hungry. Might be worth testing out.
This is a very good point about Greater Gargadon.
One more thing people tend to overlook about a this Child deck is that my General is not the only creature im eager to sac. As you can notice from the decklist, most of my creatures have effects when the leave play or when they come in...so they become good renimation targets. Greater Gargadon SMOOTHS this loops and make Child's job of controling the whole board a lot easier.
As for sac outlets, i just included Read the Ruins as a discard, sac outlet. I really love this card for its versatility.
I also traded Explosive Vegetation for Skyshroud Claim due to the fact that it can fetch me duels intead of just basics.
One more thing people tend to overlook about a this Child deck is that my General is not the only creature im eager to sac. As you can notice from the decklist, most of my creatures have effects when the leave play or when they come in...so they become good renimation targets. Greater Gargadon SMOOTHS this loops and make Child's job of controling the whole board a lot easier.
As for sac outlets, i just included Read the Ruins as a discard, sac outlet. I really love this card for its versatility.
I also traded Explosive Vegetation for Skyshroud Claim due to the fact that it can fetch me duels intead of just basics.
definitely definitely intuition. You can get life from the loam + phyrexian tower + Volrath's stronghold, or genesis + Eternal Witness + glen elendra archmage, or be a clever bastard and get genesis + eternal witness + forbid when someone is about to combo out (forcing them to put genesis in your GY), or just get 3 of the same-ish effect so you're guaranteed to get it. In a recursion heavy deck, the additional cards that get discarded don't mean enemy choice so much as they mean you're getting a triple tutor.
feel free to comment on my decklist again, btw, it could use a bump
I agree on Intuition for the reasons darcangel stated. Plus the guy has a Child deck, has tested the card and says it's the best. How can you argue with that :P. Cauldron Haze is a very interesting find. It's a 1 shot effect but with a lot of potential. Imagine using it in response to Obliterate.
I agree on Intuition for the reasons darcangel stated. Plus the guy has a Child deck, has tested the card and says it's the best. How can you argue with that :P. Cauldron Haze is a very interesting find. It's a 1 shot effect but with a lot of potential. Imagine using it in response to Obliterate.
Yeah, im very exited about Cauldron Haze...however, i dont think it's an auto fit for the deck. Make sure i have enough creatures and enough situatuions where the card becomes worthy. I dont want a card that i'll be holding in my hand until the right situation falls in or work my game to make that specifict effect to work. Anyways, i need to test. Diabolic Intent is another card just like the Haze...Seems awesome on papper but it could be difficult to be effective everytime you have it on your hand. More testing...:embarrass:
Obviously Intuition is the best. Reason i havent added is that i own one and it's taken by another deck that beneffits more from it. My it's in my wish(near future) list.
I've really liked running diabolic intent for my deck. It might not be as good of a fit for yours, since yours is less aggressively controlly than mine, but usually it's awesome...you'll be tapped out the turn you cast child anyway, so there's usually no need to have a sac outlet or recursion in hand THAT TURN. So then next turn, sac child to fetch up corpse dance or whatever, and you're golden. Since most of your creatures die all the time anyway, you can always sac something else in a pinch.
Personally, I'd rank it pretty highly amongst my tutors. I'm rarely sorry to see it in my hand.
Intent is great in my build; as darcanegel said, I am rarely unhappy to see it in my hand. Of course, my build is a bit different, as I run a few more/different sac outlets (like Fling, Mind Extraction, Vivisection, etc.) and a pretty different creature base.
We're having a multiplayer event on Sunday, and i am really looking forward to it, as I will be playing Child outside of a couple of casual games for the first time.
I probably arrived to the party late, but I thought I'd throw my 2c out there.
I mostly just wanted to point out some weaknesses. (Not trying to be "that guy", just trying to help with the deck in any way I can since I've never played with/against Child)
You stated in your OP that you don't run creatures/mana rocks that produce mana because Child blows them up. (Which is fine) But how do you deal with LD then, mass LD in particular? (Or Sundering Titan...) There's a few other cards that could really mess up your day such as Winter Orb, Blood Moon, Hall of Gemstone..etc. Now all of these are permanents so Child can get rid of them, but it becomes extremely tedious trying to cast a 5C general under such duress. Also, you flat out scoop to Ritual of Subdual, Contamination and Infernal Darkness since without artifacts or creatures you are unable to generate the required mana for a disenchant effect. I don't know about your playgroup, but seeing at least one of these effects is very common here, sometimes you'll see all of them.
Now, on to the actual suggestions!
The first card I would include is Darksteel Ingot, since it produces any colored mana and is indestructible so it lives through Child. Even though it's only a single card, it at least gives you an out against anything really, as long as you have the removal in hand.
Steel Hellkite is decent as it provides a colorless answer to the above enchantments. Actually I like Spine of Ish Sah better as it doesn't require an attack, you don't have to wait a turn, and it's a lot more precise. It's especially good if you decide to run Greater Gargadon.
It might seem redundant, but All Is Dust is still good here. It's different than Child in that it's colorless (so can be cast pretty much anytime you have 7 mana), plus it forces a sacrifice which is important for things that's can't be destroyed with Child, or have Regeneration.
I'll go ahead and recommend Global Ruin for pretty much any 5C deck. It's such a beating again 1-2 color decks and helps you get into the game if you fall behind. I'd recommend Collective Restraint as well, but it doesn't have much synergy with your general.
Life From the Loam might be a better option than Crucible of Worlds. It doesn't die to Child, plus it dredges so you can use it over and over. Dredge is particularly good because you can cast an instant speed draw spell in response to graveyard hate. Intuition puts it over the top as well.
Lastly, I'd play a few utility counterspells as sort of "catch all" answers. Forbid is good as it allows you to discard cards for a good effect. There's a ton of good ones I won't list them all.
Good luck. =)
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My apologies, children, for I am afraid I cannot save you all.
My complaint against all is dust is that the major indestructibles are, for the most part, colorless.
Also, as far as spine and all is dust are concerned, they're good against contamination effects, but vs blood moon or ritual of subdual or whatever, they probably won't be in your hand and you can't tutor for them (of course you probably can under contamination). So they're useful, but they're sort of narrow. possibly run spine, all is dust seems like sort of a waste. Having a good secondary answer for indestructibles is good, though, I prefer capsize.
forbid is excellent, glen elendra archmage is better though. With corpse dance it's absolutely back breaking. I think having a good suite of counters is worth it, though. Child can handle almost anything, so your counters can be restricted to targeting the really problematic stuff.
LFTL is also excellent, even more insane with forbid and demonic collusion.
I've thought about making a Child of Alara deck with creatures that come back-ie Penumbra Spider and persist. I have a question about the totem auras like Bear Umbra. If the Child gets blown up, will a totem armor aura keep the creature in play even though both of them would be going to the graveyard at the same time?
I've thought about making a Child of Alara deck with creatures that come back-ie Penumbra Spider and persist. I have a question about the totem auras like Bear Umbra. If the Child gets blown up, will a totem armor aura keep the creature in play even though both of them would be going to the graveyard at the same time?
yes, the creature will live and the umbra will die.
Same deal if you have, for example, knight exemplar with another knight.
EDIT: Global Ruin! You dirty land destruction player...
Yes, yes, yesss...I do have that card in the bench! When i first saw that card(about 6 months ago) i thought about how nasty it could be in this deck. But I havent got the b*lls to try it out yet. There are few cards under observation. Global Ruin is one, and that could be an easy replacement if i need to.
@Donald
You still doubt the power of Mind Sculpting people?....Shame on you!.....You forgot to add that it Mind Extract a removal cards from your deck.
I like Day cause it could be tricky to rely on Child all the time. Also, it serves as a "sac outlet" for him, and it have some other interaction that i've been discoverd lately, like i can regen or make undestructuble some other creatures while let the Child board the rest ofthe board...anyways...If one of the defensive cards had to go it'd be Sowrds to Plowshare.
@ ludd gang
I've allways had that card in mind, but never tried it because i felt i never needed it.I think Corpse Dance would be better if i needed to add other piece of reanimation. However, i always think about the card when im tunning the deck. About Cremate and Relic of P...I think the idea behind is ecxelent, but the card choice is not very exiting. I already have Nezumi Graverobber for that kind of effect, and i'd liked to add one more card of that kind.Im not so sure about the ones you suggested. Maybe another one? Cool observations.
Your deck is built with a lot more staples and other "good cards", which means its a lot less focused around child but it's more well-rounded. My deck pretty much follows a linear strategy, yours improvises a little more. For me, I like trying to think of ways to make my strategy unbreakable rather than adaptive.
For another example, when I built a deck around Geth, lord of the vault recently - dedicated to producing lots of mana to use his ability a lot - I intentionally excluded black staples like exsanguinate because, although it can use the massive mana I produce, it does fit the deck's core strategy. Plus I find it to be a boring way to win.
Anyway, I haven't playtested mine so it remains to be seen how it will work. also, as with any multiplayer deck, it depends a ton on the attitude of your meta, and the way you play your deck - both in terms of the moves, and the way you act. I'm sure if I nuked at every opportunity and was a dick about it, I'd get ganged up on and have a good chance of losing. whereas if I only nuke as necessary or when the board wants it, and am amiable about it, probably a lot more likely to win.
There are a few card choices of yours that I thought, different deckmaking strategies aside, were bad decisions though.
sphinx of lost truths - meh? it's a pretty lame body and a hell of an expensive draw spell - plus 3 blue can be annoying in 5-color. why not run tidings instead if you want functional sorcery-speed draw? or even that janktacular domain one someone else suggested =/ it might actually be ok with all the ravnica lands. or if you want to get political, trade secrets gets pretty nuts in multiplayer...just ask "who wants to draw a ton of cards?" (and has a lame deck, obviously, but don't SAY that)
kederekt leviathan - why would you want something to merely bounce stuff when you could put in a good reanimation spell and kill everything permanently with child?
progenitus - this seems like a terrible idea. It's so expensive and it's bound to be wasting space in your hand, and it's not even a good kill card against anyone with any mass removal, or anyone else really. plus it's a total nonbo with your general. There are just so many ways to kill people faster than this. it's what, 4 turns if they just sit there and take it? so in a 5-player game it's going to take 16 turns? At least ulamog, the infinite gyre (which someone suggested for my deck) is indestructible so it plays well with child. Even darksteel colossus would be a lot better. pretty much anything indestructible.
day of judgement - the rest of the removal mostly makes sense - i don't plan to use any of it, but if you're more committed to having a field position then it makes sense. but like leviathan - if you want a wipe, run a reanimation spell and re-use child. considering you have very few artifacts or enchantments i don't see why you wouldn't want a total wipe. plus doj isn't even that good...i'd prefer rout, at least it's instant-speed. or if you want selectivilty, maybe oblivion stone or austere command.
you've got summoning trap under 2 categories. personally I'm not a fan of the card, since it's basically a "dumb tutor" in that it's not very selective - but i guess if you have a lot of counters running around your meta, you may as well. anyway, i assume one of those is a mistake, i assume it still adds to 100?
panoramas seem pretty lame, especially since you've spent the money on an otherwise nice manabase. I prefer the odyssey filters, since they can colorize the colorless mana off utility lands. the dual mandlands from wwk also make lots of sense in a deck around child, since they give you a beater or a blocker after a wipe. personally I'd also say you've got a lot of basics for 5-color, personally I prefer more fixers, but then maybe you've got more nonbasic hate in your meta. I definitely suggest forbidden orchard, though. it's probably the best fixing land in the format - T: add one mana of any color to your mana pool and become temporary allies with one player for a couple turns (YMMV). also, miren, the moaning well seems like sort of a no-brainer. it costs a fair amount of mana, but you gains tons of life, and a little extra redundancy never hurt.
finally, although I know you're not really following my deck pattern, it seems like at least one repeatable reanimation spell makes sense. I'm kind of surprised your can reuse child much at all, you don't have much reanimation. I'd suggest grim harvest if you want something durable - counters just piss it off, and you can sac something to return it if someone tries to exile it. if you want something just straight-up powerful, then corpse dance is pretty hardcore. if child gets buried, just cast it a couple times and either sac them in the right order, or let stuff get exiled until you tunnel down to child. it synergizes well with a lot of your etb and ltb effect creatures, too, and you can cast it whenever. seems like the MVP of child decks.
so yes, that's my take. feel free to get brutally honest on any of my particular card choices on my decklist too.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
Austire Command is more powerfull than DoJ(dont have and extra Wrath of God)and that could be a good replacement for it, but i 've felt the need yet. I like a cheap wrath, and the sorcery speed dont bother me much. But its def. one of the cards on the watch. About Mr. Blue, you are prob. right about almost everything, but the fact that he actually has good synergy with the deck, betweeen all the card drawing, tutors, and land fetch and shuffling, he can dig even deeper. Next time i cast him i''ll do my best to protect him, and if i cant, then i'll opt to take him out but not before trying my best.
@Puerple P.
Twisted Justice is deft. a sweet card. THe theory behind the card is ecxactly what i need for this deck, but i've been using other option that been doing fabulous so far like Momentous Fall Natural Order and the best is Bound/Determined
About the other sac outlets being weak (the lands), i ran into a lot of stress in the begining because...yes...they were getting destroyed.(Adding that on my group are LD apasionados) So what did i do? Well, i made the deck LD-proof...adding cards that allowed me to recover quicker from non-basic or just general LD(Life from the loam for ex.) and added more basics wich it worked out good.
First, I think you got it right they way our decks work and how similar and different they are. You totally focus on you General, while I make sure I have a longer game with a bigger threat desity.
I don’t think either strategy is better than the other, but for the long games we play in my group I rather have a deck fast enough to put early pressure and with a strong late game at the same time.
Next, I try to quick-justify the cards you think and bad choices for from my list.
Sphinx of the Lost Truth
This guy is a lot more than just a body, with some weak card drawing that is hard to cast.
He tell a lot about the deck mechanic. He recalls the good’ol U/B reanitation decks back in the days where you’d use card drawing spells with discard options. Basiclly you draw bunch of cards, keep the good spells and discard your fatties. Besides, a 3/5 flyer is nothing to frawn upon. And I usually don’t kick it so I get the dicard benefit.
Progenitus
This guy is a MONSTER!
I have ways to get him out quick, simple as turn 3 or 4 Natural Order. If you cant deal with him right away He will eat you alive. Yes, he is dies to wraths, but almost every creature in Magic does. Darksteel Colossuss and Ulamog don’t, but they die to many other spells that are popular in EDH to, like Path, Swords to Plw., Bant Charm, Maze of Ith, they can also get all kinds of Stolen(Guilded Drake, Control Magic)…So, if you give me an option to have one of those guys on board I’ll always stick with Progy
Day of Judgement
If anything, this should be wrat of God (don’t have extras) or even Austere Command. I wont argue on this one since I think is one of my weakest link. However hasn’t been disappointing. It’s still under watch.
Summoning Trap
What I like more about this card is the element of surprise. As you notice, I really put a lot of effort into this particular part of the deck. Ramp decks could be explosive but very predictables. With instant speed reanimation(Necromancy for ex) and tutors I can play around and along different boards. They part that I can cast for 0 is very relevant too since our meta is full of blue mages. They downside is that my only library manipulations are Top and Jace 2.0 as I recall now. However I got tons of shuffle effects.
Panorama
They are not the best mana fixers but they serve very well their purpose. Search basic Forests, and get reused by Crucible of Worlds or Life from the Loam. If you notice, all my fetches(including panoramas) and my Rav Duels search or are Forests. Since I did this my mana base have run awesome. That why I don’t want to change rite now. If I get real duel lands I might have to do something though.
I like the filter lands, I just trying to be carefull with the non-basic LD hate present in my group.
About the extra reanimation spell(reusable if possible) I think you are RIGHT! I feel like I need one more. I’ll give a try to either Grim Discovery or Corpse Dance. Thanks ofr the tip.
I’ll take a closer look to your list and share some of my thoughts about somce of your choices.
I don't know that you really have a strong graveyard theme, though. You've only got 7 reanimators by my count, and only one of those is easily reusable. (Let me suggest volrath's stronghold, though.) If you really want to abuse draw and discard, I'd commit more heavily to a reanimation theme, or else don't bother with otherwise subpar cards like the sphinx.
progenitus - i guess this might be sort of a meta choice, but i can't imagine deciding to run it in my meta. He's probably going to be wrath fodder the moment someone gets annoyed with him, and no matter when he comes out he's probably going to draw the hate of most of the table - unless something more dangerous is happening, which it probably is unless it's early-game. Dropping him early gives him a lot more bite, but he's still going to be a 4-turn kill against anyone, and any good decks will have no problem killing him by then, especially since he doesn't have haste, and there's no need to kill the crappy decks early. natural order is a great way to speed him out in a hurry, but it's only one card, and you've only got a few ways to search for it - plus you need a green creature to sacrifice, and your deck is mostly big expensive creatures, most of which are not green. it's cool to sac child, wipe the table and pull out progenitus, but that's probably not going to be earlier than turn 5 if you're lucky, and that's only with a very lucky hand that includes ramp, the right mana for child, and one of the few tutors for natural order (or the card itself), and it's all got to be in a nice sequencial cost to play one each turn...i just don't see it happening often enough for him to be worth it. Plus, he's bound to draw you a massive beating from everyone else while he's tapped after attacking, and you can't really keep your general out for board control while he's running around, since wrathing with it will kill him too. Besides natural order, nothing in your deck works well with him, really...he can't be reanimated, your general is one of the best ways to kill him, your can't run the artifact mana that works well to accelerate him into play...he just doesn't fit into the deck very well. And although he's big and sort of scary (honestly, whenever i see him played I never worry at all), he's not such a great card that he's a real "staple", so just because you have the colors doesn't mean he's worth running.
ulamog seems like a good replacement, especially if you have a decent number of land tutors for eye of ugin. yes, people can gain control of him, but you're running sac engines that deal with that exact problem, plus instant-speed reanimation (aka most of your reanimation choices) work with him, and when he attacks he does a lot more damage. and if you get eye of ugin, you don't even need to reanimate him, you can just keep recasting him. plus he's spot removal for when you need it. and he's easier to manafix for. just all-around much more synergistic with your general and your deck.
EDIT: oh, and I missed this the first time but sphinx of the steel wind seems even worse. it doesn't work with natural order so it's hard to get out, it's virtually unprotected from almost all removal, and like progenitus it's slow and expensive and it draws hate. the vigilance and lifelink are nice ways to regain some lost life, but something like exsanguinate will get you life a lot faster and just works better with your general.
please do comment on my list, although sadly I'll probably be unable to use it until january. I usually find that the weak links show themselves best through playtesting, especially the "pet cards" that work better in theory than reality. It would be nice to have an idea of cards to watch for, though, and a list of cards that would be possibly replacements.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
Greater Good, Ceta Sanctuary are permanents so i dont even bother, but Pulse of the Grid on the other hand looks very interesting. I'll pick one up and try it out. Attunement is a good card but a little too much for what i want.
Volrath's Stronghold is not in the list yet since i dont own an extra one. However, when i pick one up I'll prob. take me a lot of thinking how to put it in since my mana bas is very solid right now and adding too many non-basics in a deck is dangerous in my playgroup.
Not very convienced about Ulamog in this deck. I rather play Artistan of Kozilek if i was looking to replace Progenitus or Archon of Justice Those are the type of creatures Childs like to hire for his deck...That have effect when come in or leave play. Proggy is an exeption.(or the ramp dorks)
EDIT: I'm making few changes in the deck in the next days.
greater good/ceta sanctuary - that's true. sanctuary seems like a nice draw engine for a non-child-of-alara 5 color general, though. it'd be a nice fit in a cromat deck or something.
volrath's - leaving it out would obviously be a meta choice. it seems ungodly powerful with child, though. I mean you're already running sac outlet nonbasics.
ulamog does have an etb effect, sorta. if you want something less likely to be turned against you, and with a better cast effect, you could try kozilek. i like ulamog's indestructibility though.
Obviously it's sorta stupid for me to give too much advice until I've actually tested it out =/ Bleh, stupid winter break.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
I think this changes are going to get rid off cards that were inicially there because of personal taste.The ones that im putting in are going to strong the focus of the deck and make it smoother to pilot.
The main two cards that im' adding are Corpse Dance and Greater Gargadon...The first one, a powerfull reanimation spell with a "draw back" , how ever, the second one is to "soften" the draw back, and it also has good synergy with the deck anyways. Read the ruins so i dont depend on my High Market and Phyrexian Tower as my main and VERY important sac outlets. They get destroy a lot since my group like to load on LD. Speaking of wich, another card that i added helps on this: Tilling Treefolk He is also good since i run TONS of fetchlands, and Life from the Loam
Finally i switched Natural Order for Green Sun's Zenith. I think it was a good idea.
Other cards added:
I think iam a ramp spell short...i have to play to feel it.
Thoughts?
corpse dance - totally, totally worth it. Awesome recursion.
Another beauty someone else reminded me of is fool's demise. As long as child doesn't get killed unexpectedly, you're basically returning it to play for 5, so it's like getting it to hand for free, with less mana specificity.
Greater gargadon - awesome if you're running into trouble with removal on your sac outlets. Personally I like worthy cause and miren the moaning well more, though, so you won't get one-shotted by exsanguinate or sudden overruns or whatever. The mana is annoying and it can be killed with counters, but gargadon has some hoops you need to jump through to get it back into suspend once it runs out of counters, and doesn't really give you anything very useful imo (i guess a 9/7 is ok, but if you leave it in play you can't sac to it).
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
demise isn't actually mana hungry at all, as long as you don't let child get killed without it. it returns child to play for free when it dies, all you have to do is recast demise on it. Compared to genesis, which requires 3 mana each time you returns it AS WELL as the WUBRG to cast it, so 8 per death. 5 per death is pretty cheap, the cheapest recursion option actually (except maybe corpse dance). The only downside is that it runs into problems if child gets killed in response to recasting it.
Fair point on the gargadon. I tend to run a fair amount of counterspells (10), though, just in case of situations like that.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
This is a very good point about Greater Gargadon.
One more thing people tend to overlook about a this Child deck is that my General is not the only creature im eager to sac. As you can notice from the decklist, most of my creatures have effects when the leave play or when they come in...so they become good renimation targets. Greater Gargadon SMOOTHS this loops and make Child's job of controling the whole board a lot easier.
As for sac outlets, i just included Read the Ruins as a discard, sac outlet. I really love this card for its versatility.
I also traded Explosive Vegetation for Skyshroud Claim due to the fact that it can fetch me duels intead of just basics.
Cauldron Haze is another card that i've been thinking about lately. And maybe one more tutor intead of Regrowth. It will be one of these 3:
Intuition
Worldly Tutor
E. Call
definitely definitely intuition. You can get life from the loam + phyrexian tower + Volrath's stronghold, or genesis + Eternal Witness + glen elendra archmage, or be a clever bastard and get genesis + eternal witness + forbid when someone is about to combo out (forcing them to put genesis in your GY), or just get 3 of the same-ish effect so you're guaranteed to get it. In a recursion heavy deck, the additional cards that get discarded don't mean enemy choice so much as they mean you're getting a triple tutor.
feel free to comment on my decklist again, btw, it could use a bump
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
Yeah, im very exited about Cauldron Haze...however, i dont think it's an auto fit for the deck. Make sure i have enough creatures and enough situatuions where the card becomes worthy. I dont want a card that i'll be holding in my hand until the right situation falls in or work my game to make that specifict effect to work. Anyways, i need to test.
Diabolic Intent is another card just like the Haze...Seems awesome on papper but it could be difficult to be effective everytime you have it on your hand. More testing...:embarrass:
Obviously Intuition is the best. Reason i havent added is that i own one and it's taken by another deck that beneffits more from it. My it's in my wish(near future) list.
Personally, I'd rank it pretty highly amongst my tutors. I'm rarely sorry to see it in my hand.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
We're having a multiplayer event on Sunday, and i am really looking forward to it, as I will be playing Child outside of a couple of casual games for the first time.
I mostly just wanted to point out some weaknesses. (Not trying to be "that guy", just trying to help with the deck in any way I can since I've never played with/against Child)
You stated in your OP that you don't run creatures/mana rocks that produce mana because Child blows them up. (Which is fine) But how do you deal with LD then, mass LD in particular? (Or Sundering Titan...) There's a few other cards that could really mess up your day such as Winter Orb, Blood Moon, Hall of Gemstone..etc. Now all of these are permanents so Child can get rid of them, but it becomes extremely tedious trying to cast a 5C general under such duress. Also, you flat out scoop to Ritual of Subdual, Contamination and Infernal Darkness since without artifacts or creatures you are unable to generate the required mana for a disenchant effect. I don't know about your playgroup, but seeing at least one of these effects is very common here, sometimes you'll see all of them.
Now, on to the actual suggestions!
The first card I would include is Darksteel Ingot, since it produces any colored mana and is indestructible so it lives through Child. Even though it's only a single card, it at least gives you an out against anything really, as long as you have the removal in hand.
Steel Hellkite is decent as it provides a colorless answer to the above enchantments. Actually I like Spine of Ish Sah better as it doesn't require an attack, you don't have to wait a turn, and it's a lot more precise. It's especially good if you decide to run Greater Gargadon.
It might seem redundant, but All Is Dust is still good here. It's different than Child in that it's colorless (so can be cast pretty much anytime you have 7 mana), plus it forces a sacrifice which is important for things that's can't be destroyed with Child, or have Regeneration.
I'll go ahead and recommend Global Ruin for pretty much any 5C deck. It's such a beating again 1-2 color decks and helps you get into the game if you fall behind. I'd recommend Collective Restraint as well, but it doesn't have much synergy with your general.
Life From the Loam might be a better option than Crucible of Worlds. It doesn't die to Child, plus it dredges so you can use it over and over. Dredge is particularly good because you can cast an instant speed draw spell in response to graveyard hate. Intuition puts it over the top as well.
Lastly, I'd play a few utility counterspells as sort of "catch all" answers. Forbid is good as it allows you to discard cards for a good effect. There's a ton of good ones I won't list them all.
Good luck. =)
Also, as far as spine and all is dust are concerned, they're good against contamination effects, but vs blood moon or ritual of subdual or whatever, they probably won't be in your hand and you can't tutor for them (of course you probably can under contamination). So they're useful, but they're sort of narrow. possibly run spine, all is dust seems like sort of a waste. Having a good secondary answer for indestructibles is good, though, I prefer capsize.
forbid is excellent, glen elendra archmage is better though. With corpse dance it's absolutely back breaking. I think having a good suite of counters is worth it, though. Child can handle almost anything, so your counters can be restricted to targeting the really problematic stuff.
LFTL is also excellent, even more insane with forbid and demonic collusion.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR
yes, the creature will live and the umbra will die.
Same deal if you have, for example, knight exemplar with another knight.
WUB Merieke Ri Berit BUW
GWU Phelddagrif 1 2 3 4 UWG
BR Kaervek the Merciless RB
B Chainer, Dementia Master B
WUB Sen Triplets BUW
BG Sisters of Stone Death GB
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon GRBUW
GWU Angus Mackenzie UWG
R Kumano, Master Yamabushi R
WB Teysa BW
U Higure U
B Geth B
WUBRG Child of Alara 1 2GRBUW
R Zirilan R
U Arcum U
UR Nin RU
BRG Sek'Kuar GRB
U Teferi U
G Melira G
GU Edric UG
BG Glissa GB
Casual
GUB Knacksaw Clique BUG
RWU Sunforger UWR