MTG Salvation

Thanks Rage!

I have a Zur Staxx build (I will create a sig at some point), and am working on creating 2 decks of each color in mono.. I have Skittles and was looking for a second general to use.

Thanks for updating the list. I love it!

Quote from trancekat

Thanks Rage!

I have a Zur Staxx build (I will create a sig at some point), and am working on creating 2 decks of each color in mono.. I have Skittles and was looking for a second general to use.

Thanks for updating the list. I love it!

No problem. Glad to help out when I can. If you want to go up against it / discuss stuff at any point, cockatrice is your best bet for finding me. I also use my IM on occasion. My user for both is...well...rageinuyasha lol

~ Rage

Now is this for duels as well as a final multiplayer match like your old list? What expensive cards would you cut from my list to make room for more acceleration? If you don't have time to answer, no worries. Also a couple of the expensive spells like Sheoldred I got from this newer list you posted and I didn't run army of the damned because I thought it's just too much with the other expensive spells. Thanks again for the response.

Edit: Thank you for the offer of Cockatrice BTW but my only Internet access is through my iPhone.

Quote from rageinuyasha

Man, I haven't examined this list in centuries. Well, for starters, my development has a player over the last year or so has made me favor more accel, for one thing. I'd change the list....a lot. Here's a start. Off the top of my head. I'll look at the new sets tomorrow and get back to you in greater detail.

nutterbutter's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed 1x Pox 1x Damnation 1x Night's Whisper 1x Death Cloud 1x Barter in Blood 1x Imperial Seal 1x Persecute 1x Buried Alive 1x Ambition's Cost 1x Grim Tutor 1x Mind Twist 1x Demonic Tutor 1x Sign in Blood 1x Ancient Craving 1x All is Dust 1x Army of the Damned 1x Myojin of Night's Reach 1x Braids, Cabal Minion 1x Fleshbag Marauder 1x Bloodghast 1x Grave Titan 1x Reassembling Skeleton 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One 1x Bitterblossom 1x Phyrexian Arena 1x Contamination 1x Infernal Darkness 1x The Abyss 1x Necropotence	1x Mox Opal 1x Caged Sun 1x Grim Monolith 1x Rings of Brighthearth 1x Sensei's Divining Top 1x Skullclamp 1x Chrome Mox 1x Smokestack 1x Mana Vault 1x Basalt Monolith 1x Sol Ring 1x Mana Crypt 1x Expedition Map 1x Mox Diamond 1x Fellwar Stone 1x Worn Powerstone 1x Voltaic Key 1x Doubling Cube 1x Coalition Relic 1x Coldsteel Heart 1x Charcoal Diamond 1x Star Compass 1x Gilded Lotus 1x Thran Dynamo 1x Crucible of Worlds 1x Winter Orb 1x Sword of Feast and Famine 1x Sword of Fire and Ice 1x Mindslaver	1x Karn Liberated 1x Entomb 1x Dark Ritual 1x Corpse Dance 1x Vampiric Tutor 1x Hatred 26x Snow-Covered Swamp 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Polluted Delta 1x Cabal Coffers 1x Deserted Temple 1x Ancient Tomb 1x Marsh Flats 1x Verdant Catacombs 1x Mishra's Workshop

You're still running ramp / stax, it's just far more effective this way since you'll always have more mana. Really, with you only need one tutor and mana to be set for the game, after all.

Quote from nutterbutter

Now is this for duels as well as a final multiplayer match like your old list? What expensive cards would you cut from my list to make room for more acceleration? If you don't have time to answer, no worries. Also a couple of the expensive spells like Sheoldred I got from this newer list you posted and I didn't run army of the damned because I thought it's just too much with the other expensive spells. Thanks again for the response.

Edit: Thank you for the offer of Cockatrice BTW but my only Internet access is through my iPhone.

No worries. The new list is for both duels and MP matches. The logic behind running all the accel is it makes your MP matches more one sided, as you get your larger spells / stax off faster AND have less mana issues as many stax effects (death cloud, etc.) don't harm your artifact ramp. As far as what I would cut....

Mindslicer - If you draw this any time other then when you're far ahead, it's a dead card and even a liability if your opponent kills it.

Gauntlet of Power - Despite the ramp, this card is universal and I'd prefer something like Gilded Lotus on 5.

Helm of Obedience - Completely useless outside of Leyline of the Void. It also takes a few turns to kill a table. Too slow in my book.

Leyline of the Void - Fine if there's heavy reanimator in your area....but otherwise it's never a great draw, especially lategame.

Gate to Phyrexia - This card is just too slow at killing things. You need a full turn to use it, and a creature, meaning if it will at least take until turn 4. By that point, you should have focused on ramping / effecting the board state on a wider scale.

Sorin Markov - Great for 1v1, terrible in multiplayer. Nothing quite paints a target on your head like him, and putting one opponent at 10 isn't the most relevant thing you could do, as the attack power in the deck is limited.

Decree of Pain - Great for multiplayer, terrible in 1v1. Your stax / bombs should already overpower your opponents board, regardless as to creatures. You're also running damnation already, and you really only need one wrath with X-D, especially with the amount of ramp you'll be running. (More ramp = More X-D casts = More uses/tutors.)

Exsanguinate - Only really a killcon when you have infinite mana. When you have infinite mana, your opponents should just lose anyway from any other wincon in your deck.

Diabolic Tutor - You're running Grim Tutor, so I assume budget is not an option. That being the case, Imperial Seal is an infinitely more efficient tutor.

Yawgmoth's Will - Sort of like exsanguinate. If you're casting it and using it effectively, you need inf mana or at least a quantity large enough that you should be able to win anyway.

Profane Command - See Yawgmoth's Will, Exsanguinate

Shred Memory - My problem with this card is it's a selective tutor at sorcery speed, which in itself is...only "Okay". You're virtually never using it for it's GY hate potential unless you go up against heavy reanimator, and even then you need to be able to tutor for it / have it at will with mana open.

My logic behind army of the damned is if you cast it with any stax effects open you autowin. Not to mention, it's a must deal with threat you can get back pretty much every turn with XD. It provides chump blockers, is fine for the curve if you're cutting the rest of the fat, and doesn't require two cards to win.

Edit: This is just a start of what I'd cut. There's a few other cards, but those are the "late game" (being beyond turn four) that I think you need to start with. A lot of this is also about choices in accel, for example Solemn Simulacrum and Darksteel Ingot are less efficient as they hit late game than say, Charcoal Diamond or Coldsteel Heart.

Thanks for the info. I guess my major problems I need to overcome are 1. I'm used to big mana MBC and this build is obviously a whole different animal and philosophy, 2. I've never played stax or seen it played in edh so I'm kind of in the dark on how it plays. I will be removing those cards, I also ordered The Abyss. As for imperial seal I don't own one and it's on the price level of P9, I also don't proxy unless I own the card so I'm not sure when I'll be getting one. Also this build will intended for mostly MP if that matters.

Would you mind giving me a brief summary of what a game playing blax should look like? What I should be doing first? Should the games go long enough to make any of the more expensive stuff relevant? Any tips? Also is stuff like Infernal Darkness in there to slow the game down until I can get stax effects going and cripple people?

Quote from nutterbutter

Thanks for the info. I guess my major problems I need to overcome are 1. I'm used to big mana MBC and this build is obviously a whole different animal and philosophy, 2. I've never played stax or seen it played in edh so I'm kind of in the dark on how it plays. I will be removing those cards, I also ordered The Abyss. As for imperial seal I don't own one and it's on the price level of P9, I also don't proxy unless I own the card so I'm not sure when I'll be getting one. Also this build will intended for mostly MP if that matters.

Would you mind giving me a brief summary of what a game playing blax should look like? What I should be doing first? Should the games go long enough to make any of the more expensive stuff relevant? Any tips? Also is stuff like Infernal Darkness in there to slow the game down until I can get stax effects going and cripple people?

It's REALLY meta dependent to be honest. It's hard to predict how any particular game will go since stax isn't the most redundant deck out there.

Your ideal gameplan should be this, however.

1) Ramp faster than your opponents
2) Drop Stax to capitalize on that ramp
3) Drop bomb for the win.