I've managed to live the dream today and i managed to cast Alhammarret's Archive + Kozilek on the fourth turn thanks to Metalworker, drawing 8 cards, it was glorious.
After that someone wrathed and i couldn't keep my artifacts to myself because of a certain dragon.
I chose to cut Walking Atlas for the Archive since it doesen't do anything lategame at all, it was usually a target for Semblance Anvil.
In my list I cut Rings of Brighthearth, Skullclamp, Myr Turbine, Staff of Domination, Mirrorworks, among many, many other things you guys seem to name. I used to run all of those in my Karn deck since it was so good at finding pieces of whatever little (or large) combo you wanted to be pulling off, but I found it wholly unnecessary in Kozilek where all I want to be doing is slamming down Kozilek ASAP and killing people. I've found that after I cut all those cute little interaction cards that where leftover in my Karn list, I ended up consistently casting Kozilek in the first four turns. Very rarely do I ever cast him for the first time past turn 4 now.
I still got Rings, Turbine and Staff since Rings and staff leads to combos and somewhat controling the board.
Maybe i'll cut some of the things when i finally get my lockpieces for the deck.
I hope they have some new Eldrazis for Battle for Zendikar since Eldrazis are a pretty big part of the storyline. However, I have a feeling they'll have some new removal specifically for Eldrazis too :/
Tangle wire is VERY good. It actually helped me win the race in a 3 player game once. Many great plays with this deck, but had a hard time against this one guy that played Nevermore and named Kozilek
The Clock of Omens / Myr Turbine engine was quite the thing when I used to have it in my deck. I found it too gimmicky and that while Clock of Omens overperformed all the time, the Myr Turbine by itself really wasn't doing anything besides making chump blockers, which wasn't really what I wanted to be doing.
In my list I cut Rings of Brighthearth, Skullclamp, Myr Turbine, Staff of Domination, Mirrorworks, among many, many other things you guys seem to name. I used to run all of those in my Karn deck since it was so good at finding pieces of whatever little (or large) combo you wanted to be pulling off, but I found it wholly unnecessary in Kozilek where all I want to be doing is slamming down Kozilek ASAP and killing people. I've found that after I cut all those cute little interaction cards that where leftover in my Karn list, I ended up consistently casting Kozilek in the first four turns. Very rarely do I ever cast him for the first time past turn 4 now.
This might not be to the benefit of my deck, however. I consistently win 1v1s now (something like 2 in every 10 games I lose?) and multiplayer games quickly devolve into a game of Archenemy where everyone is trying to stop me from casting Kozilek, turn after turn. Drawing 4-16 cards is a LOT and they keep fueling his return. I'm thinking of perhaps changing the theme of my deck because it's almost like a combo deck with how little interaction it has and how fast it kills people.
edit: actually, I like the sound of that. Kozilek: The One Card Combo.
Slowly and steady, Rings of Brightheart has actually been underperforming for me as well. It's getting a bit too slow.
As for the others, I've been a strong advocate against Staff of Domination for a long while, and I doubt many people here still run Skullclamp.
Myr Turbine however.. Has proven to be so good, so many times. It's interaction with Clock of Omens, Krark-Clan Ironworks, Ashnod's.. etc. I fail to see how it could slow your gameplan as it has improved my speed for ages now.
By saying you cut these, what did you replace them with?
I'm actually curious about Not of this World, is this solely in 1v1? Are you using a 1v1 banlist-legal deck or multiplayer banlist 1v1?
As for infinite combos, I cut them all from the deck, I found that they all diluted the deck's actually purpose: to cast Kozilek and slaughter everyone at the table with him.
I run a big stax build in their place, with Tangle Wire, Smokestack, Strip Mine/Wasteland + Crucible of Worlds (which has good interaction with both the other saclands like Crystal Vein and also Smokestack), but forgoing other stax cards like Storm Cauldron and Winter Orb (I found them to hinder my own mana production; and while it hurt me less than everyone else, I still don't want to hinder my mana production regardless of which).
Myr Turbine, while I loved it's cute little interactions, proved to be too slow in the deck. If I have around ~5 mana, I can be casting stuff that either ramps my mana more heavily (like Gilded Lotus) or offers a whole lot more with less interactions (like Alhammarret's Archive). I also noticed how much it slowed down multiplayer games on my turn (or others in some cases when I just used stuff like Trading Post with it) and nobody likes the dude at the table who takes ten years to do his turn.
Clock of Omens/Krark-Clan Ironworks are just amazing cards on their own, they don't need a gimmicky card like Myr Turbine to be good. It's those cards that make the subpar Myr Turbine worth anything in the first place and I like having cards that stand on their own more than anything.
Not of This World is good both in 1v1 (which I play a lot of) and multiplayer games (a lot of the time there's only one player at the table with a kill spell and the mana to play it). It's also goddamn hilarious when you see them BTFO with a free colorless counterspell hahahaha. It's probably my favorite card in the deck at the moment.
edit: also, the small window where you're equiping your boots to Kozilek so they can't kill him they try and kill him, that's where I use Not of This World the most.
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My EDH/Commander Decks: x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth WUBRG Sliver Overlord UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks: WUBRG/x Dredge UBR Storm
My Modern Decks: BRG Smallpox WUBRG Slivers WUBRG/x Lantern Control
As for infinite combos, I cut them all from the deck, I found that they all diluted the deck's actually purpose: to cast Kozilek and slaughter everyone at the table with him.
I run a big stax build in their place, with Tangle Wire, Smokestack, Strip Mine/Wasteland + Crucible of Worlds (which has good interaction with both the other saclands like Crystal Vein and also Smokestack), but forgoing other stax cards like Storm Cauldron and Winter Orb (I found them to hinder my own mana production; and while it hurt me less than everyone else, I still don't want to hinder my mana production regardless of which).
Myr Turbine, while I loved it's cute little interactions, proved to be too slow in the deck. If I have around ~5 mana, I can be casting stuff that either ramps my mana more heavily (like Gilded Lotus) or offers a whole lot more with less interactions (like Alhammarret's Archive). I also noticed how much it slowed down multiplayer games on my turn (or others in some cases when I just used stuff like Trading Post with it) and nobody likes the dude at the table who takes ten years to do his turn.
Clock of Omens/Krark-Clan Ironworks are just amazing cards on their own, they don't need a gimmicky card like Myr Turbine to be good. It's those cards that make the subpar Myr Turbine worth anything in the first place and I like having cards that stand on their own more than anything.
Not of This World is good both in 1v1 (which I play a lot of) and multiplayer games (a lot of the time there's only one player at the table with a kill spell and the mana to play it). It's also goddamn hilarious when you see them BTFO with a free colorless counterspell hahahaha. It's probably my favorite card in the deck at the moment.
edit: also, the small window where you're equiping your boots to Kozilek so they can't kill him they try and kill him, that's where I use Not of This World the most.
Out of the stax package you mentioned, your only addition to the main decklist is Smokestack, which makes me wonder about the Myr Turbine cut even more..
You say you're running a big stax package in it's place, but proceed to say you cut Winter Orb and Storm Cauldron?
I'm also curious to see what other ramp cards you're running as the effective ones are already run in most lists, and others always seem subpar.
I get the concept you're trying to sell, but your facts don't add up to improving anything at the moment.
The Not of This World thing made me curious enough to test it though
(even though in theory, I don't mind a dead kozi)
I know the question wasn't directed at me, but my two cents on why I'm not playing smokestack in my Kozilek deck is that Kozilek attracts so much hate from the get-go that I don't want to play something that would make my opponents want to kill me even quicker. Tangle Wire works so much better for me because all it does is stalls and doesn't make your opponents hate you for forcing them to sac their lands if their board is empty, Kozilek will do that soon enough.
I don't see how you guys are complaining about getting 'hosed,' my average Kozilek cast is turn 3 or 4, sometimes turn 2 or even 1 on the super-rare occasions. My friends often show me a Merciless Eviction, that giant stupid dragon that was a pain in my ass when I played Karn, or other similar hate cards (I always laugh when people mention Blood Moon too btw) in their hands before dying before they could ever play them. Either your friends and LGS players are super spiteful and fill their decks with hate cards for your deck, or something seems off.
Perhaps it's just out metas are really different. There's just a bunch of blue decks, combo decks, and Death & Taxes style strategies near me.
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My EDH/Commander Decks: x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth WUBRG Sliver Overlord UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks: WUBRG/x Dredge UBR Storm
My Modern Decks: BRG Smallpox WUBRG Slivers WUBRG/x Lantern Control
As for how Smokestack has been doing for me specifically, it's been great. A sac outlet for Kozilek sometimes, other times I'm just puking out artifacts too fast for it to ever hurt me. It also combos well with Crucible of Worlds and quickly cleans up the board if it sticks. However, it's only ever done one or two things for me: completely locking up a game or acting as a target for my opponent's removal instead of more important pieces.
The more I play with it, the more I like it. I initially wanted to take it out of the deck, but it has slowly grown on me as it just keeps winning games for me. There are just so many artifacts and things in the deck I really don't mind sacrificing to it that I almost am glad it's there sometimes. Myr Retriever, for example, is always a sweet thing to have when it's on. Use Mana Vault for mana, sac it, then sac Myr Retriever the next turn to get back Mana Vault to be used again. Small little things like that are everywhere.
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My EDH/Commander Decks: x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth WUBRG Sliver Overlord UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks: WUBRG/x Dredge UBR Storm
My Modern Decks: BRG Smallpox WUBRG Slivers WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My average actual swing with a Kozilek is probably around turn 7 because of all the counters and removal he faces. Maelstrom Wanderer is the only other general that's focused as much as Kozi, and he has a similar rate of getting him out - turn 4 on average, except he (of course) can swing on turn 4 with the 2 friends he just flipped into play.
We got alot of goodstuff decks and blue decks and they're quite afraid of my kozilek deck. Thing is i usually got 3 opponents against me from the get go, and ppl wonder why im often having trouble. Oh yeah and apparently its nowdays a thing to hate on me while we're playing. I have yet gotten my lockpieces :/
@forge10 i would like to see your Kozilek list, maybe i can try it out, i have most of the cards (atleast i think i do).
And there's quite alot of Artifact hate in our group so im not always winning. Blood Moon doesen't really hose this deck, i agree with you @rigeld2, but i've never seen it played really.
Lodestone Golem kinda sucked for me since alot of ppl play artifacts.
Lodestone Golem is amazing for me since all the people in my playgroup are either blue decks that play spells or Birthing Pod style decks littered with cheap creatures. They're all capable of combo-killing or locking up the board in general really quickly, but none of them have game against a quick Kozilek with backup. There's one or two tokens players that' hypothetically should have game against old Kozzy and his annihilator trigger, but he comes out too quickly for them to set up shop. Also, one last note on that: Rogue's Passage is my bread and butter.
I'd be sure to write up a deck list this weekend after some more testing with some 'secret tech' I've put in the deck. Will report on it later. Also, I hope you have a Mishra's Workshop, Bazaar of Baghdad, Mana Crypt, and Lion's Eye Diamond on hand. Those are the best cards in the deck.
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My EDH/Commander Decks: x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth WUBRG Sliver Overlord UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks: WUBRG/x Dredge UBR Storm
My Modern Decks: BRG Smallpox WUBRG Slivers WUBRG/x Lantern Control
Hey, Juwdah: I've been considering building your Kozilek deck for a long time now, and I wanted to ask your opinion on how much of a negative impact it would have on the deck's performance to exclude the cards I do not own or are tied up in other decks I don't particularly want to scrap for materials. Below is a list of cards from your OP that, for one reason or another, I cannot currently include in the deck if I build it. In your opinion, how badly will this hamstring the deck?
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
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EDH: B Chainer, Dementia Master B | UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG | WRG Marath, Will of the Wild WRG | UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR | UBG Tasigur, the Golden Fang UBG
Modern: WBG Abzan Company WBG | UBR Grixis Delver and/or Twin UBR | U Merfolk U
WBG Anafenza, the Foremost WBG WUR Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon WUBRG URG Maelstrom Wanderer URG UBG Damia, Sage of Stone UBG WUG Roon of the Hidden Realm WUG WUG Rafiq of the Many WUG WUG Deveri, Empyrial Tactician WUG BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher BRG WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain WBG UBR Nekusar, the Mind Razer UBR WBR Kaalia of the Vast WBR UG Prime Speaker Zegana UG UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG WB Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter WB WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
Hey, Juwdah: I've been considering building your Kozilek deck for a long time now, and I wanted to ask your opinion on how much of a negative impact it would have on the deck's performance to exclude the cards I do not own or are tied up in other decks I don't particularly want to scrap for materials. Below is a list of cards from your OP that, for one reason or another, I cannot currently include in the deck if I build it. In your opinion, how badly will this hamstring the deck?
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
The rocks are going to hurt - there aren't good budget replacements for most of those. I've never been sold on LED in this deck so I don't run it, but the rest are just too good.
The rest won't kill you to not run. I only recently picked up a Blightsteel, and this deck was winning even when using the the Panoramas as lands.
I'd pick up Winding Canyons asap though - so good.
I find I'm never unhappy to see Lion's Eye Diamond when I draw it. It is never the first mana rock I throw down, but is usually the last one I cast that gives me just enough to cast Kozilek and draw four cards. So far I have never ended up missing the stuff I have to toss to use it. However I'd recommend trying out a proxy of it to see if you like it.
LED can feel like you're tempting fate when you use it in a deck that doesn't work out of the graveyard, so I wouldn't advocate shelling out the $$ if you're uncertain about it. I've been collecting Magic since I was in grade school in 1994 and quite literally had a LED that I cracked from a mirage pack way back then, so it wasn't a card I had to pay or trade for to try out.
Hey, Juwdah: I've been considering building your Kozilek deck for a long time now, and I wanted to ask your opinion on how much of a negative impact it would have on the deck's performance to exclude the cards I do not own or are tied up in other decks I don't particularly want to scrap for materials. Below is a list of cards from your OP that, for one reason or another, I cannot currently include in the deck if I build it. In your opinion, how badly will this hamstring the deck?
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
I'm currently playing without the high-end rocks (Mana Crypt and LED, although I did just acquire a Mox Opal), and consequently I don't see Kozi til turn 5 sometimes.
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"Once you let go of your morals, everything becomes funny."
Well, I have a Cavern in another deck so I suppose I could proxy it. For that matter, I could easily proxy Rings and Grim Monolith until I pick them up as well, I just don't see myself springing for LED or Mana Crypt anytime soon. Thanks for the input, everyone.
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EDH: B Chainer, Dementia Master B | UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG | WRG Marath, Will of the Wild WRG | UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR | UBG Tasigur, the Golden Fang UBG
Modern: WBG Abzan Company WBG | UBR Grixis Delver and/or Twin UBR | U Merfolk U
WBG Anafenza, the Foremost WBG WUR Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon WUBRG URG Maelstrom Wanderer URG UBG Damia, Sage of Stone UBG WUG Roon of the Hidden Realm WUG WUG Rafiq of the Many WUG WUG Deveri, Empyrial Tactician WUG BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher BRG WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain WBG UBR Nekusar, the Mind Razer UBR WBR Kaalia of the Vast WBR UG Prime Speaker Zegana UG UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG WB Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter WB WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
Hey, Juwdah: I've been considering building your Kozilek deck for a long time now, and I wanted to ask your opinion on how much of a negative impact it would have on the deck's performance to exclude the cards I do not own or are tied up in other decks I don't particularly want to scrap for materials. Below is a list of cards from your OP that, for one reason or another, I cannot currently include in the deck if I build it. In your opinion, how badly will this hamstring the deck?
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
I'm actually going to suggest on holding off on Rings of Brighthearth and Cavern of Souls, sure they're good, but not as good as the rocks you listed.
Definitely prioritize the rocks (LED isn't needed as much as the others but it's always handy)
Try and be patient and save for a Mana Crypt, that thing is true gold and you'll have fun with it in many EDH decks to follow.
I suppose I do have a second Tundra I could use as trade bait for a Mana Crypt and a Grim Monolith or something. I'll try that route.
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EDH: B Chainer, Dementia Master B | UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG | WRG Marath, Will of the Wild WRG | UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR | UBG Tasigur, the Golden Fang UBG
Modern: WBG Abzan Company WBG | UBR Grixis Delver and/or Twin UBR | U Merfolk U
WBG Anafenza, the Foremost WBG WUR Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon WUBRG URG Maelstrom Wanderer URG UBG Damia, Sage of Stone UBG WUG Roon of the Hidden Realm WUG WUG Rafiq of the Many WUG WUG Deveri, Empyrial Tactician WUG BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher BRG WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain WBG UBR Nekusar, the Mind Razer UBR WBR Kaalia of the Vast WBR UG Prime Speaker Zegana UG UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG WB Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter WB WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
One really dumb thing that sometimes happens is when you cast an early kozilek and just happens to flip Mana Crypt and Lightning Greaves on the 4 cards you flip!
I think im getting a foiled Mox Opal in a trade soon! Gonna post my list again and see if you guys can gimme some tips ^^
OP, could you please update the deck to current. It looks as though it hasn't been updated since last year and I would love to see what it looks like at the moment.
FYI, amazing deck. Just one glance at this thing and I'm already 30 card's into a kozi build myself. THANKS and AMAZING primer!
1. Tap Everflowing Chalice for 4
2. Use 1 and tap Voltaic Key to untap the chalice.
3. When you activate the key's ability use Rings of Brighthearth and pay 2 to copy voltaic key's ability and have the copied ability target the key so it untaps.
4. You are now back to the same board state as when you started, except you have 1 still floating in your mana pool. You can Repeat steps 1-3 as many times as you want. You could do it 239 addtional times to add 240 colorless mana to you mana pool for example (this is assuming you have 80 cards still in your deck).
5. Tap Sensei's Divining Top to activate its draw ability.
6. Use the rings and 2 of the 240 colorless mana to copy the top's draw ability.
7. When the first activation resolves, you draw a card and then put the divining top on top of your deck.
8. When the second activation of the top resolves, you will draw the top.
9. Pay 1 to recast the top.
10. Repeat steps 5-9 an additional 79 times (assuming you started this with 80 cards still left in your deck).
Well you don't ever need to float more than 3 at one time to do steps 5-9, so it really isn't nessisary to generate infinite mana first. It just is easier to write out the explanation that way rather than say do steps 1-3 three times and then do steps 5-9 to get one "free" draw, then repeat as many times as you wish.
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After that someone wrathed and i couldn't keep my artifacts to myself because of a certain dragon.
I chose to cut Walking Atlas for the Archive since it doesen't do anything lategame at all, it was usually a target for Semblance Anvil.
I still got Rings, Turbine and Staff since Rings and staff leads to combos and somewhat controling the board.
Maybe i'll cut some of the things when i finally get my lockpieces for the deck.
I think i would cut Turbine for Winter Orb/ Tangle Wirewhen i get them.
Now to get that foil Mage-Ring Network tomorrow!
Who needs Colours?
My most played EDH deck:
X Kozilek, the Great Distortion
UBR Nekusar, the Mindrazer
Tangle wire is VERY good. It actually helped me win the race in a 3 player game once. Many great plays with this deck, but had a hard time against this one guy that played Nevermore and named Kozilek
UBR Jeleva Grixis Storm
WBG Karador Boonweaver Combo
WUBRG Food Chain Tazri
Slowly and steady, Rings of Brightheart has actually been underperforming for me as well. It's getting a bit too slow.
As for the others, I've been a strong advocate against Staff of Domination for a long while, and I doubt many people here still run Skullclamp.
Myr Turbine however.. Has proven to be so good, so many times. It's interaction with Clock of Omens, Krark-Clan Ironworks, Ashnod's.. etc. I fail to see how it could slow your gameplan as it has improved my speed for ages now.
By saying you cut these, what did you replace them with?
I'm actually curious about Not of this World, is this solely in 1v1? Are you using a 1v1 banlist-legal deck or multiplayer banlist 1v1?
[Primer] Kozilek, Butcher with Juice.
I run a big stax build in their place, with Tangle Wire, Smokestack, Strip Mine/Wasteland + Crucible of Worlds (which has good interaction with both the other saclands like Crystal Vein and also Smokestack), but forgoing other stax cards like Storm Cauldron and Winter Orb (I found them to hinder my own mana production; and while it hurt me less than everyone else, I still don't want to hinder my mana production regardless of which).
Myr Turbine, while I loved it's cute little interactions, proved to be too slow in the deck. If I have around ~5 mana, I can be casting stuff that either ramps my mana more heavily (like Gilded Lotus) or offers a whole lot more with less interactions (like Alhammarret's Archive). I also noticed how much it slowed down multiplayer games on my turn (or others in some cases when I just used stuff like Trading Post with it) and nobody likes the dude at the table who takes ten years to do his turn.
Clock of Omens/Krark-Clan Ironworks are just amazing cards on their own, they don't need a gimmicky card like Myr Turbine to be good. It's those cards that make the subpar Myr Turbine worth anything in the first place and I like having cards that stand on their own more than anything.
Not of This World is good both in 1v1 (which I play a lot of) and multiplayer games (a lot of the time there's only one player at the table with a kill spell and the mana to play it). It's also goddamn hilarious when you see them BTFO with a free colorless counterspell hahahaha. It's probably my favorite card in the deck at the moment.
edit: also, the small window where you're equiping your boots to Kozilek so they can't kill him they try and kill him, that's where I use Not of This World the most.
x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks:
WUBRG/x Dredge
UBR Storm
My Modern Decks:
BRG Smallpox
WUBRG Slivers
WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My Standard Decks:
Gx Eldrazi Ramp
Out of the stax package you mentioned, your only addition to the main decklist is Smokestack, which makes me wonder about the Myr Turbine cut even more..
You say you're running a big stax package in it's place, but proceed to say you cut Winter Orb and Storm Cauldron?
I'm also curious to see what other ramp cards you're running as the effective ones are already run in most lists, and others always seem subpar.
I get the concept you're trying to sell, but your facts don't add up to improving anything at the moment.
The Not of This World thing made me curious enough to test it though
(even though in theory, I don't mind a dead kozi)
[Primer] Kozilek, Butcher with Juice.
~David Hayden
[420 Peasant Cube] (work in progress)
http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/21789
I don't see how you guys are complaining about getting 'hosed,' my average Kozilek cast is turn 3 or 4, sometimes turn 2 or even 1 on the super-rare occasions. My friends often show me a Merciless Eviction, that giant stupid dragon that was a pain in my ass when I played Karn, or other similar hate cards (I always laugh when people mention Blood Moon too btw) in their hands before dying before they could ever play them. Either your friends and LGS players are super spiteful and fill their decks with hate cards for your deck, or something seems off.
Perhaps it's just out metas are really different. There's just a bunch of blue decks, combo decks, and Death & Taxes style strategies near me.
x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks:
WUBRG/x Dredge
UBR Storm
My Modern Decks:
BRG Smallpox
WUBRG Slivers
WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My Standard Decks:
Gx Eldrazi Ramp
The more I play with it, the more I like it. I initially wanted to take it out of the deck, but it has slowly grown on me as it just keeps winning games for me. There are just so many artifacts and things in the deck I really don't mind sacrificing to it that I almost am glad it's there sometimes. Myr Retriever, for example, is always a sweet thing to have when it's on. Use Mana Vault for mana, sac it, then sac Myr Retriever the next turn to get back Mana Vault to be used again. Small little things like that are everywhere.
x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks:
WUBRG/x Dredge
UBR Storm
My Modern Decks:
BRG Smallpox
WUBRG Slivers
WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My Standard Decks:
Gx Eldrazi Ramp
Yeah - I normally get turn 3 or 4 casts, which are normally met with some kind of removal (Spine of Ish Sah, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Go for the Throat or something similar) before my next turn.
My average actual swing with a Kozilek is probably around turn 7 because of all the counters and removal he faces. Maelstrom Wanderer is the only other general that's focused as much as Kozi, and he has a similar rate of getting him out - turn 4 on average, except he (of course) can swing on turn 4 with the 2 friends he just flipped into play.
edit: Also, and Overloaded Vandalblast followed by cracking a Relic of Progenitus makes me cry.
@forge10 i would like to see your Kozilek list, maybe i can try it out, i have most of the cards (atleast i think i do).
And there's quite alot of Artifact hate in our group so im not always winning. Blood Moon doesen't really hose this deck, i agree with you @rigeld2, but i've never seen it played really.
Lodestone Golem kinda sucked for me since alot of ppl play artifacts.
Who needs Colours?
My most played EDH deck:
X Kozilek, the Great Distortion
UBR Nekusar, the Mindrazer
I'd be sure to write up a deck list this weekend after some more testing with some 'secret tech' I've put in the deck. Will report on it later. Also, I hope you have a Mishra's Workshop, Bazaar of Baghdad, Mana Crypt, and Lion's Eye Diamond on hand. Those are the best cards in the deck.
x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks:
WUBRG/x Dredge
UBR Storm
My Modern Decks:
BRG Smallpox
WUBRG Slivers
WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My Standard Decks:
Gx Eldrazi Ramp
0 Lion's Eye Diamond
0 Mana Crypt
0 Mox Opal
2 Grim Monolith
The Beatdown:
7 Akroma's Memorial
12 Blightsteel Colossus
3 Rings of Brighthearth
Strip-Lands:
0 Wasteland
Copy Lands:
0 Vesuva
Man-Lands / Token Lands:
0 Inkmoth Nexus
0 Mutavault
0 Cavern of Souls
Utility Lands:
0 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
0 Rishadan Port
0 Winding Canyons
Over time, I'd more than likely accumulate everything on this list less than $50, but in the meantime how functional would I be with budget replacements for these cards?
B Chainer, Dementia Master B | UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG | WRG Marath, Will of the Wild WRG | UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR | UBG Tasigur, the Golden Fang UBG
Modern:
WBG Abzan Company WBG | UBR Grixis Delver and/or Twin UBR | U Merfolk U
WBG Anafenza, the Foremost WBG
WUR Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon WUBRG
URG Maelstrom Wanderer URG
UBG Damia, Sage of Stone UBG
WUG Roon of the Hidden Realm WUG
WUG Rafiq of the Many WUG
WUG Deveri, Empyrial Tactician WUG
BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher BRG
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain WBG
UBR Nekusar, the Mind Razer UBR
WBR Kaalia of the Vast WBR
UG Prime Speaker Zegana UG
UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG
WB Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter WB
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
The rocks are going to hurt - there aren't good budget replacements for most of those. I've never been sold on LED in this deck so I don't run it, but the rest are just too good.
The rest won't kill you to not run. I only recently picked up a Blightsteel, and this deck was winning even when using the the Panoramas as lands.
I'd pick up Winding Canyons asap though - so good.
LED can feel like you're tempting fate when you use it in a deck that doesn't work out of the graveyard, so I wouldn't advocate shelling out the $$ if you're uncertain about it. I've been collecting Magic since I was in grade school in 1994 and quite literally had a LED that I cracked from a mirage pack way back then, so it wasn't a card I had to pay or trade for to try out.
Of those, I would prioritize Rings of Brighthearth, Cavern of Souls, and the mana rocks like Grim Monolith. I wouldn't say it will cripple the deck, but make it considerably slower.
I'm currently playing without the high-end rocks (Mana Crypt and LED, although I did just acquire a Mox Opal), and consequently I don't see Kozi til turn 5 sometimes.
~David Hayden
[420 Peasant Cube] (work in progress)
http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/21789
B Chainer, Dementia Master B | UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG | WRG Marath, Will of the Wild WRG | UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR | UBG Tasigur, the Golden Fang UBG
Modern:
WBG Abzan Company WBG | UBR Grixis Delver and/or Twin UBR | U Merfolk U
WBG Anafenza, the Foremost WBG
WUR Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon WUBRG
URG Maelstrom Wanderer URG
UBG Damia, Sage of Stone UBG
WUG Roon of the Hidden Realm WUG
WUG Rafiq of the Many WUG
WUG Deveri, Empyrial Tactician WUG
BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher BRG
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain WBG
UBR Nekusar, the Mind Razer UBR
WBR Kaalia of the Vast WBR
UG Prime Speaker Zegana UG
UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG
WB Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter WB
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
I'm actually going to suggest on holding off on Rings of Brighthearth and Cavern of Souls, sure they're good, but not as good as the rocks you listed.
Definitely prioritize the rocks (LED isn't needed as much as the others but it's always handy)
Try and be patient and save for a Mana Crypt, that thing is true gold and you'll have fun with it in many EDH decks to follow.
[Primer] Kozilek, Butcher with Juice.
B Chainer, Dementia Master B | UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG | WRG Marath, Will of the Wild WRG | UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR | UBG Tasigur, the Golden Fang UBG
Modern:
WBG Abzan Company WBG | UBR Grixis Delver and/or Twin UBR | U Merfolk U
WBG Anafenza, the Foremost WBG
WUR Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon WUBRG
URG Maelstrom Wanderer URG
UBG Damia, Sage of Stone UBG
WUG Roon of the Hidden Realm WUG
WUG Rafiq of the Many WUG
WUG Deveri, Empyrial Tactician WUG
BRG Prossh, Skyraider of Kher BRG
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain WBG
UBR Nekusar, the Mind Razer UBR
WBR Kaalia of the Vast WBR
UG Prime Speaker Zegana UG
UG Edric, Spymaster of Trest UG
WB Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter WB
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
I think im getting a foiled Mox Opal in a trade soon! Gonna post my list again and see if you guys can gimme some tips ^^
Btw i've cut Dread Statuary for Mage-Ring Network, Dread Statuary didn't do enough, quite expensive to animate.
Who needs Colours?
My most played EDH deck:
X Kozilek, the Great Distortion
UBR Nekusar, the Mindrazer
FYI, amazing deck. Just one glance at this thing and I'm already 30 card's into a kozi build myself. THANKS and AMAZING primer!
2. Use 1 and tap Voltaic Key to untap the chalice.
3. When you activate the key's ability use Rings of Brighthearth and pay 2 to copy voltaic key's ability and have the copied ability target the key so it untaps.
4. You are now back to the same board state as when you started, except you have 1 still floating in your mana pool. You can Repeat steps 1-3 as many times as you want. You could do it 239 addtional times to add 240 colorless mana to you mana pool for example (this is assuming you have 80 cards still in your deck).
5. Tap Sensei's Divining Top to activate its draw ability.
6. Use the rings and 2 of the 240 colorless mana to copy the top's draw ability.
7. When the first activation resolves, you draw a card and then put the divining top on top of your deck.
8. When the second activation of the top resolves, you will draw the top.
9. Pay 1 to recast the top.
10. Repeat steps 5-9 an additional 79 times (assuming you started this with 80 cards still left in your deck).
Forge10, could you provide a decklist? It would give context to the card changes you are discussing.