STORMS, STAX, & SEX: VISIONS OF A POST-APOCALYPTIC FUTURE
- STARRING KERANOS, GOD OF STORMS -
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Flavorful Strategy
His followers have Preordained your future and their predictions are grim. Inspired by her god's Cryptic Commands, and led by the twopriests of his temple, Keranos' most fervent disciple has tapped into the ancient power of the Orbs. And now, the waters are rising and a storm is approaching, both heralds of the god himself.
I was surprised to find in a recent game that this deck doesn't need to rely on its Stax package to win! Ended up controlling the board with Dominus of Fealty (which instantly activated Keranos), Crucible of Worlds, and Strip Mine. Venser's Journal provided a nice buffer, too.
However, when it does find just one of its Stax pieces, like Static Orb, it's just brutal. Casting Evacuation is sometimes just as good as Sunder with Static Orb on the battlefield, especially if opponents are tapped out. As I noted earlier, Thassa, God of the Sea is the perfect consort to Keranos: card advantage for DAYS. Oh, you managed to cast a low-cost utility creature? Bolt it. Hmmm, I need more cards to fuel my Forbid or ramp around an Orb? Sure, I'll draw a land!
I've played about half a dozen games with this deck and I've only lost once.
I'm curious on your opinion with Ral Zarek. His first ability is rather helpful with a few of your stax elements plus possible mana ramp, and I could easily see his second ability being helpful to take out quite a few duders. Also, flavour-wise he harnessing lightning on his card, what's not to love?
I was also wondering if you had considered the inclusion of Tectonic Instability for your list?
I'm curious on your opinion with Ral Zarek. His first ability is rather helpful with a few of your stax elements plus possible mana ramp, and I could easily see his second ability being helpful to take out quite a few duders. Also, flavour-wise he harnessing lightning on his card, what's not to love?
I was also wondering if you had considered the inclusion of Tectonic Instability for your list?
I love Zarek's art and I like the character. However, I prefer my 'walkers to have a greater one-time impact (should they be destroyed before my next turn). There's little guarantee I'll be able to ramp with Zarek's first ability and the Bolt effect is unnecessary redundancy with Keranos.
I'd sooner run Mana Web than I would Instability. The former only affects opponents but neither does anything independently. Players frequently tap out (or come close to it) when casting or attacking, making Static Orb/Winter Orb's usefulness reliant on a common gamestate and not other cards.
As you have blasphemous act, why not add repercussion?
You have the necessary transmute and scry to find it fast + you don't run a very high amount of creatures.
Like Tectonic Instability and Mana Web, Repercussion does little on its own. Unlike the other two cards, it does even less to affect the battlefield. If anything, it might stall attacks, and I want folks attacking. If folks are attacking me, my creatures will likely get through. If they're attacking each other, they're doing my job for me.
so, im not sure if this isnt fitting the style of the deck, but i observed keranos likes some draw on opponent's turn to use the ability more frequently. cards that come to mind are Thirst for Knowledge, cause it is already good, and Gush, that has a tradiotion of being combined with those orbs.
Just really quick though, I think the full Jokulhaups trio is good here - Jokulhaups, Obliterate, Devastation. Reason being, you are probably going to draw out of it quicker than everyone else, or even burn people out of the game. Stuff like that seems to be the deck's win condition. So no need to be cute with things like Mana Breach and Mana Vortex when you can just blow all the land away at once. Of course with that then comes Greater Gargadon and Mana Seism/Mana Geyser shenanigans. With a more controll'ish rather than tempo'ish version of stax, the key is making an explosive sequence of plays rather than eeking out incremental advantage. Keranos sort of lets you do both.
Wildfire and Destructive Force might be good as well, since you will need a bit more creature defense than this, I think. It depends on the metagame though, because it can be bad against big Green decks with lots of mana. If that's the case, it's better to just use those slots to get more draw and mana to hit the Jokulhaups spells at a better clip.
I think the full Jokulhaups trio is good here - Jokulhaups, Obliterate, Devastation. Reason being, you are probably going to draw out of it quicker than everyone else, or even burn people out of the game. Stuff like that seems to be the deck's win condition. So no need to be cute with things like Mana Breach and Mana Vortex when you can just blow all the land away at once. Of course with that then comes Greater Gargadon and Mana Seism/Mana Geyser shenanigans. With a more controll'ish rather than tempo'ish version of stax, the key is making an explosive sequence of plays rather than eeking out incremental advantage. Keranos sort of lets you do both.
Wildfire and Destructive Force might be good as well, since you will need a bit more creature defense than this, I think. It depends on the metagame though, because it can be bad against big Green decks with lots of mana. If that's the case, it's better to just use those slots to get more draw and mana to hit the Jokulhaups spells at a better clip.
Jusstice, thanks for the critique! (Now, what about my other stax decks? )
I'd originally shied away from using the entire red mass destruction trio here due to their high mana cost. However, I only need to resolve one and drawing into one faster will only help speed things along, so in they go!
Breach and Vortex stall out the early game before I have time to cast the big hitters.
I use Gargadon in my Gisela Judgment Day decks, so I'm aware of its effectiveness with MLD, but I think I'm going to hold off on it for right now as I'm generally pleased with the current creature suite.
If I can't get rid of all of the lands in play, I prefer effects like that of Keldon Firebombers's over those of Wildfire & Co.
Thanks again, Jusstice!
ADDED
Devastation
Obliterate
REMOVED
Aftershock
Snapcaster Mage
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There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
Ok, I really like where this deck is going, and I'm going to be making a few more suggestions. Hurkyl's Recall might be something your interested in. I've found it personally useful for hosing someone's mana after getting their lands in a lock, or alternatively saving a large portion of your stuff if someone tries to get sneaky and wipe out some of your stuff. Also, is there any particular reason your not running the cards Seat of the Synod or Great Furnace they double as tutorable elements for Tezzy, and are particularly useful if you're down to one loyalty.
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My List of Current Decks: -Modern- WMartyrProcB BBurnR -Commander-
The problem with Breach and Vortex is that they do a great deal of slowing you down also, but as the Control deck, your finishing sequence is more powerful than the creature-based value decks. You can just deal with the board state then with a Jokulhaups. Other decks will have 4 and 5 drops that can put some pressure on you, and these cards don't solve the problem. Basically, they are anti-control tools when you are the Control deck. There are plenty of tempo-related cards like Tangle Wire and Static Orb that curtail fast starts more than they curtail your control plan, but these definitely slow you down quite a bit.
I also like the idea of more artifact bounce/recursion. I think Goblin Welder would have some really great synergy with the Tangle Wire / Orb effects. Sac the orb w/ Welder at the EoT to your right, get a full untap, then activate again to get the Orb back in play.
Hey this might be a dumb questions but what are some of the ways you win with this deck? Also how come you like arcane laboratory so much?
The deck only needs a few win conditions:
bolts from Keranos
concessions
combat damage
Arcane Laboratory is an invaluable card. It slows opponents down to our pace and increases the value of our counters/bounce. I've often locked folks out with Laboratory and Forbid.
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There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
Wondering if you have any testing experience in regards to Arcane Laboratory vs Mana Maze? Looking to run one of these effects, but not sure which to go with at the moment.
Deck looks sweet. What is the best way to justify a stax deck to a casual play group? Should I just stay away if I feel like my group will dislike it?
I personally feel like this is no worse than someone powering out a Craterhoof and winning it. I have had issues explaining that lockouts and LD are just as viable as creatures.
A friend of mine decided to try out my deck and really enjoyed it. Got me thinking I should update the list:
ADDED
Mystic Speculation (has been rocking my WORLD: in Narset, in Tasigur, in anything running U)
Teferi, Temporal Archmage (this card belongs in every stax deck with U</end>)
REMOVED
Recall (paying five mana to retrieve two cards is a bit much with so much mana denial)
Mana Vortex (wonderful card, yet difficult to cast sometimes in the early game when it's most valuable)
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There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
I LOVE the Teferi, Temporal Archmage addition. Excellent call. But I'm not yet sold on Mystic Speculation. Though I haven't yet evolved to your level of play so I may be missing on this one. But 4 mana for a recurring scry effect seems underwhelming to me. Especially since mana is such a strained and highly valued resource with this deck.
I also feel Mana Vortex, along with anything that attacks land in mass, brings such an awesome power to behold. I find myself trying to make the play so delicately as to not be shunned for attacking the group's mana. Land is such a coveted and misused resource that I'm not ready to give up this card yet.
Recall I agree with cutting. It's just so expensive. What do you think of adding Turn // Burn and Mystic Retrieval to the watch list? The first seems underwhelming to me - but maybe you've experienced it's necessary to allow Keranos to knock out troublesome threats? And Retrieval, while good, feels again too mana-intense for this.
You mentioned Dack Fayden earlier. Did you ever try it out? Maybe you just don't have one yet? Does seem great here. Stealing Sol Rings and Gilded Lotuses while denying lands is amazing. Capsize on Winter Orb or Static Orb is powerful but expensive. Would it be worth including more inexpensive ways to repeatedly deny others and not yourself? Maybe a way to tap Static Orb at end of last opponent's turn? Unfortunately though Winter Orb was originally worded to shut off when tapped the same way, Gatherer has it errata'd to not work that way any more.
Also, what are your thoughts on Propaganda in Stax decks? I think it would be better suited in a Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck that could double up with Ghostly Prison if desired and possibly have more of an enchantment theme going. But the additional tithing works well with a Stax build and mitigates the heat you're going to feel after threatening the table's lands.
I think this deck also wants cheaper threats. Five, MAYBE six, mana is about the most I want to spend to play something threatening that's not going to get Obliterated (if it is I especially don't want it.) The planeswalkers and Keranos are all perfect for this. But I think these could all go: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (unless he has another use I'm missing - protection against mill combos? Is he just in to have a big play once mana is infinite?), Melek, Izzet Paragon (awesome effect, great with scry, but costs a lot as does the ability potentially), Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind (fine, but expensive), & possibly to a lesser extent Dead-Eye Navigator and Palinchron (not sure how I feel about the infi mana combo, especially since both cards are so expensive to cast, have little board presence separately, and are themselves fragile to spot removal and the deck's sweepers.)
Also have been wondering if it would be better to cap off entirely at 5-6 mana. This means running none of the red mega sweepers, but we could just focus on playing a tighter early game and establishing disruption sooner. Not sure on this one, just feels like it somewhat pulls the deck in two directions, trying to both be efficient under an Orb effect and building up to an 8 mana mega destroyer (I realize the usual play sequence would be to destroy everything then follow up with a cheaper Orb, just not entirely certain on the best direction here, though I'm thinking it's likely not worth changing the overall game plan.)
I LOVE the Teferi, Temporal Archmage addition. Excellent call. But I'm not yet sold on Mystic Speculation. Though I haven't yet evolved to your level of play so I may be missing on this one. But 4 mana for a recurring scry effect seems underwhelming to me. Especially since mana is such a strained and highly valued resource with this deck.
Only three mana, mate, for Speculation. Well worth it to ensure we draw whatever we need, and easily paid for with the deck's abundance of mana-producing artifacts.
I also feel Mana Vortex, along with anything that attacks land in mass, brings such an awesome power to behold. I find myself trying to make the play so delicately as to not be shunned for attacking the group's mana. Land is such a coveted and misused resource that I'm not ready to give up this card yet.
I like Vortex, but after lots of games with this list, I'd sooner run it in a two-color or mono-U deck. Kerri costs five mana and sacrificing lands early on delays the coming of their storm.
Recall I agree with cutting. It's just so expensive. What do you think of adding Turn // Burn and Mystic Retrieval to the watch list? The first seems underwhelming to me - but maybe you've experienced it's necessary to allow Keranos to knock out troublesome threats? And Retrieval, while good, feels again too mana-intense for this.
Like Vortex, Recall is a card I would definitely run in a monocolored build. T&B is the closest thing gets to Murder. The beauty of Retrieval in comparison with Recall is that, if countered, Retrieval's recursible, whereas if Recall is countered, multiple cards have been lost to pay its cost.
You mentioned Dack Fayden earlier. Did you ever try it out? Maybe you just don't have one yet? Does seem great here. Stealing Sol Rings and Gilded Lotuses while denying lands is amazing.
There's no guarantee there will be an artifact to steal with Dack's ability and their first ability does little here. I've been running Fayden for awhile in my Alice in ONE-DOUR-LAND stax deck commanded by Gwendlyn di Corci. Dack is much more useful there as either of their first two abilities benefit the deck's strategies. I've also been considering adding Fayden to my SCHIZOPHRENIA deck, but I haven't played that list in some time.
Capsize on Winter Orb or Static Orb is powerful but expensive. Would it be worth including more inexpensive ways to repeatedly deny others and not yourself? Maybe a way to tap Static Orb at end of last opponent's turn? Unfortunately though Winter Orb was originally worded to shut off when tapped the same way, Gatherer has it errata'd to not work that way any more.
Once the battlefield has been wiped with any of our enchantments remaining on the board, we don't care about a lack of mana.
Also, what are your thoughts on Propaganda in Stax decks? I think it would be better suited in a Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck that could double up with Ghostly Prison if desired and possibly have more of an enchantment theme going. But the additional tithing works well with a Stax build and mitigates the heat you're going to feel after threatening the table's lands.
I'd only run Propaganda in a list without access to W and I'd only run Prison in a list without access to U. See my Edgar Allan Poe deck, THE RAVEN: never.MORE for the reasons why. (I don't list them explicitly, but a quick look at the decklist should make my indifference to Propaganda patent.)
I think this deck also wants cheaper threats. Five, MAYBE six, mana is about the most I want to spend to play something threatening that's not going to get Obliterated (if it is I especially don't want it.) The planeswalkers and Keranos are all perfect for this. But I think these could all go: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (unless he has another use I'm missing - protection against mill combos? Is he just in to have a big play once mana is infinite?), Melek, Izzet Paragon (awesome effect, great with scry, but costs a lot as does the ability potentially), Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind (fine, but expensive), & possibly to a lesser extent Dead-Eye Navigator and Palinchron (not sure how I feel about the infi mana combo, especially since both cards are so expensive to cast, have little board presence separately, and are themselves fragile to spot removal and the deck's sweepers.)
Cheaper threats are fine, but I've found them unnecessary. To be fair, I also enjoy the challenge of being the table's target and winning with less than 10 life. The Butcher's primary purpose is to recycle the graveyard or destroy a permanent outright. The Firemind almost activates Kerri on its own and Melli is Future Sight 2.0. The ONLY time I would cast DEN or Palinchron individually is if I suspect a Wheel of Fortune effect coming from an opponent.
Also have been wondering if it would be better to cap off entirely at 5-6 mana. This means running none of the red mega sweepers, but we could just focus on playing a tighter early game and establishing disruption sooner. Not sure on this one, just feels like it somewhat pulls the deck in two directions, trying to both be efficient under an Orb effect and building up to an 8 mana mega destroyer (I realize the usual play sequence would be to destroy everything then follow up with a cheaper Orb, just not entirely certain on the best direction here, though I'm thinking it's likely not worth changing the overall game plan.)
To reiterate, "Once the battlefield has been wiped with any of our enchantments remaining on the board, we don't care about a lack of mana." This deck often wins with Kerri alone dealing damage.
With so much artifact destruction in the deck, the lack of more artifact ramp was an intentional part of the build's design. This deck was not intended to be played like a Narset, Enlightened Master build, ramping up and winning quickly. Storms, Stax, & Sex is meant for an all-night grind session.
Go for it. I despise the Goblin creature type almost as much as I detest the Elf creature type. (I'm still proud that I got over this enough when designing my The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 5-deck series [not yet published].)
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There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
I was reminded just now of why I love this deck so much: in a 3-person game, played a turn two Winter Orb; was immediately hated on by Riku and Heliod; brought down to four life with one opponent in the low 30s from Keranos bolt damage and the other still at 40; had Orb removed and graveyard/hand shuffled into deck with opponent's Time Reversal; cast Palinchron and Phantasmal Image same turn for infinite mana, transmuted Muddle the Mixture for the Orb with both opponents tapped out, then cast Tangle Wire and Dominus of Fealty all in the same turn with Palinchron and Image, with a Maze of Ith already in play to defend against Riku's Maelstrom Wanderer; next turn, swiped Wanderer with Dominus and swung for 25 damage (Palinchron & Image; Wanderer; Dominus; "live" Keranos) at the Riku player bringing them down to 7 life and getting their immediate concession; Heliod player passes turn; reveal Jokulhaups with Keranos, attack with Image, and then wipe the board, getting Heliod's immediate concession.
LOVE. THIS. DECK.
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There are no divisions: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. -Galatians 3:28
I've got a similar deck and I am tempted to add an artifact package. I don't yet have Tezzeret in the deck, while you do, but I'm thinking of adding him and Daretti in. This lets you get aronud the mana costs of some of the higher costing cards you might want. I don't, however, run lots of Mass LD. Either way, looking at your list, I can see I might be missing a lot of good cards.
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STORMS, STAX, & SEX: VISIONS OF A POST-APOCALYPTIC FUTURE
- STARRING KERANOS, GOD OF STORMS -
Flavorful Strategy
His followers have Preordained your future and their predictions are grim. Inspired by her god's Cryptic Commands, and led by the two priests of his temple, Keranos' most fervent disciple has tapped into the ancient power of the Orbs. And now, the waters are rising and a storm is approaching, both heralds of the god himself.
Beware the lightning.
Fear the thunder.
Keranos is coming.
1 Keranos, God of Storms
Sorcery (13)
1x All Is Dust
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Devastation
1x Fabricate
1x Jokulhaups
1x Mystic Retrieval
1x Mystic Speculation
1x Obliterate
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Ruination
1x Vandalblast
1x Wash Out
Instant (12)
1x Arcane Denial
1x Capsize
1x Chaos Warp
1x Counterspell
1x Cryptic Command
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Evacuation
1x Forbid
1x Muddle the Mixture
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Sunder
1x Turn // Burn
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Dominus of Fealty
1x Drift of Phantasms
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Melek, Izzet Paragon
1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1x Palinchron
1x Phantasmal Image
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
Artifact (12)
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Cursed Totem
1x Everflowing Chalice
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Sapphire Medallion
1x Scroll Rack
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Static Orb
1x Tangle Wire
1x Venser's Journal
1x Winter Orb
Planeswalker (4)
1x Jace, Memory Adept
1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1x Teferi, Temporal Archmage
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
1x Arcane Laboratory
1x Back to Basics
1x Blood Moon
1x Embargo
1x Frozen Æther
1x Future Sight
1x Mana Breach
1x Rhystic Study
1x Rising Waters
1x Stranglehold
Land (38)
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cascade Bluffs
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Command Tower
1x Dust Bowl
1x Ghost Quarter
13x Island
1x Maze of Ith
11x Mountain
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Steam Vents
1x Strip Mine
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Tolaria West
Change Log
Mystic Speculation
Teferi, Temporal Archmage
REMOVED
Recall
Mana Vortex
Aside from the usual stax package (Tangle Wire, Winter Orb, Static Orb, Tezzeret the Seeker), playing with Thassa, God of the Sea, Keranos, and Sensei's Divining Top on the 'field is INSANE!
However, when it does find just one of its Stax pieces, like Static Orb, it's just brutal. Casting Evacuation is sometimes just as good as Sunder with Static Orb on the battlefield, especially if opponents are tapped out. As I noted earlier, Thassa, God of the Sea is the perfect consort to Keranos: card advantage for DAYS. Oh, you managed to cast a low-cost utility creature? Bolt it. Hmmm, I need more cards to fuel my Forbid or ramp around an Orb? Sure, I'll draw a land!
I've played about half a dozen games with this deck and I've only lost once.
I was also wondering if you had considered the inclusion of Tectonic Instability for your list?
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
I'd sooner run Mana Web than I would Instability. The former only affects opponents but neither does anything independently. Players frequently tap out (or come close to it) when casting or attacking, making Static Orb/Winter Orb's usefulness reliant on a common gamestate and not other cards.
Like Tectonic Instability and Mana Web, Repercussion does little on its own. Unlike the other two cards, it does even less to affect the battlefield. If anything, it might stall attacks, and I want folks attacking. If folks are attacking me, my creatures will likely get through. If they're attacking each other, they're doing my job for me.
OMG. This deck would love Dack Fayden…
Just really quick though, I think the full Jokulhaups trio is good here - Jokulhaups, Obliterate, Devastation. Reason being, you are probably going to draw out of it quicker than everyone else, or even burn people out of the game. Stuff like that seems to be the deck's win condition. So no need to be cute with things like Mana Breach and Mana Vortex when you can just blow all the land away at once. Of course with that then comes Greater Gargadon and Mana Seism/Mana Geyser shenanigans. With a more controll'ish rather than tempo'ish version of stax, the key is making an explosive sequence of plays rather than eeking out incremental advantage. Keranos sort of lets you do both.
Wildfire and Destructive Force might be good as well, since you will need a bit more creature defense than this, I think. It depends on the metagame though, because it can be bad against big Green decks with lots of mana. If that's the case, it's better to just use those slots to get more draw and mana to hit the Jokulhaups spells at a better clip.
I'd originally shied away from using the entire red mass destruction trio here due to their high mana cost. However, I only need to resolve one and drawing into one faster will only help speed things along, so in they go!
Breach and Vortex stall out the early game before I have time to cast the big hitters.
I use Gargadon in my Gisela Judgment Day decks, so I'm aware of its effectiveness with MLD, but I think I'm going to hold off on it for right now as I'm generally pleased with the current creature suite.
If I can't get rid of all of the lands in play, I prefer effects like that of Keldon Firebombers's over those of Wildfire & Co.
Thanks again, Jusstice!
ADDED
Devastation
Obliterate
REMOVED
Aftershock
Snapcaster Mage
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
I also like the idea of more artifact bounce/recursion. I think Goblin Welder would have some really great synergy with the Tangle Wire / Orb effects. Sac the orb w/ Welder at the EoT to your right, get a full untap, then activate again to get the Orb back in play.
- bolts from Keranos
- concessions
- combat damage
Arcane Laboratory is an invaluable card. It slows opponents down to our pace and increases the value of our counters/bounce. I've often locked folks out with Laboratory and Forbid.Ceta Sanctuary seems like it could add some card flow.
Darksteel Ingot ramps into Keranos and is immune to Jokulhaups effects.
Goblin Welder can let you play around with destroyed artifacts (Winter Orb most notably).
Add in Boomerang effects to bounce Stasis end of opponents turn to make sure you get rid of ALL your friends.
I personally feel like this is no worse than someone powering out a Craterhoof and winning it. I have had issues explaining that lockouts and LD are just as viable as creatures.
ADDED
Mystic Speculation (has been rocking my WORLD: in Narset, in Tasigur, in anything running U)
Teferi, Temporal Archmage (this card belongs in every stax deck with U</end>)
REMOVED
Recall (paying five mana to retrieve two cards is a bit much with so much mana denial)
Mana Vortex (wonderful card, yet difficult to cast sometimes in the early game when it's most valuable)
I also feel Mana Vortex, along with anything that attacks land in mass, brings such an awesome power to behold. I find myself trying to make the play so delicately as to not be shunned for attacking the group's mana. Land is such a coveted and misused resource that I'm not ready to give up this card yet.
Recall I agree with cutting. It's just so expensive. What do you think of adding Turn // Burn and Mystic Retrieval to the watch list? The first seems underwhelming to me - but maybe you've experienced it's necessary to allow Keranos to knock out troublesome threats? And Retrieval, while good, feels again too mana-intense for this.
Also, what are your thoughts on Propaganda in Stax decks? I think it would be better suited in a Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck that could double up with Ghostly Prison if desired and possibly have more of an enchantment theme going. But the additional tithing works well with a Stax build and mitigates the heat you're going to feel after threatening the table's lands.
I think this deck also wants cheaper threats. Five, MAYBE six, mana is about the most I want to spend to play something threatening that's not going to get Obliterated (if it is I especially don't want it.) The planeswalkers and Keranos are all perfect for this. But I think these could all go: Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (unless he has another use I'm missing - protection against mill combos? Is he just in to have a big play once mana is infinite?), Melek, Izzet Paragon (awesome effect, great with scry, but costs a lot as does the ability potentially), Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind (fine, but expensive), & possibly to a lesser extent Dead-Eye Navigator and Palinchron (not sure how I feel about the infi mana combo, especially since both cards are so expensive to cast, have little board presence separately, and are themselves fragile to spot removal and the deck's sweepers.)
Also have been wondering if it would be better to cap off entirely at 5-6 mana. This means running none of the red mega sweepers, but we could just focus on playing a tighter early game and establishing disruption sooner. Not sure on this one, just feels like it somewhat pulls the deck in two directions, trying to both be efficient under an Orb effect and building up to an 8 mana mega destroyer (I realize the usual play sequence would be to destroy everything then follow up with a cheaper Orb, just not entirely certain on the best direction here, though I'm thinking it's likely not worth changing the overall game plan.)
Some possible inclusions I'm Pondering..
Izzet Signet
Ruby Medallion (maybe not enough red here, definitely not as good as Sapphire Medallion
Gilded Lotus
Sky Diamond (Fire Diamond to a lesser extent[/card]
These are just a few that pop to mind. I don't have much knowledge on this archetype yet.
MAYBE a Goblin Welder mini package? Possibly just Daretti, Shaper Savant? I really just want some way to get additional abuse from Tangle Wire.
I like Vortex, but after lots of games with this list, I'd sooner run it in a two-color or mono-U deck. Kerri costs five mana and sacrificing lands early on delays the coming of their storm.
Like Vortex, Recall is a card I would definitely run in a monocolored build. T&B is the closest thing
There's no guarantee there will be an artifact to steal with Dack's ability and their first ability does little here. I've been running Fayden for awhile in my Alice in ONE-DOUR-LAND stax deck commanded by Gwendlyn di Corci. Dack is much more useful there as either of their first two abilities benefit the deck's strategies. I've also been considering adding Fayden to my SCHIZOPHRENIA deck, but I haven't played that list in some time.
Once the battlefield has been wiped with any of our enchantments remaining on the board, we don't care about a lack of mana.
I'd only run Propaganda in a list without access to W and I'd only run Prison in a list without access to U. See my Edgar Allan Poe deck, THE RAVEN: never.MORE for the reasons why. (I don't list them explicitly, but a quick look at the decklist should make my indifference to Propaganda patent.)
Cheaper threats are fine, but I've found them unnecessary. To be fair, I also enjoy the challenge of being the table's target and winning with less than 10 life.
To reiterate, "Once the battlefield has been wiped with any of our enchantments remaining on the board, we don't care about a lack of mana." This deck often wins with Kerri alone dealing damage.
With so much artifact destruction in the deck, the lack of more artifact ramp was an intentional part of the build's design. This deck was not intended to be played like a Narset, Enlightened Master build, ramping up and winning quickly. Storms, Stax, & Sex is meant for an all-night grind session.
Go for it. I despise the Goblin creature type almost as much as I detest the Elf creature type. (I'm still proud that I got over this enough when designing my The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 5-deck series [not yet published].)
LOVE. THIS. DECK.