Torpor Orb is a criminally underrated card.
Of the top played creatures (cards that appear in over 10% of decks according to mtgoldfish) half of them have value -tactic EtB effects But there's more, the orb can be used for more than just defense it can also go on offense :
Probably needs more disruption, but that's harder to solitaire.
What do you think?
I play this in legacy with sol lands and Phyrexian Dreadnought, but I think there's some space here in modern.
Your particular build only has 8 CoCo targets, so it probably shouldn't be running the card at all. If you really want a good Collected Company-based Torpor Orb deck, I'd recommend going Sultai. Blue gets you two great options in Hunted Phantasm and Nulltread Gargantuan, and you can even splash white for Hushwing Gryff, which can be pulled out alongside a creature with a negative triggered ability.
You probably stack the 4 drop slot a little too much, especially without mana dorks.
I'd also look into a couple of Cavern of Souls possibly in the manabase then.
Tarmogoyf seems a bit weak here as well as I don't see a way to dump a lot of different card types into the GY. Maybe something with Evoke instead like Shriekmaw to give you a bit of removal, but then again with an Orb out it would be a non-bo. Maybe Scavenging Ooze to give you a way to battle GY strategies.
Would be nice to give yourself a way to have Haste. As it stands one of your heavy hitters is going to come out and that gives your opponent a lot of time for even sorcery speed removal. Fatal Push hits all your critters too.
Good luck and stick with it. I like to see new decks brewed up.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
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The upcoming set has another functional copy of Hushwing Gryff in Tocaf's Honor Guard which is weaker (1/2 without flash/flying) but more importantly is one mana cheaper and can also (like Torpor Orb) be tutored for with Muddle the Mixture giving the deck more consistency.
I really think that Esper colors fit this type of deck best.
I just really don't want to use creatures in this deck because creatures do nothing but die. At instant speed. Setting yourself up for some truly terrible blow outs. (Imagine: Playing Eater of Days and your opponent responding by bolting your Gryff.)
Yes, but Sundial taxes you for 1-mana and does nothing in multiples while also making artifact removal (and Stony Silence) even better against you.
This deck is very fragile and I'm not sure there is much that can change that.
Maybe running some cheap counters like Stubborn Denial to protect your board can be a good idea.
I just really don't want to use creatures in this deck because creatures do nothing but die. At instant speed. Setting yourself up for some truly terrible blow outs. (Imagine: Playing Eater of Days and your opponent responding by bolting your Gryff.)
I mean, Kolaghan's Command, Destructive Revelry, and Abrupt Decay still blow you out regardless. That's a problem with your central strategy, not necessarily Hushwing Gryff. The artifacts are do-nothing cards, which only makes the functional portion of your deck that much more vulnerable.
Of the top played creatures (cards that appear in over 10% of decks according to mtgoldfish) half of them have value -tactic EtB effects But there's more, the orb can be used for more than just defense it can also go on offense :
So we add a hint of redundancy with Sundial of the Infinite and we end up with the following :
4 Sundial of the Infinite
4 Hunted Horror
4 Eater of Days
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Bolderwyr Heavyweights
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Thoughtsieze
2 Collected Company
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
1 Bleakcleave Cliffs
1 Blooming Marsh
1 Forest
3 Swamps
Probably needs more disruption, but that's harder to solitaire.
What do you think?
I play this in legacy with sol lands and Phyrexian Dreadnought, but I think there's some space here in modern.
You probably stack the 4 drop slot a little too much, especially without mana dorks.
Replace it with Not of this World
Move Not of this World to the sideboard, frees up 2 slots. Drop Boldwyr Heavyweights frees up 4 more and go +4 Noble Hierarch and +2 Birds of Paradise.
I'd also look into a couple of Cavern of Souls possibly in the manabase then.
Tarmogoyf seems a bit weak here as well as I don't see a way to dump a lot of different card types into the GY. Maybe something with Evoke instead like Shriekmaw to give you a bit of removal, but then again with an Orb out it would be a non-bo. Maybe Scavenging Ooze to give you a way to battle GY strategies.
Would be nice to give yourself a way to have Haste. As it stands one of your heavy hitters is going to come out and that gives your opponent a lot of time for even sorcery speed removal. Fatal Push hits all your critters too.
Good luck and stick with it. I like to see new decks brewed up.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
#Hushwing Gryff is the creature version of Torpor Orb (and a 2/1 flash flier isn't horrible as a creature).
#Muddle the Mixture is a reasonable tutor for Torpor Orb that can also find one of the payoffs (Hunted Horror).
#Thirst for Knowledge is a good dig spell in a deck with playsets of artifacts like Torpor Orb and Eater of Days.
The next best creatures to use with Torpor Orb (besides Hunted Horror and Eater of Days) imho are:
Hunted Phantasm and Dust Elemental.
Some more (weaker) options are: Treacherous Pit-Dweller, Demonlord of Ashmouth and Inverter of Truth.
This idea has been discussed before, here is a pretty good primer about it -
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/764818-truth-of-the-orb
I really think that Esper colors fit this type of deck best.
This deck is very fragile and I'm not sure there is much that can change that.
Maybe running some cheap counters like Stubborn Denial to protect your board can be a good idea.
I mean, Kolaghan's Command, Destructive Revelry, and Abrupt Decay still blow you out regardless. That's a problem with your central strategy, not necessarily Hushwing Gryff. The artifacts are do-nothing cards, which only makes the functional portion of your deck that much more vulnerable.
4x Hunted Horror
4x Hunted Phantasm
4x Eater of Days
4x Hushwing Gryff
Artifact (4)
4x Torpor Orb
Instant (10)
4x Path to Exile
4x Muddle the Mixture
2x Thirst for Knowledge
Sorcery (8)
4x Serum Visions
4x Languish
4x Polluted Delta
4x Flooded Strand
2x Watery Grave
2x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Shambling Vent
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Sunken Ruins
2x Island
1x Swamp
1x Plains
2x Anguished Unmaking
1x Detention Sphere
1x Disenchant
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Stubborn Denial
#The 2x Thirst for Knowledge are flex slots which might be two more creatures (like Dust Elemental) or maindeck Stubborn Denial
(the SB copies can be replaced by Countersquall).
#Languish can clear out the tokens from Hunted Horror/Hunted Phantasm and isn't a terrible sweeper which doesn't kill the fatties.
Ratchet Bomb might be a better option than Languish/Yahenni's Expertise (or Displacement Wave) as well for dealing with the "hunted" tokens.
Engineered Explosives can be the more expensive option which can be faster against non-token targets.
Here is the new version I'll go with:
4x Tocatli Honor Guard
4x Hunted Horror
4x Hunted Phantasm
4x Eater of Days
4x Hushwing Gryff
Artifact (8)
4x Torpor Orb
4x Ratchet Bomb
Instant (6)
4x Path to Exile
2x Stubborn Denial
Sorcery (4)
4x Serum Visions
4x Polluted Delta
4x Flooded Strand
2x Watery Grave
2x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Shambling Vent
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Sunken Ruins
2x Island
1x Swamp
1x Plains
2x Anguished Unmaking
1x Detention Sphere
1x Disenchant
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Countersquall