Been running this build o'minefor a loooong time (obviously with changes since Shadows Over Innistrad came out). I tried a few different cards in place of Pack Guardian (Mindwrack Demon, Terminate, more Raven's Crime, Path to Exile, The Gitrog Monster) and had a second Liliana in place of Eternal Witness (but traded it away, didn't want it in here anyway, was generally underwhelming).
Could I get some feedback? I enjoy this build, but always looking for improvements!
If it survives, and you have Seismic Assault in play, you can almost combo off if you are relatively lucky in your draw. (Assuming no cards in hand, and a loam in the graveyard, you have enough mana to loam twice for 6 lands (12 damage). Discarding the 6 lands will draw you 6 cards of which ~40% are lands so that's another 4-6 damage to Assault. 18 damage in one turn is usually enough to kill our opponent in Modern).
Unfortunately it's a bit expensive and dies easily to path.
I think The Gitrog Monster needs to be used in this deck. At this time, there is no other deck in Modern that can use its ability better than this deck. I have thought about an Abzan shell with Gitrog, Grisly Salvage and Knight of the Reliquary but I have not flushed out the entire idea.
Anyways, I am currently running one in the main in a BRg shell and when it hits play, you usually win on the spot. I recommend not playing it until there are usually about 7-8 lands in play with Seismic Assault out, but it is not needed. If you have Molten Vortex, Raven's Crime, or Flame Jab, you can usually draw into a Seismic Assault.
I have tested out Blighted Fen and Mortuary Mire. I have not been to impressed with Blighted Fen but I do like Mortuary Mire. It helps when I want to return a milled The Gitrog Monster into the graveyard and I want to perform a combo finish next turn.
For those of you who are not playing Countryside Crusher, I recommend you at least test it. It can easily be the biggest creature on the field. Plus, if you have a Dark Confidant out, you can stack the triggers. If I need to draw a spell and do not mind taking the damage, I have Crusher's ability resolve first and then Dark Confidant. Mill the lands away and then draw into action. If you resolve the triggers with Dark Confidant's resolving first, usually meaning you don't mind drawing a land, then you will reveal to Crusher until you find an action spell. If it is a spell that you do not need and you have a Loam in the yard, dredge back the loam. The stacking of the triggers really helps the deck find what it needs, ie Maelstrom Pulse or Seismic Assault or a SB card.
Let me know if you have any questions with the list. My list is a lot more traditional. There is a SCG in the Dallas in June and I plan on playing this deck.
basically these engines create endless amounts of value and staying power. Having a molten vortex online with life from the loam pretty much just clears boards and you can make tons of tokens with infestation or bloodline. you more or less just grind the opponent out. Westvale abbey has been an awesome inclusion to the deck and I might add a second. The only thing is during the games where you have trouble accruing 5 tokens to sac it's kind of dead or if you're against path to exile... Still, it just wins some matchups.
I'm really looking for something that I can dredge into my graveyard that will let me recycle my enchantments from my graveyard to my hand. There are many games where I keep dredging loam but I also need to get my key enchantments. Granted there are lots of them so I generally don't have a problem getting at least one online before I start getting into the loam plan, but I would really like some ideas for recycling these things so that I can keep dredging loam and get to my other key cards. Faithless looting is a godsend here, but I'm still searching for other options for this area.
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Big thanks to DarkNightCavalier from heroes of the planes studios for the sig!
I can't think of any regrowth effect that you can flashback, but you could run eternal witness with haunted fengraf in order to return witness to hand and then cast it to rebuy an enchantment. Not sure if that is really what you want to be doing, but it is possibly the only option. Noxious Revival could also be an option. Overall with Commune and Faithless looting in your deck, you shouldn't be having issues finding the cards that you need.
I can't think of any regrowth effect that you can flashback, but you could run eternal witness with haunted fengraf in order to return witness to hand and then cast it to rebuy an enchantment. Not sure if that is really what you want to be doing, but it is possibly the only option. Noxious Revival could also be an option. Overall with Commune and Faithless looting in your deck, you shouldn't be having issues finding the cards that you need.
Just a small alternative option, you can run mortuary mire instead of haunted fengraf. The downside is you put eternal witness on top instead of in your hand, and mire doesnt go to the grave for future loam. The upside is mire is «free» and produces colored mana. In any case both options are clunky but might be good vs grindy matchups.
I forgot about mortuary mire. Good thought. It would be sweet with gitrog. You can sacrifice it and reuse it to rebuy something else which you will likely be able to draw and cast the same turn if you have assault going if you wanted to. Obviously for long very grindy games though.
So, I have this decklist saved from a looong time ago, and I was thinking of trying to make it a reality soon. Goes back to the four-color Knight of the Reliquary/Young Pyromancer build. Thoughts for updating it?
I really liked the Novajoe idea for card advantage. This is a more toolbox variation. I cut lands since traverse can just be cycled for a land. I want to test this out and do some tuning, I think shattered perception could be insanely powerful in this deck but is too expensive to play more than 2. Since Urborg turns every land into a swamp for veilborn ghoul I figured traversing for it or westvale or gitrog or azusa would be able to just close out games.
Wanted to get back to this thread, after a long time away (phew, 3 weeks since last comment?). Have there been any recent developments for the more traditional Seismic Assault strategy?
Considering the whole Zombie Infestation/Call the Bloodline approach, I'm not a huge fan, but has it been working better than just going all-in with the Assault plan? Doesn't look particularly fast or solid, on first sight.
Wanted to get back to this thread, after a long time away (phew, 3 weeks since last comment?). Have there been any recent developments for the more traditional Seismic Assault strategy?
Considering the whole Zombie Infestation/Call the Bloodline approach, I'm not a huge fan, but has it been working better than just going all-in with the Assault plan? Doesn't look particularly fast or solid, on first sight.
You've clearly decided what decklist you want so I will do as you say as "don't bother".
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Cards are game pieces, and should be treated as such, easily replaceable.
Cards are not money, investments, or a retirement fund, and should never have been treated as such.
Wizards made a mistake caving to speculators once, and we still pay for that mistake 19 years later.
Happy is the man who has broken the chains that hurt the mind and given up worrying once and for all. Be patient and tough. One day this pain will be useful to you.
What I meant was "built this crappy list on last minute with whatever I had immediate access to, it's not at all optimized/tested/justifiable by any means". I'm trying to get back at discussing an archetype I was pretty fond of.
Clarification: "I know it's awful, don't bother" (providing feedback on such a crappy list)
Have there been any recent developments for the more traditional Seismic Assault strategy?
If your meta has a lot of burn or gr aggro, call the bloodline is likely a great card there. Chumps with lifelink for days? Yes please. There hasn't been much discussion here but I do tend to check in every day if you ever have comments or questions I would happily bounce ideas back and forth with you.
If your meta has a lot of burn or gr aggro, call the bloodline is likely a great card there. Chumps with lifelink for days? Yes please. There hasn't been much discussion here but I do tend to check in every day if you ever have comments or questions I would happily bounce ideas back and forth with you.
Hey - long time, no see (I remember your posts back from Treasure Cruise Modern!)
Yeah, I agree - Call the Bloodline is very sweet - was thinking of sleeving back my Squee, Goblin Nabobs and going all-in, but didn't work. However, it sure makes the Jund approach to Assault Loam a lot better. But what about Crawling Sensation? First thing it comes to mind is that it provides an additional "dredge" effect to help find Life from the Loam and make Countryside Crusher bigger without requiring additional resources (for example, Call the Bloodline costs a card per token, and Sensation also triggers with Ghost Quarter and fetchlands. I'm not completely sold, though - Bloodline is probably better because Lifelink AND being an engine on itself - but I might give Sensation a whirl on a nonblack list.
Friend of mine offered me some help and designed his own Assault deck, with a slightly different approach:
This is a preliminary list that he brewed attempting to apply some interesting ideas. First of all, he wanted the deck to be less susceptible to graveyard hate, while giving it tools to drag the game (Blood Moon) and avoid getting decked in the grindiest matchups (Gaea's Blessing). His intention was to make the deck play more like a midrange strategy instead of going guns blazing on the engine and burning opponent ASAP.
I was very skeptical at first, but once I played some matches I finally understood. 4 Mulch might be too much - could see replacing at least one copy for Commune with the Gods, the third Life from the Loam or something else - but drawing 2-3 lands straight from the library has been a lifesaver. Also, casting Gaea's Blessing to shuffle back some relevant spells in grindy games does help.
Although not entirely on board with his list, I felt it was refreshing to see something different (at least for me), and thought it might me helpful for you guys.
Either way, will keep on testing some weird ideas, and see if something cool comes up.
If your meta has a lot of burn or gr aggro, call the bloodline is likely a great card there. Chumps with lifelink for days? Yes please. There hasn't been much discussion here but I do tend to check in every day if you ever have comments or questions I would happily bounce ideas back and forth with you.
Hey - long time, no see (I remember your posts back from Treasure Cruise Modern!)
Yeah, I agree - Call the Bloodline is very sweet - was thinking of sleeving back my Squee, Goblin Nabobs and going all-in, but didn't work. However, it sure makes the Jund approach to Assault Loam a lot better. But what about Crawling Sensation? First thing it comes to mind is that it provides an additional "dredge" effect to help find Life from the Loam and make Countryside Crusher bigger without requiring additional resources (for example, Call the Bloodline costs a card per token, and Sensation also triggers with Ghost Quarter and fetchlands. I'm not completely sold, though - Bloodline is probably better because Lifelink AND being an engine on itself - but I might give Sensation a whirl on a nonblack list.
Friend of mine offered me some help and designed his own Assault deck, with a slightly different approach:
This is a preliminary list that he brewed attempting to apply some interesting ideas. First of all, he wanted the deck to be less susceptible to graveyard hate, while giving it tools to drag the game (Blood Moon) and avoid getting decked in the grindiest matchups (Gaea's Blessing). His intention was to make the deck play more like a midrange strategy instead of going guns blazing on the engine and burning opponent ASAP.
I was very skeptical at first, but once I played some matches I finally understood. 4 Mulch might be too much - could see replacing at least one copy for Commune with the Gods, the third Life from the Loam or something else - but drawing 2-3 lands straight from the library has been a lifesaver. Also, casting Gaea's Blessing to shuffle back some relevant spells in grindy games does help.
Although not entirely on board with his list, I felt it was refreshing to see something different (at least for me), and thought it might me helpful for you guys.
Either way, will keep on testing some weird ideas, and see if something cool comes up.
Yeah that RUG variant I ran with Delver and treasure cruise was a blast!
Honestly I really don't like Gaea's Blessing. At times it can be tough to get your yard full of lands to be returned. Sure it is nice to be able to put key spells back in the deck, but you are likely better off with cards like Commune with the Gods as dig to find key enchantments and since putting lands into our yard is what we want, it is likely better than Mulch as well. At least 1 or 2 more loam is likely good.
As for the Blood Moon plan I was considering that recently. More in on red with the green as a splash for Loam and some sideboard options. As long as you have a basic forest then Molten Vortex is fed very well having essentially every other land be a red source. I was thinking for a list like that you likely want something like 4 Assault, 4 vortex, 3 blood moon, 4 Loam, 4 Bolt, 4 Roast/Flame Slash/Burst Lighting, etc. Something along the lines of answer everything and have tons of redundant win conditions to run it in an aggressive almost Burn style, yet have the long grindy game of Aggro Loam. Tarmogoyf and Countryside crusher likely round out the deck and make it for a resilient to graveyard hate, and aggressive enough to handle control deck.
I pretty much focus on Jund, but I haven't really been playing Modern so many of my thoughts and ideas may be a bit outdated.
That is possibly a good call to get maximum efficiency. I could even see making room for Hammer of Purphoros in that build. It pretty much destroys control decks.
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Could I get some feedback? I enjoy this build, but always looking for improvements!
1 Eternal Witness
2 Pack Guardian
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
2 Young Pyromancer
Enchantment (4)
3 Molten Vortex
1 Seismic Assault
Instant (6)
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Darkblast
3 Lightning Bolt
Planeswalker (1)
1 Liliana of the Veil
Sorcery (18)
4 Faithless Looting
1 Flame Jab
4 Life from the Loam
4 Lingering Souls
1 Raven's Crime
4 Smallpox
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood Crypt
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Godless Shrine
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Mountain
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Anguished Unmaking
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Krosan Grip
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Slaughter Games
2 Sowing Salt
2 Timely Reinforcements
If it survives, and you have Seismic Assault in play, you can almost combo off if you are relatively lucky in your draw. (Assuming no cards in hand, and a loam in the graveyard, you have enough mana to loam twice for 6 lands (12 damage). Discarding the 6 lands will draw you 6 cards of which ~40% are lands so that's another 4-6 damage to Assault. 18 damage in one turn is usually enough to kill our opponent in Modern).
Unfortunately it's a bit expensive and dies easily to path.
Anyways, I am currently running one in the main in a BRg shell and when it hits play, you usually win on the spot. I recommend not playing it until there are usually about 7-8 lands in play with Seismic Assault out, but it is not needed. If you have Molten Vortex, Raven's Crime, or Flame Jab, you can usually draw into a Seismic Assault.
I have tested out Blighted Fen and Mortuary Mire. I have not been to impressed with Blighted Fen but I do like Mortuary Mire. It helps when I want to return a milled The Gitrog Monster into the graveyard and I want to perform a combo finish next turn.
Below is my list:
4x Dark Confidant
4x Countryside Crusher
1x The Gitrog Monster
9 Creatures
Spells
4x Magmatic Insight
4x Life From the Loam
4x Duress
3x Raven's Crime
1x Worm Harvest
1x Flame Jab
3x Seismic Assault
1x Molten Vortex
2x Maelstrom Pulse
23 Spells
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
3x Raging Ravine
2x Graven Cairns
2x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Overgrown Tomb
2x Ghost Quarter
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Mortuary Mire
1x Swamp
1x Mountain
1x Forest
28 Lands
2x Anger of the Gods
1x Darkblast
3x Scavenging Ooze
3x Ancient Grudge
2x Dreadbore
2x Golgari Charm
1x Slaughter Games
1x Molten Vortez
For those of you who are not playing Countryside Crusher, I recommend you at least test it. It can easily be the biggest creature on the field. Plus, if you have a Dark Confidant out, you can stack the triggers. If I need to draw a spell and do not mind taking the damage, I have Crusher's ability resolve first and then Dark Confidant. Mill the lands away and then draw into action. If you resolve the triggers with Dark Confidant's resolving first, usually meaning you don't mind drawing a land, then you will reveal to Crusher until you find an action spell. If it is a spell that you do not need and you have a Loam in the yard, dredge back the loam. The stacking of the triggers really helps the deck find what it needs, ie Maelstrom Pulse or Seismic Assault or a SB card.
Let me know if you have any questions with the list. My list is a lot more traditional. There is a SCG in the Dallas in June and I plan on playing this deck.
4 veilborn ghoul
2 vengeful pharaoh
4 life from the loam
4 faithless looting
4 zombie infestation
4 call the bloodline
1 raven's crime
3 abrupt decay
3 molten vortex
4 commune with the gods
3 ghost quarter
1 westvale abbey
4 verdant catacomb
2 bloodstained mire
1 wooded foothills
2 blood crypt
1 overgrown tomb
2 stomping ground
3 mountain
2 swamp
1 forest
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
1 worm harvest
1 abrupt decay
1 shatterstorm
1 raven's crime
1 ancient grudge
1 vengeful pharaoh
2 bad moon
1 ghost quarter
2 damnation
2 bojuka bog
1 dark heart of the wood
1 westvale abbey
so basically this deck takes advantage of several engines:
Life from the loam ---- ghost quarter ---- molten vortex
zombie infestation/call the bloodline ---- squee, goblin nabob ---- veilborn ghoul
basically these engines create endless amounts of value and staying power. Having a molten vortex online with life from the loam pretty much just clears boards and you can make tons of tokens with infestation or bloodline. you more or less just grind the opponent out. Westvale abbey has been an awesome inclusion to the deck and I might add a second. The only thing is during the games where you have trouble accruing 5 tokens to sac it's kind of dead or if you're against path to exile... Still, it just wins some matchups.
I'm really looking for something that I can dredge into my graveyard that will let me recycle my enchantments from my graveyard to my hand. There are many games where I keep dredging loam but I also need to get my key enchantments. Granted there are lots of them so I generally don't have a problem getting at least one online before I start getting into the loam plan, but I would really like some ideas for recycling these things so that I can keep dredging loam and get to my other key cards. Faithless looting is a godsend here, but I'm still searching for other options for this area.
Modern:
Twinning End
Commander:
Mayael the Anema
Just a small alternative option, you can run mortuary mire instead of haunted fengraf. The downside is you put eternal witness on top instead of in your hand, and mire doesnt go to the grave for future loam. The upside is mire is «free» and produces colored mana. In any case both options are clunky but might be good vs grindy matchups.
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
2 Graven Cairns
1 Horizon Canopy
4 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple Garden
1 Treetop Village
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Young Pyromancer
Enchantment
3 Seismic Assault
Sorcery
4 Faithless Looting
1 Flame Jab
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Life from the Loam
4 Lingering Souls
2 Raven's Crime
Instant
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Stony Silence
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Ray of Revelation
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Thoughtseize
4 veilborn ghoul
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Shattered Perception
4 life from the loam
4 faithless looting
4 zombie infestation
2 seismic assault
2 Inqisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
3 abrupt decay
2 molten vortex
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 commune with the gods
2 ghost quarter
1 westvale abbey
4 verdant catacomb
2 bloodstained mire
1 Tectonic Edge
1 wooded foothills
2 blood crypt
1 overgrown tomb
2 stomping ground
1 mountain
1 swamp
1 forest
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
I really liked the Novajoe idea for card advantage. This is a more toolbox variation. I cut lands since traverse can just be cycled for a land. I want to test this out and do some tuning, I think shattered perception could be insanely powerful in this deck but is too expensive to play more than 2. Since Urborg turns every land into a swamp for veilborn ghoul I figured traversing for it or westvale or gitrog or azusa would be able to just close out games.
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Windswept Heath
3 Stomping Ground
4 Copperline Gorge
2 Raging Ravine
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Mountain
2 Forest
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Countryside Crusher
1 Eternal Witness
2 Hooting Mandrils
//Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
4 Magmatic Insight
4 Life from the Loam
1 Anger of the Gods
//Enchantments
4 Molten Vortex
4 Seismic Assault
1 Pithing Needle
2 Nature's Claim
2 Guttural Response
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Feed the Clan
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Crumble to Dust
I know it's awful, don't bother.
Wanted to get back to this thread, after a long time away (phew, 3 weeks since last comment?). Have there been any recent developments for the more traditional Seismic Assault strategy?
Was thinking maybe sticking to RG and using Crawling Sensation as a 1 or 2-of, but I still need better sideboard plans against Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void and Leyline of Sanctity, never seems to be enough.
Considering the whole Zombie Infestation/Call the Bloodline approach, I'm not a huge fan, but has it been working better than just going all-in with the Assault plan? Doesn't look particularly fast or solid, on first sight.
You've clearly decided what decklist you want so I will do as you say as "don't bother".
Cards are not money, investments, or a retirement fund, and should never have been treated as such.
Wizards made a mistake caving to speculators once, and we still pay for that mistake 19 years later.
Happy is the man who has broken the chains that hurt the mind and given up worrying once and for all. Be patient and tough. One day this pain will be useful to you.
Clarification: "I know it's awful, don't bother" (providing feedback on such a crappy list)
Have there been any recent developments for the more traditional Seismic Assault strategy?
Hey - long time, no see (I remember your posts back from Treasure Cruise Modern!)
Yeah, I agree - Call the Bloodline is very sweet - was thinking of sleeving back my Squee, Goblin Nabobs and going all-in, but didn't work. However, it sure makes the Jund approach to Assault Loam a lot better. But what about Crawling Sensation? First thing it comes to mind is that it provides an additional "dredge" effect to help find Life from the Loam and make Countryside Crusher bigger without requiring additional resources (for example, Call the Bloodline costs a card per token, and Sensation also triggers with Ghost Quarter and fetchlands. I'm not completely sold, though - Bloodline is probably better because Lifelink AND being an engine on itself - but I might give Sensation a whirl on a nonblack list.
Friend of mine offered me some help and designed his own Assault deck, with a slightly different approach:
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Stomping Ground
4 Copperline Gorge
2 Raging Ravine
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Mountain
4 Forest
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Countryside Crusher
//Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
2 Magmatic Insight
4 Mulch
2 Life from the Loam
2 Gaea's Blessing
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Molten Vortex
2 Seismic Assault
3 Blood Moon
This is a preliminary list that he brewed attempting to apply some interesting ideas. First of all, he wanted the deck to be less susceptible to graveyard hate, while giving it tools to drag the game (Blood Moon) and avoid getting decked in the grindiest matchups (Gaea's Blessing). His intention was to make the deck play more like a midrange strategy instead of going guns blazing on the engine and burning opponent ASAP.
I was very skeptical at first, but once I played some matches I finally understood. 4 Mulch might be too much - could see replacing at least one copy for Commune with the Gods, the third Life from the Loam or something else - but drawing 2-3 lands straight from the library has been a lifesaver. Also, casting Gaea's Blessing to shuffle back some relevant spells in grindy games does help.
Although not entirely on board with his list, I felt it was refreshing to see something different (at least for me), and thought it might me helpful for you guys.
Either way, will keep on testing some weird ideas, and see if something cool comes up.
Yeah that RUG variant I ran with Delver and treasure cruise was a blast!
Honestly I really don't like Gaea's Blessing. At times it can be tough to get your yard full of lands to be returned. Sure it is nice to be able to put key spells back in the deck, but you are likely better off with cards like Commune with the Gods as dig to find key enchantments and since putting lands into our yard is what we want, it is likely better than Mulch as well. At least 1 or 2 more loam is likely good.
As for the Blood Moon plan I was considering that recently. More in on red with the green as a splash for Loam and some sideboard options. As long as you have a basic forest then Molten Vortex is fed very well having essentially every other land be a red source. I was thinking for a list like that you likely want something like 4 Assault, 4 vortex, 3 blood moon, 4 Loam, 4 Bolt, 4 Roast/Flame Slash/Burst Lighting, etc. Something along the lines of answer everything and have tons of redundant win conditions to run it in an aggressive almost Burn style, yet have the long grindy game of Aggro Loam. Tarmogoyf and Countryside crusher likely round out the deck and make it for a resilient to graveyard hate, and aggressive enough to handle control deck.
I pretty much focus on Jund, but I haven't really been playing Modern so many of my thoughts and ideas may be a bit outdated.