The swarm's million wongs stir the foulest of breeses
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Introduction to Rock and Death Cloud
Death Cloud is a Modern deck that is often of the "Rock" or "Junk" archetype. Meaning its primary colors are Black and Green. BG Death Cloud can also be mono black or splashed with White.W Other possible color combinations come from BW The Rock Archatype most commonly used in Death Cloud is an older unloved cousin of Jund. Rock first became a serious threat in tournament play during Urza Block after being designed by Sol Malka. Rock has been played in many formats including Legacy, Modern and various times in Standard. Threw the formats its core idea is still the same. "Midrange Aggro Control" Death Cloud first became a serious threat during Mirrordin/Kamigawa (Type 2) Standard and came back into favor with the new Modern Format.
Reasons to play Death Cloud
Modern is an all out race. There are 2 main strategies to decks in modern. Race for a combo or race damage out quickly. Without a control/permission deck in the format a lot of matches comes down to who can deliver the most damage or create their win con. Death Cloud Rock stops both of those strategies with a familiar feel of Aggro along with the confidence of Control. Making it a Midranged monster to deal with. It picks at your opponent ensuring he/she can not establish field dominance while you work into a Aggro offensive or Garruk into a massive Death Cloud. Another reason to play Death Cloud Rock is the Meta. If they are not ready it there is very little stopping it already with its favorable match ups against RG Tron, Birthing Pod, Twin, and most combo decks. Much of this is because most Death Cloud decks main board 6-8 hand disruption cards in addition to Death Cloud and Liliana of the Veil. Death Cloud Rock can do quite well against Jund it the right meta.
The best beater in the format along with other formats. Like its older underpowered older brother Mortivore and every other Lhurgoyf, Tarmogyf loves to have things in the graveyard. Death Cloud Rock is great at this running 6-8 hand control cards in addition to Death Clouds. Mix that with fetch lands and turn two you can have a 3/4 easy. Turn three you could be looking closer to a 4/5 in most cases and maxing out at a 8/9. Making this the best Attacker and best Blocker you can get for 2 mana.
Really one of the only options for a one drop creatures for this deck. This is a relatively new card in Magic but seems to have a solid place among many builds. Using him the same way Jund does as a mana ramp or to start taking cheap shots at your opponent two points of damage at a time. If left unchecked he can often deal 4-8 damage in a game. He can also help you offset the cost of using multiple fetch lands, Thoughtseize, or preparation for a nice Death Cloud by gaining life. Against Red Deck wins he becomes a serious threat that will force your opponent to deal with almost immediately. Taking resources away from cards like Grim Lavamancer, or dealing with Hellspark Elemental. He is also a 1/2 for :symgb:, I don't think it gets much sweeter than this.
Unlike Jund where he is a option, this creature should be a staple for this deck. Simply amazing against against Aggro decks. Seeing how he is a 3/2 beater or blocker for 3 is pretty nice. But when he uses his Persist ability that allows him to come back as a 2/1 is great! One of the best parts of Kitchen Finks is the life gain. Everytime he hits the field you gain 2 life. That is 4 life per copy almost guaranteed. If you look at it like this it might help show why they are 9$ each. You start the game with 20 life, Finks helps you gain 4 life. That adds up to 20% of the amount of life you started the game with. Since Finks is a reoccurring creature he can still be around after a Death Cloud clears the field.
Not as good as he used to be when damage could be put onto the stack. Super effective to create a mana ramp to prepare for a nice Death Cloud. Can also be used at a chump blocker before the sack. The down side is that when he sacks that you can't fetch a shock land like you can with Farseek.
Not very good when your on the offensive, but invaluable Mid-late game when you have a plethora of spells on the graveyard. Great card for many build, often the feels like a dead draw early game. Very nice two for one.
With so many cards like Lingering Souls and other flying creatures in the format he could be a valuable asset. Both of his affects are extremely powerful in the meta. The life gain can help offset the cost of running a lot of fetch and shock lands. Deathtouch can help take care of huge creatures like Thundermaw Hellkite.
Doesn't see a lot of play but can be very nice when trying to get a aggressive mana ramp. I would only pair this card with a fetch land heavy deck and/or Knight of the Reliquary in BGW builds.
One of the key cards of the deck. His first effect to untap lands can really help make a huge Death Cloud. His second effect gives you a win condition after Death Cloud goes off. His last effect gives your a Overrun effect can turn your Lingering Souls spirits into a swarm to be reckoned with.
One of the best Planeswalkers ever printed. Her first effect can really hit hard, and her second just as much. It's the third effect that can go off and win a game. She's really beast, especially after a Death Cloud when your opponent is most vulnerable.
This is a new card I think can put quite a but whooping on so many decks. Once it hits the field it can put a timer on the game. It can really put pressure on your opponent. It is a little cost heavy being a 5 drop but it can immediately deal with any single threat on the field. It is its own win condition.
I haven't seen it make play yet, but it could have playability in a BWG versons. His ability to protect himself by producing 1/1s with lifelink is pretty legit. His second effect of permanent emblem is pretty cool. His last effect can really turn a game in your favor.
What can I say, this is what the deck does. It makes your opponent scoop. Do a little mana ramp and don't miss land drops sets you up for a good sized Cloud and its game over. Garruk can help you with huge cloud. If you can drop a cloud and keep a manland or Garruk Windspeaker in play and you win.
One of the great cards of Modern played in just about every deck that plays black. Having at least 4 of these maindeck is very important when playing against combo decks, control decks, and can help even when playing opposing aggro decks. Determining the proper split between these can be tough, since Thoughtseize while traditionally better, is a bit suicidal vs. aggro decks when coupled with confidant, shocklands, and opposing burn spells. That being said, Seize is much stronger vs. combo decks as well as control decks these days, so it's likely the better inclusion.
It is the Wrath of Gods for back. Since Death Cloud generally isn't a true aggro deck it works very well. Field sweepers can be the diffrence between winning and loosing. I suggest that you have two field sweeps in your deck. Even with Death Cloud you will come into problems with swarms of creatures. Often from Lingering Souls and Tarmogoyfs. When your on the spot you might not be able to get to 6th land drop to deal with all of those creatures. So you will need field sweepers.
Another field sweeper like Damnation, except it hits the field with -1/-1 counters. Very nice when you only need to pay 3 for X and sweep the field. Comes in handy against token decks, or against Indestructible creatures.
The closest thing Modern has to Vindicate. It's a very strong card that's greatest strength is it's versatility. If you hit multiples, it's just an additional bonus. I would only play 2 because the sorcery speed clause can be a bit "slow" at times, but the times where pulse shines, it really shines in the most brilliant ways.
It kills 90% of the format's permanents, is very strong against tempo decks, and is a maindeck instant speed answer to problematic permanents like Vedalken Shackles, Cranial Plating, Pyromancer Ascension, and Prismatic Omen. The only weakness is that there are still a variety of cards that cost more than 3 in the format that are must-kills. Since Naya pod combo is still a deck, it's probably not a great idea to use decay as your only spot removal spell. Also you can not kill Manlands such as Junds Raging Ravine.
In most cases, Putrefy is a Pulse that can work at instant speed & kill manlands. The down side is that you can not hit Planeswalkers. Jund can really start hurting once they get Liliana of the Veil down.
Surprisingly looks very much like a underpowered Abrupt Decay, but looks can be deceiving. This can kill animated man lands unlike Decay. It is still a decent option for removal. If your meta is manland heavy you might want this to help keep them off the field. It can also deal with other cards you might not like very much like Tarmogoyf or Dark Confidant.
This is one of the break out cars of of the current meta. Almost any deck running white and black has 3 or 4 main board. Paying 2W for 2 1/1 Flyers is pretty sweet and it only gets better when you play it again for its low 1B cost. They also give your planeswalkers protection.
Rating:
More coming soon....
Thanks to the Jund Primer for use of some of their card information so I wouldn't have to type it all up.
Written by Xmas_Asn
Proofed by PoopingMyPants
As a baseline we have this list from the first Modern Pro Tour. I think newer players should try this list and expand from there to make it fit their play style. As the list is older there will be some easy card changes. The lack of Abrupt Decay is the most noticeable.
Sideboard guide for a controlish build. By Chess76.
Someone asked about SBing, so here it is. For sideboarding with Death Cloud (I'm going to use my list as an example because obviously I know that best but similar principles apply for all):
-Affinity
This matchup is favourable if you know what their deck does, built your deck properly and have practised it. The more practise the better, particularly agaist different builds.
Key cards that you need: Damnation, Lingering Souls, Abrupt Decay (Kills plating), Maelstrom Pulse (Kills plating). Other useful cards are Baneslayer, Liliana (kills Champion), tragic slip/disfigure, hate out of the board.
The key to this matchup is keeping your life total as high as possible whilst killing everything they have. Their burn hits for 4 (Galvanic) or 5 (Shrapnel) so avoid taking damage wherever possible. Plating must be killed on sight, if they connect with it you die. Kitchen Finks isn't as good as you think it is in this matchup, a lot of their stuff flies
and you need to block as much as possible. Watch out for Etched Champion, particularly postboard. You will lose to this deck if you haven't practised enough to beat them. You should be able to have a 50+% preboard. I run hate too because it's a very popular deck and extra help never hurts.
Don't worry about getting outground by thoughtcast, you win the long game. This matchup is one of the main reasons to run Wildwood over Treetop. Fetch basics g2 and g3 if at all possible since they frequently play Blood Moon.
Sideboard guide: -3 Death Cloud, -1 Elspeth. +1 Damnation, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Pithing Needle (name plating or Blinkmoth Nexus).
-R/G Tron
You lose. You can't interact with turn 3 Karn/Wurmcoil. Your fantasy scenarios of Maelstrom Pulse don't work out because in the next turn or 2 Eldrazi hit the field. I gave up on this matchup, because you need around 5 stone rain effects to win this one. It isn't worth the SB space. Death Cloud (the card and the deck) is way too slow.
Cards that help: LD, Maelstrom Pulse, aggressive creatures, Liliana, Garruk and Death Cloud. There are 3 realistic ways of winning:
1. T3 Liliana (on the play) after t1/t2 discard to slow them from getting the tron until t4. Discard their hand and ulti ASAP. Hope they draw bricks.
2. T2 Ramp, T3 Garruk, T4 Death Cloud. Hope they didn't cast Karn or Wormcoil for some reason or you will lose post-cloud.
3. Aggresive creatures backed by discard.
Basically all these plans involve their draws sucking. Huge amounts of luck required to win this one. Watch out for Pyroclasm.
Sideboard: -3 Damnation, -2 Lingering Souls, -1 Geth's Verdict, -4 Abrupt Decay, -3 Tragic Slip, +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Tidehollow Sculler, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Pithing Needle (name Karn or artifacts like Map that you know they have), +2 Dark Confidant, +2 Leyline of the Void (stops Star and Wurmcoil from working properly).
-Jund
Prebanning this was about 50/50, now it is definitely favourable. Without BBE you have to worry a lot less about being outground.
Priorities: 1. Kill their Dark Confidant. 2. Prevent Liliana from ultimating (her other abilities don't matter that much) 3. Stay out of burn range. Practise this matchup.
Sideboarding: -1 Geth's Verdict, +1 Damnation
-Birthing Pod (Naya)
This is an unfavourable matchup, mainly because virtually all of their important cards are 4cc+ (Birthing Pod, Angel, Kiki-Jiki). Stop birthing pod if at all possible. If you can't kill their pod, kill all the creatures that they could sac to it (*cough*damnation*cough*). Stall until you can cloud for the win.
Postboard life gets easier because you can actually stop their persist stuff and interact with their high cmc cards. Also, learn how their combo works so you know how to stop it.
Sideboard: -4 Lingering Souls, -4 Abrupt Decay, -1 Finks, -1 Elspeth. +3 Leyline of the Void, +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Damnation, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Pithing Needle (naming Pod or Kiki).
-Birthing Pod (Melira)
Abrupt Decay is much better here, this matchup is slightly in their favour preboard but you get a decent advantage after bringing in Leyline and Stony. As with Naya Pod, learn their deck so you know how to stop them.
Sideboard: As for Naya, but leave the Decays in and take out Baneslayer, Geth's and a Plains and only bring in 2 Thoughtseize. Pithing Needle can also name Qasali Pridemage.
-Infect
Good matchup, watch out for being blown out with Tragic Slip with pump spells in response. Lingering Souls is an all-star.
Sideboard: -1 Elspeth, -1 Finks, -1 Baneslayer, -3 Garruk, -1 Death Cloud. +1 Pithing (Inkmoth Nexus), +2 Dark Confidant, +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Damnation.
-Bogle
Fantastic Matchup. You have Damnation, Liliana, Geth's and Death Cloud to kill their hexproof guys and Decay to kill key auras. They aren't prepared for the interaction.
Sideboard: -1 Elspeth, -1 Finks, -2 Primal Command. +1 Damnation, +3 Thoughtseize.
-Storm
Not really a deck any more thanks to the bans. If some insists on playing it, they'll probably get you game 1, but I wish them luck game 2+3.
Sideboard: -3 Tragic Slip, -3 Damnation (unless you expect Empty transformational board), -4 Lingering Souls, -1 Elspeth. +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Tidehollow, +3 Leyline, +2 Dark Confidant.
-Scapeshift
Deeply Unfavourable. Just like Tron, you have no good way of interacting with their mana. At least they are a little slower, so Death Cloud becomes an option. It has to resolve though...
Postboard, you can get there by discarding every Scapeshift they find and hope they can't find another one when they hit 7 land. Liliana is really good here. Leyline of Sanctity is okay but is
easily bounced by their 4 Cryptics. Bring it in if you have it. Clock them as much as possible, you lose the long game unless you manage to resolve a large cloud.
Sideboarding: -1 Tragic Slip (Unless they are playing Primeval Titan), -3 Damnation, -4 Abrupt Decay (unless they are playing Prismatic Omen). +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Tidehollow Sculler, +2 Dark Confidant.
-RDW
Good if you draw your lifegain, bad if you don't. Obviously Finks, Vault, Primal Command and Baneslayer are amazing here. Don't mull to aggressively for it, you need to be able to play land
to cast the lifegain cards and kill their early creature rush. Leyline is good here, as is more Finks.
Sideboarding: -3 Death Cloud. +3 Tidehollow Sculler.
-Twin
Good matchup thanks to Abrupt Decay, they really have no good way to stop the card wrecking them. Time is on your side, the longer the game stalls out the better your chances. Watch out for Blood Moon games 2 and 3.
Sideboard: -3 Damnation, -1 Kitchen Finks, -1 Elspeth, -1 Baneslayer, -2 Lingering Souls. +3 Thoughtseize, +2 Dark Confidant, +3 Tidehollow Sculler.
-Gifts/Teachings
Teachings is much less frequent than Gifts, so don't worry too much about it. Just know that Teachings is the only deck on this list that will win a long game against you. Go aggro whenever possible. Ditto for Gifts Game 1, but g2 and g3 you should outgrind gifts as they no long have 'gifts, I win' thanks to Leyline.
Gifts is very reliant on the gy, Leyline is fantastic agaist them. Both Gifts and Teachings are unfavourable g1 but improve markedly g2 (particularly Gifts). Resolve Liliana if at all possible, they have no good answers save Pulse and Decay, which are usually one ofs. Usually they have to waste a Cryptic bouncing it. Beware of Tombstalker postboard (particularly Teachings). If you have Leyline of Sanctity, bring it in against Gifts since it says "target opponent".
Sideboard: -3 Tragic Slip, -4 Decay (consider leaving a few in if they have Liliana), -3 Damnation. +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Sculler, +2 Dark Confidant, +3 Leyline of the Void.
-RUW Delver w/Geist
Favourable if you can keep Geist under control, a virtual auto-loss if you can't. Really make sure you kill that guy or gum up the board with a lot of tokens (as in more than path+bolt can clear). They run a lot of burn, and often scepter. Keep that life total high. Remember that they often board into Gifts+Iona, bring in Leyline if you can't beat this. It's a lot easier than pure gifts since they don't always cast it on time and have a lot less to protect it.
Sideboard: -1 Elspeth, +1 Damnation.
-RUG Delver
Like RUW, without the Geist and Gifts SB plan. The only card they gain that is a problem is Shackles and Tarmogoyf (and 2 Cryptic Command, which you can't do much about). Decay is good against both. Pretty Favourable. They have less burn, which makes the matchup even better.
Sideboard: Same as RUG. Elspeth is a little better against RUG, so taking out something else is defensible.
-B/W Tokens
Damnation is fantastic here. Decay their anthems so you can trade your souls for theirs. This matchup is a little rough if you can't find a way to favourably interact with the tokens. Baneslayer is very good IF it doesn't get pathed. They can have any of Sorin, Liliana or Elspeth making Cloud awkward.
This is unfavourable, but a pair of Maelstrom pulses help out a lot if you're worried about B/W tokens.
Sideboard: -1 Geth's Verdict, +1 Damnation. Add a pithing needle if they have multiple Sorins. Add Thoughtseizes if they have a lot of Planeswalkers you otherwise can't deal with. Kill their Bob on sight. You lean heavily on Damnation for this matchup.
-Martyr/Soul Sisters
Favourable. You don't care how much life they gain unless they get into the triple figures (and even then, I've still won a decent % of games. It just takes a while). Damnation is really good against them. You'll eventually outgrind them, don't worry too much about Ranger of Eos.
The except to this is if they run multiple Proclomation of Rebirth and you can't discard it for whatever reason. Then maybe bring in a few Leyline to shut that down.
Sideboard: -1 Geth's Verdict, +1 Damnation. Consider a Pithing Needle if they have Vial.
My basic SB guide for my version of Cloud. Hopefully it helped, this took a while to type :P.
More aggressive decks running tarmogoyf almost certainly play differently.
Sample Decklists:
Jonathan Sonne - Death Cloud
Grand Prix Philadelphia 2008 - Top 8
In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
I think death cloud green would be the way to go. Issues with burn can be ironed out with kitchen finks or obstinate baloths. Lots of ramp, early dudes and planeswalkers. Been toying with this idea but haven't sat down to put a decklist together yet.
if I scramble something together though...this would be a good list of cards to consider:
I've been wondering this myself. GBW or GB would be the way that I would go if I made the deck. You have answers for most things and should be favored against most decks or at least even. Decks that run red other than zoo are tough though. Could be tier 1.5 or 2
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
I've been wondering this myself. GBW or GB would be the way that I would go if I made the deck. You have answers for most things and should be favored against most decks or at least even. Decks that run red other than zoo are tough though. Could be tier 1.5 or 2
If the format isn't too far off of the previous Extended then Zoo isn't really an issue. Finks and a Damnation usually swing that game pretty quick. I was actually the OP for the Official Death Cloud thread in the decks to beat section for the wizards forums. I go as Blackcat77 over there.
Oh and Beast Within is crazy good in a deck that can kill large amounts of creatures.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
If the format isn't too far off of the previous Extended then Zoo isn't really an issue. Finks and a Damnation usually swing that game pretty quick. I was actually the OP for the Official Death Cloud thread in the decks to beat section for the wizards forums. I go as Blackcat77 over there.
Oh and Beast Within is crazy good in a deck that can kill large amounts of creatures.
I was saying red decks other than zoo lol. rock decks in general have at least 5-10 % on zoo.
Beast within might be a bit marginal however I want to use it then small pox and laugh all the way to the win column.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
one thing i've noticed: D+T kills it. but it seemed good even so.
one would think a proper list in modern would have a pretty good match up against it. You just have to keep vials off of the board.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
Probably, yeah. You could give it a shot, at least. You might want to check out the Death Cloud article on mtgoverextended.com. I don't recall how much of that deck was Modern-legal, but you could get some ideas.
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"Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one. When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
can it beat zoo?
Can it have a reasonable game against combo?
Can you afford disruption for 12post decks?
Can you put enough general answers into the deck that would allow it a decent chance against the field?
If any of these are "no" then it would not be tier 1. If a 1-2 of them are no then it depends on the meta game which is far from established.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Well let me get my old files out of the archive and I will get something up with some brews.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
I've been looking for a deck to fit Sakura-Tribe Elder and Solemn Simulacrum into (because turn two Tribe-Elder into turn three Simulacrum seems really strong) and I think a Pox/Cloud deck could be a good shell.
I've been looking for a deck to fit Sakura-Tribe Elder and Solemn Simulacrum into (because turn two Tribe-Elder into turn three Simulacrum seems really strong) and I think a Pox/Cloud deck could be a good shell.
Sacrifice Simulacrum to Smallpox? Sure!
the sad robot is still slow in modern with mana accel. I wouldn't even put it into a 12 post deck.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
It's not as fast as you think it is. Simulacrum on turn three is not slow at all.
no but what happens when you get 2 of them in your hand and you don't get your mana ramp. IMO in this format everything above 4 mana should win you the game, or make it much harder for you to lose like wrath of god.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
no but what happens when you get 2 of them in your hand and you don't get your mana ramp. IMO in this format everything above 4 mana should win you the game, or make it much harder for you to lose like wrath of god.
Not necessarily.
Although I wouldn't want to get two in my opening hand, it does set up for a turn four Primeval Titan, and turn five Death Cloud.
And even if I do get Wrathed, I get to draw a card. I don't care if Titan of Tribe-Elder get Wrathed either, because I can just sac the the Elder, and Titan serves it's purpose when it hits the field (not to say I'd be paying six for two lands, I could very well beat with it as well).
I think the mix of disruption and ramping could be very powerful. Would anyone else like to test with me?
Could Heartbeat of Spring be worth considering to ramp into a massive Cloud? Seems like some Madness cards from TSP block could be worth considering here if it's a Pox/Cloud shell.
Death Cloud is a Modern deck that is often of the "Rock" or "Junk" archetype. Meaning its primary colors are Black and Green. BG Death Cloud can also be mono black or splashed with White.W Other possible color combinations come from BW The Rock Archatype most commonly used in Death Cloud is an older unloved cousin of Jund. Rock first became a serious threat in tournament play during Urza Block after being designed by Sol Malka. Rock has been played in many formats including Legacy, Modern and various times in Standard. Threw the formats its core idea is still the same. "Midrange Aggro Control" Death Cloud first became a serious threat during Mirrordin/Kamigawa (Type 2) Standard and came back into favor with the new Modern Format.
Modern is an all out race. There are 2 main strategies to decks in modern. Race for a combo or race damage out quickly. Without a control/permission deck in the format a lot of matches comes down to who can deliver the most damage or create their win con. Death Cloud Rock stops both of those strategies with a familiar feel of Aggro along with the confidence of Control. Making it a Midranged monster to deal with. It picks at your opponent ensuring he/she can not establish field dominance while you work into a Aggro offensive or Garruk into a massive Death Cloud. Another reason to play Death Cloud Rock is the Meta. If they are not ready it there is very little stopping it already with its favorable match ups against RG Tron, Birthing Pod, Twin, and most combo decks. Much of this is because most Death Cloud decks main board 6-8 hand disruption cards in addition to Death Cloud and Liliana of the Veil. Death Cloud Rock can do quite well against Jund it the right meta.
Creature Options
Plainswalker Options
Spell Options
Thanks to the Jund Primer for use of some of their card information so I wouldn't have to type it all up.
Written by Xmas_Asn
Proofed by PoopingMyPants
As a baseline we have this list from the first Modern Pro Tour. I think newer players should try this list and expand from there to make it fit their play style. As the list is older there will be some easy card changes. The lack of Abrupt Decay is the most noticeable.
60 cards
3 Forest
1 Golgari Rot Farm
2 Marsh Flats
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
3 Overgrown Tomb
4 Swamp
3 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
24 lands
2 Eternal Witness
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Tarmogoyf
14 creatures
2 Death Cloud
2 Doom Blade
2 Duress
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Primal Command
2 Putrefy
4 Thoughtseize
22 other spells
1 Damnation
4 Dark Confidant
1 Doom Blade
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Rain of Tears
2 Raven's Crime
15 sideboard cards
Sideboard guide for a controlish build. By Chess76.
Someone asked about SBing, so here it is. For sideboarding with Death Cloud (I'm going to use my list as an example because obviously I know that best but similar principles apply for all):
-Affinity
This matchup is favourable if you know what their deck does, built your deck properly and have practised it. The more practise the better, particularly agaist different builds.
Key cards that you need: Damnation, Lingering Souls, Abrupt Decay (Kills plating), Maelstrom Pulse (Kills plating). Other useful cards are Baneslayer, Liliana (kills Champion), tragic slip/disfigure, hate out of the board.
The key to this matchup is keeping your life total as high as possible whilst killing everything they have. Their burn hits for 4 (Galvanic) or 5 (Shrapnel) so avoid taking damage wherever possible. Plating must be killed on sight, if they connect with it you die. Kitchen Finks isn't as good as you think it is in this matchup, a lot of their stuff flies
and you need to block as much as possible. Watch out for Etched Champion, particularly postboard. You will lose to this deck if you haven't practised enough to beat them. You should be able to have a 50+% preboard. I run hate too because it's a very popular deck and extra help never hurts.
Don't worry about getting outground by thoughtcast, you win the long game. This matchup is one of the main reasons to run Wildwood over Treetop. Fetch basics g2 and g3 if at all possible since they frequently play Blood Moon.
Sideboard guide: -3 Death Cloud, -1 Elspeth. +1 Damnation, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Pithing Needle (name plating or Blinkmoth Nexus).
-R/G Tron
You lose. You can't interact with turn 3 Karn/Wurmcoil. Your fantasy scenarios of Maelstrom Pulse don't work out because in the next turn or 2 Eldrazi hit the field. I gave up on this matchup, because you need around 5 stone rain effects to win this one. It isn't worth the SB space. Death Cloud (the card and the deck) is way too slow.
Cards that help: LD, Maelstrom Pulse, aggressive creatures, Liliana, Garruk and Death Cloud. There are 3 realistic ways of winning:
1. T3 Liliana (on the play) after t1/t2 discard to slow them from getting the tron until t4. Discard their hand and ulti ASAP. Hope they draw bricks.
2. T2 Ramp, T3 Garruk, T4 Death Cloud. Hope they didn't cast Karn or Wormcoil for some reason or you will lose post-cloud.
3. Aggresive creatures backed by discard.
Basically all these plans involve their draws sucking. Huge amounts of luck required to win this one. Watch out for Pyroclasm.
Sideboard: -3 Damnation, -2 Lingering Souls, -1 Geth's Verdict, -4 Abrupt Decay, -3 Tragic Slip, +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Tidehollow Sculler, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Pithing Needle (name Karn or artifacts like Map that you know they have), +2 Dark Confidant, +2 Leyline of the Void (stops Star and Wurmcoil from working properly).
-Jund
Prebanning this was about 50/50, now it is definitely favourable. Without BBE you have to worry a lot less about being outground.
Priorities: 1. Kill their Dark Confidant. 2. Prevent Liliana from ultimating (her other abilities don't matter that much) 3. Stay out of burn range. Practise this matchup.
Sideboarding: -1 Geth's Verdict, +1 Damnation
-Birthing Pod (Naya)
This is an unfavourable matchup, mainly because virtually all of their important cards are 4cc+ (Birthing Pod, Angel, Kiki-Jiki). Stop birthing pod if at all possible. If you can't kill their pod, kill all the creatures that they could sac to it (*cough*damnation*cough*). Stall until you can cloud for the win.
Postboard life gets easier because you can actually stop their persist stuff and interact with their high cmc cards. Also, learn how their combo works so you know how to stop it.
Sideboard: -4 Lingering Souls, -4 Abrupt Decay, -1 Finks, -1 Elspeth. +3 Leyline of the Void, +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Damnation, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Pithing Needle (naming Pod or Kiki).
-Birthing Pod (Melira)
Abrupt Decay is much better here, this matchup is slightly in their favour preboard but you get a decent advantage after bringing in Leyline and Stony. As with Naya Pod, learn their deck so you know how to stop them.
Sideboard: As for Naya, but leave the Decays in and take out Baneslayer, Geth's and a Plains and only bring in 2 Thoughtseize. Pithing Needle can also name Qasali Pridemage.
-Infect
Good matchup, watch out for being blown out with Tragic Slip with pump spells in response. Lingering Souls is an all-star.
Sideboard: -1 Elspeth, -1 Finks, -1 Baneslayer, -3 Garruk, -1 Death Cloud. +1 Pithing (Inkmoth Nexus), +2 Dark Confidant, +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Damnation.
-Bogle
Fantastic Matchup. You have Damnation, Liliana, Geth's and Death Cloud to kill their hexproof guys and Decay to kill key auras. They aren't prepared for the interaction.
Sideboard: -1 Elspeth, -1 Finks, -2 Primal Command. +1 Damnation, +3 Thoughtseize.
-Storm
Not really a deck any more thanks to the bans. If some insists on playing it, they'll probably get you game 1, but I wish them luck game 2+3.
Sideboard: -3 Tragic Slip, -3 Damnation (unless you expect Empty transformational board), -4 Lingering Souls, -1 Elspeth. +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Tidehollow, +3 Leyline, +2 Dark Confidant.
-Scapeshift
Deeply Unfavourable. Just like Tron, you have no good way of interacting with their mana. At least they are a little slower, so Death Cloud becomes an option. It has to resolve though...
Postboard, you can get there by discarding every Scapeshift they find and hope they can't find another one when they hit 7 land. Liliana is really good here. Leyline of Sanctity is okay but is
easily bounced by their 4 Cryptics. Bring it in if you have it. Clock them as much as possible, you lose the long game unless you manage to resolve a large cloud.
Sideboarding: -1 Tragic Slip (Unless they are playing Primeval Titan), -3 Damnation, -4 Abrupt Decay (unless they are playing Prismatic Omen). +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Tidehollow Sculler, +2 Dark Confidant.
-RDW
Good if you draw your lifegain, bad if you don't. Obviously Finks, Vault, Primal Command and Baneslayer are amazing here. Don't mull to aggressively for it, you need to be able to play land
to cast the lifegain cards and kill their early creature rush. Leyline is good here, as is more Finks.
Sideboarding: -3 Death Cloud. +3 Tidehollow Sculler.
-Twin
Good matchup thanks to Abrupt Decay, they really have no good way to stop the card wrecking them. Time is on your side, the longer the game stalls out the better your chances. Watch out for Blood Moon games 2 and 3.
Sideboard: -3 Damnation, -1 Kitchen Finks, -1 Elspeth, -1 Baneslayer, -2 Lingering Souls. +3 Thoughtseize, +2 Dark Confidant, +3 Tidehollow Sculler.
-Gifts/Teachings
Teachings is much less frequent than Gifts, so don't worry too much about it. Just know that Teachings is the only deck on this list that will win a long game against you. Go aggro whenever possible. Ditto for Gifts Game 1, but g2 and g3 you should outgrind gifts as they no long have 'gifts, I win' thanks to Leyline.
Gifts is very reliant on the gy, Leyline is fantastic agaist them. Both Gifts and Teachings are unfavourable g1 but improve markedly g2 (particularly Gifts). Resolve Liliana if at all possible, they have no good answers save Pulse and Decay, which are usually one ofs. Usually they have to waste a Cryptic bouncing it. Beware of Tombstalker postboard (particularly Teachings). If you have Leyline of Sanctity, bring it in against Gifts since it says "target opponent".
Sideboard: -3 Tragic Slip, -4 Decay (consider leaving a few in if they have Liliana), -3 Damnation. +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Sculler, +2 Dark Confidant, +3 Leyline of the Void.
-RUW Delver w/Geist
Favourable if you can keep Geist under control, a virtual auto-loss if you can't. Really make sure you kill that guy or gum up the board with a lot of tokens (as in more than path+bolt can clear). They run a lot of burn, and often scepter. Keep that life total high. Remember that they often board into Gifts+Iona, bring in Leyline if you can't beat this. It's a lot easier than pure gifts since they don't always cast it on time and have a lot less to protect it.
Sideboard: -1 Elspeth, +1 Damnation.
-RUG Delver
Like RUW, without the Geist and Gifts SB plan. The only card they gain that is a problem is Shackles and Tarmogoyf (and 2 Cryptic Command, which you can't do much about). Decay is good against both. Pretty Favourable. They have less burn, which makes the matchup even better.
Sideboard: Same as RUG. Elspeth is a little better against RUG, so taking out something else is defensible.
-B/W Tokens
Damnation is fantastic here. Decay their anthems so you can trade your souls for theirs. This matchup is a little rough if you can't find a way to favourably interact with the tokens. Baneslayer is very good IF it doesn't get pathed. They can have any of Sorin, Liliana or Elspeth making Cloud awkward.
This is unfavourable, but a pair of Maelstrom pulses help out a lot if you're worried about B/W tokens.
Sideboard: -1 Geth's Verdict, +1 Damnation. Add a pithing needle if they have multiple Sorins. Add Thoughtseizes if they have a lot of Planeswalkers you otherwise can't deal with. Kill their Bob on sight. You lean heavily on Damnation for this matchup.
-Martyr/Soul Sisters
Favourable. You don't care how much life they gain unless they get into the triple figures (and even then, I've still won a decent % of games. It just takes a while). Damnation is really good against them. You'll eventually outgrind them, don't worry too much about Ranger of Eos.
The except to this is if they run multiple Proclomation of Rebirth and you can't discard it for whatever reason. Then maybe bring in a few Leyline to shut that down.
Sideboard: -1 Geth's Verdict, +1 Damnation. Consider a Pithing Needle if they have Vial.
My basic SB guide for my version of Cloud. Hopefully it helped, this took a while to type :P.
More aggressive decks running tarmogoyf almost certainly play differently.
Sample Decklists:
Jonathan Sonne - Death Cloud
Grand Prix Philadelphia 2008 - Top 8
4 Forest
3 Overgrown Tomb
4 Polluted Delta
5 Swamp
3 Treetop Village
3 Windswept Heath
2 Eternal Witness
4 Ravenous Baloth
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Death Cloud
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Smother
4 Thoughtseize
4 Duress
1 Eternal Witness
3 Extirpate
3 Indrik Stomphowler
4 Leyline of the Void
Stefano DAngella
Pro Tour-Berlin, Day 2
Main Deck
60 cards
3 Forest
3 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Mountain
3 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
3 Swamp
3 Treetop Village
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Eternal Witness
4 Ravenous Baloth
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Firespout
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Putrefy
3 Smother
4 Thoughtseize
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Extirpate
1 Firespout
4 Guttural Response
1 Smother
4 Trinisphere
Orr Bildner
Pro Tour-Berlin, Day 2
Main Deck
60 cards
4 Forest
3 Golgari Rot Farm
2 Mutavault
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
4 Swamp
2 Treetop Village
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
3 Eternal Witness
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Death Cloud
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Putrefy
3 Raven's Crime
1 Smother
4 Thoughtseize
1 Utopia Sprawl
2 Choke
3 Cranial Extraction
3 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Slaughter Pact
2 Smother
3 Thorn of Amethyst
Pro Tour-Berlin, Day 2
Main Deck
60 cards
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Forest
2 Golgari Rot Farm
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Swamp
4 Tranquil Thicket
2 Twilight Mire
2 Windswept Heath
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Damnation
4 Death Cloud
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Life from the Loam
4 Raven's Crime
4 Smother
4 Thoughtseize
1 Worm Harvest
3 Choke
1 Damnation
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Krosan Grip
3 Ravenous Baloth
3 Sun Droplet
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
if I scramble something together though...this would be a good list of cards to consider:
dudes:
birds of paradise
kitchen finks
sakura tribe elder
solemn simulacrum
eternal witness
obstinate baloth
kokusho, the evening star
kagemaro, first to suffer
card advantage stuff:
putrefy
cultivate or kodama's reach
infest
life from the loam may not be as good since there isn't a lot of other graveyard interaction, or cycling lands to use.
night's whisper
garruk, primal hunter
lilliana vess
you've got a decent list of lands to work with there too.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
If the format isn't too far off of the previous Extended then Zoo isn't really an issue. Finks and a Damnation usually swing that game pretty quick. I was actually the OP for the Official Death Cloud thread in the decks to beat section for the wizards forums. I go as Blackcat77 over there.
Oh and Beast Within is crazy good in a deck that can kill large amounts of creatures.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
I was saying red decks other than zoo lol. rock decks in general have at least 5-10 % on zoo.
Beast within might be a bit marginal however I want to use it then small pox and laugh all the way to the win column.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
one would think a proper list in modern would have a pretty good match up against it. You just have to keep vials off of the board.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
Probably, yeah. You could give it a shot, at least. You might want to check out the Death Cloud article on mtgoverextended.com. I don't recall how much of that deck was Modern-legal, but you could get some ideas.
can it beat zoo?
Can it have a reasonable game against combo?
Can you afford disruption for 12post decks?
Can you put enough general answers into the deck that would allow it a decent chance against the field?
If any of these are "no" then it would not be tier 1. If a 1-2 of them are no then it depends on the meta game which is far from established.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
Is it better than jund and junk decks?
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Sacrifice Simulacrum to Smallpox? Sure!
the sad robot is still slow in modern with mana accel. I wouldn't even put it into a 12 post deck.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
It's not as fast as you think it is. Simulacrum on turn three is not slow at all.
no but what happens when you get 2 of them in your hand and you don't get your mana ramp. IMO in this format everything above 4 mana should win you the game, or make it much harder for you to lose like wrath of god.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
Not necessarily.
Although I wouldn't want to get two in my opening hand, it does set up for a turn four Primeval Titan, and turn five Death Cloud.
And even if I do get Wrathed, I get to draw a card. I don't care if Titan of Tribe-Elder get Wrathed either, because I can just sac the the Elder, and Titan serves it's purpose when it hits the field (not to say I'd be paying six for two lands, I could very well beat with it as well).
I think the mix of disruption and ramping could be very powerful. Would anyone else like to test with me?
-MTG Salvation.
Lands WUBG
EDH:
Doran WBG
4 Swamp
3 Forest
1 Plains
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Creatures:
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Primeval Titan
2 Reveillark
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
Sorceries:
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Death Cloud
3 Life from the Loam
2 Raven's Crime
Instants:
4 Path to Exile
3 Putrefy
15 ???
Here's what my brain made up right off the bat.