Death Cloud is a variant off of the popular Rock or Junk Modern decklists. Death Cloud is a grindy deck that is played much differently than other faster Modern decks. At its heart, Death Cloud can be built to play as a B/G/x Midrange deck much like its cousin Jund. Where our deck branches away from other B/G/x decks is that Death Cloud is often used as a powerful finisher stripping away your opponent’s resources and cleaning up with a resilient creature like Kitchen Finks, a manland like Treetop Village, or simply a planeswalker that is entirely unaffected by Death Cloud’s destruction like Liliana of the Veil.
II). The Deck
The Core
Sakura-Tribe Elder (1G) - Good ol' Steve is essentially Rampant Growth on a stick. However, against aggro or even other midrange decks, Sakura-Tribe Elder excels at being able to blank an opponent's attacker saving you valuable life points while ramping up a basic and fix your mana for next turn.
Scavenging Ooze (1G) – With the banning of Deathrite Shaman, Ooze is the perfect replacement. Not only can Ooze hate the graveyard and gain life like Deathrite could, but it is a finisher in of itself. Ooze is the perfect top deck after a Death Cloud and will become problematic for your opponent very quickly.
Tarmogoyf (1G) - For a measly two mana, Goyf can be a powerful wall to conserve your life total early, an early beater that puts pressure on your opponent for a life threatening Death Cloud later in the game, or as a late-game finisher once you resolved a large Death Cloud. Goyf is highly versatile in Modern and is no exception in Death Cloud.
Kitchen Finks (1(G/W)(G/W)) – Finks is a true staple in our deck compared to the more common Rock archetypes. Against Aggro decks like Naya Zoo, an unpersisted Finks can trade with their Wild Nacatl while setting your life total further out of reach of your opponent. An unpersisted Finks also survives a Death Cloud or other sweeper to act as a threat to your opponent.
Supporting Creatures
Dark Confidant (1B) – Bob depends on your deck’s curve and therefore is not a must have like in other Jund and Rock decks. The life loss from Bob is relevant as our deck wants to conserve as much life as possible (around half our starting life total) before resolving a crippling Death Cloud.
Vampire Nighthawk (1BB) – An answer to other larger problematic flyers like Thundermaw Hellkite or Restoration Angel. Death Cloud lacks reliable flyers, and is always a good option to have in mind despite the fact that it has fallen out of favor.
Grave Titan (4BB) – Grave Titan is a powerhouse that acts as an alternative beatdown wincon. 10 power spread across 3 creatures is nothing to scoff at especially if he sticks and continues to pump out more tokens.
Eternal Witness (1GG) – While not the best card to draw in the early game, Eternal Witness is a great utility card in the later stages of a game as it provides a decent body for a powerful effect.
Courser of Kruphix (1GG) – A decent option in more common Jund and Rock archetypes, but in Death Cloud, Courser has competition in the 3 drop creature slot in Kitchen Finks. Courser gets better as the game goes longer, but is very susceptible to a kill spell before getting any value off of it. In comparison, Finks will almost always guarantee a second body and 4 life while Courser is more build around to get the most value off of it.
Obstinate Baloth (2GG) – A very good sideboard option against the mirror Rock or Jund decks. Otherwise, Obstinate Baloth is fairly costed for the body with its useful 4 point lifegain.
Thrun, the Last Troll (2GG) – A great 1 or 2 of sideboard answer to decks like UWR Control because of the fact that he practically can’t be touched, let alone be killed.
Thragtusk (4G) – Another solid beater that is basically a larger Kitchen Finks. Its 3 toughness and lack of trample are notable downsides that will often trade for a much smaller blocker. Still, its 5 life point gain is nothing to scoff at especially since its token will survive a Death Cloud resolution.
Fulminator Mage (1(B/R)(B/R))– Basically an opposite Sakura-Tribe Elder. This Rain of Tears on a stick is very versatile in destroying problematic manlands like Celestial Colonnade or disrupting an opponent’s manabase. Like Steve, Fulminator requires no mana cost to activate and can be used at instant speed. Fulminator is a great sideboard tool versus Tron decks in particular because sometimes Tron will be able to get online as early as turn 3.
Wurmcoil Engine (6) – Any beater that can survive a Death Cloud is worth a mention and Wurmcoil is no exception. Wurmcoil should be the strongest beater out of them all, but is very susceptible to Path to Exile.
Spells
Slaughter Pact (0) - A nice piece of removal against Combo decks. Slaughter Pact allows you to safely tap out without worrying if your opponent can combo off next turn.
Extirpate//Surgical Extraction (B) – These two cards are powerful sideboard options for certain matchups. Both have advantages over the other in their own right and it is really meta dependent on which one is better suited for your deck’s taste. Extirpate is better against Control decks because it is basically uncounterable and unrespondable hate. However, Surgical Extraction can be more powerful combined with a turn 1 hand disruption like Thoughtseize with its Phyrexian mana cost to permanently get rid of multiple copies of a single card in your opponent’s opening hand.
Thoughtseize//Inquisition of Kozilek//Duress (B) – Cheap and efficient discard spells like these enable our deck to have a great turn 1 play against nearly any matchup. The correct variation can be difficult to determine as there are many factors that come into play. While Thoughtseize is considered the best, the 2 life loss can be relevant against faster Aggro decks. Inquisition of Kozilek is easier on the life total, but can be a dead card in some matchups like Tron or as the game progresses. Duress is more of a sideboard and meta dependent choice being really good against Storm decks for example.
Night's Whisper (1B) - Night's Whisper is cheap card draw that can benefit our deck's late game. However, it can mess with our deck's tempo if found in our opening hand.
Waste Not (1B) – An interesting newcomer that really pushes the more Control variant of Death Cloud. Although largely untested, Waste Not synergizes nicely with our deck’s plentiful amount of discard including a Death Cloud.
Death Cloud (XBBB) – The name of our game is our finisher of choice. With a little ramp help from Steve and Garruk, a sizable Death Cloud can lock your opponent out of the game. From there, cheap manlands like Treetop Village or resilient creature can finish off your opponent.
Damnation (2BB) – Damnation doesn’t see much play in Modern, but acts as a true and reliable sweeper in our deck. Death Cloud is not really a sweeper and can be cumbersome against Aggro or Token decks that produce many small creatures quickly. It’s a great card to have even in the sideboard.
Primal Command (3GG) – All of Primal Command’s abilities are somewhat unexciting, but together, Primal Command offers a wide arrange of support choices against certain matchups. As Antonino De Rosa put it “Shuffle all your homies back into your deck”, Primal Command’s graveyard shuffle ability is really useful against decks like Living End and can be used in conjunction with its removal ability. Its creature tutor ability is not bad if you run a finisher like Grave Titan. Lastly, the 7 life can be a significant life gain in a pinch.
Abrupt Decay (BG) – A recent, but powerful addition to the Rock archetype. Abrupt Decay is an absolute staple in our deck because of the average low curve of the Modern metagame. Despite its power, Abrupt Decay shouldn’t be used as the sole removal spell in our deck because there are other powerful targets it cannot hit like manlands and Restoration Angel.
Maelstrom Pulse (1BG) – Pulse is the closest Modern will ever get to Vindicate. Pulse is a very versatile card because of the fact that it can kill almost everything its younger brother, Abrupt Decay, could not and occasionally hits multiple targets like tokens. The facts that Pulse is sorcery speed and cannot hit manlands like its younger brother are the only real downsides to this otherwise powerful removal spell.
Putrefy (1BG) – Putrefy is the answer that fills in the gaps where Decay and Pulse left off. At instant speed, Putrefy can kill manlands and creatures with a no regeneration clause tagged on for good measure.
Planeswalkers
Liliana of the Veil (1BB) – The best planeswalker in Modern is no slouch and shines in our deck as a great support piece. Her first ability keeps your opponent’s hand in check especially against Control and her second ability can keep pressure away from our life total especially against Aggro. Like other planeswalkers, Liliana conveniently survives Death Cloud and can lock down your opponent permanently if your opponent is not drawing lands.
Liliana Vess (3BB) – The original Liliana still fills a role in more Control styled Death Cloud decks. While slower than Liliana of the Veil, Vess doesn’t hit your own hand for discard. Her tutor is nice as well albeit a little slow.
Garruk Wildspeaker (2GG) – Garruk does everything our deck wants to do. His first ability allows us to ramp into a potentially game ending Death Cloud. After a large Death Cloud, his second ability is a win condition by itself. Garruk’s ultimate is not far-fetched at all and is good to end stalemates.
Nissa, Worldwaker (3GG) – A new and unproven card right now, but Nissa has potential to complement or even replace Wildspeaker in some builds. Nissa is very similar to Wildspeaker on paper and may even be better. The fact that she can turn your remaining lands after a Death Cloud into 4/4 trampling creatures that essentially have 0 mana cost to activate is something to keep in mind. Untapping 4 Forests probably isn’t going to happen on a regular basis. However, regularly untapping 2-3 Forests will not be that uncommon.
Vraska the Unseen (3BG) – A great singleton in Death Cloud that is a win con by itself. At worst, she is a 5 mana Vindicate that prevents the next 2+ damage dealt to you. At best, ticking her up to 6 with no threats on board puts a huge amount of pressure on your opponent from just simply ending the game in a few short turns.
Lands
Ghost Quarter – Ghost Quarter is a better Tectonic Edge in certain matchups. For instance, Tron is able power out its fatties with just the 3 Urza lands on their own by as early as turn 3 right under Tectonic Edge.
Golgari Rot Farm – Bouncelands or Karoo Lands are very risky to run, but depending on your deck they may be worth it. They have very nice synergy with Garruk Wildspeaker at the cost of some early game tempo.
Overgrown Tomb – Shocklands are always great mana fixing. Just be careful how many you want to run as your life total will matter.
Temple of Malady – A Scryland? In Modern?! Indeed, it’s better than it looks and sounds. Death Cloud is a slow attrition deck and having a few of these to smooth out the next draw is very useful.
Tectonic Edge – Modern’s own Wasteland. Tectonic Edge is very useful at killing enemy manlands as well as screwing with our opponent’s mana base sometimes by using the “double Tec Edge” trick. If Tron isn’t prevalent in your meta, Tectonic Edge is fine to run as a “catch all”. I would be cautious of running too many as Death Cloud is mana intensive.
Treetop Village – Our main win con after a Death Cloud resolution. At least 2 lands and a Treetop Village is usually what you should be aiming for after a Death Cloud.
Twilight Mire – One of the best pieces of fixing for two color decks. However, these filterlands can be troublesome as they require colored mana in order to filter. I would not recommend running more than 2 of these in a deck.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth – Fantastic land as a 1 or 2 of. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth potentially can fix all our Black mana woes especially since Death Cloud has a triple black base cost.
Verdant Catacombs – Fetchland reprints in Khans means Verdant Catacombs and its siblings are much cheaper than before. Fetchlands are the core of Death Cloud's manabase with a high reliance on black mana for not only Death Cloud itself but hand disruption spells such as Thoughtseize on turn 1.
This is going to be the new Primer that replaces the older one. I contacted one of the staff, ktkenshinx, some time ago about starting a new Primer as the old one hasn't been updated in a while. He was fine with it and so was the original thread writer. ktkenshinx just hasn't gotten back to me yet now that I've finished the Primer to sticky it and replace the old one.
I think the list looks pretty solid. My mana base that I've been brewing for Nissa looks very similar to that. Is there a reason why you cut Liliana of the Veil? I've seen some decks start to cut her numbers down, but I don't fully understand why. As you pointed out, there's a lot of brewing to be had with Nissa. I wonder if Nissa on a good day can act like Bloodbraid Elf, "Cascading" into Garruk Wildspeaker who then holds up mana for Abrupt Decay. I feel like 2 walkers on turn 5 puts an insane amount of pressure. Nissa into Damnation isn't bad either, but I don't know how realistically Nissa will untap 4 lands.
I can agree that Read the Bones is probably the best card draw spell for our deck. I personally don't run any extra card draw anymore as it feels super awkward in my hand in the early game. It messes with my tempo and I see it as essentially a dead card figuring out when is the best time to use it. I found that it's not that great Post-Cloud either because you want to be attacking with Treetop Village or putting on pressure with another threat. Drawing 2 and losing 2 life for a crucial turn isn't worth it in my deck.
I want to try Death Clouding for everything except one land. Might seem dumb (probably is), but I would only do it to get rid of all my opponent's lands. If they have 5 lands and I have 6, I'll just go for it with Nissa.
Because I'm assuming that this will become the new primer pretty soon I figured that I would post here. I have been playing with 1-2 Bloodghast and having success. I know that since the DRS banning Scooze has been pretty popular, but I was finding that after a big cloud it is all I need to just finish the game out. By the time they get their lands back it is after 4+ draws and I will have had at least a land to bring back the Ghast. He synergies with Liliana of the Veil, which I have been running, but the new Nissa also looks pretty promising so I will have to give that a try. I will probably play this at Modern for the next week because I have wanted to go back to it for some time, so hopefully I can play more of a controlling build that has better focus on winning after the Death Cloud.
On a side note, I am not sure if it was ever mentioned in the last primer, but I have had some success with Phyrexian Totem. It gives a little bit extra for the Death Cloud, and you only really need one activation post-cloud to win. There are not threats to it at this point either because all of the opponents lands will be gone, and we are typically +3 lands ahead of the opponent when we cloud (at least that is what I have found). I know Treetop does the same thing, but I just want to start throwing ideas out there.
You should at least link to the old Primer, that way there is a running Archive of the deck. Sometimes what is old is new again as Modern rotates some.
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My Modern decks: B/R/G Living End G/R/B G/R Tron R/G U/W/G/R Gargageddon R/G/W/U R/W/G Naya Burn G/W/R
I feel like the future of deckbuilding for this archetype lies in how easily you can abuse these effects and make giant swing plays (example from a test game: t5 Nissa, untap 4, Damnation). At some point I'm gonna have to make an effort to delve into the maths involved and work out exactly how high different bits of the curve should be, but for now this list is mostly guessing.
Soul of New Phyrexia's indestructible activation --> Nissa's Untap 4 lands --> Damnation/Death cloud seems like a great line as well.
Any thoughts on penumbra spider. I haven't tried it yet, but thought it may be good as a 1 of.
For what it does, the casting cost doesn't justify its inclusion. It would be great at 3 mana.
It's about time that the new Primer got up. My old one was terribly out of date. With Urborg seeing a reprint I think the heavy basic version of this deck will be easier for new players to build. Thus upping the chance that Nissa sees play. And let's not count out Super Big Garruk as a possible one of. I have some EDH stuff to finish up but after that I will start to build a BG Cloud Walkers deck.
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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.
Are the BGw-lists not viable anymore? I remember some lists playing Birds of Paradise into Lingering Souls into Garruk, Flashback Souls into Garruk Ulti for 19 damage in the air on turn 4. (in magical christmas land of course)
I think they are. Sure GB has a bit more consistency but the Junk versions have more powerful options coming from the sideboard, and can branch out a bit more in how they play (aka Lingering Souls). The version I play is Junk with LotV and Souls as well as a couple of paths. I tried running KotR for a while too because of the amount of lands that get put into our yard.
I think that it is appropriate to add a color splash section to the primer, unless everyone else thinks that it is inferior now.
Are the BGw-lists not viable anymore? I remember some lists playing Birds of Paradise into Lingering Souls into Garruk, Flashback Souls into Garruk Ulti for 19 damage in the air on turn 4. (in magical christmas land of course)
Thanks for the feedback guys. Although this primer is fresh and new, it's not as complete as I would like to be. In the near future I would like to add on more decklists, a section linking back to the previous threads, a summary of how Death Cloud fares versus other Modern decks, and as you've already mentioned, a white splash. Maybe add a few more pictures and make it prettier as well? However, I do not personally splash white in my Death Cloud list, but I will gladly add it to the primer over the coming weeks.
If you guys see anything wrong with how something is worded in the primer or if a card is better than I put it, feel free to let me know about it.
Anything on Garruk, Apex Predator? I feel like this is the only deck that can make use of him, if you add one more ramp spell beside Steve.
I plan on trying a 1 of in my Cloud Walkers list.
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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 you guys see anything wrong with how something is worded in the primer or if a card is better than I put it, feel free to let me know about it.
This is super nit-picky, but you have the mana cost of Kitchen Finks as 1GG instead of 1(W/G)(W/G). I didn't know if you meant it as that because you wanted it to be GB, but I thought is was an Eternal Witness at first or something.
Anything on Garruk, Apex Predator? I feel like this is the only deck that can make use of him, if you add one more ramp spell beside Steve.
I plan on trying a 1 of in my Cloud Walkers list.
I think it's hilarious and worth trying to play. He seems to wreck any fair deck in Modern, and will hurt Tron, Jund, and UWR as those are the only real decks that play planeswalkers. I think it's worth looking into though, that if you are willing to pay 7 for Garruk, what is he going to offer that playing 7 for Karn wouldn't do?
I actually didn't know how to input hybrid mana symbols. I remember I spent a good several minutes when I was writing the thread trying different things and just gave up to put green mana symbols instead. If anyone knows how, please let me know.
I actually didn't know how to input hybrid mana symbols. I remember I spent a good several minutes when I was writing the thread trying different things and just gave up to put green mana symbols instead. If anyone knows how, please let me know.
I actually didn't know how to input hybrid mana symbols. I remember I spent a good several minutes when I was writing the thread trying different things and just gave up to put green mana symbols instead. If anyone knows how, please let me know.
Ah, type either:
{gw} with the mana brackets to make: (G/W)
OR
type :symgw____: without the underscores to make:
Hope it helps!
Thanks so much! Fixed both Kitchen Finks and Fulminator Mages's mana symbols.
Anything on Garruk, Apex Predator? I feel like this is the only deck that can make use of him, if you add one more ramp spell beside Steve.
I plan on trying a 1 of in my Cloud Walkers list.
I think it's hilarious and worth trying to play. He seems to wreck any fair deck in Modern, and will hurt Tron, Jund, and UWR as those are the only real decks that play planeswalkers. I think it's worth looking into though, that if you are willing to pay 7 for Garruk, what is he going to offer that playing 7 for Karn wouldn't do?
So with the lists slowly becoming a GB Superfriends decks, what about the inclusion of The Chain Veil? I feel that this could be one deck to really abuse it with maybe 2 copies to compliment the 6-7 walkers. It would also make for some huge ramp turns.
I understand this is the Death Cloud thread so asking about pulling out they namesake card may not exactly go down well, but have people looked at replacing Death Cloud with Damnation? The walker control list does seem to be the way this list is going and Damnation seems ok. Is sacing lands with Death Cloud really that backbreaking? I've never played it but have been looking at this as a shell.
I've been interested in this deck for a long time and have slowly been getting cards together for it. I would like to see it get some results, and a few nights ago I had an idea that I might try in the next couple weeks. Basically, I've come up with this list that draws some inspiration from the Amulet of Vigor combo deck:
Basically, it uses Amulet of Vigor with bounce lands to give some very effective ramp. Explore ramps, but also helps dig for Death Cloud. The scry land helps set up draws/dig for Death Cloud, and is really good with the bounce lands. These cards alone with something like Garruk or Birds can make for some fast Death Clouds. Although it is less impressive in this deck than in the Amulet combo deck, Primeval Titan also helps set up some massive Death Clouds. But more than that, it can tutor up some very useful lands. Maybe two scry lands to dig for Death Cloud. Maybe a Golgari Rot Farm and a Treetop Village. Maybe Boseiju, Who Shelters All for an uncounterable Death Cloud. I'm still looking for other ways to abuse his ability. If nothing else, he smacks hard with Garruk's ultimate.
I looked at Summer Bloom, but it really needs more lands in the deck for that, and I like having lots of Thragtusk/Kitchen Finks so I can reliably have creatures ready for a Death Cloud.
So with the lists slowly becoming a GB Superfriends decks, what about the inclusion of The Chain Veil? I feel that this could be one deck to really abuse it with maybe 2 copies to compliment the 6-7 walkers. It would also make for some huge ramp turns.
I think it depends on the absolute right build for it. The problem is that it doesn't do anything if played early before any walkers. It's a do nothing card, and I would much rather play a Kitchen Finks to protect my life total for the later stages of the game. It also requires some serious mana to get going provided that you have 2-3 different walkers on the field already and I'm not sure if it's worth it to get there. I feel that right now it's a win more or cute card, but I look forward to seeing lists that can abuse it.
I understand this is the Death Cloud thread so asking about pulling out they namesake card may not exactly go down well, but have people looked at replacing Death Cloud with Damnation? The walker control list does seem to be the way this list is going and Damnation seems ok. Is sacing lands with Death Cloud really that backbreaking? I've never played it but have been looking at this as a shell.
They really have different purposes. I run 3 Death Cloud and 2 Damnation in the mainboard and I could not live without the other. Damnation doesn't shut the opponent out like Death Cloud does, and Death Cloud isn't the sweeper like Damnation is. There are some matchups like UWR Control where both Damnation and Death Cloud are just awful and I end up playing BG Rock Midrange. UWR barely plays any creatures and Damnation is a total dead draw for that matchup.
What makes Death Cloud so good is that it doesn't hit walkers, and resolving a Death Cloud usually goes in our favor especially if we have a Treetop Village or Kitchen Finks to pressure the opponent next turn. Death Cloud hits hardest on our opponent's hand and especially the mana base; both of which are very hard to recover from. At that point of the game, our opponent has already developed their mana base and probably designed their deck to just top deck gas not lands. Damnation simply doesn't have that same impact provided your opponent isn't just dumping their hand onto the board.
The inevitable question when it comes to this sort of brew is: What does it do better than the current Amulet deck? A better back-up plan is one thing, but I think bigger than that is the potential disruption and resilience. Abrupt Decay can kill Blood Moon, for instance.
The amulet deck is a combo deck, almost to the point where it's a glass cannon. It requires very specific combinations of cards to create an out of control situation for the opponent. It largely depends on its speed, and a bad hand or the right disruption and it's in trouble fast. Unlike that, the deck I listed does not depend on fast ramp. It'll take advantage of it when it occurs, but can still go for a beatdown plan with value cards if it doesn't get it or it gets disrupted. It's like the difference between R/G Tron and U-Tron. They both use a lot of the same pieces, but one goes for explosiveness and the other goes for inevitablitiy. You could say Death Cloud already goes for inevitability, but obviously it hasn't been having a lot of success, so I'm trying something different.
- Cut Birds for Wall of Roots or STE, probably Wall. This is nowhere near as fast as the combo deck, Birds is a burn magnet as soon as your opponent figures out what you're doing, and both Amulet and discard just generally seem like better turn 1 plays. Also the reliance on scrylands means you won't have a turn 1 play half the time anyway (this is why I'm not suggesting Search for Tomorrow).
I like that wall of roots is more resilient to burn and can block. The problem is that if I'm not likely to play an untapped land T1, then I'm probably not going to be doing it T2 either. I don't want to be doing nothing my first two turns just to play wall of roots T3. Birds, even on T2, potentially enables T3 Garruk or Kitchen Finks. T1/2 Amulet also potentially enables a T3 Garruk with a bounceland. If I play T3 Garruk, and there is a bounceland down, he can untap it and another for Kitchen Finks. This sets up nicely for either a T4 Death Cloud or Primeval Titan, or Thragtusk to help stall until I get one of those two things.
Also, Birds taps for more than just green, which can be important.
- Cut Thrag for Thoughtseizes or maybe some basic removal. I dunno, I just don't like Thragtusk much.
I disagree. He helps fill out the curve between Garruk and Primeval Titan, and helps ensure that there is something on the board to protect Garruk and stall the game. I'm actually finding Tree Top Village to be the underperformer here because the deathcloud effect gets big really fast in this deck and wipes them out anyway.
- Cut the white sources for red ones and play Kessig Wolf Run, unless you have plans for a white sideboard.
That's a great idea. I threw in one Kessig Wolf Run and swapped the selesnya bouncelands for the gruul ones. It works well with all the interactions in this deck.
I've also thrown in a couple Cavern of Souls because of their interaction with bouncelands. Play them early for something like Birds of Paradise or Kitchen Finks, then bounce them and play them again for something else later like Primeval Titan.
I'm surprised this isn't a junk deck that goes with sakura tribe elder, lingering souls, and kitchen finks and then tries to hit as big a death cloud as possible. Seems silly to be trying to prime time and use dorks that will just straight die to the cloud.
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Death Cloud is a variant off of the popular Rock or Junk Modern decklists. Death Cloud is a grindy deck that is played much differently than other faster Modern decks. At its heart, Death Cloud can be built to play as a B/G/x Midrange deck much like its cousin Jund. Where our deck branches away from other B/G/x decks is that Death Cloud is often used as a powerful finisher stripping away your opponent’s resources and cleaning up with a resilient creature like Kitchen Finks, a manland like Treetop Village, or simply a planeswalker that is entirely unaffected by Death Cloud’s destruction like Liliana of the Veil.
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
This is going to be the new Primer that replaces the older one. I contacted one of the staff, ktkenshinx, some time ago about starting a new Primer as the old one hasn't been updated in a while. He was fine with it and so was the original thread writer. ktkenshinx just hasn't gotten back to me yet now that I've finished the Primer to sticky it and replace the old one.
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
I can agree that Read the Bones is probably the best card draw spell for our deck. I personally don't run any extra card draw anymore as it feels super awkward in my hand in the early game. It messes with my tempo and I see it as essentially a dead card figuring out when is the best time to use it. I found that it's not that great Post-Cloud either because you want to be attacking with Treetop Village or putting on pressure with another threat. Drawing 2 and losing 2 life for a crucial turn isn't worth it in my deck.
I want to try Death Clouding for everything except one land. Might seem dumb (probably is), but I would only do it to get rid of all my opponent's lands. If they have 5 lands and I have 6, I'll just go for it with Nissa.
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
On a side note, I am not sure if it was ever mentioned in the last primer, but I have had some success with Phyrexian Totem. It gives a little bit extra for the Death Cloud, and you only really need one activation post-cloud to win. There are not threats to it at this point either because all of the opponents lands will be gone, and we are typically +3 lands ahead of the opponent when we cloud (at least that is what I have found). I know Treetop does the same thing, but I just want to start throwing ideas out there.
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
My Modern decks:
B/R/G Living End G/R/B
G/R Tron R/G
U/W/G/R Gargageddon R/G/W/U
R/W/G Naya Burn G/W/R
Soul of New Phyrexia's indestructible activation --> Nissa's Untap 4 lands --> Damnation/Death cloud seems like a great line as well.
For what it does, the casting cost doesn't justify its inclusion. It would be great at 3 mana.
It's about time that the new Primer got up. My old one was terribly out of date. With Urborg seeing a reprint I think the heavy basic version of this deck will be easier for new players to build. Thus upping the chance that Nissa sees play. And let's not count out Super Big Garruk as a possible one of. I have some EDH stuff to finish up but after that I will start to build a BG Cloud Walkers deck.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
I think that it is appropriate to add a color splash section to the primer, unless everyone else thinks that it is inferior now.
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
Thanks for the feedback guys. Although this primer is fresh and new, it's not as complete as I would like to be. In the near future I would like to add on more decklists, a section linking back to the previous threads, a summary of how Death Cloud fares versus other Modern decks, and as you've already mentioned, a white splash. Maybe add a few more pictures and make it prettier as well? However, I do not personally splash white in my Death Cloud list, but I will gladly add it to the primer over the coming weeks.
If you guys see anything wrong with how something is worded in the primer or if a card is better than I put it, feel free to let me know about it.
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
I plan on trying a 1 of in my Cloud Walkers list.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
I think it's hilarious and worth trying to play. He seems to wreck any fair deck in Modern, and will hurt Tron, Jund, and UWR as those are the only real decks that play planeswalkers. I think it's worth looking into though, that if you are willing to pay 7 for Garruk, what is he going to offer that playing 7 for Karn wouldn't do?
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
{gw} with the mana brackets to make: (G/W)
OR
type :symgw____: without the underscores to make:
Hope it helps!
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
Thanks so much! Fixed both Kitchen Finks and Fulminator Mages's mana symbols.
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
Karn can't kill your opponent after a Death Cloud. I still would prefer Garruk Wildspeaker, Nissa, Worlwaker, and Garruk, Primal Hunter to either of those though.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Thragtusk
4 Primeval Titan
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Explore
4 Death Cloud
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Temple of Malady
4 Golgari Rot Farm
3 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Treetop Village
2 Swamp
3 Forest
Basically, it uses Amulet of Vigor with bounce lands to give some very effective ramp. Explore ramps, but also helps dig for Death Cloud. The scry land helps set up draws/dig for Death Cloud, and is really good with the bounce lands. These cards alone with something like Garruk or Birds can make for some fast Death Clouds. Although it is less impressive in this deck than in the Amulet combo deck, Primeval Titan also helps set up some massive Death Clouds. But more than that, it can tutor up some very useful lands. Maybe two scry lands to dig for Death Cloud. Maybe a Golgari Rot Farm and a Treetop Village. Maybe Boseiju, Who Shelters All for an uncounterable Death Cloud. I'm still looking for other ways to abuse his ability. If nothing else, he smacks hard with Garruk's ultimate.
I looked at Summer Bloom, but it really needs more lands in the deck for that, and I like having lots of Thragtusk/Kitchen Finks so I can reliably have creatures ready for a Death Cloud.
I think it depends on the absolute right build for it. The problem is that it doesn't do anything if played early before any walkers. It's a do nothing card, and I would much rather play a Kitchen Finks to protect my life total for the later stages of the game. It also requires some serious mana to get going provided that you have 2-3 different walkers on the field already and I'm not sure if it's worth it to get there. I feel that right now it's a win more or cute card, but I look forward to seeing lists that can abuse it.
They really have different purposes. I run 3 Death Cloud and 2 Damnation in the mainboard and I could not live without the other. Damnation doesn't shut the opponent out like Death Cloud does, and Death Cloud isn't the sweeper like Damnation is. There are some matchups like UWR Control where both Damnation and Death Cloud are just awful and I end up playing BG Rock Midrange. UWR barely plays any creatures and Damnation is a total dead draw for that matchup.
What makes Death Cloud so good is that it doesn't hit walkers, and resolving a Death Cloud usually goes in our favor especially if we have a Treetop Village or Kitchen Finks to pressure the opponent next turn. Death Cloud hits hardest on our opponent's hand and especially the mana base; both of which are very hard to recover from. At that point of the game, our opponent has already developed their mana base and probably designed their deck to just top deck gas not lands. Damnation simply doesn't have that same impact provided your opponent isn't just dumping their hand onto the board.
Credit to Heroes of the Plane Studios for the Avatar & Miraculous Recovery for the Banner.
My 540 Card Cube (WIP)
The amulet deck is a combo deck, almost to the point where it's a glass cannon. It requires very specific combinations of cards to create an out of control situation for the opponent. It largely depends on its speed, and a bad hand or the right disruption and it's in trouble fast. Unlike that, the deck I listed does not depend on fast ramp. It'll take advantage of it when it occurs, but can still go for a beatdown plan with value cards if it doesn't get it or it gets disrupted. It's like the difference between R/G Tron and U-Tron. They both use a lot of the same pieces, but one goes for explosiveness and the other goes for inevitablitiy. You could say Death Cloud already goes for inevitability, but obviously it hasn't been having a lot of success, so I'm trying something different.
I like that wall of roots is more resilient to burn and can block. The problem is that if I'm not likely to play an untapped land T1, then I'm probably not going to be doing it T2 either. I don't want to be doing nothing my first two turns just to play wall of roots T3. Birds, even on T2, potentially enables T3 Garruk or Kitchen Finks. T1/2 Amulet also potentially enables a T3 Garruk with a bounceland. If I play T3 Garruk, and there is a bounceland down, he can untap it and another for Kitchen Finks. This sets up nicely for either a T4 Death Cloud or Primeval Titan, or Thragtusk to help stall until I get one of those two things.
Also, Birds taps for more than just green, which can be important.
I disagree. He helps fill out the curve between Garruk and Primeval Titan, and helps ensure that there is something on the board to protect Garruk and stall the game. I'm actually finding Tree Top Village to be the underperformer here because the deathcloud effect gets big really fast in this deck and wipes them out anyway.
That's a great idea. I threw in one Kessig Wolf Run and swapped the selesnya bouncelands for the gruul ones. It works well with all the interactions in this deck.
I've also thrown in a couple Cavern of Souls because of their interaction with bouncelands. Play them early for something like Birds of Paradise or Kitchen Finks, then bounce them and play them again for something else later like Primeval Titan.