So I've been playing casually with friends for a few months, but I want to start getting into standard tournaments. I've been doing a bit of researching and tweaking and have come up with the following:
Any suggestions for cards that should/shouldn't be in. Other than being legal for standard play, I have no requirements on this deck. I've already dropped a bit of money on singles for this deck, so super expensive cards are probably out of the question (but feel free to suggest them anyway.) Also, any advice for a first timer/newbie would be appreciated.
Why not add Gnarled Scarhide? It's a good 2/1 for B. It can also help push for some final damage on the mid to late game by bestowing it on your opponent's creature so it can't block.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern Decks:WRGThe Colors of FireGRW || CUBRAge of Ultron (Affinity - Under Construction)RBUC
From my experience this breakdown of creatures works really well. Any more and you are getting more creature cards than you have mana to play. No Mutavaults, I ran a bunch of test hands on deckstats. From round 1 to 5 I'm only likely to be able to spare two mana (the vault and one to turn the vault into a creature) on round 4. A round 4 Read the Bones makes a lot more sense. Also no Boros Reckoners. They are a 3 drop but they're RRR. You're probably going to need to have 4 or 5 lands down before you can use them.
I've had some really good luck with Stoke the Flames. I'm unlikely not to want to play a creature before about 4 mana. Also, convoke means that you can drop it, potentially, as early as round 3 (great for frying a Courser). The Ultimate Prices are new for me, but seem to be working well.
If playing white weenie, you'd want to pull the Stoke the Flames and put in Shock.
I'm not sure about Anger of the Gods. I was playing them in the maindeck before I added in the Ultimate Prices. It does damage to your creatures as well as their's. Most of the time it's a dead card. On the other hand hitting a green player with it early can really crimp their plans.
If all else fails and you know you're going to get stuffed, replace the ultimate prices with Lava Axe. Try to get around 10 points of damage in with the creatures horde before your opponent stabilizes, then burn them over the top. Lightning Strike has more uses and a better mana/damage ratio. On the other hand, Lava Axe is more card efficient. If its not coming into play until later in the game, and you are going to be short on time to put your opponent away, Lava Axe might be the better choice (I also main decked this for awhile, the only real use I got was when I wanted to finish off an opponent and Stoke the Flames just didn't have enough "yep, you're dead" cache).
Really not sure about the walkers. A couple of weeks ago I pulled out a win at FNM doing Diabolic Tutor to Liliana Vess to Soul of New Pyraxia, having my opponent kill the creature, then raising everything with Vess. I'm thinking I might want to go 3 Chandra, Pyromasters on the sideboard so I could pull out 3 Ragemongers if the deck is going into burn mode. Either that or maybe one Chandra, one Vess and one Tutor. Tutor for Vess, Vess pulls Chandra, Chandra powers up then Vess topdecks a Lave Axe for Chandra ultimate. Then again that string would require me to survive (and keep two walkers alive) for 6 turns (Tutor, Vess, Chandra, 2 turns Chandra power up, Ultimate). Best case (Tutor on round 4 or no tutor and Ves on Round 5) that puts the game into Round 10. That seems unlikely.
If I were to go 2 Chandra, pull Vess (and give her to somebody else who wants her for their deck) what should I float into the empty one slot?
So I took my cow deck for a trial at the m15 gameday and I got completely annihilated by three green ramp decks and a burn deck, is there anything (cheap) I should add to make this deck a little bit more viable? I was thinking about subbing out my 3xFanatic Of Mogis into 2 Kragma Butcher and an extra Kragma Warcaller, since I dont topdeck him as often as I need to
I see Kragma Warcaller in many lists but he just seems too high on the curve for me, and I don't want to rely on Ragemonger to sneak him into play. I would try to run a much more aggressive version, for example:
Okay, I have a very basic deck, just starting playing this. Don't have much money to spend at all. Hell, everything I have is going to go towards vehicle repair. Still, friend let me build this out of his cards. Here goes.
I've been testing my list above, and it's too slow. Trying to lower the curve and going to test the human in cow clothes as a way to push the damage home.
I'm having a change of heart on Gnarled Scarhide. With the Shaman out his cost is 0. Can't beat that.
Would love to post my deck once I have the finished list. Are we having enough success in FNMs recently with the deck or are we in a developmental slump?
I'm still testing on MTGO before I bring it to a paper FNM.
I'm having luck with fast aggro. the 3 toughness bodies make fine blockers until I can land the Warcaller and trample through. RDW will scoop to a Whip half the time.
I"m having a hard time with U/x control and green ramp. The hexproof mana wall and the 2/4 centaur stall me out long enough for them to start raining down planeswalkers and hydras.
I think 4x Doom blade and x3 Anger of Gods should be in the sideboard for Green. And x4 Mind Rot and x3 Duress for Control. Thoughtseize is better but with Sign in Blood, that damage adds up.
I was running 10 tap lands, and that is soooo painful. I lowered it to 8 but I'm still not happy with it. Too slow.
I'm also toying with cheating in some bomb with Oracle of Bones. I've tried Worst Fear. I pulled it off once out of three times I've had it in hand. Probably not practical for FNM.
I removed Vess from the MD. She's too slow and by the time she drops just an expensive tutor. I'm also going to put 1 Marauder into the SB. Most of the time he's not needed.
I need 7 new cards to replace the ones I had to take out due to rotation (and haven't already filled with other things). So far my deck looks like this:
Cards I'm thinking about:
Whip of Erebos
Murderous Cut
Another Hero's Downfall
Another Felhide Petrifier
Another Temple of Malice
Chandra, Pyromaster (only because I own 1.)
Keep in mind that I generally want to avoid any creatures that aren't minotaurs (goes against the theme, yo). But otherwise, any ideas?
I can see how Fall of the Hammer can take out a big x/4 or x/6 creature, but you're going to need a big creature on your side too to make it work, why not just max out on Lightning Strikes/Magma Jets instead? same problem I have with the Ordeal, you need a creature to make it work
I've been busy playing Modern and EDH for a while and then I found my deck of cows crying on the corner of my card boxes. With RTR rotated, good cards have retired, however I tried reviving my deck (and maybe this thread) despite no one seems to play the sad cows anymore. Here is the Minotaur Deck post rotation:
My first comeback match was against Ascendancy last weekend. I won with 2-1, losing the first game. My opponent managed to combo-off on the first game and I lost. On the 2nd game and when he was about to win on the next turn (he was tapped-out, and at 16 lives) with Ascendancy on the field and a dork (which is tapped too), I attack for 8 damage with 2 Gnarled Scarhide, a Deathbellow Raider and a Felhide Brawler. He just takes the damage calmly... and then scoops after I flashed Dictate of the Twin Gods. On the 3rd game as he builds up and being tapped out most of the time, I cast Stain the Mind naming Ascendancy and he concedes.
My next match was against a Temur Midrange deck. It was also a 2-1 for me, losing the first game. He beats me with Stormbreath Dragon, a rabble master and a Savage Knuckleblade. On the next game, I managed to land some aggro beats with Gnarled Scarhide , a Deathbellow Raider and a Felhide Brawler. He was able to counter Rageblood Shaman with Temur Charm. After board wiping my board and tapping out after casting the phoenix and stormbreath dragon (attacking me and bringing me down to 5), he was down to 3 lives. I untap on my turn and draw a Magma Jet. Luckily, I still have one in my hand and I just burned him to death. In the 3rd game, cheap cows started chipping his life away until I landed Mogis, which actually killed him. For most of the game, he was hesitant to block my cows because of Felhide Petrifier.
On my last game, I faced off against a Mardu Aggro deck. I lost here 1-2. He won the first game, beating me in speed. The second game was a close one, and thanks to Magma Jet, I was able to win, since I'll be losing next turn. The 3rd game was much of a replay of the first. Two Swiftspears with prowess activated twice and a Butcher of the Horde pounds me down.
---
I'm not really expecting that the Minotaurs would be a tier-1 deck, but I've found out that it's not that a loser. It has some chances of winning via aggro beats and hand disruption, which help a lot.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern Decks:WRGThe Colors of FireGRW || CUBRAge of Ultron (Affinity - Under Construction)RBUC
I think that a couple of felhide petrifiers would be nice, giving all minotaurs deathtouch is a nice way to ensure blockers are always destroyed, also a couple of necrobites would be useful, the ability to give any creature deathtouch and then regenerate it is invaluable.
I've been play minotaurs the last couple of days. I ended up going with a list very similar to Xanthic-Golem's but with 4 whips main deck. I'm finding turning on life link on turn 4 to be pretty amazing against Mardu. And whipping back things like the Warcaller is pretty cool. I've also been hitting tons of Jeskai combo decks, so my side board has loads of discard and hand disruption.
It's not as good as the UW Heroic I've been playing since PTKTK, but it's really, really fun.
So I'm loving 4x whip of erebos & twin flame in this deck. It's a thing of beauty to whip back a kragma warcaller and then twin flame it in the same turn late in the game. I run 24 lands and find games go a bit longer than some of the minotaur aggro builds.
So I'm loving 4x whip of erebos & twin flame in this deck. It's a thing of beauty to whip back a kragma warcaller and then twin flame it in the same turn late in the game. I run 24 lands and find games go a bit longer than some of the minotaur aggro builds.
Nice to see this thread kicking again. I've updated my deck too with Whip of Erebos as well, and hence calling my new list "The Bull Whip". Here is my updated list:
Also had a weekend Standard match and finishing 2nd Place, winning me a Flooded Strand
Here is the report:
First Game: vs Sultai Delve - WIN
The game went 2-1, with me winning the first and third rounds. First game, I managed to lay down the early cow beaters while he starts off slow. Although he has dorks like Sylvan Caryatid, he was scared to block with Felhide Petrifier on the board. He lost with an alpha strike combination of the minotaur lords. I lost the next round narrowly. He was able to beat me faster with Sidisi and her horde of zombie tokens. He was also able to kill most of my cows with Murderous Cut too. The final game was quite bad for him because all the land he drew were pain lands. I managed to land Mogis for added pain, leaving him no choice to sacrifice all his creatures. When he hurt himself down to 2 life because of the pain lands to cast something, I burned him with Magma Jet to end it.
Second Game: vs Mono Black Aggro - WIN
I won all rounds 2-0. The first game, he won the dice roll and leads an early Thoughtseize, removing my own Thoughtseize off. He started slow while I lead with Gnarled Scarhide and Deathbellow Raiders. He was able to land Bloodsoaked Champions and we exchange attacks. All things messed up for him when Ragemonger and Felhide Petrifier hits the field. Next round, he was able to land Brain Maggot and took my sole Magma Jet off and leads the attack. I was able to get the card back with a surprised Dark Betrayal and swing with Gnarled Scarhide. He made two mistakes this round. First, he lands a Mogis Marauder and grants intimidate on his two Bloodsoaked Champions and swings. Too bad for him, I got two untapped Ragemongers and I blocked. He failed to realize that they are black too. His final error resulted his downfall when he casts Thoughtseize with me having one last card, which is the Magma Jet that I got back. In response, I cast it on his face, and thus hurting himself for 4 damage.
Third Round: vs Abzan Midrange - WIN
I won this one too at 2-0. First round, he leads off a slow start with tri lands and scry lands while I beat him with early Minotaur beaters. I was able to kill his Courser of Kruphix when it blocked my Gnarled Scarhide, allowing me to kill it with Magma Jet easily. I managed to assemble all the Minotaur lords in the field and despite him having a couple of Doomwake Giants on the field, he was hesistant because all my cows have deathtouch and trample. After I land a second Kragma Warcaller, he concedes. The second round, I lead with an early Thoughtseize and ripping of the Courser of Kruphix and I also saw a Herald of Torment and the rest are lands. I attacked him later on with two Gnarled Scarhides and then he casts the Herald of Torment next turn, which I killed on his EOT with Dark Betrayal. On my 5th turn, I cast a Kragma Warcaller and swing for the win.
Fourth Round: vs Mardu Midrange - LOST
I horribly lost this one at 0-2. On the first game, he was able to get rid of every Minotaur I land with Lightning Strike or Murderous Cut and he doesn't allow any at all. He was able to land a Sorin, crack a token from it and then land a Rubblemaster next. Although I managed to Magma Jet Sorin away and Thoughtseize off Sarkhan, he killed me with tokens and with Butcher of the Horde quickly. The next round, my sideboard cards didn't show up, save for one Murderous Cut that I used to kill a Rubblemaster, but he managed to land another one. The round was almost a replay of the first. This is the second time I lost to Mardu Deck.
---
Overall, everything went really good if not that excellent. What is really interesting is that my opponents always read what I land since Minotaurs rarely sees play nowadays. The advantage we could have in playing the deck is that we know their decks (since most are net-decked) and they rarely know ours. We have a basic idea how certain decks will run, but being a rogue deck is an advantage since they really have no perfect idea how Minotaurs play.
The mana-base was in the right combination because I never got mana-screwed and I only mulligan once (and that hand is full of lands). I can say that Bloodstained Mire improved the deck well since deck shuffling is what it lacks, although we still don't really draw cards, except to set it up using Magma Jet only. Bloodfell Caves is good too since it help off-set the life payment from the fetch land and somewhat reduces or offsets the life lost from Thoughtseize and so does Whip of Erebos, allowing to whip back lords for the kill.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern Decks:WRGThe Colors of FireGRW || CUBRAge of Ultron (Affinity - Under Construction)RBUC
My interest is somehow back in Standard and I'm sticking with my BR Minotaurs. It may not be a Tier 1 deck but it can deliver a punch for those who are unaware of its potentials.
Due to this right now, I'm actually creating a Primer for Cows.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern Decks:WRGThe Colors of FireGRW || CUBRAge of Ultron (Affinity - Under Construction)RBUC
I'm going to try your Bull Whip deck. It's very close to what I've been running, so maybe I'm wasting my time with 24 lands and should just try 22.
It's funny how people don't get how dangerous Kragma Warcallers can be. Especially when there's a whip on the table already and a couple other minotaurs. They'll get hit by it, kill it and then it gets whipped back and it's like 6 extra lifelink damage for no card spent.
Mardu ruins my day all the time as well. I'm not sure what to do. I've sided in goblin and warrior token hate and that's alright, but it's just the endless removal against the minotaurs that keeps me on the back foot every single game. Games where I get the whip down are usually me just slowly falling behind as I take more damage than I get back every turn until I finally lose.
Massive props to those playing this deck; it looks really fun and I love tribal.
I'd advise considering Sign in Blood or Read the Bones in sideboard or main deck to keep you ahead of the removal. I also think Hero's Downfall is almost necessary to make sure you can clear Rhino's and Coursers to make sure your guys get through.
And yeah, Whip is amazing in this deck, like most midrange decks. It's such a value engine.
Keep up the deck guys!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard - GB Delirium, GR Energy Midrange
Modern - GB Elves, UW Ojutai Control
Legacy - BWG Junk Stoneblade
Gay and Proud
#MakeAmericaGreatAgain
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Why not add Gnarled Scarhide? It's a good 2/1 for B. It can also help push for some final damage on the mid to late game by bestowing it on your opponent's creature so it can't block.
[
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Blood Crypt
4 Temple of Malice
7 Swamp
7 Mountain
Creatures
4 Deathbellow Raider
4 Felhide Brawler
4 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Ragemonger
4 Kragma Warcaller
4 Rageblood Shaman
4 Read the Bones
4 Ultimate Price
4 Stoke the Flames
Sidebar
4 Anger of the Gods
4 Shock
4 Lava Axe
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Liliana Vess
From my experience this breakdown of creatures works really well. Any more and you are getting more creature cards than you have mana to play. No Mutavaults, I ran a bunch of test hands on deckstats. From round 1 to 5 I'm only likely to be able to spare two mana (the vault and one to turn the vault into a creature) on round 4. A round 4 Read the Bones makes a lot more sense. Also no Boros Reckoners. They are a 3 drop but they're RRR. You're probably going to need to have 4 or 5 lands down before you can use them.
I've had some really good luck with Stoke the Flames. I'm unlikely not to want to play a creature before about 4 mana. Also, convoke means that you can drop it, potentially, as early as round 3 (great for frying a Courser). The Ultimate Prices are new for me, but seem to be working well.
If playing white weenie, you'd want to pull the Stoke the Flames and put in Shock.
I'm not sure about Anger of the Gods. I was playing them in the maindeck before I added in the Ultimate Prices. It does damage to your creatures as well as their's. Most of the time it's a dead card. On the other hand hitting a green player with it early can really crimp their plans.
If all else fails and you know you're going to get stuffed, replace the ultimate prices with Lava Axe. Try to get around 10 points of damage in with the creatures horde before your opponent stabilizes, then burn them over the top. Lightning Strike has more uses and a better mana/damage ratio. On the other hand, Lava Axe is more card efficient. If its not coming into play until later in the game, and you are going to be short on time to put your opponent away, Lava Axe might be the better choice (I also main decked this for awhile, the only real use I got was when I wanted to finish off an opponent and Stoke the Flames just didn't have enough "yep, you're dead" cache).
Really not sure about the walkers. A couple of weeks ago I pulled out a win at FNM doing Diabolic Tutor to Liliana Vess to Soul of New Pyraxia, having my opponent kill the creature, then raising everything with Vess. I'm thinking I might want to go 3 Chandra, Pyromasters on the sideboard so I could pull out 3 Ragemongers if the deck is going into burn mode. Either that or maybe one Chandra, one Vess and one Tutor. Tutor for Vess, Vess pulls Chandra, Chandra powers up then Vess topdecks a Lave Axe for Chandra ultimate. Then again that string would require me to survive (and keep two walkers alive) for 6 turns (Tutor, Vess, Chandra, 2 turns Chandra power up, Ultimate). Best case (Tutor on round 4 or no tutor and Ves on Round 5) that puts the game into Round 10. That seems unlikely.
If I were to go 2 Chandra, pull Vess (and give her to somebody else who wants her for their deck) what should I float into the empty one slot?
11x Mountain
7x Swamp
4x Rakdos Guildgate
Creatures 25
4 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Deathbellow Raider
3 Felhide Petrifier
3 Fanatic Of Mogis
4 Ragemonger
4 Rageblood Shaman
3 Kragma Warcaller
2 Doomblade
4 Magma Jet
3 Lighning Strike
3 Twinflame
The best case scenario gameplan here is something like T1:Gnarled Scarhide; T2:Deathbellow Raider; T3:Ragemonger; T4: Kragma Warcaller T5: Rageblood Shaman + Twinflame on Kragma Warcaller for an insane amount of damage, but unfortunately I am notoriously unlucky with my draws so I need something more consistent
12x swamp
12x mountain
creatures
4x gnarled scarhide
4x deathbellow raider
4x ragemonger
4x rageblood shaman
4x kragma warcaller
3x twinflame
3x read the bones
4x lightning strike
4x magma jet
2x whip of Erebos
This is my take on the cows right now but still playing around
4x Deathbellow Raider
4x Felhide Brawler
4x Gnarled Scarhide
4x Minotaur Skullcleaver
4x Rageblood Shaman
4x Ragemonger
Enchantment (3)
3x Dragon Mantle
3x Obelisk of Urd
Instant (10)
3x Boon of Erebos
2x Magma Jet
3x Rouse the Mob
Land (22)
2x Mana Confluence
7x Mountain
9x Swamp
4x Temple of Malice
3x Dark Betrayal
3x Felhide Petrifier
2x Magma Jet
2x Searing Blood
3x Stoke the Flames
2x Twinflame
These cards have high casting cost for aggro, but haste really makes up for it. Heres the list I've been playing.
Scarhide hasnt work for me. I removed him from the original list.
Oracle of Bones is so good. In order to power into the mid game, I like Sign in Blood for draw and the Whip for lifelink and Unearth.
3 Deathbellow Raider
4 Ragemonger
4 Rageblood Shaman
3 Felhide Petrifier
4 Oracle of Bones
3 Kragma Warcaller
1 Mogis, God of Slaughter
13 Spells
2 Flurry of Horns
4 Sign in Blood
3 Magma Spray
2 Dreadbore
2 Whip of Erebos
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
23 Land
15 Side
2 Mizzum Motars
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Slaughter Games
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 Dreadbore
3 Duress
2 Mind Rot
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
14 Mountain
8 Swamp
Creatures[27]
4 Felhide Brawler
3 Canyon Minotaur
2 Warchanter of Mogis
3 Pensive Minotaur
2 Rageblood Shaman
2 Ragemonger
4 Deathbellow Raider
2 Borderland Minotaur
1 Minotaur Skullcleaver
2 Felhide Petrifier
2 Kragma Warcaller
1 Font of Return
1 Crippling Blight
3 Starfall
1 Cast into Darkness
1 Flesh to Dust
3 Spiteful Blow
1 Stab Wound
1 Necrobite
1 Doom Blade
1 Eternal Thirst
I welcome any and all tips. As I said before, just started playing.
I'm having a change of heart on Gnarled Scarhide. With the Shaman out his cost is 0. Can't beat that.
2 Gnarled Scarhide
2 Deathbellow Raider
1 Mogis's Marauder
4 Ragemonger
4 Rageblood Shaman
3 Felhide Petrifier
3 Oracle of Bones
3 Kragma Warcaller
2 Flurry of Horns
4 Sign in Blood
4 Magma Spray
2 Hero's Downfall
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Liliana Vess
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Currently playing...
Standard: WG Spirit Tokens
Legacy: White Weenie
Pauper: Monoblack Infect Recursion
I'm having luck with fast aggro. the 3 toughness bodies make fine blockers until I can land the Warcaller and trample through. RDW will scoop to a Whip half the time.
I"m having a hard time with U/x control and green ramp. The hexproof mana wall and the 2/4 centaur stall me out long enough for them to start raining down planeswalkers and hydras.
I think 4x Doom blade and x3 Anger of Gods should be in the sideboard for Green. And x4 Mind Rot and x3 Duress for Control. Thoughtseize is better but with Sign in Blood, that damage adds up.
I was running 10 tap lands, and that is soooo painful. I lowered it to 8 but I'm still not happy with it. Too slow.
I'm also toying with cheating in some bomb with Oracle of Bones. I've tried Worst Fear. I pulled it off once out of three times I've had it in hand. Probably not practical for FNM.
I removed Vess from the MD. She's too slow and by the time she drops just an expensive tutor. I'm also going to put 1 Marauder into the SB. Most of the time he's not needed.
2x Borderland Minotaur
2x Deathbellow Raider
4x Fanatic of Mogis
1x Felhide Petrifier
4x Kragma Warcaller
2x Minotaur Skullcleaver
4x Rageblood Shaman
3x Ragemonger
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Flurry of Horns
1x Font of Return
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Lightning Strike
2x Magma Jet
16x Mountain
3x Swamp
3x Temple of Malice
Cards I'm thinking about:
Whip of Erebos
Murderous Cut
Another Hero's Downfall
Another Felhide Petrifier
Another Temple of Malice
Chandra, Pyromaster (only because I own 1.)
Keep in mind that I generally want to avoid any creatures that aren't minotaurs (goes against the theme, yo). But otherwise, any ideas?
New here but was inspired to register b/c of this nice thread here on Minotaurs.
I've been running the following version of this deck. It seems to win a lot. Let me know what you think.
3x Ornithopter
3x Gnarled Scarhide
3x Deathbellow Raider
3x Ragemonger
4x Rageblood Shaman
4x Fanatic of Mogis
3x Kragma Warcaller
1x Indulgent Tormentor
2x Whip of Erebos
Instants, Sorceries and Enchantments (11)
4x Ordeal of Purphoros
2x Hero's Downfall
2x Fall of the Hammer
3x Read the Bones
10x Mountain
9x Swamp
4x Temple of Malice
Basic idea is that adding the Ornithopters lowers the curve even farther and gives you some fliers. If you can cast Ornithopter and Gnarled Scarhide on turn 1, and then Ordeal of Purphoros on turn 2, you probably win. You *should* be able to finish them off after curving from turn 3 Rageblood Shaman, to turn 4 Fanatic of Mogis, into turn 5 Kragma Warcaller.
EDH: UBRJeleva | GURSurrak
4x Deathbellow Raider
4x Felhide Brawler
3x Felhide Petrifier
4x Gnarled Scarhide
3x Kragma Warcaller
2x Mogis, God of Slaughter
4x Rageblood Shaman
4x Ragemonger
4x Magma Jet
Sorceries (6)
2x Despise
4x Thoughtseize
Lands (22)
3x Bloodfell Caves
4x Bloodstained Mire
8x Mountain
3x Swamp
4x Temple of Malice
3x Dark Betrayal
2x Dictate of the Twin Gods
3x Drown in Sorrow
2x Hero's Downfall
3x Murderous Cut
2x Stain the Mind
My first comeback match was against Ascendancy last weekend. I won with 2-1, losing the first game. My opponent managed to combo-off on the first game and I lost. On the 2nd game and when he was about to win on the next turn (he was tapped-out, and at 16 lives) with Ascendancy on the field and a dork (which is tapped too), I attack for 8 damage with 2 Gnarled Scarhide, a Deathbellow Raider and a Felhide Brawler. He just takes the damage calmly... and then scoops after I flashed Dictate of the Twin Gods. On the 3rd game as he builds up and being tapped out most of the time, I cast Stain the Mind naming Ascendancy and he concedes.
My next match was against a Temur Midrange deck. It was also a 2-1 for me, losing the first game. He beats me with Stormbreath Dragon, a rabble master and a Savage Knuckleblade. On the next game, I managed to land some aggro beats with Gnarled Scarhide , a Deathbellow Raider and a Felhide Brawler. He was able to counter Rageblood Shaman with Temur Charm. After board wiping my board and tapping out after casting the phoenix and stormbreath dragon (attacking me and bringing me down to 5), he was down to 3 lives. I untap on my turn and draw a Magma Jet. Luckily, I still have one in my hand and I just burned him to death. In the 3rd game, cheap cows started chipping his life away until I landed Mogis, which actually killed him. For most of the game, he was hesitant to block my cows because of Felhide Petrifier.
On my last game, I faced off against a Mardu Aggro deck. I lost here 1-2. He won the first game, beating me in speed. The second game was a close one, and thanks to Magma Jet, I was able to win, since I'll be losing next turn. The 3rd game was much of a replay of the first. Two Swiftspears with prowess activated twice and a Butcher of the Horde pounds me down.
---
I'm not really expecting that the Minotaurs would be a tier-1 deck, but I've found out that it's not that a loser. It has some chances of winning via aggro beats and hand disruption, which help a lot.
It's not as good as the UW Heroic I've been playing since PTKTK, but it's really, really fun.
Nice to see this thread kicking again. I've updated my deck too with Whip of Erebos as well, and hence calling my new list "The Bull Whip". Here is my updated list:
4x Deathbellow Raider
4x Felhide Brawler
3x Felhide Petrifier
4x Gnarled Scarhide
3x Kragma Warcaller
1x Mogis, God of Slaughter
4x Rageblood Shaman
4x Ragemonger
4x Magma Jet
4x Thoughtseize
Artifacts (3)
3x Whip of Erebos
Lands (22)
3x Bloodfell Caves
4x Bloodstained Mire
8x Mountain
3x Swamp
4x Temple of Malice
3x Dark Betrayal
2x Despise
3x Drown in Sorrow
2x Murderous Cut
2x Stain the Mind
3x Tormod's Crypt
Also had a weekend Standard match and finishing 2nd Place, winning me a Flooded Strand
Here is the report:
First Game: vs Sultai Delve - WIN
The game went 2-1, with me winning the first and third rounds. First game, I managed to lay down the early cow beaters while he starts off slow. Although he has dorks like Sylvan Caryatid, he was scared to block with Felhide Petrifier on the board. He lost with an alpha strike combination of the minotaur lords. I lost the next round narrowly. He was able to beat me faster with Sidisi and her horde of zombie tokens. He was also able to kill most of my cows with Murderous Cut too. The final game was quite bad for him because all the land he drew were pain lands. I managed to land Mogis for added pain, leaving him no choice to sacrifice all his creatures. When he hurt himself down to 2 life because of the pain lands to cast something, I burned him with Magma Jet to end it.
Second Game: vs Mono Black Aggro - WIN
I won all rounds 2-0. The first game, he won the dice roll and leads an early Thoughtseize, removing my own Thoughtseize off. He started slow while I lead with Gnarled Scarhide and Deathbellow Raiders. He was able to land Bloodsoaked Champions and we exchange attacks. All things messed up for him when Ragemonger and Felhide Petrifier hits the field. Next round, he was able to land Brain Maggot and took my sole Magma Jet off and leads the attack. I was able to get the card back with a surprised Dark Betrayal and swing with Gnarled Scarhide. He made two mistakes this round. First, he lands a Mogis Marauder and grants intimidate on his two Bloodsoaked Champions and swings. Too bad for him, I got two untapped Ragemongers and I blocked. He failed to realize that they are black too. His final error resulted his downfall when he casts Thoughtseize with me having one last card, which is the Magma Jet that I got back. In response, I cast it on his face, and thus hurting himself for 4 damage.
Third Round: vs Abzan Midrange - WIN
I won this one too at 2-0. First round, he leads off a slow start with tri lands and scry lands while I beat him with early Minotaur beaters. I was able to kill his Courser of Kruphix when it blocked my Gnarled Scarhide, allowing me to kill it with Magma Jet easily. I managed to assemble all the Minotaur lords in the field and despite him having a couple of Doomwake Giants on the field, he was hesistant because all my cows have deathtouch and trample. After I land a second Kragma Warcaller, he concedes. The second round, I lead with an early Thoughtseize and ripping of the Courser of Kruphix and I also saw a Herald of Torment and the rest are lands. I attacked him later on with two Gnarled Scarhides and then he casts the Herald of Torment next turn, which I killed on his EOT with Dark Betrayal. On my 5th turn, I cast a Kragma Warcaller and swing for the win.
Fourth Round: vs Mardu Midrange - LOST
I horribly lost this one at 0-2. On the first game, he was able to get rid of every Minotaur I land with Lightning Strike or Murderous Cut and he doesn't allow any at all. He was able to land a Sorin, crack a token from it and then land a Rubblemaster next. Although I managed to Magma Jet Sorin away and Thoughtseize off Sarkhan, he killed me with tokens and with Butcher of the Horde quickly. The next round, my sideboard cards didn't show up, save for one Murderous Cut that I used to kill a Rubblemaster, but he managed to land another one. The round was almost a replay of the first. This is the second time I lost to Mardu Deck.
---
Overall, everything went really good if not that excellent. What is really interesting is that my opponents always read what I land since Minotaurs rarely sees play nowadays. The advantage we could have in playing the deck is that we know their decks (since most are net-decked) and they rarely know ours. We have a basic idea how certain decks will run, but being a rogue deck is an advantage since they really have no perfect idea how Minotaurs play.
The mana-base was in the right combination because I never got mana-screwed and I only mulligan once (and that hand is full of lands). I can say that Bloodstained Mire improved the deck well since deck shuffling is what it lacks, although we still don't really draw cards, except to set it up using Magma Jet only. Bloodfell Caves is good too since it help off-set the life payment from the fetch land and somewhat reduces or offsets the life lost from Thoughtseize and so does Whip of Erebos, allowing to whip back lords for the kill.
Due to this right now, I'm actually creating a Primer for Cows.
It's funny how people don't get how dangerous Kragma Warcallers can be. Especially when there's a whip on the table already and a couple other minotaurs. They'll get hit by it, kill it and then it gets whipped back and it's like 6 extra lifelink damage for no card spent.
Mardu ruins my day all the time as well. I'm not sure what to do. I've sided in goblin and warrior token hate and that's alright, but it's just the endless removal against the minotaurs that keeps me on the back foot every single game. Games where I get the whip down are usually me just slowly falling behind as I take more damage than I get back every turn until I finally lose.
I'd advise considering Sign in Blood or Read the Bones in sideboard or main deck to keep you ahead of the removal. I also think Hero's Downfall is almost necessary to make sure you can clear Rhino's and Coursers to make sure your guys get through.
And yeah, Whip is amazing in this deck, like most midrange decks. It's such a value engine.
Keep up the deck guys!
Modern - GB Elves, UW Ojutai Control
Legacy - BWG Junk Stoneblade
Gay and Proud
#MakeAmericaGreatAgain