Got the name from "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel series and HBO's "Game of Thrones" television series. The lady planeswalkers in the deck are for whence the deck gets it's name, along with the fact that this deck is built around the Amonkhet block and deserts. The deck centers on graveyard recursion and ramp, primarily creatures and lands.
The deck is a midrange BG that splashes for U. I've been debating on whether I should run Reason // Live over Nissa, Steward of the Elements. Both cards essentially do/want to do the same thing, but Nissa is repeatable. Reason Scrys deeper, and Live let's you cast ANY creature off the top. BUT, Nissa is cheaper to cast, and the deck runs more 3 or less CMC creatures than 3+ ones. The Gifted Aetherborns in the sideboard could easily be replaced with something else, but I don't know what just yet without testing. They're there because I don't know how much Razaketh, the Foulblooded+Ipnu Rivulet will hurt me in the long run. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet serves the same purpose as well, albeit he also provides zombies and zombie fodder for sacking via the deck's numerous kill spells.
I'm not sure if the zombies, excavator or hour of promise are worth it in the deck. Considering your color alignment and interest in a grave strategy, why not instead run some of the run-of-the-mill delirium cards, and/or maybe even some different land synergies, like Sylvan Advocate, The Gitrog Monster, or Hostile Desert.
I'm not sure if the zombies, excavator or hour of promise are worth it in the deck. Considering your color alignment and interest in a grave strategy, why not instead run some of the run-of-the-mill delirium cards, and/or maybe even some different land synergies, like Sylvan Advocate, The Gitrog Monster, or Hostile Desert.
Because the synergies between all the zombie generating/recursion cards are simply too powerful to ignore. You're looking at the deck more as a land deck, which it is not. It is a zombie deck that relies less on pump/aggro strategies and "going wide," and more on hitting hard with big creatures alongside a removal package. All the cards you mentioned would work better in a glorified Manlands deck. I've often though about making such a deck, but there isn't enough support for it to be a true contender. Cards like Gitrog Monster get chump blocked for days, which is why it never saw serious play. Hostile Desert is a "non-bo" with Gitrog because it requires you to exile lands from your graveyard, so that can't be used again with Ramunap Excavator's ability. Now if there were a card in Standard that could bring back lands from exile... But, you've given me some ideas. I may post a list just for such a deck. Thank you!
How do you trigger the hour of promise bonus with only 3 deserts in the deck? What triggers amalgam, other than haunted dead? Eternalize/scarab/gift don't return creatures from the graveyard and scarab/gift are non-bos with recursive creatures like haunted dead and amalgam.
How do you trigger the hour of promise bonus with only 3 deserts in the deck? What triggers amalgam, other than haunted dead? Eternalize/scarab/gift don't return creatures from the graveyard and scarab/gift are non-bos with recursive creatures like haunted dead and amalgam.
Great questions. Glad you asked. I've long been thinking I don't need Channeler Initiate in the deck at all, running Dread Wanderer or Stitchwing Skaab instead. Wanderer works better in an aggro build and Skaab in a midrange build like this. You just never want to really have to hard cast Skaab. I will be adding more deserts to the build for Hour of Promise, trust. I'm just waiting to see what other lands might be revealed in the spoiler. I don't follow any of that card number speculation crap, I just make choices as more and more cards are revealed. I don't quite understand what you're saying in your last sentence. The Scarab God uses our opponent's graveyard as a resource as well. It reads: 2UB: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie. So we don't have to exile our own creatures from our graveyard unless we want to. God-Pharaoh's Gift may not fit in the deck, you're right. Originally, I had Hour of Eternity in the deck, but swapped it out because of how mana-intensive and non-bo it was with all the cards you mentioned. What I do like about the card is that if I don't have Liliana, Death's Majesty on the battlefield, I can exile a Razaketh or Scarab God to it. Could something better slot in it's place? Sure, that's always a possibility. Nothing is set in stone until, the full spoiler is up. And even then, there's always room for improvement.
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4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Hissing Quagmire
4 Choked Estuary
2 Ifnir Deadlands
6 Swamp
CREATURES (20)
4 Stitchwing Skaab
4 Ramunap Excavator
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Haunted Dead
2 The Scarab God
2 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1 Nissa, Vital Force
2 Nissa, Steward of Elements
2 Liliana, Death's Majesty
INSTANTS AND SORCERIES (11)
2 Hour of Promise
1 God-Pharaoh's Gift
3 Fatal Push
3 Grasp of Darkness
2 Never // Return
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 God-Pharaoh's Gift
3 Liliana's Defeat
3 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Never // Return
2 Hour of Glory
The deck is a midrange BG that splashes for U. I've been debating on whether I should run Reason // Live over Nissa, Steward of the Elements. Both cards essentially do/want to do the same thing, but Nissa is repeatable. Reason Scrys deeper, and Live let's you cast ANY creature off the top. BUT, Nissa is cheaper to cast, and the deck runs more 3 or less CMC creatures than 3+ ones. The Gifted Aetherborns in the sideboard could easily be replaced with something else, but I don't know what just yet without testing. They're there because I don't know how much Razaketh, the Foulblooded+Ipnu Rivulet will hurt me in the long run. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet serves the same purpose as well, albeit he also provides zombies and zombie fodder for sacking via the deck's numerous kill spells.
Because the synergies between all the zombie generating/recursion cards are simply too powerful to ignore. You're looking at the deck more as a land deck, which it is not. It is a zombie deck that relies less on pump/aggro strategies and "going wide," and more on hitting hard with big creatures alongside a removal package. All the cards you mentioned would work better in a glorified Manlands deck. I've often though about making such a deck, but there isn't enough support for it to be a true contender. Cards like Gitrog Monster get chump blocked for days, which is why it never saw serious play. Hostile Desert is a "non-bo" with Gitrog because it requires you to exile lands from your graveyard, so that can't be used again with Ramunap Excavator's ability. Now if there were a card in Standard that could bring back lands from exile... But, you've given me some ideas. I may post a list just for such a deck. Thank you!
Great questions. Glad you asked. I've long been thinking I don't need Channeler Initiate in the deck at all, running Dread Wanderer or Stitchwing Skaab instead. Wanderer works better in an aggro build and Skaab in a midrange build like this. You just never want to really have to hard cast Skaab. I will be adding more deserts to the build for Hour of Promise, trust. I'm just waiting to see what other lands might be revealed in the spoiler. I don't follow any of that card number speculation crap, I just make choices as more and more cards are revealed. I don't quite understand what you're saying in your last sentence. The Scarab God uses our opponent's graveyard as a resource as well. It reads: 2UB: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie. So we don't have to exile our own creatures from our graveyard unless we want to. God-Pharaoh's Gift may not fit in the deck, you're right. Originally, I had Hour of Eternity in the deck, but swapped it out because of how mana-intensive and non-bo it was with all the cards you mentioned. What I do like about the card is that if I don't have Liliana, Death's Majesty on the battlefield, I can exile a Razaketh or Scarab God to it. Could something better slot in it's place? Sure, that's always a possibility. Nothing is set in stone until, the full spoiler is up. And even then, there's always room for improvement.