MTG Salvation

So. Revel in Riches. It's a card that says "you win the game on it," therefore I will be making a deck around it. The question is, how good can it be and what else should go in the deck?

I've attempted to make an answer. This is what I have so far - UB control with lots of removal and treasure generation. Also included is Mechanized Production as an alternate win-con to the alternate win-con, but it's not the focus because removing the Treasure token it's attached to is far easier than removing an enchantment (or so I assume).



Whether Duress and Disallow should be mainboarded will depend on the meta, I think.

Anyway, I tested this in a couple Cockatrice games, but it's hard to gauge such a reactionary control deck without playing a lot more. Achieving the 10 treasures isn't too hard once a Revel hits the board - just need to flip a Treasure Map or two, counter a decent spell with Swindle, and kill some enemy creatures (which is not difficult at all with 8 spot removals and 2 board wipes pre-board). It could be better, using cards like Pirate's Prize or Contract Killing, but I'm not sure if that's worth having the higher cost removal or non-instant card draw. The primary source of treasure generation is still going to be Treasure Map and Spell Swindle.

That said, I could see reason to shift things around a bit. Less counterspells, more spot removal. Maybe one more Serpent and/or Gearhulk for some mid-game defense. As far as mana generation goes, it seems fine as it is - I tried a version with 2x Dowsing Dagger and it seemed unnecessary; between the scrying and treasures, mana isn't really an issue. I'm also aware that I have an awful lot of 3-ofs and 2-ofs and could maybe stand to bump up my copies of specific cards. I am also aware that Vraska's Contempt does not trigger Revel, but I'm on the fence about removing it (since the only other unconditional removal is Never, and it's a sorcery).

I have also briefly considered adding a third color - probably white, maybe green - but I'm not sure if that would be worth it.

What do you guys think? Anyone else working on a Revel deck?

Edit: Already making one change - swapping Gearseeker Serpent out for Herald of Anguish. Updated decklist to reflect that.

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New version! This one is more focused on removal than it is on counterspells, and is also more focused on treasure generation. I will freely admit that splashing green for Vraska is basically more for fun than optimization, but I'll see how it runs. Also includes Marionette Master as a quick alternate win-con. Sideboard is currently fairly generic and will change based on what becomes strong in the meta.

It feels like this deck is sort of split in two directions. Part of the deck is a reactionary control deck and the other half is tap out. Some easy changes are Glint-Nest Crane out because you only have 7 total hits anyway. Herald of Anguish are too slow and the same with Noxious Gearhulk. Mechanized Production is cool, but it's just going to be too slow particularly since Revel does stack.

I feel like it's best to start from the beginning. We have Revel in Riches to build around which gives us two real focuses to the deck. One is to create Treasure tokens from other sources to trigger the game winning ability and the second is to use the on death of opponents creatures ability in order to create enough tokens to win. Because the triggers can stack with two Revels out we can use a board wipe to essentially win the game if the opponent has 5 creatures. If we go this route we can focus on being a general control deck that just kills creatures to eventually win. This would work a lot like a general UB or WB control deck in standard using Bontu's last Reckoning or Fumigate.

The other way aspect is to focus on making our own treasure tokens. This way makes sense to front load the Treasure tokens so to speak and then drop Revel to win next turn. This method focuses on things creating Treasure incidently and preferably cheaply. Dire Fleet Hoarder is a great way to trade with your opponent while advancing your own board. This method in particular shines with a card like Spell Swindle and other instant speed cards. Suddenly your opponent tapping out on t5 gets your 5 treasure tokens and you can drop your Revel pretty quickly.

Those are some good points. I'll try a version with less counterspells (save Swindle) and more focus on making treasure. Spell Swindle + Revel in Riches is what made me want to make a Revel deck, so I'd like to keep that combo at the very least.

This is what I put together as a test list for this deck:

One or two Reverse Engineer you can tap three treasures and just pay UU

Quote from MartV »

Why not use Marionette Master as an alternative win-con? Spell Swindle a large dino and cast Master on curve to sacrifice 5 treasures for 20 of damage.

That's a pretty good idea. You can even t5 Revel into t6 board wipe to make 5ish tokens then t7 marionette master to sac the tokens for a win.

Made a new version and edited into the OP. Initial testing on Cockatrice shows that an opponent packing heavy hand disruption really messes this deck up.

I know it's not Revel in Riches, but it's still a treasure based deck that I thought may have some merit in here, as I think there could be some combination of what you're proposing and what I've come up with. It focuses more on Treasure Token creation from creatures and copy effects.

So I've been toying with something similar, but all-in on Marionette Master for the win, and not touching Revel in Riches. It's competitive enough, having gone 9-3 in the last 3 days against primarily tier decks, and I'm not a skilled Standard pilot as I'm an outsider to the format (Modern player normally, but rotation calls.)

I'm using all kind of artifacts that can be sacrificed, not just treasures, and building it as a tap-out control-combo deck.

Check it out:



The neatest thing about it that I don't think too many people have realized yet is that you don't need 5 treasures for the win, you only need 2 or 3 if you also have Tezzeret too, as you can use his -2 to make Marionette Master up to a 9/1 and drain like you mean it.

Deck is for real. Top tier, probably not, but someone with better knowledge of the format can probably take this as a starting point and make a big deal out of it.

Quote from taptwo »

So I've been toying with something similar, but all-in on Marionette Master for the win, and not touching Revel in Riches. It's competitive enough, having gone 9-3 in the last 3 days against primarily tier decks, and I'm not a skilled Standard pilot as I'm an outsider to the format (Modern player normally, but rotation calls.)

I'm using all kind of artifacts that can be sacrificed, not just treasures, and building it as a tap-out control-combo deck.

Check it out:

procobrito's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures: 2 Walking Ballista 4 Sailor of Means 2 Prosperous Pirates 3 Marionette Master Artifacts: 2 Renegade Map 4 Traveler's Amulet 4 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot Planeswalker: 4 Tezzeret, the Schemer Removal: 3 Fatal Push 3 Battle at the Bridge 3 Yahenni's Expertise	Card Draw: 1 Search for Azcanta 4 Reverse Engineer Land: 5 Island 6 Swamp 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Fetid Pools 2 Evolving Wilds	Sideboard: 2 Walking Ballista 3 Duress 2 Vraska's Contempt 1 Fatal Push 2 Prosperous Pirates 2 Herald of Anguish 1 Battle at the Bridge 1 Depths of Desire 1 Marionette Master

The neatest thing about it that I don't think too many people have realized yet is that you don't need 5 treasures for the win, you only need 2 or 3 if you also have Tezzeret too, as you can use his -2 to make Marionette Master up to a 9/1 and drain like you mean it.

Deck is for real. Top tier, probably not, but someone with better knowledge of the format can probably take this as a starting point and make a big deal out of it.

I agree that Marionette Master is a better win con. Did you tried Dire Fleet Hoarder? I like how it make opponent avoid to remove or attack, I was trying Costly Plunder too, is a nice draw/enabler with Dire Fleet Hoarder (block, cast Plunder and draw), fatal push and servo killer. Siren's Ruse as an 1 off was good too, bounce Master of three servos before 4/6, help with ETB and protect creatures, but well, my list had 20 creatures, most pirates, includling Hostage Taker, but looks like Tezzeret, the Schemer is a better 4CMC in that deck.
I tried The Scarab God too, and it obviously great in any deck, better with Search for Azcanta and can easily make Marionette Master for 7.
Torrential Gearhulk underperformed, I would like that could work with Spell Swindle, but I may be a completly different deck... we need cards like duress or many others "look at opponent hand" to make Spell Swindle playable.

I only tried Scarab God in my first draft of the deck and wasn't that impressed, but I never did manage to 7/10 a Master with it... may be worth trying.

I added a Noxious Gearhulk now that the meta has started to form a little, as it's a solid value card to keep up with Dino decks.

I'm 13-3 in testing so far!