There’s a lot going on in this pack: Venser, Shaper Savant strong / safe pick, but Timetwister / Winter Orb / Gaea’s Cradle are all absurd payoffs when built around. I decide I’m in the mood to try and go aggro / stax, so I go with the Winter Orb.
Survival is the strongest card overall in this pack and green mana dorks go extremely well with Winter Orb. Treetop Village will be nice to get on the wheel.
Nothing too exciting in this pack for me. Ponder / Mutavault were solid picks, but I wanted to avoid going blue with Winter Orb so I can be more aggressive. I decide to go with Misty Rainforest since you can never go wrong with on-color fetchlands. Maybe I’ll wheel the Rancor for the lolz?
Skullclamp is strong in creature heavy decks, but can be awkward with Winter Orb. Chandra is a very good reason to go red and works marvelously with Winter Orb.
I bet a lot of people will disagree with me on this pick. I really wasn’t interested in Tireless Tracker since I don’t want to durdle with my mana when I’m trying to build around Winter Orb. I think Sarkhan Vol is very slept on because his abilities scale. Low floor, extremely high ceiling, Sarkhan is an extremely volatile planeswalker. Sarkhan Vol always performs well and I don’t want to risk it not wheeling.
I looked long and hard at the Craterhoof Behemoth, but I wanted to stay lower to the ground with Winter Orb. I always feel awkward when I have Survival and don’t have Reclamation Sage, which is always a shoe-in.
I wasn’t expecting Gaea’s Cradle to wheel. Really started to regret not taking the Craterhoof Behemoth (I end up not caring about Craterhoof Behemoth in the end).
Feldon is always fun in survival decks, but it might be too durdley with Winter Orb? Nothing else I can really use in the pack besides Kodama’s Reach and Izzet Signet.
A lot of green ramp in this pack with Rofellos / Cultivate / Nissa. I go for the Rofellos since he ramps the fastest and I’m very heavy green, although I really don’t have mana fixing at this point….
This deck is nothing but lands / creatures / token generators, plus I have Sarkhan Vol for shenanigans. The only other card I want from this pack is Carnage Tyrant (which I can probably wheel), and Coalition Relic is whatever since I already have Cultivate / Kodama’s Reach.
Again, I can probably wheel whatever green card I want. I decide to go with Nissa since she goes well with my Cultivate effects and scales well into the late game.
Something I can easily ramp into with Cradle / Cultivate effects, and is more things to kill out of nowhere with Sarkhan Vol / Greater Gargadon. I can probably wheel Nissa, Voice of Zendikar (looking back though, that’s probably what I should’ve taken first).
* I ended up abandoning the ramp route and wanted to be as lean / aggressive as possible. I wasn't too sure if I was surprised when this deck went 3-0, hehe.
* Winter Orb was the overall MVP and is extremely nasty with mana dorks. Also being able to cast Winter Orb immediately after a Chandra, Torch of Defiance is very unfair.
* I got my opponent down to 11 earlier with Rancor beats. He was able to stabilize with Chandra, Flamecaller + Karn Liberated, but I was able to sac my entire board to Greater Gargadon and enchant it with Rancor for exactly 11 haste / trample damage for the win (https://i.imgur.com/vZnQ5zx.png)
* My opponent was able to stabilize with True-Name Nemesis + Lingering Souls under my Winter Orb, but I was able to Rancor up my 6/7 Tarmogoyf to trample over True-Name Nemesis (https://i.imgur.com/cKoILt1.png)
* I was able to lock my opponent down with Winter Orb and Rancor’d up my 4/4 Ashaya, the Awoken World to overwhelm my opponent’s Tasigur, the Golden Fang (https://i.imgur.com/mUTzJ1i.png)
Just wanted to say, these are delightful. Super helpful too! My group's a relatively young one (in terms of magic experience) and so a lot of the archetype synergies and stuff – basically, the best homes for a given card – aren't always clear to us. Hearing not only what you're taking but why (and what you're thinking about the cards you pass) is really informative.
If anything, I'd love to hear a little more about your decision processes in the final deckbuilding. Why did certain playables make the 23 and others don't?
There’s a lot going on in this pack: Venser, Shaper Savant strong / safe pick, but Timetwister / Winter Orb / Gaea’s Cradle are all absurd payoffs when built around. I decide I’m in the mood to try and go aggro / stax, so I go with the Winter Orb.
P1P2: Survival of the Fittest (https://i.imgur.com/ukHkwd7.png)
Survival is the strongest card overall in this pack and green mana dorks go extremely well with Winter Orb. Treetop Village will be nice to get on the wheel.
P1P3: Misty Rainforest (https://i.imgur.com/q4DNYJr.png)
Nothing too exciting in this pack for me. Ponder / Mutavault were solid picks, but I wanted to avoid going blue with Winter Orb so I can be more aggressive. I decide to go with Misty Rainforest since you can never go wrong with on-color fetchlands. Maybe I’ll wheel the Rancor for the lolz?
P1P4: Chandra, Torch of Defiance (https://i.imgur.com/aVhHLD7.png)
Skullclamp is strong in creature heavy decks, but can be awkward with Winter Orb. Chandra is a very good reason to go red and works marvelously with Winter Orb.
P1P5: Sarkhan Vol (https://i.imgur.com/VTTFY6c.png)
I bet a lot of people will disagree with me on this pick. I really wasn’t interested in Tireless Tracker since I don’t want to durdle with my mana when I’m trying to build around Winter Orb. I think Sarkhan Vol is very slept on because his abilities scale. Low floor, extremely high ceiling, Sarkhan is an extremely volatile planeswalker. Sarkhan Vol always performs well and I don’t want to risk it not wheeling.
P1P6: Siege-Gang Commander (https://i.imgur.com/xuDt5Ht.png)
Goes well with Sarkhan and is just a strong card overall.
P1P7: Reclamation Sage (https://i.imgur.com/fDnxOD2.png)
I looked long and hard at the Craterhoof Behemoth, but I wanted to stay lower to the ground with Winter Orb. I always feel awkward when I have Survival and don’t have Reclamation Sage, which is always a shoe-in.
P1P8: Birds of Paradise (https://i.imgur.com/1LL94mC.png)
Birds of Paradise is a good magic card.
P1P9: Gaea’s Cradle (https://i.imgur.com/dqIlRxQ.png)
I wasn’t expecting Gaea’s Cradle to wheel. Really started to regret not taking the Craterhoof Behemoth (I end up not caring about Craterhoof Behemoth in the end).
P1P10: Xenagos, the Reveler (https://i.imgur.com/rQJI0m7.png)
More Gruul walkers! Xenagos goes very well with Winter Orb and having 2 Gaea’s Cradles is alway strong.
P1P11: Rancor (https://i.imgur.com/xcFGMGC.png)
I’m always down to smash non-believers with Rancor.
P1P12: Yavimaya Elder (https://i.imgur.com/kS8V6X5.png)
Speaking of slept on cards, although I don’t think I’ll end up playing him based on how durdley it is.
P1P13: Tireless Tracker (https://i.imgur.com/RCZOXSP.png)
Same with Yavimaya Elder, but I might as well take them in case this turns into a Natural Order deck.
P1P14: Guardian Idol (https://i.imgur.com/ZJiy9Qg.png)
Nice filler card I can play in case I get cut off of mana dorks.
P1P15: Wall of Roots (https://i.imgur.com/bZfa0ME.png)
This is actually a nice last pick. Green seems to be pretty open.
P2P1: Elvish Mystic (https://i.imgur.com/nTPWva4.png)
I’m not the biggest fan of Ugin in creature based ramp decks and I really couldn't use anything else in this pack.
P2P2: Feldon of the Third Path (https://i.imgur.com/DRorwLC.png)
Feldon is always fun in survival decks, but it might be too durdley with Winter Orb? Nothing else I can really use in the pack besides Kodama’s Reach and Izzet Signet.
P2P3: Deranged Hermit (https://i.imgur.com/lFb5C17.png)
Dumb card on its own and can just kill out of nowhere with Sarkhan Vol. Also goes nice with the Feldon I just picked up.
P2P4: Magma Jet (https://i.imgur.com/b5no86A.png)
I seriously debated Batterskull, but red and green have so many better 5-drops and Scry 2 is really powerful for 2 mana.
P2P5: Sylvan Advocate (https://i.imgur.com/HSfpjOM.png)
A nice aggressive green creature that scales well into the late game. Nothing else I really could’ve used here besides Bonesplitter.
P2P6: Walking Ballista (https://i.imgur.com/bE3jm1c.png)
Sweet, a scaleable mana sink is exactly what I want when I have Gaea’s Cradle + Xenagos mana.
P2P7: Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary (https://i.imgur.com/zfIaKrp.png)
A lot of green ramp in this pack with Rofellos / Cultivate / Nissa. I go for the Rofellos since he ramps the fastest and I’m very heavy green, although I really don’t have mana fixing at this point….
P2P8: Plow Under (https://i.imgur.com/qCvm2NE.png)
Remember how I said red and green have way better 5-drops than Batterskull? This is one of them (and so is Acidic Slime).
P2P9: Brushland (https://i.imgur.com/Y8NWEQ3.png)
Just taking Brushland in case I decide to splash white for Reveilark or colorless for an Eldrazi.
P2P10: Kodama’s Reach (https://i.imgur.com/g3zlbib.png)
It’s always nice for these type of effects to wheel.
P2P11: Stirring Wildwood (https://i.imgur.com/a4R04WE.png)
Keeping myself open for a white splash.
P2P12: Selfless Spirit (https://i.imgur.com/Fy2qeSq.png)
Potential playable white card in case I splash.
P2P13: Unexpectedly Absent (https://i.imgur.com/znUFD96.png)
Looking back I probably should’ve taken the Lightning Helix, but I probably took the Unexpectedly Absent just to hate pick it.
P2P14: Lavaclaw Reaches (https://i.imgur.com/0Fcvazy.png)
Nothing useful here.
P2P15: Cultivate (https://i.imgur.com/8XCgTCr.png)
Another useful 15th pick! Double Cultivate + Double Gaea’s Cradle, we in there.
P3P1: Green Sun’s Zenith (https://i.imgur.com/CzUH1Op.png)
Green Sun’s Zenith and Fauna Shaman are the standouts to me here and I was pretty sure I could wheel either of them.
P3P2: Greater Gargadon(https://i.imgur.com/amNw5GF.png)
This deck is nothing but lands / creatures / token generators, plus I have Sarkhan Vol for shenanigans. The only other card I want from this pack is Carnage Tyrant (which I can probably wheel), and Coalition Relic is whatever since I already have Cultivate / Kodama’s Reach.
P3P3: Nissa, Vastwood Seer (https://i.imgur.com/dp7HfIq.png)
Again, I can probably wheel whatever green card I want. I decide to go with Nissa since she goes well with my Cultivate effects and scales well into the late game.
P3P4: Wickerbough Elder (https://i.imgur.com/rYoKCH0.png)
Extra artifact / enchantment hate is always nice to have around and I’m pretty confident I can wheel Tarmogoyf.
P3P5: Hornet Queen (https://i.imgur.com/Roznajy.png)
Something I can easily ramp into with Cradle / Cultivate effects, and is more things to kill out of nowhere with Sarkhan Vol / Greater Gargadon. I can probably wheel Nissa, Voice of Zendikar (looking back though, that’s probably what I should’ve taken first).
P3P6: Llanowar Elves (https://i.imgur.com/Sj98pCD.png)
I’m always down for mana dorks, and I’m not the biggest fan of Verdurous Gearhulk anyways.
P3P7: Primeval Titan (https://i.imgur.com/vjpQrfp.png)
As much as I like Primeval Titan, there was a good chance my curve was stopping at 5 or 6. Still a good idea to take just in case.
P3P8: Stomping Ground (https://i.imgur.com/yozWXHE.png)
I actually had no mana fixing besides Birds of Paradise, and this was much needed for my Misty Rainforest.
P3P9: Fauna Shaman (must have missed the screenshot)
Had a feeling it would wheel, and Survival effects are always welcome.
P3P10: Carnage Tyrant (https://i.imgur.com/lBhBe9V.png)
Another predicted wheel, I’m liking Carnage Tyrant more in this deck than Primeval Titan.
P3P11: Blinkmoth Nexus (https://i.imgur.com/fX6tPpy.png)
I’m already maxed out on mana dorks and I knew a lot of decks would have trouble dealing with Blinkmoth Nexus + Rancor
P3P12: Tarmogoyf (https://i.imgur.com/MKaG9mu.png)
Wheels for days!
P3P13: Nissa, Voice of Zendikar (https://i.imgur.com/CZIJDIG.png)
This is an extremely powerful wheel with all my tokens / token payoffs / Gaea’s Cradle effects
(the last two picks are inconsequential)
Final Product: Gruul (RG) Rancor Survival Aggressive Midrange (https://i.imgur.com/c2nFtrv.png)
Notes:
* I ended up abandoning the ramp route and wanted to be as lean / aggressive as possible. I wasn't too sure if I was surprised when this deck went 3-0, hehe.
* Winter Orb was the overall MVP and is extremely nasty with mana dorks. Also being able to cast Winter Orb immediately after a Chandra, Torch of Defiance is very unfair.
BONUS: Trolling with Rancor!
* Just going in with a stream of things I can pass Rancor onto, including Blinkmoth Nexus (https://i.imgur.com/AFdcR5C.png)
* I got my opponent down to 11 earlier with Rancor beats. He was able to stabilize with Chandra, Flamecaller + Karn Liberated, but I was able to sac my entire board to Greater Gargadon and enchant it with Rancor for exactly 11 haste / trample damage for the win (https://i.imgur.com/vZnQ5zx.png)
* My opponent was able to stabilize with True-Name Nemesis + Lingering Souls under my Winter Orb, but I was able to Rancor up my 6/7 Tarmogoyf to trample over True-Name Nemesis (https://i.imgur.com/cKoILt1.png)
* I was able to lock my opponent down with Winter Orb and Rancor’d up my 4/4 Ashaya, the Awoken World to overwhelm my opponent’s Tasigur, the Golden Fang (https://i.imgur.com/mUTzJ1i.png)
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
If anything, I'd love to hear a little more about your decision processes in the final deckbuilding. Why did certain playables make the 23 and others don't?
Akrasia, a Custom 360 Cube
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