MTG Salvation

I used to play a deck like this long ago.

Underworld Dreams, Skullcage, and Seizan, Perverter of Truth was all it needed at the time.
These days you can probably add Master of the Feast and Fate Unraveler. Spellskite to block early and protect your stuff.

I would add blue instead of red. Counterspells. Kami of the Crescent Moon, Clutch of the Undercity.

Quote from StranglerootsyCollins »

This is a very intriguing take on BG Cloud. I can't see myself playing the mono-black versions that are getting trendy right now, for aesthetic reasons as much as anything else. I like the idea of keeping low to the ground that you've got here, and I like Necroplasm -- I have one that's been burning a hole in my collection forever, so I like the idea of using it in a deck I actually play. Hopefully you can say more about. . .

1) What are your matchups like against Nahiri decks?

2) How often is the efficiency enough to beat a vomit-your-hand-and-attack deck like Merfolk or Affinity? This deck doesn't look equipped to go over the top very often (vs. a Thragtusk-and-Grave Titan version, for instance). How often have you gotten overwhelmed?

3) How have you liked the Geralf's Messenger and Strangleroot Geist so far? I have a playset of the Zombie and one random Geist, so I'd like to make use of them, but I've been playing a more classic Sakura-Tribe Elder/Scooze/Courser/Finks/Kalitas/Thragtusk/Grave Titan creature list for a while now and I've gotten to the point where I really like it. I recently added a single Birds of Paradise; I wrote about this a few posts ago.

4) I don't see any sweepers in the 75. Have you played against Bant Eldrazi? Seems rough if you don't have a Necroplasm.

5) Speaking of which, one reason I've liked my creature package is its ability to win with or without casting a Cloud. If you don't napalm the board, have you found your deck able to win fairly consistently?

1. Hard to put a percentage on it and I don't keep detailed logs (maybe I should?). I'm assuming you're talking about the Jeskai version that's been popular the last couple months. It really depends on if I can keep Nahiri off the board while maintaining board presence. Path is scary for this deck, obviously. Emissary shines, because even if they Path it, I still get a land. Game 2 is a little easier because I can board out one ozze for the other and eat their spells, making Snapcaster Mage useless. It also makes them reconsider Path targets if they understand how my deck works. Which means more nibbles at their health. Surgical Extraction takes care of Nahiri or Command. Heck, I'll take Remand or Mana Leak too. Really depends on the state of the match.

2. Super-fast aggro decks are HARD! Easiest to hardest: Merfolk > RED > Robots. I'm actually going to say this deck is favored against Merfolk. As long as you take out the Vials and trade with creatures long enough to play Death Cloud, it goes pretty smooth (and that's often how this deck plays, anyway). The other two decks are trickier. That's why I have Damnation in the board. Because sometimes you just need to wipe the battlefield on turn 4 or lose. And often against aggro, your life total is too low by the time you can Cloud. Necroplasm is good against Red decks because it kills half their team if it lives until your next upkeep. And if they do kill it, your other guys are not and can then can block. Most have innate recursion. Against Robots,side in Extraction and Fulminator. Take out Inkmoths and Cranial Plating. Smart blocks. Keep recurring Necroplasm. Hope for the best.

3. I've always liked Messenger in my monoblack decks. And in this deck it just seemed to fit. Its under 4 mana, sticks around after Cloud/Plasm. And because I needed 2 drops, I figured Geist would fill a similar role. The crazy mana requirements haven't been a problem since I usually don't plan on casting Messengers. Either CoCo or recursion (meaning I'll discard them to Cloud and hang onto recursion). Geists are just so good to drop before a Plasm.

4. Damnation in the sideboard. Death Cloud is a sweeper, of sorts.

5. Most definitely. There have even been games where good blocks, timely removal, and lots of annoying recursion will win the day. I've won games without seeing Cloud, Plasm, or CoCo. This deck has no problem blocking large creatures with a couple small ones as long as they kill it. Its all part of the plan.

Quote from q_125 »

Discussion about Viridian Emissary is about as old as the card, with the point of contention being that people just won't ever kill it. So in a situation when all you want to do is Cloud and win the game you don't have any way to ramp, and even if you wanted to kill your own Emissary Necroplasm takes 2 turns to go off by which point your opponent has probably gone off. Also worth considering that the typical variant wants to ramp on 2 due to the plethora of 4-CMC effects, which this deck has less of.

That's not to say I think this is a bad idea. Necroplasm is ludicrously good against board decks (besides Tron/Eldrazi). Collected Company is probably going to do work in any deck it's in. I just think the current list is too durdly, and needs to push its aggro/tempo side more.

Your curve really kicks off at 3, and you need something to do on turn 1. What I would propose is cutting the slower creatures and some of the recursion effects and putting in turn 1 discard, Birds of Paradise, and/or Utopia Sprawl.
This is something I threw together, goldfished a few times and it seemed pretty okay:

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures - 21 4 Birds of Paradise 2 Sakura-Tribe Elder 4 Strangleroot Geist 4 Kitchen Finks 3 Eternal Witness 4 Necroplasm Noncreatures - 13 2 Utopia Sprawl 3 Abrupt Decay 1 Maelstrom Pulse 3 Liliana of the Veil 3 Death Cloud 4 Collected Company	Land - 23 5 Forest 3 Swamp 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Verdant Catacombs 1 Windswept Heath 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Treetop Village 1 Twilight Mire 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 2 Woodland Cemetery	Sideboard 3 Surgical Extraction 3 Thoughtseize 3 Scavenging Ooze 3 Fulminator Mage 3 Damnation

Only reason LotV is in there is because of the turn 1 ramp. Could be replaced by something more original. I'm leery about Ghost Quarter/Tectonic Edge effects, you still need 4 mana for CoCo and not to mention Cloud. Could always play Smother or something if manlands are a problem. If the meta ever slows down maindeck Fulminator is probably a great idea.

This isn't a ramp version of Cloud. It's a variant. If the point of contention is between using it as ramp or as a blocker/attack, then my variant wants Emissary over Tribe-Elder. Think of my deck like Zapp Brannigan going to war. Heroically throwing wave after wave of his own men at the killbots until they shut down.

Against Tron/Eldrazi, I side Plasm out for Fulminator, Decay for Acid-Moss, and Rager for Extraction depending on the presence of Mindslaver.

On Turn 1 I'm more concerned with setting up my mana. So its a Fetch or Shock land more often than not. And turn 2 is a Geist, Emissary, or Grim back a Fetch. Depending on what's going on.

I don't run LOTV because Necroplasm already gets stuff into my graveyard, one way or another. But something I have been thinking about testing is
-2 Rager
+2 Lotleth Troll
This would give the deck another 2 drop. It regenerates. I can discard creatures (Plasm) and make it bigger. But I'd lose a way to bring Necroplasm back. Or draw a card off CoCo. Ghost Quarter is good main deck against Tron/Eldrazi. Especially off a Grim/Pulse.

I don't really think it needs discard. Maybe in the sideboard. This deck wants to hit hard and fast. So dropping a dude turn 1 is better than disruption.

Been playing a version of this on Cockatrice I call CooCoo Cloud. First I'll briefly run through the cards, then post the list, and then explain how everything comes together. This deck is very fun to play and does a decent job against decks across the board.

• Viridian Emissary - 2 power for 2 mana. Good early game beater and blocker. Fetches a basic land when it dies.
• Strangleroot Geist - 2 power for 2 mana. Has haste. Good early game beater and blocker. Has Undying.
• Phyrexian Rager - 2 power for 3 mana. -1 life, draw a card. cantrip/chump block.
• Kitchen Finks - 3 power for 3 mana. + 2 life. Has Persist.
• Geralf's Messenger - 3 power for 3 mana. -2 life to opponent. Has Undying. BBB mana cost isn't an issue in a deck trying to play Death Cloud.
• Necroplasm - 3 mana. 1/1. Board control tech. See below.
• Eternal Witness - Everyone knows this is basically a Green Snapcaster Mage.
• Filigree Familiar - New in Kaladesh. 3 mana for 2 power. +2 life ETB. Cantrips on death.
• Abrupt Decay - Removal.
• Grim Discovery - Get a land, creature, or both from your grave to hand. Useful in the early/pre-Cloud game.
• Maelstrom Pulse - Removal.
• Recover - Get a creature from grave to hand. Cantrips.
• Pulse of Murasa - Get a creature or land from grave to hand. +6 life.
• Collected Company - Can get any creature in the deck.
• Death Cloud - Symmetry? What symmetry?

In case you haven't figured it out, this is a classic-style attrition deck. In the early game, you want to play your 2 drop guys, removal, basic Magic stuff.
Until you have a chance to drop Necroplasm. Over any other 3 drop. Over anything but removal on a major threat. You're going to drop Necroplasm. Let me tell you why.

At the end of the turn you play Necroplasm, ALL TOKENS ARE DESTROYED. No messing with sideboard stuff. You have a main deck answer aside from Maelstrom Pulse. You know what else it gets rid of? Ornithopters and Memnites. While the latter two aren't a big deal, tokens certainly are. Especially for a deck that wants to wipe the board with Death Cloud. And Death Cloud takes time to ramp into. Necroplasm fixes this problem. And every upkeep, it gets a +1/+1 counter. At EOT, everything with a CC = to the number of counters is destroyed. This messes with the opponent's creature curve. It also does 9 damage if left unchecked (2+3+4).
But wait... there's more.

T1: Fetch a Tomb.
T2: Play a land. Drop an Emissary.
T3: Play a land. Swing for 2 (2). Play Necroplasm.
T4: Play a land. Play Strangleroot Geist. Swing for 6 (8).
T5: Play a land. Swing for 7 (15). EOT Geist gets bigger, you get a land.
T6: Swing, cast Death Cloud, whatever.
9 cards used of 12 seen on the play.

Sounds like Magic Christmas land, but its more likely than you think. Other times, you're going to be on the back foot, grinding it out until your opponent runs out of threats. Here's how that works...

Eternal Witness, Grim Discovery, Pulse of Murasa, Recover, and special guest Necroplasm.
When casting Death Cloud, you want to try to keep at least one of these cards in hand. And there really is no reason to never have a Necroplasm in play or in hand unless you haven't seen one all game or they've been exiled. Did I mention Necroplasm has Dredge? Its one tough creature to remove. Even worse, its surrounded by other things that come back. So like I said, its always going to return without help. But what if it wants some help? Glad you asked. Recover cantrips. So get that Eternal Witness out of your yard, mill a couple (the party begins!) and get Necroplasm back too. Play Necroplasm. And then play the Witness and get Recover back. Your opponent will probably be pretty mad at this point. Especially post Death Cloud.
Or cast Pulse of Murasa for Phyrexian Rager. Mill two cards, get Necroplasm back, gain 5 (6-1) life. Play Necroplasm again. Got a black eye yet?
See if you can get away with casting Filigree Familiar after that. If Necroplasm has lived a full life, it'll kill the Familiar... and then you mill 2 and get it back.

Eternal Witness can also get removal back in the pre-Cloud game. I tend to save Recover/Murasa for post-Cloud. Grim Discovery pre-cloud keeps you hitting land drops and fetching dead Witnesses to replay removal. Finks and Familiars are the next priority (never waste recursion spells on Necroplasm unless you're using Murasa on their EOT for life gain and/or they've got tokens running amok).

Don't forget Collected Company is also in this deck. Hit a Witness in the top 6 and you get your CoCo back. The other creature is just a bonus and should usually be a... do I have to say Necroplasm again?

Tl;Dr: This is an absolutely bonkers variation of Death Cloud. There are so many neat interactions I could write about it all day. And Necroplasm is like The Dude's rug. Really ties this deck together. So if you have the cards or use Cockatrice, take it for a spin and let me know what you think!

Hey, I've been messing around with this list for a awhile. Been calling it Black Weenie.



Also tried Bile Urchin, Death Cultist, Vampire Nighthawk, Bump in the Night, and Alms of the Vein. There's also Infectious Horror but for what it's worth, Spiteful Returned is a MUCH better "4-drop".

Bad Moon is pretty great. Makes these pesky little guys bigger, with the downside of also buffing the opponent's Black creatures. At this point, Bob and a couple Eldrazi are the only things seeing widespread play.

It's a fun deck. Straight forward gameplan. And just steals games with all the fetch and shock lands in the format. Also, it's a decent budget deck. Around $70-90.