MTG Salvation

Hey guys, just wanted to post up a deck list that I've been testing so far. It feels really good right now testing online in the Tournament Practice Room. I will probably soon start testing in two-man queues soon. Be sure to check out my article that I will be having coming out this week on midnightmtgo.com about the deck as well!



So far I have been pleasantly surprised by Unsubstantiate a lot. I really like the feel of it in this deck overall because it steals tempo from the opponent and keeping the spell in their hand actually helps Fevered Visions. Clash of Wills is another card that has been testing really well so far. I like having some counter spells in the main deck to combat some of the bombs in the format, and having access of up to 7 more in the sideboard has been really good. Anyway, just some food for thought and like I said I will have an article up later this week that will be more in depth.

Wasn't implying that was the only deck it could fit in, I just think that is the best deck it currently fits in.

I'm not looking at the cost reduction part of the card, I was looking at its implications in that particular deck because it fills several roles for that deck, mostly having flash and helping maximize the power of Kozilek's Return. This card is perfect finisher for that deck.

Drowner of Hope is not better at all. I would much rather have this because it triggers Kozileks' Return, which is very important for that deck. Look at what they play right now trying to find something to trigger it, Deceiver of Form! This card is also more versatile since it can tap down any 4 permanents at instant speed.

I think you guys are looking at the wrong kind of deck for this card. This card is perfect in UR Control as a four of because of multiple reasons:

1. It has flash, so it plays very well with the rest of the decks instant speed interaction.

2. It's big and has 6 toughness, so it can still ambush stuff like Reality Smasher.

3. It flashes back Kozilek's Return, which that deck really needed. Nothing against Drowner of Hope, but this card fits that deck so much better.

4. It can steal a turn from an opponent by tapping their lands down, so it's like adding in some Time Walks for a control deck.

About From Beyond and Dromoka's Command. Usually you have mana untapped after this is in play, so it's easy to sac it in response to fetch something. And they tend to board them out because I don't have creatures for them to target. I was as well a fan of Dragonlord Atarka, but as I said in my original write up I just don't think he fits in the meta well overall. Against control decks he will maybe kill something, and against midrange and aggro decks you see a lot of 3+ toughness. If I'm casting something that high in CMC, I either want to be able to remove something for sure with something like World Breaker (even taking out an Always Watching is usually better then killing one creature, and with Reach it can still interact with Gryff's Boon) to help trigger my Kozilek's Return. I would rather play Void Winnower, Hangarback Walker, Ruin Processor, Kozilek, the Great Distortion, and Birthing Hulk in that slot right now. Getting that on cast trigger from Kozilek's Return is key for this deck in my opinion. The other thing is planeswalkers really don't scare me as I can just exile them when needed. I guess I look at it like why kill one 4/5 Sylvan Advocate with Dragonlord Atarka when I can kill multiple creatures by insuring that I can get the "flashback" trigger on Kozilek's Return by running a couple more Eldrazi. So far From Beyond has been good, and I prefer it over Hedron Archive at this point.

I just started testing this build, and on stream last night I went 2-2, still learning the sequencing of the spells and such. The list I used on stream last night had 4 Arlinn Kord in place of the 3 Roast and 1 Spatial Contortion, but I wasn't feeling her. I beat one Sultai Deck and Mono Blue Control, and I lost to White Weenie and BG (this looks like a deck I built on my blog a couple weeks ago). The Sultai deck was a Delirium build and I crushed it 2-0. The White Weenie match up I went 1-2, and if I had won the die roll I would have won this match. Next was the Mono Blue Prison deck and I crushed it 2-0. Last we went against a BG Control deck and I had two terrible draws in a row of all lands and ramp spells and he drew discard in game one and I lost 0-2.

I had several opponents quite after getting crushed in game one, so it was hard to figure out how these matches go after sideboard. I beat UR Fliers and UR Goggles game one on stream and then they quit. Off stream I beat a UB Control list 2-1, an Abzan Control list 1-0, an Esper list 1-0 (I guess people don't like losing to Ruin in Their Wake and From Beyond), quit against a White Weenie player that was having connection problems, and beat Sultai Midrange 2-0 in the past couple days. I am overall 9-4 but those involve a lot of 1-0 matches, in full matches I am so far 4-3, which is a promising start for a new build.

Overall, I feel like I have a winning record with the deck so far and I'm going to start the real testing next week on stream, be sure to tune in!

I really think that Ramp is going to get much better when EMN comes along. We already are getting some excellent Eldrazi big mana creatures to pair with Kozilek's Return and there is still some cards to spoil!

Decimator of the Provinces helps provide a different angle of attack for a ramp deck. I could see a GR Token/Ramp strategy that uses From Beyond, Arlinn Kord, and Chandra, Flamecaller along with ramp spells with this as a finisher.

Distended Mindbender I think provides a nice little sideboard card as like a one of for GR Ramp decks.

Elder Deep-Fiend is another great sideboard card that can provide a finisher by tapping them down and wiping their board with Kozilek's Return. I think this card will be a four of in the UR Ramp Control deck.

Emrakul, the Promised End I think is a good card, but I'm not how sure good it is in the current meta game honestly.

Galvanic Bombardment is under the radar right now. I think this card is strictly better then Fiery Impulse because there is a chance that you can get an instant speed Flame Slash from this, which is relevant right now.

Ulvenwald Captive I wouldn't play right now. There is to much removal being played to rely on mana dorks at all, and giving Reflector Mage a target is a losing proposition.

Hanweir Battlements I think could be in here as a one of depending on your build. Giving one of your pay-off ramp targets haste seems really good.

So I've decided to look into getting into ramp because I think that EMN is going to bring a lot of big mana spells, and Ramp is best at abusing those. The build that I've been using is quite different then what I see in a traditional build. First my list:



So first I will start by saying that 2 of the Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger will become Emrakul, the Promised End.

The first thing that I noticed when playing other Ramp decks was that I wasn't drawing enough ramp and/or lands. So I decided that I wanted to play 26 lands (I see a lot of list running 24) and play 15 ramp spells. Another thing I've noticed is that playing a mana dork is loose right now because it immediately dies or get's bounced by Reflector Mage, so I decided that I would try the closest thing we have to Rampant Growth in Standard right now, Ruin in Their Wake. While sometimes it doesn't get me from 2 to 4 mana, when it does it feels way to powerful. The other thing is that I'm playing From Beyond in place of Hedron Archive because it is a win condition on its own, gets us from 4 to 6 mana if needed for Chandra, Flamecaller, and I think the sacrifice ability is more powerful then Hedron Archive's as getting exactly what I need/want is more powerful then two random cards. The last card I'm going to touch base on for the main deck is Traverse the Ulvenwald. I have been liking this card more and more with every match. In the early game it lets me fetch (with Evolving Wilds as well) exactly what I need to fix my mana to cast my spells when I need. The other thing is this deck actually has an easy time getting Delirium online pretty easily. Between Sanctum of Ugin, Traverse the Ulvenwald and From Beyond, it is like I am playing 15 copies of each of my Eldrazi finishers.

As for cards I decided I didn't like, up first is Jaddi Offshoot. Life gain for the most part is irrelevant in the current format. There is no burn strategy or anything like sligh that if you stabilize you win. The default aggro deck in the format, Wr Humans, hits so hard and fast with big creatures that a 0/3 defender that might be able to gain you some life just doesn't truly make a difference. When they are swinging with a bunch of big creatures on turns 3 and 4, your small creature that gained 3 to 5 life just did not impact the game the way you needed. Removing their creatures is the only way to beat this deck, not trying to gain life. Nissa's Renewal kind of falls in here as well, I just don't want to be casting this at any point in the game. If anything I want to side in cheaper spells and interact with cheap removal while still getting some ramp.

Next on the cutting block for me was Dragonlord Atarka. In the current meta game you might be able to kill two creatures with this, most likely only one though. And I see people doing a 2/2 split with this and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, which makes no sense because Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger will remove two of anything from the game. And 7 mana is not much different from 10 mana in this deck in my opinion. The other thing is a key for this deck is getting the "Flashback" on Kozilek's Return, and Dragonlord Atarka does not help here. Casting Chandra, Flamecaller and World Breaker is far more important in these slots, so I want to make sure that I maximize those cards and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger.

The last card I will touch base on is Oath of Nissa. I personally think that Traverse the Ulvenwald is better overall. In the early and midgame it will fix your mana for sure (and hit) and with Delirium I can fetch out whichever threat I need to win (and trigger Kozilek's Return).

As for my sideboard, I decided that playing against any kind of non aggro deck is a great match up. If they decide to counter my ramp spells (which is why I have so many) eventually I will just naturally have the mana to cast my game winners (From Beyond, Chandra, Flamecaller, World Breaker, and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger which are all hard to interact with and attack from different angles). So the hardest match up is aggro, and I decided that I wanted to side in 15 cards against them (I was trying Arlinn Kord, but it just wasn't having the impact I hoped). And Kozelik's Return is never sided out, it provides an answer to BW Controls Secure the Wastes plan, answers UR Controls sideboard plan of bringing in more creatures like Thought-Knot Seer. Even against Mono Blue they have Thing in Ice they bring in (and getting the on cast trigger is easier then you thought it would be) and Rise from the Tides is one of their few win conditions. Here is how I sideboard against aggro decks:



This sideboard plan has been working for me personally. And I wanted to add that decks that bring in Infinite Obliteration deserve to lose. Unless you have Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger in hand when they cast it, I don't care because if they want to spend 3 to 5 mana to effectively not have any real impact on the game, I have no problem with that.

Lastly I'm going to touch base on my win conditions and why I chose them:

Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger - First up we have the best reason to ramp to begin with. Exiling two permanents is a super powerful effect that, and getting it faster is why we play this deck. Add in that he has Indestructible (not overly relevant right now sadly) and that he provides a Plan B by his on attack ability is why this is probably the best card overall in the deck. I would not ever play less then 4, and having ways to find him is even better.

World Breaker - While all the Exile spells are super good against this, against certain decks getting the looping World Breakers is to much for them to deal with. Add in that this can be cast on turn five off of a single ramp spell helps make the key spell, Kozilek's Return with "Flashback", a strategy that can and will win games.

Chandra, Flamecaller - Getting this out as soon as turn 4 in my deck is huge, and this card is super versatile. Against beat down decks it provides a sweeper, against control it provides card draw and a win condition, and this card can win games on its own. When paired with Kozilek's Return, we have access to so many sweepers that I think we can get away with skimping on targeted removal in the main deck. I might go back up to 4, cutting probably one Nissa's Pilgrimage for it.

From Beyond - This was my favorite card released from BfZ. Getting this out on turn 3 it has a much bigger impact in the game then on turn 4. It spitting out 1/1 tokens every turn is super relevant as they can be chump blockers or they snowball into a victory. Add in that they can sacrifice for "free" and you get a nice answer to lifelink as well (just sac it before damage and they can't gain life). The icing on the cake for this card in this deck is that it can fetch up whichever Eldrazi we need in a pinch and it turns on Traverse the Ulvenwald in the process.

All of these cards attack from different angles as well which is nice. We can go for the remove all your land plan, we can go for the beat down plan, we can go for the mill plan, we can even go for the go wide plan!

Can't really make out that picture, what movie is that from?

But from a flavor point, it would make more sense that your desire to become a part of Emrakul would involve you doing something for it, not so much the spread of the Eldrazi Menace. The spread was more of a Ulamog and Kozilek thing as seen in BFZ. The Hanweir sacrificing themselves, their land, or their minds to become a part of Emrakul seems a little more flavorful for me. The other thing that leads me to believe that we will be looking at sort of Graveyard Matters theme for Emrakul flip cards is because her card cares about the Graveyard and its contents. Think of it as Emrakul wants to see how devoted you are to her, and you do this by sacrificing your mind, body, and soul for her. She checks this by seeing what you have spent for her via the graveyard contents.

My thoughts are that we are looking at a collective conscience that would "transform" into this Horror (I'm hoping we are going to slowly morph Emrakul from an Eldrazi thing into creating Horrors). With this in mind, how do you represent a collective conscience that would transform into this Creature that uses the land? We know that Red has in the past used sacrifice effects to gain an advantage from something like Aggressive Mining or Devastating Summons. I'm thinking we are looking at an Enchantment that has you sacrifice a Creature and/or Land for some sort of effect and it will check for some sort of Delirium ability with the sacrifice effect to flip it. Basically something like this:

Hanweir Social Gathering 2R
Enchantment

R, Sacrifice a creature or land or discard a card: Draw a card. Activate this ability only once each turn and only when you could cast a Sorcery.

Delirium - Whenever a card enters the graveyard from anywhere, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, transform ~.

So I just want to chime in, I think that the other "Titans" were killed off so that they could make Emrakul into a true Horror (note: Not a "true" Villain). Emrakul will be sticking around and wreaking havoc for the Oath for a while. Emrakul could be great as it isn't truly evil or good, but just something that is trying to live, which is perfect for their chosen characters, the Planeswalkers as now they don't have to fight each other for story line purposes. We are going to see the story I think go this way more and more, non planeswalker characters as the "bad guys" for the Oath to fight.

Anyway, as for flip conditions, I think that we need to remember that Emrakul it's self is madness, and it directly refers to the graveyard. I think we are going to see a graveyard matters mechanic for each color to show the influence that Emrakul is having on the color wheel. I think Delirium or something very similar will be back as well. What do you guys think could be the graveyard matters mechanics for each color? Maybe something that self mills? Like Mindwrack Demon? When this enters the battlefield, put the top x cards into your graveyard, and if you have 4 or more card Types in your graveyard, transform this into Hanweir, the Writhing Town? So something that helps you try to get to Delirium, and if it doesn't get there, then it isn't truly influenced by Emrakul yet?

Not really big on Deathcap Cultivator, I'm not looking to ramp, and I like that Traverse the Ulvenwald is one mana.

I have nothing against Languish except its current price tag, lol. Flaying Tendrils has proven effective enough so far. And I did pull the trigger on swapping the Warping Wails and Conclave Naturalists for Duress's, so now now there is one main and two in the sideboard. And as for Traverse the Ulvenwald, I think you guys are looking at the card much differently then I am. I don't include the Delirium text when I am looking at the card, I like it for it's thinning ability and mana fixing, which allows me to make sure that I hit my land drops on curve, very important for this deck, and for allowing me to cast Grasp of Darkness more reliably. The extra text on the card is pure benefit. The biggest reason why Bearer of Silence is on my radar is because I have the chance of being able to fetch it with Traverse the Ulvenwald. I am going to keep at least one Clip Wings for sure. I'm not sure about To the Slaughter, Clip Wings saying flying is very relevant.

All that said, I did play test for three hours today on MTGO, and I got 8 matches in. I went 7-1 and I played against "real" decks for the most part. I'm going to have a nice breakdown of the matches on my blog probably tomorrow. I beat GW Tokens, GB Aristocrats (sanctioned match), BW Allies, UR Turbo Mill, Bant Humans, Esper Dragons, and Grixis Midrange. My lone loss was against the BW Allies deck (I had bad draws and wanted a rematch, lol). Games I went 14-6, dropping games to BW Allies (2-3), Grixis Midrange (2-1), Bant Humans (2-1), and GW Tokens (2-1). You can find my stream on Twitch if you want to watch the games or look for them on youtube this week. I really think that this deck is going to be a player going forward, hopefully another pro or streamer will pick up the deck and give it a try to get some more exposure for the deck.

As I said, Flaying Tendrils is going to be tested to see if it is good enough right now (I just have a feeling Eldritch Moon is going to have a sweet Black sweeper). As for Traverse the Ulvenwald, I have been really enjoying it so far actually. In the early game fetching for a basic land has been solid, and in the mid to late game being able to fetch any creature or land I need is outstanding. I keep it in against any control or other midrange decks, but it is easy to side out against aggro decks. As well, this deck is very mana hungry and needs to hit land drops every turn, so it helps with that as well and is why I am running 30 total right now. I like the versatility that Warping Wail provides, but in certain match ups it is a do nothing card and is why I only have one in the main and one in the side (against other decks it is amazing, like Grixis decks). I think Duress is a great card, I just haven't really felt the need to have it, yet. Traverse the Ulvenwald tends to be a better top deck in the mid to late game almost always, if nothing else it thins the deck and shuffles for me. Also, I am finding Ultimate Price is perfect as a three of in the deck, I wouldn't want four of them right now. Grasp of Darkness is just better overall against so many Devoid and multi-colored creatures seeing play right now. I have been thinking of cutting the Warping Wails for Duress, and I probably will at some point, but I want to test cards that I am unsure of their value unless I actually cast them. Right now I like Spatial Contortion over Dead Weight strictly because as you said there is a lot of 3 toughness creatures seeing play. Conclave Naturalists is probably another card that will be going on the chopping block soon enough. Not that I think it is bad, but for the most part I don't think that it is truly needed right now. What will probably eventually happen is that the Warping Wails and Conclave Naturalists will turn into Duress (so one main and two sideboard) and Clip Wings will become one Bearer of Silence and one To the Slaughter.

Hey guys, I thought I would post up an updated deck list for you guys:



I'm going to test to see if Flaying Tendrils is a good enough sweeper or if Languish is needed today on stream, so be sure to check it out!

Right now the deck is sitting at 8-3. My losses have been against UR Fliers, a UR Eldrazi aggro deck, and White Weenie. I have beat RUG Assault Formation[c/], UB Zombies, BR Vampires, Mono Green The Great Aurora, Mono White Aggro with Equipment twice, Jund Reanimator/Delirium, and UR Turbo Mill.

I decided to cut Sinister Concoction for Transgress the Mind, I wanted a little more hand disruption to pair with my Thought-Knot Seers in the main deck. The other main deck change was cutting one Read the Bones and one Warping Wail for two main deck Flaying Tendrils and cut one Blighted Woodland for a fifth Swamp.

I am debating adding more one-of creatures to the sideboard that could have a high impact in certain match ups to be able to tutor with Traverse the Ulvenwald.